Ciudad de Comida

We were so inconspicuous with our bags and intese whiteness...
Also, I got eaten by fire ants after taking this picture.

Last Sunday afternoon Brandon and I, along with several other group members who we were just getting to know, made the short trek to one of the many plazas downtown to meet up with everyone else. It was a day of great excitement. We were finally going to meet our Mexico families and find out where we were going to be living for the next six to twelve weeks (six for Brandon and me).

After gathering ourselves and figuring out where we were supposed to be going, Brandon and I split off from the group, grabbed a taxi, and head for our casa en México. The cab driver was so much nicer than the last one we had. Except.... When we got here, our host mom wasn't home and we were given the wrong house number. Luckily, it is in a gated community and the guards knew who we were looking for and allowed us to wait in the clubhouse.

This is our awesomely amazing home

When Paty, our mamá de México, got home, we went in, put away all of our stuff, and had a big lunch (which is what she was out getting). Everyone in our group seemed to have something different for lunch (comida). Some had a whole spread of truly Mexican cuisine while one of our group members reported having Chinese food. I heard from someone else that the señoras were told to feed us bland food at first to help ease our stomachs in to the Mexican flavors. We had baked chicken, soup, salad, and delicious guacamole.

Paty is super cool. She cracks jokes all the time. I don't get them, mostly. She and Brandon will often start laughing at something and I will sit there wondering if it is at my expense. I'm learning more and more, but I'm still in the dark on a lot of things.

Paty lives on her own. She has a couple of kids, but they're both grown up and moved out. Her niece, Erica, moved in shortly after we did. She's our age and is in town for her work in civil engineering.

Our daily routine is pretty much as follows:
6:15 - Get up. My alarm says, "¡¡LEVANTATE!!"

This is our homework room.

7:15 - Breakfast. Paty always has it set out for us when we get downstairs. Eggs, toast, fruit, cereal, ham and cheese sandwich, you know.. the norm.
7:55 - Leave for the bus. (more to come on that adventure)
8:30-12:30 - classes.
Go home and get in as much homework as possible before...
3:00 - Comida. Patty served me two hamburgers today. Along with soup and dessert. Just an example of how much food we have for comida. I didn't finish the second one. Brandon did. Thank you, darling!
4:00-the rest of the day - Homework and then anything extra if we have time.

Note the lack of time for dinner. That's right. Dinner is more of a snack sort of thing. Our first "dinner" with Paty was cookies, peanut butter, pear, and milk. It was pretty cool. Twice now, though, we've gone out for dinner at around 9:30 to a place down the street. They have really really good food. You order on sheets of paper like at a sushi bar. Except it's tacos, tostadas, flautas, and so on and they line up five or six different salsas on the table every time you go in.

We - or I - have been very careful about food. I've spent most of my first week here sick. Revenge hurts, my friends. Try to avoid it at all costs. I've been taking my antibiotics that I got before we left and since I've started all has been better. Brandon will eat whatever looks tasty. Or smells tasty. Or says "al pastor" on it. We have to be very careful about food on the streets and where water is coming from so as to avoid bacteria as much as possible. I am no longer going to touch street food unless it looks super legit. I'm done with sickness. It's hard because there is someone selling food literally (and I mean "literally" in the correct form. Not the exaggerated form kids use today) every block. To be more exact, there is someone selling food every few feet. Honestly. If there isn't someone making tacos, there's someone sitting at a tiny table with candy, cigarettes, gum, whatever.

Interesting happening: The other night I was asking if I could just have tortilla chips to dip in the salsa at a restaurant. Paty and Erica had no idea what I was talking about. I ended up getting tostadas and breaking them up, which worked perfectly, actually. But still, are nachos only an American thing?

Un Churro stuffed with Nutella. Best
idea ever.

My favorite meal so far has been tostadas with beans, some awesome ground beef mixture that seemed almost like shepherds pie sans bread that Paty made, avocado, and rice. Brandon loves street tacos and anything al pastor, as noted above. We're still experiencing new foods as time goes on. The other night we had churros stuffed with Nutella, which were absolutely wonderful.

When I started my antibiotics, at the height of my sickness, Paty gave me a big glass of Coke with lime sorbet in it and told me to chug it; that it would help my tummy. That was an interesting idea that I've never thought of before. It tasted nummy, so whatever works! Paty attributes my health to the Coke float and possibly a little to the medicine.

On Saturday we went to Bernal, the third biggest rock in the world. We hiked all the way up. That place is pretty awesome. I was told that the hike is similar to the hike up Spencer's Butte. I can take that. Except that it's like that last part of Spencer's Butte when it's only rocks - the whole way up. And I did it while sick. I think my body may have set aside my illness so it could focus on breathing during the hike because once we got back down I was pretty much out.

 

There were a couple of shrines up top.

Bernal - The giant rock!

This dude followed us all the way up!

The whole town is a tourist town, of course. There are stores all up and down the streets selling a whole bunch of everything. I noticed a lot of lacework as well as small rocks and rock art taken from the giant rock. I wanted to look around and pick something out, but I was just too out of it for any such activities. Interestingly, though, there are also little stands with people selling things as you go up the road to the trailhead. It's a pretty steep road. All of the tables have quite the slant. And then up the trail there are two stops where you can buy drinks, including beer. I wonder how hard it is to carry all those drinks up there and if it's really worth it. There were a lot of people climbing, so I guess so.


This weekend we are going to go see a Lucha Libre show! I'll be sure to take pictures and share them as soon as possible, so keep an eye out.

Keep track of our Twitter accounts for periodic updates or pictures. Brandon's is @the_ferg_says and mine is @JessicaPestika. I've also posted a full week's public album on Facebook. Click here to see it. A new update will be coming in just a couple days. Maybe even tomorrow. There's just so much stuff happening! So until then, my friends!

¿Estámos en Querétaro, si?

The view of Mexico City from our plane. It was immense. One of the
biggest cities in the world.

We made it! Today is our last day at the amazingly awesome Casa San Gallito in Querétaro, México. I sit here at the dining room table listening to the sounds of church bells and music, birds, and the surprisingly loud ticking of the clock and enjoying the lovely morning breeze. Brandon is still sleeping. I wanted to get up early and get this done before we go meet our señora.

Getting here was most certainly worthy of a story. None of our other group members seem to have had the trouble that we did, but I suppose we should appreciate the adventure to tell!

Randy and Cindy were so excited
to be dropping us off at the hotel.
Thanks guys!!

Our trip started with Brandon's dad, Randy, and step-mom, Cindy, picking us up around six. When we put our stuff in the trunk, I neglected to remove my water bottle from the side pocket of my backpack. Upon arrival at the hotel we discovered my mistake, the evidence being that Brandon's entire bag was wet. He was a little upset about that one. It's still a little damp, but once we get to our final destination, he can pull everything out and let it air.

Waiting for security to open in PDX

We spent a very short night at a Shilo Inn hotel (five hours, in fact) and got up at two in the morning to get to the airport at three. Our flight was at six, but the ticket told us to get there three hours early. When we went to check out, the front desk lady nicely informed us that the airport doesn't actually open until four. Cool. We were already up, so we took off anyway. Since the airport wasn't open yet we had to hang around for a while until we could finally get through security, get some breakfast, and then board our flight.

Our lovely seating
arrangement on the way
to Mexico City

We flew from Portland, Oregon, to San Francisco, California, to Mexico City, Mexico. The flight to San Francisco wasn't anything interesting. But on our flight to Mexico City, Brandon and I didn't get seats together. We were on either end of the rows with me one row ahead of him. As the plane boarded we waited for our neighbors to see if we could trade. It turned out a couple of ladies with three small children were taking up the whole row next to Brandon. They didn't want to do any trading because they needed to stay within sight of the kids. And the people next to me were together as well. It took a little bit of discussion, but, in the end, it was agreed that Brandon could switch places with the kid sitting behind me, so we were at least within talking and snack sharing range. This actually turned out for the better because we both had a kid sitting behind us kicking our seats.

There is so much desert between
the USA and Mexico. Amazing.

When we landed in Mexico City we had several steps to follow before arrival at our hostel here in Querétaro. First, we had to make it through immigration. After carefully filling out our forms, hoping we didn't make any mistakes, we stood in line. For an hour and a half. It was warm, humid, and crowded. There were two line sections; one for Mexicans, one for non-Mexicans. While we stood in line an immigration officer came through and collected people with small children so they could go through faster. I thought that was awesome. When we got close to the front, the same guy came and opened up the line behind us to go on the other side because it was empty. We didn't realize what was happening until we noticed a flood of people rushing in the opposite direction. By that time it was too late. Then a group of Arabs tried cutting in front of us. Brandon said, "Hey, uh... Is there a reason you're moving ahead of everyone?" "I don't understand," said one of the dudes. "Well," said Brandon, "this is a line.... and we're supposed to be going..in line." The guys all sort of mumbled at each other and backed off. Nice try, my friends.

Sopa Azteca at the airport. I ate the
avocados off the top already.  

Immigration and customs worked out just fine. All of my fears of being imprisoned in a foreign country for some unknown reason were vanquished. We traversed the airport via signs and asking directions and found an ATM for some money, a place to buy our bus tickets to Querétaro, and some delicious tortilla soup. The bus was "super posh," using Brandon's words. We got free snacks to take with us, watched Across the Universe, and the seats were muy comfortable. The security to get on the bus was incredible. Almost as much as, if not more than, getting on the plane. The ride itself was 3 hours. Then came the time to grab a taxi and get to the hostel. By this point it was around one or two in the morning and we were so so so tired.

Then we have our taxi driver. Again, none of the other group members had these issues. They all describe their trips as uneventful or easy. We were told that when we got to our taxi, all we had to do was tell him the address and the name of the hostel and he would know where to go. So that's what we did. However, the guy kept on asking us questions like he didn't know where to go. He already started driving and was heading in some sort of direction. He kept on asking us something but we couldn't recognize what he was saying. At one point Brandon asked, "¿Estámos en Querétaro, si?" ("We are in Querétaro, yes?") Because the driver's behavior indicated the possibility of not even being in the right place. Eventually, Brandon sacrificed airplane mode on his phone to call the hostel to ask for directions. Once he started asking, the driver told us we were already on the street and we pulled up right next to the hostel. We think that maybe he was asking us for a cross street. However, I'm pretty sure it was obvious that we're not from around here, so I don't know why the heck we would know any cross streets. The whole thing was illogical.

BUT, we finally got our room, which is so cute in a Mamma Mia! sort of style, found our bed and were able to go to sleep.

Our lovely room at Casa San Gallito

The entrance to our room.

A band playing in the common area

Tortilla with beans, chili
 sauce, and cheese

Here we are! We spent all yesterday exploring the area and waiting for more of our group to arrive. We've eaten so much delicious food and have yet to become ill. We're making sure to keep our water bottles full of good, clean water, and we're using that water for brushing our teeth. There seems to be an amazingly beautiful church on every corner here. Yesterday was confirmation day at one of them. We walked by and saw little girls in bridal-like gowns all over the place, having their pictures taken with family or on the fountains. We saw a monk. He was all dressed in the brown robes and everything.

There is a fountain series of geocaches
that we have been finding. It's great to be
able to log our visit in such a way.
We've already found two. Here is our first

We made a short visit to a pharmacy to track down some cough medicine for Brandon and a razor for me (I forgot mine). That was certainly interesting. There was an old man pharmacist standing on our side of the counter and then a couple ladies on the inside. We tried telling them that all Brandon has is a cough. He's not actually sick, he just needs something the calm his cough. After a bit of back and forth, they finally gave him some sort of syrup. The old man kept joking around about it, saying it wasn't going to kill him or anything and actually opened up the bottle and gave him some right then and there. That was a little scary since we didn't know exactly what it was. When we got back to our hostel we looked up the name of the medication and shot an email to Amber (my little sister's mom who is a pharmacist) asking what it was. It's all good, though. It just cuts through mucus. Brandon seems to be doing well, but it hasn't helped his cough.

A lovely church. One of many

So today our group is mostly here and we're going to head out to find our señoras (the ladies who will be our mothers for the duration of our stay) around noon or one. We start school tomorrow. I have to say, I'm a bit nervous. But our Spanish seems to be picking up and the people we've met so far have been really nice.

Keep track of our Twitter accounts for periodic updates or pictures. Brandon's is @the_ferg_says and mine is @JessicaPestika. A new update will be coming next week. So until then, my friends!

ThirteenDaysHolyCrap!!!!

My super stud-ular sunglasses. Oh Yeah!

13 days 'till what, you ask? Well, haven't you even been paying attention? We're leaving! Mexico awaits! Our flight takes off at 6 a.m. on the 15th of this month and the summer of all summers will have begun. I've got my passport, all of my shots (ouch. Still feels like I got punched in the arm), medications, good walking shoes, and a rockin' backpack. I just got my sunglasses yesterday and they are super stud-ular (yes, I made that word up). I got myself some fancy prescription ones so I can actually see things. The cats and the fish are all set for the entire summer (thank you, Ashlei and Cori), and we have a ride to Portland to catch our flight (thank you, Ferguson in-laws)!

I have to say, I'm getting a little nervous, but so excited at the same time. My acceptance letter for the Mexico program says that I'm accepted, **contingent on my grade point average in my Spanish courses. I have to have a B average or higher. I don't know if I'm going to be able to manage it. I'm working my tail off, but I still seem to be sitting at a C. I even got myself a tutor. How is it working out that way? I don't get it. However, I'm going to Mexico whether they kick me out of the program or not. The tickets are bought. There's no going back.

We found out about living arrangements last Wednesday. That was exciting. Our señora is Paty and she's an older woman who lives by herself. She has a daughter who is our age, but she's living in France right now. Don't know why. We'll ask. She also has a son who is, like, in his 40s I think. I don't know anything about him. I think she said something about having grandchildren. Paty is a beautician. She says she works a lot but she'll have time to spend with us when we get there and that it's going to be fun! I have to say, I was kind of looking forward to the big family experience. But that's ok. I think it'll be more relaxing with just the mom.

Most of our class will be heading down on Saturday or Sunday. Brandon and I decided to go on Friday so that we can catch our bearings, learn the city, and have some time to relax. The school term starts that Monday. Not much of a rest time, right?

A couple weeks ago we had an orientation and some students who just completed the program came and talked to us about what to expect. It's made me a little bit more nervous but then at the same time made me feel a little better. It's a strange mix of emotions. A couple of new concerns this meeting has brought up for me:

• I guess there are random downpours. It's made me rethink what shoes to bring. But then, how will any of my shoes act in downpours? What do they do to protect their shoes? We were told that none of them wore rain boots. And why would they if there are only short downpours and then it goes back to being a nice day? And I still need to go out and find a nice rain coat.

• They talked a lot about getting sick. One of the girls is a foodie like me. She said, you're going to get sick anyway, so just enjoy your experience and eat whatever you want. Another girl stressed to be really careful, though. We have to always ask about the water we're given. And the ice. Don't forget the ice. We were given medications by the health center at school for when we do get sick. I don't like getting sick, my friends. I think I'm more scared of that than anything. I want to try all of the food! But I don't want to be sick. Ahhh the dilemas of travel.

Luckily those are the only things I'm really worried about. I feel like I can handle anything else that comes my way. So that's where things stand, my friends! Couple weeks to go and we'll have 6 weeks in Mexico! Make sure to tune in because this is going to be the most rockin' travel blog ever.

Until next time!
¡Hasta la próxima!