Michoacan

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Yea-yah to my mom for completing the Chicago Marathon! She didn’t tell us (me and the cats) until she completed it but I hear Chauntee was quite excited, too. My entire family has been into running except for a certain brown sheep. Anything more than a couple of miles doesn’t interest me. I’ll stay at home, read the news all day long, and dip brownies into Snak Packs thank you very much. My really long cold is finally over. I guess those penicillan injections in my ass really helped. After feeling like I was three again, some Mexicans told me that everything is injected in their ass. Then I felt like everyone was three. Bridget was here for a few days and we had our year and a half anniversary (insert aww here). We did fun things like hike to tourist spots, markets, and we even bussed to the nearby city of Saltillo. We left the same day with her heading back to school and I went to Michoacan for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

I went on the trip alone but ended up roaming Michoacan’s streets with International Tec students, Maria (British-Mexican), and Danielle (Australian) who I sat next to on the plane. We had an amazing time together that week, mostly because of the beautiful things we got to see and the people we met, but partly because we managed to get through a lot of horrible situations! Due to miscommunication and lack of responsibility (none of our fault) we had no place to sleep the second night. Morelia was packed for the holiday as were the surrounding towns. After a frantic search, we ended up staying out all night with our backpacks. Later in the week we missed a bus stop and had to hitchhike all the way back to Patzcuaro. Two really nice men let us sit in the back of their pick-up truck and drove us all the way to the bus station. In Morelia a young man claiming to sell candy walked up to Danielle and kissed her, just after I squirmed my way around him. I turned back to see Danielle pinned against a car being kissed so yeah, the guy was asking for me to box him out. Literally, I boxed him out. Thank you 7 years of basketball rebounding drills!

There were more little things that occurred but we mostly laughed them off and continued to have an amazing time. The cities are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen and the $1.50 enchilladas at the San Agustin Market in Morelia made my week of missing school even better! From what I have seen, there is a higher indigenous population in the south but no one ever told me how ridiculously good looking they all are! Seeing their faces and style reminded me a lot of the gypsies (who I was lucky to be mistaken for) from when I was studying in Spain. We mostly stayed in the capital city, Morelia, but we visited Patzcuaro, Janitzio, and the market and ruins at Tsintsuntsan.

This week, Mexico City’s legislature voted 43-17 in favor of same-sex unions (for them, same benefits but different name). The country of Argentina has had unions since 2002, but Mexico City is major since it is the world’s largest Catholic City along with the world’s largest city in general at a population of 8.7 million (Chicago is 2.8). I’ve heard a lot of good things about Mexico City since I have been here, it is good to know that it isn’t full of just crime as seems to be the rumor in USAmerica. They also have the most museums in the world and the cheapest public train transportation system while still being the 4th most efficient. Obviously, it is a city after my heart, just like New Jersey's Judges, and South Dakota and Arizona's voters. And “boo” to those seven homophobic states and Michigan for voting for the affirmative action ban! I wonder how many white women realize that they are really affirmative action’s poster child especially in science related areas and that they are also harming the differently-abled and older/returning students chances at furthering their educations?

Half of my classes have been canceled for this coming week. The following two weeks are exams and soon I will be done with my time in Mexico. I hope you enjoyed my blogs and the next one probably won’t be until I reflect afterwards.

I got my hairs cut last night. Nice and short, how I like 'em.

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