"ustedes no son mexicanas..."

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last time i left off we were in the middle of mexico's soccer game. triste to say, but yes, we did lose. some girls in my class (melissa and anna) and i found it funny that we referred to mexico as "we".. but there's so much spirit about the world cup its pretty hard not to want to
become a part of it 😊

okay so 'drop it like it's hot' is playing in the computer lab. i think that's okay with me. haha.

so yesterday when we get home from school, leslee tells me that her pseudo theater teacher, rafa, (as in, her yoga instructor who comes to her theater class a few times a week to teach them how to be actors and how to breathe correctly and do weird things like pretend to be statues) has invited them to go to a party at his friend's house. at first i was pretty hesitant, obviously, but she eventually convinced me to come along with her and 5 other furman students who are in the theater class. for me, not only do i not know the furman students very well, but i don't know the professor at all, and none of us know anyone at the party.

so we show up at this random mexicana's house. apparently its her birthday. i feel like we're totally crashing her party.. argh. we stood around watching the girls' dogs sniff each other for a while, until a girl came up to us, giving us a weird look, and said "...ustedes no son mexicanas." which means, "you guys aren't mexicans...".. then we had to try and explain that we were students of rafa's, but that didn't really do any good because she didn't know rafa. awkward. and then basically it ended up being a bunch of late 20 somethings (and a 19 year
old) sitting around, drinking, taking about bad words, and me not being able to hold a conversation for more than about 5 minutes. i hated to be a loser, but i really didn't have fun. maybe i wasn't in the mood for small talk, especially small talk in a foreign language. i felt bad but i wanted to go home really early. that's impossible, though, because a girl can't take a taxi at night by herself. argh.

i am trying hard to talk to people, i think last night i was just exhausted. something i am constantly struggling with here is when to be a trusting, oblivious gringa (white girl) and when to be cautious. by nature, i am a very open, trusting person, when it comes to my words, but when it comes to my physical self and watching over other people, i am
very cautious. just like my dad, i seem to see all possible scenarios that could happen, and try to prevent the dangerous ones. sometimes its a good trait, but sometimes it makes being trusting and open to new people (especially people i have no idea about) a little difficult. i think i am just trying to protect myself while i am here, but i am trying to balance that with being open to new experiences and new people. i don't want my cautiousness to hinder my having fun here.

yes. britney spears is playing in here now.

hope you are all having a fun thursday! for some reason AIM is working during the day now, so i am trying to get online during breaks.. if you see me on definitely say hi! (and send me emails and leave comments..).. i miss you guys a LOT!!! love you all...

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Photos

random fiesta
group picture at the birthday party..