Goza Mi Corazón Por Haber Estado Aquí

Note: I wrote this last night... today is Monday (not Sunday) and I went to school (not waterfalls). Just go with it.

Hi everyone!
Hope you had a fabulous week-weekend. I sure have! My days have been full and I basically collapse into bed each night. For example...

Today, at 6ish, Laura and I decided to go to a cafe to write our blogs and putz. It´s Sunday, so we knew that most places would be closed because here almost everyone takes Sundays off to spend with the family. We had a good idea of a couple places that would be open though, so we weren´t worried. A 2 hour walk later, we finally found a place with internet that was open. And this is in a city of 500,000! Crazy that it was so difficult.

Also, on that note, I´ve noticed recently that one of the most common phrases here is "sigue subiendo," which means "keep going up." That´s because Xalapa is in the mountains, and the streets are steep pretty much everywhere. So our walk involved quite a bit of vertical too.

Earlier today in the morning/afternoon we visited Coatepec (Kwa-ta-pek) and Xico (Hee-ko), gorgeous little towns perched in the mountains. I went with Laura, her tutor Ana, and Ana´s mom. We stopped in the town of Xico for a few minutes, but our main destination was the cascadas, or waterfalls, just out of town. We walked on paths among palm trees and coffee plants (shade grown!) that took us to lookouts with beautiful views.

Okay, so it looks like I am working backwards here. I´ll just keep things simple and stick with the backtracking.

Saturday we went to the beach! It was quite the trek; we left at about 11am and were on the bus by a little after noon. After two unnecessarily purchased tickets, one bus transfer, and quite a bit of confusion, we found ourselves at Chachalacas (try to say it, you know you want to!). It was a great day and the water was really nice. We ate at a little restaurant on the beach and then made our way back home, exhausted from the sun and from travelling.

Also interesting (at least I think so), the area we are in is NOT very touristy. So much so, that we were at the beach (keep in mind, two hours away) and saw two white girls in the distance. We concluded that we would probably know them. They came closer, and sure enough... we have class together!

Neither of us has class on Fridays, so instead we relaxed in the morning and went to a concert at night. It was called Animal Fest and was a fundraiser to help animals in Xalapa. The bands were good, although we couldn’t stop laughing at all the guitar-hero-esque American music that the first band played. We found some of our friends from school (an Italian, a German, a New Zealandian (sp?), and a Mexican who works at the school) at the concert. So many of the students talk in English among themselves all the time, so it was great to find a group that spoke Spanish. Then we went to a party with them afterward. I think that 98% of our school was there, quite the gringo-gathering. Plans were made for ultimate frisbee-ing and more excursions.

Continuing with our time-travel… Thursday we had class in the morning, and in the afternoon a welcome party for the students at our school. After the party we went to a little bar called La Chiva that both my guidebook and a girl who studied here before recommended. It reminded me a lot of the Bodega in La Crosse, a personable crowd and lots to look at. (And internet) We’ll be back!

Also, the title. This was on an arch that we drove under as we left Xico today. I just liked the idea of what it said: Goza mi corazón por haber estado aquí. Loosely translated, it means, “My heart is joyful for having been here.” I think it is a really neat reminder to the people that pass through that they have been in a special place, but in particular I think it says something about the people who live there, the people who see that sign every day- that they recognize the beauty of the place they call home. It is such a simple phrase, and such a simple idea, but strikingly unusual.

And the turtle´s name is Samantha.

I had every intention of including photos, but apparently this particular Mexican computer and my flash drive don't mix. Soon, I promise!