Hola from México!

So I made it! I'm here in Mexico! We're currently in Guadalajara and we have a couple of weeks to settle in and get used to la vida mexicana before we start in the massive Universidad de Guadalajara. The university system is a little different here; the university covers the prep school system as well as having under and post grads - making for a total of around 200,000 students! That's CRAZY BIG! UEA only has about 15,00
0. The university is spread out all over the city and has campuses in other areas of Jalisco. We're going to
study in CUSCH, which is the social sciences and humanities faculty of the university. I've heard lots of things about the university here and how laid back both the students and professors are - I bet it's going to be an experience to say the least!

As you probably know, we flew into Mexico City and spent a few days there. Initially I was really, really nervous. I read so much about the crime there so I managed to scare myself silly about everything. However, once we got there, I felt a lot better. The city again is huge; around 20 million people live there and due to this and other things, it's considered a megalopolis (I love that word - I use it at every available opportunity!), and although we were vigilant

and were careful, the city itself feels quite human. We stayed in the Zona Rosa, which was about a 10 minute metro ride from the Centro Histórico. Here is the amazing Catedral Metropolitana and the government buildings etc. We stopped for ice cream and took it some of the sights. I wish you could capture smell in

a photo - it truly was amazing and delicious! I also decided to take on my fear of heights and we went to the top of the Torre Latinoamericano... All 42 floors! It used to be Latin America's biggest skyscraper - until something bigger and better came along, of course!

We also visited the Museo de Antropología, which features on a lot of the 'top ten things to do in Mexico', it was interesting but so big, it was impossible to take it all in during one visit.

On our final day in Mexico City, we decided to go on full-on tourists. We took the open topped TuriBus! It was great fun, we sat just on the bus for it's whole route and looked at everything. We saw parts of the city that we wouldn't have thought to go to - like the upmar

ket Polanco, the streets were lined with Tiffany & Co, Cartier, Luis Vuitton etc.

A tiny bit out of my price range!!

After four days in Mexico City, the time came to get on the bus to Guadalajara. The bus was SO nice, we'd picked a 'luxury' bus company for safety and comfort really, but it was so much better than I was expecting! We got a little packed lunch before we got on, huge reclining seats, tons of room. It was great! Way more comfortable than our flight with British Airways, if I'm honest.

Then we arrived in GDL, and it was a little overwhelming to be in another city. We're living in the Zona Centro, not the most posh area of the city but close to the centre. The flat seems a little too big for just the two of us at the moment, we're awaiting 3 other housemates. A German girl who is travelling at the moment and two Dutch girls. Hopefully we'll all get along okay.

I'm struggling with the Mexican accent and I don't understand much at all, haha. Hopefully as time goes on, I'll adjust to the accent and the completely different vocabulary! We're taking extra Spanish classes which I hope will help me along my way a little.

I think that's me pretty much up to date. We're visiting Tequila this Saturday so hopefully that'll give me lots to blog about ;) Besitos xo

(also apologies again for the screwy layout... silly photos)

Next stop: Mexico

I've completed the first half of my year abroad and I'm one day away from starting the second half. On Wednesday, I go to Heathrow and board a flight to Mexico City. This is a really big deal for me, super exciting but equally nerve-racking. Latin America, and particularly Mexico, have interested me pretty much as long as I have studied Spanish. I was lucky enough to study a couple of Latin American culture modules in the first and second years of uni and this further ignited my passion for these fascinating countries. I remember waking up one day and I'd decided that I wanted to go to Mexico instead of Spain for the Spanish part of my year abroad. I also remember the look of horror on my classmates faces when I told them. I'm in the minority choosing to go that far!

Fiona and I will be spending three days in Mexico City initially, perhaps taking in some touristy sights and then we get on a bus a travel the 8 hours to Guadalajara, where I will spend the next 6 months. We decided to rent an apartment from our university co-ordinator in GDL, rather than to worry about finding somewhere to live and viewing properties alone etc. Although it's unlikely we'll be living with a house-full of Mexicans, for me, knowing I'd have somewhere to live was quite important! Once we arrive in GDL, we'll have around 2 weeks to get settled in, explore the city a little and get used to the Mexican way of life! I appear to have forgotten all my Spanish but hopefully it'll come to me once I start hearing it every day again.

Going to Mexico is a massive challenge for me, it's a long way from home and I won't be able to have people visit or go home. I've packed lots of goodies to help my room feel more like my home and I'm sure it'll be an amazing experience for me. Getting quite nervous now though!

I'm going to leave it there for my pre-Mexico blog... Hopefully I'll blog soon when I get there - amongst the hustle and bustle of Mexico City! xo