Out Come the Wolves

It's been a crazy few days, and I couldn't be more happy and melancholy at the same time. The day after Paulina took me on the best date ever, I had to say good bye to her, her family, and Guadalajara and get my ass to Morelia. After missing my 1:30 bus, despite Sonya (bless her heart) driving like a woman-posessed to get to the station, I caught the next 3 and 1/2 hour bus ride and landed in the city just in time to be forty five minutes late. Program Director Man didn't seem to care, but I got to be "the late guy" with the rest of the EAP students for the rest of the night.

Speaking of them, it really cracks me up how these types of overseas excursions always have the same American archetypes: Intimidating Serious Girl, Older Person, Life-Of-The-Party Guy (my roomate), Shaggy Hippy Dude, Cute Flirty Girl.... they're all here, present and accounted for. We're one token minority away from a sit-com, I swear.

There was a big festival in the city's center that night to raise money for preserving its stunning cathedrals, with marriachis, clowns, and familly theater troops performing all over. Morelia is a great city to experience this way, as its Colonial-era architecture and hopping night life gives it a traditionally-social charm. Being late, I saw all of this with Older Person (a down-to-earth British woman from UC Riverside), but being older, she wanted to turn in early. I was about to do the same, when I returned to my room, only to find it filled with m fellow students, downing cheap Vodka in preparation for a night on the town (thanks to Life-Of-The-Party Guy, of course). As you can see, I gave in to this and had a grand old time with the other students, who seem to be here primarily as a means to get shit-faced and dance on tables.

But hanging out with Cute Flirty Girl (she used me for my umbrella when it started raining, the wench) only reaffirmed what I discussed in my last entry: American girls love to play games with guys. I responded to her half-hearted advances by being maybe a bit-too-blunt her, and she ended up sleeping in my roomate's bed with him while I refused to leave the room and let nature take its course. So much for your female powers of persuation!

Anyway, enough about boring Americans: my host family is amazing! They live in the centro neighborhood, which means they're close to everything cool and interesting in this city and a short distance from the University. Warm, laid-back Shayla showed me how to use the Combi's (mini-vans used as a public bus system) while crazy-smart Lorenzo Jr. (pictured above, center) took me on a mini-tour of the city. The best was this vista point, complete with hilariously-huge Mexican flag at the top:



Lorenzo's friends were also incredibly nice: after sitting down to talk with them on a whim, we spent two hours discussing politics and race in the United States and Mexico, all while Rosalind (my host-mom) served us pasta, chicken, and a chocalate cake that Lorenzo Sr. got for father's day. They all spoke to me slowly so I could understand them, and told me all the best cafe's, restaurants, and clubs to visit in town. I can already tell that I'm going to love it here.

Lorenzo's friends call him Professor, and the nick name fits. Not only is Lorenzo Jr. actually a professor, but everything he says with a certainty and firmness that inspires total confidence. He teaches English to kids aged 10 to 11, and he speaks five languages in total, so the guy is a freakin genius with linguistics. Needless to say, this has helped tremendously with our ability to communicate, and he basically walked me through my homework step by step today. Our teachers encouraged us not to lean to heavily on our host families for homework help, but Lorenzo is so good at explaining this stuff that it's practically like having a private tutor. I'm a very lucky man, in more ways than one.