Nada Especifico

I had a complaint that I don't update enough about specific details of my life here, so I thought I would add a blog update with no particular direction to describe my life a bit more. Forgive me if this post is a complete ramble (which it is going to be). I have been here for almost three weeks and I'm feeling pretty well adjusted. Classes are a bore, and I spend more time talking English during class than any other time during the day. Kristina and I only talk Spanish to each other (or at least when we can, as it can get really difficult sometimes). I have class every morning at 9 am until about 12:30. Today we had a quiz and afterward we watched the film "Frida" which narrates the life of Frida Kahlo. I really enjoyed the film and would recommend it to all. I joined the Ibero volleyball team. I made some new friends on the team and all the girls are really nice. I've only been to two practices so far, and I'm not sure if I'll be going every day. I had a good time, but very few of the girls have very much experience playing volleyball and thus our games and such are a bit slow to say the least. I also have been going to the gym located across the way from where we live, I haven't joined it yet, but I think I will soon.
Food here is really good, accept the proportions are often hard to manage. Breakfasts are always really dense, consisting of quesadillas, enchiladas, or greesy scrambled eggs with sausage. We made a request for some cereal now and again, and today we had our first bowl of frosted flakes. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day. We eat lunch anytime between 2 and 4 pm. Our host mom Blanca cooks amazingly, but she always seems to overestimate the size of our appetites. Then when (as usual) we fail to cosume the mountain of food in front of us she asks us (with a hint of sadness) if we liked the food. Rarely is this the case, it is merely that we are unable to eat everything we are served. Usually we get amazing soups, meats in various salsas and enchiladas, but today we got hamburgers! Blanca gave me not one, but two hamburgers! Then seemed slightly upset when I only managed to consume one. It was very tasty, but I could not have possibly eaten both.
Today is Kristina's 21st birthday! What a better way to celebrate your 21st birthday than in a country where the drinking age is 18! Today we bought all the ingredients to make a carrot cake for the occasion. Our host family seemed dubious when we stated our intent to make such a cake, as I don't believe they have ever tasted one. But later today they will find out what they have been missing all these years. Tonight we are going to treat Kristina (and another student Miguel who had his birthday last Wednesday) to a night on Juarez. We invited all of the other students from our class to go to a bar called the Mentirosa (which means liar). Should be lots of fun!
In the last couple of weeks we have made our rounds of Puebla and seen a lot of Mexican nightlife. On Wednesday we went to a fun little Tiki bar called Bambukos and then later to the what can only be described as the Mexican equivalent of a Irish pub. They even serve Guinness. There was a live band playing American rock and roll classics. It was funny to sing along to the Beatles played by a Mexican band in an Irish pub in the middle of Mexico. Above the door to the bathroom of the bar were the words (in english) "may all your ups and downs be under the sheets." English is definitely used a lot on signs and billboards all over the place down here.
Last night I went with another girl from my class to a salsa club to dance and watch a salsa demonstration. It was one of the most intimidating experiences of my life. I love to dance the salsa, but this was way out of my league. The dancers were outstanding. I spent most of the night just staring at the couples dancing. It was amazing. One couple did a performance that was more impressive than anything I have ever seen on a dance show. There was also a live salsa band playing amazing salsa music. The woman singing was wearing a crazy silver outfit with matching stiletto silver heels. At times she was just as much fun to watch as the dancers.
Anyway, more info will be coming up in the near future!

Circo

Apparently it is a longstanding tradition to go to the Puebla circus, so last Thursday our entire class got tickets to go. It was a pretty impressive circus, definitely more noteworthy than any of the traveling circuses I visited during my childhood. Amongst the various acts we saw a tight-rope walker, a balance act, lots of acrobatics, clowns, men jumping on horseback and trained elephants. It was a pretty good show, however it dragged on a bit too long. I could have done without the intermission to take pictures with the elephant. The entire show lasted more than two hours. But as far as circuses go, I was pretty well impressed. I would have liked to have seen some tigers jump through fire or something like that, but that's just me.

Tlachihualtepetl

Sometime last week we made a trip out to Cholula to visit the pyramids and the beautiful church that sits up on top. Cholula is less than a ten minute drive from Puebla and mostly know for its nightlife, but the other side of Cholula is known for the pyramid. The pyramids proper name is Tlachihualtepetl which means artificial mountain. And according to wikipedia is is "the largest pyramid as well as the largest monument ever constructed anywhere in the world." On top of which the spanish constructed a church. The climb to the church on top is a pretty hefty climb, and we were definately winded by the time we made it to the top. From the top you can se the entire valley of Puebla and all the surrounding vocanos including Popocatapetl and Iztaccíhuatl. The view was breathtakingly beautiful. The church on top was beautiful, both inside and out. We walked around inside the church, however we felt a bit awkward as there were people sitting in the pews praying. Anyway, the most amazing part of the experience was the 360 degree panoramic view of Puebla. Usually the pyramid is open to the public to walk through the tunnel underneath, but due to a cave-in of part of the tunnel it was closed to the public and we were unable to go under the pyramid. We walked around the base however to view the the excavated ruins of the pyramids base and outskirts. It was a wonderful sunny day for pyramid viewing.

Autobuses!

Thought I would talk about how much I enjoy the buses down here. Unlike buses systems in the U.S. the buses down here are unpredictable and crazy. Bus stops are not official, if you want a bus you go out to a main road and stick your arm out to hail one. Only in front of large establishments, such as malls or Universities, are there legitimate bus stops. The bus drivers will stop for just about anyone at anytime, regardless of traffic. Conversely however, the bus drivers also reserve the right to not stop for you if you fail to assert yourself, or if they can't navigate across traffic lanes to get to your stop. There is no bus schedule, to get somewhere you just have to wait. Once inside the bus the adventure really begins. It only cost 5 pesos to ride the bus, equivalent to a little less than 50 cents. The bus drivers barely stop before lurching forward again. Most times I end up slamming into the nearest seat in order not to fall. The buses themselves range in all different sizes. Most of them are pretty old machines, with loud engines and most are stick shift. Some buses seat no more than 10 people, others as many as 30, depending on your route. If you're lucky you might get a fun driver who has decorated the interior of his bus with patriotic Mexico paraphernalia and images of Mary and Jesus. Or the bus driver who enjoys to play music nice and loud. Yesterday we rode a bus with a driver like this, he played a enjoyable array of Reggeaton, banda and popular Mexican songs throughout our journey. Or there are drivers, such as the driver of the bus we took today, who tip begers at stop lights, and stop to honk for a street vendor to run over and give him a sandwich. The buses may not be safe nor predictable, but as long as you don't have a tight schedule they'll get you there eventually. Every bus ride is like an amusement ride. Thus why I have come to enjoy the buses of Puebla.

Café Milagros

Yesterday we went downtown to study in a festive little cafe called "Café Milagros" (Cafe of Miracles). The exterior of the building is painted in bright blues and purples, and the interior with an even larger array of bright colors. The walls are adorned with skeleton dolls and paintings evoking images from Día de los Muertos. We had a lot of fun studying and talking in the quaint atmosphere of the cafe.

Mi Nueva Familia!

This pic is from last weekend, I thought I would post a picture of my compañera de cuarto (Kristina) and my new hermano (Pepe). We explored the city together and took lots of fun pictures. I've never had a little brother before, and its kind of fun to help him with his english homework, haha. Kristina and I have been having lots of fun talking in spanish together and with our family here.

El Día de los Reyes

January 6th was the "Día de los Reyes" celebration for the niños of México. The centro was overflowing with globos (balloons) on the 5th in preparation for the celebration. In order to receive the gifts you want the kids write their wishes on slips of paper attached to the balloons and let them go into the clouds above for the "Reyes" to read. Javier, el niño en our casa got a balloon too, but he is still a bit young and kept it to play with. We also ate rosca (a sort of fruit cake) on the 6th. It has miniature figures of baby Jesus baked inside, and the person who cuts a slice with the baby will have good luck for the rest of the year. I didn't get one, but Kristina did!

Ibero Americano

I'll be attending the Ibero Americano university for the next six months while I am here in Puebla. Last week Kristina (my roommate) and I visited the university to take a tour and acquaint ourselves with our new school. Its a lot bigger than Seattle University! Its a beautiful campus with lots of open courtyards and study spaces. Tomorrow is officially the first day of class!

Contrary to what comes to mind when you hear "mexico" it is NOT warm all year long. It is actually quite cold right now and not very sunny. Its less than 55 degrees most of the time... in our room. Hopefully it warms up soon!

Estoy en Puebla!

I decided to make a blog to keep everyone updated on my trip to Puebla. I've been here for a week already so it may be a little hard to keep up with the latest news. But for now I thought I could at least share some pictures and some of the things I've been doing here. The streets of Puebla are lined with vendors and old churches. Puebla is a contradiction of wealth and poverty. The streets are alive with the commotion of passing tourists, locals and students like me.