Salsa y ''The Hulk'' y perritos, oh my!

I went to class on Tuesday afternoon to learn how to Salsa dance. It was fun, but I'll tell you what... This white girl doesn't have much rythm. Our teacher and some of the other students were really good and I was very entertained by watching them, for sure. As for my personal Salsa dancing, let's just say I wasn't that sweet. Even the clumbsy 6 foot tall white boy who was my partner was laughing at me! But, at least it was a good workout. They offer classes three times a week... so who knows... I may have some moves to show off by the time I come home :)

Spanish Classes have been going well this week, but I have been a little overwhelmed. I was moved up a level in my morning class, which was great because I felt like the class was moving pretty slowly. But then I ended up being a week behind in my new class. Monday and Tuesday were really crazy. I felt like I couldn't speak any Spanish because I was trying to cram so much information into my head to try and catch up. I ended up going to a tutoring session on Wednesday afternoon for some one-on-one time and that really helped me straighten things out. I think I'm caught up and understand everything fairly well now (well... hopefully I do since I have a test on all of it tomorrow!!)

The weather has been much nicer this week. For the most part the rain has stopped, aside from a few thunderstorms at night. The sun has been shining during the day and it has actually been kind of hot. (''Usually'' it doesn't get to be above 80 degrees here. But I guess usually doesn't really matter as far as the weather goes anymore... thanks to good old global warming!) We did have a big storm last night that knocked out the power and the phone line for a few hours. I had to do my homework by candlelight. That's right... just call me Laura Ingles Wilder! It was kind of a bummer that the phones went out, because I was suposed to go to the movies with a friend I met from Texas, but didn't get to go because I was unable receive the call to tell me what movie, what time, where to meet... (Aparently Wednesday night is movie night here in Cuernavaca. Two people can get into the movie for the price of one person... about 40 pesos ($4). So this morning when I saw my friend, he was disapointed, but when he told me he went and saw the movie 'The Hulk', I was relieved. I can't imagine that movie was very good the first time, but then dub it in Spanish...? I'm glad I stayed at home with Rosa instead!! :)

My Spanish is coming along pretty well. I learned today what NOT to say in Spanish...
Let's think back to Brush High School Spanish class... (Nick, Chris, Meg & Randi... you with me?) I clearly remember being taught that jacket is ''chaqueta''... which it is... in Spain, but in México, ''chaqueta'' means... excuse me for being vulgure... but it means... to masturbate! Now, I won't go into the whole embarrassing story of who I was saying this word to and why, but I will say that I was just trying to make a coment about my jacket and came across in a whole different way. I was very embarrassed and can tell you I will never make that mistake again! In México, a jacket is a ''chamarra''!!

So I just need to warn everyone that I may be coming home with a few adopded Mexican children, as well as as many dogs as they will allow me to bring on the plane! Okay... I'm obviously not serious, but nothing breaks my heart more than seeing children and animals that are unhappy or unhealthy. There are as many stray dogs in Cuernavaca as there are squirls in Cleveland! They are everywhere! They are so skinny and hungry and they quietly follow you around with their sad little puppy dog eyes... (think Puss-n-boots from the movie Shreck...) It takes everything I have for me to not pick them up and take them all home with me! (Aparently you're not supposed to touch them, because they could carry disease... so I don't touch them... but oh my goodness, it is so sad.) Now, I know we don't need any more stray dogs or homeless children in the states either. I am well aware that we have all of these problems back home, too. I just don't ever have to experience them face to face in my Boulder bubble.

On a lighter note... I ate hard boiled eggs and cactus for dinner on Tuesday night. This is the one (and probably only) Mexican meal that I would never like to eat again! Everything else has been fantastic!

This weekend I will be heading to the city of Taxco, a silver mining town about an hour away from here. I also hope to spend some time at Jardín Borda again. I really liked it there!

I can't believe my second week here is almost over! It has gone by really quickly. Although, when I think about how I still have 6 more weeks here... It feels like that's a really long time. So, I don't think about that. I'm just excited to be here today.

Thanks for listening!