This weekend was my last in Guadalajara, que triste. So I headed out to do some shopping that I have been putting off. I went to the market downtown, another one near my house, and finally a used market that was like the biggest garage sale I've been to. Except that no one was selling anything good. Since this culture is not as "disposible" as the United States, people tend to buy only what they need and then it stays in the family forever.

Since that's all I have to write about me, here's some more random tidbits from life in Mexico:

*The public universities are free for Mexican citizens. And since most of them live at home until they marry, they pay pretty much nothing to live. Not fair.

*On the other hand, most of the elementary and high schoolers go to private school and wear these cute uniforms. They don't have school buses here so I always see them on the city bus going home for lunch.

*Chips taste different here. They're more spicy (go figure). I don't think I can ever eat regular Cheetos again.

*I met Fernando from Maná in a bar and we exchanged the typical Mexican cheek kiss. The band Maná is a big deal here. You should care.

*My host mama won't let us drink milk for lunch. She's says it's just for breakfast and dinner.

*Oh, and she doesn't refridgerate some things that should be, like parmesan cheese, ketchup, open bottles of pop...

*Milk comes in boxes and is not refridgerated, even in the store. Either is yogurt.

*On the topic of food, Mexicans put chile powder or salsa on everything, including ice cream and popcorn.

*I've eaten octopus and cow tongue. Mmmm...que rico!

Okay, that's enough. It's 80 degrees here and 35 degrees at home. I need to get outside and enjoy it while I can. Besos.

I’m sitting at the computer lab at school (no, we don’t get a Thanksgiving break—why would Mexicans want to celebrate the pilgrims coming and invading their continent?) , trying to figure out how to get from Guadalajara to the beach and then to Oaxaca. Class is finished next Friday, and then I have a week free to travel before I head back stateside. So my friend Mary and I are making plans to head south. I would be fine to just hitchhike down there (oh, I can hear the admonishments now...) and save some money, but Mary’s not cool with that.

I never wrote about last weekend’s excursion to the neighboring state of Michoacán. I guess there’s really not much to tell—I saw all the normal touristy stuff in Morelia; went to a bar with Mary and a couple of her Mexican friends (which turned out to be a gay bar which was nice because we didn’t get hit on like every other place we go); we went to the island of Janitzio (which was one of the most picturesque places I’ve been to here) and saw the “butterfly fishermen”; wandered around the tiny town of Pastcuaro where there was a festival going on and people were throwing confetti everywhere; and watched the movie "A day without a Mexican" on the bus trip home (you should see it if you haven't--it's funny and informative).









































Yesterday my roommate Oliver and I went to a Kumbia Kings concert. It was only two bucks to stand in the very back, but we could still see and the music was good. Then we met some friends at a bar where a local jazz-rock band was playing. They were unbelievably good and I’ve never been interested in that kind of music before.

My roommate Molly left a few weeks ago and now we have this new guy from Arizona. He’s originally from Persia so he speaks with an accent. And he came here knowing absolutely NO Spanish. So this means my host mother will be speaking primarily in English with him and with us when he’s around. This really makes me mad because I'm not here to speak English! I've been continuing to speak Spanish with her even when he's around, so he'll just have to deal with it. It's better that way, anyway. Whatever. These last few weeks I have tried my best to be out of the house as much as possible. I hardly hang out with my gringo friends from school, choosing instead to go out with Mexicans. Only two more weeks; I better make the most of it.

It's finally starting to feel like fall here. It's still been like 80-85 degrees during the day, but the leaves are starting to fall and the women are out sweeping their sidewalks every morning. I really like the weather here and am not looking forward to being shocked with the coldness of Eastern Washington winter.

How 'bout some randomness? Good, here we go...

I saw a middle-aged women the other day wearing a shirt that said, "Looking for cute boys." It made me wonder if she really was, or just didn't know what it meant.

The oranges are not orange here. They're green.

I saw a whole family on a motorcycle driving down the highway. Seriously, there was a women, a man, and three little kids squished in between them. I wished I had gotten a picture.

Cops and ambulances drive around with their lights on (but not their sirens).

I'm reading Harry Potter y el prisionero de Azkaban. That's right, en español.

Gas is owned by the government, so it's the same price at every station (about equal to the US right now, according to the internet).

More later! Love you all!

After my big excursion to Mexico City, I've been resting and not really doing much of anything. I'm loving that my classes this term don't start until 10, so sometimes I don't even need my alarm to wake up.

Saturday I went with my roommate Oliver to my first soccer game. It was two teams from Guadalajara playing, so it was a classic and everyone was pumped up. I could feel the energy when I stepped into the HUGE stadium. There were faces painted, flags waving, and obsceneties shouted throughout the game. It was great! It ended in a tie, but it was a good game and I enjoyed the energetic atmosphere.

I went to my first actual Mexican movie this week. There were no subtitles and I understood almost everything, so that felt like an accomplishment.

Last night I went to "La Mutualista," a place with live Cuban music and salsa dancing. It was freaking hot in there, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and plan to go back there next week (every Thursday is Cuban night!).

Hey, someone leave me a comment. Please??? I'm not feelin the love. Besos.

Well, I made it through my weekend (well, five days) in Mexico City, and I can now say that I have been in the biggest city in the world, climbed the third highest pyramid in the world, and traveled via the third most used subway system in the world. I had such a good time and I was really lucky that things turned out so well, seeing as how I went there alone and with absolutely no plan.

Here are some memories I don’t want to forget:

*Sitting by this cute old lady on the bus and finally having the courage to strike up a conversation with her. I think she invited me to stay at her house, but I’m not sure.

*Figuring out the subway system alone and feeling very white.

*Seeing how the majority of Mexicans actually live. My friend Moisés took me to his house and I got to hang out with his family. His mom cooked me wonderful meals (The onion and pepper tacos were actually pretty good!), we played board games (playing Uno Stacko is just so much more fun in Spanish), they sang me Spanish hymns, and we even salsa danced in the living room! They don’t own a TV or even a microwave, so it was interesting to see how they do things. I realized that I’m tired of hanging out with these rich Mexicans with their fancy cars and preppy clothes. That’s not the Mexico that I came to see and it is definitely not representative of how most of them live. Okay, tangent...

*Being introduced to Moi's church friends from Chile and Peru who were visiting and five seconds later going out with them (without Moi). We tried on sombreros in the market, were serenaded my mariachis, took pictures with some girl who was having a quinceanera, and I tried horchata for the first time. I didn't speak English the whole night (except when Nivaldo tried to tell me stuff in English and I had to correct him) which was so great.

*Going out for a drink with my British roommate from the hostel. We went to a bar where a Mexican chick band was rocking out to Metallica. I thought it was ironically funny.

*Salsa dancing to the radio at a taco stand outside of a 7-eleven at midnight.

*Climbing the pyramids at Teotihuacan and eating sandwiches and doing jumping pictures at the top.

*Eating in a restaurant downtown in which I was the only customer and watching as my food was prepared right in front of me. I discovered that I love banana licuados. It's basically milk with fruit and sugar it in, so not quite a milkshake because it's runny.

*Visiting Moi's univerisity, the biggest in México with over 300,000 students.

*Seeing cute kids on the street dressed up asking for "treats for their pumpkins" on All Saint's Day and Day of the Dead. Also seeing altars set up all around town honoring the dead. Some were very elaborate, with flowers, food, skulls, pumpkins, and tons of decorations.

*Eating absolutely NO CANDY on Halloween!!! October 31st isn't celebrated at all here.

*Going to the Castle of Chapultepec, where Hernán Cortéz, Maximiliano, Benito Juárez, and Porfirio Díaz all lived (though not at the same time, of course).

*Going to a zoo that was free and laughing at the cacti in the penguin's cage. Only in Mexico. . .

*Going to the top of the Latin American tower. The view was comparable to the other tall buildings I've been to (Space Needle, Washington Monument, Eiffel Tower). The only differences were the layer of smog and that the city goes on for miles (er, kilometers).

Now for some pics. Sorry I couldn't figure out how to flip them.

Day of the Dead offering




























Some stuff from the Museum of Anthropology










































At the zoo. Look closely and you can see the penguins and the cactus.














Do I look Chilean? My new friend Nivaldo.




























Moi and me at his university.




























Jumping on the top of the Pyramid of the Sun.














Another one with the timing off a bit.















A little ritual sacrifice of the gringa.














But it's all in fun, right?














Moi, his brother Noë, and me




























Traffic and a gorgeous sunset.














The famous angel statue.