The second half of the trip was amazing. It was SO humid and my hair was out of control most of the time. That being said, I would most definitely say that I look stunning in ALL of these vacation photos. Here are some highlights.

In front of Cortes' house. Note to the Mexican government: Don't worry, these are just 15th century walls and cannons-- go ahead, let everyone walk all over and touch everything. It's cool, they won't get ruined or vandalized. Notice the lovely prostitutes in the background.











Fort San Juan de Ulua. So effing HOT and uncomfortable. Yes, I am sweating profusely in this picture.

Me and Gar ran up the Cerro de las Culebras one
morning and it was absolutely beautiful.
This is where my mom grew up.





















On our way to El Tajin ruins we had a little cabin fever and stopped at a roadside hut to buy Cold Coconuts, aka, Cocos Frios.
Don't drink and drive kids.

After 4 long hours in the car, we finally made it to El Tajin. During the ENTIRE time (almost 2 weeks) in Mexico, this was the only time I saw other American tourists. The sign where you pay for admission was pretty funny. The English translation was a bit off. Notice the third bullet, ha ha ha! I couldn't stop saying this afterward. We got in free because we have different abilities... and we had our student IDs.

This is Sparky. He lives at the awesome eco-lodge we stayed at. You can't tell from this picture, but he has a crippled leg because he got hit by a car when he was a street dog. Miraculously, his foot was saved from amputation with acupuncture. Then after his adoptive American owners built this place, they let him become the watch/guard dog for the property. Apparently he will sleep by each door of each guest for a portion of the night, but because we were the only people there that week, he slept by our door all six nights. He knew not to come in our suite and he never barked. What a sweet soul.











Picking pomegranates at my great-aunt's house. She saved them for us so that we could pick them off the tree! How deliciously thoughtful.


El Museo de Antropologia de Xalapa. A bunch of old things in cases. Also, Garrett meets his long lost Mayan twin.


Teocelo Falls and my mom holding a chicken.













AND...
This is a picture of a photo from my great aunts house. WHO is that gigantic baby in the middle with the 80s band hair?!!!

I came back last week from Veracruz, Mexico. While there, I attended my first Catholic/Mexican wedding, visited family I'd never met, and spent a good amount of time relaxing. The first leg of the trip I was with my mom, that was the wedding part. Garrett came later, that was the relaxing part of the trip. The whole thing was great, we got to do everything that I had planned and wanted to do, plus more.
First the wedding:
Me, Enrique, Claudia and Mom, just after the ceremony.

As part of the reception there was some bride and groom hazing performed by friends and family members... I know, wtf? My thoughts exactly.








Then a short while later, it turned into a rave-esque party, complete with balloons and glow sticks, just as everyone was getting tipsy. I also made a slew of high school buddies. My new friends were all pretty wild, in fact they were the life of the party.


Even mom danced, and she hadn't had a single drink all night.


I had a great time and the wedding party finally ended around 1 am. I went out with Claudia's daughter, Rebecca, and her high school friends. All of whom were adorable, and so drunk. For some reason they all had a hard time believing that I was 23 and graduated from college.

More pics soon...