Climbing Trip to Potrero Chico

I went on a climbing trip this past weekend to a small little pueblo called Potrero Chico, about an hour outside of Monterrey. The town is known for its incredible climbing and extensive routes. Definitely a great place to get away from the city. The mountains were beautiful and the climbing was both challenging and amazing. We camped out at a local campsite and enjoyed a carne asada and bonfire...didn't get much sleep. The weather was perfect, low 90s and cool at night-I love still being able to camp at the end of September! Climbing has definitely been one of the highlights of Monterrey, I had no clue when I got here that I would get into it, but how can you not with such beautiful mountains? I swear I hear them yelling "climb me!"

Zacatecas

Zacatecas was the last city we stopped in on our trip over independence holiday. It is another beautiful colonial city. Incredible architecture, beautiful cathedrals, great restaurants and authentic Spanish food (quite different than Mexican actually), and we had amazing accomodations. Our hostel was very cool, it was probably seven floors tall and we had a view of the city center from the terrace in our room. (I took the pic of the cathedral from our hostel terrace). It was right downtown so we walked everywhere and enjoyed all the lights and decorations for independence day. Lots of beautiful shops and handmade things. The city is situated between two mountains and was stunning. We got up early our last morning and hiked up the mountain and encountered an incredible view of the city. There is a gondola that runs from peak to peak and gives you a view of the city from 150 meters above and we were one of the first in line. It was such a cool experience. Zacatecas is a very friendly city and there was never a dull moment here, it was a highlight of our trip.

Aguascalientes

Aguascalientes was stop #2 on our trek. Its about three hours north of Guanajuato and is famous for its hotsprings and bullfights, of which we partook in neither of events-none of us are big fans of killing animals for sports. But anyway, the city was very interesting. We arrived late the night of independence day and our hostel owner was incredibly cool. He showed us around and took us out to the famous bar and grill to toast to independence day. We enjoyed the festival there and were glad to celebrate independence day Mexican style. My friend Holly woke up really sick the next morning, she ate a bad avacado from the farmers market the night before and paid for it! luckily she recovered quite quickly. The downtown area of Aguascalientes is very quaint, it has the most beautiful garden I have ever seen in the center of the city. Long pathways with beautiful trees, tropical flowers and park benches. We took a bunch of photos and hung around the downtown area for the day. There were some beautiful churches and another cool cafe that we took advantage of downtown. We sat out on the patio and people watched for a large part of the morning. In the afternoon we went over to the Museo de los Muertos, hosted by Universidad Autonomia de Aguascalientes. It was pretty interesting, a snapshot of how the significance of death in the role of Mexicans from the beginning of Amerindian civilization, thru the conquest, the revolution and life today. The was some very peculiar and fascinating art at the end of the museum as well. The whole exhibition was inside an all-glass building that was stained red so that when you looked outside it had a really wierd eery look. We pretty much had the city to ourselves that day, everyone else was still recovering from independence day. We enjoyed the sights but were ready to go our next stop-the city was nice downtown but the neighborhood where our hostel was (seen in the last pic), is a bit sketchy. More of a modern city with its modern problems. We were glad to stop by though and thought the timing was perfect.

Guanajuato

I was so excited to travel over independence holiday, or down here called "puente." Three friends and bought a series of bus tickets and booked nights at hostels in three different cities, doing a trip through the heart of Mexico. Our first stop was Guanajuato, about 12 hours south of Monterrey. We arrived there in the morning and from the beginning it was a incredible. We signed up for a tour in the bus station, dropped off our packs at the hostel and immediately started in on our adventure through the city of ancient frogs...don't ask me why its named that, it just is. Our tourguide was a bit crazy, he drove down the narrow cobblestone alleys going faster than most people do on the freeway. The road system is incredible in Guanajuato, all major roads are underground in a huge network of extensive tunnels. It was impressive. Above, there are cobblestone streets but they are more like oneway alleyways, quite European. All the houses and buildings are stacked together and are skinny and tall, very beautiful. Our tour took us to the museum of the mummies, the mountain viewpoint that looks over the city, museum of the inquisition, where we learned about all the horrible things us Europeans did in the name of Christianity, the historic mines of San Marcos, a famous candy flavored liquor store (wierd?), city center, and other cool sights. Everything was cheap. I found my favorite coffee place downtown, called Cafe Tal, had the best cappuccino since I left Bellingham and made me feel at home. We also found some incredible restaurants to dine at, and then some that were not so great. Lots of live music for independence day and witnessed a great concert downtown hosted by students from the University of Guanajuato. The picture of the large cement building is the famous alhondiga, something you would read about in Latin American history class. This is the preserved building from the famous Amerindian and criollo revolution lead by Padre Hidalgo against the Spanish Peninsulares and gov't. The Mexicans held off the Spaniards in this alhondiga until some of them surrendered, and then overthrew them. Beautiful cathedrals, an insane weekend market, rich culture, I recommend this city to anyone who wants to experience the real Mexico!

Just one day away from holiday in Monterrey! Sept. 15th is the famous grito here in Mexico, meaning everyone yells "Viva Mexico!" numerous times while toasting to their independence. 3 friends and I have planned a trip to three different cities towards the heart of Mexico. We'll first stay in Guanajuato for 2 nights, there we hope to see las mumias, some of the famous mines, la alhondiga (location of a famous revolution between Hidalgo and the Spanish) and enjoy the colonial history and architecture. Then we're off to Aguascalientes to the north, a small town with one hostel and some cool sights. Then our final destination, Zacatecas, a famous colonial city thats known for its beauty. The beauty of these cities are that they are small enough that you can walk almost anywhere and we are excited to stay in some pretty cool hostels.
Prayer requests:
-I'm getting over the flu, I'm lacking energy after two busy weeks of exams and presentations
-Direction: I signed up to work with a non-profit Christian organization on weekends that works with children from abusive homes. We have a drop in shelter where we take care of kids from primary up to 15yrs of age. I will be helping with the kids and going on day trips with them to local parks, etc. I will need prayer and guidance.

Today was another great day-we are approximately one week away from Mexico's independence day, so the city is becoming more and more dec'd out in red, white and green. This morning we went to the Museo de Historia Mexicana. We got to see some great exhibits and artwork. There was a great exhibit of paintings from the colonial period. The paintings emphasized the transformation of social classes over time as Colonial Spain become more Mexico and less, Spain. I also enjoyed the exhibits dedicated to the architecture of the Mayan and Aztec civilizations. There were models to show how the cities once looked-makes me want to go back to Guatemala. We ended up going out to a Chinese buffet next to the museum and we all ate too much. It was a good revival after getting sick on the first Chinese food I ate here. There was a cool hippie-ish market that was going on down a couple blocks over. I saw some really interesting antiques and saw some other great restaurants that we will have to try out. It was a good way to end a long week of exams.

I went for a night run last night out on the track at UdeM and almost stepped on a tarantula. It looked very similar to this one, big and black, and almost squished. He didn't move much so I just kept running. I love Mexico.