Tepatitlan

Buenos dias de Tepa. The weather is cooler here and we are all grateful for that. Tepa is about an hour from Guadalajara and has about the same population as Santa Rosa. It also looks more like Sonoma County with rural and agricultural areas. The people are as gracious as ever and we are on the move constantly, but we are seeing some amazing things.

Here is a picture of a Rotary wheel from the stone age...when was Paul Harris born? It is from a museum in Tepa that traces the history of the area with artifacts all the way back to the Pre-Columbian era.

This is a pic from a ranchero where we had an amazing feast. It was one of our hosts vacation homes...must be nice (and it was). Not another house as far as the eye could see. Very peaceful and tranquil.

Will try to write again soon but as always we are on the move and really don´t have consistent Internet access. Hope everyone back home is doing well and we will be home soon.

Guadalajara

Here in Guadalajara (at least 4 million people) enjoying the sights and mariachis (& tequila). Been here since last Friday but have been so busy that we haven't had a chance to update the blog. Sorry it's taken so long. We finally got a respite from the seafood (Lupe's happy). The town center is amazing huge and very elaborate...we walked for at least a half hour and still didn't reach the end. The people have been as hospitable as ever but alas we have to leave tomorrow and move on to Tepatitlan...will try to write again when we have a chance but as always we never know what Internet access is going to be like...

Here are some pictures of our travels...







Preparing the agave plant for the ovens in Amatitan at the Herradura tequila plant.












At a radio station (Radio Mujer) after doing a live broadcast.








Looking toward a massive museum that used to be an orphanage. The man who designed and masterminded the project was Fray Antonio Alcalde. He was responsible for the Civil Hospital in Guadalajara (where Lupe was born) as well as the orphanage. He also headed up projects all over Latin America...must have been a very busy man.

Tepic

Unfortunately, I´m having some trouble getting pictures up, but it´s time for an update anyway. The last three days in Tepic have been great! So far we´ve visited a hospital, an organic avocado farm, an organic fertilizer factory, the state university, and a factory that makes fruit concentrate! Whew! We´re tired out, but it´s been a great experience. Today is Mothers Day in Mexico, so things are pretty quiet, and we finally have some free time to relax, update our journals, and our blog.

Tepic is a nice town, surrounded by sugar cane fields and mango groves. It´s not quite as hot as Culiacan, but it´s still sunny and in the high 80s and low 90s every day. Tomorrow we head inland to Guadalajara, which is a good thing, because Lupe may lose it if she has to eat another shrimp!

Finally able to get pics on the blog. Here are some from Tepic...







Here is a pic of the Cathedral in the town center...amazing architecture!
















This is a pic of us standing with some Huetzel Indians while out and about.











Here is a pic of a mural on a building at Universidad Autonoma el Nayarit. Each discipline has a mural on its building.










This is a picture of the Rotary wives enjoying the music (and the tequila) at a club meeting the night before La Dia de Las Madres.

Culiacan

Here's us with our hosts in front of the Rotary mural in Culiacan commemorating the fight against Polio.
We spent five days in Culiacan, and despite the heat, (it was consistantly in the 90s and 100s!) we managed to have a great time. It was a whilrwind tour of the city: we saw everything from a Children's Hospital, to a Cannery, to a Soup Kitchen. We even got to spend a delightful day at the beach!
Our hosts were great - very welcoming. By the time we left the city, we felt like we knew Culiacan almost as well as the locals!


At Senor Frogs with our new friend Martin in Mazatlan. Needless to say, a good time was had by all!
Mazatlan is an extremely fun and beautiful town. The beaches are gorgeous, the seafood is incredible, and the people delightful! So far we've toured the original Pacifico Cerveseria, explored the beautiful old part of town, and enjoyed a relaxing time on the beach. Yesterday we attended a kids story telling contest sponsored by a local club. 18,000 contestants were narrowed down to 14, and we got to see the final competition. It was great!
Will try to put up another post in the next day or two...can sometimes be hard with limited Internet access. Miss you all. Talk to you all soon. GSE 2007 Team