Sorry it has taken me a while to give an update on my trip to Guadalajara. I was exhausted when I returned and then came down with a nasty virus and cold that had me down for the count more or less for a week. It is safe to say I was very, very happy to return to the United States. In fact, when I was going through U.S. Customs and the agent gruffly said, "Welcome Home", I felt like hugging him and had tears form in my eyes! I have been to Europe several times as well as Canada, Haiti, and Morocco. NEVER have I been so glad to be back in the states like I was returning from Mexico.
Don't get me wrong. Mexico was not a terrible experience. I truly enjoyed several aspects of my trip. The people of Mexico were extremely kind and bent over backwards to accommodate any need I had during my stay. The food was incredible. I never had a problem staying on my gluten free diet. In fact, I found myself eating the most fabulous homemade blue corn tortillas every morning. This is going to sound like a cliché, but every meal came with an amazing homemade salsa. The first time we all set down to eat I reached for the salsa that looked the hottest in my opinion. Immediately I had these high level Mexican government officials literally trying to stop me by grabbing my arm and telling me it was 'muy caliente' and not to eat it. Hmmm. Those of you who know me well, know I ate it anyway and with pleasure. Yummy!
The historical aspects of Guadalajara were beautiful. I visited cathedrals dating to the 1400's and each had its own distinct architectural style. Gorgeous. The city is known as the "Silicon Valley" of Latin America and indeed the city was very modern in a lot of respects.
I was there to meet with some education officials regarding my job. It was a very successful visit in that regard. I left the meetings totally pleased and ready to move forward. I did not take Spanish in school so during several meetings I was provided an interpreter who would translate. She did an amazing job with a couple of hilarious exceptions. One time she translated a sentence in this fashion; "You can dream of pregnant birds." I am pretty sure something was lost in translation. Another time, the highest level official, (equivalent to our Sect. of Education) was giving a speech about what we needed to focus on in order to move forward in our relationship. He said the word "focus" no less than a dozen times. The funny thing is that the interpreter would say "F*$k Us" each time in translation. Here I was in a very important meeting giggling like a 10 year old each time she would translate "focus."
One night the Mexican government provided a very, very nice dinner complete with dancers and a mariachi band. They also provided samples of tequila. Hence the picture. I sipped a tiny drink in order to not be rude, but YUK! Check out the picture and yes, it really was considered a SAMPLE!
Unfortunately, my trip was not without incident. My nice digital camera was stolen along with memory cards. It happened as I stood outside the airport waiting for my cab. I was able to hang onto my purse and thus my money and passport, but they were successful at grabbing my camera bag. I cried and cried and cried. Not because they took the camera, but because they took my pictures. Liam's 4th birthday party was on the card and I had not yet uploaded the pictures. UGH
Also, during one meeting a government official commented on the fact I had blood dripping down my right ear. Now granted, my ear had been bothering me, but I figured it was due to the airplane ride. Come to find out, my ear drum had ruptured. Cool. Oh well.
Overall, the trip was fine. I just prefer the United States. Even during our rough economic period, we have it sooo good.
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