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.