My New Apartment

Okay so I am starting at the top and working my way down. This is our beautiful roof top terrace. The view is breathtaking!

Front door

Work and School- School and Work

The University is a beautiful place to work and take classes. This is the view from the balcony of my Spanish classes. The University is on a hill so not matter where you are there is a beautiful view. It makes work and class a hell of a lot easier when you have this to look at everyday. This is my Spanish class. My teacher's name is Veronica and everyday she wears the most colorfully embroidered dresses and tops. She is really nice and never speaks a word of English. I am learning a lot. My classmates are mostly Japanese and Korean. Then there are two girls from the States, one from Germany, one from Canada and two from Switzerland. The Korean boys are absolutely adorable. They are great to practice Spanish with because they know little or no English. So many people speak English in this city that when they find out that I speak English they either just speak or English to me or want to practice their English with me. This gives me little opportunity to practice my Spanish. Above is my classmate Jun, he is really good at Spanish so I try to work with him in class, because working with someone better than me really helps me improve.
There are so many flowers everywhere. These are the stairs that I sit on during my break between teaching classes.

I have two Spanish classes everyday, grammar and conversation. This is the view from my classroom. It's amazing. Tomorrow in my converstaion class we are walking to the market to ask the vendors questions that we came up with in class on Monday. It always makes me nervous to practice my Spanish with unsuspecting strangers, but it is a great way to learn and practice. I wish that I could just learn faster.

I teach in room number 12. Below is the inside of my classroom. My students are awesome. I have 2 classes of 28 students, one of 15, and one with only 12. I really enjoy working there. I just gave my first written exam on Thursday and I am not looking forward to grading them all, yuck. Other than that the job is great. I don't have my working visa yet, so I have not gotten paid yet, imagine how much better the job will be when I am actually getting paid for it.

The Rodeo

I attended my first rodeo last weekend. It was buck wild, literally. First, we decided to take a cab to the event. The only problem was that it was about 45 minutes away and there was not one sign to lead us to there. Our cab driver was a saint, he must have asked at least 20 people in the street how to get there. At one point he pulled over on the highway to ask a couple that was crossing the 5 lane highway. It was wild, they were so helpful with directions while giantic 16 wheelers were whipping behind them. You definitely would not see this in the U.S. Finally, we figured out how to get to the neighborhood that the rodeo was in, but now we had to find the actual stadium. You would think that with such a big event SOMEONE would know about it but that was not the case. My friend Marcos, kept asking the cab driver to stop at a gas station to ask for directions, but I don't think they do that here in Mexico. Here in Mexico they pull up real close to the front door of a store and yell in at the clerk. Yeah, it happened and the clerk was more than happy to help us out. Getting lost was actually pretty fun, Igot to see parts of Mexico that I may have never seen otherwise.When we finally arrived it was awesome! There were cowboys everywhere with leather chaps, spurs, lassos the whole deal. And most of them happened to be incredibly good looking. In the beginning it was great we ate delicious food, it wasn't too crowded and we got really good seats. Then the rodeo began and in the first event the cowboys rode their horses next to the bull, grabbed its tail and threw it on the ground. This was only if they 'won' if then missed the bull it was considered a 'loss', but not for me, I was rooting for the bulls. I hated to see them get knocked over. It didn't seem to hurt them, they just seemed super annoyed, like they were saying, "Leave me the hell alone stupid cowboys." The next event was bull riding, now this was awesome! You can see the picture above. Now this is how I pictured a rodeo. The bull is simply being ridden and eventually throws the cowboy off. It was really cool to see. Another event was roping wild horses. The first horse that came out was ridden by a cowboy and when he could not ride anymore he hopped off and the other cowboys tried to lasso the horse. When the horse was lassosed it hit the ground, but even I could tell that something had gone horribly wrong. The horse did not get up...they had to tie a rope to him and drag him out of the ring. I could not stop thinking about the horse so I went to check on him...he was dead. I was so sad, I was like how could this happen? Does it happen all the time? I thought this is cruel, they should cancel rodeos all together. But Nicole went to check on the horse as well, and the people told her that horses rarely die at rodeos and that this was an extreme case. They told that it was a one and a million chance to see a horse die at a rodeo. This made me feel a bit better. The night continued and it just got better and better. The cowboys were doing tricks with their lassos like spinning it around their bodies and jumping through it was very impressive. Nicole and I were very popular because we were the only Americans there. The announcers asked if we would take our pictures with them. They asked us why there were not other gringos there and we said, "Because nobody can find this place!" I'm sure if I will return to a rodeo but I am happy that I was able to check it out. Don't tell PETA they would be all over this shit.

Update on Mexico

I am having a great time in Gto. I love my job and I have free Spanish classes at the University. My schedule Mon.-Thurs. can be rough but I'm getting used to it. I have Spanish classes from 11am-1pm. , one conversation and one grammar class. Then I have a 2 hour break and teach English from 3-8:15pm. It's a long day, but it's not bad. On Friday I only have to go to the two classes...I already missed last Friday's classes...mental health day. It only sucks when I have to go to Cupulas Uno to take care of the dogs. This situation is really starting to get to Nicole and I. We only have two more weeks left but now that we both work it is getting to be really annoying! When we orginally agreed to stay at Cupulas, we thought, free rent yeeeeaaah! Then we realized that it's the suburbs and a 20 minute cab ride to work. We quickly found a apartment in the city and have been living between the two places for the past month, although, Katie was here for a week and a half in the middle and she took care of the dogs. I become a different person when I go from Cupulas to my new place. I love living in walking distance to everything. I finally set up my bedroom and we are starting to collect things for the kitchen. The apartment is bright, airy, and most importantly clean. I cannot wait to sleep there every night, tonight I am at Cupulas...alone. I will never take another taxi in Gto. again after this dog thing is over. They suck and traffic is terrible because of construction right now. They say it's going to be 3 months before they are done.

Okay, maybe I will continue to take cabs to the Sunday BBQ's at the Fusilado Bar. It 's one of my favorite things to do in Gto. Every Sunday the guys that own a bar just outside of the city have a huge all you can eat BBQ for only 60 pesos...yeah about 5 bucks for the best BBQ ever. My Dad would be in heaven! Salad, mashed potatoes, hamburgers, hotdogs wrapped in bacon, stuffed chicken and soooooooooooo much more. I don't eat meat often but at the BBQ I am a total carnivore.

The Mexico Run Down

Things I like about Mexico:

• It is so easy to make people laugh here. When I am teaching and I tell a joke, I want to say to my students, "Whoa I'm not that funny." It's like the total opposite from when I moved to SD and thought, "Hey no one here thinks I'm funny."
  
• There is never a dull moment. There is ALWAYS something to do, someone to hang out with, and an invitation to a party.
  
• The mountains are gorgeous and fun to climb.
  
• I can fit into my old jeans because I walk everywhere and most of the food I eat used to be living in someone's backyard.
  
• You can get almost any where in a 3 dollar cab ride.
  
• Everyone wears wacky jeans! I can't get enough, although, I'm sure that I will not start to wear jeans with rhinestones.
  
• There is a bagel place that knows what I want the minute I get in the door. They have the best turkey sandwich I have ever had!

• Beers at my favorite bar are only $1.50.

• Almost every store has it's specialty, some sell clothes, make keys, sell sunglasses, scarves, bags, jewlerly, there is even a store that just sells the clickers for you car keys...seriously a whole store full of 'em.
  

Things I don't like about Mexico:

• There is not unspoken 'go to the right rule here'. It's hop off the sidewalk or risk getting run into.

• A lot of people do not have sense of personal space, especially when you are waiting line. This would just kill my sister! It makes Nicole furious.

• Any kind of paperwork takes fooooooreeeeeveeeeer!!!!!!

• It is really hard to find some things here...like a good blanket, high thread count sheets, or those exfoliating gloves for the shower.
  
• Why are my finger nails always dirty?

• The hot water in my shower goes from real hot to luke warm in about 5 minutes. (Not always...sometimes I get a full on hot one...sometimes)

• I miss the delicate cycle on my washer and dryer. It's great to have my laundry done for me, but it's really hard on my clothes.

Festival of the Caves, Hiking the Bufa

Last Sunday a bunch of us decided to hike the Bufa and attend the Festival of the Caves. It is a festival that happens every year and a ton of people hike up the Bufa, a huge and beautiful mountain that the people of Gto. have been hiking for centuries. It was a sight to see, old people, families, men and women holding tiny babies, everyone was climbing the mountain together. Nicole and I showed up in our hiking shoes and workout outfits, but we were the only ones. We even saw women in heels and wedges making there way up the mountain. Everyone was so happy, the weather was great and the vibe was positive. I had a great time celebrating one month in Mexico with two great friends, Marco and Nicole. There was so much to do on the mountain, I don't even know how they got it all up there. There was a whole carnival for the kids, tons of beer for the adults, and food everywhere. The beer was only about 90 cents, but with the high elevation I could not drink one or I may not have been able to make it to the top. You can see the line of people holding onto the rope on their down in the picture. It is an awesome climb.

We were really lucky to have such good weather, because for years it has rained for this festival. On our way down the mountain we ran into some friends that were set

up on the side of the road partying above thier office. They said hey stop in for a beer and so we did. Then within 5 minutes we saw black clouds appear over the mountains. Then it started to rain. We were so lucky that we saw our friends we helped them clean up and took cover in thier cozy office below. Then suddenly it started to rain tiny little ice chuncks and the winds started to whip. We would have been in that storm...Wow. Finally, the storm died down and we walked home, I love living in the city!

The Presentation of the Cervantino Festival and Beyond

Thursday night was the Introduction of the Cervantino Festival. It is held at the Teatro Juarez and is free to the public. A bunch of politcos sit on stage and talk about the four week long celebration. Then they showed a video to preview of all of the events. There is so much to do at Cervantino. The countries represented this year are Chile, Argentina, and Columbia, but people from all over the world come to perform. The shows include all kinds of dance, music, and theater. I am completed overwhelmed, I want to see everything. There are gospels, ballets, and performance art. It is one of the only festivals in the world that has so much at such an afforable price. In the U.S. it could run you $100 dollars for a Broadway show and here the shows are $15 and some are even free.

This is Barbara she is our new friend here. She works at the University and helped me get my job there. She told us about the Festival Introduction. We went out to dinner first and then went to the theater to see the preview. Aftwards there was free wine, shots of mescal, and a ton of free food. It was a blast!

The place was packed and I saw many people that I knew. I even met a girl that lives here and went to Mass Art the same year I was at the Museum School. It's such a small world. Okay so five glasses of wine later and we were able to convince Barbara to go with us after the cocktail party. First we hit up Los Lobos for a few beers. It's a fun bar in Gto. that plays classic rock. They also had a live band that night. It's funny to hear live bands play American Rock Music. It makes me feel better about my terrible Spanish. Then we hit up Bar Fly as usual. This is Nicole and Barbara sitting in our spot. Then our friend Marcos came to meet up with us. He has been in our Spanish classes for the past couple of weeks. I am not in classes right now, but Nicole

is and has kept in touch with Marcos. He is from Canada and can read people's energies. Nicole and I ask him questions all the time and he is always right. I do believe he has a special skill, and he's really funny and sarcastic.

Walking to Work

I am so happy that I live so close to work. Today was my second day at the University and I decided to take some pictures of the beautiful things I see along the way. I was way too nervous about getting there on time to even think of taking pictures on my first day. I showed up a half and hour early and just sat and studied my Spanish until everyone else arrived. The first meeting I attended was all in Spanish. I could understand some it. The director essentially said we should try and get published and make this the best university in the world. Pretty heavy for my first 30 mins. The next meeting was in English, of course, it was and Engllish department meeting. My new boss was not able to cover all of the material that day so she asked the "newbees" as we have been being called to return today. This is what I saw this morning.

This is the Teatro Juarez named for a Mexican president in the 1800's. He is really popular in Guanajuato. People often sit on the step here to watch clown perform. The steps can get really packed with people. The clowns are pretty funny, one is really creepy though.

There are lovely churches everywhere in Gto. I see three on my short 10 minute walk to work.

The Jardin is the center of it all right in front of the Teatro Juarez. It is a canopy of trees, great to hide under when it rains.

The benches are one of my favorite parts of the city. They are usually packed with couples making out, families eating icecream, and foreigners studying Spanish.

I have to say that the highlight of my day was winning the biggest locker today. All of the new teachers put their names in a hat because there is only one large locker. Guess who's name was picked first, mine! I quickly threw my hands in the air and yelled whooo hoooo! Then realized these people don't know me and whipped my arms down to my sides. I never win those kind of things it was exciting, although, I later found out that another teacher, David, is coming back in January and will want his locker back. All good things must come to an end.

This is one of my favorite plazas. If you take a left here it takes you right to the Language School where I work.

Just up this alley and we're almost there.

Here's the front door. And we're inside. It's fantastic. You can see the classrooms in the picture below. Mine is on the second floor.