Condado Fam-Gym :)

Finally we got to Puebla and the gymnastics club where I will be helping out for a while! Condado Fam-Gym has two different gyms, one is run by the son Marox and the other is run by the daughter Rosmy. I am helping out with classes in both of the gyms, plus some kindergartens. This is my first meeting with the bigger gym they have. It is really different from Tempos in Costa Rica. One of the theories of Condado is using different colors to stimulate the kids.

We have classes with younger kids. Here in the smaller gym.

Some older kids, and also kids with special needs.

Also there is a big group of teenagers and grown-ups. At the moment we are preparing a performance with this group and another specially invited teenager group.

Condado used to be a gym for artistic gymnastics, and still they use a lot of the equipments.

Condado has a lot of cooperation with Denmark and Danish teams. The National Danish Performance Team and other Danish teams often come to Puebla or Mexico getting help from the Condado family. The gym has also had some Danish instructors coming to Puebla to help, but I am the first Norwegian to help out in the club. Can you see a difference from the first picture?

  In addition to helping with the normal classes we have arranged for some extra workshops for some kindergarten classes, and for some specially invited from the club.

Thank you Edgardo and Condado family for letting me come to your club!

Exploring Chiapas!

After New Year Edgardo and I would travel a little. We would go further south east to see some places in Chiapas. The first night we arrived in Tuxtla we stayed with some of his family. The next morning we met with one of his old gymnasts and his mother who took us for a great day in Chiapa de Corzo. First we had a nice tour in the Cañón del Sumidero.

At the end of the tour we got a great view of the Árbol de Navidad.

After the boat trip we walked a little bit around in the little city. Now I also have another gymnast to do some gymnastics with :)

We also made a visit to the Christ of Chiapas in Tuxtla. This was a huge building, and quite different than the other Christ statues I have seen. It is actually taller than the statue in Rio de Janeiro!

We ended a wonderful day with these two at a great restaurant, Las Pichanchas, who are known for their special pineapple drink, Pumpo!

At night we took a bus to get to San Cristóbal, where we would spend the next day. We walked around the relaxing downtown, and up many steps to the many churches they have in this city.

We also visited the market where I found so many different kinds of beans!

A little bit outside the city we went to see Las Grutas de Rancho Nuevo.

When we arrived back in the city we met this guy who invited us to see a theatrical play about the Maya'n emperor Pakal.

The play was in Maya'n, but it was subtitled in both English and Spanish. It was an interesting play giving some knowledge about the history of the Maya's, and the costumes where amazing!

We took another bus to get to Comitan where another friend of Edgardo would meet us. The next day him and his girlfriend took us to 5 Lagos de Montebello. The nature was just so fantastic, and the colors of the water was so clear!

At one of the lakes we actually crossed the border to Guatemala.

We spent a lot of time at the lakes, and at the last lake we even rented a raft made by cork tree and paddled to a little island. From there we hurried so that we would have time to go see El Chiflon, a huge waterfall! It was an amazing view, and so powerful!

Thanks to everyone who helped making our trip to Chiapas so wonderful :)

Visiting my brother Edgardo and his family in Ixtepec!

Now it was time to visit Edgardo's family! We headed to Ixtepec to stay with his parents. His sister and her family were also staying there since Christmas. The next day they took us to visit a nice pool, Ojo de Agua.

After a nice and relaxing time at the pool Edgardo and I were invited to a wedding. I would get to experience some nice mexican traditions :)

Like dancing with the bottle!

I got to see a lot of nice traditional costumes.

And I even got to try a mexican dance with the bride.

After the wedding the party continued in Edgardo's house where his niece was celebrating her birthday!

The next day we went to Juchitan de Zaragoza to visit the market. This was a big market with two floors inside, and much more outside! Here they were selling lots of traditional costumes, shoes and foods.

On our way back we stopped by a pottery in Ixtaltepec.

This man had been working with pottery since he was a young boy. He explained the art and he even let me try ;) It was not as easy as he made it look!

The next morning we got up before 6 am to start preparing the dinner for New Years Eve. 

This pig became one of the best dinners I have ever tasted! It was prepared in this horno de leña for several hours, and the smell when we took it out was heavenly!

Everyone coming to the party brought a case of beer, and of course I wouldn't be any less mexican ;)

A tradition in Mexico for New Years is to make Viejo's. They make these dummies looking like old people and fill them with fireworks. At midnight they light them up to represent the end of the old year.

Of course we had some piñatas to try to hit! The kids get to start :)

After all the kids have tried it's the grown-up's turn!

The rest of the night was a lot of dancing and fun in the street :D

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! ¡Muchas gracias a todos!

MEXICO!! First stop Oaxaca de Juarez ;)

I am so lucky to have good friends in Mexico! It was so easy to arrive. I was meet at the airport by Rosmy and Marox who I will be helping teaching gymnastics in Condado Fam-Gym in January. First I was going to meet up with Edgardo and spend New Years with him and his family! Edgardo met me in Oaxaca de Juarez where we would spend some time as tourists. Our first trip went to Monte Alban, an old Zapotecan pyramid village.

After walking around in Monte Alban for a while we got hungry and decided to go back downtown and find the market. People say you have not been in Oaxaca before you have eaten in this market! It was a great experience. The market was packed with people eating, preparing food, selling drinks or just walking through to get a look at the culture. We decided to try 3 different meats, and my favorite was the chorizzo!

In addition to the meat we ordered I got to try something new. An old lady came over to us with a basket full of chapulines! Of course I had to try fried grashoppers :D Here is my taco with chapulines, onions and chile.

The next day we decided to take a tour where we would be driven in a van to five different places. Our first stop was at El Árbol del Tule. This is a huge tree in the church grounds in the town center of Santa Maria del Tule. It was 58 meters around the trunk!

We moved on to a little village called Teotitlan del Valle where we got to se the prosess of making rugs. From spinning the wool, natural coloring and to woving the rug.

Some of the rugs they use several weeks making. I also got to try weaving ;)

Our next stop was a little farm where they produce Mezcal, a typical alcoholic beverage in Oaxaca. It is made from maguey plant native to Mexico. When it is ready to get prosessed it looks like a giant pineapple.

Of course I was chosen for some traditional mezcal testing. Here I am ready for a shot of mezcal which is normally finished off with a bite of orange with sal de gusano and a whole gusano! Gusano is a larvae!

We moved on to another archeological site, Mitla, which supposedly was the most important village to the Zapotecs.

After Mitla we grabbed some lunch at a typical mexican buffet before we moved on to our last stop. We spent the rest of the day at Hieve el Agua where we enjoyed the view from the top of two cliffs that look like waterfalls. These cliffs are made over several years of fresh water springs containing calcium carbonate running down the cliffs leaving excess minerals to the cliff.

Of course there was some time to practice gymnastics on the edge of the cliffs :)

Here is a view from above. You can see two fresh water pools where it is possible to go for a little swim.

It was a long but great day! ¡Mucas gracias Edgardo!

Relaxing in Manuel Antonio :)

After canyoning we drove our guides home to Dominical, and continued to Manuel Antonio. Our guides recommended dinner at Ronnie's Place. Here we would get the best seafood with an amazing view. They were right about that!

The next morning we decided to walk in the national park on our own. Here is a view from the top!

In the evening we had booked a trip on a catamaran. I didn't take too many pictures on the trip, but we got to see dolphins, go snorkeling, jumping from the top of the catamaran, got a nice sunset on the ocean and a good dinner with drinks!

It was a nice and relaxing end to our stay in Manuel Antonio.