Mexico Feb. 2006

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=138 BGCOLOR="#006633" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="1167" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1641 WIDTH="752"><div> <B>Mexico Feb. 2006</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <B>More Trip Pages - </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U><B>Mexico City  </B></U></A><B>                  </B><A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U><B>Teopanzolco  </B></U></A><B>           </B><A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U><B>Cent. Cuernavaca 1  </B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U><B>Tepoztlan </B></U></A><B>                       </B><A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U><B>Taxco</B></U></A><B>                          </B><A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U><B>Cent. Cuernavaca 2</B></U></A><B>  </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U>Mexico City</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teopanzolco"><U>Teopanzolco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca"><U>Centro Cuernavaca</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tepoztlan"><U>Tepoztlan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxco"><U>Taxco</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Centro Cuernavaca 2"><U>Centro Cuernavaca 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family"><U>Family</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Encuentros</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A><A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U><B>People</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=342 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="950" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 26 WIDTH="479"><div> <B>Getting to Mexico</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="460"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="26" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="460" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1451 WIDTH="479"><div> Cuernavaca Mexico 2006</div> <bR> <div>   I can't say that I was completely looking forward to a trip to Mexico. We were to live with a family and take Spanish lessons, I was at a bit excited but also scared. The planning has been in the pipeline for a couple years, we were going to go last year but losing my job when Trellix closed stopped us from doing it. So this year even without enough vacation time I put in for the time off some of it unpaid and we headed to Mexico. We planned to go and through the language school <A HREF="http://www.learnspanishinmexico.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.learnspanishinmexico.com/"><U>Encuentros Spanish Language</U></A> to spend a week in the school taking Spanish classes while living both weeks with a Mexican family, the second week we would see the sites and travel around a bit. </div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encuentros"><U>Read our page on the school.</U></A> Initially we had talked about renting a car and driving to the coast or taking a bus and seeing the Pacific but after some discussion scaled back knowing our tendency to try to fit too much into vacations. This turned out to be a wise move and we had just a wonderful trip. For those of you that use GPS to get around The school location is at N18 54.965 W099 13.613</div> <bR> <div> Day 1: Friday</div> <div> The 10<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT> of February and we were up at 4 am to get ready to get to the airport. We arrive 2 hours before our 7:15 flight.  I have not traveled by plane since July of 2001 and did not really know what to expect from our new post 9/11 security. I figured it would be random and stupid and take a lot of time. We checked our bags in at <A HREF="http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp"><U>Delta Airlines</U></A>, Boston to Atlanta and then a connecting flight on to Mexico. Check in went very smoothly with the only thing that created a minor problem, when we got married Elisa and I took each others names and hyphenated them “Pearmain-Hovestadt”, well we have always both used our own names, but when Elisa got the tickets she got hers in the name Pearmain-Hovestadt but her passport is Pearmain. It created some question asking for about ten minutes but in the end we were fine. I found the check in processed very organized and clear, walking through the different detectors and bag screeners we moved through fairly quickly and had about an hour and 15 minutes before our flight when we were in the terminal all checked through security. Joy was the random shoe search even though she wore the daintiest shoes so it took a minute. I was thinking that if the shoe bomber Richard Reid had shoved the explosives up his ass, instead of in his shoes we would today be going through cavity searches. We went to the coffee shop and waited for our flight. Smooth, smooth, smooth, as the plane loaded and we flew to Atlanta. <A HREF="http://www.atlanta-airport.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.atlanta-airport.com/"><U>The Airport in Atlanta</U></A> is enormous and we had a nice long walk from our plane to the next takeoff place. Luckily or unluckily we had two hours between flights so we took the time to get something to eat and to change some money into Mexican Pesos. A peso is about 10 cents in US currency. The plane we were going to fly had mechanical problems so they switch planes for us and we all walked down to a new gate. It was the same kind of plane just a different one. We left Atlanta about a half hour late. By this time all the sitting was really bothering me besides the fact that I always seem to get the aisle so I can't look out the window. Probably for the better since at least on the aisle I can put one leg out and stretch it. The flight had a bit of chop but in general the three hours went smoothly. Landing in Mexico City Airport it was time to get a bit nervous, having to go through the immigration area. It was a long line and we had to have two forms filled out then they scanned our passports and we made it through into the bag claim area. I always worry about our checked in bags but surprise everything went great and all five bags were waiting for us. We then had one more security area to go through, a simple push the button and go on, BUT if you get a red light your bags get searched, a real random way of doing spot checks. We all came up green and we were officially in Mexico. We got a porter and told him we needed to get to the bus for Cuernavaca. Very helpful we were brought to the <A NAME="back"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A> Pullman Morales Bus ticket desk were for 100 pesos apiece got tickets to the city. This last part was a bit disorienting mostly because of the language thing but looking back it went very easily. While Elisa was off getting a drink I chatted with a man from Chicago who was traveling to Cuernavaca to visit his brother. The weather was warm and I was sweating in my long sleeve shirt. On the bus we were seated in the smoking area but no one was smoking, the positive thing about it was that we had a table and were seated with one other person a young women who was also from Chicago and down to visit family off in the Mexican country side. The bus ride was about and hour and a half you are given snacks, drinks and a movie, in this case <A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377092/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377092/"><U>“Mean Girls” with Lyndsay Lohan</U></A>, in English with Spanish subtitles. </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><bR> <div> <IMG SRC="045c4530.jpg" border=0 width="452" height="339" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="043c6550.jpg" border=0 width="454" height="341" ALT="Elisa and Joy in the Brito home." ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="047c7550.jpg" border=0 width="455" height="341" ALT="Cuernavaca, on the road heading to the center.This is on Avenue Atlacomulco." ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="049136f0.jpg" border=0 width="275" height="367" ALT="Flowers on the wall near the Brito house." ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 765 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="04dcd5a0.jpg" border=0 width="461" height="346" ALT="Elisa and Joy in the centro of Cuernavaca, in front of the Palacio de Cortez." ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="04bcd5a0.jpg" border=0 width="461" height="346" ALT="The view of the cathedral from in front of the Palacio de Cortez." ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="460"><div> I looked out the window a bit and noticed the part of <A HREF="http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/mexico/linascrawls.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/"><U>Mexico City was covered in graffiti.</U></A> It was just a first impression and we were in serious traffic but it looked like an inner city. Mexico City is a big place with 17 million people living there. The section we were going through was a bit worn down with winding roads filled with cars each taking every inch of space available to get to where they were going. This slowly changed to climbing up hills out of the city. Fields and cinderblock houses smaller and separated from one another. We traveled over the mountains on winding roads and then down into Cuernavaca. We arrived at the bus station and had to call the family, the family for a ride back to the house. This was a bit stressful to us as we did not know how to make a local call on our US cell phones, so Elisa and Joy went to purchase a phone card while I stayed with the bags. What a strange feeling it was to stand at the bus station not knowing the language and watching the buses arrive filled with people I was not sure I could communicate with. Imagine me a 6' 1”, 265 pound bald guy standing in a bus station where about 99.99% of the people are smaller than me. I felt out of place and probably looked the same. Not that anyone stared or made me uncomfortable they were my feelings and looking back I really doubt most people noticed me. It took a while but we got it done and soon the Grandson Daniel was at the station and in a cab back to the household of our host family. We took a taxi for 25 pesos, the house was not far and we were welcomed warmly. When I say taxi you have to understand that this is not like in the US, all the cars are very small and a lot of t<A HREF="http://www.vw.com.mx/CWE/home/HOM001Inicio/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.vw.com.mx/CWE/home/HOM001Inic"><U>axis are economy cars and VW Bugs</U></A>. We barely fit our bags and ourselves in the car. It was late and we had traveled all day long so we were tired. We had introductions Senora B, her son Fernando, grandchildren Daniel and Jorge. We had flavored water, ice cream and cookies while we talked. Joy got a room for herself while Elisa and I shared another. I was impressed with how much communicating Elisa could do, she has learned so much more Spanish than I. Joy who probably knows more than both of us together chose not to say much. Everyone was very kind and it was nice to have an easy introduction. We turned in and the bed was hard, I never quite sleep well in a new bed anyway but the city noise, trucks traveling on the nearby highway,  and the chickens outside my window in the morning made the sleeping hard. </div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 784 WIDTH="479"><div> Day 2 Saturday Feb. 11<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >th </FONT></div> <div> High Temp: 90. The day started waking up uncomfortable with chickens from the neighbor clucking away outside the window. Senora _____ was up early and had set the table for breakfast. At home I usually don't eat breakfast but did not want to be rude in a new place so I had coffee (instant), Cereal and Bread and butter, no toaster. It is the little things you notice about going far away from home. We take it for granted at home that everyone has a toaster and eats toast with coffee in the morning or a bagel or English muffin. I happened to let <A HREF="http://garmin.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://garmin.com"><U>Fernando see the GPS</U></A> I brought with me and he was very interested in seeing it. <A HREF="http://geocaching.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://geocaching.com"><U>Explaining Geocaching</U></A> was a bit more difficult but his English was good enough that I get the idea across. He was interested in going to a cache that was about 8 miles from the _____ home and I was psyched at the idea of doing a cache while in Mexico. We never did get to it with school and Fernando's work. It is a shame really but without renting a car it would just be too difficult. The closest I got to a cache was about 4 miles away when we were at Tepoztlan. Not knowing the bus routes or anything we decided to walk downtown for the day. It was about twenty-five minutes and in the early morning the temps were in the 80's so it was a bit uncomfortable walking. There are not very large sidewalks and in a couple of places the walls that surround all the houses actually forced us to walk in the street. You have to take care also for uneven places and stairs on some of the hills. We marveled that every house had a wall; many of the lower ones had jagged broken bottles cemented in to the tops of the walls, a warning to unwanted intruders who might climb over. Many trees had flowers and the city was not an unpleasant place to be. They way to the center was along one street, Avenue Atlacomulco. The road was hilly and mostly an upward on the way in. It was a cool place as we came up the hill to the center we could see the Palacio de Cortés<I><B> </B></I>a palace Cortez built and lived in the 1500s when he conquered Mexico. We made our way to the El Zocalo the main square looking for a bank to change more money into pesos. There is a stage set up and hawkers of all kinds of beads and balloons and souvenirs of all sorts walking about trying to sell to us tourists. It took three banks before we found the exchange and Elisa was great at asking and getting the cash changed. We went to lunch at the International Restaurant in the center. It was a nice place with an open patio where all the tourists in the center eat, mounted televisions were in view and every few minutes some small kid or other hawker tried to sell you a trinket. </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="051cc590.jpg" border=0 width="460" height="345" ALT="Joy and Elisa getting the limes ready for the ice cream." ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="04fcc590.jpg" border=0 width="460" height="345" ALT="Joy making ice cream" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 792 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0552c900.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="400" ALT="Elisa and Joy working hard on those limes" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="053cc590.jpg" border=0 width="460" height="345" ALT="Daniel spinning sorbet." ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div>                                                                                 <A HREF="#back" TITLE="Mexico Feb. 2006"><U>BACK</U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="460"><div> Because the eating times are different than in the US and because we were living with a Mexican family we had to get use to the meal times. Most families in Mexico have breakfast in the morning and then a large meal at about 3pm and then just a snack at about 8 or 9 at night. It was early, around 12:30 so we did not want to eat too much but still we were used to lunch about this time and had some food. Joy got the skinniest burger I have ever seen, I had some nachos rancheros and Elisa had cheese quesadillas. That with drinks cost about 200 pesos or about $20 US. We checked out the front of the Palacio de Cortés then headed back to the house. We got back about 1:45 and hung around until the 3:15 meal. I watched soccer with Daniel while did her math homework and Elisa went in the room to meditate. Cuernavaca does not have a local team but all the guys love soccer and have their favorite teams, Jorge like Cruz Azul and Daniel America. I generally have had the approach that watching soccer is watching paint dry and although there are some interesting moments I am sure I have not been won over by my many games of watching in Mexico. Cruz Azul lost this first game 0-1 and I was told they were in third in the standings with 7 points early in the season. The meal was beans, rice and Chicken fried steak. Steak in Mexico is different being a very thin slices meat as opposed to the thick style we have here in the US. There was also a delicious zucchini dish. I washed it down with a tasting flower water, <A HREF="http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/jamaica.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/jamaica.htm"><U>water with juice from the Jamaica flower</U></A>, Agua de Jamaica with is very good.</div> <div>   In the afternoon Elisa and Joy went to scout the neighborhood and found a basketball court. This was very good for Joy who was wondering what she would do for fun. In the evening we watched the movie “The Mummy” in Spanish, and amazingly you could count on an action movie to be transparent even in another language. Elisa and Joy helped make ice cream in the back of the house. Then I watched yet another soccer game on the tube, before going to bed</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mexico City"><U><B>On to page two</B></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>