Cabo Bound

I am in Guadalajara for the night and tomorrow fly to Cabo San Lucas. This may seem sudden, and it is. My friend Anne came up with the plan suddenly and invited me to meet her and her kids there. I bought my plane ticket on Saturday, left Peter in Guanajuato, and took the bus today.

I chose to take a slightly more fancy bus line here than usual and they gave me the teacher discount (it was about 25%!). The seats were bigger and with leg rests, and there was wifi! Not enough to watch a tv show, but enough to tell everyone I could find online.

It is strange to be in a large city like Guadalajara. I have never been here. I don't have much time to look around, but after dinner (chicken with a flauta, enchilada, and sope, horchata, and jericallas for dessert -- like flan but without the syrup at the bottom and a lighter flavor), I walked over to the cathedral and theater and just took in the sights.

Right now Guadalajara has lots of Christmas lights up. I enjoyed looking at them and watching the pretty horse-drawn carriages go by. Also, as I got closer to the cathedral and central area, there were more and more Santas. Each one came with a photographer (not an elf, just a person) and each had his own house or workshop or sleigh, and they all had identical reindeer. I guess here there is no "real santa", just whichever one your kid picks. I think I saw one with only one arm. I definitely heard a few chuckling "jo jo jo" while holding their panzas (the Santas here might stand up when they are waiting for people to come) as people passed by. As I understand it, this is influence from the U.S. Traditionally in Mexico, as in Spain, the three kings bring the presents (on January 6).

Anne, Joshua, Eitan, and I will be staying in a condo in San Jose del Cabo. While I am normally a snob about "real Mexico" and such, I am kinda looking forward to the luxury. And the pool. Oh, and the swim-up bar! I have never experienced one (I think I only just saw my first, from the bus from Zihuatanejo when it stopped in Ixtapa). Plus, I get to see my friend and my kiddies!

This will begin the stretch of visits. I come home the day before my cousin, Jesse, and his fiancee Elianna, arrive. Then our friend Beth comes, and then our friends Rahel and Caroline, all in rapid succession. I am super excited and I'm glad our spare room will be getting so much use!

Meanwhile, Peter continues to take his classes (officially in intermediate level! and he starts learning the past tenses!) this week. I told the school I am taking two weeks off. I will see if it makes sense for me to go back for a couple hours a day or something once my friends arrive.

Someone (U.S. or Canadian) in the kitchen near me just said, "Oh, I can drink the tap water. I've been drinking the tap water for over a year." (ok, probably U.S.)