Regalos (Day 27 de 27)

Gifts from Mexico for friends and family in US. Tell me which you like I'll put it aside for you.

Bold typed items are available, the others have been claimed.

Hand-stitched ornaments, L-to-R, Top-to-Bottom:
Moon (lauren), Emoji (elaine), Heart (esmeralda), Flower (edith), Mouse with pocket for tooth (vivien).

Hand painted objects, Top: Molinillo for whipping chocolate froth (N/A-elc).
Bottom row, L-to-R: Bear mask (juliet), miniature glazed pans (regina), minature glazed pitchers (berta)

Top - hand stitched cell phone bag (Estado de Mexico),
and rubber stamp of Poncho Villa. Bottom - Wallet, Morelos

Hand-stitched Skull buttons (jane) - made in California

Place settings (mirtha)

Cuban-style men's shirts, made in México. Grey (steve) and Green(phil)

Detail of design of Cuban shirts. Note the pen pocket.

Oaxacan Hupil woman's dress (jane).

Oaxacan woman's blouse, hand-sewn decoration (judy). 

27 de septiembre - Budget vs. Final Cost
Before departure to Mexico, I had estimated $3000 USD for 3.5 weeks for round-trip airfare, ground transportation (in US and Mexico), school tuition, Cuernavaca homestay and Mexico City hotel, food, excursions, museums, entertainment, gifts and others (pharmacy, airport food, etc).  

After return to California, my total trip cost is $3020 USD. Wow, I expected to go over budget, I normally do. I think the reason I hit the estimate is because touring Mexico on the US dollar is super affordable and a great value!

What actually happened? 
My list of things-to-do was divided into two sublists, must-do and optional-do. I did less than the number of items on my must-do list, with some nice surprise things:

I took just one excursion, to Xochicalco Archaeological Site, during my whole three weeks in Cuernavaca. Why just one, when I could have done more? Because ...

I preferred to rest and party (lightly) in Cuernavaca on the weekend, as I felt exhausted from intensive Spanish study on Monday-thru-Fridays.

In Mexico, gift shopping is so fun and so affordable. 

Variety and quality of evening/night-life and food-experience in Mexico City is amazing! and most enjoyed with people. For example ...

• See a movie at night. I saw "Mama Mia" with my host family, everybody loves ABBA, and we sang out-loud.
• Combine late-afternoon small museum visit and dinner. I did this on a school night with Georgia, a medical professional from Santa Fe. 
• Visit a resort hacienda in early evening and have drinks/dessert. I did this at beautiful Hacienda Cortés with Gloria, my Spanish instructor. 
• Starting at 4:30pm until 11:30pm, I toured and dined in nicely illuminated Mexico City Historic Downtown with Jorge, an entrepreneur from Chicago and native-born Mexican, whom I met at the hotel.

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