Lessons and observations from my first wk...

After being here in Guanajauto for about a wk now, I have become pretty familiar with the city and day to day life here. The following are some of the more interesting moments I've had so far:

1. No matter how badly you need to use a restroom and desperate you may appear, you are unable to use the public toilets without paying 2-5 pesos.

2. Although most places have indoor plumbing, the low water pressure does not allow for flushing toilet paper and instead needs to go in the waste basket....you'd be surprised how difficult it is to change such a simple life-long habit!!!

3. Meal times are much different then in the US. Breakfast is around 8 AM, lunch 3 PM, and dinner anywhere from 8-10 PM, although lunch is usually the largest meal of the day. It's weird to eat so late at night!!!

4. The "danger zone" for food in no way exists. It drives me crazy walking by the butcher's shops and seeing chicken and pork just sitting on the counter. Luckily my host family has good refrigeration and and uses safe food prep techniques (at least by Mexican standards).

5. Fresh produce is SO much better than in the US. Most is grown locally and picked the morning of to be brought to the markets. The prices are ridiculously cheap too. Strawberries are about 50 cents a pound and bananas less than a nickel each. You can also buy big bags of oranges for next to nothing (similar to 40lb bags of potatoes you can buy in the US). My host family uses those oranges to squeeze fresh orange juice every morning...SO GOOD!!!

6. No matter how much I practice and more confidence I develop in my spanish speaking skills, I still make a ton of stupid and embarrassing mistakes. The other day at lunch I was telling my host family about how I went running by "El Pípila" (the big statue) and instead said "pepino" which means cucumber. The little kids were laughing at me so much...its rough having an audience of 9 during meals!!!

7. Lastly, working out at 6,500 ft is a killer!!! There is a small gym by the house that has group exercise classes. For 30 pesos (about $2.50) you can attend. I went to a spinning class after school yesterday and have never been SO out of breath while biking. No one else in class hardly even broke a sweat and I WAS DIEING!!!