Bibiloteca Publica del Ejercito y Fuerza Area Mexicanos

I bet you've been wondering when I was going to write about the libraries of Guadalajara. Unfortunately, due to my school schedule and having unlimited WiFi at both school and hostel, I didn't need to seek out a library during most of the month.
I finally wandered across from one the day before I left the city and it did not disappoint.

What better way to end out the year than take you on a tour of an army gunpowder factory turned public library.

Thank you everyone who has been reading my blog and given me support on this new journey. I'm looking forward to 2016 and sharing with you even more about the people and places that make each city an amazing place to live.

Panteón de Mezquitán

Putting 2015 to rest with the Cemetery of Mezquitán.
It's been an adventurous year for me, starting in Berlin with a visit to a friend, which gave me the drive to quit my job in the tech world and dedicate myself full time to traveling and teaching English.
I've visited Pittsburgh for my brother's wedding; spent more time in Berlin with quick side trips to Leipzig, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam; gained a new appreciation for walking around Los Angeles; spent over a month in Guadalajara getting my TEFL certificate; met wonderful Couchsurfers, fellow life travelers, and reconnected with old friends.

There will be one more post from me before the year is out, but for today, enjoy a look at the Panteón de Mezquitán.

Parques Agua Azul y Mirador Independencia

Having been cooped up in classes for most of the month, it was only in my last week that I had time to wander and appreciate the parks Guadalajara has to offer. The city is dotted with green spaces, large and small. On this Wednesday, I visited two- one in the south of the city and another on its northern edge. All thanks to a great BRT line.

Parque Metropolitano

I may have a new favorite place in the world. The Parque Metropolitano in Zapopan can occupy a park lover's month, let alone day. Located a quick 20 minute bus ride from Parque Revolución on Tren Linéa 1 (a bus line, not a train line, no matter the name), the park is full of activities to delight kids and inner kids alike.

Festival Internaciónal del Globo 2015

An easy 2.5 hour drive from Guadalajara, the ITTO graduating class of Nov 2015 decided to check out the International Balloon Festival held in Leon every November. There are worst ways to spend a weekend than in a park enjoying hot air balloons play in the wind. If you ever make your way to this event, do yourself a favor and camp at the park. There's an ample supply of hammocks for sale for you to enjoy throughout your visit.

Murals of Mexico

While I'm working on editing some videos, thought I'd share the murals I came across in Guadalajara, Tequila, and Leon. Some of these have been featured in other posts, but I wanted to collect them all in one place so you can appreciate the variety of styles and locations of the public murals. Murals are an important part of Mexican life. The government commissions many pieces to tell the history of the land for population who aren't as literate in Spanish. The following pieces were all found on the street, maybe commissioned for the business it resides on or just a way for a neighborhood artist to show their stuff.

Tequila

A day spent in the town that has given joy and sorrow to millions across the world, Tequila, Mexico.
Just a short hour drive west of Guadalajara, I would recommend a tour for those interested in visiting the area. Our hostel signed us up with "Guatequi Tur", full of interesting facts if you can understand Spanish or if you have a good translator with you.

Welcome to the tour

Our tour guide, Sr. Armando Ramírez León treated us well and can be contacted at asesorarmando@hotmail.com. Highly recommended!

Mountain Biking with Couchsurfer Francisco

Oh, does my body hurt, but oh, how much fun I had last night.
Francisco invited me to the Paseo Nocturno en las Montañas that happens every Wednesday, organized by Gdl Bikers/MTB. After outfitting me with the requisite gear, we were off to La Primavera.

Día de Halloween

The party started at dusk and continued for many until late into the next day. Mexicans seem to personify the saying, 'Work to live, don't live to work.'
The holidays of Halloween and Día de los Muertos are starting to blend in the larger cities of Mexico. Some traditionalists are not happy with this, as Halloween is seen as an infection on the true spirit of Day of the Dead, which is supposed to be a time to reflect on and celebrate the life of those departed, not an excuse to dress up and party at a bar.

Couchsurfers at Centro Cultural Breton

Another week, another Thursday Couchsurfing meet-up. This one was at the fabulous Centro Cultural Breton, near the Cathedral, but hidden away on a quiet street.

 

Check out this post about Nahuatl

I couldn't help but steer my readers to a post written by my Spanish tutor, Siskia Lagomarsino. She talks about the process of learning one of the native languages of Mexico, Nahuatl, something I have a great interest in picking up in the future myself.
Do yourself a favor and check out her post on Fluent in 3 Months, then check out her own blog, The Polyglotist, for more language learning stories. She's a great tutor, so if you're interested in learning Spanish or Japanese, I'd highly recommend her.

My Daily Walk

For the past three weeks I have had the same routine Monday through Friday, leaving my hostel around 8:30am and getting to school around 8:45. One more week to go until I am a certified teacher and can spend some time exploring greater Guadalajara.

Couchsurfing Día de Muertos Altar

The weekly Couchsurfing meetup took place at a home in the neighboring city of Zapopan. A couple of classmates and I took the 51D bus out to the suburbs to participate in the festivities.

Friday morning rain

The hurricane may have passed, but rain has been threatening every day since Wednesday. The clouds finally broke today and we awoke to heavy and consistent downpour.

Couchsurfing Potluck Dinner

Bernard (Bernie) responded to my Couchsurfing request to show me his city by inviting me to a Wednesday dinner at his place. Coming with the expectation of a few friends around a table, I should have known better growing up in a Mexican family where one person invites a friend, which snowballs into the dinner turning into a little party.

Sunday Wanderings with Tour Guide Karla

Karla contacted me through Couchsurfing, having posted a notice to all those in Guadalajara interested in showing me their favorite parts of the city. We met at Parque Revolucion near my hostel because she said she spends almost every Sunday there. I knew that Juarez had been shut down to car traffic for the day, but I didn't expect to see so many activities as I rounded the corner.

Saturday Night Clubbing

Most towns have a hip area where the kids come out to play, in Guadalajara, this is Chapultepec Avienda. The evening started with the ladies of my class meeting up for a dinner around 7. We walked from the hostel where two of us are staying to the land of restaurants and clubs.

Hurricane Patricia

Traveling can take you on some wonderful adventures. And sometimes nature can meet you on those adventures and give you a spin.
I got to class yesterday around 9am with other students going on about this tropical storm that had just been upgraded to the worst hurricane that had ever been recorded. Knowing we were protected by a couple hundred miles and some mountain ranges, I wasn't too concerned about us. The danger to the coastal regions was quite real, however, and I'm glad that the best case scenario of the hurricane making landfall away from the major population centers and quickly losing intensity happened.
One of my classmates tells me the worst of the wind passed by us around 1am, furniture banging around the rooftop patio of our hostel woke her up. Having experienced a few Seattle windstorms, though, I slept right through and didn't realize anything had been out of place, the staff having set everything to right before I left my room.

I took some videos of my school shutting down in preparation for the event- flooding was a danger here, so it was important that students and teachers were able to get home. Unfortunately, when I uploaded the videos, the sound wasn't working, so I'm going to have to figure out what the problem was if I want to share some moving pictures.

Walking around this morning, I did notice a sign in the park near my hostel still knocked over, so Guadaljara wasn't entirely unaffected.

Weekly Guadalajara Couchsurfing Meetup

The Guadalajaran Couchsurfing community is quite an active bunch. There are language groups that meet weekly (one for each I speak), lots of posts about road trips to Tequila or Puerto Vallarta or other destinations close by, and a weekly meet-up to just hang out at a bar in El Centro.

Transit in L.A.

I've touched on public transportation in a few of my other posts, but I wanted to write one that features all of the different modes available because transit is not something you think about when you think about getting around L.A. True, it can be more of a hassle using buses and the limited Metro system, but the truth is there are more rail lines available to take here than there are in my home city of Seattle, which I've heard called the "Europe of America" more than once.

Public transportation can be very much like the chicken and the egg- it needs a lot of funding to become a useful system, but no one wants to pay for it because they don't use it, because it's not a useful system. Hope springs eternal for we transit nerds, though, so I believe that one day, I won't be laughed at or looked at incredulously when I talk about navigating L.A. without a car.

East of L.A.

The greater Los Angeles area is made up of many small cities with their own downtowns and cultural centers. I happen to have family living in one of the towns east of L.A. and spent Friday night and Saturday morning hanging out here.

Hiking to the Hollywood Sign

The great outdoors. Even in L.A., there's plenty of opportunities to get away from the urban environment, right in the city.

Located in the same park as the Griffiths Observatory, there are a few paths to get to the Hollywood sign, I chose a 6.5 mile hike that starts at Canyon Drive that just happens to be right next to the Bronson Caves, also known as the Batcave from the 60's Batman. Quite a treat.

Vacation Day at Santa Monica Beach

It was a slightly overcast and windy day to head to the beach, but that made the trip all the nicer, avoiding the feeling of being fried by the sun.

Griffiths Observatory in Los Angeles

The City of Angels.
It's a place I've visited a few times in the past due to growing up for a time in Central California, but in all those visits, walking was not an activity I really engaged in. Friends and family with cars always shuttled me around when coming to visit. For good reason, as Los Angeles might be the most car-centric city in the world. Cars are the dominant force on the road, and everyone knows this, so you really must be aware at all times of traffic signals and the potential for cars to make a right turn into your walking path.
It's a bit unnerving.
All that being said, West Hollywood is actually a nice place to walk around. My friend happens to have an apartment near a lot of neat tourist destinations, all of which I shunned in favor of hiking up to the Griffith Observatory about an hour and a half away from her.

Art Around Seattle

A brief respite in my city of origin, the graffiti scene in Seattle isn't as rambunctious as it is in Berlin, but there are some interesting pieces you can find if you keep your eyes open as you wander the streets.

Copenhagen Couchsurfing Host's Tour

I was so fortunate to be hosted by a wonderful couple living near the center of Copenhagen. My timing couldn't have been better, as they were packing up to move to a new location the coming weekend. The morning of my arrival, I was greeted with coffee (brought from the husband's, Thomas, favorite roastery in Southern California) and fresh backed bread. After an overnight bus ride from Berlin, these touches of hospitality were greatly appreciated. The wife, Karina, was full of wonderful ideas that took me to some tourist spots and some spots off the beaten path. She had grabbed a map of the city and we spent about half an hour marking interesting spots to visit. Being a world traveler herself, it was great talking about the differences in culture you see when flying around the world and the things that makes your home feel comfortable to you.

Gaming in Copenhagen

Let's hear it for nerdy spaces around the world. While on my Danish Design tour featured in my last post, I rode past Bastard Cafe in the Center on Rådhusstræde and I couldn't help stopping in for a coffee and cookie.

Located in the foyer of Copenhagen cultural center, Huset KBH, they are dedicated to offering a gathering place for all Copenhageners to relax with friends.

Crafty Copenhagen

Choosing a tour can be difficult when you're looking to see the city outside of the normal tourist destinations. Due to my short stay in the city, I was looking for a tour that would give me a good overview of the city outside of the famous Center.

Wandering Copenhagen

For only being in the city two days, I feel I got a good taste of the people and culture. Copenhagen is a capitol city, but it feels much calmer and quieter than Berlin. The biking culture blew me away and it was hard returning the bike I rented for a day since it was so nice to be able to ride around without the fear I'm used to in the States.
I'd love to return one day and get to explore some of the neighborhoods I rushed through with my limited time.

Miscellaneous Berlin

Sometimes pictures just don't fit in a themed post, but that's no reason not to share the interesting sites encountered in Berlin.

Getting Around: Berlin

I get around, around Berlin by way of the super handy public transportation system. For a modest 79.50 euro a month, unlimited transit options can, too, be yours. Ticket prices vary depending on the zones you are traveling in- A, B, C. An A/B ticket is the most common, as it covers the entire center of the city, zone C taking up only the outskirts. If you're flying into/out of  Schönefeld or want to visit Potsdam, you're gonna want a C ticket.

Book Stores

I didn't intend my trip to Berlin to be so permeated with literary adventures, but being a lover of words, it's not all that surprising that I would find myself surrounded by the many, many opportunities to engage with the written word.

Surreales Museum für Industrielle Objekte

It's hard to walk around Berlin without running into a museum. There is a lot of history and culture in this city and 

 The entry draws you in, giving just a taste of the wonder found inside.

A weekend in Leipzig

A short 2 hour bus ride from Berlin, Leipzig is a fabulous day or weekend trip. I'm lucky enough to have a friend from the States who immigrated here a few years ago with his wife, who is from Germany. We spent a few days wandering around with his daughter, showing a family friendly side to Leipzig.

Monster Ronson's Ichiban Karaoke

Karaoke. A dividing line among friends. Some love the public displays of disaster, others avoid it with every fiber of their being.

I am solidly in the former category.

I am proud to say that I have now sung karaoke in every country I have visited. It's a goal I didn't know I had until now, but it is a goal that will carry me, and perhaps this blog, forward.

Späti-crawl

Berlin has a thriving street culture, promoted in large part by the seeming lax attitude people have about acceptable behavior in public. There are no open container laws, people of all stripes can be seen enjoying an beer while walking down the sidewalk, and Spätkaufs are usually open 20-24 hours a day to grab a bite or drink.

An ode to laziness

The other day I wandered down Torstrasse heading west. I had no destination in mind, but chose to turn only when the street stopped me from going further. Three parks drew me in, each delightful in their own way, a respite from the busy street I was ambling down.
Berlin seems to be made up of a series of parks, buildings fitting in where there happens to be space. The amount of green space in the city makes it feel human in a way most American cities can’t capture. The acknowledgement that people live here and want to spend time relaxing. There are so many opportunities to stop and sit, no shame about looking like a vagrant.
It can be difficult to get out of the American mindset of productivity. The feeling that, if you aren’t producing something useful to the community, you are being a bad person. It’s no wonder the American entertainment business is so successful, we need distraction from the guilt that permeates our every minute. I’d thought that I had escaped a lot of that poisonous thought, but swimming in the muck leaves its trace.

Literatur Fest Berlin

The annual festival celebrating the written word started on Wed Sep 9th. Last night I attended the Opening of the Vision 2030 program, The Future of the City.
I was quite excited to hear the opinions of writers and scientists who live and study the urban environment talk about their perspective on what direction cities are heading. Unfortunately, even though the program was featured in the English speakers section and was advertised as 'Consecutive translation in English', only two of the panelists spoke in English, which was then translated to German, but the same was not done for the two panelists and moderator who only spoke German.
What I was able to understand was interesting and I'm glad I made the trek out to the Berliner Festspiele Haus.

Viktoria Park

Wandering around the Kreuzberg neighborhood this afternoon, I came upon a park with a winding trail up a hill. Hills are quite rare in Berlin, so I figured this was just one of the larger Tueflsburgs (sp?), mounds of detritus from WWII covered with dirt.
That turned out not to be the case, as I reached the top and came upon the Prussian Memorial to soldiers killed during the Napoleonic Wars.






The view from the top was quite nice.





The waterfall pictured escaped my notice on my walk up because I came into the park from the opposite direction. But I couldn't leave without enjoying a bit of time sitting nearby and listening to the rushing water.





And a great statue was waiting to be admired at the bottom of the waterfall.

Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin

Libraries, my one true love.

I've been in the city for almost a week and I was so busy playing tourist with other friends who are visiting that I hadn't gotten a chance to seek out this city's book repositories.

Berlin is a very literary city. Homages to Goethe pop up all over the place, bookstores (which will be another post) are thick on the ground, and I'm even fortunate enough to be here during the annual Literature Festival! But I feel the heart of a city lies in the library, the availability and different kinds of resources that are offered can tell you a lot about what the people consider important.

Afternoon Karaoke

Wandering around Mauer Park flea market, I was surprised by the sight of a crowd in the distance and faint music drifting across the field.
Lo and behold, it's a karaoke concert! A crowd unlike I've ever seen, beer vendors plying their trade, a more pleasant way to spend the day I can't imagine.

In Transit

Traveling can lead to a lot of "hurry up and wait". 

Airports, for the most part, are bland waypoints that can lead to existential angst, making one wonder why you have decided to embark on a journey that moments before you were pronouncing your life's mission. Heathrow very much makes me question the meaning of life.

But other airports are trying to make the transition period a little less bleak.

Cafe Pettirosso

I moved back to Seattle in 2001 and have lived here ever since. I have lived in the Capitol Hill/First Hill neighborhoods for that entire time, save one year.

I have walked passed Cafe Pettirosso, opened in 2000, innumerable times, I have eaten at every food establishment around it, and even had a friend working there for about a year, yet never had I gone inside. I didn't purposefully avoid it, it was just one of those places that I just never get around to trying.

Until I did.

I reached out to a friend I hadn't talked to in a while and she said we should meet up at the Cafe, since it's become her regular place.

The small storefront hides a spacious interior. The pastries were so buttery and just sweet enough for my savory preferring tastes.
And so, even after 14 years, there are surprises to discover in my backyard.

Summit Block Party IV

A beautiful weekend on Capitol Hill, where the fourth annual Summit Block Party took place on Saturday.

The event started as a way for residents of the Summit Inn, an artistic community, to show off their art and music to each other.

Over the years, more and more friends started showing up, until this year they had to get official permits and block off the street.

This is likely to be the last year, the Summit Inn got a new owner, but it's hardly the last community party that shows off the talents of the neighborhood.

Capitol Hill Library

I am proud to boast about the Seattle Public Library system.
Seattle has been in the top 3 most literate cities since the rankings started in 2003, a few times reaching the top spot. We love books, bookstores, librarians, so of course we invest in our libraries.
The downtown branch is famous for it's Rem Koolhaus architecture. Since the day it's opened I have referred to it as our secular temple. But the neighborhood branches are what really connect the city to the system.
We're able to order books from anywhere in the system and get them delivered to our local branch, free of charge. That includes movies and music- one of the last repositories of physical media in our city.
Well, I was dropping off some material at the Capitol Hill branch, my fabulous local, when I noticed a shelf of materials that didn't need a library card to check out. A library honor system, which just set my heart aflutter.

Doing a tour of the neighborhood branches (map) is a great way to get a feel for our city. Each branch really reflects the community that surrounds it. And each branch has amazing architecture- from the classic Carnegies of the early 1900's to modern beauties.
Depending on the season, you may even be able to participate in a mini-game, like the Passport program, which encouraged residents to visit each other's neighborhoods.

Traveling

Many people talk about their love of travel, few follow up with action.

There seems to me to be a perception in American culture that traveling for fun is the domain of the very rich. Sure, we vacation, but traveling to me is greater than vacationing.
A vacation implies a break from life, but I don't look at travel in that light. To me, travel is a part of a well-lived life, not separate from it. I do not travel to party, though my Couchsurfing adventures have introduced me to a few parties I otherwise wouldn't have gotten to experience. I do not travel to just check out museums, though I do love seeing the culture that a city chooses to display and highlight- in the same way I love wandering the streets of Seattle and stumbling upon a small gallery, or taking refuge in the Seattle Art Museum after a stressful day of work- these are parts of a successful trip, but not the raison d'etre.
I see guided tours of a city like a visit to a museum. I love history and most guided tours are simply a history lesson of the place you are currently standing in. Sure, I could research the history of a city and the destinations I'm interested in, but personal stories from a guide about the city they live in now is a part of the tour experience, and gives a perspective on how people relate the history of a place to their present. One tour I recommend to everyone who visits me in Seattle is the Underground Tour. A fun-filled hour that gives the best flavor of Seattle's founding and a perspective on how locals currently see our city. It's tour I go on myself every few years.

Travel is about experiences. I travel to connect myself with the world outside my apartment. And I do come from somewhere, Seattle if you were confused about the title. That history influences my perspective of the world and, if you know anything about Seattle, gives you a little understanding of that perspective.