Successful Shaving

So I was growing out my amazingly attractive facial hair for the entire month because my dear friend Josh Romero informed me of the unofficial but official Mustache March. I found it quite the opportunity to really test my machismo and see what kind of man I really am. So here are the photos at the end of the month and the current cut. Please enjoy!


The Mug Shots



The first cut is the deepest


The next gets silly


     

Attack of the handlebars



And the final product! I’ve been like this for a couple of days now and have some pretty fantastic pictures. It’s all coming off tomorrow but for the last couple of days I’ve been enjoying the creeper status.



Now that you’ve taken a good look at my mug for the past few minutes I hope that at least you got a good laugh. Just remember kids… March is for Mustaches! (and it's the simple pleasures in life that make it so beautiful)

Visitor’s From The North

I realized that I haven’t been writing in my blog as frequently. Have no fear my friends! I am still alive! Life has gotten busier and I’ve found myself with less and less time. Last week was especially busy because a good friend, Robbie Jones, came to visit me. What an adventure! I came to realize last week that the crazy things about Mexico are starting to seem normal to me. Maybe that’s why the blog has gotten slow. I promise to do a little better.

While Robbie was flying from SLC to Mexico City I was on a bus from Veracruz to Mexico city. We spent two days in the big DF, as they say here in Mexico. What a different experience than I’m used to! Mexico city is truly a different world than Veracruz.It’s big, dirty, and not the Mexico I’m used to.

Our first day we spent on the metro, on a bus, and then in the ruins of Teotihuacan! They were huge! Check it out!



The Pyramid of the SUN!



And the Pyramid of the MOON!



And the Sun from the top of the Moon!



We had quite the adventure. This was an interesting place to visit because it was completely different from the past ruins experience I had at El Tajin. These ruins were a lot bigger, a lot more spread out, and in a complete desert. El Tajin was smaller, closer together, and jungle-like. Both neat but El Tajin still has my vote for the favorite. Cool experience.

One of the best parts about the experience was being pulled off the bus on the way back to Mexico city for a drug test! How exciting!



This sums up this adventure! See you soon!

Rash Decision

Well, I feel a little bit like a bum because I haven’t posted a blog for quite some time. Sorry folks. Life just grabs you by the horns sometimes and takes you for a ride. I’ve got stories to tell but find the time at a scarcity. I’ll try to be more consistent.

Today I was thinking to myself, “Self! By golly it’s hot and I’m all sweaty!”  Then my mind continued to wander and I started thinking about some other big events coming my way. One of the projects I’ve taken on is the expansion of a phenomenal business down here in Veracruz. Long story short… I decided I needed to be more professional looking and  more comfortable in the humid heat. Here is the result…

BEFORE


AFTER



Yep, I cut my hair! I’m saddened… I’m going to miss all that hair. I keep getting these phantom feelings that I should toss the hair out of my face and when I swing my head the hair doesn’t move like it used to. Since the cut was done I’ve been accused of intentionally trying to look younger to get with younger girls and of losing my sex appeal (whatever that means). I might cry myself to sleep tonight. The one thing I know for certain is that for now the facial hair is staying!

Beware of the TV!

This picture was the closest one that I had to match the topic of discussion for today’s blog. So here is a small explanation of the picture before moving on to other matters of business. In order to promote the English courses that we are doing we made a bunch of little movies to introduce each of the topics that we cover during the classes that we teach. It was a lot of fun to make the movies and also very random. This picture is a shot of the filming process. Looks pretty legit eh!?

If you would like to take a look at the videos that we made feel free to take a look at http://www.vtcvideos.blogspot.com/. You might enjoy what you see. You might not. If you’re lucky then maybe someday I’ll show you a hidden clip that was never posted.

A small fun fact about Mexican TV is that about a third of the TV channels are actually in English with Spanish subtitles. It makes it very convenient for a couple of gringos to enjoy a little TV every once and a while.
 
The other day Camm and I are sitting in a home eating dinner while a couple of people in the other room were watching a blaring television set. We were enjoying our meal and trying to keep small talk amid the blaring background noise of the TV. We could hear things blowing up, guns firing and, of course, the English was very understandable. All of a sudden we thought we heard a pretty dirty word. We brushed it off and kept our conversation going. Then, out of no where, more profanities than could be kept track of were blasting through the home at high decibels. At this very moment the people in the other room all start laughing and laughing. Camm and I took one glance at each other at couldn’t help but crack a smile. We knew that the people had no clue what was actually being said because of some fancy subtitle work. It was actually quite humorous at the time.

Since that day, and after having some other questionable experiences, we are a lot more leery about turning on the TV (especially late at night). We’ve got the news and sports channels all memorized so we don’t have to go flipping through the other stuff. Ha! Crazy world we live in ain’t it!?

Windy Day in Mexico!

I would like to say something clever here, but to be honest, the movie kind of speaks for itself. Enjoy!

El Tajin- The Ruins

After watching the sky dancers for some time we entered the great city of El Tajin! What an amazing adventure!

I was awestruck and humbled by the beauty of this magnificent place. You know when you see pictures of other people at ruins like these ones and you think to yourself, “Someday I will go to a place like that.”? This is the type of mystic land that I used to only dream about exploring! Even now I have a hard time believing that I was actually there.



The day couldn’t have been any more perfect. It had been threatening to rain in the morning and only started to slightly drizzle while we were amongst the towering ruins. The light raindrops kept things cool and colors vivid.
 


As I roamed the ancient city of Tajin, the Book of Mormon stories, that have been taught to me since I was a child, started to come to life. I could picture people gathering, commercializing, preaching, and playing games. I began to visualize leaders orating, mothers caretaking, children scampering, lawyers convincing, and warriors defending. I felt like my eyes were opened to a whole new way of life. This day for me was a life-like journey back to the days of the Nephites and the Lamanites.



The intricacies of each and every stone was astounding to the eye; the symbols and etchings- genius. How these feats were ever accomplished without the modern tools that we enjoy today will remain a theory and a mystery.



One particular example of the capacity of this former people is the Pyramid of the Niches. This pyramid contains exactly 365 niches or windows representing the solar year. The most spectacular thing for me was the size of this building. Isn’t it gorgeous?



In each adventure lies mini-adventures. El Tajin was no different for me. At one point during our meanderings we saw the backside of a pyramid that had not been fully excavated. It just looked like a big green grassy hill. Looking around and not seeing any signs telling me not to climb, I took the invitation. I even asked two other people if they saw any signs; their responses gave me the go (One of them even climbed with me). I got to the top and took some great pictures and enjoyed a beautiful view. At the bottom of the ruin a lady passed by and told our friend at the bottom what bad people we are and kept walking. I was curious why she was so angry. We snapped a few more pictures and made our way down. We started to walk back to the front of the park and right at that moment we saw the sign. “Please do not climb.” I felt so guilty! We really didn’t see the sign! Now I am certain that this picture must be shown.



Now that you’ve seen my pictures you too can say to yourself, “Someday I’ll go to a place like that.” And you will!

El Tajin- The Sky Dancers!

Upon arriving at the park we were quickly pushed out of the car and told to run because the big show was about to start. They only do this every half hour so it’s kind of a big deal you know. So we are all at a dead sprint to make sure and make it time for the twenty minute flute and drum ensemble. Ladies and gentlement! For your veiwing pleasure… The Drumming and Flute dancing man!

So basically there are four guys up there sitting on that square. They are all roped in for the next big routine. The really crazy part is that the guy playing the flute and drum isn’t strapped in at all. He just stands on the pole and every once in a while he gets all crazy-like and jumps up and down and stuff. Don’t try that at home… jumping up and down on top of a fifty foot pole while playing a flute and drum. Talk about dangerous. So as exciting as this was, it gets better! The dancers started to dance! And again, all I could think of was my viewers back home. So for you my friends, I made this little video. Please enjoy… the sky pole dancers… of EL TAJIN!

Now I know what you’re all thinking because I was thinking the same thing. “That’s it?” “Aren’t they gonna do any cool tricks or something?” “Why would anybody ever do something like this?”

Well, I’ve matured quite a lot since January 30th and now I know the facts. The four dancers are supposed to make a full 13 turns before reaching the ground. If you times 13 by 4 you get 52, or the number of years in the Totonac century. The chief or dancing, fluting, drumming man represents the sun God whilst the four swinging dancers represent the suns rays coming down to fertilize the earth. It’s actually one of the most important Totonac rituals. Pretty interesting. I’m glad I saw it.

El Tajin- The Butterfly

What a trip! This is a post that I’ve been wanting to make for quite some time now. Like Roca Partida, this was an experience that made my entire trip to Mexico worth it. We started the day at about 10:30 with a four hour car ride through some very amazing places. I am continually amazed by the beauty of this earth and the precious gift that God has given to us. I had a special experience at a pit stop on the way to our destination. A butterfly had landed on a small ledge and was moving it’s wings. I slowly moved my hand towards the butterfly and to my surprise it did not fly away.



I made a friend that day. This was a very simple but special experience for me. These are the memories that make life wonderful aren't they?

















 This trip will continue on another day...

Unexpected Company

Checka Checka! The night that we got back from Roca Partida was the night we had an unexpected but very pleasant little guest come to visit our apartment. I was making some luggage adjustments when out he came. He was crawling upside down on the ceiling! Wow, I wish I could do that.



This is my gecko friend, Lex. Get this! He’s actually the cousin of the geicko gecko! Unbelievable! I felt like I was in the presence of a celebrity.



Can you see him up there? Up above my luggage? Tiny little guy! As much fun as it was to talk with him for a couple of minutes I eventually had to see him to the door. He overstayed his welcome and I needed to get some sleep.

 

Hard to see him there but he is almost directly in the palm of my hand. All of my boy scout skills came in handy to catch him. After the chase I took him out to a nice little elementary school playground to play with the children in the morning. I figured they could have fun together!

Roca Partida 3

Upon arriving back at the main beach we grabbed some sweet boogie boards and played in the waves. These were no ordinary boogie boards. These were boogie boards made for a purpose- to boogie! Nothing like the cheap little boogie that I bought when I first got here. It was incredible when I caught the wave just right and was taken all the way to the beach. What a rush! I can only imagine what it would be like to surf! I’d be worried that I would catch the addiction. So here you are… a couple of white boys with their boogies.



After a good time just us and the waves, we were called to a little table where we found a very pleasant sight.



These were the biggest shrimps that I personally have ever seen in real life! They were amazing! We dug in with our hands and peeled them as we ate. With just a touch of lime I felt as if I had entered into a different realm not far from heaven. What a life! A day in paradise. This is the life that one could only dream of. I thought things couldn’t get better until they brought out this plate of fish. Some of the best fish I’ve ever eaten.




So after some more eating goodness we wrapped things up, changed our clothes, and got in the car for the ride home. We made one more little side trip to a private lake where they raise fish. We got there at just the right time to take some beautiful pictures and enjoy the view.



One more…



If you look carefully near the bottom left corner of the above picture you can see the rings that they keep the fish in while they are growing large. Then they sell them, cook them, and put them on a plate for our taste buds’ leisure. We jumped back in the car for a trip and my body decided to take a nap. I was awaken by my friend Abril telling me we had arrived at the restaurant for our evening meal. Yep, one more seafood plate to blow one’s mind (shrimp, fish, squid, and crab all on one plate). AMAZING!



Well folks I think this wraps up my trip to Roca Partida. We came home well rested, well fed, and well entertained. I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful day. This is Shawn… signing off for the evening and looking forward to more adventures (Which I have plenty more to write about!)