Wow! A Semi-Mexican Town in Mexico!

Yes, it's Dromingo again. That means Lance and I are taking it easy around the house and getting some homework done. We did venture down into El Centro for a muffin and some lemonade between breakfast and dinner. But other than that, we've been pretty lazy creatures. We deserve it after this long school week and an exciting Saturday.

Yesterday was our excursion to Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende with our program. We left the Jardin del Cantador at 8:30 on our way to Dolores Hidalgo. This little down, which boasts itself to be the cradle of Mexican independence, is about an hour-and-a-half away from Guanajuato on a very windy and bumpy mountain road. A few people got sick, and I was not far behind them. It was a really rough ride. We arrived at the bus station and soon found out that this town was tiny. There are maybe 2 main streets and a central plaza. It's beautiful, but tiny. While there, we visited the main church where Miguel Hidalgo and his friends contemplated the best way to beat the Spanish / French and gain Mexico's independence. Later, we visited Miguel Hidalgo's house. The history of this place was fascinating.

The most interesting part of Dolores Hidalgo is the many flavors of ice cream that they have. At one corner of the main plaza, one can find several ice cream vendors selling every flavor from Tequila to Vanilla to a mixture of shrimp and octopus. Some of the flavors were just disgusting. One of the most popular among the group was Avocado. First, I tried the Tequila ice cream because it came heavily recommended. I wasn't aware that it was actually ice cream made with Tequila. I thought it would just be Tequila flavored! But no, there was Tequila involved. It was tasty, so I finished the little Dixie-cup that I had. Later, Lance and I both got a cone with a sort-of Vanilla ice cream with walnuts, pine nuts, and pecans. Now, I don't normally like nuts, but this ice cream was expectational. After we had our ice cream, we returned to the bus station and continued to San Miguel de Allende.

I was really interested to see San Miguel after all of the things I have heard about it. I read in a book that it has been over taken by a bunch of retired Americans and Canadians and turned into a southern colony of the United States. I read that the people would all speak English and all act as if they were not Mexican. Well, I was presently surprised. While there is a great number of Americans and Canadians in San Miguel, I don't think the town has completely lost its Mexican character. I spoke and heard plenty of Spanish and I ate plenty of good Mexican food. However, if you enjoy speaking English in a foreign land, this is your destination. What really shocked me was the condition of the buildings. Many places in Mexico can't afford to maintain their old, colonial-era buildings. Here in Guanajauto and in Oaxaca, you can see these buildings beginning to fall apart. However, San Miguel has made a good effort to keep everything clean and maintained. Seeing this alone was worth the trip.

They say that San Miguel is a shoppers paradise, but I didn't buy anything. Well, I did go to an awesome cafe and buy churros with a glass of "Chocolate Frio." The churros were AWESOME! The chocolate was just okay, but I would drive back to San Miguel for just the churros alone. When I told Julio and Queta where I went, they told me about how that cafe is owned by some famous Mexican actress. You would never know that by the prices. I just paid $3.30 for a big Chocolate Frio and an order of 3 churros.

So, it was a fantastic weekend. Now, it's off to a short week at school. We don't have any classes Friday because we will be headed off to the state of Michoacan for a trip into the jungle, literally. I'm told we will be riding on donkeys for 6 hours on the way to an active volcano. I'm really quite excited about this! I will get more information tomorrow at our meeting and I will pass it along!