Week 1 Living Alone

-The first two days it was REALLY quiet (proof I have been living with people and lots of noise for nine months). However, with a little background noise (TV or music) does the trick and I’m already adjusting to having it completely quiet again.

-I have to prepare my own food again. Although I don’t cook everyday (obviously!), I have been taking advantage of the fact that I have an extra reason to learn some good Mexican recipes before I go, while I have the all the ingredients readily available as well as people to ask for help. (Otherwise I would have waited until the US, and that isn’t quite as convenient.

-It was a busy week, so I didn’t get the full effect. That might happen once school gets out, but living with people doesn’t equal not feeling lonely as evidenced the past semester.

-I like living alone : ).

Other news: social and cutlural calendar

-Said goodbye to Veronique this week. I am doing ok, but the week before she left I had a good cry at least three times.

-Went to the Fiestas of Pitic last night. It’s the town’s five day festival. All of the events are free, and they get some pretty good, and famous, musicians and others to come in. The one I got to see was Lila Downs, the singer who did the sound track for the movie Frida. She had a wonderful concert. I wish I would have been able to take advantage of the festival more than just last night.

-Next week is the last week of classes. I am hoping to make some extra time in the week to say my offical goodbyes to my current and former classmates. Although I am ready for no more class assignments, I will miss the community that I have gotten every day. (Even though I will be here until July, I probably won´t see many of them once finals are done).

-BGSU work? Hmmm….between all the other things going on (both expected and unexpected) the past several weeks, suffice it to say that I haven’t been spending too much time on school work. However, the deadlines and requirements continue to come sooner and sooner. Time to step it up again!

Drastic Recent Weather

The weather is crazy. The week before this past week, the temperature was extreme: at the beginning of the week it reached 42 degrees Celsius (107 F), then a cold front came through and it got down to 19 degrees Celsius (66 F). So this meant that at the beginning of the week, I was sleeping under the fan with a wet bandana and t-shirt to cool me off (as the AC in my old house had not been turned on), and a few days later I was wearing long sleeves and jeans all day. This week it´s been back to normal temps, although this weekend it got up to 107 again. (Thankfully, the house I am now living in stays relatively cool during the day if I open up the house at night, so I have generally been able to avoid turning on the AC, which is an expensive commodity.)

Pants vs. Shorts Part 2

Remember my comment in the fall about how almost no one wore shorts? Well, I think I’ve figured it out a little bit more, although not completely.

Up until the 15th of May, AC was pretty much unaffordable. As a result, air was usually not turned on, AND more people than before wore shorts because it was hot. Now that the AC is turned on in most indoor places, most people wear jeans or long pants. Part of the reason is that it’s often too cold with the AC to be in shorts and a t-shirt only. (Most wear jeans. I tend to switch between Bermuda shorts (shorter shorts means sticky legs when one is hot), capris, and sometimes pants. However, I also have a long sleeve shirt or jacket (and sometimes socks) along for inside the buildings at school.

Fun facts on AC here: 1) It’s outrageously expensive even in the summer (more than the US). 2) In general, the AC is set way too cold. The charge is based on time the AC is on; however, I haven’t figured out how temperature auto set doesn’t help out with that.

Conflict with my theory: when people wear long sleeves and long pants and work outside all day. However, clothing is a pretty good sunscreen.