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This Is Mexico: Where Everything Tastes Better On A Taco
Note: This is the first part of a giant super-post, but since it was so big I could barely edit it, I cut it in half and posted the two bits seperately. See the 2nd half above. This bit mostly focuses on Mexico, i.e. self-ish introspection.
How was your Thursday? Mine was spent...well, throwing up, actually. So, you know, got that workin' for me. On a related note, you should probably drop my mom a line to thank her for talking me out of posting a picture of the nut that came our of my nose. Pistachio ice cream? Not as much fun the second time around. And you can shut up know, all my immature male readers who've been tittering since the word 'nut'. An are now giggling about 'tittering'. This stuff? This is classy shit.
Anyway, life meanders on. My host mother is a little miffed that I have missed so much school. I've tried to explain that I'm sorry and I actually learn more staying at home anyway. I thought it was a Mexican high school thing, but I now realize it's more of a..high school thing. Yeah. I wish there was something cool to tell you. All I can say is, I realized this morning how much I am going to miss the birds here. You barely see them, but they are loud. And cool. They sound like the 'tropical island' track of one of those relaxation CDs you get from the Target (unless you're boycotting the Target). Except, you know, real.
The sad thing is, I know I am going to miss it here. Just like when I left home I knew I was going to miss it horribly, but it's sort of impossible to stock up on stuff you'll miss, to be ready. At the time, I couldn't imagine missing home, because I was going somewhere new and different and shiny. I couldn't imagine it, but I knew I would. And lo and behold, I do. Now, I'm sort of starting to get ready to get ready to go home, and I can't really imagine missing here. Okay, that sounds bad, but it's sort of in the same way. I like it here, but I live here. It's...normal..now. I miss home. I can't wait to be back. But, before you know it, I'll be complaining about how boring home is and wishing I was back here. Just part of the process. Sigh.
One thing though, I am definitely not the same person I was when I got here. I am now, according to the best experts, at least semi-fluent in Spanish. I've heard about 85% from 2 different sources, which, considering how much I sucked when I got here, and considering my future plans (see below), is a number I can live with. I've learned new customs, learned to handle myself in a new environment. Learned to occupy my time (very good at this one), learned to navigate foreign cities. Learned to play roulette, learned to repair a bathroom drain, learned how to trap a rat. I have new favorites, new likes and dislikes. I certainly have more funny stories to tell at parties.
But the thing that counts the most, I think (if not the thing I got most of) is character and perspective. I'll never think about winter the same way again, because now I know what it's like to live in a place that doesn't have one.My perceptions of things have changed forever: Trees, hiking, bikes, recycling. Fair treatment for animals. Selflessness, kindness, openness to strangers. The bonds of friends and family. Freedom of speech, bigotry and stereotyping. My family and friends are so much more important to me now, now that I see what life could be like without them. I see myself through the eyes of those around me, and if these are eyes of people who don't really know me, I can feel like nothing. It's not a fun sensation.
I'll never think of school as a chore again. I may be weird, but I rely on learning new stuff. Without it, my brain rots. I'll never take geeks for granted again. Nor getting a glass of drinking water out of the tap. Nor my dog. Nor my clothes. Nor Black Dog, nor The Courier, nor good pizza. Nor Hulu.
I don't know if you're getting this ad campaign in the U.S., but it's everywhere here. Sorry this inspirational moment is sponsored by Coca-Cola, but I found this on the back of my soda can in Veracruz City last week, and it was so cool I thought I should share it.
Text in Spanish: Otra razon para creer: Los idiomas pueden ser barreras que nos separan o puentes que nos unen. En la ultima decada mas de 3 millones de jovenes han aprendido epanol en Estados Unidos.
Text in English: Another reason to believe: Languages can be barriers that separate us or bridges that bring us together. In the last decade more than 30 million kids have learned Spanish in the United States.
(any mistakes are proof that I'm not one of those kids ;P )
Man, I really need to get a job as soon as I get home. I am totally broke right now, and I barely use money here. How am I gonna replace my computer and my phone? And remodeling my room? And getting a wardrobe that isn't so last year (<-that was a joke. Mostly). And replacing my Converse? And raiding the Ikea? And fixing up my bike so I can go touring (squee!)?
It's possible I should be thinking about how to pay for school too, maybe, as well. Maybe I should find a religion to join that's not...you know...buddhism.
Is there a Frequently-Rains-Money-From-The-Sky God I can believe in? Oh come on, this is the human race we're talking about. Of course there is.
How was your Thursday? Mine was spent...well, throwing up, actually. So, you know, got that workin' for me. On a related note, you should probably drop my mom a line to thank her for talking me out of posting a picture of the nut that came our of my nose. Pistachio ice cream? Not as much fun the second time around. And you can shut up know, all my immature male readers who've been tittering since the word 'nut'. An are now giggling about 'tittering'. This stuff? This is classy shit.
Anyway, life meanders on. My host mother is a little miffed that I have missed so much school. I've tried to explain that I'm sorry and I actually learn more staying at home anyway. I thought it was a Mexican high school thing, but I now realize it's more of a..high school thing. Yeah. I wish there was something cool to tell you. All I can say is, I realized this morning how much I am going to miss the birds here. You barely see them, but they are loud. And cool. They sound like the 'tropical island' track of one of those relaxation CDs you get from the Target (unless you're boycotting the Target). Except, you know, real.
The sad thing is, I know I am going to miss it here. Just like when I left home I knew I was going to miss it horribly, but it's sort of impossible to stock up on stuff you'll miss, to be ready. At the time, I couldn't imagine missing home, because I was going somewhere new and different and shiny. I couldn't imagine it, but I knew I would. And lo and behold, I do. Now, I'm sort of starting to get ready to get ready to go home, and I can't really imagine missing here. Okay, that sounds bad, but it's sort of in the same way. I like it here, but I live here. It's...normal..now. I miss home. I can't wait to be back. But, before you know it, I'll be complaining about how boring home is and wishing I was back here. Just part of the process. Sigh.
One thing though, I am definitely not the same person I was when I got here. I am now, according to the best experts, at least semi-fluent in Spanish. I've heard about 85% from 2 different sources, which, considering how much I sucked when I got here, and considering my future plans (see below), is a number I can live with. I've learned new customs, learned to handle myself in a new environment. Learned to occupy my time (very good at this one), learned to navigate foreign cities. Learned to play roulette, learned to repair a bathroom drain, learned how to trap a rat. I have new favorites, new likes and dislikes. I certainly have more funny stories to tell at parties.
But the thing that counts the most, I think (if not the thing I got most of) is character and perspective. I'll never think about winter the same way again, because now I know what it's like to live in a place that doesn't have one.My perceptions of things have changed forever: Trees, hiking, bikes, recycling. Fair treatment for animals. Selflessness, kindness, openness to strangers. The bonds of friends and family. Freedom of speech, bigotry and stereotyping. My family and friends are so much more important to me now, now that I see what life could be like without them. I see myself through the eyes of those around me, and if these are eyes of people who don't really know me, I can feel like nothing. It's not a fun sensation.
I'll never think of school as a chore again. I may be weird, but I rely on learning new stuff. Without it, my brain rots. I'll never take geeks for granted again. Nor getting a glass of drinking water out of the tap. Nor my dog. Nor my clothes. Nor Black Dog, nor The Courier, nor good pizza. Nor Hulu.
I don't know if you're getting this ad campaign in the U.S., but it's everywhere here. Sorry this inspirational moment is sponsored by Coca-Cola, but I found this on the back of my soda can in Veracruz City last week, and it was so cool I thought I should share it.
Text in Spanish: Otra razon para creer: Los idiomas pueden ser barreras que nos separan o puentes que nos unen. En la ultima decada mas de 3 millones de jovenes han aprendido epanol en Estados Unidos.
Text in English: Another reason to believe: Languages can be barriers that separate us or bridges that bring us together. In the last decade more than 30 million kids have learned Spanish in the United States.
(any mistakes are proof that I'm not one of those kids ;P )
Man, I really need to get a job as soon as I get home. I am totally broke right now, and I barely use money here. How am I gonna replace my computer and my phone? And remodeling my room? And getting a wardrobe that isn't so last year (<-that was a joke. Mostly). And replacing my Converse? And raiding the Ikea? And fixing up my bike so I can go touring (squee!)?
It's possible I should be thinking about how to pay for school too, maybe, as well. Maybe I should find a religion to join that's not...you know...buddhism.
Is there a Frequently-Rains-Money-From-The-Sky God I can believe in? Oh come on, this is the human race we're talking about. Of course there is.
