Matacanes Attempt Numero Dos

Going back to the canyon for another try at canyoning...here's hoping the truck doesn't catch fire again. This is the second extreme thing in my life that was delayed for a reason out of human hands. When I decided to go skydiving, I had to sit on my decision for a week because of a rain delay. It turned out to be totally worth it, so here's hoping this is the same :) (Though Mom, this isn't as extreme as skydiving, so you have nothing to worry about!!)

Guanajuato: Spring Break Part 2

Now that it has been almost a month, haha, here are some pictures from Guanjuato.This is the view from the roof of where we stayed. Miguel's parents own a building that they are trying to turn into a hostel. We slept there.
We rode up a hill in a cable car to this overlook. I couldn't get the whole town in one picture but here's part of it. It was pretty awesome.
Gonna have to turn your head sideways for this one. A lot of the streets are only for bikes and pedestrians so a lot of them feel like alleyways but are really main streets like this one.
It was beautiful. I'll meet you there if you ever want to visit!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!

So, I wish I was about to unfold a breathtaking account of my journey through the canyon, but alas I am not. Yesterday morning my friends and I woke up at 3:30 am, ate some breakfast, and set out to meet our guides. By 4:30 we were bumping along in an old Chevy truck down some dirt roads in the mountains.
Most of my friends were sitting in the back of the truck, but the three lucky ones, including yours truly, got to ride inside the truck (It was a 2 hour drive and it was cold). We were moving right along when suddenly one guide calmly said to the other that was driving, "Espera espera. Algo esta quemando." Translation "Hang on a second. Something's burning." About that time we noticed smoke rising from the hood. Gray fire smoke. We piled out of the truck and could see flames underneath the front of the truck. Our guides reached for some Manzanita, apple soda, and doused the fire out.
For the next 2 1/2 hours they fixed the truck and we hung out on the side of a dirt road, in the dark, on the side of a mountain. We caused rock slides, wrote a song (The truck, the truck, the truck is on fire!), snacked, talked, and watched other canyoners drive past us. Unfortunately, this meant we could not take our trip because it can only be done in daylight and if we had started late we would have finished after the sun went down.

So instead, we ate some quality huevos rancheros, swam, ate watermelon and hung out by the pool all day, and we'll go back and try again in a few weeks.

Matacanes

So this Saturday I'm going with 13 friends on a canyon excursion. What does that mean? I'm not positive, but I think it means we'll hike, swim and repel through a canyon all day. Something to the effect of this:



We start at 4am and finish hopefully around 9pm. It will be a long day but everyone who has done it says it is completely worth it and awesome. It is only about a 30 min. drive from the city so we'll sleep out there Friday and Saturday nights then come home Sunday. I don't I'll be able to take my camera because it would get wet...so I'll just have to write a really descriptive narrative for you :).

Spring Break

Sorry I've been mia. I just got back from 2 weeks of vacation and didn't feel like stopping to write (mostly because I just spent time with half the people that read this).

Week One: Trip to Durham. Didn't take a single picture. Here are the highlights...
-was greeted at the airport by my sweet family inlcuding Ian and Eliza.
-had breakfast with the same sweet family the next day and then went a little crazy with the Timmons women at the outlets.
- spent time in the afternoon/evening with Jen, Cate, Kristen, Kyle, Rankin, Meredith, Dug, the Covells, the Ashtons and the Timmons clan. AND CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEWLY ENGAGED RANKIN AND MEREDITH!!!
-went to church with the Scarbros and the Schauers and spent the afternoon with Meredith, Craig and Baby Drizzle. Can not wait to meet that baby.
-ate some of the best bbq I have ever tasted that my brother-in-law made. I think I'll be dreaming about it for a long time.
-got to see Martha and roommates and had lunch with her, Libby and Amy the next day. Also a shout-out to Libby...who is getting married 2 weeks from today!
-Got to see my sweet Grandmas and cousin Elizabeth
-Got to spend some time with Sarah and Sadie Foster, Sadie who lit up and ran to my Dad when he got home. I think she might be his new favorite daughter.
-got to spend some good downtime in the Bull City shopping, eating, watching American tv and relaxing.

I tried not to leave anyone out!
I'm sad I didn't get to see my Columbia friends...next time for sure.
Brittany, I hope you enjoyed this.

To be continued with "Week 2: Guanajuato, Mexico"

Coca Cola Festival!

So it turns out that the Shakira concert was actually a festival with 5 well-known bands/singers. I loved them all so I feel the need to share it with you (Some of my friends here give me a hard time when I tell them that everyone I know pretty much only listens to music in English. They said we all need to culture ourselves, so here you go!)

Act 1: Paty Cantu Poppy Mexican singer. They play this song on the radio a lot.

Act 2: Benny Ibarra...you're typical latino crooner...not bad but not worth giving you a sample :).

Act 3: Jarabe de Palo (who were probably my favorite...the closest thing to Spanish-speaking Avett Brothers I think I'll find) The lead singer is Spanish so don't hate on the lisp sound. Here's another
...And another
I can't get enough of them!

Act 4: Belanova... This was the first cd I bought when I got to Mexico. I started hearing this one song on the radio that was really catchy so I just bought the whole cd. She didn't even play that song on Thursday, but she did play this one! I know its funky and girly but I kind of LOVE IT!

Act 5: SHAKIRA!!!! First of all it was so awesome to be in a crowd of Mexicans that LOVE her and knew every word to every song. Right now my favorite Shakira song is this one, and you can also hear it in English, though the English lyrics are dumb compared to the Spanish ones. I was also loving her old school stuff :). My friend Emily (Brown) Kennedy gave me two of Shakira's old cd's a few years ago and I fell in love with them. Also, we decided that she must have been born with some kind of genetic disorder because her dancing abilities surpass anything I've ever seen.


Ok I think I'm keeping youtube in business today.

Shakira :)

So I've tried not to let myself get too excited, because I was supposed to go to another concert earlier this year and it got canceled. However, we're now 4 days away so yesterday I decided it was time to let it all out.

MY FRIENDS AND I ARE GOING TO SEE SHAKIRA ON THURSDAY!!!!!!! I'M SOO PUMPED!! I have become a pretty big fan of hers since I got here and her music is perfect for dancing around the room (If you're trying to picture it in your head, don't give me too much talent). Anyway, there are 8 of us going, 7 girls and one guy. The guy is this Japanese friend we have who just moved to Mty a few months ago. He is super cheerful all the time and always smiling. Even so, his level of excitement grows when we talk about Shakira. He is super sweet and we think it will make the night ten times better to have him with us :).

Side note: I went to a baseball game on Friday night. Monterrey has a team that is good, not great. I'll write about it another day because I have plans to go often! I felt like I was at the Bull's Stadium with a little Mexican flavor thrown in.