I haven't wasted any time getting back to traveling. Three days after arriving back in Mexico, I hopped on an overnight bus to Guadalajara with my friend, Patricia (a student at my university), who invited me to join her for a long weekend. We spent the next four days staying with her aunt and uncle and exploring the beautiful city of Guadalajara.
Our first day was spent walking around the town of Tonolá, which is known for its artesanía, or craft market. If only I had a plane to fill...We later headed into the downtown area of Mexico's second largest city, where we meandered through the zócolo area, the cathedral, government buildings adorned with the masterpieces of the likes of José Clemente Orozco, and the beautiful Teatro Degollado.
Our next day was spent in the downtown area, where we lost ourselves in the Hospicios Cabañas, a world heritage site that now holds numerous works of Orozco and happened to be the site of President Obama's August meeting with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. After wandering through the winding halls of the museum and getting lost in the winding halls that led to all nine courtyards, we ended up in a movie theatre in a back area of the Hospicios where we watched a French musical, Paris 36, which was wonderfully whimsical, colorful, and most of all, unexpected.
The city was incredibly beautiful, and it was great to spend time with Pati and her family and friends, who were nice enough to allow me to stay in their house and feed me amazing Mexican food....not to mention the caldo de pancita (tripe soup) which was definitely a first, but I can now officially say that I'll try anything once!
The highlight of the trip was definitely our third night, when we went to the town of Tlaquepaque (say that three times fast) and ate in a plaza of mariachis. Not only did I get an autographed copy of a CD (with a giant red kiss on the inside cover), but I was able to enjoy my delicious pozole while being serenaded by a mariachi singing, "Guadalajara". It was one of those moments when I just thought, Guadalajara in Guadalajara, life is good. Thanks again, Mexico, you're a rock star.
Since then, I've been working at the school getting prepped for the upcoming semester and I just spent this weekend with my fellow ETAs, which of course means that great music, tons of food, and lots of laughs were involved. The week of February 7th I'll be heading to Mexico City for our midterm Fulbright reunion with our fellow ETAs in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela so there will be plenty more to post in the near future. I did promise to get better about this...
!Abrazos de México!
