My first weekend in Puebla! As our plane landed Friday night, we looked left and were stunned by the 18,000 ft volcano visible through the gray haze in the air (it’s currently rainy season). Although all of the students were a little nervous about our Spanish skills, we were baptized by fire as we navigated customs speaking only Spanish. Moments later, one of our program leaders directed us to some buses which took us to our university, UPAEP, where we met our host moms!
Rocío, who is at least a full foot shorter than me, gave me a huge hug and drove me back to our home! After a delicious chicken dinner, it was time to rest before my first full day in Puebla.
Saturday brought lots of exploring our little neighborhood, Estrellas del Sur. We live in a little community with its own park, church, and adoration chapel. All of us students live within several blocks of each other, making it very easy to visit – today was about learning the streets and whose house is whose. We also made a visit to the mall, which looked surprisingly American, and the Jardín del Arte, a beautiful park across the street from our neighborhood.
Sunday was our first day to explore El Centro, the downtown colonial district! Sunday is the best day to visit, as the streets fill with artisan markets selling everything from earrings to ceramics to fresh fruit. The downtown district is beautiful, every building a different color, many with facades containing hand-painted poblano tiles.
Amid the rainbow roads of El Centro is the third oldest cathedral in Mexico (completed 1690). It has a stately presence from the outside, with its two large bell towers. From the inside, it much resembles many of the cathedrals in Europe. It was especially impressive visiting on a Sunday, as all the pews were filled for midday mass.
My first weekend was absolutely fabulous and has set me up to have an exciting, active, and rich rest of the semester. More to come 🙂
En Puebla Bailan Así 