San Miguel de Allende (possibly is Spanish for 'awesome'); Differences part 5

This weekend we (Stacy, Jordyn, and I) decided to take off to a new location and get out of Queretaro a little bit on our own. Jordyn and Stacy both have senoras who recommended strongly that we head to San Miguel de Allende. I was skeptical of the idea at first because it is such a touristy town that I thought for sure it would suck (the last tourist town we went to, Guanajuato, I really didn't enjoy because of the way the locals treated us gringos). I decided to go any way just because if I didn't go I probably would have past the day doing homework and playing Diablo two, both related to spanish, one more so than the other, but not actually the Mexico experience that I'm looking for.

Friday night we headed to the bus station, but bus tickets for the trip (which were only 25 pesos with the student discount (that's about two dollars and ten cents for a trip that took two hours)), and headed out on the bus that showed up just an hour late.

The bus trip was pretty easy going, just sat and enjoyed the movies that were playing and watching as they pilled people onto the bus in a way that you would never see in the States. So this is not an ordinary public bus, this is a buy a ticket get a reclining seat with TV's that come down from the ceiling bus, and they had people piling on from random stops on the side of the road and standing in the isle completely smashed together. I had my seat and my 'Meet Dave' movie that was dubbed in spanish, so I got my $2 worth.

We arrived at the central station in San Miguel with just a little confusion on 'I really hope one of these random stops on the side of the road is ours, because I really have no idea what San Miguel looks like...' and took a taxi to our hostel. We Chatted with the incredibly nice lady at the counter, got our room, dropped off our stuff, and headed to the centro (with directions from the sweet lady at the front desk). We walked down a relatively unexciting street (it was dark by this point) and laughed at the 'great' idea that none of us thought to bring coats seeing as we were all under the impression that we are in Mexico. We walked just about six blocks, and the street opened up into the central plaza and I was absolutely blown away by the church that stood in front of us suddenly. It is a HUGE gothic church that happens to be one of the main tourist attractions of this whole city. We went to the church immediately, not unlike moths to the light, or Icarus to the ocean subsequently after going to the light (like a moth). Mass had just ended, so being good tourists we entered the church against the crowds and sat down in one of the front pews to enjoy the gorgeous and intricate work of just about every aspect of the place. Not three minutes after entering, however, the lights began to be shut off and we walked out to the sound of be singing quietly through my teeth 'Closing Time' by Semisonic ("Closing time, one last call for Jesus all, so finish your rose'ry or prayer" (not that I was quick enough to think of this before just now)).

All of that touring the church for five minutes and walking seven blocks really took it out of us, so we decided to go get some food somewhere we could sit down and relax. We didn't, however, want to pay a lot, so we decided to get a little out of the central. We walked for about ten minutes and found an awesome little taco place, sat down and order, then were told after about five minutes that they were out of propane and couldn't make our food, so our sodas were free. We were happy about the free sodas, but had all been excited about the tacos too. We left, and walked through what was quickly going from a light ran to a torrential downpour. At one point we were actually running through the streets asking places if they had food or quickly checking menus to see if they were gonna charge us $10 dollars for a meal (here that's really expensive). We finally ended up settling in at a nice italian place and splitting a pizza three ways. It was nice, and worked out financially really well.

After that we headed to a local cuban dance/restuarant/bar and each had a drink or two. The waiter was hitting on me, which was flattering, but HE refused to speak Spanish with us, which was a little obnoxious. In fairness to HIM, however, HIS English was way better than our Spanish.

We left the cuban joint and headed back to the hostel. Sleeping went very well save for the street light that was directly out side of our window (those shades tried so hard, but just couldn't quite cut it) and the inconsiderate drunken people running through the halls at around 4 in the morning yelling with all the force there inebriated selves could muster. These same inconsiderate yellings that woke me up and convinced me that something terrible, like a fire, was happening and that we needed to get out of the room quickly. I waited to see if they were gonna come pounding on our door, but then they started laughing and there voices drifted off as they went the other way down the hall and into their room... Needless to say the adrenaline kept me awake for a solid ten minutes (I'm a good sleeper).

In the morning we headed to breakfast and just generally toured the town. We went to the hot springs and got wicked ripped off by a taxi driver (who was really nice so I'm super confused) on the way out, but were offered a ride by a really nice Mexican couple for the trip back (it's only about ten minutes driving), so it really evened out.

The town was beautiful, the people were incredibly nice, and pretty much the whole trip was just awesome. There was, however, a clear winner in the highlight reel. It's a personal victory and I'm wicked, wicked excited about the whole event. Upon returning to the hotel, before the hot springs, we walked up to the extremely nice receptionist (I've said it three times now you better understand just how awesome this lady was), and were just about to ask for directions when she asked for a favor. She told us that there were some people there who didn't speak any Spanish and didn't have reservations for the same room, so they had to move. They didn't have to leave the hostel, just move to a different room upstairs. We went to their room, I relayed the message, translated and responded for the English speakers, and returned again what the receptionist was trying to convey. It was a very simple conversation and I believe that either of my companions would have done equally or better interpretation, but for me it was an incredible experience. The thrill I get from passing messages either between English and Sign for my deaf friend Sarah or between Spanish and English for things like this really make me think that being an interpreter is something I could do. Maybe it's not a lifetime sort of gig, but it's something that I really would like to pursue.

Here I am, back in Queretaro, enjoying the last of my time, but also eagerly awaiting my return home.

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Differences part 5 (it's like time travel!)

-Four wheelers (ATV's for some of you) are street legal and often used by both civilians and police.

-Water heaters need to be prepared about ten minutes before a shower.

-The summer vacation for students is only three or four weeks, depending on the grade.

-When a party or celebration is being held and you're invited, it is not only okay to invite all your friends, it's expected.

-Classes want to take away any sort of life outside of the classroom/homework (for architecture majors at the UO that's really not a difference)

-The hamburgers here are better.

-Simpsons are extremely popular and well liked by everyone (simpsons in the states has lost a lot of steam)

-A lot of businesses infringe on trademarked characters or phrases and no one really cares.

-Many stores don't have names.

-Many stores have names that are things like (english equivalents given) 'shoe store', 'jewelry store', 'bread store', 'chicken store', etc...

-People hang dry their clothes as opposed to using a dryer

-Clothes that are never dried by machine have more lint come time for wearing

-My bellybutton is FULL of lint several times a day

-There are only 31 states here

-People who put the Mexican flag on everything they own, aren't typically thought of as overly patriotic

-Fire works are only permitted by certain organizations including government buildings and churches. They are also really, really loud and going off at almost any given time due to the fact that everyday seems to be a different saint's day and every church seems to have a different saint that they consider their main.

-People here have never heard of ultimate frisbee

-The law states that smoking in enclosed areas, such as buildings, is illegal. Now that's the same as the United States, the difference is that in the United States people actually sometimes abide by this law.

-English here isn't even close to the main language, but it is the cool thing to do.

Love lots, hope this is enough reading for you all for a bit.

-Connor