A few more pics from Chihuahua, Chihuahua

Here are a few of the pictures I took at the Governor's Palace that depict the area's history. As you can probably see there was a lot of suffering and strife.

Ay, Chihuahua!

Another week ends, another trip complete, and more prayers for no broken down planes or weather related delays. This week in Chihuahua, Mexico has been pretty good. The purpose of this trip was to share best practices with mis hermanos y hermanas and hopefully take back some knowledge to my plant. I believe the objective was accomplished. To take advantage of the beautiful day here a co-worker and I took a tour of the city. Chihuahua is rife with history - a lot of which doesn't make it into our textbooks in the United States. Much of the formation of Mexico came about in the state of Chihuahua - the capital had at one time been here because the president at the time wanted to be closer to the US to beseech President Lincoln for assistance during revolutionary times. If it weren't for the Civil War and his assassination Lincoln may have gotten involved. He is even depicted in a mural of Chihuahua history as one of three great leaders in the Americas because of his stance against slavery. During our tour we got to see the home of Pancho Villa, and a large mansion that was used as his headquarters. This mansion was started in 1907 by a rich engineer who built it in honor of a young girl he loved. He was in his 60's and she in her 20's, and she would not marry him unless he built her a house. He obliged and started construction, hiring a Colombian architect who took 3 years to design and build the home. It is beautiful inside, with wood carvings and ornate ceilings and walls. The engineer had the face of his beloved carved into the trim in several rooms. It was during the 3 years of construction that the girl decided she did not want to marry him. He continued to build the house anyway. It is now under the control of the University of Chihuahua as a museum and art gallery. I also learned today that actor Anthony Quinn is from Chihuahua. I am staying at the Westin Soberano, which sits on a very high piece of land on the outskirts of downtown. There are a few malls out this direction, as well as restaurants, hotels, and shopping centers. The University of Chihuahua is just around the corner, as well as the city's new soccer arena. This city is in stark contrast of Juarez - it is clean, safe, friendly. There is still a slight haze over the city due to the many industrial parks and plants in the area, but in general it is a very nice place.

What do you call Chinese Montezuma's Revenge?

Well, I've recovered, but do not necessarily know what caused my bout of stomach issues on Tuesday. It is a good thing though, as last night we did our group dinner at probably one of the best Indian restaurants I've ever been to. It is known as the Face Bar because of the unique "face" sign on the outside of the building. Having completed our third day of training, it was good to get the whole group out of the training room and into a more informal environment where we could enjoy good food and good company. Many of us arrived late because of the difficulty of getting cabs during the evening rush hour - you'd think that in a city as big as Shanghai there would be copious amounts of public transportation (buses, trains, cabs, etc). We had a whole room reserved for 26. The decorations were amazing, with wood carvings and cherry furniture and tables. The downstairs has a full bar and several other tables along with an "opium bed" - imagine an old ornate Chinese bed and then imagine several people smoking and eating. There wasn't any opium smoking going on, but I'm sure at one point back in the day such practices were common. Back to the food - we ordered chicken tikka, masalla, naan, chutny, kababs, lamb curry, beef curry, chicken curry, safrane rice - you name an Indian food and we probably ate it. It was amazing. One of the funniest things that happened several times during the course of the meal was the habit of toasting to one's health, promptly followed by a "bottoms's up." Apparently it is custom that if you propose a toast you must follow it up with draining your glass of your favorite beverage - hard to not comply with this ritual. So yes, it was a fun evening. I believe we are going to return to this fine establishment on Friday evening in order to completely get our fill of Indian for the week. I for one have no complaints about the return trip. I will try and take more pictures of the ornate decorations and hopefully we can get there early enough to stake out the opium bed just to say we did. Nothing else new to report. More pics and other random things later!