Yo estoy disfrutando el dia de las brujas.

Kyann Ruefner stayed with me this past Thursday. She was the first person that I picked up at the bus station, a fact which I didn't realize until Thursday morning, but figured I'd taken a taxi there enough times first semester I'd be fine. I was almost there too when road construction forced me onto a road that turned me in the opposite direction. A few U-turns, and a bit of improv later found me back on track.
On the way back from the station to my apartment I have to announce that I found myself in the middle of my first 3-car turn. From three-lanes entering a round-about I pulled into traffic and realized that the car on either side of me had also. Unfortunately we only had two lanes to work with for awhile. I like driving in Mexico. If there's enough space, you make it work...


Pathophysiology proved to be very riveting for Sung on Friday.


Jania, the girl who sits in front of me in class, passed out Jolly Ranchers in class on Friday for Halloween. Bo got jealous watching me enjoy the candy and challenged me on the last one, wanting to taste the sweetness for himself. He eventually succumbed to reason after I explained to him that he is in fact a stuffed animal and in all reality can't actually eat the candy.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! Boooa! (according to a friend, that's Spanish for Booo!)

Hasta!

Yo estoy esperando una amiga.

Two neighbors of mine like to communicate. At night when we are all studying...or whatever we all do on Seris, the night is interrupted with a whistle. After a pause there is an answering whistle. And then a relay of call-and-answer begins. It used to happen a lot, and then after one night when there was no answering whistle the ritual stopped for awhile, but the other night I smiled to hear the nonsensical exchange of tones resume.

In class our seats are numbered on the back. Attendence is taken by Norma who enters the class and marks on a sheet of paper the seats filled and those empty. Classmates not interested in class that day stand outside and chat. We all know when Norma comes because everyone floods into the room at the same time. The other day she came earlier than normal to our first class of the day, so of course not many people had arrived yet and were marked absent. Norma had given the sheet to the Doctor so at the break those who had come in late went up to the front and marked their seat themselves. The next day Dr. Montial addressed our class and reprimanded those who had done such. He said that he hopes they don't get a residency placement as such dishonesty is not a trait a doctor should have. He also said that such behavior had made him feel stupid. yes, he used the word stupid. In Mexico stupid carries with it a grave insult. You don't call someone stupid unless you want them to come after you with 10 of their friends all with guns. Two things: I was very thankful to not have been part of the cause of such disrespect, and I was very sorry that he had felt such disrespect. Not many people like Dr. Montiel because he's not the best teacher, but he's older, slower, quiter, whiter-haired, reminds me of a grandpa and I can't help but like him.

Sis. Kyann Ruefner is currently spending two months in Mexico City teaching English. She's coming to visit the great city of Guadalajara today. Always exciting to have visitors!

Hasta!

Yo estoy meciendome.

Today is student appreciation day and in celebration they had a games day at the main campus (CU). I'm not going. Not really in the mood for bunches of people.

I wanted to share with you the status message that one of my classmates left on his Facebook page last night. I got quite the chuckle from it...
"student appreciation day tomorrow...aka come to class for attendance,
then go hand in a paper to a random dude somewhere on campus to get more
attendance, then sign up for a body cavity search and sign away your first
born...only then will you be excused from class...yes, I feel really
appreciated as a student..."
~Jason Goutis

Another of my classmates' birthday was yesterday. His parents had flown down from Florida, so his mom made him invite friends over for cake. (That sounds kind of odd, but it's actually really funny when you know Jonathan and his mom...she's Latina.) I went and don't think I said much the whole night, but didn't realize it as I was laughing so much. In addition, their house contains over a century of Mexican and familial history, sooo interesting.

I'm starting to get nervous about the cold in Illinois in December. Walking to class the other day it was about 58 degrees. My hands and nose were completely purple by the time I got there. (the walk's only roughly 5 minutes.) Also, yesterday I had to move a chair out onto my patio so I could study in the sun as my body temp had dropped whilst studying inside I felt frozen. If I'm having trouble with 55 degrees....whimper, I don't want to think about it.

Hasta!

Yo estoy comiendo un gansito.

I'm all wet. Had the pleasure of walking home in a light rain today. Makes me want to curl up in a blanket. This cooler weather we've been having lately has made me think of Fall time things back in Illinois: the most recent being orange lights decorating the mantel.

It's Wednesday so must get the Bible study ready for tonight. I just finished sending out this week's email announcement. A whole week elapses in between Bible studies and I have to wait till the day of to send out the email. If this email sending business was my job, I'd sooo be fired!

I am so tired of lies. Everybody lies! Some of the excuse stories that get made up are so ridiculously unbelieveable. Why can't people just be themselves? Enough with the lying!!!

Hasta!

Yo estoy vestida de negro.

We weren't the only ones out on the soccer fields yesterday. Gnats were so thick we could barely see to play as we kept having to swat at them. Of course that's not a cause to not play, so we played, and I only swallowed two. One positive outcome, you actually wanted to keep running as they didn't bother then.

After class today some friends came over to help me with the cake that has been taking forever to dwindle. Just one piece left :) I think when Triffinie drops Michael off I'll let him help me finish that off too!

I've been listening to my music on shuffle lately. Kind of fun as I am always surprised at what pops up next, and I only sometimes click next when a Christmas song comes up. :)

Hasta!

Tengo 24 anos!!!!!!!

I've lived 24 years now!! WOW! Hard to believe God has been this good to me.

I wore a pair of brand new socks today to celebrate. It was the most exciting part of my morning to pull on soft completely white socks! My feet looked kind of pretty! I felt kind of guilty putting such clean whiteness into such dirty tennis shoes.

So we did have one of our classes today. We have a visiting professor for Pathology so we still had Path. Just UAG professors had to be at the main campus for some sort of something today. Attendence was optional so there was a grand total of 16 of us there. This visiting professor, Dr. Loeng, doesn't know how to stop, or to tell time, either one.

Yesterday while walking I noticed a hopscotch board draw on the street. I had to resist the urge to take a detour and hop through it.

The electrical company had a truck outside my apartment last night for awhile. Some men were doing some work I guess. My electricity got turned off, and I had just lit some candles and sat down again to resume studying when I realized that the light was back on again. Anyways the point I'm getting to is about the truck, not my light. You know how some trucks beep when they back up? Well, this particular truck yodels!! I had to go to the window to confirm. The truck was yodeling!!

Hasta!

Yo estoy cansada.

This past weekend was a rare weekend that I was able to make it to Ixtlan. I wish I could say that it was the well deserved break that I needed, but it wasn't, and so I am still in need. It was wonderful to be amongst my family of believers, but today I had my Neuroscience final, and so all weekend guess what was hanging over my head... yup, the final.
Examples:
On Saturdays I arrive in time for the meal usually at 1:30. Due to some errands Marshall had to run in Zamora the meal had been pushed back. I didn't think it would be long so just waited and talked with Jan. However, when it ended up being pushed back a whole hour I could feel myself getting extremely aggitated, ticked even that I had just wasted a whole hour doing nothing, an hour that I could have spent studying.
This particular Saturday after Bible study and volleyball, Issa and Lupita invited me down to the plaza with them. They were acting all secretive and so I guessed it had something to do with my birthday. We had a lot of fun eating from the stands, joking and laughing. I would not have traded that time with Issa and Lupita at all. If anything this past weekend was relaxing for me, that hour spent as a friend and as a sister was, and yet when we finally called it a night I couldn't help but think of how my study time had been shortened yet again.

Lord help! I don't know how to relax!

Issa suggested bananas and carrot juice as energy while studying. I've got the carrot juice and just got some bananas today. Hopefully come next Monday I'll be able to report to Issa that the credit of my passing my micro exam is due to her(and bananas and carrot juice).

I have also noticed a recent addiction to chili. I finished the small bottle that I had and replaced it with a huge bottle which is already over a third consumed. I use it as a condiment. I put it in my soup. Sometimes my mouth just starts watering and I have to make some popcorn just so I can dump chili on it and satisfy my chili thirst. Saturday after pizza, then chocoflan, Lupita suggested getting papas. Mine ended up being drenched in chili, and they were sooooo good.....and sticky. Lupita just kind of looked at me out of the corner of her eye and called me Mexican.

Sunday the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Guessing I would say about 70 degrees with a beautiful sun. I couldn't resist commenting on it. I got crazy looks in return. Apparently Lupita and Jessica were freezing!!

Today walking to take the exam I noticed something about the air....something about the atmosphere. I couldn't quite place it. I'd smelled that smell before but didn't know what it was. I finally decided that it was Fall in Mexico. Though I may say that Mexico doesn't have seasons, it does have....changes. It's a change in the color of the sky, in the smell of the air, in the bark of the dogs. It's still a bit vague to me as it's only my second fall in GDL so I don't really have much background, but my goal is to figure it out. (yes, I know, still vague, but how can I be more defined if I don't even know what 'it' is?)

Hasta!

Prayer request: Wisdom and words on an individual basis with my classmates. A few classmates have taken the opportunity to ask for specific guidance. Without much to go on, and without wanting to pry I don't know what exactly they are looking for. Pray that God's words and grace would suffice and heal even if the deliverer of them is clueless.

Yo estoy enferma.

Test yesterday, that I thought for once, maybe just this once, I was actually going to know something. The subject was viruses, which I find a whole lot more interesting and quite a bit less disturbing than bacterias and parasites. However, just because he felt like it, the doctor had compiled the test with an immunology twist. Argh!! Come Christmas I am finally gonna have to sit down and force myself to actually learn that....that...that bane of my existence that calls itself an -ology.

I also fear that one of those viruses I was studying decided to hang around uninvited. I tried sleeping during my lunch hour today. Succeeded in the sleeping, but failed in the feeling better.

October has arrived and with it the end of the rainy season. Odd, as I wasn't ready for the end this year. Probably due to the fact that I was fortunate enough to be indoors and never caught out in the torrential downpours when they occurred. The rainy season in general this year was not as bad as last year though. I hope and pray come next May, Guadalajara doesn't find itself in a water shortage as these past few months are all the rain it gets for the year.

I got my first birthday present today!! Class was cancelled for the 16th. No one really knows the reason why. I just smile to myself. They wouldn't believe me if I told them I was the reason anyways! hehe!

Michael just drove his remote control monster truck into the shower. I must go!

Hasta!