Guanajuato

We stayed in a house up in the local hills above the center of town for just over a week.  Guanajuato is in the North Central part of Mexico and was built by the Spaniards in the 1500s.  It is a  valley filled with colorful pastel boxy homes nestled together in a labyrinth connected by cobblestone and ancient mortar.  Everyday we walked the 30 minutes down from our home to our school where we embarked on learning Spanish for 3.5 hours.  This time learning stretched our brains and we would arrive back home in the afternoon exhausted by satisfied.  Our time here was filled with walking, learning the language and buying roasted chicken, fresh tortillas and fruits and vegetables from the many small vendors along our path for our meals.

Our memories of Guanajuato.  Our delight while unravelling the mysteries of a language.  Looking up at the stately colonial homes that line the central part of the town.  Jacks favorite tacos for Home of the Duck.  Warm tortillas with salt…1/2 a kilo for .50 .  The children gathering the courage to order food in Spanish.  Jugo de Zanahoria every morning for Jack on our walk to school, 14 pesos.  The loud fireworks lit by the many churches to honor the Saint of the day, at all hours of the day.  The accompanying parades of bugles and drums that started at 0600.  The dog barking that would frenzy every 2 am in our neighborhood.  The bottoms of our feet black from our time walking in the city.  The delicious street food we would eat, while standing with other strangers, enjoying the nuance of flavor for 10 pesos.

I am so glad that I decided to write this blog.  Aside from being a useful way to communicate with family and friends en mass, it a journal of experiences and memories for our family.  We have been traveling for just over 8 months.  Our goal for this year was too expand and lengthen time as we felt that everything was just moving too fast.  Well, we sure have accomplished that as the time we were in Malaysia feels like years ago, not months.  The passage of time is strange and although uniform on the outside, widely variable according to one’s perspective.  I have forgotten many of the experiences and thoughts that I had in our travels and am thankful that the blog has captured them forever?!