La vida se pone en el camino

I don’t think I’m going to have a problem adjusting to this whole four-day-week deal. I'm quite enjoying it already. =)
My only complaint was the water issues that we had this week. Sunday we didn’t have water all day. Monday we had water in the morning, but it was gone again when I got home from school. Tuesday it was back though, and I was way more appreciative of the shower that I had previously complained didn’t have strong enough water pressure. I’m pretty grateful every time the toilet flushes and I get to wash my hands.
I’m not really sure how it started, but Monday night mi padre and Ricardo gave me a little talking to about boys. They told me about the three most common lies that men tell, and the way that all men will try to fool me. Mi padre then told me the same thing he told his daughter: you need to date at least a thousand boys to figure out what you want. It was an interesting and funny conversation, but it was difficult to express myself with my lack of vocabulary.
Mis padres took me to look at the new house on Tuesday, and there were workers in there painting it, and mi madre started talking about how one of the walls was going to come out. Basically, I’m thinking it’s not really going to be completely ready when we move in, but I guess we shall see.
It was warm all week, and people here are still wearing sweaters and coats. I come home from school talking about how it’s lovely out and I just want to lie outside, and mis padres think I’m insane. I’m ecstatic not to be in freezing Michigan, that’s for sure, but I certainly miss the water. I’m not used to having warm weather but no beach.
Thursday night mis padres invited one of their friends over. His name is Ali, he’s in his late 20s, and he’s a good friend of the family (such a good friend, in fact, that Cristobal told me that he’s the only guy he lets take his daughters places). He invited me to go to Tequisqapan with him the next day. I went, despite the fact that I had a TON of stuff I should have done instead. Oh well. =)
Later that night Ricardo told me he was moving. We didn’t see each other that much because he works ALL the time, but I am going to miss him and the way he's always so smiley and happy. He gave me his business card though and told me that we should still talk so he can help me with Spanish and I can help him with English. Earlier in the week, mi padre had said that there was another exchange student from a different university in Mexico that needed a place to stay. He said it was up to me, but if I wanted, she could be my roommate. I said "sure why not." Now that Ricardo is leaving, though, I believe that we will both have our own rooms if she ends up living with us.
The trip to Tequisquiapan (Tequis for short) was short but fun. It's about an hour away from here. We walked around the plaza and looked at the markets. The markets were mostly things that the people had made. It's a small town, where a lot of people from Mexico City go on the weekends. A vacation spot, if you will.
On the way out of Querétaro:

A plaza in Tequisquiapan


Then we drove to Bernal so I could see la Peña de Bernal. It's said to be the third largest monolith (a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument.) However, Wikipedia says it's the second largest and fourth tallest. I'm thinking that the people of Bernal averaged the 2 and 4 and settled on it being the 3rd largest. Anyway, Wikipedia says it's 8230 ft tall and around 100 million years old. It was a long walk just up to the base, and it was definitely warm out. I'd love to climb part of it, but I was wearing my flip flops (don't tell my mom. I thought we were just going to walk around Tequisquiapan, I didn't know there would be climbing). I would also need to bring my inhaler and a bottle of water. We ate lunch there and then decided to head back home. There was a mini scare when Ali's car wouldn't shift out of park, but after a few minutes of playing around, we were on our way.
La Peña from a distance

much closer... the top left is said to be an elephant...it's the side of it's head, you can see the eye and the ear and the trunk. Also, there's a chapel at the top. That way you can thank God when you get to the top without dying.

El centro de Bernal...a very tiny town

here's the link to my facebook album: Tequisquiapan y Bernal
Food – This week I finally had the opportunity to try some of mi madre’s Arabic food. Mis padres make food here at the house and deliver it to customers. Her business card says Arabic food, but up until this week I had only had tamales. Anyway, I tried kafta, which is a sausagey type meat with onions and herbs. I wasn’t excited about trying it, as it looked like something I wouldn’t like, but to my surprise it was pretty good. I also had empanadas de pasta filo with spinach filling. Those were scrumptious. I also had some pan dulces (sweet breads). One day this week for breakfast my dad made me a shake consisting of milk, sugar, papaya, and apples. What a way to start the day. I also had my first gordita. It had chicken and potatoes in it, and I liked it but it was really messy.
Monday there’s no school because of the commemoration of the Constitution. So, I’m going to Veracruz this weekend (the state, not the city) with two of the girls from Pennsylvania. I hope you’re all having a lovely week!

Aquí viene el sol…

Ah, my first full week in Querétaro…and what a long week it was.
Let me tell you a little story about my first day of class. I was told to be to la UAQ early on Monday so I could go to a certain window to ask where mis clases would be. Unfortunately, you can’t really control what time you get somewhere when you’re relying on public transportation, and the bus didn’t pick me up until around the time I was hoping to be at la UAQ. I arrived at the window about 2 minutos before 9:00, when class started, but the window was closed, so I went inside the building. The lady at the desk told me to check la lista that was posted. The list, however, only says basic language classes. So, I went back to this desk and waited in line to ask again, and she told me to go to the window (which now was open). When I got to the window the lady told me that I had to walk around the buildings and look at the signs on the each classroom door to see which classes were going to be in that room. There are four buildings in my department; this was going to take a few extra minutes. The buildings are just long rectangles with the classroom doors on the outside, so it could have been a lot worse, but still, the lack of organización was a little frustrating and overwhelming on the first day. I finally arrived at mi clase 15 minutes late and the class hadn’t started yet. In fact each class started 15-30 minutes late, as los profesores aren’t necessarily worried about being on time. One of my professors, after being 15 minutes late herself, discussed the importance of arriving on time to class.
Las clases are a lot different than those in the US. The professor doesn’t hand out the syllabus, you have to find the student who has a copy and copy it from them. They syllabus has a list of books/readings, but the professor tells you that some of them you can get as copies and some of them you have to buy, without telling you in advance which will be which. Also, the books that you have to buy you can’t buy at la UAQ, you have to go to el centro to find them. It’s all a little overwhelming as a foreigner.
Besides the lack of organization, classes have been going well. I was taking four classes because with the three classes I needed, I was one crédito short. One was a LOT of reading though, so I dropped that class. I am currently talking with professors at Hope, and I believe that I will be earning the one missing credit by creating a spanish blog. Also, I don’t have classes on Friday. Es perfecto. La UAQ works a little differently in the sense that only certain classes are offered each semester, and each year of students pretty much take all of their classes together. This would make it a lot easier to get to know people if I wasn’t taking a class from each year. The students are really nice though, as are the professors.
The view from the main buildings at la UAQ

Life in a bigger city is different. Public transportation is new to me. It costs $6.50 pesos, which is about 50 cents, to ride the bus. Once I get my ID card, it will be less than 30 cents. (Even taxis only cost $30-$45 pesos ($2.30-$3.40), so when split between 3 people, it’s quite a deal). I walk 2 ½ blocks to catch the bus in the morning. La UAQ isn’t too far from my house, it takes around 15-20 minutes to get there by bus. From the bus stop, I walk around 10 minutes to my department. To get home, I walk the 10 minutes from my department to the stop, ride about 15 minutes, and then walk 5 or so blocks back. Today I walked home, which was probably a 40 minutes walk. My second day of school I got on to a very crowded bus and had to stand at the very front of the aisle. I thought to myself, “wow, this bus is full.” Just then, 5 more people got on. Traffic here is a little loco. Drivers pause at stop signs and then head out into the street, even though the cars on that street don’t have stop signs. Busses pull out into spaces I would never dream of trying to get into in my tiny car at home. The drivers aren’t afraid to get as close as possible to other vehicles. One day the bus I was in got so close to another bus that it hit its mirror.
La temperatura warmed up this week, which has been lovely, except for the resulting sunburn on my face Saturday. It’s still in the 40’s at night, but I only have to wear one pair of sweatpants in order to sleep. =) It’s been in the lower 70’s during the day. This is the point in the US where I break out the dresses and skirts. Here, people are wearing boots, hats, sweaters, and coats. I will admit that it’s a little chilly in the classrooms first thing in the morning, but a big coat no es necesario. The other thing that amazes me is the number of girls wearing high heels. I guess it might be different if some of them drive to school, but it would be impossible to wear high heels with the amount of walking I do.
A few times at la UAQ, and even walking down the street, people have asked me for directions…it makes me laugh, because I’m sure that I don’t really look like I know where I’m going.
Tuesday after class mi padre picked me up so we could go to the post office. Then we went to pick up his mom, and we drove to a part of the town I hadn’t seen before. The view was fantastico! Every time we go somewhere mi padre tries to help orient me by telling me the names of streets and pointing out landmarks. Tuesday night I went to el centro with two other students from Michigan and we walked around and took pictures of all of the pretty, historic sites. The majority of my week was spent reading for the class that I ended up dropping.
A fountain in el centro

The tower of the church of San Fransisco

The bicentennial of Mexico's Independence is this year

Saturday we returned to el centro and played touristas for the day. We took a tour of the city (and returned to the place with the fantastic view) and I got some great fotos. When I returned to mi casa, my “aunt,” “uncle,” and “cousin” were here, and we played a game of cards. I don’t know what it was called, but I believe it was some form of rummy. Even though I didn’t know how to play, I won the first two rounds. That night two of the exchange students from Pennsylvania and I went out to an “antro” (club). Luckily I showered late Saturday night when I got home because all of Sunday we didn’t have water…that was something I hadn’t experienced in a while.
Another bicentennial reminder - Querétaro is called the cradle of Mexican Independence

In one of the plazas

The view of the aqueducts

Panorama - click to see a bigger version

This weekend, as I was discussing my plans for next weekend with mis padres, they told me that we’re moving next weekend (they rent the house that we’re in, and someone bought it so they have to move). That kinda came out of nowhere. We’re only moving one street over which is bueno because a lot of the other exchange students live near by, and I also wont have to learn new bus routes. I realized that I’ve become attached to this house in the short time I’ve been here. I have a lovely balcony and I feel at home in my room. Mi madre says that the new house is pretty similar to the one we’re in now, but I guess we’ll see soon enough.
Food – We have eggs every morning for breakfast, and they put some things in their eggs that I would never have considered (chicken, green beans, tomatoes and onions, Frito-like things). This week I also had dulce de leche…which was amazing. Mi madre made a chocolate cake this weekend, so I had a piece of that…it isn’t made with flour, so it was kind of like a fudgy type cake with white and regular chocolate shavings on top. It was so delicioso.
Mis padres are wonderful, mi madre is a wonderful cook and she is one of the nicest people I have ever encountered, and mi padre likes to joke around a lot. That’s one of the reasons he reminds me of my own dad. Mis padres still complain that I don’t eat enough, which is funny because I think I’ve only been hungry once or twice since I’ve gotten here because we eat so much.
Here’s the web address to the pictures I have taken so far for those of you who don’t have facebook: Queretaro
I apologize for the long entry again, hopefully from now on they will be shorter!

¡Estoy aquí en México!

¡Hola!
First things first – the name of my blog. Don't worry family, I didn't come to México to become a prostitute. In Spanish, the letter j is pronounced like a h, so jo jo becomes ho ho. =)
I departed from Grand Rapids the morning of the 13th. There were tears, as was predicted. My suitcases each weighed under 50 pounds (one just barely), which was not as predicted. I arrived in Chicago to find that one of the other people on the plane was someone I knew from Hope; they were en route to Wisconsin. We ate lunch together, and it definitely helped the long layover go más rapido. Then it was off to Houston and then Querétaro. The flights all went well, and flying into Querétaro was gorgeous. It was dark out, but I could see the stars in the sky, a thin layer of clouds, and the lights from the city below. It might have been nice to fly in in the daylight so I could be more aware of my surroundings, but this way leaves plenty of room for surprises.
I got into the airport, went through customs and then went through the doors to see a woman who works at the university and her cute little hijo holding a notebook piece of paper that had my name written on it. They apologized for the cold temperaturas, and I kind of laughed, because there I was in a thin sweatshirt and my flip flops. It was probably a half hour back to my house, and some of the roads on the outskirts of town were a little loco. We got to my host family's house, and my host padres (Samia y Cristobal) welcomed me inside and showed me to my room. And I met their dog, who is old but really really cute. Then we sat at the kitchen table and talked for a while. They are both super sweet and welcoming. I couldn't believe how comfortable I felt with them right away. I was also very pleased that I could understand most of what they were saying (granted, they speak slowly for me). Ricardo came home a little later. He rents a room here and we'll be sharing a bathroom. He was very friendly as well. He talks with his hands and makes sound effects…me gusta mucho. There’s also a boy more around my age living here, but I have only seen him once so far. His name is Luis. My host family also apologized for the cold temperaturas, and I told them that I'm from Michigan, and I am used to much colder temperaturas, and that we have a lot of snow. I did a little unpacking, showered, and got in bed. This is when I realized that the difference between México and Michigan is that in Michigan we have heat. So I put on another pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, and got back in bed. I didn't sleep at all, despite not sleeping on the airplane, but the good news was that I wasn't tired the next morning. Either way, I went to bed feeling wonderful about México and the things to come.
The next day, mis padres took me to the University (La Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, here on out referred to as la UAQ, pronounced kinda like “wok,” but with an a instead of an o), and Samia took me up to the offices. Things were a little unorganized, but that was to be expected. I met another girl from Michigan (WMU), and we took a “tour” and got a list of classes that we could take. Two of the four classes I had written down as the classes I wanted to take when I applied weren’t being offered this semester. Panic. Mi madre picked me up and when I got home I emailed the people I needed to talk to at Hope, and everything worked out, as I should have known that it would. Luckily my panic stage only lasted a few hours.
I haven’t done a whole lot yet, but I’ve been really tired, which is probably because of the change in elevation. On Friday I had to go back to la UAQ for a few things. I also went to Walmart…how exciting, ¿no? Saturday mi madre took the bus with me to and from la UAQ so I would know my way. Saturday night I went with a girl from Pennsylvania to el centro (the downtown area), which was gorgeous.
Family – as I said, my family is wonderful. Mi madre calls me “mi corazón,” mi padre calls me “preciosa,” and they both call me “mi hija.” They’ve been hosting exchange students for 15 years…so they know what they’re doing. They're also really loving towards each other, it's adorable. I’ve also met my “grandma,” “aunt,” “uncle,” and “cousin.” They were all lovely, and my cousin is pregnant, so that’s exciting. My only complaint is that mi padre smokes. Today mi padre told me that him and mi madre are like batman, if I call them they’ll be right there to help me. Mi padre always tells me that I need to eat well so that when my dad visits, he doesn’t see my thin cheeks and get mad at my host padres for not feeding me. I don’t think this will be a problem, as Samia cooks for a living…
This brings me to food – For breakfast, we always have fruit (bananas, papayas, mangos, pears, apples) with either mango yogurt or guava marmalade on top (both of which are so delicious). We also have mango juice at breakfast. Delcioso. Then I’ve had eggs with tomatoes and onions or with potatoes, waffles, and cereal. Nothing too strange. Lunches are usually a soup and then a main dish. Lunch is definitely the largest meal of the day, and we usually go a long time between breakfast and lunch (tday breakfast was at 8 and lunch wasn’t until 4, but that was because I was at school), so I’m usually pretty ready for it. By the time dinner comes around, it’s kinda late (8 or 9), so I don’t eat a lot. This further encourages mi padre to tell me that I need to eat more. I’ve eaten pretty much everything they’ve given me. We’ve had tacos, taquitos, chicken, potatoes and ham, beans, rice, all good stuff. New foods: nopales (the vegetable that comes from cactus, I like it) and chile (a sauce made from green peppers, too spicy for me). We watch TV while we eat dinner, which I’m not used to, but it’s another way to practice Spanish.
I had my first day of classes today, but I’m going to wait until I’ve had all of my classes a few times before I talk about them. Plus I think this post has been quite long enough.

Mi casa


the balcony-type-thing off of my room


palm trees in the street =)


A fountain in el centro


one of the views from la UAQ