With the first week coming to an end, I have had the chance to see how my classes would be like and I feel like they both will end up being quite fun (except the homework, which is always hard to get excited about). All of my professors are kind and very much approachable, and I love that. It makes the transition to a new classroom setting easier. The cool thing is that I have the opportunity to practice Spanish in the class via plenty of discussion and all the learning of terms that I thought I knew, but really, I need to work on. The actual classrooms are not really as fancy as the United States, but it is not a major problem. I still have no problem learning from my professors. Honestly the only bad part about the classrooms are the overabundance of mosquitoes all over the place. I am seriously a walking three-course meal from a five-star restaurant to them. I can already feel the bites popping up on my arms. To be more specific, this only happens in my two Spanish classes. My ESOL one does not have this problem from what I have seen. The ESOL class is more like the classes back at Western, but since we are learning about culture, we have an excellent opportunity to see the differences of culture between the U.S and Mexico. I think the class is a nice way to balance the usage of English and Spanish here in Mexico, and the professor is kind as well, also easing some of the anxiety as well.
Living with the host family has been wonderful. They really help me feel more at home and I try my best to talk to them about their life or how their day was. It is very nice to have the opportunity to practice my Spanish, which is always so hard in the U.S. So much English, even at home sometimes. I have also had the chance to play with the grandchildren of my host mother. He is only two and half years old and the other one is only six months. Nevertheless, Raulito, the older one, is very cute and playful. Both kids are a real handful for my host family, usually to the point of leaving them exhausted at the end. It makes me think about my mother and her own job that leaves her very tired as well. I know they volunteered to take in an American student, but I just hope I do not end being much of a burden on them.
Once the weekend rolled around, our party went to the huge rocky point of Bernal by bus. Everyone mentioned how much of a climb it would be, so I decided to activate “Mountain Man mode” and prepare myself for the worst. Honestly, it was an endurance test. It was a major uphill right from the get-go and I was feeling very out of shape…Still I managed to find a nice view from my position (which was about seventy-five percent of the way up, according to one of my group members). I was very happy, and I was especially content with seeing more of the area of Mexico. It truly is a country with beautiful sights to see with little polluted air to breathe and smell. I always thought Mexico was more close to a developing type of place, as opposed to the developed country that is the U.S, but it has its share of huge cities like Queretaro amongst other places. Mexico appears to be a place where all kinds of people can be encountered in one place: the middle class, lower middle class, and people that do not appear to have much. A few times, I would see people always selling things in order to make make money. I think it might reflect on how hard life can be in Mexico when work is not always guaranteed. I try not to give people the impression that I have a lot of money on me (my clothing is usually bland and my boots look pretty worn out and filthy.). I still understand that times are tough, but I also know that it is important to keep one’s guard up so that they can avoid a dangerous situation. Mexico is a place with risks, but in reality, that is the same for all places in the world. Everyone is different, and I know that the longer I am here, the more I can understand about the rich culture that I am sure Mexico has.
