My first week in Mexico!

Alright, so, here is a run down of what we have done so far.

On Sunday morning, we went to Teotihuacan, which is this place on the left. There are two pyramids to climb there, la piramide del sol y la piramide de la luna. The one on the left here is la piramide de la luna. We climbed both and it was so fun. This was really the highlight of the day: the climbing (I actually had a race up one of them...ouch!) and some new toys I bought there that I will only be able to reveal in time...:) That and the making of new friends. Como este:












The next day was la dia de las madres, a very important day here. So important, in fact, that our school was closed. So, instead, we went on a turibus around the city. It was so friggin long! This is actually where I got a sun burn, sitting on top of the turibus for hours. We stopped at the cathedral in the middle of the city and spent some time there, but we really just got to see different parts of the city. But we were so hungry! It was after 3 when we ate lunch...and I had breakfast at 7:30! That night I spent at home with the family for la dia de las madres and I brought her home some flowers.

The next day, we had our first day of class at la Universidad de Comunicacion:
It was soooo long. Class starts at 8:30 here for us and ends at 2:30! And we don't have a lunch break. We take about 2 or 3 5 minute breaks and one 15 minute break. We were soooo hungry by the time it was over. We are learning about Los Mexicas (part of the Aztecs that lived here years ago) and what happened when the Spaniards came over. We are also learing a lot of vocabulary for businesses and how different the business culture is here. By the way, its pretty different. I love everything we are learning now, and I may post some about it later. It's because I am a geek...:) I also spent that night at home. There was a big storm and we lost power and just sat and chatted over candle light.

On Wednesday, we went to El Templo Mayor en the center of the city. It is where the center of the Mexica city, Tenochtitlan, was before the Spaniards came, and some of the ruins you can see today. We spent a lot of time giving presentations on certain topics to each other. Another long day. But the reward was great: A chicken with mole and mango! Riquisimo! :)

That night was the first night I went out. We went to a bar and then to a karaoke bar. It was so much fun. We had some of Kristen's (one of our TA's) friends from the area last year come with us, as well as one of the brothers of the host mom's and the host mom herself. We had a blast! They have meter high beers here. They are five liters. Perfect if you have a large group like we do and share it. And it comes out to be about a dollar a beer, which is ridiculous. Here are a few pictures:

On the left is the meter high beer that we shared.

And here is Ben and me singing either "Danger Zone" or "Footloose" at the karaoke bar called Melodika. I don't know which one because I wasn't the one taking the picture.






The next day, we had another 6 hours of class. The stuff is truly interesting though. So I can pay attention well for at least 5 hours of it. That night we went out with friends that we met at the school we are going to. People here are so nice. We just asked them to show us where people go around here and they were so excited to do it. We had a lot of fun, and it is just cool to be able to go and hang out with students from a different country that speak a different language and actually be able to communicate and have fun like I would in the United States. It is really just so cool.

Yesterday, Friday, we had another 6 hours of class, and Dra Galloway barely had a voice to teach it. She was feeling really sick. But she is a trooper and taught for 6 hours straight. Geeze! Right after class we grabbed a quick lunch (I had a Mexican hamburger), and we went to the Basilica. It was beautiful there! A neat little town and just a lot of cool history that is connected with it. We climbed up on a hill and we could see the whole city.This picture came out a little blurry when loaded, but it was just beautiful! The gold top is the old Basilica, that is currently sinking into the ground, and the green top is the new one. Claro, we had to take a jumping picture, and here is also one with Lauren.













And last night I just spent working on an essay all night. And this morning I woke up and went to Coyocon (I think that's what the city is called) and went to Frida Kahlo's house. There went met some spanish students that had were taking English and had to do a project that was doing an interview in English. So we helped them out and did interviews. It was so fun! After that we walked around all the little tianguis (I think that's how you spell them) and tonight we are going out dancing.

So far it has been very fun. So much to do. I could say a lot more, but I think typing and uploading fotos for an hour is enough. I will post more on different aspects of the trip, but at least I have a log of what all we did so far everyday! I hope you enjoyed the pictures and stories!