And just like that, it's been two weeks without a post! Whoops! The past two weeks have varied from super-boring to amazingly fun, so I'll just hop over a few highlights :)
Since my last post, I have
- tried to figure out the Mexican postal system
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| Pop-up mountains! |
- read a few books
- learned about local music and its history
- found the perfect café (for coffee, dessert, studying, chatting, etc.)
- avoided going out in the rain
- revisited el Museo de Antropología and learned sooo much more
- made a mistake and ordered a chamoyada
- tried not to gain too much weight eating all of this amazing food
- spent a day at the beach with friends
- went to a great concert by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa
- and said, "See you later!" to one of my best friends here in Xalapa.
I promise I won't go into too much detail on all of these points, but there are a few which deserve some space! First of all, the weather. Though I have found Xalapa to be generally pleasant, the almost constant rain of the past few weeks has gotten old. Fortunately there have been scattered days of full sunshine, so I really can't complain.
The Mexican postal system, on the other hand, is kind of a funny story! When I went to Puebla, I finally found some postcards to send home to friends and family. However, when I went to mail them, the post office was out of normal-sized stamps. So I bought the big ones, and mailed what I could. Unfortunately, for some of the postcards the big stamps wouldn't work, as they covered up the address! After waiting for a week, I went back to get some small stamps... But there still weren't any! Confused (I work in a law firm stateside, so I go to the PO a fair bit), I asked when I could come back and find normal stamps. "Oh, I don't know, maybe next week, maybe in two weeks, or three... We don't really know when we'll get more," was the response. Oh. Okay. (Three weeks later and I still haven't gotten smaller stamps!)
I'll try to keep this food section short - I just can't resist. I think I could go up three sizes while I'm here if I'm not careful! However, I have found a drink that, while not the worst thing I've ever had, is not something I want to repeat. The chamoyada. Made of a strawberry smoothie based in vinegar, with added tamarind and chile powder, this drink is not for the faint at heart. If only I had known... I mindlessly ordered the drink, and off-handedly turned down the waiter's concern and offer to replace it with something else after I tried it.
I'm not going to lie: it was bad. However, I did figure out how to drink it and make it palatable, so I managed to finish it! With that experience behind me, though, I don't think I'll be going back. I will, however, be going back to that café! It's called Cafe Lagos, and is located on a street corner in a charmingly decorated apartment, complete with tall windows, eclectic art, cozy armchairs, great service, incredible brownies, and fantastic coffee! It feels very old-world European style, and the prices can't be beat, either.
I have now spent a few afternoons in this restaurant, with friends or alone, and have found it to be a perfect place for anything. I read most of my book for literature there last week, and I enjoy journaling there, too. Speaking of school work, in my México Contemporáneo class we spent a few periods studying traditional music local to the Veracruz region of Mexico, specifically a son jarrocho. We will be returning to the topic later this week, so be on the lookout for a blog about the son and dance soon (har-de-harr-harr) :)
Last Wednesday we had a random day off of school, so a few of my school friends and I decided to go to the beach! Villarica is a tiny little pueblo about an hour and a half from Xalapa, and it was the perfect quick trip. The water was freezing in my opinion, but with the sun out and a nice breeze, the day was perfect for relaxing on the beach with a good book. We had lunch at a hidden little restaurant which served delicious empanadas, and ended our afternoon hiking up a little mountain/big hill to look out over the ocean on one side and this amazing country on the other. I am constantly surprised by the geography here! As I hope you can see in these pictures, mountains here have a tendency to just appear out of nowhere... Once you get past the weirdness of it, it's quite beautiful!
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| Isn't it absolutely beautiful? |
These past two months here would not have been the same if not for my dear friend, Lindita. I met her the first week I was here, and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and spending time exploring Xalapa with her! As her time in Xalapa came to a close, we went to the Museo de Antropología and Parque Natura together last weekend. As the only ones who came to the Museo around tour time (11-11:30ish), we basically got a free private tour of the museum, which was fantastic! I got so much more out of the trip, and it felt much more relaxed than the time before. We didn't get to spend a ton of time in Parque Natura, but I enjoyed "hiking" a bit and checking out the coffee plants :) For our last big event, this past Friday Lindita, Jared (Lindi's novio), and I went to a concert by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, which presented Vivaldi's Las Cuatro Estaciones.
It was a wonderful concert, and the lead violinist, Mikhail Medvid, was fabulous. If you are ever in Xalapa with the chance to go to an OSX concert, don't miss out! I will always treasure these memories of fun times with friends here in Xalapa. Saying goodbye is never fun, but thanks to today's technology it doesn't really have to mean goodbye ;) Safe travels, and Dios te bendiga, Lindita! Nos vemos :)
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