A Concert, Valle de Bravo, and Soccer

As my time comes to an end here in Mexico, I find myself scrambling to do all kinds of activities that I've been wanting to do.

This week my good friend Andy's mom and grandma came for a visit. And, on Friday I got to meet them. While Andy and the gang were practicing for the Proper Name and the Nouns concert, I met the Mrs. Ms at their hotel. Let me just say that they are two very lovely, tall ladies. I always thought that because I'm tall, I won't make a very cute grandma someday, but Andy's grandma showed me differently ;-)

The concert was excellent and featured these awesome individuals: Andy, Cammie, Will G., Aldo, Jairus, and Nico. I finally brought my camera to take pictures of this entertaining group, but would you believe that my batteries ran out? I was lucky enough to get a picture of Cammie and Grandma M. before the show.

To top the night off, Andy's mom brought him a birthday cake all the way from Oklahoma! How's that for daring? After the concert, we enjoyed delicious vanilla birthday cake at Andy's house. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

On Saturday morning, I hopped on a bus and headed to Toluca to meet Renée. From there, we grabbed another bus to the little town of Valle de Bravo. What should have been a one hour bus ride, actually turned out to be a two and a half hour ride because we took the "scenic route" through all the little pueblos. But, no worries. It's always nice when you have good company.

When Renée and I finally arrived in Valle de Bravo, our stomachs were doing all the talking. We headed to the lake for a meal on the water. Renee ordered some beautiful garlic-spiced shrimp and I got seafood stuffed fish in a cream sauce. With some agua de sandía (watermelon juice) and some agua de piña (pineapple juice), we were set. Oh, yum-o!

After lunch, we went strolling around the town. It was really cool to see the paragliders coming down from the mountains. I bet the view of the lake from above is spectacular. I was also very impressed by this fantastic fruit stand. Those mangoes look like rows and rows of sunshine. They make me happy :-)

On our stroll, Renée and I enjoyed some guanábana ice. It is hard to explain the flavor of this delicious fruit, but it is sort of like a cross between a strawberry, a banana, and a pear. We ventured about and saw the grand cathedral and this crazy flight of stairs. Kind of scary, don't you think? Then it was back to Toluca and D.F.

On Sunday, Roberto invited me to the Pumas soccer game. I couldn't leave Mexico without attending a soccer game. The Pumas are the team of the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) Their colors are blue and gold (like my alma mater's)...unfortunately I wore green to the game...oops the color of the other team. The stadium is very large and seats approximately 40,000 people. Before the game started, we did this kind of pump-up chant thing where we had to stick out our fist and sing the university's hymn. Haha, that was fun.

While I certainly had fun watching the game and trying to capture action shots, I was also amused by watching everything else that was going on around me. It was so funny to see the different types of food that the vendors were selling. Instead of popcorn and hot dogs, there were potato chips with salsa, tropical-flavored popsicles, and different Mexican candies. I was also entertained by these two little boys sitting next to me who were very focused on the game. Look at them, they definitely know what's up. By the way, the Pumas won 1-0!

This upcoming weekend I'm heading north to Aguascalientes. There's lots in store...a giant fair, a birthday rodeo, and visiting with friends. Can't wait!

Click for more pictures!

Abrazos, Nicole