Fingers crossed . . .

I'm hoping to actually get a good enough internet signal for enough time to actually post this. Here is my entry that should have been posted about 3 weeks ago!! After this one, I'll hopefully be able to write one sometime this week regarding my week of vacation on the beach! So here goes . . . again . . .

Okay everyone, I've been MIA for over a month now. I figured it was time to update all of you, before you send out the search party for me! I'll start from where I left off . . . this is going to be a long one folks, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the reading!

The weekend after Valentine's Day we got invited to a Salsa Club by a Mexican girl we know. We were so excited to go!! There was a live band, and the dance floor was packed with Mexicans salsa dancing! It was so much fun to watch, and then Dustin talked me into actually trying it . . . and that's when we realized white people really can't dance. Despite the fact that all the Mexicans were basically staring at us, and probably laughing too, we did have a really fun time!!

The gang at our tables - prior to dancing.


Linda, Mary and I


After that weekend is when the chaos started. I went to class on Monday morning and was checking my email in between classes. I had an email from my mom telling me that my Grandma Ruth had passed away Sunday evening. I found out at about 10:30 Monday morning, and was on a plane by 8:00 that night. I never expected to be back in the States before my 13 weeks was up, but plans change! It was nice to be home, but I definitely did not enjoy going from 70-80 degree weather to weather in the teens!! All things considered, I enjoyed being at home for the short time, and got to see all of my family. I got home on Tuesday, and then on Saturday it was back to Guadalajara!

Of course, not without some "Griswold Happenings." My flight was supposed to leave Minneapolis at 4, get into Dallas at 7, and my next flight left Dallas at 8. An hour layover - plenty of time, right? Wrong! There was something wrong with the plane in Minneapolis, so it did not leave on time. Which means we arrived in Dallas late . . . I had about 20 minutes to catch my connecting flight, which was of course in a completely different terminal! I made it just in time, the last one on the plane. However when I got to Guadalajara I realized that while I made the connection, my luggage did not. I was on the last incoming flight of the night, which meant I had to wait for over an hour at the airport until a representative from American Airlines finally showed up. I filled out a report and was finally on my way back to my house. Luckily, they sent my luggage on the Sunday flight so I had it by Sunday afternoon.

I had a big test on Monday and then some of my friends had tests on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we went out on Wednesday night to celebrate being finished. We went out for pizza and then went to a local bar to play pool. It was a lot of fun - here are some of the crazy pictures.

Linda, Allan and I


Dustin (my dance partner), and Giovanna (the girl we went to the salsa club with)


My roomie Linda and our friend Cason


And that was the end of fun times for awhile! I ended up getting sick at the end of the week. I had some sort of flu, I felt like I had run a marathon - and you all know my philosophy on running. I hit my bed Friday evening, and that's where I stayed the entire weekend. During the week I progressively got a little better, but still never felt 100%. I basically had a migraine for a week straight, and then last Thursday I broke down and went to the doctor. Turns out that after my Mexican flu, I had a sinus infection and ear infection. He put me on 2 types of medication, and I finally started feeling better!

Luckily I felt better for the weekend - we had plans to go to a small town near here called Tequila. And yes, the name implies correctly - it's where the majority of Mexican tequila is made! We took a bus there, then got to tour a tequila field, a tequila factory, and then of course at the end - we got to do a bit of tasting! We had a lot of fun, and got to practice our spanish with the rest of the Mexicans who were with us.

Dave and I on the bus ride there.


Our group at the factory - we visited the Sauza Tequila Factory.


This is an agave plant - it's what they make the tequila out of.


But not out of the stems - they trim those off, and the tequila comes from the inside part - the giant egg shaped thing you see here.


Doing some tasting!


After the factory we went to a restaurant in the "centro" area. Instead of giving everyone glasses of water, we all got tequila mixed with Fresca. For free!


We took a nap when we got back Saturday afternoon, and then went to a club Saturday night. It was our friend Jason's last weekend in Guadalajara, he has to go home at the end of this week. Unfortunately, there were no cameras allowed at the club - so you'll just have to use your imagination . . . it's not hard to picture the white girl with no "funk" dancing yet again!!

And that brings you up to date on what's been going on in Mexico. To sum it all up, I had a trip back to the States . . . then had to play catch-up . . . then got sick . . . then had to play catch-up again! A couple of other things going on regarding school . . . I've had 3 tests, I got 93% on both of my literature tests, and a 98% on my language test. My lit. class is now done, so I just have my last week of language class this week with our final on Thursday. And then we're off for a weekend of fun in the sun in Puerto Vallarta!! We're heading there on Thursday and get to stay until Tuesday. We are all looking forward to it, classes have been getting in the way too much lately!!

I have some other pictures for all of you, but thought this small novel was enough for now. I'll hopefully post them sometime soon. Until then, I hope you are all doing well. It's time for "cena" now, so I better get home!! Love you and miss you all!!

Okay, some of this doesn't make sense but what can I do. Mexican internet is severely lacking!! I'll be posting sometime laster this week about my vacation . . . hopefully this one FINALLY works . . . pushing the button now . . .