Queretaro, Mexico...Oh Mexico!

Our cast arrived in Queretaro, Mexico on May 27th after a bit of a mishap with our bus company! We were supposed to load the buses at 6am and leave by 6:30, but when we all showed up for drop off, only one of our three buses was present! Our Operations Manager tried calling the bus company and the bus drivers, but no one picked up. So, rolling with the punches as we do here in UWP, she quickly ordered 2 new buses from another bus company, and, better late than never, we were on the road to Queretaro by 7:30am. Not bad for a last minute fiasco! Oh Mexico!

I had a great bus date with Miss Conny from Germany. It was a short ride, but we had a nice conversation! 

Upon arriving in Queretaro, we met with the Governor and his wife in a welcome ceremony, and then we took some pictures with him before heading out in groups on a walking tour!

We all got some pretty sweet "swag" from the Governor's office. Red backpacks, red baseball caps, and red thermal mugs. In addition, our other sponsor's requested we wear these BRIGHT yellow t-shirts, so we were QUITE the fashionable tourist group walking around town!

Unfortunately, IMMEDIATELY after this photo was taken, my camera was knocked to the ground and broke. So the rest of my pictures this tour will have to come from the cameras of others (namely Ambrea!)

Here's how my camera takes pictures now. Lovely, isn't it?!?

 

We had our allocation meeting and host pick-up. I learned I'd be rooming with sweet Myriam again (we were together previously in Orlando, FL). Our host mom and sister showed up mighty late, so we just snapped a quick picture before loading up the car and leaving. Oh Mexico!

Our host family this week was a family of Mom, Dad, and 4 kids (20, 18, 14, and 7). I'll be honest, between the occasional language barrier and the gaggle of people around the house, I never did learn everyone's names. Allana was our 18 year old host sister who was an amazing translator. We had a great week with her, and Myriam and I definitely tried to exercise our Spanish as much as possible with our host mom and other siblings.

Tuesday, the sweet men of the cast threw us a "Gentlemen's Breakfast" where they treated us ladies to a morning of fun and pampering! We were escorted in, served breakfast, given sweet appreciations written by the guys, were able to ask the guys any questions we wanted in a "group panel" setting, and even had our nails painted and backs massaged! Watching grown boys try and paint fingernails for the first time (while wearing suits, mind you) is a hilarious sight indeed!

 

Our "entertainment." Oshizu's sheet reads, "You're Welcome!" haha

They clean up so well! We LOVE our men in suits! =)

Sweet Hughy painted my nails. I was his first ever client and he did a damn good job! =)

Manicure stations! =)

Joshy gave me a wonderful backrub! Thanks!

 The gentlemen really spoiled us. We couldn't stop smiling, and it was a wonderful way to start our day! Thanks boys!

That afternoon we got to have lunch outside and interact with all the students of the school. It was great meeting so many different kids of all different ages. We had a fun lunch period!

Wednesday we had Study Abroad time and we got a lot of work done (mainly because my blog site and Facebook weren't allowed on the network. Psh!) I took a nap in the afternoon once I got my work turned in! That afternoon we also did a reflective-type education workshop concerning our semester, and it was nice to reflect back a bit and remember some distant memories!

Did I mention we had to wear our yellow shirts EVERY. SINGLE. DAY? Oh Mexico!

Thursday and Friday we had fantastic Community Impact days. I'll write a separate post about my favorite one that took place on Thursday!

Saturday was Host Family Day. We'd talked the night before that our family would get up EARLY (we're talking leaving the house at 7am) so that we could drive to San Miguel and spend the day at a thermal hotspring. Well, I woke up at 6:30 so I would be ready to go, but alas...we're in Mexico, and "Mexican Time" is not normal people time. Needless to say, our family didn't leave for the springs until 11:30. Oh Mexico! haha. The good news is, once we were there, we thoroughly enjoyed the warmth of the natural hot springs, the refreshing cool of the normal pool, and the relaxing rays of the sunshine!

Myriam and I relaxing and enjoying the sunshine!

Sunday we had our show day in a fantastically HUGE facility! We had a fun day jam packed of rehearsal, a mock rehearsal (where people got to try new, silly parts that they would NEVER do normally!), and then a staff appreciation presentation! We quickly got ready for our show and had a great performance. Unfortunately my host family wasn't able to come because of other commitments at church, but we still had a great crowd!

On Monday we packed up and headed to our last city on tour, San Lois Potosi. It's amazing how quickly time flies in this program!