Changes in Latitudes

A week before Christmas I flew into Mexico City to meet Marius and his family for our nearly three week excursion through southern Mexico. We spent our first three days in Mexico City, and were led by a guide the whole trip. We began with a tour of the historical area of the city, which included the Metropolitan Cathedral, remains of ruins under the city, and the museum of archaeology for a brief history lesson of the Aztec and Mayan civilizations. [Inside the Metropolitan Cathedral] [Mexico City] We had one free day to do explore on our own, but we opted for a tour of Taxco. Taxco is known for its silver mines. We expected a guide of the silver mining process, but instead were told to put on hard hats, listen to the man tap on different cups for us to guess which was the purest silver, and ended up taking a shot of tequila. Their show room was full of salesmen and more offers of tequila. When we finally got into the town of Taxo, we felt taken back by about 50 years. Most

2014 was kicked off with a snorkel trip with Marius, his parents and his sister (Katrine), followed by a 2-dive scuba trip with Katrine the next day. The visibility was awesome and the variety of marine life that I had not yet seen in the wild was remarkable!  [One of the best pictures from the GoPro] [Marius] Marius was supposed to go diving with us, but he woke up feeling ill. Katrine and I had two dives. The first one was around 19 m depth at an area called Tortugas. In the first five minutes once we had descended, we spotted two bull sharks! There were also multiple sea turtles; I think they were hawksbill or green sea turtles. I couldn't see the difference. Green and spotted moray eels were also a highlight! The second dive was around 12 m, much more shallow, and mainly reef fish and sea turtles. Spotted a few lion fish - invasive and poisonous! After the dive I bought the video that the dive shop's videographer made, but I have uploaded my footage from my

So, it's been a long time since I last posted. In November Marius and I were trying to sort out my visa when we found out that since my student visa expired, I was supposed to be back in the US for a 90 day "quarantine period". It came as a big shock and surprise. I arrived in time for Thanksgiving in Connecticut - my first Thanksgiving stateside since 2008! I'm spending most of my time at home searching for a job. I had an interview on Thanksgiving day with a lab in Bergen, and they ended up choosing me for the position; however, they had to change their mind a couple of days later because of my visa situation. It was upsetting, but at least now I know I can land a job! Even though I wasn't home for Christmas time I got to help pick out our tree (which was from Home Depot this year) and be with Mom for her birthday. I went to Mexico for 20 days with Marius' family for Christmas time...will post about that after.