"Could I get some sal and limón please?"

Hola amigos! I don't know where to start for this week. I've done a lot, but feel like I've done nothing. I guess I've done everything but work on my final papers. Despite my procrastination, I've been able to see a lot of the city that I had not yet been able to tour yet. I've posted a ton of pics on Picasa, so you can click on the title of this blog and it will take you there.

This past 7 day period has been the first full week that I have not been sick since I got down here. I've been waking up everyday and telling Martha when I see, "Otra vez, no estoy enfermo hoy. No sé porque" (Once again, I'm not sick today and I don´t know why). To which she responded the other day, "¡Eres mexicano ahora!" (You're a Mexican now). Haha! I've been in such a good mood this week. I wish I could have adjusted to things a little quicker than 6 weeks, but better now than never.

I've done a lot of relaxing this week, in that my touring the city has consisted of going to certain points in the city to sit for a while and just chill and take pictures. I'm trying to put together a short video or powerpoint of my trip so I can summarize my 8 weeks in 5-10 minutes. That's what we call a short summary. Haha! I'm having problems running powerpoint with that many photos though -- it tends to lag. I'll figure out something.

I've posted a video below that I took today when we were trying to find a place to park the car. The video is pretty bumpy because there are very few paved roads here. They are all cobblestone streets which does not make for a smooth ride. The city is gorgeous for them though!


Today, John, Ray, Edgar, Belem, Mariana, and I went to the countryside for the afternoon. It was gorgeous, silent, and there was clean air! It was a nice change of pace and I've decided I would like to buy a house near Santa Rosa. The views and mountains are breathtaking! I'm thinking that land there would be pretty cheap as well. I asked Ray to check into it. Obviously I can't buy anything right now, but within 10 years, I would like to think I could.

I can't believe I only have a week left. Time has flown by -- I feel like I arrived two weeks ago. Although, by the end of my first week here, I felt totally comfortable and at home in the city and I'm not sure why.

I've made a few amazing friends down here and I really don't want to leave them behind. The friends that I went to Michoacan with have kept in contact and want to come to Columbus to visit me. They probably will too. Ray is the other Mexican friend I've made. We're a lot alike so it feels like I've known him for a lot longer than I have. I have at least 3 different homes that I can stay in when I return to Mexico. I really want to come back in December, but I also really want to go to India. Unfortunately, I will probably not have any excess cash lying around to do either. I am going to go on spring break this year, so I'm thinking that would be a great time to bring a few friends with me to Guanajuato (and maybe we could go to the beach for a weekend too down here).

Well, I fly in this next Sunday to Columbus. I'm thinking Chipotle for dinner that day. While I know that I should be craving a burger or something, I'm def. craving my Chipotle, and no, nothing down here tastes anything like it. Haha! Well, except for the strong onions, but I never get that on my burrito. Well amigos, I hope to see many of you very very soon! Cuidate.

Michoacan: Morelia, Patzcuaro, and Janitzio

Hello, I got back last night from Michoacan, again. Haha! This time though I was with my group. We only took a 2 day excursion, but they tried to fit too much into those two days. The first day we toured cathedrals and convents in Michoacan and parts of Guanajuato. It was quite boring because no-one could hear our professor talking because he liked to whisper. The two or three people that did hear him still didn't get much info; therefore, no-one knew what cathedral we were seeing, it's significance, or why we were even there. The cathedrals were pretty, but that's all we knew.

On a very different note, I had two full meals both Saturday and Sunday, had snacks in between, and was not sick. It was an AMAZING weekend in that respect. I got back home and my friends were like, "Why in the world are you so happy?" I explained that I am normally a happy person (although I may complain a little) but that when you are constantly sick and don't eat enough, you just aren't just as happy. Mondays and Thursdays are the days when I usually get sick and I am not sick now, so this week is looking pretty good!

It's about 80 degrees, sunny, and beautiful here in Guanajuato today. The sky is clear, so I think I may walk around a little and take some pictures of the city.

I'm starting to feel the crunch for finals next week. I don't have any final exams, but a do have a 10 page "Politica" paper to write by Thursday, and 3 more papers to write by next Thursday. The work load really hasn't been bad though, so I can't complain. I've had a lot of free time to explore and hang out with friends; however, everyone would still prefer a little less work.

Well, lunch is almost done, so I am going to go. I will be back in the US in 12 short days. It will be bittersweet. ¡Nos vemos pronto amigos!

Bar Fight and Toxic Pasta

Bueno, I hope you all are doing well! I will be going to Morelia, Patzcuaro, and Janitzio this weekend (all cities in Michoacan). Okay, so first I will clear up the bar fight, it really wasn't a bar fight. I got that gash by falling walking into my hotel in Uruapan, Michoacan this past weekend. They had a tiled patio, it was raining, and my shoes didn't have any traction. It's not really that bad, but it looks horrible, so I've been telling people I won in a bar fight. . . haha. . . no-one obviously believes me. So that has been a nice conversational piece when things get quiet at a table. The toxic pasta comes into play today and yesterday. Yesterday I had an amazing Spaghetti Bolognesa; however, it may have made me sick. I really don't know, but thinking about it makes me nauseous. Oh well, it was worth it! I had a Mu Tai Pan white tea with it. I can't believe I just found this cafe and I've been here for 1.5 months.

Yesterday John, Ray, and I went to La Presa (the dam) which is where I took the picture above on the right. It was peaceful and gorgeous! If you enlarge the picture you may be able to see the lighthouse on the mountain, about in the middle of the picture. There was also a garden near the dam. Well, that's about it for my week. My friends and I have gone out a lot this week, but we've had a lot of fun.

I can't believe that in only 15 days I will be back in the US. I'm very excited, but I'm really going to miss the city and the people here. I was telling my mom that I'm going to have to get accustomed to the rudeness of the US again: inconsiderately slow drivers, not saying hi to random people on the street, and not feeling extremely welcome in any and every place of business. I think I'll be able to adjust back again, but I have gotten used to holding doors open for people and being very polite to everyone I come across. OSU is I think the complete opposite. Haha! Well, I am going to Michoacan this weekend again, but with my group. I will probably post on here on Monday evening. Until then, cuidate!

Uruapan, Michoacan

Hola, I'm still alive! Haha! I went to Uruapan, Michoacan this weekend with some new friends. (Uruapan is a city in the state of Michoacan). My friend Erik invited me to go to celebrate one of his friend's birthday, Viridiana's. Everyone was extremely nice and wouldn't let me pay for anything: hotel, gas, food, etc. One of Erik's friends had a new H3 Hummer; I hadn't been in one yet, I thought it might be a little more cramped on the inside because it's a tiny version of the H2, but it was quite spacious, and rode very smoothly at 95 MPH.

The photo is one I took while we were probably going about 85 MPH. Yes, two cars passing two others at the same time. I really thought I was going to die for the first two hours of the drive, but after that I became accustomed to Mexican freeway driving. I couldn't believe how nice and considerate people are on the highways here. In the US, you will have someone driving 10 MPH under the speed limit in the far left lane, not thinking of anyone else in the world except for themselves, but here, when you approach a car from behind, they move over to the curb so you can pass them. I told Erik that when passing people in the US, sometimes the other car will speed up a bit. While this isn't the majority of cases, it happens too frequently, and ridiculously slow driving happens all too frequently as well.

But enough with my driving soap box. Haha! We stopped at a restaurant on Sunday afternoon to eat lunch/dinner (what John and I call "Linner"). The restaurant only had soda, pork rinds, and carnitas pork. I actually tried the carnitas pork, but I could barely get it down. I don't like pork, but the restaurant was the cleanest. It was in the open air, no hair nets, no gloves, dirty floors, a dog running around, and tons of freakin flies. I'm used to things being different, but between the pork and the dog and flies, I wasn't too hungry. Everyone was so kind and offered to take me to McDonalds, but I bought a banana at the store across the street and all was well.

It was very nice to ride in a car on a highway. It made me feel more at home; I guess because I love paying for gas in the US and feel the need to drive all the time. Haha! I really miss driving, and I never thought I would say that. This weekend was the first time I got really homesick, and I know why. I was away from everything familiar. I know Erik, but not as well as most of my friends; we were outside of Guanajuato; I had never met any of Erik's friends; there was no-one to help me if I got stuck with my Spanish; and I didn't have my computer, so I didn't have contact with anyone. I told Erik on Sunday that I was really homesick and he asked me how long I had been down here: 5 weeks. I guess I'm not doing too bad to have made it this far.

I always get hung up on how to say "I miss ____" in Spanish because it translates to "____ is very distant to me" or something near that. When I'm speaking Spanish I always have to pause before saying that. Haha! I learned a lot of vocabulary this weekend, including slang. It was an amazing feeling to go away for a few days with people who only spoke Spanish and not have any English speakers nor a dictionary nearby. I thought that I would be extremely intimidated, but everyone was extremely patient when I didn't know a word for something, like "stem" of a fruit. That's not a word I use often.

I'm now only 19 days away from leaving. I can't believe how fast time has gone. It seems like I've only been here for 2 weeks, but at the same time, it feels like I've lived here for years. I've become very comfortable in the city. I've made friends down here and am definitely going to come back down to visit! I've been fortunate to make friends with people from Mexico City, Irapuato, Leon, Guanajuato, and London (England), but Ray doesn't really count for an Englishman anymore. Haha! (Hope he doesn't read this).

Well, I am exhausted and am going to take a siesta. Man, I absolutely love many things here in Mexico and siestas are one of them. Too bad not everyone down here still takes them. Oh well, have a great week. I'm going to Michoacan this weekend, but with my group this time. It should be fun!

¡Estamos en contacto!

Mi Cumpleaños y La Vida en Guanajuato

Hola amigos, I hope this post finds you doing well! I haven't really done anything too interesting this week, but I thought I would briefly talk about some of the differences in life down here in Guanajuato, Mexico. First off though, the picture above is of Jessica and I celebrating our birthday here in Guanajuato. We went to an amazing Italian restaurant here in Guanajuato with a few friends. The restaurant, hearing from our friends that it was our birthday, served us Nutella Crepes. They were delicious. I am very surprised as to how many people on my program have never heard of the most amazing topping/spread invented: Nutella. One girl on my program wrote a note about Nutella on her blog, and some of her friends commented saying that she needed to bring some back to the states. Oh well, glad she finally found it. Anyways, the Italian restaurant has tons of French doors that open up to balconies that look onto Teatro Juarez and Jardin de la Union, both favorite spots for everyone, including the people who live here. La Jardin de la Union (Union Garden) is a favorite spot for young people to hang out. There are also a few restaurants that have outdoor seating where different bands will come by and sing to you. If that is not your thing, you have a portrait painted for $20 by two very good artists. It's a beautiful place to spend an evening!

Between my turkey bacon and eating out, I am staying alive. Haha! The food down here is good; however, I knew going into this program that I didn't like Authentic Mexican food, and getting down here, the food of Guanajuato is more bland than even the Authentic Mexican food I had had. The Mexican food I had tasted was from Oaxaca, which is in the south of Mexico. I think to come down here and live on this food is hard for many Americans in that we are not used to having a "staple" food. My host-mother couldn't believe this. She was talking to my roommate the other day and she pretty much said, in translation, "It will be a cold day in hell when I don't put corn tortillas on the table for a meal." Haha! She's hilarious. But she was asking him what our staple food in the US is, he obviously responded to her saying that we didn't have one. She couldn't believe it. He said, well, maybe bread, but then again, we have a million different types that we eat. We don't eat one type every day. So this is why I say it would be hard for an American to live on the food in a lot of countries in that we are not used to having a staple. The other three guys I am living with are having a very difficult time getting the rice down now. After having it almost every day for the past five weeks, it's getting pretty disgusting. If anyone was/is to travel down here for a week, I would definitely recommend only eating the traditional food down here because there are a lot of good options and different tastes especially if you love authentic Mexican food. So yes, I still do not like the food, but I'm not so pessimistic about it. Haha!

I am very fortunate to be living with the host-family that I am. Many of my friends are not getting enough to eat. Two of my friends are living with my Martha's sister (by the way, pronounced "Marta") and they said that they will ask for more food at dinner and their host-family will say either that they don't have anymore or they will just give them a straight no. After the dishes are done, the kitchen is locked so they don't have access to food. Other people are having similar experiences with food in that their families will not give them much food and refuse to let them make anything. My host-mother, Martha, is the exact opposite. She's been trying to fatten us up. When we got down here, she thought we were already too thin. Her family is not fat, but they are not bean poles. John said that he saw her put more oil in our beans the other day, anyway she add a few more calories. She's funny, she always puts a ton of food on our plates for lunch (more than a lot of people can eat) and then asks us why we couldn't finish and why we can't eat more. We are also allowed to cook anything we want whenever we want. She took her youngest son (Carlos who is 21) to the doctor a few years ago and asked the doctor what he could give her to fatten him up. The doctor checked him over and said nothing was wrong and she responded saying that he was too thin. Not being satisfied with that doctor's opinion, she went to another doctor who said the same thing, but added that the problem was not with Carlos, but with her. He told her that people are allowed to be really thin. Haha.

The police have taken a little getting used to. They all carry M-16's. It was very intimidating at first because in the US our police forces do not typically carry machine guns around the city on a normal day. I think because there is a huge drug problem down here, the police are making their presence known. Police cars down here don't exist, they instead have Jeep-like vehicles where two to four cops will be standing in the back armed and loaded. Every time I see them drive by me I start to wonder where the war is, or if there has been a prison break.

We are finally in the rainy season down here. It has rained at least twice for every day this week, and when it rains the streets flood (except for the main ones). With all of the hills and not the best drainage, you will face literal rivers coming at you if you try to walk up a hill.

Well, I am finishing my fifth week down here. It's hard to believe that the longest I have ever been outside the US was for nine days in London and now I've completed more than 30 days in Mexico. I realized about a two weeks ago that I'm not on a 7-week program like I thought I was, but an 8-week program. That was surprising, I don't know how I never realized that. But I have 22 days and 23 hours before I land at O'hare on August 3rd. Time is flying by down here. It feels like I've been here for 2 weeks. I realized last night when I asked for lime and started putting a ton of it in my tea, that I have become accustomed to a few things down here, one of them being tasting lime in everything from tea to chips to beans.

Well, I may or not be going to the state of Michoacan this weekend. I will know this evening. Either way I will probably be posting on Sunday. Hope you all have a great weekend! Eat a great salad for me! Haha! I'll talk to you later.

This post is dedicated to whoever is reading my blog in Lima, you check my blog like every day. I hope you are enjoying reading about my adventures! (Whoever you are. The curiosity is killing me. Haha!)

Really? That's what you call a fiesta?

Hola! I just got back from Puerto Vallarta this morning around 12:30am. We were on the bus for 10.5 hours because we got stuck behind an accident in the mountains on our way back. Anyways, the weekend was awesome! The food was great; I had fresh vegetables every day with every meal. It was great. Saturday was my 21st birthday; however, it wasn't until 1pm that I realized that it was my birthday. Ha-ha! I had a Swedish massage that morning and went parasailing that afternoon. That night, I (for some unknown reason) became sick, and am still a little sick today. Therefore, Saturday night, I just sat on the beach and watched the sun set. It was beautiful and extremely relaxing because hardly anyone was out there.

So I may have had sun poisoning, but I'm not sure. Sunday, my stomach was hurting, I had a headache and a fever, I was dizzy, and was very nauseous. Luckily though, today I feel much better. But to top things off on Sunday, we stopped at what I guess was a restaurant on our way home. They had dirt floors and apparently did not understand the concept of vegetarianism. I asked them what they had that was vegetarian and she pointed out the Camarones section. I remember hearing that word and remember not ordering that at a restaurant a few weeks ago, but she assured me that it was not meat. The waitress left and I asked a friend what Camaron was. Turns out, it's shrimp. I called the waitress back over and explained that indeed, shrimp is a meat in that it at one time has lived. She was like, oh, I'm sorry. How about some fish then? I couldn't believe it. I then repeated myself and assured her that fish live as well and are therefore meat. She then said that they had vegetable salad. I was relieved. Thank God! I said. After ordering my Pepsi for the fifth time, I finally received it and got my salad as well. The salad was about 60% onions, 20% cucumbers, and the rest lettuce, avocado, and three tomato slices. As you may recall, I hate onions after my fiasco a few weeks ago.

Needless to say, being sick and without food on Sunday did not make it a good day, but my Friday and Saturday were both AMAZING! And I got a really good deal on the trip.

Vegetarianism down here is a foreign concept. Several of my friends' host families, knowing they are vegetarian still cook soups with meat in them, use beef/bacon fat to cook with, etc. I'm glad that my reason for not eating much meat is just because I don't like it. Several of my friends on this program do not eat meat for religious reasons; they are having a very tough time!

We moved to the main campus of the Universidad de Guanajuato today (which is a 3 minute walk from my house rather than a 15 minute cab ride. The main campus is beautiful and it was a nice change of scenery. Several people are having to commute a ways to get here, but they will get over it I suppose. Two of the girls were saying that they have to walk 20 minutes to get to the University and 30 minutes to get back home (because it's mostly up hill). I told them they should just take a cab back, because it would only cost them $1 a piece. They said they didn't mind walking because there were a few shady areas where they could take a rest. I told them that it probably will cost them more to energize their bodies rather than paying for a cab. Oh well, I'm not walking that far.

Something that I found fascinating, and is the reason for this blog's title, is the picture of Mexico that many people may have of Mexico when visiting a resort area such as Puerto Vallarta. Our hotel had a "Mexican Fiesta" for everyone at the resort (where there were tons of white people). Needless to say, the decorations, the food, and some of the music are definitely not typical of Mexico. They may have been typical of Mexico in the 50's, but definitely not now. There were vendors on the beach selling supposedly "authentic" Mexican attire and jewlery; however, the only people that I've seen wearing any of that are obnoxious white or Asian tourists and some of the indigenous people. It was interesting to see the differences between the Mexico I've come to know, and the Mexico portrayed in the resort areas. I like the Mexico I've come to know much better (except for some of the food). Ha-ha!

I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing this week. Right now, I am dying to take a siesta, because I have become way to accustomed to taking them; therefore, I am going to go and sleep for an hour.

¡Nos hablamos pronto!

Mexico: Neoliberal Globalization and Crisis

Bueno, I hope this post finds you doing well! This week has been very un-eventful in that I've been working on homework all week; therefore, the picture above is nothing new, but pretty cool. If you click on it it will expand and you can see the panorama of Teotihuacan from atop the Piramide del Sol.

My political science course may very well be the death of me, or at least the balding of me. Last week we had to write a 5 page paper over an article titled "Expansion del Capitalismo Monopolista en Mexico 1940 a 1970" which in English is (Expansion of the Monopolistic Capitalism in Mexico from 1940 to 1970). I doubt I would understand that same paper in English; nonetheless, I had to write about it. This week's 5 page essay was over an article titled "Mexico: Globalizacion Neoliberal y Crisis: Perspectivas al Futuro" which in English is "Mexico: Neoliberal Globalization and Crisis: Perspectives for the Future". (I´m not thinking I need to translate these titles though! Ha-ha!) It was 75 pages of glorious economic and political theory. This class definitely makes me appreciate my Art History and Semiotics of Cinema classes.

Also, this week has made me look forward to this weekend even more! I am leaving this evening at 11:30pm to go to a resort in Puerto Vallarta. I am so excited. I am not going to take my laptop because it's just another thing to worry about when traveling; however, I will be back Sunday night and will put some picture up. We got a great deal on our weekend beach vacation because we booked it through a local travel agency. I realized that it is much cheaper to travel if you use a local Mexican travel agency, pay in pesos, and speak Spanish. My whole weekend (transportation to and from, meals, and hotel) is costing me $265. Yes, it's AMAZING! I checked the hotel out online and it's great, and right on the beach. But anyways, I'll post pictures on Sunday night.

On Monday night I went out with a few friends to a Karaoke bar. It was a lot of fun. I've never done Karaoke, but I guess there is a first time for everything. I posted pictures on Picasa with descriptions; therefore, you can get all of the excitement on there rather than me rambling on here.

Regresaré al EEUU en una mes. ¡Que emocionado! (I will be back in the US in one month. How exciting!)

Adios amigos