Friday, January 6, 2012

01/06/2012...so far

¡Hola a todos y buenas tardes!  So I've already failed in blogging every day like I hoped I could...oh well no one's perfect!  So let's see...what all has happened since I posted last?  Yesterday mi mamá and I went in the morning to the orientation for host families.  That did not take long at all, and we signed our contract and left.  After we went to the host family orientation we went to Walmart...yes there are walmarts here too...to buy a light coat for me, because for some reason I forgot to pack one.  There walmart here is almost identical to the one we have in Siler City...only a little less nice.  Everything was pretty much the same price...my coat only cost about $15...not too bad.   After we left walmart we went across the street to TelCel, the biggest and most popular cell phone company here.  They were so busy and all the international students were there to buy their cell phone.  My cell phone which includes 300 minutes as of right now was only $20…not bad at all.  After buying my cell phone we rode the bus home and Concha fixed supper. 

Supper was veggie soup, always delicious, bread with salsa con crema, mixed veggies (cayote, broccoli, and carrots), rice with jitomate salsa, and roast beef with tomato sauce.  Everything was as delicious as always! 

So today is “el día de los reyes magos”, or the day of the wise men…the three wise men from the bible.  This holiday is very important here in México, especially to the children.  For the children this is kinda like Christmas day when they get to open their presents.  I’m pretty sure there are supposed to be many festivals and parties tonight for the celebration, but as of right now I’m not sure.  However last night there was a dance show here in front of the train station beside our house.  They had a stage set up with lights and chairs….so many people came out to watch the children do their dance routines.  They were so good too!  Many of the children were only probably 3 years old….but they kept up pretty well…and were soo cute!  At the end of the dancing the three wise men came out all dressed up in shiny outfits to talk to the children and wish them good luck in the new year.  After that all the children were able to get a free balloon.  As is tradition the children write a letter or draw a picture of something they might like to receive as a present and then they fold the paper up and tie it to the end of the balloon string.  After the wise men counted down from 3, all the children let their balloons go into the air in hopes that they were receive everything they wanted…kinda like our children write letters to Santa Claus. 

This was pretty fun to watch and all the children were so happy, including my parents’ grandchildren who are 6 and 1½ years of age.  Once we walked back to the house mi mamá insisted that I eat a snack before I go to bed…which is always ok with me!  So she fixed me a quesadilla with milk…and needless to say after a long day ending with a full belly and warm glass of milk I was out like a light in only minutes. 

Today I didn’t really have much to do since there wasn’t anything going on at the university.  Mi mamá and I went to the “papelería”, or the paper store, and I bought 4 notebooks, 3 pencils, and had 7 copies made of my important papers like my passport and my immigration form, for only $5!! Wow!!! Then we went to the bank to withdraw the money I needed to pay my host family rent, and from there we went to a foto studio and had my pictures made for my student Visa.  These were also very cheap, only about $6 for all 8 pictures.  After we had completed everything that I needed to do, I went with mi mamá to the market to buy milk, juice, bread, cheese, and fruit…all at separate places, because unlike in the U.S. there aren’t really any big supermarket stores other than Walmart.  Everything is usually sold separately, with one store for only cheese, one store for only meat, one store for only paper, one store for only fruit…and so on.  Also many people don’t go to the supermarkets like Walmart because they are actually more expensive and the quality is not as good, or so mi mamá tells me. 

Let’s get back to the food though…the important stuff.  Today mi papá cooked breakfast for us as usual.  This morning it was fried strips of tortillas that were in some type of chile sauce…that the name seems to have escaped me at the moment, and with shredded cheese.  Also we had fried plantains and coffee to drink as always!  YUMMY! For lunch mi mamá showed me how to fix chiles poblanos.  Mi favorita!  We roasted the chiles in the oven and then peeled them and removed the seeds.  Once we had this completed we filled them with shredded cheese and spread sour cream on top.  We ate these with the mixed veggies as usual, bread with salsa con crema as usual, and veggie soup as usual.  Also we had elbow macaroni with a light cream sauce.  Everything was wonderful as it always is. 

Today has been a beautiful Friday with the temperature in the 80’s, or at least it felt like it.  It’s starting to get a little chilly now as it always does towards the end of the day, so I’m going to put on my coat and see what the family’s up to tonight for el día de los reyes magos!  ¡Hasta luego!

No comments:

Post a Comment