Back home soon!

I'll be back home late Sunday! More pictures then.
See you soon!

Taxco time

We are here in Taxco in the rain. Taxco is a colonial town in the mountains near Mexico City. It was brought back after the mines played out by an American named William Spratling, who made some amazing jewelry and other things.
Lots shopping here and, since the economy is so bad, lots of hawkers. I think we are the only Americans here!
And no charms, so far, Peg!

I am here in Mexico City waiting for my friend Laura to arrive. The hotel is small and quiet, and is on a plaza with a large fountain. It is very Mexican. I made it here from Puebla on the bus with no trouble except the taxi driver didn't know where he was going. Anyway, seems like I can blog from my iPod, so watch this space for more posts.

I'm here

Last day of blogging

This may be my last day of blogging. School is over today, and I won´t have access to this computer. If I can figure out how to blog from my ipod, I will! I leave Sunday for Mexico City and a one-week vacation with a friend. We´re going to see the sights in Mexico City, and spend a couple of days in Taxco, the city where silver comes from.
We had our final banquet last night for school, and got our "diplomas." Today we have to give our book reports in class and then it´s over. I'm going to miss being a student!

A festival of husbands

Don´t forget, God is Love! I love the neon. There is lots of neon here in churches.

This is the front of the church of St. Anthony of Padua, where they have the husband festival. His feast day is June 13.

These guys were playing drums, horn and some other big drum. They made lots of noise.

It was a beautiful day, and these pennants were whipping on top of the church, for the festival.

Here is St. Anthony. We wrote our names on ribbons, and then put 13 knots in them, and prayed for a husband, or love. Then we hung them on St. Anthony. Here he is! There was quite a crowd.

Here are all the candles everyone lit. The guy to the side is scooping out broken votive holder parts, that broke on account of all the heat.

Another view of St. Anthony.

To market, to market!

Live poultry for sale. There were also puppies and kittens, but I didn´t want to look. I miss Ella too much!

Look next to the corn... that´s the corn smut I talked about. We ate it unknowingly. It´s a specialty here in Puebla.

These are individual bags of lard, as opposed to the tub in my previous post.

Lots of fish and seafood here. Not so much ice.

We saw bags and bags of beautiful seeds and nuts, and chilis.

Avocados, natch.

These are nopal cactus leaves. They are used in soups, salads and grilled with stuff on top.

These are limes or green lemons, as they say here.

A proud purveyor of pig parts.

This pig isn´t dead. He´s only sleeping.

Last weekend we went to Hidalgo Market, a huge market quite a distance from where I live. They sell pretty much anything you want there. These pictures show a bit of what was on offer. There were also clothes, kitchen utensils and dishes, candy, lots of flowers, etc. It was quite a festival of sights, sound and, of course, SMELLS! Most mid- to upper- class Mexicans don't go to the market. They send their maids.

Tons of pretty flowers for every occasion.

Chickens were everywhere. Refrigerators were not. They sell every part.

Cerveza time

Last Friday Gabi, Rebecca and I went for beers during ¨guia¨time, when we walk around with our guides to practice Spanish. It´s much easier to roll those rrrrs after a beer or two!

Ever wonder what a tub of lard REALLY looks like?

Here you have it, a genuine tub of lard. This is the fat of choice in Mexico and makes everything oh so good! Tamales just wouldn´t be the same without it!

Blast from the past

Yesterday we went to a factory that makes onyx and marble stuff. It was about 45 minutes away. They mine onyx and marble here. It was so weird to be there, as I had shopped in so many places like that in high school and college, and had hauled an onyx chess set home for Brian Buckley way back when! Don´t tell OSHA. There were absolutely no safety precations at this place. Exposed belts, no eye, breathing or hearing protection, etc. I was glad when the tour was over. Kind of reminded me of Mt. Airy!

La Cemita: Full contact dining

Last Saturday we went to the market and afterward went to THE place for Cemitas, which are a Pueblan specialty. They are sandwiches made on a bun that is kind of like a hamburger bun, but lumpy, and it has seeds sprinkled on top. Inside, they are spread with avocado and filled with breaded and fried meat, lots of hot peppers of various sorts, a slice of ham and tons of shredded string cheese that is a specialty of Tehuacan.
They are really good, but you definitely need a shower after!

No transit advertising

It just occured to me as I was riding to school today that there is no transit advertising here. There are busses from different routes, and they have different paint jobs, and the insides are personalized in lots of ways that I´ve already mentioned. But there is no advertising outside or inside the bus. Not like in the states... where we have all manner of signs and bus wraps.

Bouganvillia

Not sure if I´m spelling it right, but I love bouganvilla. It is everywhere, and cascades all over the place. Lots of different colors too.

B.Y.O.V.

Churches here are B.Y.O.V. No big racks of votives at the ready... you have to buy your own and bring it it. Proper planning is essential. Looks pretty, I think.

I just got a great idea

For some reason, some statues of St. Jude Tadeo here have light bulbs in their heads. I´ve not seen one lit up. He is always carrying that shield, too.

Jose Cuervo, you are a friend of mine!

This is the lovely maguey cactus, where tequila comes from.

Take that, grasshopper

The big park in Mexico City is called Chapultepec, after the grasshoppers. Here is the symbol of the park. This guy asked for cotton candy, and didn´t get any.

Blue dot!

Anyone who knows a Horan knows that my mom puts blue dots over the faces of those who have left the family (read: ex-husbands). Saves a lot on airbrushing, and we have created a new verb... to blue dot, infinitive form.

Anyway, turns out Mom had an ancestor who did the same thing, sort of. At this pyramid near Tlaxcala, the murals show prisoners ready for sacrifice. There is a man and a woman. Look closely. They´re painted BLUE! My mom is brilliant!

Corn smut: Yum!

Last week we went out for after school fun street food. I think I told you about it. Well, come to find out, we had corn mold, called huitlacoche! It´s a Pueblan delicacy. Rebecca and I didn´t know that was what we were eating. We thought it was mushrooms!
YIKES!

Father Fast

This weekend I went to 11 am mass at the cathedral. The mass before it is the one with the archbishop, the choir and thousands of people. This mass was the polar opposite. A sweet, very old priest did the whole thing from the altar, readings, sermon, consecration, everything! It was lovely. He gave a very long sermon, but no music.

Anything for a husband (well, almost!)

This Saturday was the feast of St. Anthony (of Padua, I think). (Anthony, you keep your hands to home!).
On that day, women (mostly) go to his church and leave a red ribbon on the saint. We had to write our names on the ribbon, make 13 knots in it, and say some prayers. After you put your red ribbon on St. Anthony, you can light a candle and voila! you have a husband! At any rate, Gabi, Rebecca and I all did it, so we´ll see what happens. There were tons of women there. There was also a general fair, with rides, lots of food, and some cool pennants flying around the church. We walked and walked to get there, so I hope it was worth it! Incidentally, there were a few men there too, putting up ribbons.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary...

These are poinsettias. They will grow as tall as the window, and have red flowers by Christmas.

This is the little flower garden with lava rocks.

A fig tree for Phoebe.

Bouganvillas are everywhere. These are yellow orange. I love them

This is a loaded avocado tree. This is how they were before genetically altered to have thick dark skin suitable for shipping.

More of the gold bouganvillas.

This is the garden at the back of my house. It is so pretty, and there are more plants here than you would think.

The plant that ate Puebla

This is Eduardo, from my house, in the garden with this little cactus that grew a giant flower this week. Look!

This is it. It looks carnivorous.

Up close. Looks like Disney grew it.

That cactus has been there for 12 years, and never grew anything. Now look at this flower. Also, look how small the plant is, and how big the flower is!

Teotihuacan

This is the pyramid of the moon, with a sacrificial altar in front.

This is the pyramid of the sun. I climbed to the top. It was my fourth time!!

This is a figure on one of the sacrificial altars. There are marine images here, and no one knows why.

This is the view of the sacrificial altar from the top of the pyramid of the sun.

I love this rock work with the little stones in between.

Another look at some walls. love the rocks.

This is Carlos, our cute guide.

Teotihuacan is a huge archeological site outside Mexico City. No one knows much about who built it, because the Aztecs and the Spanish destroyed lots of the records. Its architecture influenced many other sites in Mexico. They did human sacrifices here. Most were soldiers, and not in the thousands, because they were very concerned about hygiene and had to bury everyone safely. Built around 200 AD. or so

I forgot the most intersting part

This is the stove, where Lorena cooks everything. It is iron grates over gas burners set into tile. She cooks a lot in a pressure cooker, like chicken and things. They also heat tortillas right on the grates. I think it´s really cool.