Getting Resettled

There is something so wonderful about Mexico that I can't possibly put into words. The people, the food, the pace of life...I'm completely in love. Oh, and the weather. It is January and I have a giant sunburn (my host mom saw me and was terrified that I was getting sick again). It isn't hot yet because there is a nice cool breeze, but the sun definitely beats down on our little mountain town. I have to get back into the routine of putting on my sunscreen every morning.

Today I had class with my fantastic Spanish teacher Imelda. For the first time we actually stuck to the course plan, but luckily we ran into her after class on the steps of the Teatro and had time to catch up. I spent hours sitting on the steps in the sun before my next class, 19th Century Latin American Literature. It could either be a really challenging course or just something that I have to sit through three hours of every week. If anything, it will be great practice in listening to Spanish since the professor speaks faster than anyone I have ever heard in my life. I absolutely cannot believe how quickly words flow out of his mouth, but surprisingly I was able to follow him during our entire class today. (Yes, I'm bragging about that...it was quite the task.)

After lunch I spent almost three hours on homework, then finally got a chance to sit down and talk with my host dad Jesus. All of last term we wanted to have English/Spanish conversation practices, but our schedules didn't match up. This term we are making an effort and will be practicing together around 6 each day. Last term I always loved finding a few minutes to chat with him, so I'm really excited about making time to talk each day. Today we ended mainly speaking in Spanish, but it was still great. My host dad is definitely an intellectual and had a lot to say about migration, our topic of the day. He is really fun to discuss topics like that with, and he is so encouraging when it comes to my Spanish.

Tomorrow I have class again with Imelda, then a new class called Migration and Contemporary Social Issues in Mexico which I am really excited about. After class I'm heading to my favorite park down the street for some journaling, homework, and maybe even some fun reading. And this time I will remember my sunscreen.