Ciudad de México, México, o D.F.

Since I´m a photographer, this story is much easier to tell via pictures. Here is my experience in Mexico City. =)



First we went to Teotihuacán. It was amazing. The whole group climbed the Pirámide del Sol, and this is me taking a short break. This pyramid was huge!




Yay!! I have proof that I made it to the top. I stayed on top of this grand pyramid for a while. Lol.




Afterward, we were free to roam and explore for a couple of hours. I was dumb enough to choose to climb the other huge pyramid. I made it though. The pyramid that I climbed first is behind my head.




It really is absolutely beautiful here. It´s amazing that someone could build this using only their hands and a lot of people. I can´t even begin to imagine. After we descended the pyramid that this was taken from we did a little bit of shopping in the mini mercado. There are also TONS of people here walking around trying to sell you their crafts. We got so annoyed that we started singing Waka Waka and Cuidado con el Fuego every time one approached. It was great. Lol.




The second pyramid is the one that killed. It was so hard that we almost didn´t make it. We were the only ones who decided to climb the second one.




After Teotihuacán, we arrived in Mexico City and went to the Basilica. It is a HUGE church, and this is the original picture of the Virgen de Guadalupe.




This is the beginning of Saturday. We saw a GIGANTIC Cathedral. It was pretty. I think someone said it was the 3rd largest in Mexico or in the world. I can´t remember.




Outside that day it was really gloomy and rainy. Stephen forgot his umbrella, and before we got off the bus he asked our masculine, macho bus driver if he could borrow one. The bus driver grabbed this pink umbrella with ballet slippers and bows on it, and he handed it to Stephen. I don´t know what was funnier, the fact that Stephen was walking around with a little girl´s umbrella, or that the bus driver had it. Hahaha.




This is a picture of the Zócalo. It is the main plaza of Mexico City. We went to several places around the plaza including the Cathedral, the Museum of the Templo Mayor, and the Palacio Nacional.




In front of the Templo Mayor Museum, there is a replica of one of the sculptures inside. I believe we have some Aztec blood in our veins because not just anyone can pull of this magnificent pose.




This is the Templo Mayor, or the Main Temple of the Aztecs. It is all that is left of their grand city and capital, Tenochtítlan. The Spanish conquistadors destroyed the rest. This was also really cool to see because it is living evidence of the magnificence and power of the Aztec Empire. I am such a nerd. =)




Some of my friends and I after our tour of the museum went out into the ruins of the Templo Mayor. It was just amazing.




After our visit to the Templo Mayor, we walked to the Palacio Nacional. It is a really important building, but I´m still not sure why. I asked a few people, and no one gave me a straight answer, lol. Diego Rivera painted LOTS of murals here though. He pretty much painted the entire history of the indians of Mexico. He painted their splendor, their conquering, and their suffering. I really liked these murals.




Desi and I =)




Sarah and I =)




Afterward, we walked to the House of Tiles. In route, I looked back and saw a hilarous sight. There is a kid here that is a head taller than everyone in our group. Apparently, he is a head taller than everyone in Mexico as well. Hahaha.




The Casa de Azulejos (House of Tiles) is cool, but nothing spectacular in my opinion. By this point in the day, everyone was tired, hot, and hungry. There was a restaurant, some gift shops and such inside this building, and we ate here.




After lunch and a break for about an hour, we walked to the Palacio de Bellas Artes. It´s another old, important, pretty building in Mexico City. We went inside and saw some more murals and another art exhibit. It was pretty, but I didn´t enjoy it because I was so tired. The morale of the group at this point was pretty low.




Afterward we got another break and rode the bus to the Castillo de Chapultepec. It´s ANOTHER old, big, pretty building that used to be someone´s house but now is a museum. We got about 2 hours here to "explore." Everyone looked for about 20 minutes then rested for the rest of the time. While exploring, we saw this historic figure of Mexico´s history. I don´t have any idea who it really is, but we thought we found Harry Potter. Hahahaa.




The view from El Castillo was REALLY good. Mexico City is HUGE! I could not believe it. This is about one hundredth of what I saw.




The Castillo de Chapultepec is pretty impressive I have to admit. It is huge. I could never imagine living in a place like this.




After the Castillo, we went to the Museum of Anthropology. This is the famous Piedra del Sol. It was used as a calendar by the Aztecs, and it weighs some two tons. It´s huge, and totally awesome.




There were a lot of different rooms in this museum. I went to the Aztecs, Mayans, and Olmecs. This is a giant Olmec head. Haha. It´s really big.




After our freedom in the museum, we went to the ballet in the museum that night. It was a mixture of traditional indian dance and old, european dance. Overall it was really, really cool.




This was the first place we went Sunday morning. It was a nice little place. We ate breakfast here in a quaint little restaurant that was really good with HORRIBLE service. That´s weird here because service in restaurants is usually excellent. I don´t know what happened.




Jill and I =)




These are a couple of my angelic friends. Hahaha.




This is a view of the beautiful Coyoacán. It´s a quaint little place in Mexico City where you can see little shops and Frida Kahlo´s house.




This is the "jardín" of Frida Kahlo´s house. AJ is a HUGE fan of Frida, and this is a replica of a picture of Frida and Diego Rivera that we saw in one of the rooms here. She is standing exactly where Frida stood.




After we saw Frida´s house, we went to Xochimilco. It was my FAVORITE place of all the places we went. These are big boats that you can ride and relax, and other people come up in their mini boats to sell you their crafts or food. It´s soooooo cool and relaxing.




The first thing I did when we got in the boat was lay here. Haha. Others followed soon after.




Jill, Me, AJ, and Sarah =) (and Estefan in the background)




Margaret, Briana, Desi, Melanie, and Mason =)




I called Dulce before we even knew we were taking a ride in the boats. lol




AJ and I, Guava Boing and Coke (with real sugar!!)




Xochimilco




Self-Explanatory =)

I think I am going to go to Cedar Point when I get back.

Hola otra vez!!

Wow.. I really haven´t written in a while... I´m very sorry, but I have been VERY busy. It´s incredible. I can´t believe I only have 13 days left!! It´s happy and sad all at the same time. I can´t wait to come home to Martinsville, but I don´t want to leave the relaxed life here. Ugh, why is life so difficult? I think I´m just going to buy a private jet or a jetpack and fly here whenever I need a break. If you can´t tell, I´m feeling magnificent. I have had two WONDERFUL weeks. Let´s recount...

I TURNED 18 JULY 6th!

I am now legally an adult in the U.S. It´s weird to think about, and I still don´t want to grow up. I like being a kid, so I´m probably still going to enjoy kid-hood. Haha.
Anyway, my birthday was incredible. I woke up to a boquet of pink roses, a card, and a balloon from my family, and they all hugged me and told me Happy Birthday. They sang too. Lol. I also always wondered what it would be like to go to school on my birthday...now I know! I don´t like it. Lol. I feel bad for all of those people with birthdays August through May... Oh well. School wasn´t all bad. My classmates sang to me ¨Las Mañanitas¨ which is the song for happy birthday down here. It was great. I had two dance classes that day too. My teacher of arabic let me wear her jingly hip scarf!! It was sooooo cool!! It was actually so cool that I bought a pink one for myself today... Lol. I also got to pick the song that we danced to in my hip hop class with Oscar, AJ, Hailey, and Jilly that day. It was RAD!

The next day was my FIESTA!! There were more than 40 people in my house. I invited my cousins, my friends from here, and my friends from school. It was great! My cousins and sisters helped my mom and I make the snacks beforehand. Then, everyone else showed up, and we all talked and danced and had a blast! And Lasho shoved my face in my cake because apparently that´s a tradition here. I think we should observe the tradition in the U.S. too because it was funny. Haha. All-in-all, it was a great two days.

I would also like to thank my family and friends for the multitudes of birthday cards i have received. I have loved every single one. :-)

My sister, Euge, finally came home for good 2 days before my birthday too!! She is wonderful, and I love her. She´s young and loca like me. Hahaha. We´re perfect for each other. I´m pretty sure I have a friend for life there. =)

Hm... We learned an EXTREMELY cool dance in my hiphop/reggaeton class. It was really demanding, but by far the best one yet. It was a combination of hiphop, reggaeton, and crumping. Oh my gosh. As they say here, it was FREGON! Fregon is really really extremely awesome to the max. I can´t wait to find out what´s going to happen tomorrow.
We also went to Mexico City this past weekend, and it was long, but awesome. I´m going to write a separate entry about that trip.

Today, I was visiting the hippies here, and I heard someone talking in Spanish. Normal, right? Yes, but this was said with the accent of a student who doesn´t have much practice and has just been thrown into a city full of Spanish-speakers. It was someone from Iowa who is here in San Luis for a mission trip. I talked to him and his dad (in Spanish) for a while. It wasn´t anything huge, but it made me realize how much I have improved. This boy had studied Spanish for 4 years, and I had to speak really slowly so that he could understand me. I asked my sister afterward if it was because my grammar was incorrect, and she said no. There were no problems with my grammar. I just about jumped in the air I was so happy. I can see progress. There is cold-hard evidence!! I have to say thank you again, to everyone in the Martinsville High School Spanish Department. Thank you Mr. Maxwell, Mrs. Martin, and Mrs. Uebel. If I did not have you guys, I would not still be here. THANK YOU!!!

I don´t have ANY mosquito bites at the moment. The Raid plug-in and screen are working wonders.

I tried enchiladas potosinas. Those are enchiladas that were created in and native to San Luis Potosí. They are surprisingly delicious. They are made with a small, orange tortilla, cheese, various chiles, and usually eaten with aguacate. I don´t really like aguacate, but with these, it´s perfect.

For now, that´s all I have because I don´t want to use up too much of my hour right now. I need to save some for my Mexico City excursion.

Thanks again to all of you who have supported me and are continuing to support and pray for me. I really appreciate it.

Overall, I love it here. It´s great. My speaking has improved, my mood has improved and stabilized, and I´m just in love with this place. I haven´t had a bad day in a long time.

This is my dance (arabic/traditional polka/salsa) teacher, Michelle. On my birthday, she let me wear her jingly scarf. I was sooooo excited. Lol.

On our walk from one dance class to the other, we saw HERBIE! He was just chillin in the street! It was totally awesome. lol

This is my hip-hop/reggaeton dance class and one of our teachers, Oscar. AJ and Hailey are on the right. I had to wear the wizard´s hat because it was my birthday. I think. Lol. I´m actually not sure what the hat had to do with my birthday. Lol

This is what usually happens during a class... It´s kinda wild. Lol.

Once again, this is a glimpse into a normal class for us. Haha.

18 years old and chocolate cake!! Muy Mexican, no? Haha. All of the other birthdays had traditional Mexican cakes, tres leches, etc. But my family loves me sooo much that I got CHOCOLATE!! Hehehe. Thanks Maru!!

My WONDERFUL sister, Euge, and I were finally together on my birthday!

My wonderful chocolate cake was in my nose on my birthday. This is a tradition I think we should start in the States. =)

Self-explanatory. Haha.