a womans world

so the small town i ended up stopping in for a couple nights had some suprises up its sleave.
the town of tehuantapec. in my lonely planet guide book there was some information about the women of tehuantapec taking lead roles in government and business. this sparked my interest, and i figured it would be a good place for a woman to travel alone to.

i managed to meet a couple from australia (i'm losing track of all the aussies i've met) the evening of the second night i was there. the three of us went for a drink and began discussing our travels. the two of them were talking about a town in mexico that was a matriarch, but they weren't sure where it was. i thought that would be a great place to visit. as we were talking, we noticed a 'ladyboy', as the aussies put it, standing out on the corner, then later walking down the road. this suprised us as we were in the heart of machismo mexico. i mentioned that it must be a tough gig in this culture, especially in a small town!

after our drinks we took a motocarro (three wheeled mini cart that you stand on the back of) and zipped through the town, saying hola to everyone we passed and putting ourselves on extra display.... i figure this must be where the fun is at in this place... it was a blast..... and .... we came across a fiesta! on a sunday night! in the street! with women all dressed up in traditional wear - bright floral dresses and flowers in their hair... so cool.

we edged our way to the outskirts of the fiesta and were instantly drawn in by one very friendly local who promptly sold us a case of cerveza. peering in on the party we noticed that it was mostly women dancing, with eachother, and men on the sidelines, and.... ladyboys and dragqueens/trannies! some in full womens traditional dress, and some in casual mini skirts and tops. everyone was enjoying the festivities and there was absolutely no weirdness or tension among the different sexualities. it was somewhat surreal.

a man sitting next to us, who spoke english, explained to us that we were smack dab in the middle of a matriarch.
seriously??
this explained the men quietly on the sides dealing with children. this explained the women dancing in bright colours. this explained the men-turned-women who seemed to have a more prominant role than the plain old men. (one who went around handing out soap and shampoo later in the evening... what?)

as the party continued we were offered menudo (cows stomach in a nasty soup) that we would have been rude to refuse, dripping fresh flowers for our hair, coca cola, and more cerveza.... which was only available by the case...
our welcoming friend brought out his camera, and wanted us to take photos for him, but of us... i think he wasn't so sure how his camera worked... the photo session went well into the evening... i wish i'd brought my camera... and we danced with a few strange little men who made no attempt to get fresh.

the three of us left the party around midnight, with some protest by the locals (apparently we were going to miss the fireworks).
i don't think i've felt so safe walking home at night in a different country.

and that was the end of that. back to regular old machismo mexico.
i purposely avoided the tour to the polygamous community while in chiapas.
i didn't want to be brought back down.