Concordia Morelia

... of the dead), candy skulls and a wide array of grotesque masks. <br><br>In the late afternoon we took a boat to the island of Janitzio in Lake Patzcuaro. We had heard that Janitzio was the best place to celebrate the Night of the Dead and to see locals laying gifts at the graves of loved ones in the cemeteries. Perhaps this was once true, but the island has since become just another place for tourists to tick off their list. As we climbed the steep steps up the hillside we passed ...

... film festival was underway, but only later did I find out that Quentin Tarantino, one of my favourite directors, was also there that night to unveil his WWII epic "Inglourious Basterds". We stayed to watch an impressive firework display before returning to the bus to commence the festivities. <br><br>By the time we had driven up into the mountains and started drinking it was about midnight, but after a few drinks the tiredness ebbed and we began to get into the party spirit ...

... in English (Rutter´s "For the Beauty of the Earth" which I did with my girls at school last spring) and their English was so bad it was funny! I wanted to get up there and correct them, but I behaved myself!<br><br>Yesterday afternoon I went to a music workshop for children and adults. They taught guitar, violin and wooden flute in groups and then put them together at the end of the workshop. This takes place twice a week, so I´ll go again next week. I´ve borrowed a ...

... specialize their in own handicraft. Also visited the market where we could see (and purchase) some of these handicrafts. Bought a beautiful terracotta pot for about $17...still working on how I´m going to get it home! (what´s Spanish for bubble wrap - plastica con burbujas?)<br><br>Pátzcuaro - went to a nice restaurant for lunch and then wandered around the market and square. Watched the dance of "los viejitos" - young people dressed in traditional ...

... me what sounded like jello she was really offering me "hielo" which is ice. I finally figured out today that jello is "gelatina." Ohhhh!)<br><br>This is a bit dull because there´s nothing really exciting happening! The organ recital that was supposed to be on last night was cancelled, but no one seems to know why. I did go to see two Chekhov one-act comedies yesterday instead. I found the scripts online and read them before I went, which was good because it was ...

Long travel day for Noel, Patti, John, and I (James). We arrived in Morelia around 9pm - took us to our host families houses and ate a fabulous meal at 10::45 and then to bed. We had to meet at 9am for work detail. No pictures for this entry but there are plenty coming.

... to follow............... <br><br>Accommodation <br><br>Patzcuaro offers an excellent range of places to stay with the best deals to be found in the centre of town. Your other option is to stay three kilometre's out of town on the road that leads down to Lago de Patzcuaro, from where the boats depart for Isla Janitzio. Where ever you decide to stay make sure to ask for a bit of discount as all the places that I looked at would drop their rates ...

... Phil was now in his element. He led me through narrow aisles past shops devoted to beans, corn and maize. Displaying a passion hitherto unseen, he waxed lyrical on the difference between this bean and that or what type of flour went into which tortilla. We moved into the herb section. I made an effort to appear an enthusiastic student and Phil questioned a merchant in great detail about the origin his cilantro. The guy bagged some up but we'd already moved on. The next ...

... comme hier) que les pneus des voitures fondent et s'incrustent dans la route! Nous sommes cinq dans la maison : Kim la coréenne, Soren le dannois, Katerine la québécoise et Annabelle et moi de France. Les autres sont partis, ils n'étaient pas sympas, très "européens", mis à part qu'ils n'avaient aucune hygiène. Notre premier boulot a été de tout laver, faire les courses, etc... Nous parlons trois langues, et parfois Kim et Soren tentent de nous faire prononcer des trucs en danois et ...

... uncle all took care of us, me who they barely knew and my Aussi friend who they had never met before. When Aussi girl was better she took off to Zihuatenajo and when I finally recovered, Hugo talked me into going to Carnival in Veracruz with him and his friends. I have since considered how awful it could've been if we had both gotten so ill while traveling alone with nobody to take care of us. I've added this experience to my long list of reasons to love Mexico.