One more week left...

Today is day 29 in Mexico, and I am still loving every minute of it!

It's been really rainy lately...aside from my 30 minute walk to school, I haven't been affected too much by the weather. Why? Because I had a music project and an essay in history due this week!

To celebrate the end of our 4th week, Rose, Holly 1, Holly 2, Paula, Kelly and I went to Santo Cafe for lunch. The cafe is located above a famous bridge, one of the original bridges that horses and buggies used to use. See here for yourself: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3247190. Rose and I walk under this cafe everyday to go downtown or to school. The picture in the link is the view going back to our house. I had bistek al pimiento (I believe that's what it was called). It was strips of steak in a rich gravy with rice and a small baked potato on the side. The dish was crazy delicious, and the potato did not come with butter- it came with mozzarella cheese!

Afterwards, Rose and I walked back to our house to drop off our school books. We left the house, got a lot of shopping done, grabbed some elote for dinner and went back to the house.

I will try to put up some pictures of elote and my gordita from earlier this week. Tomorrow Rose and I are going to part our separate ways for a while- she is going to meet up with her family and goof around...probably in Salamanca, Celaya or Uriangato until Monday. I on the other hand, will be going to Cristo Rey and the Bicentennial Expo tomorrow with some other students. This weekend, I should be going to El Penon- not really sure where it is, but if the weather cheers up I should be able to go zip lining! I'll keep you posted!!

Guera

"Guera- Spanish for fair or light skinned"

As many of you know, I have been to Mexico multiple times to visit my mom's extended family. The majority of my family members in Mexico have similar complexion to mine- white. While I have noticed the typical socioeconomic classes of Mexican people who are lighter-skinned versus darker-skinned, I never really thought I stood out amongst people with light complexions!

My host mom, Graciela, is very light-skinned and often invites family and friends over. Rosio and I are always together, so granted, when people hear Rosio talk they know she has been speaking Spanish her whole life. The question they first ask her is, "Where is your family from?" Out of politeness, only one guest has ever asked me where my family is from. Most of the time I get asked "Why did you choose to come to Guanajuato?" or "Where did you learn Spanish?" While I am a halfsie, I like to think I know a little more about Mexican culture than the average U.S. citizen. And although I may not look it, I can certainly understand the conversations that go on around me.

Another example of this is a guest who stayed at Graciela's house Sunday night. The guest was very friendly and spoke to me in English, even though I gave several answers in Spanish (Yes, this gentleman asked the typical questions of Rosio and I). Then at the dinner table, the guest would say something in Spanish and say the same statement again in English. While I certainly appreciate the gesture the guest made for me to be more...included in the conversation, the translations finally stopped when I casually mentioned where my mom is from.

Monday was another instance that people made assumptions. I had talked to Rosio about going to a food stand, one I had remembered eating at on my last trip here. We had both ordered our gorditas and quesadillas when these two Americans from Florida stop to look at the food stand. The Americans, both vegetarian and therefore utterly disappointed with the meat-filled menu in Guanajuato, started chatting with Rose and I. Needless to say, the couple did not ask Rose where she learned Spanish. Rather, the couple asked Rose to tell them what was on the menu...and then they asked me if my Spanish has improved dramatically since I have been here.

Walking back to class from the delicious food stand, Rose couldn't help but laugh over my "reverse discrimination." I am not really sure if it's reverse descrimination, or just the fact that people really do assume too much. I believe we all assume, but that there are better ways to go about asking questions. Then again I am probably more aware of it because people regularly assume I am not multi-racial, and that I cannot possibly know enough about the Spanish language or Mexican culture.

Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende

After a crazy week of presentations (one of the caste system and another of talented and not-so-talented musicians) I was so thankful to have some time to relax.

On Friday, Rose and I went straight to Mercado Hidalgo (in Guanajuato) to get a new umbrella because the one I brought was shot. We walked around el Centro and kept on running into classmates, which was pretty fun. Rose and I were trying to find a good place to buy flan. After trying a terrible 50 cent flan (you get what you pay for) we opted to go to a restaurant and try their flan (seen below). I forget the name of the restaurant, but it is located directly across from Teatro Juarez. Their flan was about 5 USD and it did not disappoint- I am not a huge flan fan, but this was awesome flan!!

On Saturday, Rose and I woke up bright and early to meet with our classmates and take a bus to Dolores Hidalgo. Dolores Hidalgo was the place where Father Miguel Hidalgo did his famous Grito de Dolores on September 16, 1810, Mexico's Independence Day . The town changed their name from Dolores to Dolores Hidalgo in honor of the founding father. Since 2010 is the bicentennial year for Mexico, Dolores Hidalgo is getting ready for the big celebration- they even have a countdown going on right in front of the main church (seen below).

In the jardin across from the church are ice cream vendors. However, these are not your ordinary ice cream vendors!!!! Oh no, Dolores Hidalgo is known for their unique ice cream flavors like chicharron y cameron, cheese, mole, tequila, rose petal, avacado, peanut, as well as some more tame flavors. (The last time I was in Dolores Hidalgo, I tried cheese, mole and avacado- and trying those flavors once was enough for me). This time I tried angel kiss, elote and arroz con leche. I settled for a scoop of elote, a version of corn on the cob.

We hopped back on our bus, which took us to some hotsprings. Despite the rainy/overcast weather, I was excited to go swimming. However, I was under the impression that my friends here are fair-weather swimmers, and I didn't want to be the only person getting into the water. Luckily, there are 4 girls in our group who were also on a swim team at one point in time or another!! The water was very warm, and many of the pools were covered in domes. I cannot remember the name of the natural hotsprings now (I'm thinking El Escondido sounds right). Nevertheless, it was a very interesting place to go swim. While we were having a blast in the water, it started to rain again...and we changed really quick so that our belongings wouldn't get soaked.

After a 20 minute bus ride, we arrived at San Miguel de Allende. San Miguel de Allende is a very popular place for retired Americans to live or visit. Some of my friends were questioning me before we got to San Miguel (and Dolores) about what the city was like. I had told them that San Miguel was a lot flatter than Guanajuato. Apparently San Miguel's gentle hills were not flat enough for Josh, which I thought was pretty funny. We checked into the Hotel Real de Minas, showered, and met everyone in the hotel hallways to grab dinner. We walked from our hotel to el Centro, which took about 15 minutes for all 20 umbrella-carrying of us to walk single file down the narrow sidewalks. The group split for dinner, the majority of the people eating at a certain restaurant, while I ate with Eliana, Rose, and Holly 2. (I should note that Holly 2 is called Holly 2 because her roommate, Holly 1 was in Guanajuato for Summer 1- super confusing, I know, but #2 is not duragatory in any means!) I was super exicted for my milanesa (seen below)...which came with fries (I've been trying really hard not to eat American food for fear that I would become homesick).

After dinner, Eliana joined the rest of the group while Rose, Holly and I walked to the artisan market and got some loot (2 crosses and a hand-painted picture frame, if your name is Ashley). Time flew, so the three of us walked back to el Centro (where we walked past some of our friends taking a taxi back to their hotel). We watched a drum and bugle corp perform, walked past a showing of the famous Guanajuato film festival, and went inside the Church of St. Michael the Archangel. We had previously tried to go inside the church, but there were weddings and quinceneras preventing us from entering earlier. Finally, on our way back to the hotel, the three of us stopped by an ice cream store. Holly had blueberry, I had some thing with caramel, vanilla, and chocolate chips while Rose had calletas (oreo cookie). All three flavors did not disappoint!!! We walked back to the hotel where Holly showed us videos of her hobby, West Coast Swing (which is pretty awesome, I highly suggest you look it up on YouTube).

On Sunday, Rose and I woke up around 8am to meet with the group for breakfast. Okay, now I have to say, chilaquiles are yummy. I haven't had them in soooooo long, and the hotel's breakfast food was divine. Kyle sat with Holly, Rose and I, and we had a very interesting conversation on Whale Wars (random, I know). We had an hour to kill before the bus picked us up, so I started blogging and looked up the hotel's rates: 967 pesos for one night in a double or 75 dollars. The exchange rate is very off, so I am assuming Americans get a discount???

It would have been nice to spend more time in San Miguel, but I had a wonderful weekend, and I cannot wait to start my 4th week!

Truco Tuesday

Hello everyone!

This week has flown by so fast! I think it has something to do with the two group projects I have due on Friday!

On Monday I found out that my Tio Jesus' office is right across the street from my classroom! I had originally planned to go with Tio Jesus back to his house on Tuesday and visit with my Aunt Tere. Well, after my Tuesday classes I went to my uncle's office...and he apologized for forgetting to tell me Aunt Tere is in Leon. =/

Luckily, I had the afternoon free, and so Tio Jesus and I went to el Truco! (I ordered the green enchiladas. The menue is wrong- the enchiladas are not spicy!) I find it so funny that my family still loves to eats at el Truco...it makes me think of my grandparents. :) My uncle and I spent about two and a half hours talking in el Truco and walking around the jardin. Like most Mexican cities, the jardin is a square typically in front of a main church where everyone meets...and I mean everyone! Tio Jesus and I did three turns around the jardin: my uncle saw one person he knew and I saw five!

My uncle had to go back to his house and I had a salsa class to go to, so we parted ways. That was a fun Tuesday!

Week 2

Hello all!





Wow, I cannot believe that I have been in Mexico for 19 days! Time is flying by so fast! Just this past week I had an essay, a presentation and an exam to study/finish for Friday. It kind of felt like midterms at USF. Luckily, I was able to blow off some steam this weekend.





So here's a breakdown what I did this past week:


Monday through Wednesday: Got together with Rose to do homework...Worked with Jamil and Sabrina (as well as Rose) for our group presentation.

• Thursday: After finishing my essay err... early in the morning, I walked to class with Rose (for those of you who didn't know, our walk is about 30 minutes to el Centro). Since we were meeting our group downtown later in the evening, Rose and I decided to check off an activity on our Guanajuato List- we had dinner at Truco 7! (seen above) Every single time I go to Guanajuato, I always come to el Truco for a meal. This trip was no exception- I had enchiladas mineras and they were AWE-some! Dinner at Truco 7 was just what Rose and I needed, and before we knew it, our group presentation was practically finished.

• Friday: Rose and I got up and left our house early in order to meet our other group members and rehearse our group presentation. Our presentation went very well- we talked about la Malinche and briefly compared her to Bella from Twilight. :P Later that evening, we went to Why Not? and Guanajuato Grill to celebrate our friend's birthday.

• Saturday: Rose and I went to la Plaza de la Paz to meet up with the group. We all hopped in a bus with the high school students in our sister program and rode to....the Mummy Museum! (sorry, no photos- we aren't allowed to take any there) The Mummy Museum is dedicated to the naturally mumified bodies found in the early 1900s here in Guanajuato. Here's the website if you are curious: http://www.mummymuseum.com/ This was my third time at the Mummy Museum- it's still eerie, but the layout of the Museum has changed dramatically since my first visit.

• Later we went to the Hacienda del Cochero which was used during the Spanish Inquisition. (No, Spencer, I couldn't resist saying "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!!!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSe38dzJYkY ) The Hacienda was interesting- I had no idea that Mexico was involved in the Spanish Inquisition. We also went to La Valenciana silver mine. A retired miner gave us the tour, and while I cannot remember everything he told us, it is absolutely amazing how unhealthy and unsafe mining is. At one point, the guide said that the life expectancy of a young miner was 6 years after hiring!

• We had a couple of minutes to spare after the tour, so a group of us went to a church right by La Valenciana. The religous architecture here is...indescribable....

• A few of us decided to go watch Knight and Day at the mall, and then we called it a night!

• Sunday: Woke up bright and early to meet up at Teatro Juarez. From Teatro Juarez, we walked to La Bufa, which has a lovely panoramic view of Guanajuato, Silao and a few other towns. Last time I was at La Bufa was three years ago during a festival for Saint Ignatius, who has a cave at the base of La Bufa. Part of the climb was pretty steep, but the view was so worth it! La Bufa is fairly close to my host family's house, so Rose and I took showers and rested for a while before going out to dinner and celebrating Josh's birthday!

It was kind of hard getting up this morning, and I cannot believe Week 2 has already come and gone! I am so thankful to be in this wonderful city with such amazing classmates :)

On another note, some of you have been wondering how safe Guanajuato is. First off, Guanajuato is no where near the border. It is the geographic center of Mexico (Cristo Rey, a place I will be going to in a few weeks, is the exact center of the country). Guanajuato is just as safe as any big city in the U.S. There was an excursion planned in the state of Michoacan, but the drug cartels are causing too much trouble, and so the excursion was cancelled. Rest assured, I am very safe here- I never go out at night by myself, I always have my phone and my mace!

Miss you all!

Teotihuacan

So yesterday, Rosio and I woke up before 5am so we could get on a bus to Teotihuacan with the rest of our classmates. Teotihuacan is about 4 1/2 hours from Guanajuato, but our program director was so happy to put on a movie for us (New Moon on the way, and Avatar on the way back to Guanajuato).


My classmates and I making a pyramid on top of the Pyramid of the Moon, with the Pyramid of the Sun in the background.

We spent about three hours in Teotihuacan...Three hours that were primarily spent on climbing up the two main pyramids, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. Luckily, the weather was not too bad (I had checked the night before, and the forcast said it was supposed to rain). Instead we had a very nice breeze and a few clouds to cool us off!

On top of the Pyramid of the Sun, with the Pyramid of the Moon in the background

These pyramids are absolutely amazing. The steps are tall and tiny, and particularly intimidating to climb up or down. While our group did not have enough time to go to the park's museum, we were all amazed at the magnificent Aztec architecture.

Today, some of us went to el Centro to watch the FIFA World Cup (Yes, I did wear red to support Spain). With all of the excitement of the past week, I am happy to publish this post and go to sleep! Adios!

Tuesday and Clase de Baile

The University of Guanajuato.

The view of El Pipila and El Templo from my classroom

Yesterday was my first day of "real class." That is, my professor did not go over the syllabus. My schedule goes like this:



7:00am- Wakey!Wakey!

8:00am- Desayuno (Breakfast)

8:30am- Leave the house for class

9:00am-11:00am- Clase de Historia e Literatura de Mexico

11:00am-1:00pm- Free time! (aka homework time)

1:00pm-3:00pm- Contemporary Music of the Spanish-Speaking World

3:30pm- Lunch at our host family's house

4:00pm-???- Free time (aka homework time)


Yesterday, Rosio and I did homework for about 4 hours. No fue divertido :( But today, we finished our homework so that we could enjoy ourselves at the dance class! Our teacher taught us some salsa and meringue. Thankfully, those years in Mr. Adam's Spanish class paid off- I didn't look like a total newbie when it came to salsa! Yippy! The class was really hard, and we were all really tired when it was over. Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

Primer Dia de Escuela

A vendor's stand inside the Mercado Hidalgo

Rosio, mi companera, and I had breakfast with Graciela and Estela. Don, a family friend from Oregon, is staying at the Nieto house but didn't join us for breakfast.

Estela accompanied Rosio and I on our 30 minute walk to campus, where we met with the other 21 college students. The majority of the students are from the Midwest, and it was very interesting to mingle with everyone. ISA did a little orientation, mostly telling us to not party too hard, don't fall for the flirtatious locals (Rosio and I call them pescaderos, fisherman), and don't corrupt the American high school students (Rosio and I call them the guppies). ISA really tried to warn us about the pescaderos because they say such wonderful, romantic things to the American women, but only have one thing in mind! Imaginate!

I went to a Literature and History class, then a Grammar class (which was very intimidating, I can only take 2 classes, and hopefully that will not be one of them!), and finally a Latin American Music class. Professor Carlos teaches the Lit+Hist class as well as the Music class. He is so passionate about his work and students! I know I will enjoy his classes, plus Rosio is in the classes too!

After class, Graciela and Don took us back to la casa for lunch. We had to go back to el Centro for our tour of the city. (on our tour, Rosio and I saw two pescaderos with American women! :P) The tour was very enjoyable, and it was nice to be at some of the familiar places. We went to El Pipila, a few plazas, and into the Mercado Hidalgo. Unfortunately, our tour guide wouldn't let us go to El Callejon de Bezos (the Alley of Kisses- it's a very famous story in Guanajuato) because everyone in the group was single. It was disappointing and funny all at the same time.

(Rosio and I in front of the University)

The First Couple of Days...

Thursday (continued from previous post)


My plane from Dallas to Leon was delayed because....

• we had to change planes due to a mechanical problem





• the flight was overbooked





• there was a hurricane over Dallas

So, I arrived at 11pm (and only hour late- I cannot believe how that happened, since both my flights departed an hour behind schedule). I was the first person in line for customs, once I passed through the gates my great-uncle and -aunt (Tio Jesus and Aunt Tere) were there to greet me. It was so nice to see them again after 3 years! The drive from the Leon airport to the house in Guanajuato took a mere 15 minutes. Once my mom called to make sure I arrived safely, I went straight to bed.

Friday

I woke up to the sound of a peddler selling gas. Every ten seconds or so the man yells, "El gas!" Three years ago, I thought this was a terrible way to wake up in the morning. Now I see it as a pleasant sign that long trip was not a bad dream, but I am really back in Guanajuato. I got out of bed just in time to see Tio Jesus go to work. My Aunt Tere came downstairs to join me, and we spent the entire morning talking. Eventually, my wristwatch beeped and Aunt Tere said, "Well, it's 1pm...how about some breakfast?" We both got ready to start our day and finally sat down to eat a meal of scrambled eggs and a pineapple smoothie. Shortly after, my cousin Gisela came by the house with her 5 year old son, Tristan. Aunt Tere prepped for lunch, and Tio Jesus returned home from work (since the law school is closed for the summer, his work hours are quite short). We had a lovely lunch of carne asada, vegetables, rice and salsa. The corn tortillas in Mexico- for those of you who haven't heard my dad rave about them- are absolutely delicious, and I was so happy to have some with my lunch! After a few more hours talking with my Tio Jesus and Gisela, WE WENT OUT FOR ENCHILADAS!

Now, my mom makes awesome enchiladas. Her enchiladas have chicken, Mexican cheese and onion inside, with carrots, potatoes, lettuce, and sour cream for toppings. These enchiladas (allegedly there are other kinds) were recently named enchiladas mineras. The city of Guanajuato has a huge history of mining silver, and Tio Jesus explained that the resturaunts in the city changed the name in honor of the miners.

Once again, I slept soundly. Rain poured throughout the night, and once again, it felt great to be back in Guanajuato.

Saturday

I woke up and had breakfast with my Aunt Tere. My Tio Jesus went to pick up Gisela and Tristan so that we could all go to Moroleon. Moroleon is my mom's hometown, in the southernmost part of the state of Guanajuato. Unfortunately, a bit of the drug violence in Morelia (in the neighboring state of Michoacan) has elevated the crime level in Moroleon. I had promised my mom that I would not travel to Moroleon by myself, and I am proud to say, "Mom, I kept my promise. I did not go to Moroleon by myself...I went with Tio Jesus!"

There is a new highway (with toll booths) that cuts the 4 hour drive from Guanajuato to Moroleon down to 1 hour! We were driving into Uriangato, a city right next to Moroleon, when we got a flat llanta (tire). At this point, it was raining cats and dogs, and we had to wat a while before we could fix the tire. Once the tire was fixed, we joined my cousins Gerardo and Rodrigo and had lunch in the mercado (open-air market). I wish I could have taken a picture of my delicious quesadilla con chorizo (Mexican sausage)!

I should note that my grandparents lived in Moroleon and were fortunate enough to have family living in the city. Tio Jesus is one of my grandfather's brothers and my Aunt Beatriz is my grandmother's sister. I had not seen my Aunt Beatriz for three years as well, and my Tio Jesus was kind enough as to take me to her house and surprise her! My Aunt Beatriz and her husband, Tio Emilio, were very happy to see me and even called my cousin Estephania to come over an visit. After a few hours, we went to a restaurant to meet my Tio Jesus, Aunt Tere, Gisela and Tristan. While we ate chile rellenos, vegetables, and chorizo, Tristan was jumping on a trampoline. Oh, how I wish McDonalds playpens had trampolines when I was growing up!

We said goodbye to my Aunt Beatriz, Tio Emilio and Estephania and drove to el rancho, where we stayed the night.

Today

I woke up at Tio Jesus' vacation home (Tristan calls it el rancho) and was so happy to spend breakfast and lunch with my aunt, uncle, three cousins and their kids. Unfortunately, I had to go to my host family, but I know I will see my cousins again really soon!

My host family, sisters Graciela and Estela Nieto, have a fantastic house near la presa (the dam). Their house has a lot of personality, and you can tell that it is very old. Graciela's husband was a miner and constructed the beautiful house. (more pictures will follow).

My companera (the ~ sign doesn't work sorry!) is Rosio. She's 22 years old and goes to Roosevelt University in Chicago. She's really chill, and we spent a bit of the evening talking and unpacking our things. We were both really tired, and went to bed around 10:15-ish.

En Route

So, members of the awesome possum Circle (Allison, Brendan, Cameron, and Jared) swung by my house yesterday right after I finished packing. You guys are absolutely amazing! (Thanks for the Big Spoon, by the way) I went straight to bed after they left, but couldn't sleep a wink! I was so excited to start my day, I woke up before my 5:15 am alarm! Dad treated Spenc and I to Starbucks, and then we were off to the airport (Mom had to set up for work).

The flight to Dallas was overbooked and left late (we needed additional fuel in case we ran into a storm over Dallas). I will say that the flight to Dallas was one of the smoothest I have ever been on. The passengers were pretty amusing too. The Texans had lovely accents AND I even saw a man with a cowboy hat, belt buckle, boots, and a handlebar mustache!

DFW is a huge airport in comparison to SMF. Since I have a 4...scratch that, 5 hour layover, I'm happy there's Wi-Fi. Yay for two more hours of Internet access!