Dear God, not again!

In continued celebration of being a hot, young, 20-something married couple without children (plus our 3-year wedding anniversary on July 30), we’ve booked and paid for another Caribbean cruise this summer, sailing on Sunday, August 3 and returning Sunday, August 10 (7 days). We’ll be sailing from Galveston, Texas, our nearest cruise ship port. This will be our 3rd cruise and our first on Carnival (other 2 were Royal Caribbean). Here is a small map of our itinerary with ports of call (ignore the New Orleans embarkation port):

Carnival Conquest Cruise Itinerary

After 2 days at sea, we’ll first stop in Montego Bay, Jamaica, a new port of call for us. After doing tons of research, we’ve decided to spend the day at the all-inclusive Sunset Beach Resort, taking advantage of all the food and booze we can swallow, beaches, water toys, snorkeling, and small water park, all for a great price. We’ll take a taxi to and from the resort, which is only minutes from the cruise ship pier. Next up in Grand Cayman (our second time here, and a beautiful port of call), I booked us a highly recommended private tour to Stingray City to hang with the stingrays, snorkeling stop on the coral reef, and lunch at a beautiful beach called Rum Point. The price was right and the tour limited to a small group, so a good time should be had by all. Finally, in Cozumel, I’ve rented us a Jeep to drive around the island; since Brandi and I are both very familiar with Cozumel (we’ve been before on cruises and for SCUBA vacations), we decided to skip a formal tour and do it on our own. Then, after a final day at sea, we’ll return to Galveston, and then after a few days it is back to Norman. That’s the plan so far, pending any tropical storms or hurricanes that could change our path.

We won’t be blogging on the cruise because we don’t care to be “plugged in” when there are adventures to be had; plus, Internet access on board is expensive. We’ll post a review of our cruise after we return, complete with my reflections and uneasiness about being on a ship called “Conquest” with 2,000 drunks, as one Cruise Critic blogger put it, “eating our way from port to port.” I’ll let you know if I stage a small world hunger protest at the Midnight Grand Gala Buffet.

Steven

Here they are folks… the much talked about… Pictures of the plates! (okay, so this was probably not the most exciting thing we saw in all of Guadalajara, but as the photos have not yet been loaded onto Picassa, but will be soon, I thought I would play with inserting a picture on the blog… now that I can use the USB drive!)

Our plates from Tonala.

There were so many pieces available in this pattern (it is INCREDIBLE that they are all hand made!) - below is a picture of the table with some (and these are about 1/2 of the available pieces in the pattern.)

available pieces in our pattern

And here is a picture of the entire store (well, the back part of it.). He had so many patterns. Our dishes (and our actual place settings) are the ones on the right side (looking at it) of the front table.

This is the store.

and of course, we had to get the Texas shaped dish. It was like fate!

This is what sealed the deal.

I think as a final picture, I will go ahead, and without Steven’s permission, release a photo of downtown Guadalajara (and yes, I think it looks like a post card, but nope. Steven took the photo on a rare sunny day).

La Catedral en el centro.

I don’t want anyone to think that the whole defining moment of our trip was getting plates. It wasn’t. This trip was SOOOOO amazing for so many reasons. I just got a little neurotic about plates. There are not words, in English or in Spanish, to describe all that we saw and did in Guadalajara. I just hope that I gave a little bit of myself to that city, to leave a little of me behind to make a difference. Although the song doesn’t quite fit, I see a lot of meaning in “it’s not what you take, when you leave this world (insert PLACE here) behind you, it’s what you leave behind you when you go” - I took so much from Guadalajara, I hope that I left enough of me behind, too.

and in the past 48 hours, Steven has gotten sick, I have gotten a parking ticket and had a near melt down in my class. Maybe we should head back to Mexico.

Our taxi driver arrived at 4:15am (Bernardo had called to schedule him for 4:30am.) We were both happy to have him there early to assure that we would, in fact, be transported to the airport.

When we arrived at the airport, all of our suitcases were promptly searched, and we headed to check in - 4 maletas (suitcases), one box and 4 carry-on items. We were a sight to see. After some back and forth action, we got all 5 things checked, with only a $15 charge for the extra equipaje (luggage) and off we went. When we landed in San Antonio, what was the first thing on the belt in baggage claim? THE BOX OF DISHES! And it didn’t look too badly abused. We quickly gathered all of our luggage, and made our way through customs.
At my parent’s house, we opened our dishes to find none, that we checked, had broken. Gracias a Dios. So they are now safely stored in my room at my parents’ house. *whew*

It is when Steven only eats 2 of his mom’s enchiladas that you know something is terribly wrong. On our car ride back to Oklahoma, he felt worse and worse, and has spent the last 36 hours sleeping and resting to try to kick whatever got in his system. He is much improved and jokes how he had to come back to the US to get sick.

We are back in Oklahoma for the next 2 weeks, until we head south to San Antonio again, for my 10 year high school reunion, and then a cruise with Ryan and Kellie! Yay. But first I have to get through a 2 week sprint course in reading assessments.

We are both REALLY sad to not be in Guadalajara right now and know that we will return to that city as soon as the opportunity presents itself. It is funny how a place that 2 months ago was so foreign to us is now so familiar and it seems like I am missing a part of my daily life not riding the bus to class and walking through the plazas daily. I am afraid those feelings will soon fade and I will be back to the hum drum of daily life here. I hope not, though. I want for those memories of Guadalajara and the amazing 5 weeks we had to stay fresh in my mind.

This, the last post from the most Mexican of cities…

Lots of little things to touch on, so I will just get right to it. The ideas and themes will be a bit disconnected, but all are important.

**Don´t forget - this blog WILL REMAIN ACTIVE and will be a great place to communicate future travels and stories from our family to yours. Sign up to receive email alerts when we post something new and save yourself the trouble of checking our blog page.

Flight info: Tomorrow we´re scheduled to rise at the butt crack of dawn to meet our taxi in front of our house at 4:30 AM. We fly first to Mexico City at 7:00AM and arrive there at 8:10AM. After a near 3 hour layover, we fly from Mexico City to San Antonio, arriving in SA at 1:00PM, ojalá (I hope). We´ll post after we return letting you know if we were able to bring our souvenirs and dishes, weighing approximately 1 ton. Tonight will be spent packing and eating the homemade tamales Tony has been preparing all day in honor of our final night with the family in Guadalajara.

First, we want to extend a huge THANK YOU/GRACIAS to the fans, avid readers, and commenters on our blog. It was so nice to read all of your thoughts, reactions, and praises when we were so far away from all things familiar. We are really glad that you have enjoyed the narrations of our trip and hope the pictures, to come soon, won´t disappoint. Check for a blog post with the picture link information.

We also want to thank the countless citizens of Guadalajara and the surrouding pueblos that were so generous and so kind to us when they happened to notice 2 seemingly lost Americans trying to find their way on their own. A big gracias to those of you who helped us with a right direction, pointed us to the right place, or let us get on the bus before you - you´ve shown that the people of Guadalajara are an important reason to visit this city.

About those photos - I´ve taken nearly 2,000 photos of Guadalajara and the surrounding pueblos in Jalisco (I´ve also caught a few short videos). In these photos I´ve tried to capture a little of everything - some of the beautiful, some of the bizarre, some of the ordinary, and hopefully, and most importantly, images of everyday life in the second largest city in Mexico. Guadalajara is a city brimming with activity, fully alive, always trying to catch its breath. I hope my photos will do some deserved justice to this reality.

About yesterday´s news of the bus crash that killed 5 people in Tonalá: we´ve noticed that the newspapers here have no reservations about displaying extremely graphic photos on the front page of the newspaper, probably for the reason to sell more newspapers. I asked our teacher about it today, and he said there wasn´t a law or regulations on showing graphic images, and he did not agree with the paper´s desire to shock the reader and sell papers. I did not need to see crime scene photos of a mutilated bus driver and passengers.

One of the most important lessons we´ve learned here is that learning language is a process - an ongoing process that, in my opinion, has no end…even in your native language. Over these 5 weeks we´ve ran into countless tapatios (GDL citizens) who have been so nice and helpful and have expressed their frustration with learning English and the desire to practice, including our host family. It gives you the warm, one-ness feeling that we´re sort of “all in this together,” all of us wanting to expand our minds and our experiences by learning another language. It was good to hear that we weren´t the only ones struggling at times…we´re all learning, together.

There just wasn´t enough time to do everything that we wanted to do. We busted through Minerva´s fierce protective shield and went to the western part of the city on only 2 occasions, missing most of the big, upscale shopping malls, restaurants, bars, and general wealth that the western part of the city boasts. We did decide, however, that if we were going to miss anything, it should be the part of the city that most resembles the United States. Instead, we focused our attention on the authentic, sometimes gritty, streets of the city´s historic and uniquely Guadalajaran areas.

Along these lines, both Brandi and I are confident that, given 5 more weeks here, we´d be extremely fluent and possibly ready for advanced Spanish language work. Alas, there is no need to mourn what never could be - we have lives back in Norman, OK that are calling to us…work to be done, work to prepare, dissertations to complete, classrooms to create, etc. 5 weeks is what we had and we gave Mexico all of our attention over these 5 weeks (we haven´t watched TV in 5 weeks!). Some say it will be hard for us to retain or improve our fluency since we live in the States…this is one way of looking at the situation. Another way, a way I´ve played with recently, brings hope. Sure, it will be our burden to keep it up, but what a burden to have! Since there are two of us, and we learned together, we can help each other out, talk to each other, question each other, and teach each other the Spanish language (at this point, we´re up to expressing complex and abstract ideas). It´s up to us, after all, not just me or Brandi. This perspective frees up the brain to continue learning. A funny sidenote - the other morning, Brandi, me, Tony, and Bernardo were sitting at the table over breakfast and coffee, having one of our morning chats that I am so very much going to miss. Brandi was teasing me about needing to go get in the shower (what´s new here? ,P) and Brandi and I exchanged some friendly and fun banter. At this point, Tony and Bernardo looked at each other and both said, in Spanish of course, that they could definitely tell that I was in love with Brandi, and that she was in love with me, just by the way we play fought. What a cute and fun comment to have first thing in the morning. Another important lesson we´ve learned here is how to fully rely on each other for support. We definitely did this together, and we are a stronger couple because of this experience.

Some thoughts on diversity: I first want to commend Brandi for her steadfast vigilence and dedication to truly living like an average Mexican citizen, day in and day out, including her insistance on taking the public cheap bus for the common folk when I suggested, on more than one occasion, that we should just take a taxi. No one can say that we went to Mexico and lived like scared Americans…we got right on that same bus with the common folk of Guadalajara, held on tight, crossed ourselves, and hoped to God that we´d make it home that day in one piece. We were tossed and turned along with old women, young kids, nuns, and homeless people. I smelled smells I´d never like to smell again, and I savored the smell of fresh fruit from the market from the nameless woman holding tight beside me.

Brandi had to put up with some stuff that I may not have taken so lightly. Nothing serious, but not a day went by when she wasn´t stared at in the street (and this was not just a sexual thing, more often than not it was all kinds of people, both sexes, and kids who couldn´t remove their glance). Being blonde and blue-eyed in Mexico is not the norm, and no one buys the idea that she´s from Spain, we´re from Spain, or that she´s the direct descendent of some French military general. She´s an American, a foreigner, an extranjera, and she looks different. This is where we´re happy to be from the United States - in the US, Brandi doesn´t have to spend every day ignoring stares from others, because everyone looks different. In this way, the American experiment continues to be a noble and worthwhile experiment, because I´ve realized that looking like everyone else around you is sometimes not such a good thing. The world is full of brown people and white people and people of other shades, and it´s important that kids from an early age understand and know of difference. I did enjoy the stares, though, as sort of a game…and I almost always would stare the other person down, and once they noticed, they would usually turn away quickly or look down - gotcha.

So, we´ve established that diversity is important for creating a worldview that appreciates and understands difference….but what of difference? A huge lesson I´ve had re-emphasized in these last 5 weeks is that, and this is important: we´re more same than different from each other. Yes, it´s true. Now, I am an avid lover and consumer of cultural difference, but it´s still true, and you can´t deny the facts. What makes traveling and living abroad so fun, rewarding, and eventually, easy is that we´re all humans. Sure, there are differences, in belief systems, foods, religious practices, marriage practices, family life, everyday life, etc., but, at the core, the part that makes us all human, we´re the same. We´ve shared in the life of our host family for the last 5 weeks - their life story has become a part of ours, and ours a part of theirs…think of it as a finely woven fabric. We´ve talked about, heard, and shared our challenges, our successes, our hopes, our joys, and our sorrows, and guess what? They´re essentially the same, as the people down the street, the people over there in that next town, in that next state, country, or continent. I think Brandi would agree - now, my schema for a Mexican family was already pre-set by my own Mexican family, but Brandi´s wasn´t…and we concur…what a wonderful world it becomes when you realize we´re all humans. Sounds silly…but just think of all the horrors of our history that have occured because folks couldn´t understand that simple truth.

Mexico is a country in progress and is experiencing lots of change. Remember back to our posts on life in Ajijic and the Chapala Riviera: swarms of Americans and Canadians creating English-only utopian communities in remote areas of the country. Hernán Cortés wasn´t the only conquistador in Mexico…meet the Crandalls from Butte, Montana, who just bought their second home in San Miguel de Allende. “Mini-conquests” as I like to call them, and they are changing the landscape and the fabric of everyday life in the most unsuspecting places. We´ll be watching closely in the years to see how Mexico will change.

I suppose that´s all! Again, a big thank you to our fans, the people of Guadalajara and surrounding pueblos, and of course, to our host family! We´ll miss them bunches, as they have been a complete pleasure to meet and get to know over these past 5 weeks. The good thing is that, now that we have family in Guadalajara, we have one more reason to return!

Onward, to new adventures!

Estéban

And the city of Tonalá says “Thank you President Bush!”

What exactly does it mean when you are living in México and you have no money?
It could mean either:
1 - Your trip is over and it is time to come home.
OR
2 - You have just purchased 10 place settings of BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, hand-made, hand-painted ceramic dishes.

For us, it unfortunatly means the first and very happily also means the second. Yes folks, we have, in fact, procured the elusive place settings from Estrellita´s B&B. It only took 2 phone calls to Lorraine (the owner of the B&B) and her kinda terrible directions, and an incredibly patient and dedicated husband. It isn´t often that I set out in search of a purchase for myself, and I think that Steven really realized how dang much I wanted those dishes when I almost started to cry in Tonalá when we couldn´t find the store (all we had to go on was, “well, you turn right at the light, park and then it is down a street, that I don´t remember the name of, about 3 blocks.” Thanks a lot lady.)

So, after realizing the gravity of the situation (I had already dreamed about our parents and children sitting around our beautiful dishes we had purchased that summer we were in Guadalajara 15 years ago), Steven and I hit high gear, and we headed to the tourist information booth, relaying the shoddy information that we had about this store to the lady in Spanish. She tried her best to help us and sent us in persuit of a couple of stores that might have what we were looking for. It was at this point that Steven took off, heading into every place that had a glimmer of hope - I think at one point walking into someone´s private home.

I was feeling really down (oh, did I mention we were on a time schedule? Yes. We arrived in Tonalá at 11:00, and we had class at 2:00 in downtown (about 1 hour by bus). By this time, it was about 12:00 and I was feeling VERY desperate. We had 1 hour to track down these dishes! So I gave the lady at the B&B another call (all self-preservation out the window at looking like a fool) and I asked her again to please try to remember the street name. She happened to pull up a Tonalá map and had a friend there that knew Tonalá and she gave me the street name: Madero. Before the plaza. MUCH better!

We headed to Madero, and I was briskly walking down the street when Steven hollered “IS THIS IT?” He had spotted the pattern in the window of a shop. In we went. OH MY GOSH. There were SO many dishes in that store - BEAUTIFUL, hand painted, hand made dishes. WOW. Steven took a lot of pictures.

Okay, on to business. We needed to get these dishes. We toured the store to make sure we knew the ones we wanted (we did) and talked with the owners, oh who by the way, spoke NO English. Okay. Spanish it is. (I really wanted those plates). One place setting has 6 pieces (3 plates, 2 bowls and a coffee cup), there were also matching candleabras and pitchers and serving dishes. What was a huge sign from God that we were meant to have these dishes? Okay, this store had probably 20 different patterns of dishes. As we were deciding which to get, Steven and I noticed a, wait for it….. TEXAS shaped platter. IN THE PATTERN THAT WE WANTED! Yes. In a store fo 20+ patterns, only 2 had Texas shaped platters - one was ours. SOLD! We had to buy the Texas platter just because they had it.

So, all told, we bought 10 complete place settings, 2 serving platters, 1 big serving bowl, a gravy boat (thought you would like that, dad!), a Texas shaped platter, a napkin holder and 2 mugs. 68 pieces. I LOVE THEM! And without some prompting from my friends and dear husband, I might have passed on this. It was more than I am usually comfortable with spending (IN A YEAR on ANYTHING) but I know it is totally worth it and will contribute to many many years of family memories. And really for all of that, hand made and painted in Laja, Guanajuato (the person we bought them from actually had pictures of him at the factory hand painting the pieces he had in the store! HOW COOL IS THAT!), it wasn´t that out of line.

On to the next saga - transport of dishes. They are well packed and we had intended to ship them DHL. The store owner, however, said that shipping is expensive - about $300 USD. He said it is much cheaper to pay the extra bag fee and check the box as luggage. He assured us that many people have done this and with their packing job have had no problem. I think that is what we are going to do. It is a heavy box - one that I intend to write FRAGIL and FRAGILE all over  - perhaps even “CUIDADO! PLATOS!” not that anyone at the airport will really care, but at least I know I have given my best effort.

With plates wrapped and packed, it was 1:30. Crap. Class at 2. Big box. Steven made the executive decision that a taxi was in order. The original price of the taxi to the house to drop off the box was $18 USD. We negotiated (in Spanish) for $14 and off we went. Steven called the school to tell them that we would be about 30 minutes late and we dropped off our dishes at the house. Then another taxi to the school and we were 45 minutes late to class, but 45 minutes well worth it, I think.

The exciting part of all of this? SPANISH SPANISH SPANISH. We made a major life purchase in Spanish and very effectively communicated what we wanted and how much everything was. It was almost freeing. And is a feeling I will remember every time that I see and use our dishes.

Class today was great, Octavio encouraged our tardiness by saying “Valen la pena” (you guys deserve it). And then we talked for the whole 1 hour and 15 minutes we had in Spanish about Mexican history and public transportation in Guadalajara (yesterday there was an accident with a camion (city bus) and 3 cars. 5 people died, including the chofer (driver) for the bus. Incredibly terrible but not really surprising unfortunatly with how nuts these bus drivers are.) So we had that entire conversation in Spanish, too. VERY exciting.

Tomorrow is our last class day and Steven will post our final blog tomorrow.

It has been SUCH an amazing experience, and I HIGHLY recommend study abroad if you can. I love home as much as the next person but there is nothing like opening yourself up to the bigger world. Steven and I have learned so much (even beyond Spanish) from this adventure and I wouldn´t trade that for anything. It has been SO wonderful and is an experience we will take with us wherever we are lead in our lives.

With a box of dishes in hand and more memories than could ever fit in just one box, I am off for the last time (on this trip!) in Guadalajara.

Brandilina

P.S. This blog, after tomorrow, will continue to be active as a travel and non travel blog (for those major life experiences at home too!) so stay tuned!

in Spanish. Can you believe it?

That´s what Brandi and I had today for the first hour of our 2-hour private tutoring session. I looked down at my watch and it was 3:00PM, and our instructor said, in Spanish “How do you feel? Have you noticed that we have been talking an entire hour about complex themes like American politics and the American public school system?” He commended us on our efforts and noted that, while still struggling a bit with some words, they were complex words expressing complex ideas, like my noting of the world´s attention to the election in November and what it will mean for the US and the world if an African American man is elected as the next US president, and Brandi´s discussion of her frustration with the “No Child Left Behind” act. No, we didn´t speak perfectly, but then again, we don´t in English either. We are proud of ourselves…and we will continue to work on our vocabulary building, so that we won´t have to ask next time how to say “electoral college” or “authentic assessment” in Spanish.

We´ve decided we are going to add the basic DirecTV Spanish channel package to our current service, giving us 65 channels in Spanish, including the ever-important CNN, Cartoon Network, and Disney Channel. We´re hoping this will increase our fluency and comprehension.

We went to Tlaquepaque again today, and damn, I still love that town. We bought some last minute gifts and articles for ourselves and bid the charming pedestrian-friendly artisan´s city goodbye, or nos vemos…we´ll see you again!

IMAC, our Spanish language school here in Guadalajara, has other schools and partner schools in other Spanish-speaking countries….including Costa Rica!!! I´ve already quickly priced a 2 week trip for the future…while hiding the webpage from Brandi…..2 weeks in Costa Rica, summer 2009? Stay tuned, and feel free to donate funds.

Final blogs (Estéban y Brandi) from Mexico coming soon! ¡Qué triste! Stay tuned…

Estéban

I apologize in advance, but this blog post will be short because it looks like a huge tormenta (storm) is headed our way, and we need to get home before 6:00 so that Tony can take us to the liqour store because we are buying some tequila before we leave.

1. The Tequila Express tour was a huge success and well worth the money we spent. Drinks flowed ALL day, and we both got a great buzz by around noon. The food was outstanding, a very grand Mexican buffet, and we purchased some Herradura tequila for home (we visited the Herradura Hacienda). There was much Mexican fanfare, with mariachis (at the train station, IN the train, and during our meal), folklorico dancing, charreada rodeo tricks demonstation, and did I mention drinks? They were handing out drinks “para llevar” (to go), so we snagged some great Estrella beer….perfect for making Micheladas at home with new Clamato I purchased from the grocery store. I would HIGHLY recommend this tour the next time you are in Jalisco state. The countryside was incredible, with huge mountains, sweeping valleys, and blue agave as far as the eye can see.
2. We went to Tonalá on Sunday afternoon for more crafts shopping, but we were halted by the huge amount of rain that poured all over the Sunday market days. We are going to try and go back one more time before we leave to finish shopping. Are we crazy? Perhaps. Will we have procured amazing crafts and art? Certainly.
3. We started private lessons on Monday, and wow, what a difference. Group classes were great, but nothing beats private tutoring with our favorite teacher here. Lots of chatting and discussions going on.
4. We hit up the archaeology museum yesterday and it was really cool…30 cents US per person admission and, while small, had TONS of artifacts and even some human bones discovered from a burial tomb. This museum showcases prehispanic life from the western part of Mexico.
5. Today we went over to the Instituto Hospicio Cabañas to catch a glimpse of some of Jose Clemente Orozco´s most celebrated murals. One word describes these: incredible. Absolutely incredible. I hope the pictures do them justice. Plus, today was free admission!
6. We ate at the most beautiful restaurant I´ve ever been to on Friday night - Santo Coyote in Guadalajara. Enchanting, with thatched palapas, hanging lanterns from the trees, a garden, huge replica indigenous sculptures, waterfall, murals, paintings, and candles everywhere. A very romantic dinner and we got the waiter to snap a photo for us. Yes, I know, all these mysterious photos that no one has seen. We plan to upload them onto picassa when we get home and send out the link. I highly recommend Santo Coyote - thanks for the restaurant tip Ellen!
7. We also FINALLY made it to the upscale western part of Guadalajara on Friday (where Santo Coyote is located), Minerva-Chapultepec. We had a delicious Starbucks frappucino at the American style shopping center.  Yes, go on, think what you may…I am not sure we will make it back over there (I hope, but there is MUCH more farther west), as there are more upscale malls, shopping zones, and fantastic restaurants. Sears here is like Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus back home - exclusive and upscale.
8. Rain, rain, rain - it has rained so much here over the last few days….but it is the rainy season here, and the temps stay very pleasant.

Off to buy some tequila, and tonight, cardio salsa!

Estéban

Yesterday we had the opportunity to see something beautiful.

We were lucky enough to be in Guadalajara, and in the neighborhood of Colinas de la Normal, on the day that the beloved Virgin of Zapopan passed right by our house, spending some time at the local Catholic church only a few blocks away. While I don´t yet know all the history and details, suffice it to say that the Virgin of Zapopan is the most important and sacred religious figure for Catholics in the Guadalajara area (read as everyone). The “Virgin” (a sacred adorned statue of her) is treated like the Pope as she travels around the city during the summer months, visiting every Catholic church. On October 12, the city shuts down for a huge party, when the Virgin makes her way from the downtown main cathedral all the way to her basilica in Zapopan, the municipality (city) immediately north of Guadalajara. Yesterday was her day in our colonia, and the celebration was incredible. The streets were covered in alfalfa and flower petals, banners were hung, arches of flowers and alfalfa were put up over the streets along the processional route asking the Virgin for health, peace, etc., and everyone came out to see. This will all make more sense when I post the pictures, but She was carried in a sort of armed motorcade truck with glass to see inside. The truck was pulled with huge ropes by faithful worshipers. People lined the streets to catch a glimpse of her as she was pulled by, and there was music and much fanfare. We also got to see her taken out of the truck and carried into the church for display for the evening. This event moved people around us to tears and outreached hands, and I had to hold back tears myself and I wasn´t even sure why. Perhaps it is partly because it was yesterday when I truly realized that our time here was not about worrying about making mistakes in conjugation when having a conversation…it has been about really experiencing life here, with the people, and letting it all wash over us. Who cares if I said something silly yesterday in class when talking about social class in Mexico. I got to see the Virgin of Zapopan yesterday.

After the processional there was a HUGE fair/carnival that took up about 12 blocks on one long street in our neightborhood. There was much festiveness, complete with rides, games, and food food food. After cardio salsa (which was harder last night, by the way, making us want to take salsa lessons in the EU), I had my first real, authentic, just-out-of-the-grease churro. Life is good.

Saturday morning we will hop on our train and choo-choo our way to Tequila to take a tour of the entire tequila making process with a visit to Hacienda San José del Refugio, where Tequila Herradura is made (don´t think we can get it in the states, and our host family highly recommends it). The bit-pricey tour is slated to include all you can drink tequila for the entire day (wow), a Mexican food buffet, mariachis, folklorico dancing, charreada rodeo demonstration, and of course views of the beautiful Jalisco countryside as we make our way west.  This is an all-day party, and I hope it is worth what we spent on it.

Brandi´s tortilla soup was a huge hit yesterday, and I am pleased to report that there is no more left. Bernardo has been filling sick for the last week and a half or so, and he had 2 bowls. I took some pics of Brandi and Tony cooking together (cute) and some of the final plated “comida.” The 3 of us were in the kitchen for about an hour, and we all chatted the entire time in Spanish, about more than just what our names are and and the date. I thought to myself “wow, I should have videotaped this because no one will believe this is happening” when I overheard Brandi popping off with “¡Claro!” followed by my “Ándale pues” after adding the jitomate and tasting the soup with the ease of a fluent speaker of Spanish as we continued in the conversation. I really hope we can keep this up, and Brandi has made amazing strides in her fluency.

Happy 4th of July everyone! Just another day here.

¡Viva!

Estéban

PS - Part of learning Spanish is letting go. I forgot to share this with our readers…The first week we were here, I wanted to say that I was confused, and so I wanted to say “Estoy confundido” but instead I said something like “Estoy confundillo” (don´t hold me to the spelling) which means something very bad about me being an ass, butt, butt cheeks, or something. All I know is that whenever I pretend to get confused and say the bad phrase on purpose in front of Tony, she laughs, laughs, laughs and turns red.

I´ll (Estebán) take the reigns today and give Brandi a bit of a break from the bucking bronco (academics love to use metaphors, and over the years I have grown to use them more and more in my writing…for shame).

Today I´ll touch on some things that have been swirling around in my brain…just some observations, comments, and wonders that life here in Mexico have created. These are in no particular order and follow no particular theme, they just “are” and they come as they may….

Taking in others as family and being “educado” is a topic Brandi and I have talked a lot about recently. We have been super happy with our host family, and we are amazed at how they truly treat us like family…worrying if we feel ill, worrying if we return late, and making sure we have enough to eat and drink. The third student in our house, the 49 year old woman from Georgia studying for 5 weeks at the University of Guadalajara, is what some would call here “maleducada,” or “impolite.” Each new day brings another behavior that Brandi and I get to giggle about and chat over with our host family once she (let´s call her “Matilda” for the sake of discussion) leaves. This morning, Matilda used a sort of sandwich press to warm up some bread on the gas stove. This kitchen tool is placed over the gas burner and warmed….then you can put bread, tortillas, etc. inside and flip it over and over with handles. Matilda used it this morning to toast some bread, then immediately washed it in the sink, warping the metal with the extreme hot/cold difference. Matilda left early for school, as she usually does, and I don´t think she even noticed that she damaged Tony´s important kitchen tool. Matilda is a fun one - married with 2 kids, but even after all those years still lacks some of the basic sense and polite behavior that we hope our 10 year olds have obtained. Mealtimes are fun. Prior to coming to GDL, Matilda had never had Mexican food. With noticeable hesitation, she will try the dinner that Tony worked so hard making, mostly from scratch, and then decide that she doesn´t like at least half of what is served. The first week we were here we caught her chowing down on some KFC (known affectionately here as simply “Kentucky”), and Matlida told us she went to KFC because she needed some “real chicken,” not the healthily prepared and fresh chicken that Tony made with Mexican spices. She often clutches to the familiar, slurping Ramen noodles and eating bread, refrusing to go and try the fresh, tasty, and authentic food from the vendors right down the street. We love watching her put ketchup on empanadas, ask what salsa is and what it is for, and call guacamole “gua, guac, oh whatever that stuff is.” We wouldn´t be such gossipers if it wasn´t in the context of rudeness…Matilda scurrying into the bathroom and shutting the door when Brandi said she needed to go, leaving the light on all night and falling asleep (making sure to keep the electric bill high), digging through the kitchen for a strainer to make guava water that gave her the squirts, eating our portion of food before we ate dinner (yes, this happened, and then Matilda told Tony she didn´t eat anything…it was chicken, without Mexican spices, so she desperately consumed it with glee), and talking on the phone for nearly 3 hours after Brandi said we needed the phone (only to return it to us with a nearly dead battery). All maleducada. I am not really sure why Matilda is here…last weekend her class went to Guanajuato, a city I am dying to see. When I asked her if she joined her class on the tour of the famous mummies, she replied with “nuh uh, this mummy was tired and went to bed, I didn´t need to see no mummies.” Sigh. She´ll finally be able to relax when they go to Mexico City in 2 weeks, she says, and class is officially over. She´ll probably forgo the National Anthropology Museum for a nap and a quick trip to KFC for some real chicken.

Our Spanish Language School is filled with weird students. I asked Brandi yesterday if perhaps I was the weird one. I just find many of the other students here strange. World travelers, snobs, perhaps rich (read as “rich parents”), perhaps homeless…today it´s Guadalajara, next week it´s Argentina, then it´s a round of drinks in Nicaragua and Guatemala before returning to Australia, only to do it all over again. I´ve also found the other students to be lazy. Today Brandi and I sat for about 20 minutes while we had the beloved opportunity to watch the other 4 students in our class do their homework assignment in class. Yes, we were again the only students to complete all of our homework assignments. This is a big reason why we are doing private tutoring next week. No wasting time when we could be learning more.

“Guadalajara is a beautiful city” is something you´ll hear a lot from locals and tourists alike, and it´s true. The city is bursting with amazingly detailed old buildings, palacial churches, delighful fountains, powerful statues and sculptures, and grand plazas. Architecture lovers will love this city, and there is always something new to look at. In another sense, however, the city is hideous, littered with the spoils of Spanish conquest, Spanish construction, Spanish religion, and indigenous demise. It´s a city, as many other cities in Mexico, built on the backs of the indigenous, with a dark, bloody history of European greed and thirst for power. In this sense, an awe-inspiring cathedral in the heart of downtown, with its majestic towers, incomprehensible detail, and excessive religious symbolism can both be beautiful and ugly, divine and sinister. At times, my eyes can´t believe what they are seeing because of the beauty in front of them; at other times, my eyes understand all too well. It´s perhaps a quirky, maybe strange dialogue to have in my brain, but a good sign that I still have a brain and that I´m still that thinker that my teachers always said I was. “What to make of all of this?” it says over and over on a city stroll…  

Speaking in a langauge that isn´t your first language has been like drudging through mud to get home, but never really making it home. There have been times in class where I want to express complex ideas, like today, that relate to the discussion we are having. I may completely understand the discussion, but my brain comes up short on finding the words to express. It is an odd feeling of emptiness. I may want to talk about social class, economics, and culture, comparing and contrasting the United States and Mexico, with reference to historical and class differences, but sometimes the best I can come up with is a nearly passing 6th grade TAKS essay.

Last weekend in Ajijic was fascinating from an anthropological point of view because we were often seated in restaurants next to expats that just happened to be discussing their personal stories over a meal. What struck me about these mostly American expats was that most of them knew little to no Spanish. Eavesdropping, we heard that some moved to Mexico on an apparent whim, being fed up with life in the US and looking for a fresh start in a foreign country. You know the story - one day packing up the Toyota and the cats and leaving your old life behind. Others were the wealthy, deciding on whether to buy another home in Ajijic or perhaps San Miguel de Allende, asking for the “ladies room” and then, when met with silence, asking the waiter again for the “bano,” with the ñ intentially left out to emphasize the poor way the word was said. It is known that these Americans, these expats, have created a sort of utopian American community in Mexico where Spanish isn´t necessary. Why would it be? The locals, desperate for American dollars, will just try to learn English. Who has time to learn Spanish when there is luxury shopping and world traveling to do…

We went to Tonalá yesterday and, perhaps impulsively, bought too much glassware. We aren´t sure how we will bring it all home, but we couldn´t refuse the ridiculously good deals. I´ll have to make sure I wear my cargo shorts on our flight back home. Does “carry on” include stuffing wine glasses in my pants? I found a store in Tonalá devoted soley to Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) items (which I love, love, love), but it was closing as we were walking in for a look. Now we´ll have to return to Tonalá for this store and to do one more sweep of what´s available. The crafts shopping here, simply put, is incredible.

Instead of heading to the gym after a long day of school and shopping, we decided to finish our homework early and hit the bar. There is a little Michelada bar right down the street from our house, and I have been really wanting to check it out since we got here. The bar, known simply as “Micheladas,” is perfect. My michelada was delicious, with perfect parts salt, lime, and clamato. I am going to miss the little neighborhood bars and places to relax around here. I want to thank Cindy for introducing Micheladas into my life! Micheladas will now always be a part of a festive Mexican party, Friday night out, or our first BBQ at our new house back home in San Antonio. They´ll also always remind me of our 5 week Mexican adventure.

I have a new favorite beer to add to the list of my favorite beers - “Indio” : made in Mexico, and with a full and smooth taste and after taste reminiscent of the New Belgium beer family.

The bus drivers here are still insane. All passengers had to exit the bus we were on yesterday when we were headed to Tonalá because the bus hit a car, or a car hit the bus, or something like that. This morning we were nearly in an accident when our bus narrowly missed slamming into a car in front. After we all jerked forward, an unsuspecting lady in the seat in front of me let the driver verbally “have it” for his stupidity. You go, girl.  

Brandi is making tortilla soup tonight because she told Tony she could cook. I can´t wait to see how it turns out! If Matilda doesn´t like it, maybe she´ll have time to order a pizza.

Estéban

Well, we committed a cardinal sin. Yes. We went to McDonald´s. In Mexico. While surrounded by tasty treats we were pulled in by those dang golden arches. And I think for the first time in history, Steven did not have chicken nuggets when he went to McDonald´s. Write it down folks. He, instead, had a chicken sandwich with guacamole on it. I, on the other hand, was jonesn for a cheeseburger and I got a quarter pounder. We are ashamed. Very ashamed.

We just beat the rain when we jumped on the bus and found that the seal around most of the windows on the bus is more for show than for actual use. Just about every window leaked water, which is not all that surprising, but Guadalajara takes its rainy season seriously, with rain every night and possibly during the day too. So we jumped off the bus at our stop with paraguas in hand (umbrellas) and briskly walked to the house.

When we got home, Tony had molé waiting for us. It was really good. It was entertaining to say the least to watch the other girl in our house eat it. She is from Georgia and says that she had never had Mexican food prior to this trip (and she is 49. Little did she know what she was missing out on!). But molé, well that is a pretty authentic Mexican food and it was interesting to watch her push it around her plate pretending to eat it.

We were trying to think how we were going to get to the laundry mat in the rain and Tony quickly volunteered to take us and pick us up when we were done. She was watching her month old grandson and she called her sister (who lives about 4 houses down) and her sister came to watch Estéban (the baby) while Tony took us. We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful host family! I can´t say that enough. It also really sent home how great it is to have family so close (well, maybe a little further than the same street, but you know….) for them to be close enough to help when you randomly need it.

We are off to Tonála today to possibly find some dishes and other treasures. Although the trip is amazing and I am loving the experience, it is obvious we are coming to the end as funds are low and
“I hear the train a-comin´. It´s rollin´round the bend.”
On the Te-qui-la Ex-press!