The gang in Antigua, in front of oldest Church on the continent.

Ninety degrees: an excellent excuse to hang out near the Gulf of Mexico.

Allison Rank takes in a spectacular view from the church on a pyramid in Cholula.

San Francisco de Acatepec Church in Cholula, Puebla.

Tonantzintla Church in Cholula.

Nightlife in the port of Veracruz is filled with Marimba music.

We enjoyed a delicious seafood dinner in Veracruz.

Crossing into a new culture: Emily Schmidt coming across the hanging bridge in Antigua.

Noelle, Emily and Allison are not afraid of diving head-first into the Mexican culture. From this bridge though, that's a different story.

The Antigua River connects with the Gulf of Mexico.

One of our stops was at the ruins of the house of Hernán Cortés in Antigua, Veracruz.

Leoni, Alfred, Julia, Molly, Katie, Amalia and Ben checking out what's left of a 500-year-old building that is now in ruins.

Katie, in pink, and Michael, on left, with a professor and other participants at the Spanish Institute of Puebla, where students have classes. Behind us are several international flags and the Aztec calendar.

Ben, Allison and Noelle taking a break from their language study at the Spanish Institute of Puebla.

We spend about four hours at a time in the classroom, then two more on guided tours throughout the town each day. But right now, we're catching up on our e-mail to friends and family.

Katie with her Mexican family: Eduardo, 22, plans to study business administration this fall. His mother, Maria del Carmen, works at the Ministry of Education.

We're almost regulars here at our restaurant for lunch.

Folk Dance in typical costume in Puebla held in an inner courtyard at the Cultural Center. 

It was a great opportunity to see the various styles of dance from many Mexican states.

The dancers change their colorful costumes for each dance.

The view from above is the best.

We also visited a tallavera, or pottery, factory in Puebla. We watched them pull out the mud material, shape it on a spinner, cut it, coat it, heat it in a giant oven and paint the individual pieces by hand. 

In Mexico City, our first stop was the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The camera is not tilted; the old Church is sinking on one side because of underground water, and workers have done all they can to keep it standing. Many visitors to the site believed this is where Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego, who was canonized by Pope John Paul II.

Most of our group climbed the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon in Teotihuacan.

As in Egypt, great leaders were buried in these pyramids.

On our last day, we visited the Fine Arts Museum (Bellos Artes), that was just down the street from our hotel in Mexico City. It features many famous murals, including some by Diego Rivera.