We had a really nice Christmas time with Tom and all of his friends, people from France, Belgium, Italy, Australia... such a diverse group of people bringing an amazingly diverse array of foods to the holiday table! For Christmas dinner we spent the whole day cooking our dishes - Ian and I made a delicious mediterranean salad with olives, tomatoes, goat cheese, chickpeas, etc and squeezed a liter of fresh orange juice from the fruit tree in Tom´s front yard. Mmmm. There was Thai curry, baba ganoush and humus, ponche (a traditional Mexican holiday drink, similar to cider but made with a variety of fruits, or just pineapple, with posh or tequila) ... quite the feast. All enjoyed by a toasty fire.
That night we went to see MU FAYA, one of the bands Tom produces (he has a recording studio in the house and like a dozen guitars). They´re an intense couple of French reggae guys, and mu faya is their version of MORE FIRE because they don´t speak English. Youtube it.
We´ve been having a very nice time staying with Tom and his roommate Anna. We wake to a pot of coffee in the garden, the walls absolutely covered with orchids and bromiliads that Tom has collected from the woods, parrots and parakeets who live nearby in the belltower of a church sqwaking in the morning. They have a great set of friends, most of whom are expats or travelers from other countries, always ready with stories and advice about their travels.
San Cristóbal is a wonderful city, so similar to Pátzcuaro in the architecture and narrow streets, with a modest vibe. There is a diference in the size, and the amount of people here, and this means there´s actually a night life (nothing happened past 8 pm in Patzcuaro) which is great for Tom and these guys because they´re so into the music scene of the town and Mexico. Especially durning Christmas, there´s an excitement in the air. We've been hearing (and barely seeing) fireworks all day, a sure sign of celebration in Mexico.
We´ve had a nice hike to some very well hidden ruins nearby, completely unexcavated. The people in town don´t even know about them - they like to make the people think no one was in San Cristóbal before the Spaniards.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
de las Casas
Ay Ay Ay.
So we left Zipolite, sadly. It was a spectacular few weeks on the beach, though most of what we did was lie around. We did a couple more trips to other beaches nearby, Playa Panteòn for
safe swimming, Playa del Amor for a super tiny private beach. We spent a lot of time in a hammock, barefoot 24/7 unless we needed to go into Pochutla for cash - an annoying trip - ate good food like chow mein and pizzas with blue cheese, found a good cup of coffee. We took advantage of the hotels inner tube and surfed some waves!!
One day the water was calm enough for them to put out the green flags. That day I got stung by a sting ray. They like the calm... pros and cons I guess. It felt like my foot was stabbed with a knife, but I knew exactly what it was as soon as it happened-I was already aware of them,
shuffling my feet and whatnot, running into something flat and fishy here and there.
The lifeguard pointed me towards the closest thing to a doctor the town has and he gave me a couple of shots for the pain. My entire foot still hurt for hours afterwards, and a fun sore bruise for a couple of weeks!
On the day we were supposed to leave, we had left our room and gone the half hour into Pochutla to catch a bus, but they were all full. So we returned to spend one more last day at the beach, what a shame.
After ten hours on the bus, we arrived in San Cristòbal de las Casas, Chiapas and we`re staying with a friend we met a couple months ago in Pàtzcuaro. We will be a part of the holiday dinner and parties, and the town is a great place to be for Christmas time. Lights, music, magic in the air.
So we left Zipolite, sadly. It was a spectacular few weeks on the beach, though most of what we did was lie around. We did a couple more trips to other beaches nearby, Playa Panteòn for
safe swimming, Playa del Amor for a super tiny private beach. We spent a lot of time in a hammock, barefoot 24/7 unless we needed to go into Pochutla for cash - an annoying trip - ate good food like chow mein and pizzas with blue cheese, found a good cup of coffee. We took advantage of the hotels inner tube and surfed some waves!!
One day the water was calm enough for them to put out the green flags. That day I got stung by a sting ray. They like the calm... pros and cons I guess. It felt like my foot was stabbed with a knife, but I knew exactly what it was as soon as it happened-I was already aware of them,
shuffling my feet and whatnot, running into something flat and fishy here and there.
The lifeguard pointed me towards the closest thing to a doctor the town has and he gave me a couple of shots for the pain. My entire foot still hurt for hours afterwards, and a fun sore bruise for a couple of weeks!
On the day we were supposed to leave, we had left our room and gone the half hour into Pochutla to catch a bus, but they were all full. So we returned to spend one more last day at the beach, what a shame.
After ten hours on the bus, we arrived in San Cristòbal de las Casas, Chiapas and we`re staying with a friend we met a couple months ago in Pàtzcuaro. We will be a part of the holiday dinner and parties, and the town is a great place to be for Christmas time. Lights, music, magic in the air.
Friday, December 12, 2008
fotos
This is Zipolite... there are waves nig enough to surf, too big to swim, but fun for body surfing.
Chillin on the beach with fresh coconut milk
This is where we stayed the first night.
This was our new and improved tent set up behind the restaurant at Lake Catemaco. That`s the RV that parked on top of us.
The lancha that took us out
This is at the San Ulùa Jose fort in Veracruz. They called this the last bridge you`d ever cross because it leads into the prison that no one came out of. 
That`s me at the fort in the endless set of arches where they stored food and collected water that seeped through the coral walls and made it drinkable - this is the coral 
Rolling some fatties at Te Amo cigars.
A nasty-huge grasshopper we picked up on the walk. It was like the size of a rat
Chillin on the beach with fresh coconut milk
This is where we stayed the first night.
This was our new and improved tent set up behind the restaurant at Lake Catemaco. That`s the RV that parked on top of us.
On Lake Catemaco
On the docks at Nanciyaga on the lake
On the docks at Nanciyaga on the lake
The lancha that took us out
This is at the San Ulùa Jose fort in Veracruz. They called this the last bridge you`d ever cross because it leads into the prison that no one came out of.
That`s me at the fort in the endless set of arches where they stored food and collected water that seeped through the coral walls and made it drinkable - this is the coral 
Rolling some fatties at Te Amo cigars.
On the road to the waterfall in Xico.... Veracruz was more tropical than we`d seen so far
A nasty-huge grasshopper we picked up on the walk. It was like the size of a rat
Thursday, December 4, 2008
barefoot breakfasts
Zipolite beach is hippie town on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca. Once a sleepy fishing villiage on the costa chica, in the 70s a bunch of hippies came here to watch a solar eclipse, and ended up building a permanent community. Everything is on the beach, and all the accomodations are little tropical paradises - there are cabañas and huts, they rent out hammocks to sleep in, and many places let people pitch tents in the sand.
After a long day on a bus and a pirata, we got into Zipolite without any reservation. A guy shouted at us on the street "room for 2, 100 pesos!" so we took it. Anything else is at least 200 pesos a night. A hole of a room, but right on the beach, like every single place in town. The next day we got money changed at a hotel, and talked to the owner for long enough that he offered us a better cabaña for only 80 pesos!
So we`ve spent the last few days absolutely soaking up the sun - a southfacing beach enjoys the sunrise and sunset! We lay in the hammock in front of our cabaña looking out into the water. We swim and swim and swim all day long. It`s a pretty dangerous current, but the lifegaurds are always up running after something so I feel safe. I`ve been working on my tan, but it`s still a burn. The food in this town is rather different than anywhere else. The majority of people here are Europeans, so there are a few Italian restaurants and bakeries, there`s a creperie, chow mein, a wide variety. And what we`ve eaten so far is pretty economical. An awesome Mexican man barbecues whole chickens, cuts it in half and slaps it on your plate with rice and mac salad and tortillas for 25 pesos!! The only thing he serves. So delicious, huge... Ian has had dreams of the chicken.
Yesterday we went on a boat ride that lasted all morning long and snorkeled at a beautiful beach called Playa Estacahuite, a tiny tiny little beach, really private compared to others, still with the bar and couple hotels on it. Snorkeling was sooo much fun, felt just like I was a little fishy chasing after all the pretty fishies. On the boat we spotted a pair of humpback wales several times, even really close to the boat. We could jump out in the middle of the ocean and float beside the boat. It left from Playa Panteòn, another super cute beach with more families and boats anchored close to shore.
We are really enjoying ourselves and are probably planning to stay for another 2 weeks....
I haven`t worn shoes a minute since we got here.
After a long day on a bus and a pirata, we got into Zipolite without any reservation. A guy shouted at us on the street "room for 2, 100 pesos!" so we took it. Anything else is at least 200 pesos a night. A hole of a room, but right on the beach, like every single place in town. The next day we got money changed at a hotel, and talked to the owner for long enough that he offered us a better cabaña for only 80 pesos!
So we`ve spent the last few days absolutely soaking up the sun - a southfacing beach enjoys the sunrise and sunset! We lay in the hammock in front of our cabaña looking out into the water. We swim and swim and swim all day long. It`s a pretty dangerous current, but the lifegaurds are always up running after something so I feel safe. I`ve been working on my tan, but it`s still a burn. The food in this town is rather different than anywhere else. The majority of people here are Europeans, so there are a few Italian restaurants and bakeries, there`s a creperie, chow mein, a wide variety. And what we`ve eaten so far is pretty economical. An awesome Mexican man barbecues whole chickens, cuts it in half and slaps it on your plate with rice and mac salad and tortillas for 25 pesos!! The only thing he serves. So delicious, huge... Ian has had dreams of the chicken.
Yesterday we went on a boat ride that lasted all morning long and snorkeled at a beautiful beach called Playa Estacahuite, a tiny tiny little beach, really private compared to others, still with the bar and couple hotels on it. Snorkeling was sooo much fun, felt just like I was a little fishy chasing after all the pretty fishies. On the boat we spotted a pair of humpback wales several times, even really close to the boat. We could jump out in the middle of the ocean and float beside the boat. It left from Playa Panteòn, another super cute beach with more families and boats anchored close to shore.
We are really enjoying ourselves and are probably planning to stay for another 2 weeks....
I haven`t worn shoes a minute since we got here.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
transversing the country
We made it to Oaxaca!
After spending a couple of nights in Acayucan, Veracruz (where I think the room had fleas or bed bugs), we took a bus from one side of Mexico to the other, and now we are in Salina Cruz.
We`ve spent the time in our "stop-over"cities to do research, request hosts, eat eat, and just wander the town plazas. One of my top favorite things about going to all different places and sleeping somewhere new so often is tasting all the food! Not only does every region or state have its specialties, pueblos have foods that are totally unique to the town. In Morelia we loved corrundas, fatty cheese + chili stuffed tamales, and gorditas de nata, tiny little pancake things they sell on the street. In Xalapa we discovered salsa de chili seco, a waay spicier and smokier tasting salsa they don`t serve anywhere else, and Veracruz has memelas, like a pizza sized tortilla with beans and cheese and such, and empanadas, a version of a quesadilla. Of course, the coastal states super specialty is seafood, but I only taste it through Ian`s descriptions.
I`ve been searching for a torta to rival an amazing place in Jalapa where I can get 3 kinds of cheese with pineapple, beans and chile. Now that we`re in Oaxaca we`ll be able to taste the mole everyone has been raving about. And another thing: CHEESE! Queso fresco is amazing, but queso oaxaca is my faaaaaaavorite! It`s a delicious salty stringy cheese, like mozarella but Mexican (there`s a less salty version called queso de hebra). And when we`re in a town with a market and place with a fridge we taste + stock up on all of the super super fresh cheeses.
So... we probably haven`t eaten pizza since D.F. It`s expensive. French fries- pretty often.
Street food is impossibly cheap, especially the farther south we get. The only downside - when we find someplace we like, we move on to the next stop.
After spending a couple of nights in Acayucan, Veracruz (where I think the room had fleas or bed bugs), we took a bus from one side of Mexico to the other, and now we are in Salina Cruz.
We`ve spent the time in our "stop-over"cities to do research, request hosts, eat eat, and just wander the town plazas. One of my top favorite things about going to all different places and sleeping somewhere new so often is tasting all the food! Not only does every region or state have its specialties, pueblos have foods that are totally unique to the town. In Morelia we loved corrundas, fatty cheese + chili stuffed tamales, and gorditas de nata, tiny little pancake things they sell on the street. In Xalapa we discovered salsa de chili seco, a waay spicier and smokier tasting salsa they don`t serve anywhere else, and Veracruz has memelas, like a pizza sized tortilla with beans and cheese and such, and empanadas, a version of a quesadilla. Of course, the coastal states super specialty is seafood, but I only taste it through Ian`s descriptions.
I`ve been searching for a torta to rival an amazing place in Jalapa where I can get 3 kinds of cheese with pineapple, beans and chile. Now that we`re in Oaxaca we`ll be able to taste the mole everyone has been raving about. And another thing: CHEESE! Queso fresco is amazing, but queso oaxaca is my faaaaaaavorite! It`s a delicious salty stringy cheese, like mozarella but Mexican (there`s a less salty version called queso de hebra). And when we`re in a town with a market and place with a fridge we taste + stock up on all of the super super fresh cheeses.
So... we probably haven`t eaten pizza since D.F. It`s expensive. French fries- pretty often.
Street food is impossibly cheap, especially the farther south we get. The only downside - when we find someplace we like, we move on to the next stop.
Friday, November 28, 2008
hmm, thanksgiving?
We got the inside tour of a cigar factory just outside of San Andres Tuxtla - actually on the highway halfway between Catemaco and San Andres, where we walked 2 kilometers along the road into town after our tour (a bit stressful when huge trucks fly by, no shoulder).
But we hopped off the bus as soon as we saw a building with the word tabaquería , and we ended up in the factory of Te Amo cigars, a 120 year old company, something of an establishment in Mexican cigars. As soon the as Cuban embargo happened, Mexico rejoiced with the new possibilities of cigar importing to the U.S.
Our guide took us into each step of the process. We started in the humid warehouse where they store hundreds of gigantic bricks of tobacco leaves, wrapped in cloth to keep in moisture. The more aged, the better the flavor, like wine. Our guide told us that they age their tobacco leaves for at least 7 years, but there are often anniversary blends of 10 + years.
Next we went into the room where they roll the cigars, every step of the process done by hand (all the way up to the packing and varnishing of the boxes). There were at least 50 people, working in pairs to roll all the different shapes and colors. Many were smoking them as they rolled them, our guide told us that this is encouraged, but only in the rolling room. I expected to see a bunch of crusty old men with cigars hanging out of their mouth, anyway. He also took us into the packing room where women wrapped the little paper things around the cigars and packed them into all kinds of pretty boxes.
After our tour we were obviously enclined to buy a few, mostly to compare their flavor to others we´ve tried (most notoriously the Cubans). Tasty, sure, not nothing compares to a Cuban.
After our walk along the highway, we made it into San Andres Tuxlta, a slightly bigger town than Catemaco, where every building and sidewalk is under construction (who knows why they do it in the rain). We ended up in the only bar in town, way in the back of a building, patroned by the old drunk men of the town who have been there all day, and probably every day. Ian smoked a cigar, and this seemed to encourage them to pull out their cigars. They passed around an unmarked puro, almost a foot long, and everyone smelled it intently and murmured about how delicious it would be. Then one of the men came over and gifted it to us, say "así es como somos en Mexico, un regalo," This is how we are in Mexico, a gift.
Yesterday was a beach day. The warm waters of the gulf were amazing! And we swam and swam and swam. Getting there was pretty annoying, in the back of a truck converted into a pirata, a type of rural colectivo they put seats in, an hour through rural towns and awfully unpaved roads, but we made it and the sea beckoned to us. The quiet little town that consists of a cul-de-sac is named Montepio, and the piratas are the only form of transportation I spotted the whole day. The beach was nearly empty, with the palapas that are probaly bustling during the summer and holidays, all but one abandoned. I had an authentically fresh piña colada, which took so long to make because they had to go hunt down a coconut for me.
The ride back ended up being 2 hours long, during which it got dark and super cold, both of us wet in the back of a truck.
But we were greated with an unusual Thanksgiving dinner (only by coincidence). We have neighbors now on our piece of grass behind the restaurant, an RV toting a British women, her German husband, and their Mexican dog. We ate supper with them and talked about the US and Europe and Mexico and smoked a couple cigars. There was no turkey.
But we hopped off the bus as soon as we saw a building with the word tabaquería , and we ended up in the factory of Te Amo cigars, a 120 year old company, something of an establishment in Mexican cigars. As soon the as Cuban embargo happened, Mexico rejoiced with the new possibilities of cigar importing to the U.S.
Our guide took us into each step of the process. We started in the humid warehouse where they store hundreds of gigantic bricks of tobacco leaves, wrapped in cloth to keep in moisture. The more aged, the better the flavor, like wine. Our guide told us that they age their tobacco leaves for at least 7 years, but there are often anniversary blends of 10 + years.
Next we went into the room where they roll the cigars, every step of the process done by hand (all the way up to the packing and varnishing of the boxes). There were at least 50 people, working in pairs to roll all the different shapes and colors. Many were smoking them as they rolled them, our guide told us that this is encouraged, but only in the rolling room. I expected to see a bunch of crusty old men with cigars hanging out of their mouth, anyway. He also took us into the packing room where women wrapped the little paper things around the cigars and packed them into all kinds of pretty boxes.
After our tour we were obviously enclined to buy a few, mostly to compare their flavor to others we´ve tried (most notoriously the Cubans). Tasty, sure, not nothing compares to a Cuban.
After our walk along the highway, we made it into San Andres Tuxlta, a slightly bigger town than Catemaco, where every building and sidewalk is under construction (who knows why they do it in the rain). We ended up in the only bar in town, way in the back of a building, patroned by the old drunk men of the town who have been there all day, and probably every day. Ian smoked a cigar, and this seemed to encourage them to pull out their cigars. They passed around an unmarked puro, almost a foot long, and everyone smelled it intently and murmured about how delicious it would be. Then one of the men came over and gifted it to us, say "así es como somos en Mexico, un regalo," This is how we are in Mexico, a gift.
Yesterday was a beach day. The warm waters of the gulf were amazing! And we swam and swam and swam. Getting there was pretty annoying, in the back of a truck converted into a pirata, a type of rural colectivo they put seats in, an hour through rural towns and awfully unpaved roads, but we made it and the sea beckoned to us. The quiet little town that consists of a cul-de-sac is named Montepio, and the piratas are the only form of transportation I spotted the whole day. The beach was nearly empty, with the palapas that are probaly bustling during the summer and holidays, all but one abandoned. I had an authentically fresh piña colada, which took so long to make because they had to go hunt down a coconut for me.
The ride back ended up being 2 hours long, during which it got dark and super cold, both of us wet in the back of a truck.
But we were greated with an unusual Thanksgiving dinner (only by coincidence). We have neighbors now on our piece of grass behind the restaurant, an RV toting a British women, her German husband, and their Mexican dog. We ate supper with them and talked about the US and Europe and Mexico and smoked a couple cigars. There was no turkey.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Catemaco
Laguna Catemaco is a a gorgeous lake, and a quiet place to walk the malecón during the down season. We´re camping next to a restuarant right on the water, where we´re woken up by the screams of herons and other birds, as well as the smell of huevos in the morning. Camping on the restaurant´s property is cheap and especially convenient for wandering out to a view of the lake - where there are tons of guys asking us if we want a boat ride every ten seconds. It´s November and I think we´re the only tourists in town.
Today we took a lancha out on the lake, after finding a good deal among the many men offering tours, and it was a beautifully warm overcast day to ride on the water. Before we boarded, our boat guide walked us to the back of a restaurant on the malecón where he had his boat parked, and showed us the caged crocodile and turtles that he "trains". He said "you will see many cocodrilos."
Among the places of interest in the lake that you can only reach by boat - Islita de las Garzas, little island of herons, the aquatic garden (which, from what I could tell, was just a bunch of lilly pads), and the Isla de Changos, monkey island! Our boat pulled up super close to a tree hanging over the water where there were at least five hanging out. He tried calling them over for us, then another boat pulled up and threw crackers at them and they came in really close. Obese fuzzy ugly red-faced monkeys, the first I´ve seen outside of a zoo! Apparently they were put there on that island, monkeys from Thailand, for the purpose of giving some guys a job to do by taking tourists out to see them... a type of ecological experiment.
We got off the boat at the Parque Nacional Nanciyaga, a rainforest reserve with a hokey little tour we had to pay for. We also got mineral mud masks of the lake sediment, and drank the mineral water that occurs naturally there, out of banana leaf cups. Here there are smaller brown monkeys that are natural to the jungle, but we could only see one waaaay up high in the trees.
Today we took a lancha out on the lake, after finding a good deal among the many men offering tours, and it was a beautifully warm overcast day to ride on the water. Before we boarded, our boat guide walked us to the back of a restaurant on the malecón where he had his boat parked, and showed us the caged crocodile and turtles that he "trains". He said "you will see many cocodrilos."
Among the places of interest in the lake that you can only reach by boat - Islita de las Garzas, little island of herons, the aquatic garden (which, from what I could tell, was just a bunch of lilly pads), and the Isla de Changos, monkey island! Our boat pulled up super close to a tree hanging over the water where there were at least five hanging out. He tried calling them over for us, then another boat pulled up and threw crackers at them and they came in really close. Obese fuzzy ugly red-faced monkeys, the first I´ve seen outside of a zoo! Apparently they were put there on that island, monkeys from Thailand, for the purpose of giving some guys a job to do by taking tourists out to see them... a type of ecological experiment.
We got off the boat at the Parque Nacional Nanciyaga, a rainforest reserve with a hokey little tour we had to pay for. We also got mineral mud masks of the lake sediment, and drank the mineral water that occurs naturally there, out of banana leaf cups. Here there are smaller brown monkeys that are natural to the jungle, but we could only see one waaaay up high in the trees.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
puerto
Here we are at the Port of Verarcruz, after sipping an americano at the oldest cafe in the state (maybe in the country?) La Gran Cafe de la Parroquia, over 200 years old. A fun tidbit. We got in last night after spending a few drizzly days in Xalapa. We enjoyed the change from the stiffling concrete jungle of D.F. to the fog and sprinkles.
On a sunnier day we ventured to la cascada de Texolo, a big beautiful waterfall in a town called Xico. Upon hiking allllll the way to the top we were greeted with an oddly solitary restaurant overlooking the waterfall. Good food, good prices, considering. I took pictures of all of this but I don´t have the means to upload any now.
That day we went into Coatepec, a good place to taste and buy Veracruzana coffee. We did both and enjoyed the little town plaza - apparently recovering from a party because the streets were covered in confetti.
I think this might be the first place we´ve come to where I can say that I´m unimpressed. Veracruz is a port town, so as we look longingly into the Gulf of Mexico (the farthest east I´ve ever been and the first time I´ve seen a part of the Atlantic), and feel the hot breeze that comes off the warm water, we can´t swim in it or enjoy a beach. It is really nice though, to not need a jacket at night, but even during the day when it´s completely cloudy and there are gray skies, there is a thin layer of sweat on my upper lip.
As soon as we got to our host´s house last night, we left for a Karaoke-birthday party. It was a bit much. It´s impossible to sing a Spanish song you´ve never heard, and no one knows the American songs we can sing, so... that was that. Ian gave it a couple shots with Hotel California and Get Back Jo Jo, but you know me.
Today ours hosts dutifully took us to Fortaleza San Jose Ulúa, the fort/port established when the first Spaniards landed at Veracruz. It was interesting for picture taking, but our hosts were bored since it was their third time taking couchsurfers on such a tour. We´re not exactly into the touristy thing, so I think none of us really enjoyed it.
Then they dropped us off in the centro historico where we enjoyed some sweet sweet coffee.
Tomorrow we go to Lake Catemaco for camping and monkey watching and witch sightings!
On a sunnier day we ventured to la cascada de Texolo, a big beautiful waterfall in a town called Xico. Upon hiking allllll the way to the top we were greeted with an oddly solitary restaurant overlooking the waterfall. Good food, good prices, considering. I took pictures of all of this but I don´t have the means to upload any now.
That day we went into Coatepec, a good place to taste and buy Veracruzana coffee. We did both and enjoyed the little town plaza - apparently recovering from a party because the streets were covered in confetti.
I think this might be the first place we´ve come to where I can say that I´m unimpressed. Veracruz is a port town, so as we look longingly into the Gulf of Mexico (the farthest east I´ve ever been and the first time I´ve seen a part of the Atlantic), and feel the hot breeze that comes off the warm water, we can´t swim in it or enjoy a beach. It is really nice though, to not need a jacket at night, but even during the day when it´s completely cloudy and there are gray skies, there is a thin layer of sweat on my upper lip.
As soon as we got to our host´s house last night, we left for a Karaoke-birthday party. It was a bit much. It´s impossible to sing a Spanish song you´ve never heard, and no one knows the American songs we can sing, so... that was that. Ian gave it a couple shots with Hotel California and Get Back Jo Jo, but you know me.
Today ours hosts dutifully took us to Fortaleza San Jose Ulúa, the fort/port established when the first Spaniards landed at Veracruz. It was interesting for picture taking, but our hosts were bored since it was their third time taking couchsurfers on such a tour. We´re not exactly into the touristy thing, so I think none of us really enjoyed it.
Then they dropped us off in the centro historico where we enjoyed some sweet sweet coffee.
Tomorrow we go to Lake Catemaco for camping and monkey watching and witch sightings!
Monday, November 17, 2008
toros
This guy got hit by the bull a couple times, it was pretty sweet, he was getting really close and acting the most macho.
We went to the bull fight, corrida de las toros and it was.. something else. The matadores were obviously wearing their sequinsed outfits, marching around the bulls all macho, yelling at the bulls like ¨come on bull, what are you gonna do?¡¨ The show of it was fun and interesting, but my stomach turned when they killed the bulls. For the first bull he didn´t do it cleanly, so it was lurcing around with blood spilling out of its mouth like a river.
The vibe of going to the corrida was like going to a baseball game. As our Mexican friends tell us, it´s something mostly the yuppies go to, which was obvious. We had a really good time, as the experience goes. We got sombreros and smoked a Cuban cigar (almost everyone was smoking a cigar), and yelled ole! when he tricked the bull good or burro! when a couple of the guys couldn´t kill the bull fast enough (they call him a brute because it makes the bull suffer longer if the sword doesn´t pierce the heart instantly). the last bull wouldn´t die even after he was stabbed twice, so everyone in the crowd threw their seat cushons into the ring a booed the matador.
We visited the ruins of Tlaltelolco near the centro histórico, they call it the Plaza de Tres Culturas because there are the ruins, then a church was build right next to them in the mid 16th century or something, and then next to that is a modern government building of somekind. You can see them in the pictures above. The fountain doesn´t belong to any of those periods.
We hung out in the centro with Sergio, and were cleansed in the Aztec tradition. It consited of some kind of a liquid cleanser on our hands and body, we held the basil and it was rubbed on our face and the back of our neck with pressure, and being covered in the pleasant smoke of whatever was burning in the stone thing. Smelt real nice afterwards.
And, the ruins of Technoctitlan are literally right downtown in the middle of everything. I remember learning about these in middle school, the history says that this was the lakebed where the Mexicas saw the eagle catching the snake on the cactus (like on the flag) that the god Quetzalcoatl told them they would see, and that´s where they should found their city. So the entire downtown Mexico city is built around this spot, and some buildings are tilting and sinking because the earth underneath is soft.
We hung out in the centro with Sergio, and were cleansed in the Aztec tradition. It consited of some kind of a liquid cleanser on our hands and body, we held the basil and it was rubbed on our face and the back of our neck with pressure, and being covered in the pleasant smoke of whatever was burning in the stone thing. Smelt real nice afterwards.
And, the ruins of Technoctitlan are literally right downtown in the middle of everything. I remember learning about these in middle school, the history says that this was the lakebed where the Mexicas saw the eagle catching the snake on the cactus (like on the flag) that the god Quetzalcoatl told them they would see, and that´s where they should found their city. So the entire downtown Mexico city is built around this spot, and some buildings are tilting and sinking because the earth underneath is soft.
Now we´ve made it out of D.F. and to Xalapa, Veracruz. The weather here is cloudy foggy and cool - like fall ought to be! It reminds of of San Francisco a lot, I like it. Luckily it hasn´t rained yet. Besides the weather, I really like Xalapa. It´s more of a low key state capital than Morelia, with it´s own vibe. Now that we´re in Veracruz, from here out we´re in coffee country and it´s deeeeeeeeeeeeliscious!
Today we visiting the Anthropology Museum here, the second most important in the country. The Gulf Coast is where the Olmecs are from, of the giant Olmec heads! So there were a whole bunch of those in the museum, pretty sweet. We´re couchsurfing still, and it´s treating us well!
Friday, November 14, 2008
I´ve been lazy about uploading pictures
Ian met a guy in Patzcuaro who told him he likes to put on a skull mask and ride around on his motorcycle.. one day he crusied by and stopped for pics!
more altar
in the Chapultepec Bosque
guarding the entrance to the Castle of Chapultepec
the indios(Quetzalcoatl)fighting off the Spaniards
Frida´s altar
sweet tag outside the Trotsky house
in the Zona Rosa there were dozens and dozens of huge papier maché dragons lining avenida reforma
That looks really dangerous.
the ruins of Cuicuilco
guarding the entrance to the Castle of Chapultepec
the indios(Quetzalcoatl)fighting off the Spaniards
Frida´s altar
sweet tag outside the Trotsky house
in the Zona Rosa there were dozens and dozens of huge papier maché dragons lining avenida reforma
That looks really dangerous.
the ruins of Cuicuilco
We have also made it to the other Diego & Frida house, which isn´t as well kept and kind of a weird museum. And we went to the Carillo Gil Contemporary Art Museum, new and also kind of weird, the art there was more random and obscure than at the other one. Now we´re with a new host who´s already tons better than the other one!
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