Friday, October 20, 2006

Veracruz (Sept 15)

Wow, so it’s been forever since I’ve written anything here. Sorry about that. Life has just being going full swing here and I’m loving it, though I haven’t had a moment to spare to sit down and type. Where to begin, where to begin? I guess I’m going to try to do a quick summary of the high points of the last month here, starting in this post with our trip to Veracruz.

On September 15, Mexican Independence Day, almost all of us in the group left on a trip planned by ourselves. We headed to Veracruz on the Gulf Coast because we had heard it is a pretty town and that the Independence Day celebration is good there. Also, they have beaches, though not anywhere near the best ones in Mexico. We had an excellent time on the trip. Our group gets along perfectly, everyone is easy going and laid back, and no one dislikes anyone, which makes dividing up for hotel rooms or seating on buses SO easy. It’s great because even Max, the one boy in our group, who could easily feel totally isolated, gets along fabulously with all of us and we all feel comfortable with each other, as if we’ve known each other for years. Highlights of the trip:

Staying in an awesome hotel right on the central plaza with a pool, air-conditioning at night (a must in Veracruz where the weather in September was like Kentucky in the summer), and a terrace that over-looked the center plaza (zócalo).

We enjoyed the pool the first day after a sweaty trip from the bus station to the hotel with our bags and a hot lunch sitting in the plaza. It was quite the sight, the 9 white, American girls in bikinis in the little hotel pool, and Max our token white, American boy. We had a few onlookers from the balcony above us, but by now, I think we’re all pretty much used to that.

The night of the 15th: We had a great time enjoying the Independence celebration from the spacious terrace. There were performances of all different types of traditional dancing and singing starting probably at about 9 pm.

By the time 11 pm rolled around, the plaza was TOTALLY packed with people of all ages, ranging from babies and kids on shoulders to grandparents. At 11 pm, they started the famous “grito” or shout. They first ring the bells of the church. The mayor and other important townspeople were on the balcony of the municipal building and they lead the cry. They shout, “Viva Hidalgo, Viva Morelos, Vivan los héroes de la independencia, Viva México” (Live Hidalgo, live Morelos, live the heroes of the independence, live Mexico.) Between each part all the people in the plaza shout “Viva” then at the end they shout “Viva Mexico” three times. It’s pretty awesome to hear and to see that many people shouting all at once about the survival of their country. I loved it. After the grito there were fireworks which were shot from the roofs of the buildings and so they exploded directly over our heads. Then they lit (ie with fire) this huge sign that said “Viva Mexico” and there were lots of explosions of various other firecracker, fireworks, type things that lit up strings hanging like garlands around the plaza. After all the fire fun, there was a pop concert. The crowd dwindled some, mostly losing its elderly component, but there were still plenty of people out celebrating when I went to bed around 2 am. It was a great night.

Other highlights of the trip:

Eating breakfast in a bustling café where you clinked your spoon against your coffee mug if you wanted a refill and where there were employees whose only job was to come around with hot tea pots full of warm, frothy milk, to add to your coffee. They were pros at pouring milk and did it from about two feet above your mug. Who knew such a job existed in the world?

Going to the beach and lounging around, Max in the shade with his beer and us girls in the WARM water (it was like a bath, much different from the beaches in the US) or in the sun. We also took a ride on the banana boat, which was like a bright yellow pontoon boat only the pontoons were rubber filled with air instead of metal and you sat on the pontoons and held on for dear life as you were pulled behind a motor boat. It was tons of fun, but we didn’t count on the amount of salt water that was going to enter our eyes as we whizzed and bounced about.

Eating sea food in a nearby town where everything we ordered was delicious, including the Guiness World Record stuffed fillet that Max ordered (his serving wasn’t of world record size, but the certificate on the wall testified to the fact that the restaurant made the one of world record size in 1999).

Going to the aquarium and seeing all sorts of weird fish, huge turtles, and lots of sharks. While we were in the circular room with a huge tank all around it, we saw fish swimming right below the turtles and the stingrays. An employee of the aquarium who was giving a talk to a group of tourists confirmed our suspicion that the fish were hiding below them. It was cool to see that in an aquarium!

Hanging out with a couple of guys from Veracruz that play in an orchestra with the cousin of one of the girls in our group. It’s always nice to talk to some locals and feel like we know someone and aren’t just TOTAL tourists, though we pretty much were in Veracruz.



Our hotel as seen from the zócalo.



Max and the girls in the pool.



A traditional dance from Veracruz.



The plaza after about half the people had gone home
.


Max with his beer surrounded by the girls.



Us on the banana boat.

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