Oh! The Places You'll Go...

"And then things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't.
Because, sometimes, you won't."

~Dr. Seuss, Oh! The Places You'll Go!



So the last two weekends have been spent in faraway lands filled with new and exciting things. Allow me to summarize.

Oaxaca: A group-sponsored excursion to the city of Oaxaca, smaller and more charming than Puebla, and FILLED with tourists. The highlights here are mole, prehispanic ruins, chocolate, markets, chapulines, artesanias, embroidered dresses, green-stone buildings, unsafe/kick-ass modes of transportation, petrified waterfalls, and the celebration of the Day of the Dead. I loved it and would love to go back without the group-o-gringos.


Our moto-taxi to the celebration of the Day of the Dead. It seemed only fitting that it would take us to the cemetery.



The ruins at Monte Alban. Some view, no?


A helpless chapulin about to lose its life. Chapulines are a Oaxacan delicacy which basically involves crickets toasted with lime and salt (and sometimes chile). They are delicious, but even I get a little weirded out by them because their appearance doesn't change much between hopping around joyously and being eaten.



A typical Day of the Dead ofrenda, which involves flowers, candles, decorations, religious icons, and all the favorite food/drink/items of the deceased. The idea is that the dead person will come back, drawn by the offering and whatever special quality this day has that makes it easier to visit their loved ones. Tombstones are also decorated and a vigil/party is kept over them the whole night by the family.



The petrified waterfalls at Hierve el Agua, near Oaxaca. The water at the top of the mountain is so rich in minerals that these stone waterfalls result. Breathtaking. Simply breathtaking.




Acapulco: A spontaneous weekend trip with two other chicas from the program to visit our friend Hugo's home. We hopped on a bus, went to Hugo's grandma's house (on Calle 13!!) in a VW bug taxi, went for a spin around the city, then fell dead asleep at 4 AM. Awoke at 7 to the sun and the sounds of what turns out to be a ridiculously noisy section of town. The next two days were spent almost exclusively at the beach soaking up the sun, the surf, and the 85 degree weather. We then capped off our trip with a red-eye bus ride back to the incredibly cold Puebla-at-six-in-the-morning. One hour of sleep and off to class Monday morning!



The view from the roof of Hugo's house. Every time I look at this I can't believe I was actually there; it seems like a dream!



I'm gonna soak up the sun, I'm gonna tell everyone to lighten up!



Us on the bus from the bus station back to our houses at 6 am. This was not staged, we were actually that tired and cold. :-( But I guess as hard as we had fun, the exhaustion was inevitable...