rosca de reyes pastry - a sweet bread with slices of fruit
Tamales - corn meal/hominy filled with either fruit and nuts or meat and spices, and can vary in spice level. you peel off the paper it is cooked in and enjoy! tamales are not just for the holiday.
After eating tamales for dinner, my friend Oscar who I also know from my internship in DC took me to the city center. The city center is the colonial/historic part of Queretaro that is the main attraction. This is the Queretaro that I cannot wait to experience especially during the spring season when it is warm, the trees are lovely, and everyone is at the square. Oscar and I tried to meet up with the other international students but they were not all at one place and it was hard to find people. We decided to go to a funky little spot whose name I cannot remember, but I'm sure I'll mention it another time. We had drinks and talked about career goals, our studies, and what he's doing now. I am very impressed by everything that Oscar, Alma, Itziar, Sergio and the others are doing. They all have a sense of passion whether it is industrial design, sustainability issues for rural development, or entrepreneurial interests. It was refreshing talking to Oscar last night and having him encourage me to find my passion and set goals for my graduate studies and career. If nothing else, I think my time in Queretaro will challenge me and open my mind to new opportunities and interests.
side street in the city center
fountain at plaza de armas. if people meet up in the city center it is at this plaza.
the old governor building across the plaza from the fountain
other plaza in the city center where there were men dressed as the three wise men, vendors, and kids playing. there was also a huge Christmas tree in this plaza.
Today...Today was/is a good day. I was a few minutes late to the general assembly this morning, but I took the bus all by myself. I met a guy at the bus stop this morning who lived in the States before, but is from Queretaro. He was really nice and gave me a few pointers about the bus. It takes 45min-1hr to get to school in the morning because the bus goes all through town and has many stops, but it takes 15-20min to get home from school...I really want to walk to school to save money, but I live far from school. A girl I met today, Rachel, was trying to figure out if we can walk to school together, but I'm not sure how that will actually pan out.
The general assembly was basically another introduction to the Tec and the culture of the school - to be passionate about what you are doing inside and outside the classroom. We also had the opportunity to do a team building exercise based off of a video we watched of an a capella choir> http://youtu.be/yjbpwlqp5Qw. Our challenge was to work in the groups to present a song using our bodies and a few tools (tongue depressors and plastic cups). The group I was in had the Macarena. We did a great job then we had to teach the other teams our song and we presented the Macarena as a whole. Afterwards we were asked to reflect about the collaboration and how what we learned can be integrated during our time at the Tec. It was very touching to hear people from all over the world who do not speak the same language have similar reflections of inclusion and peaceful collaboration despite language and cultural differences.
After the general assembly we had the opportunity to sign up for fitness, music, and sports classes/teams. I signed up for basic guitar, basic salsa, and soccer. Many of the classes conflict with the Spanish classes. All levels of Spanish are at the same time so many of us are missing out of fun dance classes, but I should be ok with the classes I picked. I will go next week and see if I like them. I also have to finalize my class schedule. I will be in Spanish 1 and the Islamist Movement classes for sure and I'll need to pick one more between International Perspective and Ethics.
Helpful Travel Tip regarding money: get a AAA travel money card!!!! I swear it saves lives! A few girls I met today and myself went to the bank on campus because they had questions regarding opening accounts so that their parents can wire them money. The travel money card works like a debit card. You can put a desired amount of money on it before going on a trip. While you are away someone can add money to the card for you at the AAA and it will be available right away or they/you can add money to the card online and it will be available in 2 business days. Just like traveler's cheques, the travel money card is covered and your money is not lost when you lose it. My favorite thing about the card is you can use it in ATMs and it automatically uses the currency of the country that you are in...Being with the girls at the bank made me realize I did well planning ahead with my mom and making sure I was financially prepared before traveling.
