Attack of the Killer Goats

I took my mom for a 4 hour hike in the hills surrounding Guanajuato. You take the bus about 15 minutes to a town called Santa Rosa, and then there is a dirt road you can walk back on. It passes through a small town, and next to a large reservoir.



We had just passed the reservoir, when I had to pee. I had already peed once on the walk, and it was no big deal to pop another squat. My mom was the lookout to make sure nobody (automotive or humanoid) was coming on the road.

All of a sudden, my mom yelled "Stop peeing, get up right now! There are goats!" I had a lot of pee, and it was at the point where you can't really stop the flow, I was peeing THAT hard. Plus, I figured that there were a couple of goats, and what's the big deal about a couple of goats? They're not very big, they're not very scary, they're just freaking goats.

Except, there weren't just a couple of goats. Nope nope.

There were a couple of hundred goats.


My mom grew up in New York City, and likes to watch animals from afar. After I pulled up my pants are we were a suitable distance away, she asked me to go back, but be careful, because she really was sorry that she didn't have a camera to take a picture of the goats. At this point, they were crossing the creek and it was obvious that the dogs with them were not, as she originally thought, attack dogs, but rather knew their job helping the shepherd.


So, we continued walking, and saw a mule. My mom again thought something bad would happen as I went back and approached it.

Clearly, nothing did.

!!!!!!!!!

Mumsy is here.

Yesterday we went to 1 big statue, 3 museums, 2 candy shops, 1 grocery store, 2 cafes, 2 restaurants, and 2 bars. My feet hurt, and I collapsed into bed at about 10pm. Expect pictures and more extensive commentary when there are more pictures, and time to make said extensive commentary.

However (and I have told mumsy this) the most important thing is that she tries as much different food as humanly possible in the 4 days she is visiting.

Yesterday the foods tried were:

• Enchiladas mineras (cheese enchiladas with onion, carrot, and potato)
• Pollo rostado (nothing unusual, just rotisserie chicken)
• Flautas (unbreaded chicken tenders wrapped inside a fried tortilla)
• Totopes con frijoles y queso (nacho chips with beans and cheese...the cheese is crumbly, like feta)
• Cocoada (a stick of sticky coconut)
• Media galletita (half a cookie...this one was a sandwich with butter cookie, raspberry jam, and lots of powdered sugar on top)
  
• Rolla de guayaba (dried guava drenched in sugar)
• Beso Negro (super concentrated hot dark chocolate, served in an espresso cup)
  

The day before yesterday, the foods tried were:

• Tacos from a taquería
• Coke in a glass bottle
  

Whoa, Dude

There's, like, internet at home. What. The. Fuck.

Gnarly.

New job is going well...it's a lot more work than I thought it would be, but that's OK. A big part of the work is just getting used to the students and the new environment. But the teachers are way more friendly, and more professional, and more on top of things in general. AND there is a free bus if I come and go at normal school times. Woohoo.

Also the kids don't scream all day. I never thought I took normal speaking tones for granted before.

Mumsy is coming in less than two weeks, so I also need to get my shit together in that respect too...making lesson plans, figuring out work the kiddos can do for 2 days while I'm gone, and making sure there is stuff for her to do to keep her busy and happy. I have a good idea of a mixture of touristy and cool things to do though.

• Day 1 - Walk around Guanajuato, go to a museum or two that I've been too lazy to get to on my own.
  

• Day 2 - Hike down to town from one of the villages further up in the hills

• Day 3 - Bus trips to Cristo Rey (GINORMOUS statue of Jesus on the geographic center of Mexico) and Dolores Hidalgo (next town over, "Cradle of Mexican Independence")

• Day 4 - Either/or 1) More museums in Guanajuato 2) León shopping for leather goods, then San Miguel de Allende (cute little American retiree enclave) possibly for dinner and walking around.

If anyone out there is reading this? Anyone? Thoughts? Would your mumsy like the aforementioned activities?