Xalapa de mis sueños, Jalapa of my dreams

by  Roy B. Dudley

Roy B. Dudley, originally from Boulder, CO,  lives in Xalapa, Veracruz, and is a photographer/videographer at Studio ROY.

After living in this beautiful city for the last 26 years, Xalapa (hah-lah-pah, like the famous jalapeño chiles) is truly the place of my dreams. Nestled in lush coffee-growing hills, with a micro climate averaging 68° F year-round, capital of the Gulf of Mexico state of Veracruz, Xalapa is also known as the “Athens of Veracruz” because of its strong cultural influences of three major universities, a multitude of preparatory and technical schools and institutes, art galleries, folklore groups, outstanding anthropology and science museums, and the world renowned Xalapa Symphony Orchestra.

The area surrounding Xalapa also has many interesting villages to visit, like Coatepec and Xico (lots of coffee and this is where the movie “Romancing the Stone” was shot), Naolinco with its famous “standing river”(a waterfall!), west to Las Vigas in the pine covered mountains with delicious jamón serrano (smoked ham) and beautiful vistas, or east toward Carrizal with its thermal baths and rafting, as well as dozens of other small towns with unique attractions that would take a thick book to tell about.

Fortunately, I live right in downtown Xalapa. Even though the traffic is often annoying in this active colonial city of over 600,000 inhabitants, I rarely use a car since the taxis cost only around a dollar! There is little reason to hassle finding a parking place when a taxi will drop you off right where you want to go, and later, for a little more money, you can call a radio taxi to meet you at the door. And for you “walkaholics” like me who love to explore new sights and sounds on foot, Xalapa is the place to come with its narrow and often very steep streets. My jalapeña wife, Lourdes, who has put up with me for 25 years, will send me out to get a loaf of bread from the corner store with the admonishment, “Now don’t be too long because I’m really hungry.” I’ll show up about an hour or so later – but of course by now she’ll be furious, and I give her the lame excuse that I met “Fulano, Mengano y Perengano”(a bunch of people) whom I just had to chat with. Let me tell you, Xalapa is the place to make lasting friends where you can meet for a delicious cup of cappuccino or americano at the myriad of cafés and restaurants this city has to offer. My favorites are Café Chiquito (on Bravo street) and Café Latino (next to the main post office).

You can tell by my ample girth that I love Mexican food. My favorite restaurants in Xalapa are Mi Nueva Banderilla (by Los Lagos), El Diamante (at El Callejon del Diamante) attended by owner Don Sergio with his delicious horchata de coco drink, La Casa de Mago (Morelos 46 around the corner from the hotel La Posada del Cafeto) and the  fairly new La Cocina de la Abuela attended by Doña Blanca who makes fantastic mole. And as the future president of the Xalapa Rotary Club, my days are really occupied. By the way, all you Rotarians are cordially invited to session with us every Wednesday evening at 9:30 P.M. at the Hotel Hostal del Tejar.

For the last 24 years I’ve had my photography and video studio (Studio ROY...very original!) which has allowed me to become very closely involved with the community. It’s becoming more and more frequent that I  take the first communion pictures of children of parents who also had  their first communion pictures taken by me. My weekends are always hectic, with bautizos (baptisms),  primera comuniones (first communions), quince años (debutante balls) and bodas (weddings), many times for “gringos,” Canadians, Germans, Italians, Polish, etc., who have married Mexicans. Sometimes I find myself speaking three languages in one conversation. Right now we’re videotaping the ExpoXalapa for Coca Cola, as well as many high school and university graduations this time of year.