too comoda

Well, I am still in Guanajuato. I went back to DF for a day or so and turned right around and came back. I just absolutely love this city. How could you not? It's unreal how beautiful it is. I am still perpetually annoyed by certain little things in Mexico, but it's easy to forget about them here. I have been taking full part of the "student lifestyle" even though I am not studying at the moment... it's really not a tough life at all. There is a pretty great little community of ex-pats here. Someone we met mentioned that Guanajuato is the way San Miguel de Allende was 30 years ago. Now, San Miguel is full of retired ex-pats... these ex-pats here are in their 30s and 40s and own businesses here or teach English or have ridiculously awesome jobs that allow them to have enough money to live here for months at a time without working. Like Paul, the underwater welder who spends a month at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Saudi Arabia, then comes back to his beautiful house in Guanajuato for 6 weeks. Tough life, no?

The plan remains the same, with some details filled in as we near my departure. I will stay in Guanajuato until Monday or Tuesday for a wedding on Saturday and a weekly barbecue on Sunday. Then it's DF for a few days, go to some of the museums I've been meaning to see there, and maybe try for a little side trip. I really want to have one last mini vacation in this mega vacation I'm in the middle of. I'm thinking about Zihuatanejo... hmm... Just put in my CouchSurfing request, so we'll see!

I am feeling pretty anxious to get back to the states, when I let myself think about it too much. I want to get started applying to schools and I want to stop being such a slacker with my endless summer thing I have going on right now. I have been checking craigslist religiously and hopefully will be able to find a quick fix to my no job, no car situation when I get back. It really has been a mega vacation and I'm glad I did it. Mexico is a wonderful place to visit, but at this point in my life, I don't want to live here. Maybe someday, but not now. I'm a guera through and through, as much as it pains me to say.

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