I say PYRAMID, you say CLIMB IT



So today we got up at literally the crack of dawn (fun fact: it is still dark in Puebla, Mexico at 6:45AM) to get on a bus to visit Teotihuacán. From the beginning, I guess I should have known that this trip was destined to be a desmadre.
First, there was a slight fiasco concerning the true number of passengers in order to reserve the van-bus-camioneta.

Secondly, after we reserved the bus and driver, David, a family emergency caused a last-minute change in drivers. José Antonio just wasn't as quality as David, although he was very nice and well-intentioned. 

Thirdly, it rained. All day. Literally. We have all accepted the fact that it rains here every afternoon and plan accordingly but today it was raining before we woke up and never ever stopped. It turns out that in it's pre-Aztec glory days, this site was home to regular human and animal sacrifices, mainly to the rain and sun gods. Apparently SOMEONE pleased the rain god today.

Anyways, we arrived at Teotihuacán, still praying for sunshine and after another slight fiasco involving half-asleep peso counting and parking fees, we bravely set out armed with PB&J sandwiches and rain jackets.
Background info: According to my Frommer´s Mexico 2010 guidebook (shoutout to Heidi Groover), the ruins of Teotihuacán are

¨among the most remarkable in Mexico-indeed, they are among the most important ruins in the world...Teotihuacán (teh-oh-tee-wa-khan) means ¨place where the gods were born.¨

So yeah, it´s a pretty big deal. The archaeological site features The Temple of Quetzalcoatl (you´re on your own pronouncing that one), The Pyramid of the Moon, the Avenue of the Dead, and the Pyramid of the Sun, which is the world´s 3rd largest pyramid. The whole complex was planned based on the position of the sun at the equinoxes. We could not verify this, however, because the sun did not make an appearance. Nevertheless, we climbed up the both pyramids and defiantly ate our picnic lunches on top of the Pyramid of the Sun, as advised, and ignored the rain, más o menos.


Overall, I´m glad we went because this was definitely a must-see sight in Mexico. Next on my must-see list is the Diego Rivera mural at the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City. I refuse to leave the country without seeing it. I´m also having an internal struggle over where to travel at the end of the semester. Most of the ND crew is thinking Cancún/Yucatán, but I realllllllly want to go to Chiapas, which is the most southeastern state in Mexico. The whole state is practically on the Natural Wonders of the World list and it´s really difficult to get there from outside Mexico, whereas it´s actually cheaper to travel to Cancún from Chicago than from Mexico City.
In other news, I just successfully made my first batch of rice and beans. It was a bit of a mess but worked out well and should last at least a week. I officially feel like I´m living in Mexico.