Window Man

How much more stereotypical can it get? A mexican in a window with a plaid shirt, cowboy boots, and a fabulous mustache.

Nice morning surprise...

I turned on the water, opened the shower door, and swimming, was this lil fellow. We shall name him ABELARDO- meaning, "noble strength." Well, not wanting to smush Abelardo, lest I make a mess in my shower, I created a ramp to get him into the toilet. Well, flush number one was no deterrent for him. Neither was flush number two, or three or four. Keep in mind that our toilets do not enjoy flushing repeatedly. You must flush, and then wait about 4 minutes before you can flush again. So in between flushes, Abelardo is swimming and climbing up the toilet bowel. I grab my tea cup and continuously pour water on him in hopes of getting him back into the bowel- the thought of him climbing on my toilet seat was not going to fly. I flush again and after thinking he went down the commode, he reappears on his back- and silly me actually thought for a moment that I had killed him! But oh no, he is now doing the backstroke. Well, after pouring water on him for the 4 minutes before I can flush again, he looks like he was loosing all hope. I'm pretty sure he was missing a few legs and arms after flush number four. Finally, flush number six and he is a goner!

30 minutes later I get into my shower feeling like a mass murderer facing 5 counts of attempted murder, and one count of murder by ruthless drowning.

P.S.- Abelardo was much bigger than this picture portrays. And, Mexican cockroaches are MUCH faster than ones in the US. I think it has to do with the food.

VEGGIES!!!!!

Ok, my plan of attack was to go home and present my host mother with a list of all the possible vegetables one could find, and ask that we have at least 3 a day.

WEELLLL, I get home and on the table is my lunch- the usual fried meat, rice, AANNNDD VEGGIES! I was so happy!

I just found that they are frozen and in a 3 pound bag in the freezer but I am very happy! ! ! (never thought I would jump for joy at frozen vegetables, but hey, they can't be pumped with that many preservatives, right???)

yay. happy day.

I'm also getting over my cold- minus the constant coughing.

Food- I'm pissed

I've about had enough with the food at my host family. I haven't been as close to moving out as I am today. One of my roommates is VERY serious about moving out. Constantly starch and meat, even after telling her I need more vegetables. Ever meal, our options are tap water, or tap water mixed with powdered lemonade. Here is todays meals:

Breakfast- 2 slices of white bread with butter.

this is lunch- meat with gravy, rice, and this frozen hashbrown that she drenches in oil.

This is dinner. Tortialls with cheese, and a bowl of beans.

oh yeaaahhh

I forgot to mention that i jumped of a series of waterfalls. This one was the biggest. I was the last person to jump. I stood on top of it for 30 mintutes....never ever ever have I done something so crazy. I never jump them despite all that we have in Boone cause the risks are worth it, but it trip was incredible and the falls were amazing- I probably peed on myself on my way down.

This isn't actually me- nobody got a picture of me cause after 25 minutes, they gave up on watching me. But, this is the falls! Its 8-10 meters high.

San Luis Potosi Trip

Click on the photos to really see whats in them. The quality shrinks unless you click to see them bigger. I went on this trip with Tec. We left at 11:30pm on thursday night and came back at 5am monday morning...It was the most fun I have had here. An AMAZING trip!

The entrance to a church in a small city- mass was going on.

This is from Xilitla- It is a castle in the jungle build by Edward James a hundred years ago. Very hard to explain but incredible! Built in surrealism and beautiful. We only had 1 1/2 hours to explore, and to see everything, you need days. Here you can read about it-http://www.xilitla.org/index.php

Some window in a maintenance building.

Just a door.

These here are from "the hole." It is called "Sotano de las Golondrinas" It is one of the largest holes in the world. Many people base jump into it for practice and you can see these guys repelling into the hole. The hole is 512 meters, or 1680 feet. When you look over it, its complete blackness. Because people die all the time at it, in order to look over, you can pay these guys like 20 cents to tie a rope around your stomach. If you fall, it won't keep you from dying, but it will prevent you from falling into the hole if you were to trip on the way to the edge- i can't believe I looked over! Here is a very short video of the hole- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWw-HCsNH00



Shot this out the bus window so its kinda weird but i like train tracks...

Room

Our room. Our beds are awkwardly close together. Part of the closet-
Beds with desk and door that leads to nowhere
shower

Traveling

I leave tomorrow night (at 11:30 pm) to go to San Luis Potosi. It is a 6 hours drive and I'm going with Tec(the school.) There are lots of huge waterfalls where they are known for jumping and caves and castles in the jungles. I think its going to be very outdoorsy. However, this week is rainy week and if it rains, we wont be able to do all the stuff because it gets very dangerous- so we are hoping for no rain! I will come back late night/early morning on sunday, just in time for a few hours of sleep before going to class on monday...

Got coffee with one of my professors today and talked about traveling. After exams, I plan to travel south mexico for 10-14 days. We will start in Mexico city, and work our way south- spending 4 days in Mexico City, 3 days in Oaxaca, and 4 days in Chiapas- more or less. But Im still working on that. I also am trying to figure out what to do for independence day and day of the dead. There is a group from Tec going to San Miguel de Allende for Independence day but I don't know if Im going to go with them. Im the most excited about day of the dead! I wish I could go to Oaxaca, but its too far, so I'm thinking Zacatecas. These are all the places I really want to go!

I will write when I get back on monday or so.

I have two presentations tomorrow. I am SOOOO tired of presentations and group work. I have had one short essay this entire time, and Im on presentation number 8 or something crazy like that! This whole country is about group work....kill me.

Anyways, I think my stomach parasite/bug is going away. Still comes to haunt me everyday, but not as bad as before!

Thats all for now. Got to get up at 6:30am and I still have to research for my presentation at 8:30.

Adios!