Halfway...

Hey!

So...guess who survived her first semester at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Campus Guadalajara? I'm completely done with finals and everything...and it feels glorious! This last little bit was stressful, of course, but not nearly as miserable as finals at USC. I'm content with all my grades so far, even though Poly Sci was a little rough.

Now I should be packing...I just went for tacos with Christie and her roommates Yasmin (Oregon), Fernando (Tijuana), and his friend Miguel (?) (GDL). This lunch included a humorous display of Fernando shooting spitballs at Christie. Oh, the little things... Anyways, I have decided when I get home I'm going taco hunting in Berea. That is, after I get a new license after that whole purse incident. Also I'm going to Columbia...I can't wait to see my girls!

Ok...took a break and packed most everything, though there's still some stuff laying around. Moving out is even more depressing here than at USC. Oh! I just realized I don't think I ever mentioned that I'm switching host families. I just wanted something different, like hopefully a big(ger) family this time.

Let's see. Let me try to think of some stuff I've done lately. I have a feeling this section might be a bit disjointed.

Candice came! She stayed here at my house and we didn't do anything too thrilling, but it was a lot of fun. Aside from laying around, we also joined everyone else to go see Crepúsculo (AKA Twilight. I don't recommend it, but I do recommend reading something funny about it that my friend Beth shared with me: http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/go_fug_yourself/2008/12/fuglight.html).

The next day was Thanksgiving! It was my first one not at home with the fam and the Meyers, so that was weird. I was a little homesick...mostly for the food; not even gonna lie about it. BUT we made it happen. It was potluck style at Jessi's house, and included our best attempts at tradition (like a turkey that I made!) and stuffing that Christie's mom brought when she came to visit. There were also some Mexican touches like Tere's delicious guacamole and Edgar's tequila and Squirt. Anyways, it was a really fun get-together. Even so, I'll be glad to celebrate Christmas how I usually do. :) Here's us at dinner:

After our dinner, we all bundled up and went to this ice club that's in town for a month or so. It was too full, so we had to go back another day. When we did get in, it was fun for picture purposes and just to say we did it, but that place was cold!!! 1 or 2 degrees. For 40 minutes or so, we stood around and took pictures, and then we couldn't stand it anymore. So we went and sat by a little fire they had set up...and then we went for tacos at Las papas, where (fun factoid), Jessi, Edgar, and I went through three containers of salsa mexicana (what we call pico de gallo--tomatoes, cilantro, onions, and peppers). I don't think we have ever eaten without having to ask for more limes and salsa mexicana. :) De todos modos, here we are freezing our tushies off at the ice club:

There have also been farewell festivities--Monday we went out to eat with Jessi, who left Wednesday, and last night we went to Eva's all time favorite rock bar. And today, as I said, I had one last lunch with Christie and Yasmin, and Eva left (our house, at least. Tomorrow she's going to visit her host family in Wisconsin that she lived with during an exchange in high school. It's really quite depressing to see my friends go...I already miss Jessi. And packing up my things is even sadder here than it is at USC...

Mmk, that's enough of that. Tomorrow, Edgar and I are going to Uruapan, Michoacán. We're going to go horseback riding up some volcano. I'm guessing it should be fun, since Edgar's been and wants to go back, but I'm concerned that I will be in a great deal of pain from being on a horse that long. It should be a fun little trip to end the semester with a bang.

Nerdy word time! Hmmm I would share something that I learned this week, but what I learned is that something I've been saying is quite the profanity. Oops. So, I will share something more family friendly: "ni modo." Which means "oh well" or "what can you do?" and is often proceeded by "bueno" or "pues."

Ah, I forgot something. I finally went to Tlaquepaque, a "municipality" of GDL that has lots of fancy artisan-y stuff. It was me, Edgar, Jessi, and Candice, and we just walked down the main street and went in some of the stores to see things like paintings, metalwork, sculptures, jewelry, pottery, and home decoration stuff (e.g. really awesome mirrors that cost thousands upon thousands of dollars). It was a cute little daytrip. Dad, this next picture is for you. You might have to click on it to be able to see what it is. I would have bought you one...but as you know I am a very cheap girl, so this will have to do:

Ok, I think that really is all this time. I'm gonna go finish up packing and go to sleep early...yum!