Mexico City (day 1)

We were in Mexico three days, so I've split this one post into threes. Not even equal threes, just the three I liked the most (aka easiest).

First, a really long bus ride, but then MEXICO CITY (with highways that don't have painted lanes- scary).

We got a tour of the downtown area, which included Templo Mayor:


Templo Mayor is exactly like one might assume; that is to say, the ancient primary temple of the Aztecs. Now, of course, it is in ruins but still has some pretty cool sights:




Of course, everything is kinda gray and dreary. Back in the day, it was very colorful, with paint and flowers and gold decor and the blood from the human sacrifice.

Next, we went to Palacio Nacional, which is also as one might assume. It was the president's house for the longest time and has the most ridiculous amount of security imaginable.

Here's a picture of the front-ish part. The bell there at the top is the Mexican equivalent of the American Liberty Bell. Their independence bell has the advantage of not being cracked. :P


The inside is really quite large, several stories, with soldiers hanging out everywhere, gardens, fountains, beautiful staircases, statues in honor of Benito Juarez, the whole nine yards. However, the most interesting part, for me, was Diego Rivera's murals, which were, somewhat unfortunately, being renovated.


We left fairly quickly for the Cathedral, as the building was closing and soldiers were marching in formation around the fountain in the center of the main patio area. The Cathedral, like most of Mexico City, is sinking because Mexico City was built on a lake. (I know, it was great civil engineering. It was actually kinda fun to notice all the lopsided, tilting, leaning-tower-ish buildings.)





Then it was free time! (which means dinner and sleep!)

:)

All these photos and more!

City tour?

So, for the city tour we went a todos partes, without really seeing the city. Fun, right? :)
First, a former hacienda with plenty of themed gardens:

En el recorrido de Guanajuato, fuimos a todos partes, sin tener un recorrido de la cuidad. Qué raro, ¿verdad? :)
Primero, una ex-hacienda con una multitud de jardines:







Afterwards, we went to the Panoramica to see the city from above.

Después fuimos al Panoramica, para ver la ciudad de arriba.



(Click it for a slightly better picture. --Haga un clic para verla mejor.)

Then we went down into una mina. I, personally, had issues with the mines. They aren't exactly "breathable"... And, honestly, I can't imagine ever being a miner (although enchiladas mineras are de-lish): the amount of labor, the incredibly dangerous walkways, and the constant danger of collapse, lack of oxygen AND death? No thanks.

A cerca del Panoramica, hay una mina, el Mina de San Ramon (en Valenciana). Para mi, los minas me presentó con muchos problemas. No es facíl respirar, y creo que no puedo ser una minera (aunque las enchiladas mineras son riquisísimos): el trabajo muy pesado, los caminos peligrosos, y el riesgo en cada monento del caer del mina, estar sin aliento O morir? Graciás, pero no.



Anyway, next we went to the Templo en Valenciana, then up the mountain to see a giant statue of Jesus.

Pues, luego fuimos al Templo de Valenciana, y, después, subimos la montaña para ver Cristo Rey. ¡Qué suerte que teníamos un camión!





Definitely tired at this point, but we have two more stops before going home (to bed). A quick stop at a ceramics shop (way cool!), then Pípila, this giant monument that oversees el Centro (where all touristic pictures are taken of the city). We got to ride down to el Centro in a sweet lift thing.

Ya estabamos cansados, pero teníamos dos puntos más que ver antes de salir para nuestros casas (y a dorimir). Una parada breve a una tienda de cerámica (¡padrísimo!), luego a Pípila, un monumento gigantico donde se puede ver el centro de la cuidad (y, también, donde todos las fotos turisticas estan tomadas).






All pictures seen here (plus MORE!)

¡Nos vemos! :)

before the official tour

So after orientation, and before the crazily psyched up Spanish placement exam (quiz perhaps more appropriate?), I went to el centro with three of the other ciee girls.

Walking down the streets of el centro is really interesting. There are so many colors and people and stores and food and just everything.



We did go through el jardín, which is a really cool plaza area right across from teatro juarez, but, of course, I didn't take any pictures. Who am I? I don't make a good tourist, that's for sure.

De todos modos, we walked past el jardín and into la plaza de la paz, aptly named, I think, because of the gigantic basilica that's there.



While the basilica is a beautiful church and very much a place tourists visit, I didn't take pictures inside because I couldn't. Not like, POR FAVOR, NO TOME FOTOS, but I couldn't make myself do it.

We then found the university, aka UG, and it's famous steps.



*Did she climb all those stairs?*
Oh, yes I did, and it was TOTALLY worth it. (click on the picture to make it look better. I can't make things look good from where I'm at.)



On our way back to the hotel, we ran into a face in the wall. It's massive and it protrudes from the wall like no one's business.



If you ever want to know something about anything I post (and what I don't, ooh), feel free to ask! :)

orientation

okay, so there's not much I can do to make any orientation more than very boring. :) that's, of course, not to say I don't like orientations and/or think they are a necessary evil.

subimos a mountain, to a camp called las palomas. the view was quite nice:



we did orientation stuff which included making amigos:


(half of the group, más o menos)

and also breaks, during which we discovered cacti turn into árboles eventually:



I also had a delicious drink, which I, with dismay, call coffee, because coffee never tasted all that rico to me.



that was it for orientation, really. I mean, the food era muy rica, but, you know, that's, like, why I came. :P

My flight over

Can I say that I've never traveled by air before? I mean, really, who counts flying from San Antonio to Houston for Owl Weekend as actual flight? It's all of 15 minutes in the air, honestly.

However, after that somewhat interesting experience of going through security where I was stopped for some rocks that were in my carry-on, flight went pretty well.



My second flight was slightly mas intereste because I had a window seat (not that dificil on that plane: 2/3 of the seats were window seats, go figure). Some of it looked fake, de verdad:



and some of it was gorgeous:



De repente, we were on the ground, I was officially a Mexican tourist-student, and I got to ride a small caravan to GUANAJUATO!

I would show pictures now of my hotel and the first sight I had of the city, but I didn't take any. I'll take some later (I have a million months here anyway), and edit this post later. :)

NOTE:

I will put pictures/videos/music into my blog posts because I'm a multimedia kinda girl.

HOWEVER, I will not post all of whatever media I happen to have on hand. If truly interested, take a look at more complete albums at photobucket/youtube/[some music engine] (sometimes the Book).

Facebook: well, chances are you know me on the Book.

photobucket:
I'm sort of crazy about organizing, so you'll have to click on the latest pictures to see new stuff...

youtube

[some music engine]: give me a few days/hours, I'll tell you.

hasta luego,
Jessi