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Published: August 25th 2008
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Alhóndiga
The circle shaped dents in the building near the windows are from the attempts of the Indigenous troops to kill the Spaniards - by tying big rocks to ropes and whipping them up to the windows. Not very successful against the guns of the Spaniards. Hola amigos!
Well another week has gone by which means I have now been in Guanajuato for a month. This is just crazy to me. I'm sure for all of you back home who miss me dearly think time is just crawling by... 😊....but for me it is just flying! And even though I miss all of you, I absolutely love it here. People keep saying I will go through a phase where I just want to come home, but right now I couldn't be enjoying myself any more. I also can't believe how much I've learned in a month. Hopefully my Spanish has improved somewhat, but it's difficult to tell. There are days when I honestly feel like I know nothing. I have to have people repeat everything, or ask them to slow down multiple times. But there are also days when I feel really confident and as though I do know what's going on. It just depends - on the situation, who I'm speaking with, and how much sleep I got the night before. In this month I also feel that I have slowly adapted to life here in Mexico. I no longer have the urge to throw
My señora
In our house before the wedding. I love her! toilet paper in the toilet, which took me forever to get used to. If you didn't know, toilet paper can not be flushed down the toilet anywhere in Mexico, as the pipes cannot handle it. Instead, you simply throw it in the garbage can. A little strange and gross at first, but it now seems perfectly normal. I am no longer hungry at noon, and find it perfectly normal to eat supper at 9:30 at night. I no longer have to think twice about greeting and saying goodbye to everyone with a "kiss" on the cheek. Not really a kiss - you know, just touch cheeks and make the kissing noise. But being an American, this was so different to me at first. I no longer find it strange that there can just be food stands where things aren't refrigerated or covered in any way. After working in a kitchen for 4 years, this whole lack of sanitation rules really bothered me for a while. I never expect anything to start on time anymore. In fact today when we started an 11 o'clock class today at 5 after, I turned to my friend and said, "we're starting class early today!"
Mis Padres
Here's me with my host parents - Eddie and Fátima and he agreed. If you ever ask anyone when something is going to happen, the responses are never exact. Instead it's words that all mean not now, but later. Which could mean 15 minutes or hours. A favorite word is ahorita, which comes from the word ahora, which means right now. Ahorita is like, well not right now, but later, or soon. But again, ahorita could mean hours from now. You just never know, but time is just not as important here. I'm slowing getting used to this too. These are just a few examples, but all in all, I would say I really am becoming accustomed to the culture and ways of life here in Mexico.
Not a whole lot happened during this past week. Classes are still going well. I had my class with Mexican students for the second time on Friday. It's definitely going to be tough, but the professor again told me not to worry and just do what I can. I shouldn't stress out but should just do my best to learn Spanish. I'm trying not to worry, but if you know me at all, you know I am a worrier and I tend
Mis padres dancing
Another tradition at weddings is that props are passed out - whether it be hats, wigs, clothing, blow up instruments/microphones, etc. I found it to be pretty amusing. to stress out about school. If I will learn one thing from my time in Mexico, it will be to stop worrying and stressing and just relax. I think everyone's favorite saying is "no te preocupes" - do not worry. Just like with time here, everything is just so much more, like, just go with the flow, relax, and everything will be alright. I love this and am slowing changing, which will probably be problematic when I return home, as most Americans do not think this way.
On Saturday we visited three more museums in Guanajuato. We started at Alhóndiga, which is the site of the first major rebel victory in Mexico's War of Independence. In 1810 it became a fortress for Spanish troops and their families. When the Indigenous rebels attempted to take Guanajuato, the Spaniards barricaded themselves in. As legend goes (and it is a legend because no one knows for sure what happened...but this is what the majority believe) on September 28, 1810 (which in Guanajuato is a more important holiday than Independence Day itself, which is September 15) a young man, made it to the door of this building by tying a stone slab to
his back, protecting himself from the bullets. He set the door on fire and so all of the Indigenous people were able to get inside. They killed everyone inside, including women and children. But this was a huge victory for Mexico. Up until this point it was impossible for the Indigenous to enter the building, as the windows are very tiny, and they did not have guns as the Spaniards did. The building is now a museum, with lots and lots of interesting artifacts from back in the day. From there we also visited the house of Diego Rivera (very famous painter). A huge and beautiful house, with lots and lots of his early artwork. The first was from age 12, and it was amazing. From there we went to the Don Quijote museum which was more artwork - all devoted to Quijote. The museums were interesting, but not as interesting as the ones from last week. And I don't have many pictures, because of course you can't take pictures of the artwork.
On Saturday I got to go to a wedding reception with my family. It was the wedding of my parents son-in-law's sister. I wasn't able to
Bouquet Toss
Here's the bouquet toss I was talking about. For some reason at this point the guys were also running under here. I think they just wanted to join in. go to the actually wedding, as they weren't able to get me a "ticket". I'm not sure exactly what that meant, but they explained it was pretty private. But I was able to go to the dance, which started at 11. It was so much fun! It was so interesting to see the different traditions. For example, for the bouquet toss there is a certain song. The bride and groom stand on chairs facing each other and hold out a piece of cloth, the single girls all hold hands and run around, weaving in and out of the tables, and under this cloth. Once the song is over, then they gather and the bride throws the bouquet. It was pretty entertaining. I think my favorite part was when Achy Breaky Heart came on, in Spanish, and everyone got very excited and line-danced the whole song. My family and I didn't leave the dance until 3:45 AM, and it was still going. I was told that typically the dances go until 7 or 8 in the morning. Then yesterday there was, I don't know how to say it in English, but basically a day-after-the-wedding reception. Basically another wedding dinner and dance,
Achy Breaky Heart
I just found this to be so funny...and notice how dressed up people are. Most of the guys wore suits. I was told this is the norm. I would say US weddings are much more casual. just the day after. This is also a tradition. It was all the same people from the wedding, and lots of food and music. There was corn on the cob - which I was excited about. But instead of it being smothered in butter, which is how I like it, you top it with lime (no surprise as lime goes on all types of food, and of course beer), salt, and chile powder. I skipped on the chile powder though, as I'm not a big fan. It was different, and pretty good - but not gonna lie I missed the butter. This fiesta was also a lot of fun, but I am definitely tired after this weekend.
Not too much going on this week - just classes, more dance lessons (which are really fun), and a futbol (soccer) game on Sunday. Unfortunately I must have eaten something foreign for my stomach this weekend, because I am definitely not feeling well today. Hope everyone is doing well with everyone! Miss you and love you. Adios!
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Huong
non-member comment
:) :)
Sara, Your blogs look all professional now - I'm so impressed! It looks and sounds like you are having a fantastic time. I was talking to Kelsey yesterday and I mentioned how I have your blog bookmarked as one of my favorite sites and that I check it as regularly (hence, religiously) as even Facebook. I don't know if that's weird (Kelsey laughed at me), but yeah, you're pretty much the most exciting thing in my life right now :) Keep enjoying yourself - I'm really happy to hear you are having a blast and that you don't miss our 'luxuries' too much, haha. Love from WI.