first week back

This week at times flew, and at others seemed to drag. Monday it was really hard to get up for school, but I did it. I had my Culture classes partial. Tuesday went quick and I found out I did better than average on all my partials from before break. Wednesday was another quick day; we got a Thermo project which will be interesting. Thursday went slow, but I made it through. Friday rolled around and it flew by. I had Thermo then my Culture class. In the Culture class we were supposed to watch a 30 minute video then talk about it. The teacher left to grade some papers and we were to get him after the movie. Instead we watched YouTube videos. Which was much more fun. For the afternoon I went to HEB because we are having an ant problem, and the Terro website said they had the traps. They didn’t. Otherwise the store was pretty cool. Just like Soriana they have people in every aisle to help you out, and give free samples. That night I stayed in a watched TV.

Saturday was a fun day. I went with friends to a different mall called San Augustine. It was a nice mall, not as nice as Valle Oriente, but much bigger and more stores. It had a weird shape, kind of like a figure 6, but it didn’t connect where it should. It had four stories; the middle two were solid stores. The top and bottom had stores interchanged with parking. Then there were two movie theaters, two food courts and a bingo hall/sports book. There were also two pet shops. One was mostly fish but they had mice, rabbits, hamsters, two schnauzers, and a huge Persian cat. They also sold coral and star fish. The other pet shop was much cooler. It had a chimp you could take pictures with or an albino python. There I saw a family with a little girl speaking English which was surprising. I was going to ask where they were from, but they left before I could. This pet store was much bigger it had tons of fish, parrots, budgies, canaries, cockatiels, snakes, scorpions, lizards, crocodiles, spiders, ducks, chicks, bunnies, guinea pigs, hamsters, chinchillas, hedgehogs, a cat, and tons of puppies. I was surprised when I saw that the long haired Chihuahuas and Pomeranians cost $10000 pesos; whereas the short haired Chihuahuas and the rest of the breeds (husky, dachshund, boxer, golden retreater, and cocker spaniel) cost $3000 - $4500. This pet store had an area called “The Farm were you could pay $20 pesos to play with the animals. Oh and I can’t forget about the Bush Baby for sale. It was such a crazy thing to see for sale. I saw one of the workers take it out and heard it scream. I thought it was a parrot, but soon found out it wasn’t. After this we went to the movie theater and saw Jumper. Which had great effects, but little plot. We then got a cab back, and I swear the driver had tourettes. We only heard him cuss and he honked and/or flipped off drivers who cut him off. It was interesting. I got home and ate dinner. During dinner I found the fourth season of lost on TV here which excited me even though I have seen all of season 4 to date. Oh well, it is always good to re-watch. Then it was off to a birthday party for the night. What a busy day. Today I plan to go downtown and we are probably going to the planetarium. It should be fun. Until next time…

Easter

First off sorry it took so long for the pictures, but they are now up. Now on to my Easter. I woke up to a rainy day, kind of a bummer. I ate breakfast and asked my host parents about church, and what their plans were. They said no one really goes to church or does anything here for Easter Sunday. So my roommates and I just hung out, then when we went to the grocery store, I decided I need to buy all the staples of Easter. I decided they were: ham, hard boiled eggs, Jell-O, and candy (chocolate, jellybeans, and marshmallows.) I had ham for lunch at the store and then bought all but the eggs since we had some at home. I got home a boiled some eggs, and set up my own little Easter feast. I cracked the eggs and all had double yolks, which I then found out all the eggs our host mom bought have double yolks. Weird huh? I decided to take a picture of the feast.



The jellybeans turned out to be kind of weird and not the best. Which I knew before time, but I forgot to have my parents bring me some to Cancun. The chocolate coins were delicious and the marshmallows and Jell-o were normal except for the pink marshmallows. It was a good Easter, but didn't really seem like Easter.

Today was very boring I had a partial, which I for some reason through was Wednesday. Oh well it wasn't too hard. Now I am relaxing and having to watch another grey day pass.

Cancun

Well first off sorry I didn’t get around to blogging in Cancun, it just got so busy and fun. Well first things first, Friday night all of my friends had already left for break so instead of sitting around doing nothing I went to a movie. I went and saw Horton y el Mundo de los Quién (Horton Hears a Who) which was great. It was dubbed, but being a kid’s movie wasn’t hard to follow, I was just mad I wouldn’t be able to hear Jim Carrey and Steve Carell. Also before going I figured I would be the only one in the 10:00 showing of the movie, but no there were at least 15 kids under 10 there and 20 more people. Then it was time for bed. I set my alarm for 7 so I could get ready and would be able to leave at 8:30 since the internet told me my flight was now at 11. I woke up at 6 and couldn’t sleep; I got in the cab at 8:40 and headed to the airport. It took 40 minutes to get there and another 40 to get checked in. I then found out the flight was still at 11:30 so I had an hour and a half to sit. Also a weird thing was they put a plastic one way locking tie on every zipper of my bag. I got on the plane and made friends with the girl next to me. She goes to my school and is from Cancun. The flight was going good, we got a full meal, and it was open bar. We then were told it was time to land. We started descending and before long could see the water. We then started landing, but I swore we were at the Cozumel Airport. I clearly remembered it from last year’s trip there. In my head I thought crap I got on the wrong plane, but no this girl next to me is going to Cancun too. I asked her and she said she had no idea where we were, but it wasn’t Cancun. After sitting on the runway 15 minutes they told us that Cancun’s Airport was way too busy, and we were low on gas so we made a pit stop to get gas and once we get the all clear to land there we would take off and land. After hanging out for an hour and a half, we headed for Cancun. When we landed it was 3:30 which I told my parents I would meet them in the lobby between 1:30 and 2, so I figured they would be worried. I got to the hotel at 4 checked in, went to the room and then found my parents at the pool. It was really good to see them.

The beginning of the week was fun, getting to catch up with everyone, seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and getting lots of sun. It was also abnormally windy. I slept on the patio as normal, but my sheets kept blowing off. Monday night Adam had a party in the room till 2:30 and I couldn’t sleep so I walked around for 2 hours. I even explored the third section of the Moon Palace, the Gran Moon. Tuesday we my parents and I explored it during the day then went to the strip to see the newly renovated hotels. The beach was not as wide as it used to be and with the recent wind was pretty battered. Beach Palace though is by far the best of the three new ones with a pool on the 14th story. On top of the hotel we saw a rainbow, it kept moving toward us and finally it rained on us for 5 minutes then the cloud and rainbow moved on. It was really cool. Wednesday we were going to Scuba Dive, but the waves were too high and the water to churned up. Bummer, but I got to spend more time with the whole group. That day we sat by a man wearing a white thong swimsuit, it was a little scary. That night we checked out the Casino, my mom and I lost, but a friend won $45. Thursday it was off to Isla Mujeres, where there is a great new Palace, we also got to explore downtown a bit. I was planning on seeing friends from Tec, but it didn’t work out. That night we ate at the Caribbean restaurant in the new phase. Friday my mom and I got our manicures and pedicures and we spent the day at the pool, we moved seats after a girl next to us puked in the pool. Then we went to the golf course and got a guy to drive us around. We saw 5 alligators and a troop of about 50 Kotamundi, there were big older ones and little baby ones. That was on top of the dear, birds and Nutria we saw. Too bad I forgot to bring my camera. Today was the end of a great vacation. I was super glad to see my family and friends from home and now can’t wait until May. The flight home was perfect and I guess all is well that ends well.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and I will keep you all updated. A little more than Seven and a half weeks until I come home. Between then and now I have a weekend waterfall trip planned, a tentative trip to Mexico City (not alone of course and we are being VERY safe planning it), a safari park trip, another round of partials, two days off, and 5 final exams. I have a feeling May will creep up on me. Stay tuned for pictures. Until next time…

dog days of march?

So many crazy things happened today that I decided I had to blog one last time before leaving for Cancun. Thursday my first class was canceled. I then went and talked to the lawyers, too bad all but one of them were already on vacation. I had to yell at the one person and it should be taken care of soon. I also had two partials which I think I did pretty well on. Then it met a friend for a late lunch to talk about planning a trip in mid-April. After eating, catching up, and a little planning I headed home. While working on homework the power went out. Our host dad told me they were fixing our neighborhood’s transformer and that was the warning. Here they don’t tell you when the power will be out they just give you two warnings. First they guy the power for 15 seconds then 2 minutes later they cut it for 30 seconds and a minute later the power is gone till who knows when. The power came back and then 4 hours later during dinner another warning cut came; this meant I had to eat by candlelight. It was pretty funny, and then I played with my host dad and his 20 month old grandson. I then went to bed but left all my windows open to let the cool night air in. I was woken up at 4 am by someone calling my name and shaking my foot. I looked and one of my roommates got locked out and was on the roof next door asking if I would let him in. It was kind of creepy and I still am not sure if it was a dream or not, since my two roommates left for the airport at 6.

This morning was uneventful only one class and only 10 of us were there. Then my break started. I planned to get my hair cut, tan, and do last minute shopping. In the morning Miss Doubtfire was on so I put of the errands to the afternoon and watched it. This afternoon the temperature made it past 100, 102 to be exact. With little humidity and not a cloud to be had it feels like 110. This insanely hot weather was made even more exciting when the city started getting hit with rolling blackouts. When they first started I thought they were still fixing the transformer. The houses power went out and I sat in my room waiting for it to be 3 when the salon opened back up. On the way there I stopped at the convenience store for a drink. They didn’t have power and had to check me out with a notepad. I got to the salon at 3 and found out it didn’t open until 3:30. I thought, “Hey, I can tan,” but the power was out there two. I went across the street to get a few things at the store, but it was without power. The entire street for 4 miles was without power. I went back to the Salon at 3:30 and the power was still not on. I figured I wouldn’t need it. They said I would have to wait till the lights came back on since they would need to use the electric sheers. I sat there for an hour reading magazines about Mexican stars. It was better than sitting at home. I got my hair cut, tanned, and ran my errands and am now ready to leave. My flight leaves at 11, and my cab gets here at 9! I am so excited!

what a week, what a week

Here is my midweek update. After my last post I went took a pretty long nap. That night I didn’t do much. Sunday I woke up and was feeling a little sore from the climb, but went to the mall across the way for lunch, more break shopping, and to see 10,000 BC. It was a pretty good movie; I then bought a swim suit, and sunglasses. I then headed over to the department store. There I saw some cool looking shirts and they were cheap too. In the first design all I found were mediums and smalls, the same with the next few shirts. In the States I wear large, but mediums will fit. I decided I might as well try, so I grabbed a few and went to try them on. The first one I after getting it somewhat on I couldn’t move my shoulders. The second one made it all the way on, but didn’t cover my bellybutton, and it was hard to move my arms. The last one went to my waist, but again was really tight. I then decided to just look for a large shirt. They didn’t have any at all; what a shame. Sunday ended with eating out with the roommates.

Monday started the school week. I had a partial and was really afraid I got a 30 on it. He picked an insanely hard question. This bummed me out and I then went to my Culture class. In there our teacher told us the test was postponed till after break. That is good now I have more time to write up the second month’s worth of activities. On the topic of my Culture class, for last month I got a 95! I was so excited; I only got marked down for not finishing the test. Tuesday was pretty boring just went to my classes and reviewed for my two partials tomorrow. In my History class, the teacher finished the topic early, so he started on tomorrow’s topic. We now don’t have class tomorrow! Today was a little more eventful. I found out I got a 70 on my partial, and the average was below a 40, he wouldn’t say how far below. That was good news that for me. I then had to print a few things off in the computer lab and then went to go talk to the Visa lawyers. I needed to ask if I was ready to get fingerprinted. I went and found out I was denied my Visa because my bank statement said I didn’t have sufficient funds. The lawyer and I were very confused since my account said I have $5000. I now have to print another statement and go in person with the lawyers tomorrow, kind of stressful. It was then off to my Culture class, where we listened to music, watched music videos, and talked about them. He then said he had to go to Guadalajara for a meeting on Friday and we could either vote to have a sub or cancel class. You can guess what we voted, so another class canceled. Now my break starts 2 hours earlier. I am now studying for my partials tomorrow and thinking I need to pack for Cancun. I will probably pack tomorrow night, since I will be free from studying. Hope everyone is having a great week and has a great Holy Week. I will post once or twice in Cancun, and look for pictures from there.

the climb

Another week flies by. Monday and Tuesday were pretty uneventful, Tuesday I laid out in the sun on my raft. Wednesday followed suit, but in my Culture class we were talking about Refranos, a specialized proverb here, and we were supposed to write some down. I wrote a few and the teacher was going around all the Mexicans to give examples. My partner then decided to tell him I had a few, I read one and he responded, “Um not exactly, close let me explain it more,” except of course it was in Spanish. That night I waited for and edited my group members’ parts to the History paper due the next day before our partial. One girl still hadn’t sent it by the time I went to bed; I figured oh well I will get it tomorrow. The next day I got it at 8:27 when class started at 8:30. Too bad I had already printed it and took her name off the title page. The test went good, just test are always a drag. Then in my class with the crabby, rude and mean teacher, who has severely improved his mood, asked if we wanted the class before or after Spring Break. I was arguing for before, but we will see since the decided this afternoon at a study session. That afternoon I went to the mall again to look for Spring Break clothes and some other things. I also went to Costco; I decided to stop there first to avoid having to leave my bags at the front. This intern had me carrying a pack of 4 1L Gatorades around the mall, without a bag. Friday was LONG, after two nights of little sleep I needed a nap, but it never materialized. This was also the day one of my roommates moved out. The Australian roommate, after much complaining to me and totally ditching us for a little over a week decided to move out. He didn’t listen to me, after I first found out he wanted to move out, and talk to the school. This resulted in a having to pay for 7 days of the month, which is lucky considering the contract says payment is due the first in full and no refunds. He still might have to pay the whole month and maybe will return. Unfortunately this would suck, since he already burnt the bridges with the other two roommates. After all of this we learned that our host family is Tec’s favorite and he is the first of 10 years of 6 kids a semester to move out. They also said normally a friend of one of their kids moves here after not getting along with their host family. Tec even paid them to add an extra room to the house. Now it is just the three of us Americans here. That was my school week.

As for today I signed up to climb “El Cerro de la Silla” (Saddle Mountain), the icon of Monterrey. I thought it would be a nice 2 hour hike to the antenna part of the hill, which looks like the shortest peak from our house. It in fact is the tallest. We met at school and they had us sign waivers relieving them of responsibility for injury. I should have taken that as a hint. The bus dropped us off at 8 at the bottom of a hill before the path too, just more work. We got to the base and started climbing. It started out good like all climbs, but slowly got harder as I got tiered. The path would go from dust, to jagged rocks, to cement, to slick/smooth rocks. We got the platform at the half way laterally point. It was originally going to be a view point and restaurant with an aerial tramway from the ground. On the inauguration run, it collapsed and killed all five in it. Over the past 30 years they still have yet to rebuild it. After a 20 minute break and talk about all this we had the choice of continue up the steeper half. Most of us went for it. This half of the trek got pretty steep and was riddled with switch backs. My group kept stopping to catch our breath; we ended up meeting some Mexicans from Tec on the trip that joined our group. The schools representative kept telling us we needed to hurry and catch up, being the last group, or we wouldn’t be able to go all the way. We kept arguing with him saying the plan was to get there at 12:30 and we were ahead of schedule. We finally made it to the radio tower, it was 11:45 45 minutes ahead of schedule, at the top and looked around from there. The whole trail to the top was 5.6 km (3.48 miles) long with a 1.28 km (4230 ft) rise in elevation. I felt like I was going to die, but made it all the way and was so proud. It felt as if my heart stopped, because I went from feeling it a like 200 bpm, and then all of a sudden I couldn’t feel it beating, and couldn’t find my pulse. The funny thing though is the best view wasn’t from the top, but a little bit lower. The climb down took little energy good thing since most of us only brought a litter of water, not quite enough. The only problem was everyone’s legs, knees, and backs were shot and freaking out. Whenever I stopped my legs would start shaking, at least I wasn’t alone with this happening. We made it bad to the platform and took a 40 minute break. Then it was to the bottom. Almost at the end a man was selling water for 10 pesos, I gladly would have paid 30. I chugged all 500 ml. I then got to the base at 2, and greeted by clapping a great treat. We waited for the last of the group during which I ate and orange like a little kid just sucking out all the juice and throwing out the pulp. At 2:30 all were down head for the bus, which we had to send for early so it took a little while to get. I bought a 500 ml bottle of Gatorade and chugged it too. I got home drank 2 more litters of water and Gatorade, had lunch, took a shower, and a 3 hour nap. Now I feel better, but have a feeling tomorrow my muscles won’t be as forgiving. A great experience, but one you only ever do once. Pictures will be up soon. Here are my two favorite though; click on one to make it bigger.

The View from the Platform:


The View from the Top:


Sorry for the super long description of today. I also decided I need to write more often to cut down on the length of each posts. Cancun is one week away and I am extremely excited. I just have to make it through the 2-4 tests next week. Talk to all of you soon and have a great week.

keeping busy

This week started off pretty normal, Monday was here and gone. Tuesday was the same story, but that evening I went with a friend to the Botero Abu Ghraib art exhibit in the main park here. It has 90 works all about torture. It was insightful, but I wouldn’t want to go back. I got one picture of the entrance, and then was yelled at by security. I did take pictures of the park though. It used to be a steal foundry, until an accident bankrupt them and the city turn it into a park. There are still a fair amount of pieces left from the foundry so it is pretty cool. Wednesday and Thursday were here and gone. Friday school flew by then I relaxed in the sun on my mattress. That night I went with two friends to a interpretive dance and pantomime show. It was very interesting and entertaining. The weekend came and Saturday was the second museum trip for my culture class. This museum is at the former Bishopric Palace of Monterrey. It is on a huge hill in the middle of the city with a giant flag at the top. Saturday morning it was sprinkling and when we got there it was cloudy and the flag was down. The museum was short, but very informative about Monterrey and its part in building Mexico today. When we left the clouds had risen, but still no flag. We walked to the top of the hill to enjoy the view, which was dampened by the clouds. We finally got to find out how big the flag was though. It is 50m x 30m (165ft x 98ft) and weighs 250kg (550lbs) no wonder you can see it pretty much everywhere in the city. It is also the largest Mexican Flag. I will try to go back to the hill on a nice day. After that it was off to lunch at a great restaurant, where I got ½ kg of steak fajitas, a liter of bean soup, two grilled sausages, and a drink for 135 pesos. Today the plan is to go to the mall across the road and check it out. I am also quite jealous of you guys, because according to my computer it is a couple degrees warmer then here in KC and sunny, unlike here today. Next week is the second round of partial exams; I have one on Thursday, and 3 or 4 next week. Everyone have a good week and hope you enjoy the pictures that will be up by this evening.

weekend of sun and swimming

Another busy weekend but let me start after my last post. Wednesday the rain went away and back to sunshine. I had my Culture test which went okay, and then I wanted to try to find the 7th Harry Potter in Spanish which came out that day, but it was released at a weird time of day, and the bookstores I went to didn’t have it. I had a lab that evening, and then I got home and sat outside watching the eclipse. It was pretty cool. I meant to put pictures of it up along with a post on Friday, but ran out of time. Thursday was uneventful; I got home from a LONG day of classes and decided to lie in the sun and test out my new mattress, it worked great. Then I had to do homework. Friday went well I went to a Romantic Music of Mexico performance to get started on the second month of my culture class. The lady singing was very good and the show was entertaining. I came home and realized I forgot to turn in my lab, so it was back to school to do that. I got home watched LOST, packed, and then had dinner before heading to the movie theater to watch Vantage Point. The movie was really good and exciting.

Saturday started out at 6AM when I got up to get ready for the trip to Cuatro Cienegas, Four Marshes in English. We left school at 7:30; on the way there we had to go trough a drug checkpoint run by the Federales. After the 5 hour drive we made it to the hotel. The hotel was an old hacienda with two courtyards and a pool, it was great. We then changed and went to a small winery. We got to taste the four wines and 3 liqueurs they made: anis, grape, and normal. All but one of the wines and the regular liqueur was good. I bought a bottle of the anis flavored for 55 pesos. Then off to a really big pond and swam around and kayaked for 4 hours. It was sunny, but the pond was 75 and refreshing. We then went back and had a barbeque in one of the courtyards. We all sat outside and chatted for a few hours then at midnight we went to the church dance for a couple of hours. Sunday stared of with free time to walk around the tiny town, about 40 acres. It was then off to the famous pond there. It has a species of fish and snail only found in that pond, along with the only stromatolites found in acidic water. The pond is blue from all the oxygen the stomatolites produce. The pond also smelt like sulfer. The next stop was the plaster dunes, which looked like a desert, but it was white as snow, and there were a lot of outcroppings. The white plaster made it so bright, hot, and sunny. The last stop was another swimming pond; this one was much smaller and 87. The pond had a muddy bottom that smelt very sulfury. After that it was back on the bus for the drive home. Pictures will be up shortly if not already.

Today it was back to school, nothing much happened, the second round of partials starts next week I only have one, and Cancun keeps inching closer and closer. Hope everyone is doing great and until next time.

time just flies by

WOW it seems like time is just flying by. I just realized it has almost been a week since my last post. Well Thursday was Valentine’s Day. Here they call it Day of Friendship and Love. Different clubs were selling treats. The big thing was candied marshmallows on a stick I bought one and it was an interesting treat. There was a talk about international peace for the international students which one of my roommates got to give part of, along with a picture of the international students. About 400 of the 500 showed up. The roommates and I also decided to buy our host mom a cake. We bought a strawberry cheesecake, it was really good. Then that night I went to go out with some friends. I miss heard the directions to the house so I had the cab driving all around, but found the house. We then went out to the bar area of town. Not to late of a night out.

Friday I got up for school and couldn’t wake my roommates up, who stayed out much later. Nothing eventful happened after that. Saturday I went to one of the malls to buy a movie that I needed to watch for my Culture Class. It was the mall that I went to the second week here. I got some shirts, the movie, and found an Egyptian store. The mall turned out to be much better then I first thought. Lots of stores and a nice set up. I then stopped next door at Costco. It was set up just like the one in Lenexa, but some sections bigger and they had a chocolate aisle. It was then time to watch the movie with classmates. After that I finished the paper for it, and at that point I just needed to do the book questions, and was excited that I was almost done with the class from hell.

Sunday was a day of relaxing, and doing the Culture class’ book questions. It went well and I vowed to start the next months work early. Lunch that day one roommate and I went to a restaurant in the plaza by our house. It is called Super Salads and had really good sandwiches and salads. I then decided that I needed to by a cheap lounge chair for our patio, but the cheapest was 900 pesos, which is about $87. Instead I got a pool mattress for 17 pesos, but I still have to try it out. That is because Monday it decided to rain and today followed suit. The rain ruined the nice weather, because without the sun it has been in the low 50s. Back to Monday I was all ready for my Culture partial exam, but after waiting there for 15 minutes, another teacher told us our teacher got in a car accident, and couldn’t make it, so the test was Wednesday. I then decided to not start the reading just yet to prevent confusion. Today was pretty uneventful.

Well hope everything is going great and had a good weekend. I am getting more and more excited for Cancun, and am counting down the days. This weekend I am going to a town called Cuatro Cienegas, where there are bacterial water pools, so some colorful and exciting pictures. Keep the comments coming and until next time.

hair cut

Midway through another week down here and I decided to post while taking a break from memorizing formulas. This weekend went okay; it all started Friday, when my cough set in. After lunch I went to work on a group project for my Culture class. One of the other two people didn’t show up, so the other girl and I worked for 2 and a half hours and still had some more to do that we would just find on our own and e-mail each other. I was then supposed to go see a play to fulfill another assignment in that class. While walking home from the library I started stressing about all the stuff I now realized I had to do for that class. 6 assignments all with at least a 2 page paper and 4 involved watching a movie or going to a museum. I decided to postpone it until the Sunday showing and would work on the papers that didn’t involve a prior activity. The next day I went to the museum with two girls from my class, sorry no cameras inside. We then ate and walked around the city center, I have more pictures up of this though. It was 85 and no clouds, and I started feeling real hot. I blamed jeans and the sun. I got home and took a nap and woke up for dinner could barely eat anything and then feel back asleep. My roommate woke me up to tell me where he was going and make sure I was still going to a friend’s birthday. At that point I had no energy to do anything and was insanely hot, so I took my temp and it was 100.8! No good, I started taking care of myself and slept until noon Sunday. Sunday I went to start all the homework for my culture class and found out that I made it out to be much worse than it really was. I also found out that the art instillation I visited counted for the same assignment as the play would have so now I didn’t need to go. I ended up getting a good amount of the assignments done, and found out it was all due Friday instead of Wednesday.

Monday the fever was gone, but if only the cough and runny nose left too. I had my second partial, which I though went real well, but ended up only going okay. The class average was a 40, I did a good deal better, and we can redo it for more credit so that is always great. I had another partial yesterday in which all the kids complained it was too hard so he started all the problems for us and worked most of the way through two of them. Today I had no tests and my culture teacher decided to give us the weekend and moved the test and assignment due dates to Monday! I came home finished all but one of the assignments and then went with a roommate to get my hair cut. Check it out:



We then went and got a cake for our host mom for Valentine’s Day. I came home and watched LOST and got even more confused. I also realized 31 days until I leave for Cancun, and that the Writer’s Strike is over so now I can return to my shows soon. Hope everyone’s week is going great and they have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

another week gone by

Another week here, this week marked the 5th week here along with being here a month. It was marked with great weather, including a day at 99, but now it is in the 70s. Monday there wasn’t school due to Día de la Constitución on Tuesday. Tuesday there were a few Carnival parties, nothing too big. Also on Tuesday I got in trouble in class because I was writing in my planner and not taking notes during class. Wednesday was Ash Wednesday so I decided to go to mass, with a friend. Here there Ash Wednesday service is real different along with their rules for Lent. I kept asking my host mom about mass times and she would say that you just show up and get the ashes. I called the church and they said, “Yea, just show up between 3 and 10.” We went and there was a line for ashes so we got in it and soon found out why we hadn’t seen anyone with ash on their foreheads, because they put it in your hair. We decided to sit and pray, and while doing so the priest came up, read the gospel, did a responsorial, and said we can now line up for ashes. It was then that we realized you were supposed to wait for the mini service they had every 20 minutes then get ashes, oops. Also here there is no rule on fasting, just no meat on Friday or Ash Wednesday, but chicken along with fish are okay meats. Also that day I went to the religious store and they had some pretty cool things, along with tons of saint medals and prayer cards. Thursday was my first partial test, pretty easy, and then I had some time to kill on my normally busy day. Later on that day in my last class we kept getting interrupted because the peacock was making tons of noise, it sounded like the zoo. Last night I bought my plane tickets home and will be back on May 15th in the afternoon. I went to pick seats hoping I could get a front on to make customs go faster, and maybe even have the same seat I did on both legs here. The second leg it worked out and I got the same seat. I then went to pick a seat on the leg from here the Dallas, and this is the picture that greeted me:



I cracked up, at first I thought it would be all handicap, but soon realized that just means it can be handicap seating. I then thought, WOW that is a tiny plane. My seat choices were 1A, 5A, or 4C. I figured 1A had no leg room and the other two were similar, I went with 5A so I could have a seat by itself. Today was another uneventful day, got the second book for Mexican History, am working on a group project this afternoon, and have to see a play tonight. Hope all is well with everyone.

weather

I have live weather on my desktop, and I was just looking at it thinking how glad I am being here enjoying such great weather. Right now the two say in Lenexa it is 33 feels like 23 is night and raining, as for here it says 99 feels like 94 with sun, sun, and more sun. I decided to check out Manhattan too and just had to be thankful I am not sitting there in 29 with a 16 wind-chill.

All last week my friends and I have just loved how we are wearing shorts, eating breakfast outside and it was January. The nights can still get cool, but last night it stayed above 80. My friend from Canada said she almost killed her host mom when she told her it was -30 C (-22 F), her host mom responded, "I didn't know it got that cold." Got to love Mexican weather.

I just thought I would rub it in.

colonial mexico

What a weekend. It started Thursday night when I left for the weekend trip to Queretaro, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, and Dolores Hidalgo. My roommate and I got there at 9:25 PM and when the buses got there 10 minutes later we loaded our bags underneath and got in. The trip started with a long overnight bus ride and a few stops. We got into town for breakfast around 9 in the morning. Friday continued with a trip to see the towns Aqueduct and get a view of the city. Then it was time to see a Chapel in honor of Revolution Heroes and it was then off the Santa Cruz Monastery. There we got to see the Legendary Thorn tree. It is said to be the only one in the world, it has no fruit, flowers, or seeds just thorns in the shape of a cross. Legend says when a monk came and left his walking cane in the ground it grew in to the tree. After that we saw the place where Emperor Maximilian was imprisoned and killed. Just above that is a large Benito Juarez Statue. Then lunch time, it was a good 4 course meal for 45 pesos, and afterwards we walked around the city center. The day ended with getting on the bus and heading to Guanajuato.

We got to Guanajuato and checked into the hotel. It was then time for a street bard performance while walking the city. We even got to see the Callejon del Beso, Kiss Alley. That night we also went to a club in town. The next day was a day to remember mainly due to how off schedule we got. It all started with a trip to a knick-knack shop for an hour, after leaving an hour late. We then went to a Cathedral and it was pleasant, after that we headed to the original mine entrance replica, where more time was wasted sitting around. The last thing before lunch was a visit to the Mummy Museum. This museum was where they decided to put all the bodies taken from their tombs from when their families didn’t pay. Due to the soil the bodies never decomposed. They had all kinds of bodies: elderly bodies, babies, murdered bodies, executed bodies, and a fetus. Now it was time for the downfall of the day. It being 3 we wanted to eat, and even though we were still supposed to do one thing before lunch we postponed it. The tour guide had all 70 of us go to the same restaurant with one cook and two waitresses. At around 5:30 we were done eating and ready to leave, with the day shot we could either get on a bus and explore the center or return to the hotel. I went downtown and after some walking decided to take the Funicular to the view point of the city, which was the postponed event now canceled. It was very cool and we got to see the city from just after sunset on. After that we weren’t yet hungry but didn’t want to return home so she and I walked in circles around the center for 2 hours. Eventually we found a restaurant and it ended up being super cheap. We both got a large lemonade, margarita, and hamburger. When the waiter brought out the burgers we both were shocked how big they were. Mine was a double the size of my face and she just got a single, the waiter just laughed and said, "You did order a double." Then when we got the bill were shock it all only cost $20 for us both. It was back to the hotel where I sat on the pool deck with my two roommates from last weekend’s trip. The next morning again started late, but due to much complaining we got to go back to the View point and see the city along with Pipila’s Statue again. Now I got to see the whole city with good lighting. It was then off the San Miguel de Allende.

San Miguel started with us getting dropped off at the town square. In the town square there was a game going on where the children were cracking egg shells filled with glitter, flour, or confetti on each other’s heads. I bought 10 for 5 pesos and used some on friends. We saw the main church and I went in. The interior had mainly oculus with light radiating in. It was time to find lunch and explore. After getting something to eat, it was time to use the rest of my eggs. In doing this I started a war between some of our tour group and some kids. We were vastly outnumbered, but had much more change to reload, and were taller. After using around 50 eggs and getting near 80 cracked on me it was time to leave. At that point I had very silvery hair and confetti everywhere. We then drove an hour to Dolores Hidalgo. On the drive most people were complaining about the lack of time, hour and a half, spent in San Miguel, so we organized a protest at the changed schedule. The original plan was to leave Dolores at 6 and get in at 3:30 AM, it was changed to get us home at 1 AM, but we said getting home at 7 AM was better since today we had no school. At Dolores an argument ensued some wanted to return to San Miguel others wanted to go back to the original plan and others wanted to leave now. The end consensus was that San Miguel was fun, but it was too late to return and we didn’t want to just spend 10 minutes in Dolores. Dolores Hidalgo was the city where the War of Mexican Independence started, with Padre Hidalgo’s speech that is the origin of the Viva Mexico cry. I walked around with a girl I met on the trip from Paris, we saw two more churches in this small town. Lastly it was time to come home, after another long bus ride with a stop at the same rest area from last weekend, we got home at 3:30. After a shower to clean up I went to bed.

Today was a relaxing day off. I watched LOST, read for my first partial on Thursday, and loaded pictures. I also just realized I have now been here 4 full weeks! That means I am a quarter through. Now I am ready for the first round of partials.

another week

Another week here in Monterrey, it was much more eventful then last week with lots to do and see. Monday I was planning to go to the Mexican History Museum, a class assignment, with my Australian roommate, but it was closed. Good thing I looked the hours up online first. Instead we decided to take one of the bus routes around town after a friend suggested it. It was 2 hours and we went all the way up to the north of town and saw some interesting parts of town. There were houses everywhere, lots of dogs and cats, and a few markets. I decided to video tape some of the trip but ran out of room on my card. When I went to see how a 20 minute video filled it up I found 400 pictures from China. I thought I had uploaded them all, but decided to play it safe. We decided to get off at a park downtown near this cool looking church. We walked toward the church and realized it was the one we found the first weekend here. On the way there we found a juice stand with 2 liters of juice for 20 pesos. It was fresh juice from ground fruit. We then walked in the park and found a batting cage, 12 pitches 5 pesos. I sucked the first round, but got 6 or 7 the second. My roommate claimed he never played before and got 7 the first round and better after that. We then decided to look for a bathroom, and the best thing was a little deli/restaurant and got drinks, talked to the owner, and used the bathroom. The lady was a really nice old lady and the bathroom was a little strange but got the job done.

Now for Tuesday, there wasn’t much just sat at home and relaxed. Wednesday was much more eventful with a trip to the Modern Art Museum (MARCO) to see a Diego Rivera Exhibit. It was pretty cool they had all his sketches of his murals. No pictures of the paintings, so sorry I was bummed too. This afternoon was a trip to the Cervecaria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma, a beer factory where they make Sol, XX, Tecate, Carta Blanca, Indio, and Coors Light. A cool trip, but unfortunately the safety inspectors were there so we couldn’t go in any of the rooms, and the gift shop was closed for the last day of the month. It was all okay at the very end when we got free beer, as much as we wanted. Most people drank 3 or 4, I drank this new drink of theirs where instead of adding hops they add artificial fruit flavors, it was pretty good.

I am now writing this and getting ready to head out at 9:30 for Queretaro, all night on a bus what fun! This should be a great weekend traveling just like last. Mad I am missing LOST tonight, but come Saturday I can see it.

another week gone by

Another week over and it seems like it flew past. Another week at school with nothing exciting going on, felt like school at home, but in Spanish. I was told that Monday my visa papers would be ready and on Wednesday decided that two days was a good enough grace period. The lawyer said that they had been done since Friday, and I should have gotten an e-mail; then when he went to get my papers realized someone screwed up and they were not done. He freak out and quick did them and said we was going to take it in for me the next day, now it should only be 6 weeks till I get the visa. Also a treat this week was seeing two peacocks walking down the sidewalk next to me.

The weekend brought an amazing adventure; I went to Real de Catorce. Originally my roommate and I thought it sounded cool to go horseback riding in a ghost town, but it turned out to be so much more. First we had to meet at school at 7 AM packed for the two day trip. The bus ride was five hours with a 30 minute stop about halfway. After a 15 mile drive up the mountain on gravel we got to the tunnel, our bus was too big so we waited for 2 trucks to come get us. There were a few little food and drink shop set up and two dogs running around, one in a shirt and the other in a shirt and pants. 45 students and 5 guides fit in two truck beds with all their luggage, somehow I lucked out and got to ride in the stuffy, hot cab. The tunnel was one lane and a little over a mile long; on the other side we were in Real. This town was very small seven blocks by four blocks with a church in the middle, and 9000 up. We got to our hotel which turned out to be big, clean, and great all around. It had 13 rooms and we filled it up. We had an hour lunch break so my roommate and one of our trip roommates went to lunch with four other girls, and found a great restaurant (someone’s kitchen) to eat. It was all handmade including the tortillas, and 5 pesos (45 cents) a taco. We previewed the market and went back to the hotel. We got back and 50 horses were in the street in front of the hotel. We all jumped or we helped on if needed. We rode the horses up another 400 feet to the silver mine ruins. From the ruins you got a great view of the city and valley it was it. There were two mine ruins one much bigger were they lower the men in and washed the silver. Each mine shaft was 600 meters (1970 feet) deep. The horses were… well horses. They all wanted to pass each other and loved to shove you into a tree, rock wall, car, or other horse. You would be riding along three in a row and get to a single file spot which meant knees were in danger. One thing that was very surprising was that even with so many none bit or kicked. Once down it was time to shop, I got a few things including a rosary with St. Francis the towns Patron. After shopping my roommate and I started walking back and heard music, and decided to check it out. It turned out to be a wedding and some drunk guy invited us in, but we thought it would be rude to crash it. Dinner time came and they had a restaurant reserved for us. We had to sit next to new people so I got to know a girl from Singapore. At the end of dinner they said that since most people wanted to dance or drink after dinner there happened to be a wedding and in small town Mexico that means everyone is invited even tourist, I laughed inside. First though they said there was a surprise, we all went to an amphitheater and we were going to watch a fake cock fight that was traditional in to the town 50 years ago. They went around and showed everyone the cut off talons covered with rubber caps. It was an entertaining event. After wards I got a picture with one of the roosters. It was then off to the wedding, where we watched the bride a groom dance and then it was dollar dance time, so I decided to dance with the bride. Unfortunately my roommate didn’t figure out how to use my camera till it was too late. Champaign and other random dances followed along with a tradition of dousing the groom with beer. After leaving the weeding we checked out a cantina, interesting, and ended with a dance party in the hotels inner courtyard. I got woken up very early by the roosters and the morning started with a craft project taught to us by a Huichol Indian. This was making the beaded bowls and plaques. I spent two hours on a plaque and only finished a third of it, very hard work. Then it was lunchtime before we had to load up. Before we left the Huichol shaman blessed us for a safe trip home. This time I was in the truck bed for the tunnel ride, which was a lot more fun, but you had to be careful of the tunnel edges. Another five hours back stopping at the same rest area this time for an hour to have dinner. Once we got back we all agreed that this was such an awesome and enlightening trip. Enjoy the pictures.

This week will probably be another bland week at school, followed by a weekend in Queretaro, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, and Hidalgo. No school the Monday after for Día del Constitución, and then 1st partial exams start.

another adventurous saturday

I meant to post yesterday, but it took so long to get my pictures up. Well yesterday was the first excursion with Tec. We went to visit Grutas de García (Garcia Caves.) It was an hour drive northwest of the city. The whole ride there was through the mountains. We arrive and after getting off the bus are told to go wait in line for the Gondola to the cave. The cave entrance was about 100 yards up the mountain, so we got on the Gondola and rode it up. The view for up there was awesome. We got in the cave and it was a nice 79 degrees inside, much better than the morning air outside. This cave unlike most in the US was totally dry inside, and it had many different levels to see. We walked up and down stairs, there were probably 2000, and all around the cave. The guide pointed out all the formations with names like: Dead Man’s Hand, The Divine Portrait, The Virgin of Guadalupe, The Christmas Tree, The Donkey’s Head, along with a few more. After finishing the tour we decided to take the path down the mountain since it had warmed up considerably since we arrived. It was a nice relaxing walk down. At the bottom were snack bars and gift shops. I got a big cheeseburger (with a beef patty, cheese, and ham), fries, and a drink for 50 pesos which is about $4.50. Then there was a big free for all to get back on the bus, so I ended up on the third one. We were supposed to leave at 1, and at 1:15 the driver figured we were all in and left. Then a little over 25 minutes later he got called and was told he left all the chaperones along with 15 people. This meant we had to turn around and get them, and wasted an hour. Oh well I didn’t have anything else to do. I put pictures up; also hope you like the pictures on the side bar.

The last night I went out with two of my roommates to a bar in the Plaza in front of our house. The bar was a separate room of a restaurant that is part of the Holiday Inn but in a separate building. It was the three of us and another group of three and then after an hour they left. It was a nice night out. Another week here draws to a close. I hope everyone has a great upcoming week, and enjoys their MLK break. Oh well I get a day off in February to make up for it.

first week of class

Here it is Friday again, my first week of classes done and now only 15 left till finals. Classes this week went great, my fear of having an assignment due and not knowing about it didn’t happen, and I have now made it through the getting all my textbooks bought, class packets copied, and Visa paperwork turned into the Lawyer. Only one snafu with it all and that was at one of the copy centers they gave me the wrong book, but the right study material, I was real worried about having to argue with them and was memorizing what to say when I got in, but when the guy saw me holding the book he already knew the problem and said they do stuff like that all the time. The weather this week has been hit and miss, Monday was another great day, that night it rained and it got to the low 50s for Tuesday. Wednesday the sun came out and a moderate day followed, but it rained again and another cold, wet day. Then it got even colder about 33 when I woke up this morning. All of this wouldn’t be so bad, but it is rare for a building to be heated, it really sucks when you can see your breath with in class and at home.

Monday and Wednesday I took a lot of pictures at school and walking home from Tec, so Thursday I figured I wouldn’t need my camera, but of course that day I see one of the Peacocks on campus. This was the second time I saw it on campus and it was walking along one of the outdoor halls, I was so mad. Today with the rain gone, I decided I would bear the cold and during my hour break search for a peacock. I got a good deal more pictures of campus, and noticed that there were placards everywhere for the different animals and plants on campus, including the European Deer and the Peacock. On the hunt I also found ducklings, a stray cat, and a goose. Finally I found him, today his position was more then I could have hoped for. He was perched on a stair rail by the library just so you could see his entire tail dangling beneath him. I then walked toward him and got many pictures from all angles. I was so excited and with 30 minutes to spare. Here is his picture



Hope you enjoyed the two albums from Wednesday; here is one from my quest and my walk home, a different route because the bus driver took forever to stop. Hope everyone else had a good week and has a great and relaxing weekend. Tomorrow I am going on a trip to caves nearby so stay tuned for more pictures.

first round of classes

Sorry for the long post, I just started writing and…

Now after two days of classes I have gone to each class once, a pretty interesting experience. Sunday was uneventful, our host family doesn't cook on Sundays so I went with the two roommates to Carls Jr for lunch, and to watch the games, plus it is the closet place to eat. It was really packed, plus the place is 2-3 times bigger than one in the States. For dinner I went to the Wal-Martish store to get some stuff along with dinner. Then I sat around and watched TV till bed.

Now onto yesterday, I got up at 7 to leave at 8 to run a few errands at school before my 9 o'clock class. Well no errands got done because one of my roommates was running late so we didn't get there till 8:30. Then when I went to run the errands I found out that neither the tour sign up desk nor the copy center were open till 9. I went to my first class, Thermodynamics, and was the only non-Mexican there. Oh well it actually came in handy, because the first thing the teacher said about the class was that it was going to be half Metric and half British units, and we needed to memorize all the British units and there would maybe be a quiz on it tomorrow. Everyone else in the class moaned at that. I then had an hour off and went and got a bunch of copies for my Visa. This took forever, since I needed two copies of EVERY page in my passport, along with two copies of a bunch of other documents. The next class I went to was Culture and Traditions of Latin America. He started talking about the class then asked us to go around the room and introduce ourselves along with tell him which city we are from and the prep school we went to. After 10 people went with 5 names each told all there stats, then I was my turn. I said my much shorter name and that I was from the US. He then asked me a question about my parents; I swore he asked where their ancestors are from so I said Ireland and German. This caused the rest of the class to laugh; I figure I answered it wrong. Then he asked how well I understood Spanish was, I responded okay, and he told me that if the Spanish got too hard to come talk to him after class and he would make sure I understood everything. The some more people introduced themselves, and there was another American girl, two Dutch guys, along with another Polish girl. The teacher then put us in groups, one international student per group, so there could be a non-Hispanic view in each one. After that I went and talked to the lawyers who we can have take care of our visas and do the paperwork, he gave me a checklist of what else I needed then I went home. Once getting back I ate lunch and then my Australian roommate wanted to go to a Mall. We went to the mall with our fourth roommate who until then hadn't done much with us. The bus trip required one transfer of busses in a Wal-Mart, Sam's and Home Depot parking lot. We got to the mall which was next to another Wal-Mart and a Costco. We got lost in the weird double decker packing lot and couldn't find the entrance. Finally we got in the mall. It was a pretty nice one and had some good stores. We then took a cab home which was much easier.

Today seemed like the longest day ever. First off Monday it was only in the low 60s, which was okay, but today it got to the low 50s and sprinkled all day. This wouldn't have been so bad, except no one here including the school has heat, so in every classroom it was just as cold as outside. My first class, History of Mexico is only for International Students and I have it with my Australian roommate. Next was Mechanics of Materials, this class I understood almost all of what he said, and got excited when he said we were using the English book, because we all need to practice our English, which made the class groan. He then went around asking us the name we wanted to be called and taking our picture. It got to me and the kid typing the nicknames was very confused on how to spell Matt, the teacher asked where I was from, and after responding everyone stared at me for a good 2 minutes. Upon leaving my teacher told me that I needed to use the Spanish book, because I already am good at Engineering English and need to learn the words in Spanish. Oh well that is why I am really here. After that it was on to the next class, a room change but nothing big. I got to the next class and he said we can pick the language of our big, and I decided on English because this class is much more important. After four and a half hours of class onto the crazy part of my day. It was on to buying textbooks, setting up tours and getting my visa lawyer squared away. I went to the International Students Center to get this necessary form, but it was closed for lunch for the next hour. I decided instead to go get my texts; the school bookstore hadn’t even heard of my books, so I went across the street and got two of the three. Since I need to pay with a Credit Card there was a separate line. It was about 10 people long and each transaction took about 3 minutes. It was finally my turn and I was told the price, which was about a quarter of at home. Next I went across the street to get a compilation copied for another class which went quickly and easily. Now that it was past the lunch hour I went back got the letter and then headed across campus to get it copied and get another classes compilation, which ended up not being there yet. I got the copy, and head downstairs to sign up for the excursions. Only one was ready, this weekend’s to caves nearby, and I then signed up to receive more info about the rest. Lastly it was back to the Lawyer, near the International Students Center. I gave him all the copies, he started some paper work and gave me a letter my host father has to sign and the forms to pay for the visa at the bank. I then decided it was best to get the payment done so I went to the bank, learned I had 15 minutes to pay, but one of the tellers let me cut and got me in and out. It was then off to home, Paul and I went to the supermarket across the street to get school supplies.

Also I just got a surprise call from my family which was a great one. I also am enjoying all the e-mails and comments. Pictures of school will be coming soon.

saturday on the town

I know I posted yesterday, but today was another eventful day. Plus I switched photo sites so favorite the new one.

Well last night I went out with seven other exchange students I have met throughout the week. We went to a club in the Barrio Antiguo, the oldest part of town where all the bars and clubs are. It was a crazy night, out till 3. Today I suprisingly woke up at 10, then after lunch two of my roommates and I decided to goto the Macroplaza. It is the third largest plaza in the world. We accidentally rode the bus too far, or maybe not far enough, so we had to back track a few blocks but got to see more fun stuff. The plaza has lots of old buildings and statues in it. Along with museums around it. It is kind of like the DC Mall but with office buildings around it too. Half way down the plaza we found a shopping street with lots of people. We spent some time there and ran into a few other exchange students. It was a very fun day and I took many pictures.

week one

So here I am finally after all the work and time. This week has been going well, I got in Monday night after a pretty normal flight. I met two other people going to Tec too. On the flight I sat next to a Chinese lady going to Monterrey for business. She wanted help learning to pronounce a few things in Spanish and then I found out she went to K-State, coming there straight from China. One getting through customs I met some more international students. After getting to the school I my host family came to pick me up. They are both very nice and are always trying to over feed us. Two of my roommates were already there. One is from Australia, the other goes to UC Davis. Tuesday was filled with orientations such as of the school, library, and computer lab (which looks like a giant napkin holder.) Lastly I got my schedule and it is a pretty good one, I even have a class with one of my roommates. Wednesday I didn't have anything all day so I finished unpacking and then went out that night with some people I had met the day before. Yesterday was information about the policies and procedures here along with saftey tips. Today we had an immigration meeting and later today there is an extraciricular activities and trip presentation, then a welcome cocktail. Here is a link to pictures. .

All is going great meeting new people. I am missing home and being able to easily talk with family and friends, but I forsee as I get more used to here and involved in classes it will get better. Hope everyone is doing good and I will post later. Also I have internet at my host family's home so I will be checking that very often.