Otro Vez, Por Favor!!

I have had the privilege of meeting some awesome people in Rio and in Guadalajara (Gdl). Through these people I have had interesting experiences and moments I will never forget. Here are just a couple of moments that I have over the past month in Gdl.

The first weekend in Gdl the other student staying at my house, Julio from Portugal, invited me to go out with him and some of his friends (of course I had no clue what he asked me until he wrote in down and I could translate it on the internet!!). His two friends were Jeremy from Nebraska, who looked like Spencer Pratt from "The Hills", and his girlfriend from Spain, whose name I cannot recall at this moment. Jeremy's siblings from were also in town for Thanksgiving break. We went to two bars, one called "La Cucaracha" and "Moreda Mia". It was a very chill night and it was nice to get out of the house. However, I quickly learned that people here do not go out until 12 at night which is waaaayyy past my bedtime!! Pictured is me, Jeremy's to siblings, Jeremy (the picture does not show how much he really does look like Spencer!!), Jeremy's girlfriend, and Julio.

The next day my Mexican family and I went to a really nice shopping mall called Palacio de Hierro. I had fun just window shopping and watching people (thanks dad for teaching me how to watch people!!). The mall had one of the best Nativity scenes I have ever seen with an elephant and all! After that we went to Costco (yes, they have Costco and Sam's in Mexico) and got a big pizza to eat.

The next week ended up being really fun. I did a lot of things with my teachers which made it even more fun since most of my teachers are only a couple of years older then I am. First, I went to FIL (a book expo that Gdl has ever year) with my teachers Blanca and Pablo. You might think "a book expo!" but it had the most books I have ever seen in my life and had many more attractions such as live music every night. The whole night was great because I got to practice some of my spanish (even though that was not much), and they practiced their english on me. Below is me and Blanca at the expo.

A couple nights later, I went to an Irish Pub called Red Pub with Blanca, Pablo, and Juan Carlos (three teachers at my school), three Japanese students, Darin and Kimberly (a couple studying spanish at the school), and me. The Japanese guy that was with us, pictured below, was absolutely hilarious! He was camera happy the whole night and was just acting silly the whole night. It was also fun because the Japanese students do not know much english so all communication was in spanish or should I say broken spanish. Who would have thought I would be in Mexico speaking with three Japanese students in spanish!

The next week my family took me to a small town right outside of Gdl called Tonala. Tonala is known for their crafts made from glass, ceramics, and wood. I could have bought so much stuff there but I could not buy much since I am living out of two suitcases for who knows how long. Whenever I get my own house, I am definitely going to go back there and stock up on lots beautiful stuff!! I did, however, buy some cool gifts for my family which I am going to ship to them sometime (most likely after Christmas . . . oh well!). Below is a picture of my mexican mom and I outside one of the old churches in the central plaza.

That same week one of the spanish students was leaving so some of the teachers and students ate lunch with her the last day. Her name is Ammu, from India, and she works for Schlumberger in Reynosa where I will be (so really it was "I'll see you later" lunch!). Again it is awesome how God is putting so many different people and cultures in my life!! In the picture below is Juan Carlos (a teacher), the Japanese guy again (can't remember his name because it is very Japanese!!), Ammu, Pablo (one of my teachers), Tania (another one of my teachers), and me.

The next day I went with my other teacher Blanca to Tequila which is about an hour bus ride from Gdl. The beginning of the day was very interesting because to get to the bus station to go to Tequila it took an hour when it should have taken 20 minutes (oh well). Tequila is a cool town because it has a lot of old building and the agave plant was everywhere. You would see the actually plant next to a bench that had the agave plant on it next to a restaurant with a big sign that had an agave plant on it. The agave plant is life there (if you were wondering, the agave plant is the what tequila is made of). Tequila is home to numerous tequila factories including Jose Cuervo. Blanca and I went on a tour of a tequila factory and farm which was really fun. We took the tour with an old mexican couple that were soooo cute and what you think of when you think of an old mexican couple. The husband was soooooo funny. He was telling jokes and stories the whole time. Oh course, I could not understand a lick of what he was saying but just watching him speak made me laugh! Pictured below is a picture inside the tequila factory, and me and Blanca at an agave farm.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. Psalms 96:3