As I passed the town’s central plaza, I spotted Rafael and Teresa. They were participating in the time-honored tradition of the Aztlan paseo . The Sunday evening promenade is a curious tradition, in which single men stroll around the plaza in one direction while single women and couples circle it in the other direction. Everyone is decked out in their finest clothes and the object seems to be to flirt, rather than to make any serious connections—although being caught by the curfew could provide a handy excuse for having to stay overnight at the home of a suitor. Tonight the paseo participants were especially jubilant, celebrating the Serpents’ victory in the ollamaliztli finals.