Initial Impressions
The First Week: Days 1-6
Day 1
Megan and I’s 5AM airport arrival at SeaTac
México is AMAZING, this opportunity is unforgettable, and everything about this trip is going to be life-changing! I haven’t even been in this country for 24 hours and I can already tell that the next five weeks are going to be five of the best weeks of my life. The opportunity to go on this trip with a small group of students all from my university, as well as university professors is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Immersing yourself into the language, culture, and lifestyle of whatever language you are trying to learn is the only way I believe you can learn and understand whatever it is you’re trying to learn, and in my case, that is Spanish.
Bye America!
Day 2
¡¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS A MI!! Wow what a way to ring in turning 20 years old. When I woke up and went upstairs for breakfast, my host mom had made me a cake! I was so touched by the fact that she remembered that I had told her that it was my birthday and that she would make me a cake when she had only known me in-person for less than 24 hours. We had breakfast together and they sang me happy birthday in both English and Spanish as well as Las Mañanitas which is a traditional Mexican birthday song. Cake as a side dish for breakfast is always a good idea on your birthday, and the cake was DELICIOUS! I had scrambled eggs with ham and beans for breakfast and I ate them with tortillas and salsa! Breakfast is a big meal in terms of what is made to eat, and I quickly learned that the amount I normally eat is satisfied with much less in Mexico because the food is much more filling.
Birthday cake my host mom made me
I flew with my friend Megan and our other friend Kristina was also on our flight! We started out early in the morning at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and flew to Detroit, Michigan. From there, we bought our last Starbucks drink that we would have until we re-entered the US, and boarded the plane to León in Guanajuato, México. At the airport, our host families greeted us with big smiles, flowers, and open arms! I found it so intriguing that these families would welcome us Americans into their homes with open arms, knowing very basic things about each one of us, and only having communicated over What’s App for about a month. When I met my host parents in person, it made me that much more excited to live with them for the next five weeks.
My host parents are the kindest people and were the perfect host family for me! I was SO scared and intimidated to have to communicate with them in Spanish 100% of the time, but their patience and willingness to teach me made it so much less intimidating when I met them in person. After I arrived in Mexico and got settled in, they took me down to the center and showed me all around the city. I think the thing that shocked me the most was the number of people that were there, and they were ALL speaking Spanish. All types of music played through the streets, and people gathered and crowded around them to hear them play. The city was so colorful and beautiful. When I went to bed that night, I remember feeling a little less intimidated, and the intimidation that was lost was gained in my excitement for tomorrow and everything that the next five weeks had in store for me.
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- My host mom and I
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- Guanajuato by night
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- Pipila
Since it was our first official day in the city, we had a walking tour with our class. This walking tour showed me how fit you need to be to travel around the city of Guanajuato because our class proceeded to HIKE UP THE MOUNTAIN to Pípila. Estaba mucho sudado (I was very sweaty)! We continued walking and then went on a bus to a church and then continued on the bus to El Bocamina de San Ramon. There we go to tour a mine. If you’re curious, it is very hot, humid, and a little claustrophobic.
After our tour of the mine, our families greeted us and we all had dinner as an entire program. There was live music (a band playing music from Spain and a mariachi band) and dancers as well. The mariachi band serenaded me with Happy Birthday, and everyone sang to me too!! BEST BIRTHDAY EVER! It was so fun to see all of the students and their families. They are all so nice and welcoming. They are genuine some of the most genuine people I have ever met. After dinner and a little later into the night, Sydney, Megan, Hallie and Hallie’s host sister, Pau went with me to the center to celebrate my birthday some more. We went into this little French bakery called La Vie en Rose and had drinks. Pau also showed us around the city some more. What a way to start a new decade of my life!
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- Teatro Juarez
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- Walking to Pipila from the City
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- Band playing at dinner
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- Traditional dance performance
First day of school! For breakfast this morning, I had a tostada and cereal. As a side note, I also tried some lime ice cream yesterday and it was so good. 10/10 would recommend. Tostadas are fried tortillas with beans, ham, tomato, onion, and salsa. Very good, I could eat them all day. My host dad walked me to Hallie’s house and then walked us downtown to meet for class. We all met at La Plaza De la Paz to walk to class together as a group. Our class was in El Museo de Tesoros, just a few minutes from La Plaza de la Paz. Our first class of Span 301 with Blanca, she assigned us a laundry list of things to do for homework, and it took a very long time to complete that list; but I guess that’s what we’re here for, right?
After class, many of us ate lunch together right outside of el Museo. My host mom made me a sandwich, and I also bought a Gordita which is a thicker tortilla filled with potatoes and red salsa. So spicy but SOOOO GOOD! When we went to our next class a couple of hours later in El Foro Inundacón, our class was about painting. Our afternoon class is in a community center which turns into a bar by night. Class ran 30 minutes late because we were painting. Many of us stayed after that to do homework together and then I went back home and ate “Comida” with my host mom. Comida is like the equivalent of dinner in America but in Mexico, it is in between lunch and dinner and is typically eaten around 2-3pm. She made delicious soup with chicken, veggies, rice, salsa, onion, and hot peppers! That cleared out my sinuses. How delicious!
After Comida, I relaxed in my room and did some homework. After that, I asked my parents all about themselves and I got to learn more about them. I learned all about how they met and more about their family and their life. There was a HUGE thunder and lightning storm to add to everything and I learned the words for thunder and lightning in Spanish. Thunder=los truenos, lightning=relampagos. I loved getting the chance to learn more about my host parents and being able to tell them more about myself too. Today was another great day, and I feel so fortunate to be here in Guanajuato!
Day 4
Similar to yesterday, I ate a tostada for breakfast along with cereal and fresh squeezed orange juice. I then got ready for school and I met a friend of my mom’s before I left for school. Another day of class and after the first class, I went with Hallie, Sydney, Kelsi, Megan, and a few others to explore Guanajuato a little more. After that, we had the second class of the day, and we made paper mache skills for Día de los Muertos. Tomorrow we will paint the skulls that we made today. I stayed and hung out/started homework with Hallie, Megan, Aileen, and Maddie after class and we got drinks (lemonade or límonada). Then, I went back to my house and ate comida with my parents and then did homework!
Day 5
As much as I love México, my stomach decided it wasn’t as much of a fan. I luckily wasn’t in as bad of shape as some people, but it still wasn’t feeling 100%. I had a pretty light meal to try to take it easy on my stomach, but I will not let it stop me from doing other things. I also feel so fortunate that it didn’t make me miss other opportunities because of it. A quick travel tip: go to your doctor before you leave the states. Make sure that you get all of the medicine that you may need because it might not otherwise be available in the place you are traveling to.
During the second class of the day, we painted our masks and it was so much fun! After class, Hallie’s mom picked us up and brought me home so that I could eat with my parents before they went to church. While they went to church, they took me to Hallie’s house and I did homework with her until they camp back to pick me up!
I learned how to make tortillas, and my host mom even gave me my own tortilla press. I am touched by the generosity of my parents for the way they have welcomed me into their family and the way that all of the people here embrace life in a way that is different than in the United States. That night, I talked more with my host mom and then went to finish my homework.
Day 6
Diego Rivera’s House
Today for our Span 332 class, we took a tour of Diego Rivera’s house. It was cool to see the inside of where such a famous painter once lived. Span 332 is a class all about the culture of Mexico. Every week, we will learn a new topic, and this week, it was painting. The weekend excursions to other places in Mexico are also a part of the class. My stomach problems are getting better thanks to the medicine that I got from my doctor before I left. It may seem odd to write about stomach problems in a public blog, but I want to be transparent. Not everything about a trip is perfect 100% of the time, but it is what you make it. Being 20 in Mexico is fun because it is like being 21 in the United States. I did all my homework so that I could later go out with Megan and her host sister, Sam. It’s important to note that the only reason I am including this is to be completely honest about the experience. One way to learn about the culture is to live it, and as a young person in Mexico, we wanted to live like our host siblings, so we went to join the others. That night we went to multiple places along with other members of our group. Hallie and her host sister Pau, Sarah, Kristina, her host sister and her sister’s friend. Then we later met up with Aileen and her host brother. We ended up getting back at 12:45AM and then it was straight to bed because our group was meeting in La Plaza de la Paz at 7:50 the next morning to go to Mexico City!