Mexican Paradise: June 25th - July 5th

I've been here about a week and a half and I absolutely love it! The city is beautiful. Get this: mountains provide the backdrop of the city.

Gorgeous. It's very hilly, too. Sometimes, I feel like I'm on a roller coaster - up, down, around...up, down, around... The people here walk the streets like it ain't nothing. It's steep in some places, yet, I see women walking with heels on, looking like it's the easiest thing in the world. It's no wonder why a big chunk of the women here are small. They may (or may not) eat quite a bit, but they'd burn it right back off from all the walking. I'm almost positive I'm going to go back to the States minus a few pounds. My sister's apartment is on the bottom of a small, hill-like street, so every morning, we'd have to walk up the hill to get out of the gate.

She also lives on the 3rd floor. So, you see why I've come to the conclusion that I'll be at least a few pounds smaller. This doesn't include all the dancing we do, the fact that I go walking for exercise, and I sometimes practice or play with my sister's volleyball team.

So, anyway, what have I been doing here in the beautiful city of Cuernavaca? Not much...mostly relaxing. And I'm supposed to rest, right? I'm on vacation! The first night I was here, my legs got torn up by mosquitos. My left leg was all red from the bites. My sis had to work last week (the students' last day of school was 6/27th and the teachers' last day was 7/05th), so I stayed at home and worked on my dissertation (I know, nerdy, right). I did visit her school and a got a chance to see how much of an impact she's made with her students (I'm so proud of mi hermanita). I've also gotten a chance to see how good she is at salsa. Here's a link to a vid of her dancing earlier this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2W4XKYIBCw. She's good, right? I only know the basic steps, which I got to practice when we went salsa dancing. The man I danced with had a hard time keeping his hands from roaming (don't worry...that problem was nipped in the bud, thanks to my bodyguard/sister). He bought me 2 roses as a "thank you" for dancing with him.

In my first week, I went to my first quincinera, danced and clubbed past midnight (not getting home til 2 or 3 - something that I don't usually do), played in a volleyball game, and had to keep a guy from practically humping my butt while I was dancing (don't ask). Unfortunately, I was sick for most of last week (Tuesday to Friday) because something didn't quite agree with my stomach (thank god for Peptp Bismol...or, actually, my sis had the generic version of it, but it still worked). Anyway, I'm totally enjoying myself right now. We (my sis, her friend who's here visiting, and I) do get funny looks when we're walking around or going places. There aren't too many African American women here, so we stick out like a sore thumb. But it's cool. To them, we're exotic...unique - and I love it!

Oh, I can't forget about the interesting sounds. So, last year, I got a chance to hear the kissing lizard, which makes the sound people make when they're trying to get a dog to come to you. This time, I hear crickets that sounds like they're whistling (all night), birds that sound like men do when they see beautiful women, and some animal, bug or bird that sounds like a baby dinosaur (not sure what it is yet). So cool...yet, creepy. Anyway, I can't wait to see what this next week brings us. I do believe we're going to Acapulco for the weekend. Until then, enjoy the pics.