2014.08.15

August Wedding

Sorry that I have abandoned this blog for the moment but I was helping my friend prepare for her wedding. I was named the unofficial wedding planner. :P There is a first time for everything.

Here are some pictures of the bride and groom:

My sister in all her innocent :)

Me with the bouquet

Aren't they beautiful?

Have a lovely week,

Cs.

Puerto Vallarta - Last Weekend in Mexico

Day 33 & 34

One of the places that I wanted to visit during my time in Vallarta was Islas Marietas. We went to a travel agent to book a tour. Since it is a national park, only guided tours are allowed to enter. We only got a place for the following day so we decided to go to the beach. We asked the agent for some recommendations. She suggested that we take a bus to Boca de Tomatlan. She suggested this location because it has salty/ocean water, fresh water, and also mountains in the background. It took us forever to find the bus station but once there we got on the bus and we were off. On the way there we met up with two wonderful Mexicans on the bus named Gerardo, and Monserrat. They had found a very lovely beach on the internet and it was just an additional 20 minutes walk from the bus stop. They invited us so we decided to go with them to this famous Colomitas beach. In reality, the 20 minute walk turned out to be a 40 minute intensive hike, but once we arrived was it ever worth it. The trek through the Mexican jungle in 40 degree heat was not very pleasant but certainly an experience to arrive at the beach. 

We spend the whole day together with our new Mexican friends enjoying the lovely beach. During our conversations I discovered that the majority of Mexicans do not know how to swim, which I found very interesting. I could not believe it. They said that this was because the majority of Mexican live in the largest cities away from the water so they enjoy the water by floating. For the way back, we arranged with a boat taxi to take us back to the bus stop so we did not have to repeat our trek through the mountains. Upon our return to Vallarta, our new friends took us on a guided tour of the down town of Vallarta, which I really appreciated. For the evening, we just had some tacos al pastor. We had originally planned to go out dancing but, I was dead tired from our adventure.

The next day we had to get up super early to arrived at the marina for the boat trip. It was lovely. It ended up being a snorkelling tour, which our lovely travel agent forgot to mention. ;P After this trip I came to the definite conclusion that I don't prefer snorkelling and that it gives me major motion sickness. On the much more positive side, Islas Marietas is beautiful. It is a natural donut shaped rock formation with vegetation on top and water coming in from the bottom.

This was the lovely couple that we met on the boat tour:

When we got back to Vallarta, we stopped to grab a bite to eat before catching our bus back to Guadalajara. My host mother recommended a place called the 8 Tostadas. We had lunch there because it was really close to the marina. Then we went to the bus station. We were supposed to arrived back in Guadalajara at 7:45pm, which would have given me a bit more time to spend with my host family, and also to pack my luggage. The bus was late because there was traffic getting into Guadalajara so I ended getting home after 10pm. I packed my bags, said goodbye to my host family, and got to bed at midnight, only to get up 3 hours later to be driven to the airport. Everything worked out in the end. My flight home was a better experience with United Airlines than my flight upon arrival. Going out of Mexico I got flagged (and I was the only one on my flight) for drug testing. I knew exactly what she was doing because I occasionally have seen the show Border Security with my father. Evidently, she did not find anything and I was free to go.

All in all, a lovely ending to my first but definitely not the last Mexican adventure!

Bye bye Mexico! 

2014.07.25

Day 32

Happy Birthday to my cousins Diana and Tibor! All the best to them! Sok puszit kuldok Mexikobol.

I had my Spanish final exam. I was a bit nervous about it, but in the end I did really well. I am officially ready to start the next level in Spanish.

After class, with my school mate Eiichi, we took a taxi to the bus station and got on the bus to Puerto Vallarta. It took 5 hours to get there because of the traffic. Upon arrival we checked into our hotel. We were both starving so we went out for a seafood dinner. I had a shrimp ceviche, which was very, very good. 

We stayed right in the down town of old Vallarta. It was a bit difficult to sleep because of the volume of the music but the location, on the other hand, was a amazing.

Have a lovely day,
Cs.

2014.07.24

Day 31

The day after my birthday.

Today I went to class. After class, as I was waiting for my ride, one of the cleaning ladies at my school thought I looked 19 or 20 years old. I could not believe it. I don't want to look so young. I want to look my age. This has happened to me often in Mexico, when numerous people have thought that I look very young. 

After class, I came home to prepare for my trip to Vallarta for the weekend, and to study for my Spanish exam. 

In the evening, I went out for tacos with the cousins. I said goodbye to them. It will be the last time that we see each other.

This was a productive day! :)

Have a lovely weekend,
Cs.

2014.07.23 - My Birthday!

Day 30 - My Birthday!

This morning I woke up and got ready.

We went to the tianguis together to buy some fruits, vegetables, cheese and meat. It was another lovely experience. We also had breakfast the the tianguis, very large quesadillas. I had my filled with cheese and mushrooms, and some other types of steamed vegetables. I put cream and salsa on top. It was really good and super filling. A typical Mexican breakfast. 

Chilli

Quesadilla preparation

Quesadilla with red and green salsa

Nopal

Class was good, like always.

After class, my Spanish teacher came to our house to have lunch with me and the whole family. It was really nice. My host mother made carne en su jugo, which is one of my favourite dishes here. They bought a cake for me of tres leches. I had a truly Mexican experience because my head went into the cake, pushed by my lovely host sister. It took me completely by surprised but I was later told that this is a very Mexican experience. Not a very nice one. :P They gave me a lovely bag for my birthday that it embroidered with flowers. It is lovely. 

With cake in my face

What do you think?

In the evening, I went out with my Spanish language teacher. His name is Vidal. We tried some local beer from Guadalajara and took a lovely walk in the city at night. It was a very nice evening. I had the darker beer. It tasted a bit like chocolate. 

Vidal with the Ferenc Liszt Monument in Guadalajara. Who knew?

It is not everyday that one has the chance to turn 26 in Mexico! :) It was a lovely experience.

Namaste,

Cs.

2014.07.22

Day 29

This morning I woke up super early to get to the hair dressers on time. The appointment took a bit longer than expected and I was in a rush to get back home to make it to my class on time. Everything worked out in the end.

After class I had a final meeting with the exchange program coordinator about any final thoughts, problems, suggestions. I told her a couple of things to improve. She is a very nice person. Since she works at the same office as my friend Karla, I waited for Karla to get off of work and we hung out. Her husband came to pick us up and then we went to get the baby, Jorgito. We took a little walk together, and we went to the Riu Hotel. We went up to the 33ird floor to have a see a lovely view of the city. I am constantly amazed at the size of Guadalajara. It stretches as far as the eye can see. In the background it is surrounded by large hills. It is just beautiful. The Riu Hotel is the tallest building in the city, and the only skyscraper. After they took me out to a taqeria (where they sell tacos). We got a plate of tacos al pastor meat and we eat made out own tacos. It was delicious. They sang the Mexican birthday song to me and gave me some chocolate. It was a very lovely evening. I said bye to Karla and her husband, and I hope to see them in Germany in October. :)

Have a lovely day,
Cs.

2014.07.21 - Apu szulinapja

Day 28 - Week 5

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAREST FATHER! :) sok puszi

This morning my host sister left for Mexico City. I will not see her again before I leave.

This morning I made my own quesedillas for breakfast. I am learning the Mexican way. :)

Before my language course, I was able to make an appointment for myself and to tell the lady on the phone what I wanted done. I am happy about this accomplishment. 

After my language course, I met up with the family's cousin, Alejandra. She is very nice. Together we went to see the Palacio de Gobierno again. She explained a bit more about the murals there. We took a little walk in the down town of Guadalajara. She stopped at one moment and asked what I thought of a particular view. She asked me if I thought that it looked European, because she thought so. :) What do you think? It is the two last pictures. We went for a Michelada after our visit and had a nice chat. I want to find a really good Michelada recipe. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Courtyard of the Palacio de Gobierno

Cathedral towers

Teatro Degollado

Down town Guadalajara

Does it look European?

In the evening, I had guacamole. This is the most wonderful thing here. It is so delicious. Nothing compares. It is my favourite Mexican food. I also went to pick the flowers of the orange tree. I love the smell and I want to dry them and to make a tea. I went to pick them on the street from a tree in front of a house, but the people were just inside near the window so I stopped picking it because I thought that it was their property. Upon my return home, my host mother informed me that since it is on the street it is not their property and can also be picked. So maybe tomorrow I will go back and get some more.

Have a lovely day,
Cs.