first friday

in the afternoon I went to orientation and was given a presentation and tour by the language department staff. they briefed us on how to stay safe, even though Guanajuato is generally a safe city. apparently you have to be wary of ATM machines because sometimes people install small video cameras on them in order to read your information. therefore, it's best to withdraw money during the day. I mean, that's what I translated.

they also mentioned the festival internacional cervantino, which is held in October for a few weeks, and during those few weeks there're thousands of people packed in the city from all over the world, attending music performances, dance performances, plays, and art shows. I thought, how're all those people going to fit? the streets of Guanajuato are packed enough on a regular night.

during the tour I saw a flier requesting that English speakers volunteer to have conversations with students learning the language. I'm definitely going to volunteer as soon as possible. after the tour I was standing in the hallway, waiting for someone, and decided to initiate a conversation with the student across from me. she turned out to be someone preparing to be an English teacher, although it wasn't her first langage, and we ended up exchanging contact info.

at the orientation I saw Anna, who's also from EIU, and was so excited to finally speak with someone who could completely relate with me. when we started speaking in English, I spoke faster than I ever have.

I spent the rest of my afternoon speaking to my friend Beatriz on Skype, telling her all about Mexico. and while speaking with her, I felt like my Spanish flowed so well, and speaking with her gave me the type of relief I thought I could only get from speaking with another English speaker. I'm guessing it's due to the fact that I know her and that she can relate to being a newcomer and dealing with language barriers.

a short while later, I finally was able to get in touch with this girl named Clare, whom I met on a Facebook message board about Guanajuato. she was studying in Chicago, but now she's here for the semester like me. we made plans to meet at 9:30 PM.

before going out I had dinner with my host family and we ended up having a hardy conversation about work and workers' rights, and I was surprised by how much easier it was for me to express myself in Spanish. all my words flowed and almost without pause, simply after being here for three days.

anyway, I met with Clare at the teatro juarez. we wandered around the city speaking Spanish and I was surprised by the number of people out and about. there was music all around and people dressed up in costumes. there was even a clown entertaining the people sitting on the steps in front of the theater. I also noticed that the majority of young people here dress better than most people at EIU (which you can't tell by these pictures, but trust me, Angela, it's true). and there was so much more to the city than I thought. it was filled with life. I wish I could've taken more pictures, but it was too dark to take any decent ones.

eventually some guy started speaking with Clare and we ended up sitting on some steps and carrying on a conversation with him until it was interrupted by another guy whom Clare knew, inviting us to join him and a group of others at this Keraoke bar. so I met her friend Pablo, who I assume is a native to Guanajuato, a girl from Denmark, one from France, and two others from Mexico, and a guy from Portland, Oregon. after the keraoke bar, we went to a salsa club. at one point all the girls in my group started dancing together, only to be each approached by a different guy. these guys were pretty skilled. and afterward we headed over to another bar playing more dance-club type music, which is more my style, and we ended up dancing for I don't know how long, to the point that I had to stop because I felt like throwing up.

we left in time to avoid a fight that broke out between a couple of guys. we saw one guy come out of the club with no shoes and a bleeding forehead. the police who patrolled the city at night congregated in groups that appeared to be swat teams, which actually makes you feel super safe.

I made it home around 3 AM, which is fine by my host mom because I told her that I don't drink, and I didn't. in fact, my entire night out was free. I didn't drink or eat or pay any cover charges. in total, it was an awesome night.

(I promise to take far more photos of the city during the day)