Lay of the Land

Colourful - this place is colourful!  I have landed in a town called Tequisquiapan ("Tekis") which is in the hills 3 hours north of Mexico City.  I was picked up at the airport along with 3 young Englishmen and an Australian woman and we were swept up into days of welcoming activities and tons of help to get settled.

Here is our street and the large (brown) metal gate into our complex:

 One of the 2 gates is for cars, and the other for entering by foot... Everyone lives behind walls so that the streets, as you go along, seem quite bare.  We, like everyone else, have a central sunny coartyard inside the gate....My apartment is fine - and an astounding improvement from the tenement horror that was my situation in China. I picked up some Mexican blankets and they have done wonders to brighten up the place

 A fun event in those early days was a drive into the hills around the area and a wild, wet exploration of a series of caves that have water blasting down through the rock inside.  There was no way to take a picture inside the cave but here is a snap from outside.  The water was neck high in places and one had to hold onto ropes to keep from going under. Then, outside, there was a lovely river that came out from the caves and was great to lounge in  (the water in both places was lukewarm).

The main square of town is a lovely spot, lined with restaurants and shops 

That is a poor street dog, of which there are hundreds, trying to survive.

                                                                               Charming, eh?
                                                          Will go for now - mountains of marking await me.
                                                                                  Adios!  KMG