I got a little too excited at Walmart tonight when I realized that the milk expires when I do! Travis just rolled his eyes at me. It is totally silly, but it kind of feels like a milestone. I am starting to feel like I will be pregnant forever, so seeing that milk is set to expire on and after my due date gives me hope!!
The images show up rather small on my blog, so if you would like to see them a little bigger and with more detail, go to to my Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendiandtravis/sets/72157603210251836/
I noticed the collages are also a little soft. I’m trying out a new program to create these in and save myself time, and for some reason it reduces the quality of the images. I’m not going to change these, but will not be using the program in the future, so that no sharpness or quality is lost!.
One nice thing about meeting a bunch of photographers is that one ends up with really nice shots of themselves! One night several of us decided to start handing off our cameras to each other to do headshots. I believe my camera made it into the hands of the extremely talented Jeanann Wilkerson, and I must say, she made me look good! 🙂
On Sunday, a handful of us traveled to the marketplace in Tonalá. Wow! It was amazing! From food to clothes, Christmas decor to glass blowers, candles and knick-knacks, jewelry – you name it, you can find it at Tonalá! I picked up a lot of little things for home, including the most unique metal photographer sculpture. We spent a couple hours walking around and still didn’t see everything there was to see. I had homemade helado de fresas (strawberry ice cream), pomegranate seeds, fresh meats and cheeses, and a yummy lunch at a local cafe. We conversed with the locals and bartered with the vendors. It has been a few years since I’ve had to speak the language on a daily basis, and I was amazed at how easily it came back to me! (in case you all didn’t know, I was a Spanish minor in college for a couple semesters before finding my real passion, and have studied the language since my mom first enrolled me in a class in the 5th grade).
Going to the market. On the left, that is a house, sort of. Yes, someone was living there. In the middle, the line of cars waiting to get into the market. On the right, ruins.
Here are a few from the Tonalá Market.
Yes, you have to pay to use the restrooms. 🙂
On the way home, we stopped at this beautiful cemetary and walked around. The way they honor their dead is admirable.
The following are a few from the different pueblos that we visited. The people were so friendly and welcoming, and I am especially thankful to the family that let me use their bathroom during our shoot. I drink a lot of water!
In the one on the bottom left, I asked the two men if I could “tomo un fotografia” of them, and they scowled and shook their heads no. I gave them a smile and asked “con mi?” (with me?) and they got these big smiles on their faces and scooted over to make room for me! It was so funny! Look how happy they are!.
What an awsome experience. Really sounds like you had a great time.
Now that I am done shooting for the summer, I figured what better time than to sit and go through my images from Mexico and figure out what to blog? It wasn’t an easy task, but I narrowed it down to my, oh, 100 or so favorites!
I’ll split this up into a couple different posts so that it isn’t totally overwhelming! 🙂
My trip started out in St. Louis, where I hopped a plane to Houston and then to Guadalajara. It was a lot of waiting!
I’m not going to be chronological here, and instead will just share a bunch of collages of highlights of the trip. First, the hacienda!
We stayed at La Hacienda El Carmen, a beautiful resort tucked away about an hour and a half outside of Guadalajara in Ahualulco del Mercado, Jalisco. It was breath-taking and amazing! I shared a suite with Erin Glaser, a talented photographer from California.
Our suite, the Alcoba Dona Ampara (I can’t figure out how to do tildes on here!)
There were real, live peacocks roaming the grounds, and they were so entertaining! I spent several minutes during lunch one day playing with this guy, who kept hiding behind the ferns and peaking out at me, trying to figure out where to go to get around me.
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!
its nice there isnt it,i spent three years in el carmen,my mom and dad were born there.i love el carmen
I enjoyed your images and comments. made me want to go back. I loved it there.
My suite was lovely, the food was excellent, the tours were veru educational. The Hacienda is in good hands – well managed and the staff went out of their way to be helpful and friendly.
by Wendi Riggens
Lynda - haha! You cracked me up with this one. Not long now!!! Good luck, hope all goes easy and you have a beautiful little one before you know it!!!
Shaina - Ha! I SO did the same thing! I remember thinking “I’m going to have this baby before this milk goes bad!!” It does help with the feeling of never-ending-pregnancy!