Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Week with the Wilmots, Day 1: Puebla

Well, our wonderful vacation with Jake's parents has come to an end.  Back to 4 days of school a week, 75 degree weather, and sun.  Sighhhhh.  Sorry friends and family in the States, I really couldn't resist.  Because the vacation was action packed, it needs more than one blog post.  So, they arrived last Saturday safe and sound in Mexico City, found the bus ticket place in the airport, took the bus to Puebla, then took a taxi to their hotel all by themselves!  Pretty impressive for them, seeing as they both haven't taken Spanish lessons since high school, and Dave hates languages so much that he opted to take 7 more classes and get a B.S. rather than take 2 college level Spanish classes.  I took a taxi down to Jake's house and we walked over to their hotel.  It was great to see them again.  We hung out in the hotel, chatted, and went to a restaurant near Jake's house for their first taste of real Mexican food.  They loved chalupas (it's hard not to) which, for anyone who doesn't know, are tortillas covered with green or red salsa and pulled chicken or pork on top.  We taught Barbara her first bit of extra Spanish: red wine=vino tinto.  Very important.
The gang.
The next day, I took the BUS for the first time (I'm very proud of myself, I even had to change lines) and met everybody for breakfast at a cafe near their hotel.  From there, we took a taxi to the zocalo of Puebla.  Neither Jake or I had been since our first week, so it was nice to explore a little more and take time to visit some shops.  First stop: la Catedral, which is almost as impressive as the one in Mexico City.
The zocalo
We then went to the Capilla del Rosario, a very famous church known for its amazing and ornate gold interior.  It was closed when Jake and I had our tour of Puebla, so we wanted to check it out.  Honestly, I still think the church on top of the Cholula pyramid is the most beautiful that I have seen.

From there, we walked down the Candy street, this time sampling a few of the goods.  La Calle de los Dulces is called so because just about every shop has traditional candies from Puebla and Mexico.  I still wasn't brave enough to try the chile powdered tamarind candies, but I did sample the baked coconut cookies (yum) and Glorias (dulce de leche covered with nuts--yummer).

At this point, my camera died.  This makes me 0 for 2 in regards to trips to Puebla.  Ah well, the show must go on.

From the Calle de los Dulces we walked through el Barrio de las Artistas (Neighborhood of the Artists).  A painting of a view of the volcanoes caught our eyes, and after a little expert haggling done by Barb, they became the proud owners of a really awesome piece of artwork.  They were fretting about where to put it; I snorted and reminded them of my house, which is just about covered with me and my siblings' artwork.

We wandered around los Jardines de San Francisco (Gardens of Saint Francisco--please say this in the Elf voice) and got cemitas for lunch at a little food market with very aggressive vendors. Stuffed, sunned, and sleepy, we wandered back to the zocalo to catch a taxi back to the hotel.  We took a siesta, then got tacos al pastor for dinner.


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Amurican-ish Cookout

As my host parents say (jokingly), I am now ready to be married.  I cooked a meal. And it was good.  Although I have not yet eaten any Mexican food that I didn't like, I was hankering for some of my favorites from home, and also wanted to treat my host family to a little something from my culture.  What's more American than a cookout?  Although this may not have been the most traditional of American cuisine, it was all delicious, and a lot of fun to prepare.  The menu? Grilled pizzas (thank you Manonis! We are forever in your debt for this amazing food), hot dogs, chorizo, potatoes filled with yummy things (sadly, I cannot take credit for them, they were all Arcelia's doing), and chocolate chip cookies.

On Friday, Jake came over and we prepared the pizza dough and made the cookies.  Unfortunately, due to the altitude and the fact that Arcelia's oven doesn't quite close all the way, they were a little sad: flat and kind of crunchy. But still delicious! We walked to San Andres Cholula (Cholula is made up of 2 parts: San Andres and San Pedro), got HAMBURGERS for lunch to continue the weekend of Amurica, and then went out with some other international students.  On Saturday we drove over to Arcelia's mom's "country house" which has a grill and a nice yard.  I was a little nervous for being responsible for the food, but it all turned out great.  Their one complaint--not enough pizza! I think that means I did well.
My host mom and dad: Guillermo and Arcelia.  Ale is creepin'  into the photo to the left.
 I forgot to get a picture of everyone! Oh well, next time.

Mexico City From Jake's Perspective


Last week, Sam and I went to Mexico City.  We took the bus from Puebla on Friday and arrived in the city about three hours later.  When we got there we hopped in a taxi and made our way over to the zócalo, where we were going to stay in a hostel.  Well, in reality, we spent about twenty minutes pondering whether or not we should get in one of the unmarked taxis that were picking people up near us.  After much debate we decided that the fact that my “sister” here had recommended we take one of these unmarked taxis and that the Sheraton hotel right next to us seemed to be endorsing them probably meant they were safe.  The cab driver was quite nice and we made it safely to the zócalo without a hitch.
The hostel we chose (Hostel Mundo Joven) was quite nice, cheap, and included breakfast each morning.  More importantly, it’s situated right in the zócalo so we were within walking distance of many cool sights.  That first day we decided to visit the cathedral.  It was beautiful…and massive.  To a not-so-religious individual, it seems a bit ironic that the churches and cathedrals here are so opulent while so many live in complete destitution.  Anyways, the cathedral was pretty and it was about 500 feet from the hostel so it was definitely worth a visit. 

The Cathedral was too big for me to get a really good picture on my camera.
After the cathedral we took the advice of another international student and headed over to one side of the zócalo where you can eat at the top of a building and have a great view.  The food wasn’t amazing and it was a bit pricey for Mexico (by that I mean lunch for two probably cost 8 or 9 dollars including a drink each). However, the view was excellent and we had a good time. 
Next on our list was the Templo Mayor, which is also directly in the center of the city.  When we got there and saw that you have to pay to get in, we decided against it.  After about another forty minutes just moseying about in the city, we realized that Mexican prices had started to affect our logic and that 5 dollars was a small price to pay to see a thousand year old temple and museum.  So, we returned to the ruin and entered.  While much of the temple was destroyed during the Spanish conquest, what remains is very interesting as each layer of construction demonstrates a different period in prehispanic history. The museum was also nice as it was just the right size; not too small to really learn anything, but not so big it would bore you to death.


After a nice siesta, Sam and I decided to take a walk to the Palacio de Bellas Artes.  It was nighttime, so we couldn’t go in, but that part of the city is very pretty with a nice little park and old Spanish architecture.  As we walked, we ran into several small markets of street venders selling books, electronics, clothing, art, and food.  Unfortunately, neither of us were particularly hungry at that point so we didn’t stop in at the street venders.  On the way back, we stopped in at a little ice cream place so Sam could have her dinner.  I was reserving my appetite for something more savory, so I only ate one scoop – one delicious scoop.  Upon reaching the zocalo, I discovered that the 5 peso taco place I had been hoping to eat at was already closed since the center is oddly empty at night.  Luckily, there was one street vender out selling delicious tlayudas, which are like massive tortillas with beans, chorizo, cabbage, avocado, and cheese.  After a long day of travel and walking, we got to bed early so we could enjoy the next day to its fullest.
Saturday, we took the metro to Chapultepec – the biggest city park in the western hemisphere.  It is absolutely picturesque.  Inside the park there is a large, free zoo.  This was one of the best zoos I’ve ever been to, and that’s not just because it was free.  They have lions, tigers, gorillas, pandas, polar bears, sea lions, rhinos, hippos…pretty much every animal that I want to see when I go to a zoo.  After the zoo we started looking for lunch.  Sam sniffed out a row of little restaurants where we were immediately attacked by venders looking for business.  We settled at a little place selling all kinds of Mexican food.  At that little hole in the wall, we ate some of the best food I’ve had here.  Sam got some tacos and I ordered alambre. I’m not exactly sure what alambre is supposed to be (I think it refers to food cooked on a skewer), but it was amazing.  This particular version had beef, peppers, onions, cheese, chiles, and more cheese.  Along with the salsa verde and homemade tortillas, it was to die for. 

This deserves a bigger picture.
Bellies full, we sauntered over to the National Museum of Anthropology which was recommended by many.  For us, it was a bit boring, especially after having been to the Templo Mayor museum the day before.  So, we left there after about thirty minutes and hiked to the Chapultepec castle from which we got a great view of the city.  After Chapultepec, we got the metro back to the zócalo for another siesta and some dinner.  *Side Note* The metro in Mexico City is wonderful.  It is extremely fast, cheap, and accessible. For anyone looking to go to el D.F., I highly recommend the metro as a primary means of transport.
Dinner that night was another great experience.  We went to a little torta restaurant advertising tortas al pastor.  By this point, we understand that anything al pastor is utterly incredible.  So, we got a few tacos and a couple of tortas.  This was, once again, one of the best eating experiences of my life.  After tortas, Sam and I headed back to the hostel for another relatively early night.  Sunday morning, we decide to hit the last landmark in the zócalo before making our way back to Puebla.  The National Palace is a nice big building with several murals by Diego Rivera.  Inside there are a couple galleries with art by some of the more famous Mexican artists.  While I’m not exactly the artsy type, I appreciated the experience and had a nice morning walking around the palace.  For lunch, we got some tacos from a street vendor. Needless to say, they were “muy rico.” 


 Finally, we took the metro one last time to the bus station and caught a bus back to Puebla, which, curiously, only took about an hour and forty minutes compared to the three hours it took us on the way there.  Our weekend in Mexico City was one to be remembered. Now I just can’t wait for my parents to arrive in less than a week! Yes, this post is also obnoxiously long, and no, it is not mostly pictures. But, I am not apologetic - Sam has been nagging me to post for over a week now so I felt obliged to make this a whopper. 

Monday, February 11, 2013

Mexico City!

So, I courteously wrote about Australia Day last week in order to let Jake write about our weekend in Mexico City. But, he is a flojo, so now I am writing about Mexico City.  I promise we will be more punctual in our blog posts from now on.  Anyway, last Friday we woke up bright and early, hopped on a bus, and arrived in Mexico City a few hours later.  Public transportation is magic!
The famous Victoria statue in Mexico City; now a symbol  of the Districto Federal 
We checked into our hostel, which my lovely brother-ish-in-law Eric suggested: Hostel Mundo Joven Catedral.  If anyone needs a cheap, convenient, and decent place to stay in Mexico City, I would suggest this hostel.
View from our room looking down into the reception area.
Probably the most awesome part of this hostel is that it is literally on a corner of the zocalo, or center square.   So, once Jake and I dropped our stuff off in our room, we mosied outside, crossed the street, and entered yet another amazingly beautiful cathedral.  This one is bigger then most, though.

Awesome, enormous organ


Our tummies were starting to rumble, so we headed out to the zocalo to look for some grub.  Another international student had suggested eating at the top of one of the main buildings in the zocalo, so we followed his directions of "walk under these archways and look lost" and sure enough! Guys shoved menus into our faces and we were bustled off to the top floor.  I am a little embarrassed to admit we ate at a restaurant called "Lucky's", but the view was worth it.
Zocalo! There was a health fair going on, hence all the trailers, and it was hot, hence the line of people standing in the flag's shade. The building in the center is the Presidential Palace.
Once we finished our lunch, we crossed the zocalo to go see the Templo Mayor, a ruin of another Aztec temple that Spaniards covered with dirt (this time, the dirt was no longer covering it) which is RIGHT in the middle of the city.  The temple had some cool details like original coloring of Aztec murals (which depicted warriors carrying the tools for sacrifices, lovely), altars (they killed a LOT of people), and remains of a living space.  The museum was pretty cool too-lots of artifacts from the Temple, things found in tombs, and things for killing people.
Prehispanic meets Spanish, the Cathedral is in the background.
NOT REAL SKULLS: these are carvings for a wall of the Temple for the God of the Dead.  They weren't thaaaat grisly.
That night, we wandered around the neighborhood Las Bellas Artes, got some ice cream (yummm), and a bottle of wine (yumm-errr), and tlayudas (YUMMEST) for a nice, chill night. We wandered up to the terrace of our hostel and hung out for a while, because it was beautiful.
Cool building in Las Bellas Artes
I scream for ice cream.
Tlayudas! A Oaxacan dish, which has beef, chorizo, frijoles, avocado, onions, and cheese  folded up in an ENORMOUS tortilla and eaten with gusto.
View from the terrace.
A good first day, right? Now for the second. We headed to Chapultepec Park, which is apparently the largest city park in the Western Hemisphere. It is huge. And gorgeous. 
With lots of street vendors.
We first went to the zoo, and I will restrain myself from posting all of my 50 photos from the zoo because, although I DID see a panda, tiger, jaguar, monkeys, lots of deer thingies, a rhino, hippo, GOATS, and other cool things, they looked like animals in a nice zoo (picture the National Zoo in D.C.).  From there, we got more food. I really can't describe how amazing the food is. We had a litre of horchata, order of tacos dorados, and an alambre (kind of like fajitas, but better), and it all cost 60 pesos--which is about 5 dollars.
We walked through the park to get to the famous Anthropology Museum. Fortunately, I remembered students get in for free! Unfortunately, it had pretty much the same stuff as the museum at Templo Mayor. Oh well, gave us time to do other things. Like climb up to the top of a big hill. 
View!
We were quite tired from all the walking, so it felt good to take the metro back to our hostel and rest up. We made the long trek of walking across the zocalo to a taco place I saw on our way back. I'm not even going to try to describe how good this was, and once again, very cheap. 
TORTAS! Everything a sandwich should be, and better. 
Our last morning there, we walked to a artisan shop, then ate THE BEST TACOS I WILL EVER EAT on the side of the road for 5 pesos each (50 cents).  Then, we visited the Presidential Palace, which was very cool.  It's covered in murals by Diego Rivera, and a few of the rooms have been turned into art galleries.

And so ends our weekend in Mexico City! Sorry for the insanely long blog post, I swear it's mostly pictures!  The trip was a lot of fun, and it just made me want to go back and see more of the city.
 


Monday, February 4, 2013

Australia Day! And classes.

Plus we had a pinata!
So, this is more than a week late, but better late than never, right? Last Saturday was so much fun that it deserves its own blog post.  About 6 of the 70 study abroad students are from Australia, so some of them decided to have an Australia Day celebration.  I'm still not really sure what Australia Day is, but I think it marks the day the English took over Australia (January 26), and is usually celebrated by drinking lots of beer, having a barbecue, and playing with kangaroos (I might have made the last one up).

7 in the photo, 1 taking the picture, 1 driving. This is legal in Mexico, I swear.


 In traditional Mexican style, us Americans met up at the time we were told, then waited around for over an hour for all the locals to arrive.  Maybe one day I will relax my rigid punctuality, but until then I will be at least 5 minutes early, goshdarnit.  Anyway, one of the Amigos Internacionales knew of a park where we could have this shindig, so, with the help of Rafael, who owns a truck and happens to know one of the Australians, a bunch of us (9 to be precise) squeezed into the seats, floor, and trunk of a car, drove 15 minutes, and found ourselves in a lovely park, complete with soccer field, tent, and grill.

On the way over, Rafael attempted to teach us the Mexican national anthem.  All I remember is "Mexicanos al grito de guerra" which means "Mexicans at the cry of war". I assume they do something at the cry of war, but you will have to look that up for yourself. 



Fairy bread: who knew bread with butter and sprinkles was so
delicious? Apparently the Australians.












So anyway, the park really was perfect, the day was warm, the beer was cold.  What could be better? We played with a boomerang, threw the frisbee around a bit, soaked in the sun, chatted around the barbie, and ate lots of sausages and snacks, some of which were Australian.  Even though I still had a giant food belly, we played soccer as the sun went down.  On one side, we had a beautiful view of the volcanoes and Puebla at night, and on the other side we had a view of the desert-y landscape of Mexico with a huge moon lighting up the sky.  Overall, a pretty awesome day. 
I realize I haven't really talked at all about my classes.  The reason is, I do not have any pretty pictures of my classes, so I am not inspired to write about them.  I will suck it up because I am here to learn things, not just drink beer with Australians.  Siggghhhh. So, here is a brief overview of what we discussed last week in some of my classes.  My Mexico Actual and Cultura Mexicana classes are both pretty easy, as they are made for students learning Spanish.  This week, we talked about the Huicholes (as Jake already discussed) and Dia de los Muertos, which I am sad I will not be here to celebrate because it seems like Halloween, but with more purpose to celebrate besides free candy and skimpy costumes.  In my Spanish grammar class, which is much too hard for me, I struggled to understand boring things in grammar that I do not understand in English, let alone in Spanish.  
La Catrina: the modern representation of the Dead. Love that hat.
My Art History and Contemporary History classes are my favorites.  I really have to pay close attention to these classes because they are in Spanish for Spanish speakers.  In my Art History class, we are learning about Ancient Greece and Rome.  My professor talked mostly about the evolution of sculpture from 700 BC to 300 BC, and I am proud to say that I took pretty thorough, fairly accurate notes, including pictures.  Here is the gist: first, statues of people were blocky, men were naked and muscular, women were clothed and rich looking.  Then, during Classical Greece, Polykleitos wrote The Canon, which theorized the perfect proportions of men and encouraged sculptors to be a little more fabulous.  My sketch in my notebook looks like Will Smith.
 It's actually pretty accurate.In my history class, we have finished talking about World War I and have moved on to World War II.  I wish I could say it's because of the language barrier, but I really don't know much of this information.  I guess I haven't maintained much of what I learned in high school.  But I am starting to understand more of what my professor is saying! Pretty much everything actually, although my transcriptions of things I don't know how to spell are pretty amusing; for instance, the Treaty of Neuilly in my notes is spelled Ne..?  I am even confident enough to answer questions, as I did the other day! I got the answer wrong, but still. Pretty happy with myself.Stay tuned for more exciting things about our trip to Mexico City and all the amazing FOOD we are eating!