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Published: November 27th 2008
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Everyone!
Mom, Dad, Jenna, Kevin, Mariana, Eddie, Fatima, Betito, Julia, me, Jesus, Roberto, Fatima, Auxi Hola!
Well, I am just about officially done with classes! I had my last presentation today and turned in my final essays and all I have to do is listen to an hour of presentations tomorrow and that is the end of my semester! I am so excited about that but at the same time it is a very bittersweet feeling. Even though I'm happy to be done with classes, it means I will be going home soon...and I'm not sure I'm ready to do that.
Two weekends ago my parents and sister Jenna came to visit me. It was SO great to see them. I think that was the longest I had ever gone without seeing my family, and I definitely missed them. I was also so happy that they had the chance to see what my life is like here, see the city, meet my family, etc. They arrived here on a Friday and left the following Monday, so of course the time went by very quickly, but it was a great visit.
On Friday I showed them my house and introduced them to some of my family, and then showed them around the city a bit
before it got dark. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in the centro. (Yes I know, a little strange that they come to Mexico and we eat Italian haha) I had never been there before but the food was really delicious. Because they were very tired from the long day of traveling, we called it an early night. Jenna stayed at the house with me, so we headed back there, and Jesús was in the kitchen getting ready for the big meal he was going to be cooking for everyone on Saturday. We forced Jenna to practice her Spanish. 😊 Good job Jen!
Saturday Jenna and I met my Mom and Dad and we headed to my favorite breakfast place. It's a cafe that has breakfast bagel sandwiches, and they are so delicious. One of my friend's and I go there every Thursday for breakfast. Sadly - tomorrow will be our last breakfast date. 😞 Afterwards, we headed out to do some touring of the city. We first went to the mummy museum - which they enjoyed, but I realized one time is enough to see the mummies. We headed to Valenciana - which is where the silver
Jenna and me
at my school mines are, and a beautiful church - but sadly there was a wedding so we couldn't go inside. Then we headed to El Papila - which is where you can see the amazing view of the whole city.
After some nap/rest time, we headed to my house for the big family dinner. My entire family was there, plus friends Kevin and Mariana, to help with the translating (as Kevin is from the US but is married to Mariana, who is from Mexico - and is therefore fluent - and they were both a big help!) Jesús cooked for everyone - and like always, his food was riquisimo (very, very delicious). We started out with a few different kinds of appetizers - my favorite being the grapes wrapped in cream cheese and some sort of seasoning. The main course was risotto and chicken cordon bleu, followed by dessert of a chocolate cake with peach filling and a raspberry, blackberry, and chocolate topping. After a while, as my family here likes to do, we ended the night with some good ole karaoke. It was a really great night and I was so happy my families got to meet and get to
know each other. Oh and then after we got Mom and Dad back to the hotel, we took Jenna out on the town so she could get a taste of the night life. We checked out a few places, including a dance club (her favorite) and the salsa place. And yes - she danced a little salsa with one of my Mexican friends. 😊
On Sunday after breakfast, we headed to the main market to look for souvenirs and gifts. My family was especially interested in the fresh food in the center of the market, specifically the man selling/cutting up chickens. (see picture) We headed to a park for my favorite ice cream that a man sells, and then headed to the Presa - the water and park by my house. My host family invited us over to eat again, so we headed there and Jesús and Kevin grilled up some meat and chorizo (type of sausage). I did a lot of translating here, and it really made me realize that my Spanish has really improved in my time here. Sometimes its hard to know if I have improved, but this confirmed that, and I felt really good about
cappuccinos
Any time you order a cappuccino in a cafe here, there's always some sort of design on the top that. After some time in my house, we walked around the centro and enjoyed the night music. In the centro, there's music everywhere - whether it's mariachi's playing for a table in a restaurant, some guy with his guitar in a cafe, or the group of musicians that walk around the streets dressed up...umm I have no idea what they are called (see picture). If you know my dad, then you know that he especially enjoyed the music.
Monday we had breakfast at the bagel place again, and spent some time in the plaza, enjoying the sun. There was also a parade going on because it was a holiday celebrating the start of the Mexican Revolution (1910). Sadly around noon it was time to head to the airport and say goodbye. I don't know about for my family, but it wasn't a difficult goodbye because I knew I would be seeing them again in less than a month. And I was in such a good mood from such a good weekend with them. It is part of my experience here that I will never forget. It was also very interesting at times because to my family, everything was new
and different, and it made me realize how normal everything had become to me here. It also made me take the time to really look around and appreciate the beauty of this city. Because I see it every day, it too had become so normal and it didn't stand out to me as much. But when my family would point it out, it made me really take a good look again. Showing them around also made me realize how much I love this city and everything about it.
All of you back home will be celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow. I am very sad to miss this holiday. We have a Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow evening that is for all of the ISA students and their host families. The señora who did the Day of the Dead dinner is also preparing this one. I hear it will be all of the traditional Thanksgiving food, so I'm happy about that...but it just won't be the same.
Last weekend I didn't do a whole lot - just relaxed and spent time with friends and my family. Time is really going by way to fast, and I only have 2 weeks left. It's very
difficult to think about. I think like I said another time, I'm going to be ready to go home, but I'm not going to be ready to leave. I haven't wanted to admit this in my blog just because I didn't want people to find out about it this way...but it's such a big part of my life that I have to talk about. Jesús is not only part of my family here, but he is also my boyfriend, and has been for a a few months now. I am very happy, but it's one more reason it's going to be harder to leave. And just in case you're thinking it's weird that he's my host brother and my boyfriend - it's not, and my family here is all for it. 😊
Well, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'll be seeing you soon!
Love.
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Bill Leahy
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Great entry
Hi Sara, What a great entry - you really captured our visit well. We had such a great time; the city is beautiful, and you're right - I really enjoyed the music - I can still hear it. We had snow today, you remember snow don't you? Well, try not to think about that over the next two weeks - we'll see you soon. Love, Dad