Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Drew's Turn (Wednesday)

Hola,

(I am not going to type anymore words in Spanish because I do not want to search for accents and the like).

I cannot believe it is only Wednesday. I had no idea that this program would be so exhausting. Every encounter I have is now a test to see if I can express my thoughts in Spanish. The instructors here will not speak to me in English. I think my grammar instructor is 18 years old. Maybe younger. Maddy laughed at me. The Spanish-English Dictionary is my most read book now. If you did not know better you would think I was reading it for fun because my face is in it so often. I end everyday so drained that I cannot think straight. I think of my brain as a trash can and I continue stuffing trash into it until it over flows, but if I leave it overflowing then it will spill all over. So, I jump on the trash to smash it all down into the container, but the more I jump the more strained the trash can becomes. If you read an article about a man in Mexico whose head explodes, it will probably be me. I miscalculated the amount of hard work/stress/patience/humility that this program would take. Oops.

I like it here though. The weather is fantastic. No one closes their windows and all the shops are semi-cubicles. It is more common for a shop to have three walls and a roof with a huge garage door that opens onto the street than to have a shop with a small door opening onto the street. There has been only one day that I wished they had an air conditioner, but if you are outside in the shade it is perfect. The mornings are cooler and fresh. It has only rained at night so far. The worst hours are between 3 and 5, but during that time Maddy and I are sitting with the Fragoso family eating some of the most delicious food overlooking their backyard from their patio.

The people are great. They are very patient and kind. I am so glad that we were assigned to the Fragso family. Lidia is an attorney and she invited her attorney friends to "comida" (it is like dinner, but at 3 pm), and I had the best time trying to talk to and understand the similarities and differences between the Mexican and US systems of criminal law. ADDICTION TO DRUGS IS A DEFENSE TO SIMPLE POSSESSION! I almost fell out of my chair. They do not have a common law judicial system. They don't seem to trust the judicial system or the police...even less then us! They laughed at the thought that most of our clients like to confess to the police. "Americans trust their law enforcement."

Everything is pretty clean even though it looks poor. There is a lot of graffiti and the buildings look older, but I think that is a product of the weather. It is very humid and warm and plants like growing out of the building walls. I think all the buildings are brick or plaster because drywall would warp and mold easily. I do not think I am going to try to drive here. I think the drivers here think of street lines and other traffic control devices as suggestions. It is pretty scary. The sidewalks are narrow so if Maddy and walk abreast, the outside person is putting their life in danger. I am thankful that the buses and trucks do not have the protruding side view mirror.

This weekend Maddy and I are going to the Basilica de Guadalupe and the Teotihuacana pyramids. I am excited for that even though I need a good rest.

The European Cup (soccer) is going on. It put comida on hold one afternoon. Horacio has three daughters that come over often, Rita, Barbara, and Lucy. We all watched the last of the Spain v. Italy game. We were rooting for Spain. Italy plays dirty evidently.


That is all I have right now. It is currently 8:53 am here, which means it is 6:53 in Oregon. I have been up for almost 3 hours. Next time I travel it is going to be west. I can handle sleeping in, I am having a hard time getting up at 4 am.

Adios.

4 comments:

Michele said...

I am so glad you gusy went. What an experience! I learned that Maddy and I can officially root for Spain because we have Spanish blood in our systems. You can by default because you are married to Maddy. This all comes from Wayne in England who told me the rules about which football clubs people can support. We too have been watching the Euro Cup.
Last night I remembered that when ever we had our Mexico Carrier conference, our dinners lasted like 3 hours because they all just lounged around talking.
Just think, you guys can sleep on the bus this weekend. I think you should try to drive though. When will you be able to try and drive in another country again?!? I know you can get rental cars for dirt cheap for the day.
So are you ready for me to send you down some of my Enrique and Ricky Martin to get your Spanish music conprehensive up? =)
Love you guys!

Michele said...

Yo no he visto ninguna foto mas y querría realmente a. Espero que usted continúe llegar a ser acostumbra a cosas y acaba por tener un gran tiempo.

Monica said...

Hey guys, I just realized you were posting here while you're in Mexico (duh). Anyway, it sounds like things are getting easier, and Maddy, it sounds to me like you've learned a lot in a short time! So go easy on yourself. :) Hang in there, guys! (And I'll write more later when I don't have a squirmy Isaac on my lap!)

R. said...

Yaay for soccer!!! Ask Horacio if he me encantas Christiano Ronaldo!

Glad you are having a good time! :)