Leave Mexico? No thanks!

Hey everyone! Mexico is still as great as always and we have done some really fun stuff lately! We are still running everyday we are in town, and our coach Vic has been torturing us with some crazy workouts. He's very cool though, and I am running more than I thought I could at this stage of my marathon training - he just looks at you after every speed workout, and asks, Estas bien? And, even if I feel like dying, I kept going because I can't let him down, especially since he's not getting anything out of it. We did discover that we are running with child prodigies though - some of the kids we run with are about 14 and run 4:30 miles. Absolutely insane. We decided to run in a 5K in June together for Vic - I am really excited! Other than running, I wrapped up two of my classes last week, grammar and literature, so I only have class now! It is on the history and politics of Mexico, and already it has taught me that while I love Mexico and wish I could stay here longer, I am really glad that I don't officially live here. My classes and conversations with Mexicans have made clear that while democratic, there is still a lot of corruption here, and women's rights are still pretty behind the US. I don't notice it with my family very much because they are a middle-class to upper middle class family so they have a lot of opportunities many Mexicans do not, but some of the stories I have heard have just made me happy to be a US citizen.

Other than classes, we took a weekend trip to Taxco and Tepoztlán! They are cities about 4 hours away from Puebla and I really enjoyed them. At Tepoztlán, we climbed a mountain to see ruins that were built during the prehispanic times to watch for invaders on the roads leading to Mexico City. And, when I say mountain, I really mean mountain haha. Our director forget to mention that little detail when we started climbing it, and about half hour in and a thousand treacherous rocks later, we realized we were nowhere close to the top. After another half hour and way past the point where I could feel my legs, we made it to the top! It was TOTALLY worth it, as we had a great view of the city and surrounding mountains. We also got to see these weird creatures called tejones that have this really long tail like monkey but look like a badger from the front. They were definitely not shy and would come right up to you. Since I am really trying to avoid getting rabies, I stayed away but I am glad that I got to see them! We then headed to Taxco aka Silver Capital! It is literally a town built on the side of the mountain and it was cool because they have a rule where all the buildings have to be white, with black lettering, and red tiled roofs - my pictures can't do it justice so i would just google it. Very cool. While we walked around a bit, we also had a lot of time to shop because while the silver is really good quality, it is also ridiculously cheap. I also ate the best burrito of my life at this hippie like restaurant - I honestly don't know what I am going to do when I leave here because the food is just so delicious. Irma, my host mom promised to get me a comal (its basically this flat pan that they cook a lot of food on, like quesadillas yum!) and next week we are going to go through all my favorite food and how to make them ... yeah!

My host family is still as awesome as always - Last week Irma told me that whenever I want to come back, I can stay in my room, she'll cook my favorite stuff, and we can go to all my favorite places in Cholula and Puebla because Mexico is my home now too. I almost started crying because while I am excited to see everyone from home, I can't imagine not seeing my host family every day / leaving Mexico. I just love so much about my experience here that it'll be so hard to leave not knowing when I will ever come back ... But that's all I am going to say about leaving because it makes me too depressed. SO we got back from Taxco and yesterday I had lunch with my whole family - like 15 people. Its always really interesting because they talk about everything from the drug wars to the places they have traveled to popular culture but yesterday the focus was all on futbol.

The World Cup, or Mundial, as it called here starts in June for everyone that didn't know, and people are OBSESSED here. My family was completely breaking down Mexico's schedule and the players for at least an hour or two. I also found out that my host family has a wedding that first weekend of the Mundial and its about 4 hours away. (Actually, it is a wedding of a former host student of Irmas from Delaware that met a Mexican while studying abroad ... Irma loves to joke with me that over half of her host students have married Mexicans so I need to "ten cuidado" or be careful haha) But, my host dad has refused to go to the wedding because he would have to miss the first Mexico game of the Mundial, and even though Irma is not a happy camper about it, she told me that she definitely understands his choice. We tried to get tickets to the Mexico/Chile game in May but tickets sold out so fast we didn't have even a chance... My host dad is also a big baseball fan, but unfortunately we disagree on that a little because he's a Yankees fan ... the worst. He did teach Ale, their 6 year old granddaughter, a bit about baseball and she has gone to see him play on Sunday mornings with his rec league. At family lunch last week, she showed us what she learned when she threw a napkin at my host brother pitcher style and then proceeded to spit into her plate of food like a baseball player. Hahah I had to get up and leave the table because I was laughing so hard ... She is such a cute kid.

We also went a saw a baskeball game at UDLA! Our team was in the "Final Four" for Mexican colleges and so we went with our friends from school to check it out. It was NOTHING like the Final Four back home; it was played in a high school size gym / court, we strolled in right when the game was supposed to start and easily found great seats, and we didn't have to pay for tickets. By the time the game actually started, the stands were packed and the game was really fun. The level of play was definitely not any where close to home, but I was loving watching basketball again. We ended up losing by three which would have never happened if we didn't miss 12! free throws, but it was definitely worth going.

Other than that, we have just been spending time with our Mexican friends, and now that we only have one class and a lot less work, we are planning on doing more things around Cholula and Puebla to make the most of our time here. We have a trip to Veracruz this weekend so I will make sure to fill you in on all the fun stuff we do!