"In Vermont, authenticity is all; they do not try to keep it real; they are real."
That's not to say that I'm not having an amazing time in México, and that I'm not enjoying every second of my time here! I've grown to appreciate Mexico, the people, the culture, the language, and the food in a way that I feel like I can call it home now. I've really started to settle into the everyday Mexican life, and surprisingly enough there are elements that are very similar to Vermont (The downtown area has cafes like Church Street, and there are rural areas that are packed full of pine trees and cows!)
Along with how great the city and its surrounding areas have been, this week was jam-packed full of veggies, fruits, and great music!
Some of the volunteers got the chance to come up to Santo Domingo Ocotitlán to work on the huerta (And they got to ride up in style in the back of a truck.) We weeded and tore out a bunch of unwanted plants in and around the beds, and then watered and weeded some more.
We also got to eat an amaaazing lunch right there in the campo!
On Wednesday Mark and I had the chance to go up to Santo Domingo, and on our way back down to Cuernavaca we ate in the Tepoztlán market with Soledad, one of the staff members at the Fundación. Here's Mark enjoying some horchata and a huge taco.
On Thursday, I went to La Huerta de Lucía. We transplanted some lechuga, and got the chance to relax under some shade while eating some delicious snacks and sipping on coffee.
On Friday night a bunch of us went to an amaazing concert a little bit outside of Cuernavaca in an area called Acapantzingo.
The two headliners of the concert were Los Amigos Invisibles and Nortec Collective. If you want to listen to some of their music, check out these YouTube vids:
Los Amigos Invisibles- "Yo No Sé"
Nortec Collective- "Tijuana Bass"
It was really great to see Nortec because a couple of days ago we went and saw a documentary about them. It explained how they formed as a band, their specific sound, and also about the culture of Tijuana. It's called Tijuana: Sonidos Del Nortec if anyone is interested.
Besides dancing our patoots off at this concert, Gerardo and I had the chance to go backstage and meet the Nortec Collective! We had to fib a little to get in, but it was a really fun and special experience to meet such a famous Mexican band!
Sunday was the most eventful day of the week. Soledad, her husband, four people from Santo Domingo Ocotitlán, and I drove to the Mercado el 100 in el D.F. (Mexico City) to sell the crops that the people of Ocotitlán had harvested and grown!
I made these signs for the market :)
OrganiCOTITLÁN selling some of their hortalizas, frutas, y hierbas in the market!
Soledad sealing the deal with some market-goers!
Selling some ciruelas.. DELICIOUS, fresh produce!
Soledad and Mari also gave a workshop on three medicinal herbs that aren't very commonly used in Mexico, but are popular in Santo Domingo. They taught about axihuitl, té de monte, and hoja de zapote. All of these herbs they made into a tea, which can be drank for various ailments, such as to relieve high blood pressure, stress, or to help you sleep at night.
I got to drive in Mexico City! It wasn't as bad as I anticipated, except for the crazy motorcycle drivers, the cars getting within two inches of our car, the streets that appeared out of nowhere, and the couple of accidents that we saw en el camino. Besides that, it was just like driving in any other city :)
And the views along the way were gorgeous! (See, it's kind of like Vermont!)
This next week involves more gardening, working on new projects, learning more spanish, and of course eating awesome food!
Nos vemos :)
love it claire!! looks like you are having a lot of fun. and the feeling is mutual, man! missing mexico hard right now. your pictures are killing me.
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