Farewell

Well, I have returned to the U.S. but first I'd like to make an update on the rest of the week...

Last Tuesday Miguel had to work in the afternoon so I went to the beach with Alejandro and Carlos which was pretty fun. We didn't do much - we threw the frisbee for a little while and kicked the soccer ball around, but mostly we just sat around and had a few beers. We left around 8:30, drove around for a little bit then headed back to the apartment. I was really tired so I just took a shower then watched TV before Miguel got home around 11:30.

Wednesday was Miguel's day off and my last day in Tuxpan so we woke up early and went to watch one of the soccer games at 9AM. After that we went to the grocery store to pick up stuff for breakfast - I made us omelets at his aunt and uncle's house which were delicious; I'm pretty sure Miguel is going to miss eating those haha. After we had breakfast we went back downtown to watch the second world cup game of the day and once that was over we went back to his apartment to watch a movie because we were kind of tired. Around 7 we went back downtown because he wanted a haircut so we went and did that, bought him some new jeans, and then went to the plaza for a little while. Later in the evening we went to his aunt and uncle's house again so I could say goodbye to everyone which was really difficult. I miss them so much already. After we left there, we went to get tacos for dinner because I wanted that to be my last meal in Mexico. It was raining really bad that night - Miguel said Tuxpan was crying because I was leaving. The rest of the night I packed up my stuff and we went to sleep kind of early since we had to wake up early in the morning.

On Thursday we woke up around 9AM because my plane left Poza Rica at 11:30. Alejandro drove us which was really nice. It was so hard saying goodbye to Miguel & I couldn't stop crying. I just wanted to keep holding on to him. I really hope that I can see him next summer but we'll see how everything goes I guess. I miss him a lot and I think the next few weeks are going to be hard until I get used to being away from him for a while.

I still feel like it really hasn't hit me that I'm "back". It's kind of weird being back but I still don't really know how I feel. It was nice seeing everyone again and now I'm at my mom and dad's house for the summer. I miss Mexico a lot and I'm sure it will get tougher as the days progress - I guess I'm still kind of on a high from being back. I sure was glad to see Pecas too...she was so happy once I got home haha. Well, I think that's the end of this blog. I'm going to start a new one though about my continued life here in the U.S. .... not sure what it's going to be called yet but I'll post it on here within the next few days...or maybe tonight if I have time.

Vacation Weekend

So last week ended up being pretty good. We didn't end up going fishing but on Tuesday we went to the beach with some of Miguel's friends and played soccer and swam for most of the afternoon. Wednesday was his day off so we slept in until the beginning of the afternoon and then headed downtown to run some errands. We also went to play basketball and at nighttime we ordered a pizza and watched movies.

Thursday we left Tuxpan after Miguel finished work. Our bus left around 3:45 and I think we got to the hotel around 7 or 7:30 after making a quick stop to grab some dinner. We were kind of tired from traveling so we just stayed around the hotel that night. We walked around a little bit, checked out the pool area, and just watched movies in the room until we went to bed.

On Friday we woke up kind of late and watched the first games of the world cup. Mexico played South Africa and tied 1-1. While watching the game we ordered room service so we had our breakfast in bed which was super nice. Not to mention we were in an air conditioned room – I was finally able to sleep through the night instead of waking up every hour sweating my butt off. After the game was over we headed down to the pool for a little while. We didn’t stay too long, but it was nice to refresh and lay in the sun. After pool time, we decided to get ready and head into Tecolutla which was about a 10 minute bus ride from our hotel. We walked around for a while and it reminded me a lot like Zihuatanejo, just not so big. It was kind of a touristy town which a bunch of stands selling stuff along with plenty of restaurants. Once we got to know most of the downtown we went to a restaurant for dinner and each had shrimp cocktails which were pretty good. It was fun being in Tecolutla – everyone was really nice and either wanted us to buy stuff , eat at their restaurant, or go on a tour. I think we headed back to the hotel around 8:00 or so and then just hung out at the room and watched movies the rest of the night.

Saturday we headed back to Tecolutla and spent the whole day at the beach. First though we went and got breakfast and watched the beginning of the U.S. vs. England soccer game. After eating and drinking a pitcher of horchata we hopped in a taxi and went to the beach. When we got there, we grabbed a few chairs under a palm umbrella. Once we got everything situated, we threw the Frisbee around that we had just bought in town which was pretty fun. After that, I was pretty thirsty so I ordered a michelada and Miguel got a coconut which was delicious. We played cards too which was really fun. Miguel taught me a new game that is kind of hard to explain but I think I won more than him haha. Later we played Frisbee again and jumped swam a little bit in the water before walking down the beach towards downtown. We walked around a little bit more and looked at some of the stands for sunglasses but had no luck. We were pretty tired so we decided that we’d have dinner at the hotel so we headed back to shower and then go eat. There was a huge group of cheerleaders staying at the hotel and they were all eating when we came to the restaurant so we decided to eat outside. It was really nice because there were a ton of stars out. After we ate we walked around a little bit and then decided to call it a night.

Sunday was really fun because after checking out of the hotel around 12:30 we took a bus to Papantla because we went to Tajín which is a ancient ruins site with a bunch of pyramids. Papantla is a really cool town – it’s really hilly and seems to have a lot of indigenous people living there. It was so beautiful and I think the town is really proud of its culture. We walked around for a while when we got there – first we went to a museum which was really cool because it had a bunch of murals and sculptures of the indigenous people who had lived there. Vanilla and coffee are also important agricultural products. After the museum we decided to get some lunch before heading to Tajín. We went to this little restaurant and watched another world cup game before taking another bus. Tajín was really cool and I got a bunch of great pictures. We didn’t have too much time there though because we got there when they were almost closing; I didn’t mind too much though because on Sundays you don’t have to pay to enter. After seeing the pyramids and doing a little bit of shopping at the stands we headed back to Tuxpan. We got home around 8:30 and layed low the rest of the night because we were pretty tired.

Overall the vacation was great and it was so nice to finally doing something fun with Miguel since he has to work almost every day of the week. I think he had a really nice time and I know I sure did. We’ve always been talking about going to another place together that neither of us had been to and finally we did it. It was definitely a perfect weekend – I mean we went to the beach, we shopped, we had dinners together, watched soccer, walked around, visited some pyramids, and a couple new towns. I think it’s safe to say that it was a pretty successful vacation

Despedida

Friday night was my last in Guanajuato and my family threw me a going away party with all my friends. Norma and her friends made us enchiladas mineras which were delicious and after we ate we all started drinking. We set up a beer pong table out on the terraza and played for a few hours. At one point Abram was my partner and we played against Norma and my aunt which was hilarious up until the point when they beat us. The same thing happened last semeter too when Sarah was my partner and we lost against them. Talk about double shame. It was fun regardless and I think everyone had a great time.

After drinking at the house for a while we headed downtown to La Diabla (again) for a couple beers. We ate some botanas there and I ended up taking a plastic beer glass that said Victoria on it and also a tortilla warmer that said La Diabla on it haha. I just needed to grab some souvenirs before I left! After La Diabla we went to In Lak´ech and stayed there until we all went home; I think I got home around 5:30AM. Overall, the night was so much fun and I´m so glad that I could spend it with all my friends in Guanajuato. It was really hard saying goodbye to everyone, but I´m sure we´ll all see each other again - I think we´re already trying to plan something for next summer haha.

Yesterday I left Guanajuato to come to Tuxpan. I was really sad saying goodbye to my family since they have been so great this semester, but there´s no doubt that I will come back and visit them - if not for independence day, hopefully after I graduate. I got to Tuxpan at 4AM this morning and I´m really tired because I could sleep very well on the bus and then after I got here since it´s so damn hot. I can´t wait to go to the beach. I think we´re going fishing tomorrow morning, so I think that will be nice. I don´t ever have too much access to the internet here, but I will try to write when possible! Now I´m just waiting for Miguel to get done working at 11:00 then I suppose we´ll just hang out if we´re gonna wake up early tomorrow.

Well, I think that´s all for now. Only a week and a half before I come home!

Wednesday was quite the busy day. In the morning, Rebecca, Yuri, and I went to La Presa to get breakfast - we had gorditas again with fresh squeezed orange juice. I think this is the best place to get gorditas and the orange juice was definitely a plus - I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy a juicer when I get home. After breakfast we went shopping, mostly because Rebecca needed our "moral support" because she was going on a splurge. She got a bunch of cute dresses; I tried on a few but none of them looked that great on me so I bought an old school hat which now I'm not sure if I'll ever wear. Everything seems like such a good idea in the store, but once you get it home the practicality of it kind of comes into focus. Not really sure what I'm going to wear it with but I think I'll have Misch help me out.

We all went home for lunch after shopping but decided that we would meet up later. After I got home I ate and then took a great nap. When I woke up I watched La Misma Luna which is a great movie. I borrowed it from Yuri but I think I'll buy it before I come home. Once the movie was over I started getting ready to go out with the girls. We met up at Yuri's house because she lives right downtown. After everyone got there we walked out by Plaza Pozuelos to this place called Bar Q or Q Bar, we're not really sure which comes first. The beers were kind of expensive but that place was really nice and they gave us botanas. I had 2 micheladas which were delicious - its my favorite drink here by far, along with Victoria. After Bar Q we went to La Diabla for a couple tarros. Checko was working again so it was nice to see him. So it was a pretty low key night just hanging out with the girls and drinking beer haha.

As of now, I'm leaving Guanajuato in 2 days. I can't believe it! I'm doing all my laundry right now because I'm gonna have to pack tomorrow afternoon. I feel like I can't really write about how I feel about leaving because it really hasn't hit me yet. I'm just trying to keep myself busy and enjoy my remaining time here as much as possible. I'm going to be really sad to leave my friends but mostly my family. They have been so nice to me in the past two semesters and I'm going to miss them a lot. It will be okay though because I'm going to try to come back for Independence Day in September if I have enough money. Well, I'll try to write again tomorrow if I have time between all the packing and the party!

Out with the girls..

Yesterday was my last day of class in Mexico! I am officially done with all classes and homework! I'm a senior now woo! Now I have the rest of the week to hang out with my friends and go out before I leave on Saturday!

After class I went home and took a shower and started packing up some of the things that I'm not going to need in the next few days. Mostly winter clothes and pictures. My room looks so depressing now after taking all the pictures down. Around 5:30 I headed downtown to meet up with Yuri, Rebecca, and Ambre because we decided to get dinner at the Italian restaurant. Before dinner we went to Bar Luna in the jardín to get a couple drinks which was really nice because it's all shaded and a good place to people watch. In the middle of the jardín there was a band playing danzón music which is nice to listen to but really boring to watch people dance to. I seriously think they dance in a square and it's all old people too because it's slow.

Around 8:00 we left and our friend David met up with us too to go to Chao Bella. The food was amazing and the wine was cheap and delicious. We were all really happy with our meals; I got spaghetti with shrimp in a white wine cream sauce. We decided to head to La Diabla after dinner for a beer which was a bad idea because we were all so full and it was so hot in there. After one glass each we headed out and all went home. So overall is was a fun night and definitely nice to finally eat some italian food!

Weekend of parties!

The weekend was pretty busy and packed with beer. ha

Friday we had our goodbye dinner with the program since some people are leaving early. It was at Karen and Lalo's house and the tacos were amazing although they arrived late. Yuri made this really cool DVD montage of photos and videos that we all watched - it is really cool, I just wish I could make something creative like that haha. After, we were planning on going to Ambre's boyfriend's birthday party but the tequila never arrived so we went to La Diabla instead. Drinking the dark draft beer caught up with us pretty quickly - Yuri ended up going home early haha. The next place we went was In La'kech and we stayed there until 4AM when it closed. After we went to La Dama to dance salsa but the music was broken so instead we went to some cantina that was over by where Jack used to live, it was such a far walk! I ended up getting home around 6:30 so it was a pretty successful night.

Saturday I stayed around the house because I was pretty tired but later I walked down to Yuri's house because we went to watch the UFC fights at a botañero. We were there for a few hours and after eating a drinking for a while we went to Los Lobos for a couple more beers. Saturday was a little bit of an earlier night because I got home around 2:30.

As for yesterday, Marlen had a comida at her aunt's house which was amazing. Her family made all of us gorditas. After eating they brought out the beer so most of us had a couple which were pretty refreshing because it was so hot out! It was a good time but then I went home to write my last history paper. As of last night, I'm officially done with all my school work! Now I have a little under a week before I go to Tuxpan on Saturday.

I think this week is going to be pretty busy, but I'll write more about that later! Only 17 more days until I come home! :)  /  :(

The circus and a bachelorette party

Last weekend was pretty eventful - the house was full almost the whole time with family.

On Friday I went to the circus which was pretty fun but I couldn't help but feel a little bad for all the tigers they had. I can't imagine being a tiger and bearing this heat. It was also pretty entertaining because of the pink performing dogs along with camels, horses, clowns, acrobats, etc.

Saturday we had a bachelorette party at the house for Mely and it was the theme of Grease which was pretty entertaining. Yuri, Ambre, and I dressed up as the pink ladies and pretty much won the majority of the games - I never knew games at a B party were so much fun! It was our first B party too so I think we were guaranteed a good time. After dinner we busted out the tequila and stuck around the house for a little while, talking and listening to music. Yuri went home early and I headed downtown with Ambre and Patas for a little while until the tequila caught up with me and I had to go home haha.

Sunday was mostly occupied by my hangover until the afternoon. I mostly just bummed around the house and went to a movie at nighttime with Anai and her friend.

Now I only have about a week and a half left here in Guanajuato before I head over to Tuxpan before leaving Mexico for the U.S. I'm excited to go see Miguel but the end of every day leaves me kind of sad because I know my time is coming to a close. More on that later I guess...I'll try to write as much as possible about my last few weeks here.

Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi

I want to write something, but I just don't know what..

Not too much has been going on this week, but I feel that as my time is winding down I should write as much as I can. Let's see...Monday I skipped class because my bed just sounded so much better than walking to the bus and going up to the Valenciana. Sara told me that we probably won't have class for the rest of the semester now because all that's left is our final projects - so now I don't have class on Mondays or Wednesdays! Anai and I also went to zumba class too. We hadn't gone in two weeks plus the workout was probably the hardest one we've done so far; also, I think I have a crush on the instructor. ha.

Tuesday was the same as usual - class in the morning then from 4-8. It was nice after though because Yuri and I went to the irish bar to get a couple beers then we went to eat tacos by my house. You have no idea how great a beer tastes after 4 hours of history class.

Yesterday was Dia del Estudiante (day of the student) so classes were cancelled! There was a concert during the day, but it was banda so I definitely didn't go. Instead I stayed home most of the afternoon and worked on homework...what a cool way to celebrate a day off right? Yuri called me when they got out of the concert so I headed downtown to meet up with them. We went to Lobby for a little while - I drank 2 beers and a caguama and was pretty much ready to party right after, but the girls were tired so we kinda called it an early night after going to Zilch for a beer. It was fine though because we had class this morning and were tired for it anyway.

So Anai and I went to zumba tonight and there was a new instructor and he was awful! Well, first of all he was no where near as handsome as the other two that are normally there because he was chubby and just all around ugly. And the class wasn't very good either...he was doing all this weird stuff that I couldn't keep up with and basically I just missed the other guy (the one I have a small crush on haha). We really realized how much we like the other guys after tonight, so I think from now on we're going to check who's teaching which class.

I think I'm going to have a fun-filled weekend, but more on what's going to happen in my next blog! I can't give everything away yet!

Another Sunday

This is probably one of my most accomplished weekends so far. As mentioned in my last post, we had our FAC celebration last Friday which was a huge success. Only my really good friends showed up which made it even better...as Yuri said, "we don't want any wet towels hanging out with us" (she meant wet blanket I think ha) We showed up at La Diabla right at 1:00 when they opened, but it's Mexico, of course they're weren't ready for business right at 1. So Yuri, Rebecca, and I went shopping for a little while until 2:00 when we went to El Botañero for micheladas which were delicious. We stayed there for a while, I actually don't know what time we left. After there, we headed to La Diabla and drank some pitchers of beer. Later after everyone was served plenty, we went to Lobby, stayed there for a little while, then went to get pizza which was of course amazing. Some people were starting to go home at this point; I think it was around 11:00 or something? I stayed out with a few more people and we went to Los Lobos for another beer and I ended up going home around 1AM, so yeah, I was drinking for about 11 hours. I'd say it was pretty successful.

On Saturday I woke up hungover but still with the plan to write at least half of my 10 page literature paper. And guess what, I wrote all 10 pages...it was awful but I'm really glad it's done. I still have a lot of other stuff to do before the end of the semester, but at least that's off my mind. I mean I cheated a little bit because I used part of an essay from last semester, but it still counts right? So yeah, yesterday was pretty uneventful...I guess I tried to keep myself busy too so I wouldn't think about all my friends and family celebrating Syttende Mai.

Today I think I'm just going to do more homework & maybe go see Robin Hood with Anai and Mickey. We'll see I guess! Only about a month before I come home and when I think about it I get kinda bummed out. I'm excited to see everyone but it's sad to think that I'll be leaving Mexico for good for a while. Now's the time to enjoy my last month here...which is why I have to get all my homework down ASAP!

Happy Mother's Day!

Another weekend report...

Friday I went out with my friends to watch the Mexico soccer game at a new sports bar which was really fun. The new bar is awesome - a bucket of 6 beers is 100 pesos, which is about 16 pesos each - super cheap! Plus they give you unlimited peanuts! The score was 0-0 which was boring, but there's another game tomorrow night so we're gonna go back! After the game we went to another bar called La Diabla for a few more drinks. We played dominos there too.

On Saturday I went to a baptism party with my family. The food was really good, but it was a little boring since I didn't know anyone. Mickey and I were talking for a while - mostly about this ghost of a child that used to be around their house a while ago. Now I'm scared to sleep in my room. There was a pool at the party but we just dipped out feet in the water instead of swimming. We got home around 9 and then I did homework for a couple hours. I think I'm more productive at times most people wouldn't do homework - like weekend nights.

Today has been pretty low key. I wasn't going to shower, but ended up doing it anyway. It's Mother's Day in the U.S. - Mexico celebrates it tomorrow. I was kind of wishing I was home to spend time with my family today. Anyway, I called Mom, Nana, and Nana Mary to wish them a Happy Mother's Day - it was really nice talking to all of them. I also sent Mom flowers which I'm hoping were really pretty since I don't know what they look like. I did homework most of the day - it took me forever to finish reading for history. It hailed in the afternoon and everyone here was amazed except me haha, I don't think it happens too much. I've had an annoying headache for most of the day too. Tomorrow I have a presentation in my literature class; I'm not really ready but I have my cheat sheets that I'm gonna try not to read too much off of. Other than that, just ready to get through the week, looking forward to the two soccer games, one tomorrow and another on Thursday. For Friday I organized an FAC outing with my friends which should be a lot of fun too. That's all for now, goodnight!

Ixtapa Weekend

I left last Wednesday to go see Mom & Dad in Ixtapa for an early weekend. I got back last night...

~Wednesday~

I got to Ixtapa around 5PM and Carlos was waiting for me at the airport to take me to the Melia. We talked the whole ride there and when we arrived I got a huge hug from both Mom and Dad; it was so nice to see them. After putting all my stuff in the room, I changed into my swimsuit and then we went down to the pool for a little while. A little later we got ready for dinner and ate at one of the restaurants in the hotel. Our dinner was really good and after we finished there we headed up to the lobby bar for a couple drinks. Mom got tired really fast, so we headed back to the room - Dad and I hung out on the balcony until 1 in the morning and then went to bed.

~Thursday~

We spent all day on Thursday at the pool which was super relaxing. Before going to the pool, we got some breakfast and then pretty much laid around all afternoon. I think we went up to the room to shower around 5 because we had to get ready for dinner in Zihuatanejo. Carlos picked us up and also came to dinner with us, Alvaro joined us later too. We ate at Club Intrawest, which is some really fancy timeshare hotel - we had a gift certificate to use there. I ordered a margarita to drink and I was already a little drunk after the first one haha. I ended up ordering Tacos Aztecas which included ant larvae, grasshoppers, and worms! They were actually out of the worms so they gave me extra grasshoppers! I can't believe I ordered it, but the menu said it was a member's favorite and the waiter also told me they were really good. Surprisingly they tasted good! I think the salsa, lime, onion, and cilantro helped a little bit too haha. After dinner, Carlos took Mom and Dad back to the hotel and Alvaro and I went downtown to get a beer. I got back around 12:30 or 1 I think.

~Friday~

We left the hotel a little before noon to meet up with Carlos and his family because we went to Ixtapa Island, which is right across from the hotel. He has 2 boys and 2 girls and they are amazing kids (I never thought I would say that). So we stayed at the island most of the afternoon - we laid on the beach, swam, ate lunch, and drank. The last boat left at 5:00 so we went with it. We walked back to the hotel and all took a nap by the pool before we had to go shower for dinner. Instead of going downtown again, we ate at the hotel and then called it an early night since we were leaving Saturday morning.

~Saturday~

Mom and Dad left the hotel around 9:30 and I left at 11:30. When I got to the airport, their plane was actually late leaving so we got to say goodbye again. I got stuck in Mexico City for 4 hours which was terrible - there was something wrong with the plane's air conditioning so instead of getting into Leon at 4 I got there at 8. I was super crabby by the time I got home but at least the trip was worth it!

A little of everything

The weekend was a good one and was spent doing a bunch of things...

~Friday~

Went to class as usual in the morning and got done around 12:30. From there, I went to Cafetal with some of the girls for a little while to get a coffee and gossip about who knows what. We were there for a couple hours I think and then I decided to head home around 2:00 for lunch. On my way up, Anai and Miguel were leaving the house to go pick up supplies for making chocolate chip cookies again, so I joined them just to make sure that they got all the proper ingredients. A little while later, Yuri and Sara came over to make cookies with us - this time we made a double batch because everyone liked them so much last time. It was again exhausting and left me pretty tired afterwards, but I had to wake up because I was having some friends over to drink. We played cards for a little while & then moved on to beer pong which was fun as always...I'm getting pretty good. After staying at the house for a while, we headed downtown to get tacos and after we ate we went to Los Lobos for a beer.

~Saturday~

I slept in until noon and once I finally got up at showered, I headed downtown to meet up with Yuri. We headed to Embajadoras to get ceviche for lunch which was delicious. After eating, we went to Antik in an attempt to work on some homework....instead of that we uploaded pictures on Facebook and drank a michelada. I swear if I go to a café in an attempt to do homework, it never works. We stayed there for a while, Ambre met up with us, and later we had movie night at Yuri's house...Rebecca & Andréa joined us too. It was kind of nice to just relax...I was kind of hungover so I wasn't ready to start drinking again...although the michelada helped my hangover a lot.

~Sunday~

Slept in again on Sunday morning and when I woke up and had breakfast, Norma asked if we wanted to go to a pool to swim for the afternoon. So instead of working on homework Sunday afternoon, the family and I spent the afternoon in the sun. Later at night, we met up at the house and played a little bit of lotería (bingo) and had dinner. The family left around 11:00, so I started my homework soon after. I didn't have too much to do, but found more motivation when everyone is sleeping and the house is silent.

Other than that, I'm getting excited to go see my parents in Ixtapa on Wednesday. I'm going to be there until Saturday, so it should be a few nice days to skip class, relax, and catch up with Mom and Dad.

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.”

This week has been pretty low key so far. I haven't done too much homework...only because I'm becoming more of a procrastinator and saving everything for the last minute, like my two presentations for next week. My motivation for school work hasn't picked up at all.

So instead of doing something productive today, I got the inspiration to make a list of all the places I want to go in my life. It's still a work in progress since the world is a pretty big place but this is what I have so far:

-Machu Picchu, Peru

-Oaxaca, Chiapas, & the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

-Bari, Italy (where my great grandma is from)

-Bergen, Norway (where Nana & Bapa's parents are from)

-Kenai Peninsula & Denali National Park, Alaska

-Australia (I haven't narrowed down a place yet because it all looks amazing)

I'm kind of worried about how big this list is going to get, but I guess I have a lifetime to try and go everywhere. The only problem will be money - I hope I win the lottery. Now I know the answer to the question "What would you do if you won a million dollars?" ... I'd probably buy my parents a house or a yacht or something for all the things they've done for me in my life so far in addition to funding all these trips haha.

April Weekend

Like usual, the weekend began on Friday....

The family and I decided to make chocolate chip cookies Friday afternoon. Of course it would be too easy to assume that all the ingredients would already be in the house, but things just aren't that easy here in Mexico...We had to go out and pick up brown sugar, baking soda, walnuts (which we never found so we used pecans), stick butter, and chocolate chips. Let me tell you, we literally searched high and low for these few, simple things. First we went to a little store on the side of the street near Jack's old house; they didn't have everything we needed to we went to the Mega (it's a grocery store). Unable to find brown sugar, walnuts, and baking soda (seriously!?), we headed back downtown to look at La Costeña which was closed. Then we went to the market which only had baking soda. And finally, we went to another little store that gave us like 30 mini-packets of brown sugar. I was not in the mood to bake cookies after driving everywhere around Guanajuato for the most basic ingredients.

Anyway, after we got home we continued to make the cookies which was pretty simple. I never thought the hardest part would be finding everything. Anai almost had a heart attack when she saw how many chocolate chips I put in the batter (she doesn't like chocolate for some reason I don't understand)....I continued to pour them in regardless haha. We all hung out in the kitchen waiting for them to finish baking. They were definitely worth all the work. They didn't taste as good as Mom's, but oh well I guess.

After all that work I definitely needed a beer and a shower...so I took them together. Later I met up with some friends at the Irish bar for a michelada and after a drink we continued to Zilch where a live jazz band was playing (they were really good). I had another michelada, hung out with my friends while listening to some good music, and met Gerard Butler's mexican twin. I swear this guy looked identical...but I'm still not sure if he was gay or not ha. I went home around 2AM because I was tired and out of money.

On Saturday my friend Yuri and I went to San Miguel de Allende for the afternoon. We mostly just walked around and took pictures. We stopped at a couple little places that sold a bunch of stuff...Yuri bought a really cool apron and purse and I bought a bracelet for 15 pesos. After all that walking we got pretty hungry so we went to this restaurant that had 2 for 1 margaritas. Unfortunately we didn't know until we sat down that it didn't count as sharing like we had planned...only for each individual (super lame!). Instead of leaving from that warning, we were stupid and stayed...

Yuri ordered a steak and I ordered the "house tacos" - HUGE mistake. Once our food arrived, I was not-so-generously given two tacos. "Are you kidding? My stomach won't even feel this." The worst part - it cost 72 pesos for these 2 spectacular tacos. (To give you an idea of how much I was gipped off, one taco from the stand by my house costs 7 pesos...you do the math). What a rip off...if you decide to travel to San Miguel, I suggest you don't eat at the fancy restaurant - I never will again. It would have been a better idea to go to some little taco place that was way cheaper and better. Effff.

After that ridiculous experience, it was starting to look like it was about to rain so we decided to head back to the bus station. Once getting back to Guanajuato around 7:00 we decided to lay low and just have a movie night. We bought a few movies and headed to Yuri's house -- Abram joined us too and we watched Precious and Million Dollar Baby. Two depressing movies was a little too much for me. I went home after and slept like a baby.

Today I woke up around 11:30 and went to get breakfast downtown with Miguel and Norma - Gorditas! Delicious! After eating, we went back home, I did laundry, and hung around my room. In the afternoon, I went to Cafetal with Yuri, Ambre, and Kim to grab something to drink and dink around on the computer. We were there for a few hours and then Yuri, Ambre, and I went to La Diabla for a pitcher of beer. (Hey, why not on a Sunday)? We were talking for a while and then called it a night. Now I'm home and about to go to bed because another week of classes start tomorrow =[ boo.

Who needs light?

I feel like my house always has some kind of adventure going on, and today it just happened to be with the electricity (again). I got home from class around 11 and when I was about to shower the lights went out. At first I was thinking the breaker just had to be fixed, but after Anai tried to get the lights back on, we both knew the bill hadn't been paid. The first thought that came to my mind was, "great, now we're going to be without electricity again for another 3 days like what happened last time" (about a month ago). Anai called Norma explaining the issue...I guess they had thought the bill was paid, but it wasn't due to some "lack of funds" on the credit card. So after Anai and I took a shower, we headed downtown to the electricity place, paid, and asked when the electricity would be turned back on. The guy said probably not until tomorrow, so Anai did a little bit of begging so the guy gave us this number to call at 3:30 so this other guy would come and turn it back on.

Once we got home from downtown, we ate a really good lunch of milanesa, pasta, and salad and were anxiously waiting for 3:30 to arrive. There is seriously nothing to do here without electricity. So after lunch we sat out on the terraza and talked for a little while. Finally 3:30 rolled around and Anai called the guy, who happened to be in a meeting until 8 - oh shit is right. Luckily, the husband of the señora that works at our house knows how to fix the problem (illegally) without having someone from the company turn it back on. He couldn't come until around 6 so we again had more time to waste. It was good timing because Norma had just gotten done at work, so Anai, Miguel, and I went to go pick her up. She was so excited that we all came to get her...she was joking how there must be some reason that Anai & I came instead of watching TV or being on the computer...right away I told it was because there is nothing to do in the house haha. Seriously, not having electricity or anything to do definitely contributed to us eating all afternoon. We were sooo bored!

So thanks to illegal tricks, we now have electricity and I am able to entertain you with this post. Tonight, I was also supposed to meet with Sara and this girl from my class, Paulina, to talk about our upcoming presentation in our literature class. Paulina never showed up (luckily - because I didn't really feel like working on the project) so we left after waiting/talking for about a half hour. I forgot how much I missed walking around downtown Guanajuato at nighttime...it's really relaxing. That's about all my day consisted of. I didn't even think about writing a blog until Sarah told me to (we must be more consistent!). Turned out that I had quite the day ... oh Mexico... =]

Back in GTO

So I got back to Guanajuato yesterday morning and I am seriously so much less motivated to finish out the rest of the semester. I missed my class yesterday at 9AM because the bus was late coming back from Tuxpan...ohh well!

Even though I got back less than two days ago, it stills seems like a week or more. I just miss being there with Miguel and his family/friends. I think it makes it more difficult having to go back to classes after 2 weeks of spring break! Today was kind of tiring, I had a one hour class in the morning and then my 4 hour history class this afternoon; it seemed way longer than 4 hours...Now I'm really tired and want to go to bed, but Sarah and I are talking on Facebook about blogging and have had some good laughs after reading her blog from 2005. ha. I think we are both terrible at the consistency that we update our blogs, so I guess it gave me a little bit of motivation to write one right now. However, I don't really know if there are people who still read my posts...

Like Sarah said earlier, it will be funny to read 10 years from now.

It was nice to see all my friends again after vacation. Everyone is in a good mood, but I think a little more lazy in classes - or maybe that's just me. I'm looking forward to going out this weekend with everyone again.

Now I better get to bed, I'm super tired. Miss you all!

From the Coast

I hope that everyone has had a good spring break. I've been on mine for about two weeks in Tuxpan visiting Miguel and his family. I head back to Guanajuato this Sunday night which I'm kind of bummed about since break went by so fast. I think the hardest thing will be going back to classes on Monday to finish out the semester.

Since I've been here, I've been to the beach a few times which has been amazing. There's nothing like spending an afternoon next to the gulf, drinking some beer, throwing the football around, and playing some beach volleyball. Last week was actually the official semana santa of Mexico, so the beach and clubs were pretty packed last weekend. Regardless, we went out a few times last week with some friends and had a good time. Other than hanging out with Miguel's friends, I've been spending some time with his family while he's at work. Everyone is so nice and my spanish has gotten a lot better from practicing so much with them.

Other than being on spring break, everything has been going well. I'm in the process of looking for a job/internship this summer which is kind of difficult while being out of the country, but I guess we'll see how things turn out. Homework still continues and I feel that I'm going to have a bunch of projects and papers waiting when I get back to Guanajuato. I also have to be picking out classes for next semester depending on how my credits here transfer. Figuring all this out is getting me kind of anxious to come back home, but at the same time I think it's going to be a difficult transition back to my life there and I know that I'm going to miss Mexico so much when it's time to leave. Anyway, that's about all I can think of for now...hope everyone is doing well at home & I can't wait to see you all in a few months! Saludos!

Yay! It's March!

Buenas Tardes!

It's finally March & once again I am wondering where all the time is going...

Nothing too big has been going on, but I guess nice weather puts me in the mood to update you all on what's new...although I should be outside in this 70 degree and sunny weather!

I'm so happy that I'm not experiencing March weather in Wisconsin...it's definitely my least favorite month. Just to make all you guys feel bad, the weather here has been perfect. Sunny everyday and comfortably warm. Although I hear that April comes with unbearable heat so I'll enjoy this for now!

Everything has been great since the last time I wrote and the rest of February went by pretty quickly. For Valentine's Day weekend I went to Tuxpan to see Miguel and it was of course wonderful. We had our Valentine's Day on the 13th because he didn't have to work in the afternoon so we went to a movie, exchanged our gifts and went out for dinner. As always, the time we spent together was great and the weekend went by fast. I was back to Guanajuato on Tuesday morning.

All my classes are going well, I'm not too fond of literature but I'll get through it haha. I won't bore you with details, so I'll just leave it at that..

Let's see...last Saturday I went to San Miguel de Allende with my family for the day which was really fun. We walked around downtown looking at all the little shops and artisan stands and then had a great lunch. It's always weird to go there though because there are a ton of old white people from the United States, so it's hard for me to remember that yes, I am in Mexico haha. I spent a little too much money but everything was so cheap! I bought new sunglasses, earrings, a bracelet, and incense because my room smells terrible after Zumba class. Oh! That's another thing, I've been going to Zumba classes 3-4 times a week. Seriously, it is a great workout and so much fun! I was soo embarassed the first couple time I went because I cannot dance to save my life (yeah, I'm the tall white girl in the room with no rhythm). However, after going a few times I started to get better. If any of you can find a local Zumba class, I highly suggest going, it's a great workout and so much fun!

Good news! Julie is coming to visit in 2 weeks! Finally, someone is coming to see me!! I'm really excited and of course we're going to have a lot of fun! She's going to be here from the 19th to the 26th, and then after she leaves, my spring break starts for 2 weeks! I plan on going back to Tuxpan which is going to be a blast as always. The only bummer is that Miguel told me it takes like 2-3 hours to go to the beach that is like 6 miles away because there are so many people that come. So with any luck we're gonna try to find a scooter to use for a day so we can make it there a little quicker. We will see how it goes!

Anyways, I think that's all for now. Miss you all & hopefully people are still reading this blog..if not, oh well I guess haha. Adios!

Too much to catch up on!

Hello Hello....

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that I've been majorly slacking on the blog front...but let's see...my month home was busier than ever. Nevertheless, it was great see friends and family and I couldn't have asked for a better vacation before coming back to Mexico. I won't go into details about December since the focus of this blog is my time here, but I will say that Christmas and New Years was great as well as all the events/get togethers/visits that happened in between. Thanks to everyone who made it so much fun & sorry to those I didn't get to catch up with!

Well then...

I got back to Mexico January 10th, but to Tuxpan, Veracruz instead of Guanajuato. There I spent 2 great weeks with Miguel that probably couldn't have gotten any better. His family is so great and I really enjoyed spending time with them. The weather was really cold the first weekend I got there, and then unexpectedly it got hot and sunny everyday. If you can believe it, I wasn't too happy about this climate change considering that all my summer clothes were left in Guanajuato. The "coolest" shoes that I had with me were my Ugg moccasins with fur on the inside...ha. I ended up buying flip flops after pouring enough sweat into them.

One of the first nights we had our own Christmas where we gave each other our gifts and then watched a movie. Most mornings we spent walking around downtown or going to the gym until Miguel had to work at 3:00. One night we went to the movie theater, another we went to the new casino. We both got really sick after we (think) ate something that still remains unknown. It was only a 24 hour stomach sickness thing thankfully...he was sick on a Sunday and I was on the following Tuesday. That put a damper on things, but we were both fine by the following morning. Other than that, we made food together a lot, watched movies including Paranormal Activity which I did not enjoy, he had a soccer game one of the nights, and pretty much spent as much time together as possible. After spending everyday together it was weird to come back to Guanajuato and I miss him a lot now, but I'll be back to Tuxpan soon! :]

So I got back to Guanajuato a week and a half ago. Everything has been going pretty well...my family was really excited to see me, I'm once again enjoying eating almost everything, classes are classes, and the weather has had its ups and downs. My university classes started last week (Seminar on Literature and Mexican Contemporary History). Both seem fine but are going to have a pretty heavy reading load. My CIEE classes started this week (Literature & the Mexican Revolution and another Mexican History class). I'm going to be full of Lit and History by the time summer rolls around!

All the new kids seem pretty nice..everyone is from all over the U.S....Colorado, New York, California, Washington, Wisconsin, and I don't remember where else. I've mostly been hanging out with my new neighbor, Sara (not to be confused with Sarah from last semester haha). I'm definitely missing Jack and Sarah a lot though. It's weird when you're used to hanging out with someone everyday and then it just stops. We all have Skype though and are trying to set up a Skype date amongst our busy schedules.

Last weekend, my family, Sara, and I went to Michoacán for a couple days. The first day we were there, we went to this town, Tlalpujahua (don't ask me how to pronounce it), where we walked about 45 minutes through the woods to see the monarch butterflies that had arrived from Canada. Because it was cold, cloudy, and damp, all the butterflies were hanging from the trees in big bunches instead of flying around as if it were a nice day. It would've been better if the weather was, but it was still pretty cool seeing them and it was a nice walk through the forest. After getting out of the woods, we ate lunch and then headed back into town. The rest of the night we stayed in the hotel room and played dominos.

The next day wasn't as fun as I had hoped. We spent almost the whole day driving in the car trying to figure out where we were going to stop. After a few hours of doing this everyone finally decided to stop at Laguna Larga to swim in the pool. It was a little too cold for me so I stayed out of the water. After Anai, Sara, and Mickey swam, we had lunch and then left town and headed for Morelia, which was about a 2.5 hour drive. We arrived at night and walked around for a bit before having dinner. Morelia is a really beautiful city, but very dangerous. I was bummed to find that out since I was thinking to come back for a weekend since it is pretty close to Guanajuato. (Don't worry Mom, I probably won't go back)..

After having crepes for dinner, we headed back to Guanajuato and arrived around midnight. It was a really fun weekend, just more driving that I had initially thought.

Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well back home. I will now get back on the blogging front and write when anything fun is going on. Miss you all!

Here are the pictures from Michoacán :: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028890&id=1604040019&l=a0e83da64a