So I guess it was Thanksgiving on Thursday, and incidentally we had a very good dinner with compàny that generally doesnt celebrate.... On Wednesday we went to the cigar factory in SanAndres de Tuxtla, a bigger city in the Municipo de Catemaco. A very beautiful artisan practice of rolling, aging, and smoking cigars out of locally grown cigars from PURO TOBACO. We got the full tour, and needless to say, took many pictures, and took home a couple of stogies. Not as good as cubans, but these cigars were literally 15km away from where they grew, making the ¨petroleum drenched¨ cigars of cuba seem a little bit bourgeois with its far import. Im getting to thanksgiving....
So on thanksgiving day, Sonya and I went to Montepio, a coast town about an hour away (or it should be an hour if your driver doesnt cut off his engine in every single po dunk town (and there were many) to chat it up with everyone) from the lake, and super small, with a population of about 800!! We swam in the gulfo for the first time even putting a toe in the Atlanics waters!!!! It was so warm and a pleasant cahnge from the pacific where you are generally cutting diamonds with your frozen nipples. (you know the feeling) So after leaving for the bus (or pickuptruck with a bench in the back) at 4.30, it didnt arrive until 5 and took until 7 to get back to camp at the lake. !!Que lastima!!
However, the morning before our RVing neighbors, a couple from England and Germany, invited us for dinner that evening. So we felt really guilty getting back so late, but they graciously waited on dinner for us, which was no thanksgiving but simple and DELICIOUS, and very filling. I guess the most thanksgiving part of it was the closest thing to family we could find (oolie, the german is from Germany, about 100km away from where Sonyas german roots originate) and the ´sipping´ on cigars that we enjoyed with our desert cheeses. That pleasant experience aside, we may be asked by them to take their RV, dog included (and bikes and a car) from mexico city to arizona for them, when they are ready to leave Mexico.... it is a far fetched idea for us and might not work out with our plans... but yeah.
So now we are in an inland Veracruz town of Acayucan, which is realatively big compared to the pueblos we have been bouncing around. Only here for a couple of days in a hotel... how fancy!!! our firsat hotel, at a rate of 22 dollars a night (kind of expensive) but it has more bugs in it that when we camp in our tent!!! Im scratching as I type!! Tomorrow we will head for Salina Cruz, on the coast of Oaxaca, then the next day we´ll be bouncing over to the young, hippie beach of ZIPOLITE, where we will continue to camp...WOOO!!!!! and explore the region around (Puerto Angel). We are really excited to travel and keep oursleves in one place for a little longer (like we did in Michoacan) aqnd especially excited to go to Chiapas where we will be celebrating Christmas with our friend Tom and then hitting up BELIZE!!!!!!! here we come and there we go.. its happening so fast, already two months in, our friends and family really miss us..
I´ll end on a sad yet hilarious note..... I was recently reading all my backlogged texts, and coming upon one that was sent when we were in the airport to come to Morelia and, as our friends, Tyler and Jen were waving goodbye, Jen started balling, drawing tears from Tyler as well, and some from us.. but the funny part was when I recieved the text saying... ¨jen cried so hard she PUKED... now thats true love!!¨
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Chilaquilles
Since the last time Ive been on here, we have done quite a bit. We had another host in DF, sergio, who was very fun, super inviting.. he let us sleep in his bed and we had a blast going out with him... one time to the city´s oldest saloon. We saw a couple more sets of ruins in the city, one of which was at the plaza of tres culturas, where in 1968 on october 2nd, many student were protesting and fired upon by mexican military... the next day bodies were taken away in garbaege trucks.. needless to say there are signs everywhere that say no olvide... or never forget.
After being completely exhausted of Mexico City, we headed straight for Xalapa, the capitol of Veracruz. A very small town vibe for a city, with a ton of cafes (with delicious locally grown coffee from Coatepec). Xalapas weather has a tough time figuring out what its going to do.. its microclimate will pour down rain and show sunshine or fog in the same day. It was a blessing to have rain, which i dont think ive seen since our last trip to Washington. We ate great food while we were there, hosted by some couchsurfers with great travel spirits themselves.
On a day trip, we took it upon ourselves to see a couple of town... first Xico, then Coatepec, both very rich in coffee and lots of jungle-forest. In Xico there are the Cascaras de Texolo (or waterfalls) which are gargantuan!! There was a very high up restaurant which we hiked to, where they had suprisingly low prices. (Maybe you pay with the long hike) They had super great service, always calling me ´´caballero´´ (like a cowboy) and there food was delicious. Sonya´s fried cheese was grilled in a savory leaf that we saw our waiter pick. In Coatemaco we got coffee, which isnt gone yet, surprisingly, and walked around the little plaza and quaint town.
From Xalapa, we traveled to Veracruz, a port city, on the gulf of Mexico. A drastic weather change with warm winds, and humid nights, we are absolutely loving this region. The second we arrived at our couchsurfing hosts house, we went out to her friends birthday party at a karaoke bar. We were pretty exhausted so we didnt enjoy so much, i gave a couple of tries, one with Hotel California, but after all its karaoke, and with most songs in spanish, we were pretty bored.
The next day we toured a little bit of Veracruz, going to the forts they built to protect themselves from attack on pirates a couple centuries ago. We also drank coffee in a 200 year old cafe with overpriced Americanos.
So on monday (yesterday) we took off for Catemaco, where the lake is, and where we are now. It is a very clean lake (unlike Patzcuaro) and a small little town. We are camping behind a restauraunt right now until Friday. Today we went out on a boat tour where we saw a family of monkeys which we got within just a couple of feet from. We saw many islands on the lake and went tothis reserve called Nanciyaga, where theyu have a pretty good business going with Temescals, cabañas, and shamns, where you can tour or stay for a night. Sonya and I got these mineral mud masks, good for the skin... I havent showered in a week so it really cleansed me... and we saw some monkeys out there as well. On Friday we will go to a town for a night that has a bus to Tehuantepec, on the opposite coast. We will cross the country at its skinniest point to go check out the West coast of Oaxaca for a while, and then make our way back through Chiapas to the Yucatan at the Belizian border until we cross into Belize.
On a non travel note, we have been eating delicious Mexican food, from Cheese stuffed empanadas, toTacos in Veracruz, and especially Chilaquiles, whenever we can find them. Chilaquiles are usually best super spicy, and weve found that the cheaper they are, usually the better. In Morelia, there were these 20 peso ones that had chunks of chile and came with rice AND beans, and an egg if you wanted it. The worst have been triple that price, not spicy at all, and no beans or anything.... we had to ask for cheese!!! Generally, though, they come out delicious and they serve them almost everywhere (sometimes at all times of the day). Until we find better Chilaquiles, which Im sure some will compare, Morelia's still hold the title of best Chilaquiles (at that one location). I hope your hungry now.
After being completely exhausted of Mexico City, we headed straight for Xalapa, the capitol of Veracruz. A very small town vibe for a city, with a ton of cafes (with delicious locally grown coffee from Coatepec). Xalapas weather has a tough time figuring out what its going to do.. its microclimate will pour down rain and show sunshine or fog in the same day. It was a blessing to have rain, which i dont think ive seen since our last trip to Washington. We ate great food while we were there, hosted by some couchsurfers with great travel spirits themselves.
On a day trip, we took it upon ourselves to see a couple of town... first Xico, then Coatepec, both very rich in coffee and lots of jungle-forest. In Xico there are the Cascaras de Texolo (or waterfalls) which are gargantuan!! There was a very high up restaurant which we hiked to, where they had suprisingly low prices. (Maybe you pay with the long hike) They had super great service, always calling me ´´caballero´´ (like a cowboy) and there food was delicious. Sonya´s fried cheese was grilled in a savory leaf that we saw our waiter pick. In Coatemaco we got coffee, which isnt gone yet, surprisingly, and walked around the little plaza and quaint town.
From Xalapa, we traveled to Veracruz, a port city, on the gulf of Mexico. A drastic weather change with warm winds, and humid nights, we are absolutely loving this region. The second we arrived at our couchsurfing hosts house, we went out to her friends birthday party at a karaoke bar. We were pretty exhausted so we didnt enjoy so much, i gave a couple of tries, one with Hotel California, but after all its karaoke, and with most songs in spanish, we were pretty bored.
The next day we toured a little bit of Veracruz, going to the forts they built to protect themselves from attack on pirates a couple centuries ago. We also drank coffee in a 200 year old cafe with overpriced Americanos.
So on monday (yesterday) we took off for Catemaco, where the lake is, and where we are now. It is a very clean lake (unlike Patzcuaro) and a small little town. We are camping behind a restauraunt right now until Friday. Today we went out on a boat tour where we saw a family of monkeys which we got within just a couple of feet from. We saw many islands on the lake and went tothis reserve called Nanciyaga, where theyu have a pretty good business going with Temescals, cabañas, and shamns, where you can tour or stay for a night. Sonya and I got these mineral mud masks, good for the skin... I havent showered in a week so it really cleansed me... and we saw some monkeys out there as well. On Friday we will go to a town for a night that has a bus to Tehuantepec, on the opposite coast. We will cross the country at its skinniest point to go check out the West coast of Oaxaca for a while, and then make our way back through Chiapas to the Yucatan at the Belizian border until we cross into Belize.
On a non travel note, we have been eating delicious Mexican food, from Cheese stuffed empanadas, toTacos in Veracruz, and especially Chilaquiles, whenever we can find them. Chilaquiles are usually best super spicy, and weve found that the cheaper they are, usually the better. In Morelia, there were these 20 peso ones that had chunks of chile and came with rice AND beans, and an egg if you wanted it. The worst have been triple that price, not spicy at all, and no beans or anything.... we had to ask for cheese!!! Generally, though, they come out delicious and they serve them almost everywhere (sometimes at all times of the day). Until we find better Chilaquiles, which Im sure some will compare, Morelia's still hold the title of best Chilaquiles (at that one location). I hope your hungry now.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Dont feel like writing this right now.
So Im not gonna right much, im gonna try and keep it brief... im not in the mood.
In DF since last wednesday. Monstropolis of a city... it takes two hours to get from where we were first staying all the way to the north of the city... and thats no traffic on the subway.
Javier´s house was at the southern most part of the map of DF, putting us a bit far from everything. We didnt go out at night usually for safety but mainly because we had so much going on in the day.
From Frida Kahlos house to Chapultepec park, we exhausted our days. look at sonya´s blog for more detailed information... www.safosonya.blogspot.com she also has some of those fancy digital imaging pictures that are so popular right now.
Javier and his roomates were very nice and accomadating when they were around so on sunday night (when we knew everyone would be around) we cooked them a delicious spaghetti dinner with the sauce made from all fresh MEXICAN ingredients. It was an absolute hit... they couldnt eat enough.
So yesterday we arrived in the condesa neighborhood, to a new couchsurfers house. It is a very art deco, chic, and yuppified place. And in MExico city, it is very unlike morelia or smaller towns where if you get on the bus you say buenos dias, or if you catch eye contact u say que tal or hola. Mexico CITY has that real City feel, where no strangers interact and we feel really disconnected.
However, yesterday in this really gorgeous España Park, we sat next to this older gentleman who just wanted to chat. We must have killed two hours talking about ways to defend yourself with Karate or Tae Kwan Doe, (he was a teacher of these arts) places we should visit, life in general, including RIDING BIKES which I cant wait to get to Chiapas to do.
Our current host sucks, he made us stay out until 10 o clock last night, which wasnt bad, we enjoyed ourselves (in our safe neighborhood) but were dead tired and fell asleep the second that we got home.
thanks
bye
In DF since last wednesday. Monstropolis of a city... it takes two hours to get from where we were first staying all the way to the north of the city... and thats no traffic on the subway.
Javier´s house was at the southern most part of the map of DF, putting us a bit far from everything. We didnt go out at night usually for safety but mainly because we had so much going on in the day.
From Frida Kahlos house to Chapultepec park, we exhausted our days. look at sonya´s blog for more detailed information... www.safosonya.blogspot.com she also has some of those fancy digital imaging pictures that are so popular right now.
Javier and his roomates were very nice and accomadating when they were around so on sunday night (when we knew everyone would be around) we cooked them a delicious spaghetti dinner with the sauce made from all fresh MEXICAN ingredients. It was an absolute hit... they couldnt eat enough.
So yesterday we arrived in the condesa neighborhood, to a new couchsurfers house. It is a very art deco, chic, and yuppified place. And in MExico city, it is very unlike morelia or smaller towns where if you get on the bus you say buenos dias, or if you catch eye contact u say que tal or hola. Mexico CITY has that real City feel, where no strangers interact and we feel really disconnected.
However, yesterday in this really gorgeous España Park, we sat next to this older gentleman who just wanted to chat. We must have killed two hours talking about ways to defend yourself with Karate or Tae Kwan Doe, (he was a teacher of these arts) places we should visit, life in general, including RIDING BIKES which I cant wait to get to Chiapas to do.
Our current host sucks, he made us stay out until 10 o clock last night, which wasnt bad, we enjoyed ourselves (in our safe neighborhood) but were dead tired and fell asleep the second that we got home.
thanks
bye
Saturday, November 1, 2008
squatting in patzcuaro
so thankfully we are still in Patzcuaro and its day of the dead!!!! everything is going nuts here and the streets are packed!!! We were at our couchsurfing friends house for five days, and he is actually a really cool guy from Kansas, and where he lives on the hill, they have a great little community of neighbors. His girlfriend is an archeologist, same as their other friend and neighbor. David, the other archeo. moved to Paris, so we have been squatting his house until last night >(the end of the month) we were gonna stay longer but the pinche puta landlady came by and was asking us for money, saying that David didnt pay (but he did... landlady is just a crazy drunk diva). So now we are in jeremys girlfriends house for the rest of the weekend. .
We were gonna camp but the campsite is run by this mean lady who claims to have a kitchen to cook in but there is no gas. and it is a rip off (14$ for one night... thats more expensive than angel island!!!!) and a free place to stay is sweet!!! En mexico, when they say mi casa es su casa, it is NO JOKE!!!! they want to cook for you, do your laundry, anything!!!! >I think Americans really have alot to learn from mexican culture.
A couple of days ago we went to the archeological site in tzintzuntzan where Gama (jeremys g.f.) is working on a site.. she got us in for free, earlier than anybody else, and she gave us a VIP tour, showing us what they were uncovering at the moment, and what they had recently excavated. She is an absolute workaholic who loves her job and she is the jefe of her entire site, so she is always calling the shots. Muy chido!
A few days before this we visited this town where they make copper called Santa Clara del Cobre... its thought that the P'urhépecha people (who are the only indegenous meso americans to have metal work) encountered groupas from peru or posibly china that tought them this trade. We got to see a copper factory where they were pounding copper and we even got to take a whack at it (literally).
All the indegenous P'urhépecha people are so beautiful and many of them speak spanish as their second language.... that being said their language has no ties to any other meso american languages like mayan.. it is unique and they were also the only group to be able to fend off the savage Aztecs.
Tonight we are going to Janitzio, an island in the lake, as well as the other islands for the celebration. All the islands on the lake areP'urhépecha villages with authentic traditions.
They also play this sport which is ancient and played on special occasions still. It is kind of like street hockey with a twist... they set the ball ON FIRE!!!!!! check it out its called pelota P'urhépecha. Super freakin sweet!!!!
ithink thats all i got to say this time... we will be in DF on wednesday hopefully!!
i want more comments!!!
We were gonna camp but the campsite is run by this mean lady who claims to have a kitchen to cook in but there is no gas. and it is a rip off (14$ for one night... thats more expensive than angel island!!!!) and a free place to stay is sweet!!! En mexico, when they say mi casa es su casa, it is NO JOKE!!!! they want to cook for you, do your laundry, anything!!!! >I think Americans really have alot to learn from mexican culture.
A couple of days ago we went to the archeological site in tzintzuntzan where Gama (jeremys g.f.) is working on a site.. she got us in for free, earlier than anybody else, and she gave us a VIP tour, showing us what they were uncovering at the moment, and what they had recently excavated. She is an absolute workaholic who loves her job and she is the jefe of her entire site, so she is always calling the shots. Muy chido!
A few days before this we visited this town where they make copper called Santa Clara del Cobre... its thought that the P'urhépecha people (who are the only indegenous meso americans to have metal work) encountered groupas from peru or posibly china that tought them this trade. We got to see a copper factory where they were pounding copper and we even got to take a whack at it (literally).
All the indegenous P'urhépecha people are so beautiful and many of them speak spanish as their second language.... that being said their language has no ties to any other meso american languages like mayan.. it is unique and they were also the only group to be able to fend off the savage Aztecs.
Tonight we are going to Janitzio, an island in the lake, as well as the other islands for the celebration. All the islands on the lake areP'urhépecha villages with authentic traditions.
They also play this sport which is ancient and played on special occasions still. It is kind of like street hockey with a twist... they set the ball ON FIRE!!!!!! check it out its called pelota P'urhépecha. Super freakin sweet!!!!
ithink thats all i got to say this time... we will be in DF on wednesday hopefully!!
i want more comments!!!
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