Finals week for three courses condensed into five weeks has been much more grueling than I had imagined. Combined with the fact that this is also my last week in Mexico and I would love to be out exploring, observing, and experiencing, I’ve found it somewhat frustrating that most of my time was spent hunched over my computer studying for exams and writing essays. Nevertheless, I feel as though I have achieved something in all of my classes, and I definitely believe that I have learned so much in so many different areas throughout my time here in Mexico.

This last week we were at a different campus, a former airport. It was interesting to have such a drastic transition within a trip which has already been a transition; the campus was much farther away from my house than the previous one had been, so my schedule was very different and I’ve spent  a lot more time in transit than I would have liked. It was certainly interesting to observe the students at the different campuses; the environments were completely different, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to visit another educational institution during my time here.

The house I’ve been staying in is absolutely gorgeous, and I’m definitely going to miss the interesting set-up. There is no ceiling over the main hallway, and all of the rooms are separate entities with heavy doors branching off of the main hallway. This means I’ve had my own living quarters, including a bathroom, without having to share my space. It’s been very interesting to live with a family in another country and observe all the customs and other cultural differences that are so new to me. I’ve only been living with my host mother and her youngest son, but she has many other older children and even grandchildren who are always around the house or pop in for meals. I feel like these continuing interactions have been the most beneficial toward my developing Spanish language skills.

I think one vital thing I’ve taken away from this trip is that I can have interesting experiences and still do well in school. Back home at WOU, I focus all my attention on my schoolwork, and I hardly leave Monmouth or even my apartment. Being here with so much to see and do while at the same time having academic obligations has forced me to leave my comfort zone and get out and do things. This has shown me that I really do have better time management skills than I had previously thought, and if I want to, I can get all my schoolwork done and still be able to go hiking or visit museums on the weekends and evenings. I look forward to bringing this knowledge into my everyday life in Oregon and continuing to expand my cultural horizon back home.

As excited as I am to return to the U.S. and see my family, I am also going to miss Mexico and my host family, and I am already planning to return on vacation as soon as it is practical. I have enjoyed my time here immensely; I strongly feel that this has been one of the best experiences of my life, and everything that went into making this trip happen was completely worth it.

The bulk of my fourth week here in Querétaro has been largely focused on classes, and I didn’t have much time for anything else until the weekend, when I went to Guanajuato with a few other students. Since passing the half-way point of this study abroad session, I’ve felt as though I am running out of time to experience as many things as possible, and I am very glad I chose to go on one last excursion on my final weekend here. The downside to all the classwork during the week and going out of town on the weekend is that I hardly had any time to spend with my host family or around Querétaro, which I hope I can make up for during my last week here before I return to the U.S..

Guanajuato was one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. They have very much embodied the tourist culture, but aside from all the vendors and attractions, the city itself is amazing with such a wide variety of colorful buildings and architecture. It was very different from being in Querétaro; there were many tourists other than ourselves, and it was interesting to hear such a broad mix of languages, including a lot of English. The people there were also a lot more friendly than those from my experiences in Querétaro, likely because they are more used to tourists stumbling over their Spanish.

That night in Guanajuato was the first opportunity I’ve had to stay in a hostel, something I’ve been eager to experience for a while. It was the last one available when our resident director made the bookings, and there was probably a reason for that. I am definitely grateful to have had the experience, but from what she said, it is certainly not representative of the majority of hostels. The beds only had one thin blanket and no pillow cases, there were no curtains over the windows, one of our doors wouldn’t close, and the walls had been painted that same day so the paint was wet and the fumes were strong. Everything was tolerable for the price, however, except for the bathroom; aside from having no hand soap, which was expected, there was a red liquid continuously dripping through the ceiling above the shower, forming a large dark red stain on the floor and puddling around the shower drain. It looked exactly like a scene from a horror movie, and the staff member on duty that night had no idea what it was. Consequently, none of us were brave enough to shower there. All in all, it was a very unique experience, and one which I am grateful for but would not like to repeat under the same conditions.

The next day in Guanajuato, we hiked up through a very steep part of the city to the Pipila, a giant statue above the city. It was mildly exhausting, but completely worth it when we reached the top; the view was absolutely spectacular, and we could see the entire city in all its many colors. It was amazing to be able to look so far out and see generally where we had started, which at that point seemed so far away.

Overall, in spite of the homework, I believe I was able to make the most of this second-to-last week by going to Guanajuato and experiencing a new part of Mexico. I look forward to tackling finals week and getting to see my family when I return home in less than a week now.

After having been in Mexico for more than three weeks, I feel like I am becoming a lot more familiar with my surroundings and a lot better at communicating. I’m definitely feeling more comfortable with my Spanish language skills, but in addition to that I feel like I’ve become more proficient when it comes to using nonverbal communication and roundabout explanations to express myself when I don’t know how to say something in the language. I feel like this is especially valuable to help me with my continued learning and future career. It has also become very interesting to observe other peoples’ routines in a different culture; because I have a consistent class schedule, I often find myself seeing the same people as I walk to the university campus, and I feel like some consistency in my observations has been beneficial to my understanding of the culture.

On Friday, I went to the Summer International Jazz Festival in La Plaza de Armas. It was a very interesting experience, and very different from any of the concerts that I’ve been to in the U.S.. There was no admission fee, and the seats filled up quickly even before the music had started. The music was much more engaging than I had expected, considering I don’t usually seek out jazz music, and there were several familiar English songs thrown in as well. The festival is stretched out over many days, so we were only able to see one band (the head singer was very talented when it came to tap dancing), but participating countries included the U.S., Cuba, and Canada. I would love to revisit on a different night and see a different band if I have the time.

My señora spontaneously took me to a theater over the weekend as we were walking back from a pharmacy. There was a play in progress that had recently begun, and we were able to just walk in and sit down in the crowded theater. Like the jazz festival, it was completely free and nobody minded that we were walking in partway through. The play was largely nonverbal, but I still felt just as lost and confused as I might have if it was all in Spanish. It was part of the Cultural Festival celebrating the founding of the city, and there were continuing events throughout the week that I was unable to go to due to time conflicts.

My favorite place that I have discovered throughout my entire time in this city is Café RenovArte, a nice little café with great Internet very near to the main college campus. It’s one of the few places where the staff is consistently friendly to us even though we are clearly not from around here, and they are happy to hold conversations with me even though my Spanish conversational skills are very much a work in progress. I’ve found it very interesting how much English music is played everywhere in the city; just walking down the streets I can hear it blasting from various stores and restaurants. Café RenovArte is one example; they always have loud music in English, mostly from the United States, playing throughout the day. It is hardly beneficial to my language skills, but it is certainly familiar and comforting as well as being very interesting in a cultural sense.

Now that I have passed the halfway-point of my time here in Mexico, I feel like everything is going by very quickly, and I hope I am able to make the most of my remaining time here and not miss out on too many experiences.

I opened my door in the morning and found the creepy critter right against my door. My senora again came and killed it before me. But first it ran all over the place!

The kindness of the people here is just so amazing to me. My senroa, who has to be at least eighty-five years old, spends her Sunday nights cooking for her sister. She walks to her sister’s home to bring her to food on Monday mornings. My taxi drivers are so kind and helpful. They give me there numbers to call them when my bus doesn’t come or show me where to go to take the bus home after they drop me off. I am just amazed that these men can be so kind and talkative when they work seven days a week for about fifteen hours each day. They drive around the same city, same roads and breath in the horrible fumes of the city. I have never smelt any exhaust and city stench as bad as this. I live in Portland and am used to a little city smell or car exhaust but I have never craved fresh air so badly as I do now. Another example of how kind these people are is when I am taking the bus. Men who have been at the bus stop waiting much longer than me will let me get on first. Also, people give up their seats for others who have children, many bags, or are old. This may be a rule on trimet in Portland but people seldom follow it. Lastly, everyone (and I mean everyone) says hello to each other on the street. Oftentimes they don’t say hello to me because they can tell I am from the US and they don’t think I will say anything back. However, to people of their own culture, they are incredibly friendly. I stop and ask for directions sometimes and people will go out of their way and take ten minutes no matter what it is they were doing, to help me.

This all just shows me how much more family and community centered this culture is compared to my culture in the US. In the US, we wouldn’t do this. We would just throw money at an elderly sister who can’t cook her own food or thinking for ourselves when taking the bus. I feel like the way that the people here act towards each other just makes everyone generally happier. It is definitely a lesson that I will take back with me.

As for this weekend, I stayed in Queretaro. It was so nice to relax and explore the city without the huge group of students. It was nice to feel more local and a bit less like a tourist. My friend and I visited a beautiful Museum of Art (not allowed to take photos) and explored little shops. I had a communication breakdown with a woman when I was getting my nails done. She told me that it was eighty pesos to get my nails painted with gel nail polish. That is maybe four or five dollars so I was thrilled. As she worked more on my nails and I read the bottle, I realized it was shellac! I have sworn that I would never get shellac or fake nails in my life. What is worse is that she did them very poorly and there are funky gaps in the paint. I will be spending my night tonight soaking my nails in acetone and scraping off the horrible nail job. I see this experience as positive though because I learned that I should make sure I fully understand what is going on and not be afraid to ask for someone to explain things again to me. It was a fun and new cultural experience for me.

1D is huge here.

Amazing Tamales!