Hollywood to Mexico City

There is so much I don't even know where to begin. Today I had a funny moment with my teacher when I was trying to explain SCUBA diving and snorkeling. I really didn't have the vocab to describe either. Then she seemed to get it, and to say that scuba was called cuba. And she asked if the people were friendly, and I said yeah, you have a few hours on the boat to talk. And then she said it was cheap, and I'm going "no, expensive." Finally when she brought up communism I realized she thought I was talking about Cuba. You may think I'm silly for not realize that right away, but hearing someone say "cuba" in a different accent than I am used to is not the same as reading "cuba" in a blog entry.

I am not organized in my thoughts at all so I'll just have to get some down and others later. Everyday after class ends at noon I go home for lunch and then out walking around. Yesterday I headed for a cafe/bar that shows 4 movies per day. It was very modern inside, with Justin Timberlake playing before the movie started (Click with Adam Sandler, nothing too deep!). And then they didnt have subtitles like they said they would, and for a few seconds while watching the movie I literally forgot where I was - what country I was in, that is. Because I could have been anywhere (for some reason, I thought I might be in Thailand, which is strange because I was there 2 years ago, and the bar didn't say "Thailand" anymore than it said anywhere else.) Then I was feeling a little guilty about my lack of Spanish immersion, even though I had a good time and need those moments. Then I walked home, bumping in to a guy from school who just graduated from Brown, and borrowed his Lonely Planet for the night, and then got home. I usually wait in my room for dinner but this time I went to the living room to watch a soap opera with the grandmother. It was from Mexico. And I actually understood some! Not whole conversations, but some, which I feel like is an achievement. There was a funny scene where a guy took another girl scuba diving (maybe this is why I wanted to talk about it with the teacher). And they showed all different angles of them (or 2 people) diving - in the murkiest water with nothing interesting! No fish at all. It was what I would imagine diving in the Hudson River to look like (thanks Cousin Jack). I just think it was so funny they'd pick that footage since they could have shown somewhere gorgeous like Palau and no one would have known the difference...and then they had the actors back up on the boat going "Oh my god, amazing, all those colors, that's the best thing I've ever seen!" Sillyness. And then at dinner, my host mother said that I was doing really well - I really made an effort last night, and it was actually fun! So I feel good about how my Spanish is going right now!

I've been obsessing a little bit about going to another town for the third week, but I will figure it out. It is hard not to want to see other parts of the country while I'm here...