Local Pyramid... El Cerrito

One day our friend, Yaid, took Billy and I to some local ruins right in the middle of a town, Pueblito, close to Queretaro. They are called "El Cerrito", which means "little hill" in Spanish, because for a long time people didn't know that ruins existed in the area, they thought it was simply a small hill in town. After finding that the hill was actually a pyramid covered by vegetation, they kept the name. Apparently these ruins are quite historically significant. After the Spanish conquest, some rich Spanish dude with an ego built his mansion on top of the pyramid...the remains of which are still there, as you can see.

Tequisquiapan

So, a while ago we went to this cute little town about 1/2 hour away from Queretaro. We attended their annual wine and cheese festival and walked around with our friend / Spanish teacher, Yaid, and his family. Good stuff.

Billy and I with Yaid and his family in Tequis

Main cathedral in Tequisquiapan

Main square in Tequisquiapan

Billy and His Best Mexican Friend / Spanish Teacher, Yaid

'Nuff said. Aren't they a cute couple?

Maya

One day, while I was walking to work, I found this little cutie barking at the passing cars. We've see a ton of homeless dogs in Mexico, so I'm not sure why I felt it was so obvious that I needed to help her, but it was, and I did. I just called to her, and she immediately ran over to me, licked me, and put her paw on my leg. I motioned for her to come with me, and she ran right next to me all the way back to our apartment. Once there, I left Billy the early morning surprise of a puppy to take care of. But seriously, look at her-- who can say no? When I got home from class I opened the bedroom door and found Maya and Billy snuggled in bed together =) Anyway, she is so smart, sweet, and affectionate, and we fell in love with her right away. Billy came up with the perfect name-- "Maya" -- in honor of finding her in Mexico. She lived with us for two weeks and learned some fancy tricks in that time. All things considered, we ended up deciding it was best for her, and for us (although it was super hard) to give her to our boss' family. They have 3 kids and had been wanting a new dog for a while. They were so excited at the opportunity to adopt her, and they have since told us that she is very happy in their family and that all their kids are sharing the dog-owning responsibilities. We miss her but are super glad she's not living a homeless-dog life and that she is with a family that loves her and can give her lots of attention and exercise

Finally, our own city.... Queretaro!!!

We figured it was probably time to show you some pictures

of the city we actually live in.

Here we are in downtown Queretaro.

Awesome church in Queretaro

Billy in front of the awesome church.

Pious Billy inside the awesome church.

???

Me eating ice cream (chocolate with a little chile flavor =) in downtown Queretaro.

Rosa and Fernando: The owners of our language school.

Me in our first "home". The mattress-on-the-floor place. This was our fancy dining room =)

For Jeremy....

Just for you, bud!

More Rewind: Mexico City

Billy knocking on the slightly large door inside the cathedral

Inside the cathedral downtown

Street art

More sculptures in the street downtown

Dancers in the main square

Main cathedral in the city's zocalo (main square). Nice, eh? Unfortunately, however, it was built right on top of an ancient pyramid during the Spanish conquest.