Updates....

I think I might be adjusting finally. Maybe. At first glance, I thought this city was pretty much like any American city you could live in, except maybe even safer. But every day I´m learning how different it is. Everyone takes a 3 hour break in the middle of the day, and then goes back to work or school only to return at 7 or 8 at night! And then only to eat dinner at 8:30 or 9, right before bed. This is probably the hardest thing for me to get used to. Although I´d love an hour siesta in between my classes, 3 hours is too much. Aun los dulces son diferentes aqui (Even the candy is different here). When I got to my afternoon class, my teacher greeted me with, "Buenas tardes. ¿Te gustan dulces?" (Good afternoon. Do you like candy?) I responded with a yes of course and she proceeded to empty a bag on the table with lots of candy. Take note: Only one candy in the entire bag was NOT spicy. Weird. Who likes sweet and spicy together? Mexicanos...

Anyway...tonight I´m babysitting los niños while Yazmin y Pompeyo go out to a movie. Apparently they do this every Wednesday. This is fine because I have a lot of homework tonight anyway. I never realized the challenge of babysitting kids who don´t speak your language. I´ll admit..I got onto FreeTranslation.com to figure out how to say, "What did I say? Please stay in your bed!" (Which, in case you´re wondering, is "¿Que dije? Por favor, se queda en la cama!") I think I finally got this across to Sara (she´s 5). And David cried and cried and cried, but is finally asleep. Again, it´s hard to tell a baby who doesn´t understand English to lay down, hush, be quiet, close your eyes, etc.

Tonight at dinner, Sara told me that she has a nickname for me: "Te llamamos Dora la Exploradora; tu hables español, y mucho ingles tambien!" ("We call you Dora the Explorer; you speak Spanish, and much English too!") I thought that was special. :)

I took lots of pictures today, but just of Jenny Beth and Co. and the school. Someday I will take pictures of all my teachers and of mi familia tambien.

Oh! My friend Kristen (Olsen, for those of you that know her) emailed me today and told me that she found out I was in Chihuahua for the semester and thold me that she is in Chihuahua too! She is in the city of Parral, which is about 2 1/2 hours away from Cd. Chihuahua, teaching Enlish at a school there. She´s already been to Chihuahua 3 times since July, so the next time she comes, we´re going to get together. Or I might take the bus out there, because I hear it´s very safe and direct. This made me really happy to know I have a friend from home so close to my new home. My friend Craig is studying in Mexico too, but he is in Merida, which is way south in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Classes today were frustrating as usual, but I can tell I´m progressing. It just takes me a long time to think about it. I think tomorrow I´m going to ask my host parents to only speak to me in Spanish (they feel bad because it takes me so long to communicate, so they let me speak in English).

I made my first plans to do things outside of school today! (You have no idea how happy this makes me...I prayed last night that I would either be content with how things are, because let´s face it, there´s no changing it, or that God would give me something to look forward to...other than day in and day out of class.) So...on Friday night, I´m going with Yazmin´s sister Sonja, out with some of her friends (Sonja is 21). And on Saturday, Yazmin, Sara, and David, and Jenny Beth and her kids, and I are going to a big park in the city and out to lunch. Saturday night, Jenny Beth and Tommy are having me and Dwayne (the other student) over to their house for dinner. On Sunday, we are going to church and then to a birthday party. And next weekend, I think Jenny Beth, Tommy, the kids and I are going to drive out to a small town called La Junta, that´s like due east of here. Jenny Beth worked with a church there over spring break and she wants to go to it again. So that will be a fun little road trip. Then at the end of September when Jenny Beth´s husband, Benton, comes to visit, we´re going to take the train, hopefully, out to Creel and through the mountains to Copper Canyon. I´ve heard it´s amazing. Yay for plans!

Well, I must go do my homework now...I´m giong to try to do all of it tonight, even though my teacher, Judith, said it´s ok if I don´t get all of it done since I´m babysitting. Pues, hasta mañana!

Oye...

Let me emphasize how LATE the Mexican schedule is....I am exhausted, and this is when mi familia is just getting going. I come home from school around 7:30 or 8 and eat dinner around 8:30 or 9, and then all I want to do is go to bed, but I have lots of homework to do. Other than the language barrier (which is getting better), this is probably the hardest thing to get used to. I feel like it´s about midnight right now. I hate this. Quiero aprender espanol, pero no quiero hacer mi tarea esta noche.

I really wish I had pictures to post....but I haven´t taken any yet. Crazy, I know. I got really jealous because mi amiga Jenny Beth (ella esta en la escuela conmigo) has posted many pictures on her blog, even one of the Bienvenidos a Chihuahua sign at the entrance to the city. I didn´t even see that sign. I have to remind myself that even though it feels like I´ve been here for a week, I´ve only been here for 2 days and I will have plenty of opportunities to get out and take pictures. I secretly wish I was living in my own apartment like Jenny Beth and Tommy so I could have the freedom to go or do whatever I want to in the evening (they have a car), but I live with a family and I feel rude if I´m not home before 8. Oh well...hopefully, I will have plenty of opportunities to go out around town, take pictures, and travel throughout the semester. Well...I guess it´s time to do my tarea and go to bed!

Hasta proximo, adios!

Well...

My first two days have been very interesting. I'll be honest...yesterday sucked. It was all espanol all day and I had about 10 minutes of "english time" total in the entire day. It was soo frustrating and I hate not being able to get my point across. I was almost in tears the entire day. It was my first day in my host home, which is really nice by the way, and when I got home after school finally around 7, I was completely exhausted. Everything here is on a later schedule. They eat lunch at 2:30ish and dinner at 8:30 or 9! I was ready for bed before dinner last night! It's very exhausting...and extremely frustrating. But today already was so much better. I could tell I was understanding a lot more even when people speak very quickly. And I've already learned so many new phrases and words. It's gonna be good. By the end of the week I should be golden. I'm in a class by myself with a teacher in the morning and another one in the afternoon. It helps a lot because I can ask as many questions as I want. I really love the one-on-one thing. Anyway....I need to go but back to my host home, but I thought I'd catch ya'll up on how my first 2 days have been. Es bueno! Hasta mas tarde!

Mas Fotos Para Ti

all set and ready to leave the country...peace out, america!!




the bags I will become extremely close to in the next 4 months...

Estoy muy cansada; es tiempo para dormir! Hasta luego amigos.

I made it

So here I am...in Mexico. My flight went well; as irony would have it, I sat beside a Mexican woman on the plane. :) Greg's wife Paloma, and mother-in-law Rosie picked me up from the airport and drove me 4 1/2 hours south to Chihuahua. I met Greg at the school, got a short tour, talked about classes tomorrow (in which I will be with a private classroom one-on-one with a teacher who doesn't speak much English....since I'm more "advanced" than the other 3 students...or so they think), and then we drove to my host home. My family wasn't home so we went next door to a house that 2 of the students are renting...which is fabulous because they can drive me to school everyday...and also...it's just nice to have an English 'safe haven,' if you will. I met those 2 students, Jenny Beth and her father-in-law Tommy, and Jenny Beth's two kids Ben, who's 4, and Whitlee who is 1. Super cute. So those are the neighbors. Greg eventually called my host family to find out that they got stuck in El Paso, where they've been for the last couple days, but couldn't make it back tonight. So right now I'm at Greg and Paloma's house which is REALLY nice up in this gated community called Mision del Bisques up in the hills overlooking the city. Which by the way...is huge, yet somehow feels small. And don't let the bars on all the windows and doors mislead you...everyone says it's very safe, at least in our part of town. Chihuahua is located on a plateau surrounded by mountains on all sides except the north. And really...it's beautiful. The architecture is fantastic and the colors are vivid. According to little Ben and Whitlee...there are also tons of parks with big slides within walking distance. Fantastic. So at about 8:30 (which is when Mexicans normally eat dinner) Greg, Paloma, and I went to a taco stand turned restaurant about 5 minutes from their house called Tacos Sonoros and it was fabulous. I had to order in Spanish of course, which was difficult because the waiter spoke so quickly and I felt extremely put on the spot. But the food was great, the drinks even better, and Greg and Paloma even spoke English the whole time for me. :) Tomorrow my real communication adventure begins...I really can't wait to start classes so I can get better! I want to be able to communicate with these people so badly. Well...buena noche y hasta manana!

Oh yeah...there's the picture of me with all my bags and such before I left the country!

Yikes.

I've just finished packing. It took me all day because I keep decreasing the amount of stuff I'm taking so I'll have more room to bring stuff back. So now I'm down to a little more than 2 weeks worth of clothes...for 4 months. But somehow I still have 2 fairly large suitcases. Full of books, notebooks, jackets (I have to freaking pack for winter!), a photo album, and hair products. Ok so maybe 1/3 of one of those suitcases is entirely hair products...big deal, ok? Ugh.
So I'm tired. And I really can't believe I'll be in Mexico in 24 hours. I like to consider myself pretty independent and adventurous, but I'll be honest...I'm getting REALLY nervous. A) My Spanish is not NEARLY as good as I'd like it to be to feel comfortable traveling in a foreign country by myself. B)....Ok so maybe that's really the only reason I'm nervous at all. But that's a BIG reason! Well and I have no skirts to wear to church down there (they have to be past your knees). I feel like I have so much stuff...but really I don't have that many clothes at all. I'm gonna go try to trim it down again.
The next time I'll write I will probably be in Mexico. Yikes. Adios amigos!

It's Official.

I leave for Mexico in approximately 60 hours.
....what in the world.