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Published: September 20th 2006
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School is going a-OK. I've finished a second round of group projects. I'm rockin' my women's studies class and I'm learning more about how to print my own photos in the lab tomorrow. If all goes well, I will begin teaching English to some of Mexico's future teachers this weekend.
The title is the Arabic pronunciation for "River Running Between Rocks" which describes the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco. This is where I spent this past weekend celebrating the "Grito" or Mexican Independence. Mexicans celebrate Independence Day on the anniversary of the initiation which was started by Hildalgo in the town of Guanajuato (I learn things). Guadalajara was fabulous and I would love to return. We didn't only go to Guadalajara but that is where we stayed, we also visited the municipality of Tlacotlán and the city of Tequila.
I went with a group of students from Tec (my school) and our guide Guilio who also organizes bungee jumping and rafting excursions ... so maybe you can imagine how thrilling our weekend in Gudalajara turned out. Mostly international students went on the trip and I made friends with a group of Germans while successfully avoiding hanging out with the USAmericans.
Hidalgo
One of many Hidalgo paintings. This is the largest one on the ceiling. We arrived at 1 pm on Friday and after checking into our hotel located in the center of the city, we headed to the nearby plaza, which is surrounded by the Basilica de Zapopan and the Palacio de Gobierno. In the basilica I encountered pamphlets on how apparently feminism is an axis of evil and I heard a story about a donkey's miracle. It was a pretty church. The Palacio de Gobierno (Government Palace) was jaw-dropping. When you walk in and head up the stairs you can't help but notice the massive mural on the ceiling painted by the one-handed, nearly blind, José Clemente Orozco. This painting depicted the spark of the Independence movement with Hidalgo leading the Mexicans and on the sides enfamous world leaders were depicted grotesquely. We sat in the seats of this first congress building in Jalisco. We saw many more of Orozco's murals this weekend. After walking down Plaza Tapatia we were given a detailed tour of Hospicio Cabanas which used to be an orphanage that is now decorated with murals by José Clemente Orozco. Hospicio Cabanas is the largest building in Latin America because it has 20 something courtyards and many rooms.
Our entire group had beers on top of the roof of our hotel overlooking the city, then we went to the main Plaza to celebrate the Grito. At 11 PM the governor stepped out onto the balcony and shouted "Viva Hildalgo" "Viva Morelos" "Vivo México!" (And a few others I couldn't make out). The packed crowd repeated his words and there was a lot of flag waving and cheering. As soon as the governor finished fireworks were set off above the building opposite the governor's palace and from behind the basilica, as well. Meanwhile, firecrackers were going off on two nearby buildings' walls and when they were done popping and almost starting fires, they turned out to be images of the Mexican flag.
So of course we had to go out and celebrate Mexican Independence and what better way to do that than go to a Cuban bar! Some pals and I didn't last too long at that place and we ended up meeting 3 guys who were happy to have 7 women accompany them to a disco. We got to cut everyone in line. My pal Linda, a woman named Stephanie, and I ended up being the only
ones who stayed. We danced for many hours and had a really good time. We also ran into some Japanese friends from Tec (one of which I ended up having to carry down 4 flights of marble stairs at the end of the night...).
The next day we took a long bus ride to Tlacotlán, which is the site of some ancient ruins. The interesting thing about these ruins is no one knows the inhabitants’ names nor what language they spoke, but somehow they know the steps of a traditional dance. The view was breathtaking and these photos in no way do it justice. Some of my film prints do, however, so you’ll have to see my photo album later. Then back on the bus and to the Rojena we went. This is the name of the Jose Cuervo Distillery in Tequila, Guadalajara. Yes, the town is called Tequila. 1+ 1 =? None of us had eaten since our breakfast of coffee and donuts and it was now 3 PM as we were being offered different types of tequila in every room we entered. At that point I was wishing that the town had been named ‘large fries and
Entrances
to the market. If you look at the top of the photo you can see that there is no roof. This type of building was the style of the restaurants I ate at- but the seating was in the courtyard and the kitchens under the roofs. a strawberry shake’. The first (and last) shot I took felt like I had just rinsed with rubbing alcohol. I admit, I had a small margarita that was offered to me at the end of the tour but really it just looked like a slushy and I was hungry. Then, my German pals and I went off on our own and found a courtyard surrounded by 8 mom-pop type restaurants. I had mildly-spicy enchiladas and
horchata.
That night we went to a plaza in Guadalajara that had about 20 classy restaurants. Trees were rising up above us from the center of the plaza and into the moonlight. We could see each other because of the light coming from baskets hanging in the trees and from bulbs on the gazebo, where mariachis and traditional dances were performed for us all night. It was a ridiculously romantic place so I tried my best to not hate every minute of it w/o Bridget. As I ate fresh guacamole, a flower landed right in front of me from the tree above and the people at my table proclaimed that I was lucky. Apparently they had talked about that happening earlier when I wandered
poetry
some of Neruda's words are on these pretty sculptures off on my own to check out the neighborhood. Then, I thought of the donkey’s miracle that I learned about earlier that day in the basilica and thought that they could be right ...
For our third day we broke up into smaller groups and hit up Guadalajara on our own. My group went shopping at what I think is called Mercado Libertad. It is basically a nearly endless mostly indoor market of 4 floors that contains the fake version of every major brand. I’m talking endless ‘Converse’ to ‘Lacoste’ polos in every color and size. We walked around downtown Guadalajara a bit and snacked on Mexican goodies until we had to leave for the airport at 1:30.
Now that you know what is going on this side of the Rio Grande... you should look into what is going on in the USA. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) just released the
2006 Corporate Equality Index. It saddens me that one of America’s most affluent enterprises, Mobil, scored a zero. At the same time, I'm happy with Best Buy at a 100 compared to Circuit City's low score. And of course, my textbooks’ publisher, McGraw-Hill, only has a 75, meaning, I may
just have to boycott school. If you're interested in upping the scores, shoot an email to a company that dissapoints you (the company's web page)... and then send one to a company with a high score saying 'thanks' and that you're a mad consumer of their products.
Hey, if I can't promote my ideals on my blog then where can I do it?
alex
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Antje
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Hi Alex, It is great to read all your stories. I am glad you're having a great time! I also wanted to thank you for your postcard!! It arrived at the university-- that was so nice of you!! Take good care of yourself, and I'm looking forward to read more of your stories (and see the pictures!!). Antje