First days in my new city

Now that I am officially a resident of Ciudad Guzman I thought I would share a few tidbits about the place and also a little bit about what I've been up to since I arrived…

So this is the view from where I work…not bad, right?  What you are looking at is Nevado de Colima, a volcano which overlooks the city.  The peak is not always visible as clouds tend to block the view on occasion, but they do move quickly so even if you wake up and the peak is not visible in the morning it will likely be visible by the time afternoon rolls around…something I am grateful for as I LOVE this view.  Also fun fact…just behind this volcano there is another one, Volcán de Colima, which is one of the most active volcanoes in Mexico.  Soooo the likelihood I'll experience an earthquake while I live here is probably somewhere around the 100 percent mark.

Nevado de Colima

 There is also a lake (or laguna) a few kilometers away from the city center.  This past weekend I was able to walk out to the laguna, a perfect Saturday activity, and snap this shot. Ciudad Guzman is not the largest city (~100,000 people, but you wouldn't even think it was that large) so it doesn't take long before you get to the surrounding rural areas…this picture is probably only 5 kilometers away from the city and you can see it is a rural landscape.  Also, here is an example of the clouds blocking the view of Nevado de Colima which should be easy to see in this photo as it is located pretty much in the center of this photo…darn clouds.

A view of Ciudad Guzman with the laguna in the foreground…here I am just a few kilometers outside the city center

So here's a view of the buzzing metropolis of Ciudad Guzman (Although I keep kidding about the size of the city, I actually do like the size, it is just big enough!).  This is the large plaza marking the city center where there are always a lot of people gathering, particularly on the weekends when there are events and store vendors that set up their tents looking to cash in on the crowds enjoying their weekend free time.  This is also the area where I have spent most of time when I'm done with work for the day.  There are many cafes and ice cream shops surrounding the square…I'm slowly (or maybe not so slowly) trying out every one of them so I can see who's the best!

City Center of Ciudad Guzman

You may have been wondering where exactly I am living in Cd. Guzman…or if you weren't before I bet at this moment you are.  The Peace Corps really likes having us live with host families and after living 3 months with a host family in Queretaro they have us live (at minimum) one more month with a host family in our new cities.  This gives us time to get acquainted with the city and figure out where we would like to live, as it is our responsibility to find our future housing.  While we have to live a minimum of one month with a host family sometimes volunteers choose to live longer as it may take more time to find housing and occasionally, some volunteers live the duration of their service with a host family.  Adapting to life with a new host family is always full of adventure as you get to know their routines and personalities.  My family here is much larger and louder than my Queretaro host family.  I am living with the two parents, their son and daughter (who I estimate are in their early 30s), the daughter's daughter who is 12, and me. Lots of different ages in the house!  They are a very fun family and the mom is a super woman.  She's always doing household chores, cooking, or attending church events, the longest I've seen her sit down and relax is probably 5 minutes.  She is an AMAZING cook…I'm having her teach me a few things about Mexican cooking as I'll be doing my own cooking soon once I move.  One ingredient I don't think I'll be purchasing anytime soon is this:

Not entirely sure what animal this is…my best guess is pig's head

I came across this plate of deliciousness one Sunday morning, I may have lost my appetite for a little while after seeing these.  I believe these (unknown) animal heads had been used to create the broth for a soup called Pozole which all Mexicans seem to love. Ingredients include a variety of meats, pork/chicken/turkey and then the main ingredient maize.  I don't have the same passion for Pozole as the Mexicans do, but I'll eat it and still be perfectly satisfied with my meal.

 So my host family lives a little bit on the outskirts of town (it's about a 45 minute walk to the downtown from my house) so I thought I'd give you an idea of the scenery of the street I live on.  If I'm being honest, this picture is for my Dad who is always asking about the streets. Maybe I can devote an entire blog later to the street varieties in Guzman to satisfy his inquisitive brain…opinions???  :)

Current street I live on, Serafín Vazquez

 Also since I have been here I celebrated my 23rd birthday.  My birthday fell on the second week I was here, always interesting to have a birthday when you have just moved somewhere. (this seems to happen to me a lot as I have an early summer birthday so often I am just starting a new job or internship somewhere when my birthday comes along, either that, or I'm traveling somewhere so I have a wealth of entertaining birthday stories).  I'm not the one to shout out that it's my birthday to these people I hardly know at the office.  However, by around noon that day I subtly mentioned it was my birthday to one person in the office and then watched as slowly the information was dispersed amongst everyone at the office until most people had dropped by and wished me a Happy Birthday.  Funny how fast news travels sometimes.  Later that day I was able to meet up with the other volunteers in the city who were in town and they took me out to eat at a nice Italian place in town and gifted me this gem of a cookie!

Birthday Cookie!

Between people in the office wishing me happy birthday, going out to dinner, my host family making the meal of me choice (they actually did this for me the day before), and receiving countless messages from family and friends I definitely felt loved on my birthday in this new place I call home.  Thanks to everyone who took their time to send me messages…it made for a special day indeed!

Ok I'm about to wrap it up I promise, one more thing…

The first weekend I was here the volunteers in Cd. Guzman (their site is the Parque Nacional Volcán de Colima) were part of a city wide event promoting the environment.  The event was in the city center and many organizations in the area set up tents/booths with activities for those passing by.  I was able to help out with their booth, which was having kids color coloring books the park had made with items and facts about the park (think animals/scenery/plants) and also playing a lotería game (think Bingo with a twist) one of the volunteers had made with facts and pictures about the plants and animals of the park. This was fun to be a part of as it was my first weekend in the city and gave me an opportunity to get a feel for the city and meet some people along the way.  I'm glad I was able to help out with this great event!

Just seeing if I can still color between the lines...

Concentrating hard to understand the Spanish

With the Peace Corps Volunteers who work at the Park
From left: John, Me, Whitney, a local leader of the scout program, and Mary (yes, another Mary, that's not a typo!)

So there's a taste of Ciudad Guzman and what I've been up to.  I am enjoying myself here and getting to know the city and people better each day and can't wait for what's ahead!