Aguascalientes, Taxco

The friends I met in Guanajuato at the callejoneada (remember? men in old Spanish leotards) invited me to their home this weekend, 6 hours north of Mexico City by bus to a town called Aguascalientes. Aguascalientes in Spanish means "hot water", and the town is famous for its thermal springs. My friends tell me that many homes still use natural hot water for their shower---cool! My friends Tanya and Erika are cousins whose families have lived in both the States and Mexico, and they are both English teachers at a university in town. They took me around to the sites, taught me about all the yummy junk food native to Mexico (corn with cream in a cup, egg nog flavored ice cream water, cafe de olla--cinnamon flavored sugared-up coffee, but I couldn't appreciate the chili flavored sweet tamarind jelly beans though, ew) and took me to see their friends' rock band play on Sat. night. It was a blast! The best thing was learning about Mexican culture and seeing how close the family is, and hearing first hand reports about the cool things to do and see in the area. Thanks so much, Tanya and Erika!!!!

For some reason, I was very popular with the insect population of Aguascalientes city. One night I had to pull a grasshopper out of my shirt, and another night I got stung by a bee inside a restaurant! The little demon stung my left hand ring finger, and it swelled so much I've had sumo-wrestler-hand for the last few days. I think they like the Bath and Body lavender soap and body lotion I've been using, hmmm, might have to change soaps.

Taxco is a World Heritage designated colonial maze of steep streets that all go uphill. (How do they do that?) The streets are so narrow that they only use Volkswagen Beetles for taxis with the front passenger seat pulled out, customer sits in back. Buses are old Volkswagen Vans with the side door pulled off. I saw a 4WD truck try to navigate the streets with his side view mirror scraping against all the buildings. There are no sidewalks, you have to duck into shops sometimes to avoid getting hit. Not getting run over in this town is an artform.

I put up new pictures! From Guanajuato-Uruapan-Mexico City and from Aguascalientes-Taxco, check 'em out!

Volkswagon bus

Taxco taxis