Guadalajara Plaza Expo

... second I was about to grasp it. Looking down I was confronted by the biggest insect I have ever seen in my life! At first I had no idea what it was, but my American friends recognised it as a Praying Mantis from its distinctive posture. It had a fearsome leap but eventually we managed to trap the beast in a glass and release it into the shrubs outside.

I could sleep easy again. Or so i thought.

The next night I was awoken by a tickling sensation as ...

... it was given a unique twist thanks to a couple of strange Mexican traditions. When my cake was brought out I was introduced to a local custom of which I had not been previously made aware. After blowing out the candles, Alba appeared behind me to plunge my face into the cake! Apparently this is standard practice on birthdays here. I also had a Piņatita, a small piņata we had found in a local market, which we took outside so as not to ...

... from 9 til 1pm, but the afternoons are free for us to do whatever we please. Directly in front of our house is a small park with courts where I've been playing a bit of football and basketball with the local kids who gather there each night. I've also joined the CEPE football team here. After barely scraping together 11 players for our opening game we were a tad unfortunate to squander a 2-0 lead and lose 3-2. Another new activity for me was going horse riding for the ...

... the telenovellas she dutifully watches every evening at 8:30. I usually join her when Iīm around, with my notebook in hand in case a new word pops up. We both agree the central antagonist in La Muhare Comprado, the beautiful and manipulative mother of the adopted child of another character, is completely loca, and even a bit mala (sorry about my spelling for those of you who speak Spanish).

Being in school is a bit weird too...I canīt ...

... br> Like any city, Guadalajara definitely has its fair share of poorer areas. I found this out first hand when, two days ago, I decided to go for a "little" run to check out the area with two other guys from the hostel. I didn't realize they were both avid long-distance runnners until we were about 5k in to the run, totally and completely lost in a run-down area of town. Guadalajara is a very industrial city, with entire districts of factories ...

... a bin, then in a tree, and then I realised, I somehow goy some on myself.
The girls were lovely, put me in a taxi and made sure I got home all right. I hand washed my pants and then vomited some more in the toilet. The host mum was very nice, she wanted to take me to hospital but instead I let her settle with giving me a jug of water infused with electrolytes. That drink felt awesome to drink after vomiting, and didn’t feel too bad when it came back up. It ...

... Africa with it's honest-to-god markets and laundry sinks- I feel like I'm able to treat myself better than I do back home. (If I only had my old charcoal stove!) I love playing homemaker and find feeding myself is somehow more "real" than office work or taking a trip to McDonalds. Granted, it takes considerably more time this way, but time is something I have... (another difference between my US life and my nomad life). And, granted, most ...

... prizes for guessing what's it the home of!! So I'll take a safe guess and say the sore heads will be back fairly soon!! For now though, I'll say hasta pronto, or talk soon. Thanks for the comments on the previous blogs guys, they're all good to see, and giving us a good laugh. James, Ps: For family/friends of Eoin, he sends on his best regards, and he was genuinely thinking about setting up his own Blog, but then we ended up in the pub, and the thought drifted very quickly!

... of catching wrong buses, getting out at wrong stops, not being given a storage ticket for my backpack on the bus and then the driver not wanting to give it back to me (we had this circular argument where he insisted I prove it was my bag, me telling him the proof was in the bag, him saying I couldnīt touch the bag because I couldnīt prove it was mine, ahhhh... ashamed to say he only gave it to me when I decided to go the ītears and a huge sceneī route). Also had an ...

... corn and other veggies. I went along when they went to milk the cows! If you are a dairy fan, you do not want to see the video clips I got! It was fun but I'm sure her cousin's husband must've thought it weird that I was taking pics and video of cows! At least I wasn't asked to milk them. They actually use those vaccum pumps to milk them (it is 2004 afterall!). We also went into San Miguel and spent some time there so Susie could get her favorite choco-milk which she's been ...