My apologies. This is very late. I went to Morelia two weeks ago. Eek! Time has been flying! For those of us counting, I only have 18 more days left in Mexico :) Anyway, Moreila was like this: AMAZING!!!!! I seriously fell in love with this city. It's the capital of the state below mine. (I'm in Jalisco, and Morelia is the capital of Michoacan.) It still has all the original architecture from the colonial era in the town center, they just repurpose all the buildings. Like the hotel I stayed in was absolutely stunning and used to be an old mansion. And because it was the weekend of Día de Muertos, the city was all decorated. The had altars in almost every business, and the streets were filled with Catrinas (the fancily dressed skeletons) and grand arches made of marigolds.
The first night there, which was Oct. 31, Louise and I went on a "legends" tour of the city. We thought it was going to be historical, but it was basically just like a bunch of ghost-esque stories. Kind of boring, and by the second hour we were both so exhausted from the day's journey there, that we really weren't understanding much (it was all in Spanish, obviously) so we just left, lol.
The next day we took a tour of the city and got to see a lot of beautiful buildings. That night was the official Día de Muertos, so we went with a tour group a town near by called Patzcuaro. We ate a traditional meal of tomales, bread, cheese, and atole. Very delicious! Then we actually got to see some of the altars the people had built in there houses. There were incredible. Altars of marigolds surrounding a picture of the person, with a mountain of food below. Seriously, a mountain. Like two or three Rubbermade totes sized. Huge. Mostly fruits and vegetables with some special bread laid on top. It was really powerful to see these families commemorating the lives of their loved ones in such an elaborate manner. Especially when you think of how much time thy must have put in to construct all the altars, the money they spent on the flowers and food. It was really impressive. From there we went to the cemetery and that was crazy. Basically like what we had seen in the houses, but on a massive scale. Every single grave was covered in flowers and food and candles. Some of the graves were just decorated, but most of them also had the living members of the families gathered there. Did I mention it was cold? Oh it was freezing. I'm serious, I would guess it was in the low forties. Louise and I had sweatshirts on. Everyone else was in winter coats and blankets. We were not prepared. So I bought a scarf while I was there--and I'm so glad I did. (Just keep reading it all comes together). So anyway, from that cemetery we got back in the vans a drove a little bit to this lake in Paztcuaro. In the lake there is this island called Janitzio where people live and work. This island is the most famous in Mexico for their traditional celebration of Día de Muertos. So we got on this long boat with benches on both sides to ferry us over to the island. It was even colder on the water, and it was about a twenty minute ride. But we got there. We tried to go up and see the cemetery, but there were so many people at the entrance crowding and pushing, that it got a little scary and we just decided it wasn't worth it. So instead we just hiked up the island some more. If you haven't gathered it by now, this island was a giant hill with a very steep incline. So anyway, along all the streets are the inhabitants selling food, goods, handicrafts, and all sorts of things. Finally we found a place that overlooked the cemetery. So although I didn't actually get to pass through it, I did get to see it. Again, all the graves were covered in flowers and food and candles, and most of them had family members around. A very fascinating sight to see. So all in all, we were on in the island for about two hours, which gave me enough time to warm up a little bit because we had to do so much climbing. So around two am, we met back up with our group to go back to the mainland. We got on our boat, and of course I rapidly cooled off. But I didn't think it was going to be too big of a deal because it was supposed to be only a twenty minute ride. Supposed to be, being the operative words in that sentence. But after thirty minutes, and forty minutes, we were starting to get concerned. It was really foggy, and we ended up lost on the lake for a total of two and a half hours. The boat driver and our tour guides pulled out flashlights and started scanning the water looking for land or other boats. They had crappy little flashlights though, so I lent them the amazing one my uncle David gave me before I left. His reasoning was so I could temporarily blind someone if they tried to attack me. Lol, or save my butt from being lost for even longer on a freezing lake. Either way--super useful. When they weren't having any luck seeing anything, they told us all to be quite so they could listen for all the noise from Janitzio. We couldn't hear it though. Who knows where we were. I'm partially convinced we were in the Bermuda triangle. No matter where we actually were, It was sooooo miserable. Louise and I were huddled together trying to keep warm, trying to keep calm. (Louise can't swim and was starting to freak out a little bit.) I seriously think we would have fallen apart if this really generous girl next to us hadn't lent us her blanket. It was an amazing gift from God. We were sooooo cold. I can't even describe to you how cold I was. Thus, I was also very thankful I had bought the scarf. I had pulled my hood up and tied my scarf around it to keep the wind from blowing it down. Ugh. I'm still kind of in shock that it all even happened. So bizarre. But anyway, eventually we made it back to the mainland dock and were able to use the facilities (I had had to pee since we initially left Janitzio, but I thought it was only going to be twenty minutes . . . there's a lesson there, lol) and then we loaded up into our van for the hour and half or so ride back to our hotel in Morelia. At this point it's almost six in the morning, and as if God hadn't already proven his point, we go into our room and realized we had left the air conditioner on. It was again freezing. I got in bed with all my clothes on and doubled up the comforter (it was a queen-sized just for me :) I woke up later that morning (like eleven) and my toes and fingers were still cold. Ugh. All in all though, I still think it was worth it. Cold, very very cold, but worth it.
That next day (well, same day, but it felt like the next day because I didn't get to bed until six am) we just got to relax and wonder around the city some more before our bus left at five. We went to lunch at a restaurant and sat outside so we could enjoy the beautiful surroundings. It was great. But as we were sitting there, this TV reporter comes up to me and asks me if I'm from the U.S. I was like, "Uh, yes." (this is all happening in Spanish) and she was like, "Oh great. Would you like to comment on the legalization of marijuana and who are you voting for?" And I was like, "Oh no I don't want to comment. I don't think I Spanish is good enough to express it." So she responded, "Oh don't worry about it, we have subtitles for that." So she kind of strong armed me into commenting, but I basically just said something to the effect of how it would be really good for the economy, but really bad for the people that used. Very general. At the end she asked me for the full name and state of origin, and I was just like, I'm Michelle, from the midwest, lol. I had a fear of being tracked down. So that was that. I don't know what my deal is with getting interviewed about politics in foreign countries (something similar also happened to me while I was in Colombia), but I sure wish they'd ask for my opinion in while I'm in my own country!
So that was my trip to Morelia. Very beautiful, very fun, and very cold (at times at least).
