http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , Mexico , Michoac n en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:14:46 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:14:46 UTC The quality of food has great bearing on the impression I have for a place and after eating a lot of crap for the past few days it was a welcome relief to find Govinda's vegetarian restaurant here and enjoyed a huge tray of healthy food without pig fat or a tortilla in sight. Morelia is also famous for it's sweets and have a huge array of the boiledchewy fruit variety and the marzipan sort..we f http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-346041.html There were no grenade attacks in Morelia this time around so that was good. For those of you who didn't know during Mexico's Day of Independence celebration night of September 15th of this year there was a grenade attack in Morelia that killed seven people and injured around 100 others. Yeah fucked up. They captured some suspects but who knows if that was really them. Morelia is an ok c http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-342074.html Lago de Cuitzeo a quelques kilometres de Morelia http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/blog-327664.html el Lago de patzcuaro http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-327642.html THE LAST EMAIL FROM MEXICO Well Im done with finals I think I did well...except for history.... Now Im just packing up and enjoying the last 24 hours here. Nothing really eventful has happened here except that I went to a soccer game Sunday night 4 guys from my program and I decided to go to the Monarcas vs. Pumas game we arent very good and the Pumas are number 3 in the league. Never http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-322850.html Hola a todos Less than a week here to go till I leave Mexico. Today was the last day of classes and theres only finals to go on Monday and Tuesday. This last weekend was pretty eventful in D.F. navigating the subway system and seeing the sights in the little time we had. D.F. reminded me a lot of San Francisco because there are so many tourists and different languages being spoken it made me http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-322848.html Hey y'all I'm fine and dandy here in Mexico with EXACTLY 2 weeks to go School's alright almost done with all the compositions I have to write got a couple more presentations to go finals and done. This last weekend was a blast. On Friday night a few of us went to the local salsa club where we take lessons and watched our friend Kirsten compete in a competition in which she won She's now e http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-322845.html Hola Well its been a week so read below if you want to get filled in I decided not to go to Mexico City last weekend a little tired from traveling every weekend before that. But last Friday and today too me and a friend went to the sports complex nearby where theres an olympic sized pool plus diving pool with all of the diving platforms. I had been swimming at least a mile almost every http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-322844.html Hola a todos Well midterms are over and I passed This last weekend our whole class went to Guanajuato a beautiful town that once produced 20 of the world's silver. The city is located in a crevice between mountains and there are underground roads in the main part of the city for traffic which used to be mining tunnels cool. Nowadays the city mostly relies on tourism and man are there a L http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-322841.html Hola amigos y familiaThis last weekend I went to San Miguel de Allende a town so beautiful and picturesque that it was featured in Sunset magazine I traveled with 4 other UC students for a short trip from Friday to Saturday but it was packed in with fun. We arrived and found ourselves a nice inn to keep some of our things while we walked around the hilly town. It was definitely a little touri http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-322837.html Hola Alright so heres the update from the past 2 weeks it will probably be long like the last one.... The following is about salsa classes the last 2 weekends and misc. observations Salsa class is definitely the highlight of my day. A bunch of us started out going to salsa but Kirsten the other Berkeley girl and I have been the most consistent and usually stay for about an hour to an http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-322836.html Hola So below is a compilation of a series of edited emails to my fam. it's VERY long so don't feel like you need to read it all. happy summer to you Feel free to email back although I've only been checking it once a week or so. Here goessunday the 15th we had our orientation in spanish i understood most everything and then we went home with our host family. i'm staying with a couple in th http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-322831.html Our time in Mexico was spent in the State of Michoacn between the beach at Zihuatanejo and the villages of Tzintzuntzan and the state capital Morelia.The trip came at exactly the right time for everyone we had collectively grown increasingly disenfranchised with the Canadian winterI loved this region of Mexico. Michoacn State is home to the Tarascans people. Their language is Purhpecha whi http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/blog-313698.html Hola todos This weekend was absolutely amazing. Im sorry if this entry is a book but I have so much to write about Early Friday morning we left for our first group excursion. Our destination was Uruapan which is in a different state Michoacn. It was about a 4 12 hour drive but it seemed to go by fast. Our first destination was Tzararacua dont worry I have trouble pronouncing it too. http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Uruapan/blog-308361.html Try these links for photos...thanks Tiff. Pascuales and La Ticla httpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid59706l60610id609417068Nexpahttpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid62625l67e78id609417068 http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/blog-300640.html Barra de NexpaAfter walking the mile out of La Ticla with all our gear we got to the bus stop looking like wed just stepped out of the shower. We got the bus to Nexpa and got dropped off at another cobblestone road but this one wasnt so much of a struggle as it was all downhill. We found a cabana 20 metres from the water and it was five star compared to La Ticla. It had a fridge kitchen to m http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Barra-de-Nexpa/blog-300113.html I left Paul on the side of the road and went to the nearby town called Caleta de Campos. There was a huge deserted beach lined by palm trees cultivated fields looking to yield Papaya and coconut most obviously. I got to the town which consisted mainly of one cobbled street with shops and a few restaurants on it. The street ended in cliff that overlooked the sea. I asked a few people http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/blog-298572.html I had been eager for months to leave the US which I sometimes allow to build like a poison inside me until the pain is unbearable. I have crossed the MexicanUS border by land four or five times now. One thing that an overland traveler realizes very quickly if he or she is at all lucid is that borders are a criminal and absurd tragedy. This border illustrates this well. The US side is a lit http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Barra-de-Nexpa/blog-298163.html Pascaules After a five hour flight in a sardine can we arrived safely in Manzanillo. We got in a cab to Pascuales and were cruising along the highway when all of sudden a white horse was running straight at us from the other direction. Thats when we knew we were really in Mexico. The first two days the surf was small and closing out and then was triple overhead monsters pounding the beach. We met http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/blog-292571.html Hey all college graduate speaking Besides some complications with the tired immune system the end of the term went pretty smoothly. All those projects that I waited until the last two weeks to start seemed to come together miraculously I could have studied more for my Spanish test and presentation but I think I managed to pull off some low As nonetheless finally finishing my first c http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-285058.html Hey everyone So this last weekend has been really awesome On Friday night the whole group from school went out Salsa dancing because we have all been taking lessons and it was a blast We all got dressed up and had so much fun It was really awesome to be able to dance and use all things I have been learning Saturday we traveled to Uruapan a neighboring town and saw some really amazing http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Uruapan/blog-277708.html This has been maybe the best day of my life. My favorite day in Mexico anywayWoke up at 630 and Emma made me my usual breakfast of two eggs and a sliced tomato mmmm. No fruit bc she hadn't gone to the superama yet.We met at school and got on the huge bus. I slept the whole way which was nice because I had been out until 2AM the night before. Then we arrived in Uruapan at the National P http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Uruapan/blog-277635.html I have good news and bad Well the bad isn't really bad its just sad stuff we were talking about in class.Good I bought a guitar in Paracho and am learning My friend Ben is teaching me and he is a great teacher. The main problem is that I don't have a tuner and really can't tune without one not yet anyway So when I practice at home it sounds horrible.Other good news is about the orphana http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-276390.html Hello all It has been a week or so since I have written but lots has happenedLast weekend my friends Carly Antonio and I went to the beach in Ixtapa It was such an awesome weekend I have to admit I didnt want to come back to Morelia but I always have a hard time leaving the beach We drove over Friday night and ordered drinks and got in the pool first thing As you can see by the pics the p http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-276343.html For the first few weeks when I walked around at night I would hear this creepy PSST sound. It happened on a beat so I didn't think it was a person so I told myself it was a sprinkler... except people don't really use sprinklers here and if the do its during the daytime Other people heard it too but to some it sounded like a SHHHH. Turns out its a bird There's also a bird with a catc http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-275148.html Alright much to catch up on. Finally the photos of Guanajuato and a few from our trip to the beach. We all skipped a Friday of school and piled into our friend Antonio's minivan and a rental car 9 girls and 3 boys total and drove the 5 hours to Ixtapa. We opted for the cheapest lodging possible and found ourselves in the less touristy town of Zihuatanejo in a beautiful house with http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-272925.html Last weekend we took a trip with the program to a small city in the state of Guanajuato. Being the capital city it was also named Guanajuato. It was about three hours on a cushy charter bus then we stopped off at our hotel at the top of a huge hill. I got in a couple hours of sleep before our three and a half hour tour started. This city has amazing history and architecture. Tons of to http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-270937.html Yesterday was one of the busiest days here Woke up at my usual 640 time and ate an amazing breakfast grilled Ouaxacan cheese with beans tortillas tomato canteloupe and guava EW. Had my two classes Spanish and Mexican Culture and we watched a very sad documentary called Letters From The Other Side. It is a project that a woman started interviewing families who have been separated b http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-269797.html What a busy weekend Friday we went to a fiesta at Antonio's house and I met lots of people including one guy who is a trained psychologist but can't get work here so he's a hairdresser. I also met someone named Cristian Morales which is the same name as my cousin in Mexico City At the gym we met a boy from Tennessee and a girl from Buffalo NY. So many coincidences.The next day we had a fiel http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-268774.html Hello all So a few interesting things have happened this week so I just thought I would take the time to shareIn my Spanish class this week we took a little trip to the public university in Morelia La Michuacana just to see some of the differences between public and private schooling here in Mexico. We met up with one of my profs old students named Enrique and he showed us all around the ca http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Michoac-n/Morelia/blog-267455.html