Sunday, June 1, 2008

Greetings from San Cristobal

It's hard finding time to blog between sightseeing, resting, and beers....I've given up on the idea of uploading photos. The technology here is way behind (I guess that's not a big surprise). I've gotten some amazing shots though and will dedicate a whole blog entry of pics when I get back into the US.

It's kind of hard to write about places without accompanying photos. Since I last wrote, I've really settled in and actually feel like I'm on vacation. I think the hussle and bussle of Mexico City kept me kind of wound up when what I really needed was to relax. Now that we've been in other cities that are more relaxed, I'm feeling so much better. Pueblo was a beautiful city with beautiful architecture, but I spent a good portion of my time there sitting on a bench people watching, reading, and writing in my journal.

We spent the last day and a half in Oaxaca, which was also beautiful. The landscape was stunning, but the architecture was better in Pueblo. Oaxaca was full of beggers. Mostly, they were little kids (they spotted us right off and came up hands out asking for pesos), old women, and handicapped people. Guess what we saw? More churches. I thought New England had a lot, but Mexico wins the prize on that front.

We went to a market where some people in our group tasted a local delicacy...grasshoppers. I didn't. My nose has been super sensitive here causing me to gag at times, so I didn't intend on taking that chance. Instead I tasted a local treat of Mezcal (similar to tequilla). We also went to more ruins. About 90% of the ruins have been reconstructed, so it's hard to know exactly how accurate they are, but the stone carvings are really amazing. After that I spent the day at the pool (you guessed it...drinking beers). There was a group of preteens that were there from Mexico City on vacation and they sang Beetles and Madonna songs to us and then practiced their English with us. That was sweet.

Last night I spent the night curled up on a bus. Now I'm here in San Cristobal and we'll be exploring here for 2 days. I'm going to go hoarseback riding and on a speedboat tour. The weather here is much more damp and cool (so far).

Just a few fun details:

*I'm not at all hungry (can you imagine?)
*No tummy rumblings yet, but my roommate, Mel, wasn't so lucky
*Meals and drinks are a little more expensive than I thought they would be, but I think it might be due to the fact that Ernesto, our guide, is bringing us to all the safe Westerner friendly places so that we don't get sick.
*There are tons of people just hanging around the ruins selling junk to tourists. I don't know how they support themselves on this as I haven't seen one person sell anything yet


That's about it for now...gotta run to meet the group for breakfast! Adios!!!

3 comments:

MOM said...

It was so great to talk to you yesterday. I'm glad your finally relaxing even though the bus sounds uncomfortable. I can't wait to see all the pics. Read blog to Grandma, Timmie, Uncle Brian. They all send you their best wishes. One week down two more to go! Love, MOM

UrbanHippieMama said...

Sounds absolutely wonderful!!! Can't wait to see you and all your pictures.
:)
xoxoxo

Lauren said...

Shawna, I hope that you will have a chance to venture off the beaten path and sample some food at local hangouts...that'd be a fun culinary adventure! San Cristobal is lovely--my uncle had a summer home there! I stayed there and started a fire while making cactus soup. Their fire department was, uhh, basically just townsfolk. Have a phenomenal time in San Cristobal.