Soy el Conquistador

Man this place was cool. This is the Aztecan temple.

The ex-convento.

The view from the ex-convento. Basically the mountains you see are the ones that we climbed up to reach the temple at Tepotzlan.

The view I had for most of the way. There are a few rocks up there.

I have some kind of thing for trees that grow on the sides of stone walls, you'll see another shortly.

More steps. And oh do I mean more.

Self-explanatory (hardcore).

La vista.

A strange half-raccoon half-anteater (hormiguera) creature that really liked eating tourist's food. No bueno.

This is at la hacienda de Cortes. Pretty happening place, its now an upper-class hotel.

Here's what basically was the sewer.


So last Domingo (Sunday) we took at little trip to Tepotzlan, which is a pretty little city up in the Mountains in Mexico. It is well-known for two things: the Aztec Temple atop one of the mountains, and the ex-convento (which for you non-Spanish speakers is ex-convent) that worked to convert all the indigenous people to Catholicism. Interesting story here, told to us by our tour guide: The Catholic priests sought to peacefully convert the native people, and to do so presented a challenge to the people. They said they would climb to the top of the temple, and throw the statue of their dios off the temple, and if it broke, then they knew that their dios was not real and they would convert, and if it didn’t, they wouldn’t convert. The natives agreed to this, and on went the challenge. However, the priests threw the statue off the temple and it didn’t break. However, the priests simply said it was a trial run and didn’t really count, so they did it one more time. Fortunately for them, the statue broke the second time and all of the natives converted peacefully.
We went on to ascend the mountain, which was basically a 1.3-mile stair climb. Literally. Just look at the photos, you won’t see one with level ground because there was no level ground. This was quite an undertaking, especially when it started raining and made the rocks slick, and thus there was cause for much felicitaciones (see my hardcore self-portrait, soy el conquistador). Such a cool place to be, its such a great feeling when you can work so hard to achieve this goal and work through all the discouragement, and look out and see just how far you’ve come. I think life works very much the same way. And with that, I’m off to do my tarea for the evening. Que tengas un buen noche.

You don't say?

I must say I like to go check out El Centro and The Fayuca (Black Market). Definitely fun, and its very much like eBay: you will find what you're looking for. Everything from hog's head to Bibles, it's all inside. Anyways, enjoy the fotos, and on a side note, I took sound of indigenous dancing and mariachis, good times. Tepotzlan was awesome, I'll try to post those at some point. Hasta luego,
-jason

Conoce la Familia

Ok so my house parents tienen 4 hijos, and here they are for the world to see. They are all just as cute as buttons. Above is Zaine, o Zainecita as we like to call her.

These are the two oldest kids, Brenda y Emmanuel.

And last but certainly not least is Aquiles, the baby of the group. He is nine months old, and a great little kid. Plus he can be entertained by any object for hours just by holding it in his hands.

Que es esto?

Well amigos, I am in Cuernavaca, and it is awesome. Really awesome. We had orientacion today, and I was insanely nervous, self-conscious, etc. However, as the day went on, I got to feeling much better about things, and have realized that I don't know much Spanish, but I will when I'm done. That said, it should be a killer five weeks. I'll try to post up here every so often, and hopefully it will be chock full of prints (because I know that you guys probably won't even read this). Take it easy, and vamanos!

One of the edificios at the Universidad Internacional, aka Uninter from here on out.

Los jardines at Uninter, celoso?

My roommate Chris entering the compound where we are staying. I don't know if it is referred to as a compound, but we decided since we have razor wire protecting a lush poco paradiso, it is deserving.

A very old church en el centro de Cuernavaca.

Kid yelling to friends as several children play futbol in the streets.

And this one? Just for you pops, happy Father's Day.

Here's that dang cadillac again. I got to see it when it was parked at the iglesia, and when it was cruising down the street. Rock on.

Trees Falling From The Sky

I woke up this morning to the realization that there were men in the trees. And that they were cutting them down. So I took some pics. We had some nasty storms awhile back, and the winds felled a cedar tree that struck another tree. So they had to come down. Above is the fun that ensued. Enjoy!

He's A Walker

Congrats to my cousin Grant. He graduated last night from Midlothian High School, and the ceremony was held at Potter's House, which has some of the best lighting I've ever seen in a church. Rock on.

Bedtime!

Well ladies and gentlemen, it has happened. After almost three years of being without a bedframe at all, and even longer without a nice bed, it has happened. My dad built me a gorgeous looking bed, and I shot it for his portfolio, The Woodmeisters of Corona Gap. I enjoy shooting furniture, its a fun little challenge. Let me know what you think, I'll probably have some other random muses coming up.
Also, I leave for Cuernavaca next weekend, so be looking out for me/praying for me as I spend the next five weeks down there. It should be an incredible experience.
Finally, my grad application was turned in last week, and no matter what, I will be walking across the stage on August 11th, and graduating with honors. There will be grad parties for me on Saturday and Sunday, we'll call them Kindig Shindigs I and II. They'll be filled with food and fun, and of course my lovable self, so if you get an invite, come on by! And if you don't get an invite, there will be bouncers present, just fyi. But anyways, anybody that wants to come, just let me know!
Take it easy,
-jason