An extra day of vacation

As it turns out – there is no school today. Our friends found out from a cab driver that the secretary of education declared today the official holiday to celebrate the first day of spring since we were all on vacation on the first day of spring so we couldn’t take the day off.

Instead of school, Mikko has been conducting battles. (And photographing them.)

Matthew went shopping and has almost completed his Herod outfit. (Inspired by Jesus Christ Super Star.)

And I have spent the day beading and blogging.

It’s stinken’ hot today. In the 90s. so of course we needed to have a water fight as well.

Just a typical weekend in Guanajuato

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Our friends Victor and Cindy decided to have a little BBQ since everyone was home from our spring break.

They live in a big beautiful house where the kids just run off and you can forget all about them.

After dinner fashion show

After the party we went to pick up Aunties Sue and Quince who arrived from Portland, but I didn’t get any pictures.

SATURDAY

We went into town with Victor and Cindy and their two kids Taner and Kyan.

We stopped in a church to say hi to poor Jesus. Mikko’s friend Adam had us go in so we could see a statue of a saint who was pointing up, St. Jude(?) and who Adam thinks looks like he is flipping everyone off. I don’t know why I didn’t take a picture.

Got a drink

At the Jardin there were some medieval people being interviewed while they waited for the parade. Notice the little gringo trying to get on TV.

Then of course, the medieval belly dancers and bag pipers came along.

and the rest

We followed the parade to the medieval encampment at the baseball stadium.

There were sword fights, and archery contests as well as horsey things. You could also get medieval tacos, gorditas, enchiladas etc.

That night we played cards by candlelight in observance of the “Hour without Power”

SUNDAY

Victor and Cindy live right across the road from this big dam type lake thing, the Presa de la Olla. There are lovely little parks around and many families come and picnic and take out boats on Sundays. We decided to join them.

Cindy got the prize for happiest rower, in our boat.

Kyan got it for cutest rower

I guess I got the prize for pinkest sweater wearing rower.

The other boat kept pursuing us and bombing us with bread that was supposed to be for the ducks. What is the deal with 8 year old boys?

(The big, square looking, white house, on the left is Cindy and Victor’s FYI.)

We had all worked up our appetites, what with all the rowing and bombing and such, so went to an excellent restaurant that not only has very good food from all over Mexico, but the best burgers in town.

Just your average weekend in beautiful Guanajuato, Mexico

Happy Easter!!!

I’m a little blue, missing my house and friends and mimosas and Pannukaaku and egg dyes and the smell of vinegar and most especially my friends. Mikko and I painted some eggs using watercolors and beet juice. We are planning a lazy day of reading and playing games and maybe not ever leaving the house. It’s nice, but….

Those of you in Portland in July. I’ll be having my easter party then. Could someone save some egg dyes for me?

¡¡Estamos a Casa!!

Mikko and I arrived home Wednesday night after a mellow day of air travel, with our new six month visas in hand. Maria picked us up from the airport in Leon. She gave us big hugs and told us that we can’t go back to Portland, she will be too sad. It felt like a real homecoming.

Mikko and I were both ecstatic to be back amongst the dogs and roosters, in our own little house and sleeping in our own little beds.

We have mostly just been hanging out with our computers and toys and games.

I would just like to point out that Little Maggie kicked Mr. Burns’ arse!!

We were shocked yesterday afternoon to walk into town and it was packed. It is Semana Santa, the week before Easter and everyone is on vacation, so the town is full of tourists.

This is the first time I have seen papel picado in Guanajuato.  I had been told that it creates too much litter and because this an UNESCO site, there are rules against it.  I guess Jesus’ rebirth trumps the UNESCO regulations.  Right on Jesus!

We were also shocked to find that our favorite little restaurant on the jardin, Pengüis, became a clothing store while we were gone.  (Update, it has only moved and is now closer to our house!!)  The good news is: a movie theater has just reopened in town, right next to the university, so it is an easy walk from home and back.

The new theater is right around the corner from here.

4 days in TJ

This is a bit of an epic post, but Tijuana is a bit of an epic place. It is all so big and heavy. I have just barely scratched the surface. Our friend that we stayed with has a blog about living there.

We traveled up Baja through miles and mile of this type of landscape .

This is the first of 6 military checkpoints that we had to stop at. They just chose a few random suitcases to go through, then showed the crowd pictures of things: drugs weapons etc. that they have gotten at that particular checkpoint. I got reprimanded for taking this picture, but he didn’t make me erase it.

At about 2 in the morning they made a bunch of people, including Matthew get off and frisked them. Mikko and I were sleeping like babies, so missed the whole thing.

When we woke up the ocean was right outside and the hillsides were covered with wild flowers.

Jesus was there to welcome us at some point. He’s such a nice guy.

I was very attracted to the dashboard of our bus.

It was much colder, so far north, than we were used to. (Mikko was still a little sick too.)

We were greeted, at our friends’ house by their nine month old Chihuahua, Xoloitzcuintle, Xolito for short. He was a sweet companion, when he wasn’t humping your arm.

Our friends live less then a block from the beach, about 5 or 6 blocks from the border.

This fence runs all the way along the border, so basically is the northern border of Tijuana.

This was a park that represented the friendship between Mexico and the US. They started building the fence just before NAFTA, long before 9/11. The powers that be knew how NAFTA would trash the Mexican economy and that people would be coming north to look for work – so we had to be sure to lock them out.

Families used to picnic on either side of the fence. There were always vendors on the Mexican side selling delicious things, so people would pass food through this hole to the US side where they were miles from a McDonalds. La Migra closed the hole though. There is no one on the US side anymore, except immigration police watching the fence.

The wall has become a site for a lot of art. This shows how once the wall was built and the doors were locked it forced people to risk their lives crossing the desert.

On a lighter note- we went to a soccer game on Sunday. The Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente. (Xoloitzcuintle, is that crazy looking Aztec, hairless dog, BTW.) This is a shot of their fans. They were as loud and rowdy as the Timbers Army in Portland.

And one crazy Mexican hotdog. The Xoloitzcuintle colors are red and black which is why the hotdog comes in a red tortilla, of course.

Unfortunately, they lost. Which was a big deal – I blame myself. Generally when I go to a Timbers game their winning streaks come to a halt too. Sorry.

Another picture I wasn’t supposed to take – so I’m posting it even though it doesn’t really show anything. According to Lynn, the new soccer stadium and everything around is owned by the ex mayor of Tijuana. Including his own private zoo, pictured here. (We could hear lions getting intimate, I believe.)

On Monday we planned to go to some museums to see some artwork of a friend and just generally do some touristy things. Little did we know it was the official holiday celebrating the nationalization of oil, so everything was closed. We saw some pretty park benches though.

The next day we ventured across the border to do a little shopping. I guess I wasn’t supposed to get this picture either.

Ah the beautiful US of A.

And a good ol’ American hotdog.

We found good sushi in Tijuana the next day.

And dropped by a workers’ rights office.

So nice to be around some radical politics, after the ultra conservative GTO.

Though why peace, workers rights and the environment are radical is a mystery to me. (Actually, unfortunately it isn’t a mystery, just a travesty.)

Then on Wednesday we got a ride to the airport, past our last glimpse of the wall, and the art on it. Each cross represents someone who has died making the crossing. At this point more people have died than in 9/11 or US casualties in the Iraq war, since the wall was built.

Tijuana Time Out

We made it to Todos Santos. By the time we got there, Mikko had a fever as well. We spent two days there hoping to rally our health for the 24 hour bus trip.

The recovery suite.

Except for the 6 military check points and Mikko’s fever, that trip was relatively painless.

We are now staying with old family friends in Tijuana, doing a little shopping and visiting before Mikko and I fly home to Guanajato tomorrow. We are staying at their house, feet away from the beach. So far, it has been too cold for frolicking but it sure is nice to be so close.

We crossed the border today, for a little shopping at Target. What a crazy culture trip – acres and acres of strip malls. We still haven’t found sushi. We are going to try a place right downtown this afternoon. Lynn has told me not to get my hopes up. So far they haven’t found good sushi here or in San Diego.

This is a crazy town. Much of the time you hear English, much of the change you get is a mix of USD and pesos. And there is the everpresent wall reminding everyone of the how screwed up things are right now and the US’s welcoming, benevolent attitude toward their southern neighbors.

Crazy.

I’ll write more from home when I can post pictures as well.

Ferry from Los Mochis

At around 6:00 we took this bus from los Mochis to the little town that the ferry leaves from. I loved this bus, it was so cozy.

I don’t know why the only ferry was at 11 pm, but it was. The ferry station was a ways away from town or anything else so we just waited out there for hours. There were a lot of others waiting as well, families, college students, and few tourists. It became quite a mob of people by the time the ferry arrived and we loaded.

Everyone immediately staked out places to sleep. There were people under staircases, on the floor in the hallways, on the couches in the bar, and lots of people stretched across the bucket seats. I wish I had gotten more pictures, but it felt invasive, like taking pictures of people in their bedrooms.

We all slept pretty well. I woke up in the wee hours and wandered around on deck. It was surprisingly warm. The air was my new favorite kind of air. It was fresh and wet, in a soft, non cloying way. The air all over Baja is like that. I was digging it.

This pelican greeted us as we disembarked just outside of La Paz. Mikko gives some very edumacational commentary:

Buses, Trains and Fevers

The 16 hour bus ride to Chihuahua wasn’t that bad. Even with a flat tire in the middle of the night and despite the fact that a had a full blown fever by the time we arrived in Chihuahua. There were three decent movies, in English. We had good snacks and Mikko and I, anyway, slept pretty well.

We caught the bus to Chihuahua in Leon, the capital of shoes and leather. I so wish I was a cowboy boot wearer.

The driver needed someone in the drivers seat while he changed the tire at 3 in the morning. We all happened to be up, so Mikko took this picture.

Chihuahua is the Yakima valley of Mexico, there are acres and acres of apple trees. The nets are to protect from hail.
We arrived in Chihuahua around noon, I went strait to bed and stayed there in fitfull feverish sleep for the next 16 hours. We got up at about 4:30 the next morning to get to the train station for our next 16 hour adventure.

The train was lovely. The best part being open windows in the vestibules where you could stand and stick your head out and wave at people. Between the fever, which I was able to keep somewhat at bay with Tylonol and a bodacious headache from caffien withdrawal which I never quite got rid of, (even after realizing what was going on and drinking tea and coke,) I was really quite miserable most of the day. I did have moments of happiness though – at the windows. The landscape was stunning.

For those of you who enjoy the moving image and the sounds too, (you just can’t beat the sounds of a train, in my humble opinion):

The one drag of the train (besides my misery,) was the prices . They don’t allow you to bring food on and everything is SUPER expensive 22 pesos (over $2) for a cup of weak black tea, $5 for a deck of cards, ( thank god they had that though,) $2 for a bag of chips…

The bar is pretty classy looking though.

My advice is to either take subtle snacks – or try the second class train, which they say has more delays, but it could be worth it for the freedom of creating your own culinary experience.

The train is an actual commuter train as well with stops all a long the way. There is one main tourist stop, where you can get off the train and see the canyon.

The Tarahumara people live in the area and make amazing baskets from pine needles, and desert plants. It seems that much of their business depends on the daily train coming through, loaded with tour groups.

One more train video:

We arrived in Los Mochis, where we are right now, at 10:30 last night, thinking that we would take a morning ferry to La Paz, on Baja. We found out though that there is only one ferry a day and it is at 11 pm. Our checkout time was noon. Sadness.

Los Mochis is a very strange Mexican town. It was founded in the 20s as a sugar production site, so it doesn’t have any of the the old colonial architecture or layout. It is big boulevards lined with chain stores and palm trees.

It feels like California. We went to a ” sushi” restaurant for lunch. It seemed to just be an excuse to wrap rice and creamcheese together in different combinations. I actually had some excellent chicken soup.

We are spending the afternoon in a mall that Mikko and Matthew found this morning while I stayed in bed until the last possible minute. It is a little slice of youth heaven with a bowling ally, poolhall, arcade, snackbar AND internet. It works well for us. Matthew and Mikko have bowled and are now in the arcade. I have Kleenex in my ears, to protect from all the competing noises, Dance Dance Revolution on one side, poolhall music on the other and the crash of bowling balls and pins behind, and am doing this.

Soonish, I suppose we will get our stuff from the hotel and take a bus the 27 kilometers to the town where the ferry leaves from and hope to find a cozy spot on the beach to wait. Hopefully the Tylonol will continue to keep my fever away (and I remembered to drink some black tea this morning so I don’thave that headache, hallelualuah.)

On to our next adventure

We have been home for almost a week.  In that week, Mikko had regular school, Matthew did his writing, I did my normal puttering with a quick trip to Salamanca for more interviews and a school visit – so fun, we had a party last night and tonight we rush away again.

Mikko’s and my visas expire soon, so we are going to do the right thing and cross the frontier for a minute and come back in where they will issue us new visas. (It turns out it may not really be necessary, Matthew just crossed the border with an almost 3 month expired visa and they didn’t say a word. I get anxious about these things though – plus I really need some sushi.)

So tonight we leave at 8pm to go on the 16 hour bus ride to Chihuahua. We take the 12 hour train along the Copper Canyon at 6 Monday morning to los Mochis. Then a 6 hour ferry on Tuesday to La Paz, (on the southern end of Baja,) two more hours by bus or car, depending on my friend’s schedule, to Todos Santos, a few days of resting up there and playing in the waves, then the grueling 24 hour bus ride to Tijuana, a few days there with some friends who live just below the border on the beach. A quick trip to San Diego for some sushi and thrift store shopping (I hope) and back on a civilized airplane on the 19th with our brand new 6 month visas in hand.

I hope to not procrastinate the posting of our experiences, and so have updates more regularly.

On to Patz

Our plan was to take a bus from Barra de Navidad, Jalisco to Patzcuaro, Michoacan. We found there wasn’t one so we were just going to go to Manzanilla and hop on a bus to Patz. Then just to Colima, the just to Zomora, 11 hours later we spent the night in Uruapan, and got a bus to Patz. the next day. It was actually really fun, we had a lovely day of changing landscapes and different flavored cities.

Here is a video of our day in a nutshell, there were actually a few city buses and cabs too. Hopefully you can get a sense of the change in climate and landscape.

Before heading to Patz, we spent the morning wandering around Uruapan’s beautiful Parque Nacional. Our hotel was very near the entrance. The Park was a public works type project in the 1920s and is a maze of paths through a semi tropical forests and waterfalls, rivers and fountains. It was glorious to be immersed in the green greeness of it all and the sound of rushing water.

We went straight from there to the bus station, so we saw very little of the city. It had a very good feel though, and I am looking forward to going back. I will be spending some days there soon, talking to teachers and observing in schools.

The trip to Patz took about 2 hours because we took a local. A direct would have only been 1 hour. We road through many small towns, picking up people anywhere along the way.

Michoacan has very strong, visible indigenous roots. It is also one of the more progressive states in Mexico, so you see more people reading the La Jornada the lefty newspaper, more posters about current issues, there are generally more strikes and protests going on than in Guanajuato, the most conservative state in Mexico. People seem to have more hope and assurance that their actions make a difference.

We met up with some old friends of D and L’s at the library. (They lived here for about a year, 14 years ago.) Everyone was so happy to see eachother and meet Mikko, Matthew and me.

The library from outside.

This is the inside of the library – I thought I had pictures of the friends, but that must have been someone else.

This is the Plaza Chica, from the library – our hotel was over on the right.
One fellow was a teacher, so I interviewed him and the next day went to his class to speak English to his students. He teaches English in a public secondary school (like middle school.) The kids wee very sweet and asked me lots of cute questions: Do you like meat? How do you spell your mother’s name? What is your email?

I had to pretend I didn’t speak any Spanish, which was hard because I like to speak Spanish, and feel kind of proud that I can. In fact the interview was great and meeting all of D and L’s friends. We had spoken so little Spanish for the past few days that I had that fear of losing it – but then I found that I could just slip right into it again, which is so reassuring and makes me feel that I have achieved a certain level. Still so far to go though – poco a poco.

Being in the school was a wonderful experience and got me excited about the observations I will be doing after spring break.

I went to the hospital that day too. My stupid ol’ tendonitis came back, (I got it for the first time about three weeks ago.) I had to go to a doctor, because there is only one kind of antiinflamitory I can take because of being on the blood thinner – such a hassle. But the doctor was very thorough and not only gave me the prescription but gave me exercises to do, unlike the doctor in Guanajuato. I thought it was cheep going to him – 200 pesos ($20) but the doctor in Patz was only 80 pesos ($8)!!

The hospital is the door on the right.

We took some lovely walks, did some shopping, some visiting and just lollygagging and then were off to Morelia for our last two days.

Mikko with the mom of a friend that we visited.

In the combi on our way to the bus to Morelia.