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!)