This weekend, 2 of the big groups at the school left after being here for a month (including Sonya, my roomie). At 5:01am Saturday, Elizabeth and I took a bus from Cuernavaca to Mexico City and met 2 of our other friends at the airport. They were with a group from Colorado, but were staying a few extra days, so the four of us planned the weekend together. We rode the metro from the airport to our hostel right in the center of town (five changes, 45 minutes, total cost = 2 pesos!) On Saturday, we visited Xochimilco, a town known for it’s ancient canal that winds through the town. Families gather here on the weekends, rent a boat and a man with a big pole steers the boats up and down the canal. Smaller boats approach the people selling food (corn on the cob on a stick, covered in mayo and chili powder, for example), a song from a floating mariachi band, or plastic statues of assorted virgins. We then visited a museum of a famous woman, Dolores Olmeda Patiño who befriended Diego Rivera in the last years of his life. All of the paintings were Rivera along with her own Asian and Pre-Hispanic Mexican collections. We crashed early in our hostel after getting up at 3:45 that morning. On Sunday, there was a huge gathering of people to protest the election. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was in the news in the US. It was 1 block away from our hostel! We tried to avoid the crowds as much as possible and rode the metro in the opposite direction to the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe. This is a very important site in the Mexican Catholic faith and 80% of Mexico is Catholic. It was Sunday, mass was being held but we still got a glimpse of the cloak worn by Juan Diego when the virgin appeared to him in the 1500s . It hangs behind the altar with moving sidewalks positioned to see the relic. It was really interesting to watch the people with their families make their “pilgrimage” on their knees to the church. We hopped back on the metro to Coyoacan, a town with a great market and the Freda Kahlo Museum. The museum was her childhood home and the place she spent the last years of her life. Of course, they had many of her paintings and artifacts from her life. Elizabeth and I then hopped on a bus and came back home. The bus system is very punctual, very cheap, and a great option for getting around the country. (Much better than 41 hours on a Greyhound, right Mom and Dad?) Finally, here is a quick synopsis of the weekend by numbers:


# of Kenny G songs played very loudly at the hostel from 6am to 8am: 5.
Total cost for metro tickets the entire weekend: 20 pesos ($2.00)
Total cost of food for Elizabeth and me for the entire day Sunday: 19 pesos ($1.90)
# of times my butt was grabbed on the metro: 1 (argh!)
# of times we got robbed: 0
# of people in the Zocalo for the protest: several million.
# of people in the Zocalo that didn’t care if they stepped on my sandal: several million
# of women we met from Barcelona that are in Mexico getting their PhDs in shrimp: 1
# of minutes taken for us to devour everything on our plates at the Chinese food buffet: 1
# of times I had to read my fortune cookie to understand it: 1 (yes!)
% of the time I’m glad I moved to Mexico: 99

Just starting week 3, new teacher for this week. She goes quickly, but it will be good to be pushed a little more. Had a fun weekend on a budget in Mexico City, I´ll get details up tomorrow. The slow computers at school make it all but impossible to get pictures up, i´ll try tonight. keep those emails coming!

Lessen numero dos : the bargain internet cafe is a bargain for a reason. We thought that we would try out the "cheap" internet cafe today (2 pesos cheaper per hour, about 20 cents). I´m in the spirit of doing the most economic thing, but now, after sitting here for 15 mintues in a room with 50 computers pumping their heat into the non-ventilated, tiny room with no windows, I may need to be willing to spend that extra 20 cents.
I´ve finished week number two, again my brain is full. The weekends really are needed to digest all of the info from the week. This week i mainly learned verbs, regular and irregular, and am starting to learn more complex sentance structure. (instead of "I read books" I can now say "I read her books and return them to the library. " amazing, no?)
Tonight we are having a fiesta at the school. Two large groups, one from California and one from Colorado are leaving tomorrow, and one large group Wisconsin arrived yesteday. And of course, I´m here, so why not have a party! Rumor is these parties are few and far between and they usually go all out. Should be a fun time.
Must get out of this inferno before I shrivel into a uva passe(raisin). agua......agua...

I thought for a changeof pace and because I promised, I would post some pictures from my going away party. plus, i´ve reached the two week mark snd seeing smiling faces of familiar people is good for me right now!

A little picture of Sonya, me and the dinner Senora Gina made for us!
Senora Gina is shy, she didn´t know I took a picture of her in the kitchen!

Here are some pictures. The one to the left of this paragraph is from my school, the others are from my little trip this weekend. And yes that big tree on the upper rights is the one I climbed and jumped off!
It’s been raining here for several days straight. The streets have no drainage pipes, so there are little rivers floating down the streets all the time. This morning, along with the stray dog that followed me to school, I had to dodge giant waves of water produced by the buses barreling down the road at breakneck speeds. Of course, they don’t think of slowing down for a walker and would never drive single file. Here in Mexico, the pedistrian does NOT have the right of way, that´s a lesson you learn very quickly!
I really like my teacher this week (they change teachers every week) and rumor is she’s one of the best. I’m still in a private class-6 hours with the teacher all to myself! My vocabulary is getting better and we are now able actually converse (present tense only!)
I´ve had a chance to provide some first aid/medical advice-something I actually know! At a soccer game one of the girls I went with had a hypoglycemic episode and almost passed out. I came to the rescue by shouting ¡Azucar, Azucar! (sugar) After some bubbleyum and a lollypop, she was fine. Whew!

I just returned from Mexico City today, after a pretty full weekend. Now that school is in full swing, no more fun on the weekends! Yesterday my friend Elizabeth and I tagged along with a group from Colorado to a place called Las Estacas. It is a site where water bubbles up from a natural spring and forms a river (a really cold river). Parts of the original Tarzan movie were filled there! There is a strong current that makes it possible to float down the river for 30 minutes or so. Then, I got adventurous...I climbed a tree, and attached to a zip line, jumped from 20 feel in the air. Even though I was screaming the whole time, I did remember to let go and plunge into the river! Then, of course, I had to do it again. I was great fun! After a day of swimming and taking my life into my own hands, I was quite tired. This morning a group of 3 of us went to Mexcio City at 7am. We went to The Ballet Folklorico de Mexico. This was a 2 hour show of traditional dancing starting from the aztecs, going through several states, and ending with dances from the state of Morales. The music was live and the costumes were so colorful. It was really great. I had a quick snack of jelly sandwiches (the electricty was off this morning-it was the easiest thing to make one handed while holding a flashlight!) and we visited the National Museum of Anthropology. It huge and free on Sundays! Now I will go home and study. I have many verbs to learn. Verbs are very important...and an essential part of my 3 word sentances!

Here are some pictures of the market in town. I visited the market on wednesday to be quizzed on my fruits and veggies! I did pretty well, considering! I just finished my first week of school, whew! I´ve learned a ton of vocab words, and starting to learn my verbs. I have learned enough to tell my host mother "I am putting the eggs in the fridge." I was very proud of myself. This school is really great, and they are very encouraging. It is such a safe environment to practice talking and listening! This afternoon I will be attending my first futbol (soccer) game! It´s a very important sport around here, so it should be fun. I am understanding more and more as the days go by- this is making things MUCH more interesting! I´m off to watch some soccer....

Lesson numero uno: When you don´t eat all the pig skin for dinner, it reappears first thing in the morning, wrapped in a cozy little tortilla next to your corn flakes. After a bit of gagging, I managed to get down 2 bites. Sonya, my roommate, was having a bit of trouble as well, which made me feel better.
School today was a bit more frustrating. Still had three hours of grammar in the morning, but my teacher is very good. In the afternoon, I was in a class that was WAY over my head. I was close to crying, then remembered that I was an adult, and I had to pull it together. It has just been so long since I´ve felt so helpless. On a more postive note, I am now able to say a few phrases to my Senora (host mother) and I thanked her for our dinner (all vegetarian today. yess!!!) I´ve noticed I talk at about a 3 year old level. I see things on the street or at home and shout out the word, then look to someone for validation. It´s not as cute when your 28! I am going home to studying my vocabulary and my first verb. This will surely exhaust me!

Here I am, with my fellow Presbyeterian friend, Elizabeth. We were soaking wet at the top of the pyramid in the middle. I´ve never climbed a pyramid before, so the huge rain storm was no big deal!

Also a picture of me on my first day of school today. I´m outside my host mother´s house after a pretty rough day. Let me tell you about my school day...

First, I checked my class schedule. Oh wait, it´s just me...in a class...alone....teacher, blackboard, and a lot o Spanish! 3 hours of grammar every moring, 3 hours of situational converstion in the afternoons. OH MY! Of course, you can imagine I was a bit overwhelmed, consisdering I know how to count to 10, and that´s about it. Oh, and just so you know, EVERYTHING is in Spanish. The only English around the school is me muttering to myself, trying to understand what the heck people are saying! I was suprised how much I learned and I know with the intensity and the fact that everything is reinforced at home with my family, I should do ok. School ends at 3pm when we return to our homes for our big meal of the day. My host mother, Senora Gina, is really good at encouraging me to talk and keep learning. Today, we had alphabet soup and tacos. The giant pieces of pig skin swimming in salsa verde were a tasty treat! I am trying to eat everything, so I got it down! (and for those of you who know me, you will be amazed to know that I ate corn flakes for breakfast yesterday. What won´t I do for the Lord?)

After our big meal, Elizabeth and I went to the grocery store for much needed supplies: bandaids for her giant blisters, chocolate, and some granola bars for me! That stretch from 730am-3pm is brutal, especially when you don´t know how to say¨I´m hungry!¨

I am off to do some homework (learn my alphabet, days of the week, and months of the year). I have a field trip to the market on Weds to test my fruits and veggies! Wish me luck!

first day of school, but i will write about this later. a little frustrated that i don´t know anything, but that will come!


and now, on to the fun stuff. i´ve been busy since i arrived. elizabeth (the other presbyterian who is here for the same 5 weeks as me) and i have been trying to participate as much as possible. plus, she speaks spanish, so she is my translator for now. we, along with other students, went on an excursion saturday and one on sunday. we visited 2 pyramids, and climbed a moutain. and i mean CLIMB! staight up for 2 hours! and kudos to all the locals, climbing this mountain, baby in hand, all while wearing plastic flip flops! amazing!

i´ve gone to bed early every night because i´m so exhausted. my senora (host mother) Gina is really great, and she is am awesome cook. (good for me, bad for my waistline!) her house is super cute and mexican looking, she has great taste. i´m slowly getting used to the meal schedule; breakfast at 7, snack at 12, big meal at 3, and snack at 9 or 10.

i must go quickly, i need to walk home for camida (meal at 3) and don´t want to be late. keep reading and send me emails! thanks for your support everyone!

I made it to Cuenavaca and had language school orientation today. I´ve only been here for 24 hours, but I can tell alreayd it´s going to be really great. will post more once I get settled. I have some free time today to get my thoughts organzied and get into a routine. check back soon, pictures will be coming!