It has been a while- can't think of a better excuse for my absence in my blog other that I was extremely busy here in good old Mexico. Well let's get down to business.
Week 12: "Viva Hoy Viva tu vida!"
Mariana,Simon, and I were on our way to school, we were on the main road and all of a sudden all of the cars stopped suddenly in front of us- Mariana slammed on the breaks and we stopped 2 feet from the car in front, but then we heard screaching behind us and I said no and grabbed my head! Right as I said no there was a crash and then the middle car hit our car! We got out and the back of Mariana's car only had a dent in it, the second car was only smashed up in the back, and the third car was completely smashed in the front. We made sure everyone was ok and talked with the third car driver (he is from the same school). Then we went to school with Patti (my second host mom) and Mariana went to get a neck brace because her neck was bothering her. We call the neck braces the Valladolid fashion because so many people have them! After school we went to a Rotary meeting and Justine asked if we could stay in our second host family through Christmas-we still aren't sure what is happening.
After school the next day Fran and I went to the center of town, we ate salads for lunch then went to the "Candy Market" and I got some candy to send to my family. The next day after school we had to help set up for Vallafest at my school. so Fran and I went and got salads then we met Simon and a bunch of people from my class and we set up our lottery which consisted of prizes like peanuts, pins, and kisses (on the cheek) from all of us! This was a big hit! They had tons of games and african music, it turned out being really fun. Kike one of my best Mexican friends was there and asked us if we wanted to go with him to his house, then it would be easier for our parents to come get us. Favio and Isaura jr picked me up and after we dropped off Caro, Isaura jr began to cry (she is having boy trouble). So then Favio began a lecture about living your life that lasted the whole way home and 45 minutes sitting in the driveway! He kept saying "Viva la Vida Vive TU Vida!"
The next day I woke up late and got ready in 10 minutes because I was really late and Mariana had a test. That night I went to Bienvenido's house with Kike and we listened to music and just talked-it was really nice. Then fran came and we went to Velvet, but there wasn't anyone there so we decided to leave. As we were leaving we met 2 exchange students one from Germany and one from Slovakia (and their Mexican host brother). Eventually we went home. The next day Isaura, Favio, Regina, and I went out for sushi. We had the chef that cooks at the table and I tried fish eggs! Surprisingly I liked everything. After we went back to the house and watched some of my dance recitals-they really enjoyed them. After we watched Favio jr's ski diving video!
On Sunday Regina had her second half of her tennis tournament, it started at 8 in the morning and I promised I would go so I was up at 7:45 and ready by 8. I went downstairs and that is when Favio told me we had turned the clocks back one hour (a week before the US, and which I was completely oblivious of) so I had really gotten up at 6:45! (for those of you that know me this is a big step for a Sunday or any day really). Then we arrived at 8am at the club and climbed the ridiculous amount of stair to the tennis courts only to find out that Regina didn't start until 9am! After the tournament ended Isaura and I went to the gym and ran for 30 minutes then stretched. Caro and Rox (her host sister) came to my house and we watched "The Hangover" for the 4th time! Then we watched some of my dance videos and Caro's vaulting videos. The next day nothing interesting happened, besides the fact that 3 of Regina's friends came to the house and one speaks REALLY fast so Isaura would quiz me on what she was saying-its was entertaining to say the least.
Week 13: "Jesus had long hair so why can't we?"
After school I went to futbol practice with Caro, and it was pretty funny. They are not strict and we just had fun the whole time. After we ate at Caro's house and went to Simon's house to watch a movie. After school the next day Caro and I went with a friend from my class and we ate "ahombajadas" (i'm not sure how to write it) but they translate to "drowned tortas" so it is like a sandwich but with a lot of salsa! They were really good and the guy who owns the restaurant was really nice. After we went to the mall just to walk around then I went home. I was talking to Fran and she told me that rotary in Brasil wanted to send her home, right now we still aren't sure what is going on, but she is keeping me posted.
The next day when we got to school Edith,our English/Spanish teacher, told us that a school bus had gotten into an accident and it turns out that Fran was in it! We asked around and at first no one knew anything about it, but later on we found out it was REALLY bad! It was a school van and another big van had slammed into them then they slammed into a house; one girl flew out of the door of the car and Fran's head was bleeding. Caro, Simon, and I were really upset and we wanted to leave school to talk to Fran. She didn't remember anything about who she was when she first was asked, so they were really worried. I had called her host dad because the school didn't have the number, but she doesn't get along with her host family very well so we wanted to be there to help calm her down. The teachers kept telling us that everyone was ok but then saying how horrible the crash was and that everyone was in the hospital, but we couldn't leave. So after school Caro came to my house we ate lunch then headed to the hospital (meanwhile Fran had called me and let me know that she was ok but was staying the night in the hospital). We headed to the hospital and Luis and Elsa were there, so we talked for a while and then Fran told me that her host dad had left and didn't say anything about coming back, and her host mom had only been there for ten minutes and then just left! So Caro and I went out to "Muertec" (a Day of the Dead) celebration at a nearby school with Kike. We walked around for a while taking some Day of the dead bread, then we went with Kike to Starbucks to get Fran some coffee too. We went back to the hospital and we saw the other girls in the accident they were worse but everyone luckily was ok. So Fran's dad said he wasn't spending the night in the hospital so Caro and I did. We woke up at 5:30 and showered for school and then walked almost all the way up the hill to school (its a LONG walk). We eventually got picked up by Gasca- and friend from Caro's class. I wasn't going home again because Regina was going to a Jonas Brother's concert in Guadalajara and my whole family was going, so I was spending the night in my second host families house. So Mariana brought me to her house we ate and did lots of running around, I even went to her dad's office to help her wiht her English to apply for Rotary exchange next year. We picked up Simon and then went back to the house. We changed for the Halloween party and left at 10:30-it wasn't a very god party because it was FREEZING outside so everyone had a hard time enjoying themselves but we made it fun.
The next morning I had breakfast with Patti (second host mom) and we talked a lot-she is really funny and we get along really well. Isaura came and we went home, I packed my bag and we went to Tzinztuntzan. Caro and Rox came too as my friends (every time each of the kids are allowed to invite friends to come with us). The neighbors were having a party so we stopped by, it was all really young kids so we didn't stay long but I talked with a boy from California and he was really nice, and it turns out he goes to Isaura jr's school so I'm sure I will get to talk to him again.
The next day we went out in the boat and in the dougnut (raft pulled behind the boat!) then we went back had lunch and changed to go see the Day of the Dead graves! There were SO many people there and tons of beautiful graves set up! They are very important to Mexicans, I won't kill you with the long history but just a brief summary. There are two nights the first is November 1 it is special for the kids that died (but adults too) the second day recognizes adults more than kids. They start setting up and some stay all night. The traditional belief is that you put their favorite foods and things at their "altar" and they come back for that night and be with the family and enjoy their favorite foods! It is really interesting all they way to set up and altar, but mainly you need special colors that represent different things and there are special flowers as well. After we went to "Los Yacatas", which are ruins that over look Tzintzuntzan, it was really cool we watched some of the local dancing, listened to Mariachis, and got to see the cemetary all lit up (from all of the candles on the graves). The next day we went out in the boat again along with the doughnut, and then we went waterskiing! Eventually we went home to get ready for school.
The next day was the beginning of my 4th month! I went to school and then after school went home to eat lunch with my family. After I went out with Caro, Fran ,and Juan (a friend of Rotary members). We talked and just hung out. The next day at school was the same, then after I went to the mall with Fran and Caro and we got salads and talked for a really long time about our different cultures and the different sterotypes everyone gives us. Then Caro and I had to go to a Rotary meeting, Simon's grandma said we needed to dress up but of course I was in my gym clothes from school and we didn't have time to change. Luckily it turned out that we didn't need anything, we went to the "Expoval". It was promoting local businesses and good from Morelia and Michoacan. After we went out fro tacos then I went home.
In school I got really upset with the teacher. He had been bothering me lately, because he would walk around the school and telling boys they had to cut their hair (when it wasn't even long). I don't understand why they can' have long hair in the first place, as long as it is kept neat what is the problem? So one of my friends came in this day to school (he has beautiful curly hair that wasn't barely even long) and it turns out the teacher had told him to cut it. I say this a flipped I asked my friends why he was making people cut their hair? No one seemed to know, then Caro and I asked one of the directors of school and he couldn't give us a straight answer either. He kept saying that it was more of a man thing, and so Caro said well then girls can't have short hair (she had shorter hair). I am sure he was a little put off by the questioning but Caro and I had been discussing this for a while now, and here we have found that they like to take a lot of individuality a way from people. So after I was talking with my friend and I said to him "Jesus had long hair, so why can't you?"- He laughed and all of my friends got a kick out of it too! Then the next day I told him I had come to the conclusion that he wasn't allowed to a grow a beard either because Jesus had that too! He loved that as well, and although it was a joke I can't seem to figure out why they can't just let them have some individuality. Mexico right now doesn't have a lot of different types of people. Most everyone wears Abercrombie and Fitch and hardly anyone acts crazy in public- I just can't see why they would possible want to put out one of the only flames of individuality that Mexico's teenagers are holding onto. However I am trying to stay open and not judge, but there is this part of my that wants to go into school one day with a completely shaved head, just so see how this teacher and the school in general would react (but don't worry mom I won't I love my hair too much haha).
After school I went home and found out that Isaura jr had stayed home from school sick, I went to her room and said "Why didn't you tell me?" and she said "What do you mean?" "I mean that you were going to stay home sick...we are always sick on the same days and now you have one more day than me!" We laughed and then talked about her upcoming Killers concert. Then I went to a new Dance aerobics class with my pilates teacher, it was really fun. Then after to pilates. After school the next day I went to Caro's house to eat lunch, then we went back to the school because Caro was going to be the goalie for the soccer team, she played the whole first half and NO ONE scored on her! Then later that night we went to Karaoke with Maria,Liz, Max, Memo, Miguel, Maria's friend, Patti, Daniela, Shantal, and Caro; then we went to Velvet for a while. The next day I slept in really late, got up made myself breakfast and then headed to Caro's grandma's house for lunch. Then we went to Shantal's halloween party, it was really calm, but fun.
Fran stayed the night at my house, the next day we watched movies and lounged around then eventually went to Caro's grandma's house again for lunch. Then we went with her cousins to a local park, which has a BMX track, skateboarding area, actual carnival rides, and tons of candies! And finally today I payed for my upcoming trip to Aguascalientes. I am going with the basketball team, we leave on Thursday and play every morning and afternoon and then we go to parties with all of the teams that we are playing against in the night. It is really neat because we stay with families there, so I will also be getting a little taste of culture in another state!
Once again apologies for the ever so late blog post, as I am sure you have figured out I have been EXTREMELY busy lately!
No comments:
Post a Comment