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.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
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??
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??
Saturday, January 17, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, January 12, 2009
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.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
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 : )
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 : )
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