Week 3 in Querétaro

Next Tuesday will be the day I will have been here in Mexico exactly 1 month! That is so crazy to think about! When you think about it that way, time is going by fast! It's already Thursday! I think it's because I only have classes 2 days a week, and that helps a lot and makes time go by faster. Thank Goodness.

This week wasn't that eventful I went to class, went to salsa class, worked out 3 times this week at the gym (woohoo!!) and met with my tutor Marisol. My salsa class is going really well. I'm learning all kinds of salsa moves and turns and it's really fun! I can't wait to see how much of an accomplished salsa dancer I am by May! :)

I think my biggest struggle with school would be the reading because there seems to be a lot of it and it takes me longer to read than it does in english obviously, and so it's a struggle with how long it takes me to read something and also understanding and remembering what I read too. Hopefully continuing to meet with my Spanish tutor Marisol will help me out. She is so kind and is really helpful. Today and yesterday we met up and I read my reading material aloud and she read along with me silently and when I came to something I didn't understand, she would explain it to me and then at the end of every couple paragraphs or so, I would recap what I just read and if I am confused or didn't remember much, she would clarify things for me and that helped a ton.

It's 9:15 pm currently and I feel like the night is still so young! I'm eating dinner as we speak. I'm having frosted flakes, an apple, and this concha bread thing. It's not really "dinner dinner" but I like having breakfast for dinner. It's comforting.

I've been asked a couple times if I like the food here and to be honest, I LOVE IT! It's so good, every time. All of the food my host mom Laura has made, I've loved. I honestly don't think it's as spicy as I thought it would be. Laura could be holding out on me though. haha. I've tasted way spicer in the U.S. but that's not REAL mexican food. I've been taking pictures of my meals daily to show you what I've been eating. I can never remember the names of the things that are made, but they all taste so so good! And surprisingly, I'm pretty sure that the mexican food I've been eating is a lot healthier than the stuff made in the U.S. So that's always a good thing because it tastes amazing! One thing I'm slowly growing to like more is corn tortillas. I just like flour tortillas better, but we always have corn tortillas at lunch. Basically with whatever you eat here, you can add a corn tortilla to it. I think I like the corn tortilla tostadas better because it's like a giant tortilla chip.

Something I'm proud of is that I am almost a pro at taking the bus home from school! haha. It may not seem like anything to people here or those city dwellers, but for a person who never takes public transportation, it's a big deal. I know how the bus system works, I know when to press the button to let the driver know I wanna get off at the next stop, and I know which bus stops I have to get on and off at (just for going home from school). The other day though, I decided to be adventurous and took the bus to school, which meant a different bus number and route. I knew I could take B or X and I knew where I had to get on at, but didn't know where exactly to get off at because I heard different things.Thankfully, I ran into my friend Antoinette (from North Carolina) at the bus stop and she said to get off by the Mazda building before the bus turns, and so that's where I got off! :) I think the next bus route I want to conquer is taking the bus solo from where I live to el Centro. I have yet to go to el Centro by myself, mostly because I don't want to get lost by myself, but maybe eventually, I'll be able to figure out my way around el Centro or meet a friend there. We shall see.

This weekend I'm planning on going to the movies with my friend Judith (from Chile) I don't remember the name of it but it has Rachel McAdams in it and some other guy. I'm pretty sure it's some type of love story. haha. There is also this huge international beach festival happening this weekend in Jalisco, Mexico. It's basically one giant beach party with students from all over Mexico  and all the universities in Mexico and maybe even other countries. I decided to pass this up because I have class all day on Friday and if I have a ton of homework, I gotta do it unfortunately, and this beach festival thing lasts all weekend until Monday (we don't have school on Monday). I know that may sound dumb, believe me, if I knew I wasn't going to have any homework or very little assignments that could be done rather quickly, I'd definitely go. But I'm also happy just hanging out around here and going to the movies and maybe el Centro on Sunday. I'm sure there will be a ton of other opportunities for travel and the beach, like Spring break. And I'm going to Teotihuacan next Saturday!

I think that's all I have to update you on thus far, I will be adding a lot of pictures of the foods now, and watch some Big Bang Theory with Spanish subtitles.  :)

Hasta Luego

breakfast: tortillas filled with eggs, cheese and frijoles of course 

lunch: frijoles, rice and chiles rellenos

first sunburn of the year from visiting El Cerrito

breakfast: torta stuffed with eggs, some kind of spice, and I think chorizo 

lunch: mexican rice, veggies and some type of meat.

breakfast: tostadas with frijoles and cheese

lunch: frijoles, green beans mixed with eggs and tortas de papa (SO GOOD)

lunch: corn tortilla, pasta and spinach soup, and frijoles, and mexican meatballs (SUPER GOOD)

concha bread that I decided to take a picture of while eating to document the moment.