Jo and Lauren

So, here we are back in Australia. We landed in Sydney Airport at 8:30 this morning. Jo has already been picked up by her uncle and I am waiting for my sister to finish class so she can come and get me. I just tried to contact her to let her know where I am, but my phone does not have service and the free airport WiFi is not working on either my phone or computer. I also have no Australian change (no money at all really!) to make a phone call from a public phone. Hopefully she will find me here! Our last few nights in Mexico were nice, but passed way too quickly. After I last blogged, we went out for dinner at a restaurant in the Oaxaca Zocolo called La Casa de la ... read more

And so began the next part of our adventure, on our own in mexico.... or not quite. On Sunday we caught a plane Tuxtla Guiterezz in Chiapis, a southern state of mexico. That morning Ale, rang her family in another town, San Cristobal, to ask about reccomending accomodation, and they kindly offered to have us stay for 4 nights. The grandparents and their daughter Rosio, all spoke limited English, however Rosio's daughter Kaori speaks very good english, and helped us with many translations. Beside the language differences, the family took us under there wing, and we will definitely come b ack to visit one day. Rosio and Kaori took us on tours of the town, which is very old and beautiful, booked us into tours, and made sure we has eaten all the food items written ... read more

We are both a bit surprised at how fast this half way point of our trip has snuck up on us. I love that after three weeks in Mexico City we are still being surprised by so many things everyday. On Wednesday we only had a half day at La Salle so we were able to come home for lunch. Lunch at home is always fun as Ale's friends never cease to entertain us...usually in Spanish, but we get the drift of the conversation (and whatever we completely miss, Ale translates for us!). On Wednesday night we had the option to go to the Ballet Folklório...a Mexican 'ballet' that the four of us chose to attend. It was held at the Museum of Anthropology in an outdoor area, so it was a touch chilly, but so ... read more

So it turned out that our visit to Huixquilucan was more about politics than anything else. The locals all clapped and shouted as the mayor carried a baby through the crowds to cut a big red ribbon, surrounded by Australian health students in lab coats in order to open the 'health fair'. We were then told to help out at the various stands providing health care to the people, such as vaccinations, dental checks and balloon animals (?). Jo and I were assigned to the nutrition stand...but as we speak very little Spanish, we ended up just eating (healthy) tacos. It was all a little too politically fanciful for me, but Jo enjoyed the day. Apparently we were on the local news that night...announced as 20 Australian doctors helping out at Huixquilucan for two weeks. Which ... read more

Night 1. Thursday Tonight was our first night out in Mexico City. Invited by Luis, we headed into town with Clare, Ayen, most of our housemates and a variety of Luis' friends to listen to some DJs at a small club. We both had our first Mexican tequila here (my first tequila ever)...I didn't mind it, but Jo said it was "as bad as Australian tequila". I think our Mexican hosts were quite offended by this. We thought the dress code for ladies was a bit of a curiosity...jeans, boots, jackets and scarves were in, while dresses (like what we had) were out. Using the international language of dance we communicated well with our new Mexican friends (we introduced them to a very nifty move called the surfboard) including our housemate, Hammunrabi, who speaks no english. ... read more