This morning started at a bright and early 6am, I had tossed and turned throughout the night –especially because I could hear everything going on the streets outside our hotel even with the window closed, so I was still half sleeping when I went into the washroom to get ready. Today was the first day in a couple days that I got to brush my teeth; I still have to buy my own toothpaste because I forgot that also, but my roommate gave me some of hers. I have never felt happier brushing my teeth! I felt like a whole new woman. After I got ready my roommates got ready and we headed downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast was so good; it was done buffet style which offered scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, an array of fruit, ... read more

My trip technically started yesterday morning; for once I didn't have have to wake up at the crack of dawn for my flight!!! My flight left from Calgary at 11:30am which meant I should have been there around 8:30am. As usual, I packed the night before, and was rushing (just a little bit) the morning of; after doing last minute errands I got to the airport just before 10... awkward... Can I just give a quick shout-out to my mommy for getting us Nexus cards?!??!?! Because let's be real here folks, if it wasn't for the Nexus card I would have missed my flight by easily 2 hours. The line up to go through customs was INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There were people lined up on the airport side right outside the opening to go into US customs and ... read more

As soon as we were done eating breakfast we headed over to view one of the best murals I have ever seen -not that I have seen a lot in my day -there was 500m2 of painted murals that filled up the entire room, including the walls that surrounded the stairs to the second floor. It was truly incredible. The murals started by depicting the natives and showing a little bit of their culture and how they lived life throughout the years. One of the murals showed 'el arbol de las mil maravillas' which meant 'the tree of a thousand wonders'. This mural was all about how the natives had various uses for the tree, be it for food, medicinal use, clothing, shelter, paper. This 'tree' was actually the maguey (century cactus). Good tips just in ... read more

The morning brought the bad memories of the night before... To save us of the embarrassment, I will just write 'We sluggishly got ready and headed to breakfast'. I swear the city was punishing us because it was ridiculously bright out, and my friend and I were not ready to face the world. We opted to skip the eggs this morning, for obvious reasons, and stuck to the essentials: bread and coffee (tea for me). If it wasn't awkward enough being the last two to crawl into the restaurant area -and have everyone know why -not even halfway through breakfast the professor came over with her usual bubbly self and asked us how we were doing considering what had happened last night. That's right folks, not only did we drink with our professor the night before ... read more

Today started at an early 6 am. We had to pack a weekend bag (one per room aka 2 people) and we had to get the rest of our stuff out of the rooms so that while we were gone other clients could use the rooms. My roommate and I agreed to take the biggest of our 'smallest' suitcases so that we could maximize what we could take while abiding by the rules. Surprisingly enough we managed to cram two girls' worth of stuff for 4 and a half days. Go us! The spiral stairs that add even more charm to the gorgeous hotel turn into the stairs from hell when trying to drag down giant, heavy pieces of luggage. Once the bags were packed onto the mini bus and the extras were locked up in ... read more