Salsa and Hiking

Last Saturday was a fun salsa and cumbia dancing night with the group from my old salsa class. I haven't continued with the classes, but I have gotten more practice in just regular social situations. It was fun to see my friends again, and hopefully now that the holiday seasons are over, we will have more get-togethers.



On Sunday, some friends and I went hiking up a local hill. Apparently, just two years ago it was pretty undeveloped and much better forested. Now, however, there are fields all the way up, random burning (preparation for more fields, I assume), and expensive housing developments right at the base. Here is the view of Popo, from the top of the hill.

Local parties and Jaripeo´s

This week there have been a couple of local festivals. Tuesday was the day of the saint in a neighboring church, so they were going to throw a fair. I showed up around 6 PM, thinking that it was an all-day event, but it turned out to only be an evening thing...and 6 PM is too early to be called evening in México. With the looming rain, I sadly left and missed out on the festivities. Here is a picture of me watching a local watch some workers watch other workers unloading the truck.



However, on Wednesday, in the exact same spot, they had a jaripeo, or a rodeo! I haven´t been to one in México, so I went to watch. They had some loud music (a staple in all local festivals) and bull-riders. Some of the bulls weren´t too energetic, but some really made the riders work. Sorry, the action doesn´t start until 1:30 into the video.



Later that evening, I headed over with some friends to another church, where there were bands playing cumbia andina, a type of cumbia from South America. Apparently it kept going until well past 1:30 AM, but I had already hit the sack by that time.