Puebla, Mexico

Hi everyone, This blog was originally created in September in order to update everyone on how I was doing after I had brain surgery. I have endured six months of recovery, and am continuing to improve as time goes on. In regard to the epilepsy, my seizures have decreased immensely in which I now have 1 or 2 a week, as opposed to having 3 every day. Since the surgery, my seizures have changed in various ways. For example, I can usually tell when a seizure is going to occur, and I usually stay awake the entire time. The best part about it is that I no longer lose my memory. I am very thankful for all that has happened and for all of the support I have received throughout this process. I need to wait 6 more months before I will be fully recovered, but until then, I am enjoying each day and having new experiences. For example, I am currently in Puebla, Mexico, where I am living with a family and am serving as an assistant English professor in La Universidad Iberoamericana. I arrived on March 16, and will be here until May 21. I am going to start writing in this blog in order to keep everybody updated. Although I was very nervous before coming here, I am glad that I did it. Because I studied Spanish and Sociology in college, I was supposed to study abroad. However, the seizures got in the way, preventing me from studying in another country. Fortunately, I was able to stay in contact with my previous Spanish adviser and professor, who was able to arrange this trip for me. I am living with a wonderful host family, and also have an 18 year-old roommate from Seattle University. The members of my host family are Tonio and RosaEna, who are wonderful people, and their four children. Two of their daughters live here at home. Majo is studying nutrition in her university, and Ana Sofia works in finance. She has a 4 year old son named Bruno who is very sweet, and always has a ton of energy. Bruno is learning English in his pre-school, so I have been studying his vocabulary words with him, where I say the Spanish and he says the English. I have a feeling he is better than me, but I will just have to work at that. :-) During the week, my roommate Paige and I walk to school. Because I already graduated, I don't have to attend classes, but I go to her Spanish History class sometimes, just so I can meet the other people. This week is la Semana Santa (Holy Week), which is another form of spring break, all throughout Mexico. After Easter, I will start helping with the English classes again at the university, but until then, I am trying to figure out what I will do this week. Most of the students have left Puebla and are traveling around Mexico. I almost joined some of the other foreign exchange students who traveled south to Oaxaca and to the beach, but I decided to stay here for two reasons. One, it is going to be around 90 degrees down south (way too hot for me), and second, I would prefer to keep practicing my Spanish and meet people who live here. Yesterday (Saturday), I did a little exploration of downtown Puebla. It was funny because I did not expect to end up there. It turns out that I walked about 8 or 9 miles, but I loved it! Puebla is very historic and beautiful in different ways. There are also numerous Catholic churches around the city, all of which are very close together. I am looking forward to Easter Sunday because I think it will be a good experience in celebrating a holiday with a different culture. I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I am taking notes on the cultural differences, as well as other things. I have more stories for you, but this is already a long message, so I will save it for the next blog post (which will be soon). As I said, I am not completely sure what my plan is for this week, but I will keep you updated. I might do a few day trips, but I will be alone the whole time, so I need to make my decisions carefully. Thanks again for all of your support!