So we had an interesting and fun filled weekend.
And I was wrong about Pachuca being completely grey, like my pictures suggest.
The city is built in a really interesting way.
See, it was an area that became inhabited because there are a series of mines near here.
So the city grew from the sides of mines, inward until they created a center where there was overlap in the housing complexes. Now in the center there is a clock given to Pachuca by the same men who built Big ben. The house spread from a small square in the center, way up into the mountains and out of the area in a line like way. There is also a huge stone Jesus looking over everything from the top of a mountain, but its really scary if you dont know what it is and just happened to stare off into the distance while you are thinking like I have a tendency to...
We went inside the clock, and SOMEHOW the group convinced me first to climb up a sheer wall with metal rungs pressed into it, inside a tiny dark little tunnel for about 50 ft, up some metal stairs that moved with each step, and a SUPER OLD WOODEN LADDER to the top of the clock tower. I'm amazed at myself too. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!? I actually don't know. I was actually ready with my fight or flight response when the guide was like, climb this super old wooden ladder perched precariously next to the trap door leading to the ancient metal staircase. But the view was cool. And most people arent allowed to do it, so that was pretty sweet.
We took the tourist (? WHAT? SINCE WHEN DOES PACHUCA HAVE TOURISTS?) bus up to see the giant stone Jesus at the top of the mountain. And from there we drove out of the city for 15 minutes to a colonial mining town built by the Spanish called Real del Monte. And there, kids, we walked around the mercado for a long long time. It was really cute, and I found Cafe de hoya, which I have been looking for the entire time we've been here. and it was FABULOUS! It started to thunderstorm so we went into an old building that housed the fruit market. This was a moment of GREAT SUCCESS because I bought 3 AMAZING mangos for 70 cents. Yeah, $0.70. WHAT!? I have been eating them for the past few days, savoring how AMAZING it is, and feeling proud of myself. Not that I actually did anything. I put a bright purple flower in my hair, also from the market, and then we met up with some other students from the Tec de Monterrey who organized a singing march through the streets of the village. SO.. we kind of sang corridos with the other people, but mostly we just laughed a lot because we dont know many of the songs.
As if that wasnt enough, we went to a dinner that began at 10 pm and listened to people sing for hours until we felt like our eyes were bleeding from exhaustion. It was really entertaining, but we spent the entire day wandering around and being social. We ended up getting home at 2 am. This would not be a problem, if it werent for the fact that we got up to go to Mexico city the next morning. At 9:30 am. The drive was totally harmless, and we ended up in front of the Zocalo.
It was my first time walking around the streets there. No matter that we lived there, it just never happened. It was cool to be just another american student and see how people mix in the extremely crowded center of the city. We visited the ruins of the Templo mayor, looked for milagros in the shape of hands in the Cathedral while they celebrated a mass for the cardinal's birthday, visited the palacio de bellas artes, the market place outside it, and had lunch in Sanborns. All around a very entertaining experience. There were so many characters to see.
I was even cheated by a cute little old lady in the market. I bought a cool textile bag from her that she told me she had made. And I believed her because it was a pattern I had seen in Oaxacan weavings before. I didn't pay too much for it, but we told me about how she had SLAVED to make this bag, using the traditional weaving patterns by creating a loom between trees... etc. Yeah, this morning I found the tag that she had cut off the side. B.S.
A worker's union had basically built a village for itself in the middle of the Zocalo to protest their wages, and it seemed like they were ready to live there together for the next few weeks, at least. That was pretty interesting to watch. Between the crowds we swam in coming out of the cathedral, and the crowds we saw in the Zocalo, the area was totally alive.
The most entertaining moment was probably when we went to the starbucks (looks away in shame) for some coffee because that was what our guide from the tec wanted... but there was this mime who had exactly one act who stood in front of us. And there was also some strange man from Louisiana who was sleeping on a bench and trying to sell Jordan bracelets. All while Evelyn was being interviewed for some radio show about what she wanted to see for Mexican education reform. It was a pretty weird situation.
The drive home took FOREVER between the traffic and the MEGA HAIL STORM WITH HAIL THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS pounding on the roof.
Today we started our day with a 4 hour crash course in Mexican history. It was really interesting because our professor was super engaging, so time flew before we had a quick lunch. Then we went to the incubador social, where they run the free educational programs. We met the tec students who we will be working with in Huixcazhda today. We went through the orientation for our work in the Urban Mexico program, where we got our assignments. I'm going to be tutoring kids in math...what!? They helped us come up with a program for the first day, and start tomorrow. There was also a strange sound coming from outside the window while we were working. It turned out to be the local donut bike vendor. Which in itself is an amusing concept. He sounded like he was being strangled as he called out to the people on the block. Whatever I guess, because everyone working in the incubador bought donuts for 2.5 pesos (aka less than 25 cents).
After we left work today at 7 pm (a super long day since we started at 9) we went to wander around the mall and were very depressed to find that all that the food court offered was sushi (ew), absolutely HORRIBLE chinese food, and various kinds of american food. We also learned that Jamila likes the essence of tomatoes, but not the actually tomatoes. So she has them put on her sandwiches, and then removes them afterwards.
and while I am writing this right now, Hector is hallucinating about being a king in a colosseum with some chick throwing confetti at him... Good night. I'll add photos and hopefully some more interesting ideas tomorrow.
Love D
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