Mexico City!

Hola todos!

I hope everyone had a spectacular weekend. I have a ton to talk about, so I will do my best to go over the important parts. Let's see...I last left you on Wednesday when I was decided whether or not I should go out for lady's night. I did, and I had a blast. The club was packed, which was kind of lame. But, they played excellent music and I had some really great company.

After just three hours of sleep Kayla and I went to school on Thursday. It wasn't too bad though. We had really short class periods and an eight hour bus ride to look forward to. We spent three night in Mexico City. I could go on for hours talking about everything I saw, but I'll try to cover the basics.

The View

My roommate, Rosa, and I lucked out. We ended up on the 18th floor of the hotel with an amazing view of the city. You can't see it in this picture because of all the smog, but the entire city is surrounded my mountains. It was beautiful.

Museum

After breakfast and the Mexico World Cup Game on Friday we went to the biggest museum in Mexico City. You could easily spend an entire day there without seeing everything, but we had limited time so we stuck to the Aztec and Mayan exhibits.

(above) Me and Melissa in front of a replica of the Tree of Life

(below) Aztec statue of their virgin mother

(above) Replica of a traditional Mayan house

(Below) Replica of a Mayan Temple

Frida Kahlo's House

After the museum, we ventured to a new part of town for lunch. We walked around a small bazaar for a while then went on to one of my favorite sites of the weekend: Frida Kahlo's house. We actually visited the house that she was born and died in! It was unbelievable. There were about 30 original Kahlo paintings and a dozen Diego Rivera (her husband's) as well. We weren't allowed to bring cameras inside, but I did snap a few pictures of the courtyard.

(above) Frida Kahlo's garden, where her ashes were scattered

(below) Me with a cat that I can only assume belonged to Frida herself

Later Friday night, the entire group went out to a club. It was pretty fun to get everyone together. There was a famous DJ there from California, too. It was a good time.

Diego Rivera

Saturday we woke up early and head towards Mexico City's central plaza. We went into a church that was build in the same place as one of the Aztec temples, followed by the National Government Palace. The palace was decorated with Diego Rivera murals. Here are a few of my favorites:

After the palace we went to a museum of Mexican art. We weren't allowed to have cameras there either, but I can tell you that I saw some of the most beautiful murals I have ever seen. It was really interesting because each one had some sort of historical or political statement hidden inside of it. It was beauty and history wrapped into one.

The Basilica

Last on our agenda for our Saturday tour was the Basilica to see the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

(above) The old Basilica

(below) A church built on the hill where Juan Diego gathered roses for Our Lady of Guadalupe

(below) The original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The Pyramids

After a delicious Mexican dinner in down town Mexico City, I hit the sack early. We had to get up at 7:00am to check out of our hotels on Sunday so we were guaranteed enough time at the weekend's grand finale: the pyramids. There were two main ones named after the Sun and the Moon. The Pyramid of the Sun is the second largest pyramid in the Americas. And, I climbed both of them. Up wasn't so bad. It was going back down that was terrifying. The steps were each about a foot to a foot and a half high and were so narrow my size seven shoe hung off the edge. But, I made it and it was well worth the climb.

(above) Pyramid of the Moon

(below) Annette, Megan, me, and Melissa admiring the Pyramid of the Moon from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun

(above) Pyramid of the Sun

(below) 2 and a half miles away from the Pyramid of the Sun (right) with the Pyramid of the Moon in the distance (left)

I know I went over everything very briefly. I have a million stories if anyone is interested in hearing more. (and about a hundred more pictures too!)

I miss everyone very much. I hope you are doing well back in the States!

Love,

Katlynn