The city we ended up going to is actually called Cuetzalan, not the other thing I wrote..oops! It is about 5 hours from Puebla, so for the other students not living in Puebla is was sort of a hassle for them to get here. The bus ride there was fun. It was really great seeing the other exchange students, which I really enjoyed! It`s nice talking to other kids who understand what it`s like missing snow, and wanting to run outside in the woods. It`s been hard on me because here I can`t just lay outside in the grass or go on a run in the woods becasue there is no grass or woods here.
Anyway the city was beautiful. It`s located very high so when you are walking down the streets you are actually running and when you are going up it feels like you are climbing a mountain. We went so see this waterfall that was pretty but I think I enjoyed the bus ride there more. We all crouded into the back of this truck and it was a bumpy and curvy road. We then had to hike up to the waterfalls which was an adventure that I was glad to participate in.
After the waterfalls we got so look around the city which was not very large but the market was pretty. The had many "tiendas" which means stores but are actually more like a little set up area where the people sell their makings. That was pretty much the jist of it; it was a fun first rotex trip and I can`t wait for the next one in November =D
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Turns out I did not have school Thursday or Friday, which was great. I don´t really like school. Well I mean I do, but only for the people and not for what I am learning because I don´t understand anything (although I`m sure it`ll come soon..)
Wednesday night I had a party at my school for September 15th, and they played music and had food. I had to leave early though for another party with my Rotary, at one of the Rotex members` home. It was pretty fun because I got to see some of the other exchange students I usually don´t get to see.
On Thursday I had a soccer game. We won, and it was one of the most boring games I have ever played. At night my family and I went to my Aunt´s house for a fiesta. We were supposed to dress up in traditional clothing, so I wore a blouse with beautiful stiches and my hair in braids with ribbon. My cousins were there, and their friends and I also brought another exchange student from Germany. It was really cool because they had a bull that sets off fireworks and you need to run away from (very traditional) and then I also danced salsa. It was fun to just hang out and experience the Mexican culture.
The rest of the weekend was mainly filled with staying at home and family time. On Sunday we went to a city where they have so many objects made of marble I was amazed. There are these stores, that just have shelves upon shelves of marble objects that are beautiful. Even the floors were made from marble tiles!
This week I still have school, and then this weekend I am going to Zacatlan. It´s supposed to be beautful, and I am excited. I will fill you in once I return.
God Bless,
Max
Wednesday night I had a party at my school for September 15th, and they played music and had food. I had to leave early though for another party with my Rotary, at one of the Rotex members` home. It was pretty fun because I got to see some of the other exchange students I usually don´t get to see.
On Thursday I had a soccer game. We won, and it was one of the most boring games I have ever played. At night my family and I went to my Aunt´s house for a fiesta. We were supposed to dress up in traditional clothing, so I wore a blouse with beautiful stiches and my hair in braids with ribbon. My cousins were there, and their friends and I also brought another exchange student from Germany. It was really cool because they had a bull that sets off fireworks and you need to run away from (very traditional) and then I also danced salsa. It was fun to just hang out and experience the Mexican culture.
The rest of the weekend was mainly filled with staying at home and family time. On Sunday we went to a city where they have so many objects made of marble I was amazed. There are these stores, that just have shelves upon shelves of marble objects that are beautiful. Even the floors were made from marble tiles!
This week I still have school, and then this weekend I am going to Zacatlan. It´s supposed to be beautful, and I am excited. I will fill you in once I return.
God Bless,
Max
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Everything New&Old
First of all, I would like to apologize for not writing anything since the 28 of August. I would blame it on the fact that I don`t always have access to a computer, but that would just be making an excuss to cover up the fact that I am lazy. =] It`s been two weeks and 2 days since I have last updated my blog. Now I know that you all want to hear about how my days are going, but they are all fairly similar. So to ease your curious minds, I have decided I will explain a typical day for me.
My school starts at 7 in the morning, which has been a difficult adjustment for me, seeing as I was always the one to arrive late school almost every day. On top of having to get up shortly after 6, I have to wait for my dad, mother and sometimes sister to shower before I am able to. Usually I wouldn`t really mind arriving late to school, but here if we arrive tardy they close the gate, and we need to wait for them to open it and then take the walk of shame to the library and write a lecture/essay in a magazine (usually National Geografic). This has happened to me three times already.
My school is, or so I think, rather small compared to my high school in Plymouth. Here they only have 3 years of HS instead of 4 like in the US, or even 5 like in Germany. It`s strange for me to say that I am in class 3ºB. In my class we have what I am going to call Profiles. There is Biology/Anatomy, Art, Math and another one that I do not know but would assume is History. We have these Profiles 3 times a week in a group of 3 classes, always in the morning hours. The other 2 days when we do not have our profile classes, we have 4 classes in the morning and then a lunch break at 10:20. You may be wondering what Profile I am in and if I were you I would guess Biology/Anatomy, seeing as I am looking into Physical Theoropy/Chiropractics, right? Wrong. I am in the Art Profil. I would have loved to challenge my brain and have stayed in the Biology/Anatomy class, but learning new material is difficult enough, let alone in a language I do not understand. So I changed to Art. I`ve always been a fan of drawing, and now I can get credit for it.=D
Our classes after lunch start at 11. Theses classes vary because unlike at Plymouth where we have the same classes every day, here (like in Germany) we have them spread out during the week. English we do have every day, and math almost every day except on Mondays. Then spread out through the week we have History, Biology, Estadistica, Farm. Emprendador (sorry, I don´t know what it is in English) Physical Education (which is kind of joke since half the classes skips it), and a class called Orientacion Profesional (which focuses on what is going to happen after this year). These classes end at 1:30, except for on Tuesdays when we get out one hour earlier.
After school gets out, I have soccer practice. How I got into this is actually a funny story. As you all know I arrived on August 13th (I`ve offically been here for a month a day now!) which was a Saturday. School started the following Monday, which I was really nervous about. During lunch we were sitting in the cafeteria (which is really just a little room with slidding doors on 2 sides) and I could see the boys playing soccer outside. Being myself, I asked if we could play with them. All the girls stared at me and were like you want to play soccer with the boys? And I just looked at them blankely and said yes, I love soccer! One girl in particular, who has become a close friend, Jocelyn, looked at me with a huge grin on her face and exlained to me how she loves soccer too, and plays at the University with the older girls. My heart skipped a beat as I asked her if I could go see and watch her. I played that first day in my converse and some lent clothes and from then on I now have practice every day from 1:30 to 3:30, and games on Saturdays. =D
After soccer I usually go home, shower and just chill. Both of my parents work till around 7ish, my older/younger sister works from 4:30 to 8:30 and my older sister is often gone in Mexico (here, when refering to Mexico City they just say Mexico) for her work. She is a massues, both of my parents are into business and sell things, and my older/younger sister is an assistant for a child doctor.
Sometimes, and now more than before, I go out with friends to the mall or to a friends house. Monday I even went for a 43 min run. There is a lagoon 10 min from my house, so I ran there, then around the lagoon twice and back. I was pretty proud.
Fridays and Saturdays I have dedicated to dancing. I love music and dancing, so with my friends we go to the clubs and dance. The music is great; a lot of house music, which if I could marry, I would. Saturdays I usally have a game, and then I either go out or take a nap if the Friday we went out. I also have a cousin here (he is 15 and reminds me of my brother...=]) with whom I regularily go the Market with. I will explain the Market in a bit. Sundays is family day. I have not been to church yet here, but I am working on that. Almost everyone here is Catholic, and since I am not I need to find a church that apeals to me. The day usually consists of either going around and seeing places or going to my Aunts house. 2 weekends ago we went to Cholula (also the place with the clubs) and saw two beautiful churches. Then this past week, we went to a different state, 3 hours from Puebla. I do not recall it`s name, but it is an old mining town with many cute littel Tiendas (tienda means store). It was a beautiful little city that reminded me a lot of Wuertzburg in Germany. I love old towns. The buildings and streets just fascinate me.
The Market. It is something that I am not used to at all, but is starting to grow on me. Almost anything you need, they have there. From foods such as fruits&veggies to candy, meat, nail polish, shoes, and CDs. It`s not far from my house, so I have been there a few times already.
Something else that I have noticed here are how terrible the streets are. There are so many holes that I feel like I am driving down a winding road when really it is as straight as can be. Also, there are so many wires attached to the houses that I feel like it can not be safe. Puebla is a big city, so there are not not many trees here let alone grass (I really miss grass). With the few trees that they do have here, I really enjoy how they cut them. Driving along I can usually see everything from a smiley face etched into a tree to a bird house or some other figure. It makes me giggle every time.
So that´s about it. I think I covered about everything I have been experiencing so far. I hope you can get a slight better idea of how I`ve been coming along here in Puebla. As for the spanish, my mom sent me a package that I got yesterday (as we all know now sending things works so feel free to send food ha just kidding! =p) which had my Spanish/English dictionary as well a conjugating verbs book. I plan to learn from that as soon as I can. Also, I have noticed that studyspanish.com is a very useful website..ha.
Until then,
Max (my friends enjoy calling me this, seeing as my middle name is Maxine..haha)
PS-Tomorrow is the 15th of September, which is their 4th of July. I have a party tonight with my Rotary Club, and I don`t think I have school tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes. I have a feeling it is going to be crazy, but an awesome experience for me. Take care!
My school starts at 7 in the morning, which has been a difficult adjustment for me, seeing as I was always the one to arrive late school almost every day. On top of having to get up shortly after 6, I have to wait for my dad, mother and sometimes sister to shower before I am able to. Usually I wouldn`t really mind arriving late to school, but here if we arrive tardy they close the gate, and we need to wait for them to open it and then take the walk of shame to the library and write a lecture/essay in a magazine (usually National Geografic). This has happened to me three times already.
My school is, or so I think, rather small compared to my high school in Plymouth. Here they only have 3 years of HS instead of 4 like in the US, or even 5 like in Germany. It`s strange for me to say that I am in class 3ºB. In my class we have what I am going to call Profiles. There is Biology/Anatomy, Art, Math and another one that I do not know but would assume is History. We have these Profiles 3 times a week in a group of 3 classes, always in the morning hours. The other 2 days when we do not have our profile classes, we have 4 classes in the morning and then a lunch break at 10:20. You may be wondering what Profile I am in and if I were you I would guess Biology/Anatomy, seeing as I am looking into Physical Theoropy/Chiropractics, right? Wrong. I am in the Art Profil. I would have loved to challenge my brain and have stayed in the Biology/Anatomy class, but learning new material is difficult enough, let alone in a language I do not understand. So I changed to Art. I`ve always been a fan of drawing, and now I can get credit for it.=D
Our classes after lunch start at 11. Theses classes vary because unlike at Plymouth where we have the same classes every day, here (like in Germany) we have them spread out during the week. English we do have every day, and math almost every day except on Mondays. Then spread out through the week we have History, Biology, Estadistica, Farm. Emprendador (sorry, I don´t know what it is in English) Physical Education (which is kind of joke since half the classes skips it), and a class called Orientacion Profesional (which focuses on what is going to happen after this year). These classes end at 1:30, except for on Tuesdays when we get out one hour earlier.
After school gets out, I have soccer practice. How I got into this is actually a funny story. As you all know I arrived on August 13th (I`ve offically been here for a month a day now!) which was a Saturday. School started the following Monday, which I was really nervous about. During lunch we were sitting in the cafeteria (which is really just a little room with slidding doors on 2 sides) and I could see the boys playing soccer outside. Being myself, I asked if we could play with them. All the girls stared at me and were like you want to play soccer with the boys? And I just looked at them blankely and said yes, I love soccer! One girl in particular, who has become a close friend, Jocelyn, looked at me with a huge grin on her face and exlained to me how she loves soccer too, and plays at the University with the older girls. My heart skipped a beat as I asked her if I could go see and watch her. I played that first day in my converse and some lent clothes and from then on I now have practice every day from 1:30 to 3:30, and games on Saturdays. =D
After soccer I usually go home, shower and just chill. Both of my parents work till around 7ish, my older/younger sister works from 4:30 to 8:30 and my older sister is often gone in Mexico (here, when refering to Mexico City they just say Mexico) for her work. She is a massues, both of my parents are into business and sell things, and my older/younger sister is an assistant for a child doctor.
Sometimes, and now more than before, I go out with friends to the mall or to a friends house. Monday I even went for a 43 min run. There is a lagoon 10 min from my house, so I ran there, then around the lagoon twice and back. I was pretty proud.
Fridays and Saturdays I have dedicated to dancing. I love music and dancing, so with my friends we go to the clubs and dance. The music is great; a lot of house music, which if I could marry, I would. Saturdays I usally have a game, and then I either go out or take a nap if the Friday we went out. I also have a cousin here (he is 15 and reminds me of my brother...=]) with whom I regularily go the Market with. I will explain the Market in a bit. Sundays is family day. I have not been to church yet here, but I am working on that. Almost everyone here is Catholic, and since I am not I need to find a church that apeals to me. The day usually consists of either going around and seeing places or going to my Aunts house. 2 weekends ago we went to Cholula (also the place with the clubs) and saw two beautiful churches. Then this past week, we went to a different state, 3 hours from Puebla. I do not recall it`s name, but it is an old mining town with many cute littel Tiendas (tienda means store). It was a beautiful little city that reminded me a lot of Wuertzburg in Germany. I love old towns. The buildings and streets just fascinate me.
The Market. It is something that I am not used to at all, but is starting to grow on me. Almost anything you need, they have there. From foods such as fruits&veggies to candy, meat, nail polish, shoes, and CDs. It`s not far from my house, so I have been there a few times already.
Something else that I have noticed here are how terrible the streets are. There are so many holes that I feel like I am driving down a winding road when really it is as straight as can be. Also, there are so many wires attached to the houses that I feel like it can not be safe. Puebla is a big city, so there are not not many trees here let alone grass (I really miss grass). With the few trees that they do have here, I really enjoy how they cut them. Driving along I can usually see everything from a smiley face etched into a tree to a bird house or some other figure. It makes me giggle every time.
So that´s about it. I think I covered about everything I have been experiencing so far. I hope you can get a slight better idea of how I`ve been coming along here in Puebla. As for the spanish, my mom sent me a package that I got yesterday (as we all know now sending things works so feel free to send food ha just kidding! =p) which had my Spanish/English dictionary as well a conjugating verbs book. I plan to learn from that as soon as I can. Also, I have noticed that studyspanish.com is a very useful website..ha.
Until then,
Max (my friends enjoy calling me this, seeing as my middle name is Maxine..haha)
PS-Tomorrow is the 15th of September, which is their 4th of July. I have a party tonight with my Rotary Club, and I don`t think I have school tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes. I have a feeling it is going to be crazy, but an awesome experience for me. Take care!
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