Safe Arrival

Here it is, the first post from Mexico. I arrived Wednesday night, and here are a few of the things that have happened to me since then:

1. The bus ride from Guadalajara to Irapuato. My entertainment during this ride consisted of a stirring rendition of “Be Still My Soul” (in English), an instrumental remake of “My Heart Will Go On” (led by a woody flute which at times did a fair imitation of a dog whistle), the classic American film “She’s the Man,” and a few more songs plus half of another movie which I didn’t pay much attention to.

2. The first phone call to INEA. I called, was assured that Carmelita (the women who works with our program) would call me back. Surprisingly that did not happen, but I did reach her later in the day.

3. My first trip out to the ranchos for the semester. It was slightly more exciting than I had hoped/wanted, as I had to do some serious rearrangements of our housing situation. It stayed the night with Silvia, one of my hostesses of last summer, and enjoyed the tranquility of the villages. I also got bitten by an ant for the first time. It was red. I don’t know what that means, but it definitely hurt. The sneaky thing crawled up my pant leg to the middle of my thigh before digging in. The whole encounter didn’t end well for him—I think I managed to squish him in my frantic slapping and grabbing. The nearby villagers kindly refrained from laughing and offered their sympathy over the nastiness of ant bites.

4. One of the students (Angela) became sick, and so did not take her Saturday flights. The main complication was that she was supposed to rendezvous with another student (Matt) in the Mexico City airport. My mother and I did our best to get Matt a message, but to no avail. However, he made it successfully to Irapuato on his own (as did the third student, Brandon), and now the three of us get to take a little day trip back to Mexico City to get Angela on Monday (this means two more bus rides full of more entertaining entertainment).

5. Ryan broke up with me. I suspect that most if not all of the people reading this blog knew that we were dating, and would like to know that we are not in a relationship anymore. However, I don’t think the blog is my medium of choice for relating any more details. There are no hard feelings. On the contrary, I think anyone who has the chance to get to know Ryan should take it, and would only be the better for it.

6. A mysterious man who speaks English but very little Spanish tried to call me at Hotel K’sa (pronounced “casa”). I actually called three men by that description (Ryan, Angela’s dad, and my boss, Dave), all of who had something to talk to me about, but none of whom had tried to call me. If you happen to be said individual, please present yourself so the mystery can end.