It's raining, it's pouring . . .

Putting a serious  damper on celebrations of Mexico's Dia de la Independencia. Right now, there should be outdoor dances with live music. A little later, political speeches and then fuegos artificiales (fireworks). But the only sound coming through my window other than the occasional car horn or lone firework popping is rain pouring down.

Earlier today, though, the weather was beautiful -- warm and mostly sunny. Off in the distance --40 miles away -- we could see Popo (Popocatepetl) steaming in the distance. (no biggie -- its normal for the rainy season.)

After we dropped Humberto off at work at the furniture store and admired several of Olga's paintings offered for sale there, she drove us to the traditional market. It's a long, warehouse-like structure with an uneven floor and steps here and there, that's been divided into hundreds of tiny shops, many sellng more types of fruits and vegetables than you can imagine. Today, because people were going to be cooking for the holidays, it was jammed.

We threaded our way through, buying onions, tomatoes, string cheese and a crumbly white cheese, three or four kinds of rolls and dried guajillo peppers -- deep red chiles about 7 or 8 inches long and less than half an inch thick.

We also looked at a harness for Margaret/Florida's dog and bought a few items of Dia de la Independencia decor and a couple of lotto games to aid our vocabulary. Florida also found a wallet to buy for a friend. We passed stalls with slaughtered, plucked chickens and baskets of fresh eggs. In a stall nearby, there were boxes of emptied-out eggshells that had been filled with confetti and sealed with a bright piece of tissue paper. If I remember correctly, people will gleefully smash these on friends' heads. Glad I don't have to sweep up afterward!

The market was an amazing blend of old country and new tech -- piles of produce in baskets, with an electronic scale nearby to weigh it and a computer monitor to display the price. Cellphones  and DVDs and toys and shoes and clothes were interspersed amid all this, along with ginormous bags of palomitas (popcorn), tortilla chips and other snacks.

Then it was off to the supermercado, where Olga shopped for more food, including a kilo of still-warm corn tortillas -- 8 pesos ($.75), more baked goods and other necessities, while Florida and I checked out whatever caught our eyes. She'd forgotten her hair gel, so we looked at a brand called Muco de Gorila/Gorilla Snott. (you really can't make this stuff up!) She's just snot into anything that whimsical, so she bought something with a much less amusing name.

We got some local beverages to try, including a lime-flavored diet pop. Diet soft drinks are hard to find around here. "Eat, drink and be merry" could well be Mexico's unofficial motto, especially at major holidays.

Hopefully tomorrow won't be a rainout, but even if it is, there's plenty to write about.

!VIVA MEXICO!