Exploring Puebla

It is Tuesday, March 26, 2013, and we are almost in the middle of Holy Week, or in Spanish, La Semana Santa. Because there is no school, I am trying to use this week to explore the city and learn more about the culture. Today, I met up with a friend at 10:00 and we took the bus to Zócalo, which is downtown Puebla. We walked around for a while, and ended up going to four different museums. It all kind of seems like a blur now, but it was really fascinating. I thought it was interesting that two of the museums were free, and the others were only about $2.00 or $3.00 U.S. dollars. Here are the names of the museums. Like I said, I don't remember the specifics, but just type the name in on Google and it will tell you about it. They are historic and artistic museums. :-) Museo de Jose Luis Bello y Zentina Museo de la Revolucion Museo de los Muñecos Casa de los Hermanos Serdán We were out until 2:45, going through these artistic and historic museums. We then were able to look through some of the shops before getting on the bus. These vendors are placed, kind of a like a Saturday market, but they are there each day. These people work really hard, and I feel tempted to buy things, just so I can help them out. When I got back to the house at 3:30, I had a quick lunch, but then had to leave again at 4:00. I walked to La Universidad Iberoamericana, where I am teaching English, and met up with a Mexican student who I met last week. She had asked me if I wanted to hang out today, so I agreed. All weekend she had been writing me on Facebook and she was very sweet. When I arrived to campus at 4:30, she hugged me and said "vamos" (let's go). She introduced me to her sister and her uncle, and we all drove to Cholula, which is a suburb of Puebla. They are the nicest people! They were speaking to me in Spanish the whole time and after a while, I was starting to get used to their accents. We went to the pyramid of Cholula, which looks like a small hill with a church on top, but it used to be an ancient pyramid. We walked to the top and looked out at the entire city of Puebla. We then went to a restaurant, where they insisted that I order "pollo con mole" (chicken enchiladas with mole sauce". Puebla is known for its mole sauce, and it is a bit different than what I have had in Portland, but very good! We then got in the car and drove a bit. While we were in the car, they asked me if I would allow them to be my tour guides while I am here. I couldn't stop smiling. They are such nice people! I am going to meet up with them on Good Friday, but I will give you more details on Saturday after I see them. Tonight I have been relaxing and having good conversations with Tonio, my host-dad. He always likes to give me history lessons. Tonight we have been talking about WWII, and the involvement of the U.S. versus the involvement of Mexico. Thank you for reading these blogs. I really appreciate it! If this comes out all bunched up together, I am really sorry. I hope you are all having a great week! I will do another post in a few days. :-)