Spring Equinox

This past weekend was a long-weekend (we had Monday off for President Benito Juarez's birthday!), and it happened to also be spring equinox! This is / was an important date for the Aztecs, Mayans, Mexicans, etc., so there were a lot of local events celebrating the date.

On Sunday, we went to a performance put on by students at the state university. It told the story of Quetzacóatl and the creation of man, the world, etc. It was pretty cool, though I only understood about half the Spanish (it was over a loudspeaker).



Yesterday, a lot of people went to the local pyramid and partook in traditional ceremonies. Lots of ritual cleanings, dances, and "taking energy". I really liked some of these costumes, especially the feathers!




Taking energy from the sun.

Carnaval!

Sorry, this post arrives about a week too late, but in México, Carnaval was at the beginning of March. Veracruz probably has the most famous Carnaval celebrations (within México...nothing compared to Brazil, though), though every region has different celebrations with different flavors. Here in my town, we had a parade with güe-güe's (no one seems to know the spelling), which poke fun at the Spanish conquistadores. They were all firing these really, really loud muskets, so it was quite an experience.



I also just got back from a short trip to the states (grad school open house--my post-Peace Corps plan!), and it was actually quite a shocker. Stuff is sooooooooo expensive in the US!!

Camping out in Pachuca

This last weekend I went to visit some fellow vols in Pachuca, state capital of Hidalgo, two hours north of Puebla. We had the chance to go camping out in Parque Nacional El Chico, the oldest national park in Latin America--founded over 100 years ago! It was fun times, and a beautiful park.



On the return trip, we explored downtown Pachuca for a little bit, and I got to climb their clock tower. The inner-workings of the clock were made by the same company that did Big Ben in London, and it celebrated 100 years of operation last year.

COS Conference

This last week was our COS conference in Querétaro, which meant it was probably the last time our entire group will get together. We have the conference about three months before we all leave country, and it was good to see the other vols--many of whom I haven't seen in months! Kind of a sad event...I'm sure it hasn't hit me yet, since I will be extending here until mid-August. About half our group is actually extending at least three to four months, which is a good sign, and gives us more chances to see each other. Here is my group with all of the PC staff.



March 1 was the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps, and there were parties all over the globe. Our former country director hosted a fiesta at his house, and we had this great 50th Anniversary cake (photo courtesy of another vol, S.B.).

Last "Vacation"!

So according to PC policy, our last three months are aren't allowed to take "vacation"--so I took my last official day of vacation yesterday, for a long-weekend trip to the state of Veracruz. I basically went to visit a friend from Monterrey, who now lives in the capital of Jalapa / Xalapa. It is a pretty tropical town, and it was definitely hot, hot, hot! I can't imagine what it is like in the summer! Some photos:

Main church in Jalapa...not sure what happened to the tower on the left?!


Sharks in the aquarium in Veracruz.



Waterfall Texolo near Jalapa.

Ice Skating and Kites

On Saturday I had a busy day, as I had promised to cook for my girlfriend and her family...so I whipped up an easy dish of three-bean chili. It was well-received (I think), and they asked me what my next dish is going to be! So at least they think I can cook. You can see it here.



We also went ice skating on Saturday at an indoor rink. The ice wasn't too great, but it was fun skating...it's probably been three or four years since the last time I skated, so it took awhile to remember how. I had one semi-fall, but nothing too bad.



Sunday, we went to a kite event! So I've never really flown a kite before (once or twice before in my life), so it was interesting. We got some good tips from one of the organizers, and we managed to get the kite pretty high, one time each (probably 100-150 m). BUT, both times, we spent probably an hour undoing knots in the string afterwards...so more time with knots than flying kites! We even saw SpongeBob flying over the moon (no, this was not our kite).

Visitors!

So I've been away for a couple weeks because...I had visitors!! Yay! My parents came down from the US to see what a "Peace Corps México" experience is like, and we got to travel around a bit. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

Sunset over Mexico City, from our hotel terrace.


Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan.


Mural on the Central Library of UNAM, the national university.


Street in downtown Puebla. My parents said it looked very Hollywood-ish.


The inside of a church near my house.


Xochimilco, kind of like the Venice of México.