Today begins my first day of classes. Mondays and Wednesdays i have class from 4-6pm (how lucky am i?!), Tuesdays from 9-11am and then 6-8pm (I'll probably go home for lunch), and Thursdays, same as Tuesday but with an extra class from 11-1pm (will probably pack a lunch those days). Fridays, no class at all! That means time to go to the beach, study, sleep in and hang out with the host family.
Speaking of my host family, I've finally figured out the dynamics here. It's a lot like Meet the Robinsons:
Mama Mili--she's my host mom and the one I interact with the most. she's very sweet and a great cook!
Papa Carlos--Mama Mili's husband. I just call him Papa for short (you'll see why). He loves watching the Discovery Channel, the History Channel and Animal Planet. He's also a licenced pilot! He's very funny and we have great intellectual conversations about things like climate change and shark attacks. Oh, and Papa Carlos has a twin sister. Turns out Papa isn't retired, but he works at a photography studio downtown.
Then there are the grownup kids:
Carla--the oldest daughter. She's married and has a son named Roberto, whom we call Ricky. Ricky's having a birthday party this Friday at Burger King (he's making 8) and I'm invited!! I bought him a book on dinosaurs, a 3-D T-Rex puzzle and a pinwheel. I think he'll love it.
Carlos--He's the only son, and in this family all the sons are named after their fathers (Carlos y Carlos, Roberto y Roberto... etc.) Everyone calls Carlos, Carlos. He works for the Federal Office of Tourism and does a lot of liason work with National Geographic and the Travel Channel when they go to the ruins here. He's invited me to meet some of the people from Travel Planet in March. In the words of Mama Mili: "Carlos is cute, single and a hard worker. He's very friendly! You will like him."
Gabi--Gabi's the youngest sibling. She's married, with two kids: Octavio, age 10 and Ana Gabriela, 7 months (and omg so presh!!). Gabi comes over every morning to work out... she has a nanny who stays at home with Ana Gabriela. Octavio goes to a very nice bilingual english/spanish school. He loves Katy Perry and american pop music. Oh, and he's having a big 1st communion celebration next month, and I'm going to that too. Fun fact: Octavio plays on a kids' hockey league. Hockey in Mexico?! Who knew!!
As for the extended family:
Abuela--Mama Mili's mom. Abuela's like 86, almost totally deaf and lives downstairs. (Mama Mili's father passed away a few years ago. Mama Mili is an only child.)
Linda--Linda is our Mayan housekeeper. She's been with the family for 23 years. In Mexican spanish, your housekeeper is called the "secretario" even though she doesn't do any office duties.
??--we have a houseboy, whose name I don't know. He's very shy, and I think he may be Linda's grandson.
To make things more confusing, I've also met Papa's twin sister, Ana Gabriela's nanny, one of Mama Mili's friends from a civic group, and we used to also have 2 American high school students who lived here for a week on winter break. Oh, and 2 Canadian junior high students will be moving in for about 2 weeks... sometime next week?
So, who lives at the house? Me, Mama and Papa, Carlos, Abuela, the 16-yr old cat Cindy, a flock of pigeons (right outside my bathroom window, in fact), and a fluffy little dog named Mili (after my host mom). But everyone else is over pretty regularly.
Mama Mili and I downtown at the Cathedral
Carlos and me at home in the kitchen
Alright, when I get home this evening, after dinner and homework I'm going to FINALLY talk about (and show pictures!) of all the cool things I've done so far... like climbing ancient pyramids and snorkeling (when traveling around the region), to trying octopus cooked in its own ink (at a restaurant at the beach in Progreso this weekend). Hasta tarde!
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