¿Qué Onda?

I’ve been here for about a month. Which honestly I don’t understand because I just got here, but also sometimes I forget that I’m in Mexico because this is just my life now…? So what have I been up to these past few weeks? ¿Qué onda? This post is a mini recap of a few things that have happened recently (because I don’t have a theme that groups all these occurrences together lol).

Charlas del Mundo

There’s this group that I’ve been going to called Charlas del Mundo. Essentially, it’s a group of people that get together every week to practice different languages. The idea of it is amazing and then I’ve also met some really cool people through the group. My friend Joe introduced me (his roommate founded the group). I obviously go there to practice Spanish but there are also people who go there to practice English, French, German, etc. I’m still trying to find someone who can help me with my Korean but without much luck.

 

When you walk in, you make a name tag with your name and then greetings in whatever languages you speak/want to practice.

They’ve had open mic night, game night, even karaoke night. Just one cool way that I’m thinking of getting integrated into the community.

FOOD

I have to talk about the food… you knew I was going to do it. So yes, I talked earlier about how in the United States I am not a fan of Mexican food. It is incredibly important to clarify because the food here, o sea, real Mexican food is amazing. Puebla is also just known for their food, so yeah… I’m having a good time. Peep just a few of the life-changing dishes I’ve had since I’ve been here.

La Cemita. From what I understand, cemitas are very typical of Puebla. “Cemita” refers just to the type of bread used, but also to the whole sandwich. You can get different types of meat inside and they usually come with lettuce, avocado, onions, and *lot* of Oaxacan cheese.

 

I’ve already spoken about my beloved tacos, but this taco was made with carnitas. “Carnitas” refers to the meat which is essentially braised or simmered pork. So so bad for you but unbelievably delicious. Anything made with carnitas (tacos, cemitas, tortas, etc.) is automatically next level.

I would also like to point out that ketchup is a real thing here unlike the “salsa de tomate” in Ecuador that almost passed as ketchup but failed.

Now this one doesn’t actually count as Mexican food because it’s Cuban. My friend took me to a Cuban restaurant and we all ordered these tortas de costilla (rib sandwiches). Fam. When I tell you this was the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my life… Something about the way they marinate and cook this meat took my taste buds to another planet.

Since Puebla is known for it’s gastronomy, I’m thinking about using my side project to promote local restaurants and learn more about comida poblana and it’s roots. (For those unfamiliar with the Fulbright ETA program, in addition to teaching we also have to engage in a side project that in someway integrates us into the community. My project is still TBD).

Last one I’ll feature on this post because even I’m getting hungry talking about this food (it’s lunchtime). La cemita mole poblano. I already talked about mole poblano in a previous post but this is essentially just a cemita with mole inside it. Such a mess to eat but beyond worth it. I don’t think this is a typical thing, because I asked my students about it and they had never heard of it. So I’m assuming it’s special to this restaurant.

 

Work

I finally started working! As an English Teaching Assistant I have to (you guessed it!)… teach! Although technically I’m supposed to be assisting someone else teach, I’ve been given my own classes to teach which gets to be incredibly intimidating at times. I teach mostly professors and graduate students which makes it even more intimidating, especially for someone who has never formally taught before. But it’s all good, The Good Lord has been helping me through it!

Picture of me at the university I’m working at.

I’m mainly helping my students with their academic English, so I give a class on academic presentations, one on academic writing, and I also hold conversation clubs where we just talk about different topics so people can practice speaking in English. My students have been great so far, given that my classes are an extracurricular of sorts, it really depends on the week/day if people show up or not. Plus they’re professors so I understand that they get busy and that things come up, so that’s taken some getting used to. All in all it’s been good and I think I’m finally starting to find my feet when it comes to work!

Friends

Moving to a new country definitely has it’s challenges but it’s made a lot easier by good company. Luckily my friends back in the States have been incredibly helpful in this moving process and I’m so lucky to have them to talk to. I’m also extremely lucky to have other Fulbright ETAs here in Puebla to hang out with. I still haven’t found a church, so that’s been kind of difficult (both spiritually and with respect to friends). However, like I said, I’ve met some really cool people through Charlas del Mundo and I’ve even made a friend or two just walking around downtown! En resumen, yes, it’s been hard but I’m definitely not alone 🙂

La Malinche

In the spirit of traveling, Daniel and I went one weekend to hike La Malinche. La Malinche is one of the volcanoes surrounding Puebla (of course, it’s not active). Of the three main volcanoes surrounding Puebla that I can think of, only one is active – Popocatépetl. Won’t be hiking that one ever, but it does have a national park that I’m trying to get to.

To get to the volcano, we had to take a bus from Puebla to a small town in the state of Tlaxcala called Apizaco

Unfortunately, we didn’t leave early enough and it took us some time to figure out how to get there (we asked a *lot* of questions in Apizaco), so we weren’t able to make it to the top. Now that we know what to do and how to get there, we’re definitely planning on going back and making it to the top! Essentially we had to walk a few blocks from where the bus dropped us off in Apizaco to another place where we got on a combis (small bus) that took us to the volcano.

The top is supposed to be very tough to climb simply because the air is so thin due to the altitude, so I need to make sure I pack that inhaler haha. What we did see was refreshing. It felt nice to be surrounded by trees, and the quiet was nice. I didn’t realize how noisy Puebla is until we were sitting on La Malinche eating lunch in absolute silence. Twas a nice change.

There were wild horses just walking on the trail… was lowkey scared for my life but other than staring at us a lot they were pretty chill. 

There was a cute little rest stop at the bottom of the trail with bathrooms and a restaurant. There are also legitimate cabins if you want to spend the night, or you could just camp. 

 

Last but not least… The Move

I FINALLY HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE. If you were unaware, I had spent the past month in an airbnb. While really it wasn’t a bad airbnb at all, it was just very far away from everything and semi-hard to get to. Luckily, I didn’t have to apartment search very long! My friend Daniel had the hook up with a house in el centro. I’ve been living here for almost two weeks and it’s been great. Location is great, house is really nice, and I’ve been able to decorate my room and finally unpack everything! I NO LONGER LIVE OUT OF A SUITCASE PEOPLE. On top of all this, my roommates (or should I say housemmates?) are great. We all get along really well and it’s been super chill. I’m very happy and thank God for giving me such a great place. I was pretty worried when Fulbright said that we’d have to find our own housing but see how The Lord provides!

Me and my roommates! We went to go see Venom the other night which, in my humble opinion, was not as bad as all the reviews make it out to be! Yes, it was problematic in certain areas, but overall I enjoyed it. If you disagree, I’d be happy to hear you out in the comment section 🙂

That’s all I’ve got for now. Well, not really but I doubt you’d continue reading for much longer. I have some pretty cool trips planned for the next few weeks so keep an eye out for those 😉