el fin de semana pasada

¡Hola!

Well... I had my first full weekend here in Cuernavaca and it was very eventful. It was also yet another eye opening experience. I found out Cuernavaca in much bigger than I first thought... In fact, it even has many street lights! I was able to get out and explore much of the city this weekend, and I feel like I am begining to get a good feel for the area. In visiting more of the city I also found that there is a lot of poverty here in Cuernavaca, as well as polution and trash... I had heard this and even seen pictures, but to experience it first hand was pretty upsetting. These people are living in ''houses'' that consist of three walls and a roof. They have no running water, no electricity... Yet each one had a big smile on their face and offered a friendly, ''¡Buenas Tardes!'' as we walked by. It was a hard sight to see, but also a great opportunity to put things into perspective and reflect on how lucky I am. I will think twice next time I open my mouth to complain about how small my apartment is in Boulder, or the fact that sometimes when I go to take a shower here, the water is cold...

Saturday I went on a trip to Mexico City with about 25 students from my school. We visited the el Placio Nacional where some of Diego Rivera's murals are. They were AMAZING! We visited a large Cathedral and also went to el Museo de Antropología e Historia. This is a huge museum with many exhibits... too many to see in just one day. We visited the Aztec and Mayan areas... two extreamly interesting cultures. We also briefly walked through an area which had displays about various tribes still living in México today. I took a lot of pictures...

We came back to Cuernavaca around 7:00 and I went to dinner with Jenny and Nicole and a few of their friends. (They are all teachers or education students, so it has been fun hanging out with all of them and sharing stories about our jobs.) We ate at La Gringa, a really fun little resturant close to our house. They have these mini tacos for 7 pesos (70 cents) and they are 'muy rico' (delicious)! We ate and ate until we started to feel sick!

After dinner we went with some of Jenny´s friends (Omar and Alberto... residents of Cuernavaca) to a café to listen to some ''Musica de Rock''... Mexican style. It was really good music and we had a fun time. It was really great practicing my spanish in that type of setting... with all the slang words and fast talkers...

Sunday I said goodbye to Jenny and Nicole... (they went back to Utah) and then went down to the center of town. I was looking for a place to just chill for a while... and found Járdin Borda. It is a Garden with many fountains, trees, flowers and a huge man made lake (which is more like a pool) where the swans hang out and people take out rowboats. It was really beautiful there and I hung out for a few hours people watching and reading my book. (I'm reading Eat Pray Love again, because it's the only book I brought, and I already finished it. I'm not quite ready for the challenge of reading a book in español...).

Aside from school and homework and exploring, I have also been finding time to practice yoga, meditate and teach myself astrology. My days are full, my brain is full and my belly is full. And my body is feeling very happy!

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been writing me emails and commenting on my blog. I am having a great time here, but have to admit that sometimes I feel very lonely. It is so nice to come to the computer lab and open up an email from someone back home! Thank you for thinking about me... you know I'm thinking about all of you!

¡Hasta Luego!