A Few Pics of Z Parade

As Tess posted, yesterday's parade caught most folks off guard because it began about a half an hour before schedule, something that's never happened before as far as I can recall. It turned out someone put their group in front of another and caused all kinds of controversy. I didn't even bother trying to take photos of any of the 50 or so schools that participated. For the most part the photos would have been indistinguishable from years past, except that there are now simply too many schools marching, IMHO.

One trend I have noticed about the schools is that it seems each year more and more of the young ladies are now required to dress more sexy and to wear high heels, not low pumps or walking shoes as they used to, so that now by the time they get as far as my house, about 3 blocks from the beginning of the parade, many of the girls are in obvious distress and suffering. I blame this on the declining quality of teachers as well as declining education and moral values among the parents who don't speak up in defense of their daughters. It just seems that each year more girls look like they're candidates for working in bars where women are exploited, a trend that has not gone unnoticed by older Zihuatanejo families. This is a stark contrast to the old traditional family values Zihuatanejo has historically had, and surely is a result of the migration here of too many folks with lesser value systems than locals.

Anyway, my favorite parts were the cultural dancers, the Cruz Roja with Protección Civil, and of course the charros, many whom are friends.

I would've taken and posted more photos but I got tired of my shots being ruined by the family members of the marchers as they cut in front of everyone and followed their little darlings. At times it seemed there were more parents following along than students marching.

The Danza de los Manueles was one of our favorites, a traditional dance from Tixtla, Guerrero.

The Cruz Roja and Protección Civil had a great display of rescuing people from a crashed vehicle using the Jaws of Life and later using harnesses to lower the injured from a height to the emergency gurney.

These are a couple of our charro friends with their dancing horses.