Weeks 5 & 6
Oct 15 – Nov 5, 2006
Gotta get this blog caught up. What have I been doing these last couple weeks? Well, for one, surviving my “clase de español 4”. It has been the hardest of my classes so far. Mostly likely due to it being subjunctive, present and past. I basically understood present subjunctive, but had to learn the past! Lots of homework and studying. I managed B’s on all the exams, fortunately they also considered in my grade, homework and participation. So am pretty sure I am earning my A’s. I study so many hours for my B’s, I can’t imagine what I would get if I didn’t study 5 hours the night before my exams.
For fun, entertainment and speaking Spanish opportunities, I have done some sight seeing and some attempts. Two weekends ago, I decided to take my first journey alone. I wanted to see some Aztec ruins nearby. Sounded so easy. Rosalia, my host mom, made sure I knew which bus to take and what time. I was successful catching the bus the next morning. Problem was, since the name is in Azteca, I couldn’t say it, nor understand it if it was spoken. So I am on the big bus, heading out to the ruinas, except I wasn’t to sure where it would be so I counted on the bus driver stopping there and I was sure there would be a sign or something that would have the name. Well, never assume, right? Well after a hour bus ride, the bus stops, the driver gets up mumbles something I could barely hear, let alone understand. He walks the bus aisle, returns to his seat and starts driving away. Since I was a tad car sick, not really paying attention to what was going on, I peek out the window and see 2 taxis parked on the side of the road. Then I think, “Is that the stop?” after I see the taxis. I remember the tour book said, I would take a bus, and then go by taxi to the park. So I figure I will ask at the next stop. Well, that was 2.5 hours later, in some mountain town. So by then my panic has cleared, this is now an adventure. In this new bus station, I could buy a ticket to Taxco, another town I visited a few weeks back. I want to go back anyways for this silver armadillo that had seen but I didn’t buy it the first time. Also, thinking if I went to Taxco then I could have a round trip adventure, see the scenery. Wrong! I was so nauseated on the trip over the mountains to Taxco, I had my eyes closed the whole time (1.5 hours or so) trying not to barf, and I saw nothing. I was so happy when I arrived in Taxco! I stayed there about 3 hours, did some shopping, and bought my armadillo that will look so cute on desk at home! At 6pm, I got on another bus for Cuernavaca, and arrived back home about 8:30pm. My host family couldn’t believe my day and in the end never did see the Aztec ruinas!! I will try again in a couple weeks.
So..This past weekend, I visited Acapulco for 3 days with my host mom, Rosalia. She asked if she could come with me so that I would be safe and not be bored traveling alone. We had a great weekend, I think she really wanted to go, because she loves sitting on the beach as much as I do. Our hotel was nice, right on the beach; we had a room with a lovely view of the Pacific Ocean. We only did a little sight seeing and that was to see the cliff jumpers, that I remember seeing on TV when I was a little kid. That was the only touristy thing I wanted to do. Watching those 5 young men jump off the cliff was kind of worrisome for me as I know there are injuries from jumping, and I really didn’t want to see any blood! But they all dove safely into the water.
Aside from reading a book while sitting by the pool or walking on the beach, I was extremely content to just relax and enjoy the view. This past weekend was a national holiday for “El dia de muertos” or “Day of the dead”. So many Mexican families use this long weekend to head to the beach, just like me!! So to entertain all the tourists, there was an air show. The show lasted for about 4 hours on both Sat. and Sun. There was various planes of all ages, WWII vintage, to modern jets, performing tricks in the sky!! It was cool to sit by the pool and watch. Except for the final jet that did all these fly-bys and was so extremely loud, especially a few seconds after it pasted over. Then it really got loud!! I had to plug my ears!!
Since Rosalia doesn’t speak English, I had plenty of opportunity to practice. We didn’t have long in-depth conversations, as my Spanish isn’t that sophisticated, but we had many casual conversations over pina coladas and margaritas!! And…the hotel tried to tell me that breakfast was not included, well, in my best Spanish, I went to the front desk and demanded (nicely) my breakfast, as I had paid for them in my reservations. Since I got no where with her, I had to go find a internet café, and print off my reservations to prove my point. I returned back to the office lady, showed her my proof, of which she then gave my breakfast coupons. I was so proud of myself, that I achieved my breakfast goal, all in Spanish!!!
The best news of all…. is that Paul returned home last night (Nov 7)! The girls are thrilled to have a parent in the house. Caitlin wants free of taking care of everything and Korinn wants to be free of Caitlin running the house!! I am happy because I don’t have to worry so much about the girls. They have done really well alone, no major problems but it is nice to have Paul there, to handle any issues if they come up.
Till next time….
