MEXICO

birthdays and anniversary

2006-10-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

hi i only have a minute because we are so busy with the mural but i just wanted to say thanks to everyone for calling on my birthday. we went to some hotsprings in the state of Morelos it was fun. not warm water at all but still fun. for our anniversary we went to this amazing restaurant in coyoacan called the danzantes and we had a private room! i couldnt believe it miguel planned everything it was just perfect. we ordered a bottle of wine to celebrate and we had no idea how much it would cost. lets just say that was the most expensive dinner either one of us has ever had. definitely worth it though. then this saturday for miguels birthday we went to Puebla and ate cemitas and went to Africam Safari. this time we went in my friends car so we got to stop and basically be face to face with tons of free ranging animals. giraffes, elefants, tigers, you name it we saw it right up close. we went on a small speed boat in the lake there and then later on that night we went to cholula for dinner. (i will explain more about what all these places are later). well it was great. it was such a fun week. take care, i will ask miguel to write if he has some time today so he can give a better description. love you all, char

big weekend

2006-09-04T12:38:00.000-07:00

I dont know if you guys know but I been doing Capoeira here in Mexico, well this past weekend the school that I go to had their opening inaguration party and they had a 3 day Capoeira worshop. they invited mestre Cobra Mansa who is very famous and knew a lot about it. We had 5 hour movement clases and in between the teachers showed us a documantary and they Capoeira mestre gave a whole presentation about birimbaus( an instrument that is used in capoeira that makes a sound like woa woa woa something like that) Even though Charlotte didnt take tha whole worshop she attended the birimbau presentation and we were so lost because the teacher was speaking in potugees and well we could understand anything, well just a little but it was very interesting because the teacher had just gone to angola in africa and he did a study of the other types of dance forms they do in those towns and how it realtes to the brazilian capoeira. Well it was all very much fun exept for my back that is swollen from all the exercise. Well right now Iam doing all the grocery shoping and charlotte is in her painting class. We wiil write some more later take care con mucho amor- miguel

update

2006-09-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

well, miguel auditioned for the Amalia Hernandez Folklorico teacher program and he was accepted! He starts next week. its a 2 year program and he will learn alot of the dances that the company does. when he leaves, if he wants to he will ba able to get a job teaching folklorico basically anywhere he wants too. he also enrolled in some dance classes at the UNAM to stay in shape. He is relieved that he finally made a decision and is going for it. I am starting a mural on tuesday of next week. its going to be in someones house. they are making a club inside of their house and my friend and i are doing a huge continuous mural throughout the entire club. we have 6 weeks to finish it so i hope we can do it. as soon as we get some pictures i will post them. i started taking pilates for my back. i like it alot and hopefully it will help. Im actually on my way over there right now. so ill be sure to write later maybe miguel will come and write a blog. take care everyone. dad tell joe we said happy birthday and please say hi to the family. love, char

hey everyone

2006-08-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

i just got 2 more pictures framed so ill get pictures of them so you can all see. i have been painting alot and working on designs for the mural. we are really excited. supposedly we have 6 weeks to finish it instead of a month so thats a relief. we will probably start sometime next week. we already have our design and the colors and everything we just have to make it look pretty so we can show the people. the huevona site just keeps getting cooler. we have shirts and wifebeaters now so mom you better order one. haha just kidding. they look really good though. later this week you will also be able to check out some photos of miguels hip hop class. we are trying to put up a video too but its a little tricky. we just recieved a letter concerning miguels visa basically letting us know we were just supposed to wait. big suprise. what did they think we were doing? well, anyways talk to you all soon. love, char

new huevona!!

2006-08-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

hey everyone i just wanted you to all see the great job my dad did redoing the huevona site. you can get to our blog through www.huevona.com also. talk to you all soon. love,char and miguel.

just saying hey

2006-07-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

this whole week i think the earliest we have gotten out of bed has been about 2pm. I guess its the weather or something that is just eating at our energy. Or its the fact that we have just finished watching season 5 of 24. Its soooo good! Well, other than that its our normal lives, im painting and miguel is dancing and teaching. Ill send more pictures soon. Take care miss you all so much I hope you are all planning on a trip to come out and visit us. love,char

Un año en Mexico

2006-06-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Charlotte is writing in the other computer at the same time as me, we are writing a blog at the same time, ha ha. Yes we have been here for a year now and it seems like we are barely fineshed traveling. We have been trough so much this past year, yesterday we were talking about how we feel like it´s been a lot of experiences and how when we were traveling we got to do things that we were never expecting to do, like that time when we were in Lagunas de Chacagua and Charlotte asked me to go with her and we followed a group of people and we ended up freeing some sea turtles and we were just amazed by it, and even though we dont have any pics of that event it´s still so alive here within us. So now we are trying to look for jobs and do all that fun stuff, and well litle by little we are getting a few jobs. Iam teaching Hip Hop at the school where we practice Capoeira, and now and then I do modeling for art calses, and Charlotte is getting a lot of people interested in her tutoring, she is going to start a conversation class and will see what else. the time we have been here its been a little hard for us because we wish we could see you guys more often, you know go by and eat something from your fridge or just watch a movie, or talk , and to me it´s different to just talk on the phone than really talk in person and I think it´s like that for everyone, well in simple words I miss you guys and hope to see you sometime in the near future, At course I could never feel lonely beacuse I have my favorite person in the world, Charlotte, and may I say she is great to be with and be around and talk to, at least there is someone here that I could really conect with in many levels. Well take care everyone and we will post some pics soon, Con mucho amor y cariño Miguel.

one full year!!!!(yesterday)

2006-06-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

hi everybody!!! yesterday was one full year for us in mexico. what did we do to celebrate you ask? ummmm.... work. we also ate soup and tostadas. we didnt realize it was such a special day until one in the morning. Im tutoring english to different people and miguel is teaching break dancing. its cool i have some new paintings im working on so ill send some pics soon. wow i cant believe its been a whole year. i know ive been back to l.a. but the visits were so short they barely count. part of me feels like ive been here for five years already and another part feels like we just got here. we have just been through so much this past year i cant believe it. all the things we have seen and experienced its just way too much to grasp. well, hope everyone is doing well. dad i wish i could go see eddie with you. everyone we miss you mucho and hope to see you soon. love, char(and miguel but he is writing his own blog right next to me)

new paintings

2006-06-04T16:59:00.000-07:00

hey everybody its us char and miggie. we sent 3 of my new paintings to my dad to put up on here so hopefully they will be up soon for all to see. im having a lot of fun painting i have really good teachers. especially my nude drawing teacher. he is trying to get me to "see" things. right now im blind according to him. its hard he gets on my back a lot for not observing well enough. but its a great class. miguel has been doing some nude modeling for other art classes (not mine) and they love him. he is also teaching a break dancing class and that is going really really well. we are both doing capoiera angola (brasilian dance/martial art) and i am soooo sore like after every practice but hopefully it will strengthen my back. well, hope you like the paintings. let us know. love, char and miguel

the new apartment

2006-03-11T16:47:00.000-08:00

hey everybody its been a while we know. we finally got an apartment and we like it alot. it is 2 bed rooms and a good size. miguels mom is here with us for a while before she goes to l.a. we have been setting everything up and trying to figure out all of our paperwork for immigration. its a real headache. we dont have a phone and we are not going to get one for at least 3 months because they ran out of phone lines in the area. what kind of shit is that? we were just like ummm are you kidding? no they are not kidding. so we are going to be writing a lot of emails. miguel has been sick for a week but now that he is getting ass shots he is getting better. on monday he is going to get his passport which is great... we should have gotten it a little sooner. hahaha. i am also going to try to fix my status so i can work here. we saw Bandidas (the movie)with miguels mom. not much to say about that. except diego you should really go see it for the historical insight. joking dont waste your life seeing that crap. im just really waiting for x men 3 to come out. only 2 and a half more months. yes!!!! well, write us cuz we miss you and cant call. love, char and miguel

Charlotte going to LA

2006-02-19T10:46:00.000-08:00

We arrived at mexico city yestarday and before this we were in Oaxaca city. There it was very peaceful for being a city and we met some really cool artist who also gave us a piece of his work. We two great moveis in a free theatre. So charlotte missed her flight this morning and it was a big hassle. this internet is so expensive so we will write more later bye.

the last bus ride

2006-02-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

just so i dont forget to tell yall the last bus ride we were on was another great one! we went from puerto escondido to here in oaxaca city. supposed to be seven hours and it was more like 10. within the first oh 15 minutes some stuff fell off the bottome of the bus. i dont really know what but the called a mechanic and he just started taking all these parts off the bus and then like 30 minutes later the driver was like ok lets go. ummmm... the mechanic didnt put anything back on the bus, he just stuck all the extra oily parts in the luggage compartment with our bags. there were roaches and not one stop to get food or go to the bathroom. painful painful painful. tomorrow we take another bus to mexico city, our last bus for awhile. miguel is going to stay with some friends for a week and try to find an apartment while i go to l.a. and fix all the bank stuff and immigration papers. well, thats all for now, talk to you later. -char (miguel is still sleeping)

happy valentines day!!!

2006-02-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

yeah so we ran out of money again! we have 3 dollars and have to pay the internet lady. sooo glad to have my parents right now you wouldnt even know. we are trying to just go home to mexico city now. first we will stop in acapulco and travel from there. we sill check out the cliff divers and then take a bus to d.f. we really dont spend money but its always gone. its very strange we really really want jobs now. in mexico i plan to get a job and take some painting classes. miguel also wants a job and will dance aztec, ballet and capoiera. we both have to figure out our citizenship stuff. miguels mom will come and live with us for a while hopefully before she tries to go to the u.s. after everything we have seen on this trip we really really really dont want her to try and cross but shes pretty determined to be with fani. we will see. love you all and miss you terribly. wish we could both come and visit you all. but for now you just get the shorter half. later, char and miguel

more sweaty dirty bus rides...yaaaaay!!!

2006-02-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

well the good news is we are now finally in mazunte beach, the place with the turtles. and we are camping here for 6 dollars a night. not too bad. now how we got here: so after that one bus we described in the last blog, (you remember THE bus), we stayed at this crappy hotel in Tapachula in the middle of the mercado and a ton of mexican bars (cantinas). the hotel room was full of spiders that ate miguel. the next morning (yesterday) we went to the Cristobal Colon bus station and got our tickets to Pochutla (a town near mazunte)for 10:45 that night. Each ticket was 352pesos. So that was half our money. Then, since we had all day to wait, we checked out some ruins in the area in some peoples back yard. literally. its their backyard and there are like 4 pyramids and a ball court. nice. they take care of them its really cool actually. so that took like an hour. so we spent the day walking around the hottest city in the world. i had a freaking headache for like 9 hours. ok so we go to the bus terminal at about 6 and are waiting and miguel runs out to do a chore and runs into another bus station with cheaper buses. sooo, he comes back and tells me the info and im like great when does it leave, and he goes oh let me go ask. so i find out we can get refunded for our other ticket and he runs back and says:Now! so we run over there with our stuff all over the place and we get a refund, get to the other station and the bus is gone!! So this guy from the station gets us a taxi, and we catch up to the bus and we run on and 2 minutes later we are stopped by immigration and 3 people get detained to be deported. the bus just leaves without them. the crazy thing is they asked me for i.d. and it was under the bus and the guy was like ok whatever. miguel saw an outside jail filled with immigrants. we got stopped over 15 times and searched by the army, the police, and immigration. those other guys from that other bus must have gotten caught. crazy. then we took another 3 buses to get where we are now. gotta go no more time. char and miguel

check THIS out...

2006-02-10T15:53:00.000-08:00

so, we began our lovely day yesterday by taking a 1 hour minivan (packed with 30 people, not an exageration)to the border of guatemala and honduras where we have a nice long discussion with guatemalan immigration who wouldnt let miguel leave the country unless we paid 100 quetzales ($15). and the honduras government wouldnt let us pass for more than 3 days charging us eash 3 bucks to get in the country and then anothe 12 each per day to enter the archeological site. so we said ummmmm no. and we took another super packed 1 hour minivan ride where in the middle of the road we just swiched to another even more packed minivan to the city near the border and then a five hour bus ride to guatemala city. which turned out to be more like six painful hours. then... we get to guatemala city at 7 at night and its dangerous as hell and everyone is like if you step outsid e the bus you are going to die so we were pretty happy about that. and ofcourse the bus doesnt take you to a bus station more like ok here get off in the middle of the street. the driver was helpful though and walked us over to the next bus we were to take. which was going to leave in 5 hours. so we waited on this cockroach infested dirty as hell bus. this was not just any bus. no no no it was THE bus. and what i mean by that is this is a once in a lifetime experience we had to meet immigrants traveling to the u.s. from as far as el salvador and honduras, crossing every border as one of them put it "mojado" or illegally. wow. we were some of the very few people on the bus who were going to go to immigration. we got stopped by the cops twice and fortunately they just did searches for drugs and stuff. not immigration. we kind of made friends with these 2 guys in fron t of us and we were worried about them. actually we still are. we hope they make it safely. their destination was texas. the thing is, they were coming from honduras and were in guatemala illegally and were going to mexico illegally crossing the river and then taking a train through mexico up to the border of texas and then i dont know what. all to get money to send back to their families. they were younger than us. as soon as the bus reached the bordering city of mex. guat., they all disappeared and me, miguel and one other guy were the only ones around looking for immigration at like 5am. then we took another bus to a place where we took a taxi to immigration (another 2 hours) and then we crossed into mexico. we are sooooooo happy to be out of guatemala you have no idea. it feels like home. pesos yesss!! we took another bus to tapachula and got a cheap nothing crappy hotel that is perfect and had tostadas and are going to sleep for ever.we love you all. take care, char and miguel
p.s. tapachula is the center of the tropic of cancer. it is death hot here.

honduras!!! (almost)

2006-02-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

we are at the border of guats and honduras. it was really hard to leave panajachel we really like it there. we made lots of friends and even though our business is so far unsucessful, it was fun and we learned how to make more stuff. tomorrow we will be in honduras at Copan, more mayan ruins. if you dont hear from us in awhile we may not have access to the computer. we will try to write asap. take care. mucho amor, charlotte and miguel

never go to antigua

2006-01-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

for those of you who want to come to antigua we highly recommend that you dont bring your credit cards. we got our card cloned and they stole at least $800. we dont know what we are going to do really. we may keep traveling or may jsut go back to mexico city. we cant use our card anymore so my parents just have to keep wiring us money that was in the accont. the really messed up thing is that we know who it was and how they did it we saw them but its very dangerous here right now and we didnt want to make a scene and get into more trouble. it really sucks though. we are going to make reports at the bank and at this tourist office just for the record i guess. we are hoping that our bank will give us some of the money back. other than all that crap, we were having a really good time here. if we keep traveling, the next place we will go is lake atitlan (fortunately its cheap there). its a beautiful lake surrounded by volcanos. we will write more later when we have more information. take care all. love miguel and char

Guatemala

2006-01-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

hello everyone. yes we are still alive and no we did not do any mushrooms. palenque was amazing, beautiful, really one of our favorite places ever. its magical. there are ruins everywhere: huge mayan pyramids, but its sooooo alive. its in the middle of the jungle. there are waterfalls and tide pools it really is paradise. everyone should go. after palenque, we decided to go to guatemala because my visa was about to expire and i had to leave mexico. so we met this really cool girl from holland named Orissa and her cat Balam (jaguar in mayan). they traveled with us for awhile. we stayed one night on the mexican side of the border before crossing the river to guatemala the next morning. all night long we heard these howler monkeys and Dad i have to tell you its worth another trip to mexico just to hear these guys. they sound like dinosaur/monsters and then you see them and they are so small. but it was a great experience. then we got to guatemala and had to wait for like 6 hours to get a bus but we had good company so it was ok. we met two english girls who were really cool. and we played cards on the floor in the waiting room. Oh! guatamalan immigration is soooo funny. its like a taco stand. then we finally got to flores (a main city that is an island) and it was very nice even though it was pouring and the place we stayed had no hot water. the next day we took off for Tikal, the ancient mayan city that is even deeper in the jungle than palenque. its very expensive to go and stay there but well worth it. there when you walk to the ruins there are hardly any signs and you feel as if you are discovering it all for yourself. we went 2 days and still have not seen everything. just from the entrance to the main pyramids its 30 minutes walk. we saw monkeys, wild turkeys that are more beautiful than peacocks. we saw woody woodpecker, parrots, huge spiders and crickets, eagles, and so much more. it was amazing. today we left there at 6am and we reached our destination of Antigua, Guatemala at 10pm. we are hunnnnngry and dirty and tired. but very happy. hope all of you are well. we will be here for a few days at least (cleaning clothes mostly) so we will write soon. love, mucho mucho amor, charlotte and miguel

vamos a palenque

2006-01-21T13:04:00.000-08:00

Today at 4 pm we are headed to the ancient maya city, it is suppose to be one of the biggest cities and the coolest, there are tons of mushrooms and they told us we should try them. We found a zapatista store here in San Cristobal and they had lots of interesting stuff that we wanted to buy, all the contributions go to the zapatista communities. We really want to learn more about them, they are a indigenous community fighting for indigenous rights in Mexico. After palenque we are definitely comig back to san cris maybe for a month. We found a place that rents for 120 dollars for both of us and that includes all utilities. We will write soon love Charlotte and Miguel.

San Cristobal de las Casas

2006-01-18T17:16:00.001-08:00

We really like it here, it took us an hour and half to get here from tuxla and it was a beautiful and very very curvy drive. Since we´ve been here we got hooked up like crazy with the best place to stay. We went to a hostel and they had no room so they offered us another place to stay and for 15 bucks a night we have a beautiful apartment to ourselves with cable tv a kitchen a living room and its fully equipted and furnished. It is unbelievable. When we got here we were coming from the beach so all we have is beach clothing and that really doesnt work here in the mountains. It is freezing and Charlotte was walking around in flipflops and a jean skirt. We bought two beautiful sweaters and we went pants hunting for Char. Now we are safe and a lot warmer. Dad-You know that jade necklace I got in Mex city for 20 dolllars with all that jade on it well 10 bucks here first offer. Jade and amber are so cheap here and they do the most amazing things with it. If anyone wants jade or amber please let us know because this is the place to get it. We might stay here for a while this is our favorite place so far. We will write more later as we go. Mucho amor para todos de Charlotte and Miguel.

San CRios

2006-01-18T17:16:00.000-08:00

Diego!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-01-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

hi.

getting screwed over

2006-01-16T12:59:00.000-08:00

wellllllll. we are pretty pissed off right now. the lady we were renting our apartment in mexico city from is tring to charge us insane amounts of money for them having to clean the living room after we had left. this is ridiculous. it looked better than it did when we got it by the time we left. i guess the people before us had stained the couches pretty bad. we didnt know that WE were going to have to pay for the cleaning of these couches. and they are also saying they had to pay a maid 30 bucks for one hour to clean the floors. ok first of all, you cannot even find a maid here in mexico that charges 30 dollars for one hour. second of all, miguel, diego, fani and i all cleaned those floors before we left. the apartment was clean. exactly the way we found it. we owe money for the phone bill. fine. we dont mind paying that. but this other stuff is just crazy. anyways, we are here in huatulco, having a great time. we are going to chiapas tonight. our bus leaves at 8pm and we get there at 4am. fun fun fun. we will write more soon. just blowing off some steam. love, char and miguel

sea turtles

2006-01-10T12:30:00.000-08:00

We were in puerto escondido and went to lagunas de chacahua, there we took a bus, then a taxi then we hadto wait till there was 10 people so the boat rider could take us acros these huge lagoons and leave us in the beach. we only stayed here for one night and on this night we were invited to a turtle liberation. We took a boat to another beaach and walked for a sort distance and we got to a lonley beach where ther was a turtle egg conservation place, basically someone is in charge of trying to preserve the eggs befor other people try to steal them. It was amazing, first we got handfuls of baby turtles and we all lined up along the shore, it was about 50 people that lined up for the event, and we freed the turtles. So now we are in mazunte, we´ve been here for two nights and this morning we got a boat ride for some turtle watching. We got to swim with these huge sea turtles and took pictures with them, everything in the middle of the ocean, and Charlotte got to hold it and swim with it. We also saw turtles having sex, yes in the middle of the ocean. We saw whales, dolphins, and mantarays doing flips in the air. We got to snorkel and took pictures under water. What a great way of starting out the day. Well we will write soon when we head out to huatulco and the other beaches. Love migueli and frida.

checking if it works

2006-01-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla!
char and migui.

DANCING (out of order entry)

2006-01-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

we definitely should have all gone to the dance thing at that restaurant!! first of all, it was amazing. second of all, they picked random people out of the audience to dance and they brought miguel up on stage 2 times!! and he knew the dances!! it was so so so cool our family would have loved it. well, maybe next time. after the dance show we went to the zocalo and miguel and I were dancing cumbia. there were lots of people there dancing. we have been going to lots of galleries and museums. we went back to monte alban and still have only seen a little bit. tomorrow we are going to try to go to yagul and go dancing for new years. then we will go to the hot springs and then puerto escondido. love you, charlotte and miguel

puerto escondido

2006-01-04T10:03:00.000-08:00

well miguel is officially a beach bum. he doesnt even take a shirt with him anywhere we go. here it doesnt matter though. its sooooo hot. really really hot. we are both loading up on sunscreen and im happy to say 2 full days at the beach and no sunburns. we love it here. it is gorgeous and so so so so cheap. the food is really good, especially drinking water from the coconuts. its so sweet and delicious. tomorrow we are going to a place called lagunas de chacahua. its supposed to be great but i doubt there will be internet so we will have to write about it later. we are leaving some of our stuff in storage at the hostal for awhile just because our bags were too full. we brought way too much stuff. if anyone has the opportunity during the next month-month and a half and wants to visit it is a great time. all the tourists are leaving and hotels are lowering their prices. maybe in a few years we can have another christmas in mexico. it was so much fun. susan i bet the rug looks amazing. dad i hope you take your two rugs out of the bag and hang them up.hahaha. i bet all your stuff is sitting on the gray couch. well, i gotta go. will write soon. take care. love, charlotte and miguel

Going to The BEACH!!!!!!!!

2006-01-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

Happy New years everybody! Today we got our tickets to Puerto Escondido and we are leaving at 11 pm. Our bus takes 8 to 9 hours so we will get there in the morning. For receiving the new year we walked around the zocalo and there was a big feast happening there. people were spraying foam on eachother and eggs with confetti and I got to be the victim of one of them by charlotte. Someone gave her this egg with flour and after returning from the restroom she got me. punk. Today we got to see King Kong and we liked it but it was sad because you all know what happens except for charlotte because she didnt know. Ok everyone we will write later once we are in the playa smoking a big fat and juicy blunt. along with our mezcal and margaritas, you know what I mean. love and kisses Charlotte and Miguel.

oaxaca

2005-12-24T14:10:00.000-08:00

hi everybody! i know its been forever since we have written anything sorry weve been busy. now we are in oaxaca with half of my family at a really nice hotel. we saw amazing artists yesterday one guy who made pots and all this great black pottery and another guy who carved things out of wood and painted them. the sculptor/painter really really impressed me. he knew how to make all the colores from natural sources such as limestone, limejuice, honey, tree bark, corn mold, etc. but they are the same colores used to paint the ancient murals found in mexico. the artist knew so mucha bout his ancestors and what each color and animal meant to them. it was very impressive. i feel a little funny writing this because i think the majority of the people reading it are here but hey this is for you mom (and diego, and whoever else is reading). i hurt my knee a few days ago so i walk funny and i cant go everywhere. but im still having a great time. the hotel has free internet so ill try to get miguel in here later to write some stuff too. love you all, merry christmas. -charlotte

Cirque du soleil part 2

2005-11-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

Well like Char said we both had an amazing time in that world. Yes, when we walked in it was like being in another place where everything was incredible. What Charlotte did not mention is that when the show started some of the performers came out, with make up and all, and they where going around messing with the audience. It came to a point where one of the clowns stood up on the shoulders of another one. When the clown got down they looked at me and asked me to stand up, well there you have me standing up and wandering what they wanted of me. Well they told me to stand on top of the other clown and there I go and I did it. I was on top of the clown, with my feet in his shoulders, and body straight up. He was the one doing all the work, but it was amazing being there on top. It felt like I could do anything. I felt like I could just jump out of his shoulders and do a flip or something. Well that was amazing and that was just the begging of the show. The whole performance was so great and we didnt want it to be over. I wish everyone in this world should get to see this show once. There was an act where these women were tied to this bouncing rope and they did this whole piece in the air bouncing and flying. The music that went with the peice made the enviroment so calm and there was nothing that could take you away from what they were donig, which was flying. Well I hope you guys get to see this show which we think was amazing, you guys will have something to remember forever. Love you and miss you from miguel.

MISSING PHOTO GALLERY!!!! Hi - these photos are from Charlotte's birthday. A return trip to Xochimilco. My apologies for posting them so late!! Jim
here you go
enjoy!

cirque du soleil part 1

2005-11-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

i wrote part one because miguel is going to have to write more later to let you guys know what happened last night. anyways, the circus was amazing as always. it was like a beautiful dream. we were both crying through the whole circus. we were going to go today but last night when we went to get our tickets they told us thye were all sold out until sunday (the day they leave) and there were only 2 tickets left for last night. so we bought them. they were v.i.p. tickets and we had great seats, we got free cd´s and programs and drinks and snacks before the show and at intermission. all for much cheaper than crappy seats at a show in the u.s. so we were really happy. miguel wants to be in the circus now. well i have to get back to do laundry but ill send miguel over later to write more. you guys are going to freak when you find out what happened.... love, char

Char is Back

2005-10-30T15:44:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, Charlotte is here in good old Mexico. Around here there are selling many sugar skulls that are made for the day of the dead. My mom back in puebla made bread for the dead which is a traditional bread that is made for these festivities. It is a festivity because on this day people take offerings of food, flowers, and music even to the cementary to be closer to those that past away. The offerings are a welcoming back from the trip that the dead make to come back, and since they are tired their favorite food and liquor is placed in the ofrenda (offering). Yesturday chalotte and i went to the mexica dance practice. The Mexica dancers had a big ofrenda and everyone was dancing to honor and remeber our ancestors. It was so beutiful and colorful the offering that the dancere made was filled with yellow and white flowers, fruit, candy, some people even brought mole. there was incense burning and everyone was dancing around the ofrenda. By the end of the ceremony we were all very tired and hungry. Charlotte and i got dome pozole and we got super full. Well everyone I hope you guys have a happy holloween and feliz dia de Los muertos. We love you, miss you, and hope to seen you soon, from charlotte and Miguel, hasta luego.

hi miguel i miss you mucho

2005-10-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

so just to let you all know im in L.A. right now and miguel is in mexico. i had to come to the doctor out here and im going back tomorrow night. not exactly a vacation but its been fun. i saw the fabulous diego and we visited miguels dad. i ate sushi twice which i really really miss. ive seen my dad work at his computer (big suprise) and hung out with my mom. i also spent a few hours with the gynecologist who told me i was a medical mystery. just what i wanted to hear. she goes: wow your so healthy but you have so many things wrong with you. great. i go to another doctor tomorrow for more needles to be shoved into my arms i just cant get enough. no really i just hope they can figure out whats wrong with me so i dont have to keep going to the hospital. i hope everyone is doing well and miguel i will be home so soon im thinking about you always. to my dads family: im so excited about christmas i cant wait. take care. love, charlotte

charlotte in the hospital (again)

2005-10-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

yeah so basically you can just call me the human pin cushin because i have had so many needles in me recently its crazy. we thought i had apendicitis but i guess it was just an intestinal infection. anyways im sort of better now and im taking antibiotics. thanks for coming mom. it was pretty scary. on a lighter note i got a job as a tutor/essay corrector and i met with the first person on wednesday. it went really well. i was suprised at how much grammer and iambic pentameter i remembered. thanks to marlborough, the funny thing is i probably could have helped this woman just as much when i was like 12 or 13. we found the school we both want to go to. it is an art conservatory and a really amazing place. it is called cenart. we are going to apply in may next year. i have to study study study! i have to take a test on art history which i know nothing about. seriously i would do better on a chemistry test. but we are going to take advantage of mexico citys million museums and ill be reading alot. i am practicing drawing a lot but i think i might have to buy some more advanced materials because i have a spiral notebook and color pencils. if i get in, i will study painting, sculpture and i think silk screening. it sounds really amazing. i dont think i need to say what miguel will be there for. we are not really worried about him getting in since he could probably teach there if he wanted. well, i hope all is well with everyone. thanks for the birthday and anniversary greetings. love you, charlotte and miguel

Happy Birthday, Miguel

2005-10-07T03:04:00.000-07:00

Here are two photo galleries from the past few weeks.
This first gallery is from Cacaxtla and Xochitecatl - where Charlotte and Miguel saw ruins and spent a night in the tent next to the pyramids.
Cacaxtla and Xochitecatl
The next group of photos is from Mexico City. Most of the places we visited.
Mexico City 2005
enjoy!

Yes First Year and still going for more and more and more...

2005-10-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

Like Charlotte said we are getting that apartment tomorrow and it sounds great, we have not been inside the apartment but we have seen pics and we have been to the area. Tomorrow we are transfering our stuff there and we are planing to go and eat at Frida´s house (to our homegirl´s house). I am so greatful to have such a beutiful wife and a super-person that is so creative and smart and that always sees something great in me. Charlotte I LOVE YOU and you make me very happy and I want everyone to know! To JIM and TRACY thank you for bringing such an amazing daughter to this world, thank you both. Love you all and we will see you and write to you soon. Happy anniversary to us.

1 year anniversary!

2005-10-03T23:24:00.000-07:00

hello everybody today (tomorrow your time) is our one year anniversary. its like 1:30 am here and we are in a hostal. tomorrow we are getting our first apartment together and once you see pictures you will all want to visit us. first of all, the apartments have a view of the Chapultepec forest and a walkway down into the park and the air is so fresh. they are in a safe area guarded 24 hours. the girl we are getting it from usually rents them for 800 a month but since its only until december, we are getting it for half that. its fully furnished and easy to get to. we are happy. it is so peaceful there you could hear the birds and everything is so green. the girl is even lending us a t.v. for the 3 months. we cant wait to have our own place. hopefully everything turns out ok. i talked to an orthopedic surgeon today and he of course wanted to take new x rays of my back and wouldnt even give me advice as to what kind of brace to buy but finally he said that something that corrected my posture was not going to hurt me and might help. i didnt get a brace i have these straps that pull my shoulders back to where they should be. its not comfortable but it does make me straight and my chest doesnt hurt when i have it on. well see. anyways, we will write more later. love, char and miguel

mexico city (still here)

2005-10-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

so weve decided to stay here in mexico city for awhile and we are currently having no luck looking for an apartment in an area that is not an alley. we are checking out one more today that sounds promising but you never know so cross your fingers for us. for my birthday miguel took me to xochimilco and it was amazing. we went to the ecological zone (that means plants and animals) and lots of water. it was so peaceful we were the only boat on the canals which was good for the peace but bad because we were hungry and were counting on one of the ladies that has food on her boat. well we saw lots of birds especially storks but the most amazing thig was the floating gardens. xocimilco means floating gardens but we didnt believe it. we thought it was just gardens by the side of the canals but we saw plants that were growing in themiddle of the water!!! i couldnt believe it. they had roots and everything. i cant tell you what im going to do for miguels birthday because he is right here but i already gave him his present. i painted on some white pants of his ill take a picture and send it so you all can see. they look cool. for our anniversary we think we are going to go to fridas house again and have lunch there in the restaurant. well see. talk to you all soon. oh hey lena guess what i may have to get a brace for my back too because i have old lady posture and i can barely stand up straight. we´ll be twins. love charlotte and miguel

recent photos from august and september

Mexican Vacation

2005-09-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

Hi
This is Jim butting in on Charlotte and Miguel's blog. I just got back from Mexico this past week. What a great time! And what sore feet and knees. I hadn't climbed the pyramid of the sun since... 1972. My knees were aching on the way up and shaking on the way down. But what a place. This trip I was paying a little more attention than the last. Charlotte and Miguel had planned several things - all of which were great. Frida's house, Xochimilco, the pyramids, the Templo Mayor. I suggested Chapultepec Park which was close to the Museum of Anthropology and the Zoo. I won't forget Miguel's reaction when we walked into the Mexica section of the museum (one of about twelve sections). He was so overwhelmed by the amount of artifacts and information, he just staggered backwards.
One of the other memorable moments was a little more frightening. Charlotte and I headed into the thick of the market. We got to an insection and got stuck. People smashed up against us in all directions. Charlotte suddenly said "Dad, I'm floating away." The pressure of bodies forced Charlotte to literally be lifted up and be carried away. Things finally moved. I noticed that my wallet was halfway out of my pocket. Also due to the pressure. I think.
We had lots of great food - taquerias, small restaurants, big restaurants. Sushi.
We also played lots of hearts. And in the last couple of days, we played some dominoes.
My favorite thing (maybe because it was the last) was going to the Lucha Libre. Mexican wrestling with masks.
Anyway, my thanks to Char and Miguel for a great time. I hope everything works well for you!!

MEXICO CITY

2005-09-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

hi everybody we know its been a long time since we last wrote so here is what we have been up to. last sunday we came to mexico city with miguels mom and then my dad came on monday. we have been all over the place from the huge pyramids of teotihuacan to the crazy lucha libre (mexican wrestling) to the jam packed mercado (open market). we went to the peaceful canals of xochimilco and saw the amazing ballet folklorico of Amalia Hernandez. we went to chapultepec park and the zoo and the most gigantic museum in the world the museum of anthropology. we also visited the house of frida kahlo and we ate the famous chiles en nogada (ask my dad for an explanation of that) Mom i have some gifts for you and Diego you gotta go visit my dad one day for some pics and a little something from me and miguel. we have been eating really good food (as usual) and we even ate sushi. right here next to the zocalo is the templo mayor (ruins). now what they have discovered is that underneath the huge cathedral that was build with the stones from the pyramid, is that there are 2 more pyramids and a huge mexica ball court. unfortunately we wont see those in our life times because here in mexico, the church is number 1. we all climbed the "pyramid of the sun" which may actually be a dedication to the rain, and i made it up half way of the pyramid of the moon (miguel went all the way up). they are huge really really huge. its unbelievable especially including the whole city around them and what is still uncovered. i recommend for everyone to see these pyramids. we are still here in mexico city we will be here another week. we will write an update before we go. love you all. miss you already dad. love, charlotte and miguel. p.s. dad if you want to add anything post on our blog so everyone can read it.

Cacaxtla aqnd Xochitecatl

2005-09-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

These are the sites that we visited in the state of tlaxcala. AT Cacaxtla we saw ruins of a huge ceremonial site. We saw amazing murals and rooms where indigenous priests once lived. The next day we went back to tlaxcala and stayed in a hotel for the night. Yesterday we went to xochitecatl and saw four pyramids. One was dedicated to the manifestation of fertility and it is called the pyramid of the flowers, it´s the biggest one at xochitecatl and at the base there are two huge water basins carved out of bolders. One of them had the shape of a uterus and mothers gave birth in it. Our favorite pyramid was the spiral pyramid that was dedicated to ehecatl the wind. PEOPLE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO CAMP HERE BUT THEY LET US BECAUSE THEY SAW THAT WE HAD ALL OF OUR STUFF. WE CAMPED RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE PYRAMID AND IT WAS AMAZING. SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE DIEGO. LOVE MIGUEL CHARLOTTE.

a small trip

2005-09-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody after spending 3 months in Los Angeles, Puebla and having seen the changes people make as we live with them and after finishing classes at the Casa de la Cultura we have decided to make a small trip to Tlaxcala which is one hour away from Puebla. We are going to be here for three days, tomorrow we are planing to go see Cacaxtla and Xochitecatl which are two archeological sites near by. Maybe by the end of this trip we will have the opportunity to camp in the volcano park called La Malinche. We are glad to get away from the apartment and get some time for ourselves. IT IS SO PEACEFUL HERE THAT WE ARE FALLING ASLEEP AS WE ARE WRITING THIS. Dad we are exited to see you soon and we are counting the days. Con mucho love Miguelllllyone and Charro(mariachi guy)uno. peace!!!!!!!!!!!

no address

2005-08-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

right now we dont have an address to give you guys the old one wont work. mom please try to call me on the cell phone i need to talk to you. 8 tonight your time. char

agua azul

2005-08-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

on wednesday we went to a water park called agua azul. it was really fun and smelly. the water is sulfer water so we all smelled like rotten eggs. it wasnt that bad though. there are lots of slides and diferent pools. one pool is hot and it feels like your skin is burning off but supposedly its good for you. the only bad thing was the weather-no sun at all. it was freezing. we had fun. we went with miguels sister and three cousins. the place is beautiful it looks like paradise. the craziest thing to me was that no one was supervising the rides. so you just got your tube and got on the slides and you hope no one went right after you. we went on this one ride with a bunch of us and we smashed our heads very hard on eachother but no one cried and all is well. just some bruises.

we are moving

2005-08-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

hi guys we are not going to be living with miguels grandparents anymore. we are going to move in with his mom and sister at his aunts apartment. we dont have the address yet but we will post it soon. to my family: we will check out places in oaxaca. the book we have tells us of hotels, restaurants, things to do, etc. but they dont have any resorts. we are not sure if that is what you guys wanted. if you just want us to find a hotel that should not be too difficult. there are budget ones medium ones and expensive ones. just let us know the price range so we can check them out. we will be there before you guys so we will find lots of great stuff to do and lots of great sites to see. we are really excited you are all coming its going to be really fun. we will write more soon. love, char and miguel

folklorico photos from 7/11/05

a birthday greeting from mexico

africam safari

2005-08-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

2 days ago we went to the safari here in mexico it was so fun!! we saw so many animals and we were so close. we have to go back. next time in a car so we can take as much time as we want. we almost got left by our bus 2 times. the animals were amazing. and a lot of them were sleepíng. we didnt think the blog worked so we didnt bring enough money to stay longer. we have lots of pics and video. we will try to write soon and post some cool stuff. we love you all and miss you. until next time, char and miguel. p.s hi mom i love you ill write to you soon.

just checking

2005-08-06T16:58:00.000-07:00

hi everyone!

RE-BLOGGING AND UNCLOGGING

2005-08-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone that we havent written in awhile. miguel was sick and then i got sick and am still kind of sick. just my throat though no more stomach infections. miguels mom and sister came to mexico a few weeks ago without calling anybody to let them know. surprise! his mom is happy and his sister is pissed. nothing unusual. we went to a party last sunday and saw all of miguels moms sisters together for the first time in 12 years. it was really cool. we saw a really cool polynesian dance show in the zocalo here in puebla. every weekend they do shows on this outdoor stage for free. they are really great. (Miguel now writing) This past weekend we went again to the zocalo and they had a festival for kids and old folks, for the children they had flying bungee aperatuses and a whole crew of clowns that we thought they could be bank robbers. For the elderly they had a festival of Danzon which a very old style of social dance. This same day Charlotte was going to buy an elote(corn) but the lady that was preparing it, as she was preparong it with chilli pouder it blew in Charlottes eyes. Not a nice thing to feel says Char. If Joanna reads this we got your card, thanks muchisimo. Mom the reason you never got our card was because Charlotte put her dads zip code. It should be there next year. dad happy birth day in fourteen days still counting. Oged you should see the mayan skulls in museo amparo, they are super duper elotes, whenever you get a chance I suggest you try to put your head in a big wooden clamp and form it like an elote, My parents did it to me and you can see the result. Bye everyone we miss u all. Hasta Luego mucahchos y muchachas. Love Karlota y miguel

posted by an old man in LA, since there was a "cookie" situation in Puebla!

charlotte soreness

2005-07-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone here we are in another day in this beautiful place called mexico. This monday Charlotte and my cousin Gabi went to take a modern dance class that I am taking with the casa de la cultura. The class was very hard, and the teacher gave many exercises that left us all so tired by the end of the class. The next day charlotte woke up very tired and didnt want to move, but we had to because we were going to take our drawing class. Charlotte is very, very sore and we have to walk slow on our way to the classes. she is thinking of taking aerobics and she went to check out some gyms. maybe today she will take a class so she could be more sore.

stomach infection!!!

2005-07-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody sorry we havent written in awhile. I had a horrible stomach infection and Miguel was taking care of me. He is sleeping right now but he sends his greetings to you all. Our classes just started but i missed the first two so i have to catch up. today miguel took his Nahuatl class and loved it. i took my mural class but it wasnt that great. ill give it time though maybe it will get better. sorry i have to run but i only paid for half and hour. we will write soon. we are really happy and hope you area all well. love, charlotte (and miguel in his dreams)

Puebla July 4, 2005

2005-07-04T23:50:00.000-07:00

miguel and i just went to the most amazing place in the world. its called cuetzalan. it is a 4 hour bus ride from puebla we were there fri-sun. we saw like 6 pyramids that were used for religious ceremonies. we saw the voladores!!!!! oh man. they climb this super tall pole and then literally fly around it on these ropes. we video taped it but we dont have any fotos. dont worry we are going back to cuetzalan. miguel wants to live there already but i told him we have to travel some more before we settle down in one place. cuetzalan is beautiful though. it is in a cloud forest and everything is so pure and green. the people there speak nahuatl and classes are offered. we met a painter named gregorio mendez he is amazing. we were walking through a museum looking at these great paintings and we asked the front desk for information on the artist. the guy goes "oh do you want to meet him he's over there in his workshop" so we met him and he is great. he invited us to his house aka real workshop and we saw thousands of his paintings. the best part is he offered to teach me!!! seriously we felt like we were at diego rivera's house. anyways we are still going to stay here in puebla and take classes before we travel anywhere else. we start drawing class tomorrow.
we were thinking about acapulco for the family at christmas. we will either be in oaxaca or guerrero after we leave puebla and our lonely planet book has a lot of great activities and sites to see all over. the only thing we don't know about are resorts. you guys would have to look around or price shop for that kind of thing but wherever you guys pick we can find out about the area really easily. Our book said acapulco and cancun have the best weather in december/january that's why they are so popular. but if you guys buy some sort of all inclusive package early you should be able to get some good deals. oh- we definitely don't need that suitcase full of stuff.
[Charlotte asked me to post this. It's part of an email she sent me. we also spoke on the phone today. Everything sounds great and fresh and exciting...jim]

STAYING IN PUEBLA

2005-06-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone it seems we are going to stay in Puebla up to August 31, we were walking in the main zocalo and we found a place where they have summer workshops. Charlotte will be taking mural art and drawing, I will be taking dance and Nahuatl and drawing. The classes take place in a beautiful building and also very colonial but its ok we like the place. Charlotte is learning to cook from my abuelita(grandma) and she is asked to get up really early. We got to go but we will write soon. wish us luck this week we are going to cholula where there is a huge presence of catholic mafia beware. dan, dan, daaaaaan.....

This is our first week in Puebla

2005-06-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

We have been here a whole week now and we have seen so many great people and things. We went to the Cathedral and felt like we were in spain. We also visited the museo amparo and saw amazing indigenous artifacts. We walked forever and thought we had seen everything and then this guard said "oh have you gone upstairs yet?" so we ended up staying there until they kicked us out and we only saw about half of what was there. it was like being in a whole other world. We also went to the Casa de Cultura and saw a 2 hour folkclorico show it was amazing hopefully well get you guys some pics soon. We ate the famous cemitas and tacos arabes. For fathers day we went ot one of miguels aunts house and had a feast!! it was great. we went to a park by their house and we asked these guys to let use get on their horse and we all took pictures. Miguels cousins are so cute and so are our nephews. I thought my family was big before i got married but now it has gotten like 10 times bigger. I saw one of miguels aunts dance and she wiped the floor with him. She is the new teacher. Miguel is going to bug her to show him her moves. Well, we have to run but take care and well talk to you soon. love, char and miguel

more photos

hi everybody

2005-06-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

We are in Puebla, Pue. It has been great here these past few days. We are staying with my grandparents and they have been very helpful in showing us which way to go. -Miguel
We miss all of you. Dad we sent you a few emails but they were returned. We have tons of photos but nowhere to send them. If you write me an email ill try again. Mexico is so great and very different. I hope all of you come and visit. -charlotte

Party Photos

2005-06-13T23:11:00.000-07:00

last day in L.A.

2005-06-13T22:40:00.000-07:00

hi everyone! to all of you that came to the party thank you for coming it was great! to everyone we didn't get a chance to see i hope you are all doing well! love, charlotte