Third Day of Class

Well, Steve and I finished our third day of Spanish class today. We start each day at 9am and walk about 20 minutes to school along the city's old aquaduct. It's quite an amazing sight! We have been walking more than usual and it is quite warm here, so my feet are swollen and have many blisters- despite all the Bandaids I've applied. Ugh! It might be a long month of walking. Our family is still great and we're starting to realize they're just as sarcastic as our own families. Figuring out if someone is kidding is much harder in another language- especially for Steve since he's still learning to count.... The house is quite decorated for Christmas and there's even a train that goes around the tree. It's quite weird to be in a city so decorated for the upcoming holidays when it is warm and sunny. Our family consists of Alfonso (Poncho) and Alejandra, who are both about 67. They have 5 grown children- Alejandra (Allay) still lives at home and is 38, Andres studied to be a doctor but was in a horrible accident and is now in a wheelchair (Mexican streets and buildings in general are very unfriendly to people in wheelchairs). Alfonso Jr. lives in southern CA with his wife and 2 kids (his wife is American and was an exchange student in their house) and then there are 2 others we haven't met. There is also a student from S. Germany who lives with us- her name is Julia and she is doing her internship in business here in Morelia. She is quite a kick and doesn't do much except go to the bars with her friends. Alejandra says that Julia has learned more about Morelia in 2 months than Alejandra has learned in her whole life. All in all, life is good. We haven't gotten sick, our luggage arrived yesterday, and we have hot water. What else could you ask for? We fully welcome emails as it is very nice to hear what is going on at home. Take care and we'll try our best to keep writing!

-Jenny


UPDATE: We went on a walking tour of the city with the director of the school. Here are a few pictures of the scenes to be scene:


This is a picture inside the patio (central garden) of the former governor's mansion. Quite an impressive place. It's now used for goverment offices and the governor now lives in a little newer mansion with air conditioning.














This is a close up of the exterior of the Cathedral in the City's main square. It took over 100 years to build and was built to withstand invading armies and/or other invading folk.
















This shot is from the west plaza looking back at the Cathedral. The lighting on the towers is absolutely amazing on a clear night, which we had almost every evening.