Enjoying the wonders of Queretaro state....

Dear friends and family,

I know that is has been a while since my last blog and I deeply apologize for that, but sometimes you just are being kept busy with work and other great activities then blogging…..

So in this blog I will try to recap only those experiences which I think are definitely worth mentioning.

Firstly I would like to mention that our strategic water planning project is well under way for 2 weeks now and we are making some good progress. During the past week our focus was primarily on interviews with the Water commission directors and managers. The outcome of the interviews will be taken into account when we will assess the current state of the “Agua cerca de todos” program via a so called SWOT analysis. (Nothing more than a framework in which the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threaths of a program or organization can be assessed).

The emphasis for this week will be on the consolidation of all the interview feedback and already start looking in potential improvement areas, or recommendations to make the program become more sustainable.

Enough about the project for now. I think some of you will be more interested in the things I have be doing besides working from 9-5 at the CEA office.

I will share of my highlights with you of the past week and weekend.

Last Saturday was quit a busy day for me as I had two great activities planned. One outdoor and one semi-indoor activity.

With the total team we went to see the Pena de Bernal, which is the 3^rd tallest monolith rock in the world after one in Gibraltar and an other one somewhere in Australia, I was told by the guide. So I was really anxious to have my first encounter with a monolith rock ;). What in gods name is a Monolith rock? At least I have never heard of it before. For those who are really interested in geology some more information about Porphyry Monolith can be found on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyry_%28geology%29

To give you a bit of a feeling of this wonderful rock and its magic, I will just share some pictures with you.

Pena de Bernal

Halfway the route of my 2 hour during Monolith rock climbing experience with Kenj (Japan) and Paula and Marcella (Mexico).

Anybody can help me here with the translation on the "rock" sign board.

At the top of the world..... Nothing else to say here

A local dish, Gorditas a la Bernal. This is a famous dish for the region. Look at the color of the corn. They are using blue/black corn to create these delicious goridatas. Goriditas can be filled with almost anything you like from pollo to puerco, quesos and verduras. As long as you finish it with a lots of spicy chilly. You can imagine that i really like the food here..

At the back you can see Christian from New Zealand ordering my personal favorite goridita with pollo and quesos. And of course chili to be added.

After having stuffed myself with 3 gorditas, costing 50 euro cent each, I was ready for my second experience of the day.

Queretaro vs America 

Yes, soccer it is. The local team of Queretaro playing against one of the biggest clubs in Mexico for years. ,while Queretaro only recently joined the Primera liga Mexico. So you can consider this match as Ajax playing against PEC Zwolle for example. As not all of my fellow CSC mates share the same passion for football as I do, only a select group of 5 people went to see this match.

In the stadium with Chandru (India), Carlos (Mexico) and Christian again.

Don´t blame me for the quality as it was shot with my Iphone and I have no flash.

To give you the best impression of the atmosphere in the stadium have a look at this movie. Unfortunately you see the America fans singing and not those of Queretaro. The fans of Queretaro are called the Gallos Blancos (White roosters).  Don´t ask me why they are called like this, but now and then you can hear the rooster sound through the stadium speakers.

As I said before it was David against Goliath and indeed the Gallos Blancos had no chance this match and lost by 4-0. Anyway, it was a great experience and the beer size of 1 liter made the loss less painful.

The next day, Sunday, was quit a busy day as well as we had planned for city trips in the Queretaro states to the cities of San Miguel de allende and  Guanajuato. 

That was difficult to pronounce was it not. Now try again

Guan a juato. Don´t pronounce the j as as j but as an h. Very well.

As the cities do not have anything really special, besides the mummy museum in Guanajuato, the atmosphere is amazing with colorful colonial buildings and a very relaxing pace of living which just wants you to meander around a bit.

Enjoy some of the pictures I have selected for you.

Guanajuato

Picture taken from parking area near the Mummy museum

University building of Guanajuato and the Juarez theater, not bad

Guanajuato street view.

Father and daughter in front of the local church. Apparently the little girl has other interest than praying to god.....

Leaving Guanajuato behind and taking a 1,5 hours bus ride to San Miguel makes you tired...;)

Sleeping from left to right Avashaloum (Israel), Amy June (Hong Kong), Kenji (Japan), Chandru (India) and Anna from Russia.

Finally the cathedral of San Miguel in sight.

San Miguel street view:

And after a long, exhausting, but good fun day. A final group photo. I am sorry that I am the only person not laughing at this picture, I will do my best the next time.

So overall I had a great weekend and good two weeks, I hope you all enjoyed some of these pictures. Of course their is so much more to share with all of you, but I will save some of that when I come back mid September.

Adios amigos.

P.S. Apparently the comments section on my blog is not working properly and I have no idea how I can fix this. Really sorry for that. Of course you can always send me an email.

The correct answer to my previous question on how much water fits in a water tank is 10.000 liters.

So mum you were right and therefore I will bring you a local present from that area.

#ibmcsc Mexico 1