here and/or there

View from my hostel in Guanajuato.

Since last writing, I have spent a few days at home in DF, and then spent the weekend in Guanajuato.

Guanajuato is a captivating and charming city. It makes me realize how uncomfortable I have been in DF. Granted, I feel a lot more at ease here than I thought I would, but I certainly feel like a stranger in someone else’s city here, while Guanajuato feels familiar and friendly. Right now I am only spending a day at home in DF before spending another weekend in Guanajuato. Since Lauren and Tonio are gone, I am without people to hang out with here in DF, and it feels really good to be around friends in Guanajuato. Originally, I was going to take more classes this week, but after a day in Guanajuato I realized that I am at the point in my learning where I get more out of a conversation where every other word is “no mames, guey” than I do out of a formal class. So I am heading back to the land of the gueys this weekend. Guey (pronounced “way”) is like dude or bro in English, and since the dudes and bros in Guanajuato are all college kids, they use it a lot. Like, too much, guey.

Spending time in Guanajuato has given me time to talk to some old friends who are in similar places in life about what I’m doing and what they’re doing. The next step for me will be to start a masters program. Being in the classroom again (as a student) made me realize I wouldn’t mind being on the teacher side of things again. I really like teaching, but I think I need to move up an age group. So I’ve been looking in to Spanish masters programs in the states. Yes, I know, wouldn’t it make more sense to do a program in a Spanish speaking country? It would be nice to be able to do that, but based on the fact that even taking the trash out is ridiculously unorganized and complicated, I don’t even want to think about obtaining a student visa and applying for schools and getting funding for the degree here. I might be a spoiled American girl, but I don’t find the little quirks about living here cute, I find them frustrating and unnecessary. I miss knowing how to do things, and I really miss my people in the states.

So I’ve been looking at programs, and I’ve found 2 that I like; George Mason University and University of Virginia. Both are close enough to my people and have good programs. Right now I like the George Mason program better, it is Spanish/Bilingual/Multilingual Education and you take some foreign language education classes along with the regular literature and linguistic stuff. Also, I could start in the spring. So all this thinking and googling has led to me setting a tentative “coming home” date based on the deadlines of application, and the fact that I need to prepare for and take the GRE by October 23. Tentative coming home date is September 18. I will be here for the Bicentennial that way, and it’ll be exactly 2 months in Mexico.

When I decided to come here, I had no idea what my next step in life would be, where I would want to live, anything really. I just knew I had a place to crash here and no responsibilities back home and I needed an adventure. Even if I am not staying as long as I thought I would, I did what I set out to do: figure out my next step in life and improve my Spanish. I’m feeling really good about this decision

a very chismosa view

i wrote this blog yesterday, lost the internet, and it disappeared, so i'll try to reproduce it.

here's what has been happening since i returned from cancun:
lauren and i moved from the tiny studio apartment into our new place just around the corner. it's a very cute 1 bedroom apartment above a family's house and a chicharroneria. this is good because it smells like bacon in the morning. however, there's usually a crowd waiting for their fried pig skin. we have a nice patio that has a very chismosa (gossip) view of the neighborhood, and tons of light and space and it's pretty great. we don't yet have consistent internet here, but hopefully will soon. we also will have some furniture to put in the living room in the near future. it has been empty this whole time.

i spent a week at Frida Spanish School in La Condesa, and it was good. it really helped my confidence with speaking and i think i will take some more classes in the next few weeks to get even better!

i also went to chapala to spend a few days with Aunt Peggy and Uncle Rodney. they taught me how to play mexican train (dominoes) and we spent time relaxing and doing their normal day to day things before they headed back to california. it was nice to spend some time with them on their little slice of paradise.

i still feel like an outsider here, i've never really been a minority before this. i feel like a spectacle and also really unsure of how to do things here. i'm still not sure how long i'll stay. i want to stay for a few months, i want to see the independence day celebration in september. i am just trying to take my time and really think about what i want before doing anything serious like getting a job. i am definitely missing the comforts of the USA, however, and of knowing what i'm doing.

sooooo what am i doing? after a conversation class at school where i told them about my thesis from college, it made me realize that i'd like to go back to school soon. i feel like only near the end of college did i really start to get serious about my studies, and i'd like to spend some more time learning and exploring subjects that interest me. i've been looking at masters programs near mom and natalie in virginia, and i think that'll be my next stop in life. i am really reluctant to start another full time job, i just got so burnt out at the last one. ok i'd better finish this blog before the internet goes and steals it again. this one wasn't as good as the one i wrote yesterday, but you get the drift.