Monday, April 22, 2013

Even in Mexico, I'm still a procrastinator...

Hola amigos,

So we were highly encouraged to keep a journal/blog during our stay in Mexico, and I made a promise to myself that I would actually do this and keep up with it. Not only for the study that is being done while we are here, but for myself to look back on and be able to reflect upon my time spent in Mexico City. As you can see, I clearly haven't even started yet and have a whole week to catch up on. I'll do better, I swear!

I will most likely split this up into multiple posts because there has been quite a bit going on this week.

Here's how my journey to Mexico City started:
It's 2:00 am on Monday morning the DAY we are supposed to get on our flight to Mexico. For some reason, my suitcase is still completely empty and waiting to be filled by the surrounding piles of clothes and various items that I have finally decided are important enough to make the trip. Now, our plane is scheduled to leave at 7:00 am and our professor wanted us to be there by 4:30 to make sure we all made it on time, which basically means I have about two and a half hours to pack, shower, and drive the hour to the airport. Somehow I pull it together (while wondering why I torture myself like this) and speed to Pittsburgh with about a minute to spare before being considered late.

Mexico City from the plane
There is a group of twenty-seven of us traveling together in the airport (twenty-four student teachers, two Slippery Rock professors, and a Pitt doctoral student, Heather, who is completing a study on our group). To make sure we are all together, we each have a number that we have to yell out loud until we get to twenty-four. Pretty embarrassing when you realize that everyone is staring at you wondering what on earth we are all doing. It got easier as the week progressed.

The flight was pretty smooth. I sat next to Jessie and I'm really glad I did because she had never really flown before and was a little nervous. By this point in my life, flying doesn't phase me in the slightest and it was pretty eye-opening to see that I have taken these experiences for granted. Experiencing it through someone else made me feel extremely grateful for the opportunities I have been able to have so far in my life. We had one layover in Dallas Fort-Worth, which usually frustrates me as it is the biggest airport in the entire world and I am somehow always miles away from where I have landed, but everything turned out well and we were on our second flight before I knew it.

(pause for dinner por favor)

Isabella and Martina

Okkk lo siento.

We arrived in Mexico City and took a caravan of taxis to the American School Foundation (the school we are all teaching). They had a nice lunch set up for us and we got to meet our host families for the first time. I am living with three other girls and a house full of people. Sam, who I am already good friends with, Marissa, and Kaelin. The four of us get along really well and we've discovered we're pretty lucky to be living together because I don't think anyone else could handle our weird crazes (pictures will be posted later). In our house we have Estere, her husband, her daughter Carolina, her granddaughter Isabella, her daughter (I forget her name but she was only visiting until Sunday), and her grandson Alejandro. Oy vey, it's even a lot to type, but it seems to be working out well so far. The first night we learned where the metro was and mainly just got our stuff put away and got to know each other a little bit. Our host mom only speaks Spanish so I don't understand a lot but it's coming slowly. I forgot about the animals! We have a dog named Martina, and a turtle, or tortuga, named Matilda.

That's enough typing for me and I only got through the first day so I will try to update about the rest of the week either tonight or tomorrow :)

Suzanne


1 comment:

  1. I LOVE that you're keeping a blog!! I'll read every single post. I can't wait to hear all about Mexico and your teaching!! Love you and miss you!

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