Chichen-Itza

Another pyramid day! After a two-hour bus-ride from Merida we arrived at the Chichen-Itza archeological site. It was really, really hot, and there were thousands of other tourists. We took a guided tour and then walked around for a while on our own. We couldn’t climb up any of the pyramids like we could in Palenque. But it was still fun.

Merida

Free day in Merida! We are now in the Yucatan of Mexico. Merida is actually a really cute little town. We walked around the centro and saw the cathedral and a few other churches that were located around the central area of town. Later in the afternoon we came back and got to see all the Sunday festivities. The entire centro was filled with people and food vendors. Patrick and I had some really good gringa tacos and Ellie found some more elote and some fried plantain bananas. There was some live music too and lots of people dancing in the streets. Merida is pretty nice.

Palenque Pyramids

Today we have to pack up all of our stuff again because tonight we are leaving for Merida at 11 pm for another overnight bus trip. We put all of our bags in Jaime’s room to store it for our day of pyramid adventures. At 11 am we got into the vans again and headed to the Palenque archeological site. It is only about 15 outside of the city area, out in the middle of the jungle. When we got to the pyramid entrance we hired a guide to talk us through our first hour of the tour. The pyramids were amazing. Unlike Teotihuacán in Mexico City or Monte Alban in Oaxaca, these pyramids seemed to be made with much cleaner lines and were obviously better preserved. We did a tour of the temple of an ancient queen known as the red queen, and then the palacio principal. The guide explained the significance of each structure and the location of the tomb of the king. The actual tomb is closed to public viewing, but there is a replica of the tomb in the museum on the lower area of the archeological area. After our hour tour, we were given two hours of free time to explore Palenque on our own. I climbed up to the top of the temple of the cross from which the entire site was visible. The view was incredible. Next we walked around the lower area where there were smaller structures wedged between tall trees with beautiful red blossoms. There were also these trees with red bark which they call “gringo trees” because if you leave a gringo out in the sun too long their skin turns red just like the bark of the trees. A few of us decided to go further and explore the lower trails and some little waterfalls created by a small stream. The water of the little river was so clear and fresh looking that we were tempted to swim, but without swimming suits and the clearly marked “no swimming” signs, the plan was soon dropped. The bottom of the trial came out near the museum, so we decided we might as well go in. It was still boiling hot, and contrary to our assumptions, the museum was not air-conditioned. We got to see the replica of the tomb of the king, which was pretty impressive. Alberto Ruz L Huillier, the man who was the first to discover the tomb said something amazing about his discovery and how he felt upon opening up the tomb for the first time. More or less what he said was: what our eyes are first to discover is the same that was seen by the last priest who closed the tomb. After leaving the museum we went back to the parking lot to meet up with the others. There were some howler monkeys hanging out in the trees a little ways into the jungle yelling at something or someone. I only saw one or two, but it sounded like a lot more of them were hanging out in the trees. When the van finally arrived, all 17 of us packed in and we headed back to the hotel. The first thing I did when I got back was to get my bathing suit on and then jump into the pool. It was so humid and hot! Later in the evening we all went out for dinner together at a restaurant near the centro of Palenque. The food proportions were enormous, and after a long day of hiking around, we were all famished. Then back to the hotel again to collect our things to go to the bus station. Our bus for Merida leaves at 11 pm with a scheduled arrival some time the next morning. Good night!

Misol-ha y Agua Azul

On our first full day in Palenque we took a trip to visit some of the waterfall sites outside of the city. We split up into two vans and headed out at 9 am. The road we took was the same road that we had to take to come in on the bus and it was just as windy and scary in a small van as in a huge bus. First we went to a waterfall called Misol-ha. It was only about a five-minute walk from the vans to the waterfall. It was a really beautiful waterfall with a trail behind. First I walked around behind the waterfall and up to a little cave on the other side. For 10 pesos each, a guide gave us flashlights and led us into the little cave to see the waterfall inside. It was really dark and hard to see where I was going. But we didn’t have to go very far to see the waterfall. There were lots of bats too. After getting out of the cave I walked back down to the pool below the waterfall and went swimming with some of the others. I tried to swim across to the waterfall but the current of the water and the spray of the waterfall made it really difficult. My arms got really tired after only a few minutes of swimming in place. We only stayed at Misol-ha for about an hour before getting back into the vans and heading to another waterfall location called Agua Azul. We had to endure another torturous journey on the windy road to get there. Agua Azul is more or less a series of smallish waterfalls along a river. You can hike for a while along the side of the river to see the different levels of the waterfall. It was a really touristy location with souvenir vendors occupying every inch of space along the rock-paved trail. I saw a lot of other gringos along the way, enjoying the local tourist locations just like us. There weren’t very many pools for swimming in, but we found one area where we could swim and float around in the current. I walked up the river a little way with Andrew and Dario to find a place to jump in and catch the current. It was really fun. The current was so strong that I was swept down into the lower pool where the others were sitting in the water. After a few more rounds of riding the current, we walked down the trail again to the van. Some of us decided to stop at the restaurant for food, which turned out to be horrible food. Oh well. After eating we got back into the vans and headed back to the hotel in Palenque. Another hour on the terrible roads. We got back around 5 pm, and then Ellie, Andrew and I decided to walk up the street to find the centro. Ellie was on a quest to find “elote,” so we went to see if we could find a street vendor Elote is a common street food that consists of corn on the cob smothered with lime flavored mayonnaise and then sprinkled with powdered cheese and chili powder. Downtown Palenque wasn’t anything too spectacular, but we managed to find elote for Ellie. We saw a few of the same tourist that we had seen at Agua Azul in the centro. After walking back to the hotel I changed back into my swimming suit and jumped into the pool. It felt so amazing after walking around in the evening humidity. Long exhausting day, but it was lots of fun.

Palenque

Woke up at 5:40 am to catch a bus out of San Cristobal to Palenque. We all stumbled out of bed and into the bus station and onto the bus. I tried to sleep most of the six-hour journey, but it was so bumpy and twisted that I was slipping out of my seat most of the ride. When we finally got to Palenque I stumbled out of the bus into the humid sweltering heat of the afternoon. It was certainly a change from the damp rainy weather in San Cristobal. We lugged our bags up the street to our hotel, a Best Western “Maya Palenque.” Our rooms weren’t ready yet so we waited around in the lobby for a while. I walked down to the grocery store on the corner with Glory and bought some snacks. On the way back I saw no one, but four iguanas along the sidewalk. One was really huge. After checking into my room, I immediately put on my bathing suit and jumped into the pool. I spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and lounging by the pool. It is soooo hot here. I literally did nothing accept lounge around all afternoon. Later I saw another iguana behind the pool chairs. They are all over the place!

San Juan Chamula y Zinacantán

Today we met together at 9:30 to leave for our trip to some nearby pueblitos and learn about the indigenous culture in the Chiapas region. We boarded two smaller vans this time and headed out. First we stopped in the small town of Zinacantán. To enter the town you have to pay a tourist fee and only special tourist organizations are trusted to enter. First we stopped in the main square and visited the church. The alter was completely adorned in fresh cut flowers that are grown in nurseries around this region. All of the women and a good majority of the men in the town were dressed in the traditional attire. All the women, and even the tiny children, were draped in elaborately hand-stitched shawls in a palate of purples and blues. Even some of the men wore the same blue and purple flowery decorates shawls. The town is known as the town of the bat or “murcielago” in Spanish. The people here still talk in their indigenous languages as well as in Spanish. Across from the church there was an outside basketball court where a group of school children were practicing a traditional dance to waltz that I recognized but could not place. After visiting the church the tour guide guy took us to a house in the town where he talked to us about the changes and adaptations of the traditional clothing worn by the indigenous of the this region. We got to try a traditional alcoholic beverage called bosh, which is made from sugar cane. It tasted terrible and I couldn’t drink all of it. The inner room of the house was filled with the stitch work of the women from the village. It was all very similar to the work found in the marketplace in San Cristobal. All the shawls and bags were hand stitched and adorned. There were two or three tiny little indigenous girls who must not have been more than 5 or 6 years old who where stationed at one table selling potholders and macramé bracelets. Next we went into the kitchen area where the guide explained the four colors of corn and their relationship with the concept of the four cardinal directions. The women in the kitchen were making blue-corn tortillas over a small wood-stocked stove. They cook everything without the luxuries of propane ovens, stoves and refrigeration. After leaving Zinacantán we drove to another small town called San Juan Chamula. In San Juan we went to the centro and the main church where the people of the town come to perform healing. Picture taking within the church is strictly forbidden and enforced. As I took my first step into the church I was met by a wave of incense. There were candles everywhere and groups of people kneeling near each group of candles performing medicinal rituals with eggs and herbs and recently sacrificed chickens. I felt like an intruder into their healing rituals and as soon as the incense smoke became too much to handle I left to get some air. When we were all back outside we walked back to the vans and drove back to San Cristobal. Ellie and I decided to climb up to the top of a church along some steep stairs. It was a pretty hefty climb, and along the way we got ambushed by some children who convinced us to sign our names on their “homework” and then donate to their school. They were very young little kids and it was obvious that our money was going straight into their pockets, but you couldn’t be mad knowing that they really did need the money. The view from the top was amazing and you could see all of the Chiapas valley of San Cristobal. The church at the top was locked but we walked around anyway. There was a really awesome strip of what looked at first to be playground toys, but were actually gym-style workout devices. They had pull-up bars and crunch tables. It was pretty cool. It gives a whole new meaning to playgrounds. After taking lots of pictures of the amazing view we climbed down the steps past the children who had recently trapped some more gringos into donating to their cause. Smart little kids. We walked back down and had some lunch before heading back to the hotel to crash for the afternoon.

Cañon del Sumidero

Nine o’clock start for our first day of adventures. Slightly cloudy with a chance of rain. We boarded our private mini-van and headed out into the mountains. After about an hour drive we arrived at the river and the boat launch. We each got a neon-orange life preserver and boarded the large motorboat with a group of other tourists. The Cañon del Sumidero goes on for hours as we sped along in the boat. Rocky cliffs towered into the clouds along both sides of the canyon. Periodically we would stop to get a close up of an alligator, heron bird or a spider monkey. The lush green foliage was beautiful against the black and gray rocky cliffs. I took lots of pictures of the twists and turns of the canyon walls set against the puffy cloud-blotched blue sky. It was gorgeous. The wind on my face and the beauty of the gorge kept me in a kind of blank-minded trance of awe for most of the trip. When we got back to the dock we returned our life preservers and headed back to the van. We stopped at a little pueblito on the way back and walked around the market and the centro a little bit. Nothing too exciting. Then we boarded the van again and made our way back to San Cristobal. I fell asleep on the way back and slept most of the hour-long journey. It had begun to rain by the time we got back. There was a car accident along the slippery highway home, but luckily we didn’t have any problems. One back in San Cristobal, Ellie, Rochelle and I decided to go find some lunch. We walked back down to the restaurant strip and picked another café. After lunch Rochelle headed back and Ellie and I went to the market again. Ellie still wanted to find some amber earrings for her mom. She found some pretty teardrop ones at a good price after a little bit of bargaining. After the artisan market we decided to go the produce market again to get some fresh fruit. I bought a bag of about 15 mangos for 10 pesos, and Ellie got a bag of little plums for 10 as well. We also got a bunch of about 20 baby bananas for only 8 pesos. We headed back to the hotel and spent the rest of the evening just hanging out and being lazy.

Adios Puebla...nos vemos en dos semanas!

The end of my program has arrived. I can hardly believe it has been almost six months since I arrived in Puebla. For the next two weeks our class of 16 will be traveling south on an educational excursion. I woke up on Sunday after my last night in my host family house and foraged myself some cheerios because my host mom was really sick with salmonella poisoning. She came downstairs for a little bit and we chatted about the last months together and the family and such. I finished getting all my things packed up into my suitcase and my small duffel bag to take along for the two-week trip. I said goodbye to the whole family, although I am coming back after the trip to visit them again with my family. It felt a little weird driving away with Christian and all my stuff knowing that I could no longer call Concepcion Calzada Zavaleta my home again. Christian, his mom and his aunt and I all went to the Analco market for the afternoon and bought street side sushi and a few other things that they needed for the house. It was extremely hot out and even hotter in the car. That evening at 9 pm the entire group met in the CAPU bus station for our scheduled departure at 10 pm to San Cristobal de las Casas. I took a sleeping pill that Christian had given me and slept the entire 11-hour journey. I woke up the next day a 9 am as the bus rolled into the station in San Cristobal. Apart from feeling slightly disoriented by my complete loss of an entire night I was feeling great, unlike some of the others who only managed a few sporadic hours of light sleep. Welcome to Chiapas! We caught some taxis to our hotel and checked in. We all showered and then decided to head out and explore. Our first stop was a little café on the main restaurant strip and then we all walked over to the artisan market. San Cristobal is famous for Amber and there was tons of Amber jewelry vendors throughout the marketplace. They also had amazing stitch-work bags and clothing. I found some fun gifts and souvenirs that I have no space to fit in my little duffel. The others bought some amber jewelry and some other things. After that we walked through the produce market through the rows and rows of fresh vegetables and fruit. Then back to the hotel to rest and check emails.Later we went out for tacos across the street from the hotel. They were fantastic.

Cinco de Mayo!

Wednesday was Cinco de Mayo! Almost every school in all of Mexico had school cancelled yesterday, but our program coordinator decided it would be a great idea if we had class (even though the rest of the university was closed). After long and well thought out internal debate I decided that skipping class and attending the parade was a much better idea than going to class. Although I felt bad for skipping class, I think it was worth it. As Puebla is the location of the epic battle of Cinco de Mayo, I felt it was only appropriate that I experience its formal commemoration in the city in which it occurred. So Wednesday morning I walked to school to drop off my homework (like a dedicated skipper) and then got a taxi to the centro. I met up with Olivia and her mom in their hotel and then we walked over to check out the parade situation. We paid 70 pesos each for seats in the arranged rows of chairs and got comfortable to wait for the parade. There were tons of people and lots of street vendors selling everything from confetti and silly-string to umbrellas and donuts. I bought a sun-parasol for 10 pesos that was made from Pacifico Beer labels—classy and functional. Thus properly equipped to evade the scorching morning sun, we held our ground as the seats around us were filled and others crowded to stand in the space behind them. Finally it began! The first 30 min of the parade consisted of military squads of all types. They all marched by very seriously, even those who had been smothered in confetti by the crowd. All the women around us screamed encouraging words to the women soldiers and whistled for the male troops. Then came the military tanks, equipped with missiles and other intimidating weapons. After that came the prep schools, each with a group of girls in matching outfits and a group of boys. Some had marching bands, others girls who did tricks with batons or flags. Hundreds of prep schools filed by interrupted by the occasional elaborate float dedicated to famous Mexican historical figures (even powerful dictators, who were definitely not well-liked during their reign). After two hours of prep school groups the parade finished up with some people on horseback and finally the ambulance and fire trucks. The parade was a lot of fun. It was definitely worth skipping class to go see it. Afterwards I walked around in the crowds of vendors and people milling about in the parades aftermath, and then got a cab back home.

Africam Safari!

Last weekend Christian and I went to the Africam Safari! Unlike zoos in the US the Africam Safari here is set up like a car tour of Africa. You literally drive your car through the segregated habitats of exotic animals. This way you see the animals up close and personal... some too close. The most amazing and humbling animal we saw was the rhinoceros (two of them actually), which were HUGE! The size of Christian’s little yellow car paled in comparison to the massive creatures that were just feet away from my car window. We got to see elephants, giraffes, zebras and tons of other animals from the African plains. We saw camels and white Bengal tigers and lions and black bears and buffalo from Yellowstone and Kangaroos with babies in their pouches and many other exotic animals. We almost got attacked by angry ostriches that were seeking revenge on the visitors. In parts of the safari it is mandatory to roll up your windows, for example in the section where the lions and tigers live. It was torturously hot, so rolling up the windows was miserable. But in the interests of safety, perhaps when a lion passes two feet in front of your car, rolling up the windows might be a good choice. At the end of the driving part of the Safari there is a zoo of sorts where you have to get out and walk around. Here is where you can see monkeys, crocodiles, reptiles and anteaters. I took tons of pictures of all the cool animals we saw, but I think it is most appropriate if I post the picture of the rhinoceros to show just how large and intimidating it was.

Vive Latino

Big concert. Thousands of people. Nine hours. Hello Seahorse. Calle 13. Empire of the Sun (amazing). Complete exhaustion.

Los dos Fridas

The two frida's in the museum of modern art.

Mexico City: Take 2

On Friday morning Olivia and I got up and headed to the bus station for our trip to Mexico City. The short bus ride, of just over 2 hours, was uneventful, and we arrived at our hostel by taxi around noon. We stayed in a really adorable little apartment style Hostel near the Zona Rosa part of Mexico City. The hostel manager was a really chill guy with dreads that were so long they almost reached the backs of his calves. He showed us to our room on the second floor, which was themed with big paper-mache skeletons on the wall. It was an awesome room painted orange with two cozy little twin beds. After settling in we got directions from the hostel guy and headed to the nearest metro station to go downtown. For only 3 pesos you can ride the metro all the way to the zocalo from our hostel. When we arrived there were tons of people milling about and weaving through the throngs of street vendors selling trinkets and other gifts. First we walked about to find some food and ended up eating delicious tortas in a little alleyway that was filled with other taco vendors. Then we went back to the main square to visit the cathedral and the Palacio Principal. The palacio was closed last time I was in Mexico City so it was great that I got to go in this time. Inside the palace is a huge Diego Rivera mural. Coincidentally we bumped into our host brother Pepe, who also happened to be in D.F. for a school field trip. It was funny running into him, and one of the girls from his school took lots of photos of us together. I think the other students thought it was funny to see Pepe talking to us gringas. After exhausting most everything there was to see in the Cathedral and the Palacio, we walked to Bellas Artes, a big art museum, which houses several murals by famous Mexican muralists. There was also an exhibition of art by Rene Magritte (his most well-know work of art being the surrealist painting of the man with a green apple over his face). His works were very interesting and strange, but I really enjoyed the exhibit. Upstairs I got to see Diego’s murals again as well as murals by Siqueiros and Orozco. After a long day of walking we headed back to the hostel for the day.
Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast on the hostel roof with two Germans who were also staying there. Our first destination was Frida Kahlo’s house. I remembered vaguely where it was from the last time we were in Mexico City, but even then I got us a bit lost. I think we did a really good job of navigating the metro however. My second visit to Frida Kahlo’s house was much more rewarding that the first. For one it wasn’t pouring rain and there was electricity. I got to see a lot of the galleries that were closed last time. We stopped for a small stack in the café and sat in the courtyard of amazingly blue house. After we had restored our energy we walked to the corner and caught a bus which took us to the nearest Metro station. We took the metro back to the centro to do some more exploring and to get some lunch. When we were walking around two timid teenage boys asked us if they could interview us for their English project. They were funny and seemed nice enough, so we participated in their interview. Now I have been in two different filmed interviews in Mexico. After eating some huevos a la mexicana we walked around on the streets of the zocalo. We went into at least 10 used bookstores, which line one of the streets parallel to the centro. Olivia bought a few books, but she wasn’t able to find a book of Octavio Paz poems which she had been looking for. Next we walked past Bellas Artes again and through the neighboring park to find the museum which houses one of Diego Rivera’s most famous murals. It was so detailed and beautiful. In the center there is a skeleton with a huge feathery boa and a big hat. Lots of political figures from Mexican history appear in the mural. Frida Kahlo is also in the mural standing next to the skeleton. Next we made our way to the Museum of Modern Art. It was already almost five o’clock and unfortunately the museum closed at five thirty, but we managed to do a quick round of most of the exhibits. The most amazing part was getting to see the painting of the Two Frida’s by Kahlo. On our way back we stopped to see the famous statue of Independence, also known as “el angel.” The golden angel is an iconic figure all over Mexico City. Just in the 15 minutes or so that Olivia and I walked around the monument taking pictures, 6 or 7 girls in outrageously fancy dresses for their quinceanera photo-shoot in front of the monument. There were at least 4 limos parked around the monument to escort the girls and her entourage of teenage boys in colored suits picked to complement the colors of the dresses. Now thoroughly exhausted, we headed back to the hostel to rest a bit and then go out for dinner. We went to part of town called La Condesa that has tons of amazing restaurants and bars. I had an amazing plate of homemade noodles with pesto and Olivia had salmon alfredo pasta. It was all really delicious. We walked around La Condesa a little bit after dinner but didn’t end up checking out any of the tons of clubs or bars. We were both just so tired from a full day of activity that we decided to head back and get some sleep.
On Sunday we got up and had breakfast on the roof again while doing some studying for our exam on Monday. We had bought tickets to go to Vive Latino, a huge music festival in Mexico City, so we knew it was going to be a long day. We went back to the centro for lunch and a bit more sight seeing. As we were walking down Cinco de Mayo street to find a restaurant we found ourselves walking upstream into a huge crowd of people protesting against president Felipe Calderón and the poverty and hunger that has occurred during his presidency. The parade of angry protesters lasted a long time as hundreds and hundreds of people marched by shouting in unison. After lunch we walked in a new direction that we hadn’t walked in before and ended up in a very strange modern art exhibit in an old church. We walked into another museum of art and ran into a few more Diego works as well as some amazing modern pieces of art. I saw so much art this weekend that it has become hard to process it all. Around 3 o’clock we decided it was about time to head over to the music festival, so we headed back to the metro and navigated our way to the concert sight. More to come on Vive Latino….

Cuernavaca

Last weekend Olivia and I took a trip to Cuernavaca in the state of Morelos. We had plans with two other girls from class, but they decided not to go at the last minute so it was just the two of us. After a miserable exam in class on Friday, Christian took us out for yummy tortas before going to the bus station. We got there just in time to catch the next available bus leaving for Cuernavaca. On the bus I ran into a girl I had seen on the bus last quarter who was going to Cuernavaca to visit her boyfriend again. It was funny running into a familiar face on the bus. Bus trip wasn’t too long, only a bit over 2 hours. In Cuernavaca we caught a cab and headed to our hostel. We had booked for four people so when we arrived we had to figure out new arrangements for just the two of us. The nicest old man offered us a private room with two beds and showed us around. The hostel is actually a Spanish language school as well, so there were lots of classrooms set up as well as rooms. It was an amazing building with lots of levels and spiral stairs. We were on the ground floor right next to the pool and the open-bar kitchen. The room was really nice too with a shared bathroom that we never actually had to share with anyone.
After looking around the hostel we decided to walk to the centro. On our way out one of the hostel staff warned us that there had been a narcotrafico (drug trafficking) threat for that night in Cuernavaca and that we should be careful. With that in mind we head out to check out Cuernavaca. We walked to the centro from our hostel, which took about 20 minutes. The zocalo of Cuernavaca is the only major city centro in all of Mexico that does not have a chapel, cathedral or church of some sort in the main square. Across from the centro is El Palacio de Hernán Cortés in which the conquistador de Mexico actually lived. It is now a museum of sorts with ancient artifacts from the indigenous people of the region and paraphernalia de Emilio Zapata and other revolutionary heroes. The top floor had an open arched patio with a huge mural by Diego Rivera depicting scenes of the effects of Spanish conquest on the indigenous people. It was a beautifully designed scene typical of Diego’s meticulous attention to details. We weren’t expecting it so it was even more amazing to see. After the Palacio we walked around the centro a bit more and visited the cathedral located in a little garden compound up the street from the zocalo. We had dinner at an outside café near the cathedral and then took a taxi back to the hostel. We decided to go to a bar that we had heard of that had a live salsa band, so around 10 pm we headed out. On our way out the hostel owner asked us where we were going and mentioned that another girl in the hostel had just called a cab to go to the same place. So we waited a few minutes and hopped in the cab with her. She was from Latvia and was had been studying at the Spanish language school for the past 4 months and this was her last night. We arrived at “Los Arcos” street instead of “Los Arcos” the bar/restaurant because the cab driver hadn’t understood where we wanted to go, but when we said we wanted to go to the centro he then told us that everything had shut down early. All bars and restaurants in the whole of Cuernavaca had shut down before 8 pm because of the drug violence threat. So deeply disappointed, we headed back to the hostel and paid 20 pesos each for our destination-less tour of Cuernavaca. I felt bad for the poor girl from Latvia who didn’t get to go out on her last night.
The next morning we were well rested and ready to explore some more. And as expected the threat of violence in Cuernavaca was only a threat, nothing actually happened. We went to breakfast at a cute little outside café near where we had eaten dinner the night before. Then we went to the Jardines Borda (Borda gardens), which is a huge garden complex with fountains, a large pond (with row boats for hire) and rooms full of modern art. Next we decided to check out the resident pyramids of Cuernavaca known as Teopanzoclo. After a lot of asking around we finally found a bus that passed near the pyramid site. The pyramids were not as exciting as others I have seen, but then again I’ve seen a lot of pyramids in the last couple months. They were noteworthy however because they were incomplete. The Aztecs had attempted to build a pyramid on top of an already established pyramid, but were interrupted by the arrival of Hernán Cortés. After the pyramids we headed back downtown. We bought some fabulous pan dulce (sweet bread) from street vendor, which cost less than 20 cents a piece. We spent some more time in the market looking for gifts and souvenirs before heading back to the hostel. For dinner we returned to the centro and had some traditional Mexican food. While eating 10 federal police pick-ups with armed police officers cruised around the main square. Although the threat from the night before had not been realized, it seems the police were still taking it pretty serious. After dinner we decided to splurge on desert in order to get into a fancy restaurant. We had read about the restaurant because it has a tiled pool designed by Diego Rivera on the lower patio. It was a very classy restaurant. We ordered cheesecake and crème brule and snapped guilty photos of the pool and the expensive ambiance of the restaurant. After dinner we headed back to the hostel for the night, as it was projected that nothing much would be open on Saturday either due to the threats.
Sunday morning we decided to do one last thing before going to the bus station to head back to Puebla. The famous Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros at one time had a workshop in Cuernavaca, which has since been opened as a museum with 4 unfinished murals. We took a taxi only to find that it was under renovations and not open to the public. Unfortunate adventure, but there was nothing else we could have done so we headed to the bus station to go back home. We were confronted with a few minor setbacks throughout the weekend, but overall it was a success.

La familia... todos juntos!

Last weekend on Sunday of Semana Santa the entire family got together for lunch. It was a perfect opportunity to snap a group photo while everyone was in the same room. So here is a picture of my host family.
Left to right: Jose Luis (host dad), abuelita, Blanca (host mom), Pepe (host brother), Pedro (cousin) holding Javier (host nephew, son of Karen), Emanuel (Sarah's boyfriend), Sarah (oldest host sister), Karen (host sister, mother of Javi), y una prima (sister of Pedro).

Lucha Libre!

Every monday there are lucha fights in the centro district. Here is a picture of me in a lucha mask!

Semana Santa...Guanajuato!

Last week was Semana Santa in Mexico, a week-long Roman Catholic tradition leading up to Easter (although here they don’t celebrate Easter). All classes are canceled during Semana Santa so we had the week off to relax and travel. The Friday that started out the week was Olivia’s birthday, so we decided to go out for a nice dinner. Thus, Olivia, Christian and I went to this amazing pizza place in the zócalo called Amalfi’s for delicious pizza and a bottle of wine. Afterward we went to a loft-like bar on the top of a hotel for fancy cocktails, and to finish off the night we stopped in Cholula to check out Container City (super cool arrangement of old train box cars that have been stacked and renovated to create a innovate collection of bars, shops and cafes).
We hung out in Puebla for the weekend, and on Monday Christian, Brittany, Olivia and I went to the Lucha libre fights. There was a group of blonde Americans that got a lot of verbal attention, although I think they were blissfully aware that the shouts and insults of the rambunctious teenage crowd were directed at them. Olivia bought a lucha mask and we all took pictures in the mask. The fights were hilarious and entertaining, with the shouts, chants and foot stomping adding to the rowdy atmosphere.
We had made plans to visit a friend of Christian’s in Leon for the week but due to a change in her plans we hastily changed our plans to stay in a hostel in Guanajuato (which is about 30 min south of Leon). So on Wednesday morning we set out, just the three of us, towards our destination of Guanajuato. Roughly five hours later we arrived to the quaint city of Guanajuato. Similar to San Miguel de Allende all the streets are cobblestone and incredible narrow. We drove around for at least 20 min trying to find our hostel using numerous directions given by people we passed, before we abandoned the car in a parking lot to set out on foot. It took less than 5 min to find what had taken us 30 min to circle countless times. Guanajuato is certainly not a very good place to try and navigate by car. We checked into our hostel and we were shown to our room by the hostess who we were unable to tell whether she was on drugs or just normally very slow and spacey. We were all pretty tired from the day of driving, but we walked down to a small little plaza and had dinner at a little café with a Van Gough theme. First night was pretty sleepless, as a Spanish couple in the corner snored the entire night. I didn’t know it was possible to snore that loud.
On our first morning in Guanajuato we walked around the narrow streets and peered into the numerous churches. We visited the university and climbed the mountainous stairs (comparable to mounting the pyramid of the sun in Teotihuacán) and got a great view of the city. Next we visited Diego Rivera’s old colonial style home, which has been converted into a museum. It has more than 100 original sketches and paintings by Diego. After that we took a bus to the Museum of Mummies. More than 50 mummies—preserved in the old mining soil of Guanajuato—are displayed in the museum, including baby mummies and the smallest mummy in the world. They all looked pretty creepy with their mouths open in screaming positions and their preserved skin sticking to their bones. But it was a pretty cool experience. Next we took a cool box-car-like apparatus to get to the top of the hill to see the statue of Pípila. The view from the top was magnificent and all of Guanajuato was visible. In the market place surrounding the viewing area I bought myself a purse in a beautiful embroidered style that I have been admiring ever since I got here. Thankfully for our second night the Spanish couple had left and we were able to sleep better.
Day three we had a few hiccups, starting with our hostel reservations. They told us we had made the reservations for Tuesday, Wed, Thursday instead of Wed, Thrus, Friday—thus we didn’t have anywhere to stay for that night (however later I looked at my reservations and I had booked the right nights, but oh well). So we decided to go to Leon and see where our travels would take us. Leon is about 45 min north of Guanajuato; so it didn’t take us long to get there. Known for its leather production, Leon was plastered with shoe shops. There was a mall completely dedicated to shoe boutiques. After checking out the abundant selection Olivia and I each bought a pair of leather sandals. Due to the unfortunate reservation mix-up and our inability to find hotel arrangements elsewhere we headed back to Puebla after Leon.

Disclaimer...

Due to an influx in homework and personal laziness the next blog entries may be few and far between (more than perhaps they were before). However it should be acknowledged that I will do my best to have an update on the trip I took last week to Guanajuato and Leon. I apologize for any inconveniences this may cause to my faithful blog readers. Thank you.

I LOVE TACOS!

Did I mention that I love tacos? Ok. The best tacos in all of Puebla are found at Tacos Parados, a amazing little taco stand in the middle of somewhere. I don't know exactly how to get there, but Christian (with his amazing Puebla knowledge) knows of it and always takes us there for Suizos--aka flour tortilla with meat, onion, cilantro... topped with lots of salsa, guacamole and of course... lime! I never get tired of eating tacos!

Bus entertainment...

Olivia arrived on Saturday night to stay for Spring quarter. For her first night in Puebla, Christian, Kristina, Daniel, Kendel and I took her to a bar called Bambukos in Cholula. Then afterward we went to Tacos Parados to eat the best tacos in all of Puebla. Then on Sunday afternoon Olivia, Kristina and I went to the centro for Kristina's last venture and Olivia's first view of the zocolo. In Los Sapos market I bought some really cool earrings made from old mexican pesos. On our way back from the centro we caught the first bus we could find that would take us back home. On our first stop two guys got on the bus with a guitar and a bongo drum and started to play for us. The guitarist was singing too. They were really good and made our bus ride pretty enjoyable. They had to brace themselves pretty well so that they wouldn't fall as the bus jolted along. They stayed on the bus for a few stops and then left to find another bus of people to entertain. Only in Mexico, haha.
ps. I took a video of them playing and I really wanted to upload it for everyone to watch, but my internet isn't fast enough (nor reliable enough) in order to upload video clips :(

Puerto Escondido

Winter quarter is over and now we get to celebrate! For our week off we decided to go to Puerto Escondido on the Pacific Coast. We stayed in Puebla for the weekend to stay for the Puebla soccer game on Sunday. Sunday morning was beautiful and sunny. Kristina went to mass in the cathedral in the centro, and I explored Analco market. Then in the afternoon we went to the stadium for the game. We met up with Ellie, Rochelle and Yessenia and a few of their friends who have a private box in the stadium. Everyone was in blue and white Puebla jerseys. I should probably get one so I can show some Puebla spirit. The game was pretty fun, and Puebla won! The final score was 2-0! The fans get pretty into the action. One part of the stadium was a solid mass of shirtless screaming fans with waving blue and white flags. After the game we got our bags and headed straight to the bus station. We had a bit of time to wait until our 8 pm bus so we grabbed some snacks and then met up with Brittany and Kim. We got on our bus and prepared ourselves for the long journey. We met another intercambio student from Puebla who was sitting behind us. He had just finished his quarter at the UDLA and coincidentally had already met a few of the other girls from our group sometime in a club in Puebla. I tried to sleep most of the 14-hour bus trip, but the curves and jolts made it hard. We arrived the next morning at about 10:30 feeling a bit groggy, but greeted by humid coastal weather. Hopped in a taxi and headed to our hostel.
Our hostel is really tropical with a pool in the center courtyard surrounded by little palapa roof bungalows. The front lobby area has a pool table and couches with lots of retro American posters on the orange painted walls. The pool is shaped kind of like a bowling pin with a little bridge over the bottle neck portion which connects the front lobby area to the inside courtyard and back area patio and rooms. Our room wasn’t quite ready yet so we left our stuff in another room, put on our bathing suits and decided to walk out and find a beach. The hostel is located about a 20 min walk from the beach, but it was totally worth the walk. The nearest beach is the Cove. You have to walk down a steep set of stairs to get to the beach at the bottom of the overhanging cliff. The second we reached the beach we were accosted by tour guides who offer excursions to see whales, sea turtles, dolphins and more. As well as surf lessons available. They were not easily warded off, and came back multiple times throughout the afternoon to make sure we had not changed our minds. The beach was pretty crowded with little restaurants and umbrellas, not at all the sort of seclusion and deserted beach expanses that I am used to in Cabo Pulmo. The water felt glorious after the 20 min walk in the sweltering sun. A few of us ordered some tacos and guacamole while we passed the afternoon on the beach. Afterwards we walked back to the hostel. On the way I stopped at a mini super and bought some avocados, tomatoes and onions and to make some guacamole back in the hostel. Back in the hostel Kristina and I checked into our room, which turned out to be a massive two-bed suite. We only booked for a single bed to share, but I guess they overbooked. So we got an enormous room with a California king bed and a twin bed as well as a private bathroom and patio. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out until about 8 when we decided to go down to the main beach avenue to find some dinner. Got some tacos and then went to a little tiki bar/club later to dance. Then headed back to the hostel to crash after a long day (which began with a long bus journey).
Slept in really late the next day and then went down to the corner store to buy some milk and cereal for breakfast. We decided to check out Zicatela beach for the day so we took a cab back to the general area where we had eaten dinner. The beach was more like a stereotypical boardwalk beach with white sand and beach umbrellas everywhere. The waves crash too big for swimming and it has strong rip tides so swimming was prohibited. We just hung out under the umbrellas for most of the time trying to escape the ruthless sun. The waves were big and daunting, not great for swimming at all. Went pack to the hostel in the evening and hung out at the tiki bar for most of the night chatting with other people staying there. Met some people from Australia and talked to them for a while.
Day three we decided to go back to the beach we visited the first day. We all lay out in the sun a bit too long and received a range of minor to severe sunburns. Luckily I decided to walk back earlier than the rest and only got a bit of burn on my shoulder blades as opposed to the full-body burns the others suffered. At about 5 pm we met up with the hostel owner to take us to a beach where they release baby sea turtles. We crammed into the back of the “bus,” which was just a blue tarp-covered pick-up truck. We walked down to Playa Delphin to find the reserve. Unfortunately they were not releasing turtles that day, however the beach was breathtaking. We got there just as the sun was setting behind the lightly cloud-covered sky. It was worth it just to see the beautiful deserted beach and the sunset. We walked back in the dark to the main road and caught cabs back to the hostel.
On our last day we took a beautiful walk along a stairway that climbed between two beaches. The stairs wound around next to the water with lots of little bridges and small balcony points along the way. It was a really fun walk with lots of photo opportunities. The sunshine was abrasive even though we started our walk around 10 in the morning. We spent the afternoon hanging out in the hostel before catching our bus at 6 pm for the 15-hour bus ride back. I didn’t sleep as well this trip as there were two little children sitting in the seat behind me who kept pulling my hair and crying for a good portion of the journey. We got in at 10:30 the next day feeling a bit disoriented and very exhausted. All in all it was a great trip!

Taxco

Another weekend trip! This weekend Kristina, Erika, Andrew and I decided to visit Taxco, which is famous as the first location in Mexico to mine and produce silver for jewelry and other trinkets. Getting to Taxco turned out to be a lot harder than we had assumed as the only buses that left for Taxco directly from Puebla leave on Saturdays or Sundays, but we wanted to leave Friday morning. We decided to take a bus to Cuernavaca and then catch a bus from there to Taxco. It seemed like a pretty good plan, but we ended up arriving in Cuernavaca too late to catch the early bus and had to wait 2 hours in the station to get the next bus at 5 pm. So we arrived in Taxco at about 7 on Friday evening. The bus ride into Taxco was magnificent. The beautiful little city of Taxco is located at the bottom of a steep sloped valley. The buildings are all crammed together in tight rows with narrow cobblestone streets. It was hard to believe we had arrived in a city in Mexico, I felt like I had arrived in Spain or the coast of Greece (minus the water). The streets were so narrow that our bus had to wait at the sharp curves for the oncoming traffic to pass before proceeding. Once off the bus we walked to our Hotel, which was only about 10 min away on Ave Platero (silver). Hotel las Palomas (doves) was one of tons of quaint little hotels and hostels clustered along the main avenue. We checked in and were given our keys. Kristina and I got a room on the first level and the others on the upper deck. From the top patio you could see up the hill to see the cathedral in the zócolo and the endless clusters of houses that lined the valley to our right. Following the recommendation of some friends who visited Taxco some weeks before, we took a taxi to a restaurant. All the taxis in Taxco are white Volkswagen bugs. They don’t have front passenger seats but the four of us fit nice and comfy in our cab. The streets are extremely narrow and frightenly steep. They seemed steeper than the poor little bugs could handle, but somehow they seem to climb them without problems. We had dinner at el Adobe en a cute little square with a fountain in the center. We sat next to a open window looking out over the house tops. The food was delicious and about half way through our meal a man began to play the guitar and sing. We went back to the hotel and spent the rest of the evening sitting outside on the patio rooftop talking and listening to music.
The next morning was magnificent and sunny. We got a late start and headed to the zócolo to have breakfast. We went to a small family owned café that looked out over the centro facing the cathedral. I had huevos a la mexicana (scrambled eggs with onion, tomatoes and green chilies) with fresh tortillas and beans. It was so delicious. For the rest of the afternoon we explored the centro, the inside of the cathedral, and the endless streets lined with silver shops. I was not too impressed with the silver, but drawn instead into the bead shops. BEADS! They are so much cheaper here in Mexico. A strand of turquoise cost less than 8 dollars. While the silver was impressive, the impeccable shine and tacky shapes weren’t really appealing to me. We went to the silver market down on Ave de Platero and walked between hundreds of silver vendors selling millions of different designs. Nothing really caught my eye (or rather everything caught my eye because it was just so shiny), and I didn’t buy anything. Later in the evening we went back to the little square where we had dinner the night before and went to a restaurant called La Hamburguesa to eat…. Hamburgers! How more American could be get, right? Well anyway, they were really tasty. We also had peaches with rompope (sweet liqueur made in Puebla) for desert. Walked back to the hotel and hung out a bit before heading back to the centro to hang out on the rooftop of a restaurant in the centro that looked right over the lighted Cathedral.
Sunday morning was just as sunny as the day before and we walked back up the steep hill to the centro and had breakfast in the same little café (because it was just so great the day before!). After breakfast we decided to take a taxi up to the top of the hill to see the Critso Monument (similar to the one in Brazil). The taxi ride was bumpy and extremely steep. I was a little anxious at times. From the statue monument the entire city of Taxco was visible. It looked like a little doll town, with the huge Cathedral steeples towering over everything. Back in the centro I bought some beads (however the bead store which I had seen the day before and had the best prices was closed). However comparably the prices of beads were very cheap to American shops. The others bought a few things for gifts and such. But we all bought a lot less than we had expected we might have. Our bus was scheduled to leave at four, so we made one last stop in a café to have cold drinks and a few snacks before walking back to our hotel to collect our things and get to the bus station on time. The bus ride back was so beautiful, with the valleys and mountain ranges backlit by the setting sun and puffy white clouds, I took tons of pictures out my window to capture the various stages of the sky as it changed from blue and yellow to shades of hot pink and orange. I’m writing this on the bus as we trundle along in the dark towards our bright-lit city of Puebla. Home again…at least until next weeks travels.

Oaxaca

Last weekend we went to Oaxaca with 5 others from class. We left on Thursday afternoon on the bus. The ride was about 5 hours long, and I slept most of the time. We arrived at our hostel at about 8:30 and promptly left in search of food. We walked to the centro and ate at a cafe located in the zocalo. We ordered some wine between the 7 of us, and the waiter brought out different size glasses, larger ones for the boys and small ones for the ladies. Talk about machismo. Haha.
The next day we got up to have our free breakfast in the Hostel. We had omelets with quesillo (the famous cheese of Oaxaca) cilantro and ham with black beans and bread. Pretty good deal for a hostel that only cost about 10 dollars a night. After breakfast we hailed taxis to visit Monte Alban, the pyramids located on the hills above Oaxaca. From the top of Monte Alban you can see the entire Oaxaca valley. The pyramids were incredible, and we couldn’t have picked a nicer sunny day to be out walking around. I took tons of photos of the pyramids because every angle provided another amazing picture. After the pyramids we went out to lunch and I had tostadas with quesillo, yum. We went back to our hostel to rest for a little bit before heading to the centro to walk around and explore. Later that night I went we went out salsa dancing which was a lot of fun!
Saturday morning we got up and had yummy omelets again and then headed out to see the oldest tree in the world! About 15 minutes outside of the center of Oaxaca is Tule, the largest tree by circumference and disputably the oldest tree in the world. Although not very impressive for its height, the trunk of Tule is amazing. The whole tree was alive with birds chirping and flying in and out of its massive branches. It was a bit comical to see because it is literally located in the center of a little town, right in front of the church. Its not out in the middle of a forest like one might expect. It is located right in the middle of everything. We walked around the little town and through the artisan markets. We tasted samples of Mezcal (famous alcoholic beverage made in Oaxaca similar to Tequila) in an array of interesting flavors. It has a very powerful flavor and it doesn't take much to feel its affects. Afterward we caught a bus to take us to a buffet restaurant that someone had recommended to us. It took a few stops for directions and a long walk along a dirt road that appeared to be heading nowhere in particular, but we finally found it. It turned out to be well worth the walk. It was the most amazing buffet I have ever had in my life (not that I have really been to a lot of buffets). Every type of traditional Mexican food imaginable was available. They had at least 5 types of mole, an array of rice dishes and salsas as well as at least 10 types of fresh salads. It was all so delicious it was hard to decide what to eat. They gave us samples of Mezcal mixed with grapefruit and pomegranate juice with chili powder around the rim. Then as if there wasn't enough food already they had a table with at least 30 different desert choices including rice pudding and a amazing array of various pastries and cakes. I ate entirely too much, but it was just so delicious I couldn't help it. After about 2 hours of stuffing our faces we packed all 7 of us into a taxi to get back to our hostel. We decided to walk around some more so we headed down to the centro to walk off the monstrous meal we had just consumed. We went to the marketplace and weaved in and out of the stalls selling fresh vegetables, dried chilies, Mezcal and quesillo. We bought some very cheap wine and spent the rest of the evening back in our hostel hanging out with some other of the guests that we met from various parts of the world.
The next morning we got up early to catch a 9 am bus back to Puebla. I slept most of the time on the way back, but I was awake just long enough to see the beautiful cactus covered hills on either side of the winding road leading out of Oaxaca.

Carnaval en Veracruz!

Last weekend we went to Veracruz for Carnaval! Selene, Kim, Kristina and I left on a bus just after class on Thursday. The bus ride was very scenic, winding through mountains and valleys to reach sea level in Veracruz. It took about 5 hours in the bus, however I have heard in a car it is usually no more than a 3 hour drive. When we arrived we took a taxi to Hotel Nautico where we stayed for the next three nights. It was a quaint little hotel “resort” (as the sign mentions), but really there was nothing special about it. Our room was nice enough with plenty of room for the four of us. After checking in and putting down our bags we headed out to get some food. We stopped at a little restaurant very near by and had tamales, tostados and empenadas. After dinner we decided to check out the nightlife of Veracruz. We asked the front deskman for recommendations on where to go and he mentioned a place called Casona. So we caught a cab and headed down to the waterfront to go to the club. The taxi driver was very talkative and had lots of advice on how to be safe. He told us all about how dangerous it is to walk around at night and that when in clubs you should always keep your hand over the top of your drink so that no one can slip you drugs. He was nice enough but his redundant recommendations got a bit dull after a while. When we arrived at the club it didn’t look as if anything was going on. There was a group of young looking people like ourselves crowded outside, so we decided our best bet was to follow suit. We waited around for a while until some club officials came out and started admitting people. They only admitted people in small groups in small intervals. It was so frustrating, they just kept choosing people from the crowd and letting them push past everyone. People kept shoving ahead to get in, but there didn’t seem to be a method to which people they let in. Eventually we got in and were shown to a table, but since we didn’t plan on buying a whole bottle to drink, they told us we couldn’t have the table after all. Around 12:30 a band started playing cover songs of popular Mexican favorites. They were pretty good. We did our best to find a place to dance, but we always seemed to end up in the aisle-way where everyone wanted to get through. Our obvious “gringa” appearance was not ignored for long, and we soon had waves of creepy old guys asking us to dance. We did our best to ignore or deter their gropes and attention, but it seems we are unable to blend in no matter where we go. All in all we had a great time dancing, but I just wish we could dance without getting accosted for being white girls.
In the morning we walked towards the Zocalo to see what was going on. It was very windy and overcast without a sign of sun. We stopped for breakfast in a café and had Spanish eggs and lechero coffee. Veracruz is famous because it was established long ago as a port town for imports and exports. Thus coffee seems to be a stable good in most restaurants. The lecheros are sort of like a latte, except they serve you with just a shot of espresso in a tall glass cup first, and then a separate waiter comes over with a cast iron pot and pours the milk into the glass from high above the cup. They are very delicious, and fun to watch the art of pouring the milk. In the zocalo we explored the market a bit and walked along the boardwalk near the port. The ocean isn’t very pretty in Veracruz and smells like boats and fish. In the centro there was a huge stage set up with bleachers and lights for the Carnaval. Nothing much was going on during the day, but we were told there would be a big concert that night. We went back to our hotel to rest a little and ended up taking a nap. When we got up we made our way back to the centro. First however we stopped in at a famous café called La Parroquia, which is famous for its lecheros. We all had torta sandwiches and lecheros, while listening to the live band. They had a harpist and some marimbas, and a girl dressed in traditional garb doing a tap dance to the beat of the music. In the centro this time there were crowds of people. Street cart vendors were selling mustaches, fake eyelashes, wigs, masks and hotcakes. The bleachers in the center were already full of people who had gotten there early to get seats. We met up with some of our other friends from the Ibero who are intercambio students from other places. Justin and Casey are both from Boston College and then their friend Dwayne from Holland. We decided against trying to get into the center of things and instead we walked around to take in the crazy atmosphere. Justin and Casey bought mustaches, which was funny. So many people were dressed up in crazy outfits and there were lots of fabulously garbed Mexican transvestites. We waited around for a bit in the center to see the crowning of the queen of Carnaval. But we were so far away because of all the people that we really didn’t see much. Later we decided to grab a table and just hang out. It was so amusing just to sit and watch the craziness unfold around us. Every bar and street stand was selling huge jugs of beer for about 20 pesos (about 1 dollar). They also had beer mixed with chile, which sounds terrible to me. They started playing some of my favorite salsa songs, and I danced for a bit, which was really fun. Except then we attracted more unwanted attention. It was a bit better tonight however because we had Dwayne and Justin with us. Dwayne is over six feet tall and was probably the only black man in all of Veracruz, so his presence kept most people from bothering us. However he got lots of interest and questions, as everyone wanted to know where he was from and seemed to believe he was some sort of famous basketball or soccer player. Later in the night we went to a bar after things started winding down in the streets (this being at about 3:30 am). Everything was going fine until Selene used the bathroom and the toilet started overflowing. It really wasn’t her fault, but the owner of the bar came over and told her she had to pay to have it fixed. We decided it was best to leave before things got out of hand, so we all left the bar. Except I guess somehow we got split up as we were leaving. The bar owner wouldn’t let Selene leave because he said she had purposely broke the toilet and that she needed to pay 1000 pesos to have it fixed. Then the police showed up and continued to insist that she needed to pay. Not only did she not have 1000 pesos, it was absolutely ridiculous to accuse her of breaking it intentionally. Needless to say a lot of arguing ensued, which in the payment of 540 pesos before we were finally able to leave. Thus we did not make it back to our hotel until about 5 am.
We slept in until almost 1 the next day after our long escapade from the night before. We were all exhausted and famished. We went to a corner Torta shop themed with Pirates and had the best chicken milanesa tortas ever. They were only 15 pesos each for an amazing toasted sandwich with tomato, avocado, beans and breaded chicken on a crispy roll. We hung out most of the afternoon up until the parade. We walked to the boardwalk to try and get good seats to see the parade pass. It was kind of a shady deal to get seats in the bleachers that lined both sides of the streets. I’m not sure who we paid, but he showed us to our designated seats and drew smiley faces on our hands to prove we had paid. We were very early, but there was no lack of entertainment. Thousands of people were already filing into the bleachers on both sides, and vendors pushed their carts up and down the street in the middle. A large group of very young looking boys occupied the three rows of seats above our row, and began talking about us as soon as we sat down. After a few minutes they tapped Kim and I on the shoulder and started bombarding us with questions. None of them looked to be over the age of 15, but one boy showed us his ID and he was 18. It was still pretty funny though. They had so many questions, and would tap us again on the shoulder if we turned away to watch the street. One boy took special interest in Kim and would not leave her alone. When the parade started everyone crowded back into the bleachers. The parade consisted of tons of crazy adorned floats with dancing ladies and blaring music. Groups of dancing troops and police brigades paraded in between what must have been close to 50 different decorated floats. We were getting really hungry after the parade wound down, so we made our way back out to the street. Unfortunately our newly made friends (including Kim’s new admirer) were not so easily deterred. They followed us out as we tried to find some food. He forgot her name as soon as we had left, yet no more than 15 minutes later was trying to convince her that he could move to Puebla to be near her. She finally got him to leave by giving him a fake telephone number. Talk about perseverance. Anyway we walked back to the hotel. The others made plans to meet up with Justin, Dwayne and Casey afterward, but I was so exhausted I went to bed. They went back to the centro for a while, but apparently nothing new was going on and they came back not too long after.
The next morning we got up at 8 to get ready to catch our bus back to Puebla. Grabbed some snacks for the road and headed out. The bus ride was about the same length as before, lasting about 5 hours. We reached Puebla around 4 in the afternoon greeted by the sunshine that Veracruz had most defiantly lacked. Ah, good to be back again.

San Miguel de Allende

After Mexico City Kristina and I took a bus to San Miguel de Allende. The bus ride lasted about four and a half hours, and it was already dark by the time we arrived. From the bus station we took a taxi to arrive at our quaint little hostel named Hostel Alcatraz. We were given sheets and our keys and shown to our room, which we were to be sharing with three other girls. The entire hostel only has four bedrooms, each with 2 to 3 bunk beds. After settling in we went back downstairs to introduce ourselves to a group of other guests sitting in the kitchen. We met three guys from Canada and a man from Rhode Island. Also we met two of our bunkmates, two women from Holland. They gave us some advice on where to eat so we walked out to explore a bit and get some food after our long journey. It was a bit late and most everything looked closed, but there was a taco stand on the side of the street still serving up tacos. We each ordered some tacos. They were delicious, served with cilantro, fried onions, pineapple and cucumber. It was exactly what I needed after a long day of travels. When we got back we spent some time in the kitchen talking to the other guests before heading to bed early.
The next morning the weather finally decided to clear up and we were gifted clear skies and lots of sun. Our first mission was to find some breakfast so we began walking towards the centro to find a café. It defiantly wasn’t hard to find. We decided on a café which we later discovered was called “Billy’s Hotdogs,” however at the time we were enticed by the cute little outside patio with high walls covered in hanging flower arrangements. And the food did not disappoint. We ordered huevos rancheros and a hot beverage, which was served with a scone and strawberry jam. Perfect way to start out a day. Then, with no particular goals in mind, we began our exploration of San Miguel. It didn’t take long to realize that San Miguel is most definitely a popular retirement/vacation location for a large population of Americans. Every shop seemed to cater to the rich elderly American stereotype, and gringos seem to dominate the population of wandering people and those eating in each restaurant we saw. The beauty of every street corner and cobble stone street attests to the reason so many have chosen to return to San Miguel to live or vacation. Every corner presented a new photo opportunity, with the quaint little houses and beautiful cactus pot arrangements on every patio and rooftop. After a good long exploration on foot, we decided to take a taxi to view a real “tourist destination,” the botanical gardens. Located on the hilltop above the city the botanical gardens are not only amazing landscaped, but allow for a view of the entire valley of San Miguel below. We spent about two hours wandering around the beds of strange cactus species before returning to San Miguel to get some food. We ate in a cute little café/restaurant called Ten Ten Pie. I had a delicious torta and Kristina had enchiladas. Later that night we met a group of Chilean girls on school vacation who were taking a backpacking tour of Mexico. We spent the evening talking we them in Spanish about Chile and their travels so far. I found it much harder to understand their Spanish than the Spanish of the Mexicans. I had to pay close attention when they spoke or else I wasn’t able to catch what they said. We exchanged emails, and they mentioned that they might be passing through Puebla later this month. So maybe we will see them again.
Saturday morning was beautifully sunny again and we set out to get breakfast quite late. We ate in an organic café named “El Media Naranja.” I got an ordered a delicous vegetable omelet with toast and mango-pineapple jam. The jam was fantastic; I wish I knew where to buy it or how to make it. Next we decided to check out the Artisan Market, which consisted of rows and rows of artists stalls filled with hand made crafts and gifts. Attached to the Artisan Market was the vegetable marketplace with wonderful fresh fruits and veggies. We decided to buy some produce to make tacos for later that day. We also decided to try paddle-cactus, because we always seem to see it in all the marketplaces. It cost less than 50 pesos (5 dollars) to buy enough produce and ingredients (tortillas, beans ect) to make tacos for dinner that night and then again the next morning. Not to mention they were absolutely delicious. We bought mangos and avocados as well, which I must say were the best avocados and mangos I have ever eaten. Later that evening one of our roommates mentioned that there was a gallery anniversary party going on that night, so we decided to go. We invited another girl staying in the hostel who was from Belgium to come with us. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting but the gallery was enormous. Apparently it had been a warehouse that was converted into a combination of about 30 or more artists’ gallery space. It was packed with very well dressed Americans drinking free wine and eating chile-powder covered peanuts. It was fun to see all the pretentious artwork priced in U.S. dollars, but it was somehow very disheartening. I don’t think I would want to live in San Miguel and have to live around all sorts of well-to-do Americans who don’t speak a word of Spanish. We ran into some other guests from the hostel in the Art Gallery and made plans to hang out for the rest of the evening. We went to a fun bar with a sort of Irish Pub atmosphere. Danced until we were completely exhausted and then trudged back to our hostel to sleep.
Sunday morning we used the rest of our taco ingredients to make breakfast, and then made our way back to the bus station to catch a bus to Mexico City and then from Mexico City to Puebla. We made it back to Puebla around 6, after about 7 hours of travel in bus listening to loud action movies in Spanish. Long week of traveling, but it was all worth it.

Mexico D.F.

Here is the long overdue blog update related to my travels last week:

On Tuesday morning we left from the Ibero in a bus packed with all 20 Intercambio students and all our bags. After about a two-hour ride we arrived at in Teotihuacan, which was to be our first stop of our three-day educational trip to Mexico City. Teotihucan is the famous location of the two huge ancient pyramid ruins in Mexico. The pyramid of the sun and the pyramid of the moon are the biggest structures of the site. After a long tour of the surrounding structures and ancient remains, we climbed all the way to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun. It was a tough climb, but the view from the top was spectacular. (if you want to learn more about Teotihuacan visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan)
The next stop on our culturally enriching adventure was the Basilica de la Guadalupe. We toured the interior of the original church commissioned by Juan Diego after his infamous encounter with the virgin of Guadalupe. Juxtaposed to the leaning remains of the beautiful old church is the new basilica in which you can view the original image of Guadalupe herself. The stark differences between the two churches built so close together is a bit disorienting. But it cannot be denied that both churches are exquisite. The original Basilica is so tilted that it looks as if a bit of thunder and some heavy rain might topple it over. The inside was full of scaffolding and sheets as we arrived during what must have been an intense interior renovation. By sheer luck we happened to be visiting the churches on the 2nd of February, which is the day that everyone who received a baby in the rosca cake last month brings baby Jesus dolls to the church. Everyone was carrying baskets with little dolls, or some with larger almost life-sized baby Jesus’. Last stop of the day was our hotel room to get some rest for the another day of educational adventures planned for Wednesday.
With Wednesday began a rain storm that didn’t let up for the rest of our trip. We trudged through the pouring rain to get to the Metro station, only to be nearly suffocated to death in the packed cars. Only half of us made it on the first train that passed because it was so full. The rest of us caught the next train just barely. I was wedged in between everyone and didn’t have anything to hang onto, and almost fell once had it not been for a guy next to me who reached out to grab my wrist. We all managed to escape the packed trains and emerge once again into the rainy world above. The first museum that we went to was the Trotsky museum. The museum is located in the house in which Trotsky took refuge to escape persecution by Stalin during the revolution in Russia. The museum included many photos and manuscripts, which documented the life and eventual assassination of Leon Trotsky. We even got a tour of the house. In the bedroom you can still see all the bullet holes in the walls, which remain as evidence of the first assassination attempt against Trotsky. Next we went to the Museum of Frida Kahlo. Unfortunately due to all the rain electricity was out in the whole area of the city in which both museums were located. Because of this we were unable to see some of the galleries of pictures of Frida. However it was worth it to tour the house and see her beautiful canopy bed with the mirror above. Also to see the many casts which Frida endured throughout her life of considerable suffering. The house itself is also very beautiful, painted bright blue with red trim around all windows and doors. After the Frida Musuem we took the metro again to get the zocalo of Mexico City. I honestly thought I was going to get trampled to death in the metro. It was so packed because of all the people trying to evade the rain that I could barely breath. Getting off was even harder than getting on. There was a very large man with an enormous belly standing in the train doors. I nearly didn’t make it out, but I managed to squeeze through. I’m so glad there are no Metros in Puebla. In the centro we visited another church and walked around the central plaza. We tried to get into the Palacio to see some of Diego Rivero’s murals, but it was closed for renovations and we were turned away. Kristina, Ruthanne and I left the rest of the group to do a bit more exploring in the centro. We went to a really cool used bookstore and I bought a copy of Robin Hood in Spanish. Then as were walking out this guy who had been in the shop when we were, handed me a book of short stories and poems by Mexican authors. He gave it to us as a gift. After the bookstore we decided to meet up with the others again at the Museum of Bellas Artes. Just as we were about to go inside a group of three Mexican girls stopped us and asked if they could interview us for a homework project for their English class. They videotaped us and asked us lots of questions in English about how we liked Mexico and what the United States is like. It was fun, and all three of the girls were really nice. I guess our English testimonials will appear in some classroom presentation in Mexico City. In the museum to Bellas Artes we finally got to see some murals de Diego Rivera. It was spectacular. Diego Rivera painted a mural in New York City for a commission, but it was destroyed because of its politically controversial material. Rivera recreated this same mural on the wall within the Museum de Bellas Artes. There are so many dimensions to the mural that it is impossible to take it all in. Rivera’s murals express so much social criticism and political indictment that it is hard to understand every dimension of his message. After Bellas Artes we walked back to the hotel to rest our feet after a long day of walking around. Then later that night Yessenia and I went Salsa dancing in a place called Mambo Café. It was really fun, but I was exhausted by the time we left around two. The taxi driver tried to make us pay 200 pesos (approx 18 dollars) to get back to our hotel, which was about 10 min away. So we bailed and hailed another cab and only paid 50 pesos. I guess the taxi driver thought we were gullible gringas who wouldn’t realize we were getting ripped off.
On the last day of the Mexico City trip we visited the Museum of Anthropology. The museum was huge! We spent nearly three hours touring the galleries of ancient statues and artifacts. There was so much to see that we could have been there for at least three more hours and not have been able to see everything. Much of what we got to see was found in and around the pyramids of Teotihuacan. I can’t even begin to describe all the intricate sculptures. It was almost too much to take in all at once, and extremely exhausting. The Museum of Anthropology marked the end of our class trip and we were released to do whatever we wanted until class again on Monday morning. Several students decided to stay in Mexico City for the weekend, while others headed to Guadalajara. Kristina and I made plans to visit the city of San Miguel de Allende located about 4 hours north of Mexico City.

Stay tuned for a details on the trip to San Miguel…