Cuernavaca

Matt and I hopped a bus for Cuernavaca yesterday. Cuernavaca is the capital of the state of Morelos. Okay, here are some numbers. Cuernavaca is a medium-sized town (population, 400,000) about 65 kilometers from Mexico City. The bus ride took about 90 minutes. The highway circumvents some mountains (lots of switchbacks and glorious views), so it takes a while longer than the kilometric distance would have you believe. Like a lot of Mexico study abroad students, this is where Matt learned Spanish (ten years ago).

The bus ride made apparent all the smogginess of Mexico City. When you're healthy and amidst it daily, you tend not to notice the extent of the pollution. Yuckers. The drive also made apparent the shanty-towns outside of the city, aka the often invisible, forgotten (albeit very real) segment of the population.

Cuernavaca was more hustle-and-bustle than I expected. Here, I thought we'd be getting away from the craziness of the city, but Cuernavaca's got its own frenzy (on a smaller scale). Also, it was soooo hot and humid there; we were so sweaty and salty on the bus ride home. Lots of young kids selling things, too. As a person who has a soft heart for children, it's difficult to see them "working" at 6-years-old, and it is very hard to ignore their whimpers. But it's also sometimes necessary.

This is not so say that Cuernavaca does not have its charms. Alas, it's a lovely place for someone equipped with their little digital camera.

The Cathedral. Built in the 1500s. Made of lava-rock. Totally awesome and huge. I loved it. Here I am, standing outside of it.

The beautiful frescoed interior.

Below, one of three ancillary chapels at the cathedral. This one was so "loud," compared to the cathedral. Doesn't it look delicious? I just wanna take a bite.

Next, we crossed the street to experience the botanical garden. We happened to come to Cuernavaca on the weekend that the town was celebrating gastronomy. In the botanical garden, they were getting ready to film some sort of Iron Chef-Mexico.

Below, a bird of paradise at the garden. Below that, a large-ish spider in the middle of its web, to scare my mom, because that's what I do best. Love ya, Mom!

After a delicious lunch at a vegetarian restaurant, we headed over to Cortes's palace. "Cortes the Killer"(the name of one of my favorite Neil Young songs, by the way) built his castle atop Aztec ruins, some of which are still visible. The museum houses both indigenous artifacts and Spanish colonial stuff. On the second floor is a huge mural by Diego Rivera. I took a picture of a snippet of the huge thing.

Here's a rad footbridge connecting the palace to the main square. Underneath, cars rush by while loads of Mariachis-for-hire wait on benches! I don't like taking pictures of people, because to me, people are people, not sights, but I did hurriedly attempt to take a picture of the mariachis. Because of my rashness and attempt at being covert, the pictures of the mariachis didn't turn out.

After the palace, we walked south to Cemanhuac, the school in which Matt studied. Cuernavaca is very hilly, so our walk was exhausting in the heat. Fortunately, we saw lots of charming things along the way. Matt and I share an affinty for anything art-deco. We loved the tiles and windows on this one.

After Matt explained to the security detail at the entrance of the Cemanhuac that he went to school here ten years prior, the guard let us in to scope it out. Here is one of Matt's "classrooms."

Matt's host mom here was a wealthy lady who treated him well (Matt and I have both heard horror stories of host families, so Matt was lucky and grateful). She lived in a gated community very close to the school. Matt asked the guard at the gate if she still lived down there. The guard told him that she had died a couple years ago. That was sad.

Despite the disappointing news about Gloria Ramirez, Matt's host mom, we had a nice trip and might even go back for another trip (but only if it's cloudy. Too Texas-like hot for me!).