mucho mucho

Well, hola!

I'm sorry for not updating this week - I've been very busy getting into the swing of things (classes started this week) and exploring. So here's a recap (and I'll post some photos at the end if the internet allows):

On Sunday, a group of us ventured into Puebla to go to Wal Mart for some essentials. It was our first bus ride without Patricia or Raul (our professors/fearless leaders) and we got off at the correct stop and everything. Side-note: I costs 5 pesos (about 50 cents) for a bus ride from Cholula to Puebla which takes anywhere between 15 minutes and a half hour depending on which bus you get on and how often it stops. Though this adventure sounds short and sweet, it basically was our whole afternoon and lemme tell ya - the bakery in Wal Mart is AWESOME. It's just like all the little ones around town, but in a Wal Mart. Why America hasn't caught on to how great it is to offer amazing fresh breads and baked products like they do down here is beyond me.

Then, during the week, classes started and we all got used to that. I have fallen in love with Bookmaking and it's totally my favorite class ever. I bought some gorgeous paper from a little old lady at the base of the pyramid for covers at 10 pesos a sheet (about $1 US) and am having fun looking out for interesting posters to use for future book covers. Most of the Lucha Libre posters are pasted onto polls and walls, though, which makes it impossible not only to rip one down, but also to make use of. I've been working on my photography independently, but since there are two studio spaces upstairs, I still get to work in a productive environment and I've kind of joined the Senior Prints class, which is small and therefore has room for me to work on my computer. Pre-Columbian Art History, which has only met once so far and will become more prominent during our upcoming field trips, is shaping up to be a very interesting class. Raul teaches it and makes it very entertaining. Raul is also giving an informal Spanish class Wednesday afternoons in which he gives us very practical lessons - like pronunciation, how to tell rowdy people at bars to leave you alone, and how to say other cute/useful phrases in Spanish.

Yesterday was a very grand adventure. A bunch of us (broken into 3 mini groups) took a bus to Atlixco (a town outside of Puebla where the last Art & Design students stayed). To get there, you must take a bus first to the CAPU in Puebla for 5 pesos. Think airport for buses. This is the way to travel! For 18 pesos (about $1.80 US), you get a ride from the CAPU on a charter bus to Atlixco, which took us over an hour on the way there and only 45 minutes on the way back (even though they're nicer buses, they still pick people up along the way which can slow you down a lot). We left in the afternoon after lunch (meatballs and beans... hmm...) and so got to Atlixco just in time for dinner, which we had at La Capilla. We also walked around the market... well, really it was like 5 square blocks jam packed with trucks full of fruits and vegetables and many other vendors. We heard that Atlixco is famous for their ice cream, so after dinner we ventured to the Zocalo (which every town has, it's a big area in the center of town that functions like a park) and had some awesome dessert at Rosita's (16 pesos for a single scoop waffle cone) and everyone got something delicious. I picked up some fun souvenirs including a DVD for 20 pesos - Love in the Time of Cholera (YAY!) - and some bracelets and a bandana with the Virgin Mary on it. All in all, the whole day cost me about 200 pesos, which is only 20 USD.

When we got back, a half dozen of us went half a block from the hotel to a little bar and partied with some chill locals. I think this bar was my favorite for several reasons: 1) it's very small and not crowded, 2) it's well lit which 3) let's you see that it's clean, and 4) is half a minute from the hotel. Tonight we're meeting some of our new friends at La Roka (considerably farther away, but worth the walk for the interior, which I have yet to see but involves colorful waterfalls).

But right now I'm going to my favorite place in Cholula - Cafe Tal - a little coffehouse/cafe in the Zocalo (about 7 minute walk) where (coffee) drinks are delicious and average about 20 pesos and the food also ranges around 20 pesos. It's pretty much THE place to be (in our opinions).

The photos don't seem to want to upload for me right now, so I will attempt again later!

more photos and a story...

So first off, here's some more photos from the pyramid trip:

This is the bell tower (no longer in use as evident by the padding keeping the bells stationary) of the church on top of the pyramid. Inside the church was a neon sign labelling the Virgin Mary.
Yes, blue neon.

The view from about 3/4 the way up the pyramid. In the hazy distance, you can see our volcano (which is more visible from my hotel room window!)

The view from the top!

Spiderman got his web caught in a wire...
There were two more superheroes caught in the pole...
What is this world coming to?

Yesterday we took a bus to Puebla (about 15km away, the 4th largest city in Mexico). Though I brought my camera with me, I forgot my memory card in my computer (whoops!) so no photos. I did have my videocamera, though, and got some video of this really beautiful church and the city of Puebla (which was for the most part really pretty, though it is definitely a city). Sad news about video - I didn't pack my charger cord for my video camera, so unless I get really lucky at an electronics store or WalMart (which would be in Puebla), video will be posted once I get back home. More to look forward to! Anyway....

We walked around Puebla for a few hours, it's really nice, as cities go, and the buildings are all quirky and brightly colored or tiled. The churches are very ornate and there's a park every couple blocks scattered with vendors and benches and trees and statues. Very charming.

The only bummer about yesterday was that I wasn't feeling too great - something in the food had caught up to me or something and I was grateful to get back to the hotel at 3:30pm to sleep for a few hours. When I woke up, my friends took my temperature and I had 102 degree fever, which led to a call to Patricia (our fearless leader/professor) and to the doctor. Due to the late hour, he recommended waiting until morning for antibiotics (also because they are pricey) and recommended an anti-nausea medicine which my friends got at the Farmacia (2 blocks away). Upon opening the little box, I did not find the expected tablets, but little glass bottles which (after some confusion and a trip to the front desk for translation/advice) led to a Red Cross man coming by to give me a shot in my butt!!!!!! For only 50 pesos (about $5)...

When I woke up this morning, thankfully I had no fever and today was filled with relaxing and laying around inside and out by the pool in the sun. I haven't felt like eating much, in fact today I only had a half bowl of corn flakes for breakfast, a roll for lunch, and a couple crackers... and lots of bottled water. Woohoo...

Anyway, it seems like I'm the only one who's gotten sick (so far, knock on wood!) which is good, I suppose... and the craziness of last night will for sure lead to many laughs in the future.

Since I still feel weary, I won't be going out to the bars with some of the other kids tonight (Thursday is the party night here in Cholula because the University students usually go home for weekends on Friday and need to get their partying in...) and tomorrow is another mellow day. I'm not sure what the weekend will bring, but I hear the catacombs of the pyramid have free entry on Sundays (regularly 35 pesos - about $3.50) so maybe that adventure will be in store for me!

Have a lovely evening, folks! More later.

Day 1

Hey everybody! Well, yesterday I arrived in Mexico! Yay! And classes aren't starting until next week (woo hoo). Our group takes up pretty much the entire 2nd floor of rooms at the Hotel Las Iglesias (which only has 2 floors of rooms) and the third floor is our studio space and they're building us a little kitchen. Off the studio, there's a terrace that gives us a 360 view of Cholula - which is awesome. From my room, I can see the volcano (which is named Popocatepetl, or Popo for short I think) which is still active and smoking out the top...

Today we just hung around Cholula - explored a little and then made our way to the Pyramid - Mexico's largest man-made mountain which has a big yellow church on top. The pyramid is about a half-hour walk from our Hotel but once we got to the base, we walked around it for another 20 minutes to get to the steps (little did I know that there was a less steep path on the other side or I would have... regretted climbing all those stairs!). Once up there, the view was awesome and the following pictures are from this excursion.

Photos from our day:

These flowers were growing near the road on the way to the mountain/pyramid/hundreds of steps we had to climb to get to the top... they were pretty...

This was after the first half of the mountain... to my dismay there was another set of steps waiting for me, which my legs really did not like. I am an artist, not an athlete... but anyway, there's the church. :)

And here's me and Shelley after alllllll those steps... but we made it!

And then a bag of fried crickets was bought and I think I might have been the only one to resist trying one.
Oh well, I guess I'll just have to live my life with that regret... (oh the sarcasm)

There are more photos, but I am growing impatient with the internet (it kicks me off kind of often and it isn't high-speed, so uploading was taking forever/not happening). I will post them later on. For now, I think I'm going to get ready for bed and probably fall asleep before 10:30pm (my time - which is central time, only one hour behind EST).

Hope you're all staying warm in the States. It's beautiful here...

Here I go!

Well, here I go... wish me luck!

When I next post, it will be from Mexico!!!

YAY!