First off I forgot to give a report on our Flan!! It was....AMAZING! Claro! I wasn't really sure how it would be because I have had it before and it was just okay but this one...oh heavenly!!! We done good!
The other thing I haven't been doing very well is recording my feelings about the experience I'm having. One of the things Corey advised me to do was to write more than just what I do and see but also how I feel about it. So here we go...I'm going to try ha
I guess what I have really learned the most since I got here, is how the same it is here as in the states. It's very hard to explain my feelings about the city, the culture, and the people. Corey always told me to really understand I would have to experience it and he was so right. Before coming here all I heard was how beautiful Guadalajara is and how wonderful it is but at first glance the truth is when you walk around the streets are not as clean, the sidewalks aren't as straight, there's a lot of graffiti, and some places really, really stink. The drivers are crazy and will run you over if you cross the street when they're coming, the new bacteria for our bodies can and probably will make you sick (as 5 girls have experienced so far), the buses are like a roller coaster without a lap bar, and men of all ages hoot, whistle, holler, and pull over to offer you a ride. There are differences and things that you could argue are better of worse or whatever.
Once you get past that first glance though, like I am, something incredible happens in your mind and in your heart. I have begun to understand in a kind of internal way the people and as I have immersed myself in this life it has been amazing how my eyes and my heart have been opened and I truly feel that this is one of the most beautiful places on earth. There's something about the heart of the people here. Their warmer, their protective, their HUGE family people, they love comida, they LOVE to help you and they are truly some of the hardest working, talented, and most effective people in the world.
Before I arrived I had imagined my circumstances being so different. i really was expecting to like live in a village with a dirt floor or something. of course there are people that abide in those humble circumstances, I have seen them, but it has been good for me to see the real mexico. Not the one cast on CNN or just the government we here about. I am seeing how a mom and dad interact, how they love each other and their children and revolved their whole lives around them. The schedule they keep, although hard for me to adjust to, is incredible with regards to what it does for the family. The mom and dad and kids are all together for every meal, and the dad comes home shortly after they come home from school (which if you didn't know is the crucial time of the day for children with their parents). They play together, laugh together, discipline together, it's awesome!
Another thing that I feel has been good for me is to experience being the foreigner. It is a new thing for me to stand at a bus stop with 12 mexican women staring at you intently. It's a new thing for me to get whistled at and yelled to by strangers and to simply ignore them even if they're right next to you. There are a lot of weird things that happen to you when you are an extranjera. It sucks getting no deals on stuff and getting ripped off in taxis and stuff because I'm a white girl from the US. It truly has given me perspective on how I would want to be looked at and treated and dealt with as a foreigner that will impact me in my future interactions.
I think it's just important to realize that there is more than one right way of doing something. There are amazing people everywhere and we would do well to learn from all of them the best we can. Surely if we can do that we could create something amazing with all the best parts of cultures and people.
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