Ups and Downs

This is going to be a very short entry, but I just wanted to note the amazingness of studying/living abroad. I was feeling a little bummed out this morning and kind of frustrated with various things going on. However, I've been wanting to visit this really old cemetery downtown in Guadalajara, so I walked outside in the heat. Unfortunately, I picked rush hour (2 pm) to go, but oh well. I got off near the cemetery but when I walked up, I saw it was closed until the beginning of May for cleaning. I then wandered around, looking at the amazing amazing houses and streets that I always love to see..with the eventual aim of checking out a market I'd heard of.

I wandered by a bookshop and decided to double back and take a look-I always love really old looking books, retro is the best. I wound up talking to the two abuelitos (grandpas) inside for over three hours, during which time we discussed literature, economics, marijuana legalization and just about everything else. They also gave me soft drinks and when I left, gifted me a book by a famous Mexican author from the state of Jalisco, where I'm living. I also bought an amazing old volume of "Las Mil y una Noches" or 1001 nights, filled with awesome old pictures. My future kids are going to have to learn Spanish! It just serves to always remind you that amazing opportunities for new friendships and experiences are waiting around every corner.

I'm now at home, getting ready for Karaoke en español night, trying to decide between going to Puerto Vallarta tomorrow and crashing with a gringo who owns a club event business, or going to a first communion and soccer game tomorrow night with an amigo. I love studying abroad, Mexico, the world, you name it!

Mexico City and Tapalpa

This entry details two weekend trips to two very different places: Mexico City, a megalopolis and the second biggest city in the world, rumored as pollution-filled urban jungle, and Tapalpa, quaint pueblo in the mountains three hours outside of Guadalajara.

Mexico City

Not wanting to join the hordes of my university's "weekend-away" trip, I decided to couchsurf to D.F. (Distrito Federal). I found Brenda on the website and contacted her...she welcomed me with open arms, even though it was her birthday weekend. Taking a 3 am bus for 8 hours to the city, I arrived in the morning, tired but very excited! As you've probably heard rumored, Mexico City is supposed to be kind of dangerous, and the metro is supposed to be a place you should be wary about. Upon arrival, I bought my ticket for one of the world's cheapest metro systems (about 25 cents) and while the metro was certainly packed, especially on one squeeze-worthy ride, I was "adopted" by someone on each metro who made sure I squeezed my way on and got off where I needed to--although this metro is incredibly clear and well-designed!

I talked to Brenda, my host, on the phone and decided to wander around the Zócalo, the central plaza of this super historical city with my backpack of things until she got off work. Although it was annoying to carry around, I love packing LIGHT because then you're not weighed down by luggage. Below is a picture of the Zócalo-it's amazing how powerful the stark simplicity of it is, I thought.

Zócalo

I first entered the Palacio Nacional to see famous murals of Diego Rivera, detailing the history of Mexico, from its indigenous people to the Spanish conquest and its brutality. The picture below is of a mural that shows the history of Mexico in three general parts: indigenous, conquistadors/independence, and then contemporary Mexico...along with some quotes from Marx! While I'm not a big art person, I love murals--you really learn a story or history from them, and they are so colorful.

Diego Rivera

After that, I visited the huge cathedral and pondered during a mass. They sang a beautiful version of "Nearer My God to Thee." I then had some enfrijoladas for lunch and wandered to the Secretaria of Education, where there were supposed to be many a Diego Rivera mural. When finally I gained entrance, only me and one other man were told to wait for escort--but no one came, so we wandered around ourselves. He was taking photos of statues to be restored for Mexico's bicentennial, but as an art major in college, he knew a lot about all the murals, so I had a guide explain all of Diego's murals about the harvest, capitalism, the family and history in Mexico. It really makes you appreciate them more, plus I made a new friend! We each had a sparkling water then I made my way to Brenda's metro stop to meet her.

Brenda is such a warm, amazing person, who I'm so lucky to have had as a host. She's beautiful and so welcoming. I felt very welcome in her apartment in which she lives with her mom and grandma. After a snack of soup and pasta, I took a nap to prepare for the evening. After waking up from the incredibly comfortable bed, her friend Galo passed by for us and we picked up two other friends on the way to her friend Alejandro's place, an awesome apartment. We had Domino's pizza, with lots of hot sauce, then drank some wine and danced around to techno. All her friends were really fun and welcoming, very friendly. I felt so at home! I was so excited to be sitting in this penthouse, looking out over Mexico City, with new chilango friends, instead of sitting in some generic hotel, going out with a bunch of gringas. At midnight, we rang in Brenda's birthday and stayed up until 6 am hanging out, I took an hour nap, and then we were off to Morelos at 7 am, to let the real birthday celebration of Brenda begin.

I went in Alejandro's convertible, which was awesome! My second time in a convertible..and it was great! See picture below..I'm beaming. Even though we left so early, we still got stuck in amazing traffic because it was "puente" and everyone has Monday off..so people were trying to get out of the city. Since we were in a convertible with the sun shining, blasting techno music and drinking chelas (beers, which everyone drinks in cars--open container laws are not too strictly enforced), I was having the time of my life.

Me and Galo in the shiny red convertible!

We stopped for lunch in Tres Marías, where I impressed everyone with how much chili I put on my food, and I tried Pulque, an ancient use of the agave plant that creates Tequila--it's supposed to have special healing powers. We then sped down the mountains, the sun still shining, and had a great view of mountain peaks and volcanos. We stopped to get more chelas, of course, and continued until we reached Cuautla, our destination for skydiving.

Stopping for chelas

Since I wasn't skydiving, I asked how long they thought we'd be there..I figured maybe an hour or two. When Galo answered, "maybe 9 hours," I was a little confused on what I would be doing...but instead I had an amazing, awesome, beautiful day! The state of Morelos is supposed to get 360 days of sunshine a year..and it was beautiful! I met more of Brenda's friends, all extremely kind and fun, and spent the entire day watching skydivers, enjoying the perfect sunny day, snacking and drinking calimotxo, wine and coca-cola.

With new friends Aldo and Baruk...Aldo lent me his sombrero so I wouldn't burn too much more on the perfect sunny day

Skydiver landing!

Around 7 pm, the skydiving finished up and everyone just hung out and talked for a couple more hours. Around 9, we headed back into town, where about 30 of us ate dinner..it was delicious, though I got sunscreen all over my things...sunscreen, my own worst enemy. Then we head to Brenda's friend Toño's country home for a birthday fiesta! The house was awesome, with lots of space, a bar/dj place, a beautiful garden and a pool with slide. I had a great time, meeting even more new people, and I also got to chill in a hammock, my favorite!

Me in the hammock! They are so comfortable

A shot with the pool - with slide! - and hot tub...along with crazy Mexicans drinking out of a beer bong, but with rum & coke instead! Yum!

The next morning, after sleeping in a huge tent, people were already drinking chelas by 8 am but I took it a little easier. Hung out in the sun by the pool for a bit, and then Brenda and her boyfriend Alejandro (different Alejandro) and I departed for Tepotzlán, a "magical village." It was truly adorable and gorgeous at the same time, with the hill overlooking the town housing an ancient pyramid that you can hike up to. We ate lunch at the famous Los Colorines restaurant, in which many a famous visitor has left an autograph. We wandered the streets, eating ice cream ("snow") and drinking micheladas, the beer with salt, lime and hot sauces, both of which Tepotzlán is famous for. It was a great stop and I love seeing the pueblitos.

Chilling at the pool in the morning sun

Tepotzlán, Pueblo Mágico-you can just see the pyramid in the mountains

Brenda and Alejandro inside our lunch spot - behind them is the open kitchen, where you can see everything the abuelitas are cooking!

With my lovely host Brenda outside of our famous lunch spot - holding the michelada! And I'm actually not that pale, it's the flash, I swear.

We headed back to D.F. and while Brenda slept in back, Alejandro drove us home along the "free" highway. There is also a tollway and a highway. We arrived on the tollway, faster but more hectic and less country-life scenery. Going back, we took the free highway, which wound through pueblos and the countryside, including past the most beautiful cemetery I've ever seen, and I was glad I got to see all this as well. He then took me around the city a bit..I even started recognizing bits by the end! Something I found really interesting was the monument to Mothers. I've never seen a monument just to mothers in the U.S...shows Mexicans devotion to their mamas! It was interesting though, the inscription on the Mother Monument said, "A la que nos amó antes de conocernos," translated as "To the one that loved us before meeting us." Also underneath it follows, "Porque su maternidad fue voluntario," meaning "Because her motherhood was voluntary." Kind of seemed like an interesting choice of words to me, since there are certainly mothers who accidentally and even unwillingly take on the role...made me wonder what it might imply culturally.

Monumento a la madre - a la que nos amó antes de conocernos

Angel de la Independencia - Famous Angel of Independence Statue

The next day we head to Teotihuacán to see the two famous pyramids, Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon. However, I first got to pick some limes from Alejandro's tree--I love limes, and they were amazing and juicy! Well, there's not much to say about the pyramids, as a picture really does the job, but we were lucky that it wasn't sunny that day. We definitely climbed both of them and they were big! I happened to see Molly, how was on the organized trip from my school, on the pyramids-what are the chances? These pyramids were huge and awe-inspring, and moreover mind-boggling that they were able to construct them so long ago when Europeans were doing their best to put together lame little houses. However, I think I preferred the pyramids of Chichén Itzá, in the Yucatán Peninsula, because I prefer jungle and greenery around the pyramids..the desert setting of Teotihuacán wasn't quite my thing. However, they're obviously amazing, I just like feeling like Indiana Jones.

Me and the limes!

On top of the Pyramid of the Sun, with the Pyramid of the Moon in the left background, where we had discovered Molly!

Embracing the sun in front of Pirámide del Sol

After that we headed on over to the nearby Reino Animal, or Animal Kingdom. I think it's really interesting to go to zoos in other countries, and since we didn't have time to go to the Mexico City Zoo to see the pandas, we headed over there. At first there were just cows and a random giraffe, and I though...hmm..some Kingdom. However, we then boarded a car that took us on a "safari," where we drove right by ostriches, zebras, giraffes, buffalo and camels, who came up to eat the food we had purchased. We also drove by tigers and lions, after changing into fenced-in cards. I was about one foot from a tiger..they are so beautiful! Definitely interesting. I love animals! And the safari was actually pretty cool for them, because they had a decent area to roam.

Feeding the camel!

After the Animal Kingdom, we started on the D.F. Culinary Tour. First, we had dinner at Toño's, an amazing restaurant I totally recommend to everyone. They had all great Mexican food at a great price...I loved it. We had Pozole, a tasty soup, with avocado, horchata, lots of different salsas, sopes, quesadillas and enfrijoladas, and finishing with flan. We then headed to Coyoacán, an awesome neighborhood that reminded me of Seattle in a way, what with the guitarists, the kind of hippie vibe, the coffee, etc. It was really cute! We swung by the "Starbucks of Mexico" for some Mexican hot chocolate, then rounded the corner to get a Bailey's churro. After that, we had some esquite, corn with mayonaise, cheese, chili and hot sauce. At this point, we were sooo incredibly full, but it was all delicious. We wandered around Coyoacán for a bit, taking in the great atmosphere, then headed home.

Our meal at Toño's...amazing delicious!

The Starbucks of Mexico, El Jarocho

Showing off parts of the eating tour...hot chocolate, churro, ejites

On the side of the cathedral, where an indigenous dance was going on, joined in by Mexicans with polo shirts...they were pretty good too

The main plaza in Coyoacán-every Mexican town, no matter how small, has one

After talking with wonderful Brenda for awhile and laughing over the weekend's photos, we went to bed. Early the next morning, Brenda took me to the metro station and we said good-bye. I had such an amazing, fun weekend and am so grateful! Gracias

Tapalpa

I'll keep this description short after that wordy one about Mexico City. This was also only a one night trip. Tapalpa is a village in the mountains around Guadalajara, about a 2.5 hour drive away. We all met up at a friend's house and the 8 of us headed up into the mountains, 2 people hanging out in the back of the truck. Here, a lot of people have trucks and you'll often see over 10 people in back..definitely saves having to take so many cars, despite the safety questions. I was having a blast, twisting up the mountain road into the sun and drinking micheladas-felt so Mexican! However, a song from the TV show Glee came on the radio, reminding me of the nearby US. After a gorgeous drive up the mountains (I'm not kidding, beautiful), we stopped in a little village for snacks and there was a perfect view of a beautiful, snow-covered mountain. My first real, true mountain I've seen here (at least for me)-I loved it! Arriving in the village, we went to the house which was this gorgeous mansion with an awesome view. My photos can't be uploaded, so just take my word on it. We grilled for dinner and sat around talking, playing guitar and singing, along with the other 5 people who showed up. Great spanish practice, of course.

The next morning, I got up and walked around the adorable village of Tapalpa. The church was interesting, made of brick and very cool inside. I enjoyed that the weather up there was not quite so hot as before. We tried walking to the famed Piedrotas, but found out they were a lot further away than we believed. However, we headed out there a bit later in the truck. The Piedrotas are huge rocks randomly left in the middle of the field..huge size! It was a great sight. We then headed back to Guadalajara that evening.

The village of Tapalpa..everything is this reddish color, including the roofs

Las Piedrotas - these rocks are huge!

Random Tapatío Life

I've always found travel blogs in which people write about the everyday parts of their life abroad most interesting-though these little details have become normal to the writer, these small differences are some of the most exciting rewards of travel, I think-so here we go.

Bargaining

I get a thrill out of bargaining here, on some things. One case is taxis. In Guadalajara, taxis are required to have a taxi meter, and I'm pretty sure they won't even turn on if it isn't working. But tons of drivers will say they don't have one, or it's broken, and then want to bargain with you over the price. I like to demand a taxi meter and wait if they are jerks about it, but if I'm forced to bargain, it is exciting! I like to quote past trips as evidence for the need to lower the taxi price..last taxi I got down from 90 pesos to 50. Bam! With the taxi meter, the taxis really aren't too bad. I was quoted a price from someone from Tlaquepaque, a suburb of Guadalajara, to the center of 200 pesos, about $16, and after being told that was a "great deal" and no one would do it for less than that, the taxi meter taxi we took cost 45 pesos, about $4 USD.

I also like to argue my way free into clubs and bars, and since I don't really ever go to places I have to pay cover at in the U.S., I'm honing a good skill. Usually if I just pout for a few minutes, they ask "are you alone?" and then let you in. Good money saver!

I'm also practiced at talking down prices on unreasonable fruits, like a 30 peso mango in Puerto Vallarta, that I just gave 20! nice. However, I feel bad bargaining if it's like a handmade shirt someone made or they probably need the money. So I'm not such a good bargainer..but I try.

Nightlife

I feel like I kind of mix it up on where I go, though I always spend Tuesdays at Wall St., my favorite bar-with-dancing with an outside terrace with a beach bar, only a 10 minute walk from home! Mondays I usually take it easy, though last Monday I went to a bar and played Beer Pong, haha. Thursdays I can usually be found at Wing's Army, an "American military themed" bar that has locations everywhere. On Thursdays it's really cheap so I've gone quite a few times..my roommate Molly's novio is a big fan. Otherwise, I've often headed to salsa dance at the Mutualista, a salsa bar with live band. I love salsa music, but don't know how to dance to it..but that doesn't stop people from dancing with me all night! I'm terrible, oh well.

Wall Street, my second home

Weekends vary. As a sample, this was my most recent weekend here in Guadalajara. I started the weekend on Thursday (don't have class on Fridays) by going to the Classic, a fancy swanky bar with oldies music covered in red velvet and leather that we had earlieraccidentally stumbled on right by our house. They just give us free drinks there, so it's a great stop. This time we each bought a drink and then had free fancy shots and drinks brought to us for hours. We swung across to the street to Wall Street, where it was salsa night, and danced for a bit. Caught a taxi downtown looking for an Irish bar with free "jelly shots" for St. Patty's, couldn't find it, so we instead went to bar and got micheladas. I absolutely love them-beer with salt, lime and various hot sauces. They're amazing! Swung back by Classic for some free fancy gin shots and some sparkling water, then walked home. Friday, though I don't have classes, I had an all-day session on entering my career path, writing a resume...ugh. I was completely exhausted and had another session the next morning at 8 am, so I stayed in, but the plan was, I would have gone to Wall St. and hung out with some of my best Mexican friends and danced the night away. First time I've stayed in on a Friday, so maybe not a good sample! After my Saturday all-day in school, ugh (this was a one-time thing), I went with my host brother to a friend's house. We drove around to various locations, going to a street music festival in Chapultepec that was really cool. We ended the night at the Red Pub, a "British-style" pub near our house. It's set up pretty cool and I felt like I was in a British street! Sunday we meant to go to a music festival in Tequila, a pueblo nearby of Tequila fame, but ditched that idea and went to the pool at a friend Diego's house. We wound up getting there by the time the sun was almost down and the pool sucked, but we ordered pizza and drank Tequila so I forgave the lack of pool quality. Dominoes here actually isn't bad..no Papa John's but it's way better! Nothing like a Sunday night party..and so ended my weekend. Every one is different, but there's a sample!

Tequila

Just want to mention that I was at a food tasting party for an entrepreneur whose business I'm helping launch and met a woman who grew up in the pueblo Don Julio is from and she would always go to his factory and once a year he'd give out free bottles to everyone. Since my dad is a huge Don Julio fan, I had to be impressed. The town of Tequila, which I've visited twice, is about an hour and a half from here. It's a cute pueblo, though the second time it was so rainy we just tested tequila the whole time. It was actually a great day, besides the very strange downpour. Lots of free varieties of tequila!

Food

In short, I love the food! I've mentioned food earlier, but just wanted to reaffirm I love it. I love chili, I put it on everything. Some of my favorite foods are: chilaquiles (kind of long soggyish-nachos with beans, but way better), enfrijoladas (tortillas covered in frijoles and cheese), liquados (milk blended with fruit-usually I have strawberry, mango or banana), guacamole, pico de gallo, fresh mangoes, chips with Valentina hot sauce on them, popcorn with hot sauce, taquitos, elote (corn with mayonaise, hot sauce and chili), quesadillas with chili, frijoles and avocado, sopes (like tostados with frijoles, potatoes or cheese, lettuce, sauces), molletes (baguette with frijoles and cheese on top), a "sopa" of seasoned rice with veggies, my beloved micheladas, tacos....as you can tell, I love frijoles, but I eat a lot of other things too..those are just my favorites.

Elote

Michelada

Enfrijoladas

My beloved chilaquiles

Mangoes

What People Call Me

People in the streets will always yell at me güera or güerita, which means "blondie." Since blondie is not exactly a respectful term in English, I was at first kind of offended, but after I noticed my friend said, "Thanks, güero" to a guy who helped us park, I just realized everyone uses it just to describe someone who doesn't have black hair..or is lighter skinned..whatever. Just like people will refer to the skinnier or the fatter person of the group as "skinny" or "fatty," people use physical characteristics more to refer to each other. Instead of "Hey you, watch out for the car," it's "Hey blond one, watch out for the car." I've also been referred to as "chinita," meaning curly, but güerita is my usual name. No one has called me flaquita or gordita (skinny or fatty) yet, so I think güerita is all I'm getting.

Music!

Another blog post about my recent, awesome awesome weekend trips coming very soon, but first a bit about music in my life here.

Choir

I am in my university's choir here at the Tec. It's definitely different from the choirs I'm used to. For one, people just come when they can, so there is always a different crowd every rehearsal. The director is usually 20-30 minutes late to rehearsal, so I too show up around then (I've learned). Even the week before a concert, the attitude was very laid back--we started a new song the day before the concert! Our performance was definitely much less polished than what I'm used to, but it's a different attitude, that's all-and we still sounded good! Instead of intense perfectionism, it's more chill and fun. Plus we sang in a beautiful cathedral (pictured here). That was definitely a highlight. Another concert coming up in a few weeks that I'm looking forward to. It's also great because I got to learn some Mexican songs this way that I otherwise wouldn't have been exposed to. I'm so happy I get to sing in this choir, it has really added another facet to my experience. Also, the director and members are all really nice, so I always have a good time.

Music

On the topic of music, I love the music here! It feels like I am surrounded by music here. Piping out of houses as I pass them on the street, blasting out of cars that zoom by, performances by musicians in buses on a variety of instruments...I love it! I'm also lucky because my phone has a radio. This way, I'm getting to know all different kinds of music on the radio when I'm riding the bus--I already have my favorite stations, plus it's good spanish practice, of course. I'm always writing down song names to download later, whether I'm in a club or on the bus. Here are a couple of random songs that have touched my life someway here in Mexico and bring back great memories (with YouTube links, of course):

Música de Paz - Papa Shanty

I first was truly introduced to Spanish reggae by my friend Victor I couchsurfed with in Zacatecas. I adore these songs, so here's one of them.

El son del Dolor - Cuca

Cuca is a band from right here in Guadalajara. For those interested in Mexican rock, here's a sample! I first heard this song on acoustic guitar at a bbq in the country, and so it always brings me back to that.

No Hay Nadie Como Tu - Calle 13

I really like this Puerto Rican group Calle 13, sort of alt-reggaeton and hip-hop. Even my Spanish lit professor played us one of their songs for an example of literature, so they have to be pretty good.

A Veces

My favorite favorite Banda song (traditional music that comes from the state of Sinaloa), that I first met on my birthday party at a great karaoke party!

El Amor - Tito El Bambino

Cover bands, which often come out in bars, always play this song-I love dancing to it! Great message too.

Colgando en tus manos - Carlos Baute & Martha Sanchez

This love-duet was important for me because it's the first time I've ever noticed myself understanding every word of a song the first time listening to it. Granted, it's pretty slow, but still exciting! I also get pretty thrilled when the techno remix comes on when I go out.

La Adelita

Traditional Mexican song that I sang with my choir (here also performed with a choir) Not a great recording, but wanted to share it!

Me Estás Tentando - Wisin & Yandel

Llamado de Emergencia - Daddy Yankee

Abusadora - Wisin & Yandel

Lo Hecho está hecho - Shakira

Bartender - Alexis y Fido

Na de Na - Khriz y Angel

Sex on the Beach - Spankers

Here are a couple songs that always come on when I go out dancing that I'm relatively fond of--plus I love that almost all music played in clubs/bars/etc. is in Spanish. However, the last one, Sex on the Beach, is quite possibly the worst song and worst video ever, plus it's in english..however, I always have to listen to it so there you go. Give it a listen, Spankers might be your new favorite artist.

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.

Road Trip!

So happy to be in nature!!

Ran into him on the way out..clearly we were definitely in nature

Fútbol, Música, The Veggie Life

Well, I actually have a lot of homework tonight (what??) so I had to stay home and skip out on Club "Chess." However, my homework stamina is at about 2 minutes a day so here's a break. A couple things to mention.

Fútbol: I went to my first soccer game, Chivas! means lady goat. It was fun and the crowd was pretty rowdy, especially the die-hard fans behind the goal. We had cheaper seats and therefore the crowd was a little more relaxed. I was really tired through all of it, so perhaps I'll have to go again to really soak up that ambience. To be honest, I suppose I was expecting something a little crazier, but it was the first game of the season and there were a lot of empty seats--I'm sure the intensity will be rising.

Music: A cool thing is that there is so much music in Spanish around this world that I don't hear English music so frequently in bars or clubs (and if so, it's Sexy Bitch, which is ok by me), the majority of English being attributed to Pitbull. I'm trying to gather up these songs, but I always forget how they go the next morning-oh well. Another English song getting a lot of play is something that goes like this: SEX, SEX, SEX ON THE BEACH for 5 minutes--shout out to inglés! Otherwise, I am picking up some banda and salsa favorites. On my birthday, I went to another birthday party of a friend whose birthday was also that day. They had rented a karaoke song so I learned many many banda and other traditional Mexican songs, along with some reggaeton favorites. So many songs! Some of us stayed until 5.30 am singing so I got quite the education. I feel like a lot of music I heard out in Germany was English, so I'm glad I'm picking up lots of new hits here.

Speaking of Germany, it is interesting thinking about arriving in Germany (referencing my year spent there 2006-2007) and arriving in Mexico. I often find myself thinking back to those first weeks in Germany. Most significantly, life here is so, so, so much easier, due to the fact I can already somewhat communicate in Spanish. I can communicate any idea I want-it's amazing! I spent a lot of time in Germany at the beginning zoning out while other people talked around me and desperately trying to understand things through body language-what a difference some language study makes! I have to say my German experience has definitely helped me here. For instance, I had to give a short speech in my business class today--while I'm sure I butchered it, it seemed relatively easy after my forced speech to a German class at the beginning of my time there, which consisted mostly of "um..ich..like.." Also, I am very very practiced at faking it if I don't know the details. If, for instance, I don't quite understand what I'm supposed to do for a project or where I should be going, I've learned that usually makes itself clear, with no need to stress about it...just copying others around you does a lot of good (when you're just trying to keep up--not a life lesson). This is of course eased by the kindness and willingness to help of students at my school (making this situation a little easier than at my school in Germany). For instance, my class is meeting at this institution this Saturday morning. Everyone drives except for me, so several people offered to come pick me up, without even having talked to me. So nice! Less likely in Germany, so maybe I am getting spoiled, but I love them both of course!

A hot topic that I'm sure everyone is dying to know about: Leah making her way as a vegetarian in Mexico. Summary: very easy! I am lucky, I'm sure, that I'm living with a host family that is willing to accommodate me and is not trying to sneakily put meat in my food (has totally happened elsewhere!). I also don't spend any time at restaurants. However, so much of the food here can be made with meat, but it doesn't have to be. For instance, one of my favorite dishes, chilaquiles, basically comes with a sauce, corn chips, cotija cheese, salsa and beans. Most people pay a little more to get chicken, but not me. Also, frijoles are all over the place. This is kind of a "substitute" for meat for me, in that I can take a dish with just frijoles. Other cuisines around the world don't have a popular easy substitute for meat, so I've really lucked out. I love love love the food here--muy rica!! For example, our simple Sunday family barbeque: Agua fresca, grilled onions and quesadillas with frijoles, pico de gallo and guacamole. I don't even know where people have room for meat! Sure, I am "missing out" on meat dishes, i.e. mole and torta ahogada, but since I don't like meat anyways, I wouldn't enjoy them..just as I am "missing out" on steak and burgers back home. I've read that very few Mexicans are vegetarians, but my host family knows several people who are. Just yesterday, I spoke with two separate guys. Interestingly, both made a remark such as "I'm such a carnivore! I love meat" and then it came up I was a vegetarian. One could guess they would be amazed/weirded out/try to convince me to try meat, but in fact, both got very excited and proceeded to tell me all about the great choices of Mexican dishes without meat. Never happened to me in the U.S.!

In regards to "things I have read about Mexico," I read, before my departure, in a book called "Culture Shock!: Mexico" that Mexico, in some ways, is very much a caste system. This book was written by a British guy who had lived in Mexico for 20 years. After 2.5 weeks here, I'm definitely not passing judgement on this, but I just wanted to share a couple things people have said to me that I found interesting. A friend of mine told me the other day, "There is no racism in Mexico. There is just class prejudice. If you have money, it doesn't matter who you are--money is all that matters." Clearly, these two ideas are connected and as he was drinking when he said this, I'm not sharing this as a fact, but rather as an opinion. Speaking of racism, I passed a restaurant today called "El Negro" with a very, very stereotypical "darkface" image. I would definitely call that racism, but perhaps that doesn't have the same connotations here-still, it was strange. Furthermore, on the class aspect, someone, talking about their maid, said, "she is no one, she doesn't matter." Although I don't know anyone in the U.S. with a maid, this statement seems rather extreme to me. I wonder why she is "no one"

Classes, Cats, Crashes, Crackin Times

Well, I had my other two classes (had to drop the Africa one). They're alright, it's so amazing that I feel I can understand almost everything, maybe I'm just not with it. One is actually mostly going to be consisting of working with entrepreneurs to develop business plans, outside the classroom. The profesora is also sending us on a mission to go to a shady part of Guadalajara and interview small business people this weekend--should be interesting. The worst part is that next Saturday I have to wake up at 7 am to meet the people I'll be working with...ugh, kill me.

Below is my house's dog, Arcadia. She's crazy but really cute, though sometimes I'm afraid she's gonna jump on me and break my arm or something (way bigger than she looks here, she's huge!)

In keeping with my title, I wanted to mention the severe lack of felines here...there are tons of stray dogs everywhere, but I've only seen ONE cat. I have probably seen about 9,000 dogs. I'm not sure of the reason for this. My host dad says people prefer dogs here. Ok, but I still need more of an explanation--Senior Thesis "Where have all the cats gone"

It's raining right now, the first time since my arrival. I have never spent time somewhere that is significantly polluted, in comparison to Seattle/Portland: most of the time I don't notice it, but sometimes I wish I didn't have to breathe. A couple days ago, I was walking to the bus and I felt so dirty and gaspy; it made me really miss the rain to clear things out (and more importantly, a less polluted environment). It's quite sad...while I'm always aware of pollution back home, it seems that I am constantly reminded of the consequences of any polluting action I take here when I take a breath. Speaking of which, we don't have recycling at my house; it's terrible, I've been stockpiling paper like a "weirdo" to take my university to recycle.

I got in my first car crash last night (not as the driver), minor but the car wouldn't start after the impact. After hours-long waiting around, during which both insurance representatives took lots of photos and signatures, while the crasher paid off the police, we finally piled into the tow truck. The space for one person was squished full with 5, so it was a long ride home. Speaking of crashes, the "unsafe" things I see people sometimes doing make me so scared--for instance, a teenager was riding his bike, with a kid about 6 years old standing on his shoulders and holding onto his head, flying through the wind (of course, no helmets). Jeez! Can't say I'm trying to jump on that bandwagon.

I haven't really discussed my social life as of yet, so here's a taste. I've gone to some bars with sponsored events through my university, as well as bars with people we met at those events. One of my favorite events was the mariachi concert next door, but I've been liking getting my groove on at Wall St. Tonight I'm going to an extranjera's bday party who I don't know. I imagine it's mostly extranjeros, which is a shame as everyone just speaks English, but maybe I will make a nice Mexican amigo! Otherwise, yes...bars! parties! went to Starbucks yesterday! am I still in Seattle? One cool difference is Corona & Pacífico are domestic...yeee. I'll leave you with that.

First Day of School

Just a quick update on my first day of classes, of which I only had two.

First, here is a photo of my Cabo-lookalike campus:

First, I went to my differential equations class, which was full (I got secretly added to the full class). The professor had a different accent, and the students would not stop talking! Ah, are we in middle school. However, each desk had squishy, swivel chairs so life was good. I followed it pretty well and I've already done some of this stuff in Calc 2 so we'll see.

Then, I had my Contemporary Hispanic American Lit class. I was kind of worried the professor was going to say, "You barely speak Spanish! Get out of here!" However, this professor was awesome, he was super funny and really nice. Plus, we are only reading 2 books, the rest will just be short stories and poetry, meaning I can totally read it (no banking on understanding it). We went around and introduced ourselves, and talked about our favorite books. I liked this guy too, because I could understand everything he said. People kept talking too, but not as much, and it was also more appropriate (though still unwelcome!) compared to my math class. I'm pumped to read some Borges!

Then I spent about 4 hours doing random stuff that needed to be done, plus hung out in our bomb bomb bomb library. It has hella books, I checked out Agatha Christie in Spanish, some Borges, some grammar workbooks, and many more books are going to be checked out when I have room in my purse. I stupidly forgot I was going to school here, so I don't have a backpack..or a calculator, now that I think about it..ugh.

Incidentally, before I start moaning about forgetting a backpack, taking the bus home, I saw the first dead body I've ever seen in life. It seems there was a motorcycle accident. I passed by in the bus, more delayed by traffic than usual, and there was just a blue tarp on a man lying on his stomach, yet only over his head. People just standing around, looking...and his shoes were off, his socks too.

First Week

This past week was orientation week at my new uni, Tec de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara. Me and a lot of Europeans and Aussies hanging out, speaking English and being kind of lame. Since I've been busy doing lots of things (too busy to blog, ha), I'll just comment on a few things that have stood out to me.

1. Buses. I've ridden about 4 buses most everyday I've been here, so I have some thoughts to share. First of all, buses work differently than I'm accustomed to, in that drivers are paid on commission; they receive the money each rider gives them. Therefore, this explains some things that are frustrating to a new user, like me; there are no transfers, so you have to pay the driver for each different bus, and also drivers speed ahead to try and beat other drivers to get the money. Also, there is no schedule; you just go to the stop and wait. It's kind of liberating, in that you're never "late for the bus," but it's kind of a bummer, in that you never know when it might come. As I hinted at in my first post, it's often said women get groped in buses, thievery, etc. What I have to say to that is, whatever. As I remarked, I've been spending hours in the bus each day and I have never been leered at nor feared for my valuables. Instead, people are incredibly kind and helpful, way more than in the U.S. This makes me think this is some conspiracy to make Americans not want to see the real Mexico. Bus drivers are so helpful; I kept overpaying them and they always gave me even 10 cents back. People are great about getting up for older people, disabled, etc. Even a little girl I saw, probably about 5 years old, asked another little girl to share her seat today. Now that's bien educada...When I was standing and having a hard time holding my stuff, a woman sitting in a seat near me took and held my things for me. At first, I was kind of wary...but she really was just trying to help me out. The bus is filled with interesting characters. Often people will get on the bus and either play music (guitars, flutes, singing) or sell sweets. Live music, it's pretty awesome. It's interesting seeing which performers/sellers get the most money from riders. A final thing is that every driver, with the exception of one, has some sort of tribute to Jesus in his bus, with a big poster, cross, etc. (the exception had a hot lady instead). One driver today had a graphic crucifixion statue with blinking neon lights all over it (dios mío). The buses are so colorful and everyone tries to help you out, especially since I am so lost and there's not really a way to plan a trip or see where buses actually go.

2. Friendliness/Kindness/etc.

Guadalajara is bigger (and probably more sprawling? who knows) than L.A., yet I've experienced so much friendliness, I feel like I'm in Platteville, Wisc., or maybe even a smaller town that that. When I ask for directions, people will call their friends/family members if they don't know, until they find someone who does. A woman today, who we asked for directions, just drove us to what we were looking for. When looking for a bar, which we couldn't find, the taxi driver pulled over and we went together door-to-door, looking for someone who could tell us the bar's location. Those are just a few of the many, many examples of really kind people I have met, and it's always a great surprise.

3. European-yet-not-really Beauty of the City

I have been several places in Guadalajara, besides my university and a visit to the small town of Tequila (and our tour of the factory), and it is gorgeous, in so many different ways. The houses are vibrantly painted, with flowers and interesting doorways or detail. Even when there is trash all around in some areas, somehow it doesn't take away the beauty for me--it just makes things seem so much more real and exciting than, say, the Netherlands (no offense). In this really nice neighborhood, where artesans have taken over old mansions, every single one is absolutely gorgeous, with open courtyards, beautiful flowers and curling, delicate gates. The least-nice neighborhoods I've seen are beautiful too; while not ornate, I love looking at each house, with its vibrant colors and character. Houses here have soul! Furthermore, I think GDL has a very very Spanish feel. Each neighborhood has a plaza, of course, with a cathedral, town hall, etc. I literally feel like I'm back in Spain, no joke. The architecture, the winding streets, the style of everything, even the signs...it's crazy. Yet I don't mean to say this is Spain Jr. in anyway--I like this better than Madrid, etc. because I find the feeling more vibrant and exciting (less stuffy, maybe). Yet you definitely get the Spanish influence.

Well, I have my first day of classes tomorrow at the Tec, and I'm exhausted, so I'm out. I'll have to post some pictures of campus, I feel like I'm at a resort in Cancun, it's gorgeous. I'm taking all normal classes with other Mexican students, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow. I'm taking Differential Equations, Contemporary Latin American Literature, Economic Structures of Mexico, Planning Microenterprise for Social Development and Regional Studies of Africa.

Miss you all!

Bienvenidos

Arrived today after a grueling plane flight of no sleep and a kid kicking my back the whole way. My host mom and dad picked me up from the airport..I wasn't really clear who was who at first, in that I wasn't sure who I'd been emailing, but I think I've put it together.

It was really cool driving through the outskirts of Guadalajara. There were some neighborhoods that seemed to be completely made out of mud bricks, streets, houses, everything, yet they were really beautiful and colorful because of all the clothing hanging out on lines and people playing soccer all over the place (it's a Sunday). The craziest thing was I couldn't believe it wasn't July, it was so sunny and warm.

The house is in this nice neighborhood Providencia--the house is actually bigger than it looks and I really love it here. My room is awesome--there's a cool vintage mirror and view of palm trees. The whole house seems pretty airy, appropriate for the location. The daughter who lives at home is 23 and works at Corona! and is really nice, along with the parents--so warm and friendly, I love it. There is an hermano who is older and doesn't live there anymore.

Apparently there's another girl from the U.S. living here who is in another bedroom. Well, first day of orientation tomorrow, wish me luck not getting groped on the bus!