Sunday, August 23- I <3 Merida!

It’s going to be a great year. My host mom couldn’t be nicer. I'm going to gain 20 lbs because i'm force- fed on the hour, and man can she cook. She has absolutely no problem cooking vegetarian for me- que suerte! I really don’t know what I’m eating most of the time, it’s all delicious and covered in these magical salsas that are either green or red. I also had some kind of fruit this morning, white with little black seeds that was terrific- I can’t remember the name, I will have to ask again tomorrow. Watching her cook is great, she swears every 5 minutes because she burns herself or spills something- it's cute.

Today she took me around the city, to a few different plazas and two malls. They were both very American in style and both were air conditioned!!! We ate lunch and had sorbet at the malls. Lunch was a crepe with cheese, eggplant?, sour cream, and salsa verde. Quite tasty but very heavy. Doña Ligia doesn’t drive but the bus system seems great- 60 pesos for a ride (60 cents more or less). Taking the bus was actually really great- I got to see a lot of the city this way. After the malls we went to “Merida en Domingo”- the Plaza Mayor that has a festival every Sunday, with many vendors, music, dances, food, etc. We watched a group dance in the Vera Cruz style and after, a mariachi band. In la parquet de Santa Ana (3 blocks from my house) her son is commentating for a band on Thursday. It seems as though every day of the week has a different festival or musical happening. Also, we passed at least 5 theatres which are apparently very cheap for students. The Boys of Vienna are singing here in September. I’m so happy with my choice of city, and especially, with the location of the house.

I guess all the other students live in el norte de la ciudad- it is farther from the center and there are more Americans and more money- I'm perfectly content here in the center, the location is PERFECT. I have only seen 2 gringos since I've been here, and I've been out and about a lot. I definitely get lots of weird looks, on the plus side, everyone loves my hair. (ha!) I must be quite the sight, “tall” gringa with funny hair and an adorable woman talking a mile a minute leading me around.

Although I don’t understand everything that Doña Ligia says, she claims to understand everything I say and that my grammar is good- that I have a few problems every now and them but she can understand everything. Every now and then I have to ask her to repeat something but she always says “Ohh, you speak well so I think you understand everything"- nice of her but I don’t think it is necessarily true.

After we got back from wandering around we moved the hammock to the back bedroom which has more windows and . . . AIRE ACONDICIONADO! I attempted to watch a movie on the Disney channel (all in Spanish) and generally, knew what was going on.

Fell asleep at some point and woke up around 8. Doña Ligia made dinner around 9 or so- bread with cheese and tomato sauce (cousin of a pizza!) and an icy chocolatey beverage. She loves chocolate.

After dinner we talked a bit about friends and classes and how I wanted to avoid spending all my time with Americans and take fun classes- she liked this a lot. She recommended a photography class- because the building is very close to our house (la facultud de antropologia is muy lejos)and I would have great pictures of the city this way. Apparently thereis also a snorkeling class (we are 15 minutes from the beach) and an underwater archaeology class. I hope that I can pick some fun things out! We shall see what fits into my schedule though.

Doña Ligia is divorced, has three kids- I think she had four but one died? Not sure... but she has many exchange students- probably a good source of income for her, company too. Her kids don’t live in the area from what I understand- one is an actress, the other I a director, and the youngest is off wandering about the states. She couldn't be nicer to me- loves to talk politics and religion and is very, very liberal (que suerte!).

I have photos on flickr now- only of my house and the park at the end of my block. Let me know if everyone can see them- my user name is bethanmaher (how original!)

Didn’t sweat quite as much today- there was some wind.

And phew, that was some entry! I’m sure that over time they will get shorter, but when I don’t have classes what else am I going to do at night?