Puebla : Part 1

This past weekend I was invited to travel to a nearby city called Puebla, which is just about 2 hours out of Tehuacan and is the fourth largest city in Mexico! I was pretty excited to get out of Tehuacan and see some more of Mexico. I was briefly in Puebla on my first day in Mexico, but it was night time and I pretty much only saw the bus station. 

The other teachers and I met at the bus station at 7 in the morning, which is super early when you live 30 minutes away from the main part of the city. Needless to say I was super exhausted that morning, but still really pumped for the day ahead. I learned my first lesson of the day in the bus station - always go to the bathroom at your home! I had to use the restroom when we were waiting in line to I figured I would just go really quick and then it would be time to go. Well when I got to the bathroom I found out that I had to pay $4 pesos to even get it. Once I paid I found out the toilet paper wasn't even provided. Luckily another teacher had her own toilet paper and she lent me some. 

We set off on our two hour bus ride. The bus was way nice and they even played the movie The Proposal for us, which was great because it was in Spanish and it's one of my favorites!

We finally arrived to Puebla and we were all really excited to explore the city. There were 7 of us teachers total  and we met up with a guy who is from Mexico, but works at the same school as us.

Ashley and her very large crape! 

There was even a man on the bus who decided to play  us a song on his harmonica 

After we got off of our bus we went to the center of the city where tons of vendors were setting up their stands. They had lots of candy, jewelry, and other knick knacks for sale, most of which cannot be found anywhere else except the one and only Puebla, Mexico! We also did a little exploring of the downtown area and got to see some cool architecture.

After browsing through some vendor booths we then took a tour of one of the largest (possibly THE largest) Catholic cathedral in Latin America. The cathedral was huge and I was really excited to see inside it. I might have gotten us into a little bit of trouble because I kept touching things, like the confession booth, which apparently is considered disrespectful. I was a little upset that people thought we were being disrespectful, because that wasn’t our intention at all. We were all so excited about the culture that it came across as being impolite. Either way - the cathedral was gorgeous and we all really admired all the beautiful artwork and architecture.

After taking some time to look at the cathedral, we decided it would be worth it to pay for a guided tour of the city. We found a tour bus that would take us around the whole city for only about $7 pesos. The tour took about 90 minutes total. The tour was narrated, but we were sitting all the way in the back and most of the teachers didn't speak Spanish.

Along the way we crossed paths with some clowns, who were very excited to see young white girls. They pulled us out into their show and had some fun with us. One took my camera and decided to take a picture of his face. 

the group picture the clowns took of us.
 Note the large crowd watching from  the side.

After some sight-seeing we grabbed lunch at a small place on the street. I got something called a "gordita" which translates to "little fatty", so of course you know it was really healthy.

Bonnie is so funny!

My gordita with quesillo

To Be Continued...

Weekend Fun

 This weekend was full of some good adventures I wanted to share. Saturday morning I woke up and was just sitting in my bed just kind of keeping to myself. Gaby, my host sister and roommate, and already left to go work in the store. As I was lying there I suddenly heard Gaby, my host mom, call my name. I  jumped out of bed to go see what she wanted. She looked at me and just said "vamos" [which means "let's go"]. I looked at her strangely and she just told me to put on shoes and come. So, in my pajamas, undone hair, and non-made up face i put on some flip-flops and got into the car with Gaby & Martin. They finally told me that we were going to a little town outside of Tehuacán to buy some food. It was about a twenty minute drive out of the city to a tiny unknown town. We got there and I got out of the car and was able to watch some ladies hand making tortillas. Martin was there apparently to buy a dish called "mole de panza". I had heard of mole before, but this was different. It was basically like a soup. We got the mole and then started the journey back to Tehuacán. Once we got home I was finally able to put on real clothes and do my make-up. Then it was time for lunch. We ended up eating the mole de panza for lunch along with a really spicy taco and some cantaloupe. I tried to eat the mole de panza to be polite, but it tasted pretty awful to my gringo taste buds. Shortly after lunch, I was going to sit in the store with Gaby, but I started feeling very nauseated. I took some pepto bismol to try to settle my stomach and it did eventually help. I later told Gaby, the mom, that I thought the mole de panza upset my stomach, and that's when she decided to tell me that mole de panza is made from GOAT STOMACH. I was very surprised to learn that, but it finally made sense why my own stomach was so upset. Apparently my stomach and goat stomach don't get along very well.

this isn't my actual mole de panza, but this is what it looks like.

Sunday I was planning on waking up early to attend my 8 AM church, but unfortunately my alarm decided to not go off, so by the time I woke up I was already too late to go. I decided then that I would go to church with my host family. My family is Catholic and I have never been to a Catholic church before so I thought that it would be a good thing to experience. We got ready and headed to the 10 AM mass. The cathedral was beautiful and it was very large. I was really confused for most of the mass because I'm so unfamiliar with the way that it works, not to mention it was held in an entirely different language. After mass we went to brunch at a little restaurant across the street with the Grandma of the family. I don't remember the name of what I ordered, but it was basically eggs wrapped in tortillas with black beans on top. Very delicious. 

After brunch we did a little bit of touring around the centro in the city. The family is always really excited to show me things, especially if they are specific to Tehuacán. We got to see the City Hall of Tehuacán which is painted with lots of beautiful murals and we visited the outside of the Cathedral once again. 

The Cathedral that I attended mass in. Huge! Beautiful! 

me in front of the city hall's many murals

the door to city hall


After some sightseeing, my family took me to the local market to pick up some food. There was tons of fruit, fish, meat, and pretty much anything you could imagine at a market like this. It was crowded and very busy. On our way out the family jokingly asked me if I would like to try chapulines, which at the time I didn't know what it meant, but they showed me them and they were basically little brownish-red bugs. I said no at first, but then the grandmother bought some and asked me again if I would try them. I was reluctant at first, but then I decided to just go for it. I was really scared especially since I didn't even know what chapulines are. I later found out that they were grasshoppers. They weren't awful. They were salty and crunchy. Gaby & Daniel said that they hadn't even ever tried them before. I was pretty proud of myself for being open to something like that. I am trying to try as many new things as possible rand to have an open mind about all the things I'm doing here. I ended up eating a second grasshopper because I took one out of the bag to take a picture and then the Grandmother shut the bag and I didn't know what else to do with the one I had taken out...so I just ate it.

there were some men in the market playing the xylophone! 

moments before my first grasshopper.

hmmmmm.

After the market we actually visited the local mall. The outside didn't really look like a typical mall to me, but it had all of the same types of stores as an American mall. Most of the stores I hadn't heard of, but there were a few familiar places. There was even a McDonald's inside the mall! I loved that the chicken sandwich there is called a "McPollo".

All in all, I had a great weekend of trying and doing new things. I can't wait for all the adventures that are in store for the new couple of months here in Mexico! 

Niños!

I survived my first week with the kindergarten children at the other school. The kids are all very loving and they warmed up to the other teacher, Jerica and me pretty quickly. The first day we met the kids they all immediately came over to me and latched on. It was pretty really flattering & it pretty much made my heart melt.

They only speak Spanish, but they are almost always able to understand us when we speak to them in English. They speak a lot of Spanish to me, but I've made a point to only answer them back in English. It's counterproductive speak Spanish back and forth with them. Jerica actually doesn't even speak Spanish, which is better because the kids are learning that they have to use English when they're talking to her. The kids are crazy, but it's hard to get mad at them and discipline them because they are so adorable! Hopefully the next few weeks everything will smooth over.

Here are some photos from one of our activities this week. We practiced the body parts vocabulary by making faces on crackers out of nuts, cheerios, and raisins. Then we finished the day off by drawing self-portraits. 

Leo actually asked me to take a picture of just us together!

Mi Casa es Su Casa

I have a great host family here in Tehuacan, Puebla. I mentioned a little about them in a previous blog post, but I'd like to go into more detail about what great people they are. 

the family, minus Martin

First there is Gaby, the mom. She doesn't speak any English, but she's patient with me and is always looking out for my best interest. She cooks me breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday - and of course it's always delicious. 

Then there is Martin, the father. He's a great man and talks about the United States with me quite often. He is willing to share his opinions about things with me, which I respect. 

Then there is Daniel, the son. He is a hyperactive 12 year old, just like any other in the world. He's been great to hang out with though and we're very good at speaking Spanglish with one another. He is ALWAYS trying to feed me something, even if I tell him I'm not hungry. If I come back from Mexico 50 lbs heavier - blame him. 

And finally Gaby, the daughter. She's been so helpful this first week. She speaks pretty good English so she helps me if there is a language barrier with her family. She also has been riding the bus with me this week and trying to show me the ropes of getting on and off. I'm sure there are better things a 16 year old could be doing with her time, but she's gracious to help me when I need it. 

typical breakfast for me - eggs on a tortilla & a chile

memelas

goat meat!!

We live in a fairly nice house on the other side of the city. As I mentioned before, it's about a 20 minute bus ride to the school from here, but I'm looking at it as a good learning experience for me. I share a bedroom with Gaby, which she gave up half of for me - yet another reason why she's so great! 

The front of my house! 

neighbors

down the street

where I walk every morning to take the cambi to the school

behind the gate - the actual front of the home.

mine and Gaby's room

my bed :)

closet

both sets of stairs to the first floor and the third floor

the shower

Something a little crazy happened the other night. I was about to hop in the shower when we got home from a taquito run. I get in the shower with the water on and everything and then all the lights go out. I was really surprised, but I just turned the water off and went out to the hallway to see what was going on. All the lights in the house were out. Gaby & Martin were getting candles for us while they were fixing whatever was wrong. I decided I would just wait till the morning to shower since it would be pretty difficult in the dark. So, took a candle and changed into my PJ's for the night. Daniel also took a candle into his room with him. I finished getting ready for bed and then I was out likea light bulb. The electricity did come back on before I went to sleep, but I was in the room with the lights off so it didn't really matter. So I wake up in morning earlier than usual so I can take my shower. I head to the bathroom, not really noticing anything. Turn the shower on. I hop in, but the water was either wayyyy too hot or wayyy too cold so i tried for a few minutes to adjust it, but then the water basically stopped all together. So once again I got out of the shower and went downstairs to tell the family that something was wrong. I noticed, however, there were ashes everywhere. Then I peeked into Daniel's bedroom - his whole mattress was gone and his headboard was burned pretty badly. I asked Gaby about it and apparently her brother took the candles into his room and sometime during the night they must have knocked over and his bed caught on fire!! I saw the mattress and it's totally burnt to shreds. It's just springs now. I was realllllly surprised because I didn't hear any of this last night. Gaby said that her mom even came in the room during the night and said something, but I literally didn't hear anything. That makes me a little worried for what would happen in an emergency that I needed to get out of the house for. Anywho, apparently Daniel is fine. I am just so surprised about the whole thing. 

Daniel's headboard from his bed

Cutting the rosca with the whole family! 

the wall in the garage where the fire was extinguished 

Tonight my family celebrated a Mexican tradition “Rosca de Reyes”, which my family tried to explain to me and I still don’t fully understand what it was. They had a giant circle of bread with toppings, or rosca, and each person at the table has to cut a slice of it. When you cut your slice you are supposed to check if there is a muñeca, or a little doll, inside which is supposed to represent baby Jesus. I was the second one to cut into the rosca and what do you know. I found a muñeca!! It is basically supposed to represent good luck and something about tamales, but I didn’t quite understand that aspect of the tradition. There were lots of family members here that I got to meet and talk to. It was really nice. They talked to me about the United States and asked me questions about my life. Everyone has been so nice to me here and has really made me feel welcome. Afterwards, I played some games with the little kids, like monkey-in-the-middle or “salero”, and twister.  

my piece of rosca with hot chocolate & my muñeca !!

playing twister with Daniel