Dance exhibition

Last fall I took a salsa class at the local casa de cultura, like a commuity center. Like every group, we were supposed to give an end-of-semester public presentation, but somehow it didn't happen. Some of our friends continued with the class this semester, and their presentation was yesterday! Of course we went to go watch, and even though we showed up late, we were lucky and caught the last song of their show.



Also, random story, but I was walking down the street yesterday and saw a couple of "wild" marijuana plants growing in an empty lot about a block from an elementary school. Yeah, that was interesting, since it wasn't like they were being cultivated for drugs or anyone was sitting next to them smoking, but also no one really cared that they were there.

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.).