San Miguel de Allende & Guanajuato (Cervantino)

**First of all; I would like to apologize that I wont include ALL the experiences that I went thru cuz I want to keep it short and really general. that way yall wont get bored! It's not a journal, its more like a general outline of what happened, but you are more than welcome to post any question and ill answer it!**
Not too long ago I was invited to join a group of college students that was going to take a trip to the main Cultural Festival of Mexico, El Cervantino. It takes place in Guanajuato, a gorgeous colonial city, 5 hours away from Mexico City.

As part of the itinerary we were going to visit first: San Miguel de Allende, and then get to our main destination, Guanajuato.

San Miguel de Allende:

Distance: 170 miles Northwest from Mexico City [4hrs Away]

After driving all night to our first destination, by 6AM, down far in the horizon we were able to see the little town of San Miguel, nicely illuminated by the early sun rays. It took us another 15 minutes to drive down the mountain to finally get there.

It was nearly impossible not to get chills. It was like going back in time. I felt the charm of the cobblestone streets, the impressive Spanish colonial churches, and the tiny colorful houses.

There my friend and I, decided to rent a four-wheel bike and enjoy of the beautiful landscape that the hand-painted houses and the more-than- 300 churches build.

Going to San Miguel de Allende let me experience the clash of culture that the big American population and the old-fashion Mexicans have created. It gave me the chance of trying fresh hand-made tortillas, and talk to many native artisans that sell their work in the huge art markets. In general San Miguel was a great traveling experience!

Guanajuato [The Land of Frogs]: CERVANTINO

Distance: 220 miles Northwest from Mexico City [5hrs Away]

Finally our main destination! We knew we were getting close when st arted to see the crazy amount of buses parked in every possible spot in the streets. [Due to the festival]

Ten minutes after, we arrived to our parking spot, way on top of the mountains. As soon as I came out f the bus I realized that the beauty of San Miguel De Allende was short compared to the astonishing magnificence of Guanajuato. This was a city built in the mountains and right in between there was Downtown Guanajuato.

We parked on the peak of one of the mountains, right in front of the bus stop, where for only 30 American cents the bus would take us downtown.

Maybe from half a mile away we could hear the music and we were able to smell the food coming from the streets of downtown. When we arrived to the main plaza people welcomed us with food and drinks! People were dancing on the streets entertaining the many tourist wearing “Dia de Muertos” [Halloween] costumes. The first day my friends and I decided to visit the popular buildings from Guanajuato and get to know more there city.

That night I decided to join a “Callejoneada” which is a really common and old tradition in Guanajuato that basically consist of a group of singers, dressed in nice XVI century costumes, called “Estudiantina”, this group of people takes people all around Guanajuato thru old alleys, streets and underground tunnels, singing and telling old legends and stories of the city. People follow them singing classic Mexican songs and drinking from a little cup called “Purron” that most of the times is filled with Ginger or Tequila. It’s a wonderful experience because you really get to know people, Mexican culture and of course you really experience Mexico how really is! This is something so easy to recognize but so hard to describe!

After having the night of my life with the “Callejoneada” my friends and I decided to go to some concerts and plays later that night.

With no sleep or rest from the night before, with other guys that I met at the bus stop decided to pay to use the cable car and go to the peak of Guanajuato. There we visited other well-known places and took tons of pics. You were able to see all Guanajuato from mountain to mountain. It was sooo pretty!

Later that day with people I met the night before and early that morning decided to camp at “Plaza los Angeles” where many urban bands were going to perform. We stayed there ALL day. We saw 12 bands, 5 plays and like 3 dancing shows, all for free. It was great.

The rest of the time we only enjoyed a shoot of tequila in everyplace we visited, we enjoyed the people and the shows, till the end of the Festival arrived. A beautiful firework show closed the festival. Now it was time to go back to the other peak of the mountain where the bus that would take us to Mexico City was parked. We tried to get there using the 30 cents buses but all of them were packed; we tried to stop a cab but there were none. At the end we decided to walk up hill a mile and we finally got there right before the bus left. This trip was one of the best I ever had.

I could never regret all the silly things that happened and all the accidents that we went thru! Of course I, for sure, am coming back next year to get back my heart. Guanajuato truly took my heart away!

Kill Your Cow

Long time ago there was an old wise man that used to live in the mountains of south Mexico.

One sunny day the wise man, said to his servant:
-Pack your things; we are going on a trip.
-Yes my lord, I will sure do. The servant replied.

After many days of crossing mountains and rivers the old man finally decided to stop and get some rest on a tiny house that was on top of a mountain.

When the two men got there, a family received them with open hands, knowing that the old man was full of wisdom.

Sitting at the table, with some curiosity, the wise man asked them what they all did for living…

The father of the household looked at the old man and said:
-We have a cow, which produces milk; so we process it to create all kind of milk products and then we sell those products. It’s not a lot of money, but it’s enough, we don’t want any more…

The servant waited for his lord to say some words full of wisdom. But instead the wise man kept eating without saying a word.

After days of teaching, the old man decided it was time for them to leave. Grateful, the humble family said bye to the wise man and his servant.

As they were walking away, the servant asked his lord why he never said anything about the mediocrity of the family...

As soon as the servant asked that, the wise man stopped, turned around and told his servant…
-Go back up, take cow and Kill it...
-buut that is totally unfair my lord, they depend on that cow. Killing the cow would affect their lifestyles! Confused the servant said back.
-Just do it. Calmly the wise man said.

Many, many years passed by until one sunny day the wise man, said to his servant:
-Pack your things; we are going on a trip.
-Yes my lord, I will sure do. The servant replied.

Again, after many days of crossing mountains and rivers; the servant suggested his lord to stop in the same small house on top of the mountain, where they stopped years ago.

With a mysterious smile on his face the wise man said that would be a great idea.

When the two men finally got to the peak of the mountain they didn’t find a tiny little house, instead they found and beautiful and huge house with incredible gardens and fountains.

When they knocked at the door, the father of the household opened the door, and as soon as he recognized them, he invited them to come inside and stay for dinner.

Finally at the table, intrigued, the servant asked the family what had happened to them.

-Well, the day after you two left, a terrible accident happened. Our loved cow died, we found it dead down the hill. At the beginning we cried so much because that cow was our only way to survive; and we didn’t have any money to buy another cow. But when we ran out of money, we as a family, decided that we needed to find other ways to get money. My oldest son learned to work with metals. My other son learned to work with wood. My wife started to make jewelry and sell it, and I learned how to make glass. After a while each one of us became really good at what we did. We started making a lot of money and we finally built this house. The Father of house said.
Amazed by the wisdom of his lord, the servant didn’t say a word all night.

The next day the old man decided it was time to leave. The two of them say bye to the now wealthy family and walked away.
-If you knew that killing this cow would have all this consequences, why did you never told me in the first instance? The servant asked to his lord.

-I knew their life would change, however they were the ones that decided how far this event would change their lives. After learning all those skills they could have only saved to buy another cow and continue as they were living before. But instead they realized they could go further. Until they finally become wealthy and achieved more of what they expected. You wouldn't be able to understand it back then, but now... Do you understand the importance of killing YOUR cow?

There are no shorcuts to any place worth going...

Hello! I finally got the chance to record it! Miss yall!

Today I have grown taller from walking with the trees...

Today I decided to go on a walk going north....

While I was walking I started to feel hungry, so I decided that my first destination would be, "La Condesa" a popular high-class neighborhood know for all the great places to eat, and hang out with friends.

When finally got there, I started walking around; till I finally got to a bohemian restaurant called "Cafe Toscano y La Crepa Parisienne," where I had a spectacular breakfast for only $10 USD including tip. I asked the server for an interesting place that I should visit. He told me about a beautiful building called BASURTO, but on my effort to find it, I crossed parks, malls, and huge avenues, but I finally realized I was lost.

Instead of walking back, I decided to keep walking.
After 20mins I got to the neighborhood "La Roma" a place full of Art Galleries, old statues and incredible architecture from the past century. After taking a huge amount of pics I decided to keep walking.

After another 30mins of walking; I got to the famous avenue, "Reforma" but as I was walking down the street, I started noticing a bunch of gay couples walking around. So my first guess was that I was close to "Zona Rosa" the gay town of Mexico City. As I kept walking the view turned in to streets full of a bunch of Sex Shops, Rainbow Flags and colorful places. It was obvious I was at "Zona Rosa." Since it was my first time there I decided to walk around, take some pictures and visit a sex shop called "Erotik" it was a crazy experience, and I'm afraid I won’t come back; It’s nearly impossible to not get raped by crazy gay folks.

Alive, I took "Reforma" again, there I had the chance of looking modern office buildings, great modern art galleries and huge trees, and finally I got to the well known statue "Angel de la Independecia," but the random heavy rain made impossible the access to it. Trying to stay dry I ran to the hotel next to it. There I thought it was a good idea to go up, as far I could go, but in order to use the elevator I needed a key so I waited for someone with the key. When I finally got to the top, I realized that the only way to see the "Angel" was if you had a room. Disappointed I decided to go down again... too bad the elevator wouldn’t move without the key. I waited for 10 mins for someone to come, nobody did. So I had to use the stairs. I barely made it thru the 22 levels. FML

Exhausted I decided to go home. I was not in the mood to walk so I took the first bus that would take me somewhere I knew... it took me to the Metro Station (which I almost missed.) But I Finally made it home.
It was such exhausting experience, but it was worth it. I got to see many sides of the Mexican culture and I got to see awesome landscapes. Ahhh Mexico is full of exciting places.
Like I said: Today I have grown taller from walking with the trees...

Other pictures of today will be uploaded tomorrow!

Mexico City, a jungle made of concrete:

No video yet... however I have some pics that I took this week....

This is the beauiful museum of Bellas Artes. This museum is few blocks away from Zocalo (Mexico City Downtown.) Bellas Artes represents the boom of the "Porfiriato" (Period in wich president Porfirio Diaz tried to introduce international culture in Mexico) This museum offers great musical and other fine arts shows for free every Sunday!

This is a Mercado or a "Plaza" (like local people call it), it's basically mexican Wal-Mart that opens once a week in the middle of the street; here you can find many kinds of fresh vegetables and fruits of the season. YUMMY!

Metro, one of the cheapest, fastest and better ways to go across the city; for only two amercian cents you can go from North to South, and East to West. Basically Everywhere! (This picture was taken near the station "Balderas" where a physco dude killed three persons)

President, Felipe Calderon, has been working on making Mexico look prettier by builing many modern-looking builings, bridges, and parks. This bridge is located at the airport and it connects from a building to another!

Like every city in the world, the old part of the city is always present. On the other side of Bellas Artes, this old convent invites turistfrom all around the world to come inside and look at one of the oldest Jesus Christ statues from Mexico City.

(Front side of the old convent)

Torre Latino is located in Mexico City's downtown, it has 45 stories, with a height of 183 meters! Thats like 597ft! This Builiding was the first mexican skyscraper! Yoy can pay $4 american dollars to go to the top and have an amazing view of Mexico City!

HELLO VIDEO

I'll upload a video for everyone tomorrow night the latest!

Love from MEXICO

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THE HAPPY ACCIDENT PROJECT!?

THE HAPPY ACCIDENT PROJECT:
In the need to understand the culture where belong, understand other people’s perspective, and mostly understand who I am; I planned a trip to Mexico, a three months trip around the country. There is not a specific plan… other than the main places that I’m going to visit. For my own personal safety I won’t be telling you where I’m going next, however ya’ll be able to read my experiences and opinions, and of course follow thru the whole trip.