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
