Viviendo mi vida

Days in Mexico: 200!!!!!!!

At school I take a class called 'Etimología Griego' which is the Greek and Latin origins of Spanish words. I find the class really interesting because lots of the words have the same origin as words in English so they are really similar. For example; words that end in 'phy' change to ending in 'fía' like 'geography' becomes 'geografía' in Spanish. So I am in a Spanish speaking country, taking classes in French and Greek and writing this blog in English! 

Lots of funny things happen at school because I spend a lot of time there. I was in a class the other day with a new teacher and I was speaking Spanish when the teacher asked where I was from. He first asked if I was German and was surprised when I said I was Australian. 

Last Wednesday night's Rotary meeting was the first for some of the new people in the club. There were 7 inbound students and 4 outbounds at the meeting. We all received the club banner (me included) and each person spoke to the club. Most only spoke a bit of Spanish so I was asked to translate from English to Spanish. I got stuck on a some words a couple of times but I surprised even myself at how much Spanish I know! 

I spent Sunday with my family in Xalapa. It's the third time I have been there but this time I saw more if the city. First we went to the Museum of Anthropology which is divided into the different areas of Mexico. It was really interesting reading about the ancient civilizations and seeing the history of Mexico. We also had some fun imitating the displays. Here are some of my favourite pictures:

Roberto joining the other faces

Jazmín and I imitating one of the displays

After visiting the museum, we climbed a small mountain which I can't remember the name of. When we reached the top, we climbed up to the highest possible point to get an amazing view of the city!

The path to the top

We then had lunch and a walk around the city. Along the way we stopped at an ice cream shop which was decorated in bright colours and had an authentic Mexican feel about it which I really loved. We also stopped in the park for churros filled with chocolate and Lechera (sweetened condensed milk.)

My host parents made a suggestion that I start a bucket list of things I want to do in Mexico before I return. I only have 4 and a half months left to complete it so I will probably be very busy in the next couple of months! I also have the opportunity to travel more in the next couple of months and have plans to go to Mexico City, Cuernavaca, Guadalajara and the Ruta Maya which is in the south of Mexico and includes Cancun. 

This weekend I have an orientation weekend for all the inbound students in the district. There will probably be over 100 exchange students at Cuernavaca which is where it will be held. Cuernavaca is on the West side of the country and is about 8 hours away by bus. I will be travelling with the other students from Veracruz and will return on Monday. Only Henrique, (a student from Brazil located in a different city) and I arrived earlier in the year so all the other exchange students are new and I am really looking forward to meeting them. This is a photo of my blazer now and it will have even more pins on it when I return from the orientation weekend. 

My blazer at the moment