Finally, more independence

This week I have been commuting to Spanish class on my own, woohoo. Standing up for an hour in a bus moving quickly along pot-holed filled streets while being pressed against multiple creepy men who supposedly will not hesitate to cut my purse open to steal my possesions is exactly what I had in mind when I decided to come here! Okay, kidding. It really isn't that bad! I enjoy that I have now learned how to use the TransMilenio alone and that I can go anywhere in the city that the TransMilenio goes. My family (host and real) still worries about me, but I know that I am smart enough to not get lost (there are seven year old kids that take it alone, how fricken' hard could it be?!)

On Monday I had Spanish class early in the morning, and afterwards went to the ICYE office to collect my transportation allowance for the month (enough to pay for two TransMilenio rides a day at $.75 a pop) and my "pocket money", which is actually $65 instead of $30 like I thought. I will probably spend that all on transportation though, because I use the TransMilenio a lot! Monday afternoon, after I had eaten lunch with my host parents, my host dad took me for a long walk around our neighborhood area (Ciudadela Colsubsidio). He showed me all of the parks (tons, but surprise, surprise, I am not supposed to go to them alone) and the neighborhood library. I also tried unripe mango strips with lemon juice and salt (Dad, have you ever had these? Has gpa?) and they were such a different taste than I had ever had. That is definitely why I am here, to experience new things, so it was really cool to have them, even though I could only eat like 5 and then I had to stop because they were so weird! It wasn't even that I didn't like them, it was just such a strange flavor. I went out to dinner with a friend also, so I wasn't bored at all really on Monday.

On Tuesday I went to lunch with most of the people from my Spanish class and then we all went to Museo del Oro. I only could spend about 40 minutes there because I had plans to meet Claudia for Pilates! We are planning to return to the museum on a Sunday when the entry is free. Pilates kicked my butt. I am sooo happy to have found somewhere to take it! I was surprised that I could understand most of what the instructor was saying, even though he taught the class in Spanish. I think that if I hadn't already known how to do Pilates it would have been hard to understand, but it was a blast. I bought a package of 8 (at only $5 a class!) and am planning to do 2 per week with Claudia! After class we walked back to her house, about an hour away. She made me arepas and fresh squeezed orange/papaya (yum) juice for dinner and we Skyped with Dad and Grandpa. It was really cool to have Gustavo, Gustavo Adolfo, Mariela, Claudia and I on one end and G-pa and Dad on the other. I even spoke Spanish to them for most of the 40 minutes because I didn't want to exclude the non-Spanish speakers. I was surprised that G-pa's Spanish is still so good! I can't wait for us all to be together in person :)

Today I went to lunch with my classmates and then just came home. I think they all went to a movie but I was feeling tired and decided to come home and rest! I talked to Jen on the phone for an hour and 24 minutes haha and had a relaxing afternoon. I also talked to Juan David's (my cousin, for all you non-family readers) uncle on the phone, and I think we are planning to meet on Friday evening for dinner and then I can possibly go out that night with his sons (18 and 21)! I am excited to be meeting more people and connecting with more family (not actually blood related, but still family in spirit). As my Dad said, it seems like I am on more of a "family visit than an exotic adventure!"

Love everyone!

P.S. I like getting the comments and feedback to know that people are reading and that my time spent updating is worth it. Thanks guys!