The World at Large

Oh, la vida Mexicana is something else.


I am a month into my time here, and I have already decided not to take my scheduled flight home in June. This from the girl who spent the months running up to her departure wishing she didn't have to leave all her beautiful friends and dreams behind in England. I am very fortunate to have an incredible life in Southampton: I was an active member of the Performing Arts society there and, as such, my peer group is largely made up of other PA members, rather than languages students. This means that, by the time I go back to England, most of my closest friends will have graduated and I will effectively be starting all over again! It's no surprise, then, that at my leaving party, I cried every time anyone so much as squeezed my hand. But here I am, one month in, and I know that I made the most fantastic decision by choosing to come to Mexico on my year abroad.


Where to start, where to start ..? Well, as I have mentioned, the food here is absolutely incredible. I'm lucky in that the family I live with is quite health-conscious, so when I eat at home the food is delish but doesn't threaten me with heart problems. Eating out is a bit of a different story, as it's all tortillas, fat and salt. Last night I had my first encounter with street food (against the advice of EVERYONE I have met), and it is certainly true that 5 days worth of unwashed hands makes for bloody tasty food. I think I must have a stomach of steel, as it hasn't effected me at all! You can all laugh at me for being so cocky when I'm in hospital on a saline drip in a few days time, I suppose ...


Happily, though, I have been doing plenty of exercise, so hopefully I won't pile on too many pounds over here! By some fantastic luck, I have become great friends with one of the best salsa dancers in the country, and he is working me like a mule in the hope of transforming me into una gran bailarina by the time I go back to England. I feel a bit like I'm in boot camp - my feet are torn to shreds and I can barely walk for pulled muscles - but it's so much fun, and once the music turns on I quickly forget how much pain I'm in. We do a few private classes together, and I also go to his group sessions, where I loiter near the back and hope no one looks at me! The class is for advanced dancers and, as I only started 2 weeks ago, I do feel like a baby elephant in comparison with some of the other girls, but they are all too lovely to laugh at me. Having said that, the teacher is very sought after by girls, and there is noticeable envy towards me because I have become his latest project. He is determined to make me into a brilliant dancer, probably more for the sake of his ego than anything, which means he's dedicating a lot of time to me individually. Of course, the girls have no real reason to feel jealous (I'd have to be a bit of an idiot to write about him in my blog, otherwise!), but I'm having great fun and meeting lots of new people through him.


Work has also proved a helpful way to find friends and expand my horizons. Most of my students are my age, and I've invited them all to add me as a friend on fb and take my number. This results in invitations to parties aplenty, which is pretty fab. I also have a few adult students, such as a 40 year old woman who has invited me on her family holiday in a few week's time! This might seem really odd to you, but here in Mexico it is nothing out of the ordinary. This is the sort of country where you cannot sit alone on a park bench or walk alone into a bar without people inviting you over to sit with them and tell them your life story over a beer or two. Or three. Or more. I'm certainly not in Kansas anymore!


On the topic of work ...
Allow me to explain how my job works. The students at the University have to earn credits outside of their selected degree area, which means that they must spend a certain amount of time in "El Centro de Auto Acceso de Lenguas" every week. My job, therefore, is basically to sit and chat with each group for an hour. Most of my students have very low levels of English comprehension and speaking skills, so the classes have become as much a Spanish lesson for me as an English lesson for them! I would also question my suitability as a teacher, as many of my students now know how the drug classing system in the UK works, what a gin & tonic is, and how to say things like "They f**ked like bunnies". Unluckily for me, they have to write a report after the class to prove that they attended, what they learned, how they felt things went, etc. They are all on strict instructions to LIE!


As you (should) know, Día de Muertos is a big celebration here in Mexico, so there are no classes for the rest of the week. This means that, since Friday, I have worked a total of three hours. It doesn't get much better than that! Not too sure about how best to spend my time off, but I am hoping either to go to Morelia in the neighbouring state of Michoacan or to the nearby coastal town of Manzanillo for a few days on the beach!  Either way, there's a fair in Colima at the moment, so I'll be spending my evening there with a few friends. On the subject of parties, I have a little anecdote for you all! Last Friday I went to a Halloween party thrown by some of the students at the Uni. As Liz was ill, I arrived alone, but did not stay alone for long. Since it's pretty hard to hide that I am foreign, thanks to my really bloody pale skin tone and ginger hair, I found myself having tequila poured into my mouth at regular intervals by locals trying to make sure that I got a warm welcome to the Mexican way of life! Bloody hell. Anyway, the party came to an end and we made plans to head over to an after party at an Erasmus house in the centre of town. However, I had to stay behind with a friend as he'd helped to organise the party and was expected to clean up. Suddenly, things turned sour as some of the more drunken party-goers decided they weren't ready to go home and were prepared to do anything to get back into the complex. A short fight ensued, and the people on our side managed to shut the big metal gate to keep them out. Then a glass bottle smashed near my feet, and we realised that they were throwing everything they could find over the walls. It was all very dramatic, and I found myself laughing rather than panicking, as I thought to myself "Welcome to Mexico ..!" The bottles kept coming, but the police eventually arrived and soon everything was under control so we abandoned the clean-up and headed straight to the after party. I got home at about 7am the following morning, after a tequila-fuelled night of hilarity. To add an extra lick of paint to the whole affair, I also managed to sleep through an impressively strong earthquake because I was so hungover. I got a panicked knock on the door from Liz and phone calls from friends to check I was ok after it happened, and I just said "What earthquake? Oh ..!"
So. Woops.


Anyway, the basic gist is that life couldn't be sweeter right now. I miss my friends in England SO much, and there are days when I go to bed and wish there was a Sam Gray, an Alexis Forss, a Leanne Shorley or a Libby Buckland there to snuggle with, but I would not swap this experience for the world. Viva Mexico ;)