Saturday, May 17th

This is my first blog post I am writing in Mexico, so exciting!  Sorry for the delay, but my first 2 days in Mexico have been quite the adventure so I'm finally sitting down to try to catch up a little.

My flight to Oaxaca left from Boston so I stayed the night with my best friend, Adam, in his apartment.  The plan was: wake up 3:30am, be at the airport around 4:00-4:15am, eat breakfast in the airport, leisurely stroll to the gate, and depart for Mexico with a flawless journey at 6am.  SO NOT WHAT HAPPENED...  The alarm never went off!  Adam woke me up at 4:45am saying the alarm didn't go off and he was calling a taxi to take us.  I threw on clothes in a frantic race against time and I was absolutely convinced I was not making my flight.  (Flash Back to Spring Break when I did miss my flight because I was eating and didn't realize planes board 45minutes before the time on your boarding pass.) I was not missing another flight!  We made it to the airport just in time, I rushed through everything, said a hasty goodbye to Adam, and boarded my flight as one of the last passengers.  I had a connection in Atlanta, and a connection in Mexico City (where NO ONE spoke English and the time change had me so confused), before finally landing in Oaxaca in a teeny tiny airplane that fit 20ppl.

Just landed in Oaxaca!

I went to baggage claim and carefully balanced my 4 suitcases and purse and was greeted by Carlos, my liaison from the Adelante program stationed in Oaxaca. (Long story short: dividing my belongings into 4 suitcases was cheaper than having one really overweight suitcase.)  He drove me to my house (I'm staying in a house that's more like an apartment. I have my own room, but share common spaces. Mrs. Irma is the owner and she lives downstairs with her son Octavio. I live upstairs with Rocky, a girl from Los Angeles, and a native of Oaxaca, Jesus.)  We just finished carrying all my luggage upstairs when Mrs. Irma asked if I wanted to go to lunch.  All I had eaten was cashews at noon, so I was VERY hungry at 4pm and obviously accepted her invitation.

What I didn't know was that lunch was referring to a Fiesta at her cousin's house.  I walked up to a lawn filled with 75-100 people with a buffet style meal all set up.  It was very overwhelming.  Mrs. Irma only speaks Spanish so our communication is very limited, we get to the point, but I don't think she mentioned a huge Mexican Fiesta before we left the house....  I put on a smile, grabbed a Corona, and avoided most of the food, except for the rice, because I had no idea what it was.  The good part, DANCING.  It was so much fun to learn to dance and I'm very glad Mrs. Irma encouraged me to hop on the dance floor.

People are starting to flock to the dance floor.

 At the Fiesta, I met an exchange student from Germany, Kasey.  She is staying with Mrs. Irma's sister for a whole year, she is 9months into her program and has gone from speaking no Spanish to being fluent.  It was so nice to talk to someone in English on my first day and she had a lot of advice and answered a lot of the questions I had.

Kasey and Me

We stayed for 4 hours before returning home and I was very tired after a long day of travel and dancing.  But I didn't go to bed right away... inside my apartment was a horrible surprise....ANTS.  I HATE bugs, HATE HATE HATE them!  I took out cups and just started cupping them so they couldn't go anywhere.  Then I took my "Off Deep Woods" bug spray and sprayed the entrance of every door and window.  I quickly unpacked, took a shower (in cold water because I couldn't figure out how to make it warm water), and ate a bowl of Ramen noodle which I'm so thankful my Mom packed for me.

My window has a pretty view of the yard, but my window
is also permanently open.  No wonder so many bugs get in here!
The moths are attracted to my light at night... this is a fear I have to
conquer sooner rather than later.

My roommate, Rocky, arrived a little after 9pm and we talked for a little before heading to bed.  I'm thankful to have someone to work on my Spanish with.

Pray for better food tomorrow,

Maria Katerina (my more fitting Spanish name)