Guanajuato, Mexico - July 25 - Aug 1, 2026

I thought that my career of teaching internationally would end together with undergrad, but I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to teach for a week in Mexico. This was a week full of teaching, connecting with students and fellow instructors, and exploring the city. There's no better way to understand a place than to have local guides and connect with the people who live there.

JULY 25

I got to know Terminal 2 of MEX airport pretty well, including the many Le Pain Quotidien storefronts.

I tried one of the pillowy soft vanilla conchas - with lots of butter and sugar to keep it from being dry.

After a red-eye and a 6 hour layover in Mexico City, I finally arrived in Guanajuato. Thankfully, my co-instructor Porfirio picked us up from the airport, as Ubers have been banned from airport pickups (to protect local taxi business). 

I immediately soaked in the landscape - the tall mountains in the backdrop, the colorful houses, the desert flora and fauna (nopales! ligartijas!)

We went on a walking tour of the city, passing by a plant market (which had everything from passion fruit and vanilla to lime and strawberry plants)....

...and the city's primary market, Mercado Hidalgo. My favorite place to visit in every city / town I go to is the marketplace. Here, there were carnitas and aguachile vendors and produce and dry goods stalls, alongside shops selling T-shirts, leather goods, and candy to tourists. I also just loved the specialized stores in the street, each only selling bread or meat or snacks or socks.

In the US, I normally only see papel picado around Dia de los Muertos, but in Mexico, it's year-round decoration.

Many types of chiles and maiz

Established during Spanish colonialization, Guanajuato shares many resemblances to European cities. The colorful houses and stone-paved callejones remind me of Genoa, Italy, while the fountain plazas and steep terrain remind me of Lyon, France. 

Plaza de San Fernando is lined with cafes...very European feel

Universidad de Guanajuato

Gilded organ inside the Basilica

But you can still see the Mexican flair...

Outside of the Basilica

Indoor courtyard, reminiscent of Roman atriums

Large, well manicured trees are common in Mexico

(their leaves are trimmed to look pretty rectangular)

and perhaps American influences?

Guanajuato is also known for its many cultural events and festivities. For example, there was a film festival, complete with actresses showing off the latest fashion designs.

Some of these festivities, such as the Dia de Los Muertos celebration, are held in the city's tunnels which are relics of the city's mining past.

Very cool to walk / drive through the underground tunnels

Another thing that struck me was how alive this country / city feels. Even at 5AM, practically all the stores in MEX airport were open whereas only a select few would be open (if at all) in the US. At night, the city becomes alive in another wave of activity. As the golden hour begins, poles, coolers, pots, and chairs descend from the backs of pickup trucks and are smoothly assembled into taco stands and street food stalls.

JULY 26

I also enjoy exploring new places by going on a run. Carlie and I went on a run with Profesora Liz and her dog Maya along El Río de Guanajuato to La Presa de los Santos. 

Another festival!

Presa de los Santos (presa = dam)

Then I had breakfast at the hotel - classic huevos a la Mexicana (scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, jalapeño) with beans and chilaquiles. Plus papaya, pineapple, coconut and yogurt!

Cypress trees in the hotel!

I quickly became known as a fruit fiend, both at breakfast and all other times of day.

Guavas are so aromatic when they are tree-ripened.

My whole room (and my clothes) smelled like guava but I don't mind one bit.

(View from my balcony =D)

Then, Alice and I went on a little excursion - intentionally getting lost in the little callejones (side streets).

Stairs!

Outside of a grocery store!!?!

We walked all the way from the Plaza de las Ranas to El Pípila - a memorial honoring the story of a heroic miner during Mexico's War of Independence. There were amazing views along the way!

El Pípila

Along La Calle Panorámica

At the top, I got some sopes made with blue corn (maíz oscuro) with huitlacoche (corn fungus).

Mmmm street food!

Plus carnitas at Plaza Hidalgo. The carnitas were much richer than I was expected as the meat is simmered for hours in its own fat. When I asked for salsa de nopales (cactus salsa) to cut the richness, the vendor was surprised, asking if I was Mexican.

Carnitas display

Torta de carnitas with complementary taco dorado

From CarnitaMan (which seems to operate multiple stalls here)

Practically every place that I've eaten in Guanajuato has an abundance of salsas on the table to add to your liking. The salsas are even what distinguish between good pizza places from great ones, according to my fellow instructors. Some pizza salsas include chimichurri (the Guanajuato version has mayo and chile de arbol), salsa inglesa (Worchestershire sauce), Maggi, and of course Valentina hot sauce. 

Near the Mercado, I also tried some chapulines (grasshoppers) and camaronitos.

While we were waiting for dinner, we stumbled upon a callejoneada (or rather they stumbled upon us). While this theatrical and musical show in the little streets of Guanajuato (callejones) are primarily a tourist attraction nowadays, it is historically a tour put on by students of the University of Guanajuato. Inspired by similar tours in Spain, these students wanted to make a little extra money. Now, the callejoneadas form a large part of Guanajuato's identity.

The instrumentation has more Western influences than, say, a Mariachi band

In addition to music, they also invited audience participation in storytelling and dancing

JULY 27

First day of teaching (aka I got to practice public speaking in Spanish)! For Porfirio's part of the class, we collected yeast samples from trees and soil from around campus. I took advantage of this opportunity to admire the different plants all around.

Soil sample next to palm tree!

After teaching, I wandered through some less busy / more residential parts of the city, such as La Calle Dolores Hidalgo. I also passed by more markets, formal and informal.

Books

Everyday people selling clothes and toys... side hustles perhaps?

Of course, I couldn't leave Mexico without some tacos de cabeza (usually made from beef cheek).

All the tacos I had at Taquería El Paisa II were amazing:

• Al pastor - super tender, not dry at all
• Cabeza - flavorful and tender
• Suadero - a bit more connective tissue

And I really enjoyed the pineapple salsa on the side. It was worth dealing with the smoke that comes from them cooking inside...

For dessert, I sampled some cactus pears (tuna) from streetside stand and got some gorditas de nata.

Fresh off the griddle!

Fluffy, nostalgic aroma of custard powder

Sometimes filled with dulce de leche, etc.

JULY 28

In class, we had a candy making experiment!

At the end of the day, we also had a "Science Café" where I had the chance to chat with students from other classes about my research and career. To fuel me through, I enjoyed a chocolate concha from Panadería Kanelina - not as buttery as le pain quotidien but chocolatey and not dry yay!

For dinner, we dined at El Taquería El Potro Loco, where I enjoyed:

• Suegra - two corn tortillas with meat, cheese, beans and salsas to your liking. Not sure if it was the cheese / beans, but there were some (unexpected) warm spices on the beef
• Taco dorado - crispy corn tortilla topped with beans and cheese
• Lots of pineapple salsa 😋 and cucumbers

Taco dorado

Phone did not eat first again for the suegra

JULY 29

In class, I focused on guiding the students through overcoming experimental obstacles and designing follow-up experiments. We also started some fermentation experiments.

Inoculating fruit juice with yeast

Plating environmental yeast samples

To unwind from a long two days of teaching, I went on a refreshing run in the rain.

Very interesting to see the red minerals in the dirt wash up

For dinner, we dined at El Tapatio where I had:

• Enmoladas - like enchilados except with mole instead of chile sauce, sweet but earthy
• Enchiladas suizas - normally with salsa verde but this particular restaurant had carrots and other vegetables in its sauce!
• Pay de queso can piña - cheesecake (closer to ricotta cheesecake in texture) with pineapple. The Maria cookie crust was buttery, toasty, and delicious. I liked it all with a squeeze of lime to balance out the condensed milk in the filling.
• Green pozole - it's all about the add-ins, chips, cabbage, lime, oregano (lighter, more floral than Italian oregano), avocado
• Victoria beer - Mexican beer strikes me as sweeter than IPAs that are more common in the US
• Modelo Especial Beer - more hops than Victoria, but still sweet

Enmoladas

Pay de queso

JULY 30

We taught the students how to code to understand how yeast genetic diversity affects fermentation.

In the evening, we had a poster session in the historic Mesón de San Antonio (more Roman / European influences with Mexican flair).

There was also a theater / stage and music rooms for the University of Guanajuato

Two proud instructors!

Although we had a busy day, I knew that I could not miss tonight's nighttime activities. July 31 is one of the larger festivals in Guanajuato - it is the day of San Ignacio, the patron saint of the city. On this day, almost the entire city hikes up to La Cueva de San Ignacio / El Cerro de La Bufa. The festivities start the night before, and I joined my co-instructor Porfirio on this annual tradition that he has participated in since childhood.

The entire hiking trail is lined with street vendors and lanterns. This changed how I viewed night hiking - it doesn't have to be something to avoid; it can actually be a magical experience. There were even people camping along the path who would spend the whole night and day on the mountain.

Shrimp on a stick

Giant pan dulce

Carnival games

Mountain all lit up with lanterns

View of the city at night

In a moment of tranquility, we could see the full moon hovering over the mountains (a photo would not do it justice). 

Besides that moment, there were many people on the trail with us - making it felt like we were part of something bigger, especially when people were lending each other a hand up steep scrambles. In a more difficult part of the ascent, the line of hikers were almost at a standstill; someone joked that we found the only traffic light in Guanajuato (there are no traffic lights, only roundabouts). 

First pit stop

Large group of mountain bikers at La Cueva de San Ignacio

Second pit stop for elote, papas fritas, and cerveza

At the top - Cerro de la Bufa

When we reached the top, a few people enjoyed a beer and there was even a fireworks show (thankfully not as loud as the ones in the US). This atmosphere reminded me of July 4th, where everyone has an excuse to enjoy a holiday together. Young, old, pregnant all climb up together, demonstrating how much mountains are part of the culture here.

The descent was a bit more chaotic; our group was separated - in part because of different comfort levels with straying off the main path. Communication was difficult; there was service but the shear number of people in the area resulted in some messages not going through, along with the silencing of calls with Do Not Disturb on by default. But in the end, we all made it down safely.

I would want to climb up again to see the view during the day (and with fewer people).

JULY 30

I returned to the hotel at 2AM, but we still had another day of teaching. We checked our yeast cultures and then wrapped up the class.

I took advantage of my last full day in Guanajuato by doing some exploring, hitting up spots that I had missed.

Pomegranate tree on campus

Antigua Ford (Old Fort) with a market at the top

I hit up a local grocery store, which is Melbourne-mandated on every trip.

Many mole sauces at Aurrera, a superstore comparable to Walmart

(complete with Great Value brands?)

Milk in a bag

I did some shopping for shirts and then people-watched in El Jardín de la Unión, complete with multiple bands performing in a fancy restaurant.

Both traditional and more modern Mexican music

I kept walking down the main street, almost tempted to climb up to El Cerro de La Bufa again (but dissuaded by the sheer number of people). 

Biblioteca Cervantina, near which I spent 20 minutes listening 

to the beautiful voice of soprano Evelyn Marquez

Casa de las Brujas

Plazuela Ignacio

Doggos barking from a rooftop

Quanx-huato is the indigenous Purépacha version of Guanajuato 

(meaning "mountain/hill of the frogs")

Scone-like pan de sal from San Sebastián Panadería to fuel 30,000 steps

AUG 1

Final presentations and one last goodbye to everyone...

Goodbye Guanajuato! Until next time!

By the end of a trip, I felt that I was living in Guanajuato rather than just visiting. Yes I could walk down the main street without a map, but I also had the chance to connect with locals - students and fellow instructors alike. I got a taste of Mexican culture, but I know that Mexico as a country is quite diverse. There's also the beaches of La Paz and the good food in Oaxaca and Mexico City. (Guanajuato is known more for its cultural events than its food). I would like to return again, especially now that I've made friends here, whether to teach again or just to travel.

Some random observations to close out:

• There's a Tim Hortons in the MEX airport, even though it's a Canadian chain
• Their push faucets turn on differently (you push a rod that extends down from the faucet as you wash your hands and water flows out)
• Electrolyte drinks (Pedialyte but for adults) are super popular
• I missed sitting down at a restaurant and immediately being served a glass of water. It's much more common to order an agua fresca or soda. Sugary drinks are popular in spite of recently implemented labels warning of high sugar or calorie content.
• Some of the most common cars at Volkswagens, Mazdas, and Nissans, partly due to local manufacturing
• It is common to greet people (friends or new acquaintances) with a hug and one kiss on the cheek (instead of handshake)
• The most common undergraduate degree programs are business and administration, law, and accounting