Sandra in den USA *31.07.06- 15.08.08*

Holydays are my favorite days because I’m off!!! And lucky me I’m not the only one. Though Lena, Aileen, Anna  and me will go to a lake to relax and the most important thing- to be far away from the kids haha. The Lake was kind of weired, because normaly there are no puplic bathing areas like that in the States. And therefore it had to be very safe. There was a line in the water and you were not allowed to cross it, and if you did you got in trouble with the Park Ranger! Haha. It was a very small area and all the people were on this little spot so the water was very warm and not refreshing at all. But the weather was just awesome!

Later on we went to a park to watch a big firework which was realy cool. It lasted for about 25 min. that was my first firework after almost two years. Here are some pictures.

After almost 2 years I’m sitting here with my PC in bed. I missed that so much. I have tried everything to get the WiFi to work but it never did. And now Anna came by did something what I have already tried 100 times and it’s working…that is so frustrating! Whatever I’m glad it’s working now.

I have awesome news, I finally found an apartment which I really like and I hope it will be mine! My Mom will have an appointment with the renter tomorrow and I just hope it will work out! I’m so excited already. A part from that, I also got a new cell phone contract and I will have a new number soon, but I will let you know. I’m just so happy that everything is going so well!

Hopefully I’ll know on Tuesday where my new “home” will be, so keep you fingers crossed for me!

I haven’t been writing much lately, the reason is simple: I’m running out of time. Not just for writing some news but my time here in the US as well.
I think that I have still so much stuff to do and if I sit I front of the PC it feels like I would waste it.
What’s new so far, I’m taking Care of 3 kids now, therefore my family got a 12 week old puppy which I have to admit is kind of cute. But if you ask me, also a little “trouble maker”.
Her name is Cymn (pronounced: Sumy).  

 
My birthday actually was really cool even if I’m not the big celebrating type. I had three birthday parties. A BBQ for lunch with some friends at Anna’s house, Party with my family and at night we met at Aileen’s house for a Hawaiian-karaoke-party, which was awesome! We had a lot of fun- thanks to everyone!

About two weeks ago I went on my last vacation trip with Lena. We went to Miami South Beach, which was awesome because we didn’t do anything except of laying at beach! That’s what I call vacation.  The most exiting part was a shark attack and a old guy who told me the future…that was very interesting. And the old Guy…hehe he was actually really nice and we met him at Starbucks, where else
That’s pretty much it so far. I have only a couple more weeks left until I go back home and this feeling feels so strange. I can’t belief that we have already July the time is just flying by.
My bags are already packed, except from the stuff I still need. I ‘m so happy that my Grandma is coming; therefore I would not be able to bring everything back home.
A part from that I don’t have any more time for me because I’m working all day long. That sucks. But I don’t want to complain because everything else is going very well and I can’t wait to come home soon. But it also will be very hard to say “Good Bye”.

For enilish please scroll down!

Mexico war total cool!!!!________________________________________________________________________________________________

I don’t know how to put my impressions into words, which can describe what I’ve experienced. It was a real cultural shock in a Country, which at least has a culture 
Guadalajara is the second biggest city in Mexico with over 3 Mio inhabitant. The city seems so busy and alive, that you’ll get the impression the city never sleeps. It is just amazing how many people are on the streets and the traffic is just horrible. It seems like everyone is driving how they want to… I’m really happy I did not get run over by a car!
I don’t need to tell you, that Mexico is a poor Country. But in GDL you’ll find any kind of life style. A part from the areas where the poor people life there are a lot of rich mexican people as well.
Our purpose of the vacation in Mexico was an invitation from Patrick, a friend of Lena. He is in GDL for a year as well doing volunteer work in an orphanage.
Lena and I left the house towards Charlotte airport at 2:00 in morning. What was kind of hard for us, therefore we just slept for 2 hours, because of David’s Birthday party the night before.
Our flight was at 6:00a and we arrived in Mexico around 12:00p. Belief it or not, but the sun was finally shining.
Because of the fact, that the Mexicans don’t like the Americans we decided not to speak English anymore, therefore they will tease you if they figure out you are an American. That would not have been very helpful.
Patrick was so nice and made reservations for us in a very nice Hotel right in the middle between the Downtown area and his apartment. As soon as we got to the Hotel we got ready and grabbed our maps. On the way out Lena asked a guy at the Hotel which bus we’ll have to take to come to Downtown. There are a lot of Busses in GDL and they don’t really have a schedule they just come, when they come!  Like everything in Mexico! So we jumped in the Bus toward Downtown and got out right in the middle. I just say “Big City Life” It was just awesome!!! So many people and stuff like that that I did not know where to look first!
GDL is a very nice city for tourists and sightseeing. It’s a little bit like Europe; there are a lot of Cathedrals, Churches and nice places to walk around for hours. And that’s what we did!
Later in the afternoon we went back to our Hotel to get ready for the “Big City Night Life”. We decided to go to the Downtown area of Zapopan, which was the part of the city where our Hotel was located. We got out of the bus and stood right in the middle of Bars and Clubs- very nice, we knew that’s the place where we’ll spent our night
We got really lucky because right next to the Church on a big square was a festival going on. There was a big stage and chairs. And someone told us there will be a “dancing show” later on. We worked through the little streets where you could find these typical little stores were people sold nucleases, earrings and bractless. After that we went back to the stage and watched the show, which was really cool. Due to the fact that Lena was legal allowed to drink alcohol in Mexico we went out for “barhopping”. I think I had y first cocktail there within the last 21 month! I would have never thought that I will enjoy sitting in a bar, chatting and having a drink like that! I really missed having stuff like that. But it was great. Because we were in Mexico and had both blond hair, we almost didn’t pay for one of our drinks…hehe!
We slept in the next morning and got up by 9:30a. I could name all the places and buildings we’ve seen but that would be a bit boring for you guys, just take a look at the pictures.
We came home by 6:00p and got ready for our “meeting” with Lena’s friends and some other German people. They invited us for BBQ at their house for 10:30p. Before that Lena and I went to have a couple more drinks. By 10:15p we jumped in a cap toward the address Lena had gotten from Patrick. This was a very interesting ride, because we had no idea where we were driving! When we finally arrived at “La casa de los alemanes” a whole bunch of people were sitting and standing outside the house. I felt very strange when I got out of the car, because everyone was watching us. It was really strange for me at the beginning, therefore everybody was speaking German. And the worse thing was, that they all were from Stuttgart. So I’ would have preferred to speak English instate of having a really hard time understanding their ascents.  We got some real Mexican food from the grill and some good beer. I think I was more listening than talking but it was a very nice night. The house they lived in was not very clean and organized. They didn’t even had beds to sleep on, instate there was a mantras in the corner of each room. I don’t know if I would have been able to life like that for a year or longer. We left at 2:00 in the morning to get up 5 hours later. We meet at Patricks house for breakfast, with real roles!!! *Yummy* Afterwards we went together with Patrick and some of the others to the Orphanage, which really scared and shocked me! The place consists of two houses, one for the girls and one for the boys and a big yard, which was separated by a big fence and looked like a jail! Patrick went to work and we stayed there to play with the kids, which seemed to be so happy to see someone who is interested in them. They were very cute and we had a lot of fun. Trying not to think about how bad their lives must be! But they lived there better than in their actually homes. Later that day, Lena and I went of from the others and went by our own, for a walk toward home.
Later that night we had dinner with the Germans at a Taco place which was very nice as well.
We left the next morning at 4:30a to the airport. Back in the USA I had big troubles getting over the boarder, therefore my Visa is expired and the immigration officer didn’t excepted my  documents which proved that my Visa was OK. I had a really long discussion there with the officer and they wrote down a whole bunch of stuff about me. I had to tell them a date when I’ll leave the US which I don’t know yet. So I just told them the date what’s on my Visa and I have to see, what’s going on now. I really need to talk to my agency because of that. Could be that I’ll be in trouble if I want to leave the US toward Germany this summer.
All in all I have to say, that this was a great experience. I also have to say that it was very interesting to use my Spanish. It is very hard to speak it, like usually if you learn a new language, but I was very surprised how much I actually understood the people. I think you are only able to learn a new language very well if you live there where the language is spoken. I’m very motivated to learn more Spanish now, because I think it’s just amazing, to travel to different places and still be able to find you way around trough communication.

Pictures HERE—>  Vacaciones en Maxico