Day of the Dead & 21st Birthday!

Hola!

Last weekend was quite eventful to say the least. On Halloween, Jack & I went to a birthday party of his brother's girlfriend. I only had a few beers since I had to leave the next day at 7AM for Michoacán, but we still had a good time. Like always, we made a few new friends and heard plenty of Mexican jokes - some which were hard to understand because the translation wasn't exactly the same. Anyways, it was a good night - I left around 2AM and I guess Jack stayed until about 7AM....at that time I was already awake and showering haha.

Sunday was Dia de los Muertos (Day of the dead), so the family and I headed to a nearby state called Michoacán where the celebration of this day is pretty big deal. The city we went to is called Pátzcuaro, where we stayed on this island in the middle of this huge lake called Yunuén. Actually, this lake has five islands; the one we were one was an indigenous island and the cemetary we would later visit was called Janitzio, which is the largest of all them.

The car ride was about 3-4 hours, most of which I slept & when we arrived at the lake we took a boat ride over to the island. We stayed with the family of our neighbor in Guanajuato & everyone was very welcoming. After arriving we ate lunch which was incredible - I had fried fish and ate the whole thing. Of course it was accompanied by a Corona, which made it even better haha. We talked for a little while after lunch and then Anai and I went to take a nap since we had been partying the night before. Around 9 we woke up and were ready to start our night. I came downstairs to find the women wearing the traditional dresses of this area which were so beautiful, but I couldn't help to wonder how cold they would be when we went outside (yeah, it's starting to get cold here!)

Everyone got ready and then we left to go to Janitzio to see all the activities going on there. We had to take a boat ride there and although it was a little cold for me, I think everyone else was suffering pretty badly since the weather is now "very" cold for them. After arriving at the island, we walked around and found some indigenous dancing that we watched for a little while. It was pretty cool, but one of the dances I had seen before when I was on vacation in Ixtapa. Then, we headed our way up the island to where the cemetery was. There were people everywhere, which got really annoying at times because it was hard to move. Despite all the people, the cemetery was beautiful and put all the ones in the U.S. to shame. All the graves had candles all around them along with baskets of Pan de Muerto (bread), marigold petals all over the ground, candy skulls, and sometimes something that the deceased person really liked (there were a few graves with beer around them). It was definitely a very unique experience and different from anything I've seen at home.

After a few hours at Janitzio, we made our way back to Yunuén around 1AM. When we got back we had dinner and hot drinks to warm up. Everyone was pretty tired so we all went to sleep around 2:30-3AM. I woke up before Anai and Norma in the morning, so Miguel and I went for a walk around the island. It was a beautiful morning and I took a lot of nice pictures. We walked by a bunch of cabañas (cabins) and now the family is talking about renting one for a weekend with the whole family. Once everyone was awake, we had breakfast - I had fried fish again...it's was so delicious that I didn't even mind. After, we packed up all our stuff and headed back to the mainland.

We left the lake around noon and headed into downtown Pátzcuaro to do some shopping and walk around. Norma bought some curtains for the kitchen and then we headed back to the car. They wanted to go to this other town called Santa Ana de Cobre which is a town known for it's copper. When we got there, we walked around the plaza where copper stores were located all over the place, mostly right next to each other. We went to the copper museum for a little while where we saw some guys making pots and little things out of copper which was pretty cool. Definitely not the kind of profession I would want to go into - to make the stuff, all they do is pound it with different hammers to shape it in different ways.

After looking at all the copper, we had lunch which was good and then we headed back to Guanajuato. Of course, it's always nice coming back home.

Then, Tuesday was my 21st birthday! I had a great time and everyone here made it a very memorable day. I spent the day hanging out with Sarah & Jack and then around 9PM the festivities began. Some friends came over to my house for pizza and drinking games before we headed downtown. Jack, Sarah, & I introduced beer pong to all the Mexicans which was definitely a hit. We played for like 2-3 hours and it was great. Around midnight we headed down to the bars - most of which weren't open since Cervantino just ended so no one wanted to work. Anyway, we went to one of my favorite bars and stayed there until 2AM or something. Sarah bought me a party hat which I wore all night, and I think this helped me to get a lot of free drinks ... plus Sarah was telling everyone in the bar that it was my birthday. It was cool because I had 3 shots that night that were on fire - it was pretty cool haha. After the first bar, we went to a second one where we just hung out and drank some more. That bar closed so I went to a friend's house until a little after 6AM, then I went home and got back around 6:30AM. It was funny when I got home because Norma was up and getting ready for work and just laughed at me when I said goodnight haha. More events happened than what I want to write on this blog, but it was a great night and I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Hope all is well with everyone at home! Gosh, I can't believe I'll be home in about a month! It will be great seeing all of you for sure! Here is the link for the Day of the Dead pictures::

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022220&id=1604040019&I=d138f0aa41

Cervantino is in the air!

So Cervantino started last week Wednesday and already there have been some great concerts that I've been to! Cervantino is an international festival here that lasts for 2 weeks and consists of a variety of concerts, art venues, dances, etc. Not only does it bring some great shows, but also a ton of people to the city (which I'm not looking forward to very much).

Sarah, Jack, & I went to see Willy Chirino on Saturday night and it was incredible. He is from Cuba and sings Salsa music. I now have a new love and appreciation for Cuban Salsa. The concert was great; after a while a bunch of people went down to dance in front of the stage as well as in the stands. The best part of the concert though was that it was free! Can't beat that....

I would definitely suggest checking out his music on iTunes....from what I've previewed it doesn't sound as good as seeing him live, but it will still get your body movin'.

Our new "cuban fever" carried on through Sunday so we went to see Paquito D'Rivera y la Zinco Big Band, who are also from Cuba. This was another good concert but a little bit more mellow than the night before because it was mostly jazz-y music. Of course we want to hit every free concert possible because there are some things you have to pay for, so it was definitely worth our time. Plus, because it was the first weekend of Cervantino, there wasn't so many people. I guess the majority of Mexico arrives next weekend and the last weekend....from the way everyone who lives here makes it sound, it seems that going out on the weekends is going to be a nightmare because there will be so many people.

Other than Cervantino arriving, everything else has been great. Sorry that I haven't updated in like a month, but classes have gotten a little busier, leaving less room for something exciting to happen on the weekends. Regardless, I still go out to the bars here with Sarah and Jack ... we usually meet up with our friends from here and stay out pretty late sometimes. Last week I had my first presentation for my literature class which is worth 50% of my grade. It was about Octavio Paz and I'm hoping the grade comes out to be a good one.

I'm also less than 2 months away from coming home! I'm sure everyone is really excited right?! haha...I'm pretty excited too, especially since it will be so close to Christmas. Although I have to say I'll be a little sad to say goodbye to Jack & Sarah since they're not coming back next semester. I can't believe how fast the semester has gone and that I'll already be halfway done with my time here...how sad!! Well, it's too early to be worrying about that...I'll be back again in January for second semester which I'm soo excited about! (Thanks mom & dad!)

Coming up in the next few weeks is Dia de los Muertos (kinda like halloween but not really), which I believe is on November 1st. Sounds like I'm going to Michoacan that day with the family to celebrate it. I guess Michoacan is THE place to be for Dia de los Muertos....so I'll probably have a new blog up after it. Also, my 21st birthday is on November 3rd which I'm really excited about. I suppose it won't be as awesome as it would be in the US because it's already legal for me to drink here and it's also on a Tuesday, but don't you worry, I'm going to celebrate regardless! Sounds like Norma wants to make me birthday dinner and said I can invite any friends that I want. After dinner we'll head downtown for a night of fun I suppose!

Also in the news: I lost my iPhone last Wednesday ... I say lost because I have no idea if I left it on a bench, if it fell out of my backpack, or if it was stolen. I was pretty upset about it when it happened, but there's nothing I can do now. Just wanted to let you guys know so you don't call/text it anymore because I obviously won't be answering. The only reluctant thing I can think of is that I put a password on it to unlock it to the home-screen, so at least if someone has it they can't really use it. So there's some advice for everyone: put a password on your iPhone/iPod Touch!

It's finally starting to get a little colder here which I am not enjoying! I still think it's warmer than it is at home, but I'm just not ready for the season to change from summer yet! I'll probably go through climate shock when I get home since it gets to be I think in the 30's - 40's here during the winter haha. Anyway, that's about all the new stuff that's been happening around here. Hope all is well with everyone and I suppose I'll be seeing you guys soon! Miss you all!

Jourie

P.S. Here is the link to my Cervantino album...keep checking back because I'll be updating the photos for the next couple weeks!

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020947&id=1604040019&l=6e0df704ad

Viva la Revolución! Viva México!

Hola Todos!

The last couple days have been pretty exciting here because... (drumroll) ... it was Independence Day! (---> no it's not on cinco de mayo like everyone in the States thinks!!!!)

So on Tuesday the 15th, I headed to Dolores Hidalgo with my sister, Anai, and this group called AISEC (she works for them). In the group there was about 30 students, most from around Mexico, but also some Germans, Italians, Brazilians, Colombians, etc. Regardless, it was a good group to hang out with. This is the city where Miguel Hidalgo made the cry (el grito) for Independence from Spain, which then began the Mexican Revolution....so it was pretty amazing to be in the same place.

Here is Miguel Hidalgo's wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hidalgo#Grito_de_Dolores

We left Guanajuato in the late morning and arrived to Dolores in the early afternoon (the drive was only about an hour). After dropping our stuff off at the house, we went downtown to the museum of Jose Alfredo Jimenez. He's a pretty famous singer here in Mexico and the museum was pretty cool. After that, we headed to lunch which was also really good. I had chorizo with tortillas, rice, and pasta. Then we went back to the house so everyone could shower and get ready before the grito, which was at 11PM.

Sometimes the weather here surprises me. It was absolutely beautiful weather all day on Tuesday, and then 6:30 came around and there was more or less, a hurricane outside. So we waited about 30-40 minutes for it to stop before we made our way downtown while walking through rivers and small ponds in the streets. We got to the church at about 7:30, which meant we would be waiting 3.5 hours in the rainy weather for the grito. During the wait, we went to get some pizza, sang songs, and played games. When more people started to show up around 9:30 or 10:00 everyone in the group decided to start the wave, and I swear it took like 20 times before everyone else started to catch on. I can't even tell you how entertaining this is after already waiting outside for two hours haha.

Finally 11:00 rolled around and the grito began. What happens is a government official of Guanajuato comes and takes the microphone and says something like: Viva Miguel Hidalgo! and everyone yells, VIVA! And he says Viva la Revolucion!, along with other things, and everyone again proceeds to yell, VIVA! The last thing he says is Viva Mexico! and everyone yells, VIVA! VIVA! ... it was incredible. After el grito, they had a fireworks show for a little while and after that we made our way back to the house for dinner and the after party, which lasted until like 6 or 7AM.

Independence Day here is definitely more patriotic than in the States. There is such a sense of unity and a love for one's country here that is unexplainable. It is just something that you have to experience. It's like everyone is so proud to be from this country that you can feel it around you, it is so infectious. I've never really felt a similar feeling during the 4th of July. The only way I can explain it is that the Mexicans keep in mind the history of their independence - what their people had to go through & how it happened, whereas Americans think about drinking and fireworks. I mean how terrible is it for me to say that I think I know more about the independence movement in Mexico than in the U.S? How well do you know the history of our independence?

The 16th is actually Independence Day, but the 15th is the day for partying. So I spent my day on Wednesday getting back from Dolores, taking a much needed shower, and then working on a presentation for my Spanish class about Amnesty International with Jack & Sarah. We decided we could probably be most productive at a cafe and because I was the last one to arrive downtown, I got stuck going to Starbuck's. I seriously hate Starbuck's, especially because every American in town goes there to use the internet. It drives me nuts. I don't even like Starbuck's in the U.S., but I dislike it even more here. It wasn't my decision either; I would've much rather gone to one of many other cafes in town that have real coffee and that aren't monopolies.

Other than Starbuck's it was a good couple of days & only showed me that I'm still really enjoying my time here. Below is the link for my album from Dolores Hidalgo.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018804&id=1604040019&l=acde40c0bf

P.S. The title of the page has changed to a year in Mexico because I've decided to change my location for next semester from Chile to Mexico. No worries though, the URL is going to stay the same to avoid confusion, although in a way it still doesn't make sense haha.

Zacatecas Trip

Hola!

First I'll start out by saying that I hope the end of everyones summer is going well and that those who are back in classes aren't dreading it too much. From looking at everyones statuses on Facebook, it looks like the weather has been pretty rainy lately. Bummer, especially since I get to experience sunshine everyday. Well, the rainy season is around the corner and I'm regretting that I didn't bring my rainboots.

Last Friday we departed from Guanajuato to go to Zacatecas. It is about a 4 hour drive north of here and we took a 10 passenger van which was a little cramped at times. We checked into our hostel around 7:00 and then proceeded to have a quick tour around the city. After walking around, it's pretty easy to figure out where you are. Luckily, by 8:30 our free-time started, so Jack, Sarah, and I went to a restaurant that only served gorditas; these were so delicious! Seriously, I have yet to make a complaint about the food here. We decided to take it easy on Friday night because we planned to go out on Saturday. Instead, we walked around the city some more until we found this great food stand with walking-tacos. We were so surprised to find walking-tacos in Mexico, probably because it seems like such an American thing. Instead of using Fritos the woman made it with Doritos (aka Dori-Nachos here) and let me tell you, they are way better here. Instead of using meat she used about everything else including cream, salsa, lettuce, pico de gallo, onion, jalapeños, etc etc. When we were standing in line, we met some American from Georgia who is currently living in Mexico. This guy was definitely a hippie, but it was good talking to him - he had a lot of insight about Mexico and knows the country pretty well since he has lived in D.F. for about a year or a little more teaching English. It was nice talking to another American who doesn't have the stereotypical ideas of Mexico like the majority of the people in the states regarding poverty, danger, what the people are like, how educated they are, etc etc. This made me realize that you really can't have a correct opinion or idea about Mexico unless you have spent a good amount of time here - not including a week on vacation for spring break either. Although, I'm sure this is true about any place in the world. He was in Zacatecas on a quick vacation and told us about some other great cities that we should visit while we are here. After talking to him for a while, we headed back to the hostel and went to bed.

Saturday morning we got up and went to breakfast around 9:00. We went to a really great restaurant that had many different breakfast foods: I went with chilaquiles - this is a common breakfast food here which consists of tortillas or tortilla chips cooked in salsa; it is incredible and really easy to make according to Sarah. After breakfast we visited La Quemada pyramids, which was about a 45 minute drive away from the city. This was a really cool place and I swear we were hiking up the pyramids for two hours or so. I found it interesting that 7 indigenous groups had built this structure - I guess every consequent group that had lived in the area just kept adding on to it. I was dumb and only brought flip-flops that weekend which made it a little difficult to hike haha.

After La Quemada we headed back towards Zacatecas and stopped at this great seafood restaurant for lunch. I had huachinango (red snapper) which was delicious. Sarah was pretty grossed out because they brought me the whole fish and she didn't particularly enjoy the fish still having eyes and "looking at her". This doesn't really gross me out; I was too hungry to care anyway.

After lunch we headed to the Mina (mine) del Eden. I wasn't too excited about this initially, but when were told we could bring beer I got more excited haha. We took this little train inside and had to wear these goofy hairnets and hardhats. Once inside, the mine was actually a lot cooler than I thought it would be. We walked around for a little while, looking at some rocks in display cases while our guide was telling all about this place. When we heard there was actually a dance club in the mine, we had decided where we would be spending our night. After coming out of the mine, we took a cable car ride to Cerro de la Bufa (it's a bluff or something) where we did some more walking and listening to our guide. We were all pretty exhausted when we were walking back to the van in the parking lot, but we passed this tent on the side of the mountain that had zip-lining! Sarah, Jack, Jessica, and I decided that we had to do it. The best part was that it only cost each person 100 pesos (about $8.00)!! I highly doubt you'll find that price anywhere else! I've never been zip-lining before and wow, it is incredible! When we got back to putting our feet on the ground, we headed back to the hostel for free-time and our individual dinner.

I took a quick shower and then Sarah, Jack, and I walked around downtown to look for a place to eat. We found this cute little restaurant with only two ladies working - both behind a counter where they cooked all the food. Sarah and I both had quesadillas and I don't remember what Jack ate. The papaya water that I had with the quesadillas was also really good. After dinner, we went to an Oxxo (like a 7-11 / gas station) and bought some beer to pregame with. We played drinking games until about 11:30 or 12:00 and then took a taxi to the mine club. We were severely underdressed and I think if we were Mexicans they wouldn't have let us in. Many guys were in dress pants and shirts while most girls we wearing dresses or dressy clothing. It cost 115 pesos (approx. $10) to get in, but it was completely worth the money. C'mon how many people can say they've partied and dance in a mine?! When we sat down, we ordered a bottle of Smirnoff between the 3 of us - I had about 1 and a half drinks from it since I had my fair share of beer at the hostel. The music was great and we were dancing for almost the entire night. We met some cool people that night from D.F. and didn't leave until 3:30 and got back to the hostel around 4:00 after failing to find an open food stand haha.

The next morning, we had breakfast again around 9:00, which the 3 of us were pretty hungover for. I don't know how I did it, but I ate 3 pancakes, 3 pieces of bacon, 2 little squares of hashbrowns, a bottle of water, and a cup of coffee. Not really sure where all this food was going, but I was still hungry haha. The rest of our time in Zacatecas was spent at museums - I suppose this was probably a good thing since we all had hangovers from the night before. We went to three museums: A mask museum, a museum of abstract art, and a museum about Zacatecas. My favorite was the mask museum which consisted of I think 1,200 masks. We left the city around 2:00 and got back to Guanajuato around 6:00.

Overall it was a really fun trip and I'm really glad that I can say I've been there. After visiting new cities, it makes me want to travel more and see what else I can find around Mexico.

Here is my facebook album from the trip: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016779&id=1604040019&l=7ca9affa95

Until next time.....

A Month Already

Hello All,

Nothing much has been happening lately, but I just figured I'd write since it's been a month since I've arrived. I definitely can't believe that I've already been here for a month; it has gone by so fast & only makes me think that the rest of my time here is going to pass as quickly.

I'm only taking two classes through the University (Contemporary Mexican Literature & a Cinema/Literature class), both started last week and are on Wednesday. The other two classes I am taking are through CIEE - one is Migration, Politics, & Contemporary Social Issues in Mexico and the other is called Spanish for the Professions. These two classes alternate days throughout the week, but both are from 8AM-9AM....waayyy too early for me! Today was the first day for the Migration class, so I had to leave the house around 7:30. When I got home I went back to bed for a couple hours - this is probably how the rest of the semester is going to go haha. I don't mind it too much because Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I am done with classes by 9AM....not a bad trade-off for having to wake up so early!

I'm also starting to miss some things from home, but not so much that it's making me home sick.

-I'm really missing People magazine & reading the New York Times. I just feel like I'm missing out on important news and celebrity gossip! To pick up on national news I subscribed to the ABC News podcast on iTunes - hopefully this will keep me up-to-date enough. I also know you can read the NY Times on the internet, but it's just not the same as actually having the paper in your hands!

-I miss Mac & Cheese, especially considering that I used to eat it like 2-3 a week haha.

-I miss driving around Madison, especially now that it's summertime and the city is absolutely beautiful with so many things to do....ughh especially going to the farmer's market!

-This goes without saying, but I definitely miss Mom's cooking! Don't get me wrong, the food is incredible here and I love eating everything, but nothing can replace a mom's home-cooked meals!

-It's kind of irritating not having a cell phone plan here. Instead of a plan, you have to go put more credit in your phone when you run out...basically it's "pay-as-you-go"...kind of annoying at times when you run out of credit and need to make a phone call. But hey, things could always be worse right?!

-Of course I miss my family, friends, & Pecas! This is obvious but I feel I need to write it so I don't get in trouble for not saying it! haha.

- - - - - - - - - -

My weekend went pretty well. On Friday I got together with my friends and we started drinking around 6PM. Why not celebrate after completing our first week of class abroad?! My friend, Abby, has a really cool terrace at her house so we drank there for a while until it was time for dinner. Jack, Sarah, and I came back to my house for some Pozole Verde (it's a soup with chicken, onion, and other stuff)...After dinner we went to get more beer and played cards for the rest of the night. I went to bed at 2AM but I guess people were up until about 5 or 6AM. Seriously, everyone stays up really late here haha.

I spent Saturday relaxing around the house in the afternoon & then went out to a couple bars at night with some friends. We didn't stay out too "late" .... I got home around 3AM haha. Yeah, I suppose the term "late" is all relative haha.

I didn't get up until 1PM on Sunday, we had quesadillas for breakfast and then most of the family came over to our house for lunch. We had Pozole Verde again and played cards for a little while. After eating, I went downtown to a cafe with Sarah and Abby for a little while. After, Sarah and Jack came over to my house and we ate a little more, played cards, and loteria. It was a pretty fun day & definitely busy. There aren't too many days that don't consist of going somewhere or doing something.

- - - - - - - -

That's about all that I have to say for now. Since some of you don't have Facebook, here are the links to my photo albums so you can see all my photos instead of only the ones that I upload on here.. Enjoy!

First Album in Guanajuato:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013958&id=1604040019&l=cb9a9276a9

Mexico City:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014863&id=1604040019&l=1fea268ef5

Miss you all! Take care & talk to ya soon!!

Jourie

Mexico City

Hi All,

Sorry it's been a while but I haven't really been home for a little more than a week.

Let's start with my weekend in Mexico City...

We left for Mexico city on July 24th at like 8:00AM. We got there around 1:30 or 2:00 and then had lunch before being able to check into our hostel across the street. Where we stayed was in the main Zocalo area which is close to a bunch of interesting sites. First we went to the Templo Mayor which are old Aztec ruins right in the middle of the city. That was pretty interesting & I also learned here that Mexico City is actually built on a lake, so there are various places around it that are sinking.

Templo Mayor

After that we headed to the Palacio Nacional which was about a 5 minute walk away. This is where the President comes ever Independence Day and gives a big speech and rings the bell of Miguel Hidalgo. Also inside are many paintings by Diego Rivera - I absolutely loved this. Not only is his style unique but he painted about such political issues, it's really interesting to depict what is represented through his paintings. It is also where his famous painting "Historia de Mexico" is. If you don't know what it looks like, check it out on google...it's incredible. It basically covers 3 sides of this huge wall when you are walking up to the second level. The only bummer was that it was covered up mostly due to renovation...I really wish I could've seen the whole complete painting.

Inside the Palacio Nacional

Painting by Diego Rivera

Then our last stop for the day was the Catedral in the Zocalo. I'm always a little bummed to mention that I'm a little tired of seeing Cathedrals after going to so many in Europe when I was in high school. Regardless, this was another huge one with many small chapels along the sides. The main altar is also amazing....it's made out of gold and has the most intricate detail I've seen in a while. What is interesting is that there is this thing that hangs down from the middle of the Cathedral that determines the exact middle of the building due to it sinking every now and again from the lake.

Cathedral in the Zocalo

By the time 7:00 rolled around we had free-time for the rest of the night. Some friends and I had a few drinks at the hostel...well more than a few you could probably say haha. Plenty of 40 oz. bottles as well as many mojitos. Later in the night we decided to walk to a bar. After wandering around for a while, we found one that looked promising so we headed upstairs. Immediately after sitting down with my beer, some guys asked us to dance, so of course we did since it doesn't seem very polite to decline a dance request. The guy I danced with was really patient and was trying really hard to teach me the steps....I still am not very good, but I can only hope to get better after spending many months here.

The next day we departed from the hostel early for an all-day city tour. First we found ourselves at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas and the Basilica de Guadalupe. This was a big place with many cathedrals, and of course the Basilica which was incredible. Imagine a huge church that seems like it was built in the 1970's. It was great however because we got to see the actual picture of the Virgen de Guadalupe; if you don't know the story about her, you should check it out on Wikipedia or something, she's really iconic here...I think every house has her image in the front lawn or somewhere like that.

Basilica de Guadalupe

Virgen de Guadalupe

Then, we headed to this Onyx Store where we first learned about different types of Agave plants. After, the whole group had 3 different shots - one was a type of sweet tequila, one was mezcal, and I can't remember the other. We also learned a little about rocks, which was a little boring at the time so I can't really tell you much about it...maybe I have ADD? We had a really great, home-cooked, lunch here before we proceeded to the Piramides de Teotihuacan.

The two main pyramids here are called Sol (sun) and Luna (moon). The sol is a lot bigger than the luna and we had the opportunity to climb both of them. It wasn't too bad going up, but the descent was pretty steep so you had to watch your step or hold onto the ropes. After reaching the top of the sol pyramid, my friends and I sat up there for probably a half hour, just relaxing and looking down at everything...it was perfect. I think this is when it finally hit me that I am in Mexico (okay, so it only took a few weeks!).

Me with Luna in the Background

On top of Sol

Free time came around 6:00 and we decided not to go out again since Sunday would be another early morning. Instead, we just stayed at the hostel for a while and had a few drinks. We were all pretty tired so no one minded having a chill night.

Sunday was our final day in Mexico City and we only had a couple of things planned. First we went to the Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul (blue house). This was the house that her and Diego Rivera lived in for part of their lives and it is filled with their artwork. Unfortunately we were only able to take pictures on the outside, but let me tell you, both of their artwork is incredible. My friend Sarah and I were the last ones to exit out of the group because we literally looked at everything.

After the Casa Azul we went for lunch at Xochimilco, which is a river that you take these flat boats down. After sitting down, we were on our way and lunch was being passed around the table (of course a bucket of beer was included as well). We came upon a boat with a Mariachi Band, so they serenaded us pretty much the whole time; we all had a really great time and the food again was amazing. We were on the river for a little less than an hour and after we headed back to Guanajuato.

Casa Azul

Boats at Xochimilco

Our director Karen told us before leaving that we would all be happy to return to Guanajuato because it will feel like we are coming back "home". I have to say, she was definitely right. Although it's always nice to get away for a while, it always feels good to go home, and coming back from Mexico City made me realize that now it really feels like home here.

Salamanca Weekend

Hopefully everyone had a good weekend! Mine was pretty busy...

After class on Friday, the family and I left for Salamanca, which is about an hour away from Guanajuato. I didn't really see the downtown area so I can't really tell you what it's like. The whole weekend we went between the grandparent's and aunt's houses. Regardless, it was a good time and let me tell you, this family likes to party.

We went to Salamanca for "La Pedida de Mano," which literally means the request of the hand. In Mexico, this is the most important "ceremony" before the wedding; it is when the boyfriend asks his girlfriend's parents for permission to marry her. The good news is that Norma & Miguel's niece is now engaged! This is what we did on Friday night....the after party was at the grandparent's house and lasted until 4AM. We ate a really great dinner and after, the rest of the night consisted of some tequila, dancing, and singing. It was cool to be apart of this and everyone made me feel at home, especially by making me dance in the middle of everyone ha. The only difficulty was remembering everyones names!

Barbeque!

Saturday was probably my favorite day in Salamanca. Because everyone woke up so late, we all at breakfast around noon, which is about the time I eat breakfast in Wisconsin haha. The afternoon consisted of watching movies with Mickey and his cousin until we decided to join everyone at the pool. We had an awesome barbeque and played loteria (bingo) for a few hours. This was great because we played for pesos, although it seemed like the adults won more than the cousins. The lack of concern for time kept us there through the afternoon until after the sun set. Before we left, we played a couple games of volleyball against some people who lived in the neighborhood; each team won once. It was fun, but I have to say, I think many of them should stick with playing futbol haha.

The pool

We came back to Guanajuato Sunday afternoon and were accompanied by the majority of the family. For dinner, the ladies made about 6-8 homemade pizzas which were incredible; my favorite was the one with mangos on top...seriously, it is amazing! The funniest part was watching almost everyone put ketchup on top of their slices. Mickey tried to make me put it on mine but I was like, "No Way!" ...way disgusting. Of course the other condiment was hot sauce. After dinner we all played loteria again and I lost pretty much all my money which was super lame. A couple of my school friends came over to play with us & regardless of losing my pesos, I still had a fun time. The rest of the night we sat around and chatted until it was time to do some much avoided homework.

This weekend I will be in Mexico City, pretty much touring all around the city. From looking at the itinerary, it seems like we're going to be going non-stop all weekend. Check back next week because I'm sure I'll have plenty to tell you all about it! Miss you all!

Our Volleyball Team!

El principio

Hello All,

Sorry it's taken a few days to start this up but I've been pretty busy. I made it here safely and Guanajuato is absolutely beautiful; the city sits perfectly inside the mountain landscape which is beautifully painted by an allure of colored houses. I arrived last Friday and stayed at the Hotel de Embajadoras for a night before I moved in with my homestay family on Saturday night.

My family is great, I'd say very similar to my family in Wisconsin. My mom is always making sure I've had enough to eat and has told me that friends can come over whenever.... it's pretty laid back in the house. Parent's names are Norma and Miguel and my sister's name is Anai (Ah-nah-ee) and my brother's name is Mickey (Miguel). They are both my age so there's always something to do or somewhere to go, I love it. They also have a dog names Manchas (Spots).

Class started on Monday which I wasn't too excited about, especially because it consists of two hours of grammar (muy aburrido!) But hey, I have to be a little happy about class considering it is what brought me here more or less. After a couple days with my family I'm starting to feel like I'm picking up spanish more and more which is definitely comforting. I really see the disadvantage of studying a foreign language in the states due to the lack of conversation in the classroom, this is probably the reason why speaking is more difficult for me than writing.

So far my favorite thing that I've seen is the Cristo Rey statue. It is incredible. It sits exactly in the middle of Mexico on top of this huge mountain. From the bottom of the mountain to the top it took about 45 minutes to drive on the curvy, cobblestone road. Kids line the road holding out their hats and hands to passing cars for a few pesos. Once you reach the top you really realize how huge this statue is. Seriously I don't have enough words to describe how I felt and how breath-taking it is. I strongly recommend visiting this place if you're ever in Mexico.

Some things that are different:

-There are no toilet seats in public places and you feel like you might fall in. In some places there isn't toilet paper in the stalls but rather next to the sink. Also, you can't flush it down because it will clog the pipes so you have to put it in the garbage.

-There are a ton of street dogs here and they all seem to have an agenda every time you see one walking by.

-Every once and while you'll see cows roaming around downtown eating out of gardens or just hanging out by a busy street. It's kind of weird and makes you wonder where they're supposed to be.

That's about all I can think of for now. Hope all is well with everyone!

Saludos desde Guanajuato!

Love, Jourie