solo in the city

after eating cereal and melon with my host mom, we walked to the university so that I could take the placement exam and register for my classes. it's about a five to seven minute walk from my house to the university.

this city is beautiful and bustling with young people. I had to be reminded that it's a university town. along the way I heard a bit of English by a man sitting on the sidewalk, playing and signing "Imagine" on his acoustic guitar. I also caught site of the many people congregated at the park around an instrumental band.

I took my exam and placed into the advanced classes, which means that I'll have to do a lot of studying before my classes on Monday, because although I'm comfortable with Spanish grammar and forming my own sentences, it's my listening comprehension that's not so strong, so I can imagine having simple questions directed at me by my professors and my having to ask them to repeat themselves over and over again.

while filling out paperwork, I befriended a couple of girls who were from Japan. they've been studying Spanish for three years and just arrived here to study for an entire year. the woman who worked in the office was able to assist them, speaking in fluent Japanese, even though she was obviously Mexican. I wish that I had the capacity for another language.

I walked back to my house by myself and was able to find it without any difficulties. it feels weird walking the streets of a foreign city, and the language barrier makes exploring much more daunting. I keep expecting someone to say something to me, to which I would respond, "lo siento, mi español no es tan bueno" (sorry, my Spanish isn't so good). and I kept hoping that I would run into another international student so that we could explore and look like naive tourists together.

well tomorrow is orientation. I'll meet the other international students and be given a tour of the university. I think once I start interacting with other students and start taking classes, things will start to flow comfortably.

I spent my evening studying Spanish and thinking that this might be most of what I do this semester, which won't make for much of a blog. I'm also going to bed before eleven and planning on waking up by six, only becaue I feel lonely and have nothing to sustain myself but simple goals, such as developing the habbit of waking up super early and being devoutly studious.

my classes are:

8:00 AM, Literature

9:00 AM, History

10:00 AM, Grammar

11:00 AM, Conversation

1:00 PM, Relations between Mexico and the United States

5:00 PM, Dance