Summer in Mexico

I love Mexico. I've come back time and time again for the food, the music, and most of all, the people! This summer, I'm living with family friends in Guadalajara, Jalisco while studying Spanish.

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Every time I come to Guayabitos, my phone and life at home gets cast aside. I love this place and I'm so lucky to be here!

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Chivas contra NEC game at a friend's house. Love watching games with guys. They have the best food and snacks!!

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Questions

Since arriving here, I've been asked two questions significantly more than any others... 1) Do you believe in ghosts? 2) Do you want to get married? I'm not sure why ghosts come up so much in conversation, but I think the marriage question stems from the increasing number of young people in Mexico who aren't getting married.

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Family stop for some nieve across the street from the cathedral after the wedding ceremony. I got coco/coconut and it was absolutely delicious!

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La Caguama

In Tlaquepaque last night, there was a street performer with a large crowd around him. He had a line up of 5 guys and a parallel line of 5 girls. The guys had to do different things like dance around/with the girls and with the other guys, which was hilarious! After they'd done that part of the show, the performer asked for another girl from the audience. One lady stepped forward and stood among the 5 other ladies. The original 5 were skinny and the last lady was a little bigger. The performer complimented her on her looks but then said something that made me laugh so hard. Comparing them to beer bottles, he said "ellas son los modelos y ella es la caguama".

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Boda de Plata en Jocotepec, Jalisco, cerca de Chapala. Silver wedding ceremony in Jocotepec with my adopted family last Saturday. It's awkward enough attending a religious ceremony that isn't your religion, especially when every single other person in the room is that religion, but I got to experience it in a foreign language! Beautiful, yet overwhelming.

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"Ve Con Cuidado"

When I go out, Mariana always says to me "ve con cuidado" ("go with care"/"be careful") and sometimes adds a "que te vayas bien" ("that it goes well"/"have a good time") as I head out the door.

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U de G Leones Negros vs. UAG Estudiantes Tecos game at Estadio Jalisco with David, Merideth, Miriam, Jenny, and Jamie. The game ended at 0-0 but we had fun anyway drinking 30 peso beers, eating popcorn and papas with lime and chile, and just hanging out!

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Excellent bus singer. I actually gave him my change.

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Bus Lesson #3

It is perfectly acceptable for a woman to put on her make up on the bus. Respect to you if you're able to do that!

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Bus Lesson #2

Don't stand near the doors. Unlike buses in Vancouver, people will move towards the back door when they're stop is coming up. You'll end up trying to readjust so that they don't maul you and almost falling on your face. Fortunately, the locals are quick to grab you when you realize you're going down and the look of fear comes over your face.

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This beautiful place is called Cerro de la Reina and it's located in Tonalá, Jalisco. From this hill, you have a 360 view of the surrounding cities and towns, including Guadalajara, Tonalá, and Tlaquepaque. The giant cement "dirty swimming pool" is actually a cock fighting arena. I'm not sure if it's used anymore, I was afraid to ask. The storm that passed over Tonalá an hour or so earlier could be seen moving east away from us and another storm coming across Guadalajara from the west. Absolutely stunning location!

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These little fried hot dog bits are called salchipulpos. We bought them and papas from a street vendor. Simple but so good! Covered with some catsup and mustard and we’ve got ourselves a nice little meal.

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Carlos picked me up after school yesterday, July 18th, to go see the tianguis in Tonalá. As we drove up to the city, the sky opened up and it began to pour! Harder than it has since I've been here. Within a minute, the roads began to flood and people were running around trying to find shelter. We found a spot to pull over and waited about half an hour until it stopped. We parked and walked to where the tianguis had been. People were coming out of hiding and starting to pack up. The town was finally beginning to drain the rain water so we were able to walk around the centre a little bit, get a bite to eat, and hang out in the band stand thing in the centre of the plaza watching people.

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Carlos and his parents invited me to stay for cena at their house because I was already there playing with Huron, Carlos' ferret. We ate (what was later described to me as) "gringos". Like quesadillas but with meat inside, and cream, tomatoes, and onions on top. I didn't eat the olives. No me gustan las aceitunas.

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I remember when I was young always joking when I was nervous that "I didn't just have butterflies in my belly, I had Mexican moths". Forgot about that saying until I saw a Mexican moth for the first time!!!

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Bank Robbery

Yesterday, July 16th, I was taking the Macrobus home to the North from my school around 3 pm, which unfortunately is one of the busiest times of the day. This bus has its own lanes in the middle of the street so the only reason we slow down is when we've reached a station or when there's a red light. We were all crammed in like sardines in a can, as usual, when I noticed that we were just slowly crawling along and that everybody seemed to be looking out the window ahead of us. Our entire bus lane was blocked with police vehicles, and cops were walking around between their vehicles and the Banorte bank adjacent. By the time I noticed what was happening, the Macrobus was motioned into the other lane and passed the police vehicles. I couldn't tell what was happening. Perhaps a bank robbery. Dramatic anyhow. Typical "dangerous" Mexico.