Hotel Plaza Poblana Puebla

... Ronja and I got ready for the day. It was a beautiful day but cold. I dug through the bottom of my suitcase and got out a sweater! It felt so good to wear a sweater in Mexico!<br><br>As I had previously mentioned, our host dad had wanted to take us to the ancient ruins in Mexico. Unfortunately, he had to do some last minute work. His 17 year-old son and his son's girlfriend picked us up instead! They had a definite plan in mind :)<br><br>First we walked to a nearby market ...

... outlined by our education coordinators, Hans and Dave, was to teach the children how to become better citizens.<br><br>20 minutes to teach young children that concept? There are some adults that don't even know that concept! :) It would be quite a challenge. We were on the bus for about an hour and had some time to determine what activity we would do. We decided to play a game called "Take a Stand". We ask questions and the children have to choose one side of ...

... Europe - songs by ABBA, Queen, and songs in Finnish, Dutch and Swedish! It's going to be great :)<br><br>Some members of our group have a great presentation today about the environment. We learned about different types of energy and which countries specialize in each type. Then the group issued a challenge to our cast involving food waste and consumption. <br><br>First, our cast is going to try to reduce our food waste. For example there were over 10 uneaten lunches today. All of that ...

... didnt taste that bad, it was just the texture. As soon as you bit down, the grasshoppers basically became dust and bits were stuck in my teeth for a few hours after: yummy!!! Once we got to the top, we had a quick look at the church, and they tried to pronounce the name of the huge volcano we could see looming over the town. Popocatepetl, not the easiest word to pronounce, is still active and erupted back in 1993. We climbed back down and went to the part of the pyramid ...

... Lonely Planet describes, but it's a shame there prices are 100 peso out. The current rates are 350 + 450 peso for 1 or 2 persons and not the 260 + 350 that Lonely Planet states. A room with 2 beds you're looking at 570 peso for 2 persons. At the end of the day, the rooms are simple and well overpriced especially when you see what else is around. <br><br>At the top end Puebla offers some fine boutique accommodation. <br><br>My ...

... we had had the time out to take we would have......There really is SO much you can do in Mexico, so many temples, mountains, ancient ruins, history, hiking etc... it really is quite hard to know where to go next due to all the choices and you could so easily spend 2-3 months here just doing the part we are doing, definitely a place we will come back to explore and hike! On taking many a photo, we then saw the most beautiful snow covered volcano ...

... 12th of December (atleast this year) and poeple come from all over Mexico to attend the event. It happens in or near a church, and maybe you can see that Lady of Guadalupe (or an actor dressed as her) walk in the street and into the church or maybe you go into the church to see her. What exactly she stands for...maybe i can learn that later?? In the evening we went shopping for an outfit for Lili to wear for her ceremony tomorrow. She had ...

Today was election day. I went with Lili and her father and brother to see how it worked. For the most part it is pretty much the same, you sign in (they dont get cards in the mail) get your ballot and go to your booth. It is like a cloth box, so it is completly closed, no just 3 sides. And they use a crayon instead of a poker/punch out type thing. So there are no "hanging chads" causing problems here. After you deposit your balott in ...

... on the bus to Puebla hoping to have a better time than I had in Montreal by myself earlier in the year. These fears were soon dispelled as there are so many people doing the same trip, all with the same guidebook (Lonely Planet - be it in English, French, Spanish or Italian) and we stick out so easily (so much for blending in with the locals given my skin colour) that it is quite easy to strike up a conversation. It helps that I speak English, French and ...

... children working in their parents shops or begging. In contrast the other town made sure their children were in the classroom and lived a more conservative lifestyle. During the Mayan route I saw some amazing archaelogical sites. Palenque was the first and probably my favourite. White temples set in the lush green jungle. The setting really made this site. And some of the bas-reliefs were amusing, especially one of a god smoking a suspicious substance. So it seems that the Mayans ...