Some Pyramids and Guanajuato

Wednesday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and left for Teotihuacán, a very sacred, religious, and mysterious place for indigenous people who lived before the Aztecs. I visited this site when I was 16 with school. It was a little different this time for a few reasons.
1) I understand a little more about the culture of Mexico and its history.
2) I am with different people now.
3) I have a new appreciation for Mexico and was just so excited to be there.
We climbed a few of the smaller things, like where they conducted sacrifices. Then the bodies of the sacrificed were carried about three kilometers to either the Pyramid of the Sun or the Pyramid of the Moon. I only climbed the Pyramid of the Sun this time. It's the biggest one and you can climb all the way to the top. You can only climb halfway up the Pyramid of the Moon. We spent quite a bit of time there. I spent a lot of time with Jessie my roommate for Mexico and I think for the rest of the trip.
We were done looking at and climbing the pyramids at one and we had until three to look around so we decided to find something to eat. We looked for a restaurant that we were told was right outside of the park. Wrong, it's about a half-mile away. We were hungry and thirsty, so we walked there and sat down at the first place. It was good, a little on the pricey side. We had piña coladas (which is all I have wanted since we entered the country) and a tampequeña, which is steak, an enchilada, beans, rice, guacamole, and tortillas. It was very good.


At the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, we encountered some lovely Italian men. I had no shame to ask them to take a picture with us. :D


This is me at the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, behind me is the Pyramid of the Moon.

Jessie and I reentered the park and the security guards and a few men started yelling at us saying "señoritas! Damas! Come here!" We ignored them because we thought they just wanted our attention or something. As it turns out, we aren't allowed to reenter the park. We were told we didn't need the ticket to get back in, but that's only if you leave the first gate not the main gate. We left the main gate and we had a difficult time convincing the guard that we were there earlier. We told them that we'd go find the leader with our tickets and then come back with them. We found her and asked for our tickets, but she said we didn't need to go back. So we didn't go back but two minutes later the guard came looking for us. He wasn't happy. We showed him our tickets and apologized. He still didn't believe us.
After lunch we got on the bus and headed for our 5 hour bus ride to Guanajuato. We arrived at the bus station and met with our Señora, the mother of our house. We took a taxi back to the house.
If you haven't heard about the house it has 10 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a party hall, kitchen, living room, dining room, and garden. It sounds amazing, however, I've only seen two bedrooms (the one I share with Jessie and the one of the other girl who is staying here, she's from Iowa), the bathroom that the three of us share, and the kitchen. It's not a homey as I would have liked. She's a professional chef and made us some quesadillas upon arrival at the house.
She also made us breakfast Thursday morning.
Emily is the other girl who lives here. She’s from a town near Des Moines but goes to school in Orange City. Jessie, Emily, and I all have something in common: special dietary needs. Jessie has an allergy to gluten. Emily has acid reflux. I have gastritis. So the Señora is flexible, she is a chef after all.
The house is about a 25 minute bus ride and a thirty minute walk. We walked with Emily to one of the school buildings. It’s not a campus; the buildings of the university are spread out across the city, which will mean a lot of walking up and down hills and steps for me.


This is Jessie and me with a view of Guanajuato.

We had an orientation and tour of the city. I had forgotten how beautiful it is here. Last time I was in Guanajuato I was really sick. It was about a week after I had gotten out of the hospital, I was taking 9 pills a day, and to top it off, I had an awful migraine and had to walk around the city when it got cold, there were bright street lights, and live music. I pretty much wanted to die. Point being, it was pretty yet awful. I'm excited to be here and it will be a busy, but good five weeks here.
This weekend I look forward to some fun stuff. We’re going to some more touristy things on Saturday and on Sunday we’re going to a soccer game. Classes start on Monday. Friday, however, I’m looking forward to doing a lot of nothing.