I just got back from a fascinating and incredible trip around the center and west of México, really life changing. I wasn't going to go becaus I thought that the cost was prohibitive, but at the last minute I was able to get permission and pay on the day of the trip, thanks to having worked all summer. Also, how many more times am I going to be in México with a planned trip offered to me? Great decision, eventually. I'll separate the story into paragraphs that represent each day. Also, the names of the places are links to more information about them.
The first day, we went to a city called Morelia, in the southwest part of México in the state of Michoacán. It's a really beautiful city, very artsy feeling and with a really cool central park with performances by street clowns right next to a towering and beautiful cathedral. Lot's of old brick streets and gardens and the like, all surrounded by arcade-like arcs with stores and restaurants inside, really magnificent. We hung out in the park and played soccer on the grass, as became tradition to do in every spot, historic plazas, parks, the side of the highway, etc.
The next day we went on a bus tour of the city, and got to hear the history (and herstory) of the city, which was related to the general theme of the trip, called the Independence Route, essentially the destiantions were chosen for having played a part in the indpendence movement of México, the the early 1800s. We saw houses of famous people, beautiful churches, and got to know the city a little better. We took a picture on a monument with all the different students holding their flags, a Rotary tradition, but almost got in trouble by the infantry group practicing nearby, definitely an adventure. We also went to the nearby Museo del Dulce,of candy museum, dedicated to the traditional one of Morelia, ate, a jelly paste type thing made from fruits, delicious. After that we went to a small island in the middle of a lake named Janitzio. I have no idea how they found the place, but it's essentially a mountain in a lake, distinguished by a monstrous statue of José Morelos, a hero of the Independence movement, with his fist raised on the peak of the island. We walked up the entire way, through markets and restaurants, and really, I emphasize the up, because it was like climbing up the stairs at Albright Knox for half an hour. When we reached the top, we found out tht the statue was hollow, and we climbed up a spiral staircase all the way to the fist; the view was spectacular. I've become quite accustomed to mountains all around, I think that Buffalo will seem quite flat upon my return. After a while of souvenir browsing and eating whole fish for lunch we headed back to Morelia to eat dinner and sleep.
In the morning, we shipped out and head to Guadalajara (count the a´s), the second biggest city in México with about 4 million people. We arrived and ate in a restaurant with mariachis, really neat, in a strictly pedestrian area with a lot of art shops and clothes stores. We of course broke out the soccer ball played for while in the street while waiting for the food. The food was delicious, and all the more interesting with th fscnating group of students. For example, my closest friends are from Denmark, Taiwan, New Brunswick, Germany and Brazil. It will probably sound amazing to you guys, but I've become kind of used to it haha. After the lunch and subsequent wandering in the streets, we headed for the hotel. When we arrived, I was awestruck. Right next to the enormousGuadalajara Cathedral, it was a really regal hotel, the Hotel Frances. It's really easy to overlook México, but I've encountered some of the most functional and interesting cities in my life in my time here. They still collect the garbage, people ride bikes, people move there and love it. Fascinating to open a new place in your mind. In a shopping plaza, my friend from Taiwan, Yang, and I happened upon a guy from Seatlle who lives in Guadalajara with two Taiwanese friends that he met when he traveled there to learn Chinese. Before coming to México, I would have said "Why don't you live in New York or London or Toronto?", but now I see that it really is a viable place to live, not just to visit. We spent a good part of the night on the roof patio, looking at the entire city at night, really beautiful.
In the morning, we walked through pretty much the entire downtown, a really cool sight because every person was walking around carrying their flag. I, and my companion American from where else but Cooperstown NY, prudly marched round with that Old Glory. The Canadians picked up a few friends, tourists from Alberta hahahaha. While walking, a guy working in a restaurant saw us and asked why we were carrying "that garbage" and told us that we should put it away, referring to the flag. More on that later. W visited the Hospicio Cabañas, whichis a former orphanage that is now a monument and now has murals painted all around the inside, done by José Clemente Orozco, really stunning. Something interesting about the place is that almost all of the orphans received the name "Cabañas" if the didn't have a last name. We also stpped in the Teatro Degollado to see the rehearsal for a ballet performance. After that we played soccer with t shirts for goals in the Plaza de la Liberación, until the police said that it wasn't appropriate. You usually listen when every cop has an AK. On the walk back to th hotel, the same guy started talking t us again, and I ended up asking him if he had ever lived in the USA, and whyhe had such a problem. He responded by saying that he was born in Buffalo, NY! I immediately started laughing and showed him my Bills hat, and after that he wasn't so confrontational, but still maintained a chilly attitude. Buffalo connections 1, silly angry people 0. After that, we headed out to Guanajuato, my personal favorite stop. Imagine a city completely composed of alleys, and you've got the general idea. We ate in th hotel the set out walking through the main street until we met up with a group of "estudiantina", essentially minstrels who give a tour of the city, "callejoneadas", which translates to "things that happen in the alley". Absolutely magical, we got told various stories and songs while walking through a labyrinth of alleys at night, we all felt mesmerized. I could get lost in that city for weeks and be completely content. The tour lasted about two hours, and later we headed to a tiny nightclub on the third floor of an apartment building and danced for hours. There we met a couple from Orange County, and I immediately thought of this song and explained the contrast to everyone else. Great great night.
The following day we hiked around and arrived at the museum of the Mummies of Guanajuato, unique because they were preserved without and process, just naturally. Somewhat horrifying, but nonetheless interesting. Usually mummies are somewhat covered up, and are cool in a mysterious way, but these guys were all there exposed. We then departed for San Miguel de Allende, a small but interesting city on the way to México City. I highly recommend that you read the page, because it finally gave me an answer as to why I saw probably half the population had light skin, and license plates from Texas, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. We ate in a small but delicious all you can eat place, where my Danish friend Rasmus and I got to know the owner, whose favorite international soccer team was Denmark, go figure. The world is full of connections if you look for them. We wandered around and snatched some souvenirs and headed back to the bus. We started to play soccer, and it was a really good game (we usually play Europe vs. World) until a police truck came in, tires squealing, to come yell at us that a parking lot is for parking, nothing else, even though the wasn't a single car. I suppose it's good that they have time on their hands. We hopped on the bus and headed to Querétaro, really neat city. That night, we went out to eat in a beautiful plaza, and later to a bar where we danced until about 3 then walked back to the hotel through gorgeous streets.
We woke up, and headed to a hill where the entire city was visible, amazing view, especially the aqueduct that was constructed (according to legend) because a city official fell in love with a nun, and because of her oath, instead of a relationship requested that he build an aqueduct to the convent, and it still stands. We then got on the good old bus and set out for México City, a gargantuan city of 20 million that is utterly amazing. That night we didn't do much but stay in the hotel and explore, which rendered the treat of the rooftop pool, and the view was breathtaking. Seeing the planes that fly ever so close to the skyscrapers made all of us think of our arrivals, interesting to talk about with Ida and Kia from Denmark and Gabby from Canada. We did go out for a bit, and walking around in what seemed like a central plaza to me eventually made me realize that there are hundreds just like it all over the city, which was definitely humbling. Méxican cities grow out rather than up like New York or Chicago, so it's massive when you have 20 million folks there. Lot's of time in the bus this day, that's why it's short haha.
After a refreshing sleep, we arrived in the /Zócalo, or central square of México City. Breathtaking. Traditional Spanish city planning calls for one in the center of the city, and the one in DF is the most famous. We checked out Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, which is in fact sinking because it's built on an ancient lake, National Palace, and walked around the zócalo for a while. In the middle of everything is a flagpole with the largest Mexican flag that you will ever se. Magnificent. We walked through a couple streets and eventually arrived at the Palacio de Bellas_Artes, but unforunately could only stay for a little bit, but the murales there in the traditional Mexican style are stunning, especially this one. Also to the Castle of Chapultepec, and at some pint we went to Six Flags in México City, I can't remember when haha. We got back to the hotel and threw a great party on the top floor where we ate and danced at took pictures and talked and took in the view, a really nice time with fascinating people.
The next day we went to Teotihuacan, one of the places that I have wanted to go to since I was a little kid. I couldn't do it much kustice with words, check out the hpotos, but I can tell you that it is powerful, the word that kept coming into my head. You feel a certain power that is unimaginably old and deep, and it's truly a privilege to walk through it and know that since 200 BC there have been people walking around in there, worshipping and living. Beautiful to behold but also a little scary. However, with reason there were so many tourists meditating in a ccircle. Although it appears hippie, it's understandable. We climbed to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun and got an amazing view, and ran into some seismologists that were taking readings on the top and the bottom, and they told us some interesting stuff about the mysteries of the place. I would highly highly recommend going if you can, I know I'm going back with some friends or family. We tried to take one of the photos with all of the flags, but the security folks told us that it's not permitted to display national symbols inside the complex, and it's understandable. After a good amount of time spent there, we headed back to Puebla, and had a Posada in the house of one of the Rotary people, a great end to a great trip
Thanks for reading, and please forgive any spelling errors, the e , a and o keys are especilly troublesome on this keyboard. Some photos of the trip and others from México are down there, I hope that they work as links, if not, I'll put some more up on the blog. Much love, hope everyone is doing well!
Wooow Cullen! Que Padre!! No sabes el gusto que me da que te la estés pasando tan bien! En verdad te lo mereces, y sabes porque? Bueno, yo siempre he dicho que Rotary 7090, Greg y todos, siempre saben a que tipo de estudiante de intercambio mandar a México, se necesitan Estudiantes de Intercambio que sepan valorar lo que tenemos en México, que sepan apreciar nuestra cultura, no solo a echar desmadre tomar tequila y empedarse, aunque claro es importante y esencial hacer eso jaja pero no es lo único; México es un país con mucha cultura, lugares maravillosos, comida deliciosa, artesanías entre otras cosas. Estoy muy feliz de que estés disfrutando tu estancia en México, disfruta todo porque como ya te lo he dicho antes, todo pasa muy rápido. Síguete divirtiendo mucho, eres muy inteligente y único Cullen, en verdad personas que aprecian, analizan y ven cada detalle como lo haces tú, solo pocas :)Me da mucho gusto que todavía existan personas como tu querido amigo :)cuídate mucho.
ReplyDeleteExcellent report, Cullen, keep them coming!
ReplyDeletexo MOM
the thing about six flags.. it's because you forgot the whole friday :p
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