Governor Herrera's visit to Xalapa central plaza is one day too late

This afternoon at about 7pm I was on my way from school to frisbee practice when I saw that a small crowd had gathered in the plaza facing the city's main cathedral. After checking the other side of the street to see how many riot-police were lining the front of the State Government Building (which I've found to be a pretty good indicator of the seriousness of the almost daily gatherings/protests held in the plaza) and not being able to spot more than a handful, I made my way toward the circle of maybe 25 formally-attired onlookers. I poked my head over the shoulders of the crowd and lo and behold, the governor, with little security personnel in sight (but I guess that's the point), was busy signing autographs and taking photo ops with eagerly awaiting fans. To my astonishment, his tie was of more of a pink than of his normally preferred red persuasion. I digress.

Just a day earlier, a similarly sized group of about 30, six to ten year old students wearing matching uniforms had stood in the very same plaza. However, in place of fancy cameras and autographed newspaper articles, the children held signs asking the governor to devote more funding toward their school and others like it. One read: "Governor Herrera, do you really think we can learn in the dark?" I guess to help their children in getting more sympathy from passers by, the protesters' parents sat, in vigilant silence, on the steps of the State Government Building on the opposite side of the street. The ploy certainly worked on me as I wondered how someone, including the Governor, could be so cold as to look into the faces of these helpless, yet driven children and not be compelled to join their cause.

For this reason, I couldn't help but start chuckling out loud, which drew the attention of some of the well-dressed, important looking people around me, when I then saw the Governor standing there this afternoon. I guess it's a good thing he came, it's just too bad that his timing was off by more than a day.