Lathered in dirt

So Im back ina city.. more say it a town than anything, Patzcuaro, right on the lake, a place with decent history of artists including diego rivera and many surrealists in the recent century. That being said, where the hell I've been is about 10km into the hills, away from the lake, above a little pueblito named Erongaricuaro (sound it out.. its six syllables). There, we started out on a camping Couchsurfing event on this guys property where he and his volunteers devote alot of their time to permaculture and natural building like adobe and cob wood. In addition to the two nights of free camping, we decide to stay, pay for camping and we ended up being there for 8 more days. It is really gorgeous, with a view of the lake, a ton of birds, trees and tons of fresh air away from the pollution of the city.
There were many people who live in Michoucan who were couchsurfers/ hosts and we met many great contacts, many of which we will see on our next trip to Morelia.
The best part about being at this guy Brians ranch was that he was completely off the grid, no water, electricity... only from the rain water he collected and the solar panels and water heater. The word of the week was SUSTAINABILTY. To shower, you would first sweat all the dirt away in a very hot, wood fire SAUNA!!! not only cleansing, but a very stressless activity. Everything in a very simplistic way of living, and a campfire always burning, its crazy we didn't stay longer.
We're Couchsurfing buy the lake, trying to stretch out our time here until Dia de los muertos because it is here where the festival is very original and old fashioned- the best in all of Mexico!! After our current house we will then take on a campsite close to the lake or if we can find a cheap enough room in a hostal (thats not booked). If we can last that long, or even if we cant, we will be staying with friends in Morelia for a couple of nights and then its on to D.F.!!! The biggest city in the world, how exciting. I've heard many great and many wretch-ed things about mexico city but i want to see the art, and the culture in a city that carries a rich collective of diverse culture.
Anyhow, it feels great to be showered and we finally got some clean clothes, however the dirt still keeps on appearing everywhere. Until nextime everybody!!!


oh and check out Couchsurfing.com if you already havent

couchsurfing... !!!!que chido¡¡¡

So ever since sonya and I left our place at the hostal, we met up with an online couchsurfing.com friend to stay at his casa. (which we plan to do through as much of our trip as we can) His name is Salvador, aka Chava, and we have our own private room on top of the house above everything else. A gorgeous open air stairway leads to seperate rooms where his brothers and mothers live and right above us is where his five schnausers live. Chava and his family have been more than accomadating, including us in large family meals, going to the movies with us and last night we went to a pretty young, hip joint where there was live music. We have to sneak around to help out with chores because they will barely let us lift a finger when they are around.

Since weve been here, the morelia internacional film festival has begun and the other night we caught a pretty good independent mexican film. Dolor, Amor, y vice versa... check it out.

We got introduced to many of Chavas friend, including some rastas who are playing a show with Max Romeo in D.F. on dia de los muertos!!! Mao, one of the guys, works at Morelias nicest tattoo shop, whree i got some amber plugs with skulls on them. Some of the nicest people I have come acrross while weve been here.

Mañana were heading off to a town on Lake Patzcuaro to camp with other couchsurfers from around the region. Itll be good to meet other péople involved in the online community and when we return to morelia we will have a new host to stay with. After that it is probably off to patzcuaro to camp or couchsurf in the city. Everything is all up in the air and playing it by ear is working out well.

Oh and one more thing... the food is MUY SABROSA!!!!!!! y muy barato. we went to the market, got veggies, juice, milk, tortillas, beans, and other small snacks for less than 7 dollars!!!!!

Until nexttime
CIAO

first few days in morelia

So here we are in mexico, morelia to be exact, me and my love sonya. The first couple of days have been a relaxing acclamation to morelias elevation in the mountains. It being sonya´s second time in morelia, and my first, she has been able to show me around as she knows the town, however we have both discovered very new things. The mexico that I know (where my grandparents live) is a beach town, and the people are much poorer. Here it is like a big city (the 4th largest in mexico), however, it is a colonial city with good communal vibes. >Shopping at the market has been an absolutely pleasant suprise, buying 3 avocados, ingredients for salsa, and beans, only cost us 4 american dollars!!!! There is much more commerce and infastructure than any where else... there is alot of traffic and many businesses but the aqueducts and colonial architechture give off a spanish vibe. We are staying in a hostal right now but tonight is our last night and next we plan on staying with a friend we met online through COUCHSURFINg. COM. It is a great online community in which we have participated and enjoyed very much... pretty much it equals FREE rentt!!!!! we plan to exercise the couchsurfing website in morelia, until we decide to move on to patzcuaro (right by the lake and mountain) where we will cAMP, HOSTAL, OR COUCHSURF...... whatever we can mange!!!! not alot more is happening here except for meeting locals here and there, traveling through the plazas and selling sonyas handmade earings on the street... wish us luck in our undefined future!!!!!! Gracias