First and 4th Most

No but seriously, besides the terrible title, it's taken me forever to write another post, so my bad. I don't have any exciting pictures to upload, so if you tuned in for photos, I will not be terribly offended if you stop reading now.

It is my seventh week here in Cuernavaca and it keeps getting better by the day. This past weekend I went out to a movie with a friend I've met down here. She wanted to see "Just Go With It," with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. We saw it, and it was unsurprisingly bland. However what was more exciting was the ride over. I was grabbing a cab and I was foolish in not checking which down he has on his bumper, because when I asked him to take me to the movie theater (yes I said this in spanish), he looked at me with a blank stare. He then stopped another cab driver and ask him where it was, and then I was instructed to get in the other guys cab. Since I switched cabs I forgot to asked the most important question before you depart in the cab "Cuanto cuesta?" The taxis in Mexico don't have meters, so all pricing needs to be hashed out before you go. Otherwise you'll get a nice up-charge upon reaching your destination. Noting that, once I arrived at the movie theater I was greeting with an inflated fee of "ochenta pesos" (80 pesos). Now in the US, going the distance that we did, that would be a spectacular deal. But in Mexico, going the distance we did, it was highway robbery. Usually the price is 35 pesos. After arguing with him, still with limited vocabulary for bargaining and insulting, I ended up paying 60 pesos. It was a rip-off, but a nice reminder of making sure that I establish the price before I get in/depart in the cab.

On Saturday Nate (my roommate, also from the UofM) and I were invited by a high school senior down here in Mexico. Roberto is planning on going to the U, and so the UofM told him that there were two students studying down here. He then contacted us and invited us over to his home for lunch. His house is in a gated community, and was quite nice. His dad, also named Roberto, owns a construction company and his mother, patty, is a stay at home mom. We had a great meal and tried some different tequilas which was great. My favorite so far would have to be Hornitos. They apparently have their larger home in Acapulco, and invited Nate and I there. However, our program does not allow us to go to Aacapulco, so I don't believe we'll be able to go :/. Either way, it was great to meet some new people and be able to provide some information about the U for a new student.

Well thats all I have for now, the weather is still great and the days keep going by. Hope all is well, and I promise to get some new pictures on here soon to make it more enticing to check back in :P.

Third Time's A Charm

Now done with the third week of class, on to the fourth and final week of 1001. Some of these pictures are from last weekend, some are from last night! The weather continues to be consistently perfect. Went and sold baked goods with my host mother the other day at a business park which was kind of exciting (obviously I just stood there selling the products with my stunning good looks while my host mother did all the talking). Just got back from my host sisters volleyball game which was outdoors..and not everyone was wearing knee pads (only a few scrapped knees). Fun fact of the day: When you turn 18 in Mexico and you need to go to declare which party you are in (an obscure one, the PRI, PRD, PAN, or none). If you do nothing, when elections are held and you don't vote, the person tallying the votes gets to decide which party/candidate your lack of vote goes towards! Pretty crazy.

My roommate, his intercambio (conversation partner) Manuel, and me

Some delicious food...I think it started with a B or a P...

These are part of rememnants of a temple site in Mexico City. This is an old steam house which you would be able to sit in, sweat, and then be comfortable with a freezing cold bathing experience. Instead of heating up water, they would just heat up rocks and then place them inside (the roof is missing fyi).

These are just a small view of the immense slums and squatter settlements on our way to Teotihuacan. These go on for miles..and miles and miles. 

Now I tried to upload another photo, but it wasn't working, to show wires that stick out of almost every house (you can see this on the right hand side of the shot I posted of my host home). This is just preparatory work so when people get money they can buy brick, cement, then hire labor and so on. The concept of saving in Mexico is minimal since many banks invest with peoples savings on the stock market, which meant people really were really hit when the stock market plummeted a few years ago. Rather, people spend their money on projects on something substantive...like concrete.

Another interesting thing we learned is that you better watch out if you have land. When there is a squatter's settlement, usually they will appear literally over night. Apparently it is not uncommon to have land completely empty be filled with homes the next day. What constitutes a home is a roof and four walls. Once it is up, it seems you basically loose the land rights.

This is me in Teotihuacan. I am standing on the moon temple, with the sun temple in the background.

My friend Jennifer and I energizing ourselves by touching the center of the sun temple on it's top. (if you can't tell, my arm is not the slender one with the hair band, rather the hairy, palish one :P)

On top of the sun temple.

Picture of the new Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located in Mexico City. According to our tour guide, who is also the owner of the school and a walking encyclopedia, this is the most visited site of Catholicism. Even more so than Vatican  City. Now wikipedia says it is second, but my gut feeling tells me to go with Charlie (our tour guide).

Another picture, there was a really cool sun set.

Apparently a rare shot since our our tour guide had never seen them both the Old (in the middle) and the New (on the left) Basilicas lit up at the same time. If you can see at this angle (if not, google it) the old basilica is sinking. Mexico City was built on a lake, so everything is sinking. Except for the new basilica. The architect took into account Archimedes' principle of buoyancy that if something will not sink if it's displacement is more than its weight.

Another photo of the New Basilica.

The actual cloak of Juan Diego with the image of the Lady of Guadalupe. This is in the New Basilica.

There are moving stairs below the cloak, because otherwise it would be filled constantly with no movement. 

My roommate Nate and I in el centro.

Myself, Manuel, and Nate

Manuel, Kevin, Nate, Jessica, Sai, Monica, and Myself out near the lake south of Cuernavaca last night.

Hope all is well. Again, feel free to ask if you have any questions!

Second Week Completed

After 2 weeks of Spanish classes, starting to be able to pick up a lot more in conversations than when I started. It was actually cloudy yesterday and is today. I'm not complaining though, it beats the cold :)

This is just a picture of my classroom...quite basic. My roommate and I are the only two in the class. Probably only about 8 students in total at the school right now. This is the slower season for them, plus with the travel warnings to Mexico, not as many people are coming. The University of Wisconsin system actually cancelled its study abroad program to Mexico.

This is the view from my classroom.

This is the view from my balcony. There is a trampoline on one level and a pool on the level below. Logistically we've determined that the pool would not be deep enough after bouncing off the trampoline from the balcony...tests are in progress.

This is also from my balcony. Barbed wire is a very popular defense measure and look.

This is the view from down by the pool.

My host sister took me on a tour through the black market and the market market...it was either taking a picture with this or intestines.

Other students at the school; Kevin, Nate (roommate), Jenny, and Sara

This is a Michelada. It is a popular chili like beer they have in Mexico...it was...interesting.

A very authentic Mariachi Band.

These little critters were a the top of a mountain in Tepoztlan. They were friendly (if you had something to give them). Can't remember the name for them though...

This is at the same place as above, overlooking the city of Tepoztlan.

This is the pyramid at the top of the mountain. It is a "small temple to the Aztec god Tepoztecatl, a god of the alcoholic pulque beverage"(wikipedia of course).

This was the treck all the way up the mountain...just rocks...many many rocks.

We were at a mall and I got a kick out of it. Pun intended.

Going out with some locals tonight, should be a fun time (especially since the speak about as much English as I do Spanish). Tomorrow we go to Teotihuacan. "At its zenith in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas." & "is an enormousarchaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-ColumbianAmericas." (thanks again wiki)


If anyone whose reading has a specific question or requests, just comment or let me know some how! Hope all is well :D

First Day of Class

Leaving Minnesota for Mexico wasn't the toughest decision. With the warm weather and a venue to actually learn a foreign language, it was easy. The host family is great. There is a host mother, father, son and daughter. As far as the food goes, the families maid prepares most the meals, and they have all been delicious so far. The family speaks pretty good English overall, but I feel reserved to speak too much just because my Spanish is so simple. So for now, mainly English.

My roommate is also from the UofM and we've gotten along well so far. The room itself has three beds, only using two. There is another student in the house who is from Figi. She is here for another two weeks (already been here for 13) then is off to Ciudad Juarez to do missionary work.

The weather here has been a solid 80 degrees with no humidity during the day and gets down to about 55 degrees at night. The house is very open in the sense that the kitchen/dining/living room is open to the outside with just a screen. It's pretty darn cool. Also, Cemanahuac Educational Community, the school I'm studying at, is only a short 5to7 minute walk away.

(edited on thursday, jan 27) Have my first test tomorrow, should do fantastic after a full week of intense Spanish training :P. Adios!

My bed is next to the window, only two people in the room. (there is a balcony, pictures shall come!)

A glamorous shot of the bathroom.

My roommate locking up the front door (only entrance/exit)

Front door/gate.

Just incase you didn't get the full picture :D