a stroll amongst statues

A few days ago we completed our first full week in Querétaro, Mexico with my husband. Since the last time I wrote, lots have happened. Among other wonderful things, we got married. Now we are in Mexico thanks to his work and slowly but surely adapting to new altitudes in a wonderful city called Santiago de Querétaro.

When one lands in a new environment it seems that the mind or the brain or both wants to find similarity in previously visited places. When we drive or walk around with my husband, we often tend to utter aloud; "this looks just like this and this place"... sometimes we agree... sometimes not. I wonder if it's not a human trick to feel safe in a new location. To feel that we somehow belong. I don't know but I enjoy the feeling. During our first stroll in the old part of Querétaro City, we found statues bringing us back both to Helsinki and Montreal. This time we agreed on them when we saw them. Now looking at the pictures from each place, I'm not so sure others will agree.

Here we have a fountain statue called the Havis Amanda in Helsinki.

A mermaid surrounded by sea lions. She is very much one of the landmarks of Helsinki and center of attention every year at Vappu, the time of the year we Finns celebrate education in a very festive way. 

Then a fountain statue in Querétaro. We thought she had the same mermaid feel to her, no sea lions however and her story is still unknown to us... however I later figured out that there is no story to her... as it is a he.

Then we have a statue with a really impressive story to it. 

"La Corregidora"

La Corregidora is the nickname for the great and brave woman named Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez. She is a heroine of the Mexican War of independence. She was born in Mexico by Spanish parents, a criollo as they were called. She loved the indigenous people and she wanted independence for her country. She married the mayor of the city, had 14 children and later on started organizing secret meetings gathering revolutionaries to plan the Revolution in 1810. The date for the revolution was set for December 8 but they were betrayed and the war of Independence started on September 13 and it was Josefa Ortiz de Domiguez who gave the signal that started the war here in Querétaro. She got arrested but later on in life she continued her work in politics (on the radical side of it) and was given several rewards for her work, all of which she refused. In her opinion she was just doing her duties as a patriot. There is a lot more to her story. Fascinating indeed, so I will for sure try to read more about this fabulous woman. 

The statue it reminded us of on our Sunday stroll was this one we have in Montreal.

The "angel statue" (George-Étienne Cartier statue) in the park of Mount-Royal. It has a lot of symbolism but far less impressive story, so I will not compere these two any further. Just curious to how the mind works and links things together.

I'm so far very impressed by what I have seen and heard about Querétaro. It is high up on the list of the safest cities in Mexico and with the best quality of life. They seem to have a beautiful respect for their indigenous heritage. This is however just a first impression, based on very few facts, so I would have to look into the matter a bit further. 
People are really friendly with you face to face. They don't switch over to English and make comments on your poor Spanish. Or how the french speakers do it in Quebec; "I hear you have an accent, would you prefer English?" A question I tend to answer; "No, unless you have a problem with understanding me, I speak five languages and that tends to come with an accent". 
 Back to the friendly Mexicans... to the Quebecers defense, they have horrible ice rain and weather conditions that make even the best ones cranky. I know, I've seen and felt it and therefore really happy to get a break from it. 
It is easier to remain friendly when the sun is shining and the temperature is a nice 25 degrees celsius. 
People are however really unfriendly in traffic here at least if you look at it from the pedestrian's point of view. They must not value other human lives much until they have them face to face. I don't know. I find it peculiar. 
This is a thing I have noticed when traveling in general. We in the Nordic countries have a built in respect for each other, even for complete strangers. You feel it especially when in traffic. We help each other out, particularly the "weaker" or more fragile ones. Like pedestrian vs person in a car. It's just common sense to us. 
Here there is no such thing, at least not if you decide to walk home from downtown to the area of Jurica, a 10 km walk along a highway. I did that on my second stroll down town, alone this time.

If the police wouldn't have stopped the traffic and let me pass, I think I would still stand there. They could have made a statue of the crazy Finn who tried to walk home. I would just have dried in spot out of all the pollution. I wish they would surround me with dogs, like they did to this man.

Another statue we found in the old part of Querétaro, in the historical center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and very pleasant part to walk around in. On Sunday evenings,  they close the streets for cars and the pedestrians become empowered. Something that should be done in more cities in general, I think. Really enjoyed this concept that gives a  nice and relaxed ambiance to the city. Look forward making it a Sunday habit.