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!