We returned last night from a very exciting, and sometimes life threatening, trip to Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. We left Friday immediately after school for the bus station......a 30 minute life risking taxi ride (apparently a requirement to drive a taxi here is less than the requirement to drive a bus.....pedal to the metal and who cares about traffic signs, lights or.......other vehicles!). We traveled in two separate groups (long story about bus tickets and prices) but arrived within a few hours of each other to the "Hostel Allende" near the center of Morelia.
The city is beautiful.....we often felt like we were roaming around Europe instead of Mexico. The city was clean (and generally friendly....minus the obscene Mexican who HATES America) and much more appealing than Guadalajara. Saturday morning we left for a 3 1/2 hour 15 passenger van ride up into the mountains to see the monarchs. Much of that ride was spent in prayer. At first I was impressed with our driver's need to go fast and pass the slow drivers in front of us. As soon as we reached the sharp turns of the mountain roads (without barriers) my enjoyment came to a crashing (almost literally) halt. There were many times I started to imagine what my parents would have to do to have my body shipped back to the states for a funeral....Morbid, I know, but if you had been in the van you would understand. Those of you who know me, know that for me to say someone was driving too fast and too crazy must mean he was an actual maniac! Anyway.....we finally reached the mountain of butterflies and began our intense hike up the 516 stairs and then steep mud trails to the point where swarms of butterflies flew above us, into the trees and back again to land on us in passing. It was amazing!
After playing with the butterflies, we returned down the mud slopes and stairs prepared ourselves for the journey back to Morelia.....on the now rain slicked roads....GREAT! The driver crossed himself in prayer while accelerating into the curves. Again, I planned my funeral. Thankfully, we made it back safely! We relaxed a little before heading out for the Saturday night fireworks in centro. Rachel and I met some "Zorros" in front of the Cathedral following the display and convinced them to take a picture with us.
Sunday, calves aching, we set out to explore Morelia. We hung out near the aqueducts and found a cute restaurant for a breakfast of hot cakes and Mexican cafe con leche. The day continued with lots of site seeing before returning to the centro camionera where we hopped back on a bus for the 3 1/2 hour trip back to Guadalajara.
There are many "little" stories of our time in Morelia. One day you'll have to ask about: churros and chocolate, the musicals of the journey, my sweater, my crash in front of a busy intersection, the story of the driver, Indian food, tickets, rotten broccoli and the butterfly in Charla's wallet.
