The Gringos have Arrived!!! ;)

April 15, 2013

My day began at 2:00AM.  It was a crazy and hectic morning because packing for a month to live in a different country is not easy.  I packed the night before however, obviously I did this last minute because I am the biggest procrastinator!  Right when I'm about to pack the car up to head to the airport, I realize there is no way that my bag is under 50 lbs.  To make a long story short, I unpacked and repacked and switched my bag about 5 times.  I arrived at the airport at 4:30AM to meet my professors and fellow student teachers.  We all stood in line to have our bags checked and I was praying to the lords above that my bag would weigh out to a reasonable weight...48 lbs. flashed across the screen and I was ecstatic!...However, this means that a ton of things are being tossed out when I come back to the States!

After receiving our plane tickets, maps, planners, etc. I waited in line to go through security.  Because as soon as we arrive in Mexico City, we are headed straight to the ASF School to meet our host families and cooperating teachers, we had to be dressed to the nines.  In Mexico, it is a HUGE deal to the host families that you are coming to live with them so everyone is wearing their best clothes and jewelry.  Whelp, I obviously was wearing a nice dress that had a metal clasp that sits right under my left breast.  Needless to say, I had to be searched by security because they apparently thought I was smuggling things in my bra!  This would only happen to me.  So as I'm being felt up by a stocky woman I can't help but laugh because I'm not even out of the country yet and problems are already beginning!  Haha

We departed from the Pittsburgh airport and arrived in Dallas.  As soon as we landed it was pure madness because we had about a 20 minute layover.  You know that scene from "Home Alone" where everyone is running through the airport to catch their plane...yea that was us.  Let me tell you trucking it in a dress, high heals, and huge heavy bags is not easy.  We take off from Dallas where we land in Mexico City.  I have heard that the Mexican culture is extremely caring, helpful, nice, and affectionate.  Well it is!  I sat in the middle between two Mexicans that all they wanted to do was feed me, talk to me, and buy me drinks and food on the plane!  Haha

As we began to touch down in Mexico it was absolutely an amazingly gorgeous sight from the plane.  Literally every inch was covered by buildings and houses.  It was such a drastic difference from the view of Pittsburgh.  As soon as we landed you could feel the overwhelming heat.  We all hustled and picked up our bags (no ones luggage was lost...thank god...I thought for sure it would be mine if anything...I have the worse luck.)  We made it through security and exchanged money.  Let me tell you, exchanging money at first gave me a minnie heart attack!  Everything is in Spanish so I had no idea what I was doing and I thought at first I drained my bank account...I didn't...Thanks to Heather (an awesome doctoral student traveling with us from Pitt, whom by the way is fluent in Spanish.)

Dr. Gordon had huge taxi vans waiting for us outside the airport.  To get outside we had to walk through this roped off space directly in the middle of the airport.  Everyone stared.  The Gringos have arrived!!!

We hopped in the taxis and took off for the school.  Let me tell you, New York City drivers have absolutely NOTHING on Mexico City drivers!!!  It is absolutely the craziest thing I have ever seen!  It was a miracle that we didn't die within the first 5 minutes of being there.  Haha  Mexico City is one of the largest and most populated cities in the world...The drive to the school was unbelievable to see.  Everything is crowded and gorgeous but yes there are obviously bad parts of the city.  There is a lot of poverty but also many great places.  When I told friends and family I was going to Mexico to teach, everyones initial reaction was, "WHAT?! OH MY GOD! YOU ARE GOING TO BE KIDNAPPED AND KILLED!  THE DRUG CARTEL!  WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"  However, it' not the case at all!  This city is just like any other big city.  There is good and bad people, there is safe and unsafe places; you just can't be dumb.

We eventually arrive at the school where I will be teaching and it was unbelievable!  This school is unlike any other school I have ever seen!  We walked into this huge courtyard that is lined with beautiful trees, flowers, and plants where big round tables and chairs were arranged for us.  A huge buffet with delicious food was available to us.  Here the faculty, staff, administrators, and our host families greeted us with much love.  We all felt so welcomed and excited.

My host family is wonderful!  Our host mothers name is Ester (she doesn't speak a lick of English).  She brought her daughter along, who was very nice!  She spoke English so was able to translate for us.  Right off the bat, they both immediately grabbed us and began hugging and kissing us as they rambled off things in Spanish.  

After a nice meet and greet brunch time, we made our way to the place where we would call home for the next month.  I'm living with 3 other girls; Marrissa (the Translator..she is the only Spanish major and person that speaks any Spanish on the trip), Kaelin (the Tall One..that's a whole other story in its own that I'll get to eventually :)...she is so funny!), and Suzie-Q (those of you that know me probably know Suzie too..she is my drinking partner/ pbros slave/ friend from Cali..I don't know know why she moved to PA from CA either..)  Besides us 4 girls, there is our host mom, Ester, her 2 daughters, 1 of their sons, Alejandro, 1 daughter, Issa, Ester's husband, Vicky the maid, Martina the dog, and Matilda the turtle.  In case your wondering how 11 people and 2 pets are living in one house, well don't worry it's a mansion!

This house is the most gorgeous house I think I have ever seen.  It's huge and filled with tons of plants, flowers, gorgeous pieces of artwork and pictures, and many knick knacks.  There are so many rooms and even rooms outside.  There is a garden, a patio, a terrace, and a courtyard with an orange tree!  Our room is downstairs on the other side of the house, making it separate from the members of the family.  Suzie and I share a room together and up the stairs from our room is another room that used to be an old library/ den, this is Kaelin and Marissa's room.  It is absolutely gorgeous and filled with thousands of books covering the shelved walls with tons of cool artifacts, it also has a beautiful look out facing the street.

After we got settled into our new home, Ester took us on a walking tour of the town.  We went to this AWESOME and HUGE market where you could basically buy just about anything.  We also visited this gorgeous church and the metro (where we would be using much of it for our future travels).

Late at night after eating dinner, we were introduced to Ester's husband (no English either).  In my attempt to be polite and introduce myself, I failed miserably.  With such confidence, I stuck out my hand and shouted, "Mey Samantha!"  This translates to "A lot of Samantha or Very Samantha"  I meant to say, "Yo soy Samantha!"  Everyone began to laugh hysterically at my confidence.  The grandfather needless to say probably thinks I'm a dumb American.  The grandfather does not remember our names and we don't see him often so he refers to us by our physical attributes.  He refers to Kaelin as "the tall one"..so yes we now have labeled her "the tall one."  :)

Today, was an awesome and exciting day!  I can't wait the the first day of school to begin!

I will attempt to keep updated and post blogs everyday for those of you who would like to see what is going on in my crazy life!  I will also attach pictures as the days go on!

Adios for now!!! :)