Villa Montana Hotel & Spa Morelia

... a good way to relieve the hangover but once we got out it was absolutely freezing due to the high altitude. Probably the first and only time I've actually felt cold since being in this country.

That evening we returned to have a fiesta in the big house we were staying in. A brief powercut meant that it was a candlelit party for sometime, but the power soon returned and the festivities continued. As it was the only common language between all the different nationalities, I think ...

... pretty fluently. Exciting! I've started buying the local newspaper this week too, and can get much of it!

I seemed to hit a big bump in classes around Tuesday where I couldnīt say anything right, but seem to have gotten over it a bit. Conversation class has started to be really fun - Lupita (see picture several entries ago) really keeps us on our toes and keeps the ball rolling. Also went to Conversation Club a couple of times and both salsa classes this week ...

... restored so you can get an idea of how big they were. They carved inscriptions on the stone, and you can still see these inscriptions on the pyramids and also in the buildings built by the Spanish! (see photos!)

After the pyramids we went to the town below and visited the monastery and church where Vasco de Quiroga lived. He was the one who set up the system in the 16th century (that still survives today) of each village of indidigenous people ...

Itīs Wednesday of my second week already - the time is flying! We are marching on through the maze of Spanish verbs in the first two hours of classes each day, and I was very glad that today that we tackled pluperfecto (have done, had done, will have done, will have wanted to have done if I hadnīt already done...okay I made that one up!) which Iīm finding almost comforting after days of trying to decide whether I want imperfecto or pretérito and when I do decide ...

... schedule of services - any church musicians reading this will realize how good they have it when I tell you there are 7 masses a day Mon-Fri, 9 masses on Saturday and 11 masses on Sunday. Donīt know if they all have music, but Iīve been in the cathedral 3 times during services and heard the organ each time. Havenīt heard any choirs though!

Other than this itīs the daily routine - classes and homework. Not too exciting, but Iīm learning a LOT! Hasta luego!

... display of bodies from the crypt of the basilica - because of the
somethng i couldnīt catch the bodies are very well preserved. bit
gruesome though.

on my own this afternoon with a bit of luck i happened upon (ive
totally given up trying to follow the map in this town!) the diego
rivera house where he was born. Wonderful museum. bottom decorated in
19th c. furniture and other floors of his paintings. i ...

... Therefore, there are buckets by the tanks that you use to fill the toilets with water in order to flush. I can't tell you how much water I spilled on my feet, and wish to think less about what might have been in it. Admission was included in the tour, and the hike up the mountain started on a dirt road flanked by primitive stalls. Some had a cast iron griddle over a wood fire, and tables set up within them. Others had some crafts for sale. The climb ...

... Itīll be a real challenge but I canīt wait. Thereīs so much to see and do and the hostel weīve booked (canīt really chance arriving without prior arrangements in this Mexican metropolis with their dodge taxi drivers and 20million plus population) sounds class....dinner buffet in evenings and all! Gonna see Frida Kahloīs house and then I can analyse the role she played in HER relationship with Diego Rivera,,,,WAHOO! Let the psycho analysis begin! Later daters!

... of civil an religious buildings from the days of the vice-royalty, the charming variety of vernacular architecture, wonderful museums and the 367 colorful local festivities held every year in Michoacán. Added to this are the endless delights of its customs and traditions, the friendly conversation of its inhabitants and the eye-catching local craft-work, (with its fascinating combination of Amerindian, Asian, African and Hispanic influences).