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Hello All,

Sorry it's taken a few days to start this up but I've been pretty busy. I made it here safely and Guanajuato is absolutely beautiful; the city sits perfectly inside the mountain landscape which is beautifully painted by an allure of colored houses. I arrived last Friday and stayed at the Hotel de Embajadoras for a night before I moved in with my homestay family on Saturday night.

My family is great, I'd say very similar to my family in Wisconsin. My mom is always making sure I've had enough to eat and has told me that friends can come over whenever.... it's pretty laid back in the house. Parent's names are Norma and Miguel and my sister's name is Anai (Ah-nah-ee) and my brother's name is Mickey (Miguel). They are both my age so there's always something to do or somewhere to go, I love it. They also have a dog names Manchas (Spots).

Class started on Monday which I wasn't too excited about, especially because it consists of two hours of grammar (muy aburrido!) But hey, I have to be a little happy about class considering it is what brought me here more or less. After a couple days with my family I'm starting to feel like I'm picking up spanish more and more which is definitely comforting. I really see the disadvantage of studying a foreign language in the states due to the lack of conversation in the classroom, this is probably the reason why speaking is more difficult for me than writing.

So far my favorite thing that I've seen is the Cristo Rey statue. It is incredible. It sits exactly in the middle of Mexico on top of this huge mountain. From the bottom of the mountain to the top it took about 45 minutes to drive on the curvy, cobblestone road. Kids line the road holding out their hats and hands to passing cars for a few pesos. Once you reach the top you really realize how huge this statue is. Seriously I don't have enough words to describe how I felt and how breath-taking it is. I strongly recommend visiting this place if you're ever in Mexico.

Some things that are different:

-There are no toilet seats in public places and you feel like you might fall in. In some places there isn't toilet paper in the stalls but rather next to the sink. Also, you can't flush it down because it will clog the pipes so you have to put it in the garbage.

-There are a ton of street dogs here and they all seem to have an agenda every time you see one walking by.

-Every once and while you'll see cows roaming around downtown eating out of gardens or just hanging out by a busy street. It's kind of weird and makes you wonder where they're supposed to be.

That's about all I can think of for now. Hope all is well with everyone!

Saludos desde Guanajuato!

Love, Jourie