Zacatepec, Sweet Sugarcane Land

Morelos is 45 minutes away from Mexico City. I used to come here often in the eighties on the weekends. Morelos is still a beautiful state, specially with the rain everything gets greener, it's only fault: a sadic governor.

Social media has been winning the battle in organizing each and everyone of us. If there was one dream technology pursued, these past days have evidenced, they were surpassed. Our will to associate and disassociate is free. My team, if I can call it that way, was organized by someone else, comprised of 14, 7 from Mexico City and 7 from Monterrey. None of us had ever met personally, or through any social media, till a few days ago.

On our way we found people sending help along. This time, chilangos, as we're called by people from other Mexican states, really represented.

We arrived around 7 pm to Jojutla. It was just beginning to get dark but as soon as I saw how things were, it seemed to get darker fast. The president had just left the zone but there still was a buzz. This is what happened here:

A random scene was a clown wearing a helmet, tying something unto the top of his car. Traffic was heavy for a town that was never this busy. Trucks moving everywhere, volunteers swarming everywhere, getting out of trucks, coming back to rest.

Morelos' economy strives on the remaining sugar mills on the city, flowers (poinsettias), vegetables like green beans and fruits. They also produce machinery and transportation equipment yet one of their main assets is the wedding business, from locations to the whole organization of these ceremonies.

We were later taken to Zacatepec, our guide took us to the Agustín "Coyuco" Stadium where we were offered to spend the night there after we entered the night shift that involved unloading of trucks and organizing food pantries. 

As usual, authorities were taking advantage of other people's effort and made beauuuuutiful government videos from the State of Morelos that "show" how "they" were working and how food pantries were "allegedly" been handed out.

Our shift ended at 2 am. We were given some mats and we slept at the halls of the stadium. To be completely honest I was a bit stressed around the presence of militar forces inside the compound. After the involvement of these forces acting as police in many other states, these scenes filled my head with possible alternatives that could go really wrong. Due to the fact I have a wild imagination, these stories began with bits and pieces of news headlines: Militaries... volunteers... guns, men separated, women... closed compound. 

I hate the dramatism but by being in Morelos, a violent, boiling state involves certain risks and we were certainly aware of them. The fact you cope with these, does not mean you don't sleep with one eye open as boots came and went through the night. Especially when you're traveling with people you don't know that well. Relying on strangers availing for whatever happens to you can only go so far. The irony? I forgot the cable that charged the battery to my phone. Eleven percent battery informed the cell phone. Turned it off, took it close to my body and as I wondered if I should put my boots back on like some did (scorpions are nasty suckers in this states), I must have fallen asleep at some point.