a very convenient cultural difference

I am everyday surprised about how easy it is to get to know locals here! Having needed two years in Norway before I finally managed to break the ice ;-)
In Mexico, you just meet this guy at the taxi stand in front of school, share the cab cause you live close, and during the ride he asks you what you've seen of Mexico and where you have been out in Monterrey and when you tell him you don't know that many places yet, he invites you to come along with him and his friends on the weekend, you exchange phone numbers - hey people, I wish all the world could be that open!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

intimate female issues

Did you know there were countries in this world with the hugest shopping centers, but not a single shelf space for a woman's most necessary companion?!?! Yes, it is small, fits in every purse and is there for you in your most desperate moments. Not to forget "dass er die Regel genau da aufnimmt wo sie passiert".
First I thought, these huge shelves full of sanitary towel would distract my view from the actually essential, but even after half an hour running around the same shelf and searching even the tiniest spot, I could not find any O.B. Only, yes and only on the lowest level of the shelf, just above the ground, I was able to spot some applicator Tampax "things" - amazingly expensive, about 3 Dollars for 8 (yes, imagine 8!!! whereas in Germany you got such convenient packs of 64) of these impractical and long strange constructions which supposedly are in this world to facilitate the inserting process... Well, maybe I'm just to stupid, but I have to take the actual tampon out of its applicator anyway and use it the old fashioned way. Stupid waste of material these applicators...
But I'm not the only one wondering, Mariam and me discussed this weird "Why isn't there any normal O.B. in Mexico"-matter in all detail and all possible explanations. well, one conclusion was, that we definitely need to install a "Help Andrea and Mariam out with Tampons - Hotline" and ensure a steady inflow of O.B. into this country, so please people can you come visiting me and when you do that bring me a 64 (!) pack of tampons, will you?!?! Thank God it's only three months more here, I might survive...
Oh, I actually blame the missing of O.B.s on the catholic church! If you want to know why, the most reasonable explanation we found was that due to extrem religiousness here, women might not feel comfortable with putting their fingers... well, I won't go into detail, but I guess you know where I'm heading. Therefore the applicator and therefore this huge amount of sanitary towels. Although, when you process this thought further... About 30 degrees most of the year, in summer even more, and then wearing a sanitary towel... No, I don't feel comfortable. If you want to know why, I refer you back to my previous entry about smells, I think this is what would happen...

talking about contrasts...

I just made a very interesting discovery, when I walked around our building complex (for the first time actually). It is amazing, how front and back can differ. The front side looks so nice and safe and modern, but once you just walk around the block, you see tiny houses, a "dirty" neighbourhood and dogs and people hanging out on the street. A completely different world. Just a couple of footsteps away.
Talking about contrasts...

more mexican friends

Such nice, open and welcoming person as I am, I took some more Mexican friends (whom I met while eating ice cream in a little town called Dolores Hidalgo) home with me to Monterrey. They are called "Salmonella" bacteria and are unfortunately not so easy to get rid of again...
No, but I did also meet real Mexican people :-) Two very nice guys (Osvaldo and Aram) who travelled with me and Tine to Guanajuato (one of the nicest cities I have seen so far) this weekend. Due to too much schoolwork and doctors visits (yes, my friends are quite fond of my stomach) I haven't been able to update my ballofdirt diary yet, but I will soon!
Just wanted to let you know that I am still alive and fine, despite all those dangerous deseases and hurricanes... Actually, I am very happy not to be in Germany right now, so I don't have to watch this embarrassing political Kasperletheater.

By the way, hope it's not too cold in Germany yet... Did I mention that I only have to wear long-sleeve shirts in school due to air condition?!?!

late night blabla

Oh oh, keeping this post up-to-date goes very badly... Worse than I had planned actually. Well, I had planned to write a lot, but in the end it turns out that diary+blog=lot of time. Which I don't have. Because governments are bothering me with such unnecessary things as Visas. Worse: the requirements for a Visa. Would be nice if they could just hand it out to you. But instead I have spent two days last week assembling all copies of important documents (such as a copy of my credit card, and yes, I do not really feel comfortable with that!) and today I spent four hours in the immigration office of my university - 3 1/2 of them waiting and 1/2 hour sorting copies, signing documents, and thank god, my supervisor put a fat edding line over my credit card number on the copy. After that I was so exhausted that I didn't even take advantage of the great sports offers here anymore... But tomorrow I will. I'm gonna try Thai-Bo (whatever that is) and on Thursday I will try Kickboxing (however that looks like here). Apart from that, I'm doing like Mireille does: a lot of spinning ;-)
Oh yes, talking about exhausted: I had my first courses already. First decision: I'm gonna reduce the number of courses I take to the required minimum. Oh my god, this is going to be hell of a lot of work! I mean, I don't have much clue about Finance anyway, but explaining it to me in Spanish doesn't really add to the understanding process... I have to concentrate on Spanish so hard, that the actual content part of what the professor is saying is a little neglected... I am proud that I can most of the time understand what he is saying (except the jokes, but then I just sit and smile stupidly along...), but understanding what he means with it, well, gotta work on that one. Maybe I was a little too optimistic beforehand. but we will see. I am still hoping that my other two courses wil turn out to be much easier and with less homework. Haha, I wish...
Yes, and with all these worries and things I have to organize (which can take quite a long time here in Mexico - yes, this is a cultural difference), I feel really sorry that I haven't written one email to not even one of you!!! :-( SORRY! I am still thinking of you, my friends, but I have to admit, it's hard keeping regular contact with everyone. I hope you will forgive me and that my blog and diary can in a way make up for the lack of personal emails... No they can't, I know, and I will try to be better in the future and write more mails again! Anyway, I'm always happy to hear from you guys who read this blog. Hope it's not only Michi ;-)
Okay, am going to sleep now, tomorrow is going to be a long day too...
Take care!