Life in Mexico

Sorry that I haveńt posted for almost a week. I have been trying but it usually doesńt let me post. Thanks for all the birthday wishes as it made my day even though I had to go to school which was hard because I knew in the states there was no school and Rodney was getting married. Oh well I survived :)The end of last week I cańt even really remember what I did. On Friday after classes we found a laundry service which we thought was a good deal but I guess it wasńt. I haveńt done laundry for about two weeks so I gave them my laundry and they did everything and then I picked it up on Saturday. It cost me a little less than $10 so about $5 a week. I guess you can get it for cheaper so next time I will have to find a cheaper place. Then Emely, Amanda, Phillip and I went to Vallarta street and just hung out around there. On Saturday we were going to go to the canyons but we forgot that we had to pick up our laundry between 3:00 and 3:30 so instead we went to the Plaza Mexico, which by the way we got there by using our bus map and didńt get lost, and went to the Wal-Mart there because I had to buy some things for a project that is due this week. Then we ate out at Jorges which is a chicken place. It was really good. The girls really liked it because they live with an Italian family so they dońt eat much Mexican. They are planning on going to Italy next so then maybe there they will eat Mexican food :) That evening I played futbol (soccer) with Bruno in the streets. He kept on telling me I played like a girl but he was just really jealous. Actually he is way better at futbol than me. We had a lot of fun and I think for once he was tired and went to bed without complaining. On Sunday we went to a town about two hours away to see some ruins. I wish I had my bus ticket with me so I could tell you exactly where we went. The ruins wereńt as big as we thought but it was still pretty. It was a good thing we had Phillip along because he is pretty good about not getting lost. The town isńt big at all and it was actually really nice to be in a small quiet town after being in Guadalajara for so long. We asked directions to the ruins and they told us about ten to fifteen minutes. It was about twenty five minutes up a STEEP hill. It was an adventure and we sure got our exercise for the day. We were the only ones walking up there so maybe that aught to have told us something. It actually wasńt that bad but when I told my family that we walked they thought that was aweful. There are supposedly hot springs in the area but we didńt find them but we did find some swimming parks. They wereńt too bad. They had like one big water slides and then a pool that was basically lake water and then a pool that I think had chlorine in it. We swam for quite a while and all got a little sun. We were also really glad that Phillip was along because there was this one creepy guy that kept asking Phillip about "stripes" which is what he called me. He was really the only creepy guy we met all day so that wasńt too bad but he was the creepiest guy that we have met yet. That is why when you travel it is good to have a tall guy in the group. Oh and I suppose some you know this but whenever any american girl goes anywhere the guys will whistle, tell you how beatiful you are, call you mamasita, offer you part of their taco, etc. They are sometimes just a little too nice. They even have a whistle as their horn in the car. I suppose I will feel really unloved when I come home and no one whistles or calls me mamasita :) Its kind of crazy but they areńt theatening or anything they just try to make you feel good I guess. The girls our age view us as competition so they can be really hostile. So we know if we get lost to ask a guy for directions because chances are they will help us where girls will not. Its kind of crazy but marriage is a big thing down here. If you are not married by 26 people talk about you and it is really humiliating. One of my teachers is older and is not married and she talks about how hard it is. Also another thing I learned in my grammer class, (as you will see I learn a lot of things not related to grammer in my grammer class) is that minimum wage down here is about five dollars a day. My profesoras which have a "good" job get about $5.00 an hour. Now the cost of living is lower yes but it is not as low as you may think, well not in the area I live in but I do live in the richest part of town. Things are pretty comparable to the states.So when you think that your job is bad just remember it could be a lot worse. Ok well I guess I got a little off track. We left the town to come back to Guadalajara around six and got on a crowded bus and had to stand for about two hours on the bus because there were no seats left. It wasńt all that bad but I guess transportation on Sundays is really crowded so that is good to know. Yesterday I had school and when I got done around noon I went over to Emely and Amanda's house and had lunch with them because their senora had invited me over. Then I came home and took a ciesta which I needed :) After that us girls decided that we wanted to find the DQ around here. Well no such luck but we did find another Wal-Mart and another huge centro and we did have ice cream so it was all good. I am on my third week of classes and my rotation is five weeks so therefore this week is midterms. I dońt think that mine will be too bad but we areńt making any plans for after school because we need to be studying. I am however buying a membership at the gym that is close to my house. It is really nice and has a lot of aerobic classes so that will be fun to try them out and see how they compare to classes in the states. Well I hope that I got you guys caught up. Hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend.