Day 2: Immersion

If yesterday was a quick introduction to my family and Queretaro, today was a full blown immersion. Because it is Mother's Day, which is a major holiday in Mexico, we had breakfast with our host mothers at the school that is our homebase, then went to our first language class. I could describe this, but anyone reading right now isn't particularly interested, so after class we went on a tour of the city. We started off by going to the Mausoleum, then past some of the notable churches and statues on the way to the Plaza de Armas and surrounding area, basically the main hub of downtown. We returned to our homes for lunch and siesta, and since we had the afternoon off from class we explored some more. After returning home, I had dinner and am resting and doing work.

Okay, that didn't do my day justice. The point of a blog is not to give my daily schedule, but it did made my point- I walked a lot. I know my way around my part of Queretaro reasonably well know, and can get to the main points of downtown. I expected the city to be more modern considering its side, and maybe further out it is, but I really do feel like I'm in a mix of epochs, looking at colonial architecture, a Starbucks, and everything in between. It is Mexico the way I wanted it to be, actually. I feel comfortable, and if it weren't for the groups of men or the small children looking at me differently every now and then I wouldn't feel much like a gringa. I am also slipping back into my Spanish reasonably well, at the level I had hoped for. I find that I want to keep the momentum and fight it when my friends switch over. I am glad that my host family doesn't speak English because it's keeping me in the language. In short, I'm embracing the concept of immersion and running with it. With the language, the city, and the culture. I have even slowed down and adjusted to Mexican time, and am loving not having my Blackberry and only checking my email once a day. Yes, immersion is good.

I will end with a selection of pictures from my favorite places today.









P.S. I think I am going to talk about food a lot, so for today I am going to give my menu. Today I had:
Breakfast: two tamales and champurrado (a chocolate drink)
Lunch: a soup with rice, cucumber, and corn; chicken mole enchiladas; tortillas and avocado; watermelon; Coke
Dinner: ham and swiss cheese sandwich and Coke
Other/Snacks: Mexican pastries, mango juice