Último día de clases, Xochimilco, México City

Viernes – 13 de Julio.

Día 29. “Último día de clases, Xochimilco, México City”

                

Today was the official last day in Cuernavaca. It was really hard to leave our family this morning but there were lots of hugs and smiles as well. After having an amazing month with our new Mexican families we just didn’t want to leave them this morning- but we have all the memories and Mamá is very persistent about asking us to return someday.. someday soon!

                In school this morning every class was cramming to finish their final presentations and my class literally worked till the very last minute! But in the end it went amazing, so all the hard work was woth it. Today was also Katie’s birthday so we had a little birthday party before our afternoon presentations and when we received our diplomas (: The presentations were definitely creative, to say the least.. and filled with plenty of laughs!         

                Leaving Universisdad Internacional was almost as hard as leaving home this morning. Cuernevaca has been our home for a month now, and we didn’t want to leave- but we were all excited to get to Mexico City and explore! We took a two hour bus ride to Xochimilco where we went on a boat ride. The boats were like huge gondolas, but they were crazy colorful- they were beautiful! After the ride we ate dinner at Xochimilco and spent a little time shopping in the market too!

                We were all ready to get settled in our hotel and when we arrived we found the rooms to be VERY cute, and we have a beautiful view of the city from Kenzie, Carly and I’s room. After a little time of settling in we headed to the grocery store to pick up some snacks and food for the rest of the weekend. When we got back to the hotel we played some games, and all worked on our journals. We are all excited to explore and see what Mexico City has to offer tomorrow. I don’t think it has hit us yet that we will be home in less than 48 hours…

Daily Spanish Lesson #30:

Mexico City- Ciudad Mexico

Diploma- Diploma

Laughs- Se ríe

Hotel- Hotel

Grocery Store- Super mercado 

Último día con mi familia

Jueves – 12 de Julio.

Día 28. “Último día con mi familia”

                Today was a tough one. School went well, we took our final exam, which ended up being a piece of cake- and then we headed to the black market for some shopping as a “field trip”. What kind of field trip is that..? An awesome one! After a few hours of shopping and all of us becoming broke we headed back to school.

                When we went home for our final La Comida it was pretty sad. Mamá said a special prayer today and it is so hard to believe we won’t be here anymore! If we could spend more time with our family, and skip our excursions in Mexico City, I know I would! After La Comida we headed to the bowling alley for a couple hours of bowling and fun the night before we leave. Our friends that we had met at the water park came to say goodbye and it was nice to see them again. After bowling we headed home for a little time to pack before La Cena.

                La Cena was even more difficult because it was really hitting that we wouldn’t have any more time to spend with our whole family! The only one that we didn’t get to spend tonight with was Paulina. Mamá, Papá, Jessica and Felipe ate Cena with us as we talked about our trip, and if we would be coming back- which of course we agreed too! Jessica had a little surprise for us, her and Felipe had made us delicious cupcakes wishing us “Buen Viaje” – “Good Travels”. After la cena all we wanted to do was spend more time with them but we headed into our room to finish packing. It’s almost one in the morning and we are done with what can be done tonight, but tomorrow morning will definitely come too fast.

                Tomorrow is a busy day! We present our final projects, get our diplomas, and then we will be heading to Mexico City until Sunday when we return to Minnesota. It is still unknown if I will have internet when we are at the hotel in Mexico City- So if the blog is non-existent, I’m not just slacking!

Buenos Noches!

Daily Spanish Lesson #29:

Bowling- Boliche

Good Travels- Buen Viaje

Cupcakes- Pastelito

To Pack My Suitcases- Hacer Mis Maletas.

Clases de Cocinar

Miércoles – 11 de Julio.

Día 27. “Clases de Cocinar”

                Getting up this morning to go to school was definitely not fun after numerous nights of staying up to do my final project, which still isn’t done… Well, the morning classes consisted of studying for our final, which is tomorrow along with trying to work on our final project. Which seems like it is never ending. So, I have a theory that they are trying to make us all hate each other on this trip- because in the afternoon we spent another hour plus debating with each other in Spanish. Although, this time it wasn’t “who are we going to save off the island”, it was “who gets to be president.” After some time of debate, drawing up propositions, and “campaigning” my group had the winning President, Marina. We decided it was time for a women president :P

                After school we headed to a cooking class- it was actually really fun! We went to the home of a women that works with our University and she helped us cook an appetizer, soup, enchiladas, and flan! It was absolutely delicious and a lot of fun! Following cooking class Kenzie and I headed to El Centro for one last time. It was kind of bitter sweet realizing we wouldn’t get to be back there again before we leave, and we have spent so much time there we know it pretty well… On the plus side we finally found lots of gifts and bought ourselves some jewelry!

                When we returned home we spent some time with Mamá, Paulina, Ivan, y Jessica, and we watched Project X. Paulina and Jessica believe that we actually have parties like that in the United States! It was pretty funny! It is really hard to believe that tomorrow is our last full day with our family, and that we only have two nights left in our “second home”. This month has gone by faster than I ever had expected, and although it will be hard to leave- I am excited to get back to Minnesota to see my family and head out on the lake (:

Daily Spanish Lesson #28:

Cooking Classes- Clases de Cocinar

Soup- Sopa

Ring- Anillo

Jewelry- Joyería 

Golfito

Martes  – 10 de Julio.

Día 26. “Golfito”

                Today we spent a lot of time working on our final project in the morning and spent time learning new verb tenses that just confuse us all. In the afternoon we played a game called “Salvavidas” and the point of the game was to get us to all talk and debate who should be saved from a stranded island. We had 9 choices, but we could only save 6- it was quite interesting to hear us all debate fully in Spanish, just goes to show what we actually know. After school we headed home for La Comida, today Mamá made “sope” which is basically a thicker tortilla, with beans, cheese, lettuce, salsa, and rice- it was really good, like always (:

                

After La Comida we went to Plaza Cuernavaca for glow in the dark, safari themed, mini-golf. It was actually really cool, kind of like cosmic bowling with the lights. After we spent some time walking around Plaza Cuernavaca, and tried out some tacos at another great place tonight.

Daily Spanish Lesson #27:

Bread- Pan

Lifeguard or Lifejacket- Salvavidas

Island- Isla

To debate- Debatir

Mini Golf- Golfito

La Gringa

Lunes  – 9 de Julio.

Día 25. “La Gringa”

         

       Today was pretty fun, we didn’t have a lot planned, but it seemed like we never stopped moving. This morning we did some preparation in classes for our final projects, that I have spent a good amount of time working on now. We have to make a half an hour presentation at the end and my group has chosen to make it about our experiences here. We are able to use so much that we have learned here, it really is fun- but a lot of work. In the afternoon we played running and vocabulary games, our teachers aren’t always so happy with us because we like to be lazy teenagers when it is so hot out and not run.. (:

                After school we walked to a local restaurant called “La Gringa” - it is known for the best tacos around Cuernavaca. It was a lot of fun and we tried many new interesting things. Kenzie and I both chose an “alhambre” which was basically fajitas with different types of meat, vegetables, and even some fruits. Everyone told us that while we were here we had to try a meet called el Pastor, so today we tried it out. It was really weird because they cook it on a large stick in a huge bundle, as seen in the picture. It looks really gross but it is actually quite good. After La Gringa we headed to el Centro again to shop a little and we ended up going to a movie, Dark Shadows, it was pretty good. Now we are working on homework and are aiming to make it to bed before 2 a.m. (:

Buenos Noches!

Daily Spanish Lesson #26:

Final Project- Proyetco Final

Lazy- Perezoso

Pineapple- Piña

El Rollo & Discoteca & Feliz Cumpleaños Nihal!

Sabado and Domingo – 7/8 de Julio.

Día 23 & 24. “El Rollo & Discoteca & Feliz Cumpleaños Nihal!”

                Sorry all! I have been slacking a little bit this weekend, but I promise I have a good excuse! Well, not really- other than that I have been having a lot of fun. Yesterday was jam packed, we barely had time to take a break to breath, and then today was relaxing but we spent the whole day away from home. It is sad to think this was our last weekend spent here in Cuernavaca with our host families, because next weekend we will be spending in Mexico City before returning home. Where has time gone?

                Yesterday, early in the morning we headed to school so we could hop on a bus to head to El Rollo, a water park about an hour and a half away. To our surprise when we got on the bus we were not the only people, and there was another group of guys there with their dad that would be spending the day with us at the water park. On the bus ride there we practiced quite a bit of Spanish and they practiced their English- and throughout the day we had plenty of laughs while being lost in translation at times. El Rollo was an amazing waterpark- the slides were ridiculous, lazy river amazing, but I am not going to lie; a lifeguards worst nightmare! (: 

Daily Spanish Lesson #24:

Water Park- Parque Acuático

Slide- Tobogán

Lazy River- Río Lento

                After a long day in the sun we had plans to go out to the Discoteca last night- and after spending all day with the other group of guys they decided they wanted to come with. So last night spending the night in El Centro, then the discoteca was by far the best night we have had in Mexico so far. To top it all off- Nihal’s birthday was today so when it hit midnight our group had a lot of fun. After returning home we watched a movie and finally got to bed early this morning. Waking up the go to the vacation house this morning was definitely no struggle though- knowing that we got to hang out by the pool and in the sun for another day. It is sad knowing this was our last time at the house with our family.

                Today was spent by the pool, playing card games with the family, celebrating Nihal’s birthday, and evening attempting to play Clue with the kids visiting their vacation house nearby. That was quite interesting, considering they spoke barely any English at all. It was fun though, and we tried many new foods today- including my creation; Mango and Avocado Fajitas- with meat and vegetables as well of course! It was surprisingly good. After a long day we didn’t get home till around 11 and still had homework and journals to complete. Well here I am now- typing a blog because I can’t get any more behind, off to do more homework! Buenos Noches! (:

Daily Spanish Lesson #25:

Happy Birthday!- Feliz Cumpleanos

Chairs- Sillas

Table- Mesas

Orfanato, Again

Viernes – 6 de Julio.

Día 22. “Orfanato, Again”

                Today was all together pretty good- seeing the little kids at the orphange always makes for a good day though! (: This morning classes were as normal, but in the afternoon we had our oral speaking exams- my presentation was about my families. After presentations we headed to music class where we all struggled quite a bit to get the words, at least we got Feliz Navidad, in July… Today on our break we celebrated my host brother’s birthday, which is actually on Sunday, but we celebrated early at school.

     







       After school we headed out to the same orphanage we went to last week. Not the really big one, but the smaller one where we actually got to get to know the kids a bit. It was fun seeing their smiling faces when they realized we were back to visit- many of them remembered us by name. Instead of bringing a piñata this time we brought a cake, they sure enjoyed that. At some point this evening I became a drawing canvas as the kids drew pictures all over my legs in Sharpie, which will be interesting to try and get off before heading to the water park in the morning. I also found out that my hair is quite mesmerizing for the little ones, and one little girl spent a good amount of time getting my hair “just perfect”. Tonight will be a pretty relaxing night as we are about to watch a movie. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow; first heading to El Rollo, a water park, very early in the morning, and then heading to the discoteca tomorrow night!

Daily Spanish Lesson #23:

Cake- Pastel

Speech- Discurso

To Draw- Dibujar

Painting- Pintura