Mexico City Round 2

So after an easy week with only two days of classes, we were leaving once again for another adventure. Friday morning I met Bryce at the main bus station at 9. We bought bus tickets for Mexico City and were on our way by 9:10. After a two-hour bus ride, we arrived in Mexico City, unloaded the bus, and found our way to the local Metro station. We took the Metro to the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace Fine Arts). The palace was a little disappointing in that the building itself was under construction, and many of the exhibition rooms were not open to the public at the time. However, we saw an impressive and extensive exhibit from the famous Mexican painter, Saturnino Herrán. Also, there was an interactive portion of the museum where we were able to create our own “masterpieces”, complete puzzles of famous works, and dress up and enter the foreground of one of Herrán’s famous paintings. After spending an hour or two at the Palace, we walked around the park across the street from the museum, where hundreds of vendors were selling food, clothes, souvenirs, etc.

Feeling as if we had mastered the Metro system, we hopped on once again and got off at the Chapultepec stop. We entered Chapultepec Park and walked to the Castle of Chapultepec, where we took advantage of being national students yet again and entered for free. The castle offers amazing views of Mexico City, and also hosts the National History Museum. We spent a couple of hours walking around the outside of the castle, exploring the various sections and rooms within the castle, and soaked up all of the history and information surrounding Mexico City and the castle itself.

Between 3 and 4, we left the castle and took the subway to the stop of our hostel. The location of the hostel was excellent, only a minute or two from the subway. However, this was just about the only thing the hostel had going for it. Our room, or little shack, was on the roof of the building, and the bathroom was a 4 X 4 shack with a toilet and shower, all on cement. The thought of showering in this hut was as appealing as spending an entire week at Casa del Sol, but being as how I had not showered since Wednesday, I endured a quick and ice-cold shower. I got ready, we made our way down the death-threatening stairs, and started out on a search for the neighborhood Condensa, an area of Mexico City that we stumbled upon the first time we were there and really enjoyed. Once we reached the neighborhood, we began to look for the cute and quiet Italian bar and restaurant where we had eaten last time. Just as we were about to give up and settle for another small restaurant, we looked across the street and were thrilled to see The Flora Lounge. We ordered tasty pizza and a couple of drinks, before taking advantage of the delectable desserts (flan and some sort of banana cream pie cake) and free mixed drinks that the bartender had made. Filled with delicious food and excitement for Norah Jones, we took a cab to the National Auditorium, where several vendors were selling Norah Jones t-shirts, CDs, etc. at ridiculously low prices. So, of course, I couldn’t resist the bargains and bought two t-shirts before entering the National Auditorium.

The inside of the auditorium/theatre is quite impressive, and the building seats just under 10,000 people. We made our way down to our seats in the “preferred seating” section, which were to the left of center stage in Row D. From this point, we had a view of Norah when she was on center stage. However, her piano was positioned oddly on the right hand of the stage, almost facing the audience, so that even if you were in the first row on the right hand side, you wouldn’t have been able to see her. But, she sounded amazing, and the acoustics in the National Auditorium were very impressive. The majority of concerts that I have attended, I have left feeling disappointed with the quality of acoustics, but Norah sounded just as good as her CDs, if not better. She performed several songs from her newest album, The Fall, before singing some of her classics. She was not all that interactive with the crowd, and did not share information regarding the significance behind her songs, which to me really makes a concert. But, I think a lot of this was due to the fact that we were in Mexico, and she probably didn’t know how exactly to relate and interact with the crowd. She only performed for an hour, before leaving the stage and returning to perform 3 more songs. So, the concert was quite short, and we didn’t feel like we quite got our money’s worth, but she did sound amazing, and it is pretty cool to be able to say that we saw Norah Jones in Mexico City at the National Auditorium.

Pictures from Norah Jones:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=248236&id=648162615

Since we weren’t familiar with the area of our hostel and had to get up early the next morning to meet the rest of the group, we just decided to head back to our “campsite” and call it an early night once we left the concert.

Saturday morning we climbed down from our igloo and took the metro to the Zocalo, where we met the rest of the USAC group for the Mexico City field trip. We started the morning with a tour of the National Palace, which was very informative and fascinating. We did not actually visit the presidential quarters or offices, but did walk around a portion of the palace that features several Diego Rivera murals. We had a fabulous tour guide who has been giving tours for 50+ years, has connections throughout the palace, and actually saw Diego Rivera paint. The history and stories illustrated through Rivera’s work are incredible, not to mention the perspectives and talent that all of his works contain. (See pictures)

After the tour at the National Palace, we took the van to the Anthropology Museum. There we had an hour and a half to enjoy the museum. I am so glad that we decided to visit the museum the first time we were in Mexico City, because it has so much to offer, an you need at least a day to go through the majority of the museum, not a measly hour and a half. I visited two more exhibition rooms, before we all gathered again for lunch in the museum’s cafeteria. We had access to the buffet, and I took full advantage of it. Thankfully after lunch, we had an hour or so drive to Teotihuacan, so I was able to enter into my food coma and sleep for a bit. Since we have seen so many sets of ruins and pyramids in our short time in Mexico, I was not exactly looking forward to seeing yet another set. However, I had completely underestimated the size and extent of the town and pyramids. The area was absolutely massive, and it took us 2-3 hours to walk through the ruins and the famous Avenue of the Dead, as well as climb several of the pyramids including the famous Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon. The views from the top of Pyramid of the Sun, the larger of the two main pyramids, were breathtaking, and it also felt like quite an accomplishment to make it to the top. Once we had made our way through all of Teotihuacan, we did a little shopping, before loading into the van and making the two-hour drive back to Puebla.

Pictures from Palacio de Bellas Artes, Castillo de Chapuletepc, Palacio Nacional, and Museo de Antropologia:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=248229&id=648162615

Pictures from Teotihuacan:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=248237&id=648162615

Cuisine Course

Last week, I had my last of the seven cooking courses. Since I have last written, we have made chilaquiles verdes, tacos dorados, guacamole, sopa poblana y sopa de frijol, esquites, enfrijoladas, arroz rojo, tortillas, and the famous mole poblano. Throughout the course, my favorite dishes were probably chilaquiles verdes and sopa poblana, followed by the churros, as I am sucker for anything with cinnamon and sugar! Chilaquiles verdes are basically nachos, but the green salsa that we made and the chicken, cheese, cream, and union that we added to them, created a scrumptious combination. Sopa poblana (soup originating in Puebla), contains chile, onion, garlic, bacon, mushrooms, pumpkin, corn, pumpkin flower, cheese, cream, and chicken. It has a very distinct flavor, but one that I have grown to love!

Although I don’t think I have mastered Mexican cooking at all, I believe that with the right kitchen utensils and Mexican foods and flavors, I can certainly whip up a few of the above dishes. : )

Pictures from the last few cooking classes are towards the end of this album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=236402&id=648162615

Oaxaca for Halloween and Day of the Dead

With the time change, which is observed a week earlier in Mexico, and no “medical episode”, we made great time and arrived back in Oaxaca around 6 am Sunday morning. We went to our hostel to drop our bags off, and then went out into the city to find something to eat. Not many places were open, but we managed to find a little breakfast/lunch restaurant where I had some tasty pancakes and a strawberry-banana smoothie. For Day of the Dead, the streets of Oaxaca were lined with giant skulls that were painted and decorated by various artists. Also, in the Zocalo, there were large displays of sand skeletons and designs to admire. It was nice to be able to take photos early in the morning with few people out and about. We walked around the city for a bit longer, and then returned to the hostel to shower and get ready.

We decided to go on a tour to Monte Albán, which was the ancient capital of the Zapotecs and one of the first cities in Mesoamerica. I had not heard of Monte Albán until I arrived in Mexico, but it was quite impressive and much larger than I had expected. We were able to see several pyramids, the ball court, and great views of the city of Oaxaca. We spent a couple of hours walking around the area, and then took the bus back to the city. We ate lunch, and then met up with Lily, before wandering the city in search of cemeteries. We were not successful in our search of cemeteries, but did stumble upon the plaza of the dances, next to the famous Soledad church. In this area, there were thousands of marigolds, the flower of Day of the Dead, and candles displayed, and we were told that at 8 pm that night there would be a large dance ceremony in the plaza.

So, we went back to the hostel to relax for a bit, and then around 7:30, we headed back to this dance plaza. We found great seats and had wonderful views of the performances. Five different groups performed, each with a different story and significance. The last of the five groups, featured men and young boys dressed as devils and cracking whips. They had a 10+ minute dance performance, and then they chose a few people from the audience to dance with them. And who exactly was chosen? Me! When you are sitting there watching the dance, the rhythms and patterns seem quite simple, but when you actually have to do them, it isn’t quite as easy. Even if I looked like a nut, I had fun and it was an amazing honor to witness and be part of such a cultural event. After the dance ceremony, we were all hungry and not much was open, so we decided to go to Domino’s, which turned out to be delicious. As our day had started at 6 am, we were all pretty tired and ended up going back to the hostel around 11:30, talking with other guests for a bit, and calling it a night.

Monday morning I got up around 8:30, beat the rush to the shower, and spent a little time on the computer trying to figure out my schedule at Adrian for the spring semester. We had a decent breakfast at the hostel, and then headed out to wander the city once again. We went on a tour of the Ethnobotanical Garden, which was very pretty and interesting, but I probably could have done without the guided tour that lasted an hour and a half. However, I think one of the highlights of my trip happened on this tour…There was a little pool/fountain area in one of the pathways and apparently this outwardly gay Frenchman didn’t realize quite how close he was, and took a little dip into the pool. Being as how I can’t quite keep myself together when people fall or are scared, both of which this gentleman was, I had to walk away from the group with tears streaming down my face from laughter. After this little episode, we finished up the tour and walked to a restaurant and I had a great batch of quesillo fundido. We went back to the Zocalo area to do a little shopping, and I enjoyed a much-awaited cinnabon. Then, we headed back to the hostel to drop off our purchases and relax for a bit.

Around 8 that night, we walked to San Miguel Cemetery, which is one of the main and largest cemeteries in Oaxaca. Outside of the cemetery there were all sorts of food and treat stands and a carnival type area complete with rides and creepy carnies. Before entering the cemetery, we bought a bouquet of the traditional Day of the Dead flowers, marigolds and celosias, so we could later lay it on a grave. When you first enter the cemetery, there is a large square shaped area that has candles lighting up niches, and huge and detailed ofrendas, or altars. In Mexico, Day of the Dead is celebrated to pray for, remember, and reconnect with friends and family members who have died. To do so, Mexicans often build ofrendas that contain the favorite items of the deceased, such as food, drinks, clothes, toys for children, etc. The ofrendas in San Miguel were enormous, and it was impossible to capture an entire altar in a picture. Once we had made the complete trip around this portion of the cemetery, we entered the endless mass of graves and tombstones. The majority of grave areas were decorated with flowers and mini-ofrendas, and many families were gathered around the graves of loved-ones eating, talking, singing, and celebrating. It was quite a sight to see, and another cultural event that I was glad to experience. We walked through a good portion of the cemetery, spooking ourselves every once in a while, and then decided we had had enough for the night. Although parties and celebrations would continue inside and outside the cemeteries throughout the city into the wee hours of the morning, we were tired and just decided around midnight to go back to the hostel and get some sleep.

Bryce and I had originally planned to return back to Puebla at 8:30 Tuesday night, but we didn’t want to arrive back after midnight, so we changed our tickets to 4:30 that afternoon, which still gave us time to enjoy another day in Oaxaca. We decided to go on another tour, and the first stop was in a town called Tule, which hosts the world’s widest tree. It was indeed quite wide. Then, we drove to the town of Teotitlan, where we went to a rug making house/factory and learned all about the Zapotec rug-making process. The making and combining of colors, the weaving process, and the time that can be spent on a single rug depending on the complexity of the design were all fascinating. I really would have liked to buy a rug, but one they were expensive, and two, I don’t know how exactly I would have gotten it back home. But, one day, when I marry my rich husband, we will have these beautiful rugs shipped in from Teotitlan.

Next, we went to a Mezcal factory and learned all about the making of this famous alcohol, which is different from tequila in that Mezcal is obtained from a variety of agave (cacti), and tequila only uses the blue agave. Additionally, the process of production and the final tastes are distinct as well. The tour finished up with a sampling of the four types of mezcal (from the oldest and smoothest to the youngest and strongest) and mezcal creams. I bought the famous mezcal with the worm in the bottom, and a passion fruit and piña colada cream. However, only the worm and passion fruit cream will accompany me back to Michigan, as the piña colada cream fell on the bus trip back to Puebla, which created a very sticky and embarrassing mess, especially when I walked off the bus smelling like an alcoholic and with alcohol dripping from my bag. Oh well.

After the Mezcal factory, we drove to Mitla, where we saw another set of ruins. They did not cover as much area as other ruins we have seen, but there were two tomb areas that we were able to walk down and into, which was kind of cool. We spent an hour or so in Mitla before the tour driver took us back to our hostel so we could pick up our bags and take a cab to the bus station. We had just enough time to grab a sandwich and chips for the road, and then loaded onto the bus for an uneventful ride back. We arrived in Puebla around 9:30 that night, and I took a cab back home.

It was an exhausting weekend, but worth every second of it! And, I was already looking forward to the next adventure in Mexico City on Friday! : )

Pictures from Oaxaca:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=245157&id=648162615

Puerto Escondido

Filled with excitement for our upcoming trip, I was wide-awake at 6:30 on Thursday morning. I forced myself to doze for a little longer, before getting up and heading to classes. After classes, I walked home, grabbed my bags, and we all headed to CAPU, the main bus station in Puebla. We had a 4-5 hour bus ride to Oaxaca, Oaxaca. We arrived to a steady rainfall, which was foreign to us after an absolutely beautiful and dry month of October in Puebla. Kendra, Bryce, and I would travel onto Puerto Escondido, the beach!, but Megan had decided to stay in Oaxaca for the entire break, so we took her to the hostel, before finding a delicious restaurant to grab a bite to eat. We walked the city for a bit, took Megan back to the hostel, and went back to the bus station. We loved what we saw in the hour or two that we were in Oaxaca, and we were excited to return after a couple of days of soaking up the sun in Puerto Escondido. 


We got on the bus to Puerto Escondido around 9:00 and prepared ourselves for the 10-hour ride ahead. We were about two hours outside of Oaxaca, when the bus suddenly stopped at a military operated checkpoint. After an hour of sitting on the dark, hot, and stuffy bus, we were told that there was a “medical emergency” and a young lady on the bus was not well. So, we watched the mother fan the daughter with a towel for another hour, before an ambulance finally showed up to take the girl. Why on earth the family didn’t get off the bus and wait at the checkpoint, but chose to stay on the sweltering bus and hold up the trek, is beyond us, but I think this is a prime example of the difference in attitude regarding time between Americans and Mexicans. Also, in the United States it would never take two hours for an ambulance to arrive. Following this little medical episode, we were once again on our way to Puerto Escondido. I managed to doze on and off again for the next 7 or so hours, and when I woke up around 6:30, I saw a beautiful sunrise as we drove down the Pacific coast.

We arrived at the bus terminal in Puerto Escondido around 9, and I called the hostel to see if there was a possibility of getting into our room early. Luck was with us, and we went straight to our hostel, changed our clothes, and headed to the beach. The hostel was more like a hotel, in that we had our own bathroom and two twin beds, opposed to shared bathrooms and bunk beds. It was a nice change, and the hostel was a minute walk to the beach. In Puebla, we are so highly elevated that there is little humidity, so with the high humidity and rising temperatures, it didn’t take long for us to go running into the Pacific Ocean. We were staying on Zicatela Beach, which is supposedly one of the best surfing beaches in the world, and for this reason the waves were really rough! We were all taken out by the waves at least once, and I think we all left with scratches and minor injuries of sorts. But, it was definitely worth it, and the temperature of the water was that perfect temperature that refreshingly chills you at first, but allows you to adjust quickly. We laid out on the beach, reading and relaxing, until 1:30 or so, before eating lunch at a restaurant on the beach and heading back to the hostel. We had a little down time before our scheduled lagoon tour, so I took the time to read in a hammock for a bit, until Martin, the owner of the hostel, came and talked with me for a while. We discussed things to do and places to see in the area, and then just chatted. It is nice to be at the point where I feel confident enough to carry on a conversation in Spanish for a period of time.

Around 3:30, the lagoon tour guides picked us up from the hostel and we made the 30-minute drive to Manialtepec Lagoon. We then got on a small boat and took a tour of the lagoon, observing the trees, birds, and diverse surroundings. After an hour or so, we reached a beautiful point where Manialtepec Lagoon, Manialtepec River, and the Pacific Ocean all come together. We were able to get out of the boat, walk around this breathtaking area, and, of course, take a lot of photos. We took the boat back to the starting point, made the trip back to the hostel, and rushed to the beach to see an amazing sunset. I have been blessed to see sunsets in many unique settings in my lifetime (Uluru in Australia, boat ride in Jamaica, Upper Peninsula, etc.), but this was by the far the prettiest sunset that I have seen. The colors and clouds in the sky with the reflection off the ocean were picture perfect.

After the remarkable sunset, we went back to the hostel to shower and get ready for a night out on the town. I had read some positive reviews about a restaurant, Guadua, near our hostel, so we decided to give it a try. Best decision we could have made for dinner! The restaurant was located right on the beach, so with the sound of crashing waves in the background and candlelight over the table, we all enjoyed our delicious meals. I had chicken, potatoes, and salad, which does not sound like anything all that exciting, but it was one of the best meals I’ve had in Mexico. We all shared a white chocolate moose with almonds for dessert….mmm mmm good! Then, we took a taxi to the downtown area of Zicatela beach, where there are several bars, clubs, etc. right on the beach. I absolutely loved the relaxed and fun atmosphere that enveloped the area! First we went to a bar where we were able to sit out on cushions on the beach and enjoy a drink and a band playing some American classics. Then, we headed to a club that was having a toga party, and although we were not dressed accordingly, we were allowed to enter. We danced the night away until 3:30 or so, when we finally headed back to the hostel to catch a couple hours of sleep.

Not wanting to waste any sacred beach time, we got up around 8:30 on Saturday morning and were out on the beach again by 9. We had breakfast brought out to us on the beach and enjoyed the quite morning by napping, reading, taking in the sun, and tackling the waves. Bryce and I walked down to the far end of beach to climb the rocks and take pictures. Then, we went back to the hostel to shower and change before going to the downtown area again to eat lunch and do some shopping. A few girls from school that we know were also spending the long break in Puerto Escondido, and their hostel was actually right next to ours. So, we had dinner with them at a restaurant on the beach and watched another perfect sunset before going back to the hostel real quick to grab our bags and take a taxi to the bus station. We had spent 2 days in paradise, and we were definitely not ready to leave. But, at the same time, we were excited to celebrate Halloween and Day of the Dead in Oaxaca. So, we loaded the bus back to Oaxaca around 8:30 and started the 10-hour journey back to Oaxaca. Having not slept well/much the past two nights, I passed out almost immediately and sleep soundly the majority of the trip. 

Pictures from the beach:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=245073&id=648162615

Baptism of Jesús Alejandro

On Sunday, October 7^th, I had the opportunity to see and celebrate the baptism of Jesús Alejandro with Margarita and the rest of her family. Eight days before I arrived in Puebla, Margarita’s son, Alejandro, and his wife, Flor, had a baby boy named Jesús Alejandro. Since  then, the planning and necessary preparations had been in motion for the baptism. Margarita, Lupita, and I spent several nights making and addressing all of the invitations, followed by nights spent making decorations that the families in attendance could take with them to remember the special occasion. With all of Margarita’s family, her husband’s family, and the family of Flor, there would be close to 150 people at the baptism and party afterwards, and Margarita would prepare ALL the food. So, the week before the baptism, Margarita spent major portions of the day in the kitchen, and the day before, her and her sister were up until 4 in the morning finishing the last of the food.

On Sunday morning, some of the family came over to get ready and relax before the mass and baptism. Around 12:50, we walked across the street to the church, and around 1, mass started. After an hour mass, we all gathered around a little fountain, where Alejandro and Flor handed baby Jesús Alejandro over to his godparents (Lupita and the brother of Flor), and the father baptized him. The ceremony was very short, and different than what I had expected, but it was a ritual that I am glad I was part of. After, there was a lot of picture taking with baby Jesús, who behaved wonderfully throughout everything. Then, we walked back to the house and loaded up the cars with all the food, gifts, and other necessities. We drove to a banquet center, 15 minutes or so from my house, and took all the food to the kitchen so Margarita and her sister, Rosa, could warm it all. I sat with the rest of Margarita’s family during this time, the majority of which I had met before, and enjoyed their company. I also think I met the crazy uncle, the husband of Margarita’s sister, as every family has to have the crazy uncle. Then, we all ate, before more picture taking and conversing. Of course there was cake and a couple of games, and before leaving, I helped clean up some of the tables. Around 6 or so, I left with Margarita’s niece, Rosy, and her daughter, and they dropped me off at my house so I could finish up some homework. Margarita and Lupita were at the banquet center until almost 11, talking with family and friends, and cleaning up the hall. The day was very special for the family, and almost everything went without a hitch. I am glad I was able to spend the day with the family and be part of the festivities.

Pictures from the baptism are towards the end of this album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=236546&id=648162615