Lo que me gusta mas de Guadalajara

He estado en Guadalajara por 4 semanas; solo me falta una hasta necesito regresar a Texas :( Yo sé si mi familia y mis amigos se alegre mucho que yo regrese, pero de hecho yo quiero quedarme aquí. Intentaré a explicarles porque....
I've been in Guadalajara for 4 weeks; I only have one left until I have to return to Texas. I know that my family and friends are happy that I am returning, but actually I want to stay here. I will try to explain to why....
1. Guadalajara es una ciudad hermosita. Es exuberante en vegetación; hay flores, plantas, y arboles en cada rincón y de cada tipa. Unas de mis cosas favoritas de hacer aqui es salir para caminar en la colonia donde vivo o la colonia cerca de mi escuela. Pongo mis headphones de mi iphone, escucho un podcast de Español, y veo las flores de colores vivos y los arboles muy verdes. Me parece como una latina version de LA, donde hay mucha vegetación también.

2. La gente aquí son tan amables y me llevan muy muy bien. Todos quieren ser mi amigo y todos quieren ayudarme. Por ejemplo, hoy estuve en El Bosque de La Primavera (como un parque del estado) y hubo una familia que estaba pasando el día. El padre de la familia nos señaló donde estaba un parte del río que es muy bonito. Después de que mis amigos y yo regresamos de este parte, el padre nos ofreció unas cervezas y empezamos a platicar. Luego, nos preguntó si tuvimos hambre y nos dio pollo y chicharrones para comer (obviamente, no lo comí porque A. no como carne y B. después de estar enferma, no quiero tomar ningunos riesgos). Pero, el punto es que era totalmente un extraño, pero a el no importa porque solo quería ser amable :)
3. La vida es bien onda (literally means well wave but "bien onda" is to say good vibe). La gente aquí no se preocupan de muchas cosas. A veces, lo me gusta pero a veces también es un poco difícil para acostumbrarme a esta manera de vida. Me gusta porque me ayuda vivir sin mucho estrés y disfrutar otras cosas. Por ejemplo, un día estaba lloviendo y por eso yo estaba un poco tarde por clase. Corrí al carro de la escuela y estuve muy mojada. El día antes mi profesora nos prometió que podemos asistir clase en una cade que está cerca de nuestra escuela, pero yo pensé "claro, no vamos al cafe hoy porque hay una tormenta." Cuando mi profesora anunció que, si fuimos al cafe, le pregunté, porque? vamos a mojarnos!... Ella me dijo, "pues, ya estamos mojados; a quien importa si estamos un poco mas mojados?" Eso nunca me ha ocurrido y luego un amigo me dijo que es una perspectiva muy Mexicana. No debo "sweat the small stuff" pero en vez debo calmarme cuando no hay un problema grande.

Lo que NO me gusta de Guadalajara
Claro, no puedo gustar a todo!
1. NO ME GUSTA ESTAR ENFERMA >:( Just about every day, my stomach hurts a little bit. It doesn't last all day and it doesn't inhibit my daily life very much but its pretty annoying when you're tummy hurts everyday. Besides this little annoyance there was/is my bout with a stomach infection. I spent two days in bed. The first day I had chills, a fever, and other symptoms you don't want to know about. The second day I mostly had stomach cramps that got worse whenever I tried to move around. The third day (today) I still have some stomach cramps but with less frequency. It is way lame to spend two days in bed when all you want to do is explore the city and try new foods and meet new people... which is probably how I got sick in the first place. HA! No me importa :) I'm very sad that I wasn't able to acclimate in 4 weeks, but I guess my stomach is just quiet delicate. Also, living here in Mexico is worlds apart from vacationing in Mexico so I've been exposed to way more varieties of bacteria that I would have if I were just staying in a resort...*although as a side note, everything here where I am staying is very clean; even the water in which we shower! So while it may have been risky to get fruit from a stand the other day before class or hotdogs (minus the dog) after the bar the other night, I'm glad I did because I wanted to fully immerse myself in the culture here and I did just that.

Everything else I dislike is truly very minor....
- The dogs here bark ALL. THE. TIME. No one seems to care that they are barking away... this probably has to do with the fact that the people here are just more laid back. That's quite nice and all but my brain fixates and can't tune out noises very well, so when I hear a stupid dog barking, that is ALL I hear.
- There are a ton of mosquitos. One day I counted twenty mosquitos bites on my legs. The funny thing is, the weather that brings the flora I love so much also brings the damn mosquitos! Ah, such is life.

Habits/Funny things about Mexico/Guadalajara 
1. There are tissue boxes everywhere. There is one box in every room and bathroom (private, not public. You're lucky to find toilet paper in those) and they are also in everyone's cars. What is that about? Do people cry here more?
2. Homosexuality is a big topic of interest here. I think it is a new phenomenon so people are fairly interested in the topic, but they show their interest in weird ways. There are a lot of gay jokes, but to be honest I don't think they are all made from a bad place... I'm not sure though, and I would be very interested to ask a gay person how they perceive the situation here.
3. People are quiet open about bodily functions. No one seems embarrassed to talk about things I would normally shy away from. I don't know why, but I find it interesting.
4. The youth here live with their parents well into their twenties. Unless you go off to school in DF or the States, you live at home with your parents during college and most likely after college until you are married.
5. The men here still pay for women, open their doors, and walk on the street side of the side walk. The guys do this for their female friends, not just their girlfriends.

So much more! I think I'm going to do a second edition of this topic because there is a lot more to cover. Here are some more pictures of Gdl for your visual enjoyment :) Meanwhile, I'm going to read & try not to listen to this dog that is barking.

Digame, donde puedes ver flores como estos en Texas? Quizás durante el primavera y nada mas!

Love this photo

Exploring the city

I was supposed to go to Puerta Vallarta this weekend but the plans fell through at the last minute :( So instead of basking in the sun all day, I decided to walk around the city and explore parts of Guadalajara I have yet to visit. El Centro is where the majority of the historical buildings are located, and is also a large commercial center with many markets. It is pretty hectic on the weekends and was especially so today due to the visitors for the futbol game tonight. I think I would prefer the center on a less crowded day, but it was still a pretty sight to see. Here is a little of what I saw today :)

Nevelería

Pretty fruta
Instead of fruit, I opted for two (yes, TWO) types of ice cream. The first is the kind you see in the freezer in the form of an ice cream pop. I chose a nueces (walnut) flavor and it was pretty good. Next I chose a cajeta & chocolate flavored ice cream cone. Sometimes I have a problem with moderation here in Mexico because I want to try everything! I'm not too preoccupied about it though :)

That's the Hospicie de Cabañas in the back.

Anyone remember seeing this about six years ago? I do!

They have a thing for birds here. Lots of birds in cages & many empty bird cages for sale.

Entering the market! 

Pretty Mexican toys. 

More toys; Becky do you remember playing with miniatures 

Mmmmmm :)

Spices and other food items. Interestingly enough, there is a very popular bar snack that I always thought was basically a potato chip but actually it is made from flour & dried like pasta. Very good with a beer, tequila, or mezcal & hot sauce poured over the chips. 

What, you didn't always want a shiny apple floral arrangement? 

Drink I thought would be refreshing but wasn't: Squirt, lime, and chili powder

Pan, pan... y más pan!

Desde el día que llegué a Guadalajara, he estado buscando una panadería tradicional. Pan dulce es uno de mis postres favoritos, pero no lo como mucho en Texas. Posiblemente porque no haya mucho donde compro mi comida (Whole Foods). Cuando decidí estudiar en Guadalajara, me emocioné mucho el hecho de que pueda tomar mucho pan dulce aquí, pero cuando busqué una panadería solamente podía hallar pastelerías (donde se vende postre, como cake). El domingo pasado, finalmente, encontré una panadería en avenida Vallarta cuando estaba paseando en mi bicicleta. Me prometí a regresar, y entonces fui este sábado a una panadería que se llama Luciera.

Estuve en el cielo en la gloria!

 Pienso que quedé aqui simplemente mirando el pan por diez minutos, jaja.

Elegí pan de guayaba, lo que está en el segundo nivel a la derecha. Era muy sabroso.. mmmm :) Es porque, en realidad, el pan es mi "cosa" (my thing). Cada vez pasaba el pasillo de pan en los supermercados, quedaba un poco mas tiempo para saborear el huelo. Si tuviera escoger entre pan y chocolate, pan y queso, o pan y helado, escogería pan.

Tomando un asiento para disfrutar mi pan :)














Ok, necesito ser honesto.... En camino de un cafe, vi otra panadería.... solamente quería ver la selección de pan, pero no podía resistir y compré mas. Tomé pan por la desayuna y el almuerzo... El segundo tenía queso y aceituna, mmmmmm!

No te preocupes, voy a regresar a estas panaderías y voy a mostrarte mis nuevas selecciones.

Sunday Funday

... No not the kind that includes boozing during brunch & beyond, but a different kind of fun! Every Sunday in Guadalajara the city closes down Avenida Chapultapec & Avenida Vallarta from 8-12 so that people can enjoy the streets freely. I was at a hostel where my buddy stays on Sunday, so I decided to borrow one of the bikes and enjoy the beautiful day.

 Aren't the tree lined streets pretty?

Most people ride bikes but there are also joggers, roller bladers, walkers, and skateboarders. 

I was really surprised to see so many roller bladers here. I thought that fad died down in 1998....

I took the picture while cycling, so please don't judge how crooked it is.

















There are quite a number of parks along these two main roads, and on Sundays they are filled with people. There are also government sponsored groups that promote physical activity and wellness... I laughed when I saw this group promoting exercise with hula hoops

After biking for about an hour I was pretty thirsty so I stopped to quench my thirst with some refreshing fruit. This watermelon really hit the spot. It was prepared exactly how my nanny growing up prepared it: chili powder and lime juice. So good!

The little square where I sat & ate my fruit.

Pretty sights along my ride. Overall, I biked for about 2 hours. If you started at 8 in the morning you really could make a whole day out of this by stopping along the way for an espresso, a stroll through the park, some pan dulce, a visit to the street markets and so on. It also makes for great people watching! Hopefully I can do this again this Sunday, but maybe with some buddies so I have someone to talk to, ha.

Vamos a cocinar!

Mi escuela nos ofrece algunos talles que podemos tomar para aprender mas de la cultura Mexicana. It was a close decision between the salsa class or the cooking class, but I decided I would enjoy the cooking class more (and avoid awkward moments with my male classmates). Ayer empiezó nuestra primera clase.

La cocina





El primer plato que hicimos fue Chiles en nogada. Esto es un plato muy tradicional, especialmente durante de la patria en Septiembre. En un momento vas a ver porque lo es un plato para celebraciones. También hicimos arroz con leche, que es una postre muy común en Mexico.

Los ingredientes

Mis compañeras limpiando los chiles después de asandolos.

Picando los nueces.

















Estrella cocinando el pica dillo (carne molida de cerdo, jitomates, cebolla, nuez, acitron, pasas, y piñon). No te preocupes; tuve mi propio versión sin carne :)

La crema en la licuadora (crema leche y nuez).














 Rellendo los chiles.

El producto final! Chiles bañados con la nogada (la crema) y adornado con los granitos de granada.

Notan los colores; el chile es verde, la crema el blanco, y los granitos son rojos... los colores de Mexico!

Disfrutando mi creación delicioso.














It was really funny to take this class with the two girls from South Korea. Each time the teacher let them try an aspect of the dish along the way, they reacted as if it were the coolest thing they had ever tried. They were blown away by the whole process, haha. I could also tell they didn't enjoy the arroz con leche because they didn't eat any of it. I found this interesting because I'm pretty sure Asian cuisines incorporate rice in their desserts as well. I'm excited to make a vegetarian adaption of this dish. I think the walnuts are going to be very helpful as they take on a meat-like consistency when ground very finely and then cooked.
Anyone else eating Mexican food this week? Cody, Chipotle doesn't count....