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Published: January 11th 2007
Since arriving in Guanajuato yesterday, I have spoken more Spanish than in I did in all of 2006, toured the entire city with our familia and found time to get in about 16 hours of sleep. I love this place! Nestled in the mountains of central Mexico, Guanajuato is storybook charming. The narrow cobblestone streets wind around courtyards, parks, churches and cafes. The stone houses, stores, churches and restaurants are washed in reds, pinks, blues and yellows. Our house is a lovely rust red, perched on a San Francisco-worthy hill about 5 minutes walking distance from the town center.
We are staying with la familia Bertha Rodriguez: Ana, Hector and their children Ana (19) and Alexandra (17). Both the girls are in school, have boyfriends and therefore do not spend much time at home. Ana and Hector are great. They love Guanajuato and want to show it off. Today they took us to lunch and then on a walking and driving tour of the City. Even though we have given up some privacy to stay here - it is the right decision. If we were staying in a hotel/hostel, the only Spanish we would have spoken so far would have
been to order coffee, buy books and ask where we could find an Internet cafe. Instead we have spent hours with Ana and Hector, discussing movies, Mexican history, family and much more. Other important events of the past day: finding a store where we can buy pirated DVDs for less than $2 and joining a local gym.
Thursday, January 11
La Escuela Mexicana begins! The school places students in beginning, intermediate and advanced classes based on an oral assessment and a written exam. On Monday, one of the professors spoke with Dave and I together for the oral assessment. He said that I spoke like an Espanola - finally, the lisp pays off! I thought it went really well and that we might end up in the same classes. However, the written exam placed me squarely in intermediate classes while Dave was called up to the big time: advansada.
My tarea (homework) for my conversation class was to learn a bit about the history of Guanajuato. Dave’s homework for his conversation class was to prepare 10 minute arguments for debates on 1) the role of women in society and 2) why euthanasia should be
illegal. So far, I am liking the intermediate level. Here are a few things I learned (and/or plagiarized from Natalie - thanks Nat!) about Guanajuato:
**In pre-Hispanic times, Guanajuato was inhabited by nomadic people generically known as Chichimecas who gave the city its name: Quanax-juato. The name means “place of frogs” because it was thought to be only fit for frogs.
**The City was established as a mining town in 1570 and in the 18th century, one Guanajuato mine alone accounted for two-third’s of the world’s silver production.
**Guanajuato played a major role in the Independence of Mexico. One local hero, known as El Pipila strapped a paving stone to his back to shield himself from the gunfire of Spanish troops as he opened a key portal for rebel troops.
**Because of its beauty, historical importance and monuments, Guanajuato was declared a "World Heritage Site" by UNESCO in 1988 and in 2006, National Geographic ranked it as one of the world’s best, most sustainable tourist destinations.
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Merrill
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Boris says hi
Awesome first post! Can't wait to watch the comraderie of learning Spanish together descendsinto a petty, competitive battle for lingusitic supremity. Is an A in intermediate Spanish equivalent to a B in advanced?