Faith vs Fear

Faith vs Fear

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Mexico! Day 3

 I enjoyed waking up to the rooster crowing and watching the clouds roll over the mountains in the morning.
On Sunday the weather was clear enough for us to hike down the mountain to the river. The vegetation was thick and beautiful; along the way Israel pointed out different plants and then quizzed me on them. We also stopped and looked at one of the way of the cross station and a cave where townspeople hid during the revolution of 1912.






Water fight!












Zachary and Vanessa!



Poor, patient Flacka!
The things a dog will put up with!

Vanessa! 
Alicia! 
Alex! 
On a neighbor's grazing donkey

Mexico Revisited

Just last year I spent my birthday in Mexico. How quickly the time flies by!
On the Monday of my birthday, Lara and I took the bus into the town of Ixtlan, where they have a plasticsware store.
At the market place in Ixtlan

A tropical storm was passing through the area, leaving misty skies and occasional downpours. The bus into Ixtlan took us through several small towns and along twisty mountain roads. It was very pretty, but I was most happy to get off the bus. I enjoyed spending time in the store, visited the market, met some of Lara and Israel's friends, and watched the flag-raising ceremony at the local grade school. The children were beautiful, and I saw the future of Mexico reflected in their faces.
The front of their store
View of Ixtlan from their street
Street outside of the shop
Flowers at the local market 

At the store

The local bus

Ixtlan town square
In the afternoon Lara and I took a taxi to Guelatao, birthplace of their national hero, Benito Juarez.



Photos from the Benito Juarez memorial park







View of Guelatao
Another bus ride took us home, and in the evening we enjoyed a delicious meal of amarillo and homemade tamales that Lara's mother-in-law, Atonia, made for me, as well as a tres-leches birthday cake. It was a very memorable birthday!