Bow Wow Wow Yippy Yo Yippy Yay

A funny thing I discovered a couple weeks ago while searching for my blog on the web...if you google "Bailey's Big Adventure" you will come up with a bunch of blogs about DOGS! lol I thought that was hilarious. The first one says "My Jack Russell Terrier Bailey is a very adventurous little K-9" and another says "Bailey, a cream poodle, had been placed with me because he had been acquired by someone hoping to use him for therapy work but thought he was too rambunctious…and yes, he was." So not only are they about dogs, they are about male dogs. haha Oh! I found a blog about girl dog: "Bailey did great. She generally stayed within sight, always hung with one of the other dogs, and came when called (yes, she gets a cookie EVERY time she comes to the whistle and since she loves Happy Hips chicken breast, no problems)." Another: "Well, Bailey is a little pip, as my friend Tammy would say." Oh is that right Tammy? lol  Here's one where the dog actually wrote the blog! : "My mom and dad cam home from Petco and gave my brother Baxter and I some raw hide treats. We had been very good dogs, so we deserved a special treat."

I think that my sister, Autumn, thought of the blog title "Bailey's Big Adventure", so I guess I should thank her for such a great idea. Who would have thunk? :)

Anyways, who doesn't love dogs?

Hachi, my neighbor's adorable dog.

Leo the Lion! My family's little devil.

Riley! My family's wonderful Wheaten Terrier.

Ringo! Brandi's dog (my oldest sister), with my beautiful little niece, Sophie. :)

Sandy! My girlfriend/twin/the dog of my sister, Autumn, and her bf Steve.

Side note: here are the pictures from the hike with the girls two weeks ago. It was fun!

A Trip to D.F.

This descanso (my weekend off) was one of the most enjoyable ones yet. Friday I spent most of the day walking around downtown Cuernavaca and Saturday I visited Mexico city with Wesleigh! Wesleigh is a fellow volunteer who is originally from the best city in the world, SEATTLE! haha Wesleigh, Meghan and I often brag about how great Seattle is to the other volunteers. As a side-note/random fun fact about the Northwest, out of all of the NPH volunteers (about 34 I think?) in the 9 countries, 16 are from the Northwest. That's more than any other area in the US and even in the world. Yay for the great Northwest! Anyways...Other than being picked up in Mexico City 4 months ago when I arrived, I haven't had the chance to explore the city so I was excited to finally make time for it this weekend. Wesleigh and I took a ruta (city bus) down to the Pullman station (it's like a greyhound station) to catch a bus to Mexico city. After the 1 hour bus ride, we hopped on the metro system to head to the zocalo, or the main square. To figure out where to go, we used a magazine article titled "Mexico City Unmasked: 20 insider tips to demystify the metropolis" that Meghan's mom sent her (thanks Meghan's mom!). Our first stop was to a rooftop cafe called "El Mayor". The word we used to describe it was "swanky". We joked about how we felt like scrubs compared to the other people at the cafe. I enjoyed a iced chai tea and a Cappresse panina and Wes ordered a panini as well. The food and view were great, but what I really enjoyed was just relaxing and conversing with a friend. :) For the rest of the time, we just walked around the city. Some areas reminded me of downtown Portland or Seattle, except there are WAY more people in Mexico city. The magazine article said "Known locally as D.F., for Distrito Federal, Mexico City sprawls across almost 600 square miles-- it's roughly the size of Houston but packs in four times as many people." We stopped at a bakery called Pasteleria Ideal, which was founded in 1927. It is a self-serve bakery, like most bakeries in Mexico, so you grab a tray and some prongs and go at it! Apparently we were a little too eager when we got in trouble for trying to take cookies out of a cupboard that apparently was off-limits. The best part was when they packed all of our cookies into a cute little box and tied a ribbon around it. On the bus ride home, Wes and I took a bite of each of our cookie choices. They were a little dry (typical for pan dulce in Mexico) but my favorite was the one with a little caramel in the middle. All in all, my first trip to Mexico City was a great experience and I can't wait to go again to discover more of it's hidden gems.

Here is the link to the pictures!

Today (Sunday), I walked down the street with all of the volunteers who have the same descanso as me (Wes, Sarah, Alli & Natascha) to use the pool at a nearby hotel. It was really relaxing to just sit in the sun, read magazines and listen to music while drinking a mango margarita. I made sure to cover my back from the sun, but I guess I forgot about my legs because right now they are lobster red. Nothing is as bad as when I burn my back though, so this is no biggie.

I'm so grateful for this wonderful descanso weekend. I think next time we might go on this 10 hour hike....haha I hope I don't die!

Mexico City!

Wesleigh and I at El Mayor cafe.

The view from the roof of the hotel in Cuernavaca.

Kids in da House!

Whitney is in our house, playing with two little boys who are the children of our coworkers. It is so great to have screaming kids running around the house, talking about farts. haha It feels like home, since my mom ran an in-home daycare for most of my life. I love the high schoolers here, but I sure do miss being around children all of the time. Luckily I get to visit all of the little kids at the orphanage in Miacatlán once a week for my job as Communications Officer. ...ope, just got hit in the face with a ball that one of the boys kicked. Good times. lol

Well, this weekend I'm working, so I'll be with the high schoolers. I think the women's director and I are going to take a group of the girls to Tepoztlan for a hike. I'm excited! I'll have to take pictures and post them this weekend.