Mexico

Cuernavaca and Environs

New England winters are long, cold and dark. Although in the past few years we’ve had little snow, the sleet, ice, and cold just aren’t that appealing. We have laptops, wifi, an unlocked cellphone, Vonage, and realized it didn’t really matter where you are when you could be virtually anywhere. So we decided to escape to Mexico for the entire month of February, piggybacking on some work Susan wanted to do there.

We chose Cuernavaca because we were familiar with the language school there and had many friends, including the family of Phil’s Spanish tutor, Gina. Cuernavaca has about 1 million people, is about 90 minutes from Mexico City, was familiar, offered lots of interesting historical sites within a day’s journey, and it was WARM.

We rented a “bungalow” about a 10-minute walk from the school (see logistics). Everything was nearby – we couldn’t have picked a better place.

One day after settling in, we headed to Tepoztlan with our friends Enrique, Irma, Maga, and Marifer to celebrate Carnival. Tepoztlan, 45 min. from Cuernavaca and up in the mountains, is known for its crafts and herbal healers. It is also known for its unique celebration of Carnival – children and adults dress up in costumes that historically mocked the Spanish conquerors, march to a brass band into the town square, and then dance around as if they are being vibrated. The costumes continue to follow tradition – except some now also carry symbols of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck!

After the day in Tepoztlan, we settled into 2 weeks of language classes. We had 6 hours of class each day, with lots of homework. Both of us were significantly out of practice at being students, but managed to complete our tasks with only 3 or so hours studying per day. We spent what little spare time shopping, sleeping, and eating – and not much else. We did find time to hang out with friends even during the weeks we had classes.

Our friend Gina is from Cuernavaca. Our friends Joel and Wendy (also friends of Gina) joined us for one week of classes. Gina’s family treated us all like family and honored guests. One evening they even arranged a mariachi serenade! Their warmth and affection was unequalled. After a few days, we decided to adopt them as our family – and we hope we can see them both here and in Mexico.

On the weekend between classes, we spent a day in Taxco with our friends Irma, Enrique and Marifer. We had been to Taxco nearly 20 years ago, and it has gotten much more crowded with cars, tourists, and lots of silver shops. We did find the stores that belonged to friends of Susan’s grandmother, who had lived in Taxco, and enjoyed a great meal overlooking the beautiful Cathedral in the central plaza.

Once the two weeks of classes were over, we made several trips to Mexico City, thoroughly explored the sites of Cuernavaca, and visited some very interesting ruins nearby.

About 3½ hours from Cuernavaca by bus (traveler’s rule #1: all ruins are 3½ hours from Cuernavaca by bus), Malinalco is phenomenal. It’s one of the few sites that has an intact temple on a pyramid – and the visitor can get a feel for how things looked before the Spanish came. The site is about an hour’s hike up the side of a hill, offering a dramatic view of the valley below. Being off the beaten track, and involving a significant effort, we thought we would be alone there. But there were a few folks there as well, probably because it’s such a rewarding place to visit. The site has one small pyramid carved from a solid rock, with an interior chamber complete with sculptures that are still intact (guess the Spanish weren’t willing to climb the hill. At the foot of the hill is an exceptional museum with free guided tours (in Spanish). The museum also has a replica of the temple, history of the region, and many artifacts.

We made a special trip to Mexico City to see the ruins of Tenayuca and Santa Cecelia, which are at the northern edge of DF. Again, they’re about 3½ hours from Cuernavaca. Tenayuca is a well-preserved/restored pyramid, richly decorated with interesting carvings. The setting is what’s most impressive: right in the middle of the town square. The attached museum has an interesting collection of artifacts with no labeling as to where they’re from. The pyramid is late postclassical (Aztec). Unfortunately, one is not permitted to climb the steps, as the soft stone is crumbling. Santa Cecilia may be only a 15-minute taxi ride away, but there are no taxistas who know where it is – it was impressively difficult to find. We got on a minibus that allegedly was going near the site, – but it was still a half-hour walk. The closer we got, the more folks knew where it was. Eventually we found it behind a tiny colonial church. The gate was locked, but the caretaker’s children announced our presence and the keeper of the keys soon let us in. This is one of the other sites that has a fully restored Aztec temple atop. The scale of Santa Cecilia is more manageable – and we were permitted to climb it. The park-like setting, surrounded by trees and greenery seemed more fitting a religious site than the Templo Mayor. The obligatory museum had superb artifacts. Needless to say, we were the only ones there – and were told that during the week this is normal. But the weekends are reportedly crowded with Mexican families, which we well understood. It was a pleasant spot, and although hard to find, worth the effort.

Our one disappointment was the ruins of Chalcatzingo. The guidebook we were using (see below) gave Chalcatzingo three stars. This site is of the same period as the Olmec culture, and therefore the term “ruins” could barely apply. In short, this was not our best side trip. It’s far (you guessed it… 3½ hours) and was a VERY LONG hot walk from the center of a tiny village. The site is comprised of a few heavily weathered carvings or warrior stones separated by 50-100 yards. There is also an outline of a large courtyard. However, the bus trip was beautiful and going thru small villages in Mexico is always fun.

San Miguel de Allende

This small city is widely known by American tourists for it’s picturesque setting, charming streets, and foreigner-friendly environment. Tony Cohan, in his book about San Miguel “On Mexican Time,” postulated that his account would cause the town to suffer the same fate as Provence (after Peter Mayle’s book). Cohan was right. San Miguel felt like a sanitized version of Mexico. The restaurants featured bilingual menus, the shopkeepers greeted us in English, gringos were ubiquitous – walking their dogs (Mexicans never seem to walk their dogs). We did stay in a great hotel that our niece Hannah had discovered the year before. A huge number of the shops were galleries targeted at gringos. There was no street food. The prices were inflated. Yes, the village’s streets were charming, and the city was pleasant, but it felt odd.

One of the interesting events that occurred there was that a UK production company was filming a to-be-televised concert. This was obviously the most exciting event that was happening – and the entire village appeared to have turned out. If you’ve ever been to a USA taping, you know that things can move a bit slowly. Now… imagine that you’re in Mexico… We gave up after 2 hours, after they taped about half of one song.

Dolores Hidalgo

This is a bustling city known for its ceramics and was the town where I gotten terribly lost some years ago (before I spoke Spanish). We had a lot of difficulty finding the higher end ceramic shops, as everyone seemed to be giving us mis- or dis-information. A taxista helped us – and located Susan’s favorite shop. We found a lot more ceramics that needed a new home, and filled our suitcase.

Logistics

Universidad Internacional (Spanish school) – We loved this school. It’s large, which translates to having many classes of slightly different levels. There are tons of cultural programs, extra classes, trips, music and dance performances, and so on. The staff is helpful and friendly. And lastly, the curriculum was well suited for 1- and 2-week students as well as 4-12 week students.

Josefina's Apartments  Great location (about 10 minutes north of the zócalo by bus, 10 minute walk from the school, 5 minute walk from a large supermarket, and on many bus routes. We enjoyed our stay immensely. The owner, Josefina, could not have been nicer. She does not speak English, but her son does. The small garden is very pretty, and the place is very quiet despite its proximity to Morelos and Avila Comacho.