Honors marketing major Elijah Garcia is studying Spanish in Puebla, Mexico this summer – and finding time to scale pyramids, rappel down waterfalls and swim in a subterranean river in an underground cave.
Hello America,
I do miss you, but I am having a great time here in Mexico. When I stepped out of the Mexico City airport on May 21 I was overwhelmed. I had the right to be, I mean, here I was in the second largest city in the world beginning my first true international experience. The streets were loud and crowded and everyone was trying to do or sell something in the streets to make a quick peso. All the drivers on the streets drove erratically to say the least, so I was relieved when we successfully completed the three hour bus ride to the city of Puebla in one piece. Puebla, although a large city itself (close to 2 million people), was a lot more mellow. The drivers were still crazy and the streets were still bustling, but I thought to myself that I would be able to manage living here.
Not only have I survived these five weeks, I have been thriving throughout. At first, I will admit, the people spoke too fast and used too many words that were not in my vocabulary. The first few days were characterized by extreme mental fatigue. To my surprise, however, I quickly caught on to the speed, new vocabulary words, and proper ways to use verbs. I owe much of this improvement to my host parents Linda and Manolo, who chat with me nearly every day. With these newly acquired skills, I have been confident enough to go out and converse with locals while finding my way around town and finding ways to have fun. The classes I have been taking here are conducted completely in Spanish. The nice part is, I get to reinforce what I learn in class while talking with the locals and I get to reinforce what I learn from talking with the locals in class. This has caused my linguistic skills to increase dramatically.
Garcia scales one of the pyramids at Teotihuacan
Enough about school, I need to tell you what I am doing for fun! I will start out by mentioning our visit to the ancient pyramids at Teotihuacan. I had never seen anything like that before! We had the chance to walk up and down history as we scaled those massive pyramids that were constructed close to 100 years B.C. This trip of course, was after we got to see the Palacio Nacional (Mexican equivalent of the White House) and various museums in Mexico City. The weekend after that, we let go of our worries at the beach in Chachalacas, in the state of Veracruz. We did parasailing, boating in the ocean, and drove four-wheelers over massive sand dunes (I did have a wreck, but was uninjured). Despite the minor accident it was the perfect weekend of relaxation after a long week of school. I have the sunburnt skin to prove it. This past weekend, however, was my favorite. We spent it in the luscious jungle in the pueblo of Cuetzalan in the state of Puebla. Here you could find us rappelling down waterfalls, hiking through the jungle, and doing underground swimming in a cave with a subterranean river. This was truly the perfect trip for any outdoor enthusiast such as myself, and is the one that will go down as my favorite.
Other than all this, my wonderful classmates and I have just tried to enjoy the city of Puebla. We have gone out on adventures throughout the city, and thanks to the public transportation here, we have done it for very cheap (whiplash not included). I also think that all of us can agree that all the food here is very savory, except for móle (a sauce that is a mixture of chilé and chocolate). This is definitely not the best combination in my opinion. The alimentation here, although tasty, has been quite an adjustment for our American stomachs. Imodium has been one of our best friends throughout these weeks. Despite the occasional stomach trouble, we have grown to love the food here. Interestingly enough, my favorite food here is the quesadilla árabe, which actually originated in the middle-east but is very popular here in Puebla.
Although the food, culture, and way of life are extremely different than in America, I seem to have come into a comfort zone here. I don´t want to leave, but at the same time I am a bit anxious to return to tell my friends and family about all I have experienced. Including today, I have only three more days remaining in Mexico. I want to make the most of them, so I better quit typing and hit the streets with my compañeros! Goodbye America, I will see you in a few days!
Sincerely,
Elijah Garcia