We arrived here on Tuesday afternoon, and regrettably, I have not blogged about our first three days here, so I'll give you a quick rundown of the past couple of days.
Day 1: Arrival in QRO/Meeting the families
After arriving in Mexico, we made our way to UAQ (the university here), but not before stopping for our first taste of authentic Mexican cuisine--elotes, which are essentially grilled corn on the cob. We had them with mayonnaise and parmesan cheese. It was an "interesting" flavor, but we definitely enjoyed our first cultural experience!
El grupo con elotes :)
After stopping for our "snack," we made it to the university and met Nancy, our "tour guide" for the duration of the stay, as well as all of the host families. Our family is incredible! They are hospitable to the utmost degree, hardly letting us lift a finger to move our luggage or clean our dishes. They have two daughters, 11 and 4, which I feel is going to really enrich our experience here. There is something much less intimidating about talking to a child in Spanish than an adult. What is more, the girls are so sweet, helpful, and very fun to be around. After we made it back to the family's home, we had a delicious lunch and then played with the girls for awhile. Hugo (the dad) and the two girls took us on a walking tour of some of the part of their neighborhood including a look at the famous aqueducts and a scenic park.
I am definitely feeling fully immersed in the culture. First of all, no one in the family speaks English apart from the words: dog, cat, and hot dog. Although I have been studying Spanish for a long while now, it has definitely been an adjustment in communicating with the family. I feel that as the day went on, I became more comfortable in my ability to communicate with them, and truly feel that this trip will be an invaluable experience in developing my skills as both a Spanish speaker and a nursing student.
Day 2: Tour of Hospital General de QRO
On Wednesday, we were given a tour of the El Hospital General, which is one of the hospitals we will be working in next week. After our tour, we went home to our suburb of Querétaro, Hercúles, to spend the rest of the day relaxing and spending time with our family. The evening included a visit to Pili, the 11 year old's, choir practice at church.
Here we are in all of our white-scrubbed glory!
Our third day here was spent taking a tour of the university. We had a lovely tour guide Nancy, who is in her final year of nursing school here. After the tour, we had lunch in downtown Querétaro with the group. Thursday's major victory? Catching the public transportation bus and making it home all by ourselves! We're feeling more and more like locals every day!
Group pic outside of the nursing school
Day 4: Tour of downtown historic Querétaro
Last but not least, today, el día de los madres (Mother's Day) in Mexico! We spent today taking 3 hour walking tour of the city's historic district. I won't bore you with all of the details, but suffice it to say that we had a wonderful time learning about various aspects of Mexican culture and history. Our fabulous tour guide Norma made the tour very enjoyable! After the tour, we had a delicious lunch and then headed back to spend the rest of the day at home...unfortunately to catch up on our homework from the past couple of days. I guess it can't be all play and no work ;)
Here are some pics from today:
Outside of one of the many churches downtown
Inside what used to be a Jesuit monastery
Norma the tour guide
View of the city from the highest point in the downtown
Hope you enjoy a look at our adventures in Mexico! Stay tuned!
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