Castles!

Livonian Order Sigulda Castle (1209) 

On a day trip in Latvia we headed to Sigulda, an up and coming tourist attraction for those seeking a bit more adventure. This was my first experience with authentic old castles and it did not disappoint. We spent about 4 hours walking around the rolling hills taking in the 3 main castle areas and their museums.

 The Livonian Order Sigulda Castle was originally built in 1209 for the the Livonian Brothers of the Sword who were German warrior monks. It was damaged in the Livonian War, the Polish-Swedish War, and again in the Great Northern War in the 16th and 17th centuries . Fortunately, the main structures were repaired each time due to its strategic importance in the Gauja River Valley. Age and abandonment have destroyed most of the outer walls of the compound, but the main buildings have been repaired to attract tourists and are beautiful structures with towering thick walls and amazing views of the valley.

The Turaida Castle Complex is an impressive set of red brick structures originally built in 1214 by the archbishop of Riga. The entire complex was destroyed in a fire in 1776 and was left in disrepair until the 20th century. The grounds around the castle cover about 100 acres and are full of old structures throughout the ages displaying unique cultural traditions of Latvia.

Turaida Medieval Castle - Main Tower (1214) 

The Krimulda Medieval Castle was built in the 13th century by the Riga high council and was considered impossible to conquer since it was backed by a steep valley was surrounded on the other sides by a moat. It was involved in a number of wars, but was eventually burned down by the Polish during the Swedish-Polish war in 1601 so that it wouldn't fall into the hands of the enemy. It has never been repaired and is located in a lush forest with lovely paths winding down to the Gauja valley below.

Krimulda Medieval Castle 

View of the Gauja River from a mountain gondola.

Local train from Riga to Sigulda. 

Sigulda Lutheran Church (1483)

Riga

The charming center of Old Town Riga.

On my way to my next teaching adventure in Russia, I decided that I should take the opportunity to see something else. After looking over the possibilities, Latvia sounded like an interesting and inexpensive option. My lovely friend Paulina decided to join me on the adventure and we had a ball. We only knew that Latvia was a Baltic state famous for architecture, saunas, and woolen mittens, but we were in for a treat. It turns out that Latvia is charming and easy to get around. The people are quite friendly and we felt safe and relaxed the whole time.

St. Peter's Church (1209)

The capital, Riga, has a population of just under 700,000 and is famous for it's many styles of art nouveau architecture. The old city center was founded in 1201 and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are a number of gorgeous brick cathedrals with copper steeples that have aged green. Riga has been conquered by a number of wars so many of its older buildings were burned down or destroyed, but those that remain are quite striking.

  

Old German Zepplin hangars were used to
build the 5 pavilions of the central market (1930).

The central market is an impressive site just outside the walls of old town. After WWI the city decided to recycle old German Zepplin hangars and create 5 pavilions for local farmers to sell their wares. Most of the fresh produce is sold outside in stalls, but the main pavilions have meat, fish, sweets, pickled goods, bread, and even a few cafes preparing food from market ingredients. Since we were visiting during the height of fall harvest, the market was full of apples, cranberries, blueberries,
cabbage, potatoes, and beets.



Riga is a great city for long walks. There are plenty of parks around, long avenues of architecture to gawk at, and the promenade along the Daugava river. Many people rent bikes and brave the old cobblestone streets to see more of the city. Overall, it's a lovely city that I would recommend for a quiet and relaxing vacation.

Dried fish are a popular choice.

Stalin's Birthday Cake is a lovely reminder
of the Soviet occupation (1956).

Great view from the top of Stalin's Birthday Cake. 

On to Valencia!

I surprised myself when I decided to come here. I had never considered living in Venezuela until I was offered this position. ESL jobs in Latin America are few and far between so I jumped for the chance to head even farther south. It was just a happy coincidence that I'd be teaching Business English, a goal which I’ve been pursuing for some time.


Venezuela is nestled between Colombia, Brazil and Guayana with the Caribbean stretching along the northern coastline. There is an amazing amount of biodiversity here. If its reputation were slightly better most of the country would be crawling with tourists eager to see the flawless beaches, sand-dune deserts, Amazonian jungles, rolling fields, and of course the famous mountains and waterfall from the movie UP. But as it is I've only encountered one foreign tourist here. Sure, locals love to check out the beauty in their country, but there is a distinct lack of a foreign tourism industry here.

I'm currently living in Valencia, a city of 3 million people just 3 hours west of Caracas. It’s a place full of high-rise apartment buildings nestled in dry hills. Despite being an old city with a beautiful backdrop there is no tourism here and years of insecurity have caused people to be perceived as unfriendly as they typically avoid going out. The result is that people come here for work with one of the many manufacturing firms here and spend most of their free time indoors with family or friends. True, there are a few areas of nightlife where young folks go to hang out, but for the most part this is a city where people keep to themselves.

Once you get to know them, however, the people here are incredibly friendly. My boss, students, and even regular taxi drivers have invited my roommates and I to dinner, dancing, or a hike up the local mountain, Casupo, where the view of the city are stunning. Even relying on poor Spanish to get around, everyone is patient and understanding.

After spending a short amount of time here my goal is to meet as many people as possible to get a deeper understanding of why Venezuela is the way that it is right now politically, economically, and socially. There is a deep dense of division within society and a feeling that the country is at a crossroads. I feel like this is a fantastic time to be here and see what will happen next. 

Authentic Mexican Food

I can say with confidence that nothing I ate my entire time in Mexico remotely resembled the food served in Americanized Mexican restaurants back home. It's amazing how basic staples like cornflour, beans, meat, and a few common vegetables can be made into an infinite number of dishes. Although I wasn't sure at first, I've been fully converted that Mexican food just might be one of the best in the world. I thought I'd share a few of the more memorable dishes that I had the pleasure of trying during my time there.

Tostadas with the simple toppings of refried beans,
lettuce, and fresh green salsa. I had these almost every
morning for breakfast. 

Filet of fish Veracruz style with a red chili sauce and carmelized
onions and bell peppers. Served  with a side of plantains.

Sopes are like fluffy tortillas stuffed with refried beans and
topped with chicken, cheese, avocado, tomatoes, and
pickled onions.

Mexican-style pulled pork sandwich with plenty of
hot sauce and fresh lime.

Memelitas are cheap and found just about everywhere. Here
they are half green salsa, half red and topped with chicken
and a crumbled white cheese.

Tamales come in an array of amazing flavors. Here there is a
traditional chicken tamale in a corn husk and another filled
with dark Oaxacan mole sauce and steamed in a banana leaf.

Chilaquiles, a traditional breakfast made from leftover tortillas
fried up  and then smothered with chicken,  onions, and cheese.

The Amazing Yucatan Peninsula

The ruins at Tulum have the Caribbean as a stunning backdrop.

How much better can it get than sipping cold beer on a Caribbean beach with pure white sand and waves crashing 10 feet away? I recommend this area to anyone wanting a tropical vacation on the beach mixed in with a little bit of archaeological exploration. I spent two weeks touring the three states on the Yucatan Peninsula and seeing some of the best beaches and ruins of my life.

Main cathedral in Merida. Construction was started in 1562.

Merida

The Capitol of the state of Yucatan, this vibrant city has the second oldest Spanish cathedral built on mainland America. It's main plaza in the heart of the old city is always bustling with indigenous street vendors selling local textiles as well as families and couples milling around. Most of the colonial architecture has survived even if it is a bit run down and houses a large number of museums, art galleries, and local art cooperatives. 

Celestun

This quiet fishing village fills up with locals looking for a fun day at the beach, but also draws in thousands of tourists a year to see the several groups of local flamingos in the Ría Celestún Biosphere Reserve. We took a boat tour out to the mangroves to see the birds, which are quite shy and were varying shades of pink. Apparently they get their unique color from the beta carotene in the shrimp they eat.  

Campeche

The main plaza in Campeche often hosts live music and festivities. 

This was by far my favorite city on the trip. Seated right on the ocean, this old colonial town isn't famous for it's beaches, but rather draws in tourists interested in history.  Being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site means that all of the old architecture has to be maintained and the buildings are all given fresh coats of paint on a regular basis, making a stroll down the streets feel like a step back in time. The most unique feature here is the old city walls that guard the city from many pirate attacks. Although they aren't fully intact, the sheer scale of them gives the impression of how severe the threat of plunder must have been for those who lived there.

Edzna

Standing in front of the main acropolis.

This was my first exposure to Mayan ruins and possibly one of the most memorable. A remote and little-known ruin that has impressively preserved temples and still allows you to climb most of the structures, Edzna, is difficult to reach as we found while we were navigating back roads winding through the hillside, but well worth it. It's a large site with only a handful of tourists and a range of architectural styles that contrast with the unique five-tier design of the main acropolis. 

                                                             Lol-Tun and Cenotes

Black hands placed here signify this was a sacred place for
communing with the underworld.

The Yucatan Peninsula has no topical rivers. Instead, its limstone bedrock is full of underground rivers that hold crystal clear cold water. Access points or pools of water linked to the surface are called cenotes and almost all major mayan sites have a cenote linked to them, which makes sense in such a dry area. Many of these cenotes have been opened to the public and you are allowed to swim in them. We had a chance to drop by a subterranean cenote, which was small, but lovely.






Later on, we stopped by the Lol-Tun Caves, where we were guided through the largest cave network on the peninsula. The history of humans in the cave dates back to prehistoric times where it was used for shelter and water collection. Much later on the same cave system was used by the Mayan slaves as a hideout from the Spanish hacienda owners.

"El Castillo", the main pyramid in Chitzen Itza hots the famous serpent 
shadow during the spring and fall equinox.

Chichen Itza and Uxmal


These two UNESCO World Heritage sites are the most visited Mayan ruins in Mexico with over a million visitors to Chitzen Itza alone each year. Not only are they easily accessible, but they are also incredibly well-preserved.

Chitzen Itza received decades of extensive reparation from international archaeologists, resulting in a better glimpse of how the structures and city itself would have looked when it was inhabited. One of the most famous symbols of this                                                                                            

The Magician's Pyramin in Uxmal is famous for its 
unique circular construction.

                                                                                     
site is the God "Chac Mool" who is lying on his back with a bowl resting on his stomach, waiting for human heads from sacrificial ceremonies. There are many other depictions of human sacrifice, including the famous ball court where the losers are shown losing their heads in a spray of blood.  

                        

Uxmal is less restored, but is set in a lush jungle and has a unique style of architecture. The stones here have a pink hue and the whole area has a strangely remote feeling despite the fact that you're surrounded by throngs of tourists.

Tulum

Although the main draw here is ruins placed on jagged cliffs above the sea, this town also has the best beaches I’ve seen so far in Mexico. The sand sparkles white and the clarity of the water makes it easy to spot schools of fish. There is a small reef a few hundred meters offshore where you can take an hour-long  snorkeling tour to see the coral and although it's not the best reef on the peninsula, it's well worth a stop if you're there a few days. There are also a number of excellent restaurants and a fun raggae bar in town.              

Goodbye to My Students

It’s hard for me to believe that 4 months have passed by so quickly, but my time in Tehuacan has come to an end and I’m sad at the thought of leaving all of my students, whom I will likely never see again. -Teaching young students has been challenging and thought-provoking for me. Although I spent a significant amount of time frustrated I feel that I have grown as a teacher and have a better idea of how to correct my mistakes the next time around. 

Here are a few of my favorite shots of our time together

. 

Dia de los Muertos

Day of the Dead is a tradition unique to Mexico, which I have wanted to see since I first started learning Spanish when I was 14. A decade later and I finally got to experience this amazing custom firsthand. The roots come from a mixture of Spanish and indigenous Mexican culture. It seems that different cultures across Mexico held traditions honoring their dead during late summer until the Spaniards decided to combine the local holiday with their All Soul’s Day on Nov 2^nd. The Spanish holiday was meant to pray for the souls in purgatory, but after being combined with the local celebrations it has become the one day of the year when locals believe that souls of the dead are able to return to the land of the living.

An offering by the middle schoolers to honor a
tennis instructor who had recently died.

The math and science teacher from the middle school offered to take us to a village, Chilac, just outside of Tehuacan which is famous for maintaining the authentic indigenous traditions. In Tehuacan most people will visit the cemetery on November 2^n, leave some flowers, and then go home. However, in Chilac most people arrive on the night of the 1^st to clean and decorate the graves and then spend the night in the cemetery sleeping, eating, praying, and laughing.

I expected the celebrations to be somber and respectful, but was surprised and happy to find that everyone was smiling and joking. It felt more like entering a carnival than a cemetery with vendors selling food, mariachi bands playing, and whole families gathering to eat a meal together. 

1.       Doing laundry by hand always takes longer than you think.

2.       If the waiter tells you something isn’t spicy, don’t believe him

3.       The spicier the food, the worse my hiccups.

4.       Chili salt lime seasoning may just be the most genius invention ever.

5.       Always be prepared for the gas to run out when you plan a dinner party.