As promised...

Dear Readers,

I deliver unto thee, as promised, pictures from our previous weekend's excursion to the beautiful "puebla magica" of Tapalpa. Tapalpa is high in the mountains outside or Guadalajara. And, as I'm sure you'll agree with me after viewing the pictures, "puebla magica" is the spanish way of saying "really stinkin' cute little town."

Photo credits go to my suegra (mom-in-law) for her fantastic photographic eye!

Welcome to Tapalpa! As you can see "stinkin' cute" is a fitting description. The best things to do in Tapalpa are wander, relax, eat, and stroll with your man.















Our hotel was beautiful in it's own right. It had a gorgeous courtyard, modern bathrooms, and a man whose job it was to come to your room on request build a fire in the fireplace to keep you warm on a chilly mountain night.



My new fave photo. Thanks mom2.0!



Mary (mom-in-law) and I had a lot fun searching for handmade artisan pieces. I bought a basket from this little woman, and we both bought blankets from Graciela. You know something is handmade when you ask, "how did you make this?" and the answer begins with "well...first you take a sheep."





The town and hotel were even beautiful at night!





We ventured out to see the unusual rock formations outside of town and were equally amazed by the size of the cactus trees.





On our way back we stopped to capture the view of the valley below. It was a splendidly sunny day.



All is well here in Mexico. Barrett and I have eaten enough food from the local market that our stomachs are bullet proof. No longer do we fear the Mexican weight loss program known as Montezuma's revenge. For this weekend, we've lined up a soccer match, museum visits here in Guadalajara (I'm so excited!...giggle, snort...push up glasses...check pocket protector), and a hiking trip to see the world's only round pyramids.

Till then dear friends.

Traveling On,
Megan

We're Not Dead Yet...

Life is difficult my friends. Life is difficult.

I continue to be amazed that we can hold up under the burdens we bear. We've been subjected to both beautiful scenery and gracious hospitality. The most onerous of duties has been drinking well-made and finely-aged tequila. Somehow...we carry on.

I've started taking private spanish lessons in addition to my classes. Barrett's parents were here last weekend too, so we are staying muy busy. Oh yeah...rockin' the spanglish. Here are some pics of our recent excursions. Feel free to send me your questions about the production methods of tequila, because yes, I am now an expert in both production and consumption!

Our School Sponsored (that's right, Mexico rocks) trip to the town of Tequila.

The beautiful landscape of the town of Tequila. We visited an agave farm and a distillery. Both were just outside of town.



A gorgeous little chapel at the distillery we visited.



All tequila is made from blue agave grown in only five states in Mexico. Anywhere else or any other type of agave and all you've got is Mezcal.



Megan and the jimador. Jimadors harvest the mature agave pinas (the hearts are called pinas, spanish for pineapples, because that's what they look like with the leaves cut off). Agave must be harvested by hand, but be careful! These plants are very spiky and prickly.



Cooking the agave in clay ovens.



Tasting cooked agave. Yum...tastes like sweet potatoes!



After the juice from the cooked agaves is squeezed out, fermented and double distilled, it is aged. Tequila is aged in white oak barrels. All tequila is clear until it's aged, then it slowly gets darker the longer it's in the barrel. This distillery was very environmentally conscious, so they keep the aging room cool and at the right humidity by letting trees grow through the building.



Of course we're smiling. There's tequila in them bags!



We ate lunch overlooking the beginning of the San Andres fault line.



We've also found a beautiful little suburb outside of Guadalajara called Tlaquepaque (try saying that three times fast). It's become one of our favorite places to go to get away from the busy city.









Obviously we are suffering greatly, but we've decided to tough it out and have even extended our trip until February 9th. I'll post pictures of our mountain top "Puebla Magica" trip with Barrett's folks very soon. I have a lot of pictures to go through thanks to the keen eye of my mother-in-law. She likes taking photos like some people like breathing.

Until then dear friends Barrett and I will continue to be brave and not shirk our responsibilities. The weather this week is supposed to be in the 80's. Oh...the responsibility!

Carrying on,
Megan

Revenge of the Late Night Taco

After a short hiatus caused by a malevolent taco, I am back on track. How could our young heroine be taken in by a nefarious latin sandwich? This particular taco temptress was drenched in my new favorite sauce, barbacoa. Trust me my friends, if God eats tacos, they are covered in barbacoa sauce. The Lord Almighty, however, had nothing to do with the three tacos I purchased from a restaurant on Juarez street on Monday night...

Let us pause for a moment and consider some of the basic facts here. Juarez Street is the main street in historic Guadalajara. This is not a shady place. It makes no sense that I would get sick from these tacos, when just two nights before I ate tacos from the Mercado Liberdad. Seriously?! Even the Mexicans here say not to eat at the Mercado! I eat there. No problemo. I go to a real restaurant and I can't get out of bed for a day! Really? Really!

...although I did spend a great deal of time praying while laying in bed all day Wednesday.

But that's all behind me now thanks to my caring hubby and and infinite amount of water and chicken soup. Spanish classes continue to go well. I missed the field trip, but Barrett and I had plans to go to that town together again anyway. We got out for some sight seeing today, and I've had a lot of requests for pics, so here's a quick tour of the historic center.

The main landmark is the cathedral. It's very pretty and ornate on the inside. It is clear from the time you walk in the doors that people take great care and pride in every aspect of the church. Some things might seem garish to our American eyes, but the devotion of the people cannot be questioned.



The holy item not to miss is definitely Santa Inocencia (Saint Innocent). The relics are the hands and blood of a child saint. According to the posted texts. This young girl was one of the first martyrs during a time of Catholic persecution in Mexico. You have to wait if you want a close look because she is always surrounded by people. Now...I've studied my fair share of relics as an art historian, but no matter how many I've seen in pictures, the real life ones can still give me the willies. If you look closely in this snapshot, you can see that people have brought pictures of their children to place with the relic.



This is the inside of the Palacio Municipal (City Hall), a really beautiful building with a super scary mural of the founding of Guadalajara. Apparently if a guy named "Bloody Guzman" is the founder of your city, it is no bueno to be a native.




This beautiful place is not a landing spot for an alien spaceship. It's a monument to the illustrious sons and daughters of Jalisco (the Mexican state that we are currently residing in).



This is the regional museum. I can't wait to go in there! Nerd attack...giggle, snort, push up glasses...



This is the fountain in the Plaza de la Liberation and the gorgeous Teatro Degollado. Barr and I are hoping to get tickets to the Philharmonic there. The Teatro was recently spruced up, and the inside is supposed to be absolutely opulent.



There are lots of places to stroll, shop, and lounge in the city. You can't throw a stick and not a hit a gurgling fountain of some kind once you're in this area.



Believe it or not, Barrett and I have managed to make friends of some fellow travelers (a photographer and a writer, go figure), so the weekend promises fun in the form of salsa dance lessons, dinner with new friends, and a trip to the town of Tequila.

Let me leave you with some well thought out medical advice: If you believe yourself to be suffering from a stomach ailment caused by a type of bacteria or "bug," the most direct way to kill said bug and sanitize your stomach is to pour tequila directly into the affected area. We've done a survey, and nine out of ten margarita drinkers believe this statement to be both correct and medically sound. We'll let you know how the field study progresses.

Cheers,
Megan

PS Here's a photo of the duck that bit me. Que pato malo!

Beware of the Guard Goose!

After three days and two nights in Guadalajara, we don't have much to say for ourselves. It has been a harrowing adventure my friends, harrowing.

We checked into the hotel Friday afternoon. Our room is clean and spacious, and there is always a movie dubbed in Spanish playing on one of our 7 cable channels. That evening we ate a large meal in the plaza that sits in the shadow of the town's enormous cathedral. Christmas decorations were still up everywhere, and we were feeling quite pleased with ourselves.

That night it began to rain...

The rain continued all through the next day, and I mean ALL through the next day. But being the intrepid pair we are, we made it out for 3 fine meals. There is a pasteleria just down from our hotel and the bakery for it is just next door. So every time we leave the hotel in the morning it smells like fresh baked sweets. Barrett walked us over a mile to a Tortas Ahogadas stand (have you ever been splashed by a car with Mexican rain water? I have...thanks Barr...thanks) that was barely more than an open air one-car garage. But, oh my goodness, the "drowned sandwich" of Guadalajara is so good. It's a pork filled baguette covered in spicy red sauce. I ordered mine mild, but accidentally picked up Barrett's plate when we went to the table. My lips tingled for over an hour after only one bite! That's the only thing this place serves, but you can get it with avocado and squeeze limes over it. Truly delicioso! For dinner we found a taco stand in the market that will serve you up a taco made from just about any part of an animal you can think of. We played it pretty safe, but I've got my eye on a "head meat" aka brain taco.

It rained all that day so we were wet, full to the brim, and sleepy. We crashed after watching Alien 3 in spanish and were ready to go at it again today even though it was supposed to rain again...

but then, there was sun...

And lots of it, today has been a beautiful 75 and sunny. We walked through the big Parque Aqua Azul, which is the premier park in Guadalajara. It's verdant and serene. You might never know you were in the big city. People were there with workout groups or strolling with their families. There's a large butterfly dome and a bird house. But beware of the guardian goose! Upon entering the birdhouse you can easily become distracted by the colorful parrots and showy peacock, but don't take your eyes off the one scraggly goose that hisses, follows you around, and ultimately bites blonde tourists on the ankle! Muy mal pavo! Muy mal! That's one very bad goose!

But now that I've recovered from the trauma, had a delicious torta from the bakery down the street, and am lounging in the sunny green courtyard of our hotel, it doesn't seem so bad.

Till next time,
Megan