Segundo Viaje de Rotex

Today is exactly 3 months and 2 days since my arrival, and I just got back from our second Rotex trip! We went to a water park called El Rollo, about 4 hours away from Puebla. Was it worth it? Yes. The water park reminded me of Wisconsin Dells and Noah's Ark except less full. I think we just got lucky because one of my friends said she went earlier this year when there were 2 hour waiting lines for some of the rides. They had lots of slides, some even had a straight drop or you needed to get locked into a tube and then the floor dropped from under you...it was crazy! There was this one ride that I really enjoyed. It wasn't really a ride though, it reminded me more of the tarp and water hose we used to amuse ourselves with when we were kids. You had to sit or stand in a decently wide area that turned into a lane. After the lifeguard thought you were ready he would whistle and you were greeted by a huge gush of water that would send you tumbling to the ground if you were standing or crashing into the sides if you were already sitting. You were then escorted by this gush of water down the lane only to be thrown into crashing waves, just like in the ocean. Once you finally popped the surface gasping for breath you would be floating along the lazy river, as if you did not just have a nearly death experience. =p

After the water park we went to a hotel about 40 min away, and slept in a large hotel that had simple dorm-like rooms. They also had 2 huge pools (one was a swimming pool and the other had diving boards up to 10m) that we used the following morning after we gotten back from an evening full of dancing. Around 1030 we made our way to Tepoztlan, a beautiful little puebla that I will be returning to hopefully. The centro was really cute and full of little tiendas crowding the streets. We ate in the market and afterwards got to roam the streets. I love just going around the little stands and seeing all of their goods they have to offer. After we had all eaten and gotten a little taste of the puebla, we returned to the bus and made the three and a half hour back drive, returning to Puebla around 440.

It was really good seeing everyone again, talking about how our schools and families are, what we have done and want to do, and of course make plans for the following weeks to hang out. I may be visiting a friend who lives in a different state this coming weekend, and am going to see Breaking Down with a friend from Canada and Germany tomorrow.

PS-I have a huge trip coming up the 24th of November where all the exchange students in Mexico will be attending. This is going to be a crazy time with many new connections and new and interesting people to meet. I can't wait!

Dia de los Muertos

Today is Friday and right now I am sitting in the library, eating my peanut butter and nutella sandwhich, half listening to my ipod and half to the english classes going on in the computer room. I was in those English classes as well for the first few weeks but then I finally spoke up and now I just go to the library. I am supposed to study Spanish on my own, but for those of you who know me, I need the push only a teacher can give me. So for the past few days and 2 months I have really been working on my listening skills.

Now for the most part everything has stayed the same since October 17th: School is still school, with the one change that we had an expo for one of our classes, Estadistica, where we had to bake something we could sell in groups. Turns out I can not for the life of me make pancakes. Granted I made them at 6:30 am the day of, but still, I thought I could. The expo went well though; we sold 2 "hot cakes" with ice cream and chocolate syrup. We have another expo like this soon, and the money we make from these expos goes towards our graduation.

That`s all that has happened so far in school, really. The interesting thing came outside of school. For those of you who don't know, the Mexican culture celebrates their dead on November 2nd. The leading days are spent building an alter with things their dead liked. This usually includes a special bread that is only made during this time, juices, fruits, water, their favorite alcoholic drink, a meal of mole and chicken (mole is a type of sauce very popular here) and of course flowers. There are these flowers here, very beautiful, bushy orange ones that I could see everywhere in the days leading up. I went to a church on Wednesday and saw orange crosses with other decorations on the ground multiple times. The tradition goes that on the 1st you prepare a meal for your dead so that on the 2nd they can come, you eat with them and then they go again. This was a very strange tradition for me, but it was really cool to see how much they care about their dead. I also went to a cemetary with my sisters and their friends, and the cemetaries here are very different. In little Plymouth we just have a stone placed every few yards, and a few strangler flowers. Here, you can barely stay on the tiny path they have left for you, and even then I was shocked to see so many graves with beautiful designs of flower crosses and flower pieces and the family members squeezing around their loved ones' grave, having a little fire (I don't know where they had space to lite it) just having a good time.

The other thing that happened here recently as well in America was Halloween. At first, I thought they didn't even have Halloween here but they do. It was cool because I went to a Halloween party with my friends on Friday, and saw all these really cool costumes. I am really excited for Halloween next year, and have plenty of good ideas. Then on Tuesday I went the the 'centro' with my sisters and their friends. It was really fun because we just walked around and took pictures with all the creepy looking costumes. Their is this one costume very popular is 'La Novia' and from what I understand it is like 'The Dead Bride'. My sisters were really creeped out by it and it just made me laugh, although it was pretty creepy. I also didn't have school Monday-Wednesday, due to their holiday. I now have to go to my art class, and will be uploading more photos when I get home. Today is Friday, and I am excited for the weekend. =D