To excuse myself from not writing about last weekend until this weekend, I can only share with you all the same reason I've been exhausting my housemates with: essays. My professors here in lovely Mexico decided it would be muy bueno to assign 3 final essays for 2 classes. Thus, my writing attention has been focused elsewhere. Lo siento. Guanajuato! I sing thy name from the forested mountaintops that surround you! I spin, arms spread wide, dizzy as your colors blur into a rainbow in front of my eyes. Jealous, Guadalajara? You should be. Guanajuato is the quintessential microcos [View Full Entry]

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They say that getting sick or injured while traveling is inevitable, and I am not one to argue. I have seen the evidence of it. Consider please, kind reader, the following: 1.) While on a mission trip in Costa Rica, my mother fell in a pothole and had to have stiches above her eye. (Strike one against karma?) 2.) When I was a child the family decided to have a reunion in Florida. Being from Oklahoma, the beach was a huge deal. After driving the requisite 20 hours plus to arrive to the beach, I stepped out of the van and [View Full Entry]

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Tlaquepaque and Tonala are the younger, crazier twin sisters of Guadalajara. Lying equidistant from Guadalajara at 45 minutes in opposite directions, they share one main commonality: they are both known for being quite large market towns that specialize in handmade crafts from this region of Mexico. This is where there similarities end, however. Tlaquepaque is the snobbier of the two. If you were to peek into her closet, you would observe that her clothes are organized not only by article, but by color as well. You might even take note of the fact that the smell is quite pleasant. Thi [View Full Entry]

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To a mosquito, I have always been the holy grail, the Mecca, the Wailing Wall. To a mosquito, taking a chunk of my forearm or calf is akin to the feeling one gets upon scaling their first mountain, puckering up for the first time, or meeting their red-haired piano-playing idol. If two mosquitos were having a conversation, one would most likely say to the other: "She's the cat's meow." Mosquitos love antiquated idioms. Upon my arrival in Guadalajara, the mosquitos had a giant fiesta. This is Mexico afterall, so they threw their sombrero'd heads back in hearty guffaws as shots of [View Full Entry]

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After returning from a rainy yet beautiful dinner last night, Becca, Kara and I decided that further walking around the city just wasnt a possibility. We returned to the hostel and to our respective knitting and reading downstairs over a family-size Corona to pass the time while the rain poured down. At some point we were invited upstairs by some of our fellow hostel-mates to watch a movie... The Bucket List. Now, if you have seen this movie you will understand that it is one of the cheesiest excuses for a film that is in existence, but that perhaps the moral [View Full Entry]

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The intensely bright blue walls greeted us even before we had reached Calle Londres. Strolling through the side streets of Coyoacan this morning searching for her house was sort of like a grown-up version of ¨I spy.¨ Anything even attempting to be that vivid color would cause a quick sideways glance and the open-ended question of ¨Is that it?¨ When I finally came upon it, however, I knew right away. There is no questioning, or comparing, with the former house of Frida Kahlo. When I planned this trip I knew right away that I had to see this place that I [View Full Entry]

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One day down in Mexico and the familiarity of it already smacks me in the face. I look to my left and I see Ecuador. To my right, glimmers of Venezuela induce a second glance. Down the street Costa Rica waves hello, and if I turn my head ever so slightly, I see that Peru is tapping me on the shoulder. They are all here... and although Latin America is made up of a myriad of cultures, peoples and languages, it is impossible not to notice an overriding theme. Flying in yesterday at dusk was an experience I will never forget. [View Full Entry]

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Hello all and welcome back! To those of you who followed the Ghana chronicles, I hope I can continue to delight and entertain. For any newbies to the blog, a hearty welcome. As some of you might know, I am headed to Mexico this coming Sunday for six weeks in a country that I feel I already know by heart. For the first week I will be seeing the sights of DF (Mexico City, for the layman among us) with two girlfriends from Elon, Becca and Kara. We shall hike up ruins! Traverse cobblestone streets! Step over the threshold of Frida [View Full Entry]

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My last day at the orphanage was a day like any other, really. I got frustrated a lot, I had a kid on my lap or in my arms for 80% of the time, and I cried a bit at the end. Picture, if you will, climbing into a van after a long day of running around. Your white T-shirt is now brown, your feet look like they will never get clean, and so many tiny pairs of hands have been through your hair that it is matted together. You close the door (on a fellow volunteers leg- sorry Michael) and [View Full Entry]

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I came to realize today that I haven't really told any of you too much about the orphanage, and what it is we (try) to do there. I realized this today as I was sitting on the floor, three children on my lap, two playing with my hair, and one searching my pockets. Several thoughts went through my head: 1.) White people hair really is strange. 2.) I had no idea it would be like this. 3.) Get out of my f*&^* pockets! To that end, I thought I would give all of you back at home an idea of a [View Full Entry]

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