Cordoba, Veracruz and Tlacotalpan

So this last Friday, my friend Paloma and her parents and I left Cholula for a Mexican adventure in the state of Veracruz. Our first stop was for lunch in the quaint little city of Cordoba, Veracruz. These two pictures are the only ones that I took while we were eating lunch. It was a beautiful day and a bit warmer in Veracruz than in Puebla. It was a great start to our trip and I was excited to be on the road.

Here are some pics from the boardwalk in the city of Veracruz. It was pretty nice although the wind was blowing hard from time to time. I got to take my picture with Diver Dan (as we referred to him) and it was a nice evening to walk around and see the ocean again (I feel so spoiled to have seen the ocean twice within the last 7 or 8 months-yes Heidi, we know that you go there everyday). Anyways, I really liked Veracruz and would like to spend more time here (just like every other place I've been to in Mexico!).

These are some pictures from the centro of the city of Veracruz which is in the state of Veracruz. The state lies on the eastern coast of Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico. It's a long, thin state and the landscape was extremely green, considering that it's the dry season right now for this region of Mexico. Veracruz is famous for coffee, bananas, mangos, papayas, other tropical fruits and of course, for its seafood. The city of Veracruz is famous for hosting the port into which Hernando Cortes sailed in order to begin exploration. The zocalo and the city are not very big, but it is a nice city and I received a lot more smiles here than I ever have on the streets of Cholula or Puebla. It seems to be a rather big tourist attraction within Mexico. I also included a few of the pictures that I took on the beach which is actually closer to Boca del Mar than to the city of Veracruz.

Tlacotalpan is situated on these waterways, a bit inland from the Gulf of Mexico, in the state of Veracruz. It's a little town and the atmosphere is one of friendly people and lovely, colorful streets. It's famous for being one of the two disputed birthplaces of Agustin Lara, the famous Mexican composer and songwriter that was married 11 times (once to the famous actress Maria Felix). There are a lot of people that fish here and make their living that way. Almost every restaurant promotes their seafood so Paloma and her parents enjoyed very fresh seafood. The server just looked at me like I was crazy when I explained to her that I didn't eat any kind of meat, including fish and seafood. I was still able to leave with a full stomach and enjoyed the view from our table at the restaurant, as you can see in these first two pictures.

Here are some more images from Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. I just loved how colorful the buildings and homes were here in this town of 8,606 residents. It's just really beautiful here and I absolutely loved it. I've always thought that I was a big-city person but I can actually see myself settling down in a little town such as this. It's only eighty or ninety miles away from the city of Veracruz and the people here are very friendly.

San Andres Cholula

So for one of my classes called Regional Seminar, I have to become more observant of San Andres Cholula, the municipality of Cholula in which I live. The other municipality, San Pedro Cholula, has a much larger centro and that's where I spend most of my time if I'm going to "downtown Cholula". But Cholula is actually broken up into these two centers and the centro of San Andres is much more tranquil with less people. The first assignment for this class was to walk around the centro and just observe. I've been here a few times before but was not aware that this centro houses the government offices, a few maps of San Andres, and right now there is an exhibition of photographs from the first half of the twentieth century of different parts of Cholula. It's interesting to see these photos and the development of Cholula within the last 60 years or so. Kids are usually playing in or near the fountain but not today. Each week we have a different thing to do in order to gather information about San Andres (next week we have to find 5 different maps about San Andres and describe what they focus on or what image they try to represent for San Andres). So now I'm learning a little bit about where I live!

This is the Church of San Andres. For one reason or another I believed that it's name was much longer but it isn't. It sits directly in front of the zocalo (main square) of San Andres and it's a serene place to be. I've looked at this church before but I never entered its plaza or looked inside until today. It's very ornate inside and has some interesting iconography but you can't take any pictures inside the church. The stainglass artwork on the facade of the church is falling apart which makes me kind of sad. But what a beautiful day to explore the centro of San Andres!

Here is a picture of the pyramid and another picture of this field of flowers. Hopefully this class will help me become more observant of my actual surroundings. Cholula really is pretty and I'm glad to be here.

Cincinnati Visit

So it was great to be able to come home for three weeks (even if that meant coming to Cincinnati!). Actually, I love Cincinnati because that is where my parents live. They open their home to all of us and the chaos that can ensue. The only problem is that the weeks just came and went. I loved seeing the fam damily but I missed Tricia and Kelly. It was great to be able to speak to both of them. Here are some pictures of me and the nieces and nephews. We had so much fun singing, playing all kinds of games, romping around the house, acting silly and carefree and just being together. I love this picture of Xander; where did he get those lips?

I sure do love my nieces and nephews. These are just some of the pictures that I took. This Christmas and New Years would not have been the same without them.

Here are some more pictures of the family. One Friday we all went to Chuck E. Cheese. I even got into the spirit of being a kid again, playing some games and having fun. Again, it was great to see Tracie and Heidi and their cute kids. I loved spending time with them. Grandma (dummy) even got into the fun in the basement.