weekend in Toluca marks my first month

I feel like so much has happened in the past 2 weeks that it's hard to believe I've only been here a month. I'll try to piece it all together. First, I climbed the Bufa again and mounted the cross as well, with the help of Samuel (photo by Mira). it looks like I'm hovering near the edge, but the cross is actually secured 5 feet from it, if I can remember correctly. anyway, it was just one more thing to climb and after having climbed a mountain, another 10 or 12 feet seemed insignifcant. however, I was only up there for about 30 seconds because from the top of the cross it did look like I was hovering on the edge, staring down at the profound drop. so I started to shake. and even once I was back on the ground, I continued to lightly shake for the next couple of minutes.

above is a stray dog who walked into our conversation class. he had also walked into lit and history. I see a handful of stray dogs every day, of all types running wild, yet keeping to themselves. now when I see someone walking a dog, I think it's weird, like really unnatural, like if someone were to walk a pigeon. sometimes they're super small, cute and fluffy, with beaming smiles, running joyfully past pedestrians, and I wonder why someone hasn't snatched them up.

above is also an example of how chilled my professors are. at EIU I remember asking a professor if I could sit in on her French class, and she told me, "No."

above is the Spanish word "vista" (sight) translated into Russian. this was written during a presentation given by my German classmate, Antje, who knows 5 languages. in our conversation class we each have to present an ability. I believe my presentation is scheduled in October, so I have a while to think of what mine is.

one girl taught us how to read palms. according to my palm, I'll have 4 opportunities to get married, 2 of which will end in separation. that reminds me, a friend of my host family was over one day and as we were sitting at the table, he tells me, "You're going to have 5 children," which was weird because my aunt told me the same thing awhile ago, using a thread and needle to make the prediction.

anyway, I still look forward to all of my classes. I've even committed to my daily routine of waking up between 6:30 and 7, with enough time to eat a full breakfast, unlike at EIU, when I'd wake up 10 or 15 minutes before I needed to be out the door.

in my literature class we're reading short stories, and it takes me about 1 to 2 hours to read one, the maximum pages being 4. and now we've been given the assignment to read an entire novel of our choosing. I chose Love in the Time of Cholera, which is about 400 pages. so according to my current pace, that's 200 hours, which is 16 and a half days of reading. but due to my optimism, I think I'll get through it with less hassle, and I'm excited for how much Spanish I'll be subjecting myself to, cause I feel like there's a lot more I could be doing to better my Spanish, even though I speak it every day. in fact, I'm contemplating on whether I should stick to not speaking English at all (except on the days I lead English conversation), because when I'm with the other U.S. students, we generally speak in English.

another thing I need to work on are my group skills, since most of my major assignments have been group projects. I'm at a loss when I don't have the power to finalize what we do, when I have to accept other people's ideas that I find boring and safe. but I know that great stuff can come from group efforts, so I genuinely want to work on that.

my next 2 group projects are 1) French influences in México and 2) drug trafficking in México.

above is a shot of a sculpture in the Meseum of Don Quixote, which gives free admittance to university students. this museum has by far the most distinct and inspirational paintings I've ever seen, even compared with the exhibits in Chicago and Peoria. unfortunately, I couldn't take photos of the paintings, which are all inspired by the story of Don Quixote. there was even one by Salvador Dali. after visiting that museum, I raved about it to everyone. art has never made me feel so good.

oh, I also enrolled in a painting class at the Casa de la cultura. the class lasts till December and cost $20 USD.

unfortunatley, I missed my first painting class last Thursday because I went to stand in line at the concert held at the baseball stadium. three popular bands from México were playing for free (it was student day). the line was epic. in fact, we were in line for 3 hours.

above (photo'd by Mira) is Mira, Cindy, me, and Samuel standing in what I think is the longest line I've ever been in, and with the longest wait. but each other's company made the wait much more bearable. in fact, compared with actually being in the stadium and watching the concert, our wait was a better time. Samuel said that the ridiculous wait was due to the lack of order.

I was told that these bands (photo'd by Mira) are famous in México, which seemed apparent when everyone sang along and got excited for every song. but because I couldn't understand what the singer was saying, I wasn't into it. the music was decent, like the type that could be really good if only I knew what the lyrics meant, but because I couldn't understand, it was just bland.

last Friday I took a bus to Toluca, which took 6 hours. my entire roundtrip cost about $50, and I was even given food, which surprised me, cause I didn't receive anything on any of air trips from the U.S. the ride consisted of watching Spanish-dubbed U.S. movies and naps.

once in Toluca, my friend Adair picked me up and brought me to his parents' place, which used to be a hacienda, which is like a plantation. I had met Adair in Charleston. he was around my age and worked at Los Potrillos and would come to Amigos & Friends to receive help with his English. I only hung out with him one night, when he took me to 3 bars. and from what I understood, his parents were well off and he was only here in the U.S. to prove to himself that he could make it on his own. anyway, he wasn't lying.

anyway, back to Toluca. Adair took his girlfriend, his cousin Marco, who is a professor and whom I also met in Charleston, his cousin's girlfriend from Germany, and me to Ixtapan de la Sal, so that we could all spend the weekend at his Ranch, which wasn't what you imagine a ranch to be. there weren't horses or cattle. instead there were two bungalows, a swimming pool, a professional tennis court, and lots of free land. there was a man named Alejandro whose job it was to keep the place well-maintained. in fact, he was supposed to sleep over, in a small brick building near the entrance. it was also his job to manually open the gate whenever we came or left.

it was so weird seeing both Adair and his cousin again, since I wasn't close friends with either one, and here I was hanging out in México with both of them.

on Saturday we swam in the pool and then went to Taxco, which was a couple of hours away. it reminded me a little of Guanajuato, with it's Spanish architecture, bricks roads, and steep hills. but it also made me think of how much better Guanajuato is. in fact, being anywhere else in México strengthened my appreciation for Guanajuato. it truly is a special place. I wouldn't compare it to Chicago, because Guanajuato is a small city. but that's what makes it near perfect for me. it feels like a vibrant city filled with art and young people, and at the same time it's small enough to become familiar with everything, that you can spot familiar faces all over. basically, the perfect blend of small town and city.

in downtown Taxco there were shops galore. I didn't buy anything, though. I'm gonna wait to buy souvenirs during Festival Cervantino, which lasts for 2 weeks in October and will be major. the featured guest this year is Quebec, Canada. Adair and 9 of his other friends are driving up to Guanajuato for the festival and will be staying in a hotel in the central area, which is the area in which I live. above is Marco's girlfriend, Austen, and Adair's girlfriend, Daniel.

above is Marco and Adair. during my entire stay, they paid for all my meals, for which I was super grateful. I don't normally eat out, even though Guanajuato has so many places, because I'm committed to eating with my host family. besides their company, their meals are always varied and excellent. one of the things I tried during my trip was pig intestines, which was served in a soup. I didn't know they were pig intestines at the time. I just thought the spungy, slimy meat was like pork fat. it was cool to try new things, but I missed my eating routine.

above is Saul, one of Adair's close friends, and his girlfriend in a drunken haze, wallowing in freezing water on a cold night. this was back at Adair's ranch. my host mom told me that Toluca was cold, but I didn't really believe her accurate description. I ended up jumping in the pool with them but got out quickly. it was utter torture, and it pained me to think of the people who jump into frozen lakes during the winter time for charity events.

anyway, they could handle it because, as I said, they were drunk. in fact, everyone was drunk most of the time. both Friday and Saturday night Adair hosted a party. but even after drinking all night Friday, the others would get up the next morning and pour themselves more whiskey. Adair even drove and drank, as would all of his passengers, except me. I drank a little during the fiesta, but these guys were insatiable. at 5 AM they all piled into the car to drive to buy more alcohol. they told me it was completely normal to drink and drive.

as for driving in general, drivers in the more urban areas of México, like Toluca, are the most aggresive drivers I've ever seen, easily more aggresive and daring than Chicago drivers. it's as if there are no rules yet somehow everyone gets around without killing each other.

anyway, Adair and his friends made me feel real welcomed. one of the reasons why I feel like I've spent way more than a month here is due to the friendships I'm forming with others. I feel like I'm getting closer with people a lot faster cause everyone's much more open and expressive of how they feel. I've already had a handful of people tell me that I could come and stay with them in their hometown, that they want me to see their city and that I'm welcome any time. these invitations are extended after just one meeting.

even though I had a great time during what felt like an extended weekend, I was happy to be back in Guanajuato Sunday night. I took a taxi from the bus terminal back to the central part of Guanajuato City so that I could walk home through part of the city, and it felt so good. so yes, it feels weird that this is only now my one-month mark, in a city I call my own.