Monday and Tuesday I went to el centro to hang out and do some shopping. Tuesday night we celebrated Kelsey’s birthday at his house. His birthday is in July, but his host mom wanted to celebrate before he leaves. We ate dinner and had homemade chocoflan cake, which was delicious. Wednesday and Thursday I hung out at the house and spent some time in the sun. I actually had time to look at my Spanish grammar review book (a little late, I know), and read my Bible.
Friday was mi padre’s birthday. I woke up early to eat breakfast at the same time as Pierre so we could give mi padre his presents together. After breakfast, I went to a restaurant with Laurel to watch the first world cup game, Mexico vs South Africa. Since it was an early game, we decided to go to the closest place we knew would be broadcasting the game – a restaurant in the mall right by my house. We thought that since it’s a nice restaurant, the people would be calm, but that wasn’t the case, there was screaming every time Mexico got somewhat close the other team’s goal. They’re REALLY into the world cup down here, a lot of taxi driver’s didn’t work during the game, some game shows dedicated their show to world cup questions, and I even heard that the elementary schools showed the game during school. In the evening we celebrated mi padre’s birthday with two kinds of cakes.
Saturday I hung out downtown until the evening, when mis padre’s friends came over to play cards. My “cousin” called my “aunt” to tell her that she had 2 passes to go see Toy Story 3 the next day, and they decided that I’d go see it with the 13 year old, Maria. She spent the night and we went on Sunday. I thought it was cute. We came back to the house and her parents and 8-year-old brother, Edgar, were here. The mom told me that Edgar asks everyday if when they’re going to be coming to Cristóbal’s house (mi padre), and she said, “wow, you must really love Cristóbal.” He told her that he really just wants to see me. I thought that was absolutely adorable, especially since I don’t see them that often. Before they had decided that Maria would spend the night here, the plan was that I would spend the night at their house. When they changed their minds, he was so mad that he wouldn’t even say goodbye to mis padres.
Sunday I went to go see Toy Story 3 with Maria. In the afternoon Laurel came over and we decided to go to the beach. So, after a few minutes of looking up bus schedules and a few phone calls, we arrived at the station just in time to hop on the 9:45 bus to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.
We arrived Monday around 8:30 and my “aunt’s” daughter, Jessi, picked us up from the bus station with her boyfriend, Noel. We went back to their place to drop off our stuff and were off to breakfast and then the beach. The beach we went to, Playa Manzanilla, was in Nayarit, the state north of Jalisco.
We hung out and went on a boat tour. From the boat, we saw some little bays and tiny, empty beaches. We stopped and went snorkeling in one of the bays. There were some beautiful, blue, shiny fishies. When we got back in the boat, the driver brought up two black starfish and put them on us so we could take pictures. Just the thought of them on me makes me jumpy, with their 5 legs moving all over.
We went back to the beach, swam, headed downtown to eat, and went back to the apartment to shower. Noel had to go to work, but one Jessi’s friends, Eric, who also lives in the apartment, came with us instead. We missed a lot of the sunset, but did see the last part of it.
We headed to the Malecón, which is the downtown area.
There are shops, restaurants, and bars on one side of the street, and a side walk and the ocean on the other. There were all sorts of things to see, sculptures (of metal and sand), people, a man balancing rocks on top of each other, and a pirate ship with fireworks.
Even though we were exhausted from the long, sleepless bus ride and the ocean and sun, we went to a soccer game at 11. Eric and Antonio, who both live with Jessi and her boyfriend, were playing. After the game we went to dinner with some people, and they tried to convince Laurel and I to stay longer. It would’ve been nice, but I still have a lot to do in just a few days.
Tuesday we woke up and Noel, Jessi, Laurel, and I went to a mirador over the ocean and two rocks called “los arcos.”
There were some little stands, so we looked at the crafts and shirts and stuff, and watched this painter, who was amazing.
Then we went to Playa Boca de Tomatlán, where the Tomatlán River meets up with the ocean. It was really nice and tranquil.
Ocean:
River:
It was really nice and tranquil. We got some sun, swam, ate, and headed back to the apartment to shower and pack up. They took us to the bus station and we were off for another 11-hour ride. This time we actually got some sleep!
Photos: Puerto Vallarta
wow so cool!!
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