Brittni’s Blog

Wow, I can’t believe how fast this trip has gone…

Here are some video’s from past weeks in Cuernavaca that I just uploaded:

Cumpleanos de Julio a Chac Mool (The Director’s B-Day) from Brittni Daley on Vimeo.

Lucho Libre from Brittni Daley on Vimeo.

Bull Fight-Part 5 from Brittni Daley on Vimeo.

Tuesday I went to the cooking clase and made rajas con crema y papas which is strips of chile poleno and chucks of potatoes in a cream sauce. I thought it was interesting how the lady cooked the chiles on her stove and I got a lot of good videos of it which I’ll upload. Friday was a rainy night so I stayed in with Paula, the 8 year old in my house and played games. I try to play with her at least one a week because she asks me almost everyday “Quieres jugar?” (”Do you want to play?”) and I usually have to say no because I have plans. But its good for me to play with her because it helps me practice my Spanish. Saturday I went on a 7 mile run, then to the Feria (fair) which is in town for a few weeks, and then out to a few salsa clubs to practice my salsa with friends. I’m still not great at salsa, but have definitely made a lot of improvement since I’ve been here. Sunday I went to a lagoon in the mountains called Zempuala with some friends. On the way there we stopped at a little restaurant in Huitzilac, a neighborhood in Cuernavaca, and had quesadillas de flour de calabaza and cafe de hoya. Que delicioso! We went horseback riding in the mountains near the lagoon and my allergies didn’t act up! Yay! Then we hiked around the lagoon and made a little campfire were we barbecued some meat for tacos. Tambien que delicisos! That night we went to Circus Chino de Pekin in Cuernavaca. It had the typical clowns and elephant tricks, but the main thing that its known for is the different gymnastic acts that are preformed by a traveling group from China.

This week I lived with a really nice family from the Bahamas. I hung out with them a lot at our house and tagged along with them to a bowling ally, an ecological park, and out to dinner. The oldest kids are twins (eight years old) and the youngest girl is six. I stayed up late talking with the mom who is originally from Ghana, grew up in London, and has been living in the Bahamas for about 20 years. They showed me pictures of the beaches in Nassau, where they live, and I told them to expect me for a visit in the future.

This week we went to the VIP theater and saw Batman for the second time with our friends Carlos from LA and Woody from Sacramento. The VIP theater is only $6.60 on Wednesdays and it is so nice! There are really comfortable Lazy-boy recliners and they serve you you’re food. I got some Sushi! Yum! Then we went to a popular bar here called Freedom and hung out and watched the Olympics and danced a little.

Since it was Brent’s last weekend in Mexico we went to Acapulco for the weekend. We went right after school on Friday and came home on Sunday afternoon. We stayed at a nice hostel only a block form the beach (and only $15 a night). We relaxed on the beach, drank cervezas, and swam in the ocean. I also got my hair braided and got two messages (one on Saturday and one on Sunday).

Acapulco from Brittni Daley on Vimeo.

This weekend we went to Taxco on Saturday and Puebla on Sunday.

Wow, what a busy week. On Thursday we went to Lucho Libre which literally means “free wrestling.” Its basically like WWF wrestling. Its a local show here in Cuernavaca that they have every Thursday. The little stadium was very packed with people standing up for the whole 3 hours.

On Sunday we went to Mexico City with our friends Carlos and Stephen. In the morning we went to Xochimilco and in the afternoon we went to a Bull Fight. Xochimilco is a neighborhood in Mexico City were there are many canals. We took a boat for a few hours around the river.
Here’s a description of Xochimilco that I got from Stephen’s blog:
“Xochimilco is a neighborhood in Mexico City that resembles the way the city was before the conquistadors arrived. Mexico city is built on a lake. The Aztecs carved this lake into canals separated by “floating” gardens. The spanish later filled the lake, leaving only Xochimilco in more or less original condition. Now the canals are a common destination for tourists and Mexicans seeking leisure. There are still many gardens on the banks of the canals, and the way to get around is still by boat. People rent boats and float down the river with family and friends. Mariachis are very popular. You can hire a Mariachi boat to float along next to you and play music.”
Check out his blog to see some pictures of us: http://spf-world.blogspot.com/2008/08/xochimilco.html

Then we went o the Bull Fight. We got front row seats for only $15 US. Unfortunately, it was a little too close for me. I ended up leaving after they killed the first bull. It was just too upsetting for me, but I understand that it effects people differently. The guys left after they killed the third bull, but we think they killed 5 or 6 in total. I’m glad that they use the meat (I’ve heard for sausage or something) and it was cool that a woman was the first matador, but the part that really got to me was seeing the fear in the bull’s eyes and the blood running down its back as they chased, taunted, and stabbed it to death. I guess it was relatively quick, but it was one of the longest 15-20 minutes of my life. I suppose it was a good experience in the end because I learned a lot about myself. I got it all on tape and I’ll upload it soon.

Xochimilco from Brittni Daley on Vimeo.

This week 6 new students moved in to the house we’re living at, so there are a total of 9 students now, along with the the 3 kids and 2 adults who live here permanently. Its a crowded house, but its a big house so its not to bad. The 6 new students are all teachers (middle school I think) from Alabama and there’s one other 16 year old girl from New Jersey who’s here by herself. Interestingly, it isn’t that uncommon for teenagers to come to Chac Mool without parents. Apparently its known in the US for having a great teen program and kinds program. There are also another brother & sister who are 15 & 17, respectively, and here w/out paretns. The teen program and kids program are run similar to the camps that Brent and I went to so much as kids (YMCA, Caz, etc). If I would have known about it, I would have came here instead of camp during summers!

School is going great. We both really like our classes and still feel that we are learning a lot every week.

Our excursion this weekend was to the historic buildings in Mexico City.

El Palacio de Gobierno (The Government Building) from Brittni Daley on Vimeo.

It was another great week in Cuernavaca. On Monday we went back to Las Monanitas (the Hotel) with the school. On Tuesday I did another cooking class. We made this really delicious dish. Its like a casserole with bell peppers, onion, mushroom, ham, bacon, beef, and oaxaco (pronounced wahaca) cheese. Then we put the casserole in tortillas to make tacos and added salsa and squeezed some lime juice in it. Omg…sooooo good! On Wednesday we took the bus to a city close to Cuernavaca called Tepoztlan. There’s another pyramid there which we started to climb, but since we went after class, the bus ride took about 40 minutes, it takes a few hours to climb up to, and it closes at 5pm, we didn’t make it to the top. So, we’re planning on going back on a Saturday or Sunday. Good thing we still have six more weeks!

Since people leave every week, every Friday the whole school gets together for a little party where the children perform skits in Spanish to show what they learned, then we all do something fun together like play a game or sing songs, then the director of the school, Julio, hands out diplomas (or certifications of completion), and lastly people give speeches (in Spanish of course) about how much they loved Chac Mool, how much they learned, how they’re going to miss all they’re friends here, etc. I always look forward to the little fiesta at the end of the day on Friday This week we all sung songs together. Here’s a video:

Cuernavaca-School Song from Brittni Daley on Vimeo.

On Saturday Brent and I went with the school to another ancient city called Teotihuacan. It was about 2 hours North of Mexico City, but we were in one of those nice charter buses and there were movies playing. There were several big pyramids and we climbed the biggest one which is the pyramid of the sun. What a workout! Here’s a movie form the top of the pyramid:

On top of the pyramid of the sun at Teotihuacan from Brittni Daley on Vimeo.

The school Brent and I are going to (Chac Mool) has a different activity every afternoon. On Mondays the activity is just a get together where everyone meets and talks. This week we went to a nice hotel near the school called Las Monanitas. The first 3 pictures are of Brent and I at Las Monanitas. On Tuesdays the activity is a cooking class at someones house. The second two pictures are of the cooking class as well as the video below. On Wednesdays the activity is arts and craft (3rd picture). On Thursdays the activity is salsa dancing, but Brent and I haven’t done that one yet. On Fridays the activities vary. The 7th picture is of kids at our school doing a skit, the 8th picture is of the family from Ventura that has been staying with us and the last picture is of Brent and I at the school.

Every weekend the school has a different excursion. This weekend we went to an ancient Aztec city called Xochicalco (so-chi-cal-co). I think the city is from around 700 AD. Its about a 40 minute ride south of Cuernavaca.

Here’s a video of the house that Brent and I took the cooking class at:

Cuernavaca-Cooking Class 1 from Brittni Daley on Vimeo.

Brent and I have completed one week of school. We’ve actually picked up a lot of Spanish in just one week. We are able to carry basic conversations pretty well. Since Brent is ahead of me he is in a more advanced class, but I’m sure that’s better for the both of us because its frustrating being in a class with people ahead of you or behind you. However, we still have a lot of difficulty communicating with the family so we have a lot more to learn.

The school is really great and I would recommend it to anyone who wanted to study Spanish abroad. All of the students and teachers are really nice and the classes are taught in a very relaxed, but efficient manner. There are 4-5 students per class and there are two types of class: structure and conversation. We have conversation in the morning and structure in the afternoon. One interesting thing is that most of the students are from California. It seems like about 80% and the others students I met are from various places in the US such as Virginia, Michigan, and Texas. Also, most people stay from 2-3 weeks and are astounded (and of course jealous) that Brent and I are staying for 9 and 12 weeks.

The host family that we live with is very nice, but they speak no English and we can’t always understand what they’re saying so we haven’t spent a lot of time with them. I hope to be able to communicate much better in a week or two. There is also a family of students staying in a different part of our house who eat with us (A dad, a mom, and 3 kids who are 8, 12, and 16). They’re from Ventura, Ca. We mostly speak English to them, although the parents seem pretty fluent in Spanish.

The food has been pretty good, but sometimes a little weird. We eat a ton of meat and very little vegetables which I don’t like. We eat a normal breakfast at 8am, our big meal is lunch which is around 2:30pm, and a little dinner around 7pm. This is apparently very normal for most people who live in Mexico. Brent and I (and most of the other Americans I talk to) have a hard time lasting until 2:30 for lunch so we’ve been buying snacks at the school and unfortunately they only sell junk food. I’m hoping that we’ll get used to their eating schedule soon. Most of the food is typical Mexican food: enchiladas, taquitos, quesadillas, and a lot of soup with meat on the side.

I bought a really good map of Cuernavaca from a lady that was leaving so Brent and I got out and explored the town. There are a lot of markets, museums, big churches, and other historical land marks. We’ve mainly been walking for exerciser, but taking a bus or taxi is cheap also. On Saturday Brent got a nice looking watch for $10 and I got a few t-shirts for a couple bucks each.

The weather has been nice and warm, but a little humid. It pours for about 20 minutes in the late afternoon everyday, but as long as we can stay inside or hide in a cafe its fine. Probably the biggest complaint Brent and I have is the mosquitoes. Both of our ankles and feet are covered in bites. I have at least 20 on my right ankle alone. We bought bug spray, but need to be better about wearing it.

Well, that’s all I can think of to write for now. Please post comments if there is anything else you would like to hear about!

Since the internet is slow I can only upload short videos. Here’s our school:

Cuernavaca-4 from Brittni Daley on Vimeo.

Here’s our house:

Cuernavaca-Casa from Brittni Daley on Vimeo.