13/6/04

Laundry... Lisa and I decided to go to the mall. It ws good because gravity was begining to keep my pants from staying on my butt... I got a couple of really cute outfits. I love shopping here!! lots of clothes for curvy women!! I am very excited! We got back and I have taken the evening easy mostly. Gotta go finish my homework now.

12/6/04 (Cont)

Ok so we got back from Cuetzalan and Ana invited me o go out with them. We went to this great little bar called Pulque Para Dos. Soo awsome! I loved it. It was very tranquil and layed back. Full of hippies. Me gusta mucho!

Cuetzalan

This is the most beautiful... amazing city I have ever been to!! I want to live here too!! First we went to La Gloria. It was a waterfall... it was pretty but i have seen lots of waterfalls... however I took my sketch book and got a few really good drawings in. Ana and David (the other camera guy) hung out some while waiting for everyone to get back on the bus. I sat with Alejandra one of the animadores... she is really sweet I like her alot. We then went farther up the mountain to the point that we had to get out and walk to the city because the bus wouldn´t fit down the streets. It is a beautiful town!! I cannot even tall you how amazing it is!! We checked into our hotel... also beautiful... an then had free time. I found my way to the zocalo and drew for a few hours. Then headed back to the hotel to change for dinner. We went to Jarritos for dinner and to watch the voladores they are dancers that go up this telephone pole looking thing then spin back down to the earth on ropes suspended from the top. By the time we left it was close to midnight. Ana, David, Lisa, Ellen and I went to the cemetary to film us wondering around there. We then went back to the hotel and dropped off the cameras and walked arround the city for awhile. It was alot of fun. We told ghost stories in spanish. hehehe. So it is like 2 in the morning now and I am still not tired. So I sat out on my balcony drew til 4 decided to try to sleep... gave up got up at 7 took a shower and went out to find something for breakfast. We had a good bit of free time and Ana, David, Lisa and I went to the market so they could film us shopping. On the way back to the school we stopped at some ruins... and an artiesians market... It was lots of fun!

10/6/04

Went to class... packed for the trip this weekend... still feeling a little queasy so I think I will go to bed early.

7-9/6/04

I was sick in the clinic hooked to an IV drip.... Had a throat infection and an intestinal infection all at once. Fun fun fun.... Don´t really remember much from the last few days.

6/6/04

Slept in.... did laundry and homework.

Veracruz

Ok so I was very disappointed with this trip. However I got to spend alot of time with Ana and Abram... They are the camera crew that is filming the documentay on our program here at UDLA. I am going to be a movie star! hehehe! Ana is great! She is alot like Nan and Paige if you shoved them into one person. On the way to Veracruz we passed a cactus farm.... it was the funniest thing I have ever seen. All these cacti in straight lines.... We then went to Xapala.... I want to live there!! it is beautiful! We went to the anthropology musem. Temo walked around with me there and explained anything I didn´t understand. It is a beautiful musem. He has beautiful eyes... I love being a girl! Our hotel.... BEAUTIFUL!! We were right on the beach... SO amazing!! We changed for dinner and dancing and met the group downstairs. I had a hamburger for dinner and we walked to the zocolo where we were going to go dancing. But the place had a dresscode and there were some in our group in shorts and sandals. We ended up taking a taxi to Senor Frogs. What a waste of time and realestate! I understand that it is a popular place but it was so.... Gringo. However I had one of the best amerreto sours I have ever tasted. We got back to the hotel at like 2 and had to be up for breakfast at 8. We went to wonder around the zocolo and explore a little.... It is SOOOO touristy. And not very pretty in compairison to the rest of Mexico. If you crossed Texas City with Galveston and then had the entire population of Houston and its surrounding areas to live there... you got Veracruz.

3/6/04

I went to school today.... I packed for leaving tomorrow. Thats it.... fun fun

2/6/04

Classes classes and more classes... but after class... we had a party! We went over to Gerry's house for dinner. His apartment is really cute! could use some decorating... but hey....He and his friends made dinner for us... we had a meat medley on blue corn tortillas... and the best Guacamole I have ever put in my mouth.... come to think of it it was the best food I have ever put in my mouth... that is saying ALOT because I usually don't like Guac. This stuff was amazing! I had a manzana lift with my dinner... Mmmmmm Manzana lift is like a carbonated liquid apple jolly rancher... It is candy in a bottle. We then played a game of I never in spanish... which turned into a game of lets find out what Erin has done.... I don't know who they thought I was but it was pretty funny watching them find out about me. Then we caught a cab home and now I am going to go crash. Night night

1/6/04

Happy June!!

Classes... apearantly I didn't miss anything yesterday because they were all pretty much doing the same thing they were on thursday... after class I was starting to feel bad again so I went and took a nap.... can I tell you how much I love naps! Then I went with Selia to her physical therapy appointment and the mall. I had McDonalds for dinner... It was a nice change of pace and nipped away that twinge of homesickness. Then I fixed Selia's computer did homework and now it is off to bed

31/5/04

Ok so at like 2 ish I woke up with a migrane... spent most of the morning lying on the bathroon floor in pain... about 9 I was able to fall asleep again... slept til noon so needless to say I didn't make it to class today. This afternoon I went to walmart with the girls we got groceries and I bought yarn and crocheting needles... I left mine at home and have missed them the whole time I have been here. We got home and I cooked dinner for us and finished up my homework and I am going to bed early!

30/5/04

REsting... recovering and homework.... that was the theme for today. I did laundry I slept alot and I did homeork... It was wonderful... I did nothing.

Oaxaca

So it is a 5 hour bus ride to Oaxaca... we all knew this but none of us quite grasped the magnitude of 5 hours on a bus... Although I am glad I made the trip with the school and not on my own... the state border crossings were really scary!! The have tons of military guys with machine guns and angry faces glaring at you. not something I would have wanted to face on my own! At 12:30 1 ish we stopped for lunch at El Patio, a retaurant that serves authentic Oaxacan cuisine. It wasn't too much different from the other mexican cuisine I have had here. They brought out a plate of fresh tortillas and a plate that had two types of cheese and some chilipepper looking stuff. We passed the plate around and everyone started filling their tortilla... I opted for only cheese as my stomach had been a little on the queasy side and we still had 2 more hours on the bus. They served Jaimca (really not sure if I spelled that right...)juice, which is really tasty. After a few minutes of munching and talking Rachel looks down at her plate and says -ummm guys, thish chili pepper has eyes... and legs...- Turns out it was cricket that had been sauteed for awhile. The rest of lunch was good and bug free. We had a chicken soup and a skirt steak of sorts. Ot the way out of the restraunt I noticed that the fence around the restraunt was mae of these tall vertical cacti that had two horizontal boards nailed to it. Turns out the majority of the fences we saw were like this. Our next stop was the villaga of Mitla. We did some shopping there and wondered around in some ancient tombs... it was pretty cool... there were some amazing views from the tops of the tombs! However the inside of the tombs... especially the parts that were underground... were quite stinky and dirty... the anchients need a better cleaning service. My stomach was begining to rumble as we got back on the bus to head to Oaxaca City, where our hotel was. As we pulled into the mainpart of the city you couldn't help but notice the huge numbers of people. We had to park 3 blocks away from our hotel and walk with all of our stuff, the busses just couldn't get through all of the people. Our animadore told us as we were getting off the bus that there was a teachers strike going on in the square and that we all needed to remember the name of our hotel incase we got seperated from the group and got lost. But he said not to worry because all the people were teachers... and "what is a teacher going to do with you? give you homework?" We made it to the hotel safely. And got to see a good bit of the strike on the way. After we checked into the hotel Hillary (my roommate at the hotel) and I wondered around talking to the teachers about what was going on and why they were striking. Turns out teachers from all over the state had come to strike for higher wages... better school programs... adn better facilities for the kids. They had been living in the square for several days and planned to stay as long as it took. It was really facinating!! Some of them had brought tents but most of them had just strung up tarps between trees and buildings and signposts and were living in sleeping bags underneath them... It was amaxingly well organized too... they had walkways and cooking areas and places where they were giving talks and where they had entertainment going on. Jason (Hillary's friend) finally found us and we went in search of a restaurant. We headed away from the strike... somewhat to just explore the area and somewhat to find a restraunt that wasn't crowded. We turned down one of the side streets and fireworks caught our eye. We had waled smack into the middle of a parade. We watched it go by for a miute when some little mexican ladys grabbed us by the arms and suddenley we were in the parade! We walked along for a few blocks when a little restaraunt above a shop caught our eye. The sign said La Olla... live music inside. It was the most amazing restraunt I have ever been in. The service was supurb and the food was amazing!! The waiter asked what we were doing in Mexico and we told him we were here for a language imersion program. He got very excited and spoke to us very slowly in spanish and then explained anything we didn't understand in English. We then spoke back to him in spanish and he corrected any mistakes we made. There was a cello player in the corner playing bach... the windows were all open and there was a delightfully cool breeze blowing in... It was a very surreal experience. I had a drink that was a lime and mint juice! (My mouth is watering just thinking about it!!) After dinner we met back up with the group and went to a salsa club called Azucar. It was alot of fun but HOT... SO HOT... I cannot tell you how amazingly hot it was. We only stayed about an hor and then couldn't take anymore. We caught a cab back to the hotel showered and crashed... Ok so it was so hot there that when I wokeup in the morning the clothes I had worn were still wet... The alarm went off at 8 and we trudged to breakfast... packed up and left at 9. The morning was spent exploring the ruins of Monte Alban. Monte Alban was a religous center situated at the exact point where the 2 north american mountain ranges intersect. It was HUGE! and beautiful! Our guide was great... such a character! I could have spent all day listening to his stories. but our animadores kept us to our time schedule and hearded us back to our busses. Our final stop in Oaxaca was at a workshop where they make this black pottery... the clay itself is black and once they fire it it is some of the most beautiful stuff I have ever seen. We watched a demonstration on the pottery techniques used and then we bought pottery of our own. Between the market and here I spent sooo much money this weekend!! The last 5 hours on the bus were miserable.... I had worn my contacts all day and My eyes hurt... I went to take them off and my left one got stuck in my eye... it took like 20 minutes to get in seperated... I was tired and couldn't sleep... and I was very very cranky.... luckily they turned off the lights and put in a movie... we watched Freida and Daddy Day Care. It was a strange combination of moves but hey it helped the time pass a little quicker. We got back at midnight and my dorm never looked more like home!

27/5/04

Last night after I posted my blog my sweet mate Salia and her brother Justo came and kidnapped us to go to dinner and the mall. We went to one of the most amazing italian restaurants I have ever been to. It was called Italliani's and it was muy bueno! Justo and I spent the evening talking about theatre. He is a communications major because his dad wouldn't let him major in theate. I think I learned more spanish last night than in all of my classes so far.... They are such great people! and they have a car which is good because the public transportation scares me! Salia is a handful!! she is 18 and has just finished her first year at UDLA... She is so great! she got so upset when she found out how old I was because I look younger than all of them. I probably look the youngest in our entire group and yet with the exception of the 2 in their late 40s I am the oldest. And so far I feel it. I have a hard time keeping up with these kids!!

We had our second cooking class today. It was alot of fun. We learned to make frijoles charro and chilaquiles verdes... es sooooo yummy!! I like chilaquiles!! and it is so much fun to say!! When I get back we are definately having a dinner party.

Tonight Salia is taking us to the supermercado so we can do our grocery shopping. It is very exciting! that way we don't have to eat out all the time.

I leave for Oaxaca at 6 in la manaña. Everyone else is going clubbing tonight.... I am going to bed. Maybe the dorms will be quiet for once....

26/05/04

Today was nice and relaxed.... After class and lunch I came back to my dorm put on some laundy and took a siesta! After my nap Alysa and I went to Salia´s room and watched some TV. American TV is so bland in comparison!! Salia is helping us with our pronunciations and Mexican slang! She is fabulous!! Tonight I have alot of homework so that is probably how I will spend my evening. I have two papers to write and some stories to read. I am really looking forward to this weekend and the trip. I also found out today where to get the settings for my wireless card. So now hopefully I will be able to use my laptop to access the internet. I also added new pictures so be sure to check them out!!

05/25/04

Today was a much better day! Classes went well. I really like my teachers. They are very patient and understanding. The group is starting to try to talk in spanish amongst ourselves which has lead to some very amusing spanglesh episodes... today at lunch we had little white potatoes as a side dish. One of the girls tripped and they fell off her plate and went everywhere. She yelled out... -Oh no! I have spilt mi papas all over me!!- I probably shouldn't have laughed at that but I did.

I had my first cooking class as well today! ... I am going to love that class. We get to eat what we make at the end of class. It was sooo yummy!! Today we made chalupas and rice pudding from scratch... I don't like rice pudding so much but the chalupas were amazing. After class we headed back to the dorms. I got a shower and took a nap... I know it was very exciting... and now I am starting on the mounds of homework I have. This weekend I am going to Oaxaca!! I am very excited!!

5/24/04

FIrst day of classes.... Not too bad. The teachers are very patient and I wasn't the worst person in the class so that is good I think. I haven't felt very well today... mostly lack of sleep and dehydration. I hope. The native students moved in for summer classes yesterday and our dorm is no longer quiet. If I thought the noise was bad in the dorms at UH... at least there was carpet there to absorb some of it. I don't think I have ever seen so many people who talk so much. They make my girls look like quiet subdued little people. I am going to have to find time to go into Puebla and find somewhere with earpulgs. They also all smoke and there are no rules about not smoking in the dorms. Not real fond of cigarette smoke but I suppose I will get used to it. Ok enough complaining. You guys might get the impression I am not having a good time. At lunch they served a soup that was amazing. One of the best things I have ever tasted!! I signed up for my extra cultural classes as well today. I am taking cooking and ballroom dancing. I am very excited about it. Now I have to walk to the store for dinner before it gets dark.