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

Surprises and final moments!

Tomorrow night is the big party. Kaytee posted this on the refrigerator door. What does it mean?
Mat is making dinner.. Goodbye Friday nights of making dinners of veggies and fabulous desserts. Only a short goodbye though.

60 degree weather change!

It is bitter cold here in Michigan tonight. 19 degrees, snowy, feels like 11 with the windchill. On the day I arrive in Xalapa ,weather is predicted to be 76 degrees and sunny. YAHOOO.
I called my host family last night. First time I chickened out and hung up the guy that answered the phone. I tried a half an hour later and talked to Mama Patricia. I made a fool of myself and laughed after every word. I realized that I had never spoken to a woman in Spanish except for my Spanish teachers. There are 3 kids and a medium dog..and boy am i anxious!!.. 1 week from today and I will be there!!

11 days.

11 more days until I leave for Xalapa. I am extremely nervous and so excited. It's hard to know what to do with yourself when you know you are leaving everything behind for 4 months. I am trying my best to prepare but I think I am putting myself into more of a mess.
Last night I made 4 different lists.
1. Phone numbers that I might need while I am there.
2. Things that I can't forget, that I commonly do forget.
3. An inventory of what I have purchased to take. (6 different bottles of hand sanitizer included)
4. Things I need to take care of before I leave. (paying off things..ordering..tying loose ends)
5. And a day by day plan of to-dos until i leave.
Now it is Friday and I have the whole day off. I am sitting here trying to think of more things that I can do. I will probably find myself watching episode after episode of Law and Order (my favorite past-time since January 1st).

I am stressing out about my host family too. I finally got the nerve to call them and they didn't answer 2 times in a row... They are all I think about and I don't know anything but their address.!

The party is a week from tomorrow. I am excited about that! It will be nice to see all of my friends together before I leave. The butternuts say that have it in for me. I will probably pee myself.. but what else are surprises for?

Matty and i are going out tonight. His brother and sister-in-law got us an American Express gift card for Christmas, so we are going to use it for a nice night out, just the two of us, before I go. No extra money will be spent, which is what I am excited about!

Time to complete the Friday list!
Adios.