Sometimes I Go Places

Hola! Wow, I can't believe two months is nearly up! I leave Mexico in a week, and I am stunned at how fast time has moved. I don't remember my first two months in Denmark moving this fast. When I was in sixth grade, I told my science teacher at the end of the year "I can't believe how fast this year has gone!" He told me that as I get older, it'll only move faster. I haven't forgotten that sentiment (though it's not like it was particularly insightful or deep) and there seems to be some truth to it. In the last four-ish weeks that I haven't blogged, I have, amongst other things: Taught English to university students (and been observed twice) Been to San Miguel de Allende and Dolores Hidalgo  Chopped a good three inches off of my hair  Accidentally said that I had an intimate love for mangoes  Lost the running water in our host house for two days due to petty construction workers  Asked for a second lunch  As we can see, it's been ...

Hola! Wow! So I've done a bit in the last (almost) month here in Mexico. My first week here was, most positively put, not great. I made the really smart decision to "wing it" here in Mexico (which includes pre departure preparation). To give you an example of what exactly that entails, I waited five hours before I left for the airport to wash hang-dry only clothes. I was doing three four-week intensive summer classes (eight weeks of work fit into four weeks in three different classes) and so I did not realize just how fast Mexico was approaching. Therefore, I really lacked any and all mental preparation before coming here. Consequently, there was quite a bit to get used to and I experienced some severe withdrawals from the fresh, marine air, cool temperatures, and peace and quiet. My first day, I took a tour of my host city with all the other TESOL students. Then, I got ice cream with my roommate (who has doubled as my teaching partner during the past three weeks). My...

Hola! Mexico is a PLACE! I've been here three full days and I can confidently say that Mexico is second to Turkey for the most different place I have ever experienced. I come from a quiet house, in a quiet neighborhood, in a quiet suburb back home. Here, I'm literally living right above a busy street in a crowded city. Construction starts on the roof of my host house at 8 am every morning. The streets here are crowded, but very narrow. There is so much traffic, and so little room for it. Therefore, there are so many car horns. Nothing here is quiet, and I have a new appreciation for the sound of absolutely nothing.  There are so many smells. Sometimes, I feel as though I can simply smell heat. The best way I could describe that is the smell of all different car exhausts, all different foods, and all different people, all meshed into one smell all under sweltering heat. Which brings me to: Mexico is HOT and in the two cities I've visited at least, CROWDED as well! I do...

Hello! I made a new blog! I've been wanting to make a new blog pretty much since my exchange blog became irrelevant (so for nearly two years now), and I finally feel as though I have a reason to make a blog. It is centered around travel (go figure). I figured me announcing that I'm going abroad again would make a pretty prime first post on a travel blog. So as the title reads, I am going to Mexico, as I previously announced on Facebook. Here is the deal: I am a linguistics major at Western Washington University (for those that do not know my major), and as a part of the linguistics program, I need to choose a concentration. They have several to choose from: communication sciences and disorders, French, German, etc etc. I chose TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), because I knew that way, I'd be able to live my life pretty nomadically while teaching English abroad (with my ultimate goal being permanently relocating to Denmark). The TESOL program at ...