No, of course it wasn’t me dancing in Veracruz. But in my one possible foray from the conference centre here, I went into the historic centre of Veracruz last night.
The central square is one of those colonial wonders that fill Mexico, with elegant 18th century buildings overlooked by the towering cathedral. There was a stage in the centre with a band (youngest member 60 years old, at a guess) and a dozen couples all in white (women with flowers in their hair, men wearing natty sombreros) doing rather formal dances. Others were dancing away in the square.
We sat in one of the cafes on the plaza. The band continued its playing on the stage, but we were also assaulted by a band serenading the table next to our and a marimba player on the pavement. The band next to our table was very good, but it was really transformed when one of the men at the table began singing. He was superb. Amazing, quasi-cinematic experience.
It was topped off by getting some of the local ice cream at a place called Las Nieves del Malecón. Men stand on the pavement shouting, “Güera, güera, güera!” It apparently means, “Hey, blondie!”, but they shout it at everyone, from blonde to dark to bald (and also male or female — men should properly be güero). They have big tubs with each flavour — coconut, strawberry, peanut, guava, melon, etc, etc — made by mixing vast quantities of real fruit with ice. I’m not sure there’s anything else in it, but it was wonderful. I was the only person to go for this, which might be a reflection of my gluttony, but I think it was more a reflection of undue caution about ice (Montezuma’s revenge) in the others.
I’ve discovered the annoying 0x800ccc79 error. Apparently many ISPs, including mine, won’t let you use their smtp server unless you are connected through them. Since I’m connected here by a LAN, I can only send email to other people on the BTInternet servers (I’m receiving email without problems). If anyone knows a workaround on this, do let me know. Otherwise, if you are expecting to hear from me by email this week, you’ll have to wait until my return to London.
Did you ever get a fix for this?
I’ve discovered the annoying 0×800ccc79 error. Apparently many ISPs, including mine, won’t let you use their smtp server unless you are connected through them. Since I’m connected here by a LAN, I can only send email to other people on the BTInternet servers (I’m receiving email without problems). If anyone knows a workaround on this, do let me know. Otherwise, if you are expecting to hear from me by email this week, you’ll have to wait until my return to London.