Last weekend I visited my friend in Morelia. It’s a beautiful city in the state of Michoacan; colonial and tiny. In fact, some residents call it ‘Little Spain,’ since much of the architecture resembles that of Spain’s. In general, I noticed that the people look more native in Morelia than they do here in Guadalajara, and they are much friendlier. I stayed with my friend and her host family. We spent much of Saturday evening talking American politics and Iranian culture. I am now accustomed to hearing, ‘Don’t you guys have to cover your faces and if you don’t, you get beaten?” right after I tell them that I am Middle Eastern. The discussion is fun, actually because I have the opportunity to help them see that not all Muslims are fanatics as shown in the media. I guess the street runs both ways because I now have the chance to return to the U.S. and explain to my friends and family that Mexicans are not as we see them in the states and the country is not all dirt and sun. Mexicans have so much pride in their culture and their country, and unfortunately their image has been tainted by the few who have crossed the border to create a better life.
In about twenty minutes we will be celebrating a co-worker’s baby shower here at the office. Tomorrow night I am going to a wedding. So far, we have fifteen companies who have confirmed to attend our trade mission in Seattle and Portland.
One of my Seattle friends was in town this week, so Saturday we took her to Borough Market, a huge farmer’s market by the Thames. It’s off of Borough High Street and is extremely popular for grocery shopping. They have nearly every produce you could imagine, fresh fruits and veggies, smoothies, bakeries, fish vendors, tea, fish and chips, turkish delights, falafel, beer, wine, BBQ, it goes on for quite a while. Between the three of us, we ate BBQ, fish and chips, and more BBQ!
We stopped into a boulangerie and shared an amazing strawberry tart. The custard was the texture of whipped cream and melted in your mouth, while the strawberries were sweet, and the buttery crust just the right amount of flaky. We also found (we think) the world’s largest pyramid of brownies!
This last weekend, a fellow American traveler and I took a three-day excursion to the green lands of Scotland. Scotland reminded me of Seattle, with the clean, crisp air and greenery; however, Seattle is a very dark forest, while Scotland is the brightest emerald. The Highlands have rolling hills and textured mountains, which are not green because of trees, but the grass and moss that cover nearly every inch. Loch Ness is a lake; that’s all I have to say about that. All lochs (or lakes) are gorgeous in The Highlands, but to be honest, they all look the same to the not-so-Scottish eye. No Nessie, sorry guys! Scottish Highland cows are fascinating creatures: they look like yaks, but they 
have the brightest orange hair which flows down their face and covers most of their vision! This picture was of one that spent most of its time at a rest stop in The Highlands examining tourists and posing for photographs.
made of sturdy stone, and still standing with McDonalds, Boots, and other modern
shops inside. Edinburgh began as a fort in the 7th century and blossomed into a metropolis; having been around for so long, the part of the city considered “new” is actually 200 years old. We toured Edinburgh on a bus for two short hours, then ventured around on our own and visited Edinburgh Castle, which is smack in the middle of the city on top of a plug of volcanic rock. We also trekked the Royal Mile, down which the royal family moved back and forth from their two homes. We also spent some time on Princes Street at the National Galleries of Scotland and the Royal Academy’s Impressionism Exhibition. We had chai and a latte at the Starbucks on Princes Street, where from the
second story you got an amazing view of Edinburgh Castle. It was so strange to be from Seattle, in a Starbucks in Scotland, and to see an amazing castle high up on rock out the window!
This morning the American Chamber held their monthly trade committee meeting in Hotel Hilton. Since I work in the trade department, I helped put the event on. This month’s topic was JALTRADE and external commerce. Basically, since we are preparing for the trade mission in late September, the meeting served more as a manner to gain interest for companies who would like to be a part of the trade mission in 
This weekend, my friend from 
