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One Day in Cholula
North America » Mexico » Puebla » Cholula
October 12th 2009 by spanishboy, Mexico
Rajas
These chiles are prepared by first burning the sking and peeling it off. You can pretty do what ever you want after that
Well I know I have been lacking on my blogging lately. It could be for a few reasons, first of all the internet at my apartment is useable about %60 of the time and when it works it is usually slow and frustrating, or the because I have been a bit busy getting paperwork together and preparing classes. The most likely is that it is really a combination of the two. Usualy when I get on the internet here I come to check my email and send emails, and that being frustrating enough I usually stop at that. So, I would like to apologize and hope that these 2 blogs will make up for the lack of blogging this past month.
So here in Puebla things are great, it has stopped raining for the most part and is usually about 85 degrees during the day. It is great, except i do miss the changing of the seasons in MN, nothing compares to the beautiful shades of red and orange there. So enjoy it while you can :) With the change of seasons comes a different variety of food here as well, the Chiles enogadas are gone but now I am seeing different types of Mole, and hot drinks and soups.
One thing does not change through out the year and that is Soccer. There is always a team to play for. I am playing twice a week here, and struggling with the pace of the game. That is I mean, not that they play faster, but rather much, much slower. I make runs and pases expecting the ball right away and find myself waiting 10-15 seconds longer, which is ages in a soccer game. The games are still fun however, and give me something to do and enjoy here.
As far as work goes, I am still working 8 hours a week for the Instituto Boulanger and waiting to start at the Anglo. At immigration they had told me it would be 30 days to recieve my authorization to work, which had passes last week. So I went to see if my visa was ready. It turns out the authorization was ready, but I have to wait another 30 days for the actual Visa. So, last week, with my letter of authorization I went to the Anglo to see if I could start working. I waited the entire week and a just found out right now, that I will be able to start work on wednesday. WOohoo! Mom, dad, celebrate not having to send me anymore money :)
As for the city, I have learned the bus routes almost perfectly and get to nearly any part of the city without asking directions now. When I do, they explain VERY slowly and clearly, due to my gringo accent, but that is ok I guess. The worst part of being a gringo here and mexico, and a foreigner in any country is people trying to swindle you. For example, I went to a artesan fair and wanted to buy some gifts. When I asked the prices were $120 and $40 pesos, but they would let me have them for $100 and $30. I had my friends buy the same items from the same vendors and the prices were $80 and $20. This happens just about everywhere here, so I have to be careful, and demand the real price, which almost never happens. For example, I wanted to buy a juice and the vendor charged me $18 where as they charged Fernanda $13. It is kind of annoying always having to think
Photo 5
Interesting juxtaposition. If you look close, you can see peoples names written on the leaves of the plants
Changing topics here a bit, last weekend I took a day trip to Cholula, a nearby city, to take some pictures and relax a bit. Cholula is loved by all the tourists, for its mix of indigenous and colonial arquitecture. It is said to have 365 churches as well. Here are some great pictures, hope you enjoy them. After this blog, there is another from my trip this weekend coming very soon.
I love and miss you all!! Take care! Let me know how you are, if you write me an email I will write back.
Love
Jake
Part of trip: Mexico
2 Comments - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
October 16th 2009 - DAD: SWINDLERS...
I feel sorry for all the Mexicans that ride my bus in Minnesota. They really don understand the currency. Yesterday, three stepped on, the first two paid $1.75, the proper amount, and the third $2.25 (rush hour fare). I will try to explain it to him tomorrow. What they don realize, and I didn realize is, a bus driver can basically give anyone a free ride. We even have a special button to press for those situations. If you have a little money and ask nicely, most will give you a discount. Transfers are complicated for a bus too, I wonder if they have those in Puebla. You basically can ride on ONE fare for two and a half hours. I think one of the keys to keep from getting swindled is to keep big bills hidden from public view.
Dad, actually there is no real way to not get swindled in some sittuations here. I have the face of a foreigner, and even if I speak perfectly, and KNOW what the real price is, only a native will not get screwed. It really doesn have to do with the bills you carry, rather the face you carry. It happens everywhere too, not just mexico. Think about cab drivers in New york taking long routes etc. Here the buses are a flat rate, 5 pesos. Sometimes they are negotiable, but usually not as they are pretty cheap. They do not give you transfers, everything here is still done without computers although some buses have sensors to count how many people get on and off.
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