(Nov 15, 2011)
Well I have been pretty much on the move this whole past week!
I spent 3 days in Puerto Vallarta, staying with the family of two of our current homestay students. The live in a beautiful 'hacienda-style' home with a big two-story courtyard in the middle and a VERY open-concept kitchen, livingroom, dining room and entry way surrounding. Despite the significant age difference in Puerto Vallarta (a popular destination with the 55+ USA and Canadian Crowd) I had a great time, running around the city, seeking out the gay beach (It's quite something to see a beach full of 40+ and very fit men in speedos and gold chains), taking water taxis from secluded beach, to secluded beach, drinking local moonshine, and going to the Mismaloya Zoo! The water taxi was fantastic as it took a full hour to get to the beaches and small communities and cost $25 for a return trip - a fraction of the price of chartering a boat! I, of course, sat RIGHT up at the front of the 'taxi', peering frantically at the horizon looking for sharks, dolphins, and whales and squealing with every big wave encountered. The rest of the passengers on the boat weren't nearly as excited as I was with the relentlessly jumping fish and the hot pursuit of a speedy Marlin. Good thing I was there - I kept the boat afloat! I loved the Mismaloya Zoo - When you arrive you have the option of buying a bag full of fruit and vegetables that come with instructions regarding which animal in the zoo eats which type of food. You then walk through the winding hilltop jungle path, traversing rivers, sneaking under spider-filled canopies, peering into open top animal habitats, and dodging angry Jaguars (that like to jump up on their flimsy chain-link fences as unsuspecting bypassers scoot past. At the end you have the option of playing with all or one of a selection of baby cats: a lion cub, a tiger cub, or a highly irritable leopard cub. I chose the tiger and it turned out to be the best choice as he was extremely playful and seemed to bask in my attention. The lion, on the other hand, was lazy, and the leopard tried to maul anyone who touched it.
After Puerto Vallarta I took the night bus (12 hours) south to Mexico City to transfer to a short bus to Puebla. I had an unfortunate robbery experience where the man sitting next to me *attempted* to steal my camera and money from my wallet as I was in the washroom, however I found out in time and was able to scare/guilt him into giving my things back without ever accusing him. I allowed him to do the right thing anonymously and everything worked out in the end. A good (and 'soft') lesson : never leave your bag at your seat, even if it is in the middle of the night and your neighbour seems to have been sleeping for 2 hours - theifs are dedicated and will lie in wait for hours if need be. I spent one very tired day in Puebla, quickly threading through the streets of the historic city centre and visiting a train museum (it was great! there were about 20 trains on the lot open for visitors to walk through, and many of them held various train art forms (contemporary and historical train-related photographs and paintings), and a series of other galleries. Puebla was nice but I didn't need to spend any more time there than I did. It felt a little Kitschy with its rows upon rows of artisan shops and the obsessive and meticulous street grid pattern was more overwhelming than it was helpful. I stayed in a beautiful and clean little hostel that night and shared a beer on the hostel rooftop terrace with two of the other girls staying in my dorm room.
Up until recently I had been yearning more and more for interaction with young people my age and to have people to wander the cities with. Well, in Cuernavaca I found it! I connected with a very nice 'Couchsurfing' host named Lucy and stayed with her for the weekend while I attended the various events associated with the Art and Theatre Festival (Festivale Arte Vago) in the city. Lucy is an international exchange student from the Czech Republic currently starting her masters on International Relations at a private and country-wide university in Mexico, called TEC Monterrey. She was very nice, welcoming, experienced in couch surfing, interesting and intelligent, vibrant and man - does she like to party! My first night in Cuernavaca we met up with a group of her friends who also participate in the Couchsurfing community in Cuernavaca and we all went to a concert, a midnight alleyway abstract theatrical performance (at one point, we literally watched water boil), and went on a hunt for the cheapest beers in existence (1L for $3 CDN; 1 bottle for $1 CDN). Don't worry, family and friends, I only drank one of each and stayed very much aware the whole night - I DID, however, have a lot of fun! The following day I met up with one of the friends from couchsurfing that we had spent time with the following night and we spent the day following tribal parades through the cute little town, watching various plays and entertainer performances, and hoping to various restaurants and bars so I could try all of the city's 'specialties'. In Mexico it seems that each city has a different Specialty. The food of the moment in Mexico City was Tacos al Pastor, In Guadalajara the focus was on tequila, In Lo De Marcos tongue tacos were all the rage, In Puerto Vallarta skewered fish and shrimp was popular and in Puebla the focus was on stuffed and grilled Peppers (Poblanos). In Cuernavaca the focus was on a delicious chicken-base soup called Pozole. It is a clear broth soup with corn and meat and is served with avacado, lettuce, peppers and fried pork skin (I passed on that) to add in as one likes. I also tried 'flan' which is a custard sold by street vendors everywhere. That night we went to a big Reggae concert in the city centre and then danced the night away at a Reggaeton bar (Reggae is slow and bob marley-esq and Reggaeton is more akin to Latino Electronic HipHop) with a couple of Lucy's friends who turned out to be professional mexican football players.
The next morning I made my way to Mexico City and transferred to a bus to Oaxaca. The bus arrived 4 hours late in Oaxaca due to a variety of road blockades on the highway and I quickly made my way to the Luz de Luna Hostel near the Oaxaca city centre. I ventured out briefly to find one of the Oaxaca specialties: 'Tlyuda - a quesadilla with avocado, lettuce, cheese, and a pounded flat steak called cecina - all made on a tortilla the size of 2.5 flattened heads (aka it was HUGE - $5 CDN for one provided enough food for two meals!). Today I am going to explore the city, seek out various art museums and just generally get oriented in this beautiful city! The guide books tout it as a cultural and culinary centre and I am excited to spend the week here!
Well I have been pretty much on the move this whole past week!
I spent 3 days in Puerto Vallarta, staying with the family of two of our current homestay students. The live in a beautiful 'hacienda-style' home with a big two-story courtyard in the middle and a VERY open-concept kitchen, livingroom, dining room and entry way surrounding. Despite the significant age difference in Puerto Vallarta (a popular destination with the 55+ USA and Canadian Crowd) I had a great time, running around the city, seeking out the gay beach (It's quite something to see a beach full of 40+ and very fit men in speedos and gold chains), taking water taxis from secluded beach, to secluded beach, drinking local moonshine, and going to the Mismaloya Zoo! The water taxi was fantastic as it took a full hour to get to the beaches and small communities and cost $25 for a return trip - a fraction of the price of chartering a boat! I, of course, sat RIGHT up at the front of the 'taxi', peering frantically at the horizon looking for sharks, dolphins, and whales and squealing with every big wave encountered. The rest of the passengers on the boat weren't nearly as excited as I was with the relentlessly jumping fish and the hot pursuit of a speedy Marlin. Good thing I was there - I kept the boat afloat! I loved the Mismaloya Zoo - When you arrive you have the option of buying a bag full of fruit and vegetables that come with instructions regarding which animal in the zoo eats which type of food. You then walk through the winding hilltop jungle path, traversing rivers, sneaking under spider-filled canopies, peering into open top animal habitats, and dodging angry Jaguars (that like to jump up on their flimsy chain-link fences as unsuspecting bypassers scoot past. At the end you have the option of playing with all or one of a selection of baby cats: a lion cub, a tiger cub, or a highly irritable leopard cub. I chose the tiger and it turned out to be the best choice as he was extremely playful and seemed to bask in my attention. The lion, on the other hand, was lazy, and the leopard tried to maul anyone who touched it.
After Puerto Vallarta I took the night bus (12 hours) south to Mexico City to transfer to a short bus to Puebla. I had an unfortunate robbery experience where the man sitting next to me *attempted* to steal my camera and money from my wallet as I was in the washroom, however I found out in time and was able to scare/guilt him into giving my things back without ever accusing him. I allowed him to do the right thing anonymously and everything worked out in the end. A good (and 'soft') lesson : never leave your bag at your seat, even if it is in the middle of the night and your neighbour seems to have been sleeping for 2 hours - theifs are dedicated and will lie in wait for hours if need be. I spent one very tired day in Puebla, quickly threading through the streets of the historic city centre and visiting a train museum (it was great! there were about 20 trains on the lot open for visitors to walk through, and many of them held various train art forms (contemporary and historical train-related photographs and paintings), and a series of other galleries. Puebla was nice but I didn't need to spend any more time there than I did. It felt a little Kitschy with its rows upon rows of artisan shops and the obsessive and meticulous street grid pattern was more overwhelming than it was helpful. I stayed in a beautiful and clean little hostel that night and shared a beer on the hostel rooftop terrace with two of the other girls staying in my dorm room.
Up until recently I had been yearning more and more for interaction with young people my age and to have people to wander the cities with. Well, in Cuernavaca I found it! I connected with a very nice 'Couchsurfing' host named Lucy and stayed with her for the weekend while I attended the various events associated with the Art and Theatre Festival (Festivale Arte Vago) in the city. Lucy is an international exchange student from the Czech Republic currently starting her masters on International Relations at a private and country-wide university in Mexico, called TEC Monterrey. She was very nice, welcoming, experienced in couch surfing, interesting and intelligent, vibrant and man - does she like to party! My first night in Cuernavaca we met up with a group of her friends who also participate in the Couchsurfing community in Cuernavaca and we all went to a concert, a midnight alleyway abstract theatrical performance (at one point, we literally watched water boil), and went on a hunt for the cheapest beers in existence (1L for $3 CDN; 1 bottle for $1 CDN). Don't worry, family and friends, I only drank one of each and stayed very much aware the whole night - I DID, however, have a lot of fun! The following day I met up with one of the friends from couchsurfing that we had spent time with the following night and we spent the day following tribal parades through the cute little town, watching various plays and entertainer performances, and hoping to various restaurants and bars so I could try all of the city's 'specialties'. In Mexico it seems that each city has a different Specialty. The food of the moment in Mexico City was Tacos al Pastor, In Guadalajara the focus was on tequila, In Lo De Marcos tongue tacos were all the rage, In Puerto Vallarta skewered fish and shrimp was popular and in Puebla the focus was on stuffed and grilled Peppers (Poblanos). In Cuernavaca the focus was on a delicious chicken-base soup called Pozole. It is a clear broth soup with corn and meat and is served with avacado, lettuce, peppers and fried pork skin (I passed on that) to add in as one likes. I also tried 'flan' which is a custard sold by street vendors everywhere. That night we went to a big Reggae concert in the city centre and then danced the night away at a Reggaeton bar (Reggae is slow and bob marley-esq and Reggaeton is more akin to Latino Electronic HipHop) with a couple of Lucy's friends who turned out to be professional mexican football players.
The next morning I made my way to Mexico City and transferred to a bus to Oaxaca. The bus arrived 4 hours late in Oaxaca due to a variety of road blockades on the highway and I quickly made my way to the Luz de Luna Hostel near the Oaxaca city centre. I ventured out briefly to find one of the Oaxaca specialties: 'Tlyuda - a quesadilla with avocado, lettuce, cheese, and a pounded flat steak called cecina - all made on a tortilla the size of 2.5 flattened heads (aka it was HUGE - $5 CDN for one provided enough food for two meals!). Today I am going to explore the city, seek out various art museums and just generally get oriented in this beautiful city! The guide books tout it as a cultural and culinary centre and I am excited to spend the week here!
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