Esperanza

~My last day in Mexico~
I went to el centro to meet up with some friends. We went to a coffee shop and talked, swapped info, and said our goodbyes. I returned to my house for my final lunch. It was sad, but the food was good. We had sauteed portabello mushrooms. After lunch, I had to say good bye to my family. It was hard, they are some of the nicest people I have met. Very friendly, understanding, helpful, and kind. I am sure we will keep in touch. I took a taxi with a friend to the airport. After the taxi ride, I had no money left in my wallet and $1 dollar left in my bank account (excellent planning).

Security checked my bags, and didn't have a problem with me taking my bow and arrow on board the plane. The plane had a bunch of mosquitos in it and for 10 minutes people were swatting mosquitos, it was pretty funny. The flight three and half hours and went by quick. I felt sad leaving Mexico, but I also wanted to see my family. I walked though customs with no problems, passing by the two arabs wearing tourbines who were the only ones being searched in the airport.
The traffic was pretty bad and it took about an hour just to get out of the airport.
I have a little reverse culture shock. Everything is so huge, the people all speak english, and everything is just a little strange.

Posted by Brady at 6:22 PM | Permalink | Comments  

My second to last day in Mexico. I spent most of the day packing my stuff. My family was nice enough to give me an extra suitcase to bring stuff back in.

It was a friend of a friends birthday. I went to a bar for his birthday. We got some food and drinks and then started to dance. There was live music and we all danced for most of the night. It was a really fun night.

Posted by Brady at 6:21 PM | Permalink | Comments  

The school held a going away breakfast for all the students, their families, and the teachers. It was held in one of the nicest hotels in Morelia. The food was amazing and from our table we had a view of the entire city. I said goodbye to all the teachers and a bunch of friends who were leaving. After which me and three friends got a ride down the hill with our history teacher. We were off to climb a mountain.

Our leader was Castor, a crazy friend, who had a machete and had planned the climb. We got a taxi and asked him to drive us to the base of a nearby mountain. It took us awhile to get their. The driver needed to ask a few people for directions along the way. He also warned us not to get shot by people who grow marajuana in the mountains. We finally found the base of the mountain. Then we spent four hours wacking our way though brush, bush, and trees. Finally, we reached the top. It was beautiful, an absolutely amazing view and we felt like we had acomplished something great. On the way back down we found a nice path that we walked down (and which we could have walked up if we had known, but it was more of an adventure going through the brush).

After the 6 hour mountain climb we all went home, showered, and ate. Then I went to a party at a friends house. We relaxed, talked, and had some "rice crispy treats."
y ...z....z.....z....

Posted by Brady at 6:21 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Soy terminado. I´m done...done.done..done.done. I took my last two exams, Spanish and Literature, today. They both were pretty easy. After school I went to put my photos on a cd. Lunch was good, we had papas with spinach and shredded carrot. After lunch I went to el centro to meet some friends.

Y....z....z....z....

Posted by Brady at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Arnold from the Magic School Bus once said "I knew I should've stayed home today." My history test was crazy. It was really long and no one finished on time. It required indept knowledge of all the material and retention of a bunch of obscure dates. Despite how bad it was, I think I did ok. My society test on the other hand was very easy. He basically asked us to give our opinion on certain topics. It required little memorization and it was open note. After school I went to the nearby mall to buy thankyou cards for my family and teachers. I bought UNICEF cards, because each card I buy goes to help support children in third world countries.

For lunch; cheese filled zuchini, rice, and tamatoes with crumbled egg, and beets. Then, bamn. A unicorn flew through the window and I went to happy land of magical forest creatures and knomes (is it nome o knome...maybe i should have asked). OH well. Adios.

Posted by Brady at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I woke up feeling pretty sick. I went to el centro with a friend to look through the markets. I bought two Mexico soccer jerseys. I still felt pretty sick so I went to sleep. My parents came back from Tsitzunsan. They gave me some medicine and I felt better. After which, I cramed for my two tests on monday. Then bed.

Posted by Brady at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments  

~A Mexican Massage~
I woke up late and had breakfast. Then, I was off to get a massage with some friends. The atmosphere of the "center for salud" was really nice. They were playing zen music and there were plants all around. Then the massage. Wow. They massage your entire body, starting with your chest, arms, legs. Then, turning to your back, legs, arms, head, and buttocks. Yep, I got a but massage. It was 200 pesos ($20) for an hour and fifteen minutes (cheap compared to the U.S.). After the massage I went back home to study. After all it was the weekend before finals. I studied allot and then watched The History of Violence. It was an engaging thriller, but a little sad. It is about a simple farmer whose wife had died and who lives with his two boys. The farmers brother comes to visit, but is really looking for the gold that their dad had left. The two get in a fight over the gold and the farmer is killed. The two boys then runaway with the gold. The estranged brother eventually catches them, but the boy throws the gold in the river. Then, the brother is killed. Anyways, i'm not very good at describing movie plots...lo siento.

Y bed.

Posted by Brady at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Back to the regae bar (macai). The club that plays reggae on fridays and saturdays. But, is known as the reggae bar. The music is pretty good and the walls are decorated with strange paintings (such as a babies head). The bathroom is disgusting. I was using the restroom, when another guy came in and started peeing in the sink. It was extremely hot because the doors to the balconies were closed. It would seem that the owners didn´t want the Mexican FBI to come back. After about an hour, the heat of the club became to much to handle. It was an early, but fun night. I had another friendly cab driver and we talked about Australia.

Posted by Brady at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Thursday. School.

After lunch I departed for a party at a fellow students house. Francesca is from a small village in Switzerland. She moved to Mexico to live with her Mexican boyfriend about six months ago. It was a hourswarming party...but the house was not very warm (that ones for you Dr. S). There house is really nice. The arquitecure was very rustic spanish style. Their main beedroom was decorated in IKEA style furniture. The party started when her boyfriend and his friends started playing drums outside. It was a nice relaxed party.

Afterwards, we wandered through some eerily empty streets. A solitary car started driving up behind us and people were yelling at us from a car. Luckily, it turns out it was guys from the party. We finally found a taxi and headed home.

Posted by Brady at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Wednesday. School. Comida. Something?

Posted by Brady at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments  

School. El medio ambiente.

The power of the city/people in Mexico. Mexico is a unique country, the goverment has little power over its people. A little while ago the state of michoacan build centers where people would be required to take there cars. Similar to the smog check in California. The problem was that each check would cost 120 pesos and was mandatory. The people of Michoacan were outraged at the fact that they would have to pay. Generaly, there is a dislike for giving money to the government in Mexico. The people of Michoacan simply did not take there cars to be checked. The government, with a small and corrupt police force, and bigger concerns decided to close down the locations. According to my society teacher this is part of the reason Mexico has failed to develop from a non-axis one country into a developed pais. It is also the reason so many pirated good and illegal goods can be sold in open markets.

Speaking of pirated good, there is a very funny comercial when you go to the theatres in Mexico. A women comes home with a pirated movie and her daughter says "that's stealing isn't it." The mother says no. Then her son comes by and heads for the door. She asks him were he is going because he has a tests tomorrow. He says "it's ok I bought the answers to the test." The add ends as the camera pans out on the mothers grim face. It is so serious and ridiculous that it makes you laugh.

Donde esta mi criada? My maid was not in the house, so we made our own food. Her mother had gotten sick so she had to take the day off. After lunch I went to el centro to study and meet some friends.

y ...zz...

Posted by Brady at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments  

School. Literature was a little boring as usual. I guess i´m just not very good at seeing meftafors. We read a poem, in spanish of course, that was about a statue searching for a voice. Apparently, the statue was a metafor for a women and the voice she was searching for was an echoe of her own. Then she is murdered. It makes allot of sense to me. Our spanish teacher gave us an assignment and then left for the entire class as usual.

After lunch a friend came over to study. We listened to music and wrote our papers. I made myself some awesome quesidillas for dinner with beans, cheese, avacado, and a whole lot of love. y ....zzz....

Posted by Brady at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments  

I woke up, and had some breakfast. Breakfast was still pretty good because my brothers friends were still visiting. Again I got totopos with a salsa, frijoles, and crema. In adition, there were nopales, mango, and papaya...oh and pan dulce. After breakfast and departed for the zoo with a friend and his mexican brother "gustavo." Morelia has the second largest zoo in Mexico. It also houses one of the worlds largest collections of birds. It was 20 pesos ($2) to get into the zoo. First we saw the reptiles, my favorite was the dragon turtle...which looked like a dragon turtle. The zoo had an impressive array of animals, from white tigers to polar bears. ustavo turned out to be a little bit of a joker. Every animal we saw he would say "tu hermano no?" (your brother no?).
It was suprising how the fencing system worked. The rhinocerous enclosure was bordered a small woden fence. It could have walked into the enclosure without a problem. It was also suprising to see "every day" racoons in the zoo. Aparentely, the American racoon is rare in Mexico. Unfortanately, it started raining when we were half way through the zoo and we were stuck in a little enclosure for about thirty minutes after which we left.

After lunch I went to meet a friend who I had met in the reggae bar on friday. We went to a cafe and walked around el centro for a little bid. I then went home and had some food, watched a little tv, and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 7:20 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...so I decided to go shopping.
I went with some friends and we looked through the mercado de independencia y el mercado de dulces. I bought a couple of gifts and a cool little puppet. After shopping we went to get a bite to eat. We ended up going to a pizza shop that is owned by the mexican family of my friend. When we were done and ready to pay, the "brother" of my friend said it was gratis (free). It was some pretty good free pizza.
After lunch I went to look for a Monarcas (morelias football team) jersey, because we were going to a game that night. I couldn't find anything that fit so we headed to the game. In front of the game they were selling more jersey's and a bought one that fit perfectly.
It was my first football game. It was pretty exciting. There was lots of beer, chips with chile and lime, and screeming fans. Morelia won and we decided to go out to eat as celebration. We went to a nice little place in el centro. I got enchiladas, which were covered in a delicious creme sauce. After dinner we went to a bar for a little bit and then went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Shower, breakfast, school, relaxing, lunch.

After lunch I went to el centro to study and after studying I went to reggae bar. Macai is a nice little bar in the center of town. It has a very low key atmosphere and the reggae music is normally pretty good, oh and the beers are 8 pesos (80 cents). Unfortunately, that night the club got busted by the Mexican FBI. These large black SUV´s with tinted windows pulled up outside the club, and the music was cut off. I asked a friend what was going on and he said "the cops." For about twenty minutes no one could leave as the cops searched the club for weed. A couple of people were taken downstairs and arrested. After, the party started back up as usual. I met a girl from Germany working in Mexico and made some new friends. At around two I went outside to get a Taxi, when a pickup truck pulled up with a bunch of guys in it. I asked them where they were going and it turned out it was kinda close to my house. So, I hitched a ride with a bunch of pot smoking mexicans guys. When it was time for me to get out, it was a little difficult getting the driver to stop. Finally, he stopped abrubtly, almost throwing everying out of the truck, and I got out.

Y bed.

Posted by Brady at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Shower, breakfast, school.
After lunch I went shopping with a freind for a chess set. We were trying to replace the king, that we had broken while playing in San Miguel Allende. Everyone seemed to have a difficult time deciphering the word "ajedrez" (the word for chess in spanish) when we said it. When we showed one guy the broken king and asked him where we could buy a new one he kept saying "kluza loco." We thought he was loco, but it turns out he was telling us to buy crazy glue. The glue worked perfectly, and the king was restored to his former glory.

In the night I went out to eat at a churo and hot chocolate restaurant. I had morelian enchiladas which were pretty good, if not a little spicy. I also made $15 pesos by eating a spoonfull of hot salsa. After dinner, we went to a bar with giant, two liter, corona bottles. We played a few games of pool, which I won, and listened to the live music...y bed.

Posted by Brady at 7:12 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I dediced to have a relaxed day. I watched en El Orto Lado de la Cama(on the other side of the bed). I really liked it. It is a spanish comedy about the entertwining of two couples lives. Every now and again the actors will break into song about their situations...which was a nice touch. There is one scene where one of the main actors is trying to hide from a girl who he doesn´t like. He runs behind the stage in a theatre and hides inside a prop. Then, the play starts and one of the actors opens the prop, which is supposed to have a fake baby mellon inside. Instead, it is the guy with a melon head and he says, "soy un niño melon." Anyways, I´m not very good at describing stuff.

y bed.

Posted by Brady at 7:10 PM | Permalink | Comments  

School. We were talking about imigration in sociedad. It´s crazy what lengths people will go to in order to cross the border into America. The minimum wage in Mexico is 48 pesos per eight hour day. This is what many people make and have to live on. The posibility to make 50 pesos per hour in America draws millions to try and cross the border each year. Many are not even Mexicans. They come from South America, usually by train, crossing the Mexican border and head for the U.S. The second major source of income for the Mexican economy is money sent to Mexico from relatives in America. The journey to America is dangerous, expensive, and often ends in failure. It generally costs 2000 pesos to make the trip, which is a large amount to save for most Mexicans. Then, one must avoid the border patrol, the perilious desert, and the minute men who patrol the border and kill Mexicans trying to cross into America. The desert and minute men (pinche cabrónes) kill approximately 500 migrants per year. It´s good to know that their are groups that try and help imigrants. Groups like Humane Borders, which has put a number of water stations in the desert that borders Mexico.

A little bit about the empanada lady: There is a lady who sells empanadas on the corner outside of our University. She is an imminent presence in the lives of the students at the University. In the ten minute breaks between clases she provides refreshements, snacks, and empanadas to knowledge hungry students. Without the work of this every vigilant women, it is likely that many students would have decreased glucose levels, making it harder to learn. She has earned the nickname of empanada lady. I normally get a queso empanada from her most days.

When I came home my madre told me it was time for me to repay my debt for having her correct my spanish papers. I helped her correct the english in a scholarship application for a friend of her sons. It was enouraging to realize that my spanish wasn´t that bad, since my madre who is an english teacher could not recognize allot of mistakes. A freind of the families was over for lunch. Lunch was fantastic. We had this tomatoe/tortilla soup which is really good. First you are served a tamatoe soup, then you get bowls of avacado, cheese, and tortillas, which are added to the soup. After lunch I had a nap and then wrote my papers.

y zzz...

Posted by Brady at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I gotta go back, back, back to school again
You won't find me, till the clock strikes three
I'm gonna be there till then
I gotta go back, back,
back to school again
Whoa whoa, I gotta go, Back to
School......AGAIN!

No quiero ir a escuela. ¿Quieren ir a la playa?

Woke up, took a shower, ate breakfast, and went to school. We are learning about modernismo in literatura and imigration in socidad. For spanish, we had our weekly conversation group with estudiantes mexicanos. We had to help them describe pictures for their upcoming test.

After school I came home and had lunch. My madre and padre were half an hour late, so my hermano told me to start eating. I was finishing my salad when my madre rushed through the door and started talking rapidly to my hermano. The only word I could understand was morir (to die), which didn´t sound to good. It sucks not knowing enough spanish, but my madre explained that a Janitor at her school had cut himself and went into diabetic shock. They had called an ambulance, but it never came...the rest i couldn´t understand. Lunch was good; salad, savory soup, and cheese and bean stuffed bell peppers. After lunch, I was typing up papers when my little hermano (2 and half years), who doesn´t live with us, came in and started watching the simpsons. He set up 4 little (baby) chairs infront of the tv and told me I had to sit down. It was fun watching tv in a tiny chair while reading my books. It´s also fun to realize that a 2 year old child knows more spanish than you.

My family had our first dinner together, probably inspired by the presence of my brother. Normally, we just prepare our own food and eat when we are hungry. But, this time my madre made quesidillas and we talked about how walmart and big corporations are making it hard for small businesses to make money in Mexico.

Y dormiendo.

Posted by Brady at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I woke up to the sound of fireworks once more, and enjoyed the view from our bed breakfast for one last time. After showering and packing we headed for the estacion del autobus. But, not before the owner of the bed and breakfast gave us some delicious blueberry cake. We thanked her and hopped into taxis. We had to return some raincoats which we had borrowed from the ATV place the day before. The shop wasn´t open but there were some Americans waiting for it to open, so we gave them to them. Hopefully they got home safely. We then caught the bus to Celaya (there are two connections to Morelia). There was a 2 hour layover in Celeya. We were looking for food in Celaya, when a guy asked us what we were looking for. We told him a restaurant, and he told us Celaya had no restaurants. He may have been right, because we ended up getting pizza and ice-cream and then boarded the bus for Morelia. We arrived back in Morelia at around 6:00 and parted ways. I unpacked, watched a little TV, and had some food. Then, Bed.

Posted by Brady at 4:56 PM | Permalink | Comments  

We woke up to the sound of fireworks again. We cut up the fruit that we had bought yesterday and it was delicious. After fruit, we went down to get lunch in the city. There was a nice rustic restaurant in the center of town. I got queso fundido with nopales (cactus) and mushrooms. For dessert I had some flan, which was mouth wateringly good. The orchata (rice milk, with cinamon and other spices) was also good.

After lunch we went to try and rent ATV´s (4 wheelers). We found a place that was ten dollars for an hour and decided to do it. ATVíng was really fun and we got to see allot of the city and some of the countryside. We went offroad for awhile. Then it started to rain and we were driving through mud and lakes of water. One of the other ATV´s didn´t stop in time and ran into our ATV, breaking the light. We then drove back, in the rain, to the rental agency. The guy was nice and it was only 250 pesos for the broken light. He was also nice enough to tell us that there were rain coats in the back of the ATVs, even if it was a little late. We then caught a taxi and returned to our castle.

It felt good to take off my drenched clothes and shoes and hop in a hot shower. After showering we were going to go out, but we all got lazy. Someone had bought a Pinata (of Nemo the fish), but we some how wound up eating all the candy from it, without smashing it open. Therefore, we just relaxed with a little wine and music in our room/house.

Y zzz...

Posted by Brady at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments  

!San Miguel Allende¡
We were awoken by loud noises, which sounded like cannons firing. It turns out there was a festival that weekend and they would let fireworks off every morning. Walking out onto our balcony and looking down over the city was surreal. The view was breath taking. After showering we all went to get breakfast. We found a nice place in the center of town. I got an omlete and some fresh squeezed orange juice. After breakfast we looked around the town for a little bit. Then, we went shopping for food to make ourselves dinner in our new kitchen. We went to a mercado where we met a vendor named Rafael. He was super friendly and kept giving us whole pieces of fruit to try. He also wanted us to mail him a photo that we had taken with him. We ended up with mangos, guavas, figs, tamatoes, avacados, and a bunch of other yummy fruits and vegetables. We then went on a search for some wine and bread. Asking a local, we were able to find a nice wine shop and a panaderia (bread shop). The bread was cheap, so we got a bunch to make tortas for dinner. We then took a taxi back to our castle.

After relaxing, listening to some relaxing spanish guitar, we started to make dinner. First, we saute´d the vegetables in some oil and basil. We then grilled some cheese over buns. The end effect, were tortas filled with portabello mushroom, onion, tamatoe, basil, avacado, and bell pepper. Cooking my own food for the first time in awhile was fun. The tortas were amazing and we all had a glass of wine with dinner. After dinner we just relaxed in our room/house, listening to music, sitting in the hammock, and talking.

Luego...Bed.

Posted by Brady at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I woke up a little late and had breakfast. I then asked my new brother to help me with my papers, after which I went to school. My friend was giving a presentation about Mexican families and offered to play a role in his presentation. When he was talking about his family, he mentioned his drunken cousin and I took my shirt off and played the role of the drunken cousin. It was pretty funny. After school I departed for San Miguel Allende. It was the birthday of a friend and she had invited people to go to the city to celebrate her birthday. We first got some tortas and then headed for San Maguel. Along the way we stopped in a city named Celaya. There I got a nice coconut from a street vendor, which had excellent juice, but I was to afraid to eat the flesh.

Arriving in San Miguel, I was astonished at how gorgeous it was. The mother of the girl whose birthday it was knew the owner of a bed and breakfast, were we could stay for a very discounted rate of 40 pesos ($4) a night. The bed a and breakfast was amazing. It was located on top of a hill that overlooked the whole the city. The building itself was like a castle or villa and was beautifully designed and decorated. The room was amazing, with a large balcony con hammock, full kitchen, couches, and comfy beds. It had feeling of a nice little cosy home.

After settling in, and eating a little cake, we went out for a birthday dinner. Pasing through the city we saw a number of marachi bands playing on the street. We went to a nice rustic and fancy mexican restaurant. The bread, the salsa, the mushroom and cactus stuffed pitas, and the alambre vegetariano (vegetables with tortillas) were all amazing. After dinner we went to a couple of different discotecas. Despues...bed.

Posted by Brady at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Breakfast and off to school. In spanish class we watched a movie called AmarTeDuele. It is a play on words, as "Amarte" means "to love you" or "I love you," while "te duele" means "it hurts you." It was a love story about a rich girl and a poor boy who fall in love. It was kind of like a modern interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. It was actually pretty good, expect for the trajic ending. Lunch was good, we had a nice salad and pasta. In the night I went to a bar with a couple of friends and we played pool. I won three out of the four times and it was a pretty fun night. Despues...bed.

Posted by Brady at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Shower, breakfast, school. When I got home from school I met my new brother from spain. He is 35 and has been working in Spain for the past three years in design, but wants to get into the film industry. He speaks with with a thick accent, which involves allot of th,th. He seems friendly and it´s really nice to have a younger person in the house. In addition, there was really good food for lunch...to celebrate the arrival of my new brother. There was a really good salad with baby corn, tomatoes, and palm hearts. For an apitizer there was tora soup with avacado, toritillas, and cheese. The main course was spagetti. After lunch i went to a cafe to study and type my papers. Despues, I went to a bar with some friends and got a bite to eat (some tacos and guacamole).

Posted by Brady at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Breakfast and off to school. I found out that a would get a brother in a day. He is my parents son who has been living in Spain for the past five years. Therefore, my madre wasn´t at home...she was with my brother in my famalies vacation home in Tzitzunzan. After lunch, I went to eat dinner with some friends. We went to a cafeteria, where you bought tickets and then went around to choose your food. I got tamles and enchiladas which were tasty. I also learnt that my friend was in the girl scouts and that the boyscout cubs in Mexico are called lobositos (baby wolves). After dinner I took the combi home and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments  

!Mexico City, el último día¡

We woke up to extremely loud music. It was the day of a huge politcal rally in Mexico City. The political rally was for voting fraud in the recent elections. The march was organized by supporters of Obrador, the presidential candidate who lost to Calderon by .6 percentage points. We were supposed to leave before the march, but ended up staying for part of it. It wasn´t too dangerous and was actually pretty fun. We just had to make sure not to protest because its illegal for gringos to protest in Mexican marches. I had my photo taken with the sombrero wearing, horeseback riding mexican policia, we went up to the top of Sears to watch the protest, and walked through the central park. After a couple of hours we took the subway to the bus station and departed for Morelia.

We watched some terrible bus movies, in which everyone seemed to die in the end. When we got back we went to get some tacos, which were really good. Afterwhich I typed my compositions for school and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments  

!D.F. Dia Tres¡

Once more we went to the same vegetarian restaurant for breakfast. Either I it was really good or I can be very persuasive. I had an omlete and carrot juice...again it was delicious. After breakfast we split up into two groups. We were supposed to meet at the Collegio en el centro but we never wound up finding eachother. We walked through the central downtown area of mexico city. The catedral was huge and astounding. There were tons of people everywhere and lots of street vendors. We went to the palacio which had murals of Diego Rivera, a garden, and orignal mexican governmental documents/history.

After the palacio and catedral we took the subway to see the Basillica of Guadalupe. I´m not sure if you know the story. But, it goes something like the virgen of Guadalupe appeared before Juan Diego, an inigenous Mexican, and told him to build her a temple. Juan went to the pope and told him what had happened, but the pope would not believe that the virgen would appear before such a commoner and told Juan to obtain proof that she had spoken to him. Juan then went back to were he had spoken to the virgen and there were rose bushes growing there. It was winter and impossible for roses to be growing. So, juan picked the roses and wrapped them in a tapestry. He then took them to the pope. But, when he unwrapped the tapestry before the pope, there were no roses. Instead there was a vivid image of the vigen Mary herself. Juan then received what he needed to build a basilica in honor of the virgen of guadalupe. The basilica now lies in Mexico City and holds the supposed orignal tapestry. There were actually serveral churches surrounding the Basillica of Gudalupe. Each were amazing by themselves. The main church was ontop of a hill, form which there was an amazing view of all of Mexico City.

After seeing the Basillica we returned to el centro. There we went to starbucks to get some drinks. Yes, we found one of the only starbucks in Mexico. I got a machochitti...or something...which was good. Aftewards we went to a nice little restaurant for dinner. The food was good, but not as good as the vegetariano. After dinner we went back to the hotel to meet up with our friends. Some guy had followed our friends back to the hotel and was just waiting outside our door. He must have been high or crazy. We called the hotel manager and he removed the guy, but it was still pretty wierd. Afterwards, we went to a nightclub really close to our hotel. It was pretty fun and there was a D.J. dressed in some crazy Prince type outfit, spinning crazy tunes.

Then, zzzz....

Posted by Brady at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments  

¡Mexico City Dia Dos!
We all woke up at around 9:00 and took showers. We then went to look for a restaurant for breakfast. We found a Vegetarian Restaurant nearby, se llamo "Vegetariano Madero." The food was amazing. The pan dulce was delicious and made with integral (wheat bread). I got fresh squeezed carrot juice and molletes (beans, cheese, and salsa over bread). It was a welcome change to have some more american and healthy food. After breakfast we departed for Teotihuacan. The city of Teotihuacan is home to the ancient pyramids of the Teotihuacan (a great mesoamerican civilization). They were really amazing and much larger than I had expected. There were two large pyramids (the pyramid of the sun and moon) and many smaller ruins around them. I bought a large hand made blanket decorated with a woven picture of the sun. I also bought a little pottery turtle that functions as a flute. Unfortunately, while we were on top of the pyramid of the moon it started to rain really badly. We had to run down the pyramid while lightening stuck nearby. On the bus ride back to Mexico City I met some italians and checkoslavakians who were really friendly and had cool accents.

We got back and were hungry so we went to the same vegetarian restaurant for dinner. I got fresh guava juice, a vegetable soup, and a pastry filled with beans and plantanes. It was delicious. After dinner we went back to the hotel and rested for awhile. After which we went out to see the city. It was kinda of empty that night, so we didn´t stay out too long.

Despues...zzz.

Posted by Brady at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Breakfast, school, and off to D.F. (Districto Federal) or Mexico City. A group of us left straight from school, stopping to get tortas on the way, for Mexico City. The bus was 115 pesos ($11.5) and took about four and a half hours to get there. I sat next to a lady who had six kids and a daughter with ten kids.

Mexico City (D.F.). The second largest, most dangerous city in the world, oh and probably the most poluted. Arriving in the city we first had to work out the compicated metro/subway system. It was color coded and not too difficult to figure out (i think i just contradicted myself). Arriving in el centro we started to look for a hotel. The central part of the city looked allot like any big city in America (como San Francisco or New York). We looked at a few places before choosing a hotel called "Buenos Aires." The room was really nice, had three beds, a nice bathroom, and a balcony. It was 60 pesos ($6) per person per night. We then went out to get some food at a nearby restaurant. Tired from the trip, we returned to our hotel and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Woke up, had some papaya juice and cereal and went to school. After lunch I went to el centro with some friends and we walked around for awhile. Despues, studying, and sleeping. Not a particularly interesting day.

Posted by Brady at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I woke up, had a shower, had some cereal, and went to school. School was interesting. We started learning about the Zapatista movement in sociedad and continued talking about el romanticismo in literature. In literature the teacher was talking about people with blonde hair and used me as a reference. She asked what mexicans called people with blonde hair and blue eyes. I said, "guapo." It was joke, of course. Then later when she was living she said "adios gaupo" and i was said, "adios guapa." Then after class I went to the literature teachers office to talk about my test. She greeted me with "hello guapo." and of course I greated her with ¨"hola guapa." I explained to her the things I didn´t understand and why I had written some things. She was really nice and gave me 22% more on my test, which was sweet because now I have a good grade. I am pretty sure it had something to do with all the guapa´s. Now whenever we see eachother we say, "hola guapa/o." It´s amazing that having sexy blonde hair can get you so much (j/k).

After school and lunch I went to a cafe in el centro to study. I then came back home and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Hmmmm..hmmm.hmmm.......hm.hm.hm....... I woke up had some cereal with a banana and went to school. In history we talked about the colonia of spain after the fall of the Aztecs. In sociedad we talked about the indigenous peoples of Mexico and the lives they live. The indigenous people of Mexico receive no benifits from the government and often live in poverty. It is interesting that the government does not really care about the ancestry of its people. The only reason the government cares about indigenous people is for its census. It is also interesting that the way someone is classified as indigenous is by what language they are taught at birth. It has nothing to do with blood, only the first language one learnt.

Our maid (yes i´m spoiled) was back and feeling much better. Por eso, lunch was good. We had enchilladas filled with vegetables and salad. After lunch I went to el centro with some fellow estudiantes and some mexicans. We went to a nice little cafe, played some jenga, sung some songs, had some coffee, and talked. At around 9:30PM I took the combi back home and did some reading for school. Luego, zzz...(that means sleep).

Posted by Brady at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I woke up, had some honney bunches of oats and went to school. I recieved literature my test back, which wasn´t so good. But, I´m sure i can make it up. After school I talked with some Mexican friends for awhile and then took the combi home. My host families maid was sick so we ended up eating leftovers for lunch (torillas, beans, spaghetti, salsa, aguacate), which were pretty good.

The doorbell to my house rang so I went out to the front gate. There was some guy trying to sell me dirt, ¨Quieres comprar tierra Senior." No, no quiero comprar dirt. Out of couriosity I asked him how much it cost and he said 50 pesos ($5). Happy with the dirt in my families courtyard I told him "no, gracias." Apparently, he was a door to door dirt salesman.

After lunch I studied/lazed around until bedtime y zzz (sleep).

Posted by Brady at 8:51 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I got up in the morning and had a shower. I then went to get some coffee with some other students. It was time to pack our stuff and check out of our hotel. Before leaving we had breakfast in a nice little cafe. I had orange juice, egss, and bread. It was really good, but we had to rush to get our bus which left at 12:00. The bus ended up having to wait a little bit, because one of the girls on the trip lost her wallet in a combi. The police had to track down the combi and luckily they found her wallet. We then set off back to Morelia. The bus trip was pleasant and they played Selina, which everyone seemed to like.

Guanajuato is my favorite city I have visited so far. The many historic buildings, gorgeous squares, museums, underground streets, tasty food, parades, and people are all amazing. I will miss it.

Arriving in Morelia the only way to carry all my stuff was to wear my poncho, hat and bow and arrow. I got a few smiles from people walking to catch the combi home. Once home, I unpacked, made some food and started catching up on my blog. My family came home later and I told them about my trip and gave them the gift I had bought them. I then went to bed.

Just a reminder...photos are here.

Posted by Brady at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments  

!Guanajuato Dia Dos¡
I woke up took a shower and went to the rooms balcony to look at the city. There were some fruit markets in the street below, which looked tasty. But, first we all went for breakfast. We found a nice little restaurant near the cafe we ate in yesterday. I got pancakes, orange juice, and some fruit. It was pretty good and afterwards we departed to look at the Teatro de Juarez. The teatro was little disapointing as most of the areas were barred off and the only real thing we could see was the stage, but it was still gorgeous. After the theatre we went to look in a candy store. We were all like kids in a candy store and I bought a nutty candy to give to my family. Then, we were off the museo de Don Quijote. After a little wandering and asking some locals we located the museum. I thought it was pretty cool, since it is one of my favorite books. They had a number of paintings, murals, and statues that depicted various parts of the book. I bought a drawing of Don Quijote and Sancho in the museum bookstore.

We decided to get a different hotel for the second night. One that was 120 pesos ($12), but allot nicer. So we started on our way to new the hotel, but on the way we were stopped by the medieval folks sword fighting in front of the teatro. Sitting on the stairs watching the sword fighting a guy came by selling some ponchos. I tried on a couple and found a grey one which was pretty cool. After haggling him down from 300 pesos, I bought it for 150 pesos ($15). In my new hat and poncho I looked pretty funny, but I like them. We then went back to the hotel and took a nap.

After napping, me and a friend went to go see a statue on one of the hills around the city. On the way we stopped of for tortas (sandwhiches) and talked to the girls working there, who were really nice. We took a tram up the hill which was kinda of scary because it creaked and groaned the whole way up. But we made it up safely and climbed the statue and admired the view. I also saw a cool looking bow and arrow that I decided to buy to accompany my new outfit. I look kind of like legalos from lord of the rings with my bow and poncho. I am still not sure why I bought it. We then took the tram back down and went back to the hotel.

After having some tacos for dinner I decided to march in the medieval parade. Having aquired a poncho, a hat, and a bow and arrow I thought I could blend in. I joined a section of bowmen, asking first if it was ok to march with them, and started marching. The people watching the parade would be clapping and when I came along would start laughing, but it was fun. Afterwards, we went to see the "kissing street." The story of the kissing street goes something like...There was a daughter of a rich man who fell in love with a poor boy. But, the father forbid them to see eachother. However, they lived next to eachother and could go out of their balconies lean over and kiss eachother. Then, one day the father heard the daughter go out onto the balcony and caught her kissing the boy. He then killed his daughter. Now, it is apparently good luck for your relationships if you kiss in the super narrow street.

Later, we all went out to the restaurant that had good music the other night. It was the same band again and it was really good. After the restaurant we went to the same nightclub we went to the other night. We danced, and talked with some Mexican girls. It was a fun night. I was kind of tired so I went back a early to the hotel and went to bed.
Me with my new poncho and hat

Posted by Brady at 4:23 PM | Permalink | Comments  

!Voy a Guanajuato¡
Friday, the day after midterms it was time for the university organized, mandatory, trip to Guanajuato. I woke up and took the combi to the convention center where the bus was waiting to take me to Guanajuato. I was all set for the trip with a sandwhich and some peanuts and banana chips my madre had bought me for the trip. We left Morelia at 9:10AM. The bus ride was about four hours with two stops. During the first stop I bought two Mexican lottery tickets (scratchies) and won 15 pesos ($1.50), which was pretty lucky. The bus ride went quickly and we arrived at around 1:00PM. Guanajuato is a modern city known for its gold mines and large percentage of university students. It is also a very historic city and has a number of interesting churches, museums, and statues. Gettign of the bus we took a combi into el centro and went in search of a hotel. We found a nice hotel which came out to be 70 pesos ($7) per person per night. After dropping our stuff off we went in search of food. Me and a friend were feeling daring so we got some street vendor tacos, which seemed pretty safe and tasted good. We had a list of places that we had to visit, which the university gave us. The first place was a large market in el centro. We also had questions which we had to ask the locals. I found a nice sombrero/hat in the market which I bought for 50 pesos ($5) (see photos).

After the market we departed to the house of Diego Rivera the famous Mexican artist. Diego was born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico and is most famous for his vast murals, but produced art of many mediums. Many of his murals deal symbolically with Mexican society and thought after the country's 1910 Revolution. The house was really intersting and also contained works from other famous Mexican artists.

Next was the University of Guanajuato, a beautiful and historic stone building. After the university was a great church which was amazing even though it was being renovated. After the church was another church, which is decorated with an elobartely enourmous amount of gold. Tired, we went to a little cafe and ordered some coffee. The cafe was nice and had comfortable couches and good music. It was located in a gorgeous little square with a statue of saint in the middle. Finsihing our coffee, we walked outside right into the middle of a medieval parade. There were knights, bowmen, and bellydancers marching down the cobblestones street of Guanajuato.

Tired we returned to our hotel for a short break. It was then time for dinner. We went to a taco place and got quesidillas with salsa, onion, and parsely. They were good. Satisified with dinner, me and a friend broke of from the pack and went in search of flan. Unfortunately, we couldn´t find any flan so we settled for a slice of cheesecake. We ate it in a cafe that had a live mariachi band. After the cake and music we went in search of some more live music. We came accross a nice resurant with a good band. We sat down and didn´t want to order anything, but we had to so we got an orgasmo (a drink). The band was really good and played soft Mexican rock. The drink was also good. After an hour or so we went back to the hotel to see what everyone else was doing. On the way a bartender was standing outside a nightclub giving coupons for free shots. We went inside the nightclub to check it out. It turns out everyone else in our group had wound up there anyway. We stayed for a couple of hours dancing, on the floor and on a raised stage.

Enctonces, it was time for bed.

A square in Guanajuato

Posted by Brady at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Yippeee...the last two midterms. Literature was really hard. We had to analyze poems that are hard to analyze in english. But, espanol was really easy. It feels good to be finished.

After the tests and lunch a group of us went to see superman. I thought it was good and liked that it wasn´t the exact same story as all the other superman movies. We then bought tickets to see the new Pirates of the Carribean movie. We played in an arcade while waiting. There was also some event going on in the mall and there were these people riding around on segways. We asked if we could try then and the said yes, so we got to ride segways. It was really fun, I wish I had one. We then saw Pirates of the Carribean. I liked it, but thought the first one was better. The plot of the movie was hard to follow and didn´t make much sense, but it was entertaining.

y zzz.

Posted by Brady at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Arggg. The first set of midterms...historia and sociedad. The history midterm was long and difficult. It was about the indigenous populations of early mesoamerica. I hope that I did well, but í´m not sure. The society test was a little easier because you had to give more of an opinion that actual facts and it was open note.

After the tests I went to see silent hill with two friends and two new mexicans I had met. The movie was terrible. It was so bad that it was kind of funny. After the movie we went to el centro and walked around for a little while. These men in robes came up to us and told us about this tour that takes you under the city. We thought it sounded cool and will probably return to do it some time. I then went back home and did some studying and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Got up, showered, had breakfast, went to school. School was asi asi. After school and lunch I went to el centro to study with some other students. After studying we went to them movies to see Vecinos Invasores. It was a cute animated kids film about these animals that steal food from a human neighborhood. It was all in Spanish, but fairly easy to understand. The animals were really cute, especially this one squirell that loves galletas (cookies).

Y zzz.

Posted by Brady at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Back to school again. School was interesting and we are not really talking about anything new this week, because we have midterms this week. Also, because we have midterms this week so there is less paper writing to do and more studying to do.

After school I went in search of the Voz. The Voz is Morelia´s local newspaper which lists the weeks festivals and events every monday. No where seemed to sell it and the places that did were all out. It was a one hour journey that went through various areas around my neighborhood. Unfortunately, I came back empty handed. I then wrote my composicion for literature, watched the simpsons and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Back in Morelia I slept in until about one to catch up on all the sleep I had missed last week. I then went to el centro to study in a cafe with some other students. I wrote most of my paper, had some coffee and a mushroom filled crepe, and returned home at around 6:00PM. I told my family about my trip, watched some tv, and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments  

30 (thirty) is the natural number following 29 and preceding 31.
!Uruapan Dia Dos¡
Rested and energized we were ready to see the city. We first got breakfast at a restaurant buffet. I had orange juice, some beans, tostadas, and tortillas, but the food wasn´t that good. After breakfast we headed for las cascadas (the waterfalls). It was a short walk to the national park and on the way I bought some lychees from a person selling fruit on the street. Mmmm...I haven´t had fresh lychees in a long time. It was 30 pesos ($3) to get into the national park. While waiting to buy tickets, I also bought some macadamia nuts (in the shell). The park was gorgeous. There were many waterfalls, lush forests, and fountains. Walking through the park we saw a guy jump from a cliff into the water, while his friend collected tips from onlookers. We also got a young mexican boy to tell us the story of the river, which is called "La Rodilla del Diablo (The river of the devil)." We couldn´t really understood what he said but it was interesting. Despues, nosotros luchamos contra el diablo y ganamos. After walking through the park, we went to look at the markets along the street. I bought a couple of postcards to send to people. It was then time to go to the volcano/basilica. We crammed 6 people into a taxi and headed off.

Getting close to the volcano, men with horses started following the taxi. Finally, the taxi driver said he couldn´t drive any further and we got out. We then hired horses to go to the basilica. It was 80 ($8) for the horses including return trip. Riding the horses was allot of fun. We got to the basilica in no time and started exploring. The basilica is in the middle of a volcanic rock field and is beautiful. We found out that the volcano was an 5 hour trip, so we ended up just exploring around the basilica. The horseride back was just as fun. We then got popsicles from a store in town...which were amazing (fresh mango covered in chocolate). It was then time to wait for the combi to get back to central Uruapan.

While waiting we talked to these two french travelers who we had seen earlier in the day (when we were eating). They had been studying in Mexico city but had finished their studies a few weeks earlier and were now travelling for a little while. The combi came and we borded. The ride was boring so I thought I would try and crack a macadamia nut. Nothing was really working until a guy in the back of the bus (seeing us trying to crack the nuts) gave us his pocket knife. But, that also didn´t work. I gave him back his knife and offered him some macadamia nuts in thanks. About five minutes later he had managed to crack the nuts with his knife by locating the weak point on the nut. He gave a few of the nuts he cracked and we thanked him.

The combi took us straight back to the bus station where we bought tickets for Morelia. It turned out that both the french students and the macadamia nut cracker were also going to Morelia. On the bus trip back to Morelia we talked with the French students allot. Getting back to Morelia we got their number and they said we should call when we go to Mexico city. We then took a combi to get some tacos. After eating I went back home and went to bed.

Horseback riding

La basilica/volcan

Posted by Brady at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments  

The view from the hotel in Uruapan


!Voy a Uruapan¡

I woke up early and sleepely got ready to go to Uruapan. I met a group of friends and we took a taxi to the bus station. We then departed for Uruapan.

Uruapan is one of the oldest cities in Mexico. Its main natural attraction is the Cupatitzio River (dubbed "the river that sings"), because along its flow are tourist attractions. The National Park Barranca de Cupatitzio is home of "La Rodilla del Diablo", the head of the river, and extends out toward "La Tzaráracua" and "La Tzararacuita", waterfalls on the southern outskirts of the city. The Paricutín volcano also emerged in the vicinity in 1943. Uruapan is also world famous for its avacados and avacado production.

We arrived at around 1:00PM to Uruapan and caught a combi into el centro. We ate at a nice little restaurant in el centro. I had queso fundido with avacado and tortillas. It was really good and the avacado was yummy. After lunch we went and found a nice and cheap hotel. We found one in el centro for 60 pesos ($6) per person per night. We left our stuff in the hotel and went to look around the center of town. There were many markets with various goods, a giant church, and various little shops. By the time we finished walking around we were pretty tired. All of us had gone to ego the previous night and had only about 4 hours sleep. Por eso, we all went to sleep really early.

Posted by Brady at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Shower, breakfst, combi. School was a little boring, but it went by quickly.

In the night I went to a another discoteca called ego. One of the students sisters had obtained free tickets for everyone. Ego is located ontop of a hill and has an amazing view of all of Morelia. It has been named among the best Club Discotheques in the country. The discoteca itself is very rica and it has a large inside and a patio area with fire pits and couches. Arriving to the discoteca we saw a car covered in a sheet in the middle of the dance floor. Apparently we had arrived on the night of the unvieling of a new car for nissan. We danced for a little while, but then were told we had to vacate the dance floor. Lights and music started to play and models came down the stairs of the club and stood around the covered car. Then, gymnasts came down the stairs doing flips and summersaults and fireworks started going off around the car. Then, the sheet came off and an anouncer started talking about the amazing new car. After the unvieling you could sit in the car and I did. It really wasn´t an amazing car, it looks like kind of like a Pt cruiser. After the celebration for the car we continued dancing and afterwards went to the outside bar to sit and relax. Then, we went and got some tacos at a twenty four hour taco restaurant. It was a fun night.

Posted by Brady at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I woke up, had a shower, ate breakfast, and took the combi to school. School was insteresting and went by quickly.

In the night I went to XO (equis o), the klubb discoteque privado, with a bunch of friends from school. It is a popular nightclub in Morelia that is really close to my house. The cover was 200 pesos ($20), which included drinks, but is kind of expensive for Morelia. The first challenge was getting in. You had to stand in front and get picked by the XO staff. For some reason there were cacti in the standing area, so I got stabbed once by a cactus, but it wasn´t to bad. Finally, we got chosen and went into the club. The inside was huge and it had three giant projector screens playing music videos, a giant dance floor, and couches to relax on. During the middle of the night a crazy guy dressed in a chef suit came out onto the dance floor and started making some jokes. It was a fun night of dancing and I found 170 pesos on the floor which brought the cover down to 30 pesos.



You can check out the website for XO here if interested.

Posted by Brady at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Escuela. Amigos. Instead of our usual history class we all met at a church near el centro. We walked through the church, looking mainly at the giant murals and afterwards the teacher lectured to us about murals and the church. Despues escuela Almorzo y estudiando.

Posted by Brady at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments  

!Back to school¡ We are learning about Barroco literature, including the writings of Sor Juana and José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi. In sociedad we are learning about Mexico´s economy. In history we are still talking about the conquest of Mexico by Cortes. Instead of our usual sociedad class we went out into the streets to interview people. We were given a sheet with places to visit and we had to ask people about their views on Mexicos economy. It was interesting to hear that most people were upset with taxes, but allot people thought Mexicos ecomony was doing well. It was also interesting to realize that it´s really hard to understand spanish, especially from older people with thick accents.

After school, I went to Sanburns to read some spanish magazines. I ended up buying Mens Health in Spanish. It gave me some great dating advice, fashion tips, sex tips, and workout routines all in Spanish. After that I did some studying and started writing my papers for the week.

Posted by Brady at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments  

After another hot and sweaty night I awoke and took a shower. We then went to get breakfast. I had pancakes filled with bananas that were bananatastic

"(No entry found for bananatastic.
Did you mean burning at the stake?

Suggestions:
burning at the stake."

We stayed in the resturant to watch the big game...la copa del mundo. Italia contra Francia. It was a fierce game, with lots of penalties in the first half. It was tied one to one in the second half and no one was scoring. Then, Frances Zidane decided to randomly headbutt an Italian player and recieved a red card. Lip readers for the london times think that the italian player called Zidane´s mother and sister terrorists. Theres even a new york times article that claims president bush cause France to loose the world cup because of what the word terrorist means Click. Finally, the game went into a sudden death 5 point shootout. France missed one shot and ended up loosing the world cup to Italy.



After the copa del mundo, I bought a sandwhich for the trip home and we all boarded are bus and departed for Morelia. The bus ride was boring as I had to write a paper. But, we kept ourselves entertained by telling a story that involved lions, the lord of the rings, a half penguin half whale, a pizzle (grizlly polar bear), a seagull human, and lots of feathers. We also stopped along the way and bought some really bad tasting empenadas filled with pinapple and coconut. We arrived back at around 10:00PM and I typed up my paper and went to bed.

Fin.

Posted by Brady at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments  

La playa dia dos. It turns out that our bungalows airconditioning didn´t really work that well. Por eso, I didn´t really sleep that well and woke up sweating like something that sweats allot. It also became clear that a foul smell was iminating from the bathroom...which turned out to be the toilet leaking. Lastly, the shower pressure was terrible, it was like droplets of water slowly falling on your head. It´s like that time in Seinfeld when Jerry´s buildings water pressure drops and Kramer buys a shower head meant for circus elephants...but I digress. After showering, we all went to get breakfast in nearby restaurant. I had eggs with mushrooms and a delicious fruit smoothie.

Zihuatanejo is in a cove of the pacific ocean and has four different beaches. So we headed to a new beach called ¨"playa la ropa." It was allot more touristy than the first beach and it had many cabanas and different stuff to rent. We relaxed on the beach for most of the day and had lunch in another seaside resauarant. I got a spinach salad which was really good. After lunch, me and a friend rented a kayak to visit the other beaches and see the cove. It was 200 pesos ($20) for two hours. (I really wanted to rent a sailing boat and put to use my vast sailing knowledge...but I didn´t have enough dinero.) We first discovered a new beach with a reef. It was a little tricky landing ashore, maneuvering through the rocky reef without capsizing. But, eventually we landed our vessel on a new foreign shore. We then explored the lands and talked with some native people. After some time, we launched our ship back into the ocean and paddled around for awhile and saw a whale. We then returned to "playa la ropa."

It was late and we all headed back to our hotel. After showering and getting dressed we went out to eat. Wow, the food was really good. I had a fajita type dish with corn tortillas and some amazing salsa. After dinner we went to the "black bull" club which was right by our hotel. It was supposed to have a mechanical bull, but it wasn´t operational that night and I was dissapointed. We danced for what seemed like a long time because it was really, really hot. After the club we all went to the beach and jumped in the ocean...sin ropa. After cooling off we returned to our hotel and went to bed.

j/k about the whale.

Posted by Brady at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Grrr...only five hours of sleep. I got up took a shower, ate breakfast, and took the combi to school. A couple of students had arranged to get a bus for the weekend to take us to Zihuatanejo y Ixtapa (two beaches on the coast en el estado de Guerrero). However, for some reason we had to leave at 7:00 in the morning. I arrived at the school pretty tired and we all got on a giant bus. The bus ride went by pretty quickly. We played some music, talked, and looked at the Mexican country side, which is filled with farms, mountains, lakes, forests, and desserts (en general ice-cream). The trip took five hours in total. Arriving in Zihuatanejo the first thing I noticed was the heat. It reminded me of Florida, except with allot more heat and humidity...but it was welcome change.

As soon as the bus stopped in Zihuatanejo a middle-age Mexican guy and his wife got on the bus and asked us if we wanted a cheap hotel. Tired, hot, and sexy we decided to let him show us some hotels. He showed us some bungalos with four beds, a kitchen, and a small windy staircase that could hold nine people. The first bungalow didn´t have a toilet seat, which was a little discomforting, but that isn´t all that uncommon here. He then showed us the others which all had toilet seats and we were sold...after all they had toilet seats. It was 100 pesos ($10) for two nights per person. We left our belongings in the bungalos we headed to the beach.

I forgot how much I miss the ocean. The beach was gorgeous with white sand and warm water. We spent the day sunbathing, swimming, and relaxing on the beach. We had in beachside cafe. I got quesidillas, which were ok, and a fresh cut whole coconut with a straw, which was amazing. Later, I tried to order another cocunut, but the waiter was a little bit of a jokster. First he told me I had to climb the tree to get the coconut, then after getting a coconut he told me I had to hold it on my head while he cut it open with a Machete. But, finally I got sweet, juicy, fresh coconut juice and milky meat. After four hours on the beach, swimming, sun bathing, and a little guacamole and chip snack we returned to our bungalo to shower. After showering we went to nearby restaurant to eat. I had queso fundido con champiñones (mushrooms), which came with lime, salsa, onion and tortillas. It was pretty good, but really cheesy. After dinner I went with a friend to buy a dress shirt so he could go out (crazy kids always wanting to look good). He found one in a market nearby but it was a little expensive, so I said, "you could get it for 250" in english. The girl selling the shirt starting laughing, because it turns out she speaks english.

After aquiring a shirt, a group of us departed for Sr. Frogs in Ixtapa. Ixtapa is a more touristy and expensive beach with allot of hotels, condominiums, and gringos. Sr. Frogs is a chain of bars that started in Venuezuela that tries to give its customers a fun experience by providing a comedic atmosphere, entertainment and good music. The entrance was decorated with an outline of a past out frog on the sidewalk. It was 100 pesos ($10) to get in, which included free drinks. We sat in the oustide patio. After an hour of sitting and talking it was time to start dancing on the tables. We followed the trend of the other Sr. Frogs customers and started dancing on our table. Despues bailando en la mesa, we went to dance with some mujeres Mexicana, who somehow spoke perfect english. It was a fun night and we stayed until around one and then departed for our hotel. But, first we needed to get a taxi back to Zihuatanejo. We tried bargaining down the taxi drivers, but they had all formed a kind of union outside the club. Finally we got just gave in and got a taxi for 70 pesos ($7)...not really that much. But, it felt like we were swindled...oh and I also learnt that saying jipped is offensive to gipsies and I appoligize.

zzzzzzzzzz.......zzzzzzz......zzzzzzzzzz...........zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Posted by Brady at 6:02 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Desayuno y despues escuela. No me gusta la diferencia entre el imperfecto y el pasado. After school and lunch I went shopping in el centro with some other students. I was looking for some good cowboy boots, a hat, and a poncho. There were some good boots but I decided i would look for stuff now and buy it towards the end of my trip. After shopping we went to a taco resturant for dinner. I got a really tasy fajita style dish with corn torillas. After eating we took a cab to a reggae concert. At first we thought we were going to get robbed because the taxi driver was taking us through these dirt roads with rusted cars and trash everywhere. But, eventually we got to the concert. It was inside an old school gymnasium, which was decorated with murals about Mexican society and politics. The concert was really weird. I just never thought that Mexico had a big reggae scene, so it was kind of shocking to see all this Mexicans with dreadlocks listening to reggae music and smoking Mary Jane. The music was pretty good and was in Spanish, which seemed to give it a really relaxed rythym. The concert was pretty relaxed except for one song where everyone started going crazy and dancing around uncontrollably. I used the womens restroom in the concert because it had a big M on top of it, which clearly stood for Mujeres. But, thinking like a gringo, I thought it ment men. It was a little embarassing, especially the girls laughing when i came out, but I eventually got over it. We took a taxi back home at around 12:00.

Manana...la playa.

Posted by Brady at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Cereal con leche de soya. Jugo de papaya. Fui a la universidad. Aprendé sobre la sistema de educación en Mexico. En este fin de semana voy a ir a la playa (extapa). Hablé con estudiantes mexicanos. Despues, regresé a mi casa para almuerzo. Tuvimos enchilladas con una verdura sopa. En el noche escribí ambios mis composiciónes para historia y cultura.

Free Translation

Posted by Brady at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Desayuno, escuela, futbol (italia contra alemania), un grupo conversación con estudiantes mexicanos, escribiendo mis composiciónes y estudiando. Fui a un internet cafe y estudiado espanol. Despues fui a la casa de un otro estudiante. Estudiabamos y compremos comida (papas fritas y hamberguesas). Tuve un taxi a mi casa para 22.5 pesos. Negocié de 25 pesos a 22.5 pesos. Soy un bueno negociador. Feliz cuatro de Julio todos. Buy muchos fuegos artificiales.

Posted by Brady at 1:54 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Arggg....back to school again. We are learning about the Mexican education system in cultura, the conquistadors in Historia, and barroco literatura en Literature this week.

After school and lunch I went to the orphantory with some other students. We went with the kids to a nearby park with a playground. It was tiring keeping up with the kids, especialy this one little boy who wanted to stay on the seesaw for about an hour, which killed my legs. Another boy kept calling me by Spanish name and I kept telling him my name. Finally a lady told me he was calling me blonde. It was hard to understand what the kids were saying, as it was in spanish and mumbled. The kids are really friendly and cute though so it doesn´t really matter. We played with the kids for about and hour and a half and then took them back to the orphange. Aftwerwards I got some really good pan dulce at a panadería nearby the orphanage. I then went home and studied, watached a little television, and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Back in Morelia it was time to catch up on school work. I studied most of the day, went to the store, and in the night watched a weird Woody Allen movie in Spanish, which I couldn´t identify because they never put the title of the movie on screen. It was about some rebell group in the future that was trying to stop scientists from cloning a human nose. It was pretty funny. Enctonces, me acoste.

Sunday was the day to vote for president and for senators in Mexico. It was a very important day for all the citizens of Mexico. There were three main parties PAN, PRI, and PRD. It turned out to be a close race between PAN and PRD. By the end of the day the two were seperated by a few halfs of a percent (35.2 vs 35.9 percent). A candidate wont be anounced until wednesday after all the votes were counted.

Oh and Dia Quince is below Dia Catorce because i couldn´t figure out how to move it, sorry :).

Posted by Brady at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments  

Everyone woke up at around 10:00AM, we all packed and checked out of the hotel. We then went to a little cafe for breakfast. The cafe was decorated with all sorts of abstract paintings relating to death. I got an omlete and jasmine tea. The food was very tasty. After breakfast we looked in the markets in front of the catedral. I almost bought a really sweet hand made poncho and a hat, but decided to wait until later. We then crammed into two taxis and headed to Tzintzuntzan.

Tzintzuntzan is known for its Tarascas ruins. The remains of the ancient temple were amazing. They were not huge in size but the fact that they have remained for long is astounding. After walking around the ruins we took a bus back to the Patzcuaro bus station. From there we took a bus to Santa Clara.



Santa Clara is a small town located in the hills around Paztcuaro, which is famous for its copper mines. The city had a beautiful downtown with many copper street lights, poles and fountains. We ate in a little restaurant in the center of town. I got tacos and guacamole. After lunch we went to look at the copper markets. There were many amazing copper pots, pans, jewelery, clocks, necklaces, flowers, etc. All of them were hand made and decorated in vibrant and billant colors. I have never seen so much copper in my life. I bought some copper flowers and other copper regalos for setenta pesos ($7). There was this strange looking ring that covers an entire finger and has yodas head on the top of it. I don´t really know why, but I bought it for treinta pesos ($3). After looking through the markets and the town we took the bus back to Patzcuaro. From Patzcuaro we took the bus back to Morelia. We arrived back at about 9:00PM and I took the combi from the bus station back home, watched some TV, and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments  

¡Vamanos a Patzcuaro! A group of us had decided earlier to go to Patzcuaro on the weekend. Patzcuaro is a very historic town about one hour outside of Morelia. We all met at el estacion de autobus at 10:00. The bus to Patzcuaro was only 28 pesos ($2.80). The bus ride had some nice views of mountains, lakes, and the Mexican countryside. We arrived in Paztcuaro in no time. My intitial impression of patcuaro was "finally, I get to see a real Mexican town." Rusted trucks, market stalls, kids playing in the street...all that good stuff. We walked around looking through the many market stalls. Patzcuaro is on a lake and allot of the vendors were selling really gross looking dried fish and fresh fish. There were ponchos, fruits, fish, cowboy hats, jewelery, and much more in the markets. One guy was walking around with turkeys on a leash trying to sell them. We went to the see the catedral (I have yet to go to a town without a catedral), which was nice but not as large as Morelias.

We then sat down for lunch in a nice little restaurant. They kept giving us more and more bread. Them some little children came by trying to sell us wicker baskets and we gave them some of our bread. I had a vegetable platter and some guacamole with chips. The vegetable platter was ok, but the guacamole was really good. After lunch we went in search of a hotel. The buildings in the center of Patzcuaro are all really nice spanish style, adobe with red tile roofs, buildings. We found a hotel that was $300 pesos for three people a night. It had a very quaint feel and was really nice. Our room had a balcony that looked over part of patzcuaro.

We then departed for la Isla de Janitzio. This island is in the middle of Patzcuaros lake and features an enormous statue of Morelos. Morelos was a Mexican hero who rebelled against the Spanish during the Mexican war of Independance. We took a small motor boat to the island. The island was a really neat little place. It had all sorts of little touristy shops, cafes, and small little houses. After a long walk to the top of the island we were able to go inside the morelos statue. Inside the statue were murals all over the walls. There was a long windy staircase that led to the top of the statue, where you could look out far accross the lake and land around it. We then climbed back down and looked around the island. After a few hours we took the last boat back to Patzcuaro.



We returned to the hotel for a little bit to drop of our belongings and rest a little. A few of us then went out to eat. We found a nice place and I had enchilladas with a side of guacamole. They were really, really good. We met a graduate student from Montana who told us what we could do patzcuaro. We then went to a nearby discotecca, which was kind of empty, and played some pool. The discotecca had these really amazing chips (yes i did say chips). After that we went to met up with the rest of our group. Once thing that was wierd was that the streets of Patzcuaro were pretty much dead. It was really wierd, we were one of the only ones on the streets and it was only 11. We went back to the hotel and met the rest of our group. All of us then departed to another discotecca. We walked through this park were a dog started following us and then started chasing cars. As we were crossing the street soem guy in a minivan started yelling American swear words at us. We continued walking. The same guy in the van then came back again with a complete change of attitude, and was like "hey amigos, i am from america too, whats up?." He then pulled over his car and started talking to one guy in our group. Then, this police car comes driving up at like 50 miles an hour and pulls up right in front of us. These three cops get out, one with a giant gun and bullets around his chest, and said "Que pasa?" I was pretty scared at that point. One guy in our group speaks perfect spanish and told them we were just talking. They told us it wasn´t safe to be out right now. We then told them we were going to head back to our hotel. We then walked away pretty scared. Luckily nothing bad happened. On the way back to the hotel, the guy int he minivan came back once more and again was all friendly. He then drove off. It was kinda of wierd because he had a bunch of kids in the backseat watching an incar movie, it seemed like he was drunk or crazy or something.

Tired and unsure of what had just happened we all went back to our hotel and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments  

I uploaded photos to Flickr, but couldn´t figure out how to organize them. There are photos of Morelia, the orphanage, Mi casa, and Guadalajara. They are not in order but they are all there.

Photos here...Click here. Click click click!!!

Photos of Patzcuaro, Tzitzunzan, and Santa Clara to come

Posted by Brady at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments  

I woke up, had some frosted shredded wheat with soy milk for breakfast along side my usual fresh squeezed papaya juice. I quickly made some corrections to a paper and ran to get the combi. Historia was interesting, we talked about the mayas and a few groups gave presentations on specific areas of ancient Mexican history. Sociedad y cultura was fast as usual. I had to make a presentation, but i really wasn´t ready. I ended up giving my presentation to a nearby wall, which seemed a little bit more interested than the class. It wasn`t too bad though.

The elections are coming up soon, so everyone is talking about politics. Felipe Calderon seems to be the most popular in Morelia, because he is form here. He is running with PAN. There are three parties: PRD, PRI, PAN. PRD tends to have more leftist ideals, PRI represents the middle, and PAN represents the right. PRI has been in power for over seventy years in Mexico, but lost the recent 2000 election to PAN´s Vincente Fox. PRI still holds the most postitions (senators, governors, etc) in the country, but it is said that their power is dwindling. It is interesting to learn that Mexico has a three party system.

After class I went home, trying a different combi route, which turned out to be much quicker and require less walking. I had spaghetti with tortillas, salsa, and a vegetable sauce. Mis padres two year old sun was over for a lunch. His name is Mateo and he is very, very cute. He provided the perfect excuse for giving my family a robotic dancing dog. He really liked the dog, which was cool.

After lunch i went for a walk exploring my surrounding area, which is quite large. I found a golf club, a number of intersting stores, and some very quaint little neighborhoods. I met a guy named Ricardo who had a friend who lives in Australia and a guy named Moses whose parents live in the US. I went to office depot and bought a notebook and some highlighters. I then returned home to do some studying and watch some spanish tv. I turned the TV on and flipped channels until i came to the Spanish version of Wheel of Furtune, it was pretty funny. The puzzles seem allot harder and the prizes are smaller, but the show just seemed mejor in spanish.

At around 9:00 I took the combi to la catedral, where a bunch of students were meeting to go out. It is the end of the Hidalgo University`s (the university I am studying at) school year and there was a party for students to celebrate. We all went to a night club in el centro. It was a pretty nice place and they had a live band. The band was singing all sorts of American songs, but they were pretty good. The bar had these 2 liter, giant, corona bottles that were 66 pesos. They were just like a regular corona bottle only 300 times the size. Everyone got a bunch of the giant coronas, mainly because they looked really cool. I stayed at the club, danced and talked, until around one and then took a taxi back to my house.

Posted by Brady at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Shower, toast, combi...the usual. School was intersting, we are still talking about early Mexican history, political parties, and studying spanish.

I went to the cinema again. Wednesdays is two for one and the movies are 25 pesos ($2.50). We saw Viviendo Con Mi Ex (living with my ex) with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vougn. The plot was a little bit thin and led straight into a dissapointing ending (No Spoilers). Despite the bad ending it was funny and very entertaining. I wanted to see Xmen-3, mainly because it´s all in Spanish. I found 20 pesos on the floor of the cinema so my movie was basically free. I also recieved another shaggy from scooby doo reference as well as an Owen Wilson reference.

After the movies I came home and wrote my society and culture paper. It was about the Mexican Revolution (in Spanish of course). I also had to research for a presentation about Mexican politics. It was hard to find the information I needed for my presentation. All i wanted was the PRI party´s platform, but it seems that all the parties have the same platform; "The globalization and improvment of life in Mexico." However, none of the parties seem to explain how they will achieve this.

I made myself a very tasty dinner consisting of left over chille enchiladas, avacado, cottage cheese, and crackers. I call it Chicato. I went to bed at 11:35.5225256.

Posted by Brady at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I kinda forgot what I did this day. All I can remember is the day before it and the day after it. I am pretty sure i did something...but for now lets just say I tried to take over the world.

Posted by Brady at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Arrggg Matey...back to school. I got up and had some toast with Jam for breakfast along with papaya juice. Then I was off to the combi and school again. Literatura was first and was a little bit boring. Society and culture was next and was fairly interesting. We talked about the Mexican Revolutiona and the various groups involved. For spanish class we started our first "converstation groups with Mexican students." We spoke for twenty minutes in english and then twenty minutes in spanish. The topics they gave us to speak about were kind of funny, "rock and roll, sex, and drugs." Needless to say we didn´t really talk about any of that.

Lunch consisted of a lasagna/enchilada type dish. I am not sure what it is but it was good. It served with fresh squeezed lemon juice, crunchy tacos and a green pepper salsa.

Later I went, with some other students, to an orphanage to volunteer. The map of Morelia for some reason leaves out or decided to rename a number of streets, so it is sometimes hard to find things. I didn´t really know where the orphange was, only the street name and general area on the map where it was. After some wandering I finally found the building. The building was kind of run down and it was obvious they didn´t have much money. I walked through the gates into a courtyard filled with dirt and rocks. I then went with some other students down some stairs to the playground. The playground is an old basketball court and the kids have a few soccer balls, a football, and a basketball. Around the court there was a broken down semi truck and a rusted pickup truck. There were a couple of toys, like a little plastic toy car. We played basketball and soccer with the children. There were about twelve kids in the playground. They ranged from 5-15 years in age. There were two little boys who everyone called nino. The nino on my team was really energetic, but shy. It was probably the highlight of the game when the little nino scored a goal. He looked so happy and everyone congradulated him. The kids were pretty good at soccer and we had a little trouble keeping up with them. It was really fun and very rewarding. I will be returning on Monday and probably many more times.

After the orphanage I went to a coffee shop with two other students to study. We studied and talked about random stuff for a few hours. I then returned home and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I awoke at 9AM and had a shower. Going out onto the balcony of our hotel, I was again amazed by the splendor of Guadalajara. After showering we went to eat breakfast. We found a nice little restaurant inside of a hotel. I got pancakes, very original, which were served with honery and tasted pretty good. They cost 25 pesos ($2.50)...the food here is continues to be very cheap, even in nice places. After breakfast we packed up our belongings and hailed a cab. We successfully bargained the taxi driver down 5 pesos to 75 pesos. Arriving at the bus station, we purchased tickets to Morelia. The bus ride back was a little more interesting because it was in the day time. I got to see allot of the vast stretches of land, small farms, and intersting little towns. It seems like there are vast strectches of land between all the cities here. There will be a town like Morelia surrounded by other little towns, with massive stretches of land inbetween. The Mexican country side is somewhat green and somewhat desserty (sorry I`m not good with descriptive words). There were a few little towns that looked like they were out of a postcard, with small churches and adobe houses.

After a 3:50 hour bus ride we arrived in Morelia. It was good to be home, even though I missed Guadalajara. I took the Greis tres combi home and no one was there so I had some leftover lasagna/enchilada dish for lunch. I then studied for awhile and watched a little Mexican TV. My family came home and I talked to them for a little bit, then went to bed.

Ah, Guadalajara...I will miss it.

Posted by Brady at 6:41 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Guadalajara, WOW! Guadalajara is a very modern and large city. It is the birthplace of mariachi music. and is home to Mexicos most popular soccer team (Chivas). One thing I noticed about it was the wealth of historic and grand buildings.

Waking up in the morning and walking out onto the balcony of our hotel room was amazing. Looking down the street you could see the top of a grand catedral (cathedral). I thought the catedral in Morelia was amazing, but the catedral en Guadalajara is astounding. It is massive and has three golden domes, which glow under the glare of the sun. Looking into the street I saw an old fashioned horse drawn carriage on the same street as a bunch of cars. It turns out that there are a number of them that travel around el centro.

After showering we went and had breakfast in a very nice little resaurant. I got eggs with mushrooms, beans, and rice (an unusual combination:). After breakfast we went to look at the catedral. Then we walked through a square heading for the teatro (theatre). A women came up to us selling these amazing sand paintings. We each bought a varation of the same painting, pablo picasos horse and bull. They were only 33 pesos (3 dollars) each. We then went to the teatro, which was absolutely amazing. It has a massive dome roof and everything is covered in gold. There were balcony seats which lined both sides of the teatro. There was a rehersal going on at the time and sat in the glorious teatro watching it. All around el centro there were many amazing fountains and statues of historic people and animals.

Next we looked at the many stalls that lined the streets, selling beautiful handmade goods. There was jewlery, ignious stones, musical instuments, pottery, handmade leather goods, and many other amazing looking crafts. I wanted to buy so much stuff, but decided to hold off since we would be travelling and I only brought a backpack. I did buy a haki sac from one of the many street vendors for 10 pesos ($1). We then quickly took a walk through a small park near el centro, but it wasn´t too exciting went back to el centro.

We were told by a security guard at the teatro to go to a building which he called "el mas grande edificio en guadalajara". Turns out he was talking about the Palacio de Gobierno and I think he was right. The main entrance to the building is decorated with amazing murals on the walls and the cieling. The massive murals tell the story of the Spanish invasion of Mexico. The main dome is adorned by a mural that depiptcs the eternal stuggle between good and evil. The stark red colors of the mural are amazing. The rest of the building is a museum. There were many interesting works of art, including propaganda posters from around the time of Mexicos revolution, modern abstract paintings, and classical victorian art. We somehow again arrived on the day of a political demonstration (maybe they sabado is the day for political demonstrations). We were thus treated to live music in the square outside the Palacio de Gobierno.

The city was relatively quiet in the day. However, when we went out again in the night the small streets were packed with people. We just wandered around looking through the streets. The catedral was even more amazing at night. There was live music in the square near the catedral and a choir of little children singing.

I bought two Mexican scratchies (lottery tickets). They cost 3 pesos (30 cents) each. I scratched the first one and won 3 pesos, but lost on the second won. I then bought one more and lost again. It was pretty fun though.

Walking back we saw a street vendor grab her suff as three guys came up and managed to snatch some of her stuff. We were´nt sure if she wasn´t supposed to be there or if they were just robbing her, but it was a very crowded street. We were kind off taken aback by and didn´t really know what to think.

We ate in a place called "fat lady" for dinner. I got guacamole with chips and tacos with chille and potato filling. It was pretty good. We then went back to the hotel room, played a couple of games of dominos, studied a little and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I just thought I would say I am feeling better. Still a little drousy, but pretty good overall.

Feeling better I did a little bit of studying. I had hot soup for lunch. After lunch I got a phone call from a friend. Him and another friend were going to Guadalajara and they invited me. Feeling better I decided to go. I took a combi to my friends house en el centro and we then took a combi to la estacion de autobus. The combi to the bus station took a long time, but we got to see allot of Morelia on the way. We went through some of the poorer neighborhoods, which had rundown buildings, many stray dogs, and many street vendors. Arriving to the bus station, it was suprisingly modern. We bought tickets to Guadalajara, which cost 230 pesos ($23). The bus was also suprisingly nice, with super confortable seats, and we got a free drink and some peanuts. The only bad thing about the bus ride was that they played some really bad western Americano movies in english, with spanish subtitles, and you couldn´t turn off the volume. The drive was pleasant and took about three and half hours.

Arriving at 11:20PM to the bus station in Guadalajara we called around to hotels to see which ones had vacancies. Finding one, we got a taxi into el centro (the center of town). The taxi driver was very friendly and told us about the city and what we should go to see. The hotel turned out to be very nice and had a very historic look and feel to it. It was 470 pesos ($47) a night. Tired, we went to bed.

Pictures soon.

Posted by Brady at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments  

I woke up feeling pretty bad. I took a shower, had some cereal, and went to university. After my first class i could barely concentrate and I felt really bad. I talked to the head of the program, who is also a physician and he sent me home. I lay in bed for a few hours until my madre came home. Then she took me to the doctor and he wrote a prescription for some pills. I then spent the rest of the day in bed. I missed the welcome dinner for all of the students and their families, which kind of sucks. In the night i watched some spanish tv, then went to bed.

I guess it was bound to happen eventually. Such a sudden change in diet and living conditions caught up with me. It was probably something i ate, but i cannot be sure what.

Posted by Brady at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments  

I woke up at 8:00 as usual and had papaya juice and cereal for breakfast. I have become acustomed to the combi system and got to the university without any problems. Clases were interesting but also tiring. On the way home me and a freind passed by a market and had a look. There were so many different types of foods, fruit, and crafts. I bought a mango for 40 cents and an avacado for 30 cents. I then took the combi home. I had bellpeppers stuffed with cheese for lunch.

At 5:30 a few of us went to watch a movie. Wednesday´s are half price and it cost $2.50 (american) to see a movie. We saw the bench warmers, which was slapstick but had some funny parts. After the movie me and Chewey went to a bar with two of his Mexican friends. Chewey spoke pretty good spanish before coming to morelia, so he is able to talk with most people. I couldn´t understand most of what was going on in the conversation, but i contributed somewhat and would laugh when i felt it was appropraite. I got home at around 11 and went to bed.

Posted by Brady at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I woke up at 8:00 again and had a shower. I had cereal and papaya juice for breakfast again. I took the combi to school, but i arrived a couple of minutes late. School was about the same as yesterday, except this time we actually learnt some stuff. My history teacher talked about the transition of different races from around the world into mexico. It was basically the earliest history of Mexico. My society and culture professor talked about the Mexican civil war and the people/politics involved. My language teacher had us take a diagnostic test and then we could go. Suprisingly i could understand allot of what my professors were saying.

I walked home with a UCSD student named Chewey who is studying economics. While walking we got allot of shouts from people excited to see gringos (white people) and chinos (chinese people). Walked accross a round about we were walking towards some police. We said, "como esta" (hows it going, formal). As we walked by one put his hand on my shoulder and I thought, "oh crap." He then said, "ah, scooby and shaggy and started laughing." It was pretty funny, but I guess I kind of do look like shaggy.

I had taquitos with beans, cheese, rice, and avacado. They were very tasty.

After lunch I caught a combi to the university where a bunch of us were going to play soccer. We started to play, but were told by the grounds keeper that we couldn´t play on the grass. We then took a combi to el centro and I bought a soccer ball. We decided to play a little soccer in a city square. Two little girls saw us playing and wanted to join in, so we let them play. After that we went to the central catedral and sat for awhile. There was a crazy guy yelling/reading from a bible about god. When we walked by he yelled something about how young people have too many diversions and that we should all dedicate our lives to god.

I then took a combi back home. Somehow we managed to fit 16 people in a small volkswagon combi van. On the way back I saw some crazy guy dancing in front of cars with a water bottle, seemingly wanting to wash peoples windows.

I had leftover taquitos for dinner and now I am going to bed.

Posted by Brady at 8:56 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Aye, the first day of classes. I woke up at 8:00 am had some cereal and fresh squeezed papaya juice (mi padre lo toma todos los dias). After breakfast mi madre (mum) drove me to school, following the combi i would have to take after the frist day. The combi´s are old volkswagon vans that have been gutted and had seats put in the back. The door is rigged to open when the combi stops and close when it starts. There are different colored combi´s for wherever you are going. To catch one you have to wave it down like a taxi. It costs 40 pesos (forty cents) per trip. The combi`s often fill up quickly and people kneel in the van or sometimes hang out the sides. There are also a few larger, but still small, buses that are similar but don´t come as often. We arrived at the school and i headed to class. The university campus is muy bonita and the buildings are fairly new. My first class was historia and the teacher talked muy rapido en espanol. I guess they are trained to use allot of cognates so i could understand the general idea of things. My second class was literatura and again the teacher spoke rapidly in spanish. My third class was society and culture and the teacher talked way too fast. I could barely catch what he was saying. Finally, I had spanish grammer and the teacher again talked fast but was understandable. After four hours of only spanish my head hurt a little so I went with some friends to get some coffee. Then it was time for me to catch a van and combi to get home. Then, i was under the impression that the vans/combis stopped at certain spots along the street. So i waited at a spot where i had seen some other people catch the ere uno (R1) van. I let two vans go by before i realized that you had to wave them down. I finally successfully (is it double s or double c or double l, i don´t know) flagged one down and took a seat. After a few blocks and old mexican man/cowboy, fully adorned in spiked boots, a cowboy hat and an old guitar, got on the bus. He started playing the guitar and singing. Riding in the old beat up van with the cowboy playing the guitar, i felt like i was in a movie. After a few more blocks he requested tips and got off the bus. I made it home fairly quickly.

Lunch is set at 3pm each day. Today we had spaghetti, which wasn´t all that exciting but it was good. In addition, there where crackers with an amazing tasting cheese/chili spread. There was fresh squeezed lemon juice to drink.

At four I departed to go to the central catedral in Morelia. One of the professors at the university had organized students studying english at the university to guide us around el centro (downtown morelia). I had a friendly girl named Adriana. She is studying biology in the university. She has lived in morelia all her life and lives in the southern part of the city. We walked around town and saw the many historical sights (the catedral, the theatre, the aquaducts..etc). After the tour I went with all the students and their guides to a bar. We got platters of chips, which were served with serveral different types of salsa, cheese, and guacamole dips. The Morelian´s ordered a local drink and offered some to all of us. It was some kind of blend of beer, chilli, and fruit. It was disgusting, but we didn´t want to offend them so we said, "Si, es bueno." The music in the bar was mostly american, except for Shakira and some other songs. We talked for a few hours, swapped numbers, and then one of the guides with a car was kind enough dropped me at home. I brushed my teeth and went to sleep.

I am supprised at how modern morelia is. I live in the colonia de americas, which has a sears and two malls around it. My house is probalby more modern than my house in America. It is of old spanish arcitecture and has massive wooden doors, wooden floors, and is quite spacious. Mi familia has two cars (a new honda and a new toyota). They have an old computer, but it has broadband internet and works well. It all depends on what part of the city you go to. The colonias in which the unviersity has put the students are all very nice, while there are many areas away from central morelia that are more run down. They are the areas i pictured when first coming to morelia. Rundown houses, trash in the streets, street vendors, marketplaces, stray docts, etc.

Oh and sorry, i know i need to use more paragraph breaks. I have taken some photos and might put some up soon.

Posted by Brady at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I got a good nights sleep, woke up, and had a shower. We were served a breakfast buffett in the hotel, which consisted of all sorts of fresh fruit, pancakes, french toast, beens, sweet tortillas, beans, egss, and i`ll stop now. After breakfast we had our oreintation, which was conducted in spanish. The director of the program and all the professors gave us advice and information we would need. After the orientation we got to meet our host families for the first time. I was so excited and nervous. My host mum was very nice and she drove me back to my new house. It is an amazing looking, old spanish style, building with giant wood doors. The house istelf is also bonita. I have a host mum, dad, little brother (2 years old) and an older sister. They all seem very nice. We watched a football game and i gave them a boomerang and some chocolates. After unpacking i went downstairs for lunch/dinner. I had a focacia quesidilla with feta cheese, beans, avacado, and chile. In addition I received some pure mango juice, which was amazing.

I have come to realize that the food in Mexico is amazing. I will be eating fresh fruit, home cooked meals, and tasty snacks for ten weeks. I am pretty sure i will come back fat.


Adios for now...Oh and i´ll probably start writting entries in spanish from now on.

Posted by Brady at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments  

In the early afternoon i went for a walk with some other students. We saw morelias main park and then wandered off into some random side streets. We found some really cool markets that had all sorts of fruits, meats, clothing, and random items. There were vendors everywhere trying to sell us their goods. I spotted some good ponchos and maybe some cowboy boots that i might go back for. I hope to come back to America with atleast one complete cowboy outfit. After walking around through the markets we were kind of lost...luckily we were able to navigate by locating morelia´s beautiful central cathedral. The cathedral is an amazing arcetectual wonder and looks amazing lit up in the night.

When we got back to the hotel we got to meet professor Garcia. The professor in charge of the UC study abroad program. He was really friendly and seems like a really laid back person. He told us what would be happening in the next few days. We will meet our families tomorrow and they will try and acclimate us to life in Morelia. After today there will be no more english, everyone will be speaking in spanish. After one day here i have realized that even though i cannot understand anything anyone says i have already learnt new words and i am becomming acostomed to the accent.

As luck would have it we arrived on the day of a big celebration for a presidential candidate. After having breakfast in the morning i rested in my room for awhile. Walking outside a few hours later an enormous crowd was gathered. Thousands of people had gathered to march in support of Morelia´s own presidential candidate. In the center of Morelia, right by my hotel, there was an enormous stage set up. As night dawned live music started to play and the festivities began. It was like a giant fiesta in the main street of Morelia. There were street vendors, live performs, live music, lots of food, balloons, lights, and tons of people. We went to eat in a restaurant on the terrace of a building that overlooked the parade. The restuarant was authentically mexican and very ornate. I ordered guacamole with quesadillas (sorry i can¨´t spell) and dos caronas, it was amazing. Another student made an intersting ovservation: that is that the waiter served the two guys and the table first and addressed us both first...but this is just a random tangent so ignore it. The food here is really cheap...actually everything here is really cheap. I will be bringing tons of stuff back.

Anyways...hasta luego.

Posted by Brady at 8:38 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I departed for mexico yesterday. I took the roadrunner shuttle to the airport. When i got in the shuttle the driver asked me where i was going. I said ï was studying abroad and he said¨"yeah, what´s her name?". I thought it was funny because i like stupid puns :). The flight was really quick and effortless. I met a girl named myra who was going to visit family in Morelia. Allot of students in the program were also on the flight. We all got a cab to the hotel, which turned out to be really nice and had a very rustic spanish feeling. In the morning i had breakfast a nice little cafe. The food was really good, i got a croissant and some yogurt with fruit. The city istelf is absolutely amazing. It reminds me of a little european city with cobblestone streets and cathedrals on every corner.

Adios for now.

Posted by Brady at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments  

I will be in Mexico in a little under 14 hours. I am feeling kind of surreal write now, not knowing what to expect and what will happen. On one hand i am excited and can't wait to spend my summer in another country, while on the other hand i am nervous and hope I acclimate to my environment quickly. I will be sure to post how my trip goes whenever i have access to a computer.

I called a hotel last night to make a reservation and had to use only Spanish. I had to tell the guy to slow down (despacito) and "could you repeat that please (repetirlo por favor)" numerous times. After a bit of confussion i was able to get the price of a room and he informed me i would have to call back today to make the reservation. I felt pretty stupid after the call and couldn't stop laughing at myself for the rest of the night.

Posted by Brady at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments  

Yesterday I moved out from my dorm room and left the beautiful UCSB campus. It was a very sad experience. I had to say goodbye to the campus i have come to love and to all of the amazing people I have met there.

My brother and mum picked me up. I loaded my two carts worth of random garbage into our car and we departed for Oxnard. Leaving around 5:00 we ran into some traffic, so we decided to stop off at state street for a few hours, rather than wait in traffic. First we went to radioshack looking for a plug converter for Mexico, turns out the plugs are the same (duh!). Then i wanted to find a gift for my host family in Mexico. We looked through barnes and noble and then went to the discovery channel store. Somehow, i am not sure quite how, my brother convinced me to buy a robotic dog that dances when you play music near it. At first i was thinking "whatever," but now every time i think of giving my host family a dancing robotic dog i can't help but laugh.

After shopping we went up to look at the art gallery in the second floor of the mall on state street. When we walked in the lady said "hi, it's just about to start." Confused we just smiled and went into the gallery. In the first room there was a mock kind of office set up. In addition to the office there was some art on the walls and a projector playing a random video on the wall. There was an apple computer hooked up to a web cam. As we looked around an instant message popped up on screen that said "hello, is anyone there." My brother typed yes into the keyboard, which activated the camera near the computer allowing you to see yourself on screen. Apparentely it was a perfmance/interactive art piece. We then continued into the next room, which turned out to be pitch black and lit up by black lights. Some guy informed us that we could paint with flourescent paints under the black light and pointed to a table. He also said "the d.j. will be here in thirty minutes." So we started painting under blacklights. My brother said it's probably a performance art piece that is trying to give you the impression of being in a night club and that no D.J. was actually coming. About 10 minutes later the D.J. came and we found out the gallery was having some kind of special event. It was pretty cool to stumble upon and we got to take our blacklight paintings home with us.

Posted by Brady at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments  

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