The three of us live active lives at home, and knew we'd continue with that lifestyle here in Mexico. We walk everywhere in the village which could be considered a workout in itself because the terrain is so hilly! The walking we do is one of the things I love most about our lives here. We're able to really notice our surroundings and it's a wonderful way to be present in the moment.
Lea and Brian walking on a dirt road.
Kimberly and Lea pause by a field of nopales (cactus).
Brian, Kimberly, and Kimberly's mom by the sun pyramid at Teotihuacan outside Mexico City. Brian and Kimberly climbed it!
Lea has grown to love playing soccer (fútbol) here. It's an important part of the culture in Mexico so it's nice that she enjoys it as much as she does! In fact, we focus all of our plans on the weekends around Lea's fútbol games on Saturday mornings and our friend Jose's fútbol games on Sunday afternoons. They are real happenings!
Lisset, José, Lea, and Aurora watching José senior play.
Lea and Lisset have fun at the games together!
Brian and José cooking out after one of the games.
Brian, Kimberly, and Lea at one of the games.
In addition to weekly games, Lea also has practice two nights a week. Our close friend José is the kid's coach. They generally load onto the back of José's pickup truck to play, and although they've lost most of their games, they have good team spirit and seem to really enjoy themselves, each other, and the sport.
Starting to load off the truck. You can get a glimpse of Lea's red hair by the cab of the truck.
José giving the kids a pep talk before the game begins.
Lea with a few of her teammates.
Lea plays hard!
Lea's team!
The proud recipient of a medal.
A short video of Lea playing, along with the scenary of the area.
When Lea is not on the fútbol field, you might catch her with her hoola hoop or jump rope!
Lea enjoying some time in our yard.
Short video of Lea hoola hooping!
Brian keeps up with his daily yoga practice and goes for an occasional run. He also had the opportunity to do some biking out on dirt paths in the hills which he really enjoyed and hopes to do again.
Kimberly has kept up with her running. She is committed to her long run on Sunday mornings up and around the fútbol field in the mountains which has become a special place here, not only for her, but for Brian and Lea too. The streets in the village are generally rocky and hilly so running around the fútbol field is one of the only flat surfaces throughout the village, and it's absolutely beautiful!
The magical field that Kimberly and Brian run around. Many of José senior's fútbol games are there too so we also enjoy being at the field many Sunday afternoons together.
Kimberly running at the field.
A short video of Kimberly running around the field.
Kimberly also enjoys running before her Spanish class back and forth on a dirt road. She has been accompanied by horses, cows, roosters, and chickens. How different our runs are here than at home!
A horse with a heavy load.
Kimberly even had the opportunity to do an 11K race here! It was at night and primarily uphill on dirt, rocky paths. A very intense experience! There were only about 15 people who did the 11K run. She was so pleasantly surprised to find Brian, Lea, and her close friends at the finish line cheering her on.
Kimberly standing by the poster for the race.
After the race with Brian, Lea, and our friends.
Kimberly with the people she ran with. It wasn't only a real challenge to run at night on rocky, dirt paths, mostly uphill. In addition, the only way for her to communicate during the run was in Spanish!
A short video of Kimberly coming through the finish line of the race.
Kimberly enjoys doing a short, gentle yoga practice when she first wakes up, and on occasion, joins Brian for his more intense practice.
Kimberly also discovered a zumba class which she really enjoys. At first the class met indoors in a rented space, but she prefers that the class now meets on her teacher's home, outdoor patio. It's generally about five women. There are a few community belly dancing skirts that are passed around, and the teacher plays great music and has fabulous energy! Occasionally, some chickens walk through the space, and there's often a child playing closeby and other people passing through. The class is something that Kimberly has really grown to look forward to. The women have been so welcoming!
Zumba class when it was indoors. One woman clearly didn't want her photo taken. And look, Kimberly is actually the tallest woman there, and she's only 5'2"! Mexicans are generally shorter than people in the USA.
Kimberly's Zumba teacher Alice.
Zumba class at the teacher's holiday party.
A short video of zumba class at the holiday party. Kimberly didn't realize that they'd actually be doing zumba that night so she wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion...
Kimberly also hikes up to the pyramid in the village early on Thursday mornings with her friend Katé. Stairs were built into the mountain which lead up to the archeological site. It takes them about 1.5 hours to climb up and down at a fast clip. What a great way for Kimberly to start the day, practice her Spanish, and have a great workout!
Katé and Kimberly early in the morning.
Sunrise toward the top of the mountain stairs by the pyramid.
And there was the day that Kimberly and Aurora (our close friend) took the kids hiking up to Tepozteco, the well known pyramid in the village.
Walking up the stairs to Tepozteco.
Lisset, José, and Lea.
The Aztec pyramid of El Tepozteco.
Kimberly, Lisset, Lea, José, and Aurora at the top of Tepozteco. It's an incredible view of the village from above!
Kimberly, Brian and Lea have been on a few long, extended hikes here. This year we went on a great hike in Tepoztlán through the mountains with our close friends including Don, who was visiting from Madison at the time. It was fun to pack up sandwiches and be gone for most of the day.
Brian enjoying the hike.
The place where we took our lunch break.
José enjoys the t-shirt we gave him!
Lea posing with sombrero.
A view of the village from up above.
After the hike in the center.
Ice cream treat!
And then there was the pilgrimage to Chalma! We left at 4am and after a one hour bus ride, hiked for approximately 10 hours with hundreds of other people to a holy site on Ash Wednesday. That was quite an experience for us Jewish Gringos!
Brian on the long walk.
It was a religious walk. For us, we supported our friends and witnessed something that was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.
We all love moving our bodies and being in the outdoors, especially here when the sun shines and it's warm every day...
In addition to all of our movement, there is a fare amount of rest and relaxation in our lives here which we hope to remember to keep with us back at home.
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