we went to cholula last weekend to visit the zona arqueologica. they were originally dedicated to quetzalcoatl, but when the spanish arrived and realized the hill contained ´pagan´temples, they built a cathedral on top of it. we had to take an underground tunel to get to the other side of the hill to see the ruins!

here is the backyard of my school!

cuernavaca is know for its hidden courtyards... there is a huge house on our way to school that i´ve been wanting to see, one day the gates were open and i snuck in for a picture!

we went to xochicalco and taxco this weekend! xochicalco means ´house of the flowers´in nahuatl and we saw the pyramid of quetzalcoatl.

this is one of the pyramids at the ruins, which is the site of a cultural and religious center for the toltec, olmec, zapotec, mixtec and aztec tribes.

i visited Jardin Borda this afternoon. here i am sitting by one of the many fountains! the extravagant gardens were designed after versailles in 1783 for manuel de la borda. emperor maximilian and empress carlota entertained here and used the house for their summer home.

some pictures so far...

we went to puebla for the weekend, this is a view of the volcano from my hotel room (yep, i got to stay in a hotel and have a break from my host family)! we visited the ruins in cholula, several cathedrals, spent time in the zocalo, drank coffee at cafes and met some interesting locals at a bar, and saw a beautiful balet folklorico performance!

we visited cholula and the great pyramid of cholula. the pyramid / temple is the largest human-made pyramid in the world (by volume). we had to go through underground tunels to reach the ruins.

here is a view from Barranca Altavista in Cuernavaca.

we visited the mercado municipal in cuernavaca, which i loved!

we visited Tepoztlan, where we learned of the local people´s resistance against the government´s plans to build a golf club and destroy the forest the people live in and where there is an ancient pyramid.

this is a seed mural that represents the areas of the city, the indigenous and catholic religions, and that local artists re-create once a year.

sorry i havent been able to post more often or post more photos... the computer at the internet cafe are incredibly slow, but i´ll try to make it back to a computer after our trip to taaxco this weekend!