What Mexicans think...

So, I had an interesting converstion with my host dad and brother the other day. They taught me a commong Mexican saying, "When the US has a cold, Mexico has pneumonia". Basically, everybody here hopes Obama can turn around the American economy so the Mexican economy gets better too. I think Obama has the most difficult job in the world; everyone is looking to him to fix their problems. Also interesting, they told me that most Mexicans here don´t like the undocumented Mexicans that come to the US to work. They aren´t well respected here because they aren´t educated but come back with money and feel like they are important. The Mexicans here also resent them because they feel like they make it seem like all Mexicans are uneducated, each rice and beans, and drive lowered pick up trucks.

I have included some photos from the city. Seriously, it is so beautiful here. The photos are a little out of order, sorry. The third photo is of yet another ornate church in the city. The fourth one is of a an ex-convent and the plaza in front. It used to be of the Carmelite order, but the building is now called La Casa de Cultura (The Culture House). It is funded by the government so that people can take music lessons, theater classes, etc for super cheap. It´s really cool walking through the halls and hearing different musical instruments playing. In that hall is where the second photo came from. The rooms used to be the individual bedrooms for the monks. As you can see, the doorways are very small. I guess the Spaniards weren´t very tall back then... The fifth photo is taken from the entrance of El Hotel de la Soledad. The courtyard of the hotel is open to the sky (ie no roof), has a large fountain, and then a bunch of trees around it. There is a small creek running through the trees and small Christmas lights lightening them up. The crystal chandeliers light the hallways to the rooms. It is a beautiful building but spendy, at 1000 pesos a night! What do you notice about the first picture? Curiously, the moon appears to be in a U-shape insead of a crescent the right or left side. Just goes to show how far south I really am.

Today marks a month of being in Mexico. On one hand, the time has flown by. But at the same time, I feel like I´ve been bere forever. I am pretty well settled in now though, and I LOVE working in the hospital. Sometimes, as I´m walking home in a short sleeve shirt, after having bought freshly baked pastries for a fraction of a dollar, I can´t believe I´m actually here.

PS Carrie/Ginger, email me. I have pictures I need to email you. And Carrie, I still owe you 270 pesos. I haven´t forgotten...