After a morning of relaxation, eating, and preparing the last of Efrain's papers, we ventured out to the historical part of Juarez. We went to see the museum and old cathedral and well, the older part of the city. What was interesing was that it looked like we were ending up in the "wrong" side of town again. In fact, it was just three or so city blocks down. But we parked our car in a secure lot for 13 pesos/hour ($1) and then went to look at the sites. Firstly we went to the old cathedral of Juarez which was about as big as the one in York (England). The Spires weren't as tall but it was a gorgeous cathedral (I do have some kind of weird obsession with cathedrals; never get tired of em). It was surrounded by a 10-foot-high steel fence but the stairs were open. This seemed like the haven for anyone who just wanted to be safe. The older homeless folks were sleeping in there and we could tell it was because they knew that no-one was going to try doing anything to them. The cathedral had a beautiful-large stained-glass window that took over the enitre left side and the right was lined with statues of saints. The alter was pretty simple in comparison to the grand ones in Europe. They had a stone bason for baptisms, and a pedistal for the preacher. There was a smaller church off to the left side of the cathedral that was a bit older (cathedral was 18th century. The church was 17th century).
After that we took the advise from some locals and went into an indoor market a few blocks down. I was starving so I was on a hunt for food. We explored the downstairs and once I saw a glimpse of upstairs I knew the food was there- so I sprinted up the stairs (in a very pregnant kind of way...ok some would call it a mozy) and once we got to the top there were 6 people yelling at us and pop got ready to go back down the stairs. What I could see and pop couldn't was that there were 3 vendors competing for our business and trying to get us to go to their shop by yelling at us (of course it was things like "come to our shop, it's better," etc.). So I tried to stay logical and looked at each price list and plate before making a decision. We settled on one and we all ate a whole lot of food. Efrain had a seafood coctail (avacadoes and a mixture of seafood in a cold sauce that tastes like Bloody Mary mix without the Vodka). Poppa got chicken soup expecting it to be a bit tame but it ended up having a whole chicken thigh, one cut up zucchini, onion and cabbage with tortillas on the side. I got juevos rancheros and a big thing of lemonada. There were Mariachis so we paid them a few pesos to sing "Cookerokekukeku," a Pedro Infantain song. It was all pretty fun!
After that we went into the markets and bought Issa and Aramis some little uniforms of Chivas, Efrain's favorate futboll team. I really have no need for more trinkets or clothing so I just soaked in the sights and stared at everyone staring at us.
After that we went to El Museo de Juarez. There were exhibits for the founding of Juarez, the Revolucion, and one exhibit of fotos and masks from Africa. It was interesting to see their different way of displaying historical artifacts. An old 17th century alter from a church was nailed to the wall. Old guns, letters, saddles and hats were displayed without year or explaination. Lables of locations for the photos from Africa were taped on the wall. Nothing was printed in English or any other language but Spanish. The museum building was lovely and old. It had the origional cealing and a beautiful marble floor but the plumbing was not working so well and the rain was obviousally going into the walls because I could see and smell the rotting. I've never seen such a beautiful government building that was so uncared for. This is both good and bad in a way though because they haven't covered up the old rock wall with inscriptions in it. They hadn't ripped out the old cealing and replaced it with something clean and modern. They still have the old wooden beams and railings. This was something that I liked.
So after being tempted by a lot more street food that was loaded with sugar (not allowed to have that), we left the historical district and went to a Starmart (kinda like a local Walmart but with cooler food) and Efrain and pop got more beer than you can shake a stick at and I got a lot of clean water and we headed to the hotel where we relaxed the night away. Later while we were relaxing and drinking Efrain started to crack up and said "I had fun today...I can't believe you guys went over there." I asked why. "Well, you didn't see any other white people there did you?" I wasn't really thinking about it but then I realized that no, I hadn't. I must admit, I had my doubts when we saw all the people and busy streets (I mean tons of old city buses shoving their way through padestrians and ominous men hanging out in the square kind of busy). But I figured, hey, the guys aren't saying anything so I won't. And it all went wonderfully. We might be going back today to find poppa some cowboy boots and I'm sure I'll look for more food. I like to eat my way through new cities more than buying things. I am looking for a Juarez charm for my bracelet though but I really doubt that I'm going to find one. I doubt many tourists make it to this area.
Well, that's all for now! Love to all.
After that we took the advise from some locals and went into an indoor market a few blocks down. I was starving so I was on a hunt for food. We explored the downstairs and once I saw a glimpse of upstairs I knew the food was there- so I sprinted up the stairs (in a very pregnant kind of way...ok some would call it a mozy) and once we got to the top there were 6 people yelling at us and pop got ready to go back down the stairs. What I could see and pop couldn't was that there were 3 vendors competing for our business and trying to get us to go to their shop by yelling at us (of course it was things like "come to our shop, it's better," etc.). So I tried to stay logical and looked at each price list and plate before making a decision. We settled on one and we all ate a whole lot of food. Efrain had a seafood coctail (avacadoes and a mixture of seafood in a cold sauce that tastes like Bloody Mary mix without the Vodka). Poppa got chicken soup expecting it to be a bit tame but it ended up having a whole chicken thigh, one cut up zucchini, onion and cabbage with tortillas on the side. I got juevos rancheros and a big thing of lemonada. There were Mariachis so we paid them a few pesos to sing "Cookerokekukeku," a Pedro Infantain song. It was all pretty fun!
After that we went into the markets and bought Issa and Aramis some little uniforms of Chivas, Efrain's favorate futboll team. I really have no need for more trinkets or clothing so I just soaked in the sights and stared at everyone staring at us.
After that we went to El Museo de Juarez. There were exhibits for the founding of Juarez, the Revolucion, and one exhibit of fotos and masks from Africa. It was interesting to see their different way of displaying historical artifacts. An old 17th century alter from a church was nailed to the wall. Old guns, letters, saddles and hats were displayed without year or explaination. Lables of locations for the photos from Africa were taped on the wall. Nothing was printed in English or any other language but Spanish. The museum building was lovely and old. It had the origional cealing and a beautiful marble floor but the plumbing was not working so well and the rain was obviousally going into the walls because I could see and smell the rotting. I've never seen such a beautiful government building that was so uncared for. This is both good and bad in a way though because they haven't covered up the old rock wall with inscriptions in it. They hadn't ripped out the old cealing and replaced it with something clean and modern. They still have the old wooden beams and railings. This was something that I liked.
So after being tempted by a lot more street food that was loaded with sugar (not allowed to have that), we left the historical district and went to a Starmart (kinda like a local Walmart but with cooler food) and Efrain and pop got more beer than you can shake a stick at and I got a lot of clean water and we headed to the hotel where we relaxed the night away. Later while we were relaxing and drinking Efrain started to crack up and said "I had fun today...I can't believe you guys went over there." I asked why. "Well, you didn't see any other white people there did you?" I wasn't really thinking about it but then I realized that no, I hadn't. I must admit, I had my doubts when we saw all the people and busy streets (I mean tons of old city buses shoving their way through padestrians and ominous men hanging out in the square kind of busy). But I figured, hey, the guys aren't saying anything so I won't. And it all went wonderfully. We might be going back today to find poppa some cowboy boots and I'm sure I'll look for more food. I like to eat my way through new cities more than buying things. I am looking for a Juarez charm for my bracelet though but I really doubt that I'm going to find one. I doubt many tourists make it to this area.
Well, that's all for now! Love to all.
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