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Published: October 19th 2007
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The answer to that question is both i´m pleased to report. Ok onto more important matters. It has been a while since my last blog so i thought i ought to write some more. Its been difficult purely for the fact that a lot has happened, but nothing very major (until last weekend) so i guess i've been saving up all my little stories. (chances of me having forgotten all of them are pretty high though.)
Ok i'll go in the order of my photos, as they are pretty chronological. One weekend i got back from my Spanish class and Alba asks me what i was doing that afternoon. this struck me as odd because she never asks me (not that she doesn't care, she just lets me do what i like at the weeekend) anyway i told her i'd made plans for the cinema,to which she replied-oh don't worry then- this obviously got me interested and i imediatey asked why and she told me she wanted to take me to a party. normally afternoon parties are a bit stressful because its usually with a whole bunch of people i don't know and i have to make small talk in
Me and Alba
Yes, i am a giant in Mexico and it makes me happy. spanish without the assistance of any alcohol (you'llbe interested to know that i can speak fluent spanish after a few tequilas.) anyhow as she'd asked me especially i decided to go and leave the cinema for another day. Turns out it was the best decision i have made in a while. We ended up at the beautiful restaurant high on a hill overlooking Tuxtla. we had all the food and alcohol we could possible want, a live marimba band and lots of free stuff (it is traditional to give the guests many little gifts at a party, the more you give the better). I also got my first experience of Mexican Piñata. i'm sure most of you are aware of what this entails, but it was disturbing to watch parents of children as young as 2 encourage them to batter the hell out of woman in traditional clothing (yes i know she wasn't real, but these things are scarily life-like). i am a little bit of a hypocrit however, because i enjoyed benefitting from the copious amounts of sweets that fell when she was finally defeated. What i failed to spot, however, was the fact that they also put lots
of 1 peso coins in there as well. i only realised this when the little madam sat next to me was greedily counting up what looked like about 50 pesos worth cash. now i know why the parents like their kids to play piñata competitivey, and next time i wont be quite so naiive.
hmmm, what next, ah the photos of the chiapas countryside represent an awesome journey me,bety and adriana made to help adriana move flats. she was renting a room in a town about 3 hours away on the other side of San Cristobal but got a job as a director of a school in another town the other side of San Cristobal. we set off at 6 in the morning (i got to bed at about 330 so not much sleep again 😊 and was treated to the most beautiful journey through mountains, alpine forests, tropical forest and past lakes before finally reaching the town. we even crossed into a new time zone. the peace and quiet and fresh air made the noise and heat of Tuxtla ever more apparant,and made me desperate to get away and travel some more in the countryside.
Following that,
piñata fun
I really find this game a little disturbing... i was heavily involved in the the preparations and celebrations for Jenna´s wedding. Jenna was a volunteer with Siijuve way back in about 2003. So she met a Mexican (Arturo) and after a few years of saving money and travelling to and from Mexico she decided to move here and get married! Whilst she was a volunteer she lived with Bety and her mum so essentially she is part of my family as well and proves to be a great translator when i ned one! So on wednesday we had her hen party. Now, i´m almost certain that i mentioned in my last blog about that gelatinas that Alba makes. Well last time i was far too disturbed to take any photos, but this time i was ready with my camera, feeling rather thankful it wasn´t my hen night 😊 I´m not entierly sure what Jenna´s mum made of it all, but the Mexicans loved it. we had to play lots of silly games but it was fun and there was some wicked food afterwards, which always makes these parties worthwhile.
I did a lot of food preparation that week. Alba is pretty exacting when it comes to chopping
Tuxtla...
I live down there somewhere.... vegetables so i had my work cut out (haha) trying to keep her happy. Don´t think i have ever seen so many peppers, apples, tomatoes and random things i don´t know the name of. Definitatly suffering from RSI now, but i guess its a kind of bonding exercise with the members of my family so i wont complain too much 😊
The wedding on saturday was absolutely beautiful. It was incredibly simple and small with just family and close friends but somehow that made it a lot more special. It was interesting as they didn´t say any vows, only said yes after the civil marriage lady spoke for a while and then signed some papers. Despite this most people were crying (yes me included) and even more so when the speeches came. Afterwards we were treating to delicious food; chicken, mole (wicked rich sauce made from everything and anything), rice, salad, and of course amaaazing cake. We also all chipped in and arranged for a Mariachi band to come along and play for half an hour, which was awesome. Alba and Bety´s mum Felisa got quite carried away with the dancing, but i was safely behind the camera taking
photos (an excellent excuse), so no dragging the english girl into the middle of the room for a bit of embarssament (believe me it happens more often than i would like).
The following day we went to San Cristobal with Jenna´s family (i think mainly to give her parents a break from the heat). We ate a lot (again) and did some shopping in the market. unfortunatley neither me nor Bety had much money on us so we have vowed to go back again this weekend to buy all the amazing jewelery, bags and clothes we saw but couldn´t buy!
Ok so that is my life pretty much upto date. I have joined a gym and been to aerobics 3 times already this week. for a fleeting moment i considered going to the aerobics class this morning at 7am, but clearly thought better of it. I may go this afternoon after i have been to watch a french film with spanish subtitles (now there´s a challenge) with Bety and Jenna. I am also going to take 2 weeks worth of Bety´s English lessons when she goes to Taiwan for an ICYE conference (lucky girl) so that will be
good experience for me. I am also excited to report that next weekend i am finally going to the beach. There will definiatley be more on that in my next blog. So until then, i hope this finds you well and happy.
Lots of love xxx
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