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.