Ohh, Mexico

Correction: It's February and I HAVE a sunburn!

Weddings, mimes, and geisers... ahh, a typical weekend in BFE Mexico. And to those of you who don't know what BFE stands for, you're obviously not from the Midwest. So this weekend started off with going to a wedding with Carlos, Mariela and Desi (their 7-year-old daughter) on Saturday. We were late, of course, but in Mexico, that's the norm. I have to admit that Mexican time is one thing that I am not adjusting to very easily. Honestly, so far I've eaten pig brains but I just can't get over how annoying it is to constantly be waiting for people. And I know that I'm in the minority and therefore it's my problem, and I've been told that we Americans depend far too much on our watches, but I just hate being kept in waiting. It takes me back to the days of Sunday mornings growing up and trying to get a family of 8 to church on time.

Anyway, the wedding was in the main church in the center of town and was a nice ceremony. Nothing too different than any other Catholic wedding I've been to, except maybe a little more traditional and a lot more kneeling for the bride and groom. Carlos knew the bride because she used to take care of one of his students, and here in Mexico, I've learned that it doesn't take much to consider someone a good friend, like you've known each other for years, which is kinda nice. One thing that did catch me a little off guard was the rice throwing tradition they did afterwards as the bride and groom walked out of the church. I was pretty excited about this when someone handed me rice because this is something I've only ever seen in the movies. However, when the groom and bride walked out, I was all prepared to do a nice under-hand toss with my handful of rice when I saw that everyone else was absolutely chucking it at them! I swear, I thought someone was going to take an eye out! Nevertheless, I can still say that I got to partake in a Mexican wedding rice ambush.

After the wedding, instead of going to the reception which I believe was the original plan, we ended up going to Querétaro, the capital of the state of Querétaro, which is about 30 min north of San Juan. Even though I was a little bummed because I had wanted to see what a Mexican wedding reception would have been like (lots of tequila drinking and dancing, I'm sure), I was excited when they told me that this is what we would be doing for the day because I've heard good things about the city and had been wanting to go there. And what I had heard was right; Querétaro is a really pretty city set in a valley with mountains in the backdrop, with lots of big plazas filled with fountains and surrounded by trees, art galleries, restaurants with outdoor seating, and a big market that gets set up every weekend. The most interesting thing that we encountered was some street performers that were set up in one of the plazas. Now, to be honest, I've never been a big fan of clowns, and mimes are no exception. Nonetheless, this mime picked me out of the crowd so that he could stage a dual between two other dudes from the crowd. The two guys had to pretend they were in an old Western sort of quick-draw, and they ended up killing each other so the mime could walk off with me, the prize, apparently. This was pretty interesting, to partake in this mime's act, but a little terrifying at the same time and I was glad when it was over.

Today, the fam and I went to this natural hot springs place, not too far from San Juan, where there is this geiser that Carlos had been telling me about. The drive there was pretty neat because the landscape here is just so different from anything I've really seen before, and seeing all the brown dunes and cacti, combined with the really intense sun, really made me feel like I was in the heart of Mexico. When we got to our destination, which more than anything seemed like an oasis in the middle of nowhere, there really was this geiser that realeased big gushes of steamy vapor, which had a pretty strong smell of sulfur to it. It was a pretty intense feeling getting blasted with all of this hot steamy air, and at times it was so strong that you couldn't see anything around you. There were also these hot springs where the water was almost too hot to bare, but as I've come to realize, everything's hotter in Mexico. I ate a piece of gum the other day that I thought was strawberry flavored, but oh no, red hot chili pepper flavored! My mistake. As I had predicted the other day, no matter how much sun screen I put on today, I definitely got fried, but had a great time being outside in the sun all day.

This weekend was definitely a good chance to get away from San Juan for a bit and everything that's been so upside down since I first got here. I'm still feeling somewhat unsettled here, but I'm also realizing how almost a month has already passed since I first got to Mexico and that I just need to give it more time. I really appreciate the time I've been spending with Carlos' family, but I'm getting anxious to work out a new living situation with a roommate in an apartment. Hopefully, that's not in the too far distant future... Man, this sunburn is going to be hurting tomorrow!

posted by Rachel @ 4:40 PM