Dolores Hidalgo and more...

I didn't enjoy walking home from school today... It was almost 90 degrees (F), a good part of the 30 minute walk was up a large hill, and I was wearing long jeans because shorts are not acceptable to wear around here. However, apart from the terribly hot weather, I am getting sad about going back home. I have less than a month left. This weekend I had a dream in which I had returned to Michigan and I was crying because I couldn't go back to Mexico. When I woke up, I was actually surprised to be in my bed in Guanajuato.

Speaking of happier things though, I went to Dolores Hidalgo this weekend and had a great time. Dolores Hidalgo is a little city that is historically famous for it's part in the Independance of Mexico, and culturally famous for all the weird different flavors of nieve and helado (ice creams) that they sell there. So, late afternoon on Saturday Me and MNF (my new family) and Katie jumped into their little car and zoomed through the mountains to Dolores. We weren't even sure that there would still be vendors out by the time we got there, but luckily this weekend happened to be the Ice cream Fair weekend. The plaza was absolutely full of different stands of vendors, and everyone giving out free samples. I ended up trying samples of all types of ice cream, from the delicious to the bizzare, including: Mole, Shrimp and Octopus, Chamoy, Corn, Tequila, Beer, Rum, Cucumber, Pistacio, Mango, 6 Delights (apple, cherry, grape, pineapple....plus two more "delights" that I forget), Angels Kiss (cherry with nuts), "Temptation" (I have no idea what was in that one, but it tasted GOOD), Butter with Dried Fruit, Zapote Negra (a black type of fruit)... and more. I settled on buying four flavors: peach flower (which was my favorite), cajeta (goats milk carmel), coconut and rose petal.

Later, me and my full tummy went back to the house of MNF and we watched August Rush and they spoiled me shamelessly and stuffed even more food down my throat.

Temezcal

So, today our class took a trip to a temezcal, which is located up past Plaza de Los Angeles in the backyard of the owners. Basically, a temezcal is ancient type of sauna that pre-hispanic Mexican tribes used. It is a small, round hut made out of mud and bricks, with a wood-fire oven attached to the outside. Inside is very dark and hot (obviously) and there are corn husks hanging from the low ceiling. There are square rocks around the edges of the hut for people to sit on. In between every two seats are huge clay jars filled with water, for people to refresh themselves with. In the middle of the temezcal are glowing hot rocks that are shoveled in from the outside oven, and smaller pumice stones.

When we got there, we stripped down to our bathing suits and entered the temezcal. It was ungodly hot! Apparently it was 40 degrees (F) hotter than the outside temperature, which was 90. So it was about 130 degrees in there! It felt hard to breathe, and my body became drenched in sweat immediately. In fact, I never knew I could sweat SO much. A shaman guy came in, and explained to us the ritual. We rubbed oil on ourselves, drank some hot cinnamon tea, held hands, and did some chants. Then we rubbed ourselves with salt and aloe, and stewed in there a while longer. Finally, we came out and had some light refreshments. I relaxed in the hammock that was there.

The place was quite beautiful - they had plants and flowers and herbs growing everywhere. Most of the people left, but five of us girls remained. Finally when we left, we walked down the callejones and encountered a cool artsy wall, an adorable baby rat with it's eyes barely opened, and some interesting graffiti.

My New Family

This weekend has been awesome so far! I have been hanging out a lot with my friend Johnny. Me and my group met him and his group at the Zacatecas beer factory on class trips... even though both groups are from Guanajuato. He is really well informed, plays soccer for the University, and his English is impeccable because he studied abroad in the U.S. for a year.

Well today, his mom (who is a middle school teacher) had to go to Leon to chaperone a school party, in which they crown the "queen" of the school. (Imagine a HUGE auditorium filled with hundreds of sweaty 14 year olds dressed up like 23 year olds, dancing to techno). Anyways, I tagged along so that I could get a ride to Leon. But the whole point of this story being that I met Johnny's brothers, and his mom ... who is SO AMAZING!!! Needless to say, I already love her, and I think the whole family loves me, and we drove back from Leon singing "the itsy bitsy spider" in Spanish and English. I really felt like I was part of the family.

Oh, and while I was in Leon, I ate some great sushi and had a white mocha Starbucks. YUM!

Zacatecas

We visited Zacatecas this past weekend, and it was a fun trip. It was not as hectic as the Mexico City trip, yet we still managed to get a lot of stuff done. We took a tour of the city and went in a cable car over the city, up to a mountain (ironically also named La Bufa - the same name as the mountain in Gto.). We went to some "pyramids" which were not actual pyramids but a city built rather vertically by prehispanic tribes, who ate snakes and deer and believed in human sacrifice. It is called "La Quemada" (the burned one) because the city was completely burned when it was discovered. We visited a mine which had been rennovated for tourists. It also had a club in it (which we visited later, once we had free time). The mine impacted me a lot - I felt amazed to be so far underground, inside rocky tunnels, and to think of the hard work that men and even children had done to dig so deep into the rock without dynamite - only pickaxes and drills. We visited museums, including a Huichol indian museum. They are the indigenous people of the Mexican desert who eat the hallucinagenic cactus peyote as a ritual. Their art is colorful and full of animals.


We also visted the Corona beer factory. The buildings are so huge inside that workers ride bikes to get from one side to the other. My favorite part was the huge vats of "wort" - the liquid mixture that beer is made from, before it becomes alcoholic. It contains wheat water and sugar, among other things. There is a sink next to the vats of wort, and when you turn on the faucet, pure sweet wort-water comes out. It takes good. It has a discusting sounding name though. The strange thing was that on the tour, a group of Mexican students from Guanajuato were there. I made friends with one of them, and we are planning to watch a Mexico-China soccer game tomorrow. Also, the Corona tour guide seemed to really like our group. It was quite strange. He invited us to return to Zacatecas for a margarita party... although Corona doesn't make any margarita related drink. Then, later he showed up at our hostel with two other Corona workers, bearing a cooler of beer. We all ate dinner and drank together, and they were very nice. I am still confused as to why he wanted to hang out with us though.


I also managed to buy some cool souvenirs, including some art made by the Huichol indians. I also got this candied gourd thing called Visnaga which is a typical Zacatecas treat, for my host brother who demanded that I bring him back something. He seemed quite satisfied with it. Then he took me out to dinner today. It's strange. I've never had a brother before, so it's quite frusterating to have somebody whom I live with who is annoying and selfish one second, and then completely fun and generous the next. He calls me ugly, and he pokes me (my pet peeve!), and he bothers me when I am trying to sleep or trying to do homework, or he talks about boring stuff for a long time! UGH!!!! It's so annoying! But then, he also takes me to dinner and to beautiful little towns, he introduces me to his cool designer friends, he buys me gummies, and his adorable sons call me their sister. So he can be really nice at times. My friends think the reason for his strange behavior is that he has really bad manners.... who knows.

La Bufa

This weekend, Carlos and I went to La Bufa - an especially odd mountain/cliff in the midst of the many moutainy cliffs around Guanajuato. We climbed all the way up to the top (which was VERY tiring by the way) and were able to see the entire city down below. It was quite amazing. I also climbed up the cross that is on the very top of the mountain, and I stood up on it too see the entire countryside. What a rush! And apparently there is a legend about a wizard who lived on La Bufa. Anyways, below is a picture of me on the cross. And I must say, Carlos did NOT take very flattering pictures of me that day. I took MUCH better pictures of him. Argh.

Interesting Words

Heirba buena ("good herb") is the name for the mint plant.
Hierba mala ("bad herb") is the name for marijuana.
Piel de naranja ("skin of orange") is the name for celulite.
Manos de pulpo ("octopus hands") is what you say about someone who is too touchy feely.
Hablar entre los dientos ("to talk between your teeth") is to mumble.

Okay, it's late. I should get to bed. But first, I must say... I discovered the most AWESOME taco vendor who sells delicious "tortas" (sandwiches), and he's open quite late! I had a torta after salsa class tonight. It was great!