Hi

Okay, so I have this problem with blogging, I always have all of these amazing ideas of what to say and how to say it and then I sit down at my computer and it all goes away and then you get stuck with whatever is left for me to say... so, I am really sorry for that, but there isn't really anything I can do.
I started my Spanish class last Monday and it is really amazing! In my class of 10 students there are 2 from Taiwan, 1 from China, 2 from Japan, 2 from Korea, 1 from Kenya, 1 from Germany, and me, from the United States. It is an amazing opportunity to take a look at different cultures and get to know a bunch of really cool people. In my Salsa class which is the companion class to Spanish, there are about 40 students, 2/3 of them guys, which I found really surprising, and the people are from all over the world, too many different countries for me to name them all, but I will mention that there are a couple of really cute boys from Quebec with really nice accents. Petty, I know, but I mean, I am nineteen years old, I can be petty every once in awhile.
We are learning really quickly, we cover a unit every week and I feel like my Spanish has already improved. In fact, today at church people were saying hello and talking to me, and all of them said, your Spanish is better! Que bueno!
As much as I am really loving the experience here, I have to say that I am learning that I most definitely would not want to be a nanny for life. I want my own family with my own cute little kids that I can choose how to raise, and raise them in an environment where they do not learn that smoking and drinking are totally appropriate parts of adult life and that screaming and freaking out is not the best way to get what you want. I am grateful for my background in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it has allowed me to avoid some serious mistakes I may have otherwise made, and it helps me to be accepting of everyone no matter what choices they make or where they come from, because I know that they are all just as much God's children as I am, and they deserve equal respect. Although this does not seem to be the attitude that every LDS person has, it is the only attitude I can feel right about, knowing what I know.
I am also learning of my serious dependency on my friends, and the library. Here, I cannot just call someone up to hang out whenever, and I do not have nearly the access to books I have at home. Both of those things are so hard for me to deal with. I miss reading, not that I don't read here but I just do not have as much opportunity or as large of a diversity of books to choose between, so, I am left a little at a loss. Books have always been an outlet for me, a place to find friends when your friends aren't available, and finishing a book has always been a bittersweet experience. I get so into it, I may as well be living a book as I read it because it seems just as important as normal every day life. So here in Mexico I am lacking my real truly great friends, and a lot of my friends on paper. And that, is hard. But, I am making new true friends, learning about a different culture, working on my third language, gaining access to delicious food, and getting paid for it. So I have NO right to complain, none at all. Thanks everyone for reading this post and feel free to check out the pictures hanging out below. :D

Hello Again

So the funny thing about my life in Mexico is that I expected it to be SO different, but it turns out, life is life where ever you are living it. I do the same things just in a different place. But still I figured it was time for an update. So, here goes:
I am learning how much I am dependent on people and my ability to easily communicate with them. At home I took for granted my ability to call a friend whenever, have someone I could potentially do something with every night, and have so many people I love at such a close proximity. It is really hard for me to not have that option, really hard. And before I came here I was just starting to spend a lot more time with a lot of other people, and now that I can't, I am really missing it.
But, here, I have Maritza and she is really amazing. The most amazing thing about our friendship is that we totally understand each other despite the obvious language barriers. I don't know how but somehow Maritza Spanish makes sense to me, like i understand. It is amazing, really.
Okay, I don't really have to much else to say, so I will have to post more later, but I miss you all!

Howdy!

Hello everyone,
It has been awhile since my last post so i have decided to blog again, even though nothing too exciting has happened. It is really weird, but life here is just normal, I just happen to be in a different country living it. Last night was Max's birthday party with his friends, he just turned 19. I went to the party for awhile and it was okay but honestly pretty lame. He and his friends were drinking and smoking hookah, and I have to say that you can only say no so many times before you should leave and get out of the situation. So i did. Max was like, "oh yeah, you don't drink alcohol, that's too bad." And I just left and went down to my room, this morning at breakfast, I was feeling good and having a wonderful beginning to my day while he was stuck with a serious hang over. Yeah, that really is too bad. Hmmm... am I sounding a little bitter and sarcastic? Maybe, but mostly I am just feeling good to have standards that I stick to.
I have been missing some crazy things, like things I hardly took advantage of when I was home, I just miss having the option:
Big Walmarts
Target
My puppies
Having many brands to choose from
Library
Being able to call my friends, whenever I want
Texting :) although not as much as one would think
My young women
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
My bike
English
Making Cheesecake
Peanut butter bars (Kristen, they are not fingers)
Fall Colors
A wide music selection
And much more, ESPECIALLY my friends and family
But, besides missing some things, I am having a really good time, I start a Spanish course soon, and I am so excited! It will be great to actually be able to talk to people, I feel like a bit of a jerk not speaking the language here. Which makes me feel serious compassion for people living in America who do not speak English. I think the general assumption is that people who immigrate to America and do not yet speak English, no matter how long they have been here, choose not to speak English because they do not care to learn it. I believe that is far from the truth. The thing is, it is really hard to learn a new language, and when you are first learning, it is scary and embarrassing to practice using that language on those who know it well, and it would not be difficult to let that fear and embarrassment prevent a person from trying at all. But in America we tend to try to shoo those immigrants out the door, letting ourselves believe that they are just being lazy and lack the desire to learn, while here in my experience everyone I have met has been very forthcoming in offering assistance however they can to aid me in learning Spanish or with anything else that I need. So this makes me wonder, why is our focus on their inadequacies and not on how we can help them overcome? Seriously, why aren't we reaching out to our neighbors and being the Christlike persons we say we are? I want to be like Christ, I am learning that I really love people and want to help everyone, and that people are not so different as they seem.
Finally I am making a few changes in my room, trying to make it more, MINE. So far my changes have only been putting a couple of pictures up on the wall, there are already plenty from Antonia but now there are a few from me.