classes

CLASSES
I am now in my second week of classes and I love them! I have four classes: Basic Spanish 2, Communication Skills 1, Social Development in Mexico, and Mexican Culture. The last two are in English and with Mexican students which allows me to get to know some actual Mexican students! Imagine that.

I love my Spanish professor, Nivardo! He is really young (has to be in his 20s), fun, energetic, and says "Super bien!" a lot. This class is so unlike my previous Spanish class where I was terrified to be called on. There are only 9 students in the class and Nivardo creates a really non-intimidating environment for us. Too bad I am still so timid and frustrated outside of class!

The Social Development in Mexico class is my most challenging one so far. We are studying the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for 2015. The class has been split into four teams and each assigned two of the eight goals to focus on for this first part of the semester. My team presents on Thursday (ack! public speaking!) but it should be fine. I have four guys (Mauricio, Alejandro, Jorge, y Carlos) on my team and they are all really great. I am excited to be challenged in a way I don't feel I was at Stan State for the most part (for any former professors reading, this is not a blanket statement :-).

The professor is a little interesting though and I am still trying to figure him out. He likes to have a lot of class discussion, which would lead me to believe that he likes the input of his students. But at the end, I get the impression that he wants to make sure we take his opinion as the most valid when I haven't heard much other than anecdotal evidence from him thus far. Makes me want to speak up in class a little less. He also draws a very clear line between the Mexican students and the international students in an effort to find only dissimilarities between our cultures and no similarities. I don't know that this is a bad thing, but it will take some more time for me to figure out how he ticks.

My Mexican Culture class should be really interesting, though I am not quite sure what to expect yet. It seems like it will be very interactive, but also with that distinct line between Mexican and international students. This environment seems to me to be a little more about learning from one another however. I think we are going to be taking some field trips and watching films during class which I am really excited about!

Communication Skills thus far is not terribly interesting and I don't feel like I am learning a whole lot yet, but my professor is nice and fun so I enjoy the class.

It doesn't look like my Batik class is going to work out. It started today and is on the second floor of the gym which doesn't have an elevator. A couple of friends asked the professor about how I might be able to participate and all I received was a text message that said, "She said there's no elevator." I'll ask for more details on Thursday. In the meantime, sorry Desiree and Aunt Cheryl--no Batik projects!

LA FIN DE SEMANA (THE WEEKEND)
My weekend starts Friday since I don't have classes at all that day. Last Friday one of the student organizations, AMI (Alumnos Mexicanos y Internacionales), held a Bienvenida lunch for us. It was very nice and the food was muy delicioso! They also had some mariachis come in and play for us. I got to sit next to Nick from Pennsylvania and John from CSU Channel Islands. Nick was telling me about his host family and that their home might actually work for me to live there. They have requested not to host girl students because they have had a problem with them bringing their boyfriends to the house and such, but I don't think they would have to worry about that with me. He said that I could come over sometime so I can meet them, so maybe that is an opportunity for next semester. At the end of the event I was assigned a big brother, Luis (not the one with the amazing hair), for the semester. I'm not sure yet what this means, but he sent me a text yesterday to see how my weekend was.

Later that evening I went to a surprise birthday party that one of the international students (Angela) was planning for one of our other members (Darcy). It was a fun night but Darcy didn't end up arriving until about 40 minutes after she was expected which just meant that we all gathered in the foyer of the home it was hosted in several times in anxious anticipation. She was very surprised and happy.

Quote of the night came during the taxi ride home and was said by Rebekah (not this one) in all seriousness: "Elton John is gay?" It doesn't even need a story it is so good!

I had a lazy day on Saturday and aside from doing (or pretending to do) some studying I went to Soriana, which is the Mexican version of Wal-Mart more or less, and got some groceries.

By Sunday morning I was having quite the pity party and feeling rather lonely but it ended up being a great day! Susie, from Montreal, and I went to el centro and had a long, leisurly lunch and got to know each other a bit. Then we just walked around the different plazas observing people. El centro on Sundays is wonderful, full of people just sitting enjoying each other's company or watching the others around them, listening to live music, or dancing. There is no rushing, no clock watching but only people taking a moment to enjoy being alive. That evening Susie and I attempted to watch the meteor shower outside the dorms. After an hour we had seen one meteor, two shirtless guys through open windows on the lower levels of the residence hall, and gotten several mosquito bites. We decided to call it a night.

My big praise from this weekend was finding people that are somewhat of kindred spirits, not craving the drunken party scene. One of my greatest struggles here has been feeling completely out of place in this youth culture (and I don't know that it is specific to Mexican youth). Sometimes I think that I was just born older than my counterparts. And in some warped form of logic, a part of me felt that in coming here to Mexico the lonliness that follows me around would finally be justified, and through justification would seem less. But it isn't less; it's just different. But each time it seems that it is going to swollow me up, God sends a new friend or two or three and the lonliness is gone. Huge praises! :-)