¡UN BLOG POST SUPER GIGANTE!

¡Hola y bienvenidos desde méxico!

I have now been in Mexico for 2 weeks and am about to embark on my third week in the beautiful city of Puebla, Mexico!

If you don't know why I'm here, let me fill you in real fast:

I am studying abroad at la universidad de iberamericana through the USAC international studies program to help fufill some of the credits that I need for my Spanish major, Latin American Studies minor at UNLV. I am also here because I LOVE traveling and I had never been to Mexico before. So... I thought why not. :)

I've opted to do the homestay where I'm staying with a real life Mexican family that cooks for me and does my laundry (awesome, right?). I didn't choose this option just for the aforementioned luxuries, but also for the immersion aspect of it. I talk with my family at each meal and also when there's downtime in between the craziness of life. As of right now, there are 10 people living in the house!!! Not only is my (homestay) family living with me (two parents and their two adult sons) but also their older daughter and her two young children because of the crazy flooding that is going on all around in Mexico. She had to relocate from Villahermosa because of the waters, and now I get to enjoy the company of her two daughters Sophia (2 years old) and Ximena (1 month).

Besides the family, there's three students living at the house; me, Martita (from San Potosí, MX) and Deborah who is also from the United States. We're all studying language, which makes it really cool. Martita is studying German and English while Deborah and I are studying Spanish!

I live really close to the historic center of town where the zócalo is located, which is another word for the main plaza of the town where religion, politics, food and culture all converge into a beautiful chaos. The old cathedral is there, as are the main governmental and municipal court buildings. There's also TONS of FOOD.

Lemme just touch on the food... YUM.

I am in love with Mexican cooking. Even though I eat fairly large meals, I ONLY eat three meals a day, there really isn't time (or need) for snacking. I've been trying all types of new things, like tuna (not the fish), which is a fruit from cactus. I've also been eating the most amazing papaya every morning with breakfast. And the cheese, oh the cheese... I'm getting hungry just thinking about the food...

Speaking of food, I got to try chapulines, which are fried grasshoppers on my day trip to Cholula; another colonial town which happens to border Puebla. In Cholula is the ruins of an old pyramid which the catholics built a church on top of after the conquistadors slaughtered all of the Cholultecas that worshiped there. The church, la iglesia de la virgen de los remedios is gorgeous, and gives one a perfect view of Cholula, Puebla and the nearby volcano Popocatepetl.

---

All of my clases are in Spanish as are my books and course readings... I am about to go out of my mind, but I still love it, no matter how terrifying and stressful it is; I know I'll catch up eventually.

The college, la universidad de iberamericana is awesome, there's other students from from around the world! Just in my program, there's a student from Okinawa City, Japan. I've also met students from Sweden, Germany, Venezuela and France. Well all actually went to a nightclub our first friday to celebrate... Let's just say it was interesting... Ha.

Before I leave you, I have to tell you that now is a very exciting time in Mexico. It is the centennial of the Mexican Revolution and the Bicentennial of Mexican Independence on the 16th of September. In anticipation of the momentous occasion, Mexico is preparing to celebrate in a BIG way. All around town, workers are restoring and renovating the older buildings to help give Puebla a little for gleam for the holiday.

Puebla is where the battle of Cinco de Mayo was fought against the French, and is also supposedly the birthplace of the Mexican Revolution as well. With all this said, I'm Puebla will be happening place on the 16th. I'll make sure to take LOTS of pictures.