So I’m three weeks into my trip now and I’m settling into my new routine (or more accurately my lack of routine).  My last week at home was complete and utter chaos.  I had planned on slowly packing up the house all summer so that I didn’t have to do it all at the last minute.  Well, the summer snuck away from me.  I did summer school for a month while also packing up my classroom and working part time at Lowe’s.  I did a couple camping trips and quite a few scuba diving trips. Also I helped with CELDT testing (testing student’s English proficiency for students who speak another language at home) and did a week long intensive Spanish institute in Lake Tahoe.  By the time all that was done, it got to be the last week and I had a million things to do to the point that it was one of the more stressful weeks of my entire life.  When I first got to Mexico City I slept for about 16 hours straight!

My time here has been pretty good.  It started off a bit weird.  I think I was just exhausted from a super chaotic summer and then the altitude (+7,000 ft) really did a number on me.  I also had a stomach issue which was quite uncomfortable.  Anyway, hopefully now everything has settled down.  I think I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea that I’m not going to be home for another year.  Everything that I own for the next year is in one of two bags.

For my first week, I did quite a few days trips outside of Mexico City.  I figured that once I started the Spanish school I wouldn’t have time for those so I wanted to get those taken care of.  Once I was in school, I made sure to see all the local sights in the afternoons.  Be sure to check out the map page for pictures of all the sights.

The school has been great.  There was a placement test and it put me in the newcomer class with the people who had never learned Spanish at all.  I was in there for about 30 seconds and then I just said (in Spanish, mind you) that I didn’t think that class was appropriate for me.  The teacher agreed and put me in the next class up.  I lasted a bit longer in there (two hours), but yet again advocated for myself said it was too easy so they moved me up again.  I think the current class is a good fit.  The owner of the school asked if I wanted to move up to the highest level, but I said I felt good about where I was.  I’m doing the intensive class as well so I have an extra two hours of class per day.  It’s so hard to get up so early and hard to sit for a total of six hours, but I’m learning a ton.  I feel pretty confident about my abilities at this point and I hope to improve as I continue my travels.

For those of you who know Mexico City or those of you that like to play with Google Maps, when I was staying with my host mom, I was at Insurgents and Xola (somewhat near the World Trade Center).  The school was at Insurgents and Sonora, so I basically just had to walk up Insurgentes to get to school.  It was about a 1/2 hour walk or if it was raining, I would take the bus.

I’m onto Oaxaca (wah-hah-kah) tomorrow so now the real fun begins.