Coyolillo Carnival Photos

Back of truck.

Parade.

Masks, to dress up as demons.

Band we danced to.

Second family that told us to come in and eat.

Great guy, Edwardo.

First family to tell us to come and eat their food.

La Mejor Dia de mi Vida

Yesterday all of my Mexico dreams came true.

The people here celebrate Carnival, which is like their version of Mardi Gras (minus the beads).  Vera Cruz is the place to be for Carnival, but we decided to pass on that booze fest for a small town celebration (which also happened to be quite the booze fest).

Before I go on, let me say that we have a new roommate from foggy London town named Shelley.  She's great - we can talk about Latin American and United States politics for hours, then turn around and talk about Paris Hilton and American Idol for even longer.  We're going to be great friends.

Con Con, Shelley, our boss's daughter and I left for the tiny little mountain town called Coyolillo on Tuesday afternoon via bus (It took us a while to find the bus - they don't have published bus schedules or destinations, you have to figure out where you need to be and what bus you need to take by asking people on the street.  Oh, Mexico...)  The bus ride was amazing.  It's just how you'd imagine a Mexico bus (minus the chickens, unfortunately) - a rickety old thing packed with cowboys and old women.  The cherry on the top was the awkward adolecent boy who played his guitar and belted out love ballads at the top of his lungs for pesos.  No one seemed to think this was out of the ordinary, but Con and I thought this was pretty much the best bus ride of all time.  And the scenery!  Hello!  Mountains, cactus, the land here is a tough kind of beautiful.

(One side note - this is important, but unrelated.  Apparently Connor bears a striking resemblance to a popular Mexican ballad singer named Emanuel.  A little old lady approached him and asked him to sing.  We told her we're from the U.S., but she didn't believe a word of it and went on to tell us that her daughter has been to all of his concerts and that he's so guapo!  The ladies do love Con here, as we were to find out at Carnival...)

When we got to Coyolillo at around 2:30, things hadn't officially started yet.  We were able to explore the entire town a couple of times in about 2 minutes.  There were no restaurants and no public restrooms, but there was a lively group of young men drinking cervecas at a small convenient store, so that seemed like a good place to start.  Turns out it probably wasn't the best idea.  One came up to us asked us for our beer, and he seemed like the kind of guy you shouldn't say no to!  Another wanted me to chose American Music on the jukebox ("Te gusta Christeena Aguilara?"  Sure, buddy...).  As I was searching for a song, the guys started hooting and yelling things at Connor, and that's when we realized this transaction was more than music related.  Con had to drag me away and we got out of there pretty quickly.

This little incident was followed immediately by the drunkest man I've ever seen standing on two feet with his fly down all the way come up behind Connor and telling him about how Shelley and I have curves that don't stop.  Yikes.

So it was a rocky start, but things turned around fast when we learned first hand about good old Mexican hospitality.  We finally found a restaurant and asked when it opened for lunch.  The woman replied that it wasn't a restaurant but her home, and she invited us in for lunch.  She came out with plate after plate of chiles prepared in different ways, fried pork, home made tortillas, refried beans...it was so nice and so strange!

Then we went to another area where people were gathered, and they offered us a table and a pitcher of some dangerously delicious homemade alcoholic beverage.  We chatted with an old man who played us ballads on his guitar, got his phone number, and met a family from Jalapa who offered us beer and food, and got their phone numbers.  Everyone wanted to make sure we were comfortable and having fun, which we were (especially with all that free flowing beer - we found our Spanish improved as the booze intake increased).  

We went on the watch the crowning of the Rey and Reia of Coyolillo - a VERY big deal.  The first King and Queen of Coyolillo, crowned back in 1976, really were royalty - small town Mexico's answer to Brangalina.  

I haven't even started on the masks.  Apparently they used to believe that demons lived in the streets, so they dress up with homemade decorated capes and beautiful homemade masks of bulls to look like the demons that supposedly haunted the town so long ago.  The kids are also running around with their own masks.

After the ridiculously long ceremony crowning the new King and Queen, we sat down at the side of the road for a breather.  This didn't last long, because the family across the street insisted that we come in and stuff our already over stuffed bellies with more homemade Mexican comida.  Saying no would be a grave insult (and a missed opportunity) so we went in for round two, and it was the same routine.  Plate after plate of stuffed chilles and a strange brown squishy banana for desert.  It was "interesting," and I had to choke down two with a smile to assure the hostess that I liked it.

OK this is way to long to hold anyone's attention, sorry.  I'll wrap it up here.  The end of the day is the grand finale.

We met back up with the friendly Jalapa family, who made sure that our cup runneth over.  The father would be mad if he saw beer that people weren't drinking.  A mariachi band started up, and we danced and drank and laughed for hours.  The ladies loved Connor (but thought he was a horrible dancer!) and they wanted to meet with us again in Jalapa.  When we were all sufficiently drunk, the town parade started (it lasted about five minutes and pretty much everyone in town was in it!).  It ended with all of the men stampeding down the street - some dressed up in masks, some dressed in drag with pregnant bellies and baby dolls (not sure the significance of that one...), everyone screaming and jumping around.

Finally, as the sun was setting, we got invited to hop in the back of our new friends' pickup truck with all the kids and moms for a ride home.  Connor's safety side told him this might be a bad idea, but I told him, wake up boy!  This is the chance of a lifetime!  So home we went, whipping around in the back of an old pickup, singing and drinking brandy with our new amigos.

Of course, they wanted us to join them for a "short while" at their casa, and finding it nearly impossible to refuse, we went in to continue the party and were finally able to make our getaway about an hour later.

Good stuff.  Tomorrow we have a Spelling Bee to judge and apparently it's a big deal.  They want us to dress up, and have invited government officials, and there are microphones and kids with numbers on their shirts, the whole nine yards.  

Photos Today, Words Tomorrow

After teaching our new students

(Parque Los Berros)

After fiesta, getting a cab.

(Tres Perros)

A couple blocks from home

(Xalitic)

Found a new street today

(Rosas Alley)

Quick Update

Sorry guys, this is just gonna be a short one. We are currently sitting in the smoking section of Cybercinas (Con found his favorite cigs: "Deliciados," the kind the real Mexicans smoke).

We will update you with all of our juicy volunteering details on Saturday. By then we will have also attended a fiesta (we{re actually making some amigos here!!) and a Pulqueria, a place where old Mexican men sit around for hours drinking Pulque (google it).

Volunteering is challenging and fun. I just have to give you a few details before I take off: Con and I are teaching kindergarden twice a week and first graders three times a week. The kids always give us big hugs after class! I{m also helping kids with learning disabilities express themselves with art. I love that job, and those kids have about the exact same knowledge of the spanish language as I do, so we{ve had some nice conversations. Con is also teaching a group of teenaged boys. It{s his favorite job yet - the kids love him! He{ll start baking next week, and I{ll start teaching at an orphanage as well.

Oh one more thing. We just came from our new favorite restaurant, a little hole in the wall a few blocks from our apartment that has the most delicious food for muy cheap-o. Good stuff. Miss y{all!

Xalapa

So we've been in Xalapa for cuatro dias now, and we abso-toot-ly love it.  Con is telling me not to say "abso-toot-ly", but I'm the official blog writer, so he can go toot in a boot.

But really, it's been great.  Con and I have a two story apartment to ourselves with an amazing view of a volcano and the surrounding mountains.  Xalapa is on a mountain side, and we are able to see most of the city from our rooftop.

We've already made friends with some of the people involved in Travel to Teach.  Sandra, the assistant to the director, is my age, and she's a gem.  She showed us around town the first night and took us out for martinis at her amigo's apartment, where we also met our Spanish teacher Miguel - he's also our age.  We love that!  

We were also fortunate enough to live with Chuck for a couple of days.  Chuck was another volunteer who left for home yesterday.  He is the definition of Jack of All Trades: a 69 year old Canadian air force vet/boat builder/home builder/road constructor/moter cycle repairman/horse trainer/teacher/vineard owner/hardware store owner/salsa dancer/father of a "strong man" (like the ones you see on ESPN 8).  But the best thing about old Chuck is his acrobatic abilities.  When Connor and I locked ourselves out of our bedroom, Chuck saved the day by crawling up a tower of rickety old furniture into our second story bedroom window.  I've never been so afraid for someone else's life as when I saw Chuck hanging halfway out of our bedroom window.  Thanks for the memories Chuck!

We've already had a Mexican cooking class here in our home, taught by Delia (another fun girl about our age).  We learned to make chicken enchiladas with salsa verde, refried beans, and cantalope water (it's like a fruit smoothie).  A bunch of people came over for dinner, and even though I couldn't follow their Spanish, I could tell it was a success.

One of our favorite parts of the day is when the garbage man comes.  A man walks through town ringing a cowbell at around 6 pm (or seven or eight - timeliness is not a priority here).  That's our cue to bring out the trash bags.  All of the neighbors join us in walking to the corner and piling up our little plastic grocery bags of trash on the street.  There's something about answering to a cowbell that makes me really happy.

Today was supposed to be our first day of volunteering, but there was a bus strike, so everything is put on hold.  To make up for the lack of buses, the police are driving people around in the back of their trucks.  I was scheduled to teach a class of 6 year olds english.  My lack of teaching experience mixed with my lack of Spanish knowledge was making me mighty nervous for class, so it felt like a snow day when I heard there was a bus strike. 

Connor had his first Spanish language class today.  He's learning so fast.  The class was intense: two hours without a break, one on one, and the teacher doesn't speak a word of English to Connor.  I was weary of the method at first, but they were actually able to communicate quite well.  Con and I made a pact with each other that we will only speak in Spanish starting next Monday.  We're really trying to push ourselves with this language thing.

I hope you enjoyed our not-so-brief update.  I'm trying my darndest to be a good blogger, although it ain't really in my nature.

Chapala

Hola Peoples!

It's time for a blog party.  Hold on to your butts.

Con and I have arrived safely in Xalapa/Jalapa, but let us rewind a moment.  We have already spent a wonderful six days with Grandpa and Hester in Chapala.  Chapala is home to the biggest lake in Mexico, and we had a beautiful view of it at Gramp's house out in the country.  Every day we studied Spanish, caught up on our reading, and explored the area.  Connor (who's never been out of the country) fell in love with Mexico on the first day.  How could you not?  Beautiful view, friendly people, perfect weather.  It was fab.  Gramps and Connor got to be bien amigos, also.

Our fav moments in Chapala are as follows

Listening to Grandpa sing ALL THE TIME.  A good half an hour in the morning and a half an hour before bed, plus every time we're in the car or strolling down the street.  We already miss that old crooner.

The day trip to Tapalpa.  We all drove about two hours outside of Chapala to an enchanting mountain town called Tapalpa, where I accidently ordered a scary lunch of squishy green pig's skin.  It wasn't very long ago that the only way you could reach Tapalpa was via horse or burro.  Con and I also managed to trespass onto private property to climb on huge boulders.  Grandpa kept us on our toes by keeping watch for us on a nearby rock, yelling that the bulls were charging for us (there were bulls on the farmland we snuck into!)  We also saw other mountain villages where we were the only gringos.  One town had a beautiful church that was built in the 1500's.  Woah doggies.  It really was impressive.

Watching the history channel and the Antique Roadshow before bed every night.  I know this isn't especially Mexican, but man did we see an amazing documentary about Abe Lincoln.

Con wants me to post this and do a different section on our Xalapa adventures.  SO...to be continued, amigos.

Just around the river bend

Abby and I will leave for Mexico on Friday.Feb.06.2009 in the early morning.  We will set out to volunteer and learn and travel.  The volunteering group that is making this possible is called Travel to Teach.  While there in Xalapa, Mexico I will be teaching kids and women how to cook and bake.  Abby will be teaching them english and possibly working with animals.  

Not sure who will be reading this but you can also look forward to me no longer writing and instead taking photos and Abby taking over the writing.

Cheers