Erika's Adventures Abroad: Settling In

What a week!

I can’t believe that this first week is already finished at I’m already 1/6 of my way done with the program. Time is flying!

I love all my classes. I’m taking a Mexican Civilization course with a professor named Alejandro, 4^th year conversation class with Lulu, and Survey of Contemporary Mexican Literature with Betty. At its basis, each class seems to be a culture class, which is exactly what I wanted to get out of my education here in Mexico. What a blessing.

A few points I’ve learned about the culture:

The church has been a force in teaching people to be submissive and accept their hardships in life to in return receive a better place in Heaven.
Here in Mexico, although their indigenous groups are a source of pride because of their accomplishments (such as impressive knowledge of astronomy and remarkable pyramids), in today’s world, to be called indigenous is almost an insult. It’s associated with being a less developed lifestyle; less educated, dirty, poor.
Also, the definition of an indigenous person in Mexico is someone of over 5 years of age who speaks the indigenous language fluently. This is a much different definition than we have in the US because our standards are based on whether or not your ancestors were Native American. Our standards are based on blood whereas the standards of Mexico are based on culture.
Oaxaca is the state with the most diversity of indigenous groups, with 16 distinct different groups present today.

One of the lessons I’ve learned this week is how to use the bus system. The city bus system here in Queretaro is crazy! There are a ton of buses, they’re all privately owned, and there are a ton of routes being ran. To get to school in the morning, I can catch the “R” bus from one stop or take the “F” or “5 transmetro” from a different stop. The regular “5” route, however, will NOT arrive at school. On the way home, I’ve been told I could use the 11, 32, 5, 40, 13, F, 31, 66, or the R. I normally take the R with a group of classmates. The bus costs $6.50, which is equivalent to about 55 cents.

Over eating some pan dulce, or sweet bread, with Cornelio the other night, he explained to me the name of his dog, which I believed to be Niel. He explained to me that the dog’s name was derived from the Latin word for black… Nigger. Yikes! He assured me that it had nothing to do with the derogatory term used in the days of slavery in the United States. Cornelio also shared a few theories with me that night over dinner. Remember that this man is a lawyer/professor – he is a very educated man. He told me that he doesn’t believe that Osama Bin Laden was killed, nor that it was him who bombed the Twin Towers. He also doesn’t believe that the US moon landing in 1969 is real. Also during that meal, there were flies and mosquitoes buzzing around the kitchen, and Cornelio taught me a home remedy to ward them off. He instructed me to rub lime juice over my arms and legs. I have a hard time telling whether it worked or not, since I didn’t track very well which bug bites came before and which ones came after. Haha.

I know I keep saying this, but the food is delicious here! One of my favorite things so far was a vegetable soup cooked with chicken, but served separate. It had the flavor from the chicken and the vegetables were tasty. Last night we went to a food stand called Tacos Francesa, ran by a lady named Francesa. She said she knew the students from Oregon every year, and attempted to remember all of our names. I need to get into the habit of taking pictures of the food here like I did in Spain to show you all how amazing it is!

Because of all this delicious food and the fact that I take the bus to school, I went for a run yesterday. Or I attempted to run, I should say. Queretaro is at an altitude of 1820 meters (almost 6,000 ft) above sea level, as opposed to 183 feet in Woodburn, Oregon. After running about a half a kilometer, I felt like a fish out of water, like I couldn’t get enough oxygen to my lungs. It doesn’t help that I hadn’t ran in a couple months…

After my run, I went to get my eyebrows waxed. In conversation with a group of señoras (host mothers) on Monday, I had mentioned that I needed to get my eyebrows waxed, and Arlette, Ellie’s señora, told me that she had a salon and that she could do it for me. So Thursday at 5 o’clock, I went to her salon and she cleaned me up. Interestingly, she used the kind of wax that you apply and pull the wax itself off after it dries. It worked really well and didn’t hurt much at all. We watched a telenovela on a TV up in the corner of the room during the appointment. After my appointment, Ellie took me upstairs and gave me a tour of her house, and I met her host dad, who is a sweet guy. He told me that Ellie is now considered a part of their family. Awwwwwww.

Last night, the students that are here on the 12-week program invited to take us out to some bars. First we went to a bar called Aleph where I ordered the biggest beer they had. They sell beer in these huge cups that look more like a large-sized container you’d buy potato salad out of in a grocery store. For 33 pesos (US $2.80), the cup fit almost an entire 40 oz beer. After Aleph we went to a place called “College Bar,” and then we went to a Salsa disco called Barra Habana. There was live music, and the music was infectious. I felt like I was in a movie, watching couples young and old swiftly dance with the music. Salsa is a beautiful dance. I was watching from upstairs when I was asked to dance. I told him I had no idea how to dance salsa and he said it was okay, he’d teach me. He taught me about four different moves then we went to the dance floor. It was so much fun!

Tomorrow morning, we’re going to la Peña de Bernal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pe%C3%B1a_de_Bernal), which is the third largest monolith in the world, located just 60 km from Queretaro. I think we’re going to climb as high as non-professionals are allowed to. I hope my lungs/legs are up for it!

So far, I haven’t had any stomach problems, although a bunch of other students have. (and I hope I’m not jinxing myself by saying that!)

Today during la comida (lunch), I gave Cornelio and Delfina the gifts I brought from Oregon. I brought them two Lindt’s chocolate bars – one with hazelnuts and one of dark chocolate with sea salt – a small package of chocolate-covered hazelnuts; a Portland, Oregon magnet; and a pack of kitchen towels. They appreciated each gift and began asking me questions about hazelnuts and other crops in Oregon and about the city of Portland and how far it is from where I live in Oregon. Delfina opened up the chocolate-covered hazelnuts to try them for dessert. Cornelio asked her, “Take as many as you want right now, because I’m taking the rest!

Tonight, for dinner, Delfina took me to a little tiny restaurant in town, and invited her nephew and his family to join us. I had posolé, which is a corn soup with pork and lettuce. Very tasty. Delfina also ordered me an enchilada, but I couldn’t eat any more, so I think I’ll be eating it for breakfast. =)

It’s hard for me to explain how I’m experiencing this study abroad. Because of my previous experience in Spain, I feel like I’m constantly comparing the two. I’ve been teased a couple times here: “It’s much better here though, right?” And my honest answer: Absolutely. True, Spain has more beautiful sights, and true, the cities are much cleaner and easy to navigate in Spain, but the level of comfort I feel here after five days is more than I felt the entire time in Spain. My heart is bursting with the acceptance shown by my host family here. While I loved living in Spain and I loved my host family, there is a certain intensity about the Spanish personality that is just not present here. Tonight after dinner, we came back to Delfina and Cornelio’s house to have a coffee and chat. We sat around the table - Cornelio, Delfina, Delfina’s nephew and his wife, their kids Carla (18) and Nacho (12) (Ignacio, but they call him Nacho), Katia, Beto, and me – and talked about their trip to the beach and how Mateo was eating the sand, about school and sports, and the health of their friends. More or less conversations I would have with my family members. And whenever someone would ask me a question, everyone would listen and laugh at my jokes, or help me when I would struggle to find the right words. There’s something very powerful about being listened to… to know that people want to hear what you have to say. I feel comfortable and accepted. Which, to me, is fundamental.

Also, my comprehension seems to be at an all-time high. In Spain I experienced a lot of frustration of not being able to understand conversations around me or jokes or anything, and even if I asked them to repeat themselves, I wouldn’t understand. Here, I understand almost everything, and if I don’t, I ask and someone explains it to me patiently until they see the lightbulb click. I don’t know if I understand more because the language is easier to understand here compared to Spain or if simply my level of comprehension has risen. Either way, I feel like I’m on top of the world with my comprehension.

Now, pictures. All of the following pictures are from Queretaro.