Picture Portfolio

Decided to write again. I know, it's a big step for me. Since my posts have been so scattered lately, I decided to just throw together a bunch of pictures because my life really hasn't been super exciting lately (I haven't left my house in like 38 hours, or changed much about my ensemble..that's kind of how my weekends are here. But I have showered!)

So excuse the lack of theme. Some of these are just shots that don't have much to do with anything, but they're kind of fun:

PS- you can click on any of these to make them bigger..

We went to a leyendas (legends) tour/play thing last weekend downtown to celebrate Día de Los Muertos (today and tomorrow).. The actors dressed up as different characters that had died and told us their stories. The play was held in different parts of downtown Querétaro. So on top of getting to follow these stories, we got a little tour of different places downtown.  Afterwards, we went over to one of the central parts of the town to see the “alters” built for each character. These are traditionally built for those that have died, in celebration of Día de los Muertos. I also had the opportunity to give a presentation this week about Día de los Muertos in my Spanish class and learned quite a bit. This is a religious (Catholic) holiday, traditionally celebrated on October 31, and November 1^st and 2^nd to honor those that have passed on. The belief is that those that have passed on come back to the earth for one day of the year to spend this time with their family and eat a meal. It is a very private holiday, celebrated at home with family members. They prepare a favorite meal that the person comes back to enjoy. They also go to the cemetery to clean the headstones of those that have passed on and decorate them with the traditional flowers. Sometimes Mexicans will also create alters with flowers and pan de los muertos (bread of the dead) and other things surrounding it that the person enjoyed in this life, so that when they come back, they can see how much their family remembered them. It is a holiday of joy, and honor and remembrance. Mexicans see death very differently than Americans do; while they might sad after it initially happens, it’s not common for them to continue mourning for a long period of time.

Another alter for one of the characters. Traditionally Mexicans don't hang the skeletons of their dead ancestors from the alters and dress them up in their favorite outfits...this was just part of the play ;)

Skulls are a thing here. For Día de Los Muertos. 

Our trip to the state of Jalisco, specifically San Juan de Los Lagos

They were selling tons of sweets. Mostly tons of Cajeta, which is in those bins. EVERYONE was holding out samples of their own cajeta for us to try on little sticks, like the ones you try ice cream with at an ice cream shop. We probably tried 35 different people's cajeta that day and, to be honest, it all tasted pretty much the same. But delicious. It was delicious.

This is the real reason we went to Jalisco. 

Ely’s grandfather, who is in his 80’s, has cancer, so her mom and brother live with the grandparents to care for him. He was going to have surgery at the end of October and he decided that he really wanted to visit the cathedral of the Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos before having the surgery. The Cathedral holds a small image of the Virgin Mary that was brought over from Michoacán in the 1500’s. The image of the Virgin is acquainted with lots of miraculous happenings during times of mortal danger or illness. So after I learned this, it made more sense to me why Ely’s grandfather wanted to visit this particular Cathedral before his surgery.

The church was seriously so pretty. Dates back originally to the 1500's but it was restored in the 1700's.

And this is Ely's beautiful family! left to right: Erick (Ely's brother), Ely's uncle (I don't remember his name..) Ely, Elizabeth (Ely's mom) and Ely's grandma and grandfather. How sweet! 

Asami, Me and Shanequa posing with some guys from the Independence Day parade back in September. They looked legit, as you can see. 

Hilarious sign outside of a restaurant on the left. Translation: Tonight!!! You're invited to have dinner with your wife, girlfriend, or lover and if you bring all 3 together, you don't pay! The sign on the right is just talking about all you can eat pizza. Not really funny. Or a good deal. 

Just beautiful downtown. 

Asami and I eating dinner with some friends at a nice place downtown

The inside of a pretty building downtown.

The path I take walking from home to the bus stop every day

This is a MAN. Not a statue. A real person. Are you so impressed?? He comes downtown all the time, and takes pictures with people and freaks them out. How he manages to wash all of this off himself every day and put it back on, every day, is beyond me.

See? Proof that he is a real dude. He moves so that he can read stories to Asami.

Mexico still believes in Blockbuster. It's good someone does!

This one time I ate coconut ice cream out of a coconut. And it was some of the best ice cream ever. SO GOOD.