Guadalajara Summary

We spent a week in Guadalajara to study Spanish and really enjoyed spending time there. We stayed with a Mexican host family for 7 nights. Yolanda cooked us breakfast and sent us off to school each day with a torta. We were in class from 9-1 and then computer lab from 1-2 and then back to conversation class from 3-4pm. We would go back to our casa and Yolanda would have dinner waiting for us. They were great home cooked meals of mexican cuisine. In the evenings we would try to go out and enjoy Guadalajara, but were typically really tired from the learning all day long! Guadalajara had an interesting exhibit of fiberglass cow sculptures posed and painted differently, all over downtown Guadalajara (we particularly liked Leonardo De Vaca, surrounded by a Jesus nativity scene).

We went to see Lucha Libre on Tuesday night, which was quite an experience (see previous post). We caught a few movies in Guadalajara because it is a rare chance to see a movie. On Thursday night Luke and Shaun went out to watch the soccer game since it was finals for the Mexican Futbol League and a Guadalajara team (Chivas) was in the finals. It was a good time and an excellent venue for honing our spanish speaking skills.

After the week of class we wanted to spend more time in Guadalajara so we spent the weekend there as well. Saturday we went to Tlaquepaque, a colonial shopping area, specializing in arts and Mexican crafts. In the late afternoon we hiked up the Cerro with some friends from our spanish classes to enjoy views of the city and watch the sunset. On Sunday, they closed the main street through the center of Guadalajara (which is typically choked with traffic) for people to ride bicycles through town. We met some friends downtown and found a place that rented free bicycles. Around the same time, the final (final) game of Chivas vs. Toluca so there was a lot of stopping to find out the score of the game. Chivas won the game 2-1, winning the national title and Guadalajara went crazy! People paraded through the streets and piled into cars honking and partying and screaming. It was great! We got a table at a 2nd story restaurant with a view of the main drag and watched the celebratory scene. You would not believe the amount of people they could pile into cars, taxis, trucks, motorcycles, etc. , all carrying and waving flags and chanting "Chivas Chivas". It was equivalent to the Superbowl. In addition to the soccer celebrations there were several thousand people downtown for a parade to celebrate the upcoming Christmas or the Virgin of Guadalupe holidays.

It was a great time in Guadalajara and we felt very safe being in such a large city. Guadalajara is very progressive, very Mexican, and very cosmopolitan (for Mexico...). The people are very friendly and always seem to be celebrating something. We look forward to returning on our way to Mexico City.