BoyinSuit

Chiles en Nogada

One of the biggest thing I was looking forward to before Mexico was the food. I love Mexican food and I've only increased my love for it living in Mexico. Every day after school, I know my walk home will end with a delicious meal that I wish my stomach had more room for. Mama never makes anything that Austin and I do not like.

That success ended today.

Mama served us, as she called it, an "authentic Mexican dish" that many Mexican's love. It's called Chiles en Nogada. From Wikipedia: "It consists of poblano peppers filled with "picadillo" (a mixture usually containing chopped or ground meat, dried fruit, aromatics, and spices) topped with a walnut-based cream sauce and pomegranate seeds, giving it the three colors of the Mexican flag (red, green, and white)."

While Austin quickly ate his, I had a really hard time. The only things that got me through it were the rice and beans that she gave us. Even with those additions, nuts in any food turn me off because of the texture and I gagged a few times.

Before I came to Mexico, I made a pact with myself that I would everything that was put in front of me. Today, I couldn't do it. I finished about half and then gave up because it was too hard. I figured that since I've eaten everything that Mama has made before today, she wouldn't be offended if I didn't finish my special Mexican dish.

VIP

I spent about 3 hours in the computer lab trying to type to essays that are due for Professor Mayer. How much did I get done? Not much. The language part wasn??t hard for me??it was coming up with things to say about our excursions. Like when I went to Frida??s house. Even in this journal, I didn??t write much about it because it was boring. Sara Bridge sat next to me in the computer lab and gave me suggestions on sentences. I hate writing about things that I??m not interested in.

I was in a pissy mood after the computer lab and didn??t want to go to the orphanage. I ended up going and having a good time. Kellen Wilson came (along with Sean, Dan, Sara, Kristen, Logan, Sara Bridge and I) and I could only imagine what he might have thought as I played with these kids. I hope he saw that I??m not a pervert who wants to molest children because I??m gay.

After the orphanage, I went to eh Galleria Mall to see a movie. The movie theatre has 2 selections??regular seats or VIP seats. For 90 pesos, you can sit in a theatre with leather lazyboys that recline. Seats are assigned and its so nice! You can even order food for servers to bring you from your seat. I wish they did this in Utah, although the price would probably be around $17.

When the movie ended (??El Crimen Perfecto) with Jodie Foster and Denzel Washington, I wanted a picture taken of me in the nice seats. When Sara handed her camera to tall Sarah, a worker told us that pictures were not allowed. I told Sarah just to take the picture because the guy couldn??t do anything about it. She chickened out and I got mad. Now I can??t scrapbook my VIP experience.

Volcn Mejicano

I woke up at 6am to get ready to go to a volcano. I made a lunch for myself and caught a taxi with Sarah.

We took a 2 ½ hour bus ride to Toluca, then a 45 minute bus ride to Tejupilco. The bus dropped us off at this place that had 3 makeshift resturants. I used the bathroom and then we then caught a bus that took us to the bottom of where we had to start walking.


We walked for 2 miles to the entrance of the park and found a guy who was willing to drive us up the mountain to the volcano.


He packed everyone in a “refugee” truck while I sat in the front. It was kind of awkward because it was the driver, his 4 small children, and me. I tried to make conversation, but I guess he didn’t want to.


Driving up the mountain toward the volcano was kind of scary. The driver drove very close to the edge of the cliffs—well, too close for my taste. We finally arrived and I was glad to be out of his scary truck.

The hike up the volcano was hard because of its steepness and the high altitude. The view was spectacular because we were so high. It was really cold and I was glad that I brought my sweatshirt. I ate the lunch I made this morning (ham and cheese sandwich) and rested. I made two sandwiches and gave one to Samantha because she didn’t bring a lunch.







On the hike down, I found lots of pomus stones that I put into my backpack. They’ll be good to have later.

For the drive down the mountain, I sat in the “refugee” part of the truck. I was a little scared cause I knew how high we were and how close to the edge we were, but I did a magic trick with cards for everyone to take my mind off of the danger.


An hour later, we all got out of the truck and paid the man. After we paid him, he told us that we agreed to a different price and needed to pay him more. We all knew he was trying to get more money, but it was awkward because we didn’t know what to do. I said we should just walk away and we did. We had paid this guy 900 pesos already.

On the bus ride home, I came up with lots of party ideas. Since Brian and I will have a house, it will be easier to have lots of people over.

When I got home, I was tired and just wanted to watch TV. I saw Terminator 2 and really liked it!

(All photos from today can be found here.)

Teotihuacn

Today was an excursion to Teotihuacn, an old Mayan city. I told Brian on Thursday that I??m getting tired of ruins and he said he would love it. Sure, I loved it too the first time, but now they all look the same.

Before we got to the ruins, we went to this gift-shop. I saw this piece of art that I was 90% sure I was going to buy. It was 2 faces that look like one. I didn'??t buy it, though, because Sara Bridge said that one of the faces was a girl. It'??s hard to find cool things of 2 guys.


The ruins were actually cool, mostly because of their vast size. I hung out with Samantha a lot and she made a lot of it fun.













Because the sun was out, Austin took off his shirt. I needed sun too, but I hesitated taking off my shirt because I felt fat. I decided that that was a stupid reason and took if off. It felt really good to be half naked. I took one picture of myself with no shirt and decided that in pictures, I need to wear a shirt. I'??m not there--yet.


On the drive back, I told people about why I left BYU and how BYU has a bad record with treating gay people (aversion therapy). But I ended with saying that BYU is a great place.

Logan Campbell, Andrew, and Carla came over to hang out. They stayed for a bit and then left to go to a bar. I stayed home because I was tired and just watched some TV.

Pantalones Sucios

Why do little, stupid things upset me? Rather, why do I become upset? Today, Shawn asked Beth to play the piano for a "??special musical number"?� in Mormon Church on Sunday. I wish he had asked me because I really would have enjoyed it.

During school, lots of people wanted to go to the orphanage with Sara and me. I commented, "??I don'?t want a lot of people coming to the orphanage", incorrectly implying that this was "my"?� thing. Right after I said it, I felt stupid because it wasn't what I was trying to say. Okay, it was, but I felt badly and selfish because I had no right to say it. These kids need as much interaction as they can get.

More people did come to the orphanage (Lauren, Beth, Tyler, and Sarah) and it worked out perfectly. We had to take 2 cabs, but that was the only bad thing.

While at the orphanage, I sat at the bottom of a slide toboggan style with my legs around Lauren. All of a sudden, my butt felt warm, like the slide has just heated up. Immediately, I stood up and realized what it was. On the slide, a little girl had peed and it had traveled the length of the slide. I yelled to Lauren to stand up, but the pee reached her before she followed my advice. My butt was completely soaked in pee! At first, I was kind of mad but quickly got over it because I knew it would be a funny story.





Instead of going home right after the orphanage to clean my pants, I went to the movies at the Galleria mall with Sara, Sarah, and Tyler. I needed an ATM to pay back Austin (I borrowed $100 pesos from him on Monday to do laundry) tomorrow, so I couldn'??t go home anyway.

When we got to the Galleria, Sarah (the tall one) was crying and told us that she left $800 pesos in a taxi. It was interesting because here's a girl that I'??ve thought badly about because she can sometimes act in certain ways. However, here she was in an intimate moment crying about her money. She let down all her defenses she shows to everyone else. I said all this to Sara Bridge and she surprised me by saying, "?Well, you get what'??s coming to you and I don'??t feel badly for her."?� I guess I was surprised because I expected Sara to be more empathetic.

We ended up seeing, "??El Hombre Peligroso." I didn't really like it and thought it was too sad.

Mi cita con Austin

We arrived in Acapulco at around 6am and took a taxi to another bus station for the bus that was going to take us to Cuernavaca. I'm glad we never stopped in Acapulco because the city is very dirty.

We caught our bus back to Cuernavaca and arrived about 4 hours later. I was glad to be back "home." Austin and I watched 3 hours of American Idol (I think it's hilarious that Austin loves the show) and then decided to go to the Galleria mall. We saw "Infermundo" (the movie Brian and I should have seen on January 20) and I bought a new Economist.

I teased Austin about how much fun I was having on our "date." He laughed. We only had 33 pesos to get home, but luckily a cab driver accepted what should have been a 40 peso fare.

Spring Break: Dia 7

Last night, I awoke in the middle of the night to pee. After I finished my business in the ocean, I looked up and saw the most amazing night sky. There were no lights to obscure the sky, therefore tons of stars appeared. The crashing of the waves made the whole experience incredible.

I woke up this morning with many mosquito bites. They were mostly on my back where the holes of the hammock exposed my skin. While I'm glad I slept in a hammock, I don't think I'll ever do it again. It's hard to get comfortably situated to sleep flat. Also, I froze last night because it was so cold! It kept waking up at all hours of the night.



After breakfast, I laid in my hammock and read "The Economist" and "National Geographic." I just relaxed and it was great. I can relax in a hammock--just not sleep in one.

I had to pee, so I ran into the ocean. I was wearing my new sunglasses and was facing the shore when a huge and unexpected wave engulfed me. When I came up, my glasses were gone. I tried looking for them for 10 minutes but gave up when my effort proved to be futile. I'm pissed because I bought them yesterday and this pair makes the second pair of sunglasses I've lost in Mexico. I don't think I can ever buy a pair of expensive sunglasses because I will probably lose them.



I took some pictures of Sam playing in the ocean that I'm going to give her when we get back to the states.

Sam and I played in the water with our inner tubes. It was a lot of fun, especially since the waves were so big. We started pretending that we were the Tube people of Mazunte and were trying to escape the island. Every time a huge wave came, we'd yell, "Watch out! It's a nose plugger!" in our Mazunte people accent that sounded British.

I'm so glad that I got to know Samantha really well on this trip. I told her that one of the reasons I like her so much is that she'll play pretend with me--something that no one else will. Too many people are grown up. Samantha also likes potty humor, so she and I are constantly making jokes about our brown eye. She and I are very similar and it will be fun to hang out with her in Utah. My only concern is that she'll want to hang out with her boyfriend all the time and won't be available to hang out with me. Hopefully, that won't be the case.

We had to leave to catch our bus back to Cuernavaca, so we started to get ready. I took a shower in a really nasty shower, but I was proud of myself that I did it! I've gotten used to nasty bathrooms here in Mexico. After my shower, my falda came in handy because I was able to get dressed in the open. I love my falda!


We took a truck back to an intersection where a bus picked us up to take us back to Puerto Escondito. We found a restaurant and ate dinner. I had a "Mexican steak" which basically is cut up meat doused in hot sauce. It was so incredibly good! Spicy, but good!

After dinner, I had to poop (since I didn't go in Mazunte) so I went to the restroom in the restaurant. Normally, I would never do such a thing, but I really had to go! To my surprise, it wasn't a big deal. Sure, there was pee on the seat and the floor was nasty, but I didn't care. Actually, I considered it a 5 star bathroom for Mexico. I think I'm getting over my fear of public restrooms.

We found our bus and rode to Acapulco. My left arm strangely hurt on the way there--badly enough that I wanted to rip it off. I've never experienced anything like it. Also, a federalli (federal Mexican police officer) stopped the bus and randomly asked people for ID. I would have slept right through it but Samantha woke me up because I was one of the lucky people that had to show ID.

(All my pictures from Spring Break can be seen here.)

Spring Break: Day 6

I cheated on Brian last night, but it wasn't my fault. I was sharing a bed with Samantha and in the middle of the night, I got up to go to the bathroom. When I was up, my underwear was all sticky--I just had a wet dream with a girl in the bed. I can't believe it happened!!

We ate breakfast and then got ready to leave our hostel. I took a Cosmo from the hostel because I wanted to read it later. I sat in an internet cafe with Logan while the rest of them went to the bus station to buy tickets for our return trip to Cuernavaca.

When they came back, we caught a bus toward the beach town of Mazunte. The bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and we had to catch a ride on this truck to get to the beach. The truck was basically a small Toyota truck with benches in the back and covered in a tarp. It was very 3rd world and a little scary, but after I got out and was safe, I thought it had been a little fun.


Mazunte is a small beach only about a quarter of a mile long. There are a couple of restaurants and hostel type places that line the beach. Typical of a small beach with not many people, hammocks were abundantly available. At first, I wanted a bed with a mosquito net, but then I decided to be adventurous and get a hammock. It helped that everyone else was also doing it.

We were all hungry, so after we put our stuff down near our hammocks, we went to one of the restaurants. I ordered a club sandwich, something I've never eaten before, because Austin ordered one and recommended it. It was a great decision! I hope club sandwiches in the states are as good as this sandwich was.

It was about 5pm when we finished lunch. Logan, Carla, and Austin went into the ocean to play while Samantha and I sat on the beach and relaxed. I pulled out my Cosmo that I took from the hostel earlier in the day and read it. I don't know why, but I love reading Cosmo and might get a subscription when I get back to the states. Yes, oh so very gay. I did have a lot of fun with Samantha when we did the Cosmo quiz. It felt like a perfect moment: I was on a beach in Mexico doing a Cosmo quiz with a girlfriend. I absolutely loved it! It was like a scene out of a movie and a great vacation moment. We stayed on the beach until the sun set.


Once it was dark, Samantha and I laid in our hammocks and talked. Actually, we played a fun game I made up. Each person says one word in making up a story. We made up a story about a boy named Arbol who looked like a tree that died on his school playground when he touched the school nurses boobs. We laughed and laughed and laughed as we told the story. She got tired and I still wasn't ready to go to bed, so I went and found Carla and Austin who were talking to some German guys. I sat with them for about an hour and then was ready for bed.

As I laid in my hammock, I couldn't get the "others" from the TV "Lost" out of my head and scarred myself. I hate having such an active imagination because I always scare myself and end up not going to sleep.

Spring Break: Dia 5

Carla, Austin, and Logan woke up early to run on the beach and watch the early morning surfers. Sam and I had no interested in those things, so we slept in. We finally got ready and decided we wanted to have a simple, relaxing morning. We went to get breakfast and it was nice eating with just her.

Since today is my 3 year anniversary with Brian, I thought it would be nice of him to buy me some gifts. Samantha and I went to a surf shot to get new board shorts for me and I also bought some sunglasses. I normally wouldn't have bought them, but they were gifts from my sexy lover!

I got onto the internet to chat with Brian. I think its so weird that we've been together for 3 years! The time has flown by and I've enjoyed almost every minute of it. I know he and I will be together forever and I can't wait to start having 5 or 10 or 15 year anniversaries. I wish we would get married, I really do. I don0t want to be like those couples that are together for 7 years and then decide to get married. Actually, all I want is a ring on my left finger. Simple and satisfying.

After an hour of talking to him, Carla found Samantha and I and said they were leaving to go to another beach. When I asked her if they could wait, she said no. I thought it was a little rude not to wait, but she gave us instructions on how to get there.

Samantha and I finished on the internet and found our way to the beach Carazararilla. I wanted to play in the waves, but my sunburn hurt. I decided to just have fun (my sunburn wasn't that bad) so I covered myself in sunscreen and went out. Samantha and I had tubes we blew up and had a blast! The waves brought us to the shore as we rode them, then they dragged us back into the ocean. I laughed and laughed because I was having sucha great time. Samantha and I acted goofy the whole time.

We spent the whole day there and after sunset, we went back to town to get something to eat. We went to the resturant we ate breakfast in and I ordered 2 plates of spaghetti. I normally wouldn't have done that, but it was my anniversary and I had to eat a plate for Brian.

After dinner, I went to check my email and lost everyone in the group. It was early (about 9pm) and I wasn't ready to go to bed, so I got my National Geographic magazine. I sat on a bench in a public area and read a really cool article on a civil war naval battle that occured on March 8th. I really liked reading in public by myself, especially the atmosphere, and I want to do it in Salt Lake when I return.

Spring Break: Dia 4

I really wanted to tan today, so instead of sunscreen, I put on tanning lotion. sure, good idea, but not for 3 hours! I made sure to put it on every hour, but I'm red and burnt right now. I guess you aren't supposed to tan that long. It sucks cause tomorrow I will have to wear a shirt all day.

Samantha and I made a sandcastle that had a really high wall facing the ocean. We had fun building it cause we're both like little kids. After we built it, I found a dead, headless fish that washed up on the shore. I took it, put it into our castle, and proclaimed him king. It was really funny to see people who walked by take a double take and realize they were looking at a dead, headless fish.

After that, I found a beach chair and read "The Economist" for about 30 minutes. It was so relaxing! Everyone stared to play in the ocean, so I put down my magazine and joined them.

As I was playing in the waves, I saw a girl on the beach wave to me. It was Beth, so I came out of the water to talk to her. TJ and Lauren arrived 5 minutes later and invted us to the place where they were staying. I honestly didn't want to go because the three of them had been smoking pot and I didn't want to be around that. I guess no one in our group felt the same way and we started walking toward their beach.

Samantha and I were walking the slowest behind everyone becase we were enjoying the walk on the beach. She started singing and I asked her if she knew Moulin Rouge. When she said she did, we started singing duets from the movie (just like Ashley Obray and I used to do). We thought of other musicals to sing and then moved on to Disney songs. I had a blast! Samantha is so much fun!

When we finally got to their beach 20 minutes later, I took a look at the place. It was full of hippie like people who were just sitting around and talking about stupid stuff. It was really dirty and there were cabanas for people to stay. The place reminded me of the movie, "The Beach" because the atmosphere was the same. When I commented to Carla, Samantha, and Lauren that I don't like hippies, they all jumped on me and told me not to be judgemental. I rolled my eyes because they were stupid.

Earlier in the day, my Wal*Mart board shorts tore at the crotch and left a small hole. When it happenned, I made sure to be careful that I kept modest. But after awhile, I forgot about it and was quickly reminded of the hole when all of a sudden Carla yelled, "Jesse, your ball is showing!" I looked down and saw one of my testicles hanging out of my board shorts. I should have been embarrased, but I wasn't. I put my ball back inside and promised to remember that I had a hole in my shorts.

We were all hungry, so we found a resturant on the beach. When we asked for a menu, the lady said, "Fish." Someone asked if there was chicken, but she responded, "Fish." No one from our group wanted to stay, but we did because some Norwegians came and sat with us. They were all high and acted stupid. Once the sun set, our group said goodbye and we went back to downtown Puerto Escondito to get something to eat besides fish.






We found a restaurant and sat down. As we were talking, Logan said something and I responded, "You don't make sense!" Immediatly, Beth looked at me and said, "Jesse, you are so rude sometimes." Logan added, "Yeah, sometimes you can be cruel." I tried to defend myself so I could explain.

I ordered spaghetti and it was so great! I haven't eaten spaghetti in ages, so after I ate it, I realized how much I miss Brian's spagetti. I can't wait to eat it again!

After dinner, Samantha, Logan, and I went back to the hostel. Elizabeth went home and Austin and Carla went out. As we sat around, Samantha made a bagel with her belly fat and we all started laughing. She also showed us a scrotum. I joined in with my belly fat and made things. We were all laughing hysterically and I finished with rolling dough and making bread with my stomach fat. We kept laughing and laughing.

Spring Break: Dia 3

We left the hostel at 5:45am because we needed to be at the "van station" at 6am. We felt badly because the room had beds for 6 other people (12 in total) and we made noise and turned on the light when we were leaving.

To get to Puerto Escondito, there are two ways to get there. A large bus that takes about 9 hours or a 15-passenger van that takes 6 hours. We opted for the shorter and cheaper (130 pesos) ride.

If someone had told me how dangerous a 15-passenger van driven by a Mexican on curvy roads in the mountains was, I wouldn't have taken the cheaper ride. We were high in the mountains and could have driven off the road and fallen down the cliff. I was surprised we didn't because at most of the turns, our Mexican driver sped up instead of slowing down. The whole time, I tried to either sleep or close my eyes so I couldn't see the oncoming danger. It was kinda nice because the 15-passenger van had 4 benches and there were no other passengers. That meant we could each take a bench to lie down on (plus a person in the front seat). In addition, the driver played techno music the whole time. Looking back (now that I'm safe), it was kinda fun.

We arrived in Puerto Escondito around noon and found a hostel that was recommended in Carla's book, The Hotel Mayflower. It wasn't as nice as our last hostel, but then hostel's aren't really supposed to be nice. It had a real hostel feel because there were crazy people everywhere.

After putting down our stuff, we went to the beach that lots of surfers go to because the waves are awesome. The waves were HUGE and I saw some surfers trying to tackle them.




While we were at the beach, we met an American guy named Jack who was learning Spanish in Puerto. I thought he was really cute and was glad when he wanted to hang out with us. We went to a outdoor resturant on the beach where we watched the sunset as we ate.

There was a huge party advertised for tonight, so at about 10pm we found a large group of people walking to the bar where the party was being held. When I got there, I realized how much it wasn't my scene. People were just drinking and talking and it looked really boring. I wasn't going to leave, so I just sat in a chair and resigned myself to have a crappy night. There was some dance music playing, but I told myself that I was not here to have fun--just sit and be a sourpuss.

When I realized what I was doing, I told myself to stop being negative. I was on spring break in Puerto Escondito for goodness sake! I could pout in Utah, but not here! I got up from my chair, went to the near empty dancefloor, and started dancing. I soon joined some other students that I kinda knew and kept dancing. Eventually, Samantha came and also danced (while Carla, Austin, and Jack kept talking). I love dancing! After about 10 minutes, I was in a great mood and was having a great time! Sure, the music was kind of lame (they played lots of 90's songs), but I was doing something that I love!

I realized tonight that attitude is everything. I am the only person that can put myself in certain moods. If someone offends me, I'm the only person that can take the offense. If I'm at a boring party, I'm the only one that can make myself bored. Sure, situations can help put you in certain moods, but only you can control how you feel about things. I hope I can really hold on to the lesson I learned tonight because rather than sitting in a chair being mad, I danced the night away under the stars.

Spring Break: Dia 2

Apparently, Austin loves talking to strangers here in the hostel. While I ate breakfast provided by the hostel, Austin talked with lots of different people. I'm glad somebody likes it cause I don't.

The hostel had a computer (for pay of course) so I checked my email and the news. I thought it wasn't going to have any internet access all week! It was so nice to get "connected."

A large bowl of crickets, a Oaxaca specialty!
We took a bus to see a large tree. I guess its the oldest tree in Mexico (over 3,000 years). It wasn't amazing in the sense of the word, but I enjoyed just sitting around. The South Africa guy, Norman, came with us and we started getting into a discussion of politics. I didn't say much (mostly because I don't like talking politics with people who don't know politics), but in the end I did. Everyone took a very liberal view against China and I had to stand up for our great trading partner, capitalism, and globalization.


After the tree, Norman left and we all went to a very large market. It was probably longer than a mile long and 1000 feet wide. I was bored after 5 minutes because the market resembled the Nintendo game, "Paperboy." The stores just repeated themselves and it seemed like I had already been somewhere but it was only because there were other stores just like it. It was immensly boring but the others like it--well, except for Samantha. After about 45 minutes, she and I were done. However, the market was so large tha tshe and I had lost everyone else. While she and I wanted to leave, we had no idea how to get back to Oaxaca.

We decided to be adventerous and try to find out way home. We caught a bus back to Oaxaca and found our hostel. I make it sound easy (and it kinda was), but it was weird to be in charge of where I wanted to go. Usually, Carla tells us where to go and this time it was me.

Samantha and I were hungry so we went to the zocalo to find a resturant. We ate in a very nice outdoor resturant where we watched the action of the city (very European). Children were playing with these balloon type things that looked like a lot of fun. I bought 5 of them to give to various children back at home.

What rolling up your sleeves will do!
When we got back to the hostel, everyone had returned. While we were just sitting around, I found a pile of clothes that had a sign above them that said, "gratis." They were all girl clothes, but I decided to have fun and put on a fashion show for everyone. We all laughed and laughed because I looked so ridiculous. However, I ended up taking one of the faldas because I knew it would come in handy later (with changed my underwear in a room full of people).



Since Carla and Austin went to play soccer, and Samantha went to bed, Logan and I went to look for an internet cafe. We couldn't find one, but we did find an ice cream shop with magazines for sale in English. Logan bought ice cream and I bought "The Economist" and "National Geographic." I spent the next 2 hours devouring 1/2 of the Economist.

Spring Break: Dia 1

We arrived safely in Oaxaca, Mexico, at about 5am. When got there, I realized that I made a mistake. I didn't bring a sweatshirt on the trip because I thought it would always be warm. In Zihuatenajo, that is true. In Oaxaca, it is not. I was cold and wrapped myself in my Finding Nemo towel/blanket.

We took a taxi to the zocalo where we waited for about 2 hours. All the hostels were closed, we we were forced to wait for things to open up. I slept a little on a park bench, but I was still freezing!

Finally, 7am arrived and breakfast was being served at a resturant. After we ate, we followed the advice in Carla's book, "Let's Go" and went to Pauline's Hostel. The book said that the rooms and bathrooms could win an award for their cleanliness. While I can sleep on a crappy bed, I have to have a clean bathroom!


We all took naps and then started our day around 11am.

I wasn't hungry, but Logan wanted something to eat. He said that he only wanted, "Pizza or chicken." Logan is 18 years old and just graduated from high school. He's really selfish (as most 18 year-olds are) and his attitude reminds me of myself (especially the pizza and chicken comment) at that age.

We caught a bus to the ruins of Monte Alban. I found it to be kind of boring and commented to Samantha that I like American history was more than ancient civilization history. I made it interesting by taking cool pictures, but Logan got on my nerves by taking the exact same pictures as I did. When I took a picture of something cool, he would too. I got over it, though, because imitation is the highest form of flattery.



Tonight, we walked around town exploring. We ran into this hippie guy that Austin had met in Zihuatenaho and started hanging out with him and his friend from South Africa. At first, I was quiet and kept to myself because I don't enjoy meeting new and random people. I'll never see them again, so why should I be interested in them? After that thought, I told myself to be nice and be friendly. And I was.

Austin invited them to our hostel to party on the roof. We hung out on the roof and they drank alcohol while I drank a bottle of wine.

While the hostel was nice, we had to share a room with 7 other people. One guy, from Japan, snored louder than I've ever heard a person snore. He kept everyone up and Logan finally had to hit him with a pillow.

Dinero Grande

I checked my bank account today and found my tax refunds (state and federal) AND my tuition reimbursement money. I got about $1000 from federal and $192 from state. The big numbers in my account made me excited, but also sad because most of the money is going toward bills. I paid off one of my credit cards and put all $1200 tuition reimbursement money on another card.

I'm leaving tonight to go on Spring Break, so I went to Wal*Mart with Austin, Samantha, and Logan to get supplies. I found some cute board shorts and this tight swimsuit (to go under the board shorts). The only problem with the board shorts are that they had mesh underwear. When I got home, I used some sissors to cut the mesh stuff out.


When I packed for Zihuatenaho, I brought 2 pairs of shorts, undershirts, underwear, a sweatshirt, and lots of other clothes that turned out to be useless and wasteful. This time, I packed very lightly--only one pair of shorts, no undershirts, 3 pairs of underwear, no sweatshirt, and that's about it. At Wal*Mart, I contemplated buying a large backpack, but decided against it to save money. After I finished packing, I felt good about what I had packed. I'm bringing a backpack and a dufflebag; Austin is only bringing a backpack.

Austin and I met Carla, Samantha, and Logan on the street where we took a bus to a bus station. We boarded the next bus to Mexico City.

We had to take a taxi from the bus station in Mexico City to another bus station, so we caught a cab. Since there were 5 of us, one person had to sit in the front. Carla said, "Jesse, why don't you sit in the front since you are the biggest." I teasted her the whole ride to the bus station about calling me "fat."

We waited in the bus station for our bus to Oaxaca, Mexico. I wanted a "hot dog real bad", so I found one. In the resturant area, there was even a Church's Chicken! I thought that was pretty weird.

No quiero conocer a ti.

I've been waking up with a sore throat lately and I don't know why. It's annoying me.

This morning, I returned to the place where I did laundry 2 days ago to give them back some underwear that they gave me by mistake. Some poor dude is missing 4 pairs of his Express underwear. When I found them, I couldn't resist trying one pair on because they were small boxer briefs. I wanted to see how they felt. I hope the place washes them again!

I took a 3 hour nap today because I was so tired. Though I don't know what from.

Austin and I met Carla at school later in the day to plan out Spring Break. I'm taking a backseat to the planning because Austin wants to make all the plans. I'm totally okay with this and find the whole experience of being passive really interesting.

I went to Nachos tonight because there was a party. I realized something about myself while I was there: I don't like meeting new people because I find most people incredible boring. I tried talking to people, but I kept thinking, "I won't ever see you again after April 7th. I really don't care what you are saying right now." I guess its more like we won't be friends in the future so I don't want to invest any energy in getting to know you.

Pee-pee en mi cara

I went back to the orphanage today and I had a blast. It's so nice to give of myself because I forget all the problems I'm having and don't miss anything about the US. It puts my wonderful life into perspective and helps me realize how lucky I am.

On the way to the orphanage, I had to pee really badly. The worst part is the quality of roads--they are bumpy, so having to pee was agonizing! I told Beth and Sara that I would rather be at the dentist than in a Mexican taxi on a Mexican road with my bladder about to explode. Once the car stopped, I ran to the nearest tree and peed for 30 seconds.

When I entered the orphanage, I found some kids doing homework. I went to help one kid with his grammer homework, but I had no idea what his book said! It was Spanish for a 7 year old and I was stumped. I felt dumb, but I eventually found a kid doing math homework. I helped him and was able to successfully do so.

Two of the kids really bonded with me today. Iconically, they are both named Luis. One is a small, two year old boy that I wrote about before. The other kid was 7 years old and a nice kid. I think I've learned from this experience that I could adopt a child that age. I really want to adopt and I'm glad I know that I'd be comfortable with an older kid (since most people just want babies).

I had a blast playing with the kids even if most of them were dirty. One girl who had peed her pants put her wet bum in my face a couple of times when I wrestled with the kids. Another girl licked her fingers and then rubbed them on my face. While I usually would hate that, I figure that it doesn't matter in the moment. Sure, germs are gross, but oh well.

After the orphanage, I got to talk to Brian online. He's probably not going to get a house before I come back. On one hand, I'm bummed because I wanted him to find one and I didn't want to help move all of our stuff. On the other hand, I'm glad that I will come back to Salt Lake and go "home." I always thought it would be weird to leave home and return to a new house.

Nada

I was supposed to go to a soccer game today, but when I called Logan's house, he said that he had no information. I was extremely annoyed because I didn't go with Austin because I wanted to go to a soccer game. I ended up catching up in my journal and watching TV all day. It was relaxing, but I didn't get anything accomplished.

Extroverted Introvert?

Austin left this morning to spend the weekend with Eduardo. I was going to go with them, but there is a soccer game on Sunday that I want to go to. Plus, Austin is staying the night at Eduardo's house tonight. I don't like sleeping in other people's houses except my own. The house I'm staying at here in Mexico feels like a temporary home.

Last night, Andrew said he would call me today to hang out. When 12:30pm came, I decided that I should make an offensive move. I called Carla to see if she was doing anything. She said that she was glad I called because she, Andrew, and Logan were going to the zocalo in 5 minutes.

I face a personal dilemma every Sat and Sunday (though more in the US because I'm alone. Austin is with me here in Mexico). I could have stayed home all day by myself and probably would have, but I forced myself to call someone. In the states, I would normally be by myself the whole day and maybe even the evening. I don't like being by myself when I go out (like errands), yet I like to be by myself at home. Does that make me an extroverted introvert?

We took a bus to the xocalo and hung out there. Carla needed to meet some of her Mexican friends somewhere and wanted to meet back up with us in 10 minutes. She told Logan where to meet her and he said he knew where the meeting place was. 10 minutes later, we were standing on a street corner. When I asked Logan if this was where we were supposed to meet, he said, "No, this is the place I wanted to meet." Andrew and I got really annoyed at this kid. We didn't find Carla (cause Logan didn't know where she wanted to meet) and took a bus back to Carla's place.

We sat around for awhile waiting for Carla. When she showed up, we went to the Galleria Mall to hang out and see Derailed.

¡Fiesta!

Today's test sucked. I know I did horribly. I thought the concepts were going to be deliniated, but they weren't. Oh well. I didn't feel that badly becasue everyone else had a problem too.

The plan for tonight was to meet Logan Campbell at 4pm near our house and go to Wal*Mart. Then, we were going to meet Beth and Lauren at 5:30pm at our house to go to a party.

Austin and I waited 20 minutes for Logan, but he never showed up. It annoyed Austin and I, but we still went to Wal*Mart to get alcohol for a party tonight.

We returned home and waited for Beth and Lauren to show up. They never did. In Mexico, we don't have cell phones so we have to agree to meet at certain times. It's agravating when people flake, especially when they do it over and over again!! It makes me not want to hang out with these people.

Eduardo invited Austin and I to his house to party. I thought there would be more people, but there were only the three of us and a girl with pink hair. She was a little crazy.

We danced, hung out, and drank. It was fun, but not the funnest time I've had. Carla and Andrew came over later and hung out. I drank a little too much and ended up going home around 2am. I was so proud of myself that I didn't throw up in front of everyone because that would have been really embarrasing. Instead, I got home and threw up. It was really bad that I drank too much. I haven't done that in so long that I forgot my limit. Austin, who stayed out, finally came home at 8:30am.

¡Estoy enojado!

This morning, after I made a joke about poop, Beth said, "Jesse, you are one of the most intelligent people I know, yet you always talk about poop!" It's true, I love potty humor because its hilarious, but her comment (before the poo part) made me feel really good. She is really good at giving me compliments, something I don't get very often.

Also in class, Austin got on my nerves. The teacher said something to me in Spanish, but I wasn't sure if I understood it. Austin looked at me, rolled his eyes, and said, "Just answer the question!" I felt like he was implying I was stupid, so I raised my voice a little and replied, "I understand! I just wasn't sure I heard it right" and answered the question perfectly.

Austin's been getting on my nerves recently, but I don't know if its me or him. Like last night, he told me how it annoys him that I wait until the last possibly moment to wake up and get ready. He and I are always ready at 7:30am and have never been late to school, but it annoys him for some reason. I feel like he thinks I'm lazy.

Just to show him that I can wake up early (and how much of a waste of time it is), I woke up early today and got ready before him. It didn't help us be more on time or anything, but I hope he got the message.

When I was on the computer today, I casually checked www.utahpride.org to see if it was online. To my surprise, it was! My excitement ended about 20 seconds later when I checked my volunteer application.

Before I left, I made a volunteer application and submitted the text I wanted to appear on the website. Unfortunately, my intentions did not appear on the website. In fact, last years volunteer application form appeared! There was even a bad date on the website (announcing 2005 Pride). I was so angry!

It annoys me how some people take volunteer work less importantly than real-job work. When people do things for free, they think they can slack off. I hate that! I put 100% into anything I'm doing--volunteer or not.

After lunch, I went back to the computer lab where I spent about 2 hours writing an email outlining all the necessary changes. It normally wouldn't take that long, but I wanted to make sure that it's done. I hope its the last time I have to deal with website stuff.

I learned that Jere, the pride coordinator, is moving to Vegas in April. I'm said because I really like Jere and was having fun working with him. I'm also sad because he's a guy that I wish I got to know better. He's young, intelligent, and a sci-fi nerd just like me. We could have been better friends, but I'm just lazy and cliquish. I need to stop that! (2006 goal). To "make up for it", I added him to my blog side bar.

¡Voy a gimnasio todo los dias!

Today is my one month anniversary of being in Mexico. I want to say that time has flown by, but it hasn't. I really miss Brian. I never want to spend more than 2 weeks away from him!

In class, for some reason, I use the verb "matar" all the time. The teacher thinks I'm weird.

Austin y yo got a ride home from Eduardo, a teacher at the school, and it was so nice! We walk everywhere in Mexico so it was a nice break to ride in a car.

I'm finally noticing results from going to the gym. My chest is getting smaller as is my stomach. My arms and legs are bigger and growing. Going to the gym is fun when you can see results.

El Orfanatorio

Sara Bridge and I went to visit a Mexican orphanage today. When we hailed a cab and told him where it was, he wanted 70 pesos. Sara and I didn't think it was that far, so we hailed another taxi. I guess the orphanage IS really far away, so we found a taxi that would take us for 50 pesos.

The taxi driver, we found out, didn't know where it was. We had to stop and ask for directions 3 times. It took us about 40 minutes to get there, but we finally found the place. It wasn't as visable as one would think.

Sara and I were expecting to fill out some paperwork, have an interview, and get a background check or something. I was expecting a structured schedule and thought I'd be reading to kids. Our expectations were way off. We walked into the gates of the orphanage and found dirty kids running around and playing. There were some American girls sitting on what was a stage and they were getting their makeup done by some little girls. Some boys were playing a dogdgball like game.

At first, I didn't know what to do and felt a little akward. I couldn't really speak to them because I don't know Spanish very well. I was expecting structure, and when there wasn't any, I was thrown. Then I had a thought--"What would Ryan Oliver Hansen do?" Once I asked myself that, I knew exactly what to do. I joined the game of "dodgeball" and just started playing.

At first, the kids were a little hesitant. 'Who is this new American guy?' they probably thought. Even after dodgeball, it didn't seem like they were comfortable with me. I went to sit on the stage and found a small 2 year-old boy named Luis who was playing with a marble. He sat by himself and no one was playing with him. I sat near him and he immediatly threw the marble at me. I threw it back. Thus, we started playing a game. This little boy lit up! When I made him smile and laugh, all my worries evaporated. I didn't miss the US, my family, Brian, food, friends, nothing! This kid's smile made all my problems go away. I now understand why Ryan Oliver Hansen is in Africa and has no plans to return.

While I was playing with Luis, another boy about 10 years-old had a soccer ball and wanted to play with me. At first, self-concious thougts of "you suck at soccer" came to my mind. Also, I was wearing flip-flops. Then I thought to myself, "This boy just wants to play! He doesn't care if you are bad or what you are wearing!" I got over myself and started to play with him. Like Luis, his smile appeared and he laughed. After a while, I realized why no one was playing with him earlier--he's mentally handicapped. I actually didn't figure it out for awhile and I think he probably appreciated that.

Soccer made me tired, so I sat on the stage again. I knew that the kids had warmed up to me when they all formed a circle around me and we started playing games I made up on the spot.

One game was me poking their bellies and making a fart noise. They thought it was so funny! I had about 6 kids standing in front of me begging to get poked. They all laughed and laughed. (The mentally handicapped kid was taller than the rest of the kids, so his privates were at the same level as the other kids bellies. I accidently poked his privates twice and felt so horribly! I hoped that the orphanage wouldn't accuse me of molesting him for an innocent accident!).

Another game we played was really silly. I'd stick my hands out with my palms up. The kids would say something was behind me (like an elephant, devil, monkeys, etc) and when I'd turn to look, they'd slap my palms over and over again.

I think the simplicity of the games were similar to the love and attention these kids were looking for. They just want to be special to someone.

I also played a game that my father played with me. I laid on my back and the kids laid on my feet as I raised them up. They loved this! One time, Luis (the 2-year-old), just laid on my chest. It was cute until all the other kids yelled, "dogpile" in Spanish. I knew the weight of 7 other kids would really hurt Luis, so I put my arms above Luis and had to use all my strength to protect him from being crushed.


When I wasn't playing games, Luis and another small girl would climb into my arms to be held. They both liked playing with my beard.


While I had a lot of fun, there were lots of negative things I saw, I witnessed one older girl yelling at a smaller, quieter, girl. The older girl was trying to tell her to do something and began a countdown. I immediatly picked up the small girl, held her in my arms, and tried to protect her. When the mean girl would say something to her, I'd start talking to distact her. I just held her in my arms to protect her.

One American girl drove me absolutly up the wall with her negativity! In the whole time I was there, she didn't move from her seat on the stage. The kids had to play with her, not the other way around.

I guess this girl has voluntered at this orphanage for weeks and is getting internship credit for it. She had this attitude of, "I've been here the longest so I'm smarter than the rest of you." When the kids fought, I'd tell them to stop. This girl said, "Oh, they always fight. You can't do anything about it." When Sara asked her how to say "Be nice" in Spanish, the girl said, "It won't work, and you won't remember it, so I'm not going to tell you." When we told her that we paid our cab driver an extra $5 for helping us find the orphanage and for driving on a crappy dirt road that wasn't good for his car, she said, "That was so stupid! You never pay taxi drivers that much!" I wanted to ring her neck for trying to bring everyone down. Negative people, especially when they are volunteering, are useless.

When it was time to go, Sara and I slipped out. I didn't want to do a formal goodbye. On the way home, Sara and I talked about how just wanted to adopt some of those kids! I told her that I want to adopt children from aroud the world rather than having my own. I think there are many needy children that Brian and I can provide a loving home for. Sara told me something that I really appreciated. She said, "Jesse, you are wonderful with children." She's not the first person to say that to me, but I like it when people do tell me because it reaffirms my belief that gay people are not bad for children.

One thing I realized about myself by going to the orphanage was how I'm not like Ryan Oliver Hansen. He dropped everything to live in Africa and wants to devote his life to helping children. I realized that I'm the type of guy who will be able to give lots of money to organizations with people like Ryan in charge. I say that because as much as I love children, I couldn't play with them for 24 hours a day. I got a little tired toward the end of the orphanage. The world needs both types of people and I hope I can be financially secure enough to give my money away.

More pictures here.

Tepoztlan Trip

Since Mam is gone, Austin and I had to "make" our own breakfast today. We basically ate yogurt and half of a banana each. It was fine. Austin made sandwiches for our lunch--I thought that was very nice of him.

We were going to go to Tepoztlan, which is a large mountain with a temple at the top of it. It was going to be scenic, so I went to get my nice camera (since my little one broke). For some reason, I checked to see if the memory cards (512K and 1GB) worked--and they didn't! I don't know how they broke, but I got very upset! I couldn't bring my camera!

Carla, Logan, Andrew, Austin and I took a bus to the city of Tepoztlan. We met one of Carla's Mexican friends, Oswaldo, there.

The hike up the mountain was long and steep. Okay, only 45 minutes, but it seemed long. I felt like the stupid, fat kid because I was always in the back of the group and had to rest. I tried to rest less frequently than I wanted to. The view at the top was spectacular! I could see the whole city and I was proud of us for making it. We ate lunch on the temple and stayed up there for about an hour. I felt so naked without my camera! I had to ask Andrew to take pictures for me.




The hike on the way down was easier and more fun. We kinda "ran" down--it was fun because you had to choose rock after rock to step on. I made it into a game and enjoyed myself all the way down.

One cool thing about today was that it was election day (and everyone knows how much I love election day)! There were voting booths set up and it was cool to see people vote.


Austin and I got home at around 7pm and Rosita (the maid) made us (reheated) a large dinner. Usually in Mexico, dinner is small (we usually just have pan). I felt like an American with such a large dinner!

I caught a new episode of Commander-in-Chief. I was excited to see it cause I love that show! We also watched an episode of the Family Guy.

(All pictures from Tepoztlan can be seen here.)

Yo cambi mi actitud y siempre fue bien.

Austin and I had to wake up after only 3 hours of sleep. Ech!

As we walked toward the bus that was going to take us to Ciudad de Mexico, Austin told me that last night was an "experience" and that he'll "never do it again." "I felt like a piece of meat" he said. He went on and on about what a bad experience it was. It really annoyed me, but it annoyed me evern more when he repeated everything to everyone on the bus. People knew we were going, so they were interested in how Austin was with last night.

I usually don't feel like an outsider because I'm gay, but I really felt that way on the bus. No one asked me about how my night was, just the straight guy at the gay club. I think it was made worse because Austin kept dogging the club. Additionally, Austin didn't take a seat next to me--he took one next to Andrew. Yes, this overdramatic, insecure, and needy gay man took that as a sign that Austin didn't like me. That's also why I felt badly.

I saw Lauren and she asked me if I was mad that she and Beth didn't show up last night. I frankly told her yes (and not in a joking manner). I think she was a little weirded out by my serious response, so she grabbed my nose and said something funny. Just when things couldn't get any worse, I started bleeding from my nose. It was awful! I felt so stupid walking off the bus to go to the bathroom (the bus was already at a pitstop).

I remembered the quote by Eleanor Roosevelt ("No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.") and decided to change my attitute. I sat next to Sara Bridge and talked to her.

In Mexico City, we saw lots of Frida stuff and it was really boring. It was so boring that I started to make up Helen Keller jokes. I always make them up here in Mexico and everyone knows I tell them. Someone told me that now, everytime she thinks about Helen Keller, she will think of me.

Here are some of the best jokes we made today:

• Why was Helen Keller so skinny? She was on the see-food diet.
• What did Diego Rivera and Helen Keller have in common? They couldn't see their toes.
• Why did people call Helen Keller "brown eye"? Because it was her only eye that worked.

Some people don't like my jokes, but I love them!

We got back to Cuernavaca around 8pm. Mam is still out of town. Austin and I watched "Enough" with Jennifer Lopez (which I really liked). Although we only had 3 hours of sleep, we finished the movie at 2am.

Mam has a computer in her house, but I've never seen her use it. Yesterday, I noticed the cable modem, so tonight (since she was gone) I turned it on to check my email. I felt kinda badly, but I really wanted to check my email!

the more we take, the less we become

While trying to take a siesta this afternoon, I had an ephipany.

On Russell's blog, he linked a site where you pick qualities about yourself. You send the link to friends and family and they also pick qualities for you. Then you are able to see what qualities they match with you on and what qualities others see in you. There are 2 sites--one for positive qualities and one for negative qualities. I put both links on my blog.

One of the negative qualities Megan put for me was "self-satisfied." I actually had no idea what this meant. While I was in the computer lab, I asked Sara what she thought it meant and she said selfish. Then we started talking about other things.

When I tried to take my siesta, the thought of being selfish came into my mind and I realized Megan was right. Everything I do here in Mexico is for myself: I'm learning Spanish for myself, working out everyday for myself, taking naps for myself, going out with friends for myself, worrying about wearing the same clothes over and over for myself, and thinking about how much I miss MY boyfriend. Everything I'm doing in Mexico revolves around one person: me.

As I laid in bed, I thoght of something Sara said: she's going to volunteer at an orphanage every week. Then it hit me--this is what I'm supposed to do! After that thought, my ipod played "World on Fire" by Sarah McLachlan. It's my all time favorite song because it reminds me that the world is truly on fire. One lyric that really hit me was, "the more we take, the less we become." It's so true!

Then I starting thinking about what a great example Ryan Oliver Hansen is to me. He's in Camaroon right now starting his own orphanage. He's one of the most incredible people I've ever met in my life. While I won't ever do what he's doing, I can do my part.

I need to volunteer at the orphanage. I feel like its exactly what I'm supposed to be doing right now in my life. I think everything from Russell writing on his blog to Megan responding to sitting next to Sara in the computer lab are signs from God telling me this is correct.

Realizing this revelation from God, I started to pray. I thanked God for the opportunity He's trying to give me and thanked Him for showing me the way to accomplish it. I asked Him to help me be strong in achieving His will for me because I'm so weak, a coward. It would be easier to not volunteer, but I want to truly overcome that temptation.

I've always wanted to work in an orphanage. This feels like the perfect moment, the perfect circumstances, the perfect opportunity.

Mi camer rompi...

I had a meeting with Professor Mayer this afternoon. We have 3 meetings with him so he can track our Spanish progress. I was all worked up before I went in because I don't think I can speak Spanish very well. The meeting was actually fine. He asked me about living in Cuernavaca and if I liked it. I told him that I did and described my house and Mam. I hope I'll imporve the next time I see him.

I made plans with Andrew, Lauren, Elizabeth, and Austin to go to a gay club at our house at 10pm. 10:30pm rolled around and it was only Austin and I. I was mad that no one showed up because I wanted Austin to have a good time. I was worried that Austin wouldn't like the club because he woule be by "himself."

On my way out the door, I grabbed my small camera. When I turned it on to make sure the batteries worked, it didn't. I could take pictures, but the pictures were fuzzy. So my small camera is broken after only 3 weeks. The only thing I can think caused it was taking it out into the ocean--but it didn't get wet!

Arturo took us to the club and it was really strange to see lots of gay, Mexican men. Most were stereotypically gay. It was fun being one of the only Americans in the club because I got lots of looks. I never get hit on in Utah, so it was nice to be hit on here. However, it got old fast and I started telling people that I wasn't gay. Austin ran off from Arturo and I and started talking to this gay guy for like 2 hours. I wanted to keep dancing, so for 2 hours I pretty much danced with myself. I love being comfortable enough to do that! I had a great time dancing my legs off! They really hurt as we walked home at 5am.

Estoy segundo...

I feel that Austin is doing so much better at Spanish than me and its driving me nuts! He can have good conversations with people and it comes easy to him. I have to really think about what I want to say, first in English and then translate it in Spanish. I know I shouldn't be competing, but I can't help it! I need to do better!

I talked with one of my teachers, Arturo, about being gay in Mexico. I asked him about gay dance clubs in Mexico and he invited me to go with him tomorrow. We made a plan, and when I told Austin and Andrew about it, they said they wanted to go. I think it will be fun!

Mam left to visit her hija in Cancún. Rosita, a friend who helps her with housework, is going to "take care" of us--basically cook for us.

Tonight, after working out, Andrew, Austin, and I went to a resturant/bar called Nachos. THey have all you can eat tacos as long as you order beer. I had a water, but Austin y Andrew drank beer. The tacos weren't that great and I don't want to go back.

Nada mucho hoy...

I walked to school by myself because Austin hadn't come home yet. The plan was for him to get back at 7am, but as is usual in Mexico, plans change and people are late. He finally showed up aroud 9am at school.

Our previous grammer teacher, Eduardo, was replaced by our new teacher, Susana. I really like her, actually more than Eduardo, because she makes more sense and explains things better.

After school, I tried to study on my bed but I fell asleep. I wonder if the country of Mexico makes me tired...

Mi dia lenta!

The bus ride home was nice other than being stopped by the Mexican army. Everyone had to get off the bus and have their bags searched. My luggage was searched, but not my backpack. It was weird and very much unlike the US.

It was great to be home and have a slow day. I studied until 3pm then fell asleep on my notebook at the table. Mam laughed as I woke up.

I watched TV for the rest of the day and it was really nice. I love Sundays! I guess it doesn't matter what country I'm in--I like to sit around and watch TV.

Zihuatanejo Day 2

I awoke this morning feeling really sick and it made it even worse that I wasn't at home where I feel comfortable. I really dislike being or feeling sick in an uncomfortable place. I got up from the bed and went to the bathroom. The bathroom felt like a sauna and the heat didn't help my upset stomach. I downed some Pepto Bismol and went back to bed for 30 more minutes.

We ate breakfast at a place that advertised waffles. After we ordered, it took about 45 minutes before we realized (at least those that ordered waffles) that we were still waiting for our food. When we asked the waitress, she told us that there weren't any waffles available. It was so annoying, but I guess in Mexico, people don't like to disappoint so they'd rather not say anything. After ordering some bisquets, I realized how glad I am to be an American!

The plan for Zihuatanejo was to arrive on Friday morning and leave Sunday night. We made the plan wanting to spend as much time on the beach as possible (before knowing what there was to do). The plan changed this morning with some people wanted to leave tonight and some wanted to stick with the original plan. I wanted to leave tonight, mostly because I felt a little sick. We went to the bus station and bought tickets.

We went to the beach (the first beach we arrived at yesterday morning) and played for about 2 hours in the waves. I had a blast, but drank lots of salt water on accident. For about 20 minutes, i walked away from the group and sat by myself in the sand. As the waves kept hitting me, I thought of how much I wanted Brian right next to me. We'd be holding hands, laughing, and just having a great time being together. I really missed him as I sat by myself.

For the next two hours, we made sandcastles, actually Mexican pyramids. Our whole group got into it and we had a great time.

Everyone got hungry, so we left the beach and walked to find a resturant. I badly needed to go to the bathroom, so I went back to the hostel to do my buisness and drink more Pepto Bismol. I quickly met up with them at the resturant and ordered a hamburger.

It was about 5pm when we wandered to another beach in Zihuatanejo. The sand at this beach was the best--smooth and no large rocks. Everyone got into the ocean to play, but I forgot my swimsuit because I changed my clothes when I went to the hostel to poo. I really wanted to get in, so I just took off my shorts and swam in my underwear. Everyone laughed and I was a little embarrased.

It's Valentines day soon, so I wrote messages in the sand and took pictures of them to send to Brian. I wrote a "I heart you", an "I miss you" and "J+B" encircled in a heart. I hope he likes them.

We played in the ocean as the sunset and it was so perfect--so perfect! It was a perfect moment that I want to do with Brian someday.

Once the sunset, Samantha, Logan, Carla, and I skinny dipped under the moonlight. It was really fun and very freeing.



We packed up our stuff and walked back to the hostel. My legs were chaffed, so I had to hold my pants up the whole time to prevent the skin from touching.

When we got back to the hostel, people took showers and changed clothes (I didn't shower because I'd rather stay dirty than take a shower in the disgusting bathroom). Everyone wanted to go to dinner, so we waited for people to finish.

Unfortunatly, some people didn't wait long enough and wanted to eat immediatly. Without telling everyone else, Andrew, Austin, Logan, TJ, and Carla left. I wanted to eat, but I also wanted to wait for everyone else. It was a hard decision, but I decided that I'd rather eat than lose them (and not eat).

I wonder if the group dynamic has changed. Andrew gave me a really lame excuse about leaving so suddenly for dinner-"Everyone was just sitting around"- well, yes, because we were waiting for people to get out of the shower and get ready to go. It really annoyed me. When we finally found a resturant to eat at (and when the others finally found us), Carla, Austin, and Andrew sat at their own table.

The group that was leaving went to the bus station and took a bus back to Cuernavaca.

(All my Zihuatanejo pictures can be seen here.)

Zihuatanejo Day 1

When I woke up, we had arrived in Zihuatanejo. It was 5am, the streets were quiet, and 12 American students had no idea which way to go. We wanted to go to the beach, so we started walking in one direction that we thought was right. We asked the first Mexican we saw for directions and continued walking. In total, we walked about 2 miltes before arriving at the beach. When we finally saw it, we dropped our bags and ran into the water (but not all the way in). The last time I saw a beach was with Tanner in LA in November of 2002.

I laid down my towel and quickly feel asleep to the sounds of waves crashing on the shore. When I woke up an hour later, the sun was rising and Logan Campbell was playing his guitar. He's amazing and I loved waking up to his music. In fact, when he'd stop playing and take a pause, I'd ask him to keep playing because he's so awesome. He sang lots of songs I had never heard. The whole moment was perfect. Everything about it was perfect.

Everyone on the beach
After the sun rose, we took a ferry (from a freelance boat driver) to a beach that Carla (who had a guidebook) said was nice. The beach had many different resturants on it and is exteremly territorial. Each resturant has a part of the beach where their patrons stay. As we walked the beach, the owners (or employees) told you that their part of the beach was the best and should be patronized. We found a part of the beach we liked and stayed there until 3pm.

The boat ride
The beach
Me and Austin
The beach, we later found out, wasn't very nice at all. Since we got there around 7:30am, there weren't many people. As time passed, however, more and more people arrived. Also, there weren't many waves close to the shore, only ones out in the distance. Finally, the beach floor was covered in coral and those people that explored the ocean first came back with cuts and bruises.

But we still had fun. We rented some boogie boards and decided to ride some waves. Initially, I didn't want to do it because I was afriad of the coral cutting my legs up. I really didn't wants lots of cuts and bleed everywhere. After thinking about it, I decided to be brave and do it. People miss out on so many things when they say "no." Living life is all about saying "yes."

I'm glad I did say yes because I had a blast! I'd never boogie boarded in my life and discovered how fun it is. The only problem was the depth of the water in some places (2 feet). So when you'd ride a wave in, you'd end up getting hurt because the wave would slam you into coral that was only 2 feet below you. I came away with some cuts and bruises, but it was worth it.

Coral Cut

At 3pm, we took a ferry into the city and found a hostel to stay at for the night. I'd never stayed in a hostel and quickly found out why. I don't think I'll ever get used to hostels and in the future, will travel the world in nice hotels. The rooms were hot, the bathrooms were weird (from left to right: sink, toilet, shower-no curtains to seperate them from each other), and hard beds. I was uncomfortable at first, but then I got used to it. It would only be for one night.

The Hostel

I just came out of the bathroom. You can see lots of sweat on my face cause the bathroom was like a sauna.

After we dropped our stuff at the hostel, we went to the first beach we went to this morning. We made sandcastles, more particularly the city of New Orleans, and watched a "hurricane" wash our creation away. After 2 hours, we went back to the hostel, changed clothes, and met for dinner.

We chose a nice resturant that had great food! The resturant, believe it or not, actually had chips and salsa--a first in Mexico!! The salsa was really good but extremely spicy! I had to order 2 bottles of water because it was so hot. I ordered a steak and ate it with tortillas. The meal reminded me of when I was 10 years old and staying in a hotel room in Honduras with my parents. It was my birthday and they let me order a steak. I remember it being a great meal, just like tonight.

I'm ripping the tag of the back of my shirt because it was annoying me. Usually, I have an undershirt on, but it was so hot that I couldn't possibly wear one.

After dinner, everyone but Austin, Andrew, and I went back to the beach. We were going to meet up with the rest of the group later, but first Austin and Andrew watned to get some beers.

It was in a loud bar that I realized how much it wasn't my scene. I'd much rather be at home, making dinner, and expecting friends to come over and play games. Andrew commented on how different the three of us are and I responded by saying, "Yeah, I never would have been friends with you otherwise." Austin said, "Yeah, especially since I don't know where your house is", implying that I'm a homebody. I am and I love it!

After they drank their beers, we met the rest of the group on the beach. Logan played his guitar and we sat around and listened. One great part was when Logan played, "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash and everyone sang along. There was even a strange ring around the moon, a sight I'd never seen before.

We ended our day on the same beach we started our day. It was perfect.

Old Ruins and New (estar) Ruins

I slept in today until 8am. Yeah, that doesn't sound late, but to me it was. Mama graciously took us to the bus station that was going to take us to the ancient city of Xochicalco. We met Andrew, Carla, and Logan there and rode the bus to the ruins.

The weather was all sun and I had a great time exploring. I took lots of pictures.

After about 3 hours, we we done and got a taxi back to a bus station. From there, we caught a bus that dropped us off in the Xocalo in Cuernavaca. (More pictures here.)

We alked around before deciding that we should go to a movie. Unfortunatly, the movies that were at the zocalo were dumb. We still wanted to see a movie, so we took a taxi to the Galleria mall.

All I can say is "WOW!" It's probably the nicest mall I've ever been to in my whole life. I joked to my friends that this is how Mexico should look like. Even the bathrooms were elegant and I took joy in flushing toilet paper down the toilet. I forgot for awhile that I lived in Mexico!

We saw Johnny and June (or as its called in the US, Walk the Line). It was really good and I sang Johnny Cash songs all the way home.

Ciudad de Mexico!

Today was my first "excursion" experience in Mexico. Included in the program cost of studying abroad are trips every other weekend to various places in Mexico. We went to Mexico city to the "Plaza de la Constitucion" and visited the "Palacio Nacional" which had lots of Diego Rivera murals. We also visited the Metropolitan Cathedral. When we were in the Palacio Nacional, a lock-down occured because there was a large political protest ouside. I was mad because I didn't get to see or take pictures of any of it.


We walked to some small side streets of the city and were surrounded by people yelling, "Cinco! Cinco pesos!" for items (AKA junk) they were sellinjg. It was really cool to listen to. As we walked down the streed full of crap, all of a sudden we started hearing whistles. Immediatly, all the street vendors started to wrap up their blankets with junk on them and leave. We wated and saw the police coming and figured that the street vendors weren't legal. It was really cool to see a street that was previously crowded quickly clean up in about 45 seconds. Some people were slow, so some people who had cleaned quickly blocked the police from entering the streets. It was so awesome to watch.


We left that part of the city and went to a Anthropology museum. Austin went off with some other people to eat since I wanted to start exploring the museum. For the next hour and a half, I was alone and I loved it! Since coming to Mexico, I haven't been alone other than in the baño. I wanted to be by myself so I could explore the museum at my own pace and be able to rest my hemorid butt!

3 hours at the museum was way too much and I finished early. I was glad when we got on the bus to go home.

We spent the rest of the night at home studying. Mama, Austin, and I were doing a crossword puzzle in Spanish and Mama wanted to explain the word "scar" in Spanish. To do this, she lifted her pant leg, looked at her leg, and upon looking at her leg, said, "Aye Dios Mio!" and quickly covered it. She and I started laughing hysterically as Austin looked on with a puzzled face. She and I were laughing because she hadn't shaved her legs in a while and her legs had hair on them. She was embarrased but able to find humor in the situation.

My feet after a long day!

Roid, Cell Phones, and Indecisiveness

My friend Roid, as Austin calls it, is back. I discovered him last night in the shower and he really caused me pain this morning. After class, and during what should have been my next class, Austin walked with me to the Superrama to get some Preperation H suppositories. They didn't have any cheap generic brand, so I had to spend $16 USD on a brand name product. While at the store, I bought some churros and donuts.

The donuts were supposed to last all weekend, but when I got back to class, people were hungry so I gave my food to them. I wanted them for myself, but I wanted to give them away more.

One big problem in Mexico, at least for me, is not having a cell phone. If we want to make plans with other people, we have to plan ahead and arrage to meet at certain places at certain times. Yes, very old school.

Tonight, instead of making plans, Tmas was going to call everyone at 6pm. Austin and I waited for the call and by 8pm, we decided that we weren't going to hang out with him. As we were about to leave the house for the zocalo, Mam insisted that we stay for tamales. She invited 7 other women over for a fiesta and said there was plenty of food. Austin and I decided to stay and ate yummy tamales. They were so good! It was actually the first time I've had tamales in my entire life! Austin and I spent the next hour and a half talking about life and stuff. It was really cool.

Angelita finally called us and told us that everyone was meeting at a certain bar in a part of the city. We left the house at 9:15, caught a cab, and drove up to the bar just as our friends were leaving. They said that the bar was too loud. We walked up the street and found another bar. We sat down for 3 minutes before someone said that the music was too loud and wanted to leave. Their indecisiveness drove me nuts (especially since we sat down already) so I kinda got upset. We left the bar and found a quiet one that was really cool. We only spent about an hour and a half there since we didn't want to stay out too late.

Beth and I being cool
I was kissing a Angelita on the lips, but Sara, who took the picture, totally missed it. I think the resulting picture is hilarious!

Me amo la computadora

I was bad today. I skipped 2 hours of class to get high... on the computer. I'm amazed at how good it feels to spend a long time in front of a computer screen. The reason I skipped class was because I needed to put pictures online. I was trying to figure out the best way to share them, so I paid for a flickr.com account and played with it today. I really like the program and am excited to use it. It felt nice to tell people about it and see them get excited. I love sharing pictures with people.

I did catch the last hour of class since Austin came to the computer lab to get me. He said that we were going over imperatives, a "hard subject" he said. When I sat in class, my mind became a sponge and I really understood the concept. Andrew said it was because my mother yelled at me in the imperative form. I laughed, but then when I thought about it, I realized that he was right. She always said, "Da me lo" (Give it to me). Even though my mother never taught me Spanish, her occasional Spanish phrases helped me today.

I called Austin a metrosexual today because he likes to groom himself and likes to wear nice clothes. His response? "Okay full-on." I thought it was really funny.

Finally, BoyinSuit Photos

I've added a new "feature" to my blog: updated pictures. After thinking about the best way to share my photos with family and friends, I decided to follow Anne's advice and purchase an flickr account. I've been playing with it for the past hour (when I should be in class) and I really like it.

I will upload almost all of my pictures so people can see them and so that other people here in Cuernavaca can download them for their own purposes.

I hope you enjoy them!

(Don't worry about the dates of my posts. I'm trying to update it as soon as I can. This post will be at the top of my blog for awhile until I catch up to today).

Americans becoming Mexicans

I had a really full day today. After school ended at 2pm, Austin and yo ate lunch and went on the roof of our casa to tan. The sun was bright and the roof presents an excellent place to turn our skin into a nice, dark color. If Austin and I tan for one hour, 3 days a week, we'll be dark when we get back to the states. While it was really really relaxing, we both panicked when a wasp wanted to join us. Austin took my sandal and killed it.

When I get back to the state, not only will I have a nice tan, but I will also have a better body. Austin really pushes me in the gum and I really like it. We're shooting for four days a week.
It's 8pm and I'm a little tired. I'll probably go to sleep soon. I would never do this in the states...I love it! I'll get 9 hours of sleep!

Have you seen a picture of Helen Keller's Dad? Neither has she.

I fell asleep last night writing my in my journal. Nothing really happenned yesterday so I didn't have much to say. Today was different.

Brian finally wrote me a long email telling me what he's been up to and how much he misses me. The cutest thing he said was that he plays World of Warcraft alot because it keeps his mind from remembering I'm gone. I hadn't missed him until today when I read his email. I can't wait to see him again!

In my second class, someone mentioned Helen Keller and I couldn't stop telling Helen Keller jokes. After I ran out of real jokes, I started to make up my own. They were really stupid, but I found them incredibly funny.

There's a Ricky Martin Christmas song that I can't get out of my head (Aye Aye Aye it's Christmas and I don't know what to do...). I keep singing it over and over again and Austin is getting really annoyed with me just like Brian does in the Estados Unidos.

I took my laundry to be cleaned yesterday and picked it up on the way to the gym. For only $6, they washed, dried, and folded it! I love how everyone in Mexico has a store that does everything!

Mama took Austin and I to Wal*Mart in the afternoon. I took lots of pictures and loved how everything is the same as in Utah! Mamá thought I was loco for being so excited. I just like globalization! All the ones I took are here.


Austin and I went to the outdoor resturant, Los Arcos, tonight and it was lots of fun. I had a hamburger and fries which were really yummy. Austin had 6 beers and I had none (cause cerveza is nasty!).

Lauren and I trying to Salsa dance
Beth and I having fun!

Flojo Domingo's

Austin and I slept in until 10am today. Mam went to Catholic church and Austin called his girlfriend on the phone. While they both did that, I took pictures of the house. From all the pictures I took yesterday to all the ones I took today, I filled up my 1GB memory stick. When Brian first bought it for me, I thought it was way too much--now I'm glad he did. Really glad...

Since Mam was at church, I made lunch (well, heated it up). She came home as I was cleaning dishers and said, "You don't have to do that." I told her that yes, I had to, or my mother would be mad. She laughed and said she agreed.

Austin and I were supposed to meet Toms in the zocalo, but we got there late. We ended up seeing Munich with Spanish subtitles. We came home, studied for a bit, then watched TV. We watched the Screen Actors Guild awards and Legally Blond.

I guess my unproductive Sunday's in the Estados Unidos translate to Spanish.

Dining Room and Living Room
My Room

Taxco, Mxico

Austin and I were supposed to wake up at 8am, but woke up at 9am instead because we needed more than 3 hours of sleep. We were supposed to meet friends at a certain bus station at 10:30am, but when we told Mam, she said that that was the wrong bus station and wouldn't take us where we wanted to go. She gave us the correct bus station, but Austin and I went to the wrong one to wait for our friends. After everyone arrived, we stuffed ourselves into a taxi (6 of us: Austin, Beth, Sara, Logan, Tmas, and me) and went to the right bus stop.


We arrived in Taxco an hour and 30 minutes later. We went to a resturant to get something to eat. I thought I'd be adventerous so I got something on the menu that I didn't even know what it was. I was apprehensive at first, but when it arrived, I was glad I ordered it. It was incredibly tasty and I kept talking about how good it was all day. Also, I usually don't like guacamole, but this place had incredible guacamole and tortilla chips--not chips in a bag but real fried tortillas.

Taxco is on a hill (much like a Mediterranean city), so Toms started leading us up the hill. We walked for about 45 minutes when I decided that we were going nowhere. I expressed my concern to the group that we weren't getting anywhere, only walking in poor streets. Toms said that we should keep going and everyone agreed; we pressed on.


The walk was pretty hard because of the steepness of the streets. One girl, Sara, was having a hard time. She was usually behind everyone else by 15 feet. I didn't want her to feel left out, so I stayed near her to make her feel better. I thought of what my father would do in the same situation and tried to emulate what he would do. I can remember my father always walking in the back of large groups to make sure everyone was okay--he always acted like a shepherd. I knew that if I didn't help Sara, I would be disappointing myself and my father.

Everything was okay until I said we should take a break. Sara was exhausted and so was I. Everyone said, "Yeah, let's take a break" and sat down. After 2 minutes, Toms said he wanted to see how much further we had to walk. He started walking away and then everyone else followed. It upset me that we were supposed to be taking a break and we didn't; it was selfish of them to not wait. After 5 minutes, Sara and I pressed on.

We caught up with them and came upon some steep steps--about 100 of them. Once she saw them, Sara said that she couldn't go any further and told everyone else to continue. There was no way, I thought, that we'd leave her by herself. Unfortunatly, I was wrong. Everyone else pressed on. While Sara urged me to go with the group, I told her I wasn't leaving her. I don't believe any group should leave a person behind. I was angry that the rest of them left us and thought it was okay to do so. I really wanted to go to the top, but I would never leave Sara's side. In an enlightened moment, Sara said, "You know, it would be really lame if we walked this far and stopped here." I agreed and was excited at her determination.

We took our walk slowly, playing a game of how many steps we could take. On our way up, I heard Keane playing from a stereo and thought how cool globalization is. There was a kid trying to carry a bike up some stairs, so I carried it for him.

It's funny because the other people who left Sara and I are pretty liberal, so I had this thought: How could these people with liberal ideologies who express compassion for the poor and other travesties not display compassion for someone who needed it right in front of their eyes? I think its great that people have compassion in a theoretical way, but only true application really means anything. I still think those who left us are great people, but I was disappointed in their lack of moral judgement.

We finally met up with them and walked for 20 minutes, finally reaching the highest point in the city. The view was spectacular and totally worth the climb. There were some Mexican children who helped us fnid the place and I enjoyed talking to them. Whenever I see kids, I'm reminded of Ryan Oliver Hansen and try to do what he would do around them.




After 30 minutes of talking and resting, we walked back down. It went more quickly this time (though for me, it hurt more because of gravity). I took tons of pictures and was glad when Beth looked at them and said she liked them. I fell asleep on the bus ride home, tired from an exhausing day.

Friday Night when the mood was right

I had the hardest time understanding the Spanish concept of the indirect object (or substituting a noun with it). Out of a class of 5, 4 people understood it as I struggled with it. I felt so stupid because I'm never the last one to understand a concept. I kind of got the concept, but I need to study it more.

One argument that my brother Russell and I always got into was about the rules of English. I believed that the rules are there for a reason and must be follwed. Russell believes that language can be changed and follow the popular way to say things because some English rules don't make sense. After one week of learning Spanish, I have joined Russell's side of the argument. Spanish has some stupid rules that make no sense! It's like a person just made it up! My teachers don't have a reason other than "that's the way it is." I wish languages threw out stupid rules. I'll never be able to argue with Russell on this point again.

When school ended, a group of students and I went to learn Salsa dancing. I wasn't going to do it (because I don't usually dance with girls) but I thoguht it would be fun. It was and I had a really good time dancing with my friend Lauren. We acted crazy and made up our own moves.

Lauren and Jesse: Dance partners for Life!
After we ate and took siestas, Austin and I started getting ready to go out. We were supposed to meet some girls we met in the computer lab and then go to a party afterward. When I finished putting on white shoes, jeans, and a pink shirt, Austin looked at me and said I would look better with a black belt and black shoes. He even took out some of his black shoes from the closet and told me to wear them. I laughed and said that it was funny that a straight guy was giving fashion advice to me. He laughed too and said that he just likes to look good.

When I asked Austin if he was ready to go, he responded, "Yes sweetie." Not thinking I heard him correctly, I asked him to repeat what he said and he smiled. He repeated the phrase and said that he considers me his sweetie. I laughed and told him that that's really weird. He said he hoped that he didn't offend me and I told him that he didn't.

We walked to the girls house, then met Tmas on the street corner at 8:30pm. We walked a mile to his house and then hung out there. It really wasn't a fiesta--we just waited for some girls from the U to arrive.

When the did arrive, we needed to get a taxi to go to the club. I don't know how we did it, but we managed to get 6 people (excluding the driver) into a small 4 door car. It was crazy!

Me, Anjelita, and Beth on one side of the car!
In Mxico, the clubs are not like Salt Lake where anyone can get into a club by just waiting in line. Everyone will eventually get in in Utah. In Mxico, its very much like a bigger city like L.A. where only certain people can get in based on certain qualities. We stood outside Club Barbazul with about 150 Mexicans who probably had been waiting a while to get in. We only waited about 2 minutes before a bouncer saw us (white, good looking American's) and let us in. When I say us, I mean Austin, Lauren, Beth, Anjelita, Tmas, and me. In Mxico, Americans can usually get into clubs first. When I entered, I felt badly because I felt I was given an upper hang because of my skin color and ethnicity. Hundreds of Mexicans waited outside while American students entered easily (for free I might add). It wasn't until I realized why clubs do this that my guilty feelings went away. Clubs are a business and need clientele to purchase alcohol to keep them in business. Clubs think that Americans have more income and will spend more money. Capitalism comes in many forms!

I had an absolute incredible time! It was probably in my top 3 most fun times of going out. The music was fantasic and we danced for 30 minutes. I tried to sing along to the Spanish songs that were playing. WHen my friends were tired, they walked off the dance floor and I kept on dancing for 45 more minutes. I love dancing!!

My legs couldn't dance any more, so I walked out to the tables where my friends were sitting. By this time, it was about 1:45am (normally the time that I leave a club in Utah). The six of us spent the next hour talking about everything from God to Wal*Mart. It's only been a week and we've already had 2 intellectual discussions like University students should do. During that hour, Lauren and I had our own conversation about God. She also asked me about my religious journey and also about being gay. She's really cool.

Anjelita, Austin, Me, Lauren, Tmas, and Beth
A Toast to Mxico!
We left the club at 3am and got home soon afterward. I thought I'd go right to bed, but Austin started talking and we talked until 5am. We shared very personal information with eachother and I got to know him better because of it. I don't think I've meshed with anyone as well or as quickly as Austin. I know I keep saying how great of a guy he is, but I don't think I can say it enough. He's really cool and I feel very blessed to be rooming with him.

Mexican Cosas

There are a couple of things I've been meaning to write about.

The first is that I love the weather in Cuernavaca. The mornings are a bit cold, but it really warms up. It's not scorching hot--just perfect actually. They call Cuernavaca, "Land of the Eternal Spring." It's so nice and I hope everyone in Utah is jealous!

I've having weird dreams, like very weird dreams. Anoche, I dreamt that a police officer came to my house. I told him that I was learning Spanish and asked him to only speak Spanish. When I found out that Megan called the cops on me because she thought I had child pornography, I asked the officer to speak English. Then I became retarded.

My roommate Austin hates that I snore. He says that he's never heard anyone snore as loudly as me. I woke up two nights ago with a calender next to me. Austin had thrown it at me to make me shut up! I gave Austin my sandals to throw at me if I become to loud again. I need to get my snoring problem fixed.

Today, we had quesidillas with ham for breakfast. It was really good!

In class today, we had to answer questions that our classmates asked the whole class. One lady asked, "Did you call your boyfriend?" When I answered with the girls in the class, the professor glared at me and said, "No! This question isn't for you! You are a guy. You don't have a boyfriend!" All of my friends started laughing and thought it was the funniest things of the day.

We later had a presentation about the Machismo in Mexican culture and where it comes from. They mujer (lady) who gave the talk was muy interestante y even cried at a part when she talked about being violated by some Mexican men. It was really sad.

I had a really cool discussion with Austin when we were supposed to be taking our siesta. We talked about his ex-girlfriends, my refusals to his invitations to parties before Mexico, and my feelings on being around straight guys at straight parties. He's a good listener and I enjoy having him as my roommate.

Mexican Toilets

I think I'm going to hire a cook when I'm older. It's very nice to wake up and have breakfast made for you. My favorite meal is lunch because I never know what we're going to eat. In the states, I cook so I know the crap that I have to eat. Mam makes excellent food. For lunch, we had some really good tortillas with potatoes, beans, and sausage on them. I got the recipe and am going to make them when I get back.

In class today, I was reminded of something that happened yesterday when everyone was at the zocalo. One girl, Sarah, said to the whole group, "So who here got the scholarship? We should all take a group picture!" The University of Utah gave out only 12 $1500 scholarhips. Since about 24 students are here, half didn't get them. I thought it was very crass and rude to ask people. I got the scholarship, but I didn't and would never tell anyone. Pride is not an attractive quality.

Also, in class, I talked with a girl named Lauren who is staying in Mexico after school ends to travel. I think after this trip, I may be more comfortable traveling in foreign places. It's something I've always wanted to do. I really with Brian had the same desire as I do to travel the world. I want to do it before I start "real life."

When I went to the bathroom today, I inadvertantly dropped toilet paper in the toilet. The paper was totally in pee water and had to fetch it out. I made Austin take a picture because it was kind of funny. After it was done, Austin said that it was weird to see me freak out like I did. He did an impression that made me laugh as his portrayal turned me into a very stereotypical gay man.


Since we're in Mexico, Austin y yo like to take siestas. They should only be 30-45 minutos, but today, we took a 3-hour nap. It was no nice! I could never do that is the US.

I made someone cry this morning. I asked a girl, Anjelita, to read a Spanish sign that I couldn't understand, and when she couldn't do it very well, gently teased her. She started crying and told me that only 5 minutes a professor yelled at her for not speaking better Spanish. She's come to Cuernavaca before and has taken almost all the Spanish courses at the U. She should be fluent, but she likes to party alot. As much as I tried to empathize with her, I couldn't feel very badly for her. People are a product of their actions in certain circumstances. That could sound mean, but I like people to be responsible for themselves.

I have a blister on my left foot from walking in sandals on Sunday. It needs to go away because I can't wear sandals until it does!

Working out and then out working

We woke up late this morning- I don't know why. As always, waking up is a chore where I have to convince myself that its worth it to get out of bed. Austin dressed quickly and was downstairs before me. I hate that because it makes me feel lazy.

Classes were good. I learn a lot for one day and am having a hard time remembering it all. I need to start studying, but I want to make friends before I become secluded. I'd rather be in a "clique" than trying to get into one after they've been formed.

I checked to see if the lost and found had my sunglasses. They didn't.

After we came back from school, Mam made fish, arroz, y salada. I'm glad that every meal has been great. It's really cool to not konw what I'm having for my next meal.

Austin and I went to the gym to get memberships. It's expensive, but my membership comes with a free personal trainer. His name is Austin! He helped me chose exercises that will build my problem areas. I told him that if I look as good as him in 10 weeks, I'll be happy.

We came back to la casa, showered, and took a bus to the zocalo. We met up with some of our class mates. We ended up sitting at a table where we talked politics and religion. There were lots of different opinions and it was really fun. I even got to give them my schpeal on Scientology. It was fun!

The fun continued as everyone met up at an outdoor resturant. We took up two tables and I moved seats over and over again to talk to everyone. I really like being my friendly self here in Mxico. I hope I can continue to "be myself" when I go back to the Estados Unidos.

I had 2 cervezas which will be my very last. A group of us went to another bar where we met some more people and then we went to another bar. I told Austin that I've never been bar hopping before. I really wish Brian liked to go out. I'll have to get it out of my system before I leave.

Me in beautiful Mexico!

My first day of school

I thought waking up at 7am would be harder, but it wasn't. I actually woke up naturally before the alarm went off. Austin y yo got ready, ate breakfast, y mam took us to school - our primir dia de escuela (our first day of school).

We went to a classroom where we waited for everything to start. While we were waiting, I captured the attention of the whole class by telling someone across the room how we watched The Bodyguard. I even said, "Me gusta la cancion (I like the song), (singing with a Spanish accent) And I will always love you!" Everyone laughed and thought it was funny. I probably looked like a big dork.

Then we were taken to the computer lab where we took a written Spanish exam. I didn't know the imperfect or predirite conjugations, but I thought I did pretty well. We then went back to the classroom.

When I got my examen back, I saw that I did horribly. Immediatly, I was taken to a professor where I had an oral examen. I bombed it. The professor said that I needed a lot of review.

As I walked back to the classroom, I felt like a failure. I wanted to be by myself so I could wallow in my self pity. I wanted to be angry with myself, but I also realized that being mad at myself accomplishes nothing. It was hard to know the right thing to do and not want to do it. I expressed my frustration to Austin and he was a good listener.

We received our schedules and found that Austin y yo were in the same classes. I think this going to be really nice. We'll really bond because of it.

Oh! I was also frustrated because I lost my sunglasses- my nice Oakley ones. So as I was frustrated for being stupid, I also felt like an idiot cause I lost my glasses. It's the first day of school! I will look tomorrow to see if someone turned them into the lost and found.

The professor in my first class was very nice. Talking to him en espaol really put me at ease because I could talk to him.

After his class, I did what I've wanted to do for the last 3 days--check my email! I told someone that internet access is like a cocaine addiction for me. It was so nice to go to yahoo.com and read my email. I wrote a quick email to mis familia y amigos to let them know everything was okay.

My second and third classes are conversation classes. Well, kinda. A professor just teaches and we repeat everything he says.

At 2pm, class ended and Austin y yo walked to the gimnasio to check out prices. It's going to be $550 pesos a month ($55 USD), but it will be worth it if I can lose some weight before I go back to Utah. A person's body can really change in tres mesas!

While in my second class, some classmates found out I was gay because I mentioned my boyfriend. One girl thought it was cool, another girl said she knew because I said that I like singing and dancing.

Anyway, we walked back to our casa where Mam made spicy meatballs with arroz y frijoles--and tortillas! I love having tacos every dia! The food made Austin y yo sleepy, so we took a nice siesta that lasted until 4:45pm.

I had to poop, but I also can't poop in public places because, well, I'm poop shy. Anyway, it took alot to poop in the bathroom when Austin could hear me, but I did it and was proud of myself. Yes, I was proud that I made a poopy.

We walked back to la escula donde we used the computadores. I updated by blog y read some others. Austin needed to go to la tienda por the ATM, so we walked to el supermarcado. We browsed the aisles and it was interesting to see American brands en espaol. I'll have to take a picture.

When we walked out of el supermarcado, it was dark. Luckily, we bought some churros y pan to keep us company. We went back to school where I downloaded pictures from my cmara. Hay no CD burner so I don't know how I'll save all my pictures. Hay un amigo who said I could download all my pictures on his laptop, but I take too many for his 20GB hard drive. We'll see...

I'm really feeling my sunburn. My arms and neck hurt. At least it created a base tan so I won't get burnt again--at least I hope so.

My first day of school picture!

Exploring the City

We woke up this morning earlier than we thought we would--10am. You would think after an early plane ride, a 2 hours bus ride and only eating an apple turnover in la maana would have caused us to sleep in. We dressed and were downstairs by 10:30am.

We had mangos with yogurt first (which I didn't like since I don't eat mangos or yogurt in the Estados Unidos). Then Mam brought out juevos con hamon! It was so good--she even brought out totillas!

We told her we wanted to explore the city, and asked her to mark our location on a map that el escuela provided to us. She didn't like el mapa, so she gave us one she had made. She explained how to get to certain places of interest and told us the correct amount of money a taxi should charge two American students.

I wanted to walk to the school primera so we followed our homemade map. I was really glad to learn that la escuela is muy close to el casa. Aunt Wendy said I should walk to school and now I'll get to follow her advice. It's only a 15 minutoes walk.

After finding the school, we wanted to find el centro de ciudad, or the zocolo. We walked down a one way sreet for about 30 minutoes trying to find it. We came upon an iglesia that was on our map, but we still couldn't find the zocalo. Austin and I thoguht we had gone too far, so we walked norte on another calle.

I became frustrated because our map placed the zocalo in the exact spot we were walking in. Then I figured it out-- there were dos inglesias and el mapa wasn't to scale. Dos blocks sud did not mean dos blocks. I guess that's the "bello" of a handdrawn map.

During our unsuccessful trek, I needed water and stopped at a small tienda to buy water. When Austin tried to buy el agua, the person told him it would be $5.50 pesos. Austin had a confused look on his face when he reached into his pocket for money. He continued to have a confused face until he realized the exchange rate. The water was only $0.55 in American dollars. I teased him abuot that.

We found the zocalo and also found some students in our group.

I bought my first food off the street--a churro. Well, I bought a bag and shared with Austin. We also saw a large Catholic church and walked around in a nice jardin.

We took a bus home (since both of us had blisters from wearing sandals). Mam made chicken, rice, and brocolli for lunch. As we sat down, she started crying, telling us that Alonzo, her son, left to go to school in Baja California. She kept apologizing, and I had no idea what to do. Austin put his hand on her and told her it would be okay.

After lunch (about 4:30pm), Austin and I watched the Bodyguard on television. It was in English but had Spanish subtitles. When the movie ended, I said, "I never thought I'd be watching the Bodyguard in Mexico with Spanish subtitles with another guy." He laughed.

We studied verbs and tenses until 9pm and then we started talking. I'm really glad that Austin is my roommate. He's smart, funny, and can keep up with me in a conversation. We're meshing very well, better than I expected. He's exactly the kind of roommate that I wanted.

Oh! I can't believe I forgot this! We talked about me being gay on our long walk. He said he didn't care at all and said that others shouldn't care either. When I told him about my reservations, he laughed. He told me that he's hung out with gay guys before and thought they were fun. He also said that he took a class where there was a lesbian with a kid. He said it wasn't until he met her that he realized how hard gay people can have it and therefore can only have respect for them. He said that people need to put themselves in others shoes, and until he thought about what it would be like to be gay, never understood.

I'm sunburned on my face, arms, and feet. The weather here is awesome! Much better than cold Utah.

Arriving in Cuernavaca

Megan bought me this journal for Christmas because she thought I wouldn't have internet access to write on my blog. While the school I'm going to in Mexico has computers, I thought that I would be able to access them every day. I don't know if that's true any longer.

I'm lying on my new bed in my new house where I will live for the next eleven weeks. I'm excited to be here but I miss the familiarity of home. I'm in a nuevo country, learning a nuevo language, living in a nuevo house and have a nuevo roommate. I'm more excited now than I was this maana.

I woke up at 5am and got in the shower. I had packed everything last night so all I had to do this morning was dress, brush my teeth, and leave. My plan and preparation worked and Brian and I got to the airport at 5:45am for my 7:15am flight.

We met my roommate Austin and his girlfriend Melissa at the airport check-in. She was cute. Austin took meeting Brian as, well, nothing much to write about. We checked our bags and walked to the security checkpoint and I said goodbye to Brian. I'm going to miss him alot but I'm glad I'm going. Our goodbye was not very long, as oppsed to Austin's and Melissa's.

In the airport terminal, I met our fellow travellers. I'm really trying hard to follow Megan's advice: be yourself! The Jesse I am said hello to everyone and tried to make everyone feel at ease.

The plan ride was uneventful. It was great sitting next to Austin and getting to know him better. We flew to Phoenix and then to Mexico City.



Austin and I at the Phoenix Airport toasting our trip!

Me eating the oatmeal cookes that Megan and Mckenna made me. I shared them and everyone really liked them!

Look at those exchange rates!

One of the coolest things I saw was the smog above Mexico City. I'd heard about how bad it was, but it was awesome to actually see it in person. It looks like a dense fog.

After getting through customs and baggage claim (where I took pictures and was scolded by la policia to stop), we boarded a bus to Cuernavaca. I got sick on the ride, but only a little.

We arrived at the school and sat in a classroom. One by one, they called our names and announced who our new families were going to be. I was really nervous because this was my "new" family who I'll spend the next 11 weeks with.

When our names were called and I saw the woman who was going to take us in, I approached her with open arms and kissed her cheek. It was a proper Mexican welcome. She drove us to her home. My limited espaol made it hard to communicate, but we managed. She showed us our small but clean room and started to make dinner. We had chicken with cactus and rice. It was very good.

After speaking with our limited Spanish, we went upstairs to get ready for bed. Oh! When Mam showed us the bao, we noticed a sign. It had some warnings on it about the toilet. We had no idea what it said, so we asked her. She told us that toilet paper couldn't be flushed down the toilet.

Tonight, Austin made me laugh as he told me how hard that was going to be. He went to the bathroom and explained that it was hard. After he took a shower, I jumped in and noticed that the drain was crappy. As the shower filled, Austin knocked on the door and told me to unplug the drain. I felt like an idiot.

At least there is hot water. That was my #1 concern.

The Color of Money

I had to go to the bank this morning to withdrawal $2200 to pay for my trip to Mexico. I told the teller that I needed a check for the said amount. She typed something on her computer and then said, "That will be $8."

"Um, I've gotten it free before."

"I can't give you them for free."

I became annoyed. "I was at a Wells Fargo a few months ago and got a check for $1700. It was free. I know you can give it to me for free."

"I'm sorry sir," she responded. "I can't give you one for free."

"How can we do this then? I'm not going to pay for a check that I've gotten for free before."

"I can give you money orders for less than $1000."

"That's fine. I need you to give me four money orders." ($140 was for my parents, the other was for tuition).

I left the bank a little ticked. I got the free check at a Wells Fargo on the east side and had to pay for a check on the west side. Is it because the west side bank is frequented by minorities and the bank can make money off of them?