So, I found that I have not written in a while, and when I did last write, I was a week behind (trying frantically to play the catch-up game, and losing). Instead of trying really hard to go into detail on all the amazing things that have been going on, here’s a list:
-Survived my first exam (survived doesn’t cover it; I got a 10, or, in the US, an A).
-Have received multiple “Buen Reporte” grades on history papers. Even ones I turned in thinking, this is awful.
-One of the other exchange students yesterday said she was impressed by how much better my spanish has gotten!
-I’ve now climbed Cerro El Picacho 3 times total.
-I went to a really cool “mini-fair” in Puertecito, a small town about 20 minutes outside of Aguascalientes. The mini fair was about as big as the Alpenfest in Gaylord, MI; there were tons of food carts, games, rides for kids, a talent show (complete with a man singing and swinging his hips), and a pageant.
-On Valentine’s Day I surprised Daniel with chocolates in his car, a harmonica, and TRIED to surprise him with dinner, instead he took meto Rincón Maya (food from other states in Mexico), and also gave me flowers and a turtle.
-My turtle’s name is Quetzal, it’s the name for a type of parrot…
-My first Club Amigos was great! I got to spend 6 hours with a wonderful little girl named Pau but who goes by “La Guapa,” needs a wheelchair but can move pretty well on her own, and says things like “Saaaaaaaaabe” (like “who knows?”), “Ahhh pedo” (…fart!) and “Y tu bebe?” (and your baby? which she says to everyone, male or female). We went to Divertech, a physical-activity oriented play place with trampolines and water games, etc. It was tough, because I still struggle with the language, and trying to interpret some children who had less than average language skills wasn’t easy, but it was such an amazing experience!
-The next weekend, trip 2 of Club Amigos, my “niño” was Omar de Jesús Hernandez, and we went to a “rancho” or what I would call an almost-commercial farm. Omar and I had such a blast! He could walk, albeit a little slowly, and I had to hold his hand… had to? more like loved to! He was so adorable. We talked about so much, and it was cool to see the way he really loved helping me learn spanish words. I learned that they call a small horse a pony, too, which made me laugh, which made him laugh. At the ranch, we saw cows being milked by machines, we got to feed baby cows from our hands, saw what I would describe as teenage chickens, in that they were not full grown but not chicks, and also got to pet 2 horses! Also, to top off the awesome day, Omar and I were awarded the “best friends” award for the day!
-A woman who I always help in the physical therapy clinic told me, the other day, that she can tell that it’s not just that I’m going to be a good physical therapist, but that I’m a genuine server, someone who loves to help people however I can. What a cool thing to be told!
-I decided to walk home from UAA the other day (about 3 miles) and I stopped randomly in this little clothing shop. The woman said something about a changing room, and I stared blankly at her, not knowing what to say back (duh, a simple, thanks, would suffice). I lamely said something about still learning spanish… and she said, in english, oh, well, I know english, too, I lived in Colorado for 10 years. I then had a 30 minute long conversation with this woman. So crazy!
-Cab drivers are so helpful and nice!
Some hard things:
-My computer’s battery has died. I have it in the freezer, because supposedly it’ll hold a charge again if I keep it there for 3 days, but we’ll see.
-My computer has been doing weird things in general. Luckily(!) Daniel is a computer-whiz, and reformatted my computer. Also, it’s now completely in spanish. Scary!
-I have gone to the Office of Immigration 5 times now. I had an interview with them last week, that legitimately was one of the scariest things in my life, having a woman ask me questions about why I put tourist instead of student when I knew I was going to be a student… oh, and in spanish…ahhhhhhhhhhh…. But it’ll all work out. When’s the last time you heard of an American being deported from Mexico? However, because of this experience, I definitely want to work closer with exchange students at Michigan Tech next year, helping them in any way I can, because I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have my own personal guide through these things. Probably cry every day.
-Being sick in a foreign country isn’t fun. I’ve had a viral infection twice now (or once, with a break in the middle of about a week). It’s weird to not know the names of the medicines you want to take.
Anyway, that’s kind of a summary of everything in the past couple weeks! It’s been great!