Teotihuacan and Mexico City

"Bienvenidos a Teotihuacan, la ciudad de los dioses." I had to give a speech about the pyramid on top of the pyramid for my art class. I wanted to start out with that line "Welcome to Teotihuacan, the city of the gods," but I definitely didn't. The speech went alright, but my professor recorded it zoomed so that just my face was showing. It was intimidating!

We went to Mexico City this weekend and had a great time; however, we only spent two days in the city and the third day in Teotihuacan. Mexico City is the second largest city in the world, and two days is not enough to even get to know Columbus, and it's small. All in all though, I saw a lot for the time that I was there.

Teotihuacan was AMAZING! The picture above is of me in front of the Piramide del Sol (Pyramid of the Sun). It is the third largest pyramid in the world (based on volume). 2nd place is the Great Pyramid in Giza, and 3rd is another pyramid in Mexico. The base of the Piramide del Sol is the same size as the pyramid in Egypt; however, this one is about half as short. I have learned a ton about ancient Mexico and it was really cool to see everything in real life.

I have posted a lot of pictures on Picasa from my weekend. I put descriptions on most every pictures, so it's easier to see what all I did this past weekend if you go on there. If you click on the title of this post, it will take you there.

It was very weird to be coming back to Guanajuato from Mexico City and feeling as though I was pseudo-coming back home. Well, I'm going to go. Me and some of my friends from the program, as well as a few new Mexican friends, are going to a cafe or something.

Nos hablamos pronto!

Tortillas, Cebollas, Queso, y Arroz

Bueno,

I hope everyone is doing well! I am happy to say that Mexico no longer hates me, or rather I no longer have a pessimistic view of the country. I am no longer sick; however, I still cannot eat tortillas, onions, cheese, or rice. My host-mother said that I was still psychologically ill, but she's fine with that. Ha-ha! She said she understands why I can't bring myself to eat the above foods; therefore, she has been making other things for me. I had a dish with onions in it three days ago, and after two bites, I just about had to run to the restroom. So, yesterday she made a pasta dish with spaghetti, butter, and spices, and lentil soup. I had Subway for lunch, but ate the spaghetti dish and lentil soup for dinner. She told John and I, (in Spanish) "I wake up every morning and think, Oh Jesus, what I am going to cook these poor boys?" We told her not to worry, but she's constantly worrying about us eating enough.

The picture above is me at the supermarket after having found Turkey Bacon. I told my host-mother, Martha, the other day that I am in fact not a complete vegetarian, that I do eat a few meats. Explaining why I don't like certain cheeses and meats was quite a trip. It's hard enough to explain in English; for my Spanish explanation, I grabbed a dictionary and started saying what I did like to eat (as far as meats and cheeses) and the reasons why. I then told her about my love for Turkey Bacon. She had never heard of it nor had the two guys from Texas. They thought I was lying and that it was impossible. To prove them wrong, I went to the Mall, my only chance for yellow cheeses, soy-milk, tofu, whole grain bread, and last but not least, turkey bacon. Sure enough, they had it. After telling some of my friends about my adventure, I was surprised by how many people are not familiar with turkey bacon. (And they do have turkeys here in Mexico, something that surprised me.)

Well . . . enough about food. I do have a life down here besides food, believe it or not. Not much has happened since Sunday, but I do have big plans for the weekend. We are going to Mexico City on Friday and staying there until Sunday morning. Upon leaving Mexico City we are going to Teotihuacan, and ancient city with two pyramids. The city, at its height, had a population larger than any other city in the world at the time, including Rome. Quite amazing! I will take plenty of pictures.

I have updated my online photo album again. Now you can see parts of the house where I'm staying, the mummy museum, and other things. If you click on the title of this blog post, it will take you there. So, I have this really creepy thing on here where I can see data on whose visiting my blog. I can't see individual names or specific locations, but I can see cities where people are from and things like that. It's pretty cool, because for the most part, I know who is reading it; however, there are a few cities that have thrown me off. So, if you live in one of the following areas, if you would send me an email or post a comment, I would greatly appreciate. If not, then I'll just go crazy with curiosity. Ha-ha. Here they are:

Lima, OH
Westerville, OH
Circleville, OH
Medina, OH
Sandusky, OH
Henderson, MI
Fort Worth, TX
Flemington, NJ
Newburgh, IN
Distrito Federal, Mexico


Yeah, it's kind of creepy, but being able to see people checking it makes me know that I'm not writing this for the sake of just writing it.

Hope you have a great week and weekend. I will hopefully post again on Sunday night or Monday.

All my best,

Stephen "Esteban" Tyler Knauff

El Cristo Rey (Christ the King)

Bueno amigos,

I hope everyone is doing well! I had a great opportunity the other day to go to see El Cubilete, which is the Cristo Rey (Christ the King) statue. It´s one of two in the world and stands 65 ft tall on top of one of the highest peaks in the area. The other statue of Jesus is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and I believe it is twice the size. If you click on the pictures to your left, they will open in another window where you can see them better. The views from the monument are breathtaking. You can see three cities and the airport where I flew into the area. Underneath the statue of Jesus is a beautiful chapel. Attached to the ceiling running the circumference of the room is a huge crown of thorns and in the middle of the room is an altar. When we were there there were two nuns singing and praying. I´m not sure when they hold protestant services up there, but it would be awesome to attend one. I wanted to take a picture of the chapel, but they have signs up saying that is a holy place dedicated to God and that visitors should be quite, respectful, and not take photographs.

Not only was the place great because it was silent and dedicated to Jesus, but no-one was smoking. Haha! It´s nice to get some fresh air every once in a while. Everyone smokes down here. I´m tolerating it because it´s normal; however, in the US I definitely do not tolerate anyone smoking around me.

I´ve created an online photo album using Picasa. I will start putting photos on there in that they upload very fast. It takes forever to put photos up on here. If you click on the title of this blog, it will take you to my online photo album.

¡Estamos en contacto!

Guanajuato, por Carlos y Eric

Hello,
I finally figured out how to shrink the videos of Guanajuato that Carlos and Eric took. So far, I have the first two up on youtube. (Unless you speak Spanish, you may not be able to understand the jokes and humor, but it´s still a great representation of Guanjuato).

Parte I:

Parte II:

¿Vas a morir Esteban?

Yes, that is what my host-mother has been asking me recently, "Are you going to die Stephen?" I just keep saying, it's possible. I'm actually a lot better today, but the past few days have been absolutely horrible. I'm not sure what made me sick, but something definitely did. Unfortunately, because I got sick on Wednesday, everything that I ate that day makes me nauseous just thinking about it. This includes the staples of the Mexican diet: corn tortillas, rice, onions, and cheese; it also includes a staple of the American diet: French fries. My host-mother drugged me up yesterday and I definitely felt better, but today I was still feeling nauseous. She recommended going to see a doctor, but after my lunch of Tomato-esque pasta-filled soup and two tomatoes, I feel better. She says that I'm probably getting nauseous thinking about food because I'm afraid to eat again. I told her what foods were making me nauseous and she about passed out. I think she's panicking because I pretty much ruled out all Mexican foods. Haha! She said I'll start eating more and more food slowly. Hopefully that will work well.

John and I wanted to go to El Cubilete (the Cristo Rey statue) today; however, after waiting for a bus for 45 mins, we left. We got back to the house, Martha (our host-mother) said that the bus runs every hour. Oh well, hopefully we will see it tomorrow.

The picture above is a view out the window from the kitchen table at night. Now you can't see it, but to the left, on the roof of another house is a dog that never stops barking. I am really trying to figure out how to kill it, but haven't come up with any good ideas yet. If you have any suggestions, just let me know. I think that anything that barks that much must have a really bad life, and therefore I would be doing it a favor. Haha! Okay, maybe not, but if you were living here, you would definitely be agreeing with me.

The house is extremely quite today. Carlos and Mariana are in Baja California on the beach with their father, Mario and Brian (two American students from Texas) are on a trip to Michoacan, and the TV has been off; therefore, no Telenovelas are playing.

I am starting to experience (what I will call) American Culture withdraw. I absolutely love the city, the people, and most things; however, the food is where I'm experiencing a culture withdraw. I think when I return to the US, the most Mexican food I will eat will be Chipotle (which is a far cry from the real deal). Of course, that's based on how I'm feeling now, so hopefully my opinion will change. Because I've been sick and no food has been settling well, I've not only been craving American food, but also everything else seems worse. My bed isn't as comfortable as it used to be, the shower isn't as hot, the hills are steeper and harder to climb, there are more smells in the tunnels, etc. etc. . .

ANYWAYS, despite my pessimistic view of this country right now, the city is still beautiful, the people friendly, and my host-family AMAZING! Most people call getting sick down here Montezuma's revenge, but I assure you, my sickness is not like that. I had all of that business the first week. I may be on Tlaloc's revenge now. I don't know.

The temperature today reached about 85 degrees Fahrenheit today and everyone in the city is about ready to die. One of my taxi drivers today said that it NEVER, NEVER gets this hot. Haha. I told him that in Ohio it's very common during the summer to go above 90, and with a lot of humidity. I then asked him if he had ever visited the US, but that was a stupid topic after telling him how much hotter it is. Oh well.

My roomate and I have determined that I would do fine living in a lot of countries, as long as I still had my American food. Unfortunately, different food is part of living abroad.

I hope everyone is doing great back home. Send me an email and let me know how things are going for you. Corey keeps me updated on news pretty well. The news down here is slightly different. We hear about major events all over the world, but it focuses on more local events (obviously); therefore, I haven't heard which houses in Columbus caught on fire last night, or updates on the price of gas. Haha! But seriously, send me an email if anything interesting happens: stylerknauff@yahoo.com.

Take care y estamos en contacto!

Stephen (Esteban) Tyler Knauff

Shoes, Spiders, and Scorpions

Above, is a picture of part of the shoe mall in Leon. It has 67 shoe stores. Leon is about 45 minutes away, so we made it a day trip. We took a bus there; that was a cultural experience. First, a man tried to sell us some kind of herbal remedy for your muscles (which I think it was just icy-hot). After he gave his 20 min speech (during which I don't think he took a breath), a man started playing a guitar and singing. It was actually pretty relaxing.

We also went to the Plaza Mayor which was the main mall for Leon. It was huge, and extremely nice. They even have an ice rink there. We ate at a restaurant called "Antares" which was beautiful. They had a grand piano and a violinist playing in the middle of the restaurant while we ate. It was very classy, but still casual-esque dining. My bill (after an appetizer, entree, lime tea, and tip) was $15; however, the prices throughout the rest of the mall were about the same as any US mall. Hugo Boss still costs about 300 US dollars for a pair of jeans, and the Forever 21 type stores had similar prices as well. I ended up getting some amazing shoes there though for $40 and a pair of nice jeans for $30, so I guess clothes are cheaper there, just not 10:1 cheaper.

On Friday night I met up with one of the guys that I had been talking to from here on Facebook. He, his girlfriend, and three other friends took John and I to a Karoke Bar where they sang some Mexican songs. It was hilarious because they weren't that good, but they didn't care. They tried to get John and I to sing a song in English, but all the bar had were songs from The Beatles and Madonna. Needless to say, we declined. After that we went to Bacardi Lounge which is a really cool place where tons of college students hang out. Everyone dresses up very stylishly and they have khaki sofas with plasma screen TV's everywhere with good music. It's really weird, the center of the place has wood floors, and then concrete floors around that, and finally sand-like gravel outside that. It's very different, but a lot of fun. Bodys (the guys from Facebook), his girlfriend, and another guy left early because they were tired. John, Juan Carlos, Andres, and I stayed behind and had a blast. Andres and Juan Carlos are from Mexico City, so when we go there at the end of June, they are going to show us around.

Today, my host brothers Carlos and Eric rode on Carlos' motorcycle through Guanajuato and videotaped the whole thing. I watched most of it today and it was hilarious. I'm going to post clips of it on youtube, but I'm going to restrict access, so I will let you know how to view the videos and when they are posted. The videos show you the mall, the tunnels, where I am living, who I'm living with, and a lot of the city. While you won't be able to understand the jokes in Spanish, they are still fun to watch.

There are some things down here that I am having to adjust too. It's not all fun and games. Haha! Almost everyone smokes, everywhere. It's really weird to go to restaurants and have people smoking. John wanted to smoke while we were waiting to re-join our group at the Plaza Mayor and he couldn't smoke inside the mall because he said it felt weird. Haha! It's amazing how quickly everyone has become accustomed to not smoking indoors in public places. Several people from my program have scorpions in their homes. One person says they have to check their beds at night because they will sometimes crawl into it during the day. Two unfortunate girls in my program found a tarantula in their room on Monday. They took a picture of it, but I don't have a copy of it. They said they put a hat over the spider, but a paper under it and put it outside. The next morning, their host-mother said it was still on the patio, so she took a stick and killed it. That's something else, John and I have been joking that Mexican women with sticks are dangerous. Last night we were walking home and saw a woman hit a car with a stick to get them to stop and talk. Apparently they were friends, or you just don't mess with a women with a stick.

I'm also realizing that Mexicans are amazing drivers. They drive like crazy, but they get to their destinations without accidents. I don't know how people drive in this city. Some of the streets (which are all mostly one way) are so narrow that you have to put your back against the wall when a car comes, so they can fit through. You will be able to see the streets when I get the video posted.

So, I've been desperately craving some kind of American food recently. They have an Applebees here, but no one is really wanting to go. My host parents (Martha and Eduardo) were out visiting family today, so she called and told us to order a pizza. We were all pretty excited, until it got here. It was good, but they put sooooo many toppings on them. On top of that, the pizza (which was a large here, but a medium in the US) cost $19 (US dollars). That just seems steep to me. I can go to downtown Guanajuato and get a full dinner at a tiny street restaurant for $3.50. Needless to say, the pizza just didn't taste like American pizza. Oh well, maybe I'll get Applebees soon. Priyanka (a girl on my program) said her host family took her to Applebees and she said that the restaurant was cleaner than any one she had ever been too. She also said that they ordered quesidillas and her host family said that they had way too much cheese on them. They use a lot of cheese here so that was surprising. Well, I'm going to go for now. I've got to do some homework for tomorrow.

¡Adios y estamos en contacto!

Animal Sounds and "Is That Soap or Hair Gel?"

I just finished lunch and have some time so I thought I would update my blog. Martha and Carlos ate lunch with us today and we got on the topic of animal sounds. It all started with chickens: she didn't believe that in English we say "Cok-a-doodle-doo". Here they say "ki-ki-ri-ki-ki". We covered everything from horses, cats, dogs, cows, pigs. Some were the same, many were different.
So the other part of this blog's title refers to a fun experience I had a few days ago. Obviously many things here are very different, from food to toiletries, so on Sunday, Monday and the beginning of Tuesday, I would use the restroom and use the clear gel soap because there wasn't any other soap in the bathroom. Come to find out, after asking my host-parents, I was using hair gel to wash my hands. I can't complain, it smelled great and washed off easily. When I asked my host-parents, they laughed and said it was hair gel. I felt like a complete idiot. Oh well, part of the learning process.
I am planning on going with a few friends to Leon on Saturday. It's the leather and shoe capitol of Mexico. They have a mall that only has shoe stores, and about 70 of them. We're all excited to get to buy leather jackets and shoes for low prices.
The picture above is one that I took of the city the other evening. If you click on any of my pictures on here, it will show you a larger version. I'm starting to get used to having to speak in Spanish. I bought a cell phone and signed up for service yesterday, that was a trip. I definitely did not know a lot of "cellphone" vocabulary but I managed. I'm also starting to get used to getting all of my news in Spanish. We came across an American sitcom that was in English with Spanish subtitles yesterday; it was a blast! Well, I am going to go for now. ¡Hasta lluego amigos!

El Agua Fria y Mi Nueva Amiga

Hola amigos,
I'm in Guanajuato and just finished lunch about 30 minutes ago (they eat lunch from 2-4p). I guess I'll start with getting to Guanajuato. After being delayed for an hour at the airport in Columbus, I flew into Midway. I had four hours to still get to O'hare, but it proved to be extremely stressful. I packed too much to take the subway or the "L", and a taxi was going to cost me around $65, so, I ended up going with a guy who is a junior in high school that I chatted with while waiting in Columbus. He had met a middle-aged woman and her mother on the plane where they offered him a ride to a bus station to get to O'hare. So, he invited me and our journey began. I rode the shuttle from the woman's hotel to her hotel where she drove us a block away to a bus stop. We were pulling in when the bus was leaving, so we got a quick dinner and then finally got on the bus and made it to O'hare, only to find out that my flight was delayed until 3:45 (it was supposed to take off at 2:30). At around 3:15, they delayed our flight until 5:00p and switched gates. At 4:30, they delayed my flight again to 5:15. I was finally in the air and was told that we had to make a stop in Monterrey. So. . . we stopped in Monterrey and then finally made it to Guanajuato at around 10:30p. My family was one of the last to arrive to the airport so I was getting worried that they wouldn't come and get me. BUT, they did and they were so kind!
After being on the road for 20mins, we arrived in Guanajuato. The streets here barely fit a small car and they go straight up and straight down with 90 degree turns everywhere. We drove through a few tunnels underneath the city as well. They are AMAZING! We pulled up to where there house was. I couldn't see anything but a at least 10ft tall wall with a metal solid gate. I actually thought that this was the door to their house, but it turned out to be the door to their property. They opened the door and inside was a beautiful garden and patio with their house sitting behind it. They have a beautiful three story home equipped with everything: wireless internet, a 50-inch plasma television, extremely modern kitchen, beautifully tiled huge bathroom and hardwood floors.
I woke up this morning to take a shower, but John beat me to it. He came back and said that the water was like 34 degrees Fahrenheit. I thought that maybe he just didn't wait long enough for the hot water, but my shower was breathtakingly freezing as well. We learned later that they use gas to power the water heater and that the gas must have ran out last night. So after our showers, they switched the gas line over to a new tank and we have hot water. The Señora asked me how my shower was; I said (in Spanish of course) "I'm still living!" She has an awesome sense of humor. Last night John and I told her that we were vegetarians (because our program director failed to). She didn't believe us at first, and then she said (in Spanish): "No chicken? No fish? What do you eat? I am so worried now, what will I feed you. What do you live on back home?" Needless to say though, she made an awesome lunch today! We had some kind of pasta soup thing and tacos, but definitely not the American version. They were still really good though. Everything here is very fresh, she doesn't use boxed mixes to cook, and our lemonade was freshly squeezed. She won't let us help her either.
I'm living with the Cervantes family. They have two sons (I believe 21 and 25 years old) who attend the Universidad de Guanajuato and a daughter who is 14/15. To my surprise, there are two students from Texas staying here as well, but they are on another program. I don't remember their names. This afternoon, Carlos (their 21 yr. old son) showed us around the city. It is absolutely gorgeous!!! (PS: they do have a maid that comes three days a week).
I don't know why, but I am surprised that I can understand everyone here. I'm learning a ton of new vocabulary words as well. It is amazing to be communicating with everyone in Spanish. I went to order some food at around 12p and started ordering in English. The man just looked at me like what in the world is this guy saying. I caught myself about 5 words into it and repeated myself in Spanish. It's going to take a while to quit speaking English out of habit.
I made a little friend here, Sol (pronounced like "Soul"), she is above. She is our assistant-director's daughter. She spent the three hours in O'hare with us. She's amazing: she speaks French and Spanish and she's only 3 yrs old. She doesn't know English though. I found this out quickly at the airport because she kept hanging around me and I would ask her a question and she would just look at me. I then started talking to her in Spanish and she understood everything. She's adorable! Her mom was quite embarassed at the airport when she began to pretend to breast-feed her stuffed animal named Lolita. In case you can't tell, she isn't camera shy at all.

Midway, O'hare, 21, y un Compañero de Cuarto

Yes, I got my horizontal license. I am no longer a child. It was really weird to see my picture on there without any red above it. Haha! This has been an extremely busy week. I had my last final on Wednesday night, stayed up until 4am working on a 5 page paper for my Spanish class (that of course had to be written in Spanish), got my vaccinations on Thursday morning, and then moved out Thursday afternoon/evening. I ended up not going to Chicago for the weekend because my parents' had personnel issues to tend to; however, it has been great to just relax and take my time unpacking and repacking. There is no way that I could have done everything on Thursday. I bought a new camera yesterday and it is very cool. It takes AMAZING pictures and I can put panoramas up, so I will definitely be posting those, especially when I go to see El Cristo Rey statue.
I also received some relieving news via email the other day. My program director emailed everyone our housing assignment and as it turns out, I will be living with another American student in my host family's home. I actually know him already, he goes to OSU, so that was definitely a huge blessing.
Because of the Chicago ordeal, I had to book a flight to Chicago last minute. I was checking prices and it was going to cost me around $350, but Tarangi told me to check Southwest. Luckily, I was able to purchase a ticket through Southwest for less than half of the other fare. I called Seth to just talk and told him about my flight. We were talking and he said "Southwest doesn't fly into O'hare. You'll be flying into Midway." I checked my ticket, and sure enough I am flying into Midway. Fortunately, because Seth is an amazing friend, he made a call to a friend there and I have a ride from Midway to O'hare. I not afraid of the subway or the "L", but lugging around a carry-on and two pieces of luggage would be a total pain.
Well, I am leaving tomorrow morning from Columbus at 8:30a, arriving in Chicago at 8:35a, leaving chicago at 2:30p, and arriving in Bajío/León at 7:30p. It will be a long day, but it should be exciting. I will hopefully be posting on here again on either Monday or Tuesday, until then though, ¡cuidate y estamos en contacto!

Tyler

"¡Eres un norteamericano, pero estaré ayudarte!"

In only 4 days and 20 hours I will be at the airport in León, 20 miles outside of Guanajuato. I should be getting information soon on the family with whom I am staying. I keep forgetting that I need to pack for two months. I have no idea what to take. Temperatures in Guanajuato will be ranging from the mid-fifties to the mid-eighties. There will be showers in the afternoons, the early mornings and nights will be cold. I guess I just need to pack like I’m staying somewhere in Ohio for two months. Haha! I’m very anxious about getting my host family’s contact info: calling them will be very intimidating. I’ve been asking myself questions like: What if they have the Spanish equivalent of an Appalachian accent and I’ve only heard the Spanish equivalent of an English accent; needless to say, there is quite a difference between the two. I’ve had opportunities to speak with people from Guatemala, Peru, Spain, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. Both the Puerto Rican and Cuban accents take at least 5 sentences to start understanding what they are saying. Oh well, guess I’ll find out when I call them.

I found (via facebook) a couple of students that attend the Universidad de Guanajuato and have been talking to them recently. They are both extremely nice and have answered tons of my questions. One of them offered to welcome at the airport when I flew in, the other invited me and a few of my friends over for dinner with his family. Both told me to just give them a call when I get there and they are more than willing to show me where to go, where not to go, where to eat, where to go for fun, and to just hang out. I was chatting with one guy on MSN Windows Live Messenger the other night and was asking him about prices in Guanajuato and he assured me that because I’m from the US, some people will try to charge me more, but he said would make sure it wouldn’t happen if he was there. I am thrilled to have met both of them because I didn’t want to get down to Guanajuato and only hang out with other American students and not get to experience the real Mexico.

Come to find out, I actually know a guy here in Columbus that’s from Guanajuato. Small world! Also, I have a friend whose husband is still in Mexico (getting ready to move to the USA though to be with her). While he’s pretty far south of me, I may see if he wants to meet me in Mexico City sometime. There is a global health conference being held in Mexico City and a few of my friends are planning on going to that, so it may be the perfect time to meet up with him.

Wow, this is a really long post. If anyone is just dying to send me something, I’m putting my address below. Please know though that the best way to get mail to me is via FedEx, DHL, or UPS. Mail in Mexico is pretty slow, so something sent via regular mail would take weeks.

Stephen Tyler Knauff
Programa de CIC
a/c Profesor Pepe Natividad
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
Ex-Convento de Valenciana s/n
36240 Guanajuato, Gto
MÉXICO

If my host family has internet and it isn’t dial up, I will be posting on either Sunday night or Monday.

Estamos en contacto,

Tyler