Last Blog!

I wanted to write one last blog to tell about my trip home. :)

Saturday morning I woke up really early and got ready to leave and finished all my packing. Allison and Eugenia, my host mom waited downstairs for me while I waited for the taxi. My friend Michelle and I shared a taxi so it was a lot cheaper for me. We got there around 6 and as I was wheeling my luggage into the airport, I got attacked from behind from David! Him, Jordi, Mi Die, Jenny and Tara all came to the airport to surprise me and send me off! It was an amazing surprise and I couldn't believe they were there. I got my boarding passes and then we hung out for a little bit until I had to go through security. We took one last picture and I gave them all one last hug for now. :)

My flight was great and I got to Houston on time. I had to go through Customs there and wait just a short time until my plane to MN took off. I was getting so excited to get back and have Brian pick me up! I got to MN at about 2:15 and was so amazed at how much snow there was and how cold it was. Brian came and got me a couple hours later because of some minor problems along the way and then we were off to Wabasha! It was wonderful seeing him and being able to give him a hug and a kiss again. It was such a great feeling.

When we got home, I brought everything in the house and said hi to Mark and mom and started to unwind a little. The Bussian's stopped over for a little while so I could see them and give the girls their gifts. They LOVED that! :) Brian stayed with me all weekend and we had a great time telling stories about the things we missed while we were away.

What a wonderful experience! :)

Day 104, Week 15

MY LAST DAY IN GUADALAJARA!

I can't believe that I am actually leaving tomorrow morning, bright and early I shall add. Today I had a really easy day at school! We just watched a movie in my first class, but I wasn't really paying much attention-haha. oops! In my second class, we were supposed to review our speeches from Wednesday and get our grades for them, but the camera wasn't working to hook up to the TV or a computer, so our teacher decided she would e-mail us our videos and our grades. So we took a picture together (all 3 of us in the class) with the teacher and she let us leave. I sat and talked with Javier for a little bit and snapped a picture with him too. :) It was so weird saying goodbye to all these people! This was actually my life, I have been living my own life in Mexico for 3 months! Wow! :)

After I walked home, Allison and I had lunch together. Megan left early this morning, when I was actually going to sleep-haha. After lunch I worked on packing everything up. I didn't think I was going to get everything into 2 suitcases and couldn't believe I had so much stuff! I have to leave behind some clothes, but not much and it's not a big deal because I'd rather bring home gifts and other things. :)

Allison and I met Jenny and Tara to go out for a while tonight so we went to a bar/restaurant that we've been to before and had some drinks and some wonderful guacamole. :D When we were finished, David, Jordi, Mi Die, and Taniya all met us there so we could get together for a while. We went to a little restaurant that I took my mom to the first night she was here and had some beers and talked for a while. I had the last of my friends write in my notebook for memories. :) It will be really hard reading that I think, but I'm going to save it until the plane ride to read. I was a little sad because I didn't get to see some of my guy friends before I left, but I'm hoping to be back soon! (not sure how soon though-haha) David dropped me off at my house and everyone got out of the car to say goodbye to me again. It was a little rough but not too bad after last night. It's just so hard to think that I won't be seeing them everyday or at least on the weekends anymore! But I will be back to my friends and family and can't wait for that either! :)

I've been so blessed to be able to take this huge learning opportunity to study in Guadalajara. My Spanish has improved tremendously as well as my knowledge of the culture. :) ..and that's exactly what I wanted out of this trip! I'm very proud of myself for doing this and living out my dream of studying abroad.

Now I hope I don't get caught in Texas tomorrow because of a snowstorm in Minnesota or something. :P My taxi is coming at 5 with another friend down the road so we can share the fare.

Wow, what an AMAZING experience I've just had.

-Whitney

Day 103, Week 15

Yesterday was a fun but very sad day. I went to school and had my exam in my cinema class, but it was pretty easy and ended up getting an 85 on it. :) Then I just didn't feel like going to my second class because they were going to an expo about books or something and I wanted to get some other things done before our goodbye party, so I decided to walk home with Allison after our first class. I packed some more things up and got the gifts ready that we gave to the guys from all the girls. Allison and I got ready and we took a bus to David's restaurant for our last empanadas. Mmmm they are so good I will miss them! David was just finishing his shift there so we went with him from there to his school because he needed to get his final grade. We hung out there for an hour or so with some of the friends that we all know before going to the party. We got to Diego's house kind of early and before anyone else so we sat around and talked for a while. When the other guys started showing up, it got crazy for Allison and I to understand anything they were talking about so we were really excited when the English reenforcement showed up. :) There were a lot of people that our good friends that came. Even the Korean girls from my school that travel in a pack but are so hilarious came with Jenny and Tara and then we also invited another lady from school that just came 5 weeks ago. It was a lot of fun with everyone, but when it was time for us to start saying goodbyes I broke down crying really badly like everyone else. I bought a little notebook for my friends to write me a note in so they were all busy writing in that too. I think I'm going to wait until I'm on the plane to read any of them though, because I know they will make me sad! David brought Jenny, Allison, and I home and we decided that we are going to do something Friday night too because it was too hard to say goodbye Thursday night! Oh boy, I hope it's not as bad the second time around.

-Whitney
*2*

Day 102, Week 15

Today was another very successful day. I couldn't sleep this morning after my roommate got up and was getting ready so I started packing my suitcase for an hour before my alarm went off. It was kinda weird thinking about packing up all my stuff though! I had some extra time to get ready so I decided to curl my hair. Man was that definitely an ego-booster with all the cat calls and whistling that both Allison and I got on the walk to school! In my movie class we had to listen to more lecturing and then in the last 5 minutes of class he decided to start a movie that will be finishing on Friday for our last class. Our exam is tomorrow in that class but we are going to review everything before the test so I'm not too nervous for it. In my conversation class, I had to give my presentation again and it was filmed this time. That made me really nervous to know that I was being filmed, but I'm thinking I did alright. We get to watch our presentations on Friday, but I don't really want to suffer through it again! After class I walked back home with Michelle and had some lunch before Allison and I took a bus over to Starbucks at La Minerva to work on our essays. I finished writing my essay there and just typed it at home! I asked my host mom if she knew of a place where I could get some guacamole to-go to take to Starbucks with me, but she insisted that just make some for us for dinner, even BETTER! :) So when we got back from Starbucks, we had one of the BEST dinners I think I've had at the house. She made us some type of roll-ups in tortillas with chicken inside and guacamole. Then, for dessert (which we've been slacking on lately) we had rice with milk, basically rice pudding and it was AWESOME! :) It was definitely a very good dinner tonight. After dinner I finished typing my essay and then sent it to Diego so he can correct it for me. :) I'm getting more and more excited everyday to come home. We're having our party at Diego's tomorrow night and then I'll be almost ready to get on the plane for MN! :)

-Whitney
*3*

Day 101, Week 15

I had a pretty busy today trying to start and finish up some much needed things. I only have a couple days left so it seems that everything is closing so quickly. My classes were ok today but nothing special. I have to do a presentation again in my conversation class tomorrow. It's about the same exact presentation as before but she just wants us to correct it and expand a little bit. After that, I only have my cinema exam on Thursday and to turn in my paper for that class on Friday and I'll be done!

After school I walked home with Michelle, who I figured out I will be sharing a taxi ride to the airport on Saturday so that will be great! I had a good lunch and then Allison and I went on a mission to get some things at Wal-Mart that I needed. I needed to get some things for some little gifts that we're giving to a couple of our guy friends for running us around all the time. :) We found our way back home and I did a lot of my homework. I pretty much started and almost finished my paper for Friday which was VERY exciting I must say. I will finish it tomorrow and have Diego proofread it for me like he did for my last paper. :) I had to watch my last movie for my paper first and then I worked on my presentation too.

Tonight was very successful overall. I pulled out my suitcase today because I really want to start packing it. :) I can't wait to get home! We have our goodbye party at Diego's house on Thursday night first though. Then I'm off!

-Whitney
*4*

Day 100, Week 15

Today we woke up somewhat early and headed for the beach! It was our last chance to soak up any more sun. :) I laid out the whole because I knew that I wouldn't get that kind of weather for a looong time back home! We ended up staying there for a few hours and then had to head back to the house for some cleaning! That's always the worst part... But we did it after everyone got showered up and then went to a convenient store to get our lunch, like usual-haha. We started back to Guadalajara at about 3:30 and were getting into town around 6:30 so we made good timing. I had to have David pull over at one point because I was getting a little car sick feeling. :/ I hate that part about traveling in the car! He dropped us off at our house and then we had a little quesadilla dinner.

I can hardly wait to get this week over with! I'm getting SO anxious to get back home on Saturday. I have a presentation on Wednesday and a test on Thursday to take and then write my 6-page paper for Friday and I'm done! I think we're going to plan a goodbye party for us on Thursday at Diego's house so we can see everyone for the last time before we go. :( It's going to be really sad though! I just can't believe how much I learned and how much fun I've had with everyone during the semester! It's been such a great experience, but I think i'm finally ready to get back to my real world. I'm so excited to get to see Brian at the airport on Saturday and to be able to spend lots of time with him again! :)

-Whitney
*5*

Day 99, Week 15

Sunday, November 28

On Sunday we slept in and then took off for Barra de Navidad which is another small beach town that is 45 minutes from Manzanillo. It is so beautiful there and it was another one of the places I visited last time I was there. It was really fun laying on the beach, soaking up the sun, and swimming in the ocean with my friends. We stayed there for most of the afternoon and then drove about 5 more minutes to Melaque which is another part of the same bay. We had lunch there at a small little kitchen. I had garlic butter shrimp that was fabulous! We were going to stay there so the guys could skimboard for a while, but they didn't like the looks of the kind of people on the beach, and Mi Die also had to leave with his dad later on, so in order to use our time wisely, we drove back to Manzanillo. We went back to our house to chill for a while and Mi Die got his things together and we dropped him off with his dad so we could get back to Guadalajara. The rest of us went back to the beach until it got dark. Allison and I took a walk on the beach observing everyone along the way. :) It was pretty interesting. We all got back to the house and showered up and then went to the same taco place we did on Saturday night because everyone loves them so much-haha. We were all pretty beat from the sun and didn't stayed up too late that night.

Day 98, Week 14

Saturday, November 27

On Saturday we all slept in and then headed out to the beach to soak up some rays! We spent most of the morning/afternoon in Manzanillo and had lunch at a nice restaurant on the beach where I tried actual ceviche for the first time. Ceviche is a fresh salsa-kind of appetizer that is made of tomatoes, onions, cilantro, carrots, raw fish, and lime juice. The fish is "cooked" in the lime juice for about and hour or so and then served on tostadas. mmmmm it was good! :) We went back to the beach and I just relaxed until it got dark. We went back home to all get showered and ready for dinner and then we went to a small taco restaurant that has HUGE quesadilla-like tacos that are called "gringas" because they have meat in them too. Allison and I split one and we were just perfect with that! We went back to our house afterward and had a little more fun. :) It was a really fun day too.

Day 97, Week 14

Friday, November 26

Friday was a really fun day! :) I went to my first class at school and then dipped out to head to the beach. David picked Allison and I up and Jenny, Paloma, and Mi Die came with us too. It was a tight squeezed car for a 3 hour ride! We made it to Manzanillo around 6 I believe and we went to Paloma's house that we stayed at last time too. We hung out for a little bit and then went for a quick pizza dinner. We got some supplies for the evening and then we went back to the house and had fun. :) I had a really fun night with my friends!

Day 96, Week 14

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I am so thankful for everything I have in my life and for those who have helped me become the person I am today. :) It was very weird not celebrating much of Thanksgiving here and also weird missing it for the first time.

I woke up at 4:30 this morning to send mom off! We called a taxi and they actually showed up 10 minutes early, crazy. So we got all her things packed in the car and she took off. She made it safely back to MN around 6 or so tonight and said it was 10 degrees! I am going to need a lot of readjustment time to get used to the cold weather when I get back. I went to the gym this morning and then in my cinema class we finished watching a terror movie about a ghost at an orphanage. It was pretty weird but an OK movie I suppose. In my conversation class we talked about movie stars and some other random things, but it was a nice class. I went home after class for an awesome meal! My host mom made us our very own Thanksgiving dinner with a chicken instead of turkey because they're less expensive, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and of course pumpkin pie for dessert! It was sooo delicious and I ate way too much. :) I had to take a nap after that big meal, but I felt so much better. When I woke up I took a bus over to Jenny's neighborhood and met her to do our laundry again. I worked on my homework and talked to her too. :) When we were all finished I took a bus back home and had a nice little light dinner with the roommates.

Tomorrow I am leaving for the beach again with my friends! I am getting so excited! We will be coming back sometime Monday and then I only have one more week of classes left before I come home. It's so crazy to think about! It will be hard saying goodbye to all of my friends here too. I just won't think about it right now! :)

-Whitney
*9*

Day 95, Week 14

Today was the last day and night of my mom's visit. :( It went by way too quickly but we definitely did a lot of fun things! I'm so glad she was able to come visit me and learn about lots of things and how my life is down here. Today in my movie class we started a new movie toward the end of the period and we will finish it tomorrow (yay!).

In my conversation class we talked a lot about the foods and beverages that are typical of Guadalajara and Mexico in general, too. Each of us in the class brought different ingredients to make guacamole in class today too. Near the end of the period we went down to the cafeteria area and we all prepared our guacamole and our teacher brought some tequila that we could try too. It was really fun and the guac was DELICIOUS! It made me so hungry to talk about all that food, so it was extra special to get a treat during class. We told our teacher that we need to do that more often, maybe just dedicate next week to make a different thing each day. ;) We'll see how that goes-haha.

Mom and I walked home after class and had a nice lunch with Allison and Megan. We were all so tired from staying out into the wee hours of the morning so we decided to just take it easy today. After lunch I laid down to take a nap and mom joined me on my little twin bed. :) It was cute-hehe. We went over to her house afterward to pack up her suitcases and get most of her things ready to go tomorrow. Dinner was ready when we got back (veggie soup and enchiladas with mole sauce). Mom bought my host-mom Eugenia a bottle of wine for letting her eat at the house and just as a nice gift. Eugenia really liked that of course! We finished watching one of the movies for my research paper after we brought it over to her house. She wanted to catch her host mom before she went to bed to pay her and to give her a little stationary set for a little gift for letting her stay there. Her host mom and her daughter are soo sweet and were very thankful for everything. They told us if we're ever back and need a place to stay it's our house now too. :) I love that part about Mexicans, so very sweet. When the movie was over I came back over to my house and got ready to go to bed because the alarm is set very early to send my mom off in the morning. I'm so glad I'll be coming back home soon! I can't believe is just a little over a week away, I'm very ready!

-Whitney
*10*

Day 94, Week 14

Yesterday was a really fun day. I went to class first and in my movie class we finished watching the moved called "La Misma Luna" (The Same Moon) and mom joined in on that but it was in Spanish so she couldn't quite understand it-haha. In my conversation class we watched short films too but they were about different artists and really hard for us to understand. After class we went home for lunch and then we were on the run for the rest of the day. It's been tough on me not having a nap in between our running around! We made a quick trip to Walmart to get some things we needed and then rushed back home because we had plans to visit the orphanage. We took a bus back home and then walked over by our school and took another super-crowded bus to the orphanage. It was a really fun experience for my mom and of course the boys were rowdy and crazy like always! We were there for about an hour and then we decided we better get back because we had dinner and also a birthday party to get to! We made it home with little time to spare so Allison, my mom, and I all got ready really quickly, had dinner, and took a bus to the bar where David was having his birthday party. The bar was eventually super packed and there were tons of people that came to celebrate with us. It was super fun and we stayed out pretty late. I think it's been hard on my mom to keep us with us youngins'. :) She's only got a little more time here so we're making sure we use it wisely! haha. We had a really good time at the party and then my friends brought us home safely. :)

-Whitney
*11*

Day 93, Week 14

I had another fun day today. I went to the gym this morning before class and then my mom came over to the house before school to have breakfast with us. My movie class was pretty boring at first because the teacher was just lecturing but then we started another movie and are going to finish it tomorrow. In my conversation class we talked about recipes and food and are planning to make guacamole on Wednesday! My lack of nap-taking has really taken a toll on me and I've been getting really tired during class. :( I had my mom hang out in the little library at my school with my computer during my classes but tomorrow she said she might come to my classes and check it out, so we'll see! After class we walked home and had lunch. I wanted to take her to the center of Guadalajara today so we took a bus to the center with Allison and went to the market called San Juan de Dios. It's a really big market full of vendors of all sorts. We finished our gift buying there and I was able to get some nice things that I've been wanting to buy. :) We spent a couple hours there and then I showed her the cathedral and we went inside to check it out a little bit. It's so beautiful inside with all the artwork and the architecture! Today is my friend David's birthday so we got invited to go have a drink with him and his friends so we were going to plan on doing that and we thought we knew which bar we were going to. But when we took a bus in the direction to where we thought it was, we called to get more directions and realized it was on the opposite side of town and then we weren't going to make it and also have dinner at home tonight too. So the three of us went to a little cantina and had a drink and some chips and salsa. Allison ended up going to the little party but mom and I took a bus home and had dinner. There's another party that's been planned for a while for David that is tomorrow, so I will be able to celebrate with him a little. We had a nice little dinner and then we watched some more of the movie I have for my class, but I was getting way too tired so mom went home. Overall, we've been having a great time together here and I'm so glad she was able to come visit me. :)

-Whitney
*12*

Day 92, Week 14

Holy Moly Week 14 is here!

Today was a really fun day with my mom. :) We woke up early and started out for our fun shopping day. We took a bus to Tonalá which is a little town with a huge outdoor market. You can find clothes, homemade crafts, glass work, and whatever you can name there! It is so huge along the streets there that I think it might be impossible to get through it all in one day. It was so fun though and very successful! I almost completed my shopping for gifts that I needed and mom found some cool things too. While we were looking at some bracelets along the street, there was a bus driving by and some guy pulled out in front of him and the bus driver clipped the side of his car so we got to see an accident right in front of us! The driver got out and was irate at the bus driver who started walking down the stairs of his bus and the car driver basically pulled him out and was pulling his hair yelling at him. It was nuts! The people on the bus were yelling at the guy and they were all trying to keep the car driver sustained. The police quickly showed up but of course it stopped traffic which was already way backed up so the people were not too happy about that. Horns started honking and people were coming from all over to see what was going on. It was crazy because my mom and I were just talking about how I thought it was weird that I haven't heard of more accidents happening with the way people drive around here! We had lunch at a little restaurant that I went to the last time I was there and then we got a bus back to the center. I wasn't sure where it was going to take us, so I decided to get off relatively close to where I still knew where I was and then we found another bus that took us right behind my house. :)

We came to my house and I was sorting through all the new treasures we bought and started packing up a suitcase of things for mom to take back. I can't believe that will be me packing all my things at the end of next week already! Times sure has flown by! I did a little more homework while mom just hung out and then we started watching a movie for my class. We had a nice dinner, got full, and watched a little more of the movie but I was getting so tired so she went over to her house and I'm going to bed soon.

-Whitney
*13*

Day 91, Week 13

Yesterday was a fun day for mom and I! We woke up kinda early and started out our adventurous day. We took a bus to a little terminal where we bought tickets to go to Tequila! We then took a second class bus for about an hour to the little town of Tequila where, as you can guess, tequila is made. We got off the bus and I had no idea what we were supposed to do but I just wanted to find a factory where we could get a tour. It was really different just being with my mom who doesn't speak Spanish because I knew I had to do all the talking and figuring stuff out. We took a short ride in a taxi to the center of the town where the driver told us in his crazy fast Spanish that we could find someone to give us a tour. We encountered a very busy plaza where there were "ranchers" on dancing horses accompanied by a live mariachi band! I believe it was part of the celebration of the Revolution Day (the Mexican Revolution started on November 20, 1910 so they were celebrating the bicentennial). They were really cool so we had to stop and watch for a little while.

Then we continued down a random road with a bunch of shops and at the end we found the Jose Cuervo tequila factory! We found the ticket stand for the tours and bought our tickets for the tour, but we had two hours to wait for the English version so we walked around the big building that had a souvenir shop, restaurant, and lots of things to look at. We sat down and had some great guacamole and margaritas! They were delicious. :) We did a lot of people watching there too, of course-haha. We looked around the gift shop too but lots of the things for sale were pretty expensive. When it was our turn, we went and sat down in the little theater area where the tours began. We got a tour of the factory where all the Jose Cuervo tequila is made in the state of Jalisco. There are five states total in Mexico that produce tequila though. It was really interesting and had some weird odors in the factory. We got to taste some tequila that was 120 proof (55% alcohol) and I thought we were drinking straight rubbing alcohol it burned so badly! There were other opportunities to taste other stages of tequila but I passed. :) I'm not a very big fan of the flavor. After the tour, we walked the 4 or 5 blocks back to the bus station and waited for our bus. The bus ride back was very tiring but I didn't get the chance to sleep because I had a young guy that was very interested in me and decided to keep staring at me-haha. It was pretty funny because we were both on the same bus for about and hour and a half and when we got back to the terminal, we all took the same city bus to get back to our house. I couldn't handle it, it was so funny!

We got back to our houses and hung out for a while and I did some homework while mom was chattin' on the computer to her honey. :P We figured out our plans for the evening and we all got ready. We decided to make a surprise stop at David's restaurant for dinner so mom, Allison, and I took a taxi there and Jenny and Tara met us there. It was so delicious and mom really liked it too. :) David was really surprised as well! After dinner, we all squeezed into a taxi and went to the main avenue for the night life called Chapultepec. We came across a live band in the street that was playing salsa music so we stopped and listened for a while. We kept walking to try to find a salsa bar, but came across a market with some jewelry and tother things instead. :) So of course we had to stop at look! We spent about an hour there and by the time we were done, we didn't know where to go next and some of the bars were already closing and we were getting tired. I was already sick of walking around and so was mom so we just decided to grab a taxi home and call it a night. It was semi-unsuccessful, but that's ok! :) It was a fun day overall.

-Whitney
*14*

Day 90, Week 13

Friday, November 19

Yesterday was a really fun day! I went to the gym in the morning and then to class. I had to take my midterm exam in my movie class which wasn't that bad and then I had to give a presentation in my conversation class. I chose to talk about the music of Mexico and played some songs from the different groups of music. I left my second class early so I could leave for the airport to go get my mommy. I was so excited to get to see her! It took about 40 minutes to get there in the taxi because the traffic was pretty bad. I got to the airport with some time to wait and when I finally got to see her come through the doors I ran up and gave her a big hug. :) We grabbed a taxi and headed back to our house. It was really funny to notice my mom's first impressions of Guadalajara. She especially caught on to the crazy drivers here! When we got to my house, she met my host-mom and I had to be the translator. :) I showed her around the house and then we went out for lunch. After lunch, I brought her over to the house that she is staying at and she met her host-mom too and once again I was her translator (I'll be doing that all week-hehe). I went back over to my house to get ready for the night and then we met back up later. Her, Allison, and I took a bus to a little bar/restaurant that is close to Jenny and Tara's house for some micheladas. David and Mi Die met up with us there and we all had a good time there for a little while. When we were finished, we went to Casa Bariachi which is a big bar/restaurant that plays lives mariachi music. Our other friend Diego met us there too. They all got in a dance contest up on stage before the mariachis came on too, it was pretty hilarious. It was a great night and I'm really glad my mom got to meet my guy friends that I hang out with all the time. :)

-Whitney
*15*

Day 89, Week 13

I had a fun day today! I went to the gym before class and in my movie class I watched and independent Mexican movie that was really weird. Our teacher always makes us watch really weird movies that have really controversial topics in them, it's weird. In my second class we played a little game with new words and then talked about natural medicines and things like that. It was an ok class but my teacher's voice is so soft it puts me to sleep which is really bad since there's only 2 or 3 of us in the class! After school I came home and had lunch. Allison, Jenny, Tara, and I went with David to his college this afternoon to be a part of his presentation on the US. His group talked about cultural standards, etiquette, etc. so us girls were like a panel for his classmates to ask us any questions, but they were mostly about our experience with Mexico thus far. It was really fun and I'm glad we got the opportunity to see his campus and be a part of his presentation too. :) We were there for a couple hours and then he brought us home. Dinner was ready when I got home and for dessert we got cooked butternut squash with a brown sugar sauce on it. It was really good but so sweet that I couldn't finish all that my host-mom gave me. Tonight I worked on my presentation that I have to give for my conversation class tomorrow and then on my research paper for my movie class. I'm so excited because my mom is coming tomorrow! I'm leaving my conversation class early to catch a taxi to the airport to meet her. :) She's getting in at 3 and I can't wait! We're going to have such a fun time together down here!

-Whitney
*16*

Day 88, Week 13

Today was a good day. I made it to the gym early and came home to get ready for school. I finished watching a movie in my cinema class, but it was a really weird movie and I didn't like it very much. It was really corrupted and violent! Tomorrow we are going to watch another weird movie I guess so that'll be interesting. In my conversation class, we started our class in the sun and then the other conversation class invited us to join them at the cafe we went to last week, so we did. It was really fun to join classes because we only have 5 people total and the two teachers. Having class outside of the classroom setting goes back so much quicker too! After class, Michelle and I walked home and I had lunch shortly after. We had ceviche which was really good AND it was Mexican food, so even better! I hung out for a while after lunch and then I took the bus over to Jenny's house with my laundry and we went and did our laundry together. I've been using a laundry man that our host-mom knows that comes to pick up our clothes and then drops them back off, but it is far more expensive that what it needs to be, so I opted for the self-service option. 36 pesos compared to up to 120 pesos? I think yes! :) When I finished I took the bus back home and we had dinner a little bit later. I just hung out and finished some homework and talked online. I got to skype with MJ, Lauren, and Dennis for a little while and Brian too. :) I'm getting super excited for my mom to get here on Friday afternoon!

-Whitney
*17*

Day 87, Week 13

Oh Tuesday! I made it to the gym this morning with some small worries that I wasn't going to be able to breath on the elliptical from this wonderful cold or I'd be needing to blow my nose every 5 minutes. It was actually one of my best workouts despite everything! :) Cinema class was boring at first but then we started a movie with about 10 minutes left so we can finish it tomorrow and watch another on Thursday. Apparently we need to get in 2 movies before our midterms on Friday, so I won't complain. Let's just hope I will stay awake for them both. :) I've been telling my house mate that I think I have an small case of undiagnosed narcolepsy because I can hardly ever stay awake for a movie. In my second class, we got to sit outside in the sun today because it was too chilly in the room. It sure does heat up in the sun under a big umbrella though! We talked a lot about how we express our emotions and the gestures that we do in comparison to those that are used in Mexico and we also discussed some ways to give advice in different situations. It was a pretty good class I suppose. :) We have to prepare some presentations for Friday as our midterm, so she will be giving us a guide on how to do it tomorrow. I believe I will discuss the different kinds of music in Mexico. :) Sounds good to me! After class I came home for lunch and didn't do a whole lot until I decided to take a nap and rest my coughing lungs. That didn't work because I was unconsciously coughing the entire time. :( I really hope I get better soon! After I woke up I talked to my mom and some other friends for a while until dinner. We had some good ol' chicken nuggets and homemade potato chips! haha Allison and I walked to the pharmacy after dinner to get some things. I definitely needed some medicine for my cough and so I bought some! We walked back and I talked to Brian for a while before heading to bed. :)

-Whitney
*18*

Day 86, Week 13

This morning we woke up early and got our things packed together and helped clean up the house a little for Marco. :) He drove us back to the bus terminal and told us we're always welcome. It's weird to think that I may never see him again! We said our goodbyes and I waited in the waiting area while the girls went to go get coffee. We boarded our bus and started back on our 3 hour ride to Guadalajara. I ended up sleeping most of the way and NOT getting sick that time. :) When we got to the bus terminal in Tlaquepaque we walked a couple blocks to get a bus, but we sat there and waited for ever to get the right one. I think any of the 20 that passed us would've taken us to the center of GDL, but at last we made it. When we got to the center we had to walk a couple more blocks to get a bus that brought us closer to our houses at Centro Magno, the mall. That is another 9 blocks to our house and it seemed like it took a long time with all our bags! Eugenia made us some fajitas when we got home and then I just hung out in my room uploading pictures, talking to people, and finished some homework. Overall it was a wonderful trip and my second favorite after Cancun/Pto Morelos. :)

MJ sent me some pictures of Greta in her bed reading to Katy and then another one of them both sound asleep! It was so cute and can't wait to see my girls! :)

Mom comes in 4 days and I can't hardly wait! I've got our 6 days together packed full with plans!

-Whitney
*19*

Day 85, Week 13

Sunday, November 14

On Sunday we tried to wake up early so that we could go to Guanajuato for the Bicentennial Exposition. It was a a bunch of buildings that were dedicated to showing different aspects of the history and culture of Mexico. There was live music playing all the time and lots of food vendors too. We stood in line for an hour and a half to get into the first building which had pictures of the art all through the history of Mexico and some other portrayals of what the English people thought of the Americans. It was really different and I didn't get that into it until we went to the lower level and they had the different types of clothes and things of several of the indigenous tribes of Mexico. That's what I really liked! There were so many beautiful, colorful dresses and the types of baskets, weapons, and masks too.

After that building, we didn't really want to wait in many other lines, so we just walked around for a little while listening to the music and having some snacks. We were trying to find a vendor that sold ice cream inside the shell of its corresponding fruit. We had seen other people walking around with them so I was destined to find it. I finally did and bought a coconut one that was delicious! I kept the shell and I am planning to do some kind of craft with it [do I sound like Greta? :P]. We went into other buildings that were for food; typical family styles, cultural events, and foods of all the Latin American countries. There were dancing fountains in the middle of the whole expo that played every couple hours too. We got a chance to dress up like people from the revolution era and take old time pictures in front of a train. It was so funny and a good time too!

We stayed at the expo for most of the day until it got dark and then we drove back to Leon. Marco told us about these Triple Cheese Pesto Pizzas that he makes and he really likes to cook so we told him we wanted them for dinner! We went back to the house to see what we needed and then went to a grocery store. Of course, we spent about a half hour in the grocery store getting everything we needed and them some! We got ingredients to make micheladas too which is made of beer, lime juice, maggy sauce which is like worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, chili salsa, powdered chili salsa, and salt. I like to call them the bloody mary of Mexico. We finally got everything and went back to the house to make it all. We each helped make some part of the pizzas and got to top our own. We had a wonderful dinner and Marco's roommate Danny also joined us. It was a good time and I'm so glad we got the opportunity to stay with him! We were going to watch a movie, but after an hour of trying to decide which movie to watch and that failing, we just ended up going to bed.