Goodbye, Guanajuato

It has been 1 week since I left Guanajuato. At this time last week, I was already in Chicago waiting to board my plan home. I've been waiting to write this entry because I wanted to think about it...

Friday, the girls and I spent the day and the night out. We met in the afternoon at a nice little cafe to have coffee, and we met later in the early evening to hang out in the center of town. Of course, that night we went out to all of our favorite places until the first group had to leave for the airport. There were plenty of tears, plenty of hugs, and plenty of laughs for the last night. Did we sleep? No.

Studying abroad in Guanajuato was one of the best things I've ever done. I was able to immerse myself in a completely different culture, and I even had to use their language. I salsa danced every day. I got to know the city, and was able to travel to different cultural centers around Guanajuato.

I saw pyramids, mummies, the mexican war for independence, Cristo Rey, callejoneada, volcanoes, horseback riding, waterfalls, and more...

How often do you get the chance to experience so much in such a small amount of time? It's rare.

But even more importantly, I learned more about myself and I met some amazing people. It's an experience that I'm never going to forget, and now that I'm back, I think about it at every moment. I unconsciously compare things here to how they were in Guanajuato and vice versa. I crave the food. I miss speaking in Spanish. Most of all, I miss salsa dancing. I miss my friends, and I miss my host-family.

I'm glad I still decided to participate in this study abroad program, despite the swine flu scare and the drug wars, and I cannot wait to study abroad again.

Until next time.

The Beginning of the Goodbyes

Today was the beginning of our goodbyes (well, actually it was yesterday, since it was our last day of classes). ISA threw our goodbye party tonight. It was pretty nice. We had chimichangas and cake (well, everyone else had chimichangas and cake. I wasn't feeling well enough to eat anything), and another band came to play music for us. I'm not exactly sure of what kind of music they played, but I think it might have been banda or ranchero because some of the professors and program directors began to pull some of the students to dance with them.





We took plenty of pictures, but my favorite was this one. The entire group:



After the ISA party, we went to our last salsa class at El Bar. I loved the people in this class, and I loved learning everything about salsa and much more! This wasn't our last time at El Bar though; we're planning to go back tonight and tomorrow.

the whole class

a picture with one of the instructors, Jose

Victim

I am a victim to the sickness that has been going around. According to my symptoms, it seems like it has to be something with the food. Everyone went out tonight...and I'm just at home because I don't feel good.

I did get to go to El Pipila with the group tonight though. We went to El Pipila during our second day here, but this time we wanted to go at night to see the lights of the city. It was beautiful, and I really could have sat up there until the sun came up. The view was amazing.

the whole group before getting to the top

you can see the muses at the top of Teatro Juarez

all the girls

Another one

We had another birthday today: Andrew's! The tradition of putting your face in the cake came up again, and he was pretty hesitant to do it, just like Muhsinah! But, as always, I captured the moment (almost). Here it is:



I've been going crazy over the last couple of days trying to finish my Literature project! It's been very stressful because we decided to make a website along with some short videos from the interviews we did. Luckily, it's over! Here's the final product: El Baile de la Cultura Mexicana. I designed the website and put the videos together. I know it's in Spanish, so I'm not sure if you'll be able to understand it all. Basically, it's a project about the different kinds of traditional Latin/Mexican dances and their importance to the culture, along with a comparison between Mexicans and Americans in relation to dance. It was fun to do and fun to learn about.

One more thing...everyone has been getting sick!!! We don't know if it's a sickness or if it's something that has to do with the food. I'm just getting nervous...

Michoacan Day 3: Patzcuaro

We woke up today feeling horrible! I can honestly say that my body has never hurt like this before. I never knew THAT many muscles were required to ride a horse. I hurt all over...no part of my body has been left alone. Even the muscles in my hands...

Anyways, we left our hotel to get on the bus to the National Park in Uruapan. Our hotel was pretty nice! The rooms and bathrooms were nice, and one of the best parts was the television! We watched "No Te Lo Pongas" (What not to Wear!) and music videos all the time, so it was pretty nice. In our house, we don't ever watch television. The breakfast at the hotel was also pretty amazing. We had chilaquiles every morning, eggs with ham, quesadillas, fruit, yogurt, bread, french toast, pancakes, cereal, and more. It was so delicious.

It was Father's Day today, so there were plenty of people at the National Park! I loved everything at the park; it was so beautiful. When you think of Mexico, you don't really think of forest, vegetation, or flowers. Some of the first things that comes to mind is dryness, desert, and dirt. Well, here in Michoacan, that stereotype was definitely broken for all of us. The National Park seemed like a tropical rainforest! Small waterfalls everywhere, beautiful flowers and trees, and we felt like we were in some other country. Here are some pictures:

my favorite flowers. these hung from the trees upside down, facing the ground instead of facing the sky

vegetation...

waterfalls

In Patzcuaro, there were many stores, markets, and parks full of artesan stands. We were given 2 hours to walk around, eat, and shop. I decided to go shopping first, but didn't buy anything but earrings and a bracelet. Everything that they were selling were really traditional Mexican products (clothing, housewares, etc.), so I didn't buy much. It was very interesting to look at though, to see what kinds of things are really important in their culture. Here are some pictures of the center of town:







I was walking around and shopping by myself, so I caught up with some friends for lunch. I don't remember what the dish was called, but it was really good and only 35 pesos! The presentation was really nice too...

Michoacan Day 2: Horses and the Volcano

Today we traveled to Paricutin, which is a smaller village. The majority of the population is indigenous, so it was really interesting to hear them speak their language, to see their traditional dress, and to witness their ways of living. All of them rushed (on horseback) to the site where we would be picking out our horses as soon as they saw our bus! It was pretty cool to watch, especially the little 10 year old boy who was riding the horses with all the men. The first thing we did when we got there was take pictures of the volcano. It was so far away...we realized that it really WAS going to be a 3 hour horse ride to get there.



I was very excited to pick out my horse, being that it was my first time ever horseback riding. There was this beautiful dark brown horse that I had been eyeing, but the guide asked me, "Is this your first time?" Of course, I said yes. As a result, he paired me with this smaller light brown horse.



I was still excited, until the halfway point to the volcano! My horse's name was Zapichu, and let's just say that he must have been a stubborn, young horse. He didn't ever gallop, he walked really slow, and he just didn't listen to me when I told him to do something. I loved Zapichu when we weren't riding, but when we were riding, I would get so frustrated! Anyways, I still had an amazing time.

The trail was pretty rocky, but the horses had walked that trail so many times that it really was nothing for them. It was so much fun to ride, and the area was so beautiful! There was so much vegetation that it didn't even feel like we were in Mexico anymore. Before arriving at the volcano, we stopped to see the church that had been ruined by the volcano. It was an amazing thing to see, and having to climb on and step around all of the hardened lava rock really put the destruction into perspective. Here's a picture of one of the standing structures of the church:


So after we spent some time at the church, we continued on our journey to the volcano. Like I said, Zapichu didn't like to gallop--he only trotted. I can honestly say that I hate trotting! It hurts, and my legs started to burn after rubbing against that wooden saddle for so long. Zapichu galloped twice for a little while, when one of the guides whipped him, so that was nice. Finally, we started to approach the volcano. Here are a couple pictures:



And here are some pictures of Zapichu and me:

I fed him an apple

After resting for a couple of minutes, we started to climb the volcano. If you know what it's like to run on the beach, imagine how hard it would be to climb up a beach-like slope. That's what we had to do. Every step you took forward, you were pushed a little further down. On top of that, the slope was very steep! It took us a long time to reach the top, but we finally got there. It was beautiful from the top.

exhausted

There were some spots at the top of the volcano where the rocks were so hot that you couldn't stand in one spot for too long, or you'd begin to feel the extreme heat through your shoes! Crazy. The view from the top was worth the climb. The journey back down was also worth the climb: it was like you had to ski down the slope!!! In the end though, we had tons of lava rock in our shoes and all over our clothes, staining them black. It didn't matter to me though. I thought it was all amazing.

the ankle-deep lava rock

After climbing the volcano and the first 3 hours of horseback riding, the 3 hour trip back on horseback was rough! I was really ready to get back, so I tried to get Zapichu to gallop. Guess what...he didn't. The only thing he did was trot, and that became so painful that I stopped him and made him walk every time he trotted. After the day, our whole bodies just ached! It was worth it though, every second.

Michoacan Day 1: Waterfalls

Things started off perfectly today: NO CLASS!!! On the downside, we had to meet at Jardín Cantador super early for the bus ride. After 4.5 hours, we finally made it to Uruapan. We didn't go to the hotel first though; we traveled directly to the waterfalls, Tzaracua and Tzaracuita. After waiting forever to let the girls change into their swimsuits (that included me...it took forever because we had to find a bathroom! And in Mexico, they have a habit of making you pay 3-4 pesos to use a public bathroom. After much debate, we just changed on the bus), we finally set off to the waterfalls.

It had started off as a pretty cool morning, but it quickly turned into a very hot day when the sun came out!!! We had to climb up and down hills and stairs the whole time, so when we arrived at the first waterfall, the mist felt so good on our face! This was the biggest waterfall called Tzaracua, and they didn't permit anyone to swim in it. It was really beautiful though, and we took plenty of pictures (of course!).

my friend noelle and i went across the water

After seeing Tzaracua, we continued hiking to get to the smaller waterfall we could swim in, Tzaracuita. We didn't know that we had to hike that far! By the time we got to the waterfall, we were exhausted and very sweaty. They told us the water in the waterfall would be freezing cold, so I was afraid to get in (if you know me, I really can't swim in freezing cold water! I'd rather have it be a little warmer...like how water feels after it's sat in the sun all day in 90-degree heat). This time, however, it didn't matter to me at all! We were soooo hot, so by the time we got in, the freezing cold water felt perfect! Swimming in the waterfall was one of the best things I've ever done, and it really was liberating.

yes, we swam in this waterfall

We really didn't want to leave the waterfalls. I could have spent my whole day there. By the time we got back on the bus, we were all exhausted! It was so amazing...