NB bound

Made it! Friday, I landed in Moncton at 11 PM where a bunch of my friends were waiting for me with a bunch of signs. Yeah... I started to cry. hehe. We went out but Downtown Moncton was sooo jammed packed! there was alot going on that week end. I was sooo damn tired we did not do much all week end. I did get to play some Frisbee with some of the guys. It was wicked.

I am currently home in Beresford. On my day 3 and I am already pretty bored... lol. I got stuff to do like phones calls and what not but over all I think I will be bored for 2 weeks. I thought I was ganna get the car so I was planning on going places but big bro needs more time to get another car. As long as I have it for QC, I won't complain... too much. I am seriously considering going to Moncton for 15 aout party. Since I can't really do anything else... We will see. Hopefully I will not become too lazy from lying around the house.

Mucho amor,

Val

Vacation!

Me gusta muchisimo estar en vacaciones!

The beach makes my hair crazy

See you in 2 days!!!

mucho amor

Val

All good things must come to an end...apparently

What the deuce! Is it already time for me to leave? My summer started off a little slow but seriously this has definatly been one of the best. I can't beleive I am leaving some friends behind (again...). I keep saying I like stability but then again, I move around so much. One thing that does come out positive out of this is that I have friends everywhere. It is always nice to know you have a cheap place to stay while traveling because I am definatly not done traveling. I got th bug. The need to explore. To see how it is on the other side of the pond. ummm  pond... maybe Europe is next! I already know 4 peoples there. 1 in Switzerland, 1 in England,1 in France and 1 in Germany. 

I am looking forward to Puerto Vallarta. I need some vacation and relax time. I am currently just waiting for Andrew to arrive so we can pick out activities to do. I know him quite well so I already have a good idea what we will end up doing. 

I started my suitcase on Friday. How depressing is that! Today I continued and I am about half done. I wanna pack almost everything before Puerto Vallarta so next week I have more time to show Andrew the city and hang out with my friends. Tonight, Sim and I are having a goodbye party for us at this club. We have alot of common friends so we are doing 1 bash for the both of us. 

As sad as I am to leave Mexico, it is balanced out with my excitement to see my Monctoners. Even if I was having a blast here, I missed them all summer. Also, I am craving lobster like there is no tomorrow!!! 

mucho amor and I will see you next weekend!!!!!!

Valeria 

This me at my HP with Carlos Loera, my boss (left), and Salvadore Reyes aka Chava, my supervisor (right).

UV rays + Me = productivity

Who knew all I needed was some sun. Yesterday was such a nice day and I had a hard time working on my report. Today, I go on the roof to work on my report and I got a lot done! Something about being in the sun is just so energizing! Well on that note. I will get back to it... needs to be done by tomorrow. Can not beleive its almost over...

Hihi, freckels!

Mucho amor, 

Val

Tic toc goes the clock

No matter where I am or what I do, I always seem to overload myself. Nowadays, I have been doing a lot! They are all fun things like roadtrips and what not but still...a lot of things. I am definatly enjoying myself! 

Last week end, Oscar, Simone and I went to Queretaro! Very nice trip! Although it ended up costing me alot of money... I hate credit cards... (long story). Regardless the intense Murphy's Law that we experience, we had a great time! Oscar's friends got us a nice room at a hotel for a employee discount. We went out to this awesome club on the 7th floor of a building and during the day we did some market shopping and got a lot of nick nacks!

This week end some friends and I rented a cabin in Mazamitla aka Redneck town, Mexico. I saw so many horses and 4 wheelers in those 2 days. It was ridiculous!! It was a very pretty town! I took alot of pics of the scenery since it was absolutly amazing! They will be on Facebook soon and/or eventually. During the week end, I showed the Mexicans how to play ultimate frisbee! They enjoyed it and we are trying to organize a 5 on 5 game at this huge park this week. Unfortunatly, with the raining season it is hard to organise. 

Another reason of my lack of time is that I started Spanish classes at Universidad de Panamericana. The classes are 8 to 9h30 in the morning so I get in work later therefor coming home later as well. This is the time I usualy get all my stuff done like cleaning, laundry or working on my report. I stopped reading at night due to tiredness and lack of time. I work on stuff or just relax now. There is also the fact that I am leaving shortly so my friends and I organizes activities during the day. Simone and I are supposed to go shopping sometimes to get some souvenirs and stuff we want to bring home like some candy and spices you can not find back home. 

The line up for next week end:

Friday, MUSE!!!!! I will be going to the Muse concert with Raul and his girlfriend. I can not wait!!! It will be so good! Saturday, roadtrip to Tequila!! My supervisor and some coworkers along with Simone will be going to Tequila for a tour of the town with a tour of the tequila factory! Shall be very interesting. Afterwords, Raul wants to take me to this salsa club. Apparently they give a small class early in the night and later you dance the night away! Sunday, Sim and I along with some friends will go to Carlos' gatted community club. We will play some tennis and swim in the pool to end the day with the sauna and a wicked shower.

Next thing you know, it will be my last week at HP. It is quite sad and also stressful because I still have a lot to finish up. I really want to do good in order to get in HP Canada in Québec city. Needless to say, this is kinda stressing me. I just try to remind myself that people are all supportive and we all work for the same company. As long as I do not row against the current I should be fine. 

Andrew is coming to visit soon!!! I am working on our hotel reservasions in Puerto Vallarta and a list of things to do there. I will definatly need some vacations by that time. It will be nice to relax there for 3 days. Then we will come back to Guadalajara so I may show him the city. On thursday, I will definatly gatter some people to hit the bar or something as a going away party. Then in the early AM I will be on a plane home. 

I already have plans for NB as well! Moncton for the week end of the 1st. Dadsy will come pick me up to take me home on the Monday. Relax home for a week or so. After eating some awesome lobster, I will pack for Québec. I might go to Moncton again for Fête de l'Acadie but that is still undetermined. It will depend if I met up with Leslie in Montréal or Québec before she heads off to England. Either, or, I will be in Québec during the 3rd week of August. I need to be there at that time in order to line up everything for my MBA. Crazy!! MY MBA! damn. Life goes by I tell ya!

Till then... Mucho amor!!!

Val 

Time for apologies

Yes, I do realise I have been neglecting my blog. It is to the point where you all have been neglecting reading it I am certain. 

On that note, I will be writing one soon enough and update you all on why I am busy to this point. For now, it is bed time. 

Mucho amor,

Valeria (new name given by Alejandro aka Alex my co-worker)  

Another strike of luck!

I am just ridiculously lucky here in Mexico. Things have happend to me in random ways and I get so much out of it! Like the time I got a free back stage pass and on stage with Marky Ramones and the Addicts. This Friday has been yet another very lucky one. 

This week Oscar calls me to tell me he heard on the radio that Austin TV (discovered them at Festival Extremo. They are from Mexico) were having a signing at a CD store here. I thought "Sweet! I am so there!" I tell this to another collegues who mentionned that there is a show too! Awesome. Right after work, I go to the store and wait in line. When I went to met them I tried my Spanish. Keyword: tried. The first band member said it was ok to speak English with them. They were all sooooo nice! The first guy I spoke to asked me where I was from and when I said Canada he responded "hey, did you email us? I think I remember you.". When I confirmed this, they were all like that's cool! Told them I would get then a nice little fan base started in Canada. They actually recently played a show in Mexico with a Canadian band so that was pretty cool as well. Although, I did not know this band and I do not remember the name either. 

Raul and Ger (HP coworkers) joined me at the mall. Raul had a plan to get his hands on some free tickets with a local radio station. We drove around trying to find it and running around like headless chickens. I won't go into details but long story short. We got the free tickets! I went home to change a little and then we grabbed a bite to eat at Ger's place. 

The venue of the show was wicked! I absolutely loved it! I got to dicover yet another cool Mexican band called Becker. At least I think they are Mexican. Also, while waiting at the bathroom I say the girl from Austin TV. Even though they always wear masks when they are somewhere as a band, I reconised her. She had the same shirt as the signing (it was a very unique shirt). Speaking of shirts, I got myself a Austin TV shirt and sweater! 

Between 2 bands, there was this TV show host walking around intervieweing random people and the band. Of course, she can to talk to me. Raul told her my Spanish was very poor but she thought she would try me anyways. EMBARASSING! haha! I was really happy I was not drinking that night cuz I would of made even more of a fool of myself! lol. Needless to say that this brought much entertainement to my friends. 

The show was absolutly awesome! I am so happy I got to see Austin TV live again. Definatly a great band with so much creativity! Do not worry. I will make most of you listen to it when I come back. But till then...

Mucho amor,

Val

Me with 2 guys of Austin TV

My camera is a little crappy but this is half of one of my fav songs of Austin TV. My cam missed a few beats so it sounds weird. 

Let it rain, let it rain!

I had a wicked time at Wall Street last night. I went with one of my coworker (Alej) and his friends. They were a bunch of crazy Mexicans. I do not think I stopped laughing all night. We headed to a taco place after the club which was really good. It started to rain insanely! Thunder, lightning and ridiculously pooring rain. You could not see across the street. When we left to take me home it was still pooring down hard. There is a tunnel close to my apartment and it is where we were planning on passing. We drive in and it was kinda odd to see a stopped car and also headlights pointing in our direction (its a one way). The tunnel was starting to flood! There was one car was in the water just over the muffler. I am pretty certain that is not good for your car. So all the cars were turning around and driving in the wrong direction to get out of the tunnel! We had to make a detour in order to get me home. With that odd experience and pooring rain I forgot my left over tacos in Alej's car. So no hang over lunch for Val today. 

I did not go to Toastmaster today. Having a meeting on a Saturday is not appealing to me. I enjoy Toastmaster and will continue for a very long time but while in Mexico I am not very interested in going there on a Saturday afternoon. I plan on keep going at the Spanish club though. 

Mucho amor, 

Val

The boys with their mojitos at Wall Street last night. 

Trying to capture the down poor from the taco restaurant. 

Ready, set, bargain!

Last week end was a full one. 

On Friday, I went out to lunch as always with some co-workers. It is always good laughs. Usualy the laughs are caused by my bad Spanish. At night, I went clubbing with Simone and some fellow Mexican at Dubai. So of course with a name like that, you know the club was quite posh. It was a pretty cool place but I was not in a mood for clubbing so I call in a early night. 

On Saturday, I got up a tad early to go to a market with Oscar and his friend Windolyn. It was really fun! I got some cheap handmade jewellery for myself and for Mare. I also got slight sunburn for free on my shoulders and face. It has now turn into a light tan so it is nice to know I can work on my tan even in the raining season. After dropping Windolyn at her place, Oscar and I went to a nice Italian bistro kind of place. We later realised how late it was and we were going to eat some Chinese with my roomies and some of their friends. Not only did we arrive later than everyone expected us, but the food was almost all ready (we were supposed to help out). So as revenge, Mikki and Simone are getting Oscar and I to make a Mexican night in a few weeks. Haha. After supper and a few drinks, we decide to go out at La Martina (or so I think it is called). We had a few drinks and chatted with friends who came to join us. It was a lovely night among friends... and rain.

On Sunday, Simone and I managed to get up early for Liz to take us at a Market. We met her at a club for a friend of a friend's Birthday. That market was bigger than the one of Saturday. In Mexico, usually bigger = louder. Sales people were screaming all sorts of none comprehensible things (well at least for me) in order to attack buyers. It was very interesting. I was happy to have some Mexican with us. They negotiated some price for me. Especially me since Simone's Spanish is way better than mine. I got some knock off Puma's for 200 pesos (about 20$ CAD), a shirt and a gift for the big bro. We went out to lunch at this lovely restaurant that apparently has the best tacos in Guadalajara. It was not the cheapest place but defiantly one of my favourite so far. Simone got some calls that lead us to some bowling and ice cream. 

Needless to say that it was a fun week end. I have many others lined up. I can't wait but yet I am already so sad. Every awesome week end that ends means that I will be leaving that much sooner. I do miss Canada and my friends but I am having so much fun here and I am surrounded by wicked people. 

On that note I will go to bed since I was kept awake by a thunder storm last night. 

Mucho amor, 

Val

This is the Market we went on Sunday.

When dehydration hits

I got to experience the efficiency of the facilities this week end. Allow me to elaborate... It rained on Saturday night. Nothing too heavy but still a good amount of rain. That caused the electricity to go out during sometime in the early morning of Sunday. We wake up to no cable, no internet nor water. The water was the main issue here mainly cuz I was hung over on tequilla and I was very thursty! It was a real pain in the ass since we had to get water in these big 10L jugs and take them upstairs. Keep in mind that we live on the top floor (4th floor). Not too bad but it is really a long way up when you carry 10L jugs with you. I felt like a dry raisin. I later went to 7/11 with Simone to stalk up on drinkable water. I seriously think I was dehydrating. It was really hot that day as well. 

I get back from work early today since I didnt go to the gym mainly because we dont have water to shower with. I decide to do another trip of water since we have no idea when we would have water again. While I was half way up the stairs, Mikki yelled out "Hey Val, we have water again!!". I did not know if I was happy or frustrated about it. At least if it happends again, we will have a few jugs ready. Maybe an hour later or so, we got cable and internet. So I am happy about the internet since I am clearly an addict. Besides, when you are so far away from your family and friends it is nice to have the internet. 

I guess this means I need to go work on my internship report...

Mucho amor, 

Val

When I get back to NB I want to....

In no particular order.

• Drink a Keith's
• Eat lobster with the familly... on the porch!
• Have beer with Dju
• Eat some of Dadsy's wicked BBQ
• High five Mare
• Go to Parlee Beach
• Go to Youhall Beach
• Eat Momsy's kick ass spagetti sauce
• Eat wings with the big bro
• Say "comment?" to Mare (haha! I know she will probably be the only to understand this one)
• Have a glass of GOOD milk
• Have wine with Momsy
• Have Maple syrup!
• Send a postcard to Oscar 
• Tell to all my friends "This one time, in Mexico..."
• Not sweat...

This is me with some HP co-workers out last friday! Good times were had by all. <3 

Mucho amor,

Val

So, then I was like " Woah! "

Time for a update on your favorite wanna be mexican!

Well, last week end I went to the Festival Extremo. It was pretty wicked!! Friday was cool. I just walked around with not too many expectations. I got a few little gifts for my friends and myself. I was followed around for a while but he bought me beer so I did not mind too much. Then he got weird so I just "lost" him in the crowd after a while lol. I discovered a wicked Mexican band called Austin TV. I got their CD and love it! I am planning on getting their older CDs as well. On Saturday, the music was a little better. It was more my cup of tea (Moby was on friday...meh). I stuck around 1 of the stages since it was mainly punk-ish music and it was at that stage that The Ramones tribute band was ganna play (Marky Ramone was ganna be on drums!!!). Afterward The Adict was ganna play!! So I was pretty stocked. During the day I chatted with this event staff guy. 2 hours later, just before Marky Ramone gets on stage, a man comes to me and asked if I wanted a backstage pass. ummm... YEAH! So I get back stage, I hear someone call my name. When I turn around, there's the man I was talking to 2 hours earlier. Turns out he's the camera man for that stage and he gets me on stage (even with VIP you cant go on stage unless you are with the band). It really does pay off to be nice to people! 

So, I start freaking out when I realise I will be on the same stage as Marky Ramone! WICKED! After every song I had a "Holy shit! I'm on the damn stage with Marky Ramone" moment. It all seemed too good to be. Oh and the story is not over... The Adicts played after. A crew guys asked me to film for him so I did. After the show I spoke to the drummer who said I made him screw up cuz I was pretty lol!!! Then the Keyboard/violin guy said I was entertaining to watch and I told him I felt the same about him. lol! They were really funny and nice to hang out with. Got to love that british accent. It was the best experience of my life I think. Talk about good luck!!!! 

Don't beleive me? I got pics and videos on facebook. :P

Mucho amor,

Val

Carrying on

Already 3 weeks in Guadalajara... Ridiculous!! You know what I am currently missing? Speaking French damn it! I noticed every time I try to speak Spanish (like more than a sentence or a short answer) I end up saying French words in the middle of my sentence. The word makes sense with the rest and is the correct one just it is the wrong language. hehe. It is weird eh.

I just witnessed my first somewhat heavy downpour of rain. Thankfully I was indoors. It was very short and afterwards the sky was yellow and then turned red. Now the sun is set so it's just really dark. The rain really cooled things down. I just might sleep under my covers for once. 

Work is still good! It was productive today. I finally got something to show for my efforts. Supervisor seems happy with my work. I'm still struggling in Spanish. Jose gave me a "task". I need to give him a Spanish work of the day. Today it was "existir" the verb "to exist". I just open my iGoogle and tell him what my "Spanish word of the day" application tells me. lol. Then he will ask me to put it in a sentence, so I will click the little plus sigh and read what it says lol. I am such a cheater. Mikki has been in Mexico for 5 years and she can barley speak any Spanish at all! So, I better apply myself or I won't learn at all. 

That's pretty much it for now. Tomorrow is Festival Extremo. I will miss most of tomorrow due to work but it is ok because The Adicts and Marky Ramone are scheduled for Saturday. I am looking forward to it and hope I don't look like a totally blue eyed looser. I some what blend in here in Mexico. That is until people get close enough to see I have blue eyes. Finding someone with blue eyes in Guadalajara is like finding a needle in the hay stack. haha. I have foreigner written on my forehead. No matter. I am starting to make some Mexican friends and enjoying things quite a lot so far!

Mucho amor,

Val

p.s. I have to do a Spanish speech in a week and a half at Toastmaster.

Rock on!

Ok, I got my ticket for Festical Extremo 8. It was 42$ CAD. I was really tempted to get the VIP with was 130$ CAD but I did not have that cash on me and knew it would be much harder to convince someone to come with me. Anywho I was looking it up online and I just realised how intense this Festival Extremo is! It's bigger than Warped Tour but it looks like of fun. I won't be in the crowd too much though. I will just be hunting down Marky Ramone and try to get him to sign my Ramones shirt. I will go see the adicts for sure as well. I also realised that this starts at 10AM. I work on friday... So poopy! I am sure I will be able to get off work early but I will still miss most of the day. Although, I am sure that the best stuff is at night. I will definalty try to beat the crowd to leave and figure out my bus route well or just take a cab. I will only be there for like 2-3 bands. The reste of the time I will check out the extreme sports and buy some merch. 

I will admit I am a tad nervious but it will definatly go great. I will ask some co-workers if they are interested to join me. It's best enjoyed when not alone I am sure. 

Mucho amor,

Val

Jack and Jill went up the hill....

I have known this for a while now but this is the first time I actually feel/experience it. You only really appreciate what you have when you don't have it anymore. It is somewhat true for me at the moment since, yes, I am away but I did not necessarly lost what I miss. Although, I can definatly tell you I appreciate it so much more (and I already did appreaciate it quite a lot). Friends. You will see so many go by you in a life time but only a few will stick to your heart and really mean something to you. Some people you just really love. Like the kind of love you spend you life searching in a life partner, you can find in all your bestest (yes, I know it is not a word) and more closest friends. 

I have been graced with such friends. I am sorry if I have abanded you on this adventure in Mexico. It was something I needed to do. Even though I am so far from all of you (and you know who you are) I know I have not lost one bit of your friendship. I even think it has made us closer.  I may not have been successful in my relationships but I can tell you this. I have friends that I do indeed love and will do so much for. I am not ashamed to say they are my friends and I am sure we will stay this way for years to come no matter the distance that seperate us.

On that note, I miss you like hell, I love you and I will see you soon.

Mucho amor,

Val 

Keep on truckin'

Week 1: completed! I believe I can put this in the success column. My week was mainly orientation but yesterday and today I started to do some actual work. Yesterday, my supervisor, Salvador, managed to give me a 2 day orientation in half a day. My brain kind of hurt after all that info cramming. Although, I am finally getting the big picture of things and can start mapping the processes so we can analyse them, change them and control them. My co-workers rock. We laugh a lot at the office. They have fun trying to get me to speak Spanish. One of the higher ranked guys will always yell out "Habla in espanol senorita! Es en Mexico" (Speak Spanish miss. You are in Mexico.) when he hears me speak English. He's a funny man. 

We went out for lunch today as well. I got a lift in my co-worker's BMW. Of course, lunch was in Spanish since we were like 15-20 there. I managed to fallow most of it. There was also a colleague from Argentina. Small funny little fellow that one is! Fridays are really laid back at the office. I feel bad since I usually leave at 2h30 so I try to get work done. I did not do much. Good thing I get there early because I got to map out some processes with Visio. By 10 I was not working much. I had a donut with Salvador and Fernando, later I when for a "break" with Salvador and Alex in the cafeteria and later on Jose came by to make fun of me a little. We went to lunch at 1h30 and we came back it was 3. Salvador said it was ok for me to leave since he saw I felt bad to leave. 

The Germans are always for this week end so I'm not too sure what I will be doing. I might go check out the Cathedral. Apparently it's something to see. I do a few touristy things and hopefully catch a little sun. It's very hot here. Some points of the day, it's really hard to endure. I always carry water around in fear of dehydration. 

Today, I looked up for a local Toastmaster club. I might join if the contact replies to my email to be sure that I am welcomed. I want to speed up the Spanish learning process. It might give me the chance to meet more people too. I am still debating this but it could be a good idea. 

Yesterday, I saw something that made me laugh. People always say Mexican takes siestas in the afternoon. Well at about 3:00 on the bus on my way home from work, there was 7…yes, 7 Mexicans sleeping on the bus. The buses here are not like in Canada. Not at all! It is a very ruff ride. No idea how they slept. After a while, the bus driver hit the brakes really suddenly and they all woke up with a pissed off looked on their face. Haha.

Tomorrow is Mother’s day here. I was certain that in Canada it was next week end not this Sunday. Sorry momsy… I was planning on sending a postcard for Mother’s day. Apparently, I will be late. Oopsy.

Mucho amor,

Val

First day at Hewlett-Packard

Day 1: completed. It was a very… full of Spanish. I will definately be learning some Spanish this summer! The project seems to be very interesting. I love how they really want me to be involved with the project. Possibly the best bosses I have had yet. They're organised and have a specific task for me to do. One part of the project consisted of me giving feedback as an outside point of view and as a (as they say it) supply chain specialist. I don't know about "specialist" but I am supposed to know about supply chain since I am done my bachelors. 

The week will pretty much be a little slow since it will mainly consisted of me listening to other people explaining stuff. I won't be doing much actual work. Next week, I will be working a lot with Salvador, the project manager, to start my part of the project. I am looking forward to it. It's quite a young crowd at Hewlett-Packard. It's fun.

I also took the bus for the first time this morning. It was quite a bumpy ride. The roads are not the best here and they go all out with their speed bums. They are nothing like out wimpy little lumps we have in N-B. To come back home I figured I'll take the same bus since it said "Plaza México" on it which is right in front of my apartment. Well, it turns out that there's an end of the line really far from my place. I was pretty mad. I ended up walking around thinking I could retrace my steps. It was 35 out and I was really getting sweaty so I ended up taking a cab. I like the cab drivers here. They are never too pretty but always really nice. They always chat a little and they quickly pick up on my accent (I have been told I have a weird one because I speak French and English. Making it an odd mix). They always end up asking where I am from. Once I say Canada, of course we talk about the weather hehe. So far, all the Mexicans that know that I am Canadian have been very curious about the weather. It is funny.

I actually enjoy it here in Guadalajara. I have yet to regret my decision. 

Mucho amor,

Val

Homesickness cure

What has work best for me so far is watching the NHL finals online! Funny cuz I don't really fallow hockey usualy but most of my friends do. Therefore, I know my friends are going "aaaahhhh", "What!", "Damnit!" or  "PATINE!" (yes, Dju, the last one was for you) at the same time as I am. I guess it makes me feel close to them even with this distance. Of course, this is only effective with a beer in hand. While my friends may be having some Moosehead or Keiths, I have a Sol Brava! (Just like Sol which is 4.5% just a little stronger, 6%, and a little cheaper! lol). I have become a typical Canadian while being here in Mexico. I say "Eh!" every now and then, I make the Germans shake there heads when I let out a beer burp, and become loud in my room while watching hockey. haha. I know I will make you all proud.

I made Mikki laugh with my hockeyness. Her being from Ste-Marie Ontario and living out of the country for over 5 years, she kinda got disconnected with hockey. I seem to put a smile on her face with my hockey comments between periods. 

At work on Friday, I broke the ice after meeting some collegues by saying "Yes, I am Canadian and yes, I do love hockey. Ok, now that we got that out the way...". It made them laugh. Hope I did not come on too strong but they will quickly see that I love making people laugh,

On that note, 3rd period should start soon. Habs better bring it up a notch or they're OUT! 

Mucho amor,

Val

P.S. Yes, those chips are HOT! And yes, it's Lays for Mexico. They are called Sabritas!

Today's lession

All drivers in Mexico are crazy. They beep a lot, follow other cars ridiculously close and often whistle at ladies on the street.

Also, when walking in Mexico, watch out for buses. Pedestrians do NOT have priority here.

Mucho amor,

Val

p.s. don't be afraid to leave comments!

Off to Mexico : part 4

The arrival! Guadalajara, Mexico

I made it all the way! While landing in Guadalajara, I saw some pretty awesome canyons (see photo). The second I walked out of the plane, I got smacked in the face by the heat. It's was 30 that day. I had no problem at all with customs. I was not selected for the random search so I won't complain about that. Then, I took a cab to the apartment. Man, I thought Québecers were crazy drivers... Once arrived at the apartment, I was greeted by a lovely blonde German, Simone. She was kind enough to help me with my bags (thank got because I had 4 stories of stairs to go up). Her boy friend Patrick, also lives with us, took over the suitcase situation. They are cute. I hope to pick up a few German words by the end of my stay. Mikki was here as well. She had been in Guadalajara for 3 years and knows her way around the city quite well. Needless to say that she will be very useful to know the do's and don'ts of Guadalajara. 

My attempt of unpacking was not the greatest since I was exhausted by the 3 flights and all those hours at airport. The room is small but cozy. It was quite dirty for my taste and I am far from a clean freak so you know it's dirty! Momsy would have freaked out if she would of saw it haha. Apparently the Canadian from Sherbrook who was in my room before cleaned it. Simone said that it was very clean for his habits. I cleaned a little and got settled in. You can see the view I enjoy in the picture. Yes, that is a Mc Donald's and of course my Moncton Ultimate frisbee! I had to buy a fan at the Wal Mart to be able to sleep. I am going to have to get used to this heat. I also need to get used to the noise! They were right at my pre-departure workshop. It is and will be hard to get used to this noise. Our apartment is on a very busy street. The Wal Mart is just down the street from here too. It is very convenient. The Wal Marts here has everything... like EVERYTHING. Hard liquor, beer and wine! haha! 

Today, I went out exploring a little. I went to the Scotia bank which is on my street but a rather long walk away. I kept walking to get to the clinic where I was supposed to get my drug test. This is where my first communication barrier was hit. One of them spoke a little English so we tried to figure things out. It did not work out as well as I thought. I could not do my tests that day due to a lack of information. Therefore I communicated with my supervisor for the information I needed and will go back tomorrow. I took a cab back during which I had my first 100% Spanish conversation! haha! It actually went well and the cab driver was very nice. It was a long drive so we chatted the whole time. I told him I was French but I also speak English and then he said that it explained my accent a lot. He also said I had nice eyes. I think he just wanted a big tip haha. I later went to Wal Mart to get a cell phone. That was a little complicated. Hopefully I got something good. It was like 40$ CAD. I don't think I will be using it that much. I also walked threw a mall. Almost all shoes! haha. Yes Mare, I thought of you. There were security guys here and there. They were mostly in the most busy parts of the town. Some of them even had guns! No, not hand guns but like semi automatics or something! Big mofo guns! There was one outside of the bank as well. So, I took that in advantage and took out some money. hehe.  

The only down side I saw so far is that there is a flour factory not too far. It tends to smell sometimes when the wind is blowing in the right direction. After 4 months, Simone did not get used to it, so I probably will not either.

On that note, I will go read a non academic book.

Mucho amor,

Val