Eating Bugs???

There are three girls (Sandra, Lili, and Yesenia) from the English Club that I have been trying to eat lunch with regularly. For some reason they have made it their mission to help me experience ALL "common" foods in Mexico. Yesterday, instead of eating on campus, our original plan, they took me to a local cafe because they said I "just had to try Chapulines". Turns out Chapulines are bugs in the grasshopper family. They are "toasted" and served whole with hot sauce and lime. They were crunchy and tasted like salty bugs. ....all I know is I'm glad this experience is under my belt and in the past!

a live chapulin

cooked chapulines ready to be served

CURyCLUB Salsa Dancing

For our CURyCLUB (activity with RUF and English Club students combined) we had a free salsa lesson. What better way to integrate two groups and make new friends in Mexico!

Itzlahuaca

This weekend I was able to travel out of Mexico City with some friends. We passed throught Toluca and then I stayed in Itzlahuaca. The cool thing about Itzlahuaca is that it is the hometown of two of my Mexican friends/co-workers in Asheville. I was able to spend time with their families. Since I was out in the "country" I learned how to make corn tortillas from scratch over a fire, and before cooking and eating our corn-on-the-cobb we had to go out in the field and pick it. We had chicken soup for dinner one evening and it had the WHOLE chicken in it (minus the fethers). I was thankful that I got a wing instead of a foot in my bowl at dinner. I LOVED the whole experience!

Me and Joana-Belen ("Belen" means Bethlehem)

Cooking tortillas

Washing clothes by hand

Downtown Itzlahuaca

Corn Husking