Day 8
So after a weekend of relaxation in
Mexico City, it was finally time to spread me wings and fly to the “City of the
Frogs”—also known as Guanajuato. In the morning, I took a taxi all by myself
from a friend’s house to the centro
where I was to meet my mentor. I do not know if you caught that. I—Ariel
Anib—Kansas girl—took a taxi in Mexico City (one of the largest cities in the
world) by myself! Upon arriving, I was easily able to pick
out my mentor, Marcos even though we had never met. I do not know if it was the
glasses that might have indicated that he worked with engineers all day OR the
fact that he kept smiling at me in a knowing way.
I quickly learned that my mentor
was originally from Chicago, so I got to rest my brain and thank God for a
conversation that I could understand in English. The ETN bus we took to get to
Guanajuato was extremely spacious. It had a separate restroom for men
and women in the back. On top of that, there was also enough for me stretch my
legs all the way out.
Once upon a time…
One of the
ETAs told me that I would love Guanajuato because it is like a painting come to
life. She definitely was not even close to exaggerating. After getting picked
up by our two coworkerrs (Marta and Mabel), the four of us drove through
Guanajuato. And I kid you not, I felt like I got thrown into Miguel Cervantes’
classic, Don Quijote (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCDRUh0jVMw)!
Before you
could say Parangaricutirimicuaro, we were getting dropped up in front of
an alley. It took me no time to realize that walking up ~75 stairs would not be
easy…especially with a 50 pound suitcase. My room in the house downtown was a lot
better than I expected. I actually have an extra bed and a little
living area. The only negative things I could say about the place were that
there are about four dogs, it is in a creepy callejón (alley) and I killed five giant spiders.
My new
friend and neighbor, Mabel took me to a café called Casa Carcamanes so that I
could get free wifi. It was a beautiful place to be, with good food and
relaxing music. It was there that I learned that they will not kick you out.
So, I accidentally kept the owner there at least 30 minutes after it was
supposed to close!
Day 9
In the morning, I ventured out all
by myself and found a cool place for breakfast called Tulúm. There, I made
friends with a waitress named Sara Luna. She also became my first English
student! She invited me back the next day for a free lunch. What a
blessing! J
I will be working at a Tecnológico
Superior and Mabel (even though she is on vacation) was kind enough to show me
how to get there by bus. It is a pretty new school of less than 1,000 students,
with four majors (Industrial Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, Computer Systems Engineering and Foods Engineering). Walking
into the school, I was instantly famous. Although tempted to run the other way,
I walked in with my shoulders back, head held high, and a little swag in my
step. The faculty there is really nice and it kinda reminded me of the
Leadership Studies building at K-State. I had originally marked a preference
for secondary school on my Fulbright application and after seeing rowdy boys giving
piggy back rides, I quickly realized my request had been granted.
Ask and you
shall receive
Upon
returning to the house from my first grocery store trip, I was introduced to
Julieta, my landlord’s (Doña) daughter. The first day I found out that Julieta
was Christian after a conversation with Doña. Well, immediately Julieta invited
me to her church and gave me information about EVERYTHING. Apparently she is
the wife of the pastor of the largest congregation (300 people) in Guanajuato! PRAISE GOD!
Day 10
I finally
got to venture out into Guanajuato and made it all the way to the Café and set
up my bank account all by myself! On top of that, I went to a women’s bible
study with Pastor Ramos and his wife. I had found this church on Google and
what a treasure it was indeed. The lesson was over Mary Magdalene and how God
forgives us with love. Everyone wrote down sins and then wrote 1 John 1:9 over
it. It says “
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”. Then we all took
turns shredding it. I came here naively thinking I would struggle finding a
church and I now realize I am going to have to choose between two!
Today (Day
11)
Today, I
woke up bright and early. Fixed some cereal, a packed lunch, got ready, and
headed to the bus stop all by myself. Standing there, I realized that I was not
seeing the bus that I needed. Right as I was starting to get nervous, I heard,
“blablablablaCERESOblabla.” Without hesitation, I hopped on, praying that it
would be the right one. And it was! J
I spent the
day at the Tecnológico learning about teaching methods. I realized quickly that being a
teacher is way harder than it looks, especially when you are learning it in a
different language. I would say I left overwhelmed in the least.
Getting off
work, I had a voicemail from my friend Yujin (from Korea) saying that she was
at the Guanajuato bus station and had been waiting for two hours! Due to the
fact that my bus ride back to the centro
took 40 minutes and I had no clue how to get the bus station…I was in a pickle!
So, I sucked up my pride and asked multiple people what to do. Within 10
minutes of getting off my bus, I found another stop and a bus that said Central de autobuses.
**Ariel-1 Guanajuato- 5. I am definitely catching up.**
Today I had
a run in with a cultural difference with the Doña. I had no idea that when
guests came to stay, they have to pay a small fee. Sadly, I found this out when
my friend Mabel came and told me that Doña brought it up to her. Now, it makes sense
since I am paying only $100 (gas and lights included). But the whole finding
out through a third party? Not cool! I cleared it up though and Apologized for
not having let her know in advance.
I would say
that this week, I have conquered a lot. If you thought the last entry was long,
I am sure you did not it make it through this week’s! With more experience will
come less speculation, but here are the random things I noticed (WARNING—Not PC
at all):
- · Saw my first transvestite
- · Mexican Catholic priests sound like gringos to me
- · There is a black saint from Perú named San Martín de Porres
- · When it comes to Bible Study and speaking in a university, my Spanish is that of a first grader!
Thanks for the continuous
love and prayers!
Sirenita
No comments:
Post a Comment