Mexico! Summer of 2008 (Copy)

Mexico! Summer of 2008 (Copy) - Page Text Content

FC: Mexico! | 2008 | Cuernavaca Playa del Carmen Oaxaca Puerto Escondido

1: Cuernavaca June | Cuernavaca is the City of Eternal Spring - Spring weather all year round. It was described as the place where the wealthy Mexicans vacation in Mexico.

2: This was my room for the month. I even got my own bathroom. Below is the house where I stayed. | Mario Saavedra He took care of me. He made me breakfast and lunch everyday.

3: My Host Family The Saavedras Mario and his daughter, Toania, and her kids, Nico (2) and Ivanna (5). Their cousin, Mario's daughter's daughter (I wish I could remember her name) would visit once a week. This family was my favorite.

4: My walk to school everyday. Every morning I would meet up with other students and walk to the school together. After breakfast, that hill was a killer!

5: The school and its classrooms by the pool. | I made 2 good friends there. Jasmine from New York and Christina (Kiki) from Sweden. | EXPERIENCIA

6: Downtown Cuernavaca & its Super Mercado | The mosquitos were eating me alive!

7: Every Saturday and Sunday the school would take the students on field trips in and out of the state of Morelos. | XOLCHICALCO | June 14 | These were the first pyramids I have ever been to. The guide was very nice and the view was amazing.

8: June 15 We went to Chalma, a beautiful church. Chalma is rushed every Sunday from people all over Mexico for church and prayer. CHALMA

9: MALINACLO It was a beautiful hike and we met a very kind man who lived in the mountains. | June 15

10: TEPOZTLAN | ...a hike from hell! I got to feed some animals though! | June 21 A town and hike. Albeit, this was a gorgeous hike, but...

11: Teotihuacan | June 22 Yet again, more pyramids | Carlos was our guide for the weekends. He was learning English & German. We stopped by a family store who dressed us up touristy & had a donkey that drank cola.

12: Lagunas de Zempoala June 28 An amazing lake & horseback riding

13: TAXCO June 29 | Taxco is famous for its silver. Its an amazing little town. | LAS GRUTAS | A cave over a mile & a half deep. The tour was entirely in Spanish - didn't understand a thing!

14: PLAYA DEL CARMEN! | JULY A stunning sunrise & a view of the beach from la Quinta Avenida (5th Ave)

15: My Host Family The mom's name is Guadalupe (left). She was so wonderful and did everything she could to take care of me. It was a 15 minute bus ride to school, and she rode with me on the bus the two times until I was comfortable doing it alone. She lived with her three kids, all in there 20s. Her son-in-law was from Texas and married to her oldest daughter (left).

16: La QUINTA | La Quinta is the main strip in Playa, and the main attraction. There are restaurants, bars, and stores everywhere, and the sales people are relentless. The beach is literally down the street from the strip.

17: U.S. transplanted! | All of these places were found on Quinta - except for the 2nd McDonalds, that was a mile away.

18: SOLEXICO | I did meet some great people though. Patty (left), Niko (up lft), and Tim & Aysem (above). Patty was living in Playa and showed me around the town. Babe's was a Thai food place owned by Swedish people. Mashed potatoes and swedish meatballs were on the menu! | The school was gorgeous! But over run with teenage students there to have sex on the beach - and I don't mean the drink!

19: DAY AT THE BEACH! July 12 Solexico didn't offer weekend trips, but there were tourist attractions and awesome beaches. My first weekend there I spent an entire day at the beach. Patty and I rented a couple lounge chairs, and had food and drinks brought to us, read books, and relaxed all day!

20: TULUM July 16 | I went to Tulum with Aysem & Tim. I would never feel comfortable enough to do this by myself, but we just hopped on a bus going to Tulum after classes and gave ourselves a tour. It was beyond gorgeous, AND HOT. There were iguanas everywhere!

21: ISLA MUJERES July 19 | Isla Mujeres was a relaxing theme park of sorts. Open bar all day and all you can eat buffet, canoeing, snorkeling, zip lining, a hammock garden, a panoramic pool, and beautiful trails. Patty went with me and we had a great breakfast on the ferry there, and tasty pina coladas on the way back!

22: I couldn't take any pictures, because I was there by myself and I couldn't afford the professional pictures. BUT, I got a dolphin hug & kiss on the cheek, they jumped over my head (above), and two dolphins pushed me by the bottoms of my feet out of the water, aka The Superman. It was amazing! | July 26 SWIMMING WITH DOLPHINS!! | Picture to the left is from a pamphlet, but its what I did!

23: I got up very early my last weekend in Playa. Guadalupe got up early with me and took me to where she normally goes to watch the sunrise. It was absolutely beautiful!

24: OAXACA | August | Oaxaca was by far my favorite city. It has so much culture and old architecture. Town events were always happening.

25: My Host Family Rosa was the grandmother and her daughter Norma lived at the house with her 2 children, Hemaina (13) and Armando (12). They were very nice and wanted me to be as comfortable as possible. I can't recall the little dog's name, but he kept me company too.

26: My walk to school every day! I walked by gorgeous buildings and crossed through parks that always had people having a good time. | The walk took me about 20-25 minutes to get to the school from my host family's home. The walk was worth the time.

27: SOLEXICO This school was my favorite as well. The students were all their to learn and to have a good time. The teachers were also amazing. Anna Maria (right corner) was great and very patient. I would definetly come back to this school.

28: Los Calles

29: de Oaxaca

30: Mercados! There were about a half a dozen mercados in Oaxaca. There were some that were just for arts or food, and there were some that had it all!

31: Nights Out with the Students 1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila...floor | The picture above is the memory of my first shot of Mezcal. All the teachers, staff and students were clapping and cheering me on - bad influences!

32: This Solexico did provide weekend excursions! Arbol del Tule and Hierve el Agua | Arbol del Tule is 14 meters in diameter. What's so special about this tree is that it has figures in its trunk. For example, an elephant in the center and a person's face on the right! | Hierve el Agua are natural hot springs. They've assisted a little with some cement, but you could swim in the pools and enjoy the breath-taking views.

33: We went to a small town (I can't remember the name) where there was a family that made handmade rugs with handmade dyes. The woman above is 93 years old and been making rugs for 80 years. | Benito Juarez We went hiking and zip-lining.

34: Puerto Escondido | During my 2nd to last week in Oaxaca I was burnt out with school. I was tired and needed a break from learning Spanish. Originally I was going to volunteer at an orphanage, but, unfortunately, actually getting to the orphanage proved to be too stressful. So, I decided to take a spontaneous trip to Puerto Escondido with plans to return to class for my final week. I received a refund for a week's worth of school, researched the internet for a list of hostel/hotels, printed a map of Puerto Escondido, and hopped on a 10 hour overnight bus ride. Little did I know that the air conditioning would be blaring throughout the night and I didn't bring the right clothes ...and I caught a cold. | It wasn't tourist season, so there was some construction happening.

35: I spent 3 days and 2 nights there. I checked out a few hotels and decided on The Mayflower Hotel/Hostel. As my cold set in, I was never so happy for a room to myself and cable tv. I spent most of my time in the room, but explored the morning of arrival and the afternoon of check out, when I also decided to relax and read on the beach.

36: I AM HOME! | Santa Cruz, CA September 1, 2008

37: Thank you Charley and Laura! I had such a great time!