¡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