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!