November 2009
9 posts
p.s.
If you want to follow my non-Mexico life, a bit rainier and far grayer.
http://masonjar.tumblr.com/
Pancho's Fotos de México
http://picasaweb.google.com/MitchellFT
June 2009
2 posts
“Oh and I am currently enrolled in the University of British Columbia’s...”
I blame hostel computers
Now I’ve for certain lost any readership I had, but for those of you who are filling the late night void with internet and stumble across my almost forgotten blog- I thank you, immensely.
Currently I’m writing from Cancun, Mexico. I’m spending the night here and nothing more, I assure you. But my flight to Habana, Cuba was messed up because of swine flu regulation in Cuba. My...
May 2009
6 posts
So I'm Leaving Cholula
The last roomie left early this morning. Me and my friend Maarje from Holland have tickets for Campeche on the Gulf Coast for 8 pm tonight. I’m packed and ready. But while I’ll be back in Cholula to pick up some bags I’m leaving with my landlord, this is my last full day here.
Top 5 things I’ll miss about Cholula:
1) My landlords- Gustavo (the lover of bells) and his...
“I bought a ticket to Cuba.”
Today Was Like Crawling Out of a Bomb Shelter
Today was the first day that Uni was open after the quarantine. Today I woke up jittery and a bit nervous knowing I was going to leave the house and interact with the world. I even took a while to get dressed, made sure I had showered the night before. When I got to school, the security guard at the gate came at me with a spray bottle of cleaning alcohol and a facemask. When I took my exam me and...
April 2009
68 posts
While all the Moms cry, mine cuses.
Most of my friends’ parents are demanding that they come home, this minute. On the other hand, here is a note from my mom about the swine flu. Love you Moe:
I sure hope this swine flu thing quiets down soon - it’s irritating, pure hysteria. I would bet that the news readers will be doing so behind a paper mask soon, just to wring the last bit of drama out of the situation. I saw a...
“I got sick. Not swine flu, I’m pretty sure it must have been my 12 year...”
“You got swine flu? Cause I don’t.”
– note to mom
And then, in an unforeseen last hurrah! our trip...
This is the weekend before everyone vacated on account of the Swine Flu. Good thing it was an excellent weekend. We went to Cuetzalan, which is a small town balancing on some jungly hills in the north of the state of Puebla. It’s really well known for its indigenous identity. Nahuatl, an indigenous language, is a close second to Spanish here.
Cuetzalan
5) Just the humid hilly atmosphere of Cuetzalan. I wrote this while I was there. Funny how this came right before the swine flu terror.: Cuetzalan gives you that feeling when you’re standing on something tall- a cliff, a roof, an overhang- where you immediately imagine yourself falling. There’s no escaping it, it’s impossible to see the view, you can only see yourself brains splattered and dead...
Cuetzalan
4) The syncretism between Catholicism and Indigenous traditions. This is all over Mexico, but in Cuetzalan it felt especially strong. There is a tradition called Los Voladores, The Fliers, (there are some pictures from The Musuem of Anthropolgy somewhere below) where three or four people climb up a large pole and swing in these big lazy circles down to the ground. They’re held only by ropes...
Cuetzalan
2) I went with my two roomies, Helene and Juliet, but also a friend from Edmonton, Libby, her sister who came to visit, Bell, Jake from Maine but who lives in Montreal and Jesse from Illinois but who, as well, lives in Montreal. (He makes fun of me for being from California, because apparently we lack good ole Mid-Western common sense- Jesse- look at your shorts. Where was your common sense...
Cuetzalan
1) Waterfalls. I haven’t been in a naturally occurring body of water since January. My friends had to pull me onto dry land. The waterfalls were gorgeous too, that didn’t hurt.
The week my brother and cousin came…
They came the week after Semana Santa so I took school off, meaning I got 2 weeks off for spring break. We spent a few days in Cholula and a few in D.F. Top 7 from the week, (I tried to fit into the 5 format, but no go.)
Family and D.F. in seven steps
7) Hanging out with my cousin Elaine. We’ve never really gotten the chance to be together for any longer than the entire family can manage to stay in the same place (not because they don’t get along, it’s more for the sake of everyone’s liver). But this was really lovely getting to know her better.
D.F.
6) The restaurant that Pancho scoped out. Needless to say it was delicious. It was actually on the travel food show, Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and sparked a very interesting conversation about the art and practicality of food, both on the show and at our dinner table. The head chef of Puloj had studied at The Culinary Institute of America, so his specialty is gourmet French food, and...
D.F.
5) Museum of Anthropology. My goodness. That is overwhelming too. Overwhelming is a pretty good general description for all of Mexico City. The museum is filled with artifacts and information and, surprisingly, a severe lack of seatage. It’s the type of place where you want to give it all your attention and read every sign, but if you did your eyes would bleed. It covers all of Mexican ancient...
