004196 Visit since
I was born in the beginning
of the 20th century in San Gabriel, a cheerful little town in the State of Jalisco.
My parents named me Catalina. My father was Don Juan Montes de Oca from Tapalpa,
Jalisco, a town enclave on the skirts of the Sierra Madre. My mother's name was
Ramona Aguilar, daughter of Don Rafael Aguilar, a wealthy tradesman from the town
of San Gabriel. My grandfather donated the building for a small chapel in San
Gabriel to venerate the Divine Face of Christ. The chapel and my old grandfather's
house where my mother and siblings were born still exist in San Gabriel. As far
back as I can remember, I always had a life of leisure with my parents. One
of my aunts always said that I was very observant since very young and I truly
believe it, as I keep in my memory clear and far remembrances of a happy child
hook in the beautiful city of Guadalajara. When I first became a happy childhood
in the beautiful city of Guadalajara. When I first became aware of the grocery
shop business ran by my father and Uncle Lazaro Montes adjacent to our house,
I was only five years old. People said our house had been
a Convent for the Carmelita Order. It was located on the street of San Cristobal
actually known as Ocho de Julio Street. Our main crossroad was Juárez Avenue,
previously del Carmen Avenue, named after the Carmelita's Convent. I
still remember the beautiful green lawn in our garden. I used to lie there at
"Siesta" time to listen to the melancholy songs of the tortolita (turtledove)
birds. At night, all the children got together to play folkloric children's games
such as Maria Blanca, Golden Angel, Mambru Went to War, Water Snake, etc. Attorney
Agustin Yañez, a good friend of mine, and one of the finest Mexican writes
in history, wrote with delight about folkloric Mexican writers in history, wrote
with delight about folkloric Mexican children's games in his book titled Essence
of Folkloric Mexican Children's Games. Another of my favorite things to do at
night was to smell the fragrance from the Huele de Noche (Night Aromatic) flowers
surrounding our property. I was fascinated to hear the chirping of crickets, finding
them mysterious and somehow relating them in part to my schoolbook, Susanita.
It was a story about an orphan girl who worked very hard at her home to care for
the little brothers. Each time Susanita cleaned the chimney, she heard the chirping
of a cricket crawling in the chimney. Many winters have
gone bye since those happy childhood days. Each time I go to my hometown and revisit
my old beautiful garden, my memories revive and my heart aches with nostalgia.
I remember clearly how anxiously I awaited my father picking us up (Maria, my
sister, and I) from the Lyceum after school. On the way home he took us by the
Garden of Soledad (Garden of Solitude), presently renamed La Rotonda de los Hombres
Ilustres ( the Roundhouse of Famous People). The garden was across the street
from the museum and next to the Cathedral. My father would buy us beautiful white
flowers there. As soon as we arrived home, mother would change our school clothes
to beautiful white first-communion dresses, with tulle veils and tiaras to go
to Church. As part of an old tradition in Mexico, we would offer fresh flowers
to Virgin Mary. This is customary in Mexico during the months of May and June. Every
time I revisit the sacred precinct of sweet memories, my eyes fill with silent
tears! Nothing in the precinct has changed. The building has the same dome; the
museum has the same old paintings of renowned women from the Bible; all the statues
and paintings of the Saints are still in the same place. Everything in the same…
except for my life. I can remember the celebration of
St. Peter's holiday. We were excited and filled with anticipation. Early in the
morning, my parents would take my sisters and me on mule-back in the parade to
the watchtower. From the tower, we were transferred to coaches adorned with flowers
to continue on to Tlaquepaque. During Lent time celebrations
by Hidalgo street on the Cathedral side, one could see rows of tables with big
clay ports filled with a variety of foods and fruit ades, Horchata (rice-ade)
and Cebada (barley-ade), which we avidly drank in chilled clay mugs sweating with
ice-cold drops. Later in the year came the November holidays such as, All Saints
Day and the Day of the Dead. Peddlers were everywhere on the sidewalks. They sold
beautiful masks made of cardboard, brightly painted an smelling like fresh rosin.
Then came the December holidays. We paraded to the Sanctuary of the Virgin of
Guadalupe and ate goodies such as buñuelos de rodilla, (deep fried cakes),
creole sugar canes, and fresh peanuts in shell that we used to call Ruido de Uñas
(Nail Crackers) because of the crunchy noise. The traditional Posadas ( Mexican
twelve days before Christmas) came after the Guadalupe celebrations. Though my
sister and I knew we were not invited to the Posadas at Silva's elementary school,
we would manage to blend with the other children to get candy from house to house
carrying lighted candles. The grand finale was always the excitement of breaking
the piñatas and getting the candy that had fallen on the ground. In
Guadalajara the streets flooded during rainy reason. The boys our age made money
placing boards between sidewalks to help people to cross the street. They would
charge one cent for every crossing. As children, we watched all these events joyfully.
I attended grammar school at Normal Liceo de Niñas
y Señoritas ( Normal Lyceum for Girls and Misses). It was located next
to the Great Theater of Degollado, now Plaza de la Liberacion (Liberation Plaza)
in Guadalajara. Señorita Laura Apodaca was my teacher.
I remember her clearly. She was tall, dark complexioned and very thin. She wore
a black apron made of Alpaca. I found her majestic and intimidating at the same
time. She had a grave voice and used to call up front all the girls with the best
grades to reward them with passes to the Great Orrin Circus, where Ricardo Bell
was the comedy star. We used to love listening to his entertaining and ingenious
jokes. I was deeply saddened when I had to leave my school
to move to the neighboring town of Ocotlan, Jalisco. We lived in Ocotlan from
1912 to 1915 and then moved back to Guadalajara due to the Revolution. My
father passed away shortly after we moved out of Ocotrlan. This was a good reason
for my mother to take us back to the city. It was safer there. Two
years went by for the Revolution to calm down. We then moved to Mexico City. After
we settled down in the big city capital of Mexico, Señor, Manuel F. Ochoa,
a friend o ours from San Gabriel, helped my sisters to get their teacher's titles,
and found them jobs at the local school. Señor Ochoa was the private telegrapher
for the President of Mexico, don Venustiano Carranza. I
was lucky to get my first job as an Optical Assistant at Los Optical de Kin Optometrists.
I learned fast how to fit glasses. In Guadalajara, shortly
before we moved to Mexico City, I met a young man who later would be my husband.
His name was Señor Roberto Contreras Quintero from Mascota, Jalisco. After
we started dating, young Contreras went in search of new horizons. In 1916 he
left his pharmacy in Guadalajara to move to Puerto Vallarta. Two years later he
came to Mexico City so we would marry. Our wedding took
place at the Temple of the Solitude, an antique Catholic Church, on the 27 of
April 1918. this was a time of prosperity in Mexico City. 1918 marked the end
of the Revolution. We had constituted a government and our new President was Señor
Venustiano Carranza. The people of Mexico City lived happily enjoying peace, but
it was not the same for the people in Michoacan State, who lived in fear. The
guerrilleros commanded by Ines Chavez Garcia constantly threatened their lives.
The towns of Zamora, Cotija, la Piedad and other neighboring towns were affected.
General Joaquin Amaro, took charge of pursuing Chavez Garcia, (who wore a hoop
earring) but could never capture him. Chavez was very audacious. He came close
to his enemies but always got away. Several times, he set railroad tracks and
trains on fire. It was during this time we had to make
our wedding trip by train. We feared traveling. Fortunately, we arrived safely
in Guadalajara. My husband's family was waiting for us
at the train station. After celebrating our wedding for a couple of days with
his family, we continue our train trip to Manzanillo via Colima. Our destination
was Las Peñas, where my husband had settled. After
traveling all day by train, we arrived in Colima the following morning. We had
breakfast at one of the popular restaurants in town, where I observed how people
dressed. The men wore white shirts and pants; shirts were made of a thin, transparent
material. Most men wore Panama hats. At that time of the year, the weather was
starting to get warm. We toured the city and later rode
a coach pulled by mules to the train station. There were women with cantaros (earthen
vessels for drinks) selling cold drinks in clay mugs. I approached them and asked
curiously what kind of drink they were selling; they tokd me it was tuba, a drink
made out of the heart of the coconuts. I sat down to rest and enjoyed a cool tuba
drink. After our train ride, we checked in a hotel in
Manzanillo managed by Chinese. It was horrible! There was no water service and
tall boxes were used as communal. That is, in order to sit on the throne, we needed
to use a ladder! When I asked about the lack of water,
it was explained to me only rich people owned water reservoirs. The ret had to
buy the water out of canisters carried on donkey's backs from street vendors.
It looked so odd! This is how Manzanillo was at this time. After
taking a small siesta we went to tour the port. The afternoon heat was suffocating
and we were weary in no time. We walked to a refreshment shop by the ocean and
sat down to drink cold coconut milk. We saw a group of people walk toward us.
In particular, there was a tall, thin, middle-aged man who approached us with
a big smile. My husband said,- " Look Catalina, these people are from Las
Peñas and I have high regard for them" - He introduced Señor
Adolfo Godinez and his wife Cecilia Santana. I also met Señora Lola Amaral
from the same group of people. She was the sister of the Chief of Police of Las
Peñas, Don Pedro Amaral. I immediately felt at ease with these nice people. My
husband relayed to Mr. Godinez his concern of not finding boat transportation
for us to get to Las Peñas. Mr. Godinez told my husband not to worry. He
had rented a boat to transport goods. The boat's name was Sin Nombre ( No Name).
He would ask the Captain and the head of Customs to allow us to come on board
as passengers. That afternoon, while waiting to hear if would be accepted on board
Sin Nombre, we strolled by the beach to tour the port. I was so excited! Everything
was so beautiful! I felt like a bird let out of its cage. I was eager to see everything
that came before my eyes and which was brand-new for me, the ocean, the beach,
and the brightest sun I have ever seen. All these marvelous things were best appreciated
when we climbed to the watchtower hill and were able to see the breakwater wall. I
particularly liked the homes that were enclaved on the skirts of the mountains.
They resembled a Nativity scene from a postcard; some of them seemed to be suspended
in air, altogether beautiful. We walked downhill on Main
Street and sat pleasantly on a bench at the Square to listen to the live band
music playing the traditional Serenade. We went back to the hotel late at night
and fell asleep right away. Our sleep was interrupted by hard knocks on our room
door. A voice urged us to get ready immediately as the boat to Las Peñas
was preparing to sail. When we heard this, we knew it was a scam. Before going
back to the hotel, we had stopped at the Customs station to reconfirm our trip
on board the Sin Nombre, and were happy to find out we had been accepted. According
to the schedule, a custom's agent said, we would leave next day at two o'clock
in the afternoon. After a few minutes, there were knocks
on our door again. The voices were insistent and urged us to get ready to sail
out. We chose not to answer and to keep quiet. When there was no response from
us, the voices stopped. An hour went by and we heard
knocks again. This time, my husband jumped out of the bed in rage and screamed,
demanding an explanation to such nuisance. When we opened the door, there was
a large group of military men by the door. They started asking us all sorts of
questions wanting to know everything about us, where we came from and where were
we going. They asked for our identification. We did not have any identification
other than our marriage certificate on hand. The men,
including their commander general, told us they were searching for the town's
Mayor, who had fled after stealing the soldiers' payroll money. My
husband in good faith gave them the names of some local people that could be of
help. The General saw that we were honest people and he finally left us alone. When
we got up the following day, we complained to the Front Office of the Hotel and
they were very apologetic. Young Salvador Barraza, a good friend of ours, was
by our side. I was wearing a white hat. When we started looking around, we saw
guards surrounding the hotel. I asked the waitress and she said the hotel had
been under siege all night. According to her, General had set eyes on the beautiful
young lady in the white hat a day prior, (that was me!) which explained the situation
of the previous night. We learned later that the General had elaborated a plan
to arrest my husband in order to kidnap me. ( This was a irty common trick often
used by people in power.) When my husband heard this, we left the hotel immediately.
We went for asylum to Dr. Atilano Velazco's house. He was the head of the Health
Department and a good friend of my husband. After the introductions, my husband
left me in care of Dr. Velazco and went on to confront the General. I
was very worried about my husband's safety. When he finally came back, he said
he got in a heated argument with the General. After a long discussion, the General
ended apologizing to my husband. I always considered this a great act of courage
on my husband's part. Later that day, we saw Señor
Godínez again and reconfirmed our departure. Señor Godinez and his
wife are the parents of local friends Lorenzo, Carmen, Chonita and Victoria. The
Godinez's children are all married and highly regarded in the community. Catalina
Montes de Oca Aguilar
Archives
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the book "Puerto Vallarta en mis Recuerdos" -both versions- are published
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