2 de junio 2010 - Trip to and Arrival in Guanajuato

This morning was a little rough…I indulged a little too much into the tequila last night and am not enjoying the bus ride, it is slightly bumpy and it is rocking a little too much. It is about a four and a half hour bus ride to Guanajuato, I originally thought it was two and a half so I am going to try to get some sleep…

Okay so two hours later and no sleep. The trip to Guanajuato was somewhat uneventful, but our arrival in Guanajuato was great. We got in a van with about six people and all of our bags, we had to sit in the back two rows of seats with the front two full to the roof of the van.

We finally arrived at our host family's home in Guanajuato. The Caballero family is wonderful and have the most beautiful house with the most beautiful view. La comida was ready for us when we arrived and I can say it was without a doubt the best meal I have had since arriving in Mexico. It is served around 3pm and consists of a multitude of wonderful food. We had soup and a stewed chicken breast with vegetables and rice...holy cow! It was a great meal after the long bus ride.
We then met at Escuela Normal for a quick lecture and activities.

Front of Escuela Normal

Then we decided to do a foot tour of Guanajuato with Susie. Although she says that she is not very good with tours, I think she did a great job. The town comes alive at night, people are out like it is the weekend! Susie, Angela and I decided to get a chilada at a cafe downtown at the steps of the Teatro Juarez in El Jardin, one of two theatres in town.

Teatro Juarez at dusk, the cafe can be seen at the bottom of the picture

Angela and I decided to head back on a 30 minute walk back to Casa de la familia Caballeros. The thing about Guanajuato is that it is nestled among mountains and most of the town is very hilly. I believe that we live on the most steep hill in the town. The hill up to the house takes about 5 minutes to descend down and 10 to get up. Now I have been suffering from altitude respiratory issues so this hill has been named "El Hill"...THE Hill! I think Mt. Everest would be a breeze to this one!

When we arrived at the casa de la Caballeros we were given house rules which included a warning about scorpions. They are everywhere in this area and we were told to always check our beds and clothing for the critters. Well I decided to go to bed and to my surprise there was one right in front of my door. Luckily it was dead, but it certainly was a good to be made aware that they do exist in the house. I have five more weeks to find some more. Will post pictures when I see another one.