My First Day

Patio on the second floor of mansion

Patio on ground floor of mansion (I love the pillars!)

The tables behind the rocking chair with striped pillow is where we eat our meals

Picture of foyer and stairs from second floor

Henry :) The Build-A-Bear that Neal and I made for my trip...He and I cuddle while I think of Neal....

So, to pick up where I left off, I got up at 7:30AM for breakfast at 8AM which consisted of french toast and tons of cut up fresh fruit (apples, papaya, kiwi, strawberries, grapes, and bananas). It was an awesome breakfast. After we ate, we took a formal tour of the house and then went outside to our Palapa which is an outdoor classroom. I have not taken a picture of it yet because its dark outside, but it has a thatched roof, and the base of the building is cement, but the walls are complete screens. There are fans in there as well, so it stays very cool during the day. We had orientation about all sorts of stuff (pesos, dress code, things to do in the city, why we are here and what our goals are for this trip, our class schedules, the laundry service, and etiquette around the house and in town. We had orientation from 8:30 to 12:30 with a walk around the neighborhood in there too. By the way, I never understood how hot it was down here until that walk. We walked for probably 1 1/2 hr. and I was drenched in sweat. My arms were sweating and my eyelids were collecting a lot of sweat too. I felt disgusting, but thats the way it goes! So anyway, we had lunch which consisted of breaded chicken breast with potatoes, green beans, and cantolope (sp) but I was so warm that I did not have much of an appetite. Once the afternoon orientation session was over, Val (the director) and 3 other girls and I went to a Pilates place where we are going to do Pilates sessions. We really wanted to exercise down here but did not feel like lifting or running when its so hot, so we are going to do Pilates! We are super excited about it. The visiting professor's wife, Jan Webber, is even going to do it with us! :) (Val even told us about where we can get great mani/pedi's and facials so we are probably going to take her up on that as well! :) ). So, when we returned from that little outing, we had supper and now I am writing this blog. I snarfed down my food which was good because I needed to get more food in my tummy. The thing that I truly learned today is that this program is not about learning the language; it is about learning about the culture so that when we go back we can better understand where the Latin Americans are coming from. I cannot wait for many more experiences to come!

Thanks for reading! Good night. :)