Acapulco, la fiesta que nunca acaba

(Acapulco, the party that never stops)

Well this post is way too long, and has taken too long to post so here goes nothing. After 2 months of just sitting in my draft box here it is.

I just want to apologize for this post taking so long to get up here but it's been pretty busy over here with classes, new people, new activities, and another big excursion (Mexico City, warning that post may take a while too). But hey, better late than never right?

So it's a 4 hour bus ride from Cuernavaca to Acapulco so we all met up at the bus at 7am. We after a lively bus ride (thank goodness for Nicci, Carla, Olivia, and Lexie getting that iPod player from the Mercado) we arrived in sunny, humid Acapulco at 11am. We stayed at Hotel Romano, which is right across the street from the beach and perhaps more important to some, across the street from the bars and clubs. Sandra had heard that the elevators were terrible there so nosotros rezamos (prayed) for a low floor. Our prayers were answered as we got rooms on the 3rd and 4th floor. It was a nice setup with the pool on the 3rd floor, a balcony for each room, and two queen sized beds, etc. It was sweet.

Acapulco is really only a one street town. The main drag runs up and down the coast with a bunch of hotels, bars, clubs, taquerias, boutiques, and seafood restaurants. Yet, if you go one block inland, you feel like you're walking into another world. There are some run-down properties and residential areas that are far from the luxury and excess of the beach front strip. I suppose that's the nature of a tourist port like Acapulco.

Anyways, we went to the beach right away after dropping our stuff off in our rooms. The water was warm, the sand felt great between my toes and it was just a pleasure to soak up the sun. We got a shaded table and some chairs out on the beach in exchange for ordering drinks from one of the many beachfront restaurants/bars (that's how it works, you pay to play basically) and proceeded to just hang out for several hours.

Many street (well beach I guess) vendors came by selling arts, crafts, temporary hand-drawn tattoo services, massages, jewelry, sunglasses, food, pretty much any simple good or service you could think of. Occasionally somebody would get something. I fortuitously bought some sunglasses (aviator style). I say fortuitously because at the end of that weekend I somehow cracked the lenses of my original pair of sunglasses so I was lucky to have a backup pair at the ready.

Concerning the beach and street vendors in all of Mexico, not just Acapulco, several people are quite sick of them. I joke that perhaps we should just "hacer letreros que dicen 'No, gracias' para vestir siempre"(make signs that say "No thank you" to constantly wear). On a deeper level though, as annoying as these vendors can be (ranging in age from little children to the elderly), I can't really blame them for trying to make a living however they can. Especially in these tough global economic times, with unemployment and underemployment rampant, every little bit counts. Having studied the demons of the free market and having seen the terrible poverty and underemployment of Nicaragua last year during JanTerm I feel I have a modicum of understanding of the fact that if anyone is to blame, it is all of us who buy into the free market, ultra-capitalist system we live in today, myself included. As one of my Nicaragua professors Michael Barram would say, this system emphasizes what goods or services a person can render for another, not the inherent value of all human beings. This troubling concept that is perpetuated daily in this world is what truly leaves so many little choice but to be what many tourists consider pushy vendors.

On a less serious note, following our time at the beach, a couple of friends decided they wanted to do the bungie jump from the Coca Cola Tower, which happened to be 170 feet tall and stretching over a pool. It was definitely a sight to see. Later a bunch of us jumped from a platform 30 feet or so above that same pool (see below). It was a blast. One of the guys, Rob even did a couple crazy backflips.

Of course neither bungie jumping nor 30 foot drops into a pool can compare with the insanity of the crazy cliff divers of Acapulco. These guys diver over 100 feet into crashing surf with rocks and all on a nightly basis. Perhaps just as impressive is that they don't use any ladders or stairs to get to their diving points. They just climb up and down the rock face of the cliffs where a shrine to the Virgen de Guadalupe sits. Each of them kneels before the shrine before preparing for his dive. It's insane. I was able to catch one of the divers on video pretty well. Check it out below.

To round out the night we went to the world-famous night club Palladium. It was a somewhat expensive cover fee of 430 pesos for guys and 330 for ladies but we all got a 100 peso discount for going with Uninter. I was not crazy about going because I had been told that it was all techno music and that one of the main draws was the open bar, which if you know me, is no draw at all. Nevertheless, I went because almost everyone else was going and I really did feel like going out somewhere. Anyways, I am glad I did go because I had a blast.

So being on the coast had me craving seafood. The first night I'd gone to Pipo's with some people and gotten the almond sauce fish which was pretty solid. One thing about Pipo's is that some of the other people in our group got a little more adventurous than shrimp and fish and it didn't work out for them. So if you're ever in Acapulco and go to that place my advice is to be rather conservative in your choices. Perhaps a better option for seafood is Fisher's which is right on the edge of one of the main galerias (malls/shopping centers) in Acapulco. Some of the items there are probably pricier than you can find elsewhere in Acapulco but the quality and selection is great. The menu is very extensive ranging from things as simple as fish tacos, to seafood pasta, fresh fish, and stuffed shrimp. Honestly I had to pull out a pen and paper to help me organize my options. I ended up having camarones (shrimp) il formaggio con prosciutto a decidedly more italian style shrimp dish but who cares? it was delicious. Suffice to say everyone was satisfied that night (except perhaps Adrian, who only ordered a fish quesadilla which was rather small, but he was there more for the good company and conversation anyways). If you're in Acapulco I definitely recommend this place. One thing I did wish they had was a set of combination plates, because everything looked so good!



The Crazy Cliff Divers of Acapulco



One of the fire dancers at Palladium




Jumping into a pool 30 or so feet below. Threw a toe-touch in for kicks. A few friends bungie jumped over the pool from the 170 foot tower across from the platform I was on. Crazy.

¡Adios Mis Amigos! Hasta nos vemos otra vez...

(Good bye my friends! Until we meet again...)

The month of January has come to an end and with it comes the end many a friend's stay in Cuernavaca. Both the JanTerm class and the CSU Stanislaus girls departed early this morning. In fact Melissa, Dionne, Davine, and Suzanne just left about a half hour ago to meet their bus at school. (If you're reading this ladies, I just want to say, you're already missed). I've met several of the CSU girls including my bowling buddies, and a certain little Mien hustla. Likewise I've gotten to get to know some of my fellow St. Mary's students better on this trip, which makes me very excited about my return in May. I just got back from hanging out with all the guys (and a couple of the girls) and I only wish I'd had a chance to do some official goodbyes to everyone.

(Above - Pic with some of the CSU Stanislaus girls at Juarez: Me, Michelle, Rachel, Melissa, Lia Lai, Suzanne, and Dionne)

Tonight we gave Mamá Salgado a photo of the 6 of us (see above) in a frame so that we could be added to her pantheon of hosted students on the coffee table. It was a very nice happy moment, with plenty of smiles and "Que guapos" (how good looking). It really was the beginning of the end of their time here though, as they departed to watch a movie and Adrian and I went out to spend some time with the JanTerm guys. I wouldn't see the girls again until I helped them load their taxis with their luggage.

(Family Pic Left Column top to bottom: Davine, Melissa, Me
Right Column: Dionne, Suzanne, Adrian)


The JanTerm group was definitely a blast, and I'm going to miss all that energy, laughter and just care-free feeling they brought to each day. Rob, Lexie and Tony that was straight up ballin' that you guys did the bungie jump. To everyone, we'll always have El Bull (Palladium was pretty sweet too, haha). It's nice to know that I have many new friends to see when I get back from here in May.

(Pic: Some of the JanTerm and semester group ladies: Lexie, Nicci, Carla, Selina, Tracey, Judith and Andrea )

So, to all the friends on this trip, both new and old, I hope you had a safe trip home, and a great spring semester!


(¡Davine con su amigo Polo!)

Lo siento!

(Sorry!)

Just wanted to apologize for falling behind on the blog a bit. It's nearly 1am right now (Mom and dad I know I need my sleep, I'm going to bed right after this I swear). It's been a busy week and weekend. Brief rundown with hopefully much more to come when I have some breathing room. Wednesday went to Xochicalco ruins. weekend: Acapulco baby. trust me I have some fun pics and stories from both that I hope to share with all at a later date.

Las Ruinas de Xochicalco - Donde escritura de la epoca precolumbiana nacio

(The ruins of Xochicalco - Where writing of the Pre-Columbian times was born)

Wednesday we visited Xochicalco. Our very genial guide was Armando who only spoke Spanish to us which was great practice for me (though some JanTerm students were at a loss). It's an amazing archaeological site full of stone structures, stone carvings of glyphs and even 3 ball fields made of stone! Ballin' mesoamerican style fa sho!

(The ball field, el juego de pelota)

Here's a brief description of the history I typed up for a photo album I made:

The Xochicalcas dominated the Morelos valley from 700AD-900AD from their military stronghold of Xochicalco where the king, priests and aristocracy lived. By way of oral tradition we believe that they were the first of the Pre-Columbian times to develop a written language though any books they wrote were lost. There are stones in the city with glyphs for numbers, animals and events. The city was so secure that it took a rebellion to destroy the civilization. Of the many historical "camaras oscuras" (a dark light kind of x-ray) in the world this city has the only one that tourists are allowed to visit.

The pic to the left depicts a stone engraved with the Xochicalca



















Here's the full photo album:

Xochicalco

Vida de la Noche Mexicana

(Mexican Nightlife)

So here's a post on my observation of Mexican nightlife (I've decided to stop calling them quick because they never are quick posts). First someone was explaining to me that the big nights to go out are primarily Tuesday, Friday and some Saturday. That means no thirsty Thursdays over here for all you college students, lol. We kind of learned this the hard way as we went to el Zocalo on Thursday night only to find that all the major clubs were closed. We spent a little time at a tiny bar but found it too cramped to really enjoy. Luckily there was a decent bar near Adrian and my place called El Bull so we went there to chill and listen to a live band cover some american rock (I know I know, who goes to Mexico to listen to rock? It's what a lot of people were craving at the time).

I want to give a shoutout to katers for the list of places to go all over Cuernavaca, it's been way helpful, as well as thank all the other Cuernavaca vets that have given me their buenos consejos (good advice).

So Friday night we tried again with some better success. I went out with some of the CSU Stanislaus girls earlier in the evening then we moved to Juarez where I met up with SMC peeps. Lemme just say that Mexican young adults love their techno. It's a lot like hip hop in the U.S. It's really all they play in most of the clubs. It's fun but gets very repetitive after a bit. The night at Juarez kicked off with a fun surprise which I won't spoil for those of you considering going next year (just make sure to get a table before midnight if you go there!)

I don't really go out that much in the States, but it's definitely fun to do so, especially on an experience like this where you're trying to meet new people and have a good time.

In Puebla we went out to a place called La Leyenda that was decent, with a live band 5 Soles (they have a myspace page if anyone's curious), except that the waiter's kept trying to rip us off on the bill by writing down a different price than what is on the menu. Advice: Always pay right away when you receive your drink, preferably with a menu in hand rather than running a tab. Saves so much hassle and likely money as well.

Well it's way late so I'mma head to bed now. G'nite!

primarily Tuesday, Friday and some saturday. thanks kate 4 list, and others for their advice, 5soles and the lady singer, don't go out at home much but it's fun to go dancing with friends despite obsession with techno (like american obsession with hip hop), Juarez boom, la leyenda, El Bull

La Puebla y Cholula Experiencia

(The Puebla and Cholula Experience)

Whew! This week has been busy. Since I'm falling behind I'm going to have to make this a quick entry. Last weekend we went to the state of Puebla. First we went to the town of Cholula where I had mentioned that apparently there were 365 churches. The truth is that there about 60 in reality (that's what Profe said), but that's still amazing considering Cholula is about as big as Moraga where St. Mary's College is.

The tile and gold plating decoration of the 5 churches we visited was remarkable. My favorite site was combined archaeological site/church of the Great Pyramid of Cholula and "El Santuario de la Virgen de los Remedios" The pyramid has been measured to have the largest base in the ancient world of any pyramid, even bigger than Egypt's pyramids (volume and height perhaps not). There's a place at the pyramid where one can clap and the stone structure's acoustics makes the noise of the quetzal, a Central American bird (going extinct but still found mostly in Guatemala and Honduras) from which Quetzalcoatl an importan Mesoamerican god derives his name and plumage.

The reason I like this site so much is that the a large part of the old pyramid is covered by a hill atop which sits el Santuario de la Virgen de los Remedios, a Catholic church. We actually got to walk thru a tunnel dug into the hill that circles the pyramid. The visual juxtaposition and perhaps even moreso the ideological juxtaposition of the older indigenous religious edifice with the more recent European-styled religious building just blows one's mind.

At another Cholula church there were animals being prepared to enter the church for a mass or special service of some sort. Apparently, it was the one day of the year that animals are brought in (I think it's part of the Christmas celebration? Anyone know?)

Next we visited the fort of Loreto, one of two forts where the victory of Cinco de Mayo over the French was achieved (it's NOT the holiday of Mexican independence people! Most of you know that, but if not, the date of Mexican independence from Spain is celebrated on September 16th). It's now a museum (sorry they didn't allow picture taking inside). There was one of the original battle flags, cannon shells, uniforms and battle clothes of both sides, old guns, and at the end, a beautiful ceiling mural of key figures in the development of Mexico's history (i.e. Cuauhtemoc the last Aztec emperor, Benito Juarez, etc.) I definitely want to get a print or a postcard of that mural before I leave in 3.5 months.

In Puebla we also visited the city Cathedral and la Iglesia de Santo Domingo in which there is la Capilla del Rosario (the Chapel of the Rosary) which is practically all gold plated or solid gold. It was breathtaking, and quite frankly a bit of an overload.

After spending the night in Puebla (more on that in another post), we visited the house of Alquiles Serdan, where first martyrs of the Mexican Revolution were killed in an urban battle, including Serdan himself. The house is now a museum and still bears the bullet holes of the battle on its exterior. This has got to be my favorite site Post-Columbian site of Mexico thus far.

Okay, so much for being quick. It's 1Am now and I have class at 8am, one of four classes I'm taking this Tuesday and thursday because I'm trying out a Comm. class with the Mexican students. I was kind of nervous Tuesday to see if my Spanish was sufficient enough and I still am but I'm also excited about the class because it's entitled Seminar of New Technologies of Communication and we get to make an e-magazine, a blog, and work with several programs such as Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, and Flash.

I'll add pics to this post later (maybe even a video) so keep checking back. For now you can see my Puebla photo album at:

Puebla



The great pyramid of cholula/El Santuario de La virgen de los remedios, church of santo domingo capilla del rosario en la iglesia de Santo Domingo, Tinga Poblana, animals at church for one day in the year, actually 60 or so churches in Cholula,

La Primera Semana de las Clases

(The first week of classes)

We started classes this past Monday. The campus is beautiful, with lots of trees in bloom, greenery and ornamental pools (see the pic of the one with the fountain). I have an 8am Composition class and the girls have 8am classes as well so our Mexican brother Victor drives us 10 minutes to school.

Comida (Food) Update: Everyday we wake up for breakfast around 7ish and Mama serves us a plate full of fruit, sometimes pancakes too. There's banana (platano), pineapple (pina), watermelon (sandia), and cantaloupe (melon). As many of you know I can be a really picky eater but the first day I tried it all (you'd be proud of me Mom!). Admittedly I did end up telling Mama that I didn't care for the cantaloupe but besides that, I've been eating every piece of fruit on my plate. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that when we went to Teotihuacan she made Adrian and I sandwiches (tortas) of bacalao (a type of fish) and they were really good.

Back to classes. My composition professor is Profesor Edel Galeana. I'm in the class of 2 (including me), with Selina which is good because we get plenty of practice speaking and lots of personal attention. Classes are two hours long with a 10 minute break in between. It's interesting because Mexicans in general seem much more relaxed about timeliness, as the professors will come to class a few minutes late regularly and it's no big deal. Just a different culture.


Profesor Galeana is very structured and calm, whereas my Conversation professor, Profesor David Roman is very jovial and free-spirited. Two different styles, both helpful in their own way. At first there was a little shifting of schedules, but things have settled down for now (more on that in a sec). Currently I have Composition from 8am-10am and Conversation from 11am-1pm. Thank goodness we had the weekend to adjust to the 2 hour time difference because I am not a morning person so waking up at the equivalent of 5am PST for a 6am class would not have been fun. At first I was waiting around campus after class for the girls to finish up at 2pm and then we all rode back home by car, but lately I've been walking home. It's about a half hour walk, rather hilly so it's good exercise, though my knees might regret it someday. Luckily the one particular hill that's very reminiscent of San Francisco is one I go uphill on the way back, so I avoid the damage of going down it since I get a ride in the morning.

So around 2 or 2:30 we have la comida (literally "the food") which in Mexico refers to a big lunch since they have very light dinners here. I've noticed some shops close for two hours in the afternoon for la comida, while some restaurants or food stands don't open until 2pm (Don Raff's hamburguesas, yum). Just another cultural tidbit.

It's been unseasonably cold in Cuernavaca the past few days (note the temperature to the left today). It's been in the low-70s mid-60s during the day, and it's even rained a good bit the past couple of days and last night, which for "La Ciudad de Eterna Primavera" is "tan extrana" (very strange) for the winter time. I hope nobody blames us Americans for bring the bad weather down with us. Maybe we traded weather because I hear the Bay has been rather sunny.

In the afternoon Adrian and I go back to campus for our Chicano studies Anthropology class with Profe, which is cool. There's a lot to learn about ethnic identity and Mexican-U.S. relations. For example there is no such country in the world named Mexico, or even Republic of Mexico. In fact the name of the country where I currently am studying is Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States). How's that for some knowledge.

We're going to Puebla tomorrow where it's even colder. I'm glad I brought a sweatshirt and layers. Puebla has 365 churches within the city, one for "cada dia" (each day), so I plan on "sacar muchas fotos" (taking lots of photos) if they let me. Should be neat!

P.S. A friend of mine has informed me that unfortunately my blog title is grammatically incorrect. It should read: "La Buena Vida en Cuernavaca" instead of "La Vida Buena en Cuernavaca" Woops! Thank you for the correction. Unfortunately I don't think I can change it now that it's all set up.

El Zocalo, and Teotihuacan Pyramids

I've been falling behind a bit so this will hopefully be very brief. Saturday we had orientation and got to know the campus, which is very pretty with lots of ornamental pools and the like. We then walked around El Zocalo which is the city center. We started at the Palacio Cortes, meandered by the main plaza where breakdancers were performing and a huge gaudy Christmas tree dominates the space. We went down the street to the city's cathedral, which was built like a fortress.

We then took a walk through el mercado, the black market, which is huge. Profe refers to the lower levels as Dante's 4th circle of hell. You can buy pretty much anything here, from knock off electronics ($1 pirated DVDS for example), clothes, school supplies, folk art, produce, fresh meat (whole hog heads), and more.

We ate dinner at a restaurant called El Barco (the boat) where I had my first taste pozole, a type of soup. Let's just say me gusta pozole (I like it) and that I finished my Grande-sized bowl with gusto.

The next day we met up with the January Term class (JanTerm) and took a 1.5 hour bus ride to Teotihuacan. We started by hearing a presentation about the agave plant, which the indigenous people of Mexico have always used in a variety of ways. The leaves can make paper, the fibers can make thread, the tips of the leaves (more like fronds) can be used as a sewing needle, and of course the juice is fermented to make pulque and tequila. We all got to try a small sample of pulque after the presentation.

After lunch we entered the archaeological site where we toured the pyramids of Quetzalcoatl, the Sun and the Moon. Whew those stairs could be tough! Parts were as steep as a Navy ship stair/ladder. They say if you touch the center stone of the Pyramid of the Sun you get good luck. Do I feel lucky now? Heck, I'm in Cuernavaca, I sure do feel lucky!

On that note I'll end this entry. You can check out more pictures at my Picasa web albums:

El Zocalo
Teotihuacan Pyramids

Llegaba a Cuernavaca, y la casa de Mama

(Coming to Cuernavaca, and Mama Salgado's House)

So after packing like mad Thursday night (thank goodness Alaska Airlines allows two 50lb checked bags for free for flights to Mexico City), my dad and I crashed at my uncles' place in SF. We then woke up before the sun, ate and drove off to the airport where I met up with several of my classmates (Adrian, Judith, Andrea, and Selina). We got to fly on the Disney 50th anniversary plane to LA before switching to another plane to head to Mexico City :-) On the way we met up with the rest of our classmates, Claire (in LA) and Sandra (in Mexico). I slept most of the way, though I did write in my journal a bit. (By the way, the sandwich definitely helped Uncle Lance, even though they fed us on the second leg).

After waiting a while at el Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México aka Benito Juarez International Airport for our private bus (we shared with a group from Union College in New York, who were also going to study at la Universidad Internacional aka Uninter in Cuernavaca). After an hour and a half long bus ride to Cuernavaca (we got caught in rush hour out of Mexico City, bleh) we arrived at Uninter and were picked up by our host families. My roommate Adrian and I live far enough away that it's best to drive to and from campus at night so we were driven home. I'm sure several of you know that they drive rather crazy in Mexico and Cuernavaca is no exception.


This was the first sign that told me that we'd arrived in Cuernavaca. A quick primer: The city of Cuernavaca has a population of about 600,000 and is about 50 miles south of Mexico City. It's the capital of the state of Morelos. It's wonderful weather year-round (due to its location within the Tropic of Cancer) garners it the nickname "La Ciudad de Eterna Primavera" aka "The City of Eternal Spring" Throughout its history several celebrities have come here to enjoy the weather or for health reasons. Profe (our professor and program director Professor Ramirez) says he saw Sylvester Stallone in Cuernavaca once.

Anyway back to my experience. The home I'm staying at is quite nice. Adrian and I live upstairs in one of 3 bedrooms there, we have our own bathroom because the other two rooms are occupied by 4 girls from CSU Stanislaus: Melissa, Dionne, Devine, and Suzanne (no idea about spelling). We all get along real well. The bathroom is different from the U.S. in that the shower, sink, and toilet are literally all in one room or stall.


Mama Salgado has been hosting Uninter students including SMC students for the last 8-10 years and many of them have left picture frames with pictures of themselves with Mama. My friends Kate and Isabel who lived there last year seem to be quite the photo lovers as I saw 4 or 5 frames with pictures of them. Mama Salgado herself is extremely warm, and caring. Despite visiting the U.S. every month (I think that's what she said) for 35 years, the only English she's cared to learn is "Hi," which is great because it forces us to practice our Spanish at home. In a pinch though we all turn to Adrian because he's fluent.

Mama Salgado has 4 grown children (2 sons, 2 daughters), 9 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. She seems quite young to have great grandkids, both in appearance and in spirit. We mostly see her son Victor who's probably in his late 20s or early 30s, who drives us to school. He's going to try to configure my computer to connect to his wireless network at the house so let's all keep our fingers crossed. He speaks some English and is a lot of fun to talk to along with his buddy Luis. From what I gather they live in Europe most of the year but come visit Cuernavaca where they're both from for several months as well.

Well this has been a long post and I didn't even get to our excursion to Tenochtitlan. Next time, k?