Another wonderful weekend! This time, the weekend began a little earlier in which Alex and I took the 11:30 pm bus ride to Morelia. We got there around 4:30 am, so it was really hard to wake up. But then we spent most of the day walking around the historic city. The city of Morelia has a different type of history due to the fact that people from Spain constructed that city in the 1500s. Therefore, it has more of a European touch to it. The buildings are all made of stone, as well as the streets and pathways. It was very beautiful but unfortunately I was yawning all day long due to the lack of sleep from taking the midnight bus ride.
At 5:30, we went back to the bus station and went to Maravatio, which was about one hour from Morelia. Maravatio is a town where Alex' dad was raised. Our reason for going there was to attend the 25th Anniversary party of his parents on Saturday. His dad has 11 siblings and his mom has 7 siblings, and they are all married and have 2 or 3 kids each. Therefore, on Saturday, there were almost 100 people at the party, most of whom were all family members.
At 1:00 Saturday, we went to the church where his parents had gotten married and they had a mass in which they said their vows all over again. Then they got in the jeep that they used as their shuttle on their wedding day and we all went to the building where their party was held. The party lasted from 2:15 to about 10:30 at night. At first it was pretty calm, with people eating and talking, and a mariochi band in the background. Now when I look back, it's kind of funny because I was thinking "oh, this is a really mild party". Never speak too soon! Before I knew it, another band approached the stage playing cumbia, merengue, and love songs, and all of a sudden there were a bunch of people dancing. Definitely my kind of party!
I liked seeing the different traditions at the party, such as when Alejandro (Alex' dad) had to dance with every woman, and Yolanda (Alex' mom) danced with every man. Then at the end, they danced together and kissed. Also, there was a tradition where the men picked up Alejandro and carried him around the room for about 5 minutes.
Everyone left about 10:30, but some of the aunts and uncles stayed for a while. We then went with them to the house of one of the uncles. Everyone was talking and eating until 2:00 am. They are all such a nice people! I'm really thankful for all of these experiences.
The next day, we all went to the downtown part of the town and saw a festival and parade happening. We watched the parade for over an hour. There were a bunch of different dance groups walking down the street, most of which were made up by young children. I have a ton of pictures! Then we went to another town (I don't remember the name), which was about 30 minutes away, and is the town were Yolanda was raised. We then ate lunch with her side of the family and hung around the grandparents' house throughout the afternoon. We didn't leave until 5:30, and then drove two hours to another city. We got there about 7:30 but had to wait until 9:15 to take our bus, which was then a 4 hour bus ride. Definitely an adventure! Overall, another wonderful weekend! :-)
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