So, it´s hot here! I knew it would be as I had checked the forecast earlier this summer and they had days of 105-115 F. The good news is that it rained last week and so it´s been cooler this week only staying in the upper 90s. However, I don´t know exactly the temperature as it´s Celsius here. Still... Thankfully my temporary housing has AC so that helps. The strange thing here is that everyone wears pants (especially jeans which aren´t very light)...men, women, and even kids. I´ve been watching and I´ve only noticed a few men and women wearing shorts (or skirts for that matter). It´s a little more common to see children wearing shorts, but it´s not the norm. I´ve been wearing shorts and skirts since I came. I wasn´t completely conscious of it right away, the last two days I´ve noticed that I´m very much the exception. I decided to ask Marisol, one of the exchange program staff. She said that people wear shorts to protect their legs from getting burned. When I mentioned that it´s been cool, she said that´s another reason. My mom suggested that it might be also that people work in AC, which might also be true, but there are also a lot of people who don´t work in AC. Anyway, I decided to try wearing light-weight jeans today and I think I´ll switch back to shorts tomorrow. Maybe on Monday for the first day of class, I´ll try capris (mainly because there will be AC in the classrooms.)
Yeah for sunscreen!
Adventures of living abroad on my own
Friday, August 10, 2007
Blog Background
Starting August 2007, I will studying at the Universidad de Sonora (UNISON) in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico for the first year of my graduate program in Spanish. In the summer of 2008, I will return to the United States and go to Ohio to complete the second year of my Master's program. As an undergrad, I lived and studied in Denia, Spain for a semester and loved the experience. Ever since, I have wanted the opportunity to live abroad again. Mexico is an ideal location for me as Denver, CO has a very large Mexican population. For the past five years, I have taught 3rd grade in a bilingual classroom and the vast majority of my students have been of Mexican descent. I plan to return to return to Colorado upon completion of my studies and I believe this experience will make me better able to serve. I am using this blog to help document the year for myself, share my experience with family and friends, and be a reference for other students planning to study abroad in Sonora and/or elsewhere.
