Happy Cows come from Mexico.

I have yet to eat a mexican cow. Those chickens on the other hand are deliciosa. I have a chicken friend that lives down the street. He only has one leg and has a string tied to his stump of the other leg. I am trying to find the perfect moment to photgraph him. He lives with a cute black and white kitty too. I think he might be the family pet which makes me very happy. There is also a set of stairs that goes up a steep hill behind my house where you can find chickens hopping up and down in the morning. I tried to photograph them as well but of course when I got there they were no where to be found.
Went to Parque de los Tecajetes with Elizeth today. It reminded me of a jungle. I took some pictures but need to upload them. There were a couple of ponds that were all connected by skinny canals throughout the park. There are also ENORMOUS goldfish and turtles. Turtles are cute.

Last night went to a party at the Casa de los British Girls. Sweeeeet house!.. If I would have known better I would have rented an apartment while I was here. It would be better financially but not culturally. Living with a family is nice. My spanish probably wouldn´t improve as quickly if I lived by myself or another Estados Unidos person. I miss cooking though and having space. Anway the house turned into 3 houses and we stayed there till the sun came up. Got to walk home in heels. (cobble stone streets...)

Today is Gay Friday which means we dress up and go to the gay club. Braque, Alex and I created it. It´s mandatory. Hopefully our professors will be there again! It is actually the best dance club I have been to so far!!

Chachalacas again tomorrow with Elizeth. Going to meet her whole family and her boyfriend.
Eat some traditional mexican vegetarian cooking. Tomar some sol and Sol. (tomar el sol=sun bathing, tomar Sol= drink Sol beer). it works!!

I think i have to go to the bathroom... Long walk home for that. YIKES!

and the week is off..

Yesterday was a family birthday. Gabriela and Daniela turned 18. We made cake (Mom`s chocolate recipe) and everyone loved it. We even decorated it with the M&M`s that were sent from Michigan for Valentine`s Day. We also had Tres Leches cake as a tradition. I believe it is just yellow cake with carnation condensed milk, cream and whipped cream (for frosting)? somebody clarify that for me.. I think Paty was freaked that my cake wouldn`t turn out! It was fun.. I was super tired all day though. I failed to take pictures because I was trying soo hard to fit in that I didn`t want to be noticed. I think they noticed me.
I then had my first salsa lesson, sin contacts or glasses. Dust got in my eyes on the way to class so I had to remove my contacts. I danced like nobody was looking..because I wasn`t or I couldn`t! It was fun.. a good work out. Still don`t think I will ever be able to spin it on the floor.
When I returned to the casa I had a time with the homework because my brain`s wheels were spinning too quickly. I woke up at 5:30 this morning to finish it. It worked out.
School today was the pits. I have my first exam on Thursday and I am really going to have to study because I have no idea what to expect.
I can`t wait till thurday.
Hopefully I can have another blastful weekend.

planning is over-rated.

Spent the whole weekend having a blast.

Friday: Gay bar. Danced with my spanish professor who is 4 foot tall and flaming.

Saturday day: Took the wrong bus to Coatopec for a spur of the moment hiking trip. Legs are covered in mosquito bites. Huge mexican mosquito bites.

Saturday night: Played party games with The English, The French, The mexicans and some gringos.

Sunday: Took another wrong bus to the beach for a spur of the moment excursion. Met some locals. Made up some stories and drank some 40s.

HOT HOT!

Forgot the USB at home this time.. ! oh well.
Lots has happened since I last wrote, but I dont have much time. Need to get back for lunch.
I am starting to make some more friends.. People that are interested in the same things that I am. It´s quite comforting. I met my cultural assistant the other day! I made the mistake of telling here that I was in love with rather than I liked her.. It was embarrassing! OH language.. it´s a beautiful thing!! She is 23 and a psych major. She was raised by Vegans so she knows all about it! She is going to show me all the hot veggie spots!! I am excited! Her name is Elizeth. She is taking me to the beach this weekend!

I have to go home for lunch! I will update very soon.. A couple of hours from now!

love
me =)

Chipi-Chipi

Looks like rain today. Here in Xalapa they call the type of rain that occurs about once a day, Chipi-Chipi. I would compare it to a light drizzle..
Anyway I left home without an umbrella or jacket. I realized as I was 2 blocks away from home that I would be sorry! The one day that I didn´t bring them..it gets chilly and rains! When I say chilly, I think I mean about 60 degrees. Nothing compared to what ya´ll are dealing with!!
I am going to try to stay at school as long as I can.
I meet my tutor at 4.. Then they are playing a Mexican movie at 5:30. Hopefully after that it will be done Chipi-chipi (ing).

By the way, I was a bit lonely last night so I opened a few cards that were put in my "mexico survival kit" by Kaytee. I cried. I didn´t expect personalized notes like that! How did all of the go right over my head!!!! Kaytee, Mat, Mom, Dad, Jacob, Dave and even Peanut each wrote me a note.. WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN!!!!?? That was incredible. Thank you Kaytee. Thank you to all!

I left my flash drive at the Internet cafe with all of my photos on it! Luckily I am here enough that the guy kept it for me! No new pictures though! Hopefully soon!
ADios

here they are!!

i think this is from the summer..but now you have faces for the names!

Shakira Shakira!

You all know how much I love Shakira..

Well..today in Intensivo 4 we all got to love some Shakira! In order to practice vocabulary and listening comprehension, we listened to Shakira for about an hour and interpreted the music! It was incredible! We got to fill in the blanks on sheets of lyrics.. Lucky for me, I already knew most of the words!!! Then we got to share with the class all of our wonderful love stories..Turns out most of the girls in the class have boyfriends and the guys are single and looking! haha.

After the fun we were given about 15 pages of homework and are to prepare a 5 minute speech about the different foods, meal schedules, traditions etc. from our state or country in Spanish of course.

Michigan

-cherries

-apple pie

-hamburgers?

-corn on the cob

-potato chips

-faygo

???????

and.. we eat all the time..no matter when or where!..

phew..

Long time no post. Many reasons for this. Sickness, school and crazy travelling. This weekend, not only was I as sick as a dog, I travelled over 24 hours in bus within 2 days.. Now that I am home and still alive I can say it was worth it. 12 hours ago..no.

On Friday morning, after a long night of salsa dancing (where dancing little took place..because i was too nervous!), Michelle, Inge, Shauna, Nancy and I headed for the mountains of the state of Michoacan. Michoacan is on the Pacific coast and is mountainous and beautiful. It is one of the few places in the world where the Monarch butterflies migrate from Canada for the winter. At first word of this, I wasn´t too excited. I like butterflies, but I was thinking that I could just go to the butterfly house at the zoo when I get home if I felt like I miss out.. NO way.. It is nothing like you will ever see in your life. MIllions and Millions of Monarch butterflies flying all around you as you climb to the peak of the mountian where there are even more.

The trip took 9 hours and 3 bus rides to Morelia..the meeting spot for the 10 hour tour. We arrived around midnight and took a taxi to the hostel. The hostel had 3 beds left and 1 full bed..barely enough. We slept for a couple of hours and left for the tour around 8. We took a curvy bumpy 3 hour car ride up the mountians with an older Texan couple and a crazy mexican driver ( he even commented on mexican driving and how they can get you past anything in the road..i believe it). Upon arrival we waiting in some crazy lines. One including a bathroom where you have to flush your stuff with a bucket of water.. 3 pesos for that bucket of water too. Then we were off.. had to hike about 2 hours upwards. The hike was nice. After sitting on a bus for so long I could have walked forever..even with a respiratory infection of some sort with kicked up dirt everywhere. As we climbed the scenery got more beautiful. We were taught tons of facts about butterflies.. they are very interesting little creatures. *The males die after mating because it takes so much of their energy, so only the females migrate back to Canada in the spring.

After the experience, we had to hike down (my shins-calves are feeling it today!). We were provided with a meal from a local family which included chicken mole, beans, rice, blue corn tortillas and nopales (cactus). It was pretty interesting.

The ride home is not worth talking about.. I will just note that I am not taking a long bus ride like that for a very long time! Thank you!

Words can´t explain the sight, and I am not sure pictures can either.. I´ll try..

P.S. Saturday morning I woke up without a voice. No voice at all. Never has this happened to me.. made life more interesting to say the least.

i´m still here.

but i am sick sick sick. School started today. Classes seem interesting but difficult. I placed in Spanish 4 Intensive and am also taking Culture and Civilization, Contemporary Mexico and Literature. I am also involved in a cultural immersion program with another mexican student. We will have to meet 3 times a week and I will recieve 1 credit for that. I had a feeling that the teachers here would cut us a little slack with the spanish thing and speak slowly and clear, but nope. They speak so fast, it´s going to be tough. My Spanish 4 Intensive seems pretty simple, but I am too scared to jump into Spanish 5...I might wait a few days to see how it goes.
I feel like crap. crap. crap. Head hurts, throat hurts, stomach hurts, dizzy...blah blah. I am going home to sleep. There is a movie at 5:30 at school for free..we will see how I feel.

Pause the Mexico trip.

I know there are atleast 3 of you reading my blog that this pertains to...(mom, katie, kaytee...)

Somebody Make me another one if these.. PLEASE!!!!

note: tulip pockets, ruffle trim

Protesting the Strike

That is the entrance to my school.
That is the enormous flag covering it.

This is never going to end. We went to a house party last night and one of the girls there said that her mom works for the University and it´s not looking to good. We were all hoping for a Monday start to school. Not looking so good.. So maybe ..when?? I am going to start making up my own school work!!

Harry Potter!!

After a dinner of hot cakes (pancakes) I hung out with my host family sisters. We watched Harry Potter 4. They wanted to watch it in English because they said the dubbed voices were ugly. So I tried to read the spanish subtitles. It was hard to follow that way. Hopefully I learned something!
Tonight is one of the girl´s birthdays from the school. We are going to try to go dancing later! I am alittle nervous. Michelle went salsa dancing last night and she said that it was incredible! Hopefully next Thursday I won´t have such a headache and can go!
This weekend we are talking about going to Xico, which is an old town with ruins or maybe a weekend trip to Veracruz...or even a spa with mud baths! Who knows.. Without school we can do whatever we want!
Hopefully school will start monday!

Word,
E
=)

Stupid Day..

No school again today. The flags are still up in front of the doors. Ladies sit underneath them and work on their crafts and eat lunch. I can´t figure out if they are the employees of the university or not.. Michelle and I are thinking about protesting the strike.. Might work?
We went to the immigration office to turn in out Student Visa papers today and it turns out we have to go through a whole other process ..AGAIN. I need copies of everything..that mom has to send me some how or another.. Knowing this mail system, I will get deported before I recieve them!! I have to write a letter asking the governments permission to stay in their country in Spanish of course. I also have to get more pictures taken which cost an arm and a leg and pay a large fee. All of this has to be donw within the next couple of weeks. Nobody told me how much work this was going to be before I left..It´s tough stuff. Well more annoying especially with my broken spanish. THEN!.. I find out that my letters and cards are probably somewhere in the middle of Chihuahua because the postal worker gave me the wrong stamps. I sent 8 cards and letters that I wanted recieved by Valentines Day. So much for that.. I don´t even know where they will go!... I have a headache too.
Therefore, today was a day full of irritants and complaints!
No pictures today!
ADios..

strike.

No school today.. The university employees are on strike. I can´t figure out why, but there are red, white and black flags over all of the doors so that nobody can enter. My host mom says that school will definetly start on Monday.. I am so ready. This type of thing happens here almost every year on February 2nd. Usually their conflicts are solved before now..but who knows. The director said that if this type of thing happens, our classes will be made up, so no worries! I am just soooo ready to start school.

Here are some more pictures from my travels..
Mayonaise with everything.. i don´t know why.



Dogs hang out on roof tops everywhere and bark!..locos!



Inge and I at Chachalacas in my sweet bathing suit skirt!














The view from Champigon..The Vegetarian restaurant we tried the other day..















This is the river at Chachalacas.. so cute!!
See the Cabanas in the back..

Chachalacas!

Today was a good day! I got up early, had a good breakfast and went to the beach with Michelle, Julia, Shauna and Inge. We took the bus to a place called Cardel and then had to take the city bus to the beach town of Chachalacas. The bus ride there was hot, humid, bumpy and a bit sticky. I totally felt like I was in a movie. The whole place smelled of burning sugar cane. I sweet camp fire smell that I will never forget! Upon our arrival we were swarmed with vendors.. shirts..pants..purses..fruits..sandwiches.. Everything.. We must have stood out! ha! We rented a shaded table for 50 pesos (5 dollars) for the whole day (to keep our stuff, take a break, etc.) Then we dove in! Chachalacas is a really interesting place. The beach is on the corner of the meeting of the ocean and a large river. You have the option of swimming in both, but of course we chose the ocean!!! After a couple hours of sun, we decided to try the local food. A cabana restaurant was serving the menu of the day which included; shrimp soup, rice with platains and fresh fried fish. It was delicious... except for the soup.. the shrimp were peel and eat and still have their eyes.. I only ate one! After lunch we took the bus home and now I am waiting for Shauna to arrive and we are going to a local student hang-out!..
School starts tomorrow around 1.. so this is our last night!.. and my first actual night OUT!

Adios for now!
Emily =)

back tracking..

My Mexican family is great! There is Patricia (mom), Alejandro (dad), Alejandro (son) 18 yrs, Daniela and Garbriela (twins) 16 yrs, and Australian Shepard, Tequila. The house is cute... A gate opens up into a set of stairs that leads to a large concrete patio. A garage is underneath the patio. Upstairs is the front door. Inside the door is the living room and dining room. To the right is a small bathroom and my bedroom. Another set of stairs leads to the master bedroom, 2 other bedrooms and a bathroom. Things a definetly different here... Can´t flush the paper down the toilet.. Windows never close.. I don´t even know where to go next. I am so overwhelmed with emotions about this place that it is hard to express them..but here are some photos of my house, view from house, and bedroom.

Well

..it worked but I can´t figure out how to post the pictures where I want them...but at least they are there!!

=)

Carnaval de Veracruzana 2008

Yesterday (Sunday), five of us girls from the school took the bus to Veracruz to see the ever so famous Carnaval!.. Here are some photos..

From left to right, we have Shauna, Inge, Emily, Ashley and Michelle.

estoy aqui!

I am finally here and settled. After a long day of travel and chaos.. everything is working out. I don´t even know where to start.
On Wednesday our flight was supposed to leave at 8:13... That flight got cancelled due to weather conditions and plane malfunctioning.. We were rebooked to leave out of a different airline 2 hours later that when to Texas. When we got to Texas our tickets were lost and had to rebook a flight to Mexico City. Once in Mexico city they couldn´t find out information and we had to beg them to rebook. We finally made it to Veracruz at about 11 p.m to find that our luggage was no where to be found. We waited around and it turned out that it was left in Texas. Our ride did show up and took us to the bus station. When we arrived there my host family was not there. Blah Blah Blah.. I finally got to their house and was asleep by 3am.. in order to get up for Orientation at 7. Without any luggage...and I mean any luggage (no toiletries, clothes, meds...shoes...books...) I had to survive to days. I was a wreck..
Our luggage arrived this morning and I was so happy to see that everything was there and in order. My cute little room is all set up and I feel more at home. This place is incredible in so many ways. I am using the family computer so I can´t go into much detail or download the pictures I have taken yet. I will hit up an Internet Cafe tomorrow to fill in the details.
I will say for now that I am safe and having quite the adventure already!
love to all.
Emily