Hi everyone! Once again the weeks have been flying by, and I have so much to tell you! I hope you're all doing well even amidst our current economic situation. I encourage you all if you're not already doing so to pray for the world economy and put your trust in the Lord. He is our Provider and Sustainer through good and bad times and knows how to give us exactly what we need.
Well, I'll begin with exactly two weeks ago on Thursday night. My friend Danielle from Tennessee turned 21 and invited us to have dinner with her at Chili's. Yes, Mexico has Chili's! Danielle decided to go there because she wanted a touch from home on her birthday. :-) There were about 20 of us who joined her, representing 7 different countries and 6 different languages. Therefore, when it came time to sing Happy Birthday, we took turns going around the table singing the birthday song in each different language. My personal favorite was the Brazilian version because almost all of the countries had the same song just in their language, but the Brazilians add their own "spice" after the traditional song that's a lot of fun! We had a great night celebrating with Danielle, and it's always fun for me to learn more about other cultures and people.
That weekend we didn't do anything more than go to the movies because we were in the middle of the second exam period. Everyone had exams and projects, so we appreciated the opportunity to relax over the weekend. After a few more exams in Spanish and Semiotics the following week we were ready to leave the house and Tec! By the way, my second exam period was successful! I had the highest grade for the second unit in my Oral Communication class, which was quite a surprise for me. It's one of my classes where I'm the only international student, and it's a challenge because we frequently have to talk in front of the class and make presentations. It's another testimony in my life of hard work and strength from the Lord. I also received good grades in my other classes and will now return to what I did this past weekend...
Friday night I went to the Tec football game. We played the team from the Tec campus in Mexico City, and it was interesting to observe the rivalry between two campuses from different parts of the country. The people from Mexico City are called "Chilangos" by the rest of the country, but it's not a favorable or endearing term. However, the fans in the stadium didn't mind using the name frequently to cheer against them and aggravate them. Aside from the cultural observations, I was there working on a project for one of my classes. For our final project in Semiotics, my partner and I are analyzing the signs and signals directed to the fans in a normal football game in order to see how well the the average fan reads and understands them. Therefore, I took notes practically the whole game about what each referee does and the signals that he gives...it was actually interesting because I never really paid that much attention to them aside from the signals of the head ref. I won't go too in depth here because it could get pretty boring, lol.
Saturday night, the youth from the church invited us to a Carne Asada (something like a barbeque in the States). Carne asada is a typical meal for birthday celebrations or just a time to get together with family and friends. They always have a special kind of meat and foods that go with the meat, but the main attraction is definitely the meat. So we piled into several cars and headed to a friend's house for carne asada. Before eating, we had a short service where we sang some worship choruses and had a devotional. I could hardly wait to get my hands on the guitar after the service. I've missed my guitar terribly while I've been here, so it was so nice to be able to play again. While I was playing and talking with friends, the actual carne asada began. Different from a typical family celebration at home, they don't begin to prepare the food until everyone gets there. So, after the service several of the girls and guys began preparing the food. After an hour and a half, we finally ate something! hehe The meat is ready in stages: first we had salchicha (similar to hotdogs without the bread) and I forget the name of the other thing but it was two browned tortillas with beans and meat inside. Then we held onto our plates because the actual barbequed meat and quesadillas came next. I tried to eat some of the salsas, but they all had chiles that were really hot! Of course, they served guacamole as well, but I'm not a fan of it either. Now that I think about it, I really didn't eat all that much even though there was a lot of food. I was too busy talking! We had a great time of fellowship, and I met several new people.
After going to church Sunday morning and doing a little work at the Tec in the afternoon, we celebrated our friend Diana's birthday at a restaurant near the Tec. Diana is from Monterrey and goes to church with us. She's picked us up for church several times and is super nice. There were 45 people total at the restaurant that night! We had a good time joking and talking with friends and were a little tired after the busy weekend.
It's hard to believe were already finishing up another week here at the Tec. I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I register for next semester's classes Saturday, and I'm pretty excited about the schedule I have planned. I'm getting into the core of my major now, so I'm looking forward to enjoyable classes and of course learning more Spanish! Well, I'm going to finish this up because Skype is calling me, haha. I love you all and desire the very best for your lives! Take care!
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