My arrival home was stressful.  We had a one hour layover in Huston.  Our bags arrived late and we missed our plane.  Stress was high and we were all tearful.  We all wanted to go home.  We waited in line at customer service and were able to get a plane ticket for a plane two hours later.  We all breathed a sigh of relief.  I was so excited when I saw my parents at the airport.  I was revealed when I got in my parents car and made it home.  The next day I continued with my normal life in the states.  I started unpacking and making my place my home again.

This was very different than when I arrived in Mexico.  I was comfortable in my host parents house, but it wasn’t home. It was stressful at first because I wasn’t able to speak English, but I was soon more comfortable speaking my Spanish with my host family. It was stressful, but in a different way because I was in a different culture and speaking a different language.

Culture is almost always different than what you expect. Mexico was no exception. Space is a lot different in Mexico. The two biggest things were personal space and independence. Everything is closer together, the houses and the stores especially, are a lot closer together. Almost every house in my neighborhood is touching the neighboring house. Even the people stand closer when talking. That was different for me because I have a bigger personal bubble, even for those in the United States. Standing closer to people isn’t that hard for me to accept, and I became very accustomed to that.
I realized how independent people in the United States are. My host parents were very respectful of how independent I am. People are more community oriented in Mexico. I missed being able to take myself places. It didn’t take me long to get used to use the public transportation system, which is very common in Mexico. Public transportation is very common and very cheap in Mexico. Many more people use transportation use it in Mexico, than in the United States.
I am ready to come home. I have enjoyed my time in Mexico thoroughly, but I miss home. Stress is very hard when you’re away from home and not in your comfort zone. I am so very glad I had this experience and I learned so much while being in Mexico, but I am ready to be home. I miss my home and I miss my family. I want to come back to Mexico. I loved everything about Mexico, but I am ready to come home.

It’s hard to believe that tonight is my last night in this beautiful city. Part of me is excited to come home but the other half of me doesn’t want to leave Mexico.

This week, me and some of my classmates spent time with our ESOL teacher, Cevia. We went out to eat and I ate a delicious salad. I didn’t realize how much I missed salads until I ate mine! We also had some fresh pineapple pastries from the local bakery that were amazing!

Today, I we all went out to eat with our host moms as a large party. The food was good! Not nearly as good as my host mom’s cooking, but still good. I am going to miss the food here a lot. Not only is the food delicious, but it is a great time for socializing with people and practicing Spanish!

I have to play a little bit of catch up because the last week was really hectic and I didn’t have time to post as much as I wanted to…

Anyways, for our last excursion they took us to Santillana del Mar where we were free to explore the little town at our leisure. The whole time spent in Spain I was surrounded by tangible preserved history but I never lost the sense of awe I first felt on my first taxi ride into Oviedo. Walking in this town totally reminded me of how lucky I am to have had this opportunity and now am apart of the passing history of this town. All the shops are too cute  and just the setting in general is beautiful! While exploring, we found the museum of torture that we were told is not for the faint-hearted but definitely an interesting glimpse on the history of not only Spain but Europe in general. THAT was an intense experience although it was very interesting. Afterwards we just continued wandering throughout the little calles and shops until it was time to go. It will forever be a sunny-filled memory spent with good company.

As I finish my study abroad experience I am sad to leave and at the same time I am ready to go home. I am done with the school part of my trip and wish I could have visited the city and been a tourist more. I have learned so much here in Mexico. Hopefully some day I can come back and visit.
School was hard last week and the beginning part of this week. Breaking it up has made it better, but I still got super stressed. Being away from home and out of my home country made it harder for me, as well as for my friends. We all felt so stressed, but we did it and survived and are stronger because of it.
This past weekend was a blast. I remembered why I don’t like humidity while visiting the city of Jalpan in Sierra Gorda. It was nice to keep cool while we hiked along, over, and in a river. The hike felt more like being in Oregon with all of the trees and river. The water was so clear, and came right out from the rocks.
While there, we learned about what makes a magical city in Mexico. I don’t remember all of it but, it can’t be super touristy, there are no chain restaurants, and it has to have hotels.
The city also has a mission. The priest who built it also built five others in Mexico. During some part of his project, something happened to his leg, but he continued on anyway. He did all of his traveling on foot.

This week has bees crazy. Last Friday I went to Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. It was amazing seeing the real Stonehenge after visiting the replica in Washington for years. It’s a shame that I could only get a few yards from the stones, but it makes sense not letting people walk through the stones as it would cause the grass to turn to mud and cause erosion. The Salisbury Cathedral was gorgeous. The detail of the tombs and the stain glass was spectacular. And the town is full of history as well by possibly being the oldest settlement in Britain. On Tuesday this week, I went to Bath to attend a World War Two walking tour. It was tiring, but it was interesting seeing where Bath was rebuilt following the bombing and what was preserved. Bath is such a beautiful place and we couldn’t have asked for better weather for it was sunny with a nice cool breeze, a nice change from the London heat wave. Thursday I’m having to leave at 5:45 an to catch the train to Stratford upon Avon to visit the birth place of Shakespeare. It’s going to be a very long day, but it’s worth it to see such a historical place.

~Kallan

Below: Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, and Bath

Week four has come and gone and my trip is coming to an end soon. In some ways, I am looking forward to coming back to Oregon because there are things that I miss. However, I really do love Mexico and my host family, so I’m not quite ready to leave yet.

This week, I went shopping in the biggest mall that I have ever been too! I also spent lots of time in the Centro going shopping as well, buying gifts for both myself and for others.

On Sunday, I went to an amusement park, about half an hour away from my house in Queretaro. The park had both regular rides and water rides. One of the water slides was the fastest one I’ve ever been on! I had a really good time, although I did get sunburned.

Another full week of school and fun! For one of my classes I had to write a 4 page paper (typed and 1.5 spaced) in Spanish so my evenings were filled with research and typing in Spanish on an English keyboard…but I finished it with time to spare and still had tons of fun this weekend!

Saturday some of the other girls and I went to a huge shopping mall. We spent hours there and didn’t even come close to seeing everything! Then on Sunday we spent most of the day at an amusement park/water park. Lots of sun and fun with great people!

My Spanish has most definitely improved since I have been here and I am feeling pretty confident. I only have one more week to go so I am doing my best to make sure I will get to do all of the last minute things I want to do before coming home and still get all of my homework done. I am looking forward to being done with classes but sad that I don’t have more time to explore the city. It will be nice to come home to familiar things though. I know it’s not quite over yet but it has been an amazing experience that I know I will remember for a long time.

This week has been pretty crazy because technically it has been dead week but I have survived the week.  Besides doing homework I went out with friends to the centro on Friday and went shopping.  The centro is pretty amazing because all the culture of Queretaro culminates in one place.  I had a great time walking around and had fun with friends.  On Saturday I went to a water park with my host family and got to ride a raft.  In the end this week has been stressful but also fun.  I look forward to my last week as being bittersweet.  I get to go home but I am going to miss my host family and the wonderful city of Queretaro.  Goodbye for now.