First Day of Class

5-14-12  Today I met my Spanish teacher.  She is very nice except that she refuses to speak to me in English – how rude J

I now completely identify with Ras’ frustrations through the dual language program.  It is the most frustrating/stressful experience for someone to talk to you and expect you to understand and only be able to tell them that you didn’t understand most of what they said. 

My school and classroom are beautiful as you can see.

This is the view from the classroom.

My friend went with me to my house after class to buy some supplies from my host mom’s store.

After my friend left, I reviewed my first Spanish lesson with my host mom.  She cleared up everything I was confused about from class.  That made me feel much better knowing I can clear things up after class and have someone to practice with.  I would have studied some things incorrectly because I couldn’t understand my teacher.

My host mom had the best lunch waiting for me.  So yummy.  She laughed when I asked if she made the tortillas.  The answer was no.  They tasted homemade though.  Better than back home.    

After lunch I rested before returning to school for a lesson in Mexico’s history.  We had a fantastic teacher.  She teaches at the university.  She gave the lecture in English although she also speaks Spanish.  I think that was for my benefit.  I learned things like in the 1800s Mexico had 75 presidents in less than 50 years.  Some presidents were only in office for a few hours due to assassinations.  In the 1800s they had at least 10 constitutions.  I also learned that being a dark skinned Mexican is something of shame here.  When a baby is born they do not ask is it a boy or a girl like we do.  They ask Es gueritas? – meaning is the skin light. 

Our history teacher had a family photo taken 2 years ago.  The photographer photoshopped her son to have lighter skin thinking he had done the family a huge favor.  Most Mexicans refer to themselves by where they are from by talking about ancestry from somewhere else – ex. Spain, Germany.  The history teacher is from Spain and married a very dark man.  All of her Mexican friends couldn’t believe she was marrying a dark man and were horrified for her future children.  

As many of you know, I am a big fan of art, especially oil paintings.  My host mom is an oil painter.  Two years ago she painted the rock I climbed yesterday.  I told her she should paint more often.  She hasn’t painted since then.

Dr. McCormick let me borrow a rechargeable phone.  I cannot begin to tell you how happy I was to hear Ryan’s voice on the phone when I called him tonight.  Ras sounded tired but it was great to talk to him too.  I must take them here within the next couple of years.  The city is clean (they scrub the bricks of the numerous plazas in the mornings , no litter, etc.), safe (cameras all over downtown and heavily patrolled, but not patrolled scary style with machine guns), love is in the air (lovers walk with their arms entwined), history, art, beauty, culture, great shopping, I could go on and on.  I knew this would be a great trip.  I had no idea I would fall in love with the city.