Puebla

This weekend a group of 8 of us took a trip to check out the city of Puebla. Many of us Americans celebrate the battle of Puelba every year on Cinco de Mayo, which is the day the Mexicans defeated the French in a sort of David and Goliath-like fashion. They ultimately lost the war, but it still gives us reason to drink margaritas and Corona in Irish pubs.

A million people live in the city but it has a very small feel. It's surrounded by mountain ranges, volcanoes and open land. It's one of the few parts of the country that has managed to avoid drug trafficking drama. It felt good to not have to worry about city curfews, which has been the case in Cuernavaca lately. At around 7,000 feet the weather is a lot more mild...even a little cool in the morning. It was a nice break from the intense heat we've been having in Miacatlan.

We also visited a nearby city called Chulula where my friends Erika and Sophie studied for a semester. I walked with them as they visited their old haunts. Chulula is also known for a huge pyramid, on top of which the Spanish built a Cathedral in true colonial fashion.

Another highlight was hanging out with my friend Raul, who I had visited back in January. He goes to college in Puebla and was able to show us some of the city, including a good taco joint and a fun salsa club on Saturday night.

By the way, I stole these pictures from Erika's Facebook page, so I can't take credit for any of them.

Huriel

Last week the kids finished another quarter of the school year, which meant there was a round of exams. The older kids are required to take an Arts class and for their exam they have to choreograph a group dance and then perform it in front of the whole school. I went to watch them Thursday and Friday mornings. Most of the groups consisted of about 20 kids trying to copy their favorite pop stars' dance moves that they had seen on Youtube videos. At times it was painful to watch but I sat in front taking pictures, as they instructed me to do.

I met Huriel one of my first weeks here. He broke his finger and would show up every once in a while to show me that it was moving better. He's in the Special Ed department. He has this interesting balance of confidence and shyness, which I can appreciate. A couple of Sundays ago he asked me to buy him a Michael Jackson CD at the market. I was able to find a nice mix with a lot of MJ's greatest hits.

Friday morning he walked onto the center of the basketball court in front of all of his classmates wearing black dress shoes, a white belt and a white styrofoam hat. I waited for the rest of his group to join him, but then I realized he was going solo. Billy Jean started to pump over the speakers and he proceded to moon walk back and forth for a full 5 minutes...shedding his white hat and jacket in the process. It was very Napolean Dynamite-esque. Afterwards he came up to me asking for my approval, I honestly told him it was my favorite all of the dances...and I took his picture.