The first trips!

Trips

Hello everyone,


Mexico City
It hasn’t been that long since the last blog, but I’ve done quite a bit the past few weeks. We left off just before we went to Mexico city. This was going to be the first big trip of our semester. We’re going with most of our usual group, and some others as well. Our group hasn’t changed much since the first week, and we fit together surprisingly well. We’re all massive assholes, and that’s just how we express our love. Just one day before departure during check-in, we discovered the airline had changed the flight date of half the group. After much fuss where the airline was not helpful at all, the people who had their flight changed opted to go by bus instead. I had a flight that was slightly later, and unaffected, together with Xenia, a girl from Switzerland. The bus already left on Thursday ready for a 12 hour trip. We left Friday early morning, to have plenty of time in Mexico City (CDMX). When we arrived we heard the bus had been stationary most of the time, so they were delayed for almost 7 hours. Therefore Xenia and I ended up exploring the city by ourselves, revisiting a some of the highlights of the previous times I went there, the big plaza, . In the afternoon the others arrived, after which we did some more sightseeing around the hostel and had some drinks. In the end we were 18 people, 5 of which were a Spanish group that mostly did their own thing, but they did share the same hostel, and 2 Russians that stayed somewhere else.
The next day we went to the pyramids with the eleven others. I had already been there quite a few times, but the others didn’t want to miss the sight. Since it’s a while to get there, and we spent quite a bit walking around, when we got back it was already late in the afternoon. Someone had the idea to go to lucha libre, Mexican wrestling, that night. It was very silly and over the top, and good fun.
Then to top it all of we went to the nightclub with some local friends of Julieta, the Spanish girl from our group of 11.
On Sunday some got up very early to make the most of the day, but I really enjoy my sleep, so me and two others met up with some of the others later in the day in the biggest urban park in latin america. We walked around for quite a bit, and had some lunch, after which we went to one of the many artisanal markets in the city. Shopping for souvenirs, gifts, or just some of the traditional clothing. That night most people were rather tired, because they slept very little the night before, so we just stayed in the hostel and played some pool.
The next day we spent a lot of time walking around to different museums, such as the Frida Kahlo museum and the Trotsky House. However, they were all closed, because it was Monday and a holiday. Later that day we went on a boat ride to the south of CDMX, where there were some nice rivers. It was mostly just a bit party on the boat, with a big speaker and quite a bit of tequila. The next day we had our flight very early in the morning, because we had class at 8.30, so we didn’t go out at night, and tried to get at least a few hours of sleep.

Exams and hiking
After our trip to CDMX it was time for our exams, this mostly just meant studying a bit more at the library, but went all without too much of a hitch. In the evenings we would sometimes cook together, or go for some drinks somewhere. In the weekends on Sunday there is hiking with the mountaineering club. Usually it’s a one day trip, often going to a peak. However, this time we hiked down into a valley, which was nice since it was almost 30 degrees. It’s a lot of fun to explore the mountains like this, without needing to plan much ourselves. In the club the montañismo there are 3 other exchange students from our group, Luca (Italy), Summer (Sweden) and Chris (Germany). Luca and Summer were stuck studying, so it was just Chris and me this weekend, but there were about 30 other people hiking as well, from all over, but mostly Mexicans.
The next week it was Chris’ birthday. To get some gifts, Carolina, the other Swedish girl, and I went to the centre to get some gifts. We got the biggest Elmo doll we could find, and some lovely decorations for the party. On Tuesday it was time for the party, with margaritas all round.
It was time for another hike, just Chris and me again, but this time we did actually go to a peak. It was a lot colder, around 20 degrees, so perfect for hiking. However, the plants made it a bit tougher to get around, since most of them had spines, and were encroaching on the path. Me being much taller than the average Mexican didn’t help. However, with a few scratches we did get to the top to enjoy the beautiful view. One of the downsides of such a massive group is the different tempos within the group, so sometimes we spent quite a bit of time waiting. However, at the end of the day we were all back down, just before sunset. We ended the day with a nice dinner with most of the group.

Xilitla
Then we get to last weekend (at the time of writing this part), where it was time for a ISE trip. I’ve been waiting a while to post this blog, since the photos are taking a while, and since I didn’t take them, I have little choice but wait.
ISE a student association for the internationals, organising parties, events and nice trips. Since they are kinda expensive and very party focussed, I wasn’t planning to go to many, but Xilitla is such a beautiful place that I didn’t wanna miss this one. It’s located in San Louis Potosi, some 9 hours to the south of Monterrey. We left by bus on Thursday evening, with 4 buses, all equipped with open bar and speakers. It didn’t take long for the party to get started, until people finally went to sleep in the small hours. The next morning we arrived to God’s bridge, a beautiful waterfall with a natural pool and a river. The pool got filled by a river from one side, but on the other side water was flowing out of the walls, and there was one big waterfall you could sit under. If you climbed on the edge you could also take a nice jump from around 7 meters into the water. Then the river flowed out of the pool, into a nice river with some calmer areas and a bit less flow. Even though it was warm, the pool was covered by the cliffs and the plants, so most of the time we were in the shade, and in the water. We did have to wear life jackets, but that mostly just meant floating around a bit. After a few hours we went up, had lunch and got on our way to the hotel. At the hotel we had a short rest before the open bar started again, with a variety of party games. The hotel had a nice pool, and since the weather was a nice 30 degrees all weekend, it was quite relaxing. After several hours the tequila stopped flowing, and it was time for dinner. Quite a few people had already fallen to liquor induced exhaustion before dinner, and the ambience was quite jolly. After dinner the party died down quite quickly, since most people hadn’t slept too much.
The next day we got up early in the morning, to go to a set of waterfalls, to jump off them, and go for a swim. Due to this activity once again being in water, I didn’t get any photos myself, but luckily ISE provided a few photographers. The waterfalls weren’t very high, with the highest being around 7 or 8 meters, so it wasn’t super exciting. However, the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. The beautiful turquoise river, overgrown with plants on both sides, and beautiful waterfalls. First we had to hike a bit up the river, before we could go down through the river. In the shade and the chilly water it did get a bit fresh after a while, but usually we could seek out the sun to stay warm.
After lunch we went off to Edward James’ Castle. A modern “castle” inspired by the surrealistic artists such as Dali and others. The castle was located in the jungle, with many exotic plants all around, and even a waterfall. The castle was partially retaken by nature, which is how Edward James intended it. It was incredibly green, and reminded me a lot of Chiapas and the rest of southern Mexico. However, since we had such a massive group, delays were inevitable (and in Mexico, expected) so unfortunately we arrived too late to be able to see everything, and we had to bounce after half a tour.
That night when we got back to the hotel we had dinner first this time, before we started with the open bar. The dinner didn’t taste as spectacular as the day before, but that might have something to do with our state of mind at the time. After dinner was done it was time for the “Surreal fest”. Basically the plan of the evening was that everyone would have a shirt painted with neon paint, and they had big black-lights set up around the pool. However, I made the mistake of asking my friends to paint something nice on my t-shirt, so of course it ended up being horrible. So then I chose to ditch my shirt and write something on my chest instead. Luckily it was still well over 20 degrees at night, so just swimming trunks and hanging around the pool al night wasn’t a problem. The open bar caused the party to get going pretty quickly, and soon it was all going a bit mad. There was a big strip-tease going on in the pool, with some pretty good entertainment. People were just randomly pulled into the circle to give/receive a strip-tease. Further games included tug of war, limbo and body shots. They were also passing around hollowed out watermelons filled with very strong liquor. On one side someone dropped some glass, so there were glass shards everywhere. Because of this many people had cuts in their feet. On the other side people were just getting drunk and dancing in the pool without any realization of what was happening a few meters to the side.
The next morning it was our last day. We got up around 10, and we had to have all our shit pack by the time we’d leave. Some people had clearly had a rough weekend, while others were just happily drinking all different kinds of liquors early morning. Then we got on the bus, leaving our hotel behind. In the bus we continued drinking, although our bus was a bit more calm, with only a few bottles of liquor. Then it was time to go to Tamul for some canoeing. For some reason it was still a 1km walk from the bus to the boats, but for the ones that brought shoes it was not that hard. Then after a bit of waiting we could finally get in our canoes. It was not a typical canoe for a few people, they were pretty big, carrying about 30 people. At this point one guy on the boat next to me was already so drunk that the ISE people were worried about him being able to sit upright and not fall in the water.
One drunk aside, we set off for a nice row on the river. The sights were amazing, the water was a beautiful blue, with lush green edges on the side of the canyon. It was quite warm, so some refreshing cold water would be nice, but unfortunately we were not allowed to swim due to the boats going around everywhere. However, when another boat passed by, we didn’t miss the chance to soak them as much as we could. Usually the other boat returned the favour, which was nice and refreshing. When it got to the actual paddling of the boat, in the beginning participation was decent, trying to keep up with the others. When we got close to another boat we did get a bit of speed, but organisation fell short, and we couldn’t keep up. We could however, enjoy the sights. Then at one point we got to a rock, where we were told we could jump off and enjoy a swim. Some people climbed upon the rock, a few jumped, and then we were suddenly told we were not allowed to jump, or swim. One guy jumped, hit his head and was bleeding quite a bit. In the end some people jumped in, took a quick swim, and off we went. We turned back and after a while we got to the rapids, on the way up the river we had to walk this part over land, now we could get out of the boat, and float around in our life vests, and getting a bit of speed when the water got faster. Then we anchored our boat next to a water filled cave where we went for a walk, and for the people that brought money, to have something to eat. Then it was time to go back to finally get the long awaited lunch. On the way back the activity level was rather low, with almost the entire boat opting to let our guides to all the rowing.
When we finally got back, we had something that was supposed to resemble lunch, before eventually setting off to Monterrey. On the way back the bus was all party with loud music and open bar, now it was a lot more calm. Since most people had classes the next day early in the morning, it was now just movies and all a lot calmer. I just put on some music and slept quite a bit of the way. When we arrived it was quite early (4.30 or something), so I just went home and went back to sleep.
I’ll leave it here for now, the next weeks I have some exams, and then I have several more trips planned: San Christobal de las casas with Bob (my Mexican friend from my exchange in León, and my roomie) and some other foreigners, my hostdad Ernesto (3rd family) and my hostmum Laura (2nd family) have their birthday the 8th of April, so then I’ll go to León. The week after that it’s semana santa (mexican spring break), and I might just go stay with my family in León (or Puerto Vallarta) for a week, since I’m so close now I should make the most of it.

I will add the photos later, the Xilitla ones still aren't ready, and at the same time I don't have that much photo storage space on this blog, so I might need to find something else.