January Travels

Acapulco 

When anyone thinks of Acapulco they think of beautiful beaches, great night life, and margaritas. While it can be like that for tourists, we saw a glimpse of what it was really like for the people that lived there. There is severe poverty in Acapulco. Going down the hill to get to where our hotel was, we passed by tons of shacks where people lived and there were small owned shops ran by locals that were basically just holes in the walls. This part of the city looked like any third world neighborhood. It is really sad to see such contrasts in life styles. Up the hill are people struggling to make a living for their family and for themselves and then down the hill you see 5 star hotels, incredibly spoiled tourists, and extreme capitalism.

Once we stepped on the beach outside of our hotel for the first time we were swarmed by locals trying to sell us things. They had dresses, tanning lotion, necklaces, henna tattoos, hats, sun glasses, food, tons of different things. It got annoying after a while because we got to the beach to have a good time and relax and it was hard to do because people would just keep coming up to ask us if we wanted to buy things from them. But it is understandable because that was probably the only money that those people would be making. That may be their only job and only source of income. It is really sad because they have to walk the beach everyday in the sun, holding all of their merchandize trying to sell stuff all day. We forget how lucky we are to have jobs like McDonalds and Taco Bell because at least we get a minimum wage and a guaranteed paycheck regardless of how small that might be for us in our country.

 These two pictures are just about 15 minutes away from the main strip

 This was the beach right in front of our hotel

 Profe playing some guitar

Someone coming up to try and sell us food under the tent

 Semester Group: (left to right: Fiammy Dizon, Norma Castillo, Brenda Sandoval, Freddy Gonzalez, Antonio Cisneros,Vanessa Alvarez, Amelia Gomez)

 
Puebla

• One of the five most important Spanish colonial cities in Mexico
• You can clearly see Spanish influences throughout the city
  

 

Profe loves his churches..

 Temple Ruins

 Profe getting his shoes shined

Museo de la Revolución

This pockmarked 19th-century house, which was closed at the time of research, was the scene of the first battle of the 1910 Revolution. (Three pictures above)

 "Fuertes de Loreto"

 This fort marks the location of the Battle of Cinco de Mayo, which Mexico fought against Napoleon III in 1862.

Teotihuacan

 

• Teotihuacan, also written Teotihuacán, is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas

 on "la luna" looking out to "el sol"

 Making a blanket