WHAT WE FOUND IN PATZCUARO

First we went to Lake Zirahuen.  My research showed the lake to be very clean and the town just starting to get expats building homes there.  What we found was that the lake was very clean, and the setting of the town with the lake and hills around it was a picture postcard.  It was absolutely beautiful. I could not take any pictures because when we got there it was raining.  The new homes being built are very nice.  However there is basically no town of any sort.  It is a very isolated location - too isolated for us.  So on we drove to Lake Pazcuaro.  

Last time we were there we stayed with some friends.  They were such lovely people and we had such a wonderful time with them.  I wanted to experience Pazcuaro by ourselves.  I wanted to see the town with all its warts and wrinkles so to speak.

We drove all the way around the lake and into each village and town we found.  Evening was coming so we got a place to stay in the Grand Plaza at one of the hotels there.

Here are pictures of our hotel.

What I saw was a town in action but not in a busy way.  It was 10PM and people were sitting outside in the cafe's having coffee or drinks.  Children and their families were walking around in the plaza - some people jogging around the plaza - shops were open.  Life was safe, life was happening, but life was still simple and calm.

In the morning we woke up to the normal church bells.  Then something different - a band was playing.  We got dressed and went down stairs to see what was going on.  This is what we found.

This was a military band playing music and getting the Mexican flag up the flag poll.  I watched with envy, wishing that I could see this site in every town in the United States.  Then something else happened. Another band started to come into the plaza area.

There were school kids coming into the plaza from all sides.

There were so many kids marching to the music and all coming into the plaza area.  The streets were full.

They just kept on coming and coming.  All of them school kids.

Then this group marched in front carrying their flag with honor. 

There were representatives from the schools lined up on the other side from where the majority of kids were.  As this group marched past each representative school group, one child stepped forward and another unwrapped their flag.  

I was so moved.  Not because I honor the Mexican flag but because of this empty hole I felt inside.  Remembering back to the days when every classroom in the United States honored our flag and said the pledge of allegiance to our flag. The very flag that represents our country.

I Pledge Allegiance	I Promise to be faithful and true (Promise my loyalty)
to the flag	to the emblem that stands for and represents
of the United States	all 50 states, each of them individual, and individually represented on the flag
of America	yet formed into a UNION of one Nation.
and to the Republic	And I also pledge my loyalty to the Government that is itself a Republic, a form of government where the PEOPLE are sovereign,
for which it stands,	this government also being represented by the Flag to which I promise loyalty.
one Nation under God,	These 50 individual states are united as a single Republic under the Divine providence of God, "our most powerful resource" (according to the words of President Eisenhower)
Indivisible,	and can not be separated.   (This part of the original version of the pledge was written just 30 years after the beginning of the Civil War and demonstrates the unity sought in the years after that divisive period in our history)
with Liberty	The people of this Nation being afforded the freedom to pursue "life, liberty, and happiness",
and Justice	And each person entitled to be treated justly, fairly, and according to proper law and principle,
for All.	And these principles afforded to EVERY AMERICAN, regardless of race, religion, color, creed, or any other criteria.   Just as the flag represents 50 individual states that can not be divided or separated, this Nation represents millions of people who can not be separated or divided.

Now I was watching another nation show their allegiance and teach their children to have pride in their nation.  I just wish that I was watching this in my own country, but my country does not want the school children to say the pledge of allegiance because it has to God in it and that could offend some person.  Oh America, what have you done to yourself?