where shall I begin???

Well friends, November has now arrived and I am on the homestretch. It is so hard to believe that I only have four more weeks left here in Mexico. It makes me sad and yet excited to think about coming home. It makes me sad to think of the friendships I am leaving behind and yet excited for the opportunities that lay ahead of me. Although I don't know how I will do it, I am very excited to get back into the busy routine as a college student. And I believe that the moment I step off the plane and feel the cold winter chill seep in, I will be thrust into the reality that I am no longer on vacation. Technically I am not on vacation at the moment, but... the warm, sunny weather seems to keep me in summer mood. Which sadly, has affected my school performance here. Although I would love to go to school where it is sunny all the time I believe it would have a serious impact on my studies. I never thought I would say that I was thankful for rainy days. But, for the sake of my academics I am thankful that I live in Oregon where there are many rainy days. =) The first photo is me with my friend, Candy. And the above, is my current teacher, Ana Maria. We decided to take a little break from class to work on our photogenic-ness! =)

So much has happened in the last couple of weeks and I have not shared any of it. Please do forgive me! Okay, here goes....

Back to Halloween, October 31st. Here in Mexico, traditionally Halloween in not celebrated. But sadly, as many Mexicans say, the US has influenced Mexico and now, as of about 7 or 8 years ago, the youth have begun to dress up and go door to door asking for treats. The youth go door to door starting on the 31st and ending on the 2nd of November. Here in Mexico, "El Dia de los Muertos" is celebrated. Translated into English would be, "Day of the Dead." November 1st and 2nd are very important days in remembering the deceased. Families put together "Ofrendas" or "Offerings," for their deceased loved ones. They place flowers, photos, food, candles and much more on the offerings and then after the 2nd they take the food that has been collected and divide it up and give it to their neighbors. Sadly, this once strong tradition is now kind of fading out. Not that many people take it as seriously and if they do celebrate it, it is to a much lesser degree. My host mom put up an offering for her parents, her sister and my host dad's little brother. It was very small and simple, but part of the tradition.

On November 1st, Kristine and I were blessed with the news that after our first hour of class we would be going to the city market to collect some items to place an offering for Emiliano Zapata, a Mexican hero. We were in the middle of a test when Irma approached us and insisted that we go. Kristine and I eagerly accepted, gleeful to postpone our test-taking. =)

The market was swarming with people. It was so much fun! We wandered around and picked out fruit and candy to place on the offering. The only not so fun part was when we walked through the meat section and I turned around only to be faced by a hanging pig's head. Ohhh..... yuck! I can't stand the meat section of the market! Anyhow, here is a picture of another head just hanging around. Below are the pig's feet.

After buying fruit and candy we made our way to the flower section. Traditionally, these flowers that Kristine and I are holding are placed on the offering. We wandered around the flower section for almost a half hour seeking out the best flowers although they were all the same. Finally, Irma just let us choose and we were on our way. Irma shared with us that sometimes when students leave Universal they like to buy their teachers flowers. She said that on more than one occasion students have bought these flowers. Usually the teachers just say thank you for the thought and kind of shudder because these are flowers for the dead! hahaha So, here are Kristine and I holding flowers for the dead! =) And here we also are arranging the flowers to make the cross for the offering. The flowers were kind of stinky.... Above, you can see the offering that Kristine and I put together. Sadly, we took so much time at the market and putting together the offering that we didn't get to attend our classes. =) But... we still had to finish the tests that were scheduled for the day.

The following day Kristine and I headed off to Puebla, accompanied by Ramiro, the school director, and Esteban, another student. Friday we stopped in Cholula, Puebla and visited one of the oldest pyramids that dates back to one of the five mother cultures, the Olmecas. The pyramid dates back to before Christ. The pyramid was unlike any other we have seen. In actuality, it is three pyramids. And although much of the pyramid has been destroyed we were able to explore the second pyramid through tunnels. Here I am at the right. =) It was really exciting to think that thousands of years before, a culture that I learned about had been occupying this area.

After arriving in the colonial town, Puebla, we were released to venture off and do as we wished. Kristine and I decided to rest up a little and I must share this one story to admit how awful we are. Kristine insisted that I figure out how to turn on the lights in our room so that she could use the bathroom. So, I ventured off into the hall to find someone who could assist me. One of the maids kindly showed me that all I had to do was do one flick of the switch and then the whole room had lighting. As she left the room I saw that Esteban was just standing in the hallway. I thought, hmmm... that's weird. Oh, well. And as I closed the door I shot him a little smirk. Kristine and I rested up and played around on our computers but after about 40 minutes we received a knock on our door. Kristine opened it to find Esteban asking if we were going to be doing anything that afternoon. Not realizing or believing that he had actually been waiting all that time for us, we giggled, grabbed our stuff and accompanied him to the market. This was the only time the three of us actually hung out together during our free time. Personally, one afternoon was enough with him. And since I think I took so much time shopping, he realized that he may have been better off on his own. =) Anyways..... he'll be accompanying us to Acapulco in a couple of weeks and I just hope that it is not completely awkward since the majority of that trip will be sunbathing on the beach.

Anyhow, Saturday morning was filled with boring museums. Uh-hum... I mean interesting museums. =) And that afternoon Ramiro again, allotted us free time. Kristine and I decided to wander around the Zocalo first as to avoid the possibility of running into Esteban. Then we returned to the hotel to freshen up and head to the market again. On our way to the market we encountered a small strip of vendors and spent some time there. We also ran into a henna tattoo station and decided to get tattoos. Here I am at the left with my tattoo artist. It was a really good opportunity to practice our Spanish because we were surrounded by young men. Actually, we met two young men at the station who we ended up spending the evening with. That is another story, for another time. =)

Surprisingly, the men always showed up late to our meeting times. Kristine and I would spend like 5 minutes waiting on this blue couch that would suck you in the moment you sat down. And since 5 minutes is soooo much time to wait, we usually pulled out the camera to document our moods. Here, Kristine and I took this photo to show Ramiro how angry we were. Just kidding! But I do look angry, don't I? haha

On Sunday, we had planned to visit an Animal Safari, but after talking to Ramiro and Esteban and them being really excited that the Chivas were going to be playing in Puebla, Kristine and I decided that one soccer game wouldn't hurt us. So, on Sunday we headed off to the stadium to cheer on the Chivas. The Chivas is the most popular, professional soccer team because they are the ONLY team with all Mexican players. When Kristine and I arrived we decided that we should probably sport some team spirit. So we wandered around in search of the perfect attire. Ramiro was so impatient to enter the stadium and get good seats that he just handed us our tickets and told us he would see us after the game. Kristine and I found our team spirit attire and arrived 45 minutes later only to discover that Ramiro and Esteban were sitting virtually alone in their section. Yeah, there were people but not so many as to be in a rush. So really, Kristine and I could have probably spent more time wandering around outside the stadium. Instead, we sat with Ramiro and Esteban as the sun beat down for two hours prior to the start of the game. The game was actually quite interesting. The only thing that drove me crazy was the fact that there were absolutely NO garbage cans. People were just tossing their garbage on the ground and I couldn't even get the courage to gently set my garbage down in a pile on the ground. Instead, Kristine and I carried our garbage around until we were told that we couldn't enter the stadium with all that garbage. Duh! We didn't want to. Anyway.. we were directed to like the ONLY garbage can in the entire stadium. Whew!!!

Anyways... life back here in Cuernavaca is just as exciting! Our weeks are filled with classes, aerobics and hanging out with friends. This week I decided to do something kind of random and crazy. I went with my host sister who has lots of piercings and pierced my tragus. For those of you who don't know this official term you may better recognize this definition offered by one of my good friends, "little ear flap thing." lol... Many people have asked me if it hurt and to be completely honest, I think it hurt less than my other piercings. Kristine and my sister came with me to document the event and here is the result, the picture at the left! I was a bit nervous but it hardly hurt at all!

Here at the right is my good friend, Soco. She is, as many of you know, my aerobics teacher. God has really blessed me with this friendship. I really could have never imagined even being friends with her. Considering that I am probably one of her worst alumnas and that she intimidated the heck out of me. But, the friendship I have with her is a really special one. She invites me over to her house a lot and we have shared some really good intimate conversations along with some outbursts of laughter. Sadly, I leave the day of her "Boda de plata," a celebration of 25 years of marriage. But I really do believe that of all my friendships I have formed here, this will be one that I continue to pursue.

This evening I got to thinking... my closest friends here, the friends that I tell most anything to, are all older. I probably spend more time with my older friends than I do with friends my age. Yeah... I have probably turned up some really good opportunities to form friendships with other youth, for example: turning down my sister's offer to go out with her and her friends to a bar. Actually it was more like pleading... but, instead here I am writing. I know that some of you may look on this with suspicion as some do here but I would like to take a moment and explain myself.

I'm not really considered "normal" here. Most students that come down from the U.S. party it up. They don't have a problem going out and dancing and drinking. I have been faced with this temptation more than once. I would love to say that this has never sounded appealing to me, but it has! I am a youth and I do live in the 21 century where all of these activities are looked on with approval. The fact that I don't do these things, sets me apart. And sometimes, I don't really want to be set apart. I would love to go out with my sister tonight, but I fear that if I partake in these activities, I may find them appealing and so, rather than putting myself in that position, I have chosen to stay home, I have chosen to accept lunch invitations from the women in our aerobics class rather than going dancing. Anyways, all this to say that yes, I do have friends my age but I spend more time with my older friends. I still get the questions and the pressure to go out and be a kid, but that is a lot more easy to manage than actually being with a group at a bar or something.

Well friends, I will attempt to be better about updating but I most certainly hope that you have enjoyed what you've read! =)

And to see more pictures just check out this link! http://www.flickr.com/photos/princesavioleta/