Bienvenido a Mexico!

¡Hola!

I haven’t posted an entry in so long, that blogger thinks I just might be dead. While I have written a few posts I just never finished them or never had just the right pictures or whatever, so I just haven’t posted for a while and I’m not dead, just busy...or on vacation.

I’m currently curled up on the sofa with a pile of sleepy dogs, watching it snow-maybe we really will get the 8-15 inches of snow that’s predicted-and wishing I was still in Mexico.

We spent our first week in San Cristobal, a city in the southern Mexico State of Chiapas. We wanted to do another week of Spanish language school and found Instituto Jovel. We had 3 classes a day, for me it was more of a beginners Spanish review that was desperatey needed. I think the Spanish stuck a little better this time, since I wasn’t starting completely at zero.


Affiliatated with the language school is a cooking school, El Tzitz. We had hoped to go to multiple classes, but it just didn’t work out that way. Classes are usually Monday/Wednesday/Friday but the Monday we happened to be there was a holiday, so there was no class. We made it to chili rellenos on Wednesday, it was delicious and so fun, but since 2 of the other folks taking the class didn’t speak ant Spanish, the whole class was in English. We decided to skip the Friday tamales class so we wouldn’t miss our very last Spanish lesson. Yes, we are nerds.

The town of San Cristobal is beautiful and very walkable. The streets are so narrow and full of traffic that walking seems like the fastest way to get around. We had a great time going to the markets-there are 2 main ones: the fruit/vegetable/any other food stuff you could possibly imagine and the artisan market.



We went a little crazy buying stuff at both markets and ended up barely being able to carry everything back to our Airbnb! I hope we end up going back to San Cristobal again. We only spent a week there and there is still so much to do and to eat!



After a week there, we took off in a very little rental car to see Mayan ruins for the very first time. But it's a long drive, and on the way there we stopped at the Agua Azul waterfalls. The pictures do not do this place justice. This is one of, if not the most beautiful natural places I have ever seen. We were in a hurry to get to our hotel, so we didn't stay to swim there, I hope next time we do! At least we had time to slurp down a couple coconuts!





We went to Palenque and there are really no words to describe seeing it for the first time. It was early in the morning and the surrounding jungle was still misty, with howler monkeys roaring through the jungle and these giant, beautiful temples just emerge from the jungle. It was truly breathtaking, I barely held back tears. Ever after reading and listening to the history of Palenque, I was not prepared for the size, grander, and beauty of actually being there. If you ever get a chance to go, go!




Before we went to Palenque, we weren’t sure if we were going to try to get to any other ruins, but after the awe of Palenque, we knew we wanted to get to as many as we could get to during this trip! The next day we were off to Yaxchilan. These ruins lie along the Usumacinta River-the river forms the boarder between Mexico and Guatemala. You can only get to the ruins by boat, it since it was just the 2 of us tourists on the boat, we could stop and look at all the crocodiles on the way down! Yaxchilan is so much different that Palenque. It was by far less crowded. The draw of Yaxchilan are the stelae, lintels, and alters that are all still there and not removed to a museum-apparently not for lack of trying-some of the stelae are just too big to move.

As with Palenque, we hired a guide to take us around the ruins. Our guide, Juan, was a pretty interesting guy-he was raised speaking a Mayan language-I think it was Ch'ol-then went to a bilingual school where he was also taught Spanish. Now, even though he's mainly a farmer, he's teaching himself English online and guides to work on his English. We stayed a night in the small town of Frontera Corozal, where the boats take off to get to Yaxchilan. There we hung out in the park along the river for a while and listened to the kids playing in the water, speaking what I think was Ch'ol. Before we went to the Chiapas area, I knew that some Mayan was still spoken in Central America. I had no idea that there are at least 21 Mayan languages spoken by more than 6 million people.





Last leg of the trip-Mexico City! For as big a Mexico city is, and for as big the population of the metropolitan area is-20 million or so people-it didn't feel that big. It reminded me of Chicago, with distinctly different neighborhoods and it never felt overwhelming. It has a beautiful and very large park, El Bosque de Chapultepec, that is full of museums, botanical gardens, and a large zoo. We stopped at the zoo because they had pandas-neither of us had ever seen pandas before and they were ridiculously cute and hungry and I could have watched them eat bamboo all day.


We spent the next day doing about 5 million more stairs at Teotihuacan. Again, it was vastly different than the other 2 Mayan ruins we had been to-no jungle here. It was hot, sunny, hazy with pollution and packed full of tourists, but still breathtaking-and not just from climbing all the stairs! It's no surprise that the architecture and carvings are so different at Teotihuacan, since while they existed and traded/battled/influenced the Mayans, they were not Mayan-there is still debate about what ethnicity the inhabitants of Teotihuacan were, but they weren't Mayan.

The Pyramid of the Sun is one of the largest in Mesoamerica and the only one I found a dog to hang out with on-so it is my favorite. This little guy was almost completely at the top, then walked down the whole way with me. I named his Sunny and wanted to take him home so bad!





On our very last day we went to the 'Venice of Mexico' Xochimilco, the canals were built by the Aztecs and are now a fun place to rent a boat, drink beer all day, and try not to get cornered by all the boats full of mariachi bands. The boats are huge and we ended up sharing a boat with a few other people-a tech guy from Guatamala, a lady who works for the UN from the US but currently living in Guatemala, a professor from Mexico who works in Georgia and his kids, who were great and couldn't stop asking Keith about the gross things doctors see. It was a fun group and a relaxing way to spend our last day in Mexico.





Ok, so I could do a whole post about all the delicious food we are in over the last 2 weeks. It as truly amazing. We ate everywhere and everything! Outside of Teotihuacan we ate at a little outdoor set up where we had to crawl through a hole in the fence to get there-and the food was amazing-later that day we ate 14 course meal at Lorea, considered one of the best restaurants in Mexico City. We ate mole in the park, ice cream out of cocoa pods and barbacoa that had been pit roasted over night. We ate fried cricket tacos and corn fungus-and liked it! Did we get sick-yes, we both did-but it was at the beginning of the trip and after that we could basically eat anything-so we did! The food exceeded my exceptions and I can't wait to go back!





So, long story short-go to Mexico! Bring stretchy pants and a willingness to climbs thousands of stairs. I know everyone says this kind of thing-but everyone we interacted with was so kind and welcoming. 'Bienvenido a Mexico' was what we heard from everyone we talked to in the markets and there was no moment that we did not feel safe. We are already planning our next trip to Mexico and it can't come soon enough!

Otra cerveza, por favor

While we still had a lot of fun while being at the La Mariposa and a great time exploring the area around there, it didn't feel like the vacation really started until we got to San Juan del Sur.

We had one whole week with the only thing planned was a few days of surfing lessons for Keith. And for me, thankfully no more small talk with with the other people at Spanish school! It's not that they weren't nice people but get a bunch of travelers together and it's the goddamn "oh, what you haven't been there?' one upmanship olympics-it's worse than hipsters. FYI no one cares about that one week in Egypt 20 years and you've already told than ONE story 3 times and the details get embellished every single time!

I was ready for peace and quiet and a beer and a Nica libre, or 5.

And here it was, our rental house actually called Casa La Serena. Wow, this place was beautiful.



Of course getting there was a little complicated. First, we showed up the meet the manager who was going to give us the keys and show us how to get there and that did not go as planned, but it all worked out, just a little later than expected.

And the drive there was a little bumpy, down a dirt road, but it was worth it. San Juan del Sur is known as a loud party town and Casa La Serena was the opposite of that!

While it was hard to break away and leave this gorgeous place, we had to go watch the Super Bowl! On the beach, in Nicaragua! And I got to use the very useful phrase: Otra cerveza, por favor! (Another beer, please)





We woke up Monday morning to the birds chirping and howler monkeys playing in the trees! I really didn't want to leave!



But the beach, Playa Maderas, was just a few minutes away! The beaches in downtown San Juan del Sur were packed with tourists and vendors, not this place!





The next day I spent at the same beach, while Keith went surfing. He had booked surfing lessons for 2 hours a day for 3 days. So our plan for that day was that he should be back to the house by about 2 or 3pm and should have time to stop at the fish market to pick up whatever fresh for dinner. Nope!

While he did only have about 2 hours of surfing lessons, there were hour(s) long breaks and thankfully there was WIFI so he let me know what was going on, mainly so I wouldn't worry that he had been eaten by a shark or something! Whatever! He had a great time!



I did not realize that I could just tag along on these surfing days, so I did for the next 2 days. The next day we went to Playa Hermosa. This beach was slightly more crowded, but since we were based at the Playa Hermosa Ecolodge it was also full of amenities like chaise lounges and and delicious Pina coladas.





I think even attempting to surf is a combination of bravery and crazy, and that's Keith!

After surfing, we finally got the the fish market where we went a little crazy and bought 2 lbs of lobster tails-yes, they are small but they were delicious! And Keith got not one but 2 whole red snappers and we spent about 20 bucks. Before making dinner we had time to catch the sunset down at our beach (I mean Playa Maderas).





Third and last day of surfing lessons for Keith. He as back at Playa Remanso where he had his first day of lessons. The waves here seemed huge to me!




I could watch that wipe out video a million times! I thought Keith was super lucky to not get hit on the head by the board on that one! That day was the roughest on him and while he was getting bruised up in the ocean, I was sitting in the shade drinking cocktails all day at Tacos bar and grill. I could have stayed there all day!



Just one more lazy day at the beach and it was time to get going.

We had to turn our rental car in and get a ride back to the capital, Managua, to an early flight home. We were hoping for a good last dinner in Nicaragua, but last nights always turn out kind of weird. Drinks at 1979 were fun, but we were the only people there and we decided to search out dinner elsewhere-even though they were letting me DJ! Rocking out to Tacocat in an empty bar in Nicaragua was pretty great!

The Korean place we wanted to go to was having a private party, and after wondering for a bit we realized it was either go in the mall to find a food court or something (no!) or that one Chinese place that looks open. So our last dinner was at a massive Chinese restaurant that was already decorated for Valentine's Day, last night is always weird.

But at least we had a chance to walk around the 'Trees of Life' that are very controversial and just kind of odd.





But wait, there's more!

As many of you know, our beloved Subaru up and died on the way to Boise and we had to decide what kind of car we were going buy so we could get home. Just the kind of thing you want to do the day you get back from vacation!

We had decided on a Honda CR-V and had emailed with the dealership that while we would still look like hobo's when we got there, they'd at least be expecting us.

So here she is! Before getting a new car, I told Keith we should name it bobo-my favorite Spanish word, the word for silly or fool. Bobo the clown car, full of goats and the crazy folks who love them! I fear this car is a little to classy for that, but maybe we can wear her down a little!



As I am writing this, the snow is coming down like crazy! Keith is out snowboarding, Bear wants to play catch in the blowing snow and I just want to go back to Nicaragua!

And wow! Our thumbs made it in a lot of pics of this trip! Oh, well!

I wrote it down, but I don't remember

I kind of hate writing vacation summary blogposts. For one, it means that it is really and truly over, but it's also that as soon as we get home, I have so many other things on my mind that it's hard to sit down on focus on the past few weeks.

But even if I don't really like writing them, and even if you don't really like reading them, I do it. I do it mainly to remember these past 3 weeks in the coming months and years, to remember the name of that beach we went on the second day in San Juan del Sur or the names of our Spanish language teachers and so much more.

So here were are, let's go back to Nicaragua.

We spent our first 2 weeks in Nicaragua at the La Mariposa Spanish school and Eco-hotel. I was terrified of these 2 weeks. I took French in high school and college, so at least I was somewhat familiar with the grammar, but years of 'classes' that were basically just watching French movies with English subtitles did not prepare me at all to really speak another language. Thanks public school.

The first day was completely overwhelming. We flew into Managua late on Monday night, got picked up by the school and drove about an hour to where we were staying. Got up early the next morning, thinking that we weren't going to class that day because they had told us the night before it was just going to kind of an orientation day. Nope! Breakfast with a gaggle of other people there learning Spanish and straight off to class. I was not ready.

But I had to be. Keith (who actually speaks Spanish) started his first day with tests to see where to begin his classes while I started with the alphabet and flash cards.

We weren't staying at the eco-hotel/school but in one of their cabins about 10 minutes away at the 'reserva'. So we fell into a routine: Get up around 6:30 to shower and get ready, walk over to the school for breakfast that was at 7:30, eat then classes. Classes were from 8-10 then 10-12. My schedule was conversation first then grammar for the whole 2 weeks. I really liked my first conversation teacher Leyda. Once she realized that I really was a beginner, that's where we started with the alphabet, colors and books like My First Spanish Word book. I am not embarrassed at all to say that this was really hard!

After conversation was grammar. I was dreading grammar more than conversation, but I shouldn't have been. I had the same teacher the whole 2 weeks, Mariam. She was great! I hadn't realized that the conversation and grammar would kind of work together to help build (my teeny, tiny) vocabulary. And when we started making fun of Keith while learning the 2 different verbs for 'to be' in Spanish: Keith es aburrido OR Keith esta aburrido, Spanish started to kind of make sense.

Here is where we would meet up, have breakfast and such.



The grounds of the hotel/school were littered with tiny classrooms. This is where I had most of my grammar classes with Mariam.




And while we did have 4 hours of class a day and a fair bit of homework, there was still a lot of fun to be had too!

We relaxed at the beach of Laguna de Apoyo.



Went to the Masaya Volcano aka the 'boca del inierno'. The pictures aren't great because you go there at night so you can both see and hear the lava in it's crater. It's amazing how close you can get!



We spent a day in Leon, which was hot and beautiful. We spent some time, both inside and on top of the Cathedral of Leon, the largest cathedral in Central America.

We also ate Keith's favorite meal on the whole vacation, street food called chanchon con yucca, which is marinated pork served over yuca topped with slaw all served in a banana leaf-it was delicious!





We went to both Masaya and San Juan de Oriente, each known for their fine craftsmanship. Masaya is known for their hand made hammocks-I wish we had bought one!, wood carving and their beautiful Mercardo de Artesanias-market where local crafts are sold. San Juan de Oriente is a small town full of artisans that focus on pottery and ceramics. There were got a pottery making demonstration-in Spanish of course!






We also learned about the history of Nicaragua. There was a weekly lecture about the political history of Nicaragua and we also went to a few museums where we learned all things Sandino. We went to Augusto Sandino's (kind of) childhood home-kind of because he was a bastard that only eventually left his peasant mother to live with his wealthy father. He fought both the US Marines who were occupyng Nicaragua and the Us backed Somoza family dictatorship. He was murdered by the Somoza controlled National Guardsmen in 1934 and the Somoza family stayed in power until 1979. He is remembered as Nicaragua's national hero and often referred to as 'The little man, who lived in a little hut, with a big heart'(he was only about 5 ft 2 in)



In 1979, the Sandinista party-named after Sandino, overthrew the Somoza dictatorship. They had been founded in the 1960s and with years of fighting, plus a massive earthquake that leveled the capital city of Managua, they finally prevailed. In the Sandinista's had 2 years of power they worked to eradicate polio, increase the literacy and education, an promote equality for women. But of course the US sees the Sandinista party as communists and sees that they're working with Cuba, so they fund the Contras (the Somoza families National Guardsmen) and war breaks out-again. Everything about Nicaraguan history was embarrassing to hear as an American, see Iran-Contra (Regan illegally funding the war in Nicaragua was just one shitty part of that bit of history).

And all this history is incredibly simplified! If you're interested, look it up!



BUT lets go back to Spanish!

Learning Spanish (or any other language!) is really hard! We are going to try to keep it up at home as much as we can. But while learning in Nicaragua, we did have a few funny Spanish mishaps. I probably don't even know all of mine, but some I remember: conjugating a verb wrong I accidentally learned the work for fart-pedo. Always useful!

That time Keith tried asking for ground coffee-cafe molido and instead asked for miracle coffee-cafe milagro.

So many days I would be trying to remember some great saying or phrase I learned just hours earlier. I need to learn 'I wrote it down, but I don't remember' in Spanish.

I mentioned that we stayed in a cabin a little way away from the school. I liked getting away from all the other folks learning Spanish, so I could just hang out, have a Nica libre (rum and coke), do my homework while snuggling puppies!
This is where we stayed.



And this in Chiva, my favorite dog in all of Nicaragua! Her name basically means goat kid (kinda perfect!) and she helped me do my homework every night and sometimes she was waiting for us on the doorstep-yes I wanted to bring her home!




The view outside out cabin was my kind of view and pretty hilarious.



OK! Next up will be a much shorter post that will basically just be videos of Keith surfing and pictures of gorgeous beaches!