The Walk Home from School

Here are a few photos I took on the walk home from UAG.

Citrus trees are everywhere

Our neighborhood

We've Been Here One Week (Una Semana!)

We've already been here one week... it feels like we just got here. Last night, we cooked dinner for everyone, and it wasn't the "Mary Tyler Moore party" I feared it would be! We had a nice time, talking and laughing until 10:30. We thought everyone had forgotten that we were cooking for them, but then remembered where we were... everyone showed up right on time (give or take an hour).

Today is Domingo, the day that people like to spend with their families. We got to meet Maria's other daughters and their families. They are all so sweet.

Garrett and I had a relaxing day-- just got back from eating cena (dinner) at a taqueria. Garrett had tacos with bacon, steak, mushrooms, onion, and queso; I had steak tacos with nopales (prickly pear cactus), pico de gallo and lime.

I'm not a food photographer, but here's a photo of the meal. The red drink is an agua fresca, called Jamaica, a hibiscus tea.

After dinner, we explored the plaza some more, and discovered the Alfredo's croissant shop! We had some of their croissants in Tlaquepaque on our visit in April and thought they were delicious. They have all different flavors like peach, strawberry and apple, but the best one is loaded with chocolate. We bought a few to take home for dessert.

I had already started to dig into this morsel of chocolate-y goodness, when I thought I should show you what I'm talking about. It's. So. Good.

Un Dia Lluvioso (A Rainy Day)

We had quite a storm yesterday afternoon. While visiting with Sr. Jaime after lunch, it started to rain and hail. Within 15 minutes, the pool overflowed and the courtyard flooded. It was a deluge! The storm lasted about an hour, but the power outage lasted all afternoon, so Sr. Jaime offered to drive us to the bookstore in Chapalita and to Office Max in Zapopan.

Getting out of our neighborhood was an adventure in and of itself! All the traffic lights were out, and there was no four-way-stop business going on. Cars were going every which way, honking, while choice words-- that our Spanish course failed to mention--sounded from some of the drivers' windows.

Once out of the chaos, we had a nice cruise over to Chapalita, where Garrett bought his review books. We drove past the Governor's house on the way; it's not very far from Maria's.

At Office Max, we were able to get everything on our list, except a day planner. I'm beginning to wonder if those aren't so popular here...

Little by Little

I took this photo on our walk down from the pyramids of Teuchitlan, Jalisco during our visit to Guadalajara in April. The fallen blooms from the trees brightened all of the roads.

Nuestro Primera Dia Viviendo en Mexico (Our First Day Living in Mexico)

This is actually our segundo dia en Mexico, but I want to start al principio (at the beginning). We arrived in Guadalajara around 10:30 p.m. Sunday and took a taxi from the airport to the house we will be staying in, hopefully for the duration of our time in Guadalajara. Señora Maria, the muy agradable (very nice) owner of the house, showed us to our new room.

The climate is so pleasant here. The windows stay open 24/7, except last night, when a storm rolled through. This rainy season will last through October.

Back to our cuarto:
Our room is past the courtyard in a separate part of the house, with our own private bath.
It is a comfortable, airy room with two closets, two desks, and a king-size bed. There is good natural light from the two large frosted windows, and a cool breeze from the two sliding, screened windows. Large palm trees are growing around the pool outside our window.

Ayer (yesterday), we decided to walk to the grocery store in a plaza about cinco cuadras (5 blocks) away. We bought some food to cook for dinner (we're responsible for our dinners; breakfast and lunch is provided daily). It was a nice walk. We feel very safe in this colonia called Providencia. Later on yesterday afternoon, we walked to the school Garrett will be attending. It's very close. We met a fellow student who showed us around the campus, and then walked with us to a plaza and papeleria, where Garrett can buy supplies.

Communication is still pretty limited, but Sra. Maria and Sr. Jaime (Maria's employee/handy-man/cook) have both said we're learning quickly. We had an hour-long conversation with Jaime en la cocina (in the kitchen) during comida (lunch) today. We weren't able to follow word-for-word, but still got to know each other better.

He and Maria are excellent cooks! So far, we have had omelets with espinaca y tomate; pasta con pollo and mushrooms, with a side of squash, potatoes and carrots; delicious breakfast sandwiches with a side of fresh piña; and carne en su jugo, one of Guadalajara's most popular dishes...yum!