Chiapas

Sorry it's been so long!
Last weekend Dario and I went to Chiapas. Our bus left on Thursday at 7:30 and we got there around 4 or 5 in the morning. His cousin, Arturo (I think that's how it's spelled) picked us up from the bus station. I was assuming that we were going straight to his house, since it was such an ugly hour, but no, we drove around Tuxtla for a while as they pointed things out to me excitedly. "There's where my dad used to work!" "That's the Zocalo!" "There's the cathedral!". Yes, nice, but I just wanted to sleep!!! Finally we got to his house and he called his mom to come unlock the gate. She was so excited, and so was his dog, Harry. I went straight upstairs to bed, but Dario was too excited to sleep. Their house is very clean and plain. It kind of reminded me of an older person's house, because everything was white, the sofa was hard, there was no tv in the living room, the decorations were simple. It didn't really seem lived in, kind of stiff, which is weird because the family is the exact opposite. The two didn't really match. When I got up, his mom was like "Are you hungry? Here, lets go downstairs, do you like coffee? What do you want to eat?" So I went downstairs with her and ate some cereal and drank real coffee! Not out of a machine! Not espresso and water, actual coffee! It was great. We talked for a while, it was a little akward, and I was trying to speak in Spanish, but eventually just gave up and spoke in English. Later, Dario came downstairs and we went to the zoo. The zoo is so close to their house, and only has native animals of Chiapas. There was hardly anyone there, and it felt like a jungle with a pathway. I'm not a huge fan of zoos, but this one was really nice because I got to see things I've never seen before, like a Quetzal (bird that has a huge importance in Mexican history), a huge milipede or something that was the size of a hotdog only longer, a black jaguar, tapirs, and a bunch of other animals. After that, we went to pick up his sister, Marifer, from school. It was the same school that he used to go to, so he went to talk to some old teachers. His sister is 16, but seems a lot older. We came home, his mom was making comida fuerte (lunch) which was tacos (clarification-"tacos" in the US and tacos in Mexico are two completely different things, tacos here are some type of meat and sometimes a vegetable and tortillas, then you stuff your own tortilla, I've never seen a folded hard shell here!) broccoli casserole, and chicken salad. Afterwards, I took a nap and Dario's best friend/godbrother Roberto came over, then we started getting ready because it was his mom's birthday, and she was having family over. We took some tables out to the backyard, (all of the backyards in Mexico are walled-in), and sat and talked for a little while. We took Roberto's car to the store to get some things for the party, and when we came back some people had arrived. We all sat outside eating pineapple, jicama (kind of like a turnip), and cucumber. Everyone was so friendly, but there was so much Spanish, my brain was hurting from trying to comprehend everything as well as trying to come up with responses to their questions quickly. One of the cousin's little girl, Katia is two and a half and was hilarious. When an uncle went to leave and was kissing everyone goodbye, she screamed "beso al perro!" which means, "kiss the dog!", and she was going around to everyone at the table saying that she had a secret and when they bent down to listen, she said "do, do dooo!!" really loud.

On Saturday, we woke up, I again had coffee, and we went out to eat at a restaurant that everyone in Chiapas knows about called "casa blanca" I tried Pozole, which comes in a soup bowl and looks like bean soup, but is cold and made with corn and cacao (chocolate). It sounds really gross but it wasn't too bad. I mean, I wouldn't order it, but I ate/drank it all, and the tacos were amazing. The restaurant was set up with continuous tables and benches, and only had two walls, one on either side. Later, I went home with his mom and did homework while Dario and Marifer spent time with their dad, who was in town. When they got back, we went to Chiapa del Corzo, which is a town about 15 min. away, with his mom, sister, cousin and her two kids (one of them Katia). The town is known for the canyons, and the monument that was built in the 16th century dedicated to Queen Isabel of Spain, and is shaped like her crown. The artwork there is really pretty, too, it's black with bright colored flowers. The bowls and cups and everything else is painted red inside by hand. Soon after arriving, Dario and I bought our tickets for the boat ride through the canyon, which I almost missed because I was in the bathroom. The canyon was beautiful, it is apparently much bigger than the grand canyon and taller, too. We saw a little beach that was covered with vultures, a cave that had a shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe, and a huge crocodile. A few other things happened after we got back that I can't really remember, but later on Saturday night we all went over to Roberto's house, where I met his dad and brother. His brother (who is 16) has his own paintball business in the lot next to their house, and his dad is a car/motorcycle collector. I sat in his mustang while he was telling me to "boom boom", meaning step on the gas. Then I sat in his Jeep from World War II, which was pretty cool. Actually the car that Dario's mom has is one of theirs, because they have more than 10. It was rediculous, it was like walking onto the set of Cribs. Later that night, we met up with his cousin, Arturo again and another of their friends and we went out, which was painfully akward, but thankfully one of his friends studied in Canada and spoke perfect English, otherwise I wouldn't have said a word. (In a loud, crowded club it's hard to hear in English, let alone a foreign language).

On Sunday, we went to San Cristobal de las Casas, which is a small touristy town high up in the mountains and COLD! On our way there, we passed through a toll booth and his mom asked the attendant if a quarter of a tank would be enough and they said probably not, so we had everyone behind us back up so we could turn around to get gas. We had a little picnic once we got there of all kinds of sandwhiches. We walked down the market of tourism and I bought a necklace, got popscicles, and watched a street performance of a clown and a unicycle, a Mexican and German volunteer. They were making fun of the German because he didn't understand what he was sopposed to do or what the clown was saying to him, and I was really glad that it wasn't me! On Sunday night, we met another of his cousins at the mall and her 7 month old daughter, Becca who was facinated by me. We went to this really nice restaurant in the mall and got juice (kiwi juice! it was awesome) then ordered pizza from Dominos. Roberto and some other friends that I had met the night before were there and they were going to a movie. We went to his cousin's house, ate and played Uno for hours.

Monday, we went to Wal-Mart (everyone's favorite store), and to some houses of his family (they live on the same street). We picked up Arturo and went back to the house to eat lunch which was milenza chicken (extrenely thin chicken breaded and fried), spaghetti and meatsauce, and mashed potatos, then went outside to play Phase 10. Soon after, we were taken to the bus station, to wait for our bus that was thirty minutes late. It left around 7:30 and we finally got into Puebla around 6am, and waited for a taxi for 30-40 min, then had class at 9. Tuesday wasn't too much fun, but as I'm typing, it's already the weekend, so I'm not complaining! I kind of miss the heat of Tuxtla. It's about 75 here, but it was over 90 there! This weekend, the USAC program is going to Mexico City (D.F.) to go to the Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera museums. I still haven't decided what I'm doing for Spring break (which is in two weeks!), but hopefully this weekend, we'll decide. Until then, cuidate!

A Few Additions to the Last Update

I just realized I forgot to mention going to the Great Pyramid of Cholula (Tlachihualtepetl) in my last update! Last weekend Liz, Stephanie and I finally went! It's the biggest pyramid in the world by volume. When we first got inside, it was a long narrow tunnel with wings leading to nowhere, or to huge staircases but were blocked off. Towards the end (which I didn't know was the end at the time), the walls kept getting closer and closer together, and the celing kept getting lower and lower. We were kind of starting to get claustrophobic, but then we turned a corner and saw light. It was interesting, but kind of creepy because we were only in a little tiny tunnel for a little ways in a huge pyramid. When we got out we turned the corner and headed up the giant set of stairs leading to the church on the top. It took us forever to get up because there were so many stairs and it was wearing us out because they were all so steep. When we got to the top, we went the the entrance of the church, but there was a service. Now, I don't know who would venture all the way up to the top of a 250 feet tall mountain every sunday to go to church, but it was packed all the way out the door. While on top, we kept hearing a booming sound, like fireworks or something, but we didn't know what it was. The ruins at the bottom were all really confusing, because I'm pretty sure there were several civilizations that used the same site. There were stairs on top of stairs, stairs leading to nowhere, walls over walls, all different brick, etc. Near the stairs that have been excavated and restored (the rest of the pyramid has not yet been excavated and just looks like a huge hill covered in grass with a church on top), there was a reenactment of a ceremony of somesort. There were two men dressed in the biggest headdress I have ever seen, decorated with feathers as tall as they were, a hat made of a leopard's head, bone necklaces, shells around their calves, and other types of jewelry. After the pyramid, we walked near the Zocalo to get something to eat, and while eating we heard another "BOOM" but this time it sounded like it was right outside. We walked closer to the Zocalo and saw a bunch of people crowded around. They were watching a bunch of men dressed as Turks, or Russians, or something shooting what looked like a huge bonfire, without the fire. We were a little puzzled as to why people were dressed up, why they were shooting fake guns at a pile of sticks, and why so many people were watching them. A few minutes later a parade came by, they were headed for the Zocalo to join the others. We were beyond ready to leave because it was so loud and there were so many people, but we couldn't find a taxi that would take us back to campus (we eventually did, but much later). I asked one of my profesors who lives in Cholula what it was all about, and she said that it was Cholula's version of Carnival. It was called the dance of the Huehues.

Another addition: today there was "community day" on campus, and they had all kinds of food (not free, Ibero doesn't know how to attract college students), a bungee jump trampoline contraption, inflated American Gladiator type arena, and so on. When I walked past the cheerleaders (or dance team maybe?) were dancing to Britney Spears, and on our way to dance class tonight, we walked past again and they were doing lucha libre (ever seen the movie, Nacho Libre? yeah, like that) which is Mexico's version of professional wrestling where huge men put on tight pants and masks and "wrestle". It was more like watching sausages in glittery casings pretend to fight and pretend to get hurt and flip around. It made me embarassed for human kind. Maybe I'm not being a culturally sensitive as I should be, but professional wresting anywhere is pretty bogus. That's all for now that I can remember!

Happy International Women's Day!

Sorry I haven't updated much lately, I'm sure you all have been waiting impatiently on the edge of your seats wanting to hear what has been going on.
Some random things that I've noticed in Mexico:
The way they mix cement: so there is a new neighborhood being built right outside our window, (which isn't too much fun on the weekends when we're trying to sleep) and the way they mix cement looks so laborous. They clear a bit of land with a shovel, sift something stones maybe?, pour the bag and water, mix it with a shovel, shovel it into a bucket, lift it on their shoulder and take it upstairs to wherever it needs to go. Then come back down for more, or do it all again.
Bathrooms: Toilets are normal here, the only difference is a lot of times there are no toilet seats. Or toilet paper. Or soap. Or water. Sometimes a lack of more than one of these things. and for example in the bus station, it's three pesos to enter, and you have to get your toilet paper before you go in the stall (which I didn't know the first time). Another fun story, our toilet in our room got clogged about three times this week and the first time, I went down to ask the guards if they had a plunger (had to do some research on technical terms of the bathroom) and one of them walked with me to the stairs of my dorm where there was a plunger right outside, in plain view, three feet from the door. A little embarassing.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this already or not, but fried and roasted crickets are sold in every market here. I have yet to see anyone eat some, or buy some, or tell me they like them (common response is "ugh, those are disgusting").
Last weekend we played the middle school game of pizza and a movie at the mall. We went to see Slumdog Millionare ("Quisiera Ser Millonario"). This weekend Dario and I went to a huge market near the bus station and I bought 100 peso shoes (around $7), then up to this church that you can see from anywhere in Puebla because it's on a huge hill and has a white dome, that I have wanted to see for a long time. Then we walked all the way down to a shopping center complete with your Applebees and Starbucks, and went to see He's Just Not That Into You ("A El No Le Gusta Tanto"). We basically made it a whole day affair, and continued with attempting to go to an Irish pub on Avenida Juarez (a street in the really nice part of Puebla called La Paz), but as always, it was full, so we went upstairs to another bar/restaurant where we watched a show similar to Planet Earth and it was decorated like the 70s but modern.
On Saturday, Kayla and I went to the post office and finally got to go into the huge cathedral that Puebla is so famous for right in the Zocalo. There were three organs with the biggest pipes I have ever seen on an organ. Kayla was like "I could fit in one of those!". We tried to find this coffee shop that we went to one time that we really liked, (my chai frap tasted like Christmas), but had no luck because we couldn't remember the name of it or where exactly it was, but we knew we were really close. Saturday night I went out to Cholula with Dario and five of his friends. We were going to go to this restaurant that specializes in food from Chiapas that is apparently really good becuase it was so crowded. We waited for about 30 min. and nobody left, probably because there was a game on between Chiapas and Guadalajara on, so we decided to go somewhere else. It was pretty crowded too, but we sat outside and just kind of forgot about the game. They kept bringing us all kinds of snacks, soup, fish (which I did not partake in), cheese, chips, fried cheese rolls, something that I don't even know but was good, sausage, and maybe something else too. It was fun, but kind of hard because I understood about 30% of what the said and the rest I just inferred from mannerisms, tones of voice, and other means.
This morning a few of us went out for brunch to this restaurant that specialzes in juice. A large juice was a liter. (I was the only one that got a small), and everyone was treating it as a marathon "you're almost there Chris, don't let us down" "you can do it" "keep going", and so forth. The rest of today consisted of homework and arguing about daylight savings, which doesn't start here until April 5. Chiapas in four days!