Viva Mike

I had a fantastic week with Mike. We picked him up at the airport and promptly went to Pizza Hut. It's so strange. I've been whining for weeks about how cold it is here and how it's rainy. Mike arrives and it's sunny and 65º and he says, "I don't know what you're complaining about, it's nice out." Well that just figures.
One of the first things my host mom called Mike was niñito, which means little boy. I found this funny. It was in reference to him getting a visa to stay in Mexico for a week. The visa was no problem. It cost nothing and allowed him to be in Mexico legally for one week.
When we arrived in Sabinas we went around to show him the different areas of the town. We walked to Lieke's house and it was fun to see her. At night I took Mike up to the taco stand by my house for his first campachana, he had two! We went to bed fairly early because we had to wake up at 6 the next morning. Man, that's so early! Plus it's the earliest I had gone to bed in the past two months and Mike in 6 months.
Monday it returned to being very cold and rainy, just for the record...
School was ok, it was just school. Mike stuck out like a sore thumb, of course, and everyone thought he was the new exchange student. I explained he was my friend from my city in the United States and they all thought he was an exchange student. But that's ok. We sat there in class for the first two hours because the chemistry teacher is in the hospital and so there's no teacher. Then we had math, then two hours of English and then we were let out early.
During English class the teacher was having a hard time maintaining order in the classroom and when she finally got everyone's attention she said that Mike was going to have a bad impression of schools in Mexico because they weren't behaving. Mike said he didn't think badly of it and one girl stood up and said "VIVA MIKE!" (Long live Mike). In general they liked him.
My host mom made a chile chicken dish for lunch; it's one of my favorite things that she makes. I really shouldn't be eating it on account of the spiciness of it, but it's so good!
Monday afternoon my host mom, Mike and I went out to the Ojo de Agua and La Turbina (the two recreational parks in Sabinas) and then at night Lieke, Mike and I went to Los Sillares for dinner.
School the next day was ok, yet again. Two hours of Math followed by two hours of Arts and Humanities followed by two hours of chemistry.
During art class the teacher started talking about the Mona Lisa.
(All in Spanish)
"Ah yes, the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world. Where is it? The Prado in France?"
I look up from my reading material and wondering if he really just asked that question. He had a pondering look on his face and since no one else in my class was saying anything.
"The Louvre"
"Ahhh yes, the Louvre, in Spain, right?"
"No"
"Oh, which country?"
"France"
"Oh yes, yes."
For lunch that day my host mom made tostadas. I also love tostadas. And while we were eating my host mom asked Mike in Spanish.
"Te gustan las tostadas?"
Mike wasn't paying attention and said, "What?"
And my host dad says
"Do you like Tostadas?”
This is incredibly funny because my host dad doesn't know English, only my host mom. My host dad knows "hello my name is..and Do you like..." and some nouns. It was so funny because usually he asks in Spanish and she translates. I think it was a "you had to be there" moment.
Mike and I took an afternoon bus to Monterrey and Jean (John) picked us up at the station and we went to their house and ate a fantastic dinner and got settled in with them.


This is pretty much how Mike looked the entire time. He was just so much taller than everyone, especially Liliana (she calls herself abnormally short, but a lot of people here are very short). If you look he's as tall (if not taller) as the door. It was interesting. Plain and simple, we looked like two American tourists.

Wednesday we went to the Marco Museum of Modern Art. It was really good. I really enjoyed it. Then we went to another history museum in the area, ate lunch and walked around the little plaza. It was a lot of fun.


Mike and me in front on the Marco. A statue of a gigantic pigeon was in front. So awesome. It was rainy and cold too.

That night we went out to Chilis and then to a bar where one of my friends was playing and a few other friends met us there as well. It was a lot of fun to sit there and hang out with each other. Lieke came too because her dad from Holland came on Thursday so it was my last night to hang out with her for a while as well.
Thursday Mike and I went to the Observatory/Planetarium. It was a very cool museum, however, the weather was so cloudy and rainy that we couldn't go into the observatory, but the museum was cool! We also saw an IMAX movie about adrenaline.
We ended up just chilling at night and going out for dinner at a restaurant and watching a movie.


The nopale is very common here. Lots of cactus instead of bushes or trees. Mike was entertained.


This was on a half-way clear day, you could barely see the mountains. It was cold, but not rainy!

Friday night we met up with Elin from Sweden and Jeremy (France) and went to the bar Nachos and Gangas (we went there right before New Year's too) it's a very cool place to hang out. We were expecting a very chill night, however, the place was PACKED because of a birthday party.




We had a lot of fun at the bar Friday with each other. Exchange students are so much fun!

Saturday Natalio and Gloria (Lieke's host parents) came to pick Lieke and her Dad up in Monterrey and since we were happening to be going back to Sabinas the same day so they came to pick us up too.
When we got back to Sabinas, Mike and I walked to my other host families houses so they could meet him and at night we went to a party at Lieke's house where everyone there was meeting her dad. A few of my friends were there. Diego was nice enough to take Mike and I around and around and around just so Mike could experience it. It wasn't all that excited, Mike was amazed, "there's hundreds of them!" and we actually didn't even make it once around, we got bored.
After the party was over at about 1 Mike and I walked to get campachanas again and then watched the ever culturally affective movie "Eurotrip."


Lieke's dad and me doing the pleasure chest. AWESOME because Lieke sends them picture CDs every once in a while and they see the pleasure chest all the time, but now he has experienced it.


My host dad and me


Lieke, short Mike, and Me.


My host parents and Mike.

Sunday we had to wake up early so we could cross the border before it got busy. We went to Starbucks, then grocery shopping, then to a Chinese buffet and then took Mike back to the airport.
Having Mike here was very cool, it's like colliding two lives together. (As in my life before Mexico and my life now) Plus, to have someone that knows you be here, words can't explain it.