A Temblor and San Judas

Sunday night, April 27, as we sat down to dinner I felt suddenly dizzy, a strange sense of motion. When the feeling came a second time I asked Bill,”Did you feel that?” Yes, he did, and we deduced that it must be an earthquake. The ten o’clock news confirmed that it was a quake registering 5.6 on the Richter scale, with its epicenter in Guerrero state. I like the Spanish word temblor better, since earthquake conjures up horrible images of destruction, and this was only a tremor. I hope it’s our only such experience here. Not knowing what to do in an earthquake I did what any computer-dependent person would do and went to ask.com. Basically the answer is to stay where you are and protect yourself as best you can from things that might fall.

Coming home from school on Monday,I wondered why Hidalgo metro station was swarming with people, and then I remembered that it was the 28th. Hidalgo is the closest stop to San Hipolito church, where on the 28th of every month people bring their San Judas Tadeo images to be blessed. Saint Jude, the patron of desperate situations. Judging by the crowds on the 28th of each month, I'd say he is second in devotees only to la Virgen de Guadalupe. Here are some photos from Oct. 28, St. Jude's day, when even more people seek his intercession.