Mexico - Everything and more.

Hola chavos y chavas,

Half-asleep in the class-room during the most boring class of my life it is once again time for a Mexico update :-). The last 1.5 months has been filled with travel and party (for a change!), and very very very little studying - in fact, "group work" is the synonym for "merendero" visit (Note: a merendero is a restaurant where the guests only pay for the drinks; incredible amounts of food are served for free. And the more you drink, the more food they bring :-)).

The more I get to know about Mexico, the more the huge differences between rich and poor become aparent. After spending one day in Monterrey, the most industrialized city in Latin America (including Starbucks, jejeje), one could consider Mexico a 1st world country with skyscrapers, European bars and giant shopping malls and business centers. However, the further one goes south, the more poverty and the less industrialization one will find. My plan is to travel to the most southern state of Mexico at the border to Guatemala, Chiapas, in May - a trip that will include pueblitos without electricity and virgin beaches...

Thanks to all my mexican friends who made it their objective to show "la austriaca" as much as possible of their country, I had the chance to see a lot of new places since my last update- here some impressions:

- San Francisco: One of the most beautiful cities of the US offering everything - culture, nature, beaches, shopping, prisons (Alcatras :-)) and stunning views:

- Desert, desert, desert and some lakes in between: There are several beautiful places to see very close to Aguascalientes... However, sunblocker is recommendable for Europeans :-).

- Manzanillo: The biggest port in Mexico and a logistical keypoint for international sea trade - enough reason for my university to organise a trip there! 22 students in one house (including pool), 5 minutes from the beach - just a great weekend!

- Monterrey: As the industrial capital of Latin America, it is a different world from the Mexico I had known up to then. The view of the city enclosed by mountains is beautiful, and they sell Starbucks coffee there - jipjiphurra :-)!

Finally, I have made my first negative encounter with Mexican food - a unique experience as I have never felt so miserable before in my life... Luckily enough, I already re-gained my confidence in tacos, quesadillas, chaskas, enchilladas, burritos, chicharron, guacamole, frijoles, mole, camarones, salsa, chile and other essentials of life :-).

My travels in the next 2 weeks will take me to Cuba and Honduras (Ürmsn mein Schatz ich komme!!!). Also, I will spend June until September working for a contemporary dance company in Singapore - so a lot more news to come soon!

A lot of sun and kisses to all, take care,

your Martinica