The Devil Line

Kammy and I decided to rent a car to go to Zihuatanejo because the van from her friends decided to become a small car. As many of you know the great driver I am and how much I love to drive - why in San Francisco I owned multiple cars just to drive something different everyday - but in Mexico it becomes slightly difficult.

Mexico has crazy drivers! And crazy lanes with crazy rules. Please be sure to watch out for people running across the freeway, which happened on more than one occasion for us. Be sure to go at least 140 km or the car behind you will ride your tail because you are going to slow. When a huge truck puts on his left blinker and rides on the end of the one lane he wants you to pass him, even with the double yellow lines and the cars doing the same thing on the other side. Watch out of the ramdom speed bumbs. And be sure to watch out for the devil line....

As i was driving on a two lane highway, a weird red line was right in the middle of my lane. It had bumbs on it so if your tire hit it you would know. The only way for my tires not going dunt dunt dunt is drving with the line in between my tires (because on the outide of the lane does the same for when you fall alseep). Anyways, this doesn't sound to bad right? Well it wasn't that bad until I realized that the cars on the other side was using this devil line as a way pass the cars in front of them. So two double yellow lines, than a red line in the middle of my lane - the cars would (without hesitation) cross the yellow lines but not the devil line.

Either way, driving in Mexico is pretty crazy. But we made it there and back safe and sound.

International Hoop Star

I met a friend: Kammy.

She is officially an International Hoop Star. She met some clowns (circus performers) and they asked her to be in their show. She was really great, hooping for about 5 minutes and sadly unable to bring out her fire hoop. She makes hoops by hand as a career: http://cosmichoops.net/

After the show, they asked her and myself to go the beach for the next week. I thought it would be a great idea to skip school and head down and get some dirty sand in between my toes (and if you have ever been to a beach with me, you would know how much I hate sand really really hate it - I only put up with the sand for the ocean and the sun and the tan i will get by the end.

Sorry to trail off topic, but there is much happening right now. Performances and people going to church to pay their respect, it is very lively here :)

Time Away from Time Away...

I am currently in Guadalajara enjoying my own hotel room without a host family and being on their schedule. I am already enjoying my own space.

I think I came to Guadalajara a couple years to early - it is a really nice city but they are in the midst of making it better being many sidewalks and streets being turned out. The cathedral is muy bonito but i really want to see it this evening, i can imagine it being a nicer image.

Having completely my own space has been so great, it makes me excited for Chile because I am planning on renting an apartment while I am there.

Update

I noticed I haven't updated this in a few days and I want to make sure i keep this going. The second week of school is going well, I am in pronunciation, two grammar classes and a vocab class. I think i am learning alot, but i think i should practice more. It is easier to speak in class but it gets a bit difficult when i have to do it with Real Live Mexicans! The good thing is people are mostly willing to help me with my Spanish especially in Cafes. My pronunciation is horrible, but i just learned something in class today that i hope will help me. I am still talking like a second grader which will be very difficult when i get to Chile because I heard they can talk pretty fast and they drop the end of words - not sure if that is true or not but there you go!

I've met two women here who are traveling with their kids, i think this is really awesome. They are staying with host families and taking Spanish courses here at my school. One woman has two kids and the other has one and is pregnant. I can imagine bringing my kids traveling because there is to much to see for me to stop when I have kids.

Ya me voy!

Maritza

Mi Espanol

A veces, voy a escribir espanol por que necesito practicar. Mi escuela muy bien. Voy a tomar cuatro clases semana proxima. Todas las noches, necesito hablar con mi familia antitriona y necesito hacer mi tarea. Estudio todas las noches por que es muy importante por mi. Quiero entender Espanol. Poco y poco, voy a aprender. Mi familia anfitriona es muy bien y van a concinar por mi a los tres todas las dias.

Gracias.

(Sometimes, i am going to write in Spanish because I need to practice. My school is very good. I am going to tak 4 classes next wek. Every night, I need to talk with my host family and I need to do my homework. I study every night because it is important to me. I want to understand Spanish. Step by step, I am going to learn. My host family is very nice and they are going to cook for me at 3 every day

Thank you)


I would have said "Thank you for reading" but i dont know how to say that yet. I speak very slowly but I am learning alot and in only one week.

Happy Birthday to Me

It's nice to know everyone is wishing me a Happy Birthday - the alerts I am receiving from Facebook.

I hope everyone goes out and celebrates my birthday with a good old fashion beer!...or wine or shot...

First Day in Mexico

I first arrived in Mexico forgetting why I decided to leave San Francisco. After seeing my friends and spending a lot of time with my family, I was already regrading my decision. I am guessing it didn't help that Senora Torres (the woman hosting me) would not allow me to sleep after my long journey from San Francisco, instead taking me to her sister's Birthday Dinner about an hour out of Guanajuato. I finally get to sleep at 7pm and start classes the next morning at 8am.

After a few classes, I remembered why I am in Mexico: for the adventure. I have four classes, none of my teachers speak English.

I think i will be learning quite a bit out here since Senora Torres and my teachers only speak to me in Spanish.

Hasta luego!