Puerto Vallartaaaaa

I have no words for this trip because the pictures do it justice....But, I will mention my discontent by the mere fact that spanish is not spoken here and it is becoming beyond developed with too many condos for rich Americans and Canadians...Now, off to Guadalajara to spend time with mis padres!

Obamanos!!!

9 de Octubre, 2008
Saturday the 20th of September began by waking up at 5am to leave at 5:30am to go to Tula and Queretaro. Tula is home to an archeological site which has some pyramids and ruins from before the colonial period so we hiked around there for a bit. I hiked to the top of one of the pyramids and noticed the spectacular view of an oil refinery polluting like non-other off in the distance…So much for pollution controls in México because I could actually see the vibrant colors of the pollution being emitted just beyond the ruins…AWESOME!!! Later we went to Queretaro, which is a city where lots of important historical things happened, especially among indigenous people. This city was large and had a really different type of food but was still amazing. Needless to say, after going around in tourist trolley receiving a city tour of the aqueduct, too many old dead guys who are all important, and too many churches, we had fun taking pictures of our shadows….
The following Saturday we woke at 8am to hike the cliff on the outside of the city, which is named La Bufa. The hardest part of the hike was definitely hiking up the callejon leaving the city because it was sooo steep. After arriving at the top, we were greeted by firemen from the city who all happened to be between 18-25 years old and were strapping us up in our gear to repel down the cliff. Haha. Well, the day was beautiful and very warm, and I put on the gear and was going down at the same time as my friend Roger. He went a lot faster than me and after I went over the side of the mountain, I started getting really nervous. You always have to keep one hand behind you to control your speed, especially on the part where you are no longer by the cliff. All of a sudden I look down and Roger had flipped himself upside down and was going down that way. I was super nervous suddenly and everyone was yelling for me to flip upside down and I shrieked a nervous NOO! Really suddenly. Haha. When I reached the ground, I was shaking more than I was at the top….Beyond this, the view of the city was amazing, and I will post pics soon of the view.
Today the International Cervantino Festival starts here which lasts for about 3 weeks with an abundant amount of art, movies, music (CAFÉ TACUBAAAA!!!), and other activities…Downfall, the population doubles to triples on weekends which means a) not enough bathrooms so guess what happens in every alleyway in the city!!! (Especially with the drunkards) 2) A high crime rate, but don’t worry because if you get mugged and they don’t assault you, its totally ok 3)There are no taxis to get home, but if you do find one, their rate is at least doubled 4) Due to all the threats from drug cartels, there are going to be tons of police, soldiers, military here with their massive riffles and dogs who are as big as me…Don’t get me wrong, I am super excited especially since I am leaving this weekend to go to the beach in Puerto Vallarta! YAY!!!

Fútbol, San Miguel de Allende, Guadalajara, & Craziness

September 16th, 2008
It has been far too long since I have updated my blog and there has been so much stuff I have experienced, so I will try my best to describe everything. August 31st we went to watch a soccer game in Leon, which was Leon vs. Atlas who are from Guadalajara (my team). Unfortunately, because we were in Leon’s stadium, I had to cheer against my own team. Katie came with me, which was pretty sweet, and she got interviewed by the newspaper at the game (she was probably the only blond girl at the game, haha). So, Leon beat Atlas 2-1, which was a really exciting game.
The next week, I had so much work because we had many essays, presentations, and tests for school, which really sucked. But to make matters worse, I got sick AGAIN on that Wednesday night. I was so sick again, but this time, I didn’t eat anything but drink Pedialyte and Gatorade for 4 days. YAY!!! FUN!!! Haha. On Saturday the 6th, we went on an excursion to San Miguel de Allende, which is about 1.5 hours away. For about 3 hours when we first got there, we went to Hot Springs and some pools, which was amazing. I really miss lying out in the sun and hanging out in/by water. Even though this was amazing, I still was sick so it had made my body especially week, which proved to be a huge challenge for walking around the city which is not especially flat. The city was beautiful and very clean with a different type of architecture. However, it was more expensive and was strange because very many people from the United States, and other foreign countries retire here, so you could see all their influence and so many people speaking English. I really liked this city and want to go back again since it is so close but very peaceful.
The next week at school I have more presentations, essays, and tests, but I was looking forward to the 4 day weekend. I finally ate my first meal on Monday morning, but was still feeling sick and other weird problems were happening to me. Finally, on Friday after my test, Katie and I met up to take a bus to Guadalajara for the weekend to stay with my uncle. We took a nicer bus and it was AMAZING! It was basically nicer than 1st class in an airplane with lots of room, large seats, movies and headphones, and they gave us lunch and a drink. We were pretty stoked and we saw some fantastic 80s movies. Haha. It took about 4 hours to arrive in Guadalajara, which is the 2nd biggest city in Mexico, and were greeted by my uncle. Guadalajara in Jalisco is where Mariachis were known to originate, is known for the city of Tequila where most agave is grown, and home of the Chivas soccer team. YES!!! My uncle lives a 10-minute walk from the centro, so we ate dinner there, which overlooked one of the 4 main plazas which are shaped in a cross around the main cathedral. Everything looked beautiful because all of the buildings were decorated with lights and festive decorations for Independence day. It is funny because since the beginning of September the decorations have been up and I kept getting confused because since Mexico’s colors are red, green, and white, I thought they were already putting up Christmas decorations since a lot of decorations are made out of tinsel…hahaha. On Saturday, we woke up early because my uncle took us to this amazing canyon outside of the city. It was ridiculously green and beautiful with a river and town at the bottom, but unfortunately, you cant go in the river because it is so horribly polluted. We hiked down which was difficult since it was all rocks and very uneven. We only went about ½ way down because it was very humid and it was a steep hike back up. All of the views were beautiful and the air was so fresh just like home. At the top Gatorade girls with free Gatorade greeted us. Yes! After we got home and showered, we were tired but went to eat lunch at the Mercado. My uncle took us to a place where they made fresh corn tortillas and it was one of the most delicious meals ever because everything was made in front of us and it was so cheap for a huge meal with as many tortillas as we wanted (as in cheap I mean for 3 huge gourmet meals it was about $10). Later that evening after a long rest, we went to a town on the outskirts of the city called Tlaqupaque which is an artisan town especially known for glass blowing. It was beautiful, but unfortunately, as soon as we got there, it was hurricane like weather and was downpouring. Good thing Katie and me bought out awesome $3 umbrellas, which were slowly degrading quick in the weather. We hung out at a really cool café then walked around and saw some breakdancers in the main plaza which was pretty sweet. It sorta reminded me of breakdancing in Venice Beach in the 90s. haha.
Sunday, Katie and I met up with some friends from her language school and went to a rodeo. Pretty sweet since everyone dresses up in crazy dresses and outfits with live mariachi music everywhere. That evening, we went to the centro and hung out while there were tons of people and music since they were preparing for Independence Day. Monday morning, we woke up to walk around the centro more before we came back to Guanajuato. We went to San Juan de Dios, which is basically known to be one of the largest markets in Latin America and has EVERYTHING or ANYTHING you are looking for from birds, crazy weird animal meat, tons of clothing, movies that haven’t come out yet, you name it, it is there. Katie and me had fun buying sugar cane juice and coconut milk in which they just take a machete to open the top of a coconut and stick a straw in it to drink. After getting back we had lunch with my uncle, packed and embarked on our journey to guanajuato in time for the grito for Independence Day at 11pm. My uncle told us to take a bus, which was 5 blocks away, and as soon as we left the house, it started down pouring so Katie and me got soaking wet for the bus ride and walking across the quickly formed lakes in the street praying cars wouldn’t drive by fast because we would get even more drenched. After jumping on a bus (literally jumping, because in Mexico anywhere you want is a bus stop so you just have to know when to get off ahead of time and jump off quick), I had to keep asking people where to get off because we had no idea. We finally had to jump off with our luggage and walk in the pouring rain again to the station in which we realized we missed a bus by 5 minutes, so we had to wait an hour. We finally got on the Bus and embarked on our journey back to celebrate. We arrived at about 9pm in Guanajuato to pouring rain and there were no taxis because so many people come there. Guanajuato is the 2nd most visited city for Independence Day since it had such a crucial role in the war for independence. So we jumped on a city bus, and where many people got off, Katie and me did too since they let you off in the underground tunnels they drive in and you have no idea where you are most of the time. We got out, had no idea where we were, but finally realized it and got off too early so our journey began. As we were walking with our luggage, there are tons of people in the streets and it is starting to pour rain harder and harder and there were no open taxis, so I knew we just had to hike up to my house. As Katie and we started up the stairs, it had already turned into a huge waterfall/river in which the water basically was splashing us up to our knees. Katie was carrying an umbrella which only had ½ working and the other ½ was just flopping and hitting her in the face while I had my rain coat on, but since it was pouring so much rain, all of the water finally made its way through the material, same with through my suitcase and all of our other bags/purses. As we are struggling up the steps/waterfall/river the rain keeps pouring harder and harder so our pants are getting wetter and wetter, therefore, very heavy, therefore falling off and we had no free hands so basically our butts were hanging out walking up the stairs and my converse I was wearing, well, they were very squishy, and as for Katie, she was wearing slip flops and she almost lost one from the current on the way up. We finally made it into our house after a 20 minute hike up and were completely soaked and to make it better, my host parents had family over and were all in the main room when we walked in lookin real good. Haha.
After a few showers, we decided to change and to trek on out again to the celebration even though it was raining harder than previously and I don’t even know that was possible. We got ready, and at about 11pm, the grito started and there were fireworks which we had an amazing view of from the balcony of my room. After watching them and having a glass of wine from a bottle that we had to ghetto rig to open with a pair of tiny scissors used for facial/body stuff, we strolled downtown. Tons of people were out, and we bought the most delicious corn on the cob on the street which is covered in mayonnaise, cheese, and chile at about midnight and probably on of the better investments Katie and me made all night. Haha. We strolled around to many bars and met up with many friends, and next thing we know, most bars are closed and it we look at the time, and oh that’s cause it is 5am. Haha. Woops. So then we went salsa dancing to cap of the night and could barely move cause there were so many people. Most would think by the amount of people of the street it was about 10pm, but it was like 5:30am. Haha. So yes, after waiting for a taxi for an hour and not one was open, we strolled back home. Independence day here was basically a crazy experience and was concluded by Katie and me covered in festive green, white, and red paint all over our faces and arms and waking up Tuesday morning or afternoon at about 2pm and listening to people putting off fireworks all day from their houses and the thunderous booms.

School and Rainstorms...

August 24, 2008
This past week, has been straight up downpours, so on the way to school I must wear sandals because I walk through a river/waterfall down the steps in which the water is up to my ankles basically. Strong current too. That is always fun, cant wait till my sandals are taken away…
The days are starting to go by much faster with my homework, especially since I need to understand everything really well. My Latin American Literature class is really interesting, but imagine AP English but all in Spanish…takes me a while to understand everything. I also am about to start my first novel in Spanish for the class, which we have to analyze by Isabel Allende entitled, “La Casa de los Espiritus.”
This weekend I went to Diego Rivera’s house which is now a museum of some of his work, to the Don Quijote museum, and to Alhondiga which was a grain warehouse but is now a museum because of its crucial importance in the first major battle for Mexican independence. I enjoyed all of the museums, especially seeing the house of Diego Rivera, which also had many pictures of Frida Kahlo.
I have been watching soccer games on tv a lot especially on Sundays since that’s all that’s on, besides today when there was major coverage of the Olympics closing ceremony. But don’t worry, I got some sweet notebooks for school, Chivas de Corazón fo sho! Haha. Mexico got 2 gold medals and a bronze which was a huge deal and I think I saw all of these playbacks at least 100 times…haha.

Dancinnnnnn'

August 17 2008
We all went out to dinner together and then followed by going out to a lounge that always plays coldplay and dave mathews, followed by salsa dancing at Cuba Mia and some intense clubbing at Guanajuato Grill. After dinner, we were walking in the Jardín Union which is the main garden plaza where everyone is all the time and saw a guy hire a mariachi to sing to his girlfriend as he proposed. It was adorable to say the least. I would love to be a waiter at cuba mia because after they take your drink orders, the waiters all know how to dance and ask everyone to dance with them….I wish I could do that. Don’t worry though because when you go out to here, things are usually just starting to get busy at about 2am and most places close at 5 or 6am. Saturday started out with waking up at 8am after a long night and going to the famous Mummy Mueseum, Hacienda del Cocheros, and then to the Mina Valenciana. The mummy museum is filled with mummies from guanajuato and is a bit creepy and unreal. Hacienda del Cocheros was by far one of the creepiest museums I have ever been too. This hacienda was invaded by the Spanish inquisition and was turned into a torture chamber for those who didn’t believe in Christianity. The walls were also built extremely thick so no body could hear the screams of those being tortured and they also showed us the torture devices and how they were used. Creepy…Mina Valenciana was one of the most productive mines in this region and we hikied down into the actual mine about 60meters. It was very hard to walk because the steps are so step and uneven and the tour guide proceded to tell us about the slaves who were indigenous people of this area and had to carry the huge rocks containing the minerals up the stairs, and they had to carry this up double what we walked which was hard enough. This mine is also right next to the Valenciana church which is considered to be the 3rd richest church in the world because of how much gold it has inside. It was ridiculous because everything around the alter and the walls was pure gold.
I later met up with Katie to hang out on her birthday…so much for turning 21 in mexico…haha. We went out to dinner then went to Bar Ocho to get a Wiki Waki Woo which is a ridiculous drink in a huge margarita glass that is a liter of alcohol. The bartender then made Katie her birthday shot which was also ridiculous because whatever alcohol they put in the shot, they also doused on the bar and the bartender drank it and lit up everything. While the shot was still on fire, Katie had to drink the shot through a straw. Talk about an intense shot….After a few more bars, we ended up going to a typical banda music bar called Colorado. Katie and me decided to go dance even though most people dancing were couples. We ended up dancing with these guys but it was funny to see the switch in music from techno to reggaeton, then all of a sudden it switched to banda so the guys who wernt even close to touch you before pulled you in close to dance. Katie and me were just glancing at eachother cracking up. However, near 2am, a cumbia band started playing live which was pretty cool. I have to say after all this salsa and other types of dancing with Mexican men, I never have seen so many guys shake their hips as well as they do here. Hahaha. Love it.
Today I went to eat what my señora had prepared me and I couldent even bare to eat it. Although she has made it before, today I could not even smell it. However, this causes major problems seeing that in Mexican culture, it is extremely disrespectful if you don’t eat all of the food on your plate, even though they always serve way too much food and keep offering more. I think my señora saw me picking through the food because she asked if I liked it…It is probably the hardest thing to say no, so I said that fried everything makes me fill sick….besides tacos and flautas….haha. woops, oh well.

Starting classes en la universidad

14 de Augosto, 2008
This week I started classes which was really exciting for me. I go to La Escuela de Idioms and I am taking 5 classes; Advanced grammer, history, literature, conversation, and a seminar on U.S.-Mexico border relations. They all seem very interesting, except I had to miss the 3rd day of class due to finally getting sick. I basically thought I was going to die. But after missing and sleeping the whole day, my senora fed me pedialyte, tea, and veggie soup to make me feel better. I have also been taking Zumba classes which is basically a cross between intense jazzercise and latin dancing for an hour long (probably on of the most intense workouts I have ever done). Today I had a different instructor than usual, and he was a man that was laughing and making fun of the women because they couldent get the rhythm and steps since we were of course dancing to Fergalicious, Yeah by Usher, and of course we couldent leave out Low by Flo-Rider. That was fun cause I knew all the words and could for sure keep up more than most women in my class. Haha. They probably are like who is this weird American girl considering that these classes are a block away from my house, and none the less, most women attending are native to Guanajuato. Don’t worry though because here in Mexico, during Zumba, they also play Come on Over by Christina Aguilera in Spanish. That’s right, Ven Conmigo, Ven Conmigo Baby. Haha.

One of the most intense adventures...

1-3 de Augosto, 2008

The first weekend we had, we had our first intense excursion. We went to the state of Michoacan and hiked up to 2 amazing waterfalls and swam in the 2nd one on the first day. The next day we went for a 6 hour horse ride to the top of a volcano. The village where we got the horses did not speak Spanish but spoke purepecha so the horses also spoke that language. The man who took me to my horse asked if I had ridden a horse before and I said no, so he helped me on, smiled and hit the horse so it would take off with me on it. Great, no instructions. Haha. Then our tour guides thought it was hilarious to come up behind us hit our horses on the butt so they would take off running and we would scream. Every once in awhile you would see another student come out of nowhere because their horses decided to go the wrong way so the tour guides would have to take off after them. When we were at the base of the volcano, we climbed the rest of the way up which was really hard because it was so steep and volcanic ash. This meant that everytime I took a step up, I slide ½ a step back. The top had an amazing view and the rocks were almost too hot to touch from the ground. As we climbed down it started raining, then pouring, then hailing….Then a really intense lightening storm started and one lightening struck probably 30ft away from us and many people got thrown of their horses. Needless to say, I thought I was going to die besides the pain from the hike and riding the horse. When we arrived back, none of us could walk, and I have never been so sore/in pain in my life. I still had bruises all over my legs for a whole week.
Besides this 3 day trip, I also visited Christo Rey which is a giant Jesus statue that is on top of a mountain and is positioned exactly in the middle of México. There are also cliffs in the city, which are named La Bufa. One night, many people were celebrating a saint so everyone was climbing up this mountain with torches so I could see the whole mountain lit up through my window. My host dad, Raul, said that they stay there all night and the whole next day and drink the whole time. Haha. Well it looked really cool with all the torches.

First Impressions of Guanajuato

31 de Julio, 2008
Guanajuato, which is the capital of the state of Guanajuato, is the city where I am living. I live in a Callejon, which are what make up the city and are basically tiny alleys with stairs, because the city is extremely hilly and callejons make up most of the city surrounding el centro. I live in a bright yellow house at the top of a hill so I am getting a good work out every time I go to school or downtown at night which is only a 5-minute walk. My host parents are both retired from working for the government but we carry good conversations about the government and other social issues because they worked with natural resources and water. My senora, Lupita, makes me 3 meals a day and prepares way too much food but buys me organic soymilk. Haha. I usually have pancakes for breakfast with fresh fruit and juice followed by a huge 3-course meal at 3 then a very small meal at 9pm, which is usually quesadillas or cereal, but I am too full to eat from the lunch.
A lot of the people in my program are from the Midwest, which is interesting but makes language barriers more fun. Haha. Great. Beyond this, one of my first impressions in the beginning of the program was one that scared the crap out of me. So, coming to a city was a little hard for me considering I don’t usually lock doors, well forget that, and anyways, I can’t even carry a purse at night. A week into the program, another American girl that was in the summer program who was living with me had a knife held to her and her whole bag was taken. I was like great, what am I doing here? Well, now I know to not carry anything of value with me and although I live 5 minutes from el Centro, at night, I always have to take a taxi home which takes a lot longer. Oh well…Our leaders just keep telling us our life is worth more than 35 pesos which is how much a ride in a taxi is home.