Te quiero Guadalajara! Voy a extrañarte!

I have officially fallen in love…with the city, the people, and the way of life of Guadalajara. Saying goodbye was not easy! Not surprisingly it involved a lot of tears between Court and I as well as our senora, Ivette, Maris, Melissa, Tina, Santiago, Tia Georgina, y todos. We didn’t want to leave just as much as they didn’t want us to leave. This has truly been an amazing experience and I am so grateful for every minute I spent in Guad this summer. The people I met and the friendships I made will for sure last a lifetime!

Final places we made sure to visit included a trip to the Bimbo factory where we watched all of our favorite sweets being made and packaged before getting to taste test freshly made dulces. On Wednesday with the human encyclopedia, we took a tour of the Panteón de Belén, this cemetery was built in the 1800’s for the wealthy to be placed. Graves were huge above ground mini castles with fine details. The more wealthy the family the bigger the grave was and with more statues to decorate the tomb. La familia del Cuervo (Jose Cuervo- the Tequila) are all resting here. Also, over the last 2 weeks, we tried out a couple new bars and clubs. One of them, Old Jack’s, is a live rock bar where they have some really good performers come play. It was a good time; more relaxed then some of the clubs. I also finally got to hang out with my good friend from school, Jose, so that was nice! Saw a couple good movies including the new Twilight movie, Eclipse, and for so cheap, such a lovely afternoon activity!! Went to this fun cute city with of course another beautiful church to go to one of Maris’ favorite jazz bars.

Last Saturday, we got up early to head up the mountain to a city called Tapalpa in the family van. This old city is again with the rocky narrow streets, a big cathedral, and lots of fun shopping! The buildings line the street in their old fashion white facade and wooden balconies. We walked around for a bit before going to have desayuno (breakfast) and the best homemade hot chocolate I have ever had! After breakfast we headed up the hill a little farther to go see these enormous rocks. Of course I had to go climb them! It was very fun despite the rain. After the big rocks we headed back into the city for comida y churros con cajeta and some more shopping! Overall, it was a lovely family day where of course we were spoiled.

Everyday we find ourselves asking the same question, “What it’s already … time, when did that happen.” For being in the most laid back city ever, time just seems to get lost. Our final week of course flew by just like all the rest of them, This week was different though we wanted to live it up but we had finals…yeah, I was suppose to be taking classes this whole time…? What? Well, yeah so I had an enormous 40 percent of my grade paper due Saturday, a photography and management final and two final photo portfolios due. But, don’t worry too much, we still managed to have a lot of fun! Tuesday we went back to San Juan de Dios to look at the long street of straight up jewelry, if I don’t have to go jewelry shopping again for a year I will be happy. O I also got my nails done…muy bonita, gracias Maris…haha she lost a bet and had to treat me! Wednesday was Courtney’s birthday so we went out Tuesday and Wednesday night, until…well you don’t want to know what time we got home both mornings. But, it was a good party. But, then before we knew it, it was our last night here. Last night was filled with tears as we said goodbye to all of our amazing primos Santiago, Fernando, and Javier.

So classes in Mexico are about like their lifestyle really relaxed. You are allowed to be 10 minutes late without being considered late. If your phone rings during class, by all means get up and answer it and don’t feel rushed to come back until the conversation is over. If the teacher has plans, no class that day, if he wants to make a phone call during class, the whole class gets a break.

A joke upon return to Colorado will be having to do things for myself again. Literally, I have not been allowed to help out with anything. Princessa! My food and drink is brought to me at the table, my plate is cleared and washed for me. My room and bathroom was cleaned once a week, and the crazy thing is these were not negotiable, this was how things worked. As a going away present our senora gave us our favorite dessert in the world Cajeta con Gallentas!! YUM! And of course, a bottle of Jalisco Tequila!

Things I have learned: slow down, life is precious, is it really necessary to always be in such a hurry? Stay out late, “este noche es joven,” you can always sleep in another day to make up for it. Have long, late dinners talking about anything and everything, and yes I can now kind of carry on a conversation in Spanish! Greeting people with a nice kiss on the check is comforting. Because it is always the same every time, I do not even think twice about it now, I walk into a room and greet every person in it the same way. I learned to sing loud and crazy, cause who cares what you sound like, Maris!! O and Mexicans, they always have something to say, there is never a time when there is not a story to be told. A phone is not a necessity, in fact it is kind of nice not having one. Tacos at 4 am are the best thing ever!

Things I am excited to go home for: normal food at normal hours! Making my own schedule of when I want to do things and when I don’t. Not getting ready to go out 4 + times a week! Making money not spending it. Putting toilet paper in the toilet. And, well I guess seeing all of you! Thank for reading this summer and sharing in on my amazing journey! Hasta tarde en Salamanca, Espana!


I have felt great love here, gracias senora por todos. Y mi familia Mexicana, Te recordaré por siempre y regrasando por la boda de Maris whenever that might be y even antes de una boda porque Tepeyac will always be mi casa de México! ☺

hogar dulce hogar

Time just flies when your havin fun! No, but seriously it really does, so not this last weekend but the weekend before we went up to Lake Chapala. My senora, Court, Christina, my Tia, prima Evet, y una otra Tia all headed out in the mini van at about 6 in el tarde. We arrived to this beautiful house in the campo (countryside). Played a quick game ping-pong then headed down to the lake. El lago es muy muy bonita! It is huge!! We walked around the cute town, got ice cream, walked out on the pier to the lighthouse and walked through the little market before nightfall. That night, Evet took us out with some of her friends to
this huge house in the middle of nowhere. The house had been transformed into a bar, still containing the normal bathrooms, sala, and all, even the kitchen had become the bar. The backyard over looks the whole lake. We hung out there for hours just over looking the lake and talking with Evet’s friends. The next day we got up and went to a bar with our senora and the fam to watch the Argentina vs Mexico game. Following the upsetting loss, we headed out to Monte Coxala, this resort built as if the prehispanic people built it. We walked around looking at the pyramids, jacuzzis, message restaurants, and spas. Next stop, Ajijic, this cute little town located on the water with the cobble stone narrow streets and colorful buildings. Our familia took us out to comida at this restaurant where our senora ordered for us, we all got the same things, but given no choice as to if that was what we wanted or not. Kinda interesting…she’s lucky it was good steak and mashed potatoes.

Well, we are officially in the rainy season. The intense thunderstorms are typically at night, or when we are walking home from the Soriana or even better yet after developing only half of my pictures for my class. We walked the 3 or 4 blocks (I don’t know what they consider blocks but its more like 23 blocks) to the pharmacy, waited for my pictures to print, waited for the pharmacist to fix the now broken machine, then waited for my money back and a free pair of swimming goggles…only to now have it start sprinkling. Not even 20 feet from the drugstore it starts pouring. Before I know it we are sprinting home in the hail and the pouring rain running through 6-inch puddles. Our senora literally fell on the floor she was laughing so hard at our arrival. We really like to make an entrance.

Other events of the week: On Monday we took a tour of the Corona Factory! Learned all about how beer is made and even got some free freshly bottled samples!! Tuesday, we hung out with our primos and tias until about 11 pm while waiting for the rain to stop. Finally our senora gave up and took us out to Cena. First salad I have had in a very long time. Wednesday, I traveled to the city of Teuchitlan, about an hour west of Guad, to visit Los Guachimontones’s circular stepped-pyramids. The site includes several pyramids as well as two ballcourts for the game of Mesoamerican.At the top of one of the pyramids a group was sitting in a circle calling to the Spirit and signing in praise. She invited us into the circle at the end for a final song of prayer. Also that night I learned the importance of not wearing Rainbows in the rain for the slippery marble like floors they have everywhere here. Fell flat on my back faster than anyone can blink. Luckily my head missed the stair and I fell so fast my whole body hit the ground at the same time. I had a couple nice bruises the next day though from that one.


Before leaving for Guanajuato on Thursday I brushed up on some basketball skills. Melissa, Austin, and I were challenged to a game of 3 v 3 by two tall guys and a girl. We thought we were doomed, ended up kicking their butts. Melissa and I had the most points of any of the boys. It was awesome!! After a three and a half hour bus ride we arrived in the beautiful city of Guanajuato, just in time for the rain. Guanajuato is another one of México’s 31 states to the east of Jalisco. With its charming narrow stone streets, enormous gold churches, and rich history this old mining city is BEAUTIFUL! After a good 20-minute walk in the rain, because buses cannot drive into the main city, we checked into Hotel del San Diego (coincidence) soaking wet. Melissa, Tina, Court and I walked into our enormous, old, fun room super excited for our weekend. That night we went to a salsa club with all the administrators and USD kids. Breakfast each morning came early at 8:30 but each day’s adventures were well worth it. Friday we went to the museo de los mummies. Super creepy, but pretty cool as well. The mummies were discovered when the families of the dead could not pay for them to stay in their grave. Upon being dug up they discovered that the soil had preserved the people perfectly. Most still containing skin, hair, eyelashes and everything. After we went to la Valenciana church. Guanajuato was a very rich city because of its gold and silver mine discovered during Spanish rule. Therefore, the churches all include amazing gold finishing in the inside. The Cata Mine was a cool visit because it is still one of the biggest mines in the world. After dinner and a nap we meet the group for a traditional “Callejoneada” where musicians play music throughout the Guanajuato alleyways telling stories of the history. The best story was the story of the street of el beso (kiss). It is a very narrow alleyway with two balconies up above, the story is of two lovers that would kiss from the separate balconies. I will have 15 years of bad luck after walking down the alley because I did not kiss anyone on the 3rd step. Haha Saturday after breakfast we went to the city of San Miguel de Allende where we had a short tour of the city and the Cathedrals then were released for free time to shop. San Miguel was a lot like Guanajuato just not quite as cool. It was a fun day though ending in some really good churros and rain. Sunday we took a final tour of Guanajuato learned a little more about the Mexican history in the amazing El Teatro Juarez, La Alhondiga, and El Pipila. We got on the bus to leave to go back to Guad completely drenched from the rain yet again.

OoO México, It sounds so simple I just got to go, The sun's so hot I forgot to go home

Ever seen the movie “Nacho Libre”? Well, neither have I, but I have now officially experienced the Lucha Libre in person!! Definitely an experience. The Lucha Libre is kind of like WWE wrestling where men in ridiculous outfits and masks get up in a ring and pretend to beat each other up until there is one team standing. But, the fight does not just stay within the ring if a man falls out of the ring the audience has better be ready for a 200+ man to come projectiling out of ring and into the audience at the man down. Meanwhile the audience is yelling everything and anything they can think of, mainly bad words in Spanish, at the wrestlers. The audience members can throw up any bad hand gesture they want as well and lots of times the wrestler will do it right back to the crazy audience member. The best part was at the end in the “showcase” when the two final guys ventured their fight into the audience and this angry grandmother decided to get involved. She took her big heavy purse and started beating one of the wrestlers. It was great!

Us with the famouso abuelo.

On lunes, we went to this awesome mass, if we go again next week I am for sure bringing a camera because it looks like the Mexican culture you think of in movies. There is so many people there we were standing literally outside of the church. They have huge speakers outside just for that reason, so it is a common thing for Monday night masses to be over packed. After mass there are a ton of vendors outside with all kinds of food, jewelry, and small hand crafted items to be purchased. We had this really good yogurt, fruta, and granola parfait. Court and I like to get fruit whenever possible because we are not a huge fan of the rare fruits we occasionally get fed at home like papaya and this colorful fruit that looks like a brain inside. No me gusta!

This week we got to explore el centro de Guadalajara a little more! We went to this market called San Juan, its kind of like the Canal Street in New York, where they have some illegal cheap items from los Estados Unidos, por ejempo: I got a couple movies like Shrek the Final Chapter of DVD for 10 pesos so less than a dollar!! I also got a couple gifts for the siblings. Ha apparently that is always expected when I travel away from them! We also went to this street where they only sell jewelry, store after store of nice jewelry. Maris told us it is common for people from the U.S. to come down and purchase jewelry here then bring it back to the U.S. and crank up the prices. In el centro we tried some typical dulces (sweets), I was not a big fan, Maris officially thinks I am the pickiest eater ever and she has learned the word interesante in my book does not mean I like it. But, I did like the papas con salsa, lime (of course) and salt.

Cuchapeta’s (Maris and her primos restaurante) moved locations to this bigger, cooler place, so we all spent the day there yesterday. It was a lot of fun and we knew a lot of people there! I enjoyed a Corona with my senora as well so that was funny. And, of course the world cup was on the TV all day at the restaurante. It is hilarious how important and how big of a deal this whole World Cup thing is here. Our management teacher, Jose, is an ITESO teacher, but we were supposed to have class during the game on Tuesday. Of course this was not an option so class was let out early to watch the game with everyone else. Mexico plays Argentina tomorrow though, which is not gonna be promising, but don’t worry that has not put any spirits down nor has any national pride even come close to diming down. Everyone still wears his or her México jerseys and face paint. You see the Mexican flag hung everywhere and painted cars roaring down the street honking and cheering before and after every game.

Va México!

Well, it looks like it might be time to start getting ready to leave for Lake Chapala, Mexico’s biggest lake. We were supposed to leave at 3 but of course like everything here we will be leaving un poco mas tarde. JAJA Our senora’s sister has a place up there so we are going up with 2 of her sisters and a bunch of primos!!

o and no garlic necessario I got some amazing "Gel homeopático calendula flores de bach" the stuff works magic on reducing the swelling!

Yo hablo en español muy mal

I now either look like I have a disease, the chicken pox, or you mid-as-well play connect the dots to form a nice picture out of the amount of swollen mosquito bites I have on my body especially my calves. The most ridiculous part about the 20 mosquito bites I have is that my roommate, Courtney, has ZERO! How does that work!?

Well, as I have become more comfortable here especially around my family I have started letting the weird side out. I no longer sit back at meals and let everyone else do the talking. I say the 15 words in Spanish I know over and over again to get my 2 cents into the conversation. My senora thinks Court, Maris, and I are a bunch of locas together. Maris thinks we are muy divertida though! Meal times are getting longer and siesta time is getting shorter. Classes are getting more interesting, but is really getting in the way of fun time.

Last weekend, Court, Melissa, and I decided to get familiar with our vecindad. We found the supermarket which literally has everything a Super Walmart does times 2. This place is HUGE! Next we traveled onto Starbucks, where we met the most "interesting" man, Christopher, from Alaska, down here for Medical school, he is half way through is 5 year plan and thinks he knows everything there is to know about the Mexican culture. He taught us a few "new" words and "good" tricks to survive down here. The most true thing he said was "Si, verdad" which literally is used every sentence down here, it means like yes, true, or like I am right, huh. An hour later Christopher finally stopped to take a breathe of air so we could get up and run out of there before he talked anymore. The next day on our explorations we found this amazing ice cream place that we have gone to everyday since, it is literally the best ice cream ever! And every time we walk up now the guys laugh at us like the dumb Norte American girls are back again. The best flavor is galleta de oreo, literally tastes like an oreo in ice cream greatness, my dad would love this! Another new obsession of ours is Galletas con Cajeta. Cajeta is this amazing caramel like thing, sooo good! I am definitely bringing a bottle home with me!

I am sure sick of getting ready to go out, I miss my sweats and hoodies and am in desperate need of going out clothes. We have gone to a few super nice malls, all very expensive though. The clubs are awesome here, they put the ones in the U.S. to shame. And everyone goes which is really fun. This week we hung out with a lot of Maris' cousins at the club and other times through out the week. They are all super nice and like most people our age they speak English for when I do not understand or am just feeling lazy. Listening to Spanish all day is seriously mentally exhausting, but worth it.

This week also included a trip to Costco, got some pizza! Yum my favorita! A little gambling at one of many casinos. Lots of huge thunderstorms that literally sound like they are coming in through the ceiling. The whole house shakes and rattles for about 20 seconds its crazy. We also had our first nieve storm (as my senora called it. nieve is snow) haha. It was hail but still really insane. Because of all the rain we didn't go out as much because almost everything is half outside. This was okay though got some good skyping in with some good friends I miss lots including my siblings. Watched a few movies with my hermanos and got a nice visit from a primo from Colorado. My cousin David came to Guad for a business meeting, I would find cousins even in Mexico, right? He took me and Maris to this awesome restaurant where they had traditional Mexican dancing, it was a nice long dinner ending with ice cream!!

Fitting new favorite cancions.

Getting Comfortable!

So upon arrival to Guadalajara, Mexico the lady at customs only spoke Spanish. Apparently I did not fill out the sheet to enter their country right, so I am sitting there not having heard any Spanish in a good 7 months, trying to fix what I did wrong. Finally, she just let me go, I still have no idea if I am now going to be able to leave this place, but o well! Luckily, I found my friend Christine and her friend Mary, so we all shared a cab to our host families houses. After being lost for 30 minutes I was welcomed into this beautiful house with big loving arms and a familiar face, my good friend Courtney. My senora and my new hermana are wonderful! So much fun! Maris, mi hermana, is 25, speaks very good English, and is so good about driving us all over the city and introducing us to all the local spots as well as all of her friends. Mi senora, is soo nice, she doesn't speak any English, she cooks and cleans up after us like we are Princesses and gives us plenty of kisses on the checks as well as hugs! Also living with us is her son who is 27, he is not around too much because he has a really good job and a serious girlfriend who is very cute. He also drives a BMW! haha And, a boy named Ricky lives with us as well, he is 23, and has been living with Senora for 2 years while he studies at a Universidad here. Our house is very nice, Courtney and I share a room with 2 twin beds, plenty of walking space, 2 closets, a balcony and a good size bathroom! Our senora's sister also lives down the street and she has two kids Evet, 20, and Santiago, 19, and two USD girls are living with her Tina and Melissa!! So we hang out with them lots and lots! The meals are really good, but definitely need some getting use to. Lots of ham, jalapenos, queso, tortillas, and leche. It is ridiculously hot and dry, but unlike Denver, it does not cool down much at night, so my best friend has become the ceiling fan. Our school, ITESO, Guadalajara's Jesuit Universidad, is really bonita, with mas largo trees and fountains!

Daily Schedule: We get up for school Monday through Thursday at 7 am to catch the USD bus at 8 to start class at 9. My first class, Organizational Behavior (Business MGMT 300) goes till 10:35 and is pretty interesting. The professor, Jose, is a teacher at ITESO. We have already had one business come talk to us about what they do and we visited another. My next class is Photography and that is from 11:25 until 1. This class is incredible boring right now, but will hopefully get better soon. Then I was taking a Salsa class, but since I can not be taught rhythm, I was not feeling that whole thing so instead I have been going to the gym (and doing a spinning class on M and W) until the end of school bus comes at 2:45. We get home around 3:20 to have lunch with the whole family then take a siesta. Next we normally do some homework before getting ready to go out for the night. And that is my day.

Mexicans are absolutely crazy!! My senora is 58 years old and she goes out as much as we do and some nights she stays out even later than we do. Fiesta days are Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri, and Sat here. I am going to get home and sleep for a week! At night we have been going to lots of local clubs (one of which we saw all the program directors at!! haha), a few bars, and some "invitation only parties" that Maris hooks us up with. For example, we went to this restaurant opening on Tuesday where our names had to be on a list, and last night we went to a party at this enormous beautiful place that is only used for differente fiestas. It was a fashion show (runway), with a red carpet and everything! Tonight we are going to some other special restaurant that is celebrating an anniversary of a magazine.


Last week we went on tour of downtown Guadalajara where we visited the Cathedral, first Opera house in Mexico, the Governer's house (since Guadalajara is the capital city of the state of Jalisco), and the city of Tlaquepaque. We also went to the grande outdoor marcado, which was kinda like a huge flee market where they sell everything you can think of, my mom would love it! We also saw Sex in the City 2 for 50 pesos (so less than 5 U.S. dollars!) And we went to Sam's Club with our Senora! O, and Maris works at this outdoor, really fun, chill seafood place so we have gone to visit her there a few times! All I really like to eat there though is guacamole, but, yes I like Mexican guac!! ha Well, I think that pretty much sums it up, our days are really packed especially because whatever we do is a process, Mexicans are never in a big hurry, unless they are driving, then you better hold on for dear life because there are absolutely no rules on the road. You start, stop, park, speed, and turn where you want to! It has been an amazing 10 days! I am excited to see what else they throw my way and my spanish is slowly getting better.

Cathedral

Tlaquepaque