Tlalpujahua!

After spending a day in Tlalpujahua I can now comfortably pronounce the town's name, and I can say that it is one of the cutest little towns I've ever been to. In fact, it has the designation of being a Magic Town (Pueblo Mágico), of which there are 34 in Mexico and 4 in Michoacán state. Another one is Pátzcuaro, which we are going to on Friday.

We arrived in the afternoon yesterday, checked into our hotel, and then wandered around a little. Later that night we had dinner with a family, friends of Candace, who were easily one of the nicest families we've ever met. The plan was to meet at their place at 7. When we got there just the two kids, Gonzalo and Natlia, were there. They served us tea and we all chatted for a while until their mom arrived. Everyone in the family has studied English with Candace, so the conversation all night was, for the most part, in English. Mom arrived around 8 and we learned that their dad was at a meeting and wouldn't be home until much later. We chatted some more and more time passed. At this point, having hardly eaten all day, the four of us were all on the verge of passing out. All in all, we didn't end up eating until about 10:30, and I don't know if it was the food, the company, or the fact that we would have eaten our napkins at that point, but it was one of the finest meals we'd ever eaten. We had tacos al pastor, chile relleno, frijoles, and for dessert, capulines (kind of like a tiny cherry with a big seed, served in syrup), and atole to drink. I'd been wanting to try atole, so I was pretty psyched. It's basically like porridge, a thick, semi-sweet drink with corn in it, and I think a little cinnamon. Pretty yummy. I could actually imagine having it for breakfast. There's also a chocolate-y version of this called champurrado, which I'm also excited to taste. It's safe to say we all slept pretty well that night.

This morning we went out for breakfast and met another family friend who took us to the top of the hill where we toured the ornament factory. Tlalpujahua is famous for and is one of the biggest producers of Christmas tree ornaments. It seriously felt like we were walking into Santa's little workshop. We saw men handblowing the glass into various shapes and other men and women handpainting them one-by-one. It was impressive, especially when you consider how much time goes into each one. At the end of the tour we were able to buy them, at about 50 cents apiece. Crazy.

We came back to Morelia today, where we were greeted by our lovely hosts, the owner and manager of the inn, who had arranged for a massage therapist from Pátzcuaro to come and give us massages and made us an amazing burrito dinner with homemade guacamole, beans, and rice. Yum. We also had palomas, a margarita-like drink made with tequila... a Mexican spa day, if you will. Needless to say, we are all feeling pretty spoiled and very appreciative of all that we have experienced here so far.

The doors and windows here are really interesting, so much color and texture.

Did I mention there are a lot of churches here?

Ornaments in the making.

What a painstaking process. Each individual ornament is painted and glittered by hand.

Here's Shayna showing this little girl the picture she took of her. She wanted us to buy her paletas, which Shayna paid for but didn't take.

Vacation

Today was kind of the first day I really felt like I was on vacation. We are here to work/volunteer, but that doesn't officially start until next week. Today the four of us did a few things together, and then I spent some time walking around on my own. I had my first jugo verde (green juice), which is a kind of smoothie made of orange juice blended with nopal (cactus), pineapple, and parsley. There might have been something else in there, but those were the only words I could decipher. It was super yummy and healthy.

We met a couple of our students today and set up a tentative schedule for next week. Both young women are interested in taking the TOEFL exam as well as just practicing their conversation skills. There is tourism here, but it seems to be predominantly other Mexicans, so opportunities to speak English are rare. From a traveler's perspective this is kind of nice because it feels a lot more authentic. There are American brands and things here, but it doesn't feel completely Americanized like a lot of other places in the world. And from a linguistic perspective it's awesome because people don't just automatically switch into English. I'm learning a lot by floundering my way through (and by interrogating Carrie, who is fluent, as we wander around), but I'm hoping to take some Spanish classes here as well. Some of the interesting/funny/fascinating things I have learned so far are:

enchilarse - there is actually a verb in Spanish that refers to overdoing it with chile

The words for married and tired are really close. I'm not sure if that is intentional, I just think it's funny. I thought someone was asking me if I was tired the other day, but they wanted to know if I was married.

Direct and indirect object pronouns run rampant. I feel like the word "se" appears all over the place and sometimes I can't figure out what purpose it's serving.

I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of at the moment. Tomorrow we head north to Tlalpujahua (yes, good luck pronouncing that... the native words here are like tongue-twisters) where we will meet some more of Candace's friends from years past. Apparently they make blown glass ornaments there so we will see some of that in action.

They are serious about locking their doors here in Morelia.

Tonight there was a fire twirler outside a cafe where we met one of our students. The first time I ever saw this done was in Montreal. Now whenever I see them, though, I can't help but think of the guy I saw in Tommy's Park in Portland who was trying to do some crazy move with a rope around his neck and started to catch on fire. Fortunately he had a friend there to put him out. Crazy.

Yoga face

I was able to sleep in a little this morning and ease into the day with some yoga. When I finally emerged from the room I joined my friends who were in the common room chatting with Rosa, the owner of the inn, who arrived here late last night. After a brief introduction and a little conversation, Candace mentioned that I taught yoga and Rosa's response was, "You have a yoga face." I had never heard anything like that before, but I dig it. :)

Rosa was kind enough to take us around and show us a bunch of cool stuff here in Morelia today. We went to a market, which was mainly closed because it was Sunday, but we were able to eat lunch at a popular stall there. I had chile relleno, one of my favorite Mexican dishes, and was invited to try my hand at making some tortillas. It's harder than it looks to get it just right; it took me three tries before I was able to transfer the tortilla from the press to the griddle without it breaking. Yet again, I was amazed by the openness and hospitality of the people here.

Later in the evening we stopped by the square near the cathedral and there was live music happening. The performer's name was Abraham Salazar, a local guy I believe, and he was singing and playing guitar. We really liked his music, so both Shayna and I bought a CD. The general vibe in the city today was both relaxed and jovial. There were families all over the place spending time together, laughing, playing, eating. Although it's a French expression, it seems like Mexicans have a pretty good grasp on the "joie de vivre".

This was what we had for breakfast. It's a local specialty called gaspacho. There are different varieties, but this one contained mango, pineapple, jicama, chile sauce, chile powder, and cheese. I got one without cheese. Just looking at that pile of mango now makes my mouth water. It's a pretty substantial amount of fruit and both Carrie and I hit the "gaspacho wall" about halfway through devouring ours. We'll try again tomorrow. :)

Here I am working the tortilla press. At one point I pressed it too hard, causing the owners to kind of gasp and tell me I should only press it "un poquito," which is true because that tortilla started to sort of squish out the side. They were all smiles the whole time, though, and super encouraging.

This little cutie pie was in the square where the music was playing. I think Shayna wanted to take him home with us. :)

Morelia!

After two whirlwind days in Mexico City, Shayna and I, joined by Candace and Carrie, have made our way about 4 hours west of DF (Distrito Federal) to Morelia, a lovely colonial city which is the capital of Michoacán state. The bus ride here was pleasant and it was easily the nicest bus I've ever been on. The seats were super roomy, each one with an individual TV screen on the back, and there were about two dozen movies to choose from. I went with Taken, a movie I had seen before, so it was a nice little Spanish workout. Also, the bathroom on the bus was super clean, and it has to be said that in general the bathrooms here are really nice. This is such a nice surprise after so many sketchy bathroom experiences in Asia.

We're staying at a place which is kind of an "in the know" little inn and we basically have the place to ourselves. There are about six rooms altogether, of which we are occupying three. There's a couple from New Orleans in another one, but they are leaving soon. The inn is owned by an American woman who splits her time between here and Chicago where she runs a business. She should be here at some point while we're here. We have a living room and dining room area and a very well appointed kitchen. Tomorrow we're planning to go to the market to stock up on food. Tonight we went out for dinner near the cathedral and saw the weekly fireworks show. It's raining again, so I didn't take pictures, but I plan to later. Speaking of rain, we've seen an impressive amount of rain since we got here. I suppose it could be annoying, but we're going to be here for so long that I don't really mind. Besides, it's really nice at night; it kind of lulls you to sleep.

So far I have an incredibly positive impression of Mexico. The people are really friendly, helpful, and quick to smile, the food is phenomenal, and the weather is mild. I feel really at ease here and although I'm aware of my surroundings, I feel completely safe. I'm also traveling with three other women, which is a totally new experience for me, and it's actually pretty awesome. It's nice to be able to go do something while someone else watches your bags, or have someone to process a new experience with. Maybe I'm maturing as a traveler. :)

A view from the bus to Morelia.

The window of one of the many shops that sell quinceañera dresses in Mexico City. There was a quinceañera party at the family restaurant last night and we got to witness part of it... over the top!

I Heart Mexico

Shayna and I arrived in Mexico City just about 48 hours ago, but it feels like so much longer. We were picked up at the airport by Claudia, my boyfriend's sister, and whisked away to their house, where we also met his mom and grandmother, and a menagerie of pets. The house has multiple terraces and plants, there is always incense burning, and there are so many beautiful works of art everywhere that I keep noticing something new every day.

From the moment we arrived it felt like we were part of the family. We've had breakfast every morning at the family restaurant and have been virtually chauffeured everywhere. So far we have seen Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo's house, the Anthropology Museum, the National Palace, and several vibrant local markets. The food here is beyond amazing. I have discovered a new favorite fruit, guanabana, which one of the vendors in the market was kind enough to offer us. It's not the prettiest fruit in the world, but the white flesh inside tastes as sweet as candy. I plan to eat as much of this as possible while I'm here.

Right now I am running on fumes and must get some sleep. We leave tomorrow for Morelia, which is about 4 hours west of here, where we will spend about a month tutoring and exploring. The adventure continues!

Outside one of the markets a vendor steams sweet potatoes and plantains for some delicious nosh.

Today we went to the Catedral Metropolitano, and because of some killer family connections we got to actually go up into the organ area of the cathedral and explore a place where most tourists don't get to go. Amazing.

Awwwww

I recently took some engagement pictures for my friends who are getting married this August. We went into the Old Port and walked around on a semi-gray (perfect for picture-taking!) day. They were so much fun and you can just see how much they love each other. So cute.

Their dog, Argus, also made an appearance and he was a riot, his tongue hanging out in most shots.

Heat!!!

It's been a long holiday weekend and I'm not ready for it to end. The weather has actually been nice - sunny, warm... kinda like summer! Sitting on my bed with the windows open I almost feel like I'm back at the ashram in Varanasi. I think I somehow upped my heat tolerance there, because I say bring it on! Which is good, since I'll be going to Senegal next year, and the weather where I'm going was 108 last week. Yeah, baby. Dry heat, though, which will be better. Don't get me wrong, I'm probably gonna fry, but strangely I'm looking forward to experiencing the climate there. I realized that I've wanted to go to Africa for about 20 years now, so it's about time! One thing that I've found absolutely shocking, however, are the prices of flights within the continent, like basically the same as a round-trip from the U.S. there. There are alternate modes of transportation, of course, but overland travel there is a serious time commitment, not to mention having to dodge places you might want to avoid. So hmm... I'll have to plan any travel there wisely.

I leave for Mexico in a month as well, so it's going to be a busy summer. From Mexico I'll be flying to Phoenix for training for this program in Africa, then back to Maine to pack and prepare. Gearing up!!

Random people photo from Venice Beach in LA. I liked the lighting with the sun setting in the distance. That and I thought these guys had a cool look.