I´ve officially given up

I´ve given up trying to post pictures, it just is not easy from here. So when I get home, I´ll put together and album of sorts. In the meantime. I hope you all can get by with word pictures.

TLAXCALA
yesterday´s field trip was to Tlaxcala, the capitol of the State of Tlaxcala. It is a beautiful town, the size of Ashland perhaps, sort of artsy. Very clean and inviting with trees, flowers and fountains in the plazas. Again, Spanish Colonial architecture. The churches are decorated with a baroque influence. The bull ring is there, it is surprisingly small. Those that have gone say it is a pretty bloody sight, so I think I´ll pass.

We toured the Governor´s palace. In side the foyer and up the stairs is a beautiful mural depicting the history of Mexico. It was recently finished, and was the life´s work of one man---his name escapes me, I´ll have to look it up. He used a fresco technique and it is super detailed, with much symbolism, the vibrant colors take your breath away.

We also went into a natural history museum. It was very well laid out and comprehensive for the region. The temporary exhibit displayed torture implements imported from Europe with the Dominicans as a way of insuring converts----very sobering to think people are capable on such inventions. Los muchahos really liked this exhibit.

After that we walked across the plaza to partake of the local fermented beverage, pulque. It is made from the heart of a plant cousin to an agave. There were 3 choices of flavors; oat, piñon, or nut. When you raise your glass to your nose, the oder is similar to vomit---hence, I can´t say anyone enjoyed it. We quickly switched to beer. The puebla custom is to serve beer in a Michelada style, which is in a salt rimmed mug that has about a 1/2 inch of lime juice in it. Some times the salt is mixed with ground dried pequin chili---it is very good like that!

We returned to the Instituto around 6:30pm just as the rain began. A group of us were going to cenar (dinner) but the rain caused us to remain close. The restaurant around the corner was suprisingly beautiful inside, and we all enjoyed local cuisine. I ordered stuffed squash blossom quesadillas. They were fabulous. My friend, Martha, unwittingly ordered a whole bottle of wine instead of just a glass. So 3 of us helped her with that. We sort of fussed that the place was expensive, but once you calculate the exchange rate to dollars, it´s really not. The 25 peso bottle of Spanish wine was a bout $2 US, my 52 peso dinner was less than $5.