So Mexico City and Michoacan are both not as scary as I thought they would be. First we spent 2 days in Mexico City, which was pretty interesting. We went to Frida Kahlo`s house and this really cool old castle....I can`t remember the name though. The metro there is a little scary though. People are crammed in like sardines and some of us almost got stuck getting off because they were so crowded. The assistant that came with us did get robbed on the metro though. She went by herself though which was probably not a very good idea. We also went to the movie theater in Mexico City and that was kind of fun to see a movie in spanish there. I missed popcorn so much! And after the movie Mexico had just won a soccer game against Honduras so there were a ton of people celebrating in the street....soccer is a big deal here so it was really cool to see. Me and Alex were the only white girls in the group we were walking with (well actually the only white girls there at all) and we definitely stood out. Some guys actually came up and took our picture.
Now we are in Morelia, which is in the state of Michoacan and the city is really beautiful. They scared us by telling us that they wanted to cancel this part of the trip because it`s so dangerous, but I dont think it`s that bad. It`s kind of like Seattle...I wouldn`t walk by myself at night but the days are fine. But we aren't allowed to go to the celebration to night for the Mexican Independence day because there was a bomb last year. So instead we are all going to some restaurant to celebreate.
My house here is really nice. We are all staying with pretty rich families. I did have a bit of a scare though because me and my friend were walking around and I cut my foot open on the cement. SInce it was bleeding I decided to go back to my house to get a bandaid, but when I opened the door the house alarm went off. It was so loud and she never told me how to turn it off so we were freaking out! I had to call her and she had to drive home really fast. Luckily she showed up right before the cops got there. I dont know what I would have done if the cops had shown up because I haven`t exactly heard great things about the cops here.
Other than that everything is going great. We have SO much homework here though! We have a ton of articles to read every night and one night it adds up to 200 pages. There is no way I can read that much in spanish in one night. I am so ready to come home though. I think four weeks is a little to long for me to be gone. It probably wouldn`t be so bad except that we are always so busy I just feel like I`m not even enjoying the stuff we are doing anymore because I am so exhausted. It would also be nice if I could call home, but the phone that I bought here (which is a pay as you go phone) won`t call the U.S., even though it worked when I first got it. And I have a calling card from someone, but I can`t get that to work on any of the pay phones either. So now I have spent about $70 and about an hour trying to talk to the people who sell the phone and I can`t get it to work. It`s very frustrating. Ok, well that`s all for now! I will try to write once more before I leave, but if not then I will be home Saturday!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Palenque and Leaving Chiapas
I only have a few minutes so this will have to be a quick recap. We went toPalenque this weekend and saw the Mayan ruins. But first on the way there we stopped at some really cool waterfalls called Aguazul. The place we stayed in Palenque was reallly cool also. We stayed in cabins in the jungle, which were a little gross and had a lot of bugs, but the rest of the place had an awesome atmoshpere. Therewere so many Mexican and European hippies there! We also saw monkeys and some cool bands and hippies dancing with fire :). I swear two of the people there thought they were Tarzan and Jane. They were prety much just wearing loin cloths and had dreads....they were very interesting to watch. It was a great place to spend my birthday though.
The ruins in Paleneque were so beautiful, and even though they are reconstructed, it´s amazing to think about how old those buildings are. And only about 5% ofthem are uncovered. The rest of them are still buried in the jungle so we also got to walk through the jungle to see some of the ones that they left buried.
After Palenque we drove back to Chiapas and on our last day there we went to Sumidero canyon. We took a boat through the canyon, which is HUGE, and it was really beautiful. We also saw a bunch of spider monkeys and crocodiles. Then we left Chiapas at 7pm and drove 12 hours back to Oaxaca. I am getting really tired of buses, but at least this one was comfortable and we got to watch to movies. We are going to spend the day here in Oaxaca and then we are off to mexico city. Then on Friday we are going to Morelia in Michiacan. They almost changed that part of the trip because it´s pretty dangerous there right now, but they decided not to. We aren´t going to be able to do much there though because it´s not really safe to walk around unless we are with a really big group.
K, well that´s all for now!
The ruins in Paleneque were so beautiful, and even though they are reconstructed, it´s amazing to think about how old those buildings are. And only about 5% ofthem are uncovered. The rest of them are still buried in the jungle so we also got to walk through the jungle to see some of the ones that they left buried.
After Palenque we drove back to Chiapas and on our last day there we went to Sumidero canyon. We took a boat through the canyon, which is HUGE, and it was really beautiful. We also saw a bunch of spider monkeys and crocodiles. Then we left Chiapas at 7pm and drove 12 hours back to Oaxaca. I am getting really tired of buses, but at least this one was comfortable and we got to watch to movies. We are going to spend the day here in Oaxaca and then we are off to mexico city. Then on Friday we are going to Morelia in Michiacan. They almost changed that part of the trip because it´s pretty dangerous there right now, but they decided not to. We aren´t going to be able to do much there though because it´s not really safe to walk around unless we are with a really big group.
K, well that´s all for now!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Chiapas
So we have been in Chiapas for almost a week now and I really like it here. We drove to Guatemala today. It was 3 hours each way, but we couldn´t actually go in all the way because we didn´t have all the right paper work. So they let us walk across the border and go to the market, but then we had to turn around and drive back. And it was SO hot! I was wearing jeans and felt like I was literally cooking. Chiapas has actually been kind of cold though in the mornings and nights. I need it to be sunnier because I am still as pale as when I left!
The town we are staying in is called San Cristobal de Las Casas and I really like it, but we have been so busy that I haven´t really been able to do much. We have trips to little towns, usually indigenous ones, in the mornings and then we come back for lunch at 2:30 and then have class from 4 to 7. The classes here have been so boring! It kills me to sit there for 3 hours. Then we usually have reading to do and I have been so tired that I just read and fall asleep. Mostly evryone else has been going out every night but I am already so exhausted that I have been lame and havent been going :) I will go out for my b-day though
Well, there isn´t much to say about this week, but we are going on a trip this weekend to see some water falls and the ruins at Palenque so I will write mor after that
Hasta luego!
The town we are staying in is called San Cristobal de Las Casas and I really like it, but we have been so busy that I haven´t really been able to do much. We have trips to little towns, usually indigenous ones, in the mornings and then we come back for lunch at 2:30 and then have class from 4 to 7. The classes here have been so boring! It kills me to sit there for 3 hours. Then we usually have reading to do and I have been so tired that I just read and fall asleep. Mostly evryone else has been going out every night but I am already so exhausted that I have been lame and havent been going :) I will go out for my b-day though
Well, there isn´t much to say about this week, but we are going on a trip this weekend to see some water falls and the ruins at Palenque so I will write mor after that
Hasta luego!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Summary of the first 10 days
Ok, so it´s kind of late to start a blog of my trip, but Michelle is harassing me to make one so I will try it out....I have been here for a while though so this first blog will just be a brief (hopefully) summary of what I have done so far.
First of all, we are here for 4 weeks and the topic of the trip is migration from and through Mexico to the United States. So basically we are traveling around Mexico and we are staying with homestay families and taking classes at different institutes in the states we are visiting. The first state we went to was Oaxaca.
Overall Oaxaca was pretty cool. The woman I stayed with was really nice. She was always hugging me and kissing my cheek and she called me mi vida (my life). The town was also pretty safe. I could walk around during the day by myself without having to worry about anything...which will not be the case when we go to Michuacan.
The food here has been pretty good so far, but people in my group are starting to get sick. We can´t drink the water or even brush our teeth with it. Everything is done with bottled water. We also can´t buy fruit or salad (basically anything that would have been washed with water) from anywhere...we can only eat it with our homestay families. The milk is also a little sketchy....they dont refrigerate it even though it says to on the boxes. I had cereal today (corn flakes) but my host mom heated the milk on the stove first so the cereal was soggy and pretty gross. They give us so much to eat though! If it weren´t for all the walking we do I would be really worried...
In Oaxaca we went on a few excursions to some of the smaller pueblos to interview the people their. It is so crazy how different their lifestyles are from ours. I will post pics when I get home, but Oaxaca is the poorest state in Mexico so their are so many women and children begging in the streets or trying to sell jewelry and stuff. And there are so many skinny dogs on the streets! They constantly have their nose to the ground looking for food...it is really sad. Another thing that I have had to get used to is the sewer systems here...which apparently suck so you can´t throw toilet paper down them. So their are little (uncovered) garbage cans next to the toilets for the paper....let´s just say some of the bathrooms don´t smell so great.
The class that we had to take in Oaxaca was 3 hours and pretty boring. We had a lot of reading to do and a paper to write and I´m really not in school mode yet so it was kind of torture. But we also got to go do some fun things like see different ruins around Oaxaca. Monte Albán was amazing! I will also post pics of that later, but google it if you are interested :)
Well this is getting long so I will wrap it up. We left Oaxaca and drive for about 6 hours I think to a town called Juchitan (I think) where we stayed in a hotel for the night. Then we drove 6 more hours until we got to the state of Chiapas, which is where we are staying this week. The drive was horrible though because we are crammed into 2 vans (there are 24 of us) and the roads are very windy and the drivers are crazy!! They pass right before hugh hills or curves and their are always people driving on the side of the road....it is very chaotic I would never want to drive here. We did get to stop at a beach on the way though, which was nice. We are in the middle of the country so we never really see water....in fact I don´t really know where this beach was....but anyway, I think that is all for now. I will fill you all in on Chiapas later.
Adios!
First of all, we are here for 4 weeks and the topic of the trip is migration from and through Mexico to the United States. So basically we are traveling around Mexico and we are staying with homestay families and taking classes at different institutes in the states we are visiting. The first state we went to was Oaxaca.
Overall Oaxaca was pretty cool. The woman I stayed with was really nice. She was always hugging me and kissing my cheek and she called me mi vida (my life). The town was also pretty safe. I could walk around during the day by myself without having to worry about anything...which will not be the case when we go to Michuacan.
The food here has been pretty good so far, but people in my group are starting to get sick. We can´t drink the water or even brush our teeth with it. Everything is done with bottled water. We also can´t buy fruit or salad (basically anything that would have been washed with water) from anywhere...we can only eat it with our homestay families. The milk is also a little sketchy....they dont refrigerate it even though it says to on the boxes. I had cereal today (corn flakes) but my host mom heated the milk on the stove first so the cereal was soggy and pretty gross. They give us so much to eat though! If it weren´t for all the walking we do I would be really worried...
In Oaxaca we went on a few excursions to some of the smaller pueblos to interview the people their. It is so crazy how different their lifestyles are from ours. I will post pics when I get home, but Oaxaca is the poorest state in Mexico so their are so many women and children begging in the streets or trying to sell jewelry and stuff. And there are so many skinny dogs on the streets! They constantly have their nose to the ground looking for food...it is really sad. Another thing that I have had to get used to is the sewer systems here...which apparently suck so you can´t throw toilet paper down them. So their are little (uncovered) garbage cans next to the toilets for the paper....let´s just say some of the bathrooms don´t smell so great.
The class that we had to take in Oaxaca was 3 hours and pretty boring. We had a lot of reading to do and a paper to write and I´m really not in school mode yet so it was kind of torture. But we also got to go do some fun things like see different ruins around Oaxaca. Monte Albán was amazing! I will also post pics of that later, but google it if you are interested :)
Well this is getting long so I will wrap it up. We left Oaxaca and drive for about 6 hours I think to a town called Juchitan (I think) where we stayed in a hotel for the night. Then we drove 6 more hours until we got to the state of Chiapas, which is where we are staying this week. The drive was horrible though because we are crammed into 2 vans (there are 24 of us) and the roads are very windy and the drivers are crazy!! They pass right before hugh hills or curves and their are always people driving on the side of the road....it is very chaotic I would never want to drive here. We did get to stop at a beach on the way though, which was nice. We are in the middle of the country so we never really see water....in fact I don´t really know where this beach was....but anyway, I think that is all for now. I will fill you all in on Chiapas later.
Adios!
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