Last night I finally got to see Sergio! He and I were really good friends when we were in DC. He swooped me up yesterday evening and we hit the town..OK we didn't really hit the town. He gave me a driving tour of Queretaro which was really nice. The main part of the city is basically a circle and there is a main road that cuts it down the middle. After the tour I got a better sense of the city. We then went to the historical city center and walked around a bit. Sergio's tour of the city center added to what Oscar showed me on Wednesday night. On our walk we passed beautiful hotels and restaurants that were nestled in colonial buildings. I also heard some jazz-ish music at one restaurant which made me think of my boryfriend, Maurice, so I felt a bit nostalgic. After a while we settled on a place to eat, Maria y su bici, which means Maria and her bicycle. The restaurant and many others in Queretaro have foods from other places in Mexico. At Maria y su bici they served food from Oaxaca (pronounced wa-ha-ca) which is in the southern region of Mexico. There food is more "daring" for example they use more spices and eat things like roasted crickets. Since we were in an adventurous mood Sergio tried some dish that I have no idea what it was and we tried a drink that is made up 7up/Sprite, fresh lime, orange, and grapefruit juices served in a wide, thick, ceramic bowl. The fruit is left in there and sprinkled with special chili powder that is not very spicy and used mostly for fruit. To top it off you pour in a tiny shot of mezcal which is similar to tequila. Tequila is made from blue agave cactus and mezcal is made from the maguey plant/agave americana.
After our Oaxacan experience we went to Itziar's friend's house to celebrate Itziar's 26th birthday, which was last Friday. There were a few friends there and they were having a great time. Once the party died down a little bit the few of us that were left had a mini dance party which was beyond hilarious. The girls were very nice and included me in dancing and wailing at the top of our lungs to American songs. One thing that will always make me laugh is hearing people sing songs in languages not native to their own. For some reason I enjoy seeing how passionate they are about the song and the fact that they probably know more of the words than I do. The last dance that wore us all out is a traditional Mexican dance and type of music called Banda. It is high energy and takes some skill. That being said I was literally wisked around the room by one of Itziar's guy friends. I've seen Sergio and Alma dance Banda in DC, but I did not learn it until last night. Needless to say I was a terrible dance partner.
Today I did not do much. I talked to Maurice on video chat for the first time since I've been gone (cue Kelly Clarkson's "Since you've been gone"..ADD moment). It was good to see his face and I got a little sad there for a moment but was so happy to see him at the same time...Luckily my host family called me downstairs to show me their pictures from China when they visited their son and his family for the Christmas holiday. Although Jorge speaks English he explained all of the pictures in Spanish. I missed some details, but I think I did a pretty darn good job understanding. Afterwards we went to the Centro Comercial/the mall. Blanca went to look for a purse to match a dress she ended up returning. I helped her try on other dresses, but nothing worked out. Then we walked out of the mall with a baby gift for her friend's newborn grandchild. Blanca jokingly apologized for going in for one thing and leaving out with another. On the way home we went to the city center to buy churros (flash fried dough coated with cinnamon and sugar). The day with my host family was nice. They are such a cute couple and you can still see the love between them after so many years. Jorge was critical of every dress Blanca tried on and she just dismissed him. They told jokes to each other and made witty comments. I enjoy being around them because they are genuinely nice people and I am grateful that they have opened up their home to me.
After a whole day I finally got in touch with the girl Rachel who does not like her host family. I told Blanca and Jorge about her and they would love to have her stay here as well! Jorge even invited her to come with us to Bernal tomorrow...After a little planning Rachel will come with us to mass and we will all go to Bernal. Bernal is a town outside out Queretaro and has the third highest monolith of massive rock in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernal,_Quer%C3%A9taro)...Jorge also told me it is home to great gorditas which is the same as tortilla but just thicker.
I'm excited for a family filled day tomorrow. Now to hit the hay!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Día de los Santos Reyes aka Epiphany
Yesterday was the day of festivities, Día de los Santos Reyes aka Epiphany. It is the day to "celebrate the Biblical New Testament story of the arrival of the three wise men who each brought a gift to the Christ child. Traditionally, children receive toys and people buy a pastry called rosca de reyes. Anyone who bites into the bread and finds a figurine of the Christ child must host a party for the Day of Candlemas, which is February 2nd" (Wikipedia). I also heard that whoever finds the figurine has to buy tamales for everyone.
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
1st Day of Orientation: Part 2
I take back everything I said about making friends! I think since orientation was early in the morning people were not social. After the break we had a few dry, but necessary presentations for immigration, email set up, and course registration. The group AMI, which does intercultural programs and sponsors the big brothers club, divided everyone into groups to do activities around campus. I met nice people from Australia, Korea, France, Canada, and Brazil in my group. Having the small groups helped and then the rest of the day was really nice. People were inviting and in a better mood than this morning and rightly so.
The most exciting things about today are that my class schedule is awesome and that all the classes in the recreation center are free/included. So I can take any kind of rhythm class from salsa to tango, pilates and other group fitness, singing to piano/guitar lessons! Because I can only take a limited amount of credits at ITESM due to the conversion between semester and quarter credits, I will have plenty of time during the week to participate in classes at the recreation facility. Overall I am really excited to start classes so I can meet new people and better my Spanish. Later this afternoon Blanca and I spoke for a long time just in Spanish regarding my class schedule, so this language learning process may be easy after all. I feel sorry for the Australian girl Natasha I met who doesn't know ANYTHING in Spanish and her host family does not know ANYTHING in English. Her host mom just keeps talking at her and teaching her a few words here and there. I think Natasha will pick up the language after a while especially once we have been in the basic Spanish class for a while.
Anywho, Alma is picking me up shortly to go hang out with her friends so that will be nice.
Oh there are a few house rules from Blanca:
1. Visitors can only stay until 10pm
2. Visitors can not go on the second floor of the house even just in my room
3. I can stay out as long as I want, but just be quiet when I come in
4. Don't help wash the dishes if she is home, only when she is out can I help
I also found out today from the housing coordinator, Claudia, that my host family wanted a girl this year because for 20 years they've been doing this they had mostly boys stay with them and have not had great luck with that. I thought they asked for a girl because they have 2 sons and 2 grandsons and wanted the presence of a girl. I hope I don't get on their nerves and that they enjoy my stay with them as much I enjoy being here.
Hasta luego!
~AST
My face Mexican flag face paint for the first group activity of taking individual pictures and group picture with the Mexican flag and sombreros.
My terrible ID picture. These things never turn out nicely.
Anywho, Alma is picking me up shortly to go hang out with her friends so that will be nice.
Oh there are a few house rules from Blanca:
1. Visitors can only stay until 10pm
2. Visitors can not go on the second floor of the house even just in my room
3. I can stay out as long as I want, but just be quiet when I come in
4. Don't help wash the dishes if she is home, only when she is out can I help
I also found out today from the housing coordinator, Claudia, that my host family wanted a girl this year because for 20 years they've been doing this they had mostly boys stay with them and have not had great luck with that. I thought they asked for a girl because they have 2 sons and 2 grandsons and wanted the presence of a girl. I hope I don't get on their nerves and that they enjoy my stay with them as much I enjoy being here.
Hasta luego!
~AST
1st Day of Orientation
Yesterday I was on the go the entire day and I did not even sit/lay down on the bed until I went to sleep. What do you know, the bed was hard as a rock. I think it had a little more give than a rock. It took some getting used to, but interestingly enough I did not wake up with any pain or anything. When it gets warmer I will sleep on top of the thick blanket and that will add a little cushion, but for now it is too cold not to sleep under it. It is pretty cold in the morning and at night and the houses here do not have heat, thus I slept in my hoodie too :D. I think February it will get back to consistent warm weather.
I woke up at 7am to shower and prepare for the day. I have my own bathroom on the first floor. The hot water, of course, did not last too long, but I didn't completely freeze to death. Today is Jorge's (my host dad) day to cook. He had me help dice tomatoes, onions and tortilla which he fried together with eggs. He also fried beans to go with it. I asked if the dish had a name and he said no we are eating a no name dish, lol. I'm supposed to make up a name for it. I'm glad I got to help Jorge cook. Blanca will not let me help her cook or clean the kitchen if she's there. If she's not at home I can wash the dishes she said.
9am started orientation...it is like any other orientation except it was in Spanish and English. Some countries have a large presence like Austria, Colombia, Germany, a few from Argentina, and a few other large groups. There are only a few Americans, Canadians, and a couple people from Finland, Belgium, and a couple other countries. I feel so under accomplished because I only know English and very little Spanish, but to my credit I do know a little French and Arabic is my main language of study. After being with Blanca yesterday I have picked up a lot and I am already able to say basic, but whole sentences. Once classes start next Monday I think taking the Spanish as a foreign language will speed up the process of learning the basics.
Anyway, I think it is going to be difficult to make new friends right away because everyone is sticking either with people from their country/home university or by themselves. I met one person named Jorge from Colombia. He sat at the table with me for a couple minutes while we were using our laptops so that's a start. Once classes start, I get into activities on campus, and go on the trips and do the programs that the International Programs office hosts it will be smooth sailing from there. There only 5,000 students on campus so it will not be hard to get to know people.
Well I have 20minutes left until the end of break then it's back to Orientation.
Hasta luego!
~AST
I woke up at 7am to shower and prepare for the day. I have my own bathroom on the first floor. The hot water, of course, did not last too long, but I didn't completely freeze to death. Today is Jorge's (my host dad) day to cook. He had me help dice tomatoes, onions and tortilla which he fried together with eggs. He also fried beans to go with it. I asked if the dish had a name and he said no we are eating a no name dish, lol. I'm supposed to make up a name for it. I'm glad I got to help Jorge cook. Blanca will not let me help her cook or clean the kitchen if she's there. If she's not at home I can wash the dishes she said.
9am started orientation...it is like any other orientation except it was in Spanish and English. Some countries have a large presence like Austria, Colombia, Germany, a few from Argentina, and a few other large groups. There are only a few Americans, Canadians, and a couple people from Finland, Belgium, and a couple other countries. I feel so under accomplished because I only know English and very little Spanish, but to my credit I do know a little French and Arabic is my main language of study. After being with Blanca yesterday I have picked up a lot and I am already able to say basic, but whole sentences. Once classes start next Monday I think taking the Spanish as a foreign language will speed up the process of learning the basics.
Anyway, I think it is going to be difficult to make new friends right away because everyone is sticking either with people from their country/home university or by themselves. I met one person named Jorge from Colombia. He sat at the table with me for a couple minutes while we were using our laptops so that's a start. Once classes start, I get into activities on campus, and go on the trips and do the programs that the International Programs office hosts it will be smooth sailing from there. There only 5,000 students on campus so it will not be hard to get to know people.
Well I have 20minutes left until the end of break then it's back to Orientation.
Hasta luego!
~AST
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Reunited!...and Exhausted.
What a day!
2:45am - woke up to get ready for my 6am flight from CVG.
4:10am - arrived at CVG only to find out that the ticket agents and TSA people aren't even at the airport!
~6:20am - depart from CVG...finally.
11:00am (central time) - arrive in QRO. I meet my host family Blanca y Jorge. They are a cute, older couple that I already adore. They are 65 and have been hosting international students for 20 years.
1:30pm - Lunch...I was really hungry too!
4:00pm - The bus fiasco...So Blanca showed me how to ride the bus to ITESM Queretaro today. The fare is 6.50pesos and out of 20pesos the driver only gave me 7pesos back! I told Blanca that wasn't enough change. So later on during the bus ride she confronts him and he gives up MY change :D. From now on I will try to give exact change!
6:30pm - Reunion: Soon after we get back from visiting the school Alma arrives at the house! I was sooo excited to see her after over a year. She drove me around the neighborhood a little bit. She lives and works a few minutes away, her fiance lives near by as well, and she showed me Itziar's workplace. When we got back to the house Itziar was waiting inside for me! What a surprise! I knew I would see her, but not this soon. It was great catching up with both of them. They are both young professionals and are doing well. It is amazing that just a year ago they were my roommates in Washington, DC for The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. I cannot wait to meet up with our other friends from Queretaro who were also in the program in DC.
8:00pm - small dinner.
9:30pm - trying to finish this entry and talking to my boyfriend on Skype then getting ready for bed. Tomorrow is the first and longest day of orientation at ITESM Qro.
2:45am - woke up to get ready for my 6am flight from CVG.
4:10am - arrived at CVG only to find out that the ticket agents and TSA people aren't even at the airport!
~6:20am - depart from CVG...finally.
11:00am (central time) - arrive in QRO. I meet my host family Blanca y Jorge. They are a cute, older couple that I already adore. They are 65 and have been hosting international students for 20 years.
1:30pm - Lunch...I was really hungry too!
4:00pm - The bus fiasco...So Blanca showed me how to ride the bus to ITESM Queretaro today. The fare is 6.50pesos and out of 20pesos the driver only gave me 7pesos back! I told Blanca that wasn't enough change. So later on during the bus ride she confronts him and he gives up MY change :D. From now on I will try to give exact change!
6:30pm - Reunion: Soon after we get back from visiting the school Alma arrives at the house! I was sooo excited to see her after over a year. She drove me around the neighborhood a little bit. She lives and works a few minutes away, her fiance lives near by as well, and she showed me Itziar's workplace. When we got back to the house Itziar was waiting inside for me! What a surprise! I knew I would see her, but not this soon. It was great catching up with both of them. They are both young professionals and are doing well. It is amazing that just a year ago they were my roommates in Washington, DC for The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. I cannot wait to meet up with our other friends from Queretaro who were also in the program in DC.
8:00pm - small dinner.
9:30pm - trying to finish this entry and talking to my boyfriend on Skype then getting ready for bed. Tomorrow is the first and longest day of orientation at ITESM Qro.
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