Day 3

A rather relaxed day.

Photos above are in front of the temple and ex convent of St. Augustine. We are early risers and we got to el centro (downtown) before much was open. We wandered to yet another old church and returned here to see the art museum.

No wonder foreigners think our country is ugly. Seriously, these old streets and buildings and their color enchant me! I don't think anything in Chicago is even half as old as most of these buildings. Okay, maybe this one church I found in the far South Loop... but still.

Above three photos are inside St. Augustine's ex convent. Brothers would walk in those halls and circle the perimeter while praying for hours. How meditative it must have been!

Mexico is full of ex convents that look just like this, they were all built at the time of the conquest and therefor reflect European architecture.

Unfortunately, I'm told most of the convents were built unwillingly by native Mexicans. I'm so glad this ex convent was turned into an art museum to treasure Mexican pieces.

These arches are actually ancient aqueducts... another jewel in Querétaro that we only discovered upon arrival. (Have you seen enough of my favorite white scarf, yet?)

And then we spent the evening at two different restaurants! Food is cheap in Mexico. After dinner at La Querida, we came to this place, Tulip. We had a piece of tres leches cake (Sarai, I actually think ours was better!) and a rompope cappuccino. Please click on the picture to see our delicious desserts in fine detail.

Day 2-Motion-sickness paid off

When Jake and I first arrived in Querétaro, the man who drove us from the airport to our hotel told us that the two most visited sites in the state are the towns Bernal and Tequisquiapan.

That was a great tip because we came with the hopes of discovering (and had such little time to plan anything beforehand.)

Knowing nothing about the towns and only a little about how to get there, Jake and I took a taxi to the bus station and miraculously arrived 4 minutes before the bus left for Bernal. Actually, without any doing on our part, we miraculously made it 5 minutes early to each bus station we needed for the rest of the day!

I get motion-sick. Thirty minutes standing on a hot bus as we traversed the central highlands... and I was starting to get a little queasy. So I squatted in the aisle and immediately a young man offered me his seat. Good thing, too, because we became fast friends and I didn't throw up.

After giving me his seat, Diego and his travel-mate Andrés, explored with Jake and I all day. We ate lunch together as soon as we got off the bus, we climbed La Peña in Bernal and somehow found our way through the rural country to Tequisquiapan.

(Pictured above are the aforementioned sunglasses. I really love this picture, I really love my Jake.)

Here is where I found my favorite Mexican candy! Dried mangoes with chili powder... mmmm.

The kind of place where the sky opens up and you can see how truly round the world is! It is absolutely dumbfounding to think that we can know the God who made the planets. That is a huge inspiration for my new year goal to know God more.

Oh, and I climbed this monolith in my favorite flats. I felt a little bad about the shoe abuse but they were so comfortable, save for a little slippery.

Diego just so happened to have a pair of climbing shoes that I changed into once we were at our peak. (We didn't go all the way for a lack of climbing ropes.) They were awesome and I wore them the rest of the day!

The shoes made a big difference and I wanted to make my sister Morgan proud so I took this picture for her:

The following photos are in Tequisquiapan, aka the belly-button of Mexico.

It was a great town!

Very antiquated and a little artsy, I would have loved to see it in the daylight.

The first thing the four of us happened upon was the town cemetery. It was fascinating to walk around, Mexicans are so spiritual about their dead. Then Andrés pointed out that you never see graves more than 100 years old--where do the old graves go?

One grave, more like a mausoleum, had stained glass windows. The glass made a picture of a painter's pallet and some writing below said "My brushes cry for me."

We found an art gallery and the woman who owned it served us coffee while she painted and talked about moving there from Mexico City.

Our second day in Mexico fulfilled all of my wanderlust and dreams to travel, see new things, meet new people and bring myself close to the earth.

Day 1

We spent our first day wandering around el centro in Querétaro.

This is what my journal says:

Alameda de Hidalgo... walked a lot... el centro... Templo de la Cruz... Christmas is still happening in Mexico... chilaquiles... breaking sunglasses... Gregory Peck... Los Compadres... home for a hot shower... walked to dinner at Bisquete... musica rondalla en el zócalo... Monopoly.

The rondalla music was one of the most special moments in our whole trip. We just happened upon 10 men with their guitars and a full town's square for an audience. It was very romantic and it was maybe the first time I've been able to understand someone speak Spanish through a microphone.

Breaking the sunglasses was a sore moment. The glasses fell off their display and they were so poorly made that a lens popped out. We were forced to buy them and I was mad and told the woman that they were codo, which literally means elbow but is slang for cheap. I hate it when I get defensive. Jake helped me fix the glasses and I wore them the rest of the week because I really did intend to purchase a pair but I refused to buy two.

Playing Monopoly was quite amusing until Jake started to win fiercely. Then I tried to make it more fun by seeing what would happen if I intentionally played awful and Jake wasn't to thrilled--he actually doesn't like to win--but he stuck it out for me.

I had a nightmare that night and, other than one evening, I've had a nightmare each night since. They don't seem to be related to anything but I would so appreciate if you remembered me in your prayers before bed tonight.

Peace and grace to you.

Luggage and Christmas

Before I explode with pictures and

reflections on the past two weeks,

I just have to tell you something.

I have this thing for writing around

the house ... I put verses and notes

absolutely everywhere. And I came

up with this phrase while packing.

If I believed in jinxing, then I'd say I must have

jinxed myself. This was ironic to read as we

entered home for the first time, returning one

bag lighter. Yes, the airline lost my luggage.

I just have to keep reading and rereading that note.

We had an incredibly snowy and blessed Christmas.

The family even elected me to place the angel on the

tree, as it was my first Christmas being one of them!

As far as resolutions go...

sometimes I have to hold back from them.

I recognize that lists and goals find a

playground in my mind of compulsions and

a semi-fear of failure.

But here are some loose ideas of what I would

like to do in 2010:

1. Eat more colorfully!

2. Get to know God better.

We rung in the new year in Querétaro, Mexico!

The photo above is from the 10 p.m. mass at a

Franciscan church downtown. Simply breathtaking.

I hadn't actually thought prior about how cool it would

be to celebrate new year's eve while abroad.

However, it was fantastic!

We adored Mexico.

We wandered, relaxed, spoke a lot of Spanish,

explored, made friends and climbed a mountain.

Christmas and our reception with Jake's family

were also wonderful and I want to write so much!

But perhaps the only thing I can say now is that we've made it home safe... 7 airplanes and 6 airports later.