Our First Week

Saturday, Dec 13 2008

Time is flying by! That can only mean one thing… we are having a very good time. We couldn’t have ended up with a better host family or situation. After our arrival, we quickly got to know the members of the household.

Eddie and Fatima have grown children living in Guanajuato: Fatima, Auxie, and Jesus. Their grandchildren, Julia and Roberto, come here after school each day and spend time here on the weekends so we see them often. Eddie works most of the time at the clinic or hospital, so the only time we spent with him this week was watching “The Ten Commandments” (in one sitting with Spanish subtitles). We see Fatima the most as she prepares breakfast and a late lunch for us every day. She is so sweet and gracious.

A huge bonus this week was time spent with another US student/ housemate, Sara, who has been attending the university and living here for 3 months. She has been extremely helpful in explaining the routines and customs around here to help us feel at ease. She and Jesus are now an item, so you can imagine how sad the family was yesterday when she flew back to the US. We were too! Fatima told us another student arrives tomorrow for the duration of our stay, so we’ll have a housemate once again.

We are both pleased with our school, Academia Falcon. This week we took 4 classes per day: Grammar, Pronunciation/Diction, and 2 Conversation classes. Student count is low, so besides the teacher, there are just 2 or 4 students per class. Also, the school is celebrating its 25th anniversary so they are offering a 30% discount on tuition fees. Next week, we’ll mix up the schedule a bit with more grammar and a listening class. We may participate in an extra activity or field trip as well, but so far, we’ve enjoyed exploring on our own after school. We can walk everywhere.

The most difficult part in our learning so far is listening comprehension. We have conversations with each other, and students that we can understand, even our instructors speak slowly enough for us, but when we listen to the locals, we realize how much more we’ve yet to learn.

There is so much to learn about the city of Guanajuato. It is famous for its mines that produced enormous amounts of the world's silver for many years. It was the capitol of Mexico during the presidency of Benito Juarez, and has an incredible amount of colonial influence since the Spanish elite lived here for so long. Cathedrals, basillicas, and beautiful old buildings dating into the 1600's rise up among the common Mexican architecture. Another unique feature of the city is a network of underground tunnels that snake underneath entire hillsides and provide alternative routes for autos and pedestrians. It is so hilly here that many of the roads are too narrow for buses or cars. Many calles are for pedestrians only. Guanajuato is also the site of the beginning of the Mexican revolution for independence, a war lasting many years to end Spain's 300 year rule.

Memorable events this week were: Attending a festival for the Sister Cities of Guanajuato (Ashland, OR is one) where we watched beautiful folk dancers… Julia’s 3rd birthday party with a huge cake (pastel) made by chef Jesus… Observing the holiday of the Virgen de Guadelupe on Dec 12 which included parades, lots of street food, costumes and fireworks… Going to the mummy museum (a place full of mummified people. You only need to go here once in your life).

Here’s a kicker in the culture category – the grand opening of Starbucks in the Jardin de la Union was yesterday, so that’s where I sat to write most of this, while Roger went to a spinning class at the local gym. Today, domingo, the country is wrapped up in a huge futbol tournement and all eyes are on the television. There is cheering in the street each time a goal is scored. GOOOOOOOOOAAAAL! Hasta Luego... Coni y Rogellio