a lot has happened since i last wrote. last friday we went to san miguel de allende. it's a about an hour and a half away by bus. our hotel was a twenty minute walk from el centro. hotel is probably a bit of a stretch, it´s more like a co-op minature apartment complex. each room had a bed, desk, and closet, but no bathroom or kitchen. you had to leave your room and cross a beautiful courtyard to the two bathrooms (complete with showers), and the communal kitchen. we only made coffee in the kitchen, but others prepared meals.
san miguel itself has an interesting history. it is the home of the some of the most important events leading up to mexico's independence (as is guanajuato). much later,
in the early 1900's it became an artist colony that for some reason invited american GI´s to come and study art. as a result there is a long history of american ex-pats living here and intermarrying with locals. now it is a hotspot for snowbirds (retired people who come only for the winter). unfortunately there seems to be no real 'culture' to me. its sort of all mixed together. its also more expensive. however, i have to say we had our best meal in weeks at a texas steakhouse :) i would highly recommend it to someone who wants to visit an artistic community here in mexico, but be able to speak english (aunt judy, pop's side).
on another note, school is killing me this week. i am struggling with pronouns. what makes sense to me in english is complete gobbly-gook in spanish. i hate it that i'm so competitive, because i felt like i was holding up the whole class with my questions. it turns out that most of us don´t get it, but i'm the one who has the guts to ask the questions! i have increased my alcohol intake to two glasses of wine, and i've even purchased a bottle of liquer of membrillo (quince). a little tiny cup at night is excellent.
the homework involves a lot of writing this time. i find that it is stumping my writing in english because i am switching back and forth in my mind. plus the style of writing for class is more structured and formal like highschool english. i'm more accustomed to creative writing.
last night we went to dinner with all of the new students. there was about 15-20 of us. i was proud of our end of the table because we spoke only spanish all night. i'm not saying it was good spanish, but we did it anyway. one young man, who is studying
to be a doctor, talks with hands so much that he is our main source of entertainment! another young lady from canada is very shy, but has an interesting job working for the entertainment industry--specifically with bands. we have two new students, one is an older man who is blind in one eye and wears hearing aides. he is from australia. he doesn't always understand when asked a question in spanish, but he is a wiz at writing spanish. the other lady is a teacher in canada. she's just plain smart . . . i don't think i like her :) but seriously, she and i laughed when we admitted we thought both we might be in the wrong class!
joe and i are still the main bullshit artists in the group. we talk so fast and so often that everyone thinks we're fluent. the teachers aren't fooled a bit, unfortunately.
it rained hard yesterday, but today is sunny and dry. yesterday was the first day back to school for college and regular school. it was miserable trying to walk with thousands of students who all get out of school at the same time. the streets were slick and the puddles dirty. a car passing by took on a whole new meaning when we'd get drenched with dirty water.
it's time for lunch. i'll talk to you all later.
heidi
Hey
ReplyDeleteYou will have to send us a rated G version for the kids=) Glad it is going well for both you and Joe. Sounds like a lot of fun. We miss you and look forward to seeing you soon.
T