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Published: August 11th 2008
Hi Everyone!
Well for having a whole week to do nothing, I certainly felt like I was busy. I did a lot of sleeping and relaxing, which was amazing. On Thursday we had a welcome party for us semester students / goodbye party for the summer students. There was lots of food and live music for us to dance to. It's definitely different without the summer students here, especially since the two boys in the house are now gone.
On Friday I had my first class. This is the class that I will take with Mexican students. It is literature of Spain and Europe. I'm really not too excited about it because reading in Spanish is not one of my favorite activities to say the least. The class is 4 hours long, but this class only lasted 45 minutes. And we don't have the class this week, which is awesome. The professor is from Spain. Not only does he have a strong accent, he also barely opens his mouth when he talks, so it's quite difficult to understand him. The worst part was that he smoked the entire time. And there were not any windows in the classroom. So this made it even harder to concentrate. So apparently this is still legal in Mexico. Smoking here appears to be kind of like a fashion statement, as it is associated with being "cool" or whatever. It seems as though a large majority of people here smoke and it's definitely not as negative of a thing as it is in the US. Anyways...so the class was pretty scary as I felt lost the entire time. But afterwards the prof called me up to his desk and said, "No te preocupes" many times, which means do not worry. He told me to just relax about the class and not worry about my grade or anything. He explained that I am here to learn more Spanish and improve my reading skills and what not. So I shouldn't worry too much about the class and just do the best I can. It's fine if I don't understand a lot. So that made me feel a lot better.
Yesterday some of us took a day trip to Leon, which is a nearby city. We had the whole weekend off so we wanted to find something to do. The city is a lot different than Guanajuato, as it doesn't have that historical feel to it. We spent the afternoon just walking around and shopping. Leon is known for shoes and leather. And let me tell you, I have never seen so many shoes before in my life. We went into a mall, a big mall like the size of malls back home, except every single store was a shoe store. It was unbelievable. The majority of all the stores along the streets were shoe stores. It was almost overwhelming! Us girls decided we'll have to go back later in the semester when we all need new shoes, as they are all pretty cheap. You can get a pair of shoes for $15 that cost probably $60+ in the US. There was also lots and lots of leather - shoes, belts, coats, purses, you name it. So that was a fun day.
I guess not much else has been going on. I ended up getting an infection on my leg from my horseback riding experience. A couple other girls got it too. I had my Señor look at it because he is a Doctor, and he gave me an antibiotic for it. He comes out with this huge box full of drugs, and digs through it until he finds the antibiotics. And in case you're wondering, this isn't illegal. Medicine is a lot easier to get here as you don't usually need a prescription. But he definitely saved me a trip to the clinic. And the infection is almost cleared up, which is good because it was pretty gross looking. Kind of like acne on my leg...
I've also experienced the night life here in Guanajuato, which is pretty crazy. The downtown area is just filled with people, definitely more so on the weekends. One summer student said that while people say NY is the city that never sleeps, he says Guanajuato is definitely the city that never sleeps, and it sure seems like it. But it's a really great atmosphere at night, and definitely a lot of fun.
We went out to a salsa dancing place this weekend, which was really fun, even though I'm a terrible salsa dancer, as I have no idea how to do it. But thankfully we have salsa lessons twice a week for free at the study abroad office, so by the end of the semester I will hopefully be pretty good!
Classes at the Escuela de Idiomas start tomorrow. My first class is at 8 😞 I am not excited about that. It's my Mexican literature class. I also have a conversation class and a grammar class, and I'll be done b Besides the waking up early part, I am looking forward to classes starting. It will be nice to finally have a schedule and routine. I'll hopefully also meet a lot more people. My classes are with other foreign students, so I will most like meet people from all over the world. My American friends and I promised eachother that starting tomorrow we will only speak in Spanish together, unless we really can't get our point across. Even though we try to speak in Spanish, we always end up speaking in English because it's that much easier. But we are here to improve our Spanish so we are going to try our hardest to do this.
My host brother is going to school to be a chef, and so he made an amazing meal tonight of pasta with an amazing sauce and shrimp. Although I love the Mexican food here, it was definitely nice to switch it up! It was a huge meal with bread, salad, and of course desert. Very delicious!
Well that's about it. My lap top is on it's way here ( I have been dying without it so decided I wanted it to be sent here ) and so once I get it - probably Tuesday, (assuming it goes through customs okay when I speak with a customs official tomorrow) I will finally be able to post pictures!
Will write again soon! No te preocupes about me, I'm doing well!
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Huong
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¡qué magnífico!
Sara! I have been dying to read your blogs since you left! I just finished my class this past week, and it was like a special treat to have time to sit back, relax, and enjoy your stories. It sounds like you are having the adventure of a lifetime! Climbing volcanoes?? I thought climbing all those pyramids during our trip to Mexico was rough I can’t imagine 45 minutes of sinking in soot. Man. And riding on horseback through lightning and thunder?! That’s like Indiana Jones or something. I’m so proud of you! And also thankful you are okay. I’m glad your host parents are in the medical field and that you are being taken care of. I’m pretty jealous of your city excursions! The nightlife sounds so fun! Salsa classes ahh that is so cool! Do the guys wear really tight tank tops and glisten with sweat and stuff? :) And you’re right, I would basically FLIP OUT at that mall. You better come home with a suitcase full of shoes, is all I can say about that. I’m sure after about a week or two you’ll be more comfortable with your classes. They put you in the highest level for a reason, smarty pants! :) Oh, and I registered for my absentee ballot recently, and you were right it was really easy. Things in NR are definitely not quite as exciting, although the public library did have an outdoor mini-festival this past week not quite sure why, but it was complete with corn on the cob and was delicious. I’ve been watching the Olympics a lot and keep wondering if you have been too, and if so whether it feels strange to be cheering for USA when you’re somewhere else. Anyway, better wrap this up sorry this is like a book, I just have so much to babble about to you and wish I could in person! I am looking forward to reading your next blog and can’t wait until you post pictures of all the beautiful scenes. Pienso en tú cada día! Buena suerte, mi amiga :) Adios para ahora.