Hola:)

This last weekend I headed up to Mexico city and ended up at a Lucha Libre match... very interesting... a little bizarre... lots of people screaming... Louis, Anna, Paul and I sat slightly dumbfounded. The woman in this picture sat/stood in front of us screaming at the luchadores and making out with her boyfriend for the entire evening... ahhh wrestling in Mexico.

Monday was a big event as it was the day that commemorates the Mexican Revolution. I went into town with my family and watched the parade... and we headed around town and watched the other things happening for the holiday.

Some people asked about the Nagasaki paintings in the church in Cuernavaca... so here's part of it. I believe they were done in the 1500s.

The same day I wandered into a dance shop, bought some castanets and found about all the flamenco freaks in town... there are tonnes!!! The next day wasn't a holiday but all of the kids in town (literally thousands) from every school marched down my street (including the two kids from my house). Every class had a different theme, some danced, some marched, some sang.... it was quite the event... I couldn't see all of it though as I had to run to school.

Last night I headed into town with Claudia from school and we wandered around town, watched a funky native dance with lots of incense, and then some local artists from around down got up and started singing "traditional Mexican music".

We ended up watching this very interesting lady dance... I'm too lazy to work with Vlog but it's on youtube.com. Just click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CUN1i_B9YU and it should pop up.. the video is sideways... I promise to put the next video up properly. Claudia and I were discussing how this woman couldn't possible exist anywhere in Canada or Germany.

Ok... where to begin...? This was my week of birthdays and long trips to beautiful places...

The girl in my family turned 11 on wednesday... so we had a BIG little girl party with panata... note the boy in my family beating the snot out of the pinata after all the girls have all the candy and have run away. Fun times...

The next couple of nights I was out with friends... I'm still amazed by the amount of people who will talk to me in my broken Spanish... lot's of fun... beautiful vistas and amazing food. Oh... and dogs on the roofs.

This weekend I headed to the town of Puebla and Cholula with Paul and Luis, famous for the world largest pyramid (in base and width... not height)... in actuality there are three pyramids that are build on top of each other and then grown over with grass half destroyed and topped by a church when the conquistadors came through. From the outside it looks like a hill... on the inside it's wild... legend has it that when you go to the very centre of the pyramid and clap your hands, you can see flashes of light... trippy.

I learned that grasshoppers are synonymous with the god of death... the word for grasshopper is chapuline... and hence the name of many cities... chapultapec... am trying to get my mouth around all the indigenous names... so we saw lots of grasshopper paintings... and lots of grasshoppers.... to eat.

Note the bag in Paul's hand.. Yummy with salsa and lime...

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... I managed to get down a few including this one:

This was followed by a fun evening in Mexico City... in a pub and former convent... with another lesson in Tequila (shame on you Choji, Marie and Joel for working!) The next day Paul, Luis, Oscar, Anna and I headed to Queretaro... funky colonial city with lots of monuments.

Today is my Mama's birthday... so Im off to buy flowers...

This weekend was my weekend of amazing dinners and fiestas. I went out on friday night with the people who own the school I am going to... the two Canadian ladies I was with and I allowed the man of the house to order for us.... we didn´t venture to ask what we were eating until after we were done.... as it turned out the meal consisted of...

... a rare mushroom in a pastry shell

... different types of salsa

And, get ready for this....

... tacos with testicles in guacamole (tasted like chicken)

I went to a birthday party on saturday and met some cool people and am doing fun stuff in the evenings. Yesterday, the Japanese guy that lives in my homestay and I went to the cathedral in town. It´s really interesting because a Mexican painted the Nagasaki crucifiction (in Japan) on the walls of the cathedral in the 1500´s.

Oh yeah, and I met up on Sunday with Paul from the summer in Vancouver and had an AMAZING DINNER. This is Paul saying hi to everyone in Vancouver...

We also got a tour last week of a very funky looking church... very ¨Gaudiesque¨. For those who know me well... know that I love Gaudi architecture...

ok... that´s it... ciao for now

Happy Halloween:)

The end of my week at school has just ended. I'm having a great time!!! Dia de los muertes was fascinating both at home and and school. At school we went to the homes of some local indigenous families who had family members who had died in the last year. We brought candles, waited in line with thousands of other Mexicans to come into the home, give away the candle, view the "ofrenda" (see above) and recieve bread, tamales, and hot tea with tequila. It was an amazing experience. We started at 8pm and ended at 12am.

Here the mariachis are playing in front of one of the houses of the dead:

The next day we ended up at the graveyard... another big, bright colourful celebration:

My cold is getting better... and life with my family is great. I went out for coffee and dessert with my mama and a girl who lives in the house who's fast becoming a sister last night. It's great!!! I didn't think homestay would be enjoyable!!!

I seem to have forgotten that I have an aptitude for language in the last 4 years. In any case, I'm making lots of mistakes but people understand me and Mexico is friendly enough that they really try to understand what Im saying.

Hast luego!