Blogs from Guanajuato, Mexico, North America - page 25

Wednesday, January 17 Last Saturday, we hiked to La Bufa, one of the bluffs surrounding Guanajuato. We were instructed to take a left at El Pipila and start climbing. After scrambling up scree slopes, walking on cattle trails and passing several parked cars, this is where we ended up. I think La Bufa is actually the mountain behind Dave - just missed it! In any case, it was a beautiful day and a great view. On Sunday, we joined an Escuela Mexicana outing to the nearby town of San Miguel de Allende. It’s basically an upscale version of Guanajuato (the Carmel of central Mexico). Sometimes its called gringolandia because of all the U.S. retirees living there (about 20,000 as compared to about 200 in Guanajuato). The town is lovely--orange, yellow and red houses topped with lush ... read more

Since arriving in Guanajuato yesterday, I have spoken more Spanish than in I did in all of 2006, toured the entire city with our familia and found time to get in about 16 hours of sleep. I love this place! Nestled in the mountains of central Mexico, Guanajuato is storybook charming. The narrow cobblestone streets wind around courtyards, parks, churches and cafes. The stone houses, stores, churches and restaurants are washed in reds, pinks, blues and yellows. Our house is a lovely rust red, perched on a San Francisco-worthy hill about 5 minutes walking distance from the town center. We are staying with la familia Bertha Rodriguez: Ana, Hector and their children Ana (19) and Alexandra (17). Both the girls are in school, have boyfriends and therefore do not spend much time at home. Ana and ... read more

here are some pics from guanajuato........ read more

Now that we’ve been here for one month, we can give you a clearer picture of what it’s like to live here. For one thing, each morning arrives with a cacophony of noises. First off, the dueling roosters announce the start of each day just before sunrise. Secondly, there are the numerous church bells that ring regularly announcing a mass. I’ve counted eleven churches on the tourist map of the town. This morning at 5:0am I first heard the soothing sound of chiming church bells ringing in the distance. Not too long after that, it was the loud bells clanging from the nearby Santo Domingo church repeatedly at 6:00, 6:15 and again at 6:40. We talked about the frequency of the bell ringing with other visitors in San Miguel trying to figure out the significance, but ... read more

So, I have been here for almost three weeks and have been taking classes at a language school the whole time. I originally planned to study there for four weeks and then use one week to travel around with my friend Chris. But now I think I´m going to leave the school a week early and wander around by myself until I meet up with Chris. The school has been good for me. My spanish is definitely better than when I arrived (not that it really could have gotten worse!). But I´m realizing that I´m not going to learn as much about the language in four weeks as I thought I would. I had unrealistic expectations of being able to speak really well in spanish after a few classes, but I now know that being fluent ... read more