What up America?

Well where do I start? I have over a week worth of the experiences and stories to tell so settle in for a little bit of reading- don't worry I won't share EVERYTHING today and just hit the highlights and basics. I arrived in Mexico City on July 1st after a long day of traveling. Seriously. I caught the shuttle to the airport in Philly at 5am and arrived at 4:00pm. I then hopped in a van along with my fellow Arizona volunteer Tommy and we headed towards Cuernavava which was about an hour away. Cuernavaca is where I have been living for the past week and it's a very beautiful! So green! The high school and house for the high school kids is located here. We live in the volunteer house which is known as Casa Guadalupe. It's pretty nice although there is no hot water and the internet is a bit temperamental, but we're surviving. Casa Guadalupe is a place where we can come on our descansos (weekends off) and stay for free so that we can shop and go out in Cuernavaca. Miacatlan is more of a village type town so there isn't a whole lot to do there nor are there many places to shop for the necessities. I'll be seeing a lot of this place I'm sure. If you check out the pictures you can see Casa Guadalupe and the surrounding area. Cuernavaca is a really beautiful place and while it does rain quite a bit at night the weather is very much like a nice spring.
While here in Cuernavaca the other volunteers and I are attending language school. We all have different opinions about how much we like it, but in the end I figure it can only help- not hurt my Spanish. Our first weekend here we got to attend the graduations both here in Cuernavaca and in Miacatlan. After each graduation there was a dinner and a dance. I can't say I actually danced because I feel like all we did was jump around a lot, but it was a ton of fun nonetheless. If you would like to see pictures of the graduation in Miacatlan you can hit up my fellow volunteer Natalie's blog: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/nrauch/. I definitely forgot my camera like an idiot.
I can't say it's been all work/school and no play. We have been hitting up the night life in Cuernavaca for sure. From salsa clubs to bars in the Zocalo- we've done it all. After the high school graduation I had the pleasure of going out with the National Director and his family and friends along with some of the other volunteers till about 6am. Mexico never sleeps- especially on weekends. I haven't done anything too crazy yet, but give it some time. I have managed to hurt myself a few times already as is custom since I'm so accident prone. I slipped and fell on the tile at school (I included a picture of the site of injury) and I now have some pretty kick ass bruises. I also cut my leg on the bus on the way to school today and didn't even realize it until someone pointed it out. Of course all the language school had to clean it with was rubbing alcohol which was excruciating- but I'd rather tear up a bit than get an infection. It should leave a nice scar as well.
The other new volunteers and I are all in agreement that we feel like we're living in limbo. We're living out of our suitcases and haven't had a lot of interaction with the kids except for meals. We are all ready to get to Miacatlan and see what life here is really going to be like. I mean I am enjoying my time here in Cuernavaca, but I just feel so unorganized and while I try to get as settle as possible I know that I'm moving on Saturday so there really is not point. As you can see in the pictures the place is a mess and I have clothes and bags everywhere. I would like to take this time to introduce the crew I've been living with- my NPH family if you will:
Tommy- From Scottsdale, Brophy kid, LMU graduate, encargaro in Miacatlan, and kind of a smartass
Natalie- From Scottsdale, Notre Dame graduate, and will be working in Cuernavca with Life Teen
Leslee- Our newest arrival from Ohio, encaragara in Miacatlan and Furman graduate
Sara- Hails from Kentucky, encargara in Miacatlan, and KU graduate
Josie- The Queen released her from London, chartered librarian, and will be working as the librarian in Miacatlan (she has also been teaching me all sorts of awesome British words like Mankey and Git- I intend to be fluent in British and Spanish before the year is up)
I have also met most of the volunteers who have already been here for 6 months (and some more than that) and it seems to be a great group of people. I think we are going to have a ton of fun and you can't beat being surrounded by other people who are as passionate about this organizations and about kids as you are.
I had done a lot of walking around the city and checking things out in the afternoons. The city center is home to the Zocalo which is all shops during the day and then live music and dancing at night. There is a place here called the Fiyuka (spelling? I'm not sure about that) which is where you can buy pretty much anything and everything. It's somewhat of a black market. It's pretty damn cool. I bought movies that are still in the theaters for 15 pesos each (that's $1.50) and the quality is actually pretty good. So far I've only watched Hancock and Wall-E, but for $1.50 I was very impressed. While walking around I will admit I have eaten some street food and I can't deny my love for it. While a couple of the other girls have been sick for quite some time now, I remain strong. I have an iron stomach- you know as long as you don't force dairy products on me. I included a picture of the best meal we've had here at the high school (as designed so elegantly by Tommy). This meal was dinner last night. On Wednesdays Costco drops off a ton of donations and obviously this makes Wednesdays the best meal day. Everyone looks forward to it. Sadly, this doesn't happen in Miacatlan so I did just experience my last Costco day. Well, I'm off and expect pretty frequent updates.

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