Mexico City

El Templo Mayor

Fountain in the museum of anthropology

The Virgin of Guadelupe

Skeletons unearthed beneath the temple of the Sun

Climbing the Pyramid of the Sun

The temple of Quetzlcoatl

Nate and Madelynn at Teotihuacan

We spent last weekend in Mexico City with all of the study abroad students. We stayed in a hotel for 2 nights right smack in the center of the city. It was truly an amazing experience!

We left early Friday morning and drove to Teotihuacan, which are pyramids outside of Mexico City. They were there long before the Aztecs came. They are absolutely breathtaking. We first climbed to the top of the temple of Quetzlcoatl, and then walked along La calle del muerto (the road of the dead) to El templo del Sol (temple of the sun). El templo del sol was huge, as you can see from the pictures. I am amazed that we made it all the way up there, and it actually didn't take us that long. Some of the stairs were rather treacherous and scary, but it was well worth it, and since we had Madelynn strapped in the baby carrier, we didn't have to worry about her jumping off the pyramid.

The next day, we visited the Frida Kahlo museum, which is in the house of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, which was also where the headquarters for their communist meetings were held. There were many pieces of original work, by both Frida and Diego, many photographs of communist leaders (Trotsky, Lenin & Stalin), and many of their own things. We weren't allowed to take pictures anywhere but the garden, but it was really neat to see Frida's wheelchair, her paints, the bed with the mirror under the canopy so she could do self-portraits while she was confined to her bed, their books, clothes, love letters, and lots of cats. There were cats wandering around all over the place, and one of them bit Madelynn when she was petting it. Nate would have hammered the cat, but remembered that it was Frida's cat, so he couldn't hurt it. Ha. But Madelynn was fine- it didn't break skin or anything. (otherwise the cat might have ended up in the fountain). We also walked around the area near our hotel and saw a lot of amazing architecture and the templo Mayor, which is the ancient temple that Mexico City was built around. We didn't go inside el templo Mayor (we babysat everyone's water bottles and a couple of large knives that for some reason some of the guys had in their pockets). But I was able to get a few pictures from the outside. We also wandered around Alameda Park and the plaza outside the Bellas Artes museum. There was a group of people in the park doing native dancing and drumming, and we were able to get it on video.

The next day, we visited the Anthropology museum and the old national palace high up on a hill overlooking Mexico City in Chapultepec park. After that, we had the afternoon to do whatever, and since Mexico was playing Argentina in the world cup, most people went to go watch the game. We chose to go to a quiet (but very expensive) restaurant, and the peace and quiet was well worth it. And the food, but I don't think I will be doing anymore $50 lunches. After the game was over, it was completely insane! People were running around with flags, singing, chanting, and there was a group of clowns (los payasos) running around cheering for Mexico, and they all ran up to Madelynn and were touching her hair and her cheeks. Madelynn has been getting quite a bit of attention down here, as one of the only blonde gringo babies around. She's had her photo taken quite a bit by women, and everyone just wants to give her kisses and touch her hair. It's really sweet. Anyway, so Mexico City was a zoo after the game, and the cops were all out with riot gear (fortunately, they didn't need to really use it where we weere). And that was with Mexico losing- I can't imagine what it would be like had they won.

After that, we were all exhausted, and couldn't wait to get back to Queretaro. Fortunately, Madelynn slept almost the entire way back, so that was wonderful.

Madelynn started going to a daycare a couple hours a day to get her out of the house and have other kids to play with. It's been nice for me to have a break! But she's not used to it yet, and cries when we take her. Hopefully, she will get used to it soon, because I just can't bear to hear her cry every time I drop her off! Nate's classes are going well, but he's pretty overwhelmed with everything. It's a lot more difficult and different here than we expected. This is one heck of a learning experience.

This coming weekend, we are going to La Sierra Gorda, and it is supposedly a lot colder up there. Hurrah! I have a really hard time with the heat. It's very hot and dry here, and I am already majorly sunburned. Oh, how I miss rain. We are definitely looking forward to coming back to Oregon, but I am still hoping to improve my Spanish skills while I am here and looking forward to seeing more sights down here.

We can eat real food!

We're finally all better and can all eat real food. Yay! Except Madelynn is now getting all of her teeth all at once. She has cut 3 teeth in the last 3 days. So she's pretty grumpy a lot of the time, which is not so fun for mom and dad. Pobrecita!
This week has been much better, now that we're all over the nasty sickness. However, we have decided to only stay for six weeks instead of twelve, so Nate is just going to do the first summer sesssion and possibly do the second summer session back at U of O. Or do a class or two online through BYU. Even though things have gotten a lot better here- our casa and our Senora are fabulous, the city is great, etc., we are realizing that it is just extremely difficult to do this with a toddler. Madelynn's doing pretty good, but at the same time, Nate isn't able to have anywhere near the same experience as all of the other students because he's quite a bit older than the rest of them and is here with his family. Plus, no one wants to hang out with us because we are a family, except for the program director. So most of the other students all hang out together and are constantly going out drinking and dancing til the wee hours, and it's also easier for them to get places without a stroller. Oh my goodness- our stroller is getting so thrashed! The streets are terrible here, and sometimes we just have to plain pick up the stroller and carry it. Brick and cobblestone may be pretty, but my goodness- they are terrible for walking with a stroller, or anything with wheels, pretty much. It's even difficult for cars. So, we will be returning to the states towards the end of July, which we are excited about, so now we can do all of the other things we love to do in the summer, like camping, traveing to the beach, hiking, and can go visit Boise. But, while we are here, we are planning to make the most of it.
My favorite time of day here to go out is in the evening when it has cooled off. We love to go to the centro historico of the city, where it is full of plazas, fountains, tons of shops and cafes, live music, beautiful cathedrals and buildings, and people. It's so alive at night! Plus, it's much cooler. The heat is pretty unpleasant, although it hasn't been as bad the past few days. It actually rained a few evenings ago, and it was wonderful!
Last Saturday, we visited Bernal. Bernal is one of the biggest monoliths in the world, and right below it is a little puebla (La puebla de Queretaro) that is full of touristy shops ad food places and has a pretty little church and park in the central. Unfortunately, I was horribly sick and Nate was feeling pretty crummy that day as well, so our experience there was pretty unpleasant. I spent most of the day lying on a bench next to the church, and Nate spent the day chasing Madelynn around. But, we got some great pictures.
Sunday was much better. We made it to church, and it was wonderful! It was the first time since we've been here that we felt we were somewhere familiar, even though we didn't understand most of what was said. The members of the ward are so warm and welcoming. We took Madelynn to nursery for the first time, and she liked it. There were only three other little boys there, so it wasn't too overwhelming for her (or us.)
Yesterday evening, we met up with one of Nate's classes for a tour of some of the historical places in the centro. Afterwards, we went out to eat and walked around. It was a lot of fun. Madelynn had a lot of fun playing with her new toy we bought her (a pinwheel), especially since it was a little bit windy so it worked quite well. She loves that thing.
Today, we watched the Mexico vs. Uruguay World Cup game, and then took Madelynn to a park. She absolutely loves playing on the swings- more so here than in the U.S. The swings are different here- they are hard metal and not flexible, and apparently Madelynn loves that.
This weekend, we will be going back to Mexico City for 3 days for a tour with the program. We'll see how Madelynn does on that. At least we will have a hotel to stay at and can return there if it gets too difficult, and can even return back to Queretaro on our own if necessary.

La venganza de Montezuma

So today was rather horrible. Nate & I have been having some minor stomach issues the past few days, but not bad. Nate was a lot better this morning, but I am horribly sick with a bad intestinal infection from who knows what. And Madelynn was doing fine until this morning, she just randomly started vomiting all over. After we went to the doctor, we found out that she actually has an infection in her throat that is making her vomit. Probably from something she put in her mouth. A few days ago at a restaurant we all ate at, there was a little fountain with water coming out of it that she just wouldn't leave alone. She kept putting her fingers in it and licking them, and we just couldn't stop her fast enough. So that's my best guess for why she is sick. Unfortunately, Nate was at school when we woke up horribly sick (I had been really sick since the night before but thought I was getting better) and we hadn't gotten our cell phones yet, so I couldn't call him. Our Senora called one of the program directors and talked to her, and she was able to tell Nate, and then she and her sister (Tia Lupita) drove us to the University to pick up Nate and then take us to the doctor. The doctor was very good- he spent a lot of time talking to us, asking questions and examining each of us to find out what was wrong. And it was so much cheaper, too- only $40 total for both me and Madelynn together, plus he gave us some medicine and some shots that were included in that price. I was very impressed with the clinic and the doctor. The doctor even called later to check on how we were doing, and was available directly by phone later this evening when I suddenly started vomiting. So we've got all sorts of medicine to take now. One of them I think is similar to pepto bismol, but it's bright yellow and looks like snot, so that's hard to swallow. I almost barfed earlier when I was taking that, even though the flavor wasn't so bad. We bought some electrolyte drinks, too, to help rehydrate, but those taste awful, so Nate went back out and got a bunch of gatorade. Seriously, right now the gatorade tastes like heaven. Unfortunately, I'm also craving pizza and french fries, which I unfortunately cannot satisfy without becoming even more sick. So, gatorade it is!
We're having a really hard time adjusting to the heat. Even though it's a dry heat, it's still horribly uncomfortable. But, when it's 90+ degrees outside, the air is still tolerable to breath- it's not suffocating like in more humid areas. (Oh, I do not miss the humidity of Iowa.) So now I am missing the gloomy, rainy Oregon weather. Didn't think I'd miss it this soon- I couldn't wait to leave it last week! And most places don't have air conditioning, so we're just constantly hot, even with a fan blowing air on us at night when it cools down significantly. Our Senora told us that we needed to sleep with our window closed and the fan blowing air towards the ceiling. Yeah.. we tried that for about 20 minutes, and it was awful, so we'll just have to hide the fact that we're still sleeping with the window open, otherwise it's suffocatingly hot in here.
I didn't realize that there were so many cultural differences here. I mean, I knew there would be some differences, but I didn't realize how strongly they would feel about them. Here is a list:
1. No one puts ice in their soup to cool it off. They thought I was crazy when I asked for some ice to cool off Madelynn's soup so she could eat it.
2. The only people I notice wearing shorts are gringos. I went to the store yesterday to look for some more shorts for Madelynn, and there were only pants! Better hope that her shorts last her the entire trip.
3. Apparently, it is completely unacceptable for parents to share utensils with their children, like when I lick the bottom of a spoonful of yogurt before feeding it to Madelynn so it won't make a mess.
4. I don't know if this is a cultural thing or just our Senora's rules- we can't go barefoot in the house. (Except when we run from our room to the bathroom.) They think that our feet are dirty and will make the floors dirty.
5. We aren't allowed to eat anywhere except at the kitchen table. So Madelynn isn't allowed to have a snack while watching Elmo. (We have food hidden in our room, though, and are sneaky about it.) Having drinks in our room, especially agua, seems to be okay.
6. It seems as though there are certain times of the day when we aren't allowed to wash our clothes. Thus, I have no clean clothes left and am wearing Nate's last pair of clean shorts besides the one's he is currently wearing.
7. Apparently you can drive on whatever part of the road you feel like and can make a left turn from any lane you feel like. There are no lane dividers. And the speed limit seems to be optional, as does signaling for turns. But you still can't run red lights (as we found out the other day when our Senora got a ticket).
8. Sidewalks are random and there are no handicap-friendly roads. I haven't seen a single person in a wheelchair outside, and have only seen a few in the Plaza del Parque (a mall near us) which is the only wheelchair-accesible building I have seen. And pushing a stroller is a major feat. Sometimes there are sidewalks, though they are often uneven and sometimes have steps, and the neighborhood streets are made mostly out of cobblestone or brick. Looks interesting, but a major pain in the butt to push a stroller. I wish we had a jogging stroller with those big tires. I'm certain that Madelynn's stroller is going to collapse at any moment, and she has a pretty sturdy one, too.

Queretaro

Pictures: Top- view of Queretaro Middle- Sunday market in Mexico City

Bottom- Madelynn at a park in Mexico City

We arrived in Queretaro on Sunday. It was pretty overwhelming getting there and arriving. We took a taxi from our hotel to the bus station, bought tickets to Queretaro (about a 3 hour bus ride) and then once we got to Queretaro, had to take another bus to our casa. It was a little overwhelming for me to see all of the extreme poverty in Mexico City and on the outskirts. Canals full of raw sewage, crumbling buildings, trash everywhere in empty lots. Although one thing I have noticed is that everyone I have seen here dresses very nicely. Makes me feel downright frumpy with as nice as everyone looks! Queretaro is so different from Mexico City.
The air quality in Mexico City was pretty polluted and it's hard to comprehend how big it is. Queretaro is much smaller (500K people vs. 28 million people) and the air is so nice and clear here. It's really hot, but our casa stays pretty cool during the day. Queretaro is beautiful! Our senora showed us around the historical colonial district yesterday, and it reminded us a lot of Europe. Very beautiful. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our camera, so next time we go there, we'll get pictures. We did get a gorgeous dress for Madelynn, in the traditional style of the region. It is hand embroidered.

Each day, speaking and understanding Spanish is becoming much easier for us. It's amazing how fast we've been picking it up. Madelynn doesn't seem to care what language anyone speaks- she just wants to smile and flirt with everyone. The people here are wonderful, and the food is so good. I had one of the most amazing meals I have ever had in my life yesterday at a restaurant in the central historical area. All of the families and students ate a big meal together for comida (like lunch, but usually about 2-3 pm instead) Getting used to eating the big meal of the day in the afternoon is a bit of an adjustment, because we're so used to dinner being the big meal, but it's all good. We are living with our Senora, Patricia, and her son, Ricardo, who is a law student. Her sister, Lupita, comes over a lot, too. She's our Tia. So far, we are really enjoying our experience here, even though it's only been a few days!

Mexico City

We made it to Mexico! We flew into Mexico City today and are staying at a hotel. Tomorrow, we will take a bus to Queretaro. Nate's Spanish skills are impressive- I don't know if he even expected to be as fluent as he is once we got here. I am.....not even close to fluent. But, I've tried talking in Spanish as much as I can, and I am thinking that taking a class or private tutoring once we get settled in might be a good idea so I can feel more comfortable navigating my way around while Nate is in class. Poor Nate- he took his last final on Friday, and he has to start class on Monday! Hopefully we'll be able to have some cool pictures to post soon. Hasta luego!

First tooth!

We discovered tonight that Madelynn finally has her first tooth. And she's 17 months. What's even funnier, is that her first tooth is a molar on the top left side. I am just so excited that she finally has a tooth that I just had to tell everyone.
And on another note.... just three more days until Mexico! We are so excited! I hope we've got decent internet access so we can post lots of pictures. It will be nice to actually have some sun.... the weather here in Oregon is driving us crazy right now with the constant rain! And then the sun comes out once a week or so to taunt us and then goes back into hiding.