another week gone by

Another week over and it seems like it flew past. Another week at school with nothing exciting going on, felt like school at home, but in Spanish. I was told that Monday my visa papers would be ready and on Wednesday decided that two days was a good enough grace period. The lawyer said that they had been done since Friday, and I should have gotten an e-mail; then when he went to get my papers realized someone screwed up and they were not done. He freak out and quick did them and said we was going to take it in for me the next day, now it should only be 6 weeks till I get the visa. Also a treat this week was seeing two peacocks walking down the sidewalk next to me.

The weekend brought an amazing adventure; I went to Real de Catorce. Originally my roommate and I thought it sounded cool to go horseback riding in a ghost town, but it turned out to be so much more. First we had to meet at school at 7 AM packed for the two day trip. The bus ride was five hours with a 30 minute stop about halfway. After a 15 mile drive up the mountain on gravel we got to the tunnel, our bus was too big so we waited for 2 trucks to come get us. There were a few little food and drink shop set up and two dogs running around, one in a shirt and the other in a shirt and pants. 45 students and 5 guides fit in two truck beds with all their luggage, somehow I lucked out and got to ride in the stuffy, hot cab. The tunnel was one lane and a little over a mile long; on the other side we were in Real. This town was very small seven blocks by four blocks with a church in the middle, and 9000 up. We got to our hotel which turned out to be big, clean, and great all around. It had 13 rooms and we filled it up. We had an hour lunch break so my roommate and one of our trip roommates went to lunch with four other girls, and found a great restaurant (someone’s kitchen) to eat. It was all handmade including the tortillas, and 5 pesos (45 cents) a taco. We previewed the market and went back to the hotel. We got back and 50 horses were in the street in front of the hotel. We all jumped or we helped on if needed. We rode the horses up another 400 feet to the silver mine ruins. From the ruins you got a great view of the city and valley it was it. There were two mine ruins one much bigger were they lower the men in and washed the silver. Each mine shaft was 600 meters (1970 feet) deep. The horses were… well horses. They all wanted to pass each other and loved to shove you into a tree, rock wall, car, or other horse. You would be riding along three in a row and get to a single file spot which meant knees were in danger. One thing that was very surprising was that even with so many none bit or kicked. Once down it was time to shop, I got a few things including a rosary with St. Francis the towns Patron. After shopping my roommate and I started walking back and heard music, and decided to check it out. It turned out to be a wedding and some drunk guy invited us in, but we thought it would be rude to crash it. Dinner time came and they had a restaurant reserved for us. We had to sit next to new people so I got to know a girl from Singapore. At the end of dinner they said that since most people wanted to dance or drink after dinner there happened to be a wedding and in small town Mexico that means everyone is invited even tourist, I laughed inside. First though they said there was a surprise, we all went to an amphitheater and we were going to watch a fake cock fight that was traditional in to the town 50 years ago. They went around and showed everyone the cut off talons covered with rubber caps. It was an entertaining event. After wards I got a picture with one of the roosters. It was then off to the wedding, where we watched the bride a groom dance and then it was dollar dance time, so I decided to dance with the bride. Unfortunately my roommate didn’t figure out how to use my camera till it was too late. Champaign and other random dances followed along with a tradition of dousing the groom with beer. After leaving the weeding we checked out a cantina, interesting, and ended with a dance party in the hotels inner courtyard. I got woken up very early by the roosters and the morning started with a craft project taught to us by a Huichol Indian. This was making the beaded bowls and plaques. I spent two hours on a plaque and only finished a third of it, very hard work. Then it was lunchtime before we had to load up. Before we left the Huichol shaman blessed us for a safe trip home. This time I was in the truck bed for the tunnel ride, which was a lot more fun, but you had to be careful of the tunnel edges. Another five hours back stopping at the same rest area this time for an hour to have dinner. Once we got back we all agreed that this was such an awesome and enlightening trip. Enjoy the pictures.

This week will probably be another bland week at school, followed by a weekend in Queretaro, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, and Hidalgo. No school the Monday after for Día del Constitución, and then 1st partial exams start.