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!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
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!
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!
Monday, February 23, 2009
More Adventurous
Thursday was Chris' birthday, so Chris, Sean, Kayla, Mariah, Celia, Rachel, Erin and I went to Rachel and Erin's house downtown. Their house is really close to the Zocalo, and own a restaurant which is the bottom front part of their house. It's a huge house, I think about 14 people live there all together. Since it was Chris' birthday,Papa Tomas (the sister's host dad) and mama Linda made us the most incredible food. We had homemade horchata, fresh squeezed orange juice, jugo de tamarindo, homemade tortilla chips and guacamole, squash soup, salad, spanish rice, and pechuga milanesa (very very thin breaded fried chicken). We ate until we were uncomfortably full, then had a tour of the house. It just kept going and going. The dog lives on the roof (which is really common here), where one of the habitants was hanging laundry to dry (the washer and dryer was on the roof, too). The girls have their own room apart from the house, with a balcony overlooking the courtyard with a fountain, lamppost, and children's toys. The house was built around a courtyard that was completely open. There were two kitchens, one upstairs and one down, but apparently the one downstairs is only used for holidays, which is sad because it’s an authentic Mexican kitchen, with some of the biggest pots and pans I’ve ever seen, and the tile stove that you put coals, or whatever heating source in the holes in front. On our way back to the bus stop, I got a watermelon popsicle at this ice cream shop that had every fruit imaginable and every flavor of ice cream you could want.
Friday during the day was probably the most boring day I’ve had yet, here. I didn’t really do anything, just some homework and was restless all day. Friday night, Sean made us “Josh’s feast”, consisting of all of Josh’s uneaten food, (rice, beans, tortillas) since he’s back in the states now. Later that night, a few of us were going out and ran into Regina as we were leaving the gate, so we walked with her through campus to meet her friend, Joslin (Joslyn? Josslinn?) who’s from Germany. We went with them to los Sapos (the popular strip downtown) to meet their friend Emiliano. We went to this really nice place that was an old church, and had a live DJ, but it closed fairly early, so we went looking for something else to do. We couldn’t decide, so we just went back to Emiliano’s apartment which was about 4 blocks away, to hang out. Again, the complex was surrounding a courtyard, where the residents part their cars. He is a really interesting kid, a photographer for Myspace, but a political science major. We left because Chris had a field study trip bright and early in the morning.
Saturday, Dario and I were going to go to either Pachuca, or Tlaxcala, two towns about an hour away from Puebla, each, but he couldn’t go, and I still wanted to, so Sean, Mariah and I went to Tlaxcala. We weren’t really sure where to go, what time the bus would leave, or what to do when we got there, but we just went to the bus station to see what we could do. I asked the clerk what town we should go to today, and he said Pachuca, but I asked him about Tlaxcala, since it’s closer and we left later than I had originally planned. The bus fare was only 16 pesos (about $1), and there was a bus leaving every 10 min. I think we made a good choice. The town was sprawled out on hills, very quaint and European looking. We didn’t do a lot of things of substance, just walked around and saw new things. I really liked it, we went to the biggest market I’ve ever seen, that was next to a really smelly river, when we were trying get back to the bus station we walked up this huge, steep hill, and down the road quite a ways, until we looked across the town and saw a sign for the store across the street from where we got off the bus. Aka-we were really far away from where we needed to be. So we walked back down the hill in attempts to get to the other side of town, and stopped in a store to ask a little old lady for directions. We were in a rush because it looked like a nasty storm was coming really quickly. Walking BACK up the hill again, there was a sand strom-ish. We were wearing our hoods up, sunglasses, and covering our mouths because there was so much sand blowing. The lady told us to just go down the street to the statue and catch the bus from there, which was great advice because otherwise we would have been walking around in the rain. We hopped on the bus and this time it was only 14 pesos.
Sunday, Kayla, Chris, Mariah and I went to Cholula in search of the Carnaval festival that was sopposed to be there, but we didn’t find anything. I did, however, finally see the largest pyramid by volume in the world, which is in Cholula. I didn’t go in because they had all already been, but I’ll go back sometime this semester. It is still buried in dirt/grass, except for the stairs, and the church on the top. Kayla bought a hammock (which she is lying in now), and I found a great store for Talavera. I still haven’t decided what to get yet, maybe a sugar bowl? Since nothing was really going on, we came back to the dorms and met Celia there. We still wanted to do something so we went to the smallest volcano in the world, which is in a tiny town between Puebla and Cholula, called La Libertad. The cab driver said that there was in fact a festival in Cholula, but that we had gone to the wrong center, there are apparently two centers in Cholula.
I had my final exam today for 305. We are taking three Spanish classes in one this semester. So tomorrow begins 306, then in March or so we’ll begin 410. Regina and Joslyn are renting cars to go to Acapulco this weekend and they invited us, so hopefully we’ll get to go!
Friday during the day was probably the most boring day I’ve had yet, here. I didn’t really do anything, just some homework and was restless all day. Friday night, Sean made us “Josh’s feast”, consisting of all of Josh’s uneaten food, (rice, beans, tortillas) since he’s back in the states now. Later that night, a few of us were going out and ran into Regina as we were leaving the gate, so we walked with her through campus to meet her friend, Joslin (Joslyn? Josslinn?) who’s from Germany. We went with them to los Sapos (the popular strip downtown) to meet their friend Emiliano. We went to this really nice place that was an old church, and had a live DJ, but it closed fairly early, so we went looking for something else to do. We couldn’t decide, so we just went back to Emiliano’s apartment which was about 4 blocks away, to hang out. Again, the complex was surrounding a courtyard, where the residents part their cars. He is a really interesting kid, a photographer for Myspace, but a political science major. We left because Chris had a field study trip bright and early in the morning.
Saturday, Dario and I were going to go to either Pachuca, or Tlaxcala, two towns about an hour away from Puebla, each, but he couldn’t go, and I still wanted to, so Sean, Mariah and I went to Tlaxcala. We weren’t really sure where to go, what time the bus would leave, or what to do when we got there, but we just went to the bus station to see what we could do. I asked the clerk what town we should go to today, and he said Pachuca, but I asked him about Tlaxcala, since it’s closer and we left later than I had originally planned. The bus fare was only 16 pesos (about $1), and there was a bus leaving every 10 min. I think we made a good choice. The town was sprawled out on hills, very quaint and European looking. We didn’t do a lot of things of substance, just walked around and saw new things. I really liked it, we went to the biggest market I’ve ever seen, that was next to a really smelly river, when we were trying get back to the bus station we walked up this huge, steep hill, and down the road quite a ways, until we looked across the town and saw a sign for the store across the street from where we got off the bus. Aka-we were really far away from where we needed to be. So we walked back down the hill in attempts to get to the other side of town, and stopped in a store to ask a little old lady for directions. We were in a rush because it looked like a nasty storm was coming really quickly. Walking BACK up the hill again, there was a sand strom-ish. We were wearing our hoods up, sunglasses, and covering our mouths because there was so much sand blowing. The lady told us to just go down the street to the statue and catch the bus from there, which was great advice because otherwise we would have been walking around in the rain. We hopped on the bus and this time it was only 14 pesos.
Sunday, Kayla, Chris, Mariah and I went to Cholula in search of the Carnaval festival that was sopposed to be there, but we didn’t find anything. I did, however, finally see the largest pyramid by volume in the world, which is in Cholula. I didn’t go in because they had all already been, but I’ll go back sometime this semester. It is still buried in dirt/grass, except for the stairs, and the church on the top. Kayla bought a hammock (which she is lying in now), and I found a great store for Talavera. I still haven’t decided what to get yet, maybe a sugar bowl? Since nothing was really going on, we came back to the dorms and met Celia there. We still wanted to do something so we went to the smallest volcano in the world, which is in a tiny town between Puebla and Cholula, called La Libertad. The cab driver said that there was in fact a festival in Cholula, but that we had gone to the wrong center, there are apparently two centers in Cholula.
I had my final exam today for 305. We are taking three Spanish classes in one this semester. So tomorrow begins 306, then in March or so we’ll begin 410. Regina and Joslyn are renting cars to go to Acapulco this weekend and they invited us, so hopefully we’ll get to go!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
week 6 thusfar
Quick recap:
Monday, Sean and I went to our favorite restaurant, Antojitos Tomy where I'm pretty sure the waiters know us and what we want to eat by now, and then to our favorite panderia (bread store) and I got two huge loaves of fresh baked bread and flan for 21 pesos ($1.50). Then he left and I ventured around Puebla to the market to do some grocery shopping for the week. All of the vegetables, fruit, and grains are fresh and really really cheap. I think I spent around 60 pesos (about $4) for an entire bag of food that will probably last longer than a week. Needless to say, the bad was REALLY heavy. I was walking to the bus stop to take it back to campus, and knew the intersection was 4 and 9, but couldn't remember which direction of 4 and 9 is was. Norte, Sur, Poniente, Oriente. so I walked around. And around. And around. Until finally I just said "okay, I know how to get there from the Zocalo, so I'll just go there and take the route we always do". It was long and grueling, but I think I've finally figured out Puebla's layout and plus, I found a new artisan market along the way.
Tuesday, I had to finish grocery shopping that I couldn't do at the market, like milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. Not exciting.
Wednesday, about 15 of us went out because today is Chris' birthday. We went to a really nice restaurant in the mall and watched the Puebla soccer game. I asked the waiter how to pronounce BeerBQ Chicken pizza and he just looked at me and said "BeerBQ Chicken". "Oh" Everything was really good, but extremely expensive, especially compared to the prices of food we're used to. Chris and a few others shared a beer tower that was 3 liters, and about 3 feet tall with a tap. It was pretty interesting. Apparently they have those in the states too, but I had never seen them before.
In other news, the girls on our floor are actually starting to talk to us. It's not as akward as before. Kayla and someone else were racing them in Mario Kart the other night, and they've invited us to go out with them a few times, we've just never gotten our plans straight and missed them every time, but hey, it's a start. Stephanie moved to the second floor. Josh went back home to Las Vegas, Sean and Fionna may be moving to a homestay. There's a lot of changes going on in the USAC program!
I want to go somewhere this weekend, but a lot of people don't want to go, because we have our final exam on Monday for 305, and other people are worried about finances. But if it's just a day, I think it'll be alright.
Monday, Sean and I went to our favorite restaurant, Antojitos Tomy where I'm pretty sure the waiters know us and what we want to eat by now, and then to our favorite panderia (bread store) and I got two huge loaves of fresh baked bread and flan for 21 pesos ($1.50). Then he left and I ventured around Puebla to the market to do some grocery shopping for the week. All of the vegetables, fruit, and grains are fresh and really really cheap. I think I spent around 60 pesos (about $4) for an entire bag of food that will probably last longer than a week. Needless to say, the bad was REALLY heavy. I was walking to the bus stop to take it back to campus, and knew the intersection was 4 and 9, but couldn't remember which direction of 4 and 9 is was. Norte, Sur, Poniente, Oriente. so I walked around. And around. And around. Until finally I just said "okay, I know how to get there from the Zocalo, so I'll just go there and take the route we always do". It was long and grueling, but I think I've finally figured out Puebla's layout and plus, I found a new artisan market along the way.
Tuesday, I had to finish grocery shopping that I couldn't do at the market, like milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. Not exciting.
Wednesday, about 15 of us went out because today is Chris' birthday. We went to a really nice restaurant in the mall and watched the Puebla soccer game. I asked the waiter how to pronounce BeerBQ Chicken pizza and he just looked at me and said "BeerBQ Chicken". "Oh" Everything was really good, but extremely expensive, especially compared to the prices of food we're used to. Chris and a few others shared a beer tower that was 3 liters, and about 3 feet tall with a tap. It was pretty interesting. Apparently they have those in the states too, but I had never seen them before.
In other news, the girls on our floor are actually starting to talk to us. It's not as akward as before. Kayla and someone else were racing them in Mario Kart the other night, and they've invited us to go out with them a few times, we've just never gotten our plans straight and missed them every time, but hey, it's a start. Stephanie moved to the second floor. Josh went back home to Las Vegas, Sean and Fionna may be moving to a homestay. There's a lot of changes going on in the USAC program!
I want to go somewhere this weekend, but a lot of people don't want to go, because we have our final exam on Monday for 305, and other people are worried about finances. But if it's just a day, I think it'll be alright.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Weekend Travels
Yesterday, Sean, Mariah and I went to D.F. (Mexico City) to go to Teotihuacan. We left the dorms a little after 7 to catch the bus to the bus station. When we got to the bus station we bought our tickets for the next bus at 8:20, which was perfect because we didn't have to wait but maybe 2 min. The ride there was so, as I've said before, so different. The scenery changes drastically. Sometimes it's the stereotypical Mexican landscape that people think of, dry grass, cacti, shrubbery. Other times it's like your driving through a midwestern American state with rolling farmland, horses, hay, etc. Then at one point, it reminded me of driving through North Carolina or something because the road was cut through a mountain, to to the left and right there was a wall of rock and dark green trees. I saw a few farms with farmers steering cattle and one man was on a roman carriage with a donkey pulling it. However, when we started apporaching the massive city of D.F. (Districto Federal), I saw what looked like Mexican suburbia. Cookie cutter houses made out of cement and painted bright colors, all attached to one another. Then we got more and more into town and then started the above ground subway trains (I don't know the name for them, not metro? not subway? not train?) and really amazing graffiti decorating the entire length of the ride. There was a park extending the entire length of the divided highway (I guess you would call it), with playgrounds and whatnot. When we got to the bus station we bought our ticket to Teotihuacan for 31 pesos ($2.25) and just like any other time we've needed a bus in Mexico, it left right away. We stepped on and it pulled away. Our timing could not have been any better the entire day. I was sitting behind some girls that had an Australian accent so I asked them if they were studying here, but they were in Mexico City "on holiday". They had met this kid from Guadalajara/Mexico City in Oaxaca a few weeks ago and then they facebooked him telling him they were going to be in town so he was there too. He was born and raised in Guadalajara, but now lives in Mexico City for school. So we all started talking a little bit on the ride there. We got in for free for being students in Mexico, which was nice, then headed through a street of vendors to a museum. When we got on the other side of the museum, there was Teotihuacan staring at us in the face. I knew it was a huge place, but I was not expecting it to be the size that it was. It was 2.some miles long. We didn't even get to see the other half of it, we started out going left, towards the pyramid of the moon. There were people selling whistles that sounded like jaguar growls (or people being murdered, according to Mariah), jewelry, blankets, and other items the entire way, kind of had to fend them off. We went through a tunnel from one plaza to the next under a set of stairs. (It's so hard to decribe this, maybe I'll just upload the pictures to photobucket :) Climbing the pyramids is so exhausting, they are massive and the staris are at about a 70 degree angle, and a foot tall each. But getting to the top makes it all worth it. From there, you can see the entire ancient city of Teotihuacan, along with the modern day surrounding of Mexico City. Climbing to the top of the pyramid of the sun (the biggest pyramid in Mexico), was even harder, but we rested in between levels. Sean, (if anyone knows my brother, Isaac, Sean is the closest person I could compare him to) got yelled at for not climbing the stairs, but for climbing the side of the pyramid, like McGuyver. We have some photographic evidence. At the top of the pyramid, I ran into the Aussies and Alejandro (I think was his name) again. It turns out that he knows someone from USC that I had a class with last year and who is best friends with Kathleen from FMLA. It really is a small world. I mean, I don't know this girl well by any means, but I at least know who she is which is crazy to not have any connections at all, just randomly meeting people that know people in other parts of the world. We were all exhausted, and thristy, and starving, so we went back to the bus station, across the street to a restaurant, ate then left. I originally wanted to stay in the city a little longer and go to the national museum of anthropology, and do some other sight seeing, but we were too tired. I'm just going to have to go back. Maybe Luis will come to visit and he can show me around his home town! Who knows? Today I'm going to get my haircut, finally and attempt to make it, yet again, to the pyramids in Cholula which I have been planning on doing for weeks now. Nos vemos.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Brief summary
Things have been pretty calm here lately. We watched the US vs. Mexico game last night and Dario left when Mexico missed a goal that probably would have given them a chance to win. Tomorrow Sean, Erin and possibly Josh and I are going to walk to Cholula, the next town over to see the ruins. Then Saturday we're planning to go to Mexico City and to Teotihuacan.
In dance class we're learning salsa, and the professor has to be the best dancer I've ever met so we all feel higly inadequate. Spanish classes are getting a lot harder, but my professor is extremely helpful. I asked him if he had a chart of all the tenses with equivalents in English, and he didn't have one but he said he'd look for one, and give us all a copy on Monday. I've been trying to speak Spanish everyday for at least 30 min. The other night I hit an hour and a half. Kayla, Josh, Dario and I finally broke down and went to Starbucks two nights ago. We just wanted a cup of coffee that's bigger than 8 ounces.
In dance class we're learning salsa, and the professor has to be the best dancer I've ever met so we all feel higly inadequate. Spanish classes are getting a lot harder, but my professor is extremely helpful. I asked him if he had a chart of all the tenses with equivalents in English, and he didn't have one but he said he'd look for one, and give us all a copy on Monday. I've been trying to speak Spanish everyday for at least 30 min. The other night I hit an hour and a half. Kayla, Josh, Dario and I finally broke down and went to Starbucks two nights ago. We just wanted a cup of coffee that's bigger than 8 ounces.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Pictures!
So I finally took the time to figure out photobucket, and I have some pictures up now! It's only about half of them, because I can't figure out how to get all of them since they've been uploaded in different files and programs and whatnot. They aren't very good especially the ones that were taken on the tour bus because it was the one day that it was cold and not sunny! and we were on top of a tour bus and were going too fast to get good pics. But there are some from Veracruz, but I can't upload the ones of my dorm or campus, or more from downtown. Also the newest ones aren't there yet, but keep checking because now that I know how to do it, I'll be uploading more often.
Here's the link: http://s694.photobucket.com/albums/vv301/soiwenthome/
Here's the link: http://s694.photobucket.com/albums/vv301/soiwenthome/
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