Time continues to FLY by and I know before I know it I will be heading home!!! We had a long wkend this wkend as today, Monday, was a national holiday (although I have no idea for what). Most of the other students seem pretty preoccupied with planning extravagant wkend excusions, but I continue to stay very busy here in Guanajuato and am quite content just enjoying this beautiful city!!!

On Saturday, Carolina, myself, and our host-family's oldest daughter, Fernanda, joined some of the other students, and attended "El Noche de Las Estrellas," a national star-gazing festival. This involved a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to the middle of nowhere and a hike up to a field that had telescopes, star-gazing maps, and a few speakers. The stars were beautiful, especially since there wasn't any "light contamination" like you'd have near a city. Sadly, the highlight of the evening for me were the taco stands which were set up along the hike. I had two of the BEST tacos I have ever had: homemade tortillas, steak, chirizo, onions, cilantro, and salsa...DELICIOUS!!!

Sunday, a bar/restaurant near our house has a satellite dish and aired the SuperBowl on NBC. It was SO nice to watch American tv for the first time in a month, and see all of the commericals too!!! I think it was one of the best games and half-time shows in a long time!!!

Today, I went and hiked "La Bufa," a series of rock formations near the city. We starting the climb at 0900 and didn't make it down until 1330. The weather was perfect...sunny and cool with a light breeze. Their were tons of interesting plants along the way and a few small herds of cows. I wonder how anything was able to survive in such harsh conditions!!! The view when we finally reached the summit was incredible, and I really enjoyed the challenge of the hike. When we finally got back, we all headed to Santo Cafe, a delicious cafe in town, for a well-deserved lunch!!!