I´m Safe

Ok, I just wanted to write a quick post and say that i´m safe! UDLA is canceling classes until May 6th because of the virus, and I´m wearing a face mask. So, please don´t worry about me. I will be home soon and see you all! Love you!

Spring Break

So, last week was pretty full. Mom, Caitlin, and I went to Mexico City, where I showed them around the places I saw last time, we went to the Museum of Anthropology, and I was quite proud of them for taking the metro with me. We went to see how talavera was made in Puebla, did a LOT of talavera shopping, went to Oaxaca, went to Monte Alban where there are some AMAZING ruins, they tried a lot of different Mexican food, did some more shopping, saw beautiful churches, came back to Puebla, went to Africam (this really unique zoo that´s supposed to be like a safari. you drive through and the animals are just walking around in relative freedom. it was extra cool because a friend, Erin, drove us.. and it´s better in a car than a bus since you are down at the animals´ level.) where we fed kangaroos, walked through some tunnels under a pyramid, and I showed them campus and downtown Cholula.... It was not exactly a week of relaxation, but I had a lot of fun and was so glad that they could visit and experience a tiny piece of Mexico. Mom really liked Oaxaca, because of all the different musicians that are constantly playing in the zocalo (which is the center of town.. like a town square).
After they left, I had a good few days of relaxing and playing games with some gringo friends who were also around. We had a fabulous Easter. It was a Southern potluck type deal.. there was sweet tea, fried chicken, gravy, biscuits, macaroni, and candy for dessert. They helped me work on my Georgian accent.. no joke, I hang out with people from Georgia quite a bit since most of the gringos at Casa are from there, and every now and then someone points out to me that I´m talking like them. It makes me laugh.. I feel like I´m learning to be Mexican and Southern here. Which could be helpgul, because I am seriously considering living in the South, possibly Georgia, in the future. Reasons being: their food is amazing, and now that I´ve gotten used to living someplace where the winter is relatively warm, I don´t know that I can do one or two more winters in Michigan. It´s just wonderful not to deal with snow and coats and scraping my car off in the morning.. not to mention negative digits.
Anyway, Now I am in the process of slightly freaking out as I´m realizing how many final projects I have to work on and how much time they´re going to require. It´s really sad, because I want to just be able to hang out with people and speak in Spanish and absorb as much as I possibly can of Mexico in these last few days... (I´m coming home May 12th for anyone who doesn´t know.) Honestly, I think I´m just going to get the work done and not stress about doing a great job.. I mean, in the long run I´d rather have good memories of my time here than perfect grades. With that said, I have homework to be done. So, have a good week, and I will try to post pictures of Spring Break when I can!

Freedom!

Yay! Spring break is finally here : ) The past couple of weeks have been good... nothing overly exciting has happened. This past week was the last week of school before spring break. It was slightly crazy, especially because I took an unexpected trip to Mexico City in the middle of the week in order to get something notarized at the embassy. However, my friend Dana went with me, and we did a little bit of exploring and a bit of the touristy thing. We went to a really cool castle in Chapultepec park, and I decided that I like that park so much, I might take mom and Caitlin there tomorrow. And that brings me to the exciting part of this update. Since it's spring break, mom and Caitlin are coming to visit. They should be here in a couple of hours.. there were a few complications (Caitlin's plane got detoured), but they held the connecting flight at Houston. So, they're making it safe and sound, thank God. Anyway, they're going to be here until next Saturday. Like I said, we'll probably go to Mexico City for a little while tomorrow, and then from Tuesday until Thursday we're going to Oaxaca. It's going to be soo nice to have a break from classes for a week. Even though one of my professors decided to give us a ton of hwk at the last minute (three movies to watch, two articles to read.. and Freud at that, and papers responding to each). I'm convinced the woman is crazy.. I'm pretty sure she believes Freud's theories. Anyway, I'm just going to enjoy the break, and if I have time, I'll get the hwk done. The only sad thing about Spring Break being here is that means I only have 4 weeks of school left. It's going to be hard to leave everything and everyone here, but I'm not going to dwell on that. So, I hope that you have a good week and a good Easter! I know I will : )

Sun and Sand

This past weekend, I went to Acapulco on a retreat with Casa Verde, the Christian group that I have been going to down here. Before I tell you about my weekend, I suppose I out to tell a bit about Casa Verde (since it's a pretty big part of my life here). Basically, it's run by a bunch of gringos, which is hilarious, because when students first come, they're usually a bit hesitant (one woman who is now a full time worker at Casa Verde, when she first came as an UDLA student, flat out told the leaders that she hated gringos!) As you can imagine, we gringos don't always have the best reputation, since a lot of people's stereotypes of "Americans" come from what they see and hear on TV about spring break. Anyway, I found out about Casa Verde from Kati Richards before I even came, so I was planning on checking it out. The funny thing is, I went the first week of school, before they actually had a meeting. And that actually turned out to be a good thing, because when I showed up, some people were there just playing Wii and invited my friend Abbie and I to join them. So we did, and I started making friends with some of the people there right away.
Anyway, I just kept going back every week.. and it's been a huge blessing in my life. I feel like I've actually grown a lot more spiritually here than I have in awhile; I've met a few people at Casa Verde who have really challenged me and are helping to rekindle a passion in my heart for my relationship with Jesus. It's also been awesome because it's a place where I can always go if I need help with something or have a question (which tends to happen quite often being away from home), or if I'm just bored. There are always people hanging out there, and if I'm looking for someone to go to lunch with or do whatever, I can usually find someone there. The third reason why it has been awesome is because I have made more Mexican friends there than anywhere else. It's kind of hard to make friends in class since we're pretty much lectured to the whole time... but between the meals that Casa Verde serves on Tuesday nights and Thursday afternoons, going out with the people after the Tuesday night "pozo" (which is a bit like a church service), playing board games with people Thursday afternoons, and (more recently) being a part of a Bible study, I've had a ton of opportunities not only to get to know some Mexican people and practice my Spanish, but to develop a couple of good friendships with Mexican students. So, I am very thankful for Casa Verde, and I'm going to miss it a lot when I leave.
Anyway, now that you're up to date on that part of my life, this past weekend... we took a tour bus on Friday night and got there pretty late. Saturday we spent all day being lazy, laying in the sun, jumping in the waves, washing the sand out of our bathing suits, going in the pool, eating, watching (or playing! but of course I didn't play) soccer, building sand castles, worshipping God, having bonfires, eating s'mores, telling stupid jokes, etc. One of the couples that works at Casa Verde brought their kids along, who are adorable, so I got to play with them a bit, which was also fun. We didn't actually do anything in the city; we were staying at a hostel on the beach just outside of the city, and it was nice not to do the tourist thing for once but just relax and enjoy a day off. Then, on Sunday some of our friends were baptized in the pool before we left. The only sad part of the weekend was that I started getting a cold : ( But other than that, it was great. It was my first, and possibly last beach experience in Mexico, and it was well spent.

Chocolate and Cheese

This weekend was quite an adventure. It started out with none other than THE BACKSTREET BOYS. That's right, I am just that cool. I went to a BSB concert on Friday night. In my defense, I would never have gone to see them if they'd come to Michigan in concert. However, for some reason the fact that they were coming to Puebla, Mexico was just to hilarious to pass up. I mean, to go to their concert 10 years after they're actually big, and in Mexico of all places.. it's just such a unique experience! Anyway the concert was hilarious from the first moment they stepped on stage dressed as boxers. The first number involved them dancing/"fighting" inside a boxing ring they set up in the middle of the stage. It was probably one of the cheesiest things I've ever experienced. And it was also fun just singing and dancing to the old songs and reliving a bit of my junior high years.
ANYWAY, the really exceptionally fun part of my weekend was a trip to Oaxaca with some friends. We waited until the last minute to decide where to go (but were set on going somewhere since we had today off.. woohoo!! Today is Benito Juarez's birthday. He is the most famous and beloved president of Mexico. Basically, he's their Abe Lincoln. But there I go on a tangent trying to educate everyone about Mexico! Sorry.) So, Friday morning my friend Abbie said they'd decided on Oaxaca, and even though mom and Caitlin and I are going there for a few days during Spring Break, I decided to go with them rather than stay here. And I don't regret going at all. Actually, I can't wait to go back; there are still several cool things there I didn't get to do, and I just loved the ambiente.. I can't think of how to say it in english.. I guess I'll just say the feel of the place. It's very pretty and relaxed.. and its famous for its chocolate and cheese.. need I say more? Yesterday we went on a tour which included seeing the world's widest tree!!! (actually, that part was the most boring), going to a place where we watched and learned how people make Oaxacan rugs (which was really cool. they use plants and such to dye the wool!), checking out some ruins (where people dressed up as Aztecs were performing dances in honor of the equinox), hiking to a petrified waterfall where I got to swim in a pool formed by a natural spring (the deal here is that the water from the spring has a lot of calcium and salt in it, so through the years the calcium deposits from the water built up as the water tricked down the mountainside.. even though there is extremely little water flowing down the "waterfall" at any given time, the build-up looks like a ginormous waterfall), and finally going to a Mezcal factory to take some free samples (Mezcal is an ancient drink here.. you may be familiar with the most popular variety, Tequila.) Anyway, the stuff we tried was disgusting.. apparently they add stuff to tequila which makes it taste better. So, imagine stuff that tastes a lot worse than tequila, and you've got mezcal! Anyway, we'd learned about it in my Mexican Culture class, so even though it was awful, it was cool to actually try it. I love having so many opportunities here to actually experience and see the things that I learn about in class! It makes me really happy. I feel like I'm going to be an expert in Mexican culture by the time I leave. : ) But anyway, the tour was really cool. My favorite part was the waterfall. It was just really unique, and the view of the mountains was gorgeous. Other fun parts of the weekend were going to the markets here, and on Saturday night, going to the restaurant in a nice hotel that overlooks the city. The view was gorgeous, and the strawberry daquiri I had was made with fresh strawberries. That's something you don't get in the states! Another great thing about the weekend was how sweet the owners of the hostel we stayed in were. The husband made a very sincere effort to learn all of our names, asked us what kind of music we like (when I said old stuff like Frank Sinatra, he proceeded to bring down a DVD of "Frankie boy" (his words) for us to watch), and when we asked for the number of a pizza place, he let us use their phone to call, even helping me give them the address of the hostel. They couldn't have been nicer. So yea, that was quite a detailed description of my weekend. It was just really great and definitely one of the best experiences I've had so far!

Fondue

I don't have it in me to write much of a post; I've had a really hard week between homesickness finally catching up to me, being physically sick, exams, and just frustrating things that are out of my control. However, I know I haven't written a fun or entertaining post in awhile, so I'm at least going to put some pictures up. I went out to dinner last night with a big group for my friend
Brianna's birthday, and we went to a really nice fondue place (which was still cheaper than the Melting Pot - where I've wanted to go for forever). So, here are some pictures of that:

Apathy and Poverty

First of all, I have to say, Slumdog is an amazing movie. You should go see it, right now. I saw it tonight with some friends and plan on seeing it again. I'm not going to lie, it's difficult to watch... my friend Kate described it like this "...it's like the movie carved up my heart.. and then gave it a hug" No, but honestly and in all seriousness, I feel like this movie is the kind of thing that breaks your heart and makes you feel uncomfortable, because we want to believe that we live in a good, somewhat fair, and happy world; however sometimes we need (or at least I need) to be slapped in the face with the reality of what the world is like... especially in developing countries. It's just too easy to be apathetic about and, as a result, forget. And I'm really ashamed to admit it, but I've been doing a lot of that lately. Here I am, spending 4 months in a "third world" country, and I'm largely oblivious and indifferent to the poverty and corruption around me.
So, that's what I want to write about tonight... Because I want you guys to understand what my experience has been of Mexico, in terms of social class and such, but also because I need to sort of confess my growing apathy. So, basically... the school I'm going to while I'm here (UDLAP) is supposedly one of the best in Mexico, which means that the kids I go to school with are some of the most privileged. That means that I am surrounded by designer labels, nice cars, and well-traveled (something that I particularly envy) people every day. On the other hand, I see the evidences of poverty around me every day, too... when I go to the school I teach at and see how few resources they have, when I see people begging or doing humiliating things like dressing up as clowns and juggling in the middle of stopped traffic for the few pesos that people pass them out of their car windows... etc.
So, basically it's like I'm in two worlds at once... only I spend most of my time on campus or with students, so that's the part that affects me most. And because most of the Mexican people I've met are significantly well off, it's easy to forget that the majority of people here do live in poverty. So, even though I'm in an environment where there's a lot of poverty, I've actually been getting more caught up in materialistic things since I've been here.
Which brings me to tonight.. and Slumdog. I won't give away details for anyone reading who hasn't seen it, but basically the main character is a poor kid in India who experiences a lot of injustice and trauma. While I was watching the movie, I noticed a few things that made me uncomfortable. And not just because bad things were happening, but because they made me realize how much I've changed and how apathetic I've become to poverty. For example, in one part, there were kids begging for money because they were forced to.. and while I was watching, I suddenly had the thought, "Wait, I see kids begging (or selling whatever they can just to make a few pesos) pretty regularly. When was the last time I payed all that much attention?" Seeing those types of things used to make me want to go out and change the world. But as I've gotten older and begun to realize just how complicated problems like poverty are, entrenched in history and corruption, at some point I became disillusioned, which led to increasing apathy. But since when has it been ok to sit back and accept things like poverty, exploitation, and corruption? To act like it's only an option, rather than a responsibility, to do something about it?
This movie made me wake up. I need to stop being passive and consumeristic, because I'm already getting sick of it. Instead, I intend to find out how God wants to use me here. I don't know what that will mean, and don't worry, Mom, I'm not delusional; I'm not taking it upon myself to single handedly eradicate Mexican poverty or anything like that. But I'm here, and I don't have a good reason why I shouldn't be doing something constructive. Maybe that means investing more time into my teaching or doing something special for the kids at the school.. maybe it means something else. But I'm definitely going to be keeping my eyes more open, because when it comes down to it, having a new Coach purse or taking a trip to Cancun is not going to make me feel any more fulfilled than I am right now.
Sorry if this came across as being really cliche... but I am willing to run that risk ; )

Update: This is why you should be proud of me...

So, I still maintain that you should be proud of me for being brave and trying new foods. However, as I spent all of Sunday night/Monday morning in the bathroom, I do not recommend that you follow my example of bravery. Thankfully, I am now doing much better, thanks to UDLA´s clinic and mexican style shots. However, I had to laugh when the doctor prescribed me a few meds and then proceeded to explain that while I am on the meds I should avoid any spicy foods, anything fatty (which I´m asssuming includes cheese), and anything citrusy (everything here is generally doused in lime juice). So, I´m not sure what is left to eat... all I can say is I´m going to really appreciate eating whatever I want when this is all over. However, I can´t complain, because apart from a bit of mild sickness my first weekend, this is the first time I´ve been sick here. And let me tell you, I think everyone here has been sick lately, Mexicans and gringos alike.

This is why you should be proud of me...

This weekend, Diana, a girl I met from school, took me to her hometown in Iguala. It was an adventure in food.
I ate:
goat
pig feet
cow tongue
fish fillet
and...
octopus

Now, aren't you proud of me? I made a general rule here that I try whatever is offered to me. Now in all fairness, I didn't know what the cow tongue was until after I'd eaten it. However, I really liked it, and I kept eating it after I was told. And as for the fish and octopus... well basically everyone else wanted to eat seafood, and when Diana asked me if I eat seafood, I was kind of embarassed to admit I don't / I didn't want to ruin everyone else's meal. And in all fairness, the fish wasn't bad. Oh, and the reason as to why I ate pig feet and cow tongue...
Iguala had a fair this weekend celebrating the flag (it's the birthplace of the mexican flag and has either the highest flag in latin america or the biggest.. I forget which). Anyway, we went to the fair, and part of that experience was a free.. yes-free! dinner with samples of traditional dishes in that region. It was a pretty good deal. And it was kind of funny, because the person in charge of the dinner got up and was announcing all of the important people in attendance, like the municipal president, and then was like "Oh yeah, and Diana Cuevas brought friends from UDLA, Carly Freddy, and Natalia". It made me feel pretty important. But mostly silly and out of place. Anyway, it was a good weekend of relaxation and new experiences. I saw a dolphin show at the fair. Oh, and by the way, Iguala isn't on the coast, more like in the middle of the mountains (which were beautiful, by the way). Apparently they cart the poor things around with the rest of the fair. And I thought circuses were cruel! At least those animals don't have to be sedated to be kept in fish bowl sized tanks : ( I have to admit the show was entertaining, but I just kept thinking of Free Willy. But yeah, as for the food, oh man am I full. And let me tell you, people here can eat.. I stuffed myself at each meal, and I think Diana's mom was convinced that I didn't like her food, because she would be like "Are you done? You're not going to eat anymore?" You've never met a more hospitable woman in all your life... well, except for maybe my grandma : )

Sorry this post was kind of random, but I'm sure you're all missing my randomness about now ; )

Happy in Mexico

Everything here is great. I finished my first round of exams and papers last week, and it went pretty well all things considered. Yesterday night I watched the Mexico vs. U.S. soccer game, and unfortunately the U.S. won : ( Which means that I had to deal with a bit of harassment by some of my friends for being "American". (It was all in fun, no worries.) It was crazy, though, because it was such a huge deal. One of my friends went to his night class only to have 8 people show up and then have the class cancelled so they could go watch the game. Camino Real (the strip of restaurants and bars next to the university) was packed with traffic, and every bar was overflowing with people. Let me tell you, these people love their soccer. Which is why I was so surprised at how well everyone took the loss. Anyway...
I finally started teaching, and I really like it. The kids are sooo sweet. They are pretty well behaved for the most part, and the 6th graders already know quite a bit of English. Their teachers usually stay in the room while I'm there but turn the control over to me, and it's really nice having them there in case there is a big problem with student behavior. It's kind of wierd, because the teachers treat me like an equal. Which is nice, but a little wierd... sometimes I wish they would act more as mentors, giving me advice on what I could do better. Anyway, on Tuesday I'm there during their lunch/recess from 4-4:30 (school goes from 1:30 to 6!) and get to play with the kids for awhile. They are so adorable and happy. They all ask how to say their names in English, and when it's time for me to go, they all want to give me a kiss on the cheek. It was funny, because the other day when I was leaving, the entire class gathered around for their goodbye kiss. I was trying to keep track of who had already gone, because otherwise we'd be there all day. And apparently I wasn't paying very close attention, because after giving me his kiss goodbye, one little boy ran away happily screaming "I got two!!" It made me laugh. Anyway, I really do love being with the kids. I think I made the right decision, because when I'm there I feel a sort of peace and contentment, like I'm right where I need to be.

Mexico City

This week was crazy, so I never had a chance to write about my trip to the D.F., Mexico City. Last Monday we had a break from classes because of some holiday, so I went with four other international students for a couple of days. One of them lived there for a year in 2006 and has a boyfriend there, so it was really nice to have a couple of people around who knew the city. And I have to say, I loved it there! I know it doesn't have a very good reputation, but there are so many beautiful and cool things to see there. And since I am fascinated by Mexican culture and history, it was awesome to actually see some of the things in person that I've learned or heard about. We saw all of the touristy buildings.. the palacio nacional, catedral, palacio bellas artes.. walked around some parks, looked through some markets, and went to the Museo de Arte Moderno (I think that's what it was called).
Anyway, the art museum was really fun. I managed to get yelled at by a security guard, so I think that's a pretty good indicator that I had fun. One of the exhibits was so wierd.. there were a bunch of photographs of the artist dressed up as a cat, and doing all of these bizarre poses, as if the artist really thought he or she was an animal. There was another exhibit, though, that was amazing... let's just say that Remedios Varo is now one of my favorite painters. If you like surrealist art, you should check out her work.
On Sunday, we went Coyoacan for the market, good quesadillas, and a visit to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's house (now museum), which I must say, is painted the most vibrant color blue you have ever seen. That was really cool, as well, and as bizarre as this may sound what with all of the original artwork housed there, I think my favorite part was a series of photos taken of Diego making wierd faces at the camera. They were hilarious. And oh my gosh, the quesadillas we had that day were A-mazing and fried.
Before we left, we had to make a trip to Teotihuacan, which are basically the biggest ruins in Mexico. It was awesome walking up the pyramids, but I really wish we'd hired a guide. Things like that are so much cooler and interesting when you know the history behind it all. Maybe that's just me, though, since I am a bit of a history nerd.

Salsa!

This week I started my Taller... beginner's Salsa, and it is so much fun! I've always thought it would be fun to learn salsa or swing or something (and actually I had informal swing lessons this week, too, which was really fun!) So when I saw that classes were offered, I was glad to sign up. We've had 2 classes, and it's pretty great. The instructor is hilarious to listen to - he barks out all of these orders in such a serious manner. However, I have realized pretty quickly that, as a girl, if your partner can't lead... there's not a whole lot you can do, things just aren't going to be pretty. So, it's good that the guys are constantly rotating around the room, because you don't get stuck with a bad partner for the entire hour.
Anyway, I'm really excited to learn more, because it's been coming pretty naturally. Now I just have to find a guy who can dance salsa to go out dancing with! Although, it's kind of sad.. the antros don't actually start playing Mexican music or anything you could dance salsa to until about 1am. Up until then, you might as well be in a club in the states. However, it makes me really happy when they finally do. I'm trying to learn the lyrics to the songs that everyone sings along to. It makes me feel more Mexican!
P.S. I ate my first street tacos the other night and they were amazing : ) I think that was my favorite meal since I've gotten here.

Besos

Disclaimer: This is a really random blog. However, not many interesting things have happened in the last few days. (Although I do have to brag that I ate a cricket. And went to see Benjamin Button for less than $3.)

Adjusting to Mexican culture hasn't been all that difficult. There are a lot of similarities here, because they are probably the most "americanized" culture in all of Latin America (obviously, since they're so close). However, there are some interesting differences. For example, the beso. Now, I'm not sure how many people in the U.S. are aware of this custom, so sorry if you already know this. However, I'm going to explain it. Every time you greet someone and every time you say goodbye to them, you give them a beso (kiss) on the cheek. There can be a group of ten people standing there, and you give each one a kiss on the cheek. It doesn't matter if you're meeting them for the first time, you still do it. Even if two people are having a private conversation, you interrupt them to give them a beso. Now, I'm starting to appreciate this tradition. However, I must say, it can be quite awkward for us gringos. Because:
1) I'm not used to interrupting people so that I can give them a kiss on the cheek.
2) A lot of times Mexican people will hesitate before they give a gringo a beso. I think they are unsure of whether or not they are going to freak us out. However, it just makes it that much more awkward.
3) You're never sure whether or not to give your other gringo friends besos, but you feel wierd only kissing the Mexican half of the group.
With that said, I'm finding that the best way to deal with the awkwardness is to kiss everyone. I mean, obviously I don't kiss the bus driver every morning, but if I'm being introduced to someone or if they are a friend of a friend, I definitely need to give them a beso. I figure it's better to give too many besos than not enough.

Oh, and P.S. Another random thing that's different about Mexico is that there is an overabundance of speed bumps, also known as "topes". I guess they figure that's more effective in keeping people's speed down than establishing speed limits??

My Family

So, a few interesting things have happened in the past week.1) I started classes, and as usual, I felt the need to change my schedule at the last minute. So, in order to get out of a translation class, I decided to take the community service class. Which means that starting in February I will be teaching (hopefully team-teaching with another girl, Amy) an english class for kids 5 hours a week. Which is probably going to be crazy difficult at times, and I'm probably going to question myself for making this decision at least once. However, I think it will be a good opportunity to see into real life here and get outside of the university setting. And it is definitely a unique experience.

2) Today we went on a day trip to nearby Tlaxcala, which is a really cute, clean, laid back town; and we also saw some nearby ruins. It was fun, and also really revealing of exactly how out of shape I am right now.

However, today I really wanted to write about my family. There is the mom, Angelines, an older brother who lives with his own family, and then there are Carlos (charlie) Francisco (fran) and Angelines (Cuqui). They are all really nice and have been helpful in so many ways, from Angelines and Cuqui taking me to the mall to find a jacket, to Fran helping me figure out how to take the bus to school. Angelines is actually Spanish and lived in Spain until she was 16 (and then in Virginia for a few years while her mother was receiving medical treatment). She told me the first day that she doesn't cook Mexican food - only Spanish food! Which made me really sad. But I think that she doesn't realize just how much Mexico has influenced her kitchen : ) We do have Mexican food sometimes, although I was really surprised the other day to see Cuqui making quesadillas with deli meat. Cuqui is really sweet. We hung out one night last weekend, and I think she likes having another girl around the house since she has only brothers. The older brother, Alfonso, has a daughter who comes over quite a bit, and I like playing with her. She turned 4 this week, so we had a little birthday party for her. Carlos y Fran aren't here as much, because they have really intense school (they're studying to be surgeons) and work at club really close to my campus at night. It's nice to have someone my age, though, and they are funny. So, that's my family. It's different adjusting to some things... like making my bed every morning for the first time in my life. Or eating dinner at 11pm. (I'm usually the first one to sleep and the first one up in the morning on the weekends. Which is really wierd.) And it's frustrating to be in homestay sometimes, because in order to have a social life, I end up taking a lot of taxis to get home safely at night. But, I'm glad I chose it, because I really like being around them and having their help in different things.

Lucha Libre

Mexico is home to a wonderful phenomenon known as lucha libre. Upon first seeing the above photos, you may think that lucha libre is similar to the WWF.

It is not.

Lucha libre contains many unique elements.
1) The battle between good and evil.
2) Intense face masks.
3) Extremely unconvincing choreography.
4) A lot of slapping. Yes, slapping. Between flipping and throwing each other, these manly men spend a lot of time slapping each other. And it's loud, so it must really hurt.
5) Good old fashioned cheering on the part of the crowd, including chants of "Ole, ole ole ole... ole, ole!" ...and other chants too inappropriate for this blog.

Mexican Buses

Yesterday, for the first time, I took a Mexican bus. It was quite interesting. Corinne, another girl from GV, and I decided to go to a nearby mall to watch a movie. So, when we asked one of the security guards at the university entrance (where the buses stop) which bus we needed to get to Angelopolis, he said that we would have to take two buses to get there. At the time, that seemed kinda difficult, so we asked if there was another mall with a movie theater that we could get to directly. He told us about another, Plaza San Pedro, and showed us which bus to get on. About twenty minutes and a few new Mexican friends later, we got to the mall, only to find out that there was no movie theater, only a blockbuster. So, after asking around, we got on another bus to take us to the mall we wanted. And let me tell you, this bus was a lot better. Not only did we get to sit down, but we had live music! One of my favorite things about Mexico is that there are always men wandering around playing music for tips, but I hadn't realized that they were allowed to do so on buses. Anyway, I thought that was pretty great. And even though the movie we ended up going to see was pretty crappy, I was really proud of us for figuring out the Mexican bus system.

Bienvenidos a Mexico

English
Welcome to my Mexican blog! I decided to start a blog so that I could put updates and pictures on here instead of writing a bunch of individual emails, because 1)I'm in Mexico and don't want to be on the computer all of the time and 2)the internet is quite slow here (and that's using WiFi). So, while I'm here I'll try to update once or twice a week. Thanks for reading, and I can't wait to see you all when I get back : )

Espanol
Bienvenidos a mi Blog Mexicano! Decidi empezar un blog para comunicar con todos y compartir las fotos, porque es mas facil que escribir mil emails (especialmente cuando el internet es muy lento). Asi que, voy a tratar de escribir uno u dos veces a la semana. Gracias por leer, y espero verles pronto cuando regrese : )