Down to one week left of school. All I have left are my four final papers:

• History research paper: National and International Coverage of the 1968 Student Movement (specifically the massacre at Tlatelolco) (11/15 pages)
• Literature final paper: Alejo Carpentier: Afrocubanismo and Lo Real Maravilloso (1/10 pages)
• Cine final paper: Comparison of Todo el Poder with another movie, yet to be determined (0/5 pages) -by the 17th or 19th, not quite sure
• Spanish final paper and presentation: Tlatelolco (DONE! I just used the three pages of summary of the student movement from my research paper...mwahahahahah!)

Today was relatively uneventful. Had my last history class, which was super exciting.

Then I went to the bus station with Lisa and bought our bus tickets to Mexico City, we are leaving Friday at 2. We are staying the night in Mexico City, then flying to Oaxaca. On the 23rd we are flying to Chiapas, and then the 27th back to Guanajuato.

Now I need to stop daydreaming about this trip and Oregon (18 days!) and get back to my paper...

Writing, writing, more writing...

Down to one week left of school. All I have left are my four final papers:

• History research paper: National and International Coverage of the 1968 Student Movement (specifically the massacre at Tlatelolco) (3/15 pages) -technically due the 22nd, but since we have to present and I will be out of town then, it has to be done by the 15th.
• Literature final paper: Alejo Carpentier: Afrocubanismo and Lo Real Maravilloso (1/10 pages) -has to be emailed into the professor by the 22nd, but again, out of town, so it has to be done by the 19th
• Cine final paper: Comparison of Todo el Poder with another movie, yet to be determined (0/5 pages) -by the 17th or 19th, not quite sure
• Spanish final paper and presentation: Topic unknown (0/3 pages) -for Imelda, so it will be super easy. Done by the 19th.

So here is my plan of attack:

All of Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday will be spent on history. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be half literature and half cine. Thursday will be spent on Spanish, though that paper shouldn't take more than an hour. So I have a little breathing room with Literature and Cine. Friday I leave town just after noon!

So basically, this week is going to be horrible. I have banned myself from Facebook between the hours of 8AM and 9PM, and Skype is a no until I'm done with my first three papers. That is the plan, anyway.

Then, off to Oaxaca and Chiapas. SO EXCITED.

Then Oregon!

More Medical Adventures

Last night I noticed more white spots on my tonsils, back to the doctor this morning. He walked into the room, looked at me, then said to the receptionist "Please say Kelsey is not here to see me again."

Visit #7 in about two months. On antibiotics, with visit #8 on Saturday. Things better clear up soon, I'm headed out for my big adventure in two weeks and I will be very upset if I am still sick then.

More Notes on Food

Food. Seems I always have something to say about it.

Four months into my time here, I'm finally just now getting used to the eating schedule. Heavy breakfast in the morning, huge lunch around 3 in the afternoon, and either nothing or something like donuts or cereal for dinner around 9 at night. Very different, and for some reason it took me forever to adjust. It will be interesting to see how quickly my body reverts back to its regular eating schedule once I am back in Oregon. Not going to lie, I'm looking forward to having a nice big warm dinner instead of a donut.

I can't help but to start off yet another post expressing disbelief as to how quickly time has passed. The 9th will be my four month anniversary here. I will be back in Oregon in 29 days. Which means my time in Mexico is almost halfway over. Is that even possible? It feels like just yesterday that I was stumbling through Guanajuato, hopelessly lost and tripping over my words. On the other hand, it feels like that was centuries ago. Almost like that was a different Kelsey.

This is the last week of the International Cervantino Festival. I'm not going to miss the tourists that have been overloading the city for the past month, but I will miss all of the amazing performances and street artists. The living statues, the breakdancers, the hippie drum circles...it has all become such a part of the city that I almost can't imagine what it was like beforehand.

Friday I finish classes at 9, and we had Monday and Tuesday off for Día de los Muertos. Basically, a 5 day weekend! It has been a long, exhausting weekend with lots of ups and downs, but here are the highlights:

-Get invited to the first family outing with my family. A combination housewarming/graduation from dentistry school party. Amazing food, beer, a ridiculous amount of family members, and a gorgeous home makes for a great party.

-Cervantino event: Dancers on stilts. I have never seen anything like it, it was very impressive.

-Day of the Dead! SO COOL. This was one of the biggest reasons I finally chose to come to Mexico, I have always been fascinated by this. People have been selling marigolds and sugar skulls on the street for weeks now. My family didn't make an altar but they did buy lots of marigolds for the house. They also made atole (a drink made from corn) and cajeta de nuez and de guyaba to put on the pan de los muertos, which is absolutely delicious. I would upload pictures but the internet is being really slow right now, so I will put them up next time.

The next two weeks are going to be really tough. All I have left for my classes are papers, then I am DONE and off to Oaxaca and Chiapas. Here is what I have:

• History research paper: National and International Coverage of the 1968 Student Movement (specifically the massacre at Tlatelolco) (1/15 pages)
• Literature final paper: Alejo Carpentier: Afrocubanismo and Lo Real Maravilloso (1/10 pages)
• Cine final paper: Topic unknown (0/? pages)
• Spanish final paper and presentation: Topic unknown (0/3 pages)

I absolutely cannot believe how quickly time is passing. I just now am getting back into the swing of things after a bad month, and I will be back in Oregon in about 44 days. How is that even possible?

This week has been spent on homework. And more homework. Wednesday night I realized that even though I was feeling better, I hadn't done anything fun yet, so I went to my first Cervantino event. Like I mentioned in an older post, Cervantino is a massive international arts festival that lasts the entire month. There are dozens of performances every day, in theaters and on the streets. Living downtown, I hear the concerts at the alhondiga every single night, and they keep getting more and more amazing. So, Wednesday night after my Cinema class, Cassie and I went and bought donuts and coffee, then went to see Vicente Amigo (flamenco guitarist) at the amphitheater in the plaza in front of the alhondiga. It was absolutely incredible. Not only was the music amazing, but it was our first warm night in awhile. From our spot in the bleachers, we could see the beautiful city in the background. Best of all? It was free. You can buy tickets to be guaranteed a nice seat at most of the events, but they also set up bleachers for people who just show up. Free is good.

Today was the most productive day that I have had in a long time. After my morning class, I went to my favorite coffee shop, treated myself to a delicious mocha, and spent the entire morning working on my 15 page research paper for history that I hadn't started yet. After lunch, I got started on the health insurance claim process, and later in the afternoon Lisa came over and we started to plan our trip. Then we went to another Cervantino event in the plaza right outside of my house, which was some sort of interpretation of a book or poem through dance and song. We got there about an hour into it, so we didn't really understand the storyline, but it was still really interesting. I'm still confused about how they managed to set up such a massive stage and fit an entire orchestra in my little plaza, it is tiny.

The last full week of November is when Lisa and I will be taking our trip. We just bought our plane tickets yesterday, and today we tried to roughly plan out what we want to do. We are leaving for Mexico City on the 19th, staying the night, then heading to Oaxaca bright and early the next morning. We will be there until the 23rd when we leave for Chiapas, where we will be until the 27th. We haven't solidified any of our activities yet, but there will hopefully be some nice hikes, good food, and lots of adventuring. From the looks of what we have planned so far, Oaxaca will be spent wandering slowly through the city, and Chiapas will be more adventurous. It is going to be a really nice way to end the term.

Tomorrow I have to give a presentation in my lit class. In front of a room of native speakers. AHHHHHHHH. But I am not half as terrified as I would have been when I first got here. I know that my Spanish has greatly improved, and every day I realize how much.

After a pretty horrible September, things have been pretty amazing. I have been feeling fine (doctor's appointment on Thursday to get the results of my throat swab). Keeping busy with TONS of homework. Things with my family are going really well. Looking forward to a problem free (hopefully) end of the term. The next two months are absolutely going to fly by.

This week is the beginning of Cervantino, which is a massive festival in Guanajuato. Tens of thousands

of people from all over are flocking to our tiny little city for concerts, art shows, parties, etc.

It is supposed to be nuts. And since it is the bicentennial of Mexico, this year Cervantino lasts four weeks instead of three. Tomorrow is the official start date, should be fun. But I am a little nervous about how loud it is going to be. Apparently celebrations last all night. I live right downtown where everything is concentrated. My family warned me that this month I am pretty much just not going to sleep.

November will be crazy busy. I will be taking finals, writing a huge paper for history, going to Oaxaca and Chiapas with Lisa, then going to Guadalajara before flying back home to Portland for December and January. We have such an enormous break, I can't even believe it. But I am also very excited to see friends and family.