I woke up and quickly dressed to go for my morning walk today. It seems Marianne and I have a new roommate! He's cute though right? I actually don't know where he is at the moment (or that he is a "he"). My roommate was sleeping though and I didn't want to make a ruckus trying to capture an incredibly fast little lizard crawling up the wall at 6:30 in the morning. There are definitely worse things to wake up to, and I was happy to have something to laugh about! :)

I walkie-talkied (because that's what girls do!) for 45 minutes and then hit the books before class. I am working on my application for next year's practicum placement and forms for my upcoming urban homestay besides all my Spanish homework...no rest for the wicked I guess...

Anyway, had class at Universal. I am enjoying it more and more, feeling more and more confident in my ability to accurately express what I want to say. It's kind of amazing. It will be really amazing three months from now too. During our break I did laundry. I have yet to tire of hand-washing and line drying. It gives me another opportunity to sing to myself, and singing is prayer twice over. Food for the soul. By the way, lavanderias around here use some seriously perfumed detergent (another reason I am happy to wash my own clothes).

After class, we had lunch, made plans for Taxco this Friday and Saturday and enjoyed some very good flan. Then we had a little Spanish survey/meeting and I studied, studied, studied. Oh! And don't let me forget the highlight of my day: MY GLUCOMETER HAS BEEN REPLACED! I literally squealed with joy and happy-danced around the dining room! It was AMAZING. What a relief too! Now, I just pray to God nothing will happen to this one.

I attended my first community base-group meeting today with the esposo de mi cocinera who I go to church with (sorry for the Spanglish; it happens a lot). It was very interesting. Today, we reflected on the meaning of friendship in our lives and how it relates to reign of God on Earth. We read relative scripture passages and had discussion. I probably understood about 60% of what was said, and tried to contribute. They were all very nice, but I did notice that it was one man who led the group and seven women who were responding. In other words, still very traditional. I haven't the knowledge or authority to make any judgements, just an observation. Then we ate dulces, muchos y muchos dulces, which I had to decline because 1. I am diabetic 2. I was about to go to the gym...ew.

Our hostess' husband had returned while we were meeting and he offered to drive us back to the school. That was interesting. Again, I realized how much we, as Americans, invest in our appearance. The car worked, don't get me wrong, but it certainly was beyond the consideration of a salesman at a used-car lot in the U.S. To be honest, I enjoyed it. Things like vehicles and status symbols of that sort just aren't as important here. What was important was that they were on their way to a concert in Il Centro. Good priorities.

I practically ran to aerobics, which was just a jump start on the workout. eh! Marisol (our instructor) is a young, fiesty little thing and I adore her. Walked home to more cat-calling, ate dinner, showered (yay! I had water to shower in my bathroom today!) and now I am here. I still need to review some notes before bed.

Tomorrow and Thursday I have salsa classes....my outlook for the future is improving rapidly.

Peace,

aly