Escuela (school)

The Cuernavaca program is the most language-intensive Spanish study abroad experience that NC State offers. Students are in 2-5 perons classes from 8am-2pm! The campus of the Universidad Internacional (or UnInter for short) is quite beautiful as you can see, and the classrooms have great views! (There are about 7 pools, but not for swimming.) I have been extrememly impressed with the organization, professionalism, availability, and kindness of the staff here.

While students are in class, I do a variety of things including helping students with changes or problems, attending their classes with them to get an idea of what they're learning, and working on lesson plans for Spanish 102 classes I will be teaching in the fall. That last one is the hardest - it still takes me a long time to lesson plan, and this fall I will be competely in charge of two classes of 25ish students each. When the lesson planning gets to be too stressful, though, I take a break to blog or e-mail. The last picture is the area outside of the directors' office that I have staked out as my personal "office." Not too shabby, eh?

This is where I live!

You can see the outside and inside, as well as my bedroom. There is another purple twin bed in the bedroom that is you can't see from the picture, where my great roommate who is also named Sarah sleeps.

You asked for pictures...

This year is Mexico’s bicentennial, so there is big construction going on in downtown Cuernavaca to prepare for the celebration. The dust and mess we had to walk around on our downtown walking tour, did not hide the great colors that are ever-present here in Mexico. The vendors, the flora, the homes – everywhere you look there is something painted with a color that would be a one-way ticket to a big fat fine from most home owners’ associations. I love the trees and flowers that bloom here.

Being in a new place also has its charm of the bizarre. As plastic bags always have about 50 different warnings about keeping them away from anyone under the age of 14, I have no idea how they got this kid safely into the big plastic bubble. It seemed like he could breathe, though, b/c there was another similarly bubbled kid in the same pool who he was crashing into. Then there were the trees dressed in sweaters outside the theater/arts building. What tree honestly needs a sweater in the City of Eternal Spring? Another bizarre thing to me is how many bathroom signs actually say “WC,” as in water closet. Who knows how that tradition got started, since words beginning W in Spanish are rare and it’s funny to hear them pronounce them.

There many are plain metal, there are some lovely ornate doors and gates here. I really like artistic wrought iron and carving designs. Walking around the city we also went into the main catholic cathedral, out of which were being carted masses of flowers from a wedding. The inside of the cathedral was very attractive, with verses on the walls (look at the font, Zach!) and suspended candles at the front.

On Sunday we headed to Teotihuacan (tay-oh-tee-whah-KAHN) where there are two famous pyramids, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. We didn’t get there without first stopping at a tourist trap where they gave us pulque, an alcoholic beverage made from huge maguey plants. The consumption of pulque declined in the 20th century due to the popularity of beer. For my part, I agree that beer is certainly better than the peculiar BBQ/vinegar/worcesterchire taste of the cloudy white pulque.

We actually had a nice breeze to save us from the brutal sun as we hiked up the third largest pyramid in the world, the Pyramid of the Sun. It is 75 meters tall (that’s 246 ft for all you gringos I’m trying to convince to convert to metric) and many of the steps are extremely narrow. There’s no way they would ever be open to the public in the U.S. without tons of handrails and warning signs and waivers to sign. But this is Mexico, so we just went on up. I was the first person from our group that made it to the top, and yes, I did do it in a skirt and flip flops. I am both princess and pirate!

Our tour guide took us to a partially underground dwelling at the same place, where she let us try out the ancient shower, and then we were off to hike up the Pyramid of the Moon. It was a great day, but I was certainly worn out from the sun and the walking and the 2.5 hr bus ride each way. I do confess that a little bit of ice cream did help me feel a better, though.

Bienvenida

Ahh, and so here I am in México! My flights here were fine - I slept a lot because I was very tired - and even my transfer between terminals went without a hitch. That process was not quite as simple for one of the other students who didn't pay attention to her arrival directions and whom we couldn't find for over an hour. I ended up waiting in a meeting place for her as we called her name over the loud speaker in two different airport terminals and Dr. Darhower went looking for her. Luckily, during my extremely boring and solitary wait, there was a man from the Four Season waiting to pick up a guest. His name was Salvador, and he really was my savior for the boring waiting. We chatted and exchanged funny stories, and he asked if I was from Spain because my skin is fair but my Spanish is great. When he had to go to the bathroom, I offered to hold his sign. I felt like a rockstar, holding his sign with the guest's name on it as if I'd been there forever and wasn't newly arrived, exhausted, and carting luggage around. Salvador was great, and thanks to Brett for lending me his digital camera for the summer, you can see Salvador and me together in the attached picture. (And we eventually found the student.)

I also had what I might consider the best airport food in my life in the Mexico City airport. I passed by the Krispy Kreme, the Starbucks, the Sbarro to go to only slightly more authentic sounding Taco Inn. Although the name is suspect, the food was not - it was the real deal! I had chilaquiles, one of my favorite Mexican dishes with chips, chicken, cheese, refried beans, and spicy salsa. With my “Coca Light,” it cost me a total of 69 pesos, or $5.75 USD. (For all the linguistics nerds, they pronounce the vowel in “Light” with the Spanish dipthong “ai” to make it sound closer to English, and it makes me laugh!) And besides all the other American restaurants that they had in the airport, let me just get on my soapbox and say, why in the world can they have 7 Eleven in Mexico City, but we can’t have any in North Carolina?!

In terms of living, I really lucked out! (Thank you, God!) A rising senior, also named Sarah, and I are in the home of María Elena, a widow who lives by herself. She is very energetic, genuinely kind, and fun, and I would never have guessed that she is 60 years old. There are also two undergrads from Gonzaga that are sharing another room in her home, but we haven’t gotten to speak with them yet. María Elena is a great cook, and she likes to serve fruit, a welcomed surprise as I attempt to eat something healthy in the country that loves its fried carbohydrates. The house is a 5 minute walk from the school, and a 10 minute walk from the pharmacy and I think a coffee shop. Yeah!

I have really enjoyed all of the 16 students from NC State and the one Appalachian grad that we’ve adopted as part of our group – all are ready to learn and ready to experience Mexico. The school here, Universidad Internacional, is very organized and pretty.

Horn of the Cow

I'm off to Cuernavaca (literally, Horn of the Cow) tomorrow! I'm excited since it seems like a place I will love and anxious since I'm tired of the limbo/preparing stage and just want to be there. I packed my peanut butter - a little something familiar for hunger emergencies - and my Spanish 102 textbook for all the lesson planning I hope to accomplish while I'm there. I'm ready to be flexible, rest, have fun, care for undergrads on the trip, and roll around in all the Spanish I will hear.

I think I will have daily internet access, so feel free to e-mail or comment on blogposts. Hasta luego!