Family

So, about 2 weeks ago I moved into my new house in Xalapa, Veracruz. This is where I will stay until I fly home in May. I have my own bedroom at the back of the house and a little bathroom all to myself. The dog lives outside in the yard beneath my window, his name is Symba and he rules the house. My family consists of Margarita, a retired school teacher, and Pepe a painter and business man….they have 2 children but they are all grown up now. I met Jose, their son, last week and he is a studying medicine at the university in town. I haven’t met their daughter Myra yet, she lives pretty far away and is expecting a baby in June. EXCITING.

Margarita and Pepe are really great, we eat most meals together and they have taken me on a few trips around town. My friend Liz comes over a lot and the 4 of us watch TV or just talk. Last week Margarita took Liz and I to a dance class, it was crazy fun but I’m not sure if I have room in my schedule to go very often.

We live in the center of the city and really close to the school when I am taking classes. Right now I have a pretty full schedule (19 credits yikes!)….

Intensive spanish 5
Mexican cultures and civilizations
Prehispanic civilizations
Social problems and social action in Mexico
Contemporary Mexico

None of these classes are particularly difficult yet, the reading takes me a LONG time but maybe in a few weeks it will get easier. I would like to go and visit the bio dept on campus and find out what classes they have….that way other science majors at Juniata would be able to work on their major while abroad….if they want to.

Ive made some good friends from the school in town, but they are all from the US or Canada...for some reason making Mexican friends is a bit harder here than it was in Cuernavaca. I remember rachel talking about how it was hard for her a little while last semester too....maybe with time ill meet more people.

Vale la pena

Close to Cuernavaca there is a town called Tepoztlan. It’s a small town with lots of character and surrounded my mountains. One of the mountains close to the center of town has an Aztec temple that was built at the top to worship the god Tepoztecatl, a god of the alcoholic drink pulque. So of course we took a trip to Tepoztlan and climbed to the top to see the temple. The climb was incredibly steep and difficult, as we are at a high altitude anyway. It took about 45 minutes and 2 bottles of water to make it to the top.

But “vale la pena” as we say in Mexico, it was worth it. The view was amazing, with the other rocky mountains close by covered in trees and flowers. And although the temple was small it was very spiritual and peaceful. Apparently a “scientist” came a few years ago and studied the temple….he claimed that there are 3 doors in the world that lead to other dimensions….and one of them is at the temple of tepotslan. I didn’t find it.

We sat on top of the pyramid for a while and around the edges on the steps….I ate an orange (best one I’ve ever had). It’s hard to imagine how they build that temple…and why. The Aztecs didn’t live at the top of the mountain, so they would have had to make the climb to the top every time they wanted to go. And speaking of the climb, how did they get all the stones to the top? If you’d seen the mountain you’d understand how this is so baffling….

After the long climb to the temple we were all pretty hungry, so we took a trip to the market in the center of Tepoztlan. In the market we found a stand selling cricket tacos. We all tried the tacos and tried not to be too grossed out by the tiny legs sticking out of eachothers mouths. Im not really sure what crickets taste like, but they were definately salty...

Teotihuacan

A few Saturday’s ago we took a trip to Teotihuacan, which was the Mayan capital city. It was really amazing how well preserved the temples and buildings were. There was a huge arena with two temples in the center and smaller temples around the edges. Then there was a road which had ancient apartment buildings along the sides and market squares a little further down. The apartments were interesting to see, many had patios with open roofs and the door ways were still very much intact. At the end of the road and toward the end of the market squares there are two huge pyramids. They are known as the Temple of The Sun and the Temple of The Moon. The Temple of The Sun is the highest temple in Mesoamerica…..and I climbed all the steps to the top! It was definitely worth it, the view of the Mayan city, and also the entire valley, was amazing. Its hard to believe the temples were built by hand so long ago, and also that they are still standing.

We spent the day exploring ancient homes, water tunnels and enjoying the crazy sculptures on the sides of the temples. It was a great day; I wish I could have seen it when it was fully in tact….or that I could have been one of the first to discover the city. It was an amazing city to see empty, but imagining it with crowds of Mayans (believed to have been around 100,000 people at one point) going about their daily business made it come alive.

It was incredibly hot at Teotihuacan because of the elevation, so it was the first day I wore my cowboy hat….good thing too because I would have roasted on top of the temple without it! However it was nothing compared to the sombraro I found in a store near the parking lot...