Cuernavaca

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Dos Dias Mas... ¡Dios Mio!

Wow.

I cannot even believe how fast the time has flown by here. I have 2 days left in my town of Cuernavaca and then I head back to the states. I have had such an amazing time here. This has been a once in a lifetime opportunity and I hope I am able to carry with me all of the lessons I have learned here throughout the rest of my life.

*I have learned so much about myself...

*I've gained self confidence and have become a stronger person.

*I no longer fear being alone.

*I have made friends from around the world.

*I have realized that I am getting too old to stay out until 5:30 in the morning....

*And have decided I never want to drink tequilla again.

*I have a new found respect for second language learners, and anyone for that matter who decides to step out of their comfort zone and try something new.

*I have realized, that even though we have a lot to work on in the US, we are really lucky to be living there.

*And I even learned a little bit of Spanish while I was here, too!!

There are some things that I take for granted every day of my life back home, that I have a new found appreciation for. Some of these things include:

*Drinking water out of the tap

*Flushing toilet paper down the toilet (that's right... you can't flush it here.)

*Weekly trash and recycling pick up (there are so many neighborhoods here that don't have

trash pick up... which is why it all ends up in the river)

*And being able to walk down the street without getting whistled at... (I have a lot of appreciation for the Mexican culture, but I do have to say that understanding the way that men treat women here is really difficult for me.)

I would like to take a moment to thank The United States Government for helping me to fund this fantastic excursion, my family for supporting me in everything I do, and each one of you, for reading my blog and experiencing this adnevture right along with me. Thank you so much for all of your comments and emails. I have loved sharing these last two months with all of you and I cannot wait to share even more when I return in a few days.

I have so many more pictures to post... but I probabally won't do it until after I come home... so keep checking for them.

Muchas Gracias y Hasta Luego

Thursday, July 24, 2008

on my way to the beach....

I'm heading to Acapulco today with my roomate, Juliette.
After the last two weeks spent learning about the subjuntive tenses of spanish, my brain is ready for a break. Somehow this week I was lucky enough to be the only person in my Spanish class... Thats a good thing, more bang for my buck, you know? But it was also really intense... I couldn't just pass a question I didn't know the answer to over to another classmate... It was all me. I really learned a lot... but I don't think I'll ever understand why you use past subjunctive in a present tense statement?????

It's been a really good but really long week. I'm ready for the beach. Maybe I'll even have a margarita made in my mouth... okay, probably not, but they really do that here. (It's not just a quote I'm stealing from Arrested Develpment.)

Enjoy your weekends... I'm looking forward to seeing everyone real soon!