Last night as I headed to the Zocalo to meet the little businessman for ice cream, I could barely claim my usual spot because there were barricades and signs announcing the Carrera Panamericana (Panamerican Highway) Rally.
Then, I noticed the cars. There were fancy racecars and their handsome drivers parked around three-quarters of the Zocalo. Fans, old and new, posed in front of, and sometimes even on top of, the vehicles. Proud fathers snapped photos of their children pretending to drive or simply admiring these machines. Boyfriends or sons even captured poses of their girlfriends or mothers cuddled up against these drivers who gladly signed anything handed their way: shirts, slips of paper, even skin.
According to the official website, the rally started in Veracruz yesterday and runs through the 25th. The rally involves one-hundred cars that race 2000 miles north. The website states: The Mexican Road Race is always an adventure…. The Pan Am is a serious test of drivers and their cars and a major cultural experience. Finishing the race in Zacatecas after seven long days behind the wheel is a major accomplishment…. a lifetime of memories” (panamrace.com).
Each night, the racers rest in a different city. Fortunately, they roared in last night. The Zocalo was buzzing and the little businessman was too occupied to stop for dessert.
shewhodaresnothing 