The last few weeks

I have been really busy over the last few weeks. Sorry I have lost contact and not posted pictures. I promise there are a lot to come. I hope to get them up by tonight, depending if facebook will let me or not.
Spring Break (Semana Santa) was so much fun. Puerto Vallarta is a beautiful beach and city. We took a bus which took us about 11 hours to get there. Good thing the bus ride was at night. I went with my friends Aleisha, Tish, Lindsay, Amanda, Brandis, Jorge and Luis. (Brandis, Luis and Jorge drove there and stayed in a different hostel). We got there early in the morning and checked into our hostel and got breakfast at a Mexican café. We had an all girl room to ourselves with 3 bunk beds, a bathroom, and lockers. The hostel was really nice. There was a kitchen and tables to eat at. There was a computer, hammocks, and pillows and cushions on the ground to watch TV. Everything was painted really neat with animals and a tropical feel. The staff there was wonderful. They spoke both English and Spanish and they were always willing to help if we needed something. One night they even had a party for everyone staying there which was really nice.
The first day after breakfast we went to the beach. I think my friend Aleisha got sun poisoning that day and Lindsay and I got red. We all fell asleep on the beach for an hour or so which was not good. It was better to sleep because there are a ton of vendors on the beach that try to sell you things and it gets annoying after a while. They were selling ice cream, fish, shrimp, sundresses, sun glasses, banana boat rides, jewelry, and all kinds of things. We ended up heading back to our hostel and laying around then rest of the night since we were all burnt. We made mac’n’cheese for dinner with hot dogs. It tasted so good!
The next day we laid around most of the morning and early afternoon since we were burnt we did not want to go to the beach. We had lunch (grilled cheese and grilled pb&j) and headed to explore the town. Puerto Vallarta is a pretty town and there is always something going on. There were people building things in the sand (I have great pictures of it) and people performing on the streets. There were lots of shops and restaurants. My friend got her nose pierced and I waited outside because I didn’t want to hear her scream when it happened. (I think I was freaking out more that she was!) We later did more exploring and did some shopping and then went out to dinner. After dinner we went back to change and went to explore the night life. There were a lot of cool places to go. We ended up going to a bar that was decorated all in cow things. All the furniture, cups, and outfits had cow print. Then we went to a club that played good music from when I was in high school like Ja Rule and Get Low. We met some people from Canada who were studying there and we had a lot of fun with them. They kept speaking French though so sometimes we had no idea what they were saying. One was from Morocco, another from France and the others from Canada.
They next day we braved the beach again and it was perfect. It was not too hot and it was kind of cloudy so we got a break from the sun. We did the beach the next few days and chilled in our hostel and mad dinner. It was nice having a kitchen because we got to make all the American food we were craving since we have been here. On Tuesday night only Lindsay, Amanda, and I were still in Puerto Vallarta. We decided to go to Senor Frogs since everyone talks about how good it was. We got an appetizer and drinks. All the waiters and waitresses were crazy. They would come up behind you and scare you, scream and dance. One even danced on our table. It was fun because they made if fun to be there. I got to go on stage and be an ‘assistant’ in a contest for the strongest man. I had to lay on their backs as they did pushups. It was really funny and cool to be on stage. We had a great night there, but we ended up spending a lot of money since it is a big tourist place, but it was worth it!
The next day we went to a new beach a few minutes down the road called Playas Gemalas (which is beautiful twin beaches). It was really nice because it was less crowded and there were fewer venders. It was nice to spend out last day on the beach at that beach. The water was bluer there as well, it was so pretty. If I ever go back to Puerto Vallarta I will stay near that beach because it is calmer and then go to Puerto Vallarta at night. Later that evening my friend Lindsay went to get a tattoo. I was really nervous because she wanted to me to go with her so I did. It was not bad at all, I never felt woozy or anything. Maybe my needle fear is over..not! (Don’t worry mom and grandma this does not mean I want a tattoo!) She got a star on her foot and it looks really nice.
We had to check out at 11am and our bus did not leave until 9pm so we spent the day at the Puerto Vallarta Zoo. It was one of the coolest zoos I have ever been too, although it was kind of scary. We bought a bag of food because we could feed the animals. On the bad it told you want to feed what animal. So I got to feed a camel, monkey, ostrich, zebra, giraffe, black bear, flamingo, baboon, and the farm animals. It was neat to feed all of the animals and be so close to them. Although, some of the cages did not look strong enough to hold back some of the animals. For example, the lion was in a chain link fence which made me nervous. The funniest part was they had house cats and raccoons in a cage. I laughed and thought about dad killing the raccoons that get into our garbage and here they were on display at a zoo. At the end we could pay extra to play with a baby tiger (3 or 4 months old) or a baby panther (1 month old). My friends Lindsay and Amanda did it, but I did not. I am not a huge animal rights person but I thought it was wrong the babies were away from their parents and I did not want to pay to play with something that should not be played with. The baby tiger was roaring and crying and I felt so bad for it. So I watched but did not pay to touch them. But overall it was a great zoo and I got a lot of great pictures!
After Puerto Vallarta I went to the Mexico City Airport to pick up Evan and Mom. Once they got off the plane we went to our hotel and went out to dinner. We stayed in Zona Rosa and it was an artsy area and it was beautiful. There was artwork on the streets and fun things to look at. We went to a Mexican restaurant and the first thing we saw when we walked in was a baby goat being cooked. I had never seen that before and thought oh great Mom and Evan are never going to eat Mexican food now. But we had a good dinner. The next day we went to the Basilica of Guadalupe and then to the pyramids in Teotihuacán. The Basilica was beautiful. The churches were elegant and we got to learn the story of Guadalupe and see the poncho that Juan Diego wore. The gardens were beautiful as well. The pyramids were fun and Mom climbed two of them. Evan and I climbed the tallest one together. We had to wait in line for a long time just to climb it but it was worth it. Someone told me it is the 3rd biggest pyramid in the world, not sure if that is true but it was tall.
We headed back to Queretaro and on Sunday we went to the market and then my host mom had a big meal with her family and invited us. So we had Easter dinner with my host family which was delicious. Mom loved the guacamole (I will have to ask my host mom for the recipe). We also went to the movies and saw Bounty Hunter.
We went to San Miguel the next day. It was also my first time there and I really liked it. It was a smaller city but there were a lot of churches to see and it was beautiful. We ate tortas and had a good day walking around and exploring. We did some shopping and headed back to Queretaro. I showed them around the Tec and took them to my internship to meet everyone. We went to the Centro and I showed them around there too. We ate at El Portal and they had some more traditional Mexican food (it is my favorite restaurant in the Centro). We got our picture taken there with sombraros on too!
On Wednesday night we went out the Bernice Quintana for my birthday. Bernice Quintana is a bar here in Queretaro. It is a lot of fun and is decorated with bright colors and the waiters are funny and we all had a great time. It was nice to spend my birthday with my family and friends. The next morning, the day of my birthday, my host mom made us a big breakfast and had a cake for me. It was the first time she has ever made cake. She had candles and sang me happy birthday in English and everything. It was so cute. It was great to have my family and my Mexican family there. We went back to Mexico City and eat at Chili’s because Evan and Mom were sick of Mexican food and we all had burgers and fries. I was happy to eat some American Food too. They flew out the next day and I went back to Queretaro for a combined birthday party with my good friend Marian.
This week I made fudge with my host mom. She wanted to recipe and wanted to make it so we made it together. It was a lot easier to make than I thought and it turned out just like Mom’s. I think that has been one of my only cooking successes of my life. Then yesterday was my friend Marian’s real birthday so we went to her house here and her host mom made us dinner. She made us spaghetti and lasagna. It was delicious and we had so much fun. She has two host brothers who are 14 and 9 and they were so funny and they were so upset when we all left because they wanted to hang out with us. There were the cutest family, I felt like I was in a movie. The boys helped in the kitchen, set the table, and were so polite. The mom made us dinner and knitted at dinner while she waited for her husband to get home. Once he did she made him and herself a plate and they ate together. Then the 14 year old plays guitar and he played while they sang songs after dinner. It was adorable!
Well this weekend I am going on a school trip and hopefully Guadalajara the weekend after. I only have about one month left until I will be home.