Mexico Part 13: Tlaquepaque

Matthew's parents joined us for the second week of our spring break.  It was great to have them here.  You don't realize how much you miss family until they come for a visit and then they leave.  But, the good news is plane tickets are finally booked to Oregon and we won't have to miss anyone for too much longer.  The most fun that we had will come in a post soon but one of the days that they were here we went to Tlaquepaque.  At first I had a hard time saying this word when we first got here but now I am such a pro, I don't have anymore issues :)  Here's a little wikipedia nugget on the place...Tlaquepaque (Spanish pronunciation: [tlakeˈpake]), historically San Pedro or Georgetown, is a city and the surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Jalisco. During the 20th century it was absorbed by the outward spread of the state capital and is now a neighborhood of the Guadalajara conurbation, lying only a few kilometers from the city center.  
Apparently it is also known for its pottery, blown glass and mariachis but I think we missed most of that because we didn't see too much of that.  I guess we did see a museum with some artwork and pottery now that I am remembering but I didn't take any pictures of that.  When we were there they were having this crazy sale of  empanadas.  Which for anyone who hasn't had an empanada, they are so delicious   They are this Mexican bread that is filled with whatever you can find them with.  Most often you see them filled with a pudding custard or apple, but here they had them filled with cajeta (I like to think of it like the Mexican caramel but it is a sweet goat milk spread), guava, pineapple, strawberry, all sorts of goodness.  And, my sweet friend showed me to love the ones that are filled with food, like mushrooms, tuna and peppers.  My personal favorite are the ones filled with cheese and peppers, or rajas, as they say here.  I LOVE them.  They are probably super fattening, but I don't care.  And if you find them warm because they were just made, they are even that much better.  The town is super cute.  At first we didn't think there was much to see, but then we found the touristy street and it was really clean and filled with neat statues and street vendors.  One of the things that I thought were super cool, but didn't get were these little statues that were covered in tiny colorful beads.  We will have to go back soon, so I can buy one for our home.  One guy told me that is takes him about 5 days to cover the little elephant with beads.  That's a lot of time and it makes me think I wish I was that good at making something that would sell well and looks beautiful.  And of course, the day wouldn't be complete without finding some fountain to cool the kids off and keep them happy until we walked back into the car.  It was HOT outside!  

   

Mexico Part 12: Guadalajara Zoo, Bikes and New Car

This weeks marks the beginning of Semana Santa (Holy Week) and spring break for Matthew and Eva.  I remember spring break back home when I taught and it was only one week, quite the tease.  But here it is two weeks.  There are some positives to this but also some downsides.  Okay well really just one downside.  And that is, if we had a shorter spring break than Matthew would have one extra week during  summer.  But, nonetheless, we are very excited to have him home for the next two weeks.  Today, we went to the Guadalajara Zoo.  It was great.  We got there early in the morning, right after it opened and spent a good chunk of the day there.  I couldn't believe how empty the zoo was in the morning.  It was awesome.  We were able to see the animals quickly without having to elbow anyone to see the animals.  And the animals were super lively.  They were jumping all over the place, wrestling each other, "jumping" each other...it was crazy.  It seems like the animals in the Oregon Zoo are way more lathargic compared to these ones.  Maybe they feed them tacos with salsa or something.  Elijah LOVED it.  Matthew and I couldn't believe how much he walked.  This was really the first time I think that he was old enough to really enjoy a zoo.  He was climbing all over the place trying to get as close as he could to the animals.  Eva, on the other hand, spent the whole time avoiding her family because her little friend was there and she wanted to hang out with her the entire time.  In fact, the only time we were able to get her to be with us was when she got a blister from her plastic sandals that she had to wear instead of her Nike ones that would have been nicer to her feet.  Even though she wasn't with us a whole lot, she also had a blast at this zoo.  Poor girl thought that there was no zoo here in Guad because we hadn't taken her yet but today we proved her wrong.  We paid for the general admission and the safari that they have here.  They have a great collection of animals.  Bengal tigers, lions, black bears, a polar bear, elephants, monkeys, reptiles, birds, everything you would want a zoo to have.  The safari was neat because these giraffes come right up to the jeep that you are on to eat carrots from your hands.  I didn't actually get to touch it but Matthew said they have a scratchy tongue.  It was pretty cool!  After much walking, and sun we went home, but I know that I will be taking the kids back there again.

In other news, on a more regular basis, life is much more calm.  We spend a lot of days outside.  Eva and Eli love riding their bikes on the tile that we park on.  They do circles on the thing and it makes their day.  Often Elijah will pick up the hose and soak himself as well, or fall on the tile because it is deadly slippery when wet, but I suppose those things are what makes things a little bit more exciting around this place.

And, last but not least, we finally bought Matthew his own car.  It was cute when we were bringing it home because Eva said, "oh mama, now papa can drive himself to school."  Oh how right she is.  That is what is most exciting about the entire thing.  We joke that getting a second car saved our marriage, but really I don't think it is a joke.  First semester I drove Matthew everywhere and picked him up, but by second, I was only dropping him off and not picking him up anymore.  Poor guy would walk home, bum rides, or even take the bus.  But now, he can be an adult and take himself wherever he needs to go.  It is great news for us.  Things are good.  We can't believe how fast time is going by and that soon summer will be here and we will be back in Oregon for a little break.  Yeah!