CHARMED BY MORELIA

Imagine an entire town the color of terracotta. Imagine hand-laid stone streets, earth tone churches and pink stone cathedrals, large cascading water fountains, sculptures of beautiful topless women and grassy parks with Baroque archways.

Now imagine university students walking to their classes along tree lined promenades, lovers kissing on every corner and cloudless skies. At night there's live music and fireworks that light up the whole city. This is Morelia. We've been here for a week and we are already talking about when we will come back. It’s like Little Spain.

Rowan has had to grow up a lot here, as we walk everywhere and at the end of the day that means several miles. He’s gotten used to walking through the outdoor markets. He has two favorite places to walk to, which he is constantly begging us to re-visit. The first is the Gum Tree: a hundred year old tree that is covered in ABC gum. Passersby pull gum out of their mouths and stick it to this tree all day long... and Rowan loves to stick his gum there too! The second is the Candy Market, where Rowan loves to sample locally made coconut candies, caramels, fruit leathers and spicy Mexican chocolate. His walk-a-bout legs have certainly strengthened here. Rosie’s legs are also getting stronger, and she’s starting to take steps!

I’m convinced we’re staying in the coolest guest house in Morelia, called Casa Rosa, owned by the sweetest Grandma from Chicago. Both of our kids have fallen in love with Rosa. Here we are having dinner together.

It so happened that this week is the State Fair. We got to "Do the Puyallup", Michuacan style by watching Mexican horse dancing, eating tacos and sampling locally made Mescal which is an agave micro-brew that tastes something like rubbing alcohol mixed with dirt. Rowan even got to sit on the world's largest bull (at least he thought it was...)

While Rowan was sitting on the world's largest bull, Travis was drinking the world's largest beer. 

Who better to show the clowns how to ride a unicycle, than Travis?

Rowan went on his first roller coaster ride at the fair, and loved it. We also took him to his first circus where he saw clowns walking tight ropes, child contortionists and graceful trapeze artists. At one point Rowan leaned over to me and said, "Look mom, they have super powers!"

A DAY AT THE PARK

Parque National Barranca del Cupatitzio makes our parks at home look like forgotten wastelands. Myth has it that this is the spot where the devil lost in a battle with God. Hence a natural spring bubbles up from the underground, creating a jungle oasis in the middle of a mountainous desert.  We stroll along cobblestone pathways unveiling waterfalls at every bend and watch monarch butterflies engaging in their mating dance. We climb high arching bridges over trembling waterways and catch trout to cook for lunch. We feel like we’re in a dream every time we come here.

Rowan and his buddy Marlen like to have sword fights. Travis marvels at the trees of course, like the Banana Palms with leaves the size of a vans. Oh and don't let me forget the restaurant which serves the most delicious, mouth watering, CREAMY macadamia nut soup made from nuts that were grown nearby. It's a small bowl of Heaven. My hats off to you God, for winning the battle.

"Kissing cousins" Rowan and Marlen, playing at the national park.

FABRICA SAN PEDRO

Here we are standing in front of Fabrica San Pedro, a two hundred year old company that is famous for hand-loomed and hand-dyed fabrics.

Inside: giant wrought iron machines were brought here by boat from Europe, then shipped over the mountains in pieces by train before being reassembled here. Many are dated from the 1800's. Can you see us on the left?

After the cotton is cleaned and carted and hand-dyed, its spun into thread and wrapped onto spools here.

Thread is then loaded onto these wooden hand-looms to make rugs, bed spreads, curtains or wall hangings. 

Here is one example of the beautiful finished product. 

TO GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE WE GO

When invited to Grandmother’s house for dinner, the wise person will always say yes.  So it came to be last Saturday that we arrived at Lucy’s (our host here in Uruapan) parents’ house. In Mexico, dinner happens at 2pm when all the shops close and everyone goes home to eat and then rest. We were welcomed by Lucy’s four brothers and twenty cousins to a long table ensconced with Don Julio Anejo tequila, a mount of limes and a pile of salt for the tequila, different kinds of chips, soda and Mexican beer. 

Then the food arrived. We were served vats of roasted goat, baskets of hot tortillas, and bowls of green salsa, red salsa and fresh onion-cilantro salad. After the goat was eaten they brought out a roasted chicken and everyone started the meal all over again. After that, when we were surely stuffed to the gills, Grandma unveiled her famous cake with homemade lechita frosting which was a sticky icing that melted in the hot afternoon sun. 

Rosie was passed from auntie to auntie, cousin to cousin, and tasted her first goat meat.  Rowan made friends with the younger cousins and played for hours. He didn't understand Spanish and the cousins didn't understand English, but somehow they made it work. Travis and I ate and drank, and then ate and drank some more while visiting with the Familia. We didn't understand much Spanish and they didn't understand much English, but somehow we made it work.

Sharing a good meal is universal.

URUAPAN

We finally made it to Uruapan! We passed several police check points along the highway in Tierra Caliente, a dangerous desert-mountain settlement. But our bus rode through the check points with no trouble. Uruapan sits at 5,000 feet above sea level and is perfectly gorgeous with its 500+ year old churches, plazas, outdoor markets and streets busy with people. Our hosts, Nick and Lucy Jackson put us up in a room with a view of the city. Our room is on the top floor of their business, Jackson English School. Every afternoon the school is bustling with students who are here taking classes. The evening breeze cools off the heat of the day and everything gets quite around 9pm. This will be our home base for the rest of our trip and we love it. 

Godbrothers: Travis and Nick.

Did I mention Uruapan is the avocado capital of Mexico? Lucy's brother took us to his avocado farm to play with the goats, hold the baby lamb and learn about Mexican farm life. 

 

"TEMBLOR" IS SPANISH FOR EARTHQUAKE

The kids had just fallen asleep under their mosquito nets in bed when everything started shaking. At first it was so subtle that I thought perhaps a big truck was driving by. Then I heard the hostel owner (we stayed at Hostel Ricon Del Viajero) say, “el temblor” and suddenly everything started rocking back and forth violently. When it was over, Rowan’s mosquito net had fallen down on top of him and woken him up but other than that there was no damage. Rosie slept through the whole thing.  The next morning, the US government website reported a 5.2 earthquake. Turns out that Michoacán Province lies on a fault line and earthquakes are fairly common here. It certainly shook us up. 

First class bus: riding away from "el temblor" in style. Rowan and Rosie watch movies and eat treats. 

ZIHUATANEJO

The airplane dropped us right onto the tarmac in Zihuatanejo, which is Spanish for "uterus". It is said that this town is the uterus, or birth place, of the Mayan people. Thousands of years have passed since then and now Zihua is a fishing village with a booming tourism industry. The weather is in the 90's. The sky is blue. The ocean is warm and inviting. The coconuts are plenty.

We took a boat ride to Playa Las Gatas, a beach named after the Tiger Sharks that used to live in the lagoon here. There are 50 lb. pelicans with wing spans of up to six feet, who are constantly trolling the beaches for the fisherman's leftovers. Rowan saw one flying above and said, "Look Mom, it's a pterodactyl!"

Rosie has been doing a lot of eating, sweating and sleeping so far. She loves to eat fresh papaya, avocado, banana and young coconut meat. 

Rowan is in love with the beach. He spends hours everyday making sand angels, building moats, and running from the waves. This afternoon we leave this gorgeous place on a public bus, headed for Uruapan...