My Confession

Alright, fine, I admit it.  You know, I see how many pictures everyone else posts, and I've just finally got to say it:  I don't carry my camera around.  I don't like it.  It bulges too much in my pocket or I forget it.  On the occasion it IS in my bag, I walk around with it in there for three or four days, totally unaware it is even there in the first place.  Now aware of my problem, I am going to try and correct it...plus my mom and the invisible forces of the study abroad office will threaten me if I don't start posting more pictures.

This picture is me visiting Teotihuacán, home of the Toltecas, later the Aztecs, and eventually the infamous Spaniard Hernán Cortés.  Note my visible excitement in the picture.
These pyramids are the third largest in the world.  Beating them out is another pyramid in México's own Yucatan peninsula, a Mayan temple I believe, and of course the pyramids in Egypt.  It depends how you measure it.  Someone told me these are the largest by volume, but only third by height.  Go figure.

The next pictures is from a lovely little group of musicians that serenaded me during lunch on a boat on (what remains of) the lake in Mexico City.  There isn't much lake left at all, as most of present day México City currently resides on top of it.  Originally the lake was filled with chinampas, floating gardens used by the Aztecs to support their massive population, now on top of the once beautiful, fruitful gardens is mostly slanting churches and government buildings, slowly sinking into México City's former lake bed.

In Guanajuato, I have the incredible luck of being the only student that lives in downtown.  I like to think it is good karma or something of the sort, as my previous abroad experiences mandated sometimes a 40 minute commute, and for about a month this past summer, I even spent an hour a day commuting in Berlin.  A ten minute walk suites me much better.

The other cool thing about being downtown is that my house is literally a hop, skip, and a jump away from the famous callejón del beso.  It is the Mexican version of Romeo and Juliet as far as I can tell, a story about forbidden love and family rivalry, and of course eventually death resulting from said forbidden love.  At night, troubadours roam the streets, singing songs, including songs about this story.  Fridays and Saturdays I have to embarrassingly walk behind the troubadours in front of a very large crowd to open my front gate.  This past weekend was the seventh anniversary of this particular group of troubadours.  All past and present members reunited to sing throughout the town, which included my host sister.  I have a picture of her singing with them, but as it did not turn out well, I promised her not to post it online.

Abrazos,

John