Today was the first day of class, and it went surprisingly well! Since there weren't enough nerds like me to fill up Spanish Syntax, it was canceled :'( and I only had Introduction to Mexican Culture and Communication Skillz 3. Both were pretty easy and the first was even in English. The first half of the course or so will be history-type things, then the second half is fun stuff. For example, there's a day to talk about family, another day for foo-- stuff like that. As for the second class, I sure hope I'm in the right level! A ver... Ooh, and I don't need books for either. One just requires research before some of the classes (hello, Wikipedia) and the other won't have a ton of bookwork since it's pretty much a speaking class. I'm not sure whether I'll get credit for it, but I hope it will help me become more comfortable speaking Spanish. A lot of times, I don't know how to say what I want to say perfectly, so I just don't. For this reason, I think Zabel thinks I'm really boring. Oh well.
Speaking of whom (can you say that? My English is getting bad. Today I couldn't think of the word for seesaw and I had to use a German to English translator when Eva and I got home). And that sentence was actually a fragment. Anyways, Zabel made us tortas ahogadas for lunch today. Mom, yours were good and all, but oh my goodness. I guess Nacho was right about the best ones being made here. Here is a pic of the torta and Zabel's cute note regarding tomorrow's comida (and that she's out-- how we keep each other posted :) I just realized you can't read it, but it says, "Cesar and I went out; we'll be back later. Tomorrow we eat tamales!! Yuiuu!! --Zabel"
Anyways, more about school. It was so scary going in this morning! Megan, who is lovely and from Indiana and also staying the whole year, accurately compared it to the first day of high school... Everything was completely foreign (ha). Both of my classes were with international kids, who I've been with for the past week, so that was relatively familiar. But tomorrow's classes will be with more Mexican students. It was fun observing them today-- how they dress (fancily!) and greet each other and bring laptops to class, etc. etc.
Something worth sharing that I was not expecting and that doesn't fit into stereotypes about Mexicans is that the Tec has a really strict attendance policy--they have bells (???) and most professors start the roll right away, and if you miss it, it's an absence for the day. And you only get 4, though there's some deal during the last quarter of the semester, if that by then you have an 84 or higher, you're allowed 2 more absences. Sorry, you probably didn't want to know all that. So we int'l kids are freaking out because our 3 pre-organized trips leave at 1 on Fridays and pretty much everybody has class after that time... The trips should be awesome, though. There's one to Puerto Vallarta coming up soon, but if I get motivated enough, I might organize my own instead. Then there's one to Guanajuato, which I'm definitely skipping. Emma, a friend from USC is there for the semester, so Candice (also from USC) and I are hoping to visit her on our own. Can't remember if I already shared about these trips, but again, I don't care. The third trip is one to D.F. (Mexico City), which involves seeing some Aztec ruins and celebrating independence day there (September 16th). I'm assuming this means we'll be doing that whole thing where you go to some big plaza and the president comes out the balcony of an important building, rings the bells from Miguel Hidalgo's church, and recreates Hidalgo's cry for independence from Spain, with the intermittent yelling of "Viva Mexico!" from hundreds of thousands of people. Um. Lifelong dream.
Oh yeah, and that whole no class on Wednesday thing...scratch that. I signed up for a ballroom dancing class. I've heard it has stuff like salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia... Which could actually be useful! I feel like our ballroom dancing classes--foxtrot and the like??--are less so. Also, having this class at 10 AM will get me out of bed at a decent hour and get me to school where I can study and be a productive young citizen. And I can get fellas at the clubs...just kidding.
Speaking of which, this Friday, the Tec is renting out some antro (club) and 86ing the cover. Pretty much everybody is going, but unfortunately I'm not a big fan of dancing (306ers can attest to this) or excessive drinking. But I suppose going to an antro is a necessary experience. The same place has salsa nights Tuesday, so I definitely want to do that when I am a competent dancer.
I think I'm going to have to skip the first day on account of visa shenanigans. Ugh. My only interaction today with Mexican students was in the cultural whatever offices when I was signing up for the classes. We complained about the line together...it was cute.
Other interaction with Mexicans today occurred during a nighttime walk with Eva and Jessie. We just walked around the neighborhood by ours to ward off boredom. People watching is oh so fun. But because guys on the street are very, um, vocal, we've all sort of learned to look straight ahead when we walk. That's what Mexican women do, and it cuts down on unwanted attention, but it stinks because that means it limits observing the fun things around you. Sigh...
Umm so I think that's pretty much it for today. I'm still up because I took a nap from like 5-8, which was probably a terrible idea, but I was bored and had already played a game of computer chess. I can't believe I'm anxious for homework. Oh, the beginning of the semester...
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