Blogs from Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, North America
January 22nd 2011
Das Wetter in Xalapa ist leider nicht so toll als ich ankomme: Nebel, Regen, kalt. In Xalapa schaue ich mir unter anderem das Anthropologiemuseum an - anscheinend eines der Besten der Welt. Ansonsten gibts es nicht so viel anzuschauen. Der Hauptplatz ist klein und bescheiden. Fuer eine Bundeshauptstadt sehr ruhig. Dafuer ist das Nachtleben recht gut - es gibt hier relativ viele StudentINNen. Zudem schaue ich mir noch ein etwas aermeres Viertel (eine sogenannte "Colonia") am Stadtrand an. Die Strassen sind in miserablem Zustand - ohne Asphalt und mit vielen Loechern. Viele Haeuser sind einfache Holzbauten. Wenn man sich nur im Zentrum aufhaelt kriegt man von der Armut ausserhalb nur wenig mit. Das Viertel das ich mir anschaue ist laut Auskunft des Busfahrers relativ sicher. In der Colonia Revolucion am anderen Ende der Stadt ist es ... read more
January 10th 2010
Sent: Thu 11/19/09 11:04 AM Saludos a toda la family. Ahì les van una fotos de la ciudad de Jalapa o Xalapa, Veracruz, capital del Estado. Està ubicada en la zona montañosa del centro del Estado y le anda pegando a las 400 mil almas. Se me hizo una ciudad muy curiosa o algo rara: su orografìa es igual que la de Còrdoba, asì que hay cerros y cerros, subidas y bajadas, mucha vegetaciòn, su centro tiene finta colonial y todo està como muy junto o apretado. Su ambiente y clima son muy agradables y, si no fuera por su tràfico, casi lo verìa como un pueblote. Jalapa, al igual que Leòn Nicaragua y Guanajuato, es una ciudad universitaria, dado que un alto porcentaje de su poblaciòn es estudiante de la Universidad Veracruzana, asì que en ... read more
Taking advantage of the swine flu in Veracruz
Published: May 23rd 2009North America » Mexico » Veracruz » Xalapa
May 23rd 2009
We ended up having three weeks of canceled class because of the swine flu epidemic, and halfway through the first week I think I started going a little crazy and decided that the best way to deal with this whole swine flu thing was to travel! According the next day I hoped on the first flight out of Guadalajara to Veracruz, the state of Carnival, small people and witch doctors. I arrived on Monday and headed straight from the airport to the bus station to catch a bus to Lake Catemaco, which is apparently a little village next to a big lake where you can relax, visit a Rain forest reserve, go for a chug along the lake or visit a witch doctor for some 'local healing'. Whatever you want. Katherine decided to stay at home, ... read more
April 30th 2009
We made it to the state capitol of Xalapa, home of the Jalapeños, at night. We Parked the car on a hilly street with stone sidewalks higher than the tops of the cars in order to walk around and figure out where we were going. The raised plazas were beautiful at night! We found the hotel and checked in - this one was much nicer than the one we stayed in last night, but the same price. We were all thrilled to take our showers here and came out much more refreshed than we had in the past days. Pablo and I went to find a parking place for the car. We walked back though the plazas, then drove around the city, a bit lost again. In the morning, Silvia slept in and Pablo and I ... read more
April 8th 2009
April 8, Wednesday This was a day to split up and have a little "alone" time. I hopped on the bike after a fruit breakfast and rode across town to the BMW dealer. Luis tried to help me find someone that had a decent gps map of Mexico, as the Garmin had informed me that Mexico was not in North America, therefore it wasn't on the North American map that I had purchased. No luck with that, it would take Garmin sending me the smart chip by mail, so I decided to just keep on figuring out the routes as we've been doing. I headed for the twisties to Xalapa. This town is up in the mountains and boasts the second largest archeological museum in Mexico, Museo de Antropologia. Once I arrived in town the process ... read more
I have returned south of the border.
Published: February 17th 2009North America » Mexico » Veracruz » XalapaFebruary 17th 2009
Hey Everybody, I don't know if anyone will even think to check this blog anymore, I know it's been a very long time since I last updated. I have safely arrived back in Xalapa after a wonderful break full of travel. I am excited to had unpacked my hiking pack which was crammed full of clothes for a little less than a whole month. It's very nice to be settled in with a schedule again to fill my days. School is starting back up very well. This term I have another set of three classes which include a translation course, the intensive grammar course like last semester, and a intro to hispanic literature course. All sound interesting enough... it seems the classes will be much more dependent on comprehension with the assumtpion you already know some ... read more
All Quiet on the Southern Front
Published: December 3rd 2008North America » Mexico » Veracruz » XalapaDecember 3rd 2008
Hello Family and Friends, All has been progressing well down here in Xalapa. With two weeks left of formal classes I am beginning to receive the first real set of work I've been exposed to since beginning classes in September. So I have just been trying to remember what time management is like and get some things done in a timely fashion. We have to do a lot of reading for our written expression class, just works of fiction from famous Mexican authors, then write a literary review of them. Not all that difficult but reading in Spanish still drags things out a bit. For my cultural studies the teacher waved the final exam and replaced it with a large presentation we have to give about a current topic pertaining to México. So that's pretty neat. ... read more
November 10th 2008
Hello Everyone, I know I have been very out-of-touch the past week or so. There have been many developments on my end including a change of residence from the home stay program to a beautiful new house with three other Canadian students from my school. Though I was not looking forward to living with three english speakers, an opportunity arose to move out of the house where I had been living since my arrival in Xalapa, with the three Mexican women and dog, and into a new place. The new residence is very beautiful, a two-story, 4-bedroom house place about ten minutes from my school and in the oppostie direction than I normally used to walk, which has allowed me to explore new parts of the city. It is a couple doors down from a very ... read more
October 28th 2008
Hey All, A few friends here happened to hang out with a basketball team from Monterrey that was in the city for two days for a game against the Xalapa Halcones, the local semi-pro team. The players invited us to come to the game and left us six free tickets at willcall which was really neat. Here are some courtside photos from a fun evening at the university basketball arena.... read more
October 22nd 2008
My host mother had to spend the day at a "junta", a teacher's convention more or less, in Xico. This small town, famous for it's waterfalls and lack of things to do, is located about 20 minutes from Xalapa. It's an incredibly beautiful town though. I tagged along for a little three hour walking tour while the teachers convened. ... read more
