Day One - Arrival, the Pyramids & San Miguel de Allende

DAY ONE, THE LONGEST DAY

After meeting and checking in and singing at the airport we migrated to the gate and waited for our slightly Delayed flight.Whether or not the kids were able to sleep, they didn't take much convincing to at least try.

We arrived safely and sleepy and headed through customs, after scanning your bag everyone has to push a button that either gives you a green light or a red one, red meaning they randomly will search your bag... out of the 45 of us, only one of us got the red light, and the winner was Emi F.

We met our guides and bus driver, Fernando, Pierre and Roberto and we were off on our adventure.

After short bus ride filled with some cultural and historical info from our guide we stopped at a hotel at the pyramids for a breakfast buffet. We were serenaded by a mariachi named Miguel, who we sang for after breakfast. He loved it so much he went to get his phone so that his daughter could hear us and also his lasso, so we could sing again and he could dance for us.

From here we went to the entrance for the pyramids, our guide Fernando gave us a walkthrough on history and other interesting facts about the site.He told us that anytime we see smaller pebbles in the stucco, that it is a spot that has been restored by archeologists, and that these pyramids are ones that the Spanish did not destroy, and the reason for this was that the Spanish never saw these ones. A local artist showed us some insect eggs on cactus where the red dye for the pyramids came from. As we were getting our talk the vendors started to circle like sharks, I think the bright shirts were a giveaway that we were tourists. Then we were off, first to climb the pyramid of the moon, which everyone made it up to the top and then to the pyramid of the sun. The pyramid of the sun was a great lesson in altitude for the kids as the base of the pyramid was already 5000ft above sea level. At the top of the sun you can see pictures of the kids making wishes with their finger in the center.Some of the kids bought random things, from jaguar whistles and bags, to obsidian knives.It is a good time watching the kids haggling and utilizing their Spanish from school,

The bus ride after the pyramids was one filled with sleeping. Lunch was another great meal, both in taste and also in portions. The kids had a few options and were having a great time sharing bites and tasting everything.

After another bus ride and some down time / settling time at the hotel, we walked into town for our dinner, tortilla soup, beef fillet, and caramel crepe for dessert, though many of us were still stuffed from lunch. Back to the hotel and quickly to bed as it had been a very long day and we were all ready for some zzzzzz's.