Puebla is definitely not a tourist destination. Everywhere we go, we attract stares, questions, and even requests for photographs taken with us. This and the fact that we have seen nothing but Mexican faces since our arrival confirm that the people of Puebla are not accustomed to foreign visitors. Of course, this does not detract from their impressive degree of friendliness and good manners.

Anyways, as Puebla is somewhat lacking in tourist attractions, we have taken to asking the locals for recommendations of things to do. We explored one such recommendation today, and it blew our expectations out of the water! We went to Agua Azul, expecting a water-slide park something like the ones we have back home. What we discovered was a variety of slides and pools nestled within a gorgeous nature park, full of brightly-coloured flowers, palm trees, pine trees, and birds singing tropical songs.

The park was packed with locals enjoying their long weekend. After we’d wandered through the park and settled on a grassy area in which to set up camp, I left Kristina to bask in the sun and went to try out the slides. First, though, I had to find a washroom, which turned out to be a little adventure all on its own. It took me a few minutes of observation to understand that in order to flush, you had to fill a bucket with water and pour it down the toilet. Then the toilets themselves turned out to be fairly disgusting, but I had to go! This was a strong reminder of how spoiled I am by the level of sanitation back home.

The slides provided a great adrenaline rush as they whipped you through dark tunnels and down steep declines. The park also had a rope swing, a tire swing, and a long slack-line across the largest pool. While I was enjoying the slides, I inadvertently made friends with an adorable group of young Pueblans, around 5 to 12 years old. They were fascinated with me and my lack of Spanish, and while the youngest was content just chattering away in Spanish and giving me big smiles, the eldest was very determined to use the little English he knew in order to communicate as much as possible. He told me (with much effort) that he is going to move to the United States when he grows up. He seemed very proud of this. I wonder if it’s a common dream among the people here. As I moved around the park to try different slides, the boy followed me and continued to chat. At one point he asked if I like the weather here. I meant to say (in Spanish) that I liked it very much, but I mixed up my words and instead said that I liked him very much. This resulted in a deep blush on his face, followed by a pause and the response, in broken English, that he also likes me very much. I soon said “adios” and went back to find Kristina, and I’m almost certain that my young friend went right back to his friends to tell them of his foreign encounter.

For dinner we walked to the mall and had Mexican mall food. It tasted like… Mexican mall food. I don’t think we’ll be eating there again. However, we have made a list of Pueblan and Mexican specialties, and we are going to try to taste them all by the end of our trip! Wish us luck!