El Panteon de Belen, Guad

Before I left for Norwalk, Daniel and I went to check out El Panteon de Belen. It is this run down, sort of spooky and kind of cool cemetary near the center of town. It was constructed, I believe in 1848 (don't quote me on that). Anyway by the looks of the cemetery it looks 500 years old. Everything is falling apart and the colors are faded. The tombs are cracked, the crosses crooked, the walk ways tumbling into new directions from overgrown weeds and fallen debris. It would be the perfect place for a Buffy the Vampire slaying! It was really cool and I'm glad we went.
Daniel and I began the cemetery tour but the guide spoke SO much about everything except about the Panteon that we ditched the group and walked it alone. I'm glad we did, it was peaceful.
As we were walking out this girl was having her photos taken for her QuinceaNera. I thought it was really cool that she was taking her photos is this run down, but beautiful old cemetery. I wanted to snag a photo but didn't want her or her family to notice. With that said, I was outnumbered and there was no hiding so I didn't take the photo.

Burning up in Rincon de Guayabitos, Nayarit

Daniel and I had a very nice weekend in Rincon de Guayabitos. Rincon is located about 70 km north of Puerto Vallarta. It's not super touristy (for Americans that is). It mostly caters to Mexicans on vacation. The goal was to get to the beach - the nearest beach and Rincon de Guayabitas was it. It took us just over 3 hours to get there. We passed through the town of Tequila, then down the mountain on a windy road that led us through agave fields, sugar cane fields and volcanic rock. Once we arrived we took the first hotel available. It was a clean bungalow on the beach for $50 US / night. Not bad! It was pretty relaxing. We ate, read a lot (I finished Blink and began Time Traveler's Wife), walked around town and hung out in the sun. I spent a little too much time in the sun and was immobile for most of Sunday and yesterday. I've used almost an entire bottle of aloe to ease the pain and cool the redness. I used SPF 35 but apparently I didn't apply it evenly because I have red splotches on my legs, arms and feet. I look a little strange.

On our way back from Rincon we decided to stop in Tequila but I couldn't walk more than 2 blocks. Everything hurt, so Daniel drove us home. The middle picture is of Tequila. Hopefully we'll return there soon and spend an afternoon walking around the shops and going into the Tequila factories.

The weather in Guadalajara is beautiful and warm. Daniel has been putting in many hours for Papa Bear but he comes out occasionally to eat, drink water and take a nap :>

Hope all is well in your 'hood!

Temazcal in San Juan Cosala

Yesterday Gwyn drove Sarita and I to the Temazcal in San Juan Cosala, near Lake Chapala. Monte Coxala was reallyl beautiful - breathtakingly beautiful. We had this amazing view of Lake Chapala. I've posted Gwyn's link below if you want to see photos of the grounds and nearby Chapala.

So about the temezcalli, with about 10 strangers (and Ana, Lucy and Jorge - Sarita and Gwyn's friends) we entered this dark cave room, and then the hot bath began. We had to go around the room and tell everyone our intentions for being there. I kept my simple - I wanted to cleanse my system and sweat out toxins (aka wine and tequilla). Other people went into long poetic explanations that this once Mayan ritual would help align their spirit with their body...etc. Then we had to ask permission to the grandparents and gods of the past to be in this dark, sweaty room. There was chanting, singing, and yelling of "fuerte." It lasted about 75 minutes. I think. It was long and there were times I couldn't breath. I didn't know the human body could sweat so much. I had to sit on the floor in order to escape the heat because at times it was so hot in there that I thought my skin would peel off. It burned and could barely breath. I only took little breaths because to breath fully burned and I could feel the heat enter my lungs and stomach. At the end of the sweat journey, we had to give each other big sweaty hugs. Imagine everyone is covered in head to toe in sweat and we had to hug each other. It was tough! Afterwards we all went into a natural spring bath, then they wrapped us in blankets and fed us honey and water. All this for $10 dollars. Honestly, I loved it. I could do without the hugs - but that's probably the American in me. The spa itself was gorgeous. I could have stayed there forever.


Here are G's photos:
http://flickr.com/photos/g_w_y_n/tags/sanjuancosala/

Here is some information on the ritual Temezcal:
http://www.tlahui.com/temaz1.html

The SPA:
http://www.montecoxala.com/

Back in Guadalajara

This time I really do think my mom is doing better. I just spent 2 weeks in Norwalk doing a lot of cooking and running a lot of errands. They first hospitalized my mom at Norwalk Community Hospital and it was a dump. I was scared that she was there and my mom was so drugged up she had no idea where she was. Norwalk community hospital is where they take you to die, not recover! Her nurse call button didn't even work. I was changing the sheets of the woman next to her. It was really a horrible place. I called her doctor several times to get her out of there, and they did. She was transferred to Lakewood Memorial and I slept soundly that night knowing she would be taken care of. I saw Andy, my Tio Adrian, Phillis, my friend Debi, Kemo, Lisa, Nova and Brooklyn plus all of my mom's friends. I spent most of my time with my mom taking her to and from appointments. She has a busy schedule and I met many of her doctor's. Again, they think this episode was a lupus flare and they hope that her dosage of prestinone controls the lupus. When I left she was normal. She was driving, walking, yelling and was getting annoyed by me. So, it seems she is normal and healthy. I wouldn't have it any other way!!!