Well, I know I have left my journal blank, but my last two weeks in Mexico were very hectic...

Mom came to visit the 18th of November and I took her around to all of the stores and tourist sites.  We had a pretty good time just the two of us, went to a birthday party for my friend Marianne from Norway... I took her out on the town to meet all of my friends... and then the boys came the 23rd.  It was alot more difficult with Dad, CH, and Tucker there, too.   Tucker wanted to go to the arcade, but he couldnt read any of the instructions because they were in Spanish, CH didnt really want to do anything with the parents, Dad didnt really have much of an opinion but walked really slow.  It was hard on me because I had to be with all of them in order for them to be able to communicate with anyone.  (Also, Dad tried (and I emphasize TRIED) to speak Spanish... he said he remembered some from high school... but it was a little embarrassing.) Anyway, I think that was the longest part of my trip... We had a Thanksgiving dinner, all of the kids from my program got together and the ISA people made us Turkey and tried to make dressing and "fixins" but it wasnt quite the same.  Two days before Thanksgiving, the host dad of my friend Katie Brandt died and so she was late to the dinner because of his mass.  The weekend that my family left, I went with Katie B, her host mom and her host brother to Aguas Calientes to visit some family.  That was alot of fun and the town was really beautiful.  I just can't believe in all of these small towns in Mexico there is such an amazing abundance of art and architecture and the history is just incredible. 

People in our group started leaving right after Thanksgiving so every night that we went out there were tears and goodbyes.  Our friends, the locals, were just like 'you are some crazy gringos'... My friend Salvador said to me, "It is sad for you all to be leaving here and going back to the states, but think about us.  We have to do this every semester... a new group comes in and we all get close and then you leave.  It makes it hard to get close to you."  I can't imagine how it might be to be a local down there... every semester a new group of foriegn students comes in and although they are different, they are, in reality, the same.  It is Never Never Land!

So I came back the 10th of December. 

That morning was really hard to leave... I got up and returned my key to my Senora and we both just started bawling... we tried not to talk about it so it was just like a huge elephant in the room.   I had a flight with Michal Tanner and Jessica Wilson and so at first it wasn't so bad.  We hung out in the airport for a while, Jess bought a huge sombrero de mariachi and had to wear it through customs and on the plane.  When we got to Houston, we all had to split up and I absolutly fell apart.  I called mom and couldn't even talk I was just sobbing... I called Lucy and talked to her and she kinda settled me down.  I have had alot harder time adjusting back to the life here in the states in comparison to how I felt in the beginning of my trip in Mexico.  I think the hardest thing was that I didnt have any idea of how Guanajuato would be when I was going, so I just accepted it as it came and as I began to know the city.  But here, returning here, I see that although there are some differences, this place is always the same.  I have changed, I think for the better.  I have learned alot, and I think because of how much I have learned, I know there is so much more out there that I have yet to learn.  I met some amazing people with such different experiences and interesting views on the way the world is... I loved being there because I learned something new everyday.  I was always improving my Spanish and discovering a new part of myself... wow that is so corny, but it is the truth.  This was an experience that I would not trade for anything in the world...  I am hoping to go back to Mexico next fall... but we'll have to see what the future holds for me.  Who knows where I will end up next!