Que maravilloso.

I walked an ungodly number of miles this weekend. Saturday, I walked to UNINTER (probably about two miles), back to home (+2), to the Cathedral to meet a group of gringos to visit El Salto de San Antón (+2.5), and then back home (it felt like ten; probably more like three, all steeply uphill). I was exhausted, and my legs ached like I had been half-run over by a steam roller. Naturally, the next day was the excursion to Teotihuacan, where I scaled three pyramids. I should probably treat myself to a taxi today, but instead I'm going to exercise and then walk home. And I might end up walking somewhere else, too.

I admit that I have a problem. What's Step Two?

El Salto de San Antón is a 35m waterfall that's basically just outside of downtown Cuernavaca. The river plunges from a shallow valley into a round pool at the bottom of a deep ravine. The entire ravine is filled with butterflies and vegetation, and birds swooped above the pool and bathed themselves at the edge of the falls. It was really beautiful and serene, only slightly tainted by the garbage that gets washed into Cuernavaca's waterways every time it rains. There were hand-written messages not to pollute. Mexican environmentalists have got a lot of work ahead of them.

Teotihuacan was spectacular. The Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon are huge, and I still can't conceive of people making them thousands of years ago. I can't conceive of people making them now. The vista of the pyramids set against a distant mountain was mystical, and the view from the top of the pyramids was spectacular. I managed to break away from the group and go exploring on my own, thank God. I blew two rolls of films (I've used four since I got here; I need to cut back). The pyramids invoked what I think of as the Cathedral Effect: when you're confronted with someone so awe-inspiring, you can't help but feel a little spiritual. All sorts of religions use the Cathedral Effect to help convince agnostics; it's a little depressing that something that has created so many intensely beautiful monuments has also lured people into social systems that universally require sacrifice to the priests - er, the Gods. Because the priests sure don't benefit from it. No.

Still, the thought of what Teotihuacan must have been like at its peak is incredible - huge, elaborate monuments; one of the largest cities in the world; the center of cultural influence for miles and miles. There were vendors all over the place in there, trying to sell the usual array of junk, but they actually served a purpose this time: many of them played little flutes that they were trying to sell. The music, and the hum of voices in a language I don't really understand, lent a very historic feel to place. It was easy to look down from the pyramids and imagine 50,000 people standing below, focused with religious fervor; or to walk down the Avenue of the Dead and think that some of the vendors were undoubtedly descended from Teotihuacanos, and that they could be selling crap - I mean, handcrafted objects of art - in the same place that their forefathers once did.

All in all, a very interesting trip. I got to try pulque, too, which is an alcoholic beverage made from the maguey plant. Pulque is more or less a wine made from the juice of the maguey; mezcal is the liquor made from the same; and tequila is a particular kind of mezcal made near the town of Tequila, in Jalisco (which isn't too far away from Cuernavaca...). I thought it was pretty good, but a lot of people were disgusted. Mmm. Gotsta find me some more pulque.

I also got homesick - really homesick - for the first time last night. The combination of my on-going frustration with Spanish and the sheer unreality of standing on top of a 2,000 year old pyramid finally made me realize that I'm a long way from home. And then, after not having internet access for a couple of days, I arrived to find that I hadn't gotten an email or even a comment here. Not that that's anybody's fault; I had just been looking forward to it as a cure for my homesickness, and it wasn't there. Anyway, I got an email from my mom not long after, and you know how moms have a way of making their kids feel better.

Also, I began el Programa Amigo today, which pairs an extrañero like me with a Mexican student. I arrived at the appointed time and sat while, one by one, people were paired off according to prearranged groups. Finally, there remained just one Mexican girl. She whispered with the program director for awhile, casting nervous glances my way, before we were introduced. Oh, fuckin' great. I felt like the last kid picked in kickball. Not helping the situation is the fact that I was having my laundry done at a cleaners, so all I had on at the moment was a plain white undershirt - meanwhile, Maricela was looking extremely fashionable, made-up, and anorexic. Not at all disposed to bowling. So much for the program's claim to pair people who will get along well. And she had a test to get to, so I missed out on Alicia's lunch for nothing. We have a meeting tomorrow sometime, so I'm going to try to make a slightly better impression as Maricela is probably my best shot at getting a foot in the door with Mexican society. I also signed up to put in a little bit of time at a local orphanage (finally, people who speak Spanish on my level), so I guess if Maricela decides I'm hopeless I can just chill with the niños. I bet they would love bowling.

Also, I finally did the little kiss on the cheek thing. Clarification for those of you who haven't been observing this habit for ten days: don't actually kiss the girl. Just put your cheeks together and make a little smoochin' sound. I felt like a moron when I did it.