Mexican Happenings

After such a long time since my last post, here I am writing again. I was having some "first world problems." I was without a computer for a few months. It's amazing how such a little piece of technology can make you feel so connected to the world. I have yet to upload pictures onto my computer, so I'm sorry about this blog being picture free.

Since September, my knowledge of Spanish has increased rapidly. I have started to make jokes. However, other people have yet to understand them. Oh well, it's all a part of the process. Not very many people understand them in the English either, so I am not too hurt. I have been told a few times by Spanish speakers that they would never have guessed I am not a Mexican by my accent. This makes me feel a little more confident in the Spanish that I have learned. Unfortunately, with my Spanish increasing, I feel as though my English is decreasing. There are times when I remember the Spanish word, but not the English word for something.

With English being the worldwide language, many of the other exchange students here speak English as a second language. However, they learn British English. This is been the cause of quite a few laughs. Sometimes I find myself speaking more like a British person than an American person. 'Cheerio, mate' or something along those lines.

October:
Sometime in the beginning part of October my host-mom, host-grandmother, and I went to a flower shop owned by a family my host-mom has known for years. I believe this was the second time we had gone to the flower shop. The first time we went, my host mom had said that I was an exchange student living at her house for the year. The moment we walked into the store I saw the owner of the store run into the back. He showed up a few moments later carrying a photo album. He then proceeded to show me the floral arrangements that he has done. I felt very honored that he took the time just to show the little Midwestern girl his accomplishments. You could tell he was happy to meet someone from the US. They were honestly some of the most beautiful flower arrangements I have seen.
One day I took Scotcheroos to school. Everyone loved them. Personally, I believe the US knows how to do baked-desserts better than Mexico. Granted, Mexico definitely has the upper hand in tacos.

On October 20th, the greatest woman I knew passed away. This put a hold on my exchange as I went back to the Midwest for a week to be with my family. I am honored to have had her for my grandmother, and honored to have the chance to have been home with loved ones.

When I came back to Mexico, life returned to 'normal:' Eating tacos, eating tortillas, riding my donkey to school, cleaning my sombrero, and eating quesadillas. If anyone else has any other stereotypes about Mexico they would like to throw in, right now would be a good time.

November:
Oh man, my birthday month. Talk about a different experience than the normal. During school, I was sung to about four or five times throughout the school day. It was the Mexican version of 'Happy Birthday.' They call it, 'Las Mañanitas.' After school was let out, they surprised me with a birthday cake. I also happened to get my face smashed into the cake, but accidents happen. Don't they?

Soon, I will post the rest of my adventures so everyone will be up to speed. But as of now I am a little tired out.

I have been here in Mexico for approximately 43 days, but who is counting. This past month has been an experience that has quite literally changed my life. I have fallen in love with the Spanish language, the Mexican people, and of course the ever-so delicious food. Within the past few weeks I have also
had some interesting... experiences.

The 14-18 of September I went to Veracruz City with the other exchange student who lives in Xalapa. All of the exchange students from the state of Veracruz met in Veracruz, and we had a 5 day 'get together.' I was so pleased to meet the other exchange students who are going through the same roller-coaster of emotions as I am.

The first night we had a little 'party' on the rooftop of a hotel overlooking the Gulf. There were exchange students, Rotarians, Rotex, and more exchange students. I remember being amazed at how every single one of the students there were so kind and open. Then I remembered how not just your average Joe goes on these exchanges. Rotary strives to choose the best students possible in order to become an ambassador for their country. After coming to this realization, I feel extremely honored to be able to represent the U.S. (Thank you Mom & Dad.) The following day, the 15th, everyone went to an aquarium. It reminded me quite a lot of the Aquarium in the Omaha Zoo, aside from the fact that the descriptions and names of the animals were in Spanish. The 15th of September is also Independence Day in Mexico. Thus, later that night all exchange students went to the town 'Central' to celebrate. We all went to a place called 'Palacio Municipal de Veracruz' for the 'Grito de Independencia.' The translation of this is 'Shout of Independence.' The exchange students had a special place marked off for us to watch the dancing and singing, complete with a barricade around it. There was a large stage set up in the front and behind us was the 'Palacio Municipal,' which is a government building. Imagine it as a town courthouse, the central building of many old towns. When I was seated watching the show, little kids showed up in front of me and peered at the exchange students. I almost felt like I was in a zoo. Then the kids began asking questions. What is your name? How old are you? Where are you from? After telling them I was from the U.S. their eyes became big, and then they bombarded me with 'How do you say this in English?' and 'My uncle lives in ____.' I and a friend of mine talked with these little tykes for a good portion of the evening. We even gave them little pins of our country´s flag (USA for me, Brazil for him), and they proudly put them on their shirts. Overall the week in Veracruz was a blast, and I now know people from all over the world!

I am amazed with the food of Mexico. Everything is very rich and almost everything has 'Chile' with it. Chile is almost a taco sauce, it isn´t so much a salsa. I tend to take a lot of pictures of food I eat, and then forget the names of them. Hopefully learning the names will come with the learning of the language. I do miss food from home, though when I tell other exchange students that, they look at me as though I have sprouted a third ear. However good the food here is, I think it would be abnormal to miss a good Midwest steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, and sweet corn with a TALL glass of cold milk to wash everything down. Granted they have the food here, it just isn't the same. For example, the milk here. Oh boy, the milk here has a shelf-live of 100 years! Okay, maybe I exaggerated, it has a shelf-life of 6 months. I think my favorite food is Churros. By Churros, I mean the freshly made kind filled with gooey caramel, chocolate, or leche dulce. *Picture Below*

My Spanish has improved by leaps and bounds. I am beginning to be able to put my ideas and thoughts across. I have made plenty of mistakes, some of them resulting in laughs and others resulting in extreme frustration. However, that is all a part of the exchange, so I just learn from my mistakes and move on. I had a dream the other night where I was trying to translate English into Spanish. I think that might be my first step in actually dreaming in Spanish. I did not remember any of my dreams before I came here, but for whatever reason I have dreams now.