San Miguel de Allende: Time for an update. Well, on the road again, after being in Guadalajara for a month. It was a great time! But let me start with today and work my way backwards.
Arrived in San Miguel de Allende, a very beautiful colonial town near Guanajuato. It is the second most gringo populated city in Mexico, behind Lake Chapala. Lots of expats come here to retire. A nice town, very colonial, but the gringo presence is very, very evident. No offense, but glad I only stayed one night.
Before this we were in Guanajuato, my second visit on this trip. Very beautiful town, maybe my favorite in all of Mexico. Not counting Isla Mujeres, of course. We were there two nights, and just walked the streets, spent time at the park reading, and just enjoying the ambience of one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
And before that we were in Zacatecas, another colonial town full of spanish architecture and churches. There was a culture festival at the time we were there, so we were able to check out some concerts. Great place to visit!
When I say we, i`m referring to Vincent, my friend from spanish school who is from Montreal. And Jen, who I met in Nicaragua, and traveled with for a bit, until she headed to India. Now she is back and will travel Mexico with me until about the middle of the month. She`s one of the best travel partners. Always good times with her.
The month in Guadalajara was great. Met lots of great friends, visited many near by towns and pueblos, and spent the entire month with a wonderful host family. There are a few pics on Facebook.
My first day, walked into the school, and asked where I should register. They asked me if I was there for beginner lessons. No! I said emphatically, I was an advanced student! Here only to improve my skills. They looked at me suspect, and asked again. Then referred me to someone else, who asked me again. I was insistent that I would only take advanced courses, since I was paying for them. Then they asked for my name again, and said they couldn`t find my info on the computer. Great! I thought, they lost my registration info. Then one of them asked, wait, are you here for english or spanish lessons?
LOL, the whole time they thought I was there to learn english, and at a beginners level. I knew then that I must really, really look Mexican. But eventually I was squared away and began my course. Scored a 66% on my first exam (a ¨D¨), horrible! Then a 88% on the next. I guess I was a bit rusty with the whole exam thing. But I got into the swing of things, and I do feel that my grammar is much improved.
My brother comes tomorrow, so i`m excited about that. One week in Mexico City! Also get to see my tio`s and primos from there; I wonder what they`ll say about my spanish. Improved? And the fact that i`ve lost over 20 pounds, and grew some hair! lol.
I`m leaving in about an hour, should take about 4 hours to get there. I can`t wait!
Love you all,
Love you mom, see you in about two weeks!
Michael
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico: Again, its been so long that I don´t know where to begin. I think I left off somewhere in Merida (about four hours from Cancun). I was in Merida for a day or two, then headed to Campeche. Like Merida, they were in the midst of Carnaval, but it was raining, so most things were cancelled. As it turns out the only other person in my dorm was from Merida, and was in Campeche to work during Carnaval. He was the MC for one of the concert stages at carnaval. But since it was cancelled, we hung out, and he showed me around a little bit.
Campeche was nice. Reminded me a lot of Cartagena, Colombia. A fort city, with fort walls still visible. Near the water, and a place where pirates would frequent. It was not as romantic as Cartagena. It´s hard to explain, but some cities have a romantic feel, Cartagena was one of them, Campeche was not. But I still enjoyed it. But left after a day.
Headed to San Cristobal de las Casas, en Chiapas, Mexico. Chiapas is one of the most indeginous states in Mexico. They have preserved their culture more than most states. The Spanish had some, but very little influence on them. As a result, its a great place to see indigenous culture and life. I enjoyed my time there, took a few tours, but then had to head back to Cancun!
Why? Well, because turns out Tess was coming back from Cuba and wanted to see me. She said she was willing to come meet me wherever I was, but that would mean an overnight but to Chiapas. I didn´t think that would be a good idea, and her mom was with her, so I took an overnight bus to Cancun. We spent another four days together. Back to Isla de Mujeres, then to Tulum, Coba, and Merida. It was great, always a great time with her. She had a flight to LA that Saturday, and Ruben, my brother, was nice enough to show her and her mom around. We had a talk before she left, and keep in contact via email, but too early to tell what will come of all this. But at the very least, some great memories.
My plan was to visit Oaxaca, but I decided to do that later. Seeing Tess was more important to me. And I had to be in Iguala, where my dad is from, so I took a plance from Merida to Mexico City. My dad met me at the airport, and looked right at me, but did not notice me. It was funny. I had to approach him, I think I scared him...lol. I guess if you haven´t kept up with my photos on Facebook, you probably wouldn´t notice me either.
We took a bus from Mexico City to his hometown, and I spent a few days there. It was quite exciting seeing where my dad was from. Very different than LA, obviously, but even different that most of Mexico. My grandmother would always tell me that dad "era del rancho." Now I know what she meant. She was right. But I liked it. People traveling on horses, rodeos, cowboy hats. It was fun. Pics will be up soon on FB.
One of his friends even held a rodeo, in my honor (supposedly). The whole town came out, and some of the local guys rode bulls. It´s a very different lifestyle. But I guess, somehow, I have roots there. I couldn´t imagine living there today, and i´m sure even if I was born there, I would end up moving away, but it was a nice time, and i´m glad I was able to visit.
Now i´m in Guadalajara! I´ll be here for a month, working on my spanish. Classes started yesterday, and so far so good. The city is great, and the classes are helpful. I´m staying with a really nice host family. They´re an older couple, very sweet. They have a daughter who lives with them. She´s a kindergarden teacher.
I have my own floor, more like an addition to the house. Its the top floor, with private bathroom. I´m scheduled to stay two weeks out of the four i´ll be in town, but I may just opt to stay all four weeks.
Everything is great out here. I can´t believe how great the trip is going. At this point, I have less than two months left. This next month should really improve my spansish language skills. I´m glad to be staying put after so much traveling.
Hope everything back home is good!
Love you mom,
Love you all,
Michael
Campeche was nice. Reminded me a lot of Cartagena, Colombia. A fort city, with fort walls still visible. Near the water, and a place where pirates would frequent. It was not as romantic as Cartagena. It´s hard to explain, but some cities have a romantic feel, Cartagena was one of them, Campeche was not. But I still enjoyed it. But left after a day.
Headed to San Cristobal de las Casas, en Chiapas, Mexico. Chiapas is one of the most indeginous states in Mexico. They have preserved their culture more than most states. The Spanish had some, but very little influence on them. As a result, its a great place to see indigenous culture and life. I enjoyed my time there, took a few tours, but then had to head back to Cancun!
Why? Well, because turns out Tess was coming back from Cuba and wanted to see me. She said she was willing to come meet me wherever I was, but that would mean an overnight but to Chiapas. I didn´t think that would be a good idea, and her mom was with her, so I took an overnight bus to Cancun. We spent another four days together. Back to Isla de Mujeres, then to Tulum, Coba, and Merida. It was great, always a great time with her. She had a flight to LA that Saturday, and Ruben, my brother, was nice enough to show her and her mom around. We had a talk before she left, and keep in contact via email, but too early to tell what will come of all this. But at the very least, some great memories.
My plan was to visit Oaxaca, but I decided to do that later. Seeing Tess was more important to me. And I had to be in Iguala, where my dad is from, so I took a plance from Merida to Mexico City. My dad met me at the airport, and looked right at me, but did not notice me. It was funny. I had to approach him, I think I scared him...lol. I guess if you haven´t kept up with my photos on Facebook, you probably wouldn´t notice me either.
We took a bus from Mexico City to his hometown, and I spent a few days there. It was quite exciting seeing where my dad was from. Very different than LA, obviously, but even different that most of Mexico. My grandmother would always tell me that dad "era del rancho." Now I know what she meant. She was right. But I liked it. People traveling on horses, rodeos, cowboy hats. It was fun. Pics will be up soon on FB.
One of his friends even held a rodeo, in my honor (supposedly). The whole town came out, and some of the local guys rode bulls. It´s a very different lifestyle. But I guess, somehow, I have roots there. I couldn´t imagine living there today, and i´m sure even if I was born there, I would end up moving away, but it was a nice time, and i´m glad I was able to visit.
Now i´m in Guadalajara! I´ll be here for a month, working on my spanish. Classes started yesterday, and so far so good. The city is great, and the classes are helpful. I´m staying with a really nice host family. They´re an older couple, very sweet. They have a daughter who lives with them. She´s a kindergarden teacher.
I have my own floor, more like an addition to the house. Its the top floor, with private bathroom. I´m scheduled to stay two weeks out of the four i´ll be in town, but I may just opt to stay all four weeks.
Everything is great out here. I can´t believe how great the trip is going. At this point, I have less than two months left. This next month should really improve my spansish language skills. I´m glad to be staying put after so much traveling.
Hope everything back home is good!
Love you mom,
Love you all,
Michael
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