Muertos 2....SUPER CHIDO!

Super chido = super cool. My new favorite thing to say. With the accent I love it! The emphasis is .... well.... SUPER chido (=

Anyway I'm sorry....I'm a bad blogger. This week has been crazy. I've been doing 5 billion things and running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I'm sorry

I know it's only the 30th, but the Muertos festivities are well under way so here's a peek (=

Here's is my finished mask! I worked on it all week, plans on it's structure changing daily as I messed up lol. It was really fun. The only thing I neglected to think of was how easily I would be able to breathe through only small nostril holes.....but that's not important right? haha. Now it just BETTER not break on the airplane ride home!

This is my host brother and I before the parade that the ICO put on today. It started at 11 am. Well....actually it started more at like 12:30 lol. But we walked around following a band and two GIANT doll puppet things that are called and stopping to dance on the street corners. The school was serving little cups of pure Mezcal served from what looked like gasoline containers. And President Anderson and his wife participated. I took a shot of Mezcal with the president of my university before lunchtime. Haha gotta love Mexico. Oh...here I'm with my host brother who came too. He has 6 disguises to wear to get candy tomorrow. He LOVES and LIVES for Muertos.

This is the altar de muertos at the ICO. It's AMAZING. There are many altars being set up, and hopefully I'll get to include more pictures of them, but this has been the grandest that I've seen thus far. The Directora of the ICO (Lucero...woman) sets it up every year. It's gorgeous with so many flowers and the incense and candles and photos and pan and calaveras and dulces and Mezcal and everything! It's muy impresionante!

This is just ONE of the sand sculptures or designs that they are doing all over the Zocolo. They pack down the sand with water and then shape it. Afterward they paint it and still later they'll add los flores de muertos (marigolds). The majority of the figures are skeletons, but there's also flowers, bicycles, skeletons doing all sorts of activities and even a HUGE Virgen de Guadelupe.

That's all for now. Tomorrow I'm accompanying President Anderson, his wife, Tamara (director of PLU program), and Megan (works in Wang Center at PLU) to Monte Alban, the ruins that our group visited in September. I'm excited. They wanted students to accompany him to "show him what we've learned," and I think my anthro professor from here is going also, although he doesn't speak English (=. We are also going to the Pueblo Arrazola that sells the painted wood figures. THEN....later in the night our group is going to the cemetaries! (LOS PLANTEONES!) We'll start out in a Oaxacan cemetary called San Felipe and then go to a famous one in a nearby Pueblo thats called XoXo and pronounced "HoHo".... like Santa says! I'm psyched! We'll party with the people of Oaxaca and their dead all night (=.

I'm so glad I get to be here for this time of here. Mom and Dad....I know you are in Hawaii....but you are missing out! And the best part is, though the parties have been ongoing all week, it isn't even the real Dia de Muertos until Monday! WHAAAA!!!!!

PS....We have Deborah living here...the 60 year old from New Mexico. And now also Peter....a 63 year old from London! Isn't that ironic....Debbie and Peter! Love you Mom and Dad. Talking to them makes me feel super-experienced with Spanish that's super-advanced (=. I like helping them.

PPS....In case you were wondering about the first picture. It's from a decoration in a restaurant. And Nate I must admit.... it's why we haven't been able to talk much this week. My new boyfriend Julio! Haha just kidding. I love you Nate. I miss you.

Muertos 1

Hola mis amores (=

Here is my first post on Day of the Dead festivities. (=

1. There are much more people arriving. All the families that are coming to visit my PLU comraderies are coming this week. There are a ton more tourists in town. PLU President Loren J. Anderson is coming on Thursday; his first trip to Oaxaca! AND....there are so many new students for these few weeks at the ICO that we have a new host student in the house! (well...she lives in the apartments in back) Her name is Deborah: 60 year old massage therapist from New Mexico who decided that she wanted to learn Spanish on a wedding trip in Mexico when she saw a turtle laying eggs. Very hippie and chill (= I want her to give me a massage lol.

2. The markets are beginning to fill with Muertos decorations for

houses and for the altars.

3. (biggest happening) I have begun to make my mask for our Mezcal and music filled parade! Today was the first step....make the mold to your face. First you have to smear vasoline all over (like I NEED more grease on my face when I can't find normal face wash here), then people put strips of the stuff you use to make casts all over our face with water. And then it dries and wallah! I can't wait for tomorrow!

Dia de los Muertos

It's coming. The skulls, the ghosts, the TERROR!!!!!!!!!

No. But really. It's DIA DE LOS MUERTOS!!!!! aka Day of the Dead, one of the most celebrated and certainly the most famous of all Mexican holiday celebrations! The official Dia de Muertos is November 2, but the parties start on Wednesday and last ALLLLLLL weekend! And as you can see by the extremely attractive photo above, the markets are already selling things for the weekend....this is a sugar skull. Following is an introduction to Day of the Dead traditions and festivities so that everyone will know what's going on as I add more photos and tell more stories about my upcoming adventures (= .....

• ALTARS: Altars are very important to this holiday. Almost every family constructs altars to worship the family members that they have recently lost and to welcome them back to visit and celebrate the holiday. The altars are adorned with marigolds of orange and brown, photos of the deceased, candles, incense, pan (bread) de muertos, and much much more. The point of the altar is to call and attract and give tribute to the deceased, so the rest of the adornment is usually the favorite things of the relative. For example: cigarettes, favorite food, games/cards, etc. We (the PLU students) are making an altar at the school. I'm excited (= I promise to take pictures.
• LOS DISFRACES/COSTUMES: Dia de Muertos here has Halloween influence also. Thus, on October 31, the kids dress up and go Trick or Treat. At the ICO next week we are making masks...the cool ones that you mold to fit your face!.....because on Thursday we are dressing up to be in a "language school parade" wearing disguises, walking through the streets, drinking Mezcal (provided by the school), dancing to music, and stopping every block or so at a house for mexican hot chocolate and pan dulce. Seriously. These parades are actually very common and used as a form of announcement for weddings, communions, and births.
• LOS CEMETERIOS/GRAVEYARDS!!!! Of course there are going to be graveyards! Of course we are going to visit them in the middle of the night! Yay (= It shouldn't be scary though. People spend all night in the graveyard...decorating the graves of their loved ones, eating, talking, dancing, and listening to music....waiting for the arrival of their dead and celebrating. It's not the somber and frightening cemeteries that we picture. I'm excited to see them!
• LA COMIDA!!! Of course this holiday involves food. I'm in Mexico. I'll probably be in a food coma for a week afterward! Main culprit: El mole negro, probably the richest Oaxaquenan food that there is. Sidekicks: El pan dulce/sweet bread, el pan de muertos/sweet bread with candied skulls baked in, los craneos/skulls...chocolate and candied and sugar, el chocolate/mexican hot chocolate, el mezcal, and I'm sure so much more that I can't even fathom..... (=

I'm really excited as you can tell (=. I promise to take lots of pictures and tell all my stories. It will be a great experience. In fact, the Day of the Dead experience is SO FAMOUS in Mexico that, for the first time ever, President Anderson of PLU is coming to Oaxaca to experience it as well. So basically we all get to help guide and show off Oaxaca and the ICO. Maybe we'll even make it to the home page of the PLU website lol.

I love you!

No puedo pensar...

My BRAIN IS ROTTING!!!!! of writing! and anthropology! and knowledge! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

So um....I started my essay. 20 pages. Ha! I'm going to die.

BUT....guess what? I saw a hummingbird today (= It was beautiful.

Now I'm tired of sitting. I'm going to La Candela to bailar!

Love!

A Day in Class.....Random Thoughts....

So. Tomorrow marks the end of my 5th out of 8 weeks of classes. Then I have 10/11 days in Chiapas (split into like 6 in a hostel in the capital of the state and 4 in another Indigenous village like San Juan Sosola). Anyhew....the point is....my anthro class has a final that consists of a 20 page paper. I have unsuccessfully been trying to start this paper ALLLLL week. Shoot me. TOMORROW I AM GOING TO START WRITING!!!!! At least I know a topic...and I went through all my sources....right? Ugh. Have I mentioned that I've never even written 20 pages in ENGLISH?!!!

Ok. Now. I wanted to say thank you for all of the messages I got about the homesickness thing (=. I love you guys. I can't wait to see you all again...(= I'm having tons of fun here. I love it. I promise. I'm realizing too....my Spanish is getting goooooood! Plus....I'm SUPER excited for Dia de Muertes. I'll write more about it later....but I'm soooooo excited.

Today in Anthro I was listened quite attentively while doodling and I realized that I miss Math! Isn't it wierd that I'll NEVER have to take math again. Sad! I miss solving things! So this is what I figured out.....

Total Time in Oaxaca:

1. days: 123
2. hours: 2952
3. seconds: 10,646,200

Time Spent:

1. 63 days left
2. 50.4% left
3. 4,939,800 seconds left

Breakdown:

1. 1 day = .8% percent of my trip
2. 7 days = 5.67% percent
3. 10 days = approx 8%

CONCLUSION:

I don't have that much time left! And it passes fast! And I need to keep living up EVERY SECOND!!!! (cause I just lost some more seconds.....)

ADIOS!!!!!

OK. Also a tribute to my friend TedChuck....he's famous on the front page of the PLU website!

Mira! This is the hike I did last year!

http://www.plu.edu/experience/2009-09/mt-rainier-slideshow/home.php

Almost halfway....

So....despite the fact that I've been very lucky the last few weeks with my adventures and such...from the mountains to the beaches and back to the valley...it's beautiful. And I've had a lot of unforgettable experiences just in the last few weeks. But for some reason, they've also been kind of hard. I've been kind of homesick. My friend here, Becca, says that when she went to China last semester (Chinese and Spanish...cool combo huh?), the "textbook" homesickness trend was to get over it at the beginning, then struggle again half-way through. Ugh. I can't believe I've been here 2 months. BUT....I also can't believe I have 2 months left!

So....this blog is a testament to the things that I miss.....

• -My mom's cooking... salads from the garden, the pear apples from our tree, homemade pizza,
• 
  
• - Flushing my toilet paper.
• 
  
• - Fall. The colors of all the leaves.
• 
  
• - Riding my bike on the road through the fields and alongside the bay.
• 
  
• - My family.
• 
  
• - My friends.
• 
  
• - Nate.
• 
  
• - Driving my car.
• 
  
• - Drinking fountains.
• 
  
• - The Pacific Northwest!!

PS.....I still love Mexico....I promise.

Love to all back home.

Hualtulco: Las Bahias Nueves de Paradiso

Yes. Sadly...this image depicts us on Friday. The first of our two full days in Hualtulco. It was a fun day, but hard for two reason. 1) As you can see, it was raining. Hurricane threats. Dangerous beaches. Sad day. BUT....we went to a safer beach and had Pina Coladas. 2) We were exhausted. I though a bus ride from 11 pm Thurs til 630 am Friday would be perfect and leave us refreshed and ready to roar when we got there! But n

o. Traveling is a lot harder on the body than that. Especially through windy mountain roads with crazy bus drivers!

Jenny, Lucy, and Erin on our horseback tour on Saturday....here we are almost to the beach (!) where we got to run with the horses. It was amazing. Galloping in the sand on a gorgeous deserted beach then getting off to play in the waves and sunshine. Epic.

Here's some hoof prints in the background.....so beautiful.

After our ride and right before we got in the water. It felt amazing. PS....they have really cool crabs here....they have longer legs or something and they can run across the sand like lightning!

The rest of day two we went to another beach were an old indigenous women rubbed mud on everyone and we let it dry before rinsing it off in the ocean with some really fun body surfing. (mud bath?) After home and cooking our dinner, we spent our last night at a dance club called, "the igloo." It was interesting, though more local than the Texan place we went to the night before called "The Tipsy Blowfish." The Igloo was alllll white with smoke and light up squares on the dance floor and American music. The waiter made me a rose out of toilet paper and told me I was beautiful. Ah to be a gringa in Mexico lol.

Sunday we spent 8.5 hours on the bus. But now Oaxaca! Home! yay (=

It was a good weekend. (=

Reflections/I'm SOOOOO Excited!

Hello all (=

This day is quite lovely.

a)It's now weekend and I'm done with classes!

b) I received a package from my mommy and family and Oma. And I'm very spoiled and they shouldn't send me more cause I'm very spoiled but I loooooove them!

c) I'm leaving on a bus at 11pm tonight with 5 friends for Hualtulco!!!! The beach paradise of 9 bays. I'm extremely excited. I need to pack. Lots of sunscreen....I know Mom (=. We are going to lay on the beach and drink fruity drinks and make our own dinners with cereal cause we're cheap, and spend our money on a horse back tour. I think lol. I don't really know for sure. I just know that I have keys to an apartment my host aunt owns, some money, a bus tickets, and friends. That's good enough to make my day! We'll be gone until Sunday. Hopefully I'll be back with a tan and lots of photos and stories for you guys (=

I also have been reflecting lately....after receiving a care package from PLU in which they sent me fruit leather lol....about the things that they told us about going to Oaxaca that have come true. One, probably the biggest, is how much we would bond over bodily functions.....sicknesses, runny noses, periods, mosquito bites, rashes, and especially.....poop. Really! It's amazing how a simple bodily function can make such good friends (=. You should've heard us last weekend at San Juan Sosola, "Oh I'm constipated, I haven't pooped in 3 days!.....Oh I've got the runs I have to go every 20 minutes!....Yeah the squirts are the worst!....At least you don't have your period!" So for your pleasure (or for that of my brothers) here's some poop vocab!

popa = poop

caca = poop (little more crude form of the word...like crap)

pompis = bottom

cagar = to poop (verbs baby!)

lanzar popa = to have diarrhea, also the verb used in to shoot off fireworks lol (lanzar fuego artificiales

tirar cacahuates = another way to say have diarrhea....the best I've heard (from one of the boys on the trip) it literally translates to "to throw peanuts" lol

All right. Now that I feel like a 10 year old boy, I'll just conclude with.....I'm glad all the PLU people here have bonded over something (=....and don't worry....not just poop. AND...I hope no one has to "tirar cacahuates" this weekend.

LOVE!

.....continued

Here's a few more pics...

Una Punta de Vista en Cambio....

Hola mis amigos. Yes I have survived my weekend in La Mixteca. I am back home in Oaxaca, showered and smelling better and happy. I had an amazing weekend. We were in a small Pueblo call San Juan Sosola...here's a picture story of my weekend.....

This is the center of the pueblo, where we were greeted after and harrowing, cliff-hugging van ride, by approximately 20 people, half of the pueblo's population. They were extremely happy to meet us and were very welcoming....they introduced themselves in order of their cargos (Indigenous pueblos use a form of self government call El Sistema de Cargos...it's really interesting...google it!). First the men, then the women. The gender discrimination that we've learned about within this sistema was evident, but everyone was very happy.

This is the room where we slept/didn't sleep all weekend. I definitely have bruises on my hip bones from the concrete....I need to learn to sleep not laying on my side! The bathroom was a normal toilet but without running water. So we only flushed when we "did the dirty dirty/no. 2" and we used a bucket to flush. No showers. Hot during the day, but cold in the mornings and at night....we were in the mountains. Thank you Carl for the sleeping bag.

This picture shows a "hat press." About two weeks ago the Pueblo was provided with 10 Singer sewing machines and this machine to have a "taller" or project. Their project is to make Sombreros to sell. In theory it's a good idea, but it's not going to work. We bought some sombreros....45 pesos for one that takes 2 days to make. But San Juan is so isolated that no one will buy them. They have no way of advertising or selling them. And yes....they have the materials...the plants called palmas that the women dry and braid before the men sew the hats together....but what will they do with the hats? And how many other pueblos have been given this same taller?

This is a foto of the church. Catholic of course, but there aren't services every week. Only when the Padre comes about once a month. One of the town's cargos is for someone to care for the church: cleaning and such. Another is for someone to ring the bell. Etc. Cargos can kind of be described as social services or required volunteer jobs. Buts its a lot more complicated than that...

This is a burro. They make very VERY strange noises lol. He is standing outside a house. One that I think is deserted. There are many deserted houses in San Juan. The population used to be bigger than 50 people. But throughout the years many people have left....migrating to Oaxaca, other places in the Mexico, or the US. There are any jobs in the Pueblo. They grow their own food to live....corn/maiz, beans/frijoles, fruits, squash/calabeza, etc. However they have no sistema de irrigation. So when there is no rain, like this year, they suffer, and their is nothing they can do. They are a pueblo of extreme poverty. And there aren't opportunities for the young people. They have an elementary school with 5 children. The "secondaria" / middle school is in a town that takes about 90 minutes to walk to. And to go to high school, or "la prepa" you have to walk that same 90 minutes and THEN take a bus. The craziest thing about their school (the elementary school).....is that the government gave them a smartboard. Seriously. BE highschool has what? 2 or something? They are expensive and technologically advanced. No one knows how to use it and they don't have sufficient electricity or internet. So what do they do with the smart board? Nothing. What about books for the kids? What about more than one teacher? What about better transportation or access to high schools so they can finish their education?

The man below is 87 years old. He hiked with us to this point, where their were undeveloped ruins and the remnants of a pyramid, and told us about his story. In the 50's he traveled to the US as a and, consequently, was part of the group of there workers who never received the money they earned. He is the father of another man in the pueblo who played basketbal with us (they play bball there not soccer?) and offered Mezcal as a universal cure to

the people in my group who got sick....or were cold....or had to get up early....what? haha. And is also the Grandfather of our guide we took us hiking earlier that day in the mountains. The scenery was breathtaking. It was gorgeous. Our guide...Richy....spent 10 years in the US working in California where he lived in a 2 bedroom apartment with 13 other people. He described it as "fun." He told us about crossing the border illegally and saving t

o pay the coyote 20 thousand pesos...about 2000 dollars....in 1995. He told us about the helicopter and running then waiting...how much water and food they got. Everything.

Every meal the women of the village cooked. We brought them supplies from Oaxaca to cook with. But we were served homemade tortillas (yum!), frijoles/beans, arroz/rice, huevos/eggs in a broth, flor de calabeza/squash flower in a broth, cafe, tons of fruits that were delicious and unheard of to me.....they were SO generous. Overly generous. When we left they sent us off with more fruit and sweet bread/pan dulce and a huge bag full of corn on the cob.

The people in San Juan were incredible. Probably the most generous I've ever met in my life. They were kind and open. And their environment....the views and mountains and nature is amazing in that area. It's so sad that their pueblo is basically slowly disappearing because of lack of resources and jobs.

In all....I had an amazing weekend. And after a shower and a heavenly night of sleep in a real bed...I was back to new with only a moderate amount of extra mosquito bites and about a hundred new photos to show for my weekend away. But I'll never forget it.

La Americana Dividida

Hola amigos. I am going to write about what I'm going to be up to this weekend. With a double personality....you'll understand....

We are going this weekend on our second trip with the organization Witness for Peace. The focus of this trip is to SEE and LIVE in the Indigenous villages here and to EXPERIENCE some of their poverty. Oaxaca and Chiapas (directly to the south) are the two poorest states in Mexico. We had a two hour meeting about the trip yesterday and have another today, and another focus is going to be on the migration.

The plan is to divide our big 'ol group into two smaller ones. One group will go to Teotitlan de Valle. The other will go to La Mixteca (San Jose Se Sol ... I think that's the name). I'm going to La Mixteca. Both are small, isolated villages of Indigenous people that speak Mixtec or Zapotec (en Teotitlan).

Here's the AMERICAN GRINGA point of view....

We leave tomorrow morning at 10:30 and get back Sunday night. All of which time we will not be allowed to shower because of the shortage of water. We will be living 3-4 people per home and will be sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags. There will very likely be even MORE mosquitos, cockroaches, and who knows what other kind of bug lol. We are bringing to each home the food we will be eating....a bag with tortillas, beans, and rice....a few eggs. Probably no meat, and we aren't allowed to bring snacks because we can't eat them in front of the people (wouldn't that be horribe?). La Mixteca has less access to water so the bathrooms have no water. We will either have to wash down our waste by hand...with a bucket of water (use "fuerza!" they said), or it will be like an outhouse. We were told to bring an absolute minimum....one change of clothes. There will be very little privacy to change. I need stronger bug spray lol.

Here's my OTHER BETTER point of view....

I'm really, really excited. I think that it's important to be able to see the poverty that we are learning about. I'm really interested in learning about the Indigenous communities....well....about seeing what we've learned. I want to hear their language. And I'm excited to "rough it." I just hope I don't get lice or ticks. Apparantly last year when they went to Chiapas (we are going in November) almost every got bugs. I can't remember what kind. I'm excited to communicate (in various methods) with the people and play with the ninos (=. We are going to help with a community project....I think a water line. And besides that our schedule is much in the hands of the village. They are going to show us what they do and how they live. Teach us about their type of government se llama "Usos y Costumbres" or "El Sistema de Cargos." We're supposed to learn to make baskets (=. And the specialidad of Teotitlan is tapetas, or tapestries, but I think the specialidad de este pueblo en La Mixteca is gorras (hats), ponchos....cosas como esta. Con lana (wool). But I'm not sure. I'll find out!

Anyway. I can't wait. I'll tell you ALL about it (=. Much love to all.

Que tengan un buen fin de semana! (that everyone has a good weekend...nice use of subjunctive huh?)

La Americana Dividida

Palabras!!!!!!!!

I need to update you guys a little...then I'll write my post. So my host mom's uncle died. The one that was sick. They had an all night wake and a mass the following day (yesterday). I thought I should let you know since I told you all about it. He was 89....Tio Memo (=.

OK. So I've come to realize here how much I love words. Words words words! They are so interesting! Translations and doble sentidos (double meanings) and roots and origins and spellings. I love it! .....watch out....it's Mom's side rearing up inside me....the english teacher unleashed! But don't worry; I won't be doing my thesis on the uses of the comma (=

Anyway....so today's post is on random words/phrases/a few cool facts that I've learning here in Oaxaca. Yay lists!

-ella tiene muchos cojones! = she has a lot of balls (no joke...my proper sociology prof said this yesterday about an indigenous woman who was the only woman in her pueblo to be part of the "asamblea de acianos"

-whey (sp?) = dude. my host dad and I always say "Que tal whey?" haha

-jajajaja = hahahaha

-Nacho Libre was filmed in Oaxaca!

-granada = grenade AND pomegranate (explosion of flavor?)

-compromiso = engagement (like a promise...awwww)

-pelejito = hangnail

-acostador = creeper (=

Just some random but essential vocab. I might add more later. In the meantime, now everyone knows how to say CREEPER in espanol. This is definitely an important part of my life lol. Oh, and PS....in term of the accent here, I think Oaxacan spanish is fairly pure. I won't come back with the sexy slur like Allie over in Spain (=. BUT one thing that is very very common here is to add "ito" onto EVERYTHING. (This means little). So my host mom will say, "Gordididito, pequenito, chiquiquito...." It goes on. Everything in Oaxaca is extra cute and extra little.

Paz wheys!

El Poder de Un Abrazo

The power of a hug.

I feel like right now I should be in a billion places. I want to be here. I miss home. I want to be with Nate in Wenatchee. And I wish I could be with Allie in Spain. It seems like everyone is struggling right now. Everyone needs hugs. And I can't give them )=

My host mom has spent the last few days at the hospital because her uncle, who is 89, is really really sick. Her mom and two of her mom's sibling have died within the past 8 months. Plus, her uncle is suffering from the same intestine problems that her mom had, so it's really rough. I feel bad. I wish I could do more to help. But all I can do it sit and listen when she talks about it, and try to tell her that she doesn't need to cook for me. Yesterday I cleaned my dishes while she was yelling at me not to...I told her I didn't understand (=.

I just hate watching people I love suffer....or hearing that they need me and not being able to be there for them.

I love you friends and family (American and Oaxaquenian) and boyfriend.

PS...Spanish word of the day is HOGAR = home...in every sense.

Hierve de Agua

This weekend has been bomb, as Allie would say (=. Yesterday our group of continually acculturizing (is that a word in English or just Spanish?) gringos met early in the morning to go on another excursion "to a site of natural beauty." End quote from our director.

After about a 2 hour drive that began on the freeway, proceeded on windy narrow mountain roads and then bumpy dirt ones through pueblos with kids riding on burros, and ended with me stumbled out of the van and exclaiming, "Gracias a Dios que yo no vomite!", we were there!

Hierve de agua is a natural phenomenon that is incredible. I don't completely understand it but I'll try to explain a little. They are kind of like hot springs, with carbonated water that bubbles up and contains minerals that form a kind of petrified waterfall with their deposits. The only other place like it in the world is in Turkey (according to Wikipedia).

We hiked (it was HOT!) for about 2 hours around the waterfalls first....down the slope so we got to the bottom....then back up. Gotta love the sweat rings under the armpits! (and down the back and...well...you get the picture). BUT THEN WE GOT TO SWIM! In the springs. It was awesome! We made a video of all of us doing synchronized swimming dive attempts off the edge into the water, one after another. It felt beauteous. Sorry I made that word up too. The

re was also a dark beauty there topless. I didn't get pictures but I'm sure the boys did lol. That was kind of weird. But the views from the springs were amazing. It was a great day.

And this morning I did a 5K run! It was 50 pesos to support "cancer mamario" (breast cancer). I'm really glad I did it....will my gringa friends of course. And I got a free t-shirt! The pre-race aerobics were the best part (=.

I hope that everyone else had wonderous weekends as well! Much love!

PS...I will now attempt to upload fotos....prepare yourselves. I apologize ahead of time...

This is a close up of one of the bubbling springs....a new one....we didn't swim here lol.

This is a far away of the "petrified" waterfall....see how cool the deposits look. At the top is one of the pools we swam in. Picture the view sitting up at the edge there!

One of the springs that we swam in...there were two. You can see the edge of the second on the far lefthand side of the photo.

My new friend I saw. An iguana? I named him Pedro.

Me attempting to look hot at the end of out hike....not as in attractive hot...as in really sweaty, let me jump in the pool NOW! kind of hot.

This is a different day. But this is my room. And the point of the picture is to show off my awesome new capris that I bought and bartered for...they cost me approximate 6 US dollars and are perfect and BRIGHT! and light as aire! They'll probably turn all my clothes blue, but my clothes are all changing strange colors anyway...so why not go for the complete TiDye affect!

Mala Suerte....

So my life is ridiculous lol.

Remember how in Mexico City a bird pooped nasty green "shit" (excuse my French) all over the back of my white shirt. Yuck.

Remember how the loro/parrot bit me?

Well.....last night we went dancing. It was really fun...I danced with a few people that actually taught me new things and moves, which made it really fun. I've decided that my favorite dance is Merengue. I call it the duck dance! Anyway...the bad luck part is that Janessa stepped on my heal and I now have a cut about 2 inches long on my heal. OW! But it's all good.

AND....today we went to el Tianguis (the weekly market). I was walking in-between covered venders and suddenly something goes SPLAT on my head. Then I feel it drip on my neck. Yes my friends. A bird pooped on my head. WHAT THE HECK?!!!!

I love Mexico (=

Una Otra Navidad!

YA TENGO INTERNET!!!

And Erin and I are going to a cycling class at the gym tonight. It's going to be loco lol.

And I'm going dancing at La Candela.

And I'm listening to music he grabado (stole/ripped with permission) from my host family's CDs. Get this...."El Vuelo del Abejorro" = Flight of the Bumblebee!