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