The salchicha woman

This is the last little vignette from Xalapa! This is a picture of the main building of our hotel. Can you see where the crowd has gathered? This is street food that will make David salivate any time you mention it. The lady sells longaniza sausages topped with spicy sauces which are incredibly popular. She calls David "joven" (young-un) ha ha ha.

The bars and cafes of Xalapa

I think we tried almost all of the bars and cafes in central Xalapa. This street was our favourite evening spot. It's called Callejon Gonzales and our favourite places were Santa Ana for drinks and Cubanias for food and music.

Grilled cactus

Breakfast at our hotel on our last morning in Xalapa - grilled cactus stuffed with cheese and refried beans. Yum.

Saying goodbye to Manuel

Another friend we made at USBI popped round on our last night to bring us presents!

Our home for the last month

Here is the room that we rented for 5000 pesos for the whole month. Great value. Balcones Alferez http://www.aventuradelcafe.com/xalapa/hospedaje/xalhbaalf.htm

http://www.pradodelrio.com/e_mda.htm

Coffee in Veracruz

The hot strong coffee goes in first and then you bang your spoon against the glass and someone comes round with a kettle of hot milk poured as high as possible to make the coffee nice and frothy. We visited El Paroquia cafe loads of times in Xalapa, and also in Veracruz.

Supper with Sergio and Lolis

Sergio and Lolis invited us for supper with the family tonight. We were treated to some lovely tostadas, some Arctic Monkeys and nice conversations. We are really going to miss our Xalapa friends.

Botanical Gardens, Xalapa

We decided to go to the botanical gardens. A shady bench in a garden was just what we needed. We flagged a taxi and told him where we were going. 2 minutes later he apologized and said that he didn’t have time to go there and dropped us off somewhere awkward to get another taxi. Nice. We walked back into the center and got in another taxi who was happy to take us. Which part of the park did we want “arriba” or “abajo”? No idea. We went for “arriba” as it was hot and we could walk downhill instead of uphill. This turned out to be a bad idea as the driver had taken a “short cut” cross country and eventually reached a huge muddy pool. He was going to try to cross it! We would definitely have got stuck. We told him we’d walk the rest of the way as he seemed reluctant to back up and take the proper road. Annoying.

When we reached the gate, it was clear that this wasn’t the public entrance, but the entrance to a research centre: “authorized personnel only.” There was a cop at the security post. He told us to continue along the road a couple of kilometers to the other entrance. We told him we didn’t have a car and he looked at us like we were mad – how had we got there then? We left out the bit about getting stuck in mud, but we told him that the taxi driver had gone. The cop was very sweet and let us cut through the research centre and take the steps through the cloud forest to the main entrance. Finally! We spent a nice few hours there and I think we were the only visitors not there as researchers or on business. It was very quiet and really beautiful.

Skiving off work

Since coming back from Yucatan, I can’t seem to focus on work. I was in the university this morning going through a few things when I realized that I had finished all the major projects that I had hoped to do while I was here. Why was I making work for myself? I’m supposed to be on holiday! David took no persuading to leave early. We sneaked out into the hot sunny day. First stop was the tamale stand we pass everyday. This little stand is really popular with students and tamales are one of my favourite foods. It’s run by a young guy on a bike with a steaming pot of freshly cooked tamales and rancheros, all neatly packed in leaves. I ordered one with “salsa roja” and David had one with mole (that yummy paste made with chilies and chocolate). They came in a “torta” (crispy bread bun) and were heavenly. Next stop, fresh juice stand located in the central reservation of the road we walk along to get to the university. Lovely freshly squeezed orange juice is one of the things I will miss.

Xalapa weather

It was nice to be back in Xalapa – I’d missed it. Something happened to the weather while we were away and it was actually warm! The Jalapenos (the good people of Xalapa) had stopped shivering and were sporting light summer clothing. People talk about the weather a lot here as it changes so much. You never know what you are going to get. Xalapa is like Wales that way. The difference is, in Wales people are ever optimistic that it will be “barbecue weather next weekend” whereas in Xalapa, people always tell you (on a warm sunny day) that “there’s a cold front coming”. Half of the time they are wrong – what is it with the pessimism? I guess they are less likely to be disappointed that way.

La musica

One thing I love about Mexico is the music. We hear it all day long. It starts at 7.20am with someone in our street singing along merrily to fiesta music. It’s actually a nice way to start the day. 2 lads with guitars sang to passengers on the bus to Xico the other day. I just can’t imagine that in Cardiff, Dublin or Tokyo, can you? There are the weekend xylophone guys on Calle Enriquez. There are also music acts each evening in front of the cathedral organized by some political party or other. We don’t get political, we just enjoy the salsa music. There are a few live venues near where we live too. The other night we went to watch one of the profs from the university play in a blues band. Juan Pablo and his band Capitulo Cince rocked. Mild-mannered academic by day, guitar hero by night. Amazing. We met some of his friends and profited from a list of recommended Mexican music that we are in the process of tracking down.

Lo mismo pero mas barato

Juarez Park life

Juarez Park

Saturday was a beautiful day and we spent it exploring Xalapa. Firstly, we went to Juarez Park. It’s the kind of park that when you sit there, stuff happens to you. Firstly, we sat admiring the views of the lovely mountains. We were soon visited by a roving musician. They seem to be an everyday part of Mexican life. If you are a couple in a park or restaurant, they’ll serenade you. He was sweet and had a lovely voice so we let him carry on (and gave him a nice tip). What a nice way to start the day. The museums opened at 10, so we visited the art museum and the city museum. We then went back to the park which was by now getting quite busy. We sat on a bench in the sun and I sketched and David read. Why isn’t life always like this? I think Mexico is good for me. Back in Japan on a Saturday morning, I am slaving over my laptop. We had a few visitors from people selling sweets, balloons or handing out leaflets. A couple of girls did aerobics to loud music on the stage – they were advertising an event next weekend. A lady in a white coat with a stethoscope around her neck approached

“Doc”: “ what a nice young couple and so obviously in love! I’m a doctor from XXXX hospital - do you know what your blood pressure is?

David: “I’ve just had mine measured, thanks. I take medication for it as it’s a little high.

“Doc” Ah! Xalapa life will lower your blood pressure! It’s the lifestyle. Let me check it again to be sure.

David: “no thanks”

“Doc”: “What about you senorita?” (Ha! Love it! Still a senorita at the age of 40!)

Me: “no thanks, mine’s normal – I had it checked recently too”

“Doc”: “well, what about a second opinion”

Me: “no, gracias”

Doc: “well what about making a donation to the hospital?” (Ah, so this is what it’s all about!)

Me: “Can you give me the name and the address of the hospital and I will make a donation there

Doc: You can just give the money to me

David: That’s OK. Thank you. Bye.

Nice try. I’m sure the hospital doesn’t collect money that way….

Arrival in Xalapa

Our friend Sergio met us at Xalapa bus station and gave us a bit of a tour of the town in the car. I think this will make an excellent base. We wanted to see and live in a real Mexican town and Xalapa is definitely that. It’s a beautiful old town with interesting, multi-coloured buildings, cobbled streets, hills and parks. It’s really gorgeous. The rain does take the edge off, but it will end sooner or later.

I have only ever spoken to Sergio in English before so it was strange at first to speak nothing but Spanish. I suppose we both have slightly different personalities in the different languages? It was a boost though because I had absolutely no trouble understanding anything he said. I am still a bit slow at responding and still grasp for words and analyze tenses, but it will get smoother I know. I love being in a Spanish speaking place again. We picked up Sergio’s daughter Laura from school and then checked into our posada. We chose this place because it’s right in the centre and occupies an old 18^th century building. It’s really lovely – a whitewashed traditional house set around a series of courtyards full of plants. Our room has a tiled floor, red stucco-style walls and a little balcony over looking a courtyard. It’s also pretty cheap.

Off to Mexico!

After months (no, years actually) of planning, today is the day that we start our trip. Hooray! I have been slaving over my laptop day and night trying to get all my work done before I go and what I didn't get done, I will leave until I get back at the end of March.

By Wednesday, we'll be in Xalapa, but first we get to see Amy & George who are driving up to San Francisco from San Luis with little Chloe for the weekend. We'll also be in Mexico City for a couple of nights. We are hooking up with my friend Sergio's son, Sergio Junior who will help us organise the bus ticket to Xalapa.

All for now. More when I get to San Francisco.

More about Xalapa, Veracruz:
http://www.xalapa.net/
http://www.bestday.com/Xalapa/

Details of the University we will be based at (self-access centre)
http://www.uv.mx/portalcadi/asesorias.html