May 26th - Grasshoppers

 Today was the first day of school! As always I was very excited for school and decided to wake up at 6 30 to make sure that I was ready. However, my phone has not switched over well and so what I thought was 6 30 was actually 4 30. I pumped, took a shower, got ready, and even had time for some reading and a nap all before breakfast was served. Breakfast was delicious with fresh squeezed orange juice, milk, toast with jam, mango, yogurt, frosted cornflakes, and sweet tomales. Then, our host mom was nice enough to drive us to our first day of classes. We had Spanish class for 2 and a half hours and I loved it! Afterwards we had a snack and a process group to check in and see how everyone was adjusting.

 Chapulinas or Grasshoppers make a tasty and salty snack! (I now know from experience.) The lovely lady behind me is my professor. She does not eat chapulinas as she is a vegetarian. (A likely excuse.)

 I got this little guy for one of the other students she couldn't look through the baggie of chapulinas without squirming. She wanted one without legs. I am told that the grasshoppers are more delicious if they are fried, of course, aren't most things better fried? Regardless, I ate a grasshopper today.
Bugs: 0
Nikki: 2

 

 

For those of you who are a bit less daring I would recommend the sabritas in the Adobadas flavor. The adobo flavor is a mix of chilies and spices that could be considered a sort of Mexican BBQ style, a bit spicy, a bit sweet, and certainly delicious!

 

On to other adventures! Tonight the students decided to go to Santo Domingo which is a beautiful church and the area around it is similar to a town square. There are hundreds of vendors for local goods and a bunch of adorable little children trying to sell trinkets. Ah! They were so cute and it made me miss my little family terribly! At the town center a few people ordered drinks and I ordered caramel ice cream. It was good to get to know the other students a little bit. It is a diverse group in age and experiences. Our youngest member is 19 and our oldest is 49. (Not including the 2 professors and their 15 yr old son.) Most people have traveled to other countries but not everybody has really lived in other countries. We have 11 students total that are from four different majors. (Nursing, ethnic studies, family and consumer studies, and social work.)

To end the evening we took a bus home. It was my first bus in Mexico and I ill admit I was a bit nervous. I asked the bus driver if he was going near our house. He said that he was and so we hopped on.  I am unfamiliar with the streets and so I asked the bus driver to please help us by telling us where we should get off the bus. He stopped about a block away from our residence. Kee in mind that I had to have this conversation only in Spanish. A success to be certain!