Back to School - in Puebla, Mexico / De vuelta a la Escuela

Arriving in Puebla Saturday night, I set out to explore 'el centro' on Sunday afternoon before classes start on Monday. This central area of town is called Zocalo and there is a large square surrounded by shops, restaurants and the cathedral. It's filled with trees, sculptures, a fountain, entertainers, and lots of people on a sunny afternoon.






I had a warm welcome. A couple of police officers were walking by me around the outside of the square, so I asked them if they could recommend one of the restaurants for lunch ('almuerzo'), they not only gave me a recommendation but walked with me to show me which one and we chatted along the way. Then, no sooner than I had sat down at a patio table an adorable little girl at the table next to me came over and said 'Hola'. She was fascinated with talking to a lady from Canada.

I began exploring the rest of the square after a wonderful meal of three enchiladas each with a different one of the traditional mole sauces, Verde, Rojo & Poblano. All were delicious, but I still like Poblano the best, probably because there is chocolate in it!  During my exploration, the officers noticed me and asked if I would fill out a form for their work describing how they had assisted me. I did get a few strange looks as I sat on the bench completing the form with two officers standing over me, though. But taking photos after, likely dispelled any misinterpretations.

I am in a spanish immersion program this week at Livit Immersion Centre, which includes accommodation in a local household. I am staying with Lupita, a wonderful older woman who Lives in the house she grew up in and now rents the vacant rooms. She provides me with breakfast at 8 am, a light supper at 8 pm, and wonderful conversation whenever I am at home and not doing my homework (or my job work). She lives across the street from a lovely park and the neighbourhood has a number of murals including one on her house which is in honour of her years teaching children.




My days begin breakfast with Lupita and one of the 2 young men staying there, then I have a 20 min walk to the school. I have a private class from 9 am to 1 pm when we break for dinner provided by the school. Between 2 and 4, Monday through Wednesday we each go with the guide assigned to us and explore the city while conversing in Spanish. My guide this week was Emilio, a university student.With a few other students, we visited a traditional ceramics factory where they make Talavera, the famous blue & white ceramics that Puebla is famous for.






Tuesday we explored the artisan area and the original cathedral in Puebla. I got a good start on my Christmas shopping and had a new experience. I ate a ‘chapulin’! A fried and salted type of small grasshopper! It was actually good and the texture was crunchy and not at all unpleasant. I was definitely surprised!





I didn’t realize until this week that Puebla was the location of the famous ‘Cinco de Mayo’ battle with France. The hill where the battle took place used to have a church on top, El Templo de Guadalupe. There is now a museum build around and within these ruins in recognition of this important battle. This area of the city now is a huge park with other museums, a convention center and a ‘teleferico’ (aerial tram). We rode this one way to see the views of the city and then caught a bus back to Zocalo.

What a great start to the week!