Que ondas?

Victories of the day: I took the bus an hour to and fro La Facultad de Antropología without problems- it was easy! The buses were on time; I got on the correct one, and wasn’t hassled by anyone! Also, I managed to walk back from the bus stop to my house and was only approached by one street vendor. The stares that I get walking around El Centro are actually pretty fun, I’m some grand spectacle and I kind of enjoy it. I am the only gringa that I have seen walking to and from the bus stop and my house- there are a ton of people too!

In the morning, I walk through 3 or 4 different plazas to get to the bus, and two pedestrian- only streets. It’s so much fun because in the morning all the stores are opening, everyone is going to work, people by breakfast on the street, and everyone is running into people they know- so great to watch! Coming back from classes is great because the plazas are packed and there is so much going on- unbelievable.

The park outside my house has traditional music every Tuesday from 8- 11, the Plaza de Santa Ana (4 blocks from my house) has dance and music on Thursdays, in the Plaza de Independencia (biggest plaza in el centro, where I catch the bus) there are dancing lessons on Wednesdays and big festivals on Sundays. The office building and library of UADY has free theatre for students on Fridays- also right by my house. With my student ID card, all the buses are ½ off (30 cents per ride), museums are free, and on Wednesdays, movies are half priced. There is so much to do, I feel like one year isn’t enough time to fit this all in! Despite my feelings of frustration and being overwhelmed, I’m so happy with my host mother, the area I live, the university, and the massive amount of things I can do in my free time.

The Anthropology department is AMAZING. There is a whole library devoted to anthropology and you can take out ethnographies and other resources in two places- the post 1900 section and the pre 1900 section. I can check out the first copies of the Catherwood diaries. (Major anthro- Maya geek out time- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Catherwood) The professors seem amazing and are essentially living in their field of study, with Maya influences everywhere. I am planning on taking a Yucatec Maya class (the language), History of the Yucatan, Underwater Archaeology, and Spanish- I can’t take photography this semester!!! Maybe I can take a dance class or something like that? Haha.

I’ll spare everyone the horribly boring details from orientation except one. I was placed in the first (lowest) Spanish class. Meh. That is definitely frustrating, but on the other hand, it will be much easier, a lot of review, and I will probably want a break from intense Spanish.

Walked to the supermercado alone today to buy toothpaste and snacks. That was a lot of fun, I love interacting with locals, especially when they clearly just don’t know what to think of the gringa waiting in line.

Talked with my host mom forever tonight- we are going to try and paint together! How fun! She is so cute!! We had a big long conversation about more politics- both sad about Ted Kennedy- and art and music. We’ve decided that we will try and start a painting, not really expecting either of us to finish it- that’s the best!

Used Skype to call home and Scott- How great!! It cost me a total of $2 for almost two hours of phone time. It was very nice to talk to people at home because studying abroad can be a bit frustrating and lonely at times. I am very happy with where I am right now, in terms of the program, but I seriously couldn’t be more ecstatic with the choice of programming.

And I’m out, falling asleep already! Goodnight all!