lots of stuff

18 -23 (mex city) itinerary and thoughts

MEXICO CITY (26- 28)

26:
- Trip to Mexico city: stopped for coffee and snacks..
- Pineapple fields all over on the way there.
- Went for dinner at Sanborns;
- The hotel was right downtown (by the Zocalo).
- Walked around for a little bit at night.

27:
- Got up early-ish to take the Turibus and toured a portion of the city. Got off at Coyoacan? and kinda walked by Frida Kahlo’s house but it was closed.
- Art everywhere; there was a Dali sculpture exhibit.
- Went into a few shops while walking around.
- Did some shopping by the hotel again.

28:
- Breakfast at fancy restaurant with great hot chocolate.
- Thalia goes to the hotel ‘cause she felt sick.
- Whit and Jen go to the Mailing Services building and saw some Aztec ruins a few blocks from the hotel.

18 -23 (Ixtaltepec) itinerary and thoughts

IXTALTEPEC (21 - 23)

Roadtrip to Ixtaltepec
- Pineapples stop, sweet totopos as snack on the way to Thalia’s grandparents.
- The Antonio family, there’s a lot of them and little cousins…
- Being stared at all the time by mexicans.
- “La Regada”: festival to celebrate the king and queen of the community as part of a celebration. Long wait for the event to begin. It starts with people dressed in traditional outfits: women holding flowers and with lots of jewelry and men in horses, also children around (lots of them) Giving away things to people (useless and cheap / dollar store items : bar soap, candy, buckets, tupperware..) Thalia’s grandma gets really really excited and even fights with little kid who wants to take away some of her things.
- Eating mango with chilli sauce.
- Watch a movie ??? Sat a lot, didn’t do much..

-Went to “Ojo de Agua” ( Water’s Eye)… J & W got stared at the most here.
-Lots of mangoes on the ground. Played with a ball in the water. Sketched a bit?
-Whitney got harassed by teenage kids and even got a picture with them.
-Thalia’s mom read a book the whole time there.

-Went to the market in Juchitan’s downtown. It stunk. “Quesillo lady” —> “Cheee-ese” …
-Drinking horchata in a bag..
-Buying cheap souvenirs.

-Tried totopo (dried corn tortillas)…
-Jose Eduardo (annoying little cousin)..
-Whit and Jen dress in traditional zapotec dresses for 10 mins.
Last day in Ixtaltepec —> Girls sun tan outside the house in the plastic chairs.

18 -23 (coatza) itinerary and thoughts

COATZA (18-20 / 23-25)

18: Breakfast at Thalia’s. Lots of food.
- Grocery shopping? Did we do any?
- Breakfast at La Flor del Istmo (Restaurant by the river) ..
- Boat trip to Allende - Lighthouse museum. Very, very, extremely hot. Walked up the hill to the museum and were very dehidrated. Stopped by the tortilla machine.
- Went to Las Barrillas, a few minutes outside city limits (Thalia was grumpy that day) Had shrimp. Drunken dude in the hammock? Thalia goes over to the Hayeks’ place to hang out while Jen and Whitney stay at Thalia’s to rest..
- Watched the Dance show El Jarocho / Jen fell asleep for the most part
- Went to the beach and had a bad experience walking on the shore.
- Went to La Porfiria (Adriana’s friend’s pub by the old boulevard) Made some ‘new friends’.
- Hung out with Alessandro and his mom. Went downtown to the park by city hall and had corn in a cup.
- Played Rockbank at Thalia’s house with Adriana. Thalia gets half a makeover (straight-ish hair)
- Pool day with the Hayeks at the hotel Terranova (Salma, Yazmin, the kids…) Salma’s husband drove us there and it was crazy scary to be in the truck..Whitney posing with Salma, Adriana and Frida for photos… Nadine and Jonathan wanting us to stop speaking English

12-17 itinerary & thoughts

12: Arrival & Suprise

- work up at 5am, transferred from Phoenix to Mexico City, arrival, suprise! (thalia knew) - shared fast mexican food from airport while waiting for cancun flight
- jen found magazine on the plane to be kind of relevant to graphic design and found it weird to be on the plane so she stole it, We enjoyed complimentary very delicious simple pre-packaged ham & cheese sandwiches that reminded thalia of her childhood days and some snacks
- met mom and dad, hugs everywhere, drove to hotel condo
- unloaded our luggage and enjoyed the view, drove back into the city for delicious real mexican cheesy, beefy, savory food & HORCHATA, traditional mexican band started playing for money (for another table)

13: Xcaret

- had breakfast at a chain restaurant and drove into Xcaret, enjoyed the sun, yummy pineapple drink, the perfect water, saw some turtles!
- snorkeling with our life jackets on, got to into the cave, float and relax
- had a big buffet, rested in hammocks, saw some rodeo/horse action with girls in traditional pretty dresses
- greeted by mayan costumed men on the way to the show, went to watch the show at night (mayan game & tradition mexico dance party)
- bought the picture of our snorkeling adventures and some souvenirs, drove back to the hotel for a very goodnight sleep

14: Cancun

- went on boat with uncle Isla Mujeres
- breakfast??? this is the day i discovered thalias best kept secret, yummy hot chips in that yellow package…habenaro? (oh ya we only have two big meals a day)
- got to go for a ride on the ski doo, one by one, with a partner
- dipped our feet in the tiny pool for a bit (all of this took place at Uncle Isla Mujeres work: a boat rental company?)
- finally Uncle Isla took us for a ride, showed us around
- saw a pirate ship, saw the nicest color of ocean water ever, whitney touched the flat shark and we board shark teeth necklaces
- made a stop for some delicious hut food place, had big fish and enchiladas, hung out on the big beach for a while and walked around the city (very touristy, i don’t remember where this was) - sailed back to the boat rental place
- WHAT DID WE HAVE FOR DINNERRRRR??? oh yes american pizza hut!!! for some reason it tasted so good
- went to the big mall that has a open roof, lots of awesome tourist shops with tourist prices, and an aquarium

15: bye beautiful Cancun, Merida here we come

- breakfast was at a really nice sophisticated cafe bakery
- lily brought us to buy some cheap mexico city souvenirs, cheap indeed!! me and whitney bought some skirts with Cancun on the ass
- tried going to Chichen (was it too late? the drive was long and i am not sure why we didn’t go)
- but left went to holiday inn hotel in Merida, hung out at the pool for a bit, night life in merida is very nice, theres some beautiful historic buildings
- met dr. cousin, she told us about her bf
- went to Samborns (giant department store) for food, DON’T get salad there, jen decided to take a break and eat healthy and ended up having major bowel movements
- went to oxxo to buy some drinks (pineapple pop) then went on a romantic horse carriage
- finally back in the hotel, time to sleep

16: Chichen Itza is very HOT!

- woke up early to drive to Chichen, there are TONS of vendors
- a very open pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilzation with lots of historic value
- many architectural styles that were explored, lots of tourists (anybody kept their admission?)
- used to be able to go up the steps of the buildings but they are now scared that this will eventually destroy it
- there is El Castillo, Great Ball Court, Tzompantli, Platform of the Eagles and the Jaguars, Platform of Venus, Sacbe Number One, Cenote Sagrado, Temple of the Tables, Temple of the Warriors, Group of a THousand Columns, Steam Bath, El Mercado, Ossario, Temple of Xtoloc, House of the Metates and House of the Mestizas
- Whitney and I had to bargain with the vendors, thalias mom did it for us actually..bought some sculptures (will go into detail with whitneys specific descriptions) I bought a traditional calendar and a women goddess sculpture, saw those old ladies that whitney fell in love with so we bought some hand sewn graphic napkins from them - when we got back home, had to shower IT WAS A HOT DAY
- walked to the restaurant, on our way we saw very much street art that was unique, creative and AWESOME and everywhere incorporated with the environment
- Sat at the roof top of La Exquina bar and grill and enjoyed horchata and food
- walked around after and saw some more street art - addressing environmental issues - had the most delicious mexican melted ice/ice cream/gelato type things and this lady tried to come up to us and sing (scary/funny)
- went back to the hotel, sleep *we might of gone to oxxo twice and to buy water bottles and cigarettes for one baaad girl

17: to Thalias town we go!

- left for Coatza 8 hr drive, listened to some awesome cds
- we now know that we only have 2 big meals a day
- stopped a few hours into the drive to grab a big lunch, at a restaurant in the middle of no where, food was very yummy and fresh
- had a surprise dinner @ thalias house, first home cooked meal, VERY good
- met all of her family, aunt uncle aunt uncle cousin cousin cousin cousin (thalia your better with names)
- her quiet boy cousin then took us for a drive by the boulevard verrry slowly with adriana too
- even tho we didn’t do much it was a very exhausting day because of the long drive and multiple naps and food, whitney and i got fer & samers room

OH DANG I COULD HAVE USED BULLETS #$%#^$%%@