THE SIMPLE THINGS THAT STILL GET ME
Gringas
A few weeks back, Bridgid introduced Susie, Fani, and I to a place that sells killer gringas by her house. They also have amazing pineapple and jalepeño salsa. Mmmmm! I've been back several times since then.
A Fun Day
Just before el Día de la Independencia (I'll get to that soon), most of us went down to the immigration office to get fingerprinted for our student visas--which I just found out today that they lost my photos so I have to go get more tomorrow--and we took over the place, each leaving with purple thumbs. That certainly wasn't the highlight of the day (you try getting a bunch of international students to get to a government office before 9am on Friday :-). Afterward we walked toward el centro in search of a place to have breakfast. We came across this super hip place that Mel had been to before called Biznaga (I believe). They have this really great loft that was perfect for the eight of us (Mel and Eric tag-teamed getting me up there). As you can see from the photos, there is writing on pretty much ever inch of the walls, tables, and the floor we were sitting on. You could be entertained for house reading quotes from Shakespeare, who loved who, or other random thoughts from past patrons. They also had great original artwork on the walls in addition to a reggae feel throughout, with photos of Bob Marley and our waitor, Hector, with dreadlocks.
After omelettes at Biznaga (oh, I forgot to tell you about their coffee, which is the only coffee I will drink without a ton of sugar and chocolate because it has this amazing cinnamon flavor) we continued on our way to el centro where they were having a dance festival. It was to go on all weekend. Several streets were blocked off and filled with native dancers representing different tribes from the area and vendors. It was incredible to be there, feeling the pounding of the drums resonating in your chest and seeing people, young and old, dancing together.
¡VIVA MÉXICO!
My celebrations for el Día de la Independencia were pretty mild, but good. Rebekah and I went with Darcy and Chevo to a restaurant to celebrate on the night of the 15th. I was tempted to go to el centro as many of the other students did but knew that it would be absolutely insane and without my dancing bodyguards, I would have been trampled (if you don't know the story of the dancing bodyguards and want to know, ask me when I am home for the holidays). After seeing photos and hearing stories I has happy--and sad--that I hadn't gone.
The restaurant was nice and decorated with dozens of old-fashioned radios. There were live musical performances all night, and Rebekah and I made it glaringly clear that we didn't speak Spanish very well when we lit up for the first time and started singing along to "I Will Survive." :-) At 11pm they stopped the performances and turned up the volume on all of the TVs so we could watch the grito. By this time the restaurant had handed out horns to a couple people at each table so the room was full of noise and excitement. We watched the grito from Mexico City with President Calderón. When he yelled, "¡Viva México! ¡Viva Hidalgo! ..." the crowd echoed back with, "¡Viva!" Afterward everyone sang what I imagine was the national anthem and blew the horns. It was a lot of fun watching a yelling "¡Viva!" along with everyone. :-)
GUANAJUATO
OK, so Guanajuato is my new favorite city in Mexico. A group of us went on Saturday and it is an incredibly beautiful and interesting place! We left early in the morning and got there before noon (it is about a 3-hour bus trip). When we were trying to arrange ourselves after arriving a man started to pitch a tour of the city to us. At first we weren't very interested, but then realized that it was only 100 pesos for 4 hours and that we would probably each spend more than that on taxis if we tried it alone. He also took us to the hotel that some were staying at first so they could drop off their luggage.
Our 100 pesos each was well spent. Our guide was super friendly and loved telling us about the city. He is also familiar with the San Joaquin Valley as his daughter was born in Madera (imagine finding a tour guide who knows where Modesto is in the center of Mexico!). He first took us to an old mine and we went for a tour inside. I sat on a chair thing they had that went along the tracks and was pushed as we moved along. It was fairly interesting, but not the greatest part of the day. I did get the sport a very fashionable hard hat however.
After the mine we went to a couple of shops, one where we could buy all kinds of items made out of the quartz from the local mines and then to a candy shop that I could smell all the way in the first shop which was across the street. The candy shop was charming and had lovely candies from floor to ceiling, most of which you could sample. Here is a photo of the group that went along with our tour guide, Felipe Luna.
After our little shopping excursion we went to the first of a couple museums. I didn't tour through this one because it was not very accessible, but they had lovely patios and gardens that I could poke through. I'm not exactly sure what the museum was about but I don't think it as very cheery because it included underground torture chambers.
Next we went to another happy museum of mummies. This museum was actually really fascinating, but rather gross and creepy at the same time. I wasn't able to take any photos, but apparently someone has and posted them on Flickr, so check them out if you are strong of stomach: Museo de las Momias. The mummies of Guanajuato aren't really "mummies" like you would find in Egypt or elsewhere, but are rather conserved bodies as our guide was telling us. The bodies found here are a product of a natural phenomenon that seems to be specific to Guanajuato. They are not embalmed or wrapped, but naturally occur. There are two theories about why this happens. The first is that it is because the ground is rich in minerals that preserve bodies. However, you find similar areas in Mexico where this does not happen. Another theory is that it is the water that people drink there that almost starts to preserve their bodies while they are still alive.
However this happens, the mummies were incredible. Most of them still had hair on their heads (and, ahem, elsewhere) and their skin was in such a preserved state that you could still see the texture. There were several baby mummies there as well, some with their tiny hands folded together and such perfect little toes. One woman that was found was pregnant, and so they have the smallest mummy on earth there: her unborn child.
There was another "museum" attached to the Museo de las Momias that we did quickly afterward. I put museum in quotations because it was half museum and half haunted house, dark, dank, with melodramatic music playing as you walked through this narrow hallway littered with skeletons and mummies along the walls or moving figures about as high-tech as It's a Small World at Disneyland, but of figures like the grim reaper or a man whose head had just been chopped off by a guillotine. Unfortunately, it was too contrived to be taken seriously as a museum, but not creepy enough to be a haunted house.
After our dose of death our guide took us for a drive through the underground roads. There are 26 streets that are in tunnels underground with el centro above. It was incredible, and were I to drive in there I certainly would get lost for all eternity. I love tunnels, however, so it was just fun driving through them. I made several failed attempts at taking photos so I guess you will just have to come visit me to see them for yourselves.
Guanajuato is a very hilly city, much like San Francisco with beautiful and colorful houses built up along the hillsides, so before the end of our tour, Felipe took us up to take in the view. Photos can't really capture the beauty of this city, but nonetheless, I tried. I didn't want to stop taking photos it was all so incredible.
Felipe left us at this point and we soaked in the view before heading down to seek out food. There is a large festival going on during the whole month so el centro was bustling. Vendors and street entertainers were all over the place. It felt to me as I imagine (never having been there) Europe to be with beautiful, tall buildings on either side of narrow avenues. Everywhere you look is another thing to catch your eye. Here is one shot of the street we made it down.
Bri and I both had homework we had to take care of the next day, so we headed back that evening. It was a fantastic day though! For a few more pictures that I didn't post, check out my Facebook album.
IN OTHER NEWS
- We are going on a trip to the state of Michoacan this Saturday, so I am sure there will be more stories and photos to post.
- We had our second round of parcials last week. I got a 98% on my Spanish grammar exam!!! Huge improvement over my 80% last time.
Hope you are all having a great week!
