photography – Page 8 – Destination NOW

Heavenly Himalayas

It’s a 17 minute flight from Kathmandu to Pokara if the planes are able to take off. Otherwise, it is a 5 hour drive on bumpy mountain roads. We were in luck. After a 45 minute delay, it was clear enough to fly.

We stopped at the Pokhara office to load what we would need for the next three days into the OAT supplied duffels, leaving our big bags behind. After lunch atop a mountain, we drove for about an hour, then hit the trail, to walk the last three miles to our lodge.

Could this be what the OAT description means by “uneven steps”?

As I was walking up and down the mountain trail, I was thinking about my gym buddies at Somerset Hills Y. Knowing that they would all be in class was the extra motivation that got me to Zumba, AOA, Yoga and Barre— and boy oh boy, were those classes necessary. Our treks were far more enjoyable because I’d been “training” for the past 6 months. It also helped that the heavy lifting was done by village women, who carried our bags in baskets on their backs, attached to a strap across their foreheads.

That’s our luggage inside those baskets!

After the chaos of Kathmandu, we were so very ready for the beautiful and peacefully remote Gurung Lodge in Annapurna. And what a fantastic lodge it was. Our clean, comfortable rooms were stocked with umbrellas, warm hats and gloves, a north face parka, flashlight, and crocs. The lounge chairs on our front porches were perfect for naps after our hikes through the villages, to the school, the mother’s cooperative, the museum and the two room health center.

Okay, no comments about the white legs. In some parts of the world, pasty white skin is considered quite beautiful. So there, Sue and Sandy.

During our stay, smoke from wildfires in India caused the sky to cloud up, so we only occasionally got a glimpse of the Annapurna Mountains. Despite the clouds and mist, the view was still jaw dropping. It was impossible to capture the magnificence of this mountain range in a photo, although we all tried. As with so much in life, you just had to be there.

Our lodge had electricity for a few hours every day, just long enough to charge our camera batteries. Solar power heated the water, so we took our showers in the afternoon. As for our hair, the only blow dryer in the camp comes courtesy of the afternoon breeze.
Despite a complete lack of so many of the modern conveniences that we take for granted, we had tasty and healthy meals. I so appreciated how hard the villagers and the lodge staff had to work to ensure that we were well fed and comfortable.

We got a little surprise on our village trek. When we arrived, we were greeted by this group of women. It took us a while to realize that ONE of them looked VERY familiar.

Can you identify the nurse from San Francisco?

Marilynn, our power walker, had arrived far in advance of the rest of our group, so the village ladies decided to dress her up and make her part of the welcoming committee.

It made me feel good to see how our contributions to the OAT Foundation are making life easier forthe communities we visit. Before OAT donated the machinery, grain was ground by hand. Not an easy task, as Marie is demonstrating.

If my iPhone counted accurately, the walk to the village is the equivalent of 103 flights of stairs ONE WAY! And we couldn’t get the ladies to carry us in their baskets for the return trip.

But it was worth it, because the scenery was spectacular!

Three Days in Kathmandu

Kathmandu assaults your senses. It is dusty, dirty, noisy, chaotic, crowded. Take a deep breath and you will get a lungful of incense, enough to keep you coughing for a few minutes.

We toured the three major cities of the ancient Malla kingdom: Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. (That’s what happened when you had three sons–you split up your kingdom so they could each have a place to rule. )

We saw the impact of the earthquake everywhere. It is heartbreaking to see that one year later, people are still living in makeshift shelters.

Still, there are parts of the cities that were not damaged, allowing you to experience their grandeur and the beauty.

Plaza in Bhaktapur as seen from the balcony of the New Cafe Nuatapola, where we had a delicious lunch

The royal family's bathtub — The royal family’s bathtub

While preparing for this trip, I read about the living goddesses, known as the Kumari. (The post “Follow the Yellow Brick Road, Part Two has more information about the goddess.)

After our visit, all of the women in our group felt so sorry for this sad looking little girl, who was chosen when she was three years old. I couldn’t help but compare her to my happy, active nieces. Of course, we don’t know what other options were available to her. Maybe sitting on a “throne” placing tikkas on the foreheads of gawkers was the better alternative.

Despite the hardships they have endured, the Nepali people’s beautiful spirit shines through.

The hawkers are everywhere. The problem is if you buy from one, you are mobbed by many others. Still, I couldn’t resist this woman’s sweet smile, especially after she told me if I wanted to buy more than one, there would be no problem.

Okay, so I bought more than one. Sisters, cousins, nieces, friends…you know the drill…gifts are coming your way, but you may have to earn them. There may be a quiz!

This next one was more of a hard sell. “Madam, blessings for you, blessings for me”, chanted continuously while she walked beside me for the equivalent of five city blocks.

Okay, so I got blessed. I now own the necklace the lady on the right is holding. I expect those blessings to be coming my way!

Six Days In Happy Land

We are now in Nepal; quirky Internet connectivity made it difficult to do justice to beautiful Bhutan, so this post will be a quick collection of photos and memories of Happy Land.

THIMPHU

A few years ago, Rio’s Christ the Redeemer was chosen as one of the seven new wonders of the world. Thimphu’s gigantic Buddha didn’t exist at that time. If it had, I’m convinced Buddha would be giving Rio’s statue some serious competition.

The base of the statue contains a temple, filled with hundreds of thousands of smaller Buddhas, butter lamps and butter sculptures. Yes, you read that right–sculptures are made of colored butter!

Just the artwork on the base would get MY vote

Dedicated to teaching Bhutanese arts and crafts, this school focuses on 18 traditional crafts including painting, woodcarving, metal work and embroidery.

Whenever I visit a country, particularly one whose economy is dependent on the tourist trade, I like to drop some dollars by buying gifts, so a stop in the school’s small shop was a definite requirement.

Handmade paper is another traditional Bhutanese craft. We watched the entire process: the raw materials being delivered, heated, compressed, made into sheets and dried.

Notice how hard these young women are working? They were all smiling as they were lifting those heavy bundles! And yes, I most certainly did make a purchase at their tiny gift shop.

The modern world is rapidly creeping into Bhutan. Construction is everywhere. But it isn’t just new buildings and new technology. Since the introduction of television in 1999, the western world has slowly been influencing Bhutan’s youth.

Thimphu’s clock tower plaza, right beside our hotel was the site of what looked like an auto exhibit, but it was a whole lot more.

Young Bhutanese shed their traditional clothes, donning jeans and tee shirts to dance to Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”. Unfortunately, my camera’s software is incompatible with my iPad, so you won’t be able to see the beautiful young girls I videoed dancing, but with any luck, I’ll be able to link a YouTube video of the boys doing their hip hop routine when I get back home.

You may be wondering what kind of audience the entertainment drew. Well, wonder no more, because when my personal paparazzi used his long lens to capture me unawares, he also photographed the crowd.

A bit sparse, no?

PUNAKHA

Much of the road between Thimphu and Punakha is under construction, making travel slooooow and very dusty. We stopped at the Dochula Pass on the way to and from Punakha.

The Dochula Pass memorial honors the 15 Bhutanese that were killed fighting the Indian separatists from Assam. The separatists were creeping across the Bhutanese border, creating training camps. The fourth king actually led his troops into battle and was victorious. No wonder he is so beloved!

The pass is 10,000 feet above sea level, so Tashi thought it would be good practice for the Tiger’s Nest if we took a hike in the Royal Botanical Park that adjoins the memorial.

The rhododendron were in bloom–they weren’t bushes, they were trees.

The jacaranda were also in bloom, outside the Palace of Great Happiness.

Notice the covered wooden bridge in the distance.

This is the entrance to the Palace’s temple. Inside Tashi gave us a fantastic lecture about Buddhism, using the artwork that covered the temple walls as an ancient Power Point Presentation.

I was so glad to see these monks, enjoying themselves by the river bank outside the Palace of Great Happiness.

We also visited a nunnery located atop a mountain, where I purchased some bracelets from this sweet 21 year old nun, who spoke perfect English.

Marilynn from San Francisco on the right, bracelets on the window sill on the left.

No visit to Punakha would be complete without a stop at the Chhimi Lhakhang Monastery. To get there you need to hike through rice fields, a village and up a hill.

The shingles on roofs are held down with stones instead of nails.

These sweet villagers were happy to pose for me

This monastery was founded by Drupka Kinley, the Divine Madman, whose “Thunderbolt of Wisdom”, also known as his “Flaming Thunderbolt” , brought his own special form of enlightenment to local women. Infertile couples visit the monastery where the woman is doinked on the head with a huge wooden “thunderbolt”. Could that be the Bhutanese version of IVF?

The Divine Madman is the inspiration behind the artwork that festoons the area’s houses.

Although not part of the “official” itinerary, our wonderful guide thought we might enjoy a visit to the 17th century village of Rinchen Gong. These villagers are definitely not used to having visitors! Our arrival was quite an occasion, especially for the children, who chased our van up the steep dirt road.

Like me, Jim enjoys photographing the locals

Shy at first, they warmed up when they saw the shots.

Our last stop was in Paro, where we climbed to the Tiger’s Nest and visited Bhutan’s very first temple. It was built in the 7th century by Tibet’s great ruler, Songtsen Gampo, and it is where he pinned the left foot of an ogress who once covered all of Bhutan and part of Tibet.

Jim, spinning the prayer wheel outside the sacred Kyichu Lakhang

The Cast of Characters

The Cast of Characters
For those of you who expressed concern about my traveling alone, after Mike and Greg had to cancel, have no fear. I now have five new friends. Here we are at the National Memorial Chorten, which was built to honor Bhutan’s third King, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk .

first row: Jim, Peter, Marilyn, Marie. Back row, Dick, me

Jim is a former hotel and restaurant owner from the greater San Diego area. His family used to own Marty’s restaurant and hotel, an establishment frequented by yestereyear’s stars, such as Lucy and Desi, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin.

Peter and Marie are from the greater Boston area. They retired from the financial industry, and have been traveling the world ever since. Prior to arriving in Delhi, they had taken another OAT tour through the Balkans, then spent a few days in Dubai. Jim, Peter and Marie will be heading home after Nepal.

Marilyn, a retired nurse from San Francisco, is like the little energizer bunny. She walks faster than I do!

Dick, from Seattle, retired from Boeing. He’s the most widely traveled of our group, having been on 27 OAT trips, plus tours with numerous other companies. Marilyn, Dick and I are the only members of the group that will be visiting all three countries. In Nepal, we will be joined by three new travelers.

Although not actually traveling with us, we see the royals EVERYWHERE. Photos of them are on hotel and restaurant walls, on the sides of buildings, in museums and temples. This official portrait is of the fourth King, known as the “Royal Fourth” with his four wives ( all sisters), the ten children they produced, (including the “Royal Fifth”) and the first grandchild. Since that photo was taken, the Royal Fifth has married. He and his stunningly beautiful wife have produced an heir, the Royal Sixth.

Tashi has identified which member of the royal family is in the motorcade when they go whizzing by. So far, we have seen one of the four queens, and a royal uncle.

This photo of Tashi was taken at the Memorial Chorten. He’s instructing us on the proper way to circumambulate a prayer wheel. Walking in a clockwise direction, you give each wheel a good spin as you pass by. If we had been carrying rosaries, we would be using them to keep track of our prayers while we walked.

As with all mountain roads, Bhutan’s have their fair share of hairpin turns. What they don’t have are guard rails. This tour is NOT for the faint of heart or the queasy stomached. We have come so close to passing vehicles, we could have flossed the other driver’s teeth. What a relief to have an excellent driver like Gembo getting us to the top of the mountain and back down again.

An unexpected delight was the owner of our hotel in Thimphu. Her story deserves an entire post, but that will have to wait till I get home, or until YOU stay at the Thimphu Tower.

Jim and Tshering, the owner of Thimphu Tower

Druk Yul, Land of the Thunder Dragon

Bhutan’s airport looks like it was designed by Walt Disney. The buildings are covered with carvings of dragons (Druk means dragon in Bhutanese) and the windows are highly decorative. It is the country’s sole airport, because Paro is the only area flat enough to accommodate a runway. It’s a very SHORT runway, but a runway nonetheless.

The mountains that surround the runway make landing quite exciting. So exciting, that only 8 pilots are skilled enough to fly into and out of Paro. Fortunately one of those 8 was flying our plane today.

Tashi, our guide, and Gembo, our driver were waiting for us outside the terminal, ready to get this party started. First stop, Paro’s dzong. Every city/community had its own dzong. Back in the day when the Tibetans’ favorite leisure activity was invading their neighbors, the dzongs were fortresses. Today they have been repurposed into administrative and religious buildings.

Anyone thinking about visiting Bhutan should take a close look at those stairs. They are steep, uneven, and lacking handrails. And they are everywhere!

After touring the dzong and the national museum, we stopped for lunch at a typical farmhouse. In a “typical farmhouse” the ground floor is where the cows sleep. They are protected from predators, yes, but this arrangement is multipurpose. They also act as the home’s furnace, generating heat (among other things) for the floors above. The second floor is used for storage, mainly food. The room we viewed was loaded with drying rice. The top floor contains the bedrooms, the kitchen/gathering spot and the altar.

Our hostess served us a delicious meal, complete with butter tea, into which you tossed grains of toasted rice. Okay, so maybe that last part wasn’t so delicious–at least not to me–but the fresh spring asparagus was particularly wonderful.

Our hotel, the Thimpu Tower, is smack dab in the center of town, right by the historic clock tower. It was very easy to stroll through the capital city and check out their version of a traffic light.

By the way, that’s the ONLY “traffic light” in Thimphu. Like Massachusetts and New Jersey, they DO have “rotaries”, but their traffic circles are a bit more decorative.

My lovely room overlooks the “clock tower plaza” and from my window, you can see the largest Buddha (in that particular contemplation pose) in the world. Tashi tells us its construction is being completely funded by Asian Buddhists from Singapore, Thailand, China and Indonesia. A much more up close and personal view will follow.

There is construction everywhere in Thimphu. I needed to watch my step at all times to avoid the uneven pavement and the frequent holes in the sidewalks. (I sure was missing Mike, who normally does all the watching for me, making sure I don’t trip over my own feet or fall into one of those holes!)

The kids roam freely in the land of gross national happiness. These two were moving so quickly, I couldn’t get a good shot, but you’ll get the idea. What better toy than a box and paper bag? They were having a blast!

Fantastic Florence

Although this is a trip that focuses on hilltop Tuscan towns, no visit to Tuscany would be complete without a stop in the birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence.
My sister Sandy and I were lucky enough to spend two days in Florence in July, 2012, and Mike and I had done a day trip about 10 years ago, so we didn’t feel compelled to “do it all” this time around. Instead, we were satisfied with a leisurely and informative stroll with our wonderful local guide, Fernanda.
The evening before Fernanda had given us a fascinating overview of the Medici family, Renaissance art and the connections between the two. I’m sure I heard it all before in various history classes, but Fernanda really made it come to life during the lecture, and again, the next day during our stroll through Florence.

The Piazza Della Signoria was the first home of an important Medici couple, Eleonora and Cosimo I. This arranged match was not off to a great start. Those in the know wondered why this Spanish old maid was not spoken for? (She was 17). The groom didn’t even make it to his own wedding, so they were married by proxy. Fortunately, things improved greatly after that: it turned out to be a love match that produced 11 children.

Well, Eleanora was not happy with her “starter home”. It was devoid of gardens for the children to play in, so Eleanora used her own money (how cool is that–a woman with $$$ of her own back in the 1400’s) to purchase from the Pitti family a little “cottage” across the river.

The interior of the "starter" house — The interior of the “starter” house

Sandy and I spent a day wandering through the Pitti Palace, a glorious edifice, which now houses 6 or 7 museums. The Pitti Palace does indeed have spectacular gardens, plus a breathtaking view of the river and the duomo. No photos of the Pitti from this trip, because there was no time to visit it. You’ll just have to take my word for it that it was grand.
But I digress. Back to the Piazza Della Signoria . In front of the “starter home” is a replica of Michelangelo’s David. The original was moved from there to the protection of the Academia, but it was not initially created for that plaza. Instead, it was supposed to be placed on the facade of the Duomo. Fernanda explained that was why the hands are so enormous. When viewed from below, the hands would be correctly proportioned.

Formulating his Goliath slaying strategy

There are lots of other wonderful sculptures, but my favorite is below–the rape of the Sabine women.

We had considered visiting a museum during our free time. Instead, we decided to take Anna’s advice not to succumb to “Stendhal Syndrome” and become over saturated with culture.
After a fantastic lunch at Boccadama, Mike and I stopped for gelato, then wandered up an alley near the church of Santa Croce to visit Italian Loves, a wonderful little shop.
The proprietor allows you to sample his wares. You can taste the olive oil, the balsamic vinegar and the wine. I was deeply regretting having a gelato BEFORE visiting Italian Loves. What to do? Why, buy a little of everything. Those near and dear to me know what THAT means. Yes, there just MAY be a gift in your future.

Yes, that wine was wonderful-and yes, we have already polished it off

Although my BLOG is only on our second day in Tuscany, WE are actually in Sorrento. The problem with posts lagging well behind the visits is one can get confused. Particularly when that “one” is me. If you are following my posts, true confession time. We didn’t stop at the American cemetery after our feast at Giuseppe’s Pianciorciano Cheese Factory. It was after this visit to Florence, which is only important if you want to find the cemetery. You’d have a hell of a time if you were looking in the Radicofani area, because it is located between Florence and Chianciano Terme. Ah well. Accuracy is a small price to pay for all the wine drinking and cafe sitting done instead of blogging, right?

“A Joy That’s Shared is a Joy Made Double”

Nothing would have made me happier than to have all my favorite people with me on this trip. Although I was unsuccessful in recruiting all of you (not from lack of trying), I DID manage to convince our good friends, Owen and Shirley to “double our joy”. For those of you that are making the journey with us via this blog (especially my sister, Sue, who refuses to fly), I’m so glad to have you riding along.
Now, back to our first full day in Tuscany. After Radicofani, we made our way to Giuseppi’s (Pepe’s) sheep farm. Unfortunately, according to Pepe the sheep had a “party” five months ago, which resulted in a lot of very pregnant sheep, so for a reason I have since forgotten (but was definitely connected to the party) the sheep were all in the barn. Too bad. It would no doubt have made for a lovely photo op. Instead, the photo at the top of this post just shows you the picturesque fields. Take a look at the lengths I go to so you don’t have cars or garbage cans cluttering up your view.

Back to the sheep that we didn’t see. They are Sardinian sheep, because that breed produces the milk that makes the VERY best pecorino cheese. In case you haven’t guessed, Pepe and his family are from Sardinia. Like Silvana, Pepe was highly amusing and quite informative.

Of course we had to sample some of that wonderful cheese. Eight different kinds. Washed down with wine, accompanied by prosciutto and salami and bread.

According to the official itinerary, we were done for the day, but Anna had a little surprise for us. We stopped at a cemetery for Americans killed during World War II, just in time for a brief lecture about the military campaign, the men buried there and the MIA. After taps, the flag was lowered. A very sobering experience, especially given the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It made me think about the differences: WWII was the pain and sacrifice was shared by all. The recent wars are so very different. A small percentage of our population is giving so much, while the rest of us go about our normal lives.

Normally I like to end on an upbeat note, but for this post all I can say is “Thanks for your service”.

A Tale of Two Cities, Part One

“It was the BEST of times…” Charles Dickens

That’s it. There was no “worst of times”. Lucky me. But good times do not make good novelists, so fortunately I’m content to be a sometimes blogger.

My other posts have all been about Querétaro, a delightful historic city–and I am far from done talking about it. But this post is about a SECOND undiscovered gem. Undiscovered by most USA tourists, that is.

Global Volunteers are free on the weekend, so several of us took a bus to Guanajuato, a two and a half hour ride from Querétaro.

And what a bus it was! I only wish airplane seats were so comfortable. Imagine being able to recline your seat without incurring the wrath of the person behind you. How about having a foot rest so you can stretch your legs out, just like you are in your favorite Lazy boy. Throw in free movies on your individual TV. Of course, you have to watch Renee Zellweger speaking Spanish, with her very full lips out of synch with her words. That’s the Premiera Plus ( the name of the bus company) experience. I preferred watching the countryside flash by, but that’s generally how I roll.

The bus stations In both cities had snack bars, clean bathrooms (the 5 peso entry fee gets you the best seat in the house, toilet paper, soap and paper towels), and comfortable waiting rooms, for those of you that care about such things. (I’m definitely in that category.)

Taxis to the historic center were plentiful and inexpensive — 50 pesos, or a little more than $3.00 –got us delivered to our hotel off La Plaza de La Paz.

Check out my luxurious room. The bathroom was also beautiful--complete with hair dryer, and huge towels. — Check out my luxurious room. The bathroom was also beautiful–complete with hair dryer, and huge towels.

Like Querétaro, Guanajuato is safe, clean, inexpensive, beautiful, friendly, musical, historic—AND it has a miradora–a panoramic view, something I can’t resist.

The pale blue building to the left of the yellow/orange cathedral is our hotel. The hotel de la Paz

I rode the funicular to the top of the hill, the site of the statue of el Pipila, who is clearly visible from just about everywhere in the city.

Those so inclined can climb inside, sorta like the Statue of Liberty. I decided to take one for the team, so I climbed to the top, and I’m going to tell you–the view’s not worth it.

See how narrow the stairs are? The ladder to the top is even narrower, and just a tad scary.
So, how did el Pipila get his very own statue at summit of Guanajuato? Are you getting tired of the history trivia? I hope not, because I’m going to tell you.

The Mexicans decided they had had quite enough of Spanish rule, so they started a rebellion (actually this is more of a Querétaro story, which will be a future post, but I’m drinking wine while I’m writing this, so let’s just go with it. Okay?)
El Pipila put a flat stone on his back to protect him from the Spaniards, who were holed up in a granary and tossing dreadful, dangerous things at him. He set fire to the door of the granary, which allowed the Mexicans to enter, slay with Spaniards and win the battle. Oh my God. Am I REALLY talking about battles and wars? Has it come to that?

Time to change the subject.
Guanajuato has an abundance of museums, and I was able to visit several of them. The things hanging on the walls were all very lovely, but what floats my boat are the buildings that house the exhibits. The Diego Riviera Museum is his childhood home.

I don’t know whether he and Frieda actually slept there, but who cares? The architecture is fantastic, and the cutouts weren’t half bad.
Guanajuato has its fair share of churches, and if there is a wedding happening, I never miss an opportunity to crash it. This lovely bride’s veil was pinned to her groom’s shoulder. After the ceremony was completed, they were unpinned. Don’t know the background, but I thought it was an interesting custom.

What else can I tell you about Guanajuato? The food was excellent. The Mexican wine was delicious, and of course I felt compelled to take photos of everything, so you can see for yourself.

Enchiladas with mole (my guy's favorite) and green sauce, with frijoles. For less than $12...including that great bread Nd a cappuccino! — Enchiladas with mole (my guy’s favorite) and green sauce, with frijoles. For less than $12…including that great bread and a cappuccino!

Mexican wineries? Who knew their wine could be so delicious?

I could keep posting photos till your eyes roll back into your heads. But I won’t. I’d encourage you to enjoy visiting this amazing city and will leave you with just two more photos.

I'm not sure why Don Quixotes is so big in Guanajuanto. That's my Ssignment for my next visit. — I’m not sure why Don Quixote is is so big in Guanajuato. That’s my assignment for my next visit.

I’m almost out of power, so I’ll post. Please forgive the typos…drink a little wine, and this will all make sense to you. Visit this wonderful city and fall in love with it!

Ready for My Close Up

Okay, gang, so here’s the background:

Every day, one of the Global Volunteers writes a journal entry, accompanied by a thought for the day. These are read aloud when our group meets–either in the morning at breakfast or in the evening before dinner. As I was the first to arrive in Querétaro, our leader asked me to do the first entry. Well, guess what–it made it on to the Global Volunteers website, accompanied by photos taken yesterday while I was working at school.

Yes, I know that some of you think I spend all my time cruising the ‘calles’ (that’s ‘streets’ for those of you that don’t share my oh so vast knowledge of the Spanish language; I’m easily as fluent as the average Mexican two year old) but no, I actually DO do something that vaguely resembles work. Here’s proof:

I tried to imbed a link to the site into this post, but my iPad is cranky this morning, so instead, a copy of my journal entry follows.

However, I encourage you to wander on over to GlobalVolunteers.org to check out all the wonderful opportunities for personal growth that this organization offers. I’m kinda hoping that when you see how much fun and how worthwhile the projects are, some of you will be inspired to sign on. Who knows, maybe we’ll be together on a future trip!

Journal entry for Sunday, February 8, 2015

Thought for the Day
“Before you try to change the world, let the world change you.”

Volunteers arriving yesterday were greeted by a fiesta going full blast in Hotel Hidalgo’s courtyard. A father of 15 was celebrating his 90th birthday, with 80 of his direct descendants. Perhaps the secret to a long life is to know how to party hearty? Not a bad way to kick off our time in Mexico–with music, dancing and very happy people.

The "birthday boy" is wearing a white hat, and waiting for his guests to arrive. — The “birthday boy” is wearing a white suit. He’s waiting for his guests to arrive.

Our leader, Pam, has a dedicated group of followers who enjoy serving with her. This is the 7th time Bill has volunteered in Mexico, followed by Roger who is on his 4th tour of duty. Eunice, Mary#1, Joe and Mary #2 will be serving here for the 3rd time. You don’t have to be with Pam for very long to figure out why she inspires such loyalty.

Although this will be the first time in Mexico for Shannon, Leslie and me(Shelley), we have all served in other countries. Lorraine is our “official newbie” and we are all delighted that she has joined the team.

During breakfast in the hotel, we introduced ourselves, then got a well organized and thorough orientation from Pam. Mary and Joe very thoughtfully had obtained brochures and maps IN ENGLISH for all of us. Although Querétaro is a tourist destination, most of the visitors are from other parts of Mexico, so there is not an abundance of English materials. Thanks to Mary and Joe, we can easily view the many appealing options the area offers for our free time.

Carolina, the head of the language department at U. Tech, joined us after breakfast. A warm, inspirational woman, who speaks beautiful English, Carolina shared information about the school and described the positive impact GV has had on the students.

Our meeting concluded with GV’s traditional team building exercises. First, we described fourteen characteristics of an effective team. If our ability to quickly identify those characteristics is any indication, this team will be highly effective indeed. Next, Pam asked us to think about why we signed on for this particular project. In other words, what were our goals. We each wrote three goals on separate index cards, took turns reading them aloud, then Pam grouped similar goals into categories. These were:
Help students
Cultural exchange
Personal growth

After a wonderful lunch, we were free to settle in, explore or rest until we meet for dinner at 7 PM.

Statues, Fountains, Churches and Party Dresses

If we were playing jeopardy, the correct response to the title of this blog post would be “what do you find in every plaza in Querétaro”?

Remember a couple of posts ago, how excited I was about those green patches I saw on my Google map? Well, turns out, this place is even better than I ever expected. There are plazas aplenty here! Far more than what appeared on the map. These squares are truly the hearts of the community–beautiful public spaces, with statues, fountains, vendors, music and happy people. There is a whole lot of living going on in this town, much of it taking place in these wonderful plazas.

Here is a brief tour of just a few of Querétaro’s plazas. If you want to see more, you may just have to come here yourself.

This cool sculpture represents an Otomi warrior. The Otomi were living in Querétaro when the Spanish arrived.

I had expected The Plaza de las Armas to have a military theme. Instead of cannons and guns, however, this beautiful fountain dominates the square. I’ve seen lots of creative ways to get water gushing forth, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen it coming from dogs’ mouths.

You don’t have to walk very far in this town to stumble upon a church. The interiors are much the same–crucifixes and lots of gold, but I found the exteriors rather compelling.

I particularly like the Templo of Santa Cruz. (I have no idea why they are called ‘templos’ here instead of iglesias. Maybe that terminology is particular to Mexico?) Anyway, this Templo has it all–fountains, a convent,

a statue representing the indigenous population the missionaries were sent to “save”,

and a replica of the stone cross that the Spanish and the locals saw in the sky on July 26,1531, during “the battle for domination”.

According to legend, that day, there was a total eclipse of the sun, followed by the appearance St. James, riding a white horse across the sky and carrying such a cross, (sans serape, I would expect). The legend states that this celestial event frightened the Otomi and their allies, resulting in a Spanish victory.

Okay, so enough of the history. On to the party dresses. They are EVERYWHERE.

Which reminds me. Time to go shopping!

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