colonial mexico

What a weekend. It started Thursday night when I left for the weekend trip to Queretaro, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, and Dolores Hidalgo. My roommate and I got there at 9:25 PM and when the buses got there 10 minutes later we loaded our bags underneath and got in. The trip started with a long overnight bus ride and a few stops. We got into town for breakfast around 9 in the morning. Friday continued with a trip to see the towns Aqueduct and get a view of the city. Then it was time to see a Chapel in honor of Revolution Heroes and it was then off the Santa Cruz Monastery. There we got to see the Legendary Thorn tree. It is said to be the only one in the world, it has no fruit, flowers, or seeds just thorns in the shape of a cross. Legend says when a monk came and left his walking cane in the ground it grew in to the tree. After that we saw the place where Emperor Maximilian was imprisoned and killed. Just above that is a large Benito Juarez Statue. Then lunch time, it was a good 4 course meal for 45 pesos, and afterwards we walked around the city center. The day ended with getting on the bus and heading to Guanajuato.

We got to Guanajuato and checked into the hotel. It was then time for a street bard performance while walking the city. We even got to see the Callejon del Beso, Kiss Alley. That night we also went to a club in town. The next day was a day to remember mainly due to how off schedule we got. It all started with a trip to a knick-knack shop for an hour, after leaving an hour late. We then went to a Cathedral and it was pleasant, after that we headed to the original mine entrance replica, where more time was wasted sitting around. The last thing before lunch was a visit to the Mummy Museum. This museum was where they decided to put all the bodies taken from their tombs from when their families didn’t pay. Due to the soil the bodies never decomposed. They had all kinds of bodies: elderly bodies, babies, murdered bodies, executed bodies, and a fetus. Now it was time for the downfall of the day. It being 3 we wanted to eat, and even though we were still supposed to do one thing before lunch we postponed it. The tour guide had all 70 of us go to the same restaurant with one cook and two waitresses. At around 5:30 we were done eating and ready to leave, with the day shot we could either get on a bus and explore the center or return to the hotel. I went downtown and after some walking decided to take the Funicular to the view point of the city, which was the postponed event now canceled. It was very cool and we got to see the city from just after sunset on. After that we weren’t yet hungry but didn’t want to return home so she and I walked in circles around the center for 2 hours. Eventually we found a restaurant and it ended up being super cheap. We both got a large lemonade, margarita, and hamburger. When the waiter brought out the burgers we both were shocked how big they were. Mine was a double the size of my face and she just got a single, the waiter just laughed and said, "You did order a double." Then when we got the bill were shock it all only cost $20 for us both. It was back to the hotel where I sat on the pool deck with my two roommates from last weekend’s trip. The next morning again started late, but due to much complaining we got to go back to the View point and see the city along with Pipila’s Statue again. Now I got to see the whole city with good lighting. It was then off the San Miguel de Allende.

San Miguel started with us getting dropped off at the town square. In the town square there was a game going on where the children were cracking egg shells filled with glitter, flour, or confetti on each other’s heads. I bought 10 for 5 pesos and used some on friends. We saw the main church and I went in. The interior had mainly oculus with light radiating in. It was time to find lunch and explore. After getting something to eat, it was time to use the rest of my eggs. In doing this I started a war between some of our tour group and some kids. We were vastly outnumbered, but had much more change to reload, and were taller. After using around 50 eggs and getting near 80 cracked on me it was time to leave. At that point I had very silvery hair and confetti everywhere. We then drove an hour to Dolores Hidalgo. On the drive most people were complaining about the lack of time, hour and a half, spent in San Miguel, so we organized a protest at the changed schedule. The original plan was to leave Dolores at 6 and get in at 3:30 AM, it was changed to get us home at 1 AM, but we said getting home at 7 AM was better since today we had no school. At Dolores an argument ensued some wanted to return to San Miguel others wanted to go back to the original plan and others wanted to leave now. The end consensus was that San Miguel was fun, but it was too late to return and we didn’t want to just spend 10 minutes in Dolores. Dolores Hidalgo was the city where the War of Mexican Independence started, with Padre Hidalgo’s speech that is the origin of the Viva Mexico cry. I walked around with a girl I met on the trip from Paris, we saw two more churches in this small town. Lastly it was time to come home, after another long bus ride with a stop at the same rest area from last weekend, we got home at 3:30. After a shower to clean up I went to bed.

Today was a relaxing day off. I watched LOST, read for my first partial on Thursday, and loaded pictures. I also just realized I have now been here 4 full weeks! That means I am a quarter through. Now I am ready for the first round of partials.