Blogs from Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, North America

Geo: 19.5312, -96.9159The Anthropological Museum in Xalapa (an otherwise unremrkable town) s reckoned to be the second best in Mexico - after the national museum in Mexico City. And that might well be true, but the day we visited the National Museum it was very crowded (being a free of charge entry day for Mexicans, if not for us) and not having enough descriptive material in English. Xalapa. on the other hand, we had almost entrely to ourelves and a vdry useful audio guide in English was available.The building swoops down a hillside moving you down from the earlest history to the last stages of pre-Hispanic development. And many of the artefacts are breathaking in their beauty, in the miracle of their preservation (life-size pottery models of gods etc) and in the excellence of the preservation.So ... read more

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

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

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

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