Matacanes

So this Saturday I'm going with 13 friends on a canyon excursion. What does that mean? I'm not positive, but I think it means we'll hike, swim and repel through a canyon all day. Something to the effect of this:



We start at 4am and finish hopefully around 9pm. It will be a long day but everyone who has done it says it is completely worth it and awesome. It is only about a 30 min. drive from the city so we'll sleep out there Friday and Saturday nights then come home Sunday. I don't I'll be able to take my camera because it would get wet...so I'll just have to write a really descriptive narrative for you :).

Spring Break

Sorry I've been mia. I just got back from 2 weeks of vacation and didn't feel like stopping to write (mostly because I just spent time with half the people that read this).

Week One: Trip to Durham. Didn't take a single picture. Here are the highlights...
-was greeted at the airport by my sweet family inlcuding Ian and Eliza.
-had breakfast with the same sweet family the next day and then went a little crazy with the Timmons women at the outlets.
- spent time in the afternoon/evening with Jen, Cate, Kristen, Kyle, Rankin, Meredith, Dug, the Covells, the Ashtons and the Timmons clan. AND CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEWLY ENGAGED RANKIN AND MEREDITH!!!
-went to church with the Scarbros and the Schauers and spent the afternoon with Meredith, Craig and Baby Drizzle. Can not wait to meet that baby.
-ate some of the best bbq I have ever tasted that my brother-in-law made. I think I'll be dreaming about it for a long time.
-got to see Martha and roommates and had lunch with her, Libby and Amy the next day. Also a shout-out to Libby...who is getting married 2 weeks from today!
-Got to see my sweet Grandmas and cousin Elizabeth
-Got to spend some time with Sarah and Sadie Foster, Sadie who lit up and ran to my Dad when he got home. I think she might be his new favorite daughter.
-got to spend some good downtime in the Bull City shopping, eating, watching American tv and relaxing.

I tried not to leave anyone out!
I'm sad I didn't get to see my Columbia friends...next time for sure.
Brittany, I hope you enjoyed this.

To be continued with "Week 2: Guanajuato, Mexico"

Coca Cola Festival!

So it turns out that the Shakira concert was actually a festival with 5 well-known bands/singers. I loved them all so I feel the need to share it with you (Some of my friends here give me a hard time when I tell them that everyone I know pretty much only listens to music in English. They said we all need to culture ourselves, so here you go!)

Act 1: Paty Cantu Poppy Mexican singer. They play this song on the radio a lot.

Act 2: Benny Ibarra...you're typical latino crooner...not bad but not worth giving you a sample :).

Act 3: Jarabe de Palo (who were probably my favorite...the closest thing to Spanish-speaking Avett Brothers I think I'll find) The lead singer is Spanish so don't hate on the lisp sound. Here's another
...And another
I can't get enough of them!

Act 4: Belanova... This was the first cd I bought when I got to Mexico. I started hearing this one song on the radio that was really catchy so I just bought the whole cd. She didn't even play that song on Thursday, but she did play this one! I know its funky and girly but I kind of LOVE IT!

Act 5: SHAKIRA!!!! First of all it was so awesome to be in a crowd of Mexicans that LOVE her and knew every word to every song. Right now my favorite Shakira song is this one, and you can also hear it in English, though the English lyrics are dumb compared to the Spanish ones. I was also loving her old school stuff :). My friend Emily (Brown) Kennedy gave me two of Shakira's old cd's a few years ago and I fell in love with them. Also, we decided that she must have been born with some kind of genetic disorder because her dancing abilities surpass anything I've ever seen.


Ok I think I'm keeping youtube in business today.

Shakira :)

So I've tried not to let myself get too excited, because I was supposed to go to another concert earlier this year and it got canceled. However, we're now 4 days away so yesterday I decided it was time to let it all out.

MY FRIENDS AND I ARE GOING TO SEE SHAKIRA ON THURSDAY!!!!!!! I'M SOO PUMPED!! I have become a pretty big fan of hers since I got here and her music is perfect for dancing around the room (If you're trying to picture it in your head, don't give me too much talent). Anyway, there are 8 of us going, 7 girls and one guy. The guy is this Japanese friend we have who just moved to Mty a few months ago. He is super cheerful all the time and always smiling. Even so, his level of excitement grows when we talk about Shakira. He is super sweet and we think it will make the night ten times better to have him with us :).

Side note: I went to a baseball game on Friday night. Monterrey has a team that is good, not great. I'll write about it another day because I have plans to go often! I felt like I was at the Bull's Stadium with a little Mexican flavor thrown in.

Things My Students Say

favorite mispronunciation: put="poot"
I told them that if they ever have American friends and say "poot" instead of "put," their friends will probably giggle, which always then makes us giggle. We actually then spent 5 minutes practicing the words putt, put, pot and, of course, poot. (For those that are wondering, pedo is the Spanish word for poot. There's your 5 second Spanish lesson)

most annoying mistake: "califications"
The Spanish word for grades is "calificaciones" so my kids just assume they can change the ending and bam it will be English. (To be honest I do it all the time when I'm speaking Spanish, because maybe 8 times out of 10, it really works!)

Favorite excerpt from a journal: Step 2: Put the fire low and start bumping the hot cakes.
He was writing instructions on how to cook pancakes. NO idea what he means by this but it made me laugh really hard.

Favorite Test Answer: Question: Write 1 fact about any 3 planets.
Answer (verbatim):
1. Venus is the more hotter
2. Mercury is the more closer
3. Live on earth if you want to brith.

It's over 90 degrees

and I'm actually sitting in the pool as I write this. So...who wants to come visit? PLEASSSEEEE?!?!

GOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

A few weekends ago I went home with a friend to Torreon, a city about 3 hours from Monterrey. He had been telling me about how much fun the soccer games are there, how nice the stadium is, and how awesome it would be. So, we went (for those who wonder: We used to date but not anymore. This was a strictly friends trip). Anyway, he landed front row seats to the game. The Santos lost 2-3 but the game was still incredible. It definitely compares to college football. I honestly can't decide which one I enjoy more. Enjoy the pictures!
Above: Edgar and I with the crowd behind us. Please notice the guy in the stand. He leads the cheers for the whole stadium. He has a microphone and did a really great job. Below we have a close-up and yes I think he looks frightening. He wears a mask to remain anonymous for many reasons, the main one I think is to avoid potential stalkers, good or bad (these people love their soccer)

Above: The view from our seats. Not bad at all! Edgar likes to yell at the t.v. when he watches soccer and I like to remind him that they can't hear him, but that night, they heard every word. Below is my best attempt to take a picture of the actual stadium. We sat right behind the orange blow-up things (don't worry, they deflated them once the game started)
I think I like watching soccer almost as much as I like college football...however I'll always be a gamecock :)