Now let's start with me in the state I was in prior to this trip:
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Yucatan
Some pictures of what's been going on lately. I have me and my host mom, me enjoying a banana smoothie, the caribbean, me and my girls, waterfalls, lots of swimming, an iguana on a rock, me getting slapped by a wave, us dressed up for Destiny's birthday, and many others not at all in the order I just listed. Anyway, the ones at the end are all of the caribbean and it is so beautiful! Don't you all agree? These are all from Regina's camera, but I will add some from my own in a day or two.
Now let's start with me in the state I was in prior to this trip:
Now let's start with me in the state I was in prior to this trip:
Thursday, May 28, 2009
San Cristobal
The first stop on our trip was a 3 day adventure in San Cristobal de las Casas. I loved it! The town center was soo beautiful and I really enjoyed my time there.
We arrived in the morning on monday after an overnight (long, long, long!) bus ride from Puebla. Thanks to Dramamine I slept for nearly the whole ride so I was ready to explore the city right away and not too sleepy. Kyla and I decided to go exploring so we got some delicious breakfast to start out with; I am really going to miss eggs with chorizo and tortillas for breakfast. After we ate we walked through the Zocalo and to the artisan market where we picked up a few little things. San Cristobal is so full of beautiful weaving and embroidery and other artisanry, I finally completed my souvenir purchasing, so hopefully I didn't forget anyone. At the market this guy gave us a flyer about horseback riding so we decided to go and do that. For only 100 pesos we got a ride to a ranch and then rode horses for about an hour to this little indigenous village where everyone speaks Tzotzil. We hung out for awhile and then rode back. It was so beautiful! I took some pictures which I might post later. My butt hurt really bad for the next two days, but it was worth it.
Tuesday we went on a boat ride through a canyon that was a kilometer deep in some places. It was really beautiful! Sadly I had to pee really bad for most of the time so I was suffering a little bit. It was cool though and we saw two crocodiles and three baby crocodiles. We also saw a lot of pretty birds. In the afternoon we just hung around the hotel and I went with Cat on a little walk in the evening and we ended up finding this street where all of the people who do acts on the street during the day were practicing. It was really cool! People were dancing and playing music and one guy was teaching two others how to juggle and a guy was practicing fire throwing but with the sticks not lit. It was fun.
Yesterday we all went as a class to two indigenous villages, one of which was the same one Kyla and I went to the day before. I actually thought it was kind of an odd day and didn't really like "touring" the villages, but we had some delicious food including fresh tortillas made on a fire and we met some women who are weavers and do absolutely amazing work. I went to the Zapatista artisan cafe with Emily in the afternoon. It's kind of a collective and the main room is a cafe and then all around the sides are little shops. We ended up spending a lot of time in the women's collective part with the most beautiful hand embroidered things. Plus, the profits benefit the revolutionaries which is so cool. The woman who came into our class last week to talk about the situation in Chiapas and the EZLN revolution works a lot in solidarity with the indigenous revolutionary movement in Chiapas and she told us about the cafe, so it was fun to go there ourselves. Then last night we met some french canadians who are traveling from canada to guatemala on a bus that runs on corn/vegatable oil and who started a non-profit where they're teaching kids film skills and filming a documentary. Some of my friends went to go see a film about zapatistas with them while I was eating dinner with some other girls from my class and then we all met up and visited the bus and hung out. It was really fun and they were cool. I also got to see a friend I made in Oaxaca again so it was fun to hang out a second time.
Then, we had to get up at 5:30 (!) and leave our hotel at 6 this morning to come to Palenque. I slept for the whole 6 hour bus ride, thankfully and now here we are. It is so hot here, too hot to do anything. All we've done since getting here is swim in the hotel pool, lay in bed, shower in cold water, and order room service. It is that hot. In fact, it's 40 degrees celsius. That's 104 frickin degrees farenheit. And someone heard a rumour it got up to 42 which would be crazy and unbelievable...well maybe not actually, it is really hot. 104 degrees! What shall we do? We'll see... tomorrow we're visiting some water falls and going swimming so hopefully that will be nice and refreshing.
Less than two weeks until I go home!
We arrived in the morning on monday after an overnight (long, long, long!) bus ride from Puebla. Thanks to Dramamine I slept for nearly the whole ride so I was ready to explore the city right away and not too sleepy. Kyla and I decided to go exploring so we got some delicious breakfast to start out with; I am really going to miss eggs with chorizo and tortillas for breakfast. After we ate we walked through the Zocalo and to the artisan market where we picked up a few little things. San Cristobal is so full of beautiful weaving and embroidery and other artisanry, I finally completed my souvenir purchasing, so hopefully I didn't forget anyone. At the market this guy gave us a flyer about horseback riding so we decided to go and do that. For only 100 pesos we got a ride to a ranch and then rode horses for about an hour to this little indigenous village where everyone speaks Tzotzil. We hung out for awhile and then rode back. It was so beautiful! I took some pictures which I might post later. My butt hurt really bad for the next two days, but it was worth it.
Tuesday we went on a boat ride through a canyon that was a kilometer deep in some places. It was really beautiful! Sadly I had to pee really bad for most of the time so I was suffering a little bit. It was cool though and we saw two crocodiles and three baby crocodiles. We also saw a lot of pretty birds. In the afternoon we just hung around the hotel and I went with Cat on a little walk in the evening and we ended up finding this street where all of the people who do acts on the street during the day were practicing. It was really cool! People were dancing and playing music and one guy was teaching two others how to juggle and a guy was practicing fire throwing but with the sticks not lit. It was fun.
Yesterday we all went as a class to two indigenous villages, one of which was the same one Kyla and I went to the day before. I actually thought it was kind of an odd day and didn't really like "touring" the villages, but we had some delicious food including fresh tortillas made on a fire and we met some women who are weavers and do absolutely amazing work. I went to the Zapatista artisan cafe with Emily in the afternoon. It's kind of a collective and the main room is a cafe and then all around the sides are little shops. We ended up spending a lot of time in the women's collective part with the most beautiful hand embroidered things. Plus, the profits benefit the revolutionaries which is so cool. The woman who came into our class last week to talk about the situation in Chiapas and the EZLN revolution works a lot in solidarity with the indigenous revolutionary movement in Chiapas and she told us about the cafe, so it was fun to go there ourselves. Then last night we met some french canadians who are traveling from canada to guatemala on a bus that runs on corn/vegatable oil and who started a non-profit where they're teaching kids film skills and filming a documentary. Some of my friends went to go see a film about zapatistas with them while I was eating dinner with some other girls from my class and then we all met up and visited the bus and hung out. It was really fun and they were cool. I also got to see a friend I made in Oaxaca again so it was fun to hang out a second time.
Then, we had to get up at 5:30 (!) and leave our hotel at 6 this morning to come to Palenque. I slept for the whole 6 hour bus ride, thankfully and now here we are. It is so hot here, too hot to do anything. All we've done since getting here is swim in the hotel pool, lay in bed, shower in cold water, and order room service. It is that hot. In fact, it's 40 degrees celsius. That's 104 frickin degrees farenheit. And someone heard a rumour it got up to 42 which would be crazy and unbelievable...well maybe not actually, it is really hot. 104 degrees! What shall we do? We'll see... tomorrow we're visiting some water falls and going swimming so hopefully that will be nice and refreshing.
Less than two weeks until I go home!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Good riddance, Puebla
Returned from a short 2 day trip to Taxco and Cuernavaca last night. It was alright, not my favorite trip, but it was nice. Taxco is a town famous for its cheap silver and enormous quantities of silver and I spent Friday there walking around, buying gifts, and eating some delicious pizza. It was a pretty town with lots of markets and I think I am blind from the reflected light off of the silver. It was really a ridiculous amount, trays and counters and tables full of silver everywhere. The town also boasts some cool architecture which was kind of cool. Friday morning I went to Cuernavaca where I spent most of the day before coming back to Puebla. I didn't really like Cuernavaca actually, there wasn't that much to see besides colonial architecture which I'm not into. It was a nice day, though and I went to a little garden, walked around, ate my lunch in the center for the arts which was a cool building (sadly without any art displayed...it's more a performing arts center). Overall, it was a nice two days and a good chance to spend some time alone which I enjoyed.
And, it's my last day in Puebla today! The city never grew on me, but I'm a little sad to leave my Mexican mama and my cool room. Plus, it also means my time in Mexico is almost up. I have really enjoyed being here and discovering so many new things, and I don't think three months was really enough time to explore. Hopefully my Spanish is the better for it, though, and I'm already trying to plan my return.
On the other hand, I am really excited to go home! I had a conversation with someone recently about how Mexico has been for both of us our first real experience of homesickness. I miss people usually when I travel, but I've never had any serious longing for home feelings; I've never really been that excited to end my travels and go back to Washington. And it's true that I don't even really like Seattle that much, but for some reason I miss it and can't wait to go back to it!
And that's all the introspection I'm willing to offer for now. Because...
It's not over yet!
Tonight we're leaving for San Cristobal de las Casas which is the beginning of a two week long adventure through the Yucatan. We're visiting Palenque, Merida, Chichen Itza, as well as some other places, and it all ends with 5 glorious days on the beach at Playa del Carmen. After that I am spending 3 days in Mexico City to finally see the art with Regina and then I'm going home! I did not accomplish my goal of finishing my essay (my last assignment of the year) before our trip, but it's only 4 pages so I'm not too worried. Maybe I'll even get a little done today.
And, it's my last day in Puebla today! The city never grew on me, but I'm a little sad to leave my Mexican mama and my cool room. Plus, it also means my time in Mexico is almost up. I have really enjoyed being here and discovering so many new things, and I don't think three months was really enough time to explore. Hopefully my Spanish is the better for it, though, and I'm already trying to plan my return.
On the other hand, I am really excited to go home! I had a conversation with someone recently about how Mexico has been for both of us our first real experience of homesickness. I miss people usually when I travel, but I've never had any serious longing for home feelings; I've never really been that excited to end my travels and go back to Washington. And it's true that I don't even really like Seattle that much, but for some reason I miss it and can't wait to go back to it!
And that's all the introspection I'm willing to offer for now. Because...
It's not over yet!
Tonight we're leaving for San Cristobal de las Casas which is the beginning of a two week long adventure through the Yucatan. We're visiting Palenque, Merida, Chichen Itza, as well as some other places, and it all ends with 5 glorious days on the beach at Playa del Carmen. After that I am spending 3 days in Mexico City to finally see the art with Regina and then I'm going home! I did not accomplish my goal of finishing my essay (my last assignment of the year) before our trip, but it's only 4 pages so I'm not too worried. Maybe I'll even get a little done today.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
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