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!