Week two of classes

This week I think I hit a little bit of the adaptation blues. Nothing was bad, but I just felt tired all week, despite the fact that I was sleeping about 8 hours a night. I was feeling the usual tiredness that comes from being in a new country with everything new around you. A combination of the new country and customs, the language, not having close friends yet, changing from a summer schedule to a school schedule, having my first homework, etc, etc, added up to making me more tired than my sleep indicated I should be. Oh well, it's all part of the process of studying abroad.

Oh the brighter side, I almost know what classes I'm taking. I've decided three of the four: Math methods for physics 1, multivariable differential calculus, and folkloric dance. For the last class I'm deciding between a literature class on the novels of Jose Revueltas (a Mexican author) and an anthropology class called "Race and Racism" which is going to look at the affect of race and racism through the history of many countries (Mexico, other latin american countries, South Africa, US, etc.).

I also went to talk to the track coaches about the possibility of running with the team. It sounds like it's going to work out. They have a much more laid back system here than in the US. The coaches are available between 7 am and 4 pm and you can go whenever you have time. Students go for different lengths of time too, depending on their schedules; some go for an hour and a half and others for two. You don't have to be super competitive to be on the team. The coaches said the level here in Mexico is much lower than in the US. Also, most of the students arrive with no background in track and hardly any physical fitness. It won't be a problem that we aren't accustomed to the altitude here or that we haven't run in a while (or at all in the case of some of the other girls that are thinking of doing it with me). When I went to talk to the coaches there were two coaches and three students. It was like having your own personal trainer. The setup seems ideal!

I'm also going to go talk to the guitar instructor this next week to see if I can arrange beginning guitar lessons with him. I lugged my guitar all the way here and now I want to use it! Also, the program will pay for the lessons, so it's a much better deal than at Smith!

Last night we had a meeting for the program and afterwards one of our monitors (a student at the university who helps us with anything related to Puebla or the uni.) taught a class on how to make earrings out of wire and beads. I already had an idea, but she had lots of pretty additions to make to my knowledge. After we had done crafts to our hearts' content, we all stayed at Patricia's house (the director here from Smith) and watched a movie. It was great because we were all tired but wanted to do something. It's hard to get together as a group here in our houses because they are small and many don't have VCRs in the common spaces. We also don't want to bombard our host families with 8+ giggling girls. It worked out because Patricia's house here is enormous and beautiful! It really is like an old Spanish colonial house complete with the patio, the internal balconies all the way around the patio, the tall ceilings, and the tile floors and beautiful funiture. It probably is an old colonial house and is now being decorated with American money which is probably more abundant in a US professor's salary than Mexican money is in the salary of a Mexican professor.

Tonight I am going to meet another host brother and his wife. They live in Cuernavaca, about 2 hours from here. They are apparently coming to visit, though they have yet to arrive. Oh boy!



Photo: About half our group at Patricia's house getting ready to watch the movie.