Puerta Vallarta

Since my time in Mexico is coming to an end, I decided it was now or never to go on vacation...to lovely Puerto Vallarta. I was quite surprised when some of my friends back home said they had never heard of the city. FYI: it is located on the pacific side of Mexico and is the #2 tourist spot, behind Cancun. I took a midnight bus from Leon and arrived in Vallarta at 9am Friday.

The first day I spent very leisurely: wandering around downtown, shopping, and walking the beautiful boardwalk (called the malecon). Even though it is not tourist season right now in Vallarta, there are plenty people trying to take advantage of gringas (white people). The constant harassment from people selling things was the only downside to my trip, however. And since there were not many tourists, the beaches were practically empty. I spent only a little time sunbathing - for fear of getting burned - and am proud to say that I look perfectly sunkissed! haha The other great thing about Vallarta is all the fresh seafood. I had some delicious shrimp fajitas that were so fresh, I could still taste tiny pieces of sand in my meal!

Saturday was a lot of fun: I learned to scuba dive! I booked my class through a very well established company called "Vallarta Adventures." Actually, I booked a day trip to a beach (called Las Caletas) owned by the company and learned how to scuba there. About 100 or so people took a one hour boatride to the private beach. The ride was really nice (they had an open bar!) and the entire Mexican staff spoke English. In my scuba class I met a girl who graduated from UM a few years before I did! What are the chances? It was really nice to talk to her throughout the day. Scuba diving itself was really cool - although I must admit it was more difficult than I thought it would be. One of the reasons for my initial trouble was that I kept floating to the surface because I didn't have enough weight around my waist. Consequently, I had to hold the hand of my hot Argentinian diving instructor to keep from floating the the surface - ha! Not a bad experience ;-) Once additional weight was added to my waist, and I got accustomed to breathing underwater, it was a really fun time. We saw all sorts of underwater creatures: colorful fish, manta rays, pufferfish, snakes, eels, a turtle, starfish, and jellyfish!

I returned on Sunday to Leon for my final week in Mexico. Yes - in 1 week exactly I will be in my house in Ann Arbor, Michigan! Stay tuned for at least one last update.

Back in the USA

My last week in Leon went by so fast, I didn't have time to write my last blog entry... so I will do it from the comforts of my home now that I am back safe and sound in the USA :)

Recently I went to Leon's annual book fair. It was pretty cool, except for the fact that there were no books in English :( which is what my friend and I were hoping to find. I ended up purchasing a book in Spanish, but probably won't read it for awhile, since reading in Spanish feels more like homework to me.

I also took a self-guided tour with a friend of some cool catacumbs underneath the city's great Expiatorio church. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of graves! My friend told me that it costs a lot of money to have someone buried there because they are considered to be eternally close to God. I took my camera along but sadly, upon turning it on, I discovered that I had no battery power - so I don't have any pics of the experience.

In my last month, two new girls moved into my house. The first - whose name is Lolita - is a dietitian who was relocated to the city. The second, Aida, came for "personal reasons" which I believe had something to do with custody of her children. They are both really nice. Aida has an infectious laugh but watches more TV in one day than I think I did in my entire time in Mexico. haha

I didn't manage to eat all the various Mexican food, but I did try some new dishes in the final week:

• Menudo - this is a soup made of a salty broth and cow stomach. Yep - cow stomach. All Mexicans love it but, not surprisingly, I didn't care for it. A little too chewy.
• Ceviche - this is citrus marinated seafood (which I had already tried in Ecuador) but is prepared a little differently in Mexico. Mine was shrimp and octopus in a cocktail cup with a tomato-based sauce. Delish!
• Molcajete - the "molcajete" itself is a bowl molded from volcanic rock that is used to serve food because it stays hot for a long time. Usually inside the bowl there are chorizo, cheese, avocado, beans, etc which you can use to make a taco.

My last few days in Leon were pura festejar! In other words, partying! I went to some bars with my students and fellow teachers for goodbye parties. It was fun, and I learned some Mexican drinking songs! hahaha The school where I work also mounted a poster on a wall for students to sign and say farewell. It was covered and made my heart want to burst with joy everytime I walked by it!

My overall experience in Mexico was truly fantastic. In fact, I am currently quite melancholy because I want to return! My Spanish improved (at least I learned a great amount of Mexican slang) and I made some good friends. My only regret is that I didn't take more advantage of the open bar on the boatride in Vallarta!

I hope you've enjoyed my posts! Until my next adventure... xoxo Anna

3 Weeks left

Two more weeks have passed and it feels time for an update. Not anything too exciting to share, but some small events have taken place...

One Saturday night I went to a bar to celebrate the birthday of a student. It was a really fun evening - there was a live "banda" band (the national music of Mexico) and I learned some simple dance moves. Bars here are funny though - in the early evening they start off like any bar in the USA: with good music and people sitting, drinking, and talking. Then as it gets into the late evening - they transform into a club: people get up and start dancing all around their tables. The funny thing though, is that all that dancing is illegal! Every once in awhile, the "bar inspector" police come and if they see people dancing, the bar receives a fine (since technically only clubs allow dancing). When this happens, the bar staff make everyone sit down and wait until after the police leave to start dancing again. It's something I still haven't quite gotten used to, but I just accept Mexico for what it is!

In other late-night, music news, a mariachi player who insisted on accompanying me home one night has finally stopped calling my cell-phone. I should never have given him my number in the first place, but felt it was the least I could do after he kindly walked me home at night. After ten calls to my cell in one evening, I realized my mistake...ha! At least he appears to have gotten the "I'm not interested in you" message and hasn't tried serenading me from the street or anything.

I've started to take some private cooking classes! One of my students is a chef and so far we've had two private lessons in my house. The first week we made cheese-stuffed peppers (chiles rellenos) and today we made chilaquiles (tortilla chips drowned in a spicy green salsa and topped with cream and cheese. Mmm... (Mom, dad, Paul, and Joe - you will get to try it for yourselves soon!)

Last Friday was also Teacher's Day here in Mexico. My employer, Boston Academy, had a nice brunch at Grant's Restaurant (think upscale international buffet) to thank the teachers and even gave away some nice prizes. Since I have not been here very long, my name was placed in the least cool prize category and I ended up with a USB drive. Other teachers got a DVD player and digital camera! Jealous!

Last Sunday I also went to the birthday party of a fellow teacher, Maricoco (her name literally translates as "Mary Coconut" !) She lives on a street in a subdivision where all the tiny houses look exactly the same - unless you decide to paint yours a bright blue, purple, green, yellow, orange, etc... It was nice to relax with some other teachers and eat pozole - a yummy chicken and corn soup.

What wasn't so nice about the party was that we were sitting outside in stifling heat, eating soup that was hotter than the temperature. But you can't get between Mexicans and their beloved pozole - even when temperatures rise into the high 80s and low 90s daily.

Just under 3 weeks left for me in Mexico. How quickly the time passed...I'm going to be very sad to leave some great friends I've made...

San Miguel de Allende

This weekend I didn't work on Saturday because it was a national holiday in Mexico (their version of Labor Day). So, I took advantage of the time off and visited the so-called "prettiest town in Mexico:" San Miguel de Allende. It is only about a 2 hour busride from Leon, and indeed, lives up to its name. The streets are colorful, charming, and spotless and the people are very friendly. I took some pictures and am looking forward to painting some watercolors of them (which I haven't been able to do in the urban, dirty city of Leon).

However, as you might guess, the "precious" town attracts many tourists: I saw more white-haired, hippie Americans than I ever want to see. One asked me if I wanted my picture painted, another was an owner of an Art Gallery, and another was my guest house owner...the list goes on... to cater to the huge tourist population, there are lots of cool arts and original crafts galleries around the central plaza - some stuff is way overpriced (think Ann Arbor Art Fair) and other stuff is cheap. I did pick up 2 cool souvenir t-shirts!

One highlight of my trip was, of course, the food.

• My first day I ate a Mexican specialty I had never tried before: cazuelitas. It's melted cheese with peppers, mushrooms, and chorizo served with warm tortillas. Yum.
• The next day I had "huevos rancheros" (ranch, or "country-style" eggs): a corn tortilla with fried eggs on top, covered in a tomato-chile sauce. Yum again.
• But the best culinary experience was at a cafe owned by a former Mexican soap opera star. There I had mouth-watering "churros con chocolate": long strips of fried dough, sprinkled in sugar and served with sinfully rich chocolate sauce for dipping and later drinking. Mmm. It reminded me of my study-abroad time in Spain (where the treat originates).

Two other cool things happened in San Miguel: I went to mass (in Spanish) at the famous church in the central plaza (pictured). And, as I was walking through a garden, around the corner came a mariachi band, followed by towering Mexican puppets, leading a wedding party! It was such a cool spontaneous experience and I was able to capture it on video :)

So, I crossed one town off my to-do list for the 1 month and 1 week that I have remaining here. Hope to cross off some more...