The glow of the pink building

The glow of the pink building, originally uploaded by sappycoldplaywhore.

This is Melissa, on our tourist-y bus tour of the city on Monday night. We were right next to a bright pink building, so the colours turned out LOVELY.

A ho-hum sort of day

All the paper here is either blank or graph paper. I do not understand this. I do not understand this at all. I was at Chedraui (el supermercado) and I was going to buy a Jonas Brothers notebook as a joke, but it was 10 pesos more than just buying the loose leaf. Plus, IT WAS STILL GRAPH PAPER. So fuck that.

Also, I had a really good sandwich today! It was blue cheese, mayo, lettuce, avocado and jalepeños on ciabatta. For 20 pesos. Which is less than two dollars. Everything here is so cheap, it's amazing. I was trying to explain this to my intercambio, but I don't think she understands just how much of a cheapskate I am, and therefore how AMAZING this is to me.

I met with my intercambio as well today, but I'm not going to write about here until I have a picture. Because everything is better with illustrations!

Stating the obvious

Composición número uno, originally uploaded by sappycoldplaywhore.

"You write like a gringo," my composition teacher tells me (in Spanish).

Well, duh.

Monte Alban

Monte Alban, originally uploaded by sappycoldplaywhore.

Monte Alban was really gorgeous. (Well, duh, I mean, look at this picture.) And it wasn't too hot; I didn't even get burnt!

Classes "started" today. We took our Spanish placement tests and met our intercambios. My student's name is Sara.

I was placed in Advanced Spanish, although I don't see how, as two girls in Intermediate are Spanish majors. But I like my teacher; she told us which museums in Oaxaca are the best and where they have a cinema club every night except Mondays.

Classes begin properly tomorrow. We do two classes per day and start a new session once we've done 45 hours of class. First session, I'm taking Advanced Spanish (duh) and Practical Writing (for Spanish). I'll take History of Mesoamerica and Economics next session, and Contemporary Mexican Women Writers and possibly another Spanish class for the third session.

El mejor adviso todavía he oído

Para toda mal: Mezcal. Para toda bien: también.

Fuimos a Monte Alban y una iglesia se llama Cuilapán hoy. Poneré fotos cuando las están (estén? sí, estén) estén en Flickr.

My first Mezcal

Most of the rest of the students in the program arrived today, and this girl named Catherine gave me a call. She's an indie kid (the good kind) from upstate New York who buys loose tobacco and skins instead of real cigarettes.

We met up with Ashley at the Zócalo (that's the proper name for the central plaza) and we were chatting outside the Hotel Monte Alban when this guy named Carlos came up to us, saying he needed to talk to someone in English. Okay, whatever. He said he's from Oaxaca but lived in San Diego and Chicago, which explained his American accent. He talked to us for awhile, then came back fifteen minutes later and suggested we go out.

Okay, we said, one drink.

His brother (okay) and his father (what?) came with us and ordered six Mezcals. Which is Oaxacan tequlia. I think. Anyway, it was somewhat awkward, because we fully intended to scadoodle (and Ashley kept mentioning the movie Taken to us, like, WE KNOW IT'S SKETCH, DON'T REMIND US) after the one drink. Which we did.

But hey, first drink! Bought for me by Mexicans! On my second night here! We are fucking pro.

No es baño

No es baño, originally uploaded by sappycoldplaywhore.

Sí, no es baño. Es un lugar muy agradable. (I shot this photo walking home today. There's a freakin' time stamp on it because I'm retarded and my camera is new. That's my excuse.)

Fui a camino este tarde con una otra estudiante, se llama Ashley. Ella es de Tennessee y tiene un accento muy sureño. Fuimos al centro y miramos algunos parques y calles, y compramos helado de fresas y crema para sólo once pesos (es menos de un dolar).

Para almuerzo, mi mamá cocinó sopa de zanahorias, pasta, y poblanos lleno de queso. Estoy comiendo más verduras que comía en los Estados. Tal vez estaré sana, para una vez.



I went for a walk this afternoon with my fellow study-abroad student, Ashley. She's from Tennessee and has an extremely Southern accent. I love it. We walked around, getting acquainted with the parks and streets. I saw a poster for a ballet company doing Swan Lake. I think I might go see that; the tickets are less than $30. We bought some ice cream (strawberries and cream!) for 11 pesos, which is less than a dollar. I love cheap ice cream.

For lunch, my host mother made carrot soup, pasta, and poblano peppers stuffed with cheese. OMG, she's a great cook. I'm actually eating vegetables. I'll finally be healthy for once.

Ahora, es el tiempo por una siesta. ¡Adios!