Tepic, Huicholes and Frida Kahlo...

Once I got to Tepic, I stayed with at my uncles house, I have three cousins there. They all speak English after living most of their lives in Oregon. It's always nice to talk to members of my family in English. It makes me feel normal.

My cousin Gus works in the center of Tepic. I took this as an awesome opportunity to go around and see all the different shops and sights. I saw a lot of really neat things! I went back the next day with my camera in hand and started taking pictures.

First there is the Cathedral. It has an amazing painting on the roof's entrance.

I found out that there is a tour bus that takes you to where the indigenous people "Huicholes" live. I will be planning that trip in the coming weeks. For now, I asked a Huichol if i could take a picture of the merchandise and him and he said "I might brake your camera", I saw that as a sign that maybe he didn't want me to take a picture so I smiled and then he said "oh go ahead, you can take it". It's always smart to ask for permission first since I am not sure about their cutoms. He was nice though.

They are also known for making peyote  lotions for aches and pains. I asked the Huichol what would happen if I ate some of it, he smiled and said "you will have lotion in your belly, it will give you stomach pain" I started laughing. Then he said "I do sell the peyote by itself in case you want to use it for medicinal purposes" My eyes lit up and I was like "yeah... medicinal...". I was very tempted to buy some but I don't really want to be messing with hallucinegens or be tripping balls at my uncles house.

The next day my cousin asked me if i wanted to go to the "Frida kahlo" cafe, I said sure! This is a house that they have converted into different art rooms and they serve you food and drinks. I decided to sit in a room that has the wall painted in blackboard pain and people can draw on it. It was pretty awesome.

Frida Kahlo on the $500 peso bill

My cousins "Hibiscus" tea

This was a "Nutella" frap!

My mom called me and told me my aunt wasn't feeling to good and for me to go back to my aunts. So, my trip on the tour bus will have to wait for a couple of weeks. I can't wait to learn more about the Huicholes first hand.



What I have learned:

...It's really easy to score peyote in Tepic.