I know...It has been awhile!

So, Here is a little update on what has been going on with me and the program.....I am now a Service Learning Assistant to the Program! wooohoooo!!!!! I love it! It is a lot of work but it is so much fun. I get the priveledge of working with some other SLAs and the director of the program. This semester has really just been preparing for next semester. My job is communication and outreach to past and future participants to the program. I have had so much fun with this because I have been able to meet and talk to a lot of new people! I am sooooooo excited for this upcoming year with the program. There are so many new things that we didn't get to do last year. I hope that you all will stay tuned.......!!!!!!!!!!

Lo Siento.....

Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating lately. I have just been insanly busy with everything! I have been having the time of my life! There is always so much to do and we are always running behing schedule. By the way....I can not believe that I will be back home in only 4 short days! I am really excited because I miss you guys so much and cant wait to see everyone (by the way....I can't wait to come home too...because I am really craving mozzerella sticks....I know rediculous but they don't ahve them here and they sound really good!)! hahahaha! anyway....seriously....I am going to miss Cuernavaca so much. It feels like a second home. I am so glad to have been blessed with such an amazing experience. I can not wait to really be able to tell all of you about it! One of the things that I will definatley miss is my students at La Lagunilla. They are so sweet. Every Tuesday and Thursday when we pull up to the community center, they are all waiting there for us and usually have something that they want to give us. It is so cute....for example, today one of the girls, Sofia, made me a little bracelet. She was so excited to give it to me! Myself and two other girls are teaching a class of 28 kids. They are so funny and try really hard during class (I have to admit..... they say the funniest things when they are trying say a word it English!) for example...when they were trying to say EYES they pronounced it hay-yes. it was so cute! they just need to learn how to move their mouths. But I am so proud of them for what they have learned. I am so sad to be leaving them...I want to take them all home with me! Anyway..Leave me comments...I absoulutely love to read them....they are like comfort food!
Talk to you later!!

P.S.- I will be sending out invites for my little Fiesta when I get home!!!!

Me and Casey hanging out before the Lucha Libre fight

At our hotel in Acapulco

Me, Lindsay (Right) and Stephanie (Left) in Acapulco

Doing extra service work-painting at La Lagunilla

Eating Strawberry Crepes at a local Cafe

Hola Hola Hola!!

So I have had a really rough weekend....but it was all worth it!! On saturaday, I climbed a mountain in Tepozilan. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but well worth it when I finally reached the top! It was so beautiful! The way back down was the easiest :). Sunday,we went to the third most visited religious site in the world, The Basilica. This was incredible. There were so many people and the cathedrals were huge. It was really cool to see all of the traditional dances in the square and all of the statues. My favorite cathedral that I visited was the one for The Virgin of Guadalupe. It was gigantic, and there were so many people. I was talking to my host mom about it and she said that most of the houses in Mexico have at least one painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe. This was one of the most interesting and cultural things that I have experienced thus far. Then, we all went to Teotihacan, which is a city of ancient Aztec ruins. This was my most favorite thing that I have done here yet! We also climbed the Pryamid of the Sun, which is the second highest pryamid in Mexico. It was awesome because we had a tour guide who was telling us the stories as we went through the ruins. Also, when we reached the top of the Pryamid, we did an ancient Aztec tradition of recieving energy from the sun. That was really cool! Needless to say that I today I have been sooooo tired but it was all worth it!

Finally!!!!

I can not believe that I am in Mexico right now! I have already been here for a week and it has been amazing! Sorry that I haven't been able to update my blog but there has been sooo much going on! I absolutely love my host family. I could not have asked for any family that could have been better. My host mom, Concepcion, or Conchis, is funny and she always wants to make sure that we have everything we need or want. Her husband, Paco (we call him Papa Paco), is hardly ever home but he is really nice too and very quiet. They have two sons, Paco (we call him Nino Paco) and Pablo (or Pablito). Nino Paco is 15 and Pablito is 12. Last night we all played uno after cena (dinner) and it was sooo much fun! There are 3 other girls from IUPUI that are living in the same house as me and we all are getting along really well. I started my classes on monday and they have been pretty good. the way that it is set up it works out really well because they can move you into a different class if your at a higher or lower level. I am really happy with everything! It is kinda weird to be writing in English because I have been speaking Spanish ALL THE TIME! I love it! I also started my service work at la luganilla. I am teaking the 6-10 year olds English and they are some of the sweetest kids that I have ever worked with. You can tell that all that they want is love! We were teaching the concept of I like......and the students were to tell us what they liked. One of the girls, Sofia, wrote, I like my teacher Emily! It about broke my heart! So, I love all of the kids already and they can't get enough of me and the other teachers. They are sooo eager to learn! Anyway, That is a lot, and I have a lot of Tarea (homework) for tomorrow so I will update you all later!!!

And the countdown continues......!

Hey everyone! I can not believe it!! I leave in 8 days!!! This is crazy! It feels like not that long ago I was freaking out about waiting to see if I got accepted into the program! The end of the semester came and went sooo fast! For those of you who don't know, I am in Louisiana right now for a vacation. My boyfriend has been working here for the past month and he flew me out here so we could spend some time together before my trip to Mexico. (I know, so sweet!) Anyway, I am in a small town call Luling, louisiana. BORING! hahaha! there isn't much to do, so I have basically been laying out everyday so that I am not a lobster when I go to Mexico. Lets just say that I was absolutely fried the first couple of days...but I'm better now!! Thanks for all of the comments you all have been leaving me! I love reading them!!!! Talk to you later!

Update!

Hey everyone! I have been so busy with finals coming up and getting ready for mexico I haven't had a chance to update my blog! Today, I got my some of my immunizations....BOO! I was definately not expecting them to hurt as bad as they do! My arm feels like it got punched! I got the Hep A and typhoid shots today and I still need to get a Malaria immunization......I'm afraid! So, in the past couple of pre-departure meetings, I found out that I will be doing my service learning at La Luganilla; a women's shelter. There, I will be helping to teach English to the mothers and their kids! I am sooooo excited! It is so crazy that I leave in about three weeks! I am so excited, but the past few weeks have gone by so fast and I am sure that the next three will as well.....OMG! I can't believe I will be leaving soon!!!

Weekend Retreat

Hey everyone!! I havent gotten to write recently, but so much has happened!!! Over the weekend everyone that is going to mexico with me, went to a camp in Brownstown, IN at pyoca camp. We had such a good time! of course, i forgot my camera...i was so bummed! But it was nice to talk and get to know everyone a little bit better. I think that i might have found my roomate. she seems pretty nice and we seem to have the same ideas about school and going out, so hopefully it will work out for us! The first day that we were there, we talked a lot about teamwork and did a lot of activites. We also had some guest speakers that spoke about immigration and the problems that many Latinos face here in Indiana. Mainly focusing on issues in education. They were very knowledgable and helped me to understand the issues that Latinos face. The most fun of the day was the non-English dinner that we had. Everyone that is going is pretty much at different levels with their spanish speaking abilities, which made for a very interesting dinner. 4 out of the 6 people at my table knew about the same amount of spanish as i did and the other 2 were at the beginning levels of the language. Sunday, we did more activites and reflected on the weekend on what we had learned, not only about the trip and immigration, but also about ourselves. Overall, it was a lot of fun and i loved getting to know the people i will spending a month in Mexico with!!!

Cesar Chavez day of service

Hey everyone! Today I had the opportunity to participate in an awsome volunteer project called Cesar Chavez day of service. If you don't know who he is, he was a migrant worker who came to America in order to help many different kinds of people. We did these projects in his name. there were many different service sites, but I went to a church called La Vida Nueva, which means, A New Life. This church does many different things for the surrounding Latino population. Not only is this a church, but they have started many different programs to get the community involved. These are things like; a GED program, English classes, food pantries, clothes pantries and book clubs for the youth and adults. All of these prgrams are to help the Latinos to learn English so that they can become more involved in the US. The minister is a man who comes from Honduras and loves to help to his community. While we were there, we were painting and helping to clean up whatever they needed. We were there for 3 hours, but most of thought that it was not enough so we plan on going back to help! And, it was soooooo much fun!!!

Well.....

Everyday I think about this trip! and now that we have had the first meeting, I am so excited! At first, I couldn't really believe that this was going to happen! I was so nervous that I wouldn't really get accepted into the program, but I did! It has taken a minute for it to actually set in that I am really going! So anyway, I wanted to say thank you so much for everyone's generousity in sponsoring me for this amazing opportunity~ and I can't wait until I can share all of my pictures and stories with you all!!! Talk to ya later!

The First Meeting

Hey everyone! Well, we had our first pre-dearture meeting yesterday. It was really cool to meet all of the people who are going and get to know them a little. There was a Mexican man who graduated from IUPUI that came and spoke about the country. He talked about everything from geography and population to songs and traditions. I thought that this was really good because his presentation helped to give everyone a better idea of what to expect from the experience. We also went over all of the rules for the trip and talked about roomates. I do want a roomate, but I have no idea who I am going to pick! well, we will see. We were also given a book, that we will be quizzed on prior to departure, a binder with all of the information that we will need for the duration of before and after the trip and finally, a cd that if full of songs in spanish. Yay!

Getting Excited!

Hi everyone!!! I still can not believe that I am going to Mexico! Everyday, I get more and more excited about it! This week is the first pre-departure meeting and I am excited to meet everyone that is going.

My very first blog!

Hey guys! This is my first blog and I am so excited to be sharing my experience with all of you! Going to Mexico is going to be a great experience for me because I love learning about the hispanic culture, the Spanish Language, and working with kids! This program is designed for students like me who want to improve their Spanish skills as well a learn about the culture. In addtion to that, there is a service-learning opportunity. This is where we (the students) Learn through volunteering. I will be volunteering at a local Middle school, where I will be helping the students with their English skills. This is so exciting for me!!
If you want to view the To Mexico With Love webite with IUPUI,
Click Here