Hola from Cuernavaca, the city of eternal springs!
Sorry it has taken so long to give you an update, but my first week in Mexico has been very busy!
When we flew in to land in Mexico City I could see part of Mexico City. There was a rain storm so it was kind of hard to see, but the city is HUGE!!! Huge doesn’t even describe it….GINORMOUS!!! (Yes, it’s a word). There are mountains around and in Mexico City and there are houses everywhere. The houses are one on top of the other, with no room in-between. The houses are on every inch of available space. I can see why the population is over 25 million. The houses went on forever when I looked out the plane window.
So I got to the airport in Mexico City around 7pm. First I had to go though immigration which took a long time. The people were saying that there is usually no line or wait, but I had to wait for over an hour and a half. I felt bad because I knew there was someone waiting for me from Fenix at the airport. After I got through immigration I had to go get my bags. I was so glad to see that my bags both got there and appeared not to have been rummaged through. :0) After I got my bags I had to go through customs. This was oh so much fun! Not really! You wait in a line and then when it is your turn you push a button and if the light turns green then you can pass through and enter the airport to leave or go to your next flight. If you push the button and it turns red then you are stopped and your luggage is checked by security. What happened when Katie pushed the button???? RED LIGHT!!! I got stopped and had to have my bags checked. When I say checked, I mean that they completely go through all of your things. Pretty sure the whole world is able to see your panties and tampons and all the other embarrassing personal items. I had 2 laptops because I had mine and one for the director of the school. A friend of Leticia in Fort Collins was going to mail the laptop but that would be expensive, so Lety asked if I would bring it for her and I said, yes. I thought I was being nice and wanted to have a good impression on my teacher, but it became a problem in customs to have 2 laptops. In fine print on the customs form evidently it says that you can only have one computer per person. I’m not going to lie…I totally started to freak out because I didn’t know what was going to happen and if I wouldn’t be let in the country or if they would take the computer. I had to talk the head of security and by the grace of God he let me go. I was so happy. I guess it pays to be nice to people because I promised him that one computer was mine and the other was my teacher’s and he believed me.
When I got through customs I found the person from Fenix who was there to pick me up. His name was, Gustavo, and Lety is his aunt. He helped me with my bags and we went to get tickets for the bus ride to Cuernavaca from Mexico City. We had a half hour wait so he and I got to talk. He is 25 and goes to a university in Cuernavaca. He was very nice and patient with my broken Spanish. This was the first that I had spoken Spanish consistently since May.
When Gustavo and I got on the bus a man came on the bus and started to video tape each and every one of the passengers faces…including mine. I was weirded out and had no idea why it was necessary to video us. I asked Gustavo what he was taping us for and he had no idea. My very rational mind starting thinking that maybe the bus was going to be hijacked and they were going to show the our faces on TV as the people who were kidnapped. Either that or they were taping our faces in case something happened along the way to Cuernavaca. I don’t know why they did it, but it was strange. My first strange experience in Mexico.
It was an hour and a half ride to Cuernavaca from Mexico City and we watched Rush Hour 3 dubbed in Spanish. Very comical.
I was terrified that I wouldn’t even make it to Cuernavaca because the way people drive in Mexico is CRAZY!!! The roads are barely wide enough for two cars and three cars will be driving on the road. The people are very impatient and they honk their horns all the time. No one uses blinkers or looks to see if another car or person is in the way. The cars and buses pass one another with only inches to spare. That is no exaggeration. They are so close to each other that you think they must crash. It is the strangest thing to experience and be a part of. I was thankful to be able to arrive safely in Cuernavaca.
Gustavo and I arrived in Cuernavaca and took a taxi to my home stay house. I got there at 11:30pm that night (Sunday). Mrs. Zamora greeted me at the door with a hug and a kiss. Mr. Zamora was already in bed because he had to work in the morning. Mrs. Zamora and I talked briefly and then I went to bed, or at least tried to, because I was exhausted and had class the next morning at 9am. It took me a while to fall asleep because I was sweating and very hot. There is a fan in my room but it isn’t very effective. After I stopped sweating I was able to sleep.
So I got to the airport in Mexico City around 7pm. First I had to go though immigration which took a long time. The people were saying that there is usually no line or wait, but I had to wait for over an hour and a half. I felt bad because I knew there was someone waiting for me from Fenix at the airport. After I got through immigration I had to go get my bags. I was so glad to see that my bags both got there and appeared not to have been rummaged through. :0) After I got my bags I had to go through customs. This was oh so much fun! Not really! You wait in a line and then when it is your turn you push a button and if the light turns green then you can pass through and enter the airport to leave or go to your next flight. If you push the button and it turns red then you are stopped and your luggage is checked by security. What happened when Katie pushed the button???? RED LIGHT!!! I got stopped and had to have my bags checked. When I say checked, I mean that they completely go through all of your things. Pretty sure the whole world is able to see your panties and tampons and all the other embarrassing personal items. I had 2 laptops because I had mine and one for the director of the school. A friend of Leticia in Fort Collins was going to mail the laptop but that would be expensive, so Lety asked if I would bring it for her and I said, yes. I thought I was being nice and wanted to have a good impression on my teacher, but it became a problem in customs to have 2 laptops. In fine print on the customs form evidently it says that you can only have one computer per person. I’m not going to lie…I totally started to freak out because I didn’t know what was going to happen and if I wouldn’t be let in the country or if they would take the computer. I had to talk the head of security and by the grace of God he let me go. I was so happy. I guess it pays to be nice to people because I promised him that one computer was mine and the other was my teacher’s and he believed me.
When I got through customs I found the person from Fenix who was there to pick me up. His name was, Gustavo, and Lety is his aunt. He helped me with my bags and we went to get tickets for the bus ride to Cuernavaca from Mexico City. We had a half hour wait so he and I got to talk. He is 25 and goes to a university in Cuernavaca. He was very nice and patient with my broken Spanish. This was the first that I had spoken Spanish consistently since May.
When Gustavo and I got on the bus a man came on the bus and started to video tape each and every one of the passengers faces…including mine. I was weirded out and had no idea why it was necessary to video us. I asked Gustavo what he was taping us for and he had no idea. My very rational mind starting thinking that maybe the bus was going to be hijacked and they were going to show the our faces on TV as the people who were kidnapped. Either that or they were taping our faces in case something happened along the way to Cuernavaca. I don’t know why they did it, but it was strange. My first strange experience in Mexico.
It was an hour and a half ride to Cuernavaca from Mexico City and we watched Rush Hour 3 dubbed in Spanish. Very comical.
I was terrified that I wouldn’t even make it to Cuernavaca because the way people drive in Mexico is CRAZY!!! The roads are barely wide enough for two cars and three cars will be driving on the road. The people are very impatient and they honk their horns all the time. No one uses blinkers or looks to see if another car or person is in the way. The cars and buses pass one another with only inches to spare. That is no exaggeration. They are so close to each other that you think they must crash. It is the strangest thing to experience and be a part of. I was thankful to be able to arrive safely in Cuernavaca.
Gustavo and I arrived in Cuernavaca and took a taxi to my home stay house. I got there at 11:30pm that night (Sunday). Mrs. Zamora greeted me at the door with a hug and a kiss. Mr. Zamora was already in bed because he had to work in the morning. Mrs. Zamora and I talked briefly and then I went to bed, or at least tried to, because I was exhausted and had class the next morning at 9am. It took me a while to fall asleep because I was sweating and very hot. There is a fan in my room but it isn’t very effective. After I stopped sweating I was able to sleep.
I survived my first day, even if only a small part of it was actually spent in Mexico!!
2 comments:
Your adventures are just beginning! What an exciting start to them too! Ironically, my church scrapbooking co-leader spent a month in Cuernavaca for her Spanish immersion as well--how cool is that? Looking forward to reading each adventure as it happens. Have fun learning to salsa tonight! Love, Mom
Katie your adventure already sounds amazing! I will certainly keep you in my thoughts over the next few months because secretly I'm very jealous :) I can't wait to hear about all the fun things you're going to do in Mexico! Live it up while you can, because the real world isn't that much to look forward to.
Keep us posted!
Lauren Elliott
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