A Moment of Realization!

Hi Everyone,

Its been a couple weeks since I've written, but nothing has been forgotten.  I have been going through quite a few changes, personally, physically and in my career.  It has been a long... LONG two weeks, but I am excited to share everything with you.

I moved in with my boyfriend!  :o  I know I'm not the first, I will not be the last independent woman to make that transition, but that doesn't make it any less challenging.  There were quite a few ups and downs before the actual move in date and there are still a few every now and then.  We were both constantly tired, under a lot of stress with the move and work and trying to make sure everything went smoothly.  Lots of fights and miscommunications, but we got through it.  My boyfriend is completely unpacked, and I still have two boxes of clothes and a box for the office that I haven't gotten to yet.  Mostly because I have no idea where to put it all.

The animal (cat and dog) are going through transitions.  Fiona (my little cat) still doesn't like to be around the big bad monster dog (precious boarder collie that just wants to play).  Mola (the collie) keeps eating all of Fiona's food (maybe that's where the aggression is stemming from...) but growls at fiona if she gets too close to her food bowl.

Fiona's potty training is going well.  She is a little bit behind schedule but that's because I didn't want to bump her up to the next level before we moved and now I want to make sure she is on a good routine before we go to stage number two.  My boyfriend keeps telling me that we have all the time in the world, so there is no need to push or pressure her, but I would like to see her move on to phase two.  We have been on phase one since June (3 months) I think probably for the first of September I will move her up. :)

I've been doing a lot of growth in my career.  Trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up and I think the answer to the question is a social media consultant and sales leader.  I am trying to actually focus on my own brand.  Spend some time on my own pages and make sure I have everything inline for when the the opportunities come flooding in. :)  ANY ideas suggestions or recommendations are always welcome.

I am so used to doing like 10 different things at once that focusing on just one and trying to make it happen is difficult.  I need to outline a budget for myself and a business plan.  Also, I need to dedicate time everyday for my own postings, musings, videos, editing etc to make sure that when someone googles Amanda Social Media they don't get a crappy social media page. :)  Also I need to get my confidence up and running again and stop being afraid.

I think fear is our biggest inhibitor.  And its not always the traditional fear that people thing about.  Its not being scared of not making it or being scared of the unknown.... it being so deathly afraid that if we do it and do it well and make it and actually succeed, what is going to happen to us.  Will we be able to keep up? What if people don't really like it or you? and How are you going to continue to move forward if you've tapped out everything you have on the first try.

The trick I am learning is to believe in myself.  Not in the stereotypical disney version way, I'm not going to break into song.. but to believe that you can, that you will, and when it gets to that next step and you need to again, you did, and you can and you will. And I keep reminding myself that I'm the one that puts this pressure on me to succeed.  Maybe I don't become the president of my very own multinational consulting conglomerate, but each step on the ladder is another rung closer and something that I should be proud of.  If I don't make it all the way to the top, just by climbing up I've made it farther than most.

So, that's what I'm doing.  I am starting my climb.  I am starting my business and I am starting towards my own personal definition of success.

Thanks for reading.  I will write again this weekend with my continuation of the book.  I just needed to get some of this out of my mind.  Thanks for listening. Let me know what you think in the comments.  Can you relate? Have you gone through this before?  I would love to hear about it.

Dare to Dream -- Part 2

Hey All!

Today I am going to take you with me on the second of three dates with my imagination!  It is entitled "Imagine, if you will..."

To coax a dream out of hiding it indicates that there are 3 steps.

First, put yourself in a comfortable position, close your eyes, relax and complete the sentence "I would like to be.."

• I would like to be someone well known in my industry.  

• I would like to be a speaker that travels around the world and speaks to large groups helping them complete and follow their own dreams.  

• I would like to be someone that other people can count on or look up to.  Someone that helps their friends and family, that gives back to whatever community I live it either long or short term. 

• I would like to be someone that my parents will be proud of.

• I would like to be someone that can delegate responsibility, that is a good leader and can manage multiple projects without getting overwhelmed or stressed out.  

Second, restate these goals in the present tense. "I am..."

• I am someone who will be will known in my industry!

• I will be a speaker that travels and speaks to large groups, helping them complete and follow their own dreams

• I  am someone that other people can count on and look up to.  I am someone that helps their friends and family whenever possible and that gives back to the community no matter if it is my community for the short term or long term, I do what I can to help.

• My parents are proud of me!

• I am someone who can delegate responsibility and I am a good leader.  I manage multiple projects at the same time with good stress management. 

Third, envision a scenario happening that would allow you to get that much closer to your ideal dream. Complete the sentence "I see myself..."

I see myself being my own boss.  Being a leader that helps raise those around me, not put them down.

I see myself living close to a beach.  Being a mentor to kids in foster homes.  Being a positive female role model.  I see myself working a lot, but making it look like I work very little.  Managing my time and making sure I always have time for my family and friends.

I see myself owning my own company.  Having an office that has a great view of the city.

I see myself playing sports, volleyball or baseball, smiling everyday and enjoying all the positive opportunities that life, the universe and love have put in front of me.

I see myself having enough money to be able to travel back home whenever I want to... no matter where I am in the world.

---

Maybe it all sees far fetched, especially for someone who is already in their 30's and it seems like is just starting their career, but I think it can happen.  I think there is still time for me to be able to make a difference and an impact in the world.  :)

Thanks for reading and you should try the exercise.  It actually brings up some feelings, longings and desires that you had forgotten that you had. :)  It's never too late or to early to dream!  Again, please follow me and/or leave a comment below if you like this blog.  Come back next week for date #3 with my imagination!  Thanks again and good luck dreaming!

Dare to Dream -- Part 1

HELLO WORLD.

I haven't written in a really long time, two years to be exact, but I found myself in a little bit of a rut and I have decided that I am going to take this blog in a new direction.  This is going to be something much more personal.

Recently I have rediscovered a book that my sister bought for me a few years ago called "You Can Do It! The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls". I've included the link in case you would like to find out more about the book and possible challenge yourself to complete parts or all of it yourself.

I am going to take you step by step with me while I start to make changes in my life that I hope will also be enjoyable for others to read.

Basically the book contains a series of "Dare to Dream" type challenges and as you go through completing them you receive merit badges, just like in Girl Scouts.  I was never in Girl Scouts myself, just Brownies... something about my mom not wanting to be a Girl Scout leader, hahaha.  So, lets get down to it.

The first challenge in the book is Dare to Dream.

"Imagine this... Anytime you want you can leave behind the world as you know it and enter the world as you dream it.  Follow your imagination all the way up to the podium to accept your Nobel Peace Prize, or onstage to take a bow with Baryshnikov.  You allow yourself to think bigger than life, becuse even the most fantastic dreams have something to tell us about who we are-- and who we may yet become.  When you finally let those deep-down dreams bubble up, your spirit soars, and everyone around you is uplifted by your example...." That is basically the first paragraph in the chapter.  It challenges you to make 3 play dates with your imagination, answer a few jumpstarting questions and visualize your dreams in reality so that you can watch them come true.  This morning I was starting to answer the first few questions.  I was about a page and a half in my notebook in when I realized that I type way faster (and with better spelling) then when I write by hand, and that's what brings me here.  Ok, lets get started!

• What have been the proudest moments of your life? 

The proudest moments of my life have been when I moved on my own to Miami.  Also, when I received the Ambassadorial Scholarship from Rotary International, and the fact that I am still living/working in Mexico.  I have a lot of things that are on my proud moments list which I still have yet to accomplish, such as

1. Become financially independent/free
2. Get my Master's Degree Title
3. Own my own company
4. Land my first consulting client
5. Consider myself a successful entrepreneur 

Despite these 5 things, I am still very proud of the fact that everything I am currently doing, and the direction that my life is going in is towards making all of these things possible.  I am proud of the fact that I never settled or got stuck in a job or town because it was confortable.  I may not make a lot of money at this point, but I am 100% the owner of my time.  Yes, I have bosses and managers, but I have created a work environment for myself that is exactly how I like it.  I don't have to report to an office. As some of my friends in Miami know, getting up on time and getting to the office was one of the most challenging parts of my day! hahaha  I am able to schedule my own appointments and manage my own calendar.  I know the consequences of not getting the necessary work done during the day and decide for myself where I work, when I work and how long I work.  Sometimes the results of those decisions are that I work from 9am until 9pm, and sometimes I am able to have lunch with friends or have a beer at my desk on a super hot Friday afternoon.

But all in all, I am very proud of the fact that I am living independently in Mexico, working towards goals that are my own and will eventually cause me to have the life I want instead of working to make someone else money/success.  

• What would you do if you won the lottery and money were no object? 

If I won the lottery... hmm.. well I am assuming that since money were no object the sum was quite large. First I would put at least 50% of it into investments in order to secure that the money was going to continue to be around for quite a long time.  

Next I would pay off all existing credit card debt, which isn't much, but it would be nice to have it off my back.  

And finally I would take about 10,000 dollars for me to spend on whatever I damn well please!  Remember, we said this was a lot of money so 50,000 would be like pocket change.  I would use that money to plan a vacation for myself (and my boyfriend) in Europe.  I want to go to Italy, Germany, England and Spain.  I would also buy a couple tickets to Asia and the Philippines because heck, I'm already on that side of the world.  I would also buy new clothes.  Lots of new clothes!  Some really nice bottles of champagne just for the heck of it and I would get surfing lessons.  Once my play money was gone, I would get back to normal life working and continuing to grow professionally (and I would be able to check off that proud moment above of being financially free)! 

• What did you daydream about as a kid?

When I was little, I wanted to be a lot of things.  I was never one of those kids that knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. and then became that.  I still don't think I know exactly what I want to be when I grow up but at least now I'm a little bit closer. :)  

I always wanted to be an actress.  I loved performing, speaking, playing sports and doing all those things were I was in the spotlight.  I know it probably sounds very egotistical, but I liked completing and doing things where people were watching me.  I think somewhere along the lines I lost that spark.  When I was in highschool I always wanted to be the center of attention, and I had the confidence to do that, but as I grew up I started losing that confidence, doubting myself and standing in the background more and more!  I am hoping that to try to get that back.  

I have my first speaking engagement, in a long time, coming up in August.  Maybe, hopefully, that will be the start of me getting back in front of the crowd and not being intimidated anymore!  

I have been writing for about an hour now and that is how long I had planned for this first "date with my imagination".  

Thanks to whoever is reading this.  Please feel free to write comments, I will check and answer them and I am hoping to make this a weekly ritual, so please come back next week to read what date number 2 brings up!  Thanks again and good luck dreaming! 

What is the Temple Expiatorio

The Temple Expiatorio of the Sainted Sacrament, or more commonly referred to simply as the Expiatorio is one of the most famous catholic temples in Guadalajara.  Construction started in 1897, but the temple wasn't finished until 75 years later in 1972.  It was built in the Neo-Gothic style and was considered to be the best temple of its kind built in Mexico.






The idea behind building the Expiatorio in Guadalajara was to build a temple dedicated to the Sainted Sacrament of Jesus Christ.  The project was started by the Arch-Bishop Pedro Loza y Pardavé.  The Arch-Bishop, along with the commission, selected Adamo Boari, a famous Italian architect, who also designed the Palacio de Bellas ARtes and the Palacio del Correo Mayor in Mexico City.  However, there are some people who believe that it was really the Mexican Architect Salvador Collado that REALLY designed this beautiful building.

During the Mexican Revolution, the construction of the Temple Expiatorio was stalled for various reasons, because of religious persecution, the economic crisis and the workers going to war.  It wasn't until 1924 that the construction of the building began once again.  In this time, it was the architect Ignacio Diaz Morales that finally finished the temple in 1972. 

The temple is basically made with stone as they would have made it in the Middle ages. The doors are made from a dark red hardwood usually reserved for making musical instruments, embedded with bronze figures.  The tree frontal designes are made of Italian mosaics in the mosaic factory and designed by the Vatican museums Francisco Bencivenga who also oversaw their placement on the building.  The Watch temple was imported from Germany.  It has four faces that are lit at night and inside contain 25 bells that play 25 different tracks of both religious and popular songs including Ave Maria, the National Anthem, Las Mañanitas, Guadalajara's song, and Mexico Lindo y Querido.  The cost of the clock along was about 450 thousand dollars.  At 9am, 12pm and 6pm, when the bells chime, they are also accompanied by figures of the twelve apostles in the style of a coco-clock. 

ALEBRIJES

Alebrije from the Borda Garden in Cuernavaca

Alebrijes are brightly colored Mexican art sculptures of fantastical creatures. The first alebrijes, along with use of the term, originated with an artist named Pedro Linares.  In the 1930s, Linares fell very ill and while he was in bed, unconscious, he dreamt of a strange place resembling a forest. There, he saw trees, animals, rocks, clouds that suddenly turned into different types of animals, unknown animals. He saw a donkey with butterfly wings, a rooster with bull horns, a lion with an eagle head, and all of them were shouting one word, "Alebrijes". Upon recovery, he began recreating the creatures he saw in paper mache and called them Alebrijes.  Which is actually a made of word in Spanish. 
His work caught the attention of a gallery in Cuernavaca, which is where I first saw them, and later of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.  The art style quickly spread through all of Mexico, the US and Europe becoming very popular amongst celebrities and tourists a like.  It has since been adapted and changed in various regions of Mexico.  Some are made from wood, paper mache or metal.

Part insect, dragon and serpent, this Alebrije was in the Jarden of Massimiliano

Pedro Linares was originally from México City (DF), he was born June 29, 1906 and died January 25, 1992.  Linares received Mexico's National Arts and Sciences Award in Popular Arts and Traditions Category for his work in 1990, two years before he died.  Alebrijes done for Diego Rivera are still on display at the Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City. 

The original designs that Pedro Linares made as alebrijes have fallen into public domain. However, according to Chapter Three of the Mexican federal copyright law, enacted in 1996, it is illegal to sell crafts made in Mexico without acknowledging the community and region which they are from. It is also illegal to alter the crafts in such a way as to be interpreted as damaging to the culture’s reputation or image. The law applied to the commercialization of the crafts as well as their public exhibition and use of their images. However, this law is rarely enforced as most crafts sellers in Mexico rarely state where their products are from. The name “alebrijes” is used for a wide variety of crafts even though the Linares family has sought to gain control over the name. The family states that pieces which are not made by them and do not come from Mexico City should state such.  However, because there have been a variety of artists and artisans creating a variety of alebrijes with their own styles, the craft has become part of Mexico folk art repertoire..  No two alebrijes are exactly alike.

My very own little "Dragon" that sleeps protects me while I sleep!

While Pedro Linares may have dreamed of these creatures, they did not occur in a vacuum. Similarities and parallels can be drawn between alebrijes and various supernatural creatures from Mexico’s indigenous and European past. In pre-Hispanic times, there was a preference for images with bright colors, which were often fantastic and macabre.  Influences from images from Mexico City's Chinatown (especially in dragons) and Gothic images like gargoyles.

Crickets!

Who ever thought that a small town girl from central Wisconsin would be saying the words... "Crickets really don't taste that bad!!!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA 

Revolution Day en Mexico!

The Day of the Revolution or Dia de la Revolución is celebrated annually in Mexico on November 20, the anniversary of the 1910 start of the popular movement which led to the overthrow of the dictator Jose de la Cruz Porfirio Dias Mori.  I know at this point you are probably starting to think... WAIT!?!?!?!  MEXICO HAD A DICTATOR?!?!?!?!  Well, the answer is YES!! Let me explain. 

The Mexican Revolution lasted for 10 years, from 1910 to around 1920. This was a time of political and social unrest in Mexican history. It began with efforts to oust president Porfirio Diaz and officially came to an end with the the signing of a new constitution. 

President Porfirio Diaz had been in power for over thirty years when he gave an interview with American journalist James Creelman in 1908, in which he stated that Mexico was ready for democracy, and that the president to follow him should be elected democratically. He said that he looked forward to the formation of opposing political parties.  Francisco Madero, a lawyer, took Diaz at his word and decided to run against him in the 1910 elections. Diaz, who apparently hadn't really meant what he had said in the interview, had Madero imprisoned and declared himself the winner of the elections. Madero wrote the Plan de San Luis Potosi which called for the people of Mexico to rise up in arms against the president on November 20th, 1910.

The Serdan family of Puebla, planning to join with Madero, had arms stockpiled in their home when they were discovered on November 18th, two days before the revolution was to begin. The first battle of the revolution took place in their home, now a museum in Pueblo. Madero, along with his supporters, Francisco "Pancho" Villa, who led troops in the North, and Emiliano Zapata, who led troops of campesinos to the cry of "¡Tierra y Libertad!" (Land and Freedom!) in the South, were victorious in overthrowing Diaz, who fled to France where he remained in exile until his death in 1915. Madero was elected president. Up to that point the revolutionaries had had a common goal, but with Madero as president, their differences became obvious. Zapata and Villa had been fighting for social and agrarian reform, whereas Madero had mainly been interested in making political changes.


On November 25th, 1911, Zapata proclaimed the Plan de Ayala which stated that the goal of the revolution was for land to be redistributed among the poor. He and his followers rose up against Madero and his government. From February 9th to 19th, 1913, known as the Tragic Ten Days which took place in Mexico City.

General Victoriano Huerta, general who had been leading the federal troops, turned on Madero and had him imprisoned. Huerta then took over the presidency and had Madero and his vice-president executed.  March 1913, the governor of the state of Coahuila, Venustiano Carranza, proclaimed his Plan de Guadalupe, which rejected Huerta's government and planned a continuation of Madero's policies. He formed the Constitutionalist army, and Villa, Zapata and Orozco joined in with him and overthrew Huerta in July 1914.

During the Convencion de Aguascalientes of 1914, the differences between the revolutionaries again came to the forefront. Villistas, Zapatistas and Carrancistas were divided. Carranza, defending the interests of the upper classes was backed up by the United States. Villa crossed the border into the U.S. and attacked Columbus, New Mexico. The U.S. sent troops into Mexico to capture him but they were unsuccessful.  In the south Zapata divided up land and gave it to the campesinos, but he was eventually forced to seek refuge in the mountains.  In 1917 Carranza formed a new Constitution which brought about some social and economical changes. Zapata maintained the rebellion in the south until he was assassinated on April 10, 1919. Carranza remained president until 1920. Villa was pardoned in 1920, but was killed on his ranch in 1923.

The revolution was successful in getting rid of Porfirio Diaz, and since the revolution no president has governed for longer than the prescribed six years in office. The PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucionalizado - the Institutionalized Revolutionary Party) political party was a fruit of the revolution, and maintained the presidency from the time of the revolution until Vicente Fox of the PAN (Partido de Accion Nacional - National Action Party) was elected president in 2000.  

Bullfights in Mexico!

Hector invited me to go to the bullfight.

Hello All,

So, recently I had a very interesting/confusing experience. I went to see a bullfight for the first time live! I say confusing and interesting because even during the time I was in the stadium, there were times I was having a lot of fun and other times when I didn't like it, things I could appreciate and things that made me angry. It was a huge mixture of emotions, and very interesting to process. When the people I went with asked me if I liked it at the end, I wasn't sure how to respond. I just kept saying, I dont know.. I haven't figured it out yet.

First, we didn't go to a full out "Bull Fight", we went to whats called a Novillada. Its kinda like a junior bullfight. In the olden days, the Novilladas had a lot of different meanings and purposes. The three most common purposes/differences between corridas (normal bullfights) and novilladas that I found are the following. 

1.       Novilladas were celebrated in the winter months were corridas were more often in the summer. Now a days in Mexico, novilladas are like the preseason to corridas. There is a seasons for them before the corridas start to get people excited.... its like pre-season football. It doesn't count for anything but it makes you excited for football season.

2.       Originally in the novilladas, the bulls were not actually killed. They just played with them, making them run back and forth, they stuck the banner in their backs, but they did not kill them with sword. They were left to heal and continue growing into a full size bull after the show.

3.       The most important difference between a corrida and a novillada is the size of the bull. Novilladas are much much smaller bulls. They are younger than 3 years old and they are usually not as big... only between 350-500 kilos (750-1100lbs). No where as big as a normal torro.

From what the guys I went with told me, in Mexico, novilladas are used as like training for the bullfighters who aren't big enough or don't have the experience to actually fight against a real sized bull.  They use the smaller bulls to get practice and experience in their training to become a full "matador."  This  can be a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.  It's great for the torero because there is less danger and less risk, but its bad for the bulls and the audience because the less experiences toreros dont always know how to kill the bull properly or have a higher percentage in screwing up and making the bull suffer.  Which is the principle reason a lot of people don't like watching novilladas and prefer corridas.  They say it's a much better show.  

In the photo above, you can see the ranch the the bull grew up on, the bull's name "Gota de Agua", the number that is assigned to him by the ranch, and his weight, 390 kilos (about 800lbs.).  These signs are displayed in between each fight.  There are about 6 fights per week.  In our case, there were 8 bulls used instead of 6.  One was "saved" and one of the toreros bought another bull to have a second chance because he did such a horrible job the first time. 

What is means to save a bull, and I'm so glad I got to experience this first hand, when a bull comes out of the stockade and is very brave and strong and shows a lot of good qualities, is a bull that could very well beat a torero, sometimes the crowd will start to shout "Toro, Toro, Toro, Toro" and the judeges decide, which the help of the crowd, that the bull has proven himself to be worthy, they will save him.  They will take him out of the ring and cure all the wounds that he suffered up to that point and send him off to a life a easy.  The bravest most valiant bulls, go back to their ranches and get stuck with the task of producing more super brave valiant bulls!  Yes thats right.. they get to go back be in charge of producing a lot of baby bulls!  :) 

 

The judges that decide about the bulls fate and if the torero was successful enough to deserve a prize.

The these next to pictures what you are seeing is one of the preliminary bull fighters waiting for the bull to be let out of the stockade and then in the picture below he uses his cloth to usher the bull away from him instead of actually moving himself. They did this about 3 times throughout the day.  At one point the bull got so close that the man on his knees did actually get up and run.  It was kinda funny.  

So like I was saying before, I think going to a bullfight depends a lot of the company that you are with. If you go with a cool group of people who tell you about the culture and why the people are doing what they are doing it can be a lot of fun.  It was very artistic in the sense that I felt something very passionate and primal in watching man fight beast.  During other moments I was yelling at the toreros and at my friends because I didn't understand why they would let someone who had done such a horrible job killing the animal the first time (he took like 7 attempts stabbing the bull and still wasn't able to kill him) a second chance to do it again.  

For those of you that don't know, when the bull drops his head to attach the torero, there is a spot right behind his neck and right before his lungs were a torero can stab him and the sword will go all the way down into the animal and stab the bull right into the heart.  In doing this, the bull will drop and die almost immediately, and this is considered a very good humane kill.  When this happened the crowd cheered for the torero, and when this didn't happen, the crowd booed the torero.  There were many times during the fights that half the crowd or more was cheering for the bull.  Which to me was surprising but very interesting.  I was always cheering for the bull!  :)  

 The Family Zone, where beer wasn't allowed to be sold.  But right above us was a 6 month old and a two year old with his father learning the ropes of the toros, in the drinking section, because dad shouldn't be punished just because he brought his kids along!  hahahah 

It reminded me of when I told my sister to bring her 1 year old and 3 year old down to Mexico as a family vacation.  Everywhere in Mexico is the family zone, kids go anywhere the parents do.  Strollers in bars are not an uncommon thing, I mean the kids gotta sleep right?!?!?!  HAHAHAHAHA!!!  :)  

So overall it was an interesting experience.  I don't know if I will go back for a corrida to see what the difference is, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  It wasn't as gory or bloody, and I could definitely see what the appeal is for some people who love watching the toros. 

Below are some videos of different toreros.  If you are squeamish or are against animal violence I would suggest not watching them, but if you are curious, it is kinda cool.  Hope to hear your thoughts.  HASTA PRONTO!

Archeologist for a Day!

A couple weeks ago I was invited by a friend... who just happens to be an archeologist... to go out with him on a site visit.  All he told me before we left was that this was a top secret mission and to wear good shoes and sunblock because we were going to be walking a lot!  Well, he wasn't exaggerating, but before I get to that, let me start with some background details. 

 

My friend, Pavel, is an archeologist for the state of Jalisco.  His main job is to walk the paths of new highways and freeways before they are built to make sure that they are not building over archeological ruin sites or important indigenous areas. He has to walk on average about 10-15 kilometros each day (thats 7-10 miles).  Its a lot of walking, BELIEVE ME!  He will walk in one direction for as long as he can, and then turn around and walk in the other direction back to the truck just to drive to a new spot and start walking from where he left off.  I really wanted to do that, but he said that he has already walked the route to write his report and now it was just going back to certain sites to take pictures and measurements.  

 We started out by going to Ciudad Guzman, about 2 hours from Guadalajara.  He has to meet with someone and while he was in his meeting, I explored the city.  Ciudad Guzman's patron saint is Saint Jose.  He just happens to be the father of Jesus, Saint Joseph.  The people of this town pray to Saint Joseph in order to get or improve their jobs.  When their prayers are answered they write their thanks of pieces of colorful fabric and put them as adornments on the Saint's statue.  This is their way of giving thanks to the Saint for listening to their prayers.  

Pavel and I continued walking around the city and visiting the different plazas before we went off to visit the first construction site, where I wasn't allowed to take pictures!  :)  We then visited a few other places because I got the long awaited question of, "Do you want to walk up to the Saint's Peak in the mountain?  They are going to be building up there?"  Of course, my responce was YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!  :)

We drove to a small trail behind a small town with a small cemetery where Pavel explained to me that each year on the day of their saint, the town carries flowers and gifts up to the crosses in the mountains to give them as offerings.  So we started our way up... and up... and up.. AND UP!!.

















It was beautiful... and exhausting!!  We were walking up the trail and we would see stones marked with white crosses to let us know that we were on the right trail.  Finally, we made it up to the top and it was a gorgeous, or at least I thought it was gorgeous.  Pavel was exhausted and decided to take a nap!  

The view was beautiful.  After Pavel's short nap, we went up the mountain even farther to another area that they were planning to build a through.  I couldn't take pictures of it because it is technically a construction site in progress and Pavel could get in trouble if picture got out.  Just imagine a corn field that has been dug up and that was pretty much it, but when we started walking back and forth through the field Pavel found some very interesting artifacts.  He found part of an arrowhead that was probably used for hunting and also a stone that was used to smooth over other stones.  There was even a thumb grip on the smoothing stone.  :)  

We kept walking and then Pavel showed me this spot where there is a small waterfall back in the trees. 

After making it down to the bottom I took a couple pictures of the mountain that we climbed up.  It wasn't the biggest mountain in the world, but it was still a lot of fun.  If you look really hard at the top of the mountain, you can see the crosses that we were standing behind. 


















 The ride back to Guadalajara was long and after a full day in the sun and walking, hiking and seeing a lot of really cool stuff, I was definitely exhausted when I got back to my apartment.  But it was really really cool.  I told Pavel that I would love to actually go on the trail walk with him.

Casa de los Perros

One of the most famous legends in Guadalajara es the legend of the House of the Dogs. It all started with a very very rich widow who's name was Don Jesus Flores and a very poor but beautiful seamstress named Doña Ana Gonzalez. Don Jesus and Doña Ana got married, and as a wedding present, Don Jesus built Doña Ana a two story house in the center of Guadalajara. In those days it was considered a huge luxury to have a two story house. Doña Ana, as a wedding present, bought 4 statues of dogs which she shipped from New York, to put one at each corner on the roof of the house, to "watch and guard their love." That is how the house became known as the "House of the Dogs."

After their marriage, they went to Europe on their honeymoon. on their way back, the boat was about to  capsize because of very strong, severe storms and in that moment the couple prayed that if at least one of them survived, that one would pray nine rosary prayers on the anniversary of that day for the rest of their lives. It turns out that both survived. 

However, time went on, and shortly thereafter Don Jesus passed away. Doña Ana Gonzales decided to remarry shortly after his death to a much younger rich neighbor named Don Jose Cuervo. After of year of marriage Doña Ana and Don Jose decided to move to a new house that he build on the other side of town, leaving the House of the Dogs. Doña Ana also forgot to pray for her survival and her husband like she had promised. 

The legend says that whomever prays the 9 prayers of the rosary in front of the mausoleum of Don Jesus Flores will recieve great forture. They even made it into a contest saying that whomever could recite the prays at exactly midnight with only the company of a candle would win a large sum of money. Hundreds of men and women tried, some to prove their bravery and others thinking that it would be easy money, but none succeeded. 

Some ran out after only 5 minutes saying they were possessed by the devil, other lasted so long that when people went in to look for them they found them fainted on the ground from terror. It is said that the problem is once you start reciting the prayers a voice from beyond the grave answers each of the rosary responses. No matter how brave a soul has tried, no one has been able to complete the 9 prayers of the rosary..... 

Thank you!! HASTA PRONTO!!!