Friday, May 1, 2009
Keeping you posted as promised:
My flight was changed to Monday May 4th from the 21st, therefore I will be back in the states in a matter of 72 hours. eek! The dorms have been completely empty the last few days, minus me of course. I did some souvenir shopping today and decided I should probably buy another suit case too! I'm going to be really sad leaving fantasyland, but I think I'll come back soon! It's just a terrible ending to such an amazing semester. :(
Monday, April 27, 2009
Still Not Worried, BUT...
Okay, so MAJOR update from several hours ago. The USAC program has ended. We will be finishing classes via email with our professors. As of yet, four people are heading back to the States tomorrow morning bright and early (including my roommate). There is talk of them closing public highways, but now definitely not the borders, because it's too late for that. But many things are closing, stopping, just ending. Rapidly. We'll see what happens, and I'll try to keep you posted.
Run for Cover, Swine Flu is Coming!
As you have probably heard by now, the "Swine Flu" is "going rampant" in Mexico. I think the death toll is over 80 now. Classes have been cancelled until next Wednesday. Everyone is freaking out, wearing masks, not leaving their houses. But DO NOT FEAR! As this illness approaches a pandemic, I am not worried. I have faith in the medics around the world that by now if someone is sick, with anything, they'll be treated properly. There is a vaccine, or medicine of some sort that you can take within 48 hours and be okay. A few people are leaving this weekend to go home for the semester, in fear of the government closing borders. I think this is getting blown out of proportion. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think with modern medicine it's not going to be the black plague. It's just population contol in Mexico City.
Another fun fact, there was an earthquake which I believe began in Aculpulco and was felt in D.F., but not here. I feel completely calm in the midst of mild chaos.
Another fun fact, there was an earthquake which I believe began in Aculpulco and was felt in D.F., but not here. I feel completely calm in the midst of mild chaos.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Random Observations
Okay, so I've decided to add a random post about some random things that I've noticed. Maybe I've mentioned some of these before. The longer I'm around these things, the more normal they seem, but I guess if one of you were to come visit me, you might find some things suprising. Here we go:
+A shocking number of females wear dangerously high heels. I'm talking five, six inches. We've taken to calling them stripper shoes. But EVERYONE wears them!
+There are random manholes on the sidewalk, about three feet deep, sometimes they're covered with scraps of wood, other times not.
+There are certain hand gestures that I'm going to miss. For example, when you need the bill (you have to ask for it, or you will be there all day) you raise your hand and make it look like you're writing something. Easy. Everyone understands. Another thing is when you agree with something, you touch your thumb to your middle finger and move your index finger up and down. If you're at a restaurant and need something, hold your hand up and make it look like you're pinching something very small between your fingers.
+There are armed guards in random places, like the mall and the bus station. We're talking big guns.
+To wave down a taxi, just whistle, or stick your hand out and usually a few stop and you can barter for the best deal.
+There is an entire aisle at the grocery store for drinkable yogurt. It's really popular here, and convenient. I have one every morning for breakfast.
+Mexican constuction workers in the states are the fastest workers EVER. Here, not so much. Mainly because they lack the equipment needed to make it easier. Like a jack hammer. Instead, they just use a hammer and an iron rod and "tink tink" away. Or building cement walls? It's a wooden construction filled with cement mixed and poured all by hand.
+I feel like "the cheesier, the better" goes here. TV shows, stars, bands, comments, advertising, etc.
+The pronunciations of English words are sometimes really funny. Like "Warner Channel" or "Peach and Petals" sounds like "pinche petals" which is a curse word. Also the word "super" when placed in front of any adjective sounds funny too. It's easy entertainment, and I'm sure Americans sound funny when pronouncing words like "taco" or "quesadilla" or whatever other word we pronounce completely wrong.
+If a woman sits in the front seat of a taxi, it implies hitting on the driver.
+Clothing styles are WAYY different here. It's really hard to go shopping and find something, anything I like.
+The soda here is way different too. It's extremely carbonated, light on the syrup, and almost kind of chalky. Thank goodness I don't drink much soda anyway!
+The sun yesterday was the craziest I have ever seen it. It was florescent orangish/red. We watched it set behind the mountain. We were all in a trance with our mouths open and wide-eyed.
+The class differences here are extreme. And there seems to be a lot of animosity between the two.
+Campus is really detached and uninvolved. I never see signs for plays, or political demonstrations, or fundraisers, or organizations, or games, or anything. There are only about 200 people living on campus, so everyone commutes which I guess gives a small reason as to why there isn't a lot going on.
+Street lanes, stop signs, stop lights, and speed limits are completely erroneous here. They are merely suggestions.
It sounds like a lot of negative things, but it's really not. Just differences. I wouldn't change anything at all. I only have a month left here! Time has gone way too fast!!!
p.s.-I have a crazy boyfriend.
+A shocking number of females wear dangerously high heels. I'm talking five, six inches. We've taken to calling them stripper shoes. But EVERYONE wears them!
+There are random manholes on the sidewalk, about three feet deep, sometimes they're covered with scraps of wood, other times not.
+There are certain hand gestures that I'm going to miss. For example, when you need the bill (you have to ask for it, or you will be there all day) you raise your hand and make it look like you're writing something. Easy. Everyone understands. Another thing is when you agree with something, you touch your thumb to your middle finger and move your index finger up and down. If you're at a restaurant and need something, hold your hand up and make it look like you're pinching something very small between your fingers.
+There are armed guards in random places, like the mall and the bus station. We're talking big guns.
+To wave down a taxi, just whistle, or stick your hand out and usually a few stop and you can barter for the best deal.
+There is an entire aisle at the grocery store for drinkable yogurt. It's really popular here, and convenient. I have one every morning for breakfast.
+Mexican constuction workers in the states are the fastest workers EVER. Here, not so much. Mainly because they lack the equipment needed to make it easier. Like a jack hammer. Instead, they just use a hammer and an iron rod and "tink tink" away. Or building cement walls? It's a wooden construction filled with cement mixed and poured all by hand.
+I feel like "the cheesier, the better" goes here. TV shows, stars, bands, comments, advertising, etc.
+The pronunciations of English words are sometimes really funny. Like "Warner Channel" or "Peach and Petals" sounds like "pinche petals" which is a curse word. Also the word "super" when placed in front of any adjective sounds funny too. It's easy entertainment, and I'm sure Americans sound funny when pronouncing words like "taco" or "quesadilla" or whatever other word we pronounce completely wrong.
+If a woman sits in the front seat of a taxi, it implies hitting on the driver.
+Clothing styles are WAYY different here. It's really hard to go shopping and find something, anything I like.
+The soda here is way different too. It's extremely carbonated, light on the syrup, and almost kind of chalky. Thank goodness I don't drink much soda anyway!
+The sun yesterday was the craziest I have ever seen it. It was florescent orangish/red. We watched it set behind the mountain. We were all in a trance with our mouths open and wide-eyed.
+The class differences here are extreme. And there seems to be a lot of animosity between the two.
+Campus is really detached and uninvolved. I never see signs for plays, or political demonstrations, or fundraisers, or organizations, or games, or anything. There are only about 200 people living on campus, so everyone commutes which I guess gives a small reason as to why there isn't a lot going on.
+Street lanes, stop signs, stop lights, and speed limits are completely erroneous here. They are merely suggestions.
It sounds like a lot of negative things, but it's really not. Just differences. I wouldn't change anything at all. I only have a month left here! Time has gone way too fast!!!
p.s.-I have a crazy boyfriend.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
My Novel of a Spring Break
According to Mark my blogs are too long, so here is a Sparknotes version of my spring break:
-Beach in Oaxaca
-got sick
-Tuxtla
Friday, April 3/Saturday, April 4:
Chris and I left on Friday night for Puerto Angel in Oaxaca, a day later than everyone else b/c he had an exam and I wanted to stay for Dario's birthday. Our bus was 45 min. late, and Chris was really anxious to leave, he kept asking everyone if it was there yet. The ride was fine, I'm just still stumped why they have so many speed bumps on the highways here, or why there are so many stops for the guards to come on the bus to check for...stowaways I've been told. We got to the bus station around 7 on Saturday morning. As we were getting off the bus, a bunch of taxi drivers in uniform were asking people if they needed a taxi. I was getting my bag, and another man in a t-shirt asked if we needed a ride. I wanted to find someone in uniform, but the next thing I know, Chris was saying, "alright, let's go" and we were walking to the man's taxi. I was nervous. Why was everyone wearing a uniform except him? He helped us put our bags in the trunk, and another man sat in the front seat. Why is there another man in this taxi? They were talking to each other, about where they were from, where the man was going, etc. Are they just pretending to not know each other? The whole time I was thinking of ways to strangle him with the strap of my bag, or roll out of the car, If I keep my bookbag on, hold my pillow...My stomach was doing flips, and Chris kept talking, telling them information they didn't need to know, until I elbowed him. Finally, we made it to the bed and breakfast. It turns out, that it was a collective taxi, which means they pick up more than one person, and go to multiple destinations. Phew.
We opened the gate to the bed and breakfast and walked through a palapa (thatched roof hut) which had a kitchen/bar, hammocks, wooden couches, a table and a bookcase. We walked down a series of 4 or 5 concrete stairs that wound around three or four brick cottages, down to ours. Everyone else was sleeping (Liz, Haven, Rachel and Erin), but woke up to greet us. We ended up sleeping for a couple more hours, then went up to the palapa where Lluvia was cooking us breakfast. She's 25 and has an 18 month old daughter, Padme who just wandered around handing you things and when she dropped something, would make and o with her mouth and widen her eyes. Lluvia and her husband, Josuelo (who looks like George Clooney) are the owners, she lived in Oregon for 8 years, therefore speaks perfect English. She speaks to Padme in English, and Josuelo speaks to her in Spanish.
After breakfast, we got ready to go to the beach, San Agustinillo. The road to the beach was winding, and hilly, and since it is the dry season in Mexico, brown. The whole coast area is really poor and relys on all income from tourism. When we got to the beach the sand was almost white, and the water royal blue. I was shocked at how few people were there. There were several restaurants along the beach which all had little palapas to sit under on adierondack chairs. The waves were easily 10 feet tall, which made the shore line at a pretty steep angle, so where we were sitting was 8-10 higher than the water. There were huge rocks seperating the different little beaches. We didn't leave until sunset that night, which was great because we watched it set behind the mountain.
Later that night, after showering, we went to a little town Zipolite for dinner at this place a German man at the beach recommended to us. We had a little time to kill, so we just walked around the "town" aka-one street about a quarter-mile long. Needless to say, the streets were full of hippies. I swear I've never seen more dreadlocks and cotton pants in one place. Everyone was sitting around talking, eating, selling things, hanging out with friends. We finally got to the restaurant around 9:30 and we definitely went to the right place. It was all open air, nicely lit, had a lounge area covered in a white canopy, the food was gourmet too. The plates were decorated with the garnishings, colorful, and well thought of. Reasonably priced too! After dinner we went for a walk on the beach, and Rachel stubbed her toe on a rock, so we went to a hotel/bar/music venue/hangout to clean her up and found out they were going to have live music the next night. Down the beach we saw a campfire, and walked closer to it. There was live reggae music, people dancing, people sitting around the fire, hanging out. We only stayed for a few min. because we were all so tired.
Sunday, April 5:
The clocks finally changed so I'm back up to pace with you! Woke up a little later on Sunday, had chai tea and toast with homemade jam for breakfast. Josuelo let Chris and Haven borrow his boogie boards so that they wouldn't have to pay to rent them at the beach. There were quite a few more people there than the day before, but for how beautiful it was, it still seemed deserted. We found an area where the water wasn't so rough and I swam and attempted to body surf until Haven got stung by something, or maybe a jellyfish just grazed her and didn't cling on, either way, I remembered how creepy sealife is and got out. There are always people trying to sell you something, which after about 10 times gets annoying, but there were people selling fresh fruit, so we bought bags of sliced mangos, and coconut. I walked down to the neighboring beach and could count on one hand how many people I saw on the half mile stretch. We left the beach around 7, showered, and ate some of Lluvia's cookies that she had made for the family dinner they were having in the palapa (the owners live in the cottage next to it, so basically we were guests in their house) then went to get some pizza at an italian restaurant in Zipolite. There we met two guys from Denmark, Jonas and Tobias who were on a tour called Trek America. They are spending 21 days in Mexico with about 10 other people from all over Europe then going to California for a month themselves. We went back to the same place were Rachel cleaned her foot for the live music and another bonfire. I'm pretty sure the entire town of Zipolite was there. We hung out until we couldn't stay awake anymore, but by then there were no more taxis to get back to our hotel, so we ended up sleeping next to the fire for about an hour or two and at 6:30 walked to the main street to find a taxi. We waited for a while and finally a collective taxi covered-truck came by. We went to sleep and didn't wake up until around 2.
Monday, April 6: Happy Birthday Grandma!
We felt terrible because we asked Lluvia the night before if she would make us enfrijoladas for breakfast and when we woke up at 2, we saw all the food layed out ready to be cooked. But she made them for us anyway, and even though in most hotels guests leave before noon, we hung around and played with Padme until around 5 and walked down to the beach of Puerto Angel. It was hard to get to, we had to hike down a huge steep hill to get to it, but it was totally worth it. It's a cove with rocks and fishermen in boats. The water is so calm there's hardly any waves at all. I felt like I was in a movie taking place in Greece or somehing. We didn't leave until 6:30, because our bus left at 8. About and hour into the bus ride I started feeling nauseous. I threw up 8 times on the bus, once at the rest stop and once outside a bus station. I also had diarreah. I couldn't keep water down, or anything else and after tasting bile three times I was about to go insane. It was the longest 11 hour bus ride ever.
Tuesday, April 7:
When we got to San Cristobal at 7, I was still feeling really terrible. We were getting off the bus and I woke Chris up to tell him we had arrived and he said "WOAH, I just had the coolest dream. We were in a candy store full of any type of candy or sweet or ice cream you could ever want!” At the time, I wanted to punch him in the face, but looking back on it, it’s hilarious. And ironic. We went to get breakfast and I ordered tea and orange juice which I quickly saw in the toilet, so everyone decided that I needed to just lay down and sleep instead of walking around the cold damp town. So we finally found a hostel for 50 pesos (less than $5) for me to crash. My friends left and came back with an electrolyte drink, medicine, and crackers. And Chris left me his phone so they could keep in touch with me. It was super nice of them. Dario and his friend Roberto were planning on coming to San Cristobal to meet up with us anyway, and he came to the hostel to check on me. I ended up just going back to his house in Tuxtla instead of going on to Palenque and Villahermosa because I can't remember the last time I was that sick. It even hurt to talk, so the thought of getting back on a bus later that night for 5 hours and walking around all day the next day sounded like ripping off my finger nails for fun. When I got there, I said hello to his family and went straight upstairs and fell asleep at 5:00. I didn't wake up until 10am the next morning.
Wednesday, April 8:
Went to the bus station to exchange my tickets, later that night Dario and I went to his friend Roberto’s house and met up with some of his friends there. But I went upstairs to sleep.
Thursday, April 9: Happy Birthday Corey!
Slept late again and ended up taking a nap. We went to his cousin’s restaurant (the same one we went to the last time I was in Chiapas), and there was live entertainment: a band who kept imitating famous Mexican musicians. His other cousin and uncle picked us up and had a truckload full of fish in coolers, and cheese that they raise/make on their ranch and sell in the city, and went with them for a couple of sales. His uncle was trying to speak to me in English but his English was even worse that my Spanish, which is pretty hard to believe, and he insisted on calling Dario “Daytona beach boy” since he used to live there. We went to his cousin and uncle’s house and I played with Becca, the 8 month old baby. We kept each other entertained for about 2 hours until we all piled in the car to go to a lookout of the city. Along the way we bought snacks.
Friday, April 10:
I was almost bored to tears. We didn’t leave the house the entire day. So I took the dog for a walk. Thankfully his sister lent us a movie to watch. I thought my bus left at 11, and packed up my suitcases and we were all waiting in the living room for the taxi, looked at my ticket and realized it was 11:40, not 11. So we postponed the taxi, got to the bus station, and waited for my 30min. late bus. I actually slept the whole way, but when we stopped at the rest stop at around 6:30, we were about to get back on the road again, but our bus needed jumped. So everyone got back off the bus and waited for it to be fixed. It didn’t take too long though.
Some random things I’ve noticed about Mexico:
-Yellow and orange are far more popular colors here than in the states.
-there are some neighborhoods where the houses are really huge and nice but the streets/sidewalks are just rocks or even dirt. Then there are others where the houses are tiny but looks like out of a movie, with green ivy, bushes, hibiscus, roses, etc.
-Beach in Oaxaca
-got sick
-Tuxtla
Friday, April 3/Saturday, April 4:
Chris and I left on Friday night for Puerto Angel in Oaxaca, a day later than everyone else b/c he had an exam and I wanted to stay for Dario's birthday. Our bus was 45 min. late, and Chris was really anxious to leave, he kept asking everyone if it was there yet. The ride was fine, I'm just still stumped why they have so many speed bumps on the highways here, or why there are so many stops for the guards to come on the bus to check for...stowaways I've been told. We got to the bus station around 7 on Saturday morning. As we were getting off the bus, a bunch of taxi drivers in uniform were asking people if they needed a taxi. I was getting my bag, and another man in a t-shirt asked if we needed a ride. I wanted to find someone in uniform, but the next thing I know, Chris was saying, "alright, let's go" and we were walking to the man's taxi. I was nervous. Why was everyone wearing a uniform except him? He helped us put our bags in the trunk, and another man sat in the front seat. Why is there another man in this taxi? They were talking to each other, about where they were from, where the man was going, etc. Are they just pretending to not know each other? The whole time I was thinking of ways to strangle him with the strap of my bag, or roll out of the car, If I keep my bookbag on, hold my pillow...My stomach was doing flips, and Chris kept talking, telling them information they didn't need to know, until I elbowed him. Finally, we made it to the bed and breakfast. It turns out, that it was a collective taxi, which means they pick up more than one person, and go to multiple destinations. Phew.
We opened the gate to the bed and breakfast and walked through a palapa (thatched roof hut) which had a kitchen/bar, hammocks, wooden couches, a table and a bookcase. We walked down a series of 4 or 5 concrete stairs that wound around three or four brick cottages, down to ours. Everyone else was sleeping (Liz, Haven, Rachel and Erin), but woke up to greet us. We ended up sleeping for a couple more hours, then went up to the palapa where Lluvia was cooking us breakfast. She's 25 and has an 18 month old daughter, Padme who just wandered around handing you things and when she dropped something, would make and o with her mouth and widen her eyes. Lluvia and her husband, Josuelo (who looks like George Clooney) are the owners, she lived in Oregon for 8 years, therefore speaks perfect English. She speaks to Padme in English, and Josuelo speaks to her in Spanish.
After breakfast, we got ready to go to the beach, San Agustinillo. The road to the beach was winding, and hilly, and since it is the dry season in Mexico, brown. The whole coast area is really poor and relys on all income from tourism. When we got to the beach the sand was almost white, and the water royal blue. I was shocked at how few people were there. There were several restaurants along the beach which all had little palapas to sit under on adierondack chairs. The waves were easily 10 feet tall, which made the shore line at a pretty steep angle, so where we were sitting was 8-10 higher than the water. There were huge rocks seperating the different little beaches. We didn't leave until sunset that night, which was great because we watched it set behind the mountain.
Later that night, after showering, we went to a little town Zipolite for dinner at this place a German man at the beach recommended to us. We had a little time to kill, so we just walked around the "town" aka-one street about a quarter-mile long. Needless to say, the streets were full of hippies. I swear I've never seen more dreadlocks and cotton pants in one place. Everyone was sitting around talking, eating, selling things, hanging out with friends. We finally got to the restaurant around 9:30 and we definitely went to the right place. It was all open air, nicely lit, had a lounge area covered in a white canopy, the food was gourmet too. The plates were decorated with the garnishings, colorful, and well thought of. Reasonably priced too! After dinner we went for a walk on the beach, and Rachel stubbed her toe on a rock, so we went to a hotel/bar/music venue/hangout to clean her up and found out they were going to have live music the next night. Down the beach we saw a campfire, and walked closer to it. There was live reggae music, people dancing, people sitting around the fire, hanging out. We only stayed for a few min. because we were all so tired.
Sunday, April 5:
The clocks finally changed so I'm back up to pace with you! Woke up a little later on Sunday, had chai tea and toast with homemade jam for breakfast. Josuelo let Chris and Haven borrow his boogie boards so that they wouldn't have to pay to rent them at the beach. There were quite a few more people there than the day before, but for how beautiful it was, it still seemed deserted. We found an area where the water wasn't so rough and I swam and attempted to body surf until Haven got stung by something, or maybe a jellyfish just grazed her and didn't cling on, either way, I remembered how creepy sealife is and got out. There are always people trying to sell you something, which after about 10 times gets annoying, but there were people selling fresh fruit, so we bought bags of sliced mangos, and coconut. I walked down to the neighboring beach and could count on one hand how many people I saw on the half mile stretch. We left the beach around 7, showered, and ate some of Lluvia's cookies that she had made for the family dinner they were having in the palapa (the owners live in the cottage next to it, so basically we were guests in their house) then went to get some pizza at an italian restaurant in Zipolite. There we met two guys from Denmark, Jonas and Tobias who were on a tour called Trek America. They are spending 21 days in Mexico with about 10 other people from all over Europe then going to California for a month themselves. We went back to the same place were Rachel cleaned her foot for the live music and another bonfire. I'm pretty sure the entire town of Zipolite was there. We hung out until we couldn't stay awake anymore, but by then there were no more taxis to get back to our hotel, so we ended up sleeping next to the fire for about an hour or two and at 6:30 walked to the main street to find a taxi. We waited for a while and finally a collective taxi covered-truck came by. We went to sleep and didn't wake up until around 2.
Monday, April 6: Happy Birthday Grandma!
We felt terrible because we asked Lluvia the night before if she would make us enfrijoladas for breakfast and when we woke up at 2, we saw all the food layed out ready to be cooked. But she made them for us anyway, and even though in most hotels guests leave before noon, we hung around and played with Padme until around 5 and walked down to the beach of Puerto Angel. It was hard to get to, we had to hike down a huge steep hill to get to it, but it was totally worth it. It's a cove with rocks and fishermen in boats. The water is so calm there's hardly any waves at all. I felt like I was in a movie taking place in Greece or somehing. We didn't leave until 6:30, because our bus left at 8. About and hour into the bus ride I started feeling nauseous. I threw up 8 times on the bus, once at the rest stop and once outside a bus station. I also had diarreah. I couldn't keep water down, or anything else and after tasting bile three times I was about to go insane. It was the longest 11 hour bus ride ever.
Tuesday, April 7:
When we got to San Cristobal at 7, I was still feeling really terrible. We were getting off the bus and I woke Chris up to tell him we had arrived and he said "WOAH, I just had the coolest dream. We were in a candy store full of any type of candy or sweet or ice cream you could ever want!” At the time, I wanted to punch him in the face, but looking back on it, it’s hilarious. And ironic. We went to get breakfast and I ordered tea and orange juice which I quickly saw in the toilet, so everyone decided that I needed to just lay down and sleep instead of walking around the cold damp town. So we finally found a hostel for 50 pesos (less than $5) for me to crash. My friends left and came back with an electrolyte drink, medicine, and crackers. And Chris left me his phone so they could keep in touch with me. It was super nice of them. Dario and his friend Roberto were planning on coming to San Cristobal to meet up with us anyway, and he came to the hostel to check on me. I ended up just going back to his house in Tuxtla instead of going on to Palenque and Villahermosa because I can't remember the last time I was that sick. It even hurt to talk, so the thought of getting back on a bus later that night for 5 hours and walking around all day the next day sounded like ripping off my finger nails for fun. When I got there, I said hello to his family and went straight upstairs and fell asleep at 5:00. I didn't wake up until 10am the next morning.
Wednesday, April 8:
Went to the bus station to exchange my tickets, later that night Dario and I went to his friend Roberto’s house and met up with some of his friends there. But I went upstairs to sleep.
Thursday, April 9: Happy Birthday Corey!
Slept late again and ended up taking a nap. We went to his cousin’s restaurant (the same one we went to the last time I was in Chiapas), and there was live entertainment: a band who kept imitating famous Mexican musicians. His other cousin and uncle picked us up and had a truckload full of fish in coolers, and cheese that they raise/make on their ranch and sell in the city, and went with them for a couple of sales. His uncle was trying to speak to me in English but his English was even worse that my Spanish, which is pretty hard to believe, and he insisted on calling Dario “Daytona beach boy” since he used to live there. We went to his cousin and uncle’s house and I played with Becca, the 8 month old baby. We kept each other entertained for about 2 hours until we all piled in the car to go to a lookout of the city. Along the way we bought snacks.
Friday, April 10:
I was almost bored to tears. We didn’t leave the house the entire day. So I took the dog for a walk. Thankfully his sister lent us a movie to watch. I thought my bus left at 11, and packed up my suitcases and we were all waiting in the living room for the taxi, looked at my ticket and realized it was 11:40, not 11. So we postponed the taxi, got to the bus station, and waited for my 30min. late bus. I actually slept the whole way, but when we stopped at the rest stop at around 6:30, we were about to get back on the road again, but our bus needed jumped. So everyone got back off the bus and waited for it to be fixed. It didn’t take too long though.
Some random things I’ve noticed about Mexico:
-Yellow and orange are far more popular colors here than in the states.
-there are some neighborhoods where the houses are really huge and nice but the streets/sidewalks are just rocks or even dirt. Then there are others where the houses are tiny but looks like out of a movie, with green ivy, bushes, hibiscus, roses, etc.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
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!
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!
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