Guadalajara Spring 2010: Robbery, Reggae and Everything In-between

Alright, I know I've been terrible..but there's a bunch of updates coming your way right now. Check it out.

Phone Robberies

So my dear jacket, phone and key got jacked at club CHESS my 3rd weekend here. The weirdest part of this was that I called my phone and the girl who took it agreed to meet places. We made plans 3 times and every time she bailed..then my phone as turned off. Thanks!! The worst part of this was I lost contact with some new friends, which was very sad. However, I am happy to update I ran into my dear friend Tonatihu at a salsa club last night. What are the odds? Anyways, we are in contact again and life is good. Now I just need to fate to put me in touch with the other numbers I lost. I then decided to finally give up hope and bought a new phone on a Friday. Of course, Saturday night I got out and it gets jacked FROM MY POCKET. Still, I'm on my 3rd (and definitely last, no matter what happens) phone and it's hung around for awhile now. I have a good feeling about this one (watch me lose it tonight). Probably things have only turned around for me because I leave my phone at home when I go out, but I'm also going to thank luck, just in case.

Schedule and School

My schedule is pretty awesome. I don't have class on Fridays! I also don't have class on Tuesdays until 6 pm. However, I usually fill these empty times with either sleeping off my nights out, since I never go to bed until 4 am (don't laugh, anyone who's in Spain!), volunteering, or some other type of activity. Sometimes I'll just wander around Guadalajara. Anyways, the time somehow seems to go by quickly every week. I have a fairly decent workload. My math class is definitely challenging, what with homeworks and studying, I'm fairly busy. I'm actually super proud I have a B in an engineer math class in Spanish! We read short stories or parts of novels for every literature class, but I usually enjoy them..and I read a Borges story I've never read before. I find my Economic Structures of Mexico class rather dreary, though we used a graph last week and I was happy to see some econ! Finally, my Planning of Microenterprise for Social Development class is giving me lots of cool experience in something I'd like to work in. I've been helping a man plan out launching his business. So far, I've explained some economics things and gone to a really fun tasting of his product, Takes. I can't complain! I love all these amazing experiences I'm having..who else gets to go to an intimate business launch party when studying abroad in Mexico?

Zacatecas

My first weekend getaway was to Zacatecas (photos coming in a minute to Facebook). We couchsurfed for the first time and while my friend I went with wasn't so into it, I thought it was so awesome! I was pretty sick and felt pretty terrible the whole time, but I had a great ti

me. The night we arrived, Victor (or Duncan, as he's called by friends) picked us up from the bus station and we just walked the center of Zacatecas. The city is incredibly gorgeous..nestled between mountains, it looks very European (almost more French than Spanish to me) but with very Mexican parts. I loved just wandering the streets. We "hiked" up to the top of a hill overlooking the city and got a great view. My favorite place was an abandoned cathedral that has fallen apart..there is no longer a roof and some of the walls are crumbling. Many gorgeous, amazing plants have been planted throughout, creating a type of abandoned paradise. I could have spent all day there (and definitely spent awhile). At night, the streets of Zacatecas fill up with people, waving and whistling at each other (que tranza la banda!). I loved how filled with life the city was. There were also callejoneadas going on, in which a burro and mariachi band lead an ever-growing line of people through the little streets of Zacatecas. There are also dances going on in plazas throughout the centro. The first night we were there, people came over to our host's house and it was really cool meeting a different group of people than the clubbers I hang out with in Guadalajara, both of whom I love! I also learned some Spanish reggae. Despite the downpour on the last day, I loved Zacatecas...so beautiful!

Overlooking Zacatecas..after our hike up that mountain!

A burro leading the Callejoneada! Picture a mariachi band next and a hundred people wandering behind them, singing and holding their tequila

A shot of the abandoned cathedral garden..one of my most favorite places I've ever found to wander

New friends in Zac thanks to CouchSurfing

The smell of flowers

While this heading speaks for itself, I adore the smell of flowers that will randomly surround me as I walk the streets. I will miss the feeling of the sun shining down and the most beautiful, pure smell of flowers floating around me.

Chivas!! (mi corazón! pintado tricolor)

I have now attended two fútbol games,

both of Chivas (Guadalajara has several teams). Chivas is one of the teams most famous in Me

xico and they are doing awesome this year..they're also the team that only has Mexican players, very exciting. I have to say, I've been super tired going to most games and I actually prefer watching a soccer game on TV if I actually want to watch it. However, I dig the atmosphere, the huge crowds of rowdy Chivas fans encroaching on the stadium and the absolutely crazy bus rides home. To the left is a picture of a small bus packed probably 4x capacity with people and several huge drums to keep rhythm for the loud Chivas chants shouted the whole way home, only emphasized by the many people pounding the sides of the bus.

Guanajuato

Another weekend trip to Guanajuato, a city I've always wanted to visit. It is just as gorgeous as I thought it would be. I'm posting a couple pictures so you can see these beautiful, colorful, vibrant houses!! If I ever have a house, it's going to be a vibrant, deep blue like one of these. We just wandered the streets, filled with life. We hiked up a hill looking over the city (sensing a trend?), visited the grand, old theatre and went to Diego Rivera's house. I adored our hostel, we had an amazing room with a balcony overlooking the center. We were the only ones there and got to kick it with the hotel people too. The first night we ate dinner in the main plaza, surrounded by mariachis, and it was actually a great deal (for my food, at least). I also enjoyed stumbling onto a rowdy children's Valentine's Day fiesta, filled with dancing. I'll let these pictures speak as Guanajuato's best testament.

Shot of Guanajuato from the top of the hill overlooking the city

Check out those houses

On the balcony of our amazing hostel!

Volunteering

I am now volunteering at a Development Institute, which offers basic math, business and English classes to help people improve their employment possibilities or start their own businesses. It's really fun and I've met a lot of cool people there. Since I'd love to work in a place like this in the future, it's great becoming so familiar with it.

Forest Visit

Interestingly, one of my favorite memories is my foray into a forest just outside Guadalajara with my friend Carlos. Unfortunately, he is one of the people I was forcefully cut off from when my phone was stolen. However, I loved this day because I really missed the nature always surrounding me back home. While there are trees around here, I missed seeing more than 3 in one place. Also, it was really nice to escape the pollution. We even saw some awesome predatory birds. We went to a national park right outside of Guadalajara on a gorgeous day and I have such great memories of getting out there in nature! Thank you Carlos, wherever you are.