Traveling and Mexican families

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¡Hola amigos y familia!

This last weekend I went to San Miguel de Allende, a town so beautiful and picturesque that it was featured in Sunset magazine! I traveled with 4 other UC students for a short trip from Friday to Saturday, but it was packed in with fun. We arrived and found ourselves a nice inn to keep some of our things while we walked around the hilly town. It was definitely a little touristy (so food was a little more expensive...but compared to the US still pretty cheap). There were lots of shops for things to decorate the home with, and a lot of art galleries (mom you would appreciate that). There were lots of churches and cathedrals (like all cities in Mexico) but the main one was pretty neoclassical looking, and when we went to look inside there was actually a wedding going on!

That night we got food at this veggie restaurant and went out to explore the bar scene. A friend from salsa class was in town and he took me out to this salsa place and then to another place where we danced until 3am! We meant to hook up with the rest of the group but the connection never went through, turns out they had gone to sleep early. Saturday morning we got up and found ourselves a nice bakery and headed for the botanical gardens. It was a good hike (I'm amazed that one of the guys in the group, Justin, could navigate so well...he's pretty much blind). We made it up the big hill for a gorgeous view of the city, and then went to explore the garden's many varieties of cacti and other species. After the whole morning walking around we were pretty tired and ready to go home. We caught an afternoon bus and I made it home before dinner!

Because I came home Saturday night, I had all Sunday to myself...well, not really. Because it's now summer vacation for all the schools (except my special langauge program), ALL the relatives are in town now. What I mean is that my mexican parents have 7 kids, and all of their kids have kids = 16 grandkids which means that there was crying literally every 5 minutes because someone took someones doll, etc. Eating had to happen in shifts: a few kids at a time, clear the plates, then the next few kids, and all the parents are standing on the outside talking to each other and eating in between when their kids eat. I was eating at one end of the table and there were 4 conversations in rapid spanish happening all around me, plus all the kids talking and crying over the conversations. All I could do was sit quietly and eat my fruit. Chaos. But I love it. Some of the kids are older too, and I just discovered that there is a ping pong table in the house (I can't believe it's been a month and I didn't know it was there!). I had a good game yesterday where I barely won 😊

Midterms are this week and I'm not sure really what to expect. We had our oral exam for spanish class and I think that went well, but tomorrow is history and sociology. like at berkeley I don't care much for grades and exams, just passing which is what I think will happen. So I'm not worried much. This weekend is the class trip to Guanajuato which is supposed to be an amazing city. We've got specific places we're supposed to go, and have to do a presentation when we get back, so I'll tell you about it later.

More observations:
-a month ago i never thought i would be wearing heels almost every day...(salsa class)
-there is ALWAYS music playing from somewhere...street venders, cars, houses, somewhere
-street names change at the cathedral, which is the city center, which sometimes makes it REALLY confusing.
-some of the dreams i've been having here have been crazy. The vivid ones are of me being pregnant, wanting to smoke cigarettes, and waking up in the middle of the night to realize that I had been dancing. I think it's because there are so many preganant women here (or women who have just had babies), everyone smokes (and I've been inhaling a lot of second hand smoke), and I was doing a lot of dancing last week.
-people are obsessed with ID pictures. Like little .75" x .75" pictures. And ppl have all their friends pictures. I think it's because you're responsable for providing your own pictures for IDs and such cards.
-there are public bathrooms here, but you have to pay 20-50 US cents to use them.
-I haven't seen any middle aged US tourists here except in San Miguel de Allende.
-It's a VERY macho culture here, I even have a hard time sometimes being led in salsa. I'm not used to it. And with the language where the masculine form of words dominates.
-Just like smoking, EVERYONE chews gum here. I used to be a chronic gum chewer, but gave it up completely at the end of high school. I'm chewing a little bit now for salsa as a courtesy to my partner haha.

Alright, I've got to go to salsa class! I'll let you know about my travels in Guanajuato next week! Miss you all! Love,

Mon

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Photos

la catedral
more gothic looking

the botanical garden
the wilderness side