Alright, so I am well aware that it has been a while since the last update....and by a while I mean a few months of course. But that doesn't mean that it was never on my mind. No, seriously. Here, I'll prove it to you; I've written in my little black book while traveling with the strict in intention of one day transferring it onto here, and that one day just so happens to be today. For the sake of time, though, I'll just transfer it directly, so if time doesn't quite agree....get over it. Enjoy :)
April 8, 2009: "I am sitting in one of the prettiest places I have been to thus far in Mexico; Guanajuato. Monday morning I woke up ridiculously early to catch a taxi with rob to catch our flight from Mty. to Leon. Seeing the sunrise on the plane was gorgeous, and it made me glad that I had such a beautiful setting and time to contemplate the several significant anniversaries that April 6th holds.
The flight was fast enough, and we had a really friendly taxi driver from the airport to the bus station in leon that thought it was pretty entertaining that we were speaking in spanish to each other. He told us how he had lived in the little town the airport is in his whole life, and I couldn't help but wonder what that would be like; to spend my whole life in one place. He must feel very connected to that land. While driving we could see many farmer's fields along the road, but one in particular literally made me gasp a little when I saw it. As I turned to look out, the rising sun just highlighted the vibrant green of this crop and the outfits of the hundreds of workers who were in it harvesting. The whole thing was just so unexpected, like a movie, and visually stunning that I couldn't help myself.
We then took a bus to Guadalajara that allowed me some time for sleep. I have to say though, I am a fan of Mexican/ Latin Bus travel. It may take a long time, but they sure do make those buses nice. This one, for example, had nice, big, plush reclining chairs, tvs with private audio so you could listen to the movie playing or some other music stations, mens and womens lavatories, and WiFi. Right when we came out of the Guadalajara bus station, the city bus that we needed was driving by and completely ignored our waving arms, so we got to wait around for another half hour (in which time I had talked to a taxi driver and gotten him to bring his price down from 160 to 100 pesos, but we decided the 10 peso bus was worth the wait) until we caught the correct bus. An hour ride through shady Guadalajara, and we were at our hostel which was actually very nice.
To pass the rest of that day we walked forever going to "old" Guadalajara, shopping, taking pictures, and what not. My feet definitely did not appreciate this, but I got to buy some cute earrings that were made by a local indigenous group whose name escapes me now. Walking around in those squares was very interesting as well. Being white, we were obviously the 'targets' of many beggars and people trying to sell us little trinkets. For example, while walking this little boy just came up to me and asked me if I wanted a sticker (little red hearts), but before I could decline, he already had one on me saying "un peso". So, feeling that one peso wouldn't be too much to give, I start reaching in my pocket for the money when his older sister comes and starts doing the same thing. Soon me and rob just have about 10 stickers (most of them were on rob) on us and I hand them what I had in my pocket and walk away (it was a five). Another guy, who was deaf, came up to us with a little piece of paper explaining his situation and telling rob that he should buy a rose. The guy wasn't leaving, so rob just gave him some change and the guy handed me the rose and said "para tu novia". We laughed and explained that we were just friends, and the guy felt a little bad about pestering us when we were just friends, but walked away content and ready to pounce on another unsuspecting "couple". hahaha.
Next day we decided to heed my ingenious idea and take the Tapatio tour buses (only 90 pesos for the whole day on a double decker bus) to Tlaquepaque and "new/old" Guadalajara. I loved Tlaquepaque. It was full of gorgeous streets (definitely developed for tourism) of just shops, markets, and restaurants. Very pretty. Loved it, still do, but nothing currently compares to Guanajuato." --To be continued when I have more time tomorrow.....