Bailo con Viejos

So to recap: Uxmal, although interesting, was a tad painful given my lack of sleep and the intense heat and sun. Still glad I went to the party because I met a lot of people and needed some social interaction outside the program! Uxmal was beautiful- the ruins are very well preserved (despite the large amount of concrete used in the reconstruction). The view from the top of one of the pyramids was breathtaking- you could see the rest of the site as well as the surrounding town and lots of forest. The down side was that the site was all open without shade, and the guide was a professor from UADY and not too engaging.

After, we went to La Hacienda Yaxocopil- an old henequen plant. The hacienda was beautiful- had a lot of the original furniture from the house, machines, vegetation, it was beautiful. The man who was our guide was really interesting- he worked at the hacienda producing henequen until the plant shut down in the 1980’s. I would love to go back- without a group sometime. They have a room you can rent out for the night- it would be really nice to stay there if I had visitors (hint, hint).

So Monday, I had classes- Theory of Social Movements and sat in on Buseo Cientifico- scuba theory. Saw some people that I met on Saturday night at school- that was nice. Yesterday after I got home for classes- I took a nice long nap, ate, and finished my homework. All in all, not a very exciting day.

Today was interesting through and through. Woke up and was running late- so inhaled breakfast and sped-walked to the bus station. Got to the plaza and was stopped by some hippy-looking boy that struck up a conversation with me- ended up following me to the bus, getting on the bus an talking the whole time- definitely one of the weirder experiences I’ve had since I’ve been here- hmm.

Maya was my first class today- it’s taught in Spanish and English and pretty much made my brain cyclically implode and explode. There are times when my brain just shuts off, and that class was definitely one of them today- no clue what happened- couldn’t process anything in English or Spanish. Normally, I think I’m a decently intelligent human being- but here, I’ve never felt so incredibly stupid for so long!! I feel like I don’t know anything!!

After class, went to the program office, ate lunch, finished homework- took full advantage of the speedy internet and illegally downloaded music- and of course, fell asleep. We watched Payns Labyrinth in Spanish today- no problem understanding it- although, I did close my eyes through a good half of it- it’s scary!!

Came home on the bus- got out of my seat for some poor old woman who could barely walk to she could sit- everyone on the bus stared. Talk about an awkward bus ride- that was really, really weird. My host mom said that there wasn’t anything wrong with it, that it was just unusual and probably more surprising because it was me. Still, 20 people staring at you for the remainder of the bus ride is a bit uncomfortable. Got home- had dinner- relaxed a bit and called home.

Went out to the park in front of my house around 8:30 in search of Mr. Crepe man with his stand. Every Tuesday there is music and dancing in the park- definitely for the older crowd. To make a long story short- I couldn’t make my way through the crowd (all 60+++) to the crepes and stopped to talk to an older gentleman for awhile. Ended up dancing (or rather, he was dancing, I was looking like an idiot), while everyone stared. Not only was I the only person under 60 there, but as I’ve already said- I stick out. So to make a long story short, I ended up being passed around between what seemed like 20 different men and dancing with each of them- I stayed for a good two hours. I now know that I can’t dance to save my life, at least not salsas, rumbas, merengues, cumbias, etc, but wouldn’t mind learning. I also have a small bouquet of flowers that were given to me by the various old men I danced with. All in all, the experience was absolutely hysterical- probably more so for everyone that was watching me. Aside from a few men inviting me to go with them various places and a few creepers- it’s a fun story to tell. Got back to the house and my host mom said “Oh my God! What happened to you?” I proceeded to tell her what exactly did happen to me and she started hysterically laughing at me- apparently next Tuesday we are going with a camera so she can take pictures of my new novios.

Things seem to be coming together for me a bit- although painfully slowly. My biggest frustration now is the language- I’m not a patient person and I feel as though my Spanish isn’t improving at all!! My insecurity with Spanish tends to damper my social interactions and willingness to approach people- although usually if someone starts talking to me, I’m ok. Aside from that, I’m enjoying everything else here- big trip coming up this weekend and then it’ll be Independence Day here- some things to look forward to!! It will be nice when I have some more free time and can wander around the center more and also take advantage of all the museums and free entertainment for students. As long as I can get through next week I think my schedule will calm down considerably- in time for midterms! Oh well, probably be better to keep busy and out and about instead of sitting at home focusing on all the Spanish I don’t know! (Although, a little extra studying wouldn’t hurt).