Welcome to my journal about my trip with WNCC Global Studies to San Miguel de Allende Mexico.
05/14/2023
We left the WNCC parking lot in Scottsbluff at 7 am. The bus took us to Denver International Airport for our flight to Mexico City. We took a 4 hour shuttle drive and arrived in San Miguel at 9:30 pm. As we approached San Miguel, the driver suddenly drove down a very step cobble stone path that was not much wider than the van. Very steep. We bounced around San Miguel delivering everyone to their house.
We were dropped at our host family’s. We rang the doorbell hoping someone was home. Jesus answered and showed us to our rooms. I promptly went to bed. Part of the two-week intensive Spanish is that we stayed with host families. This helped to create a very immersive experience.
We got up to loud bangs at 6 am! They do like their fireworks in San Miguel.
05/15/23
The first day in San Miguel. We had a fruit, yogurt, and egg breakfast cooked by Jesus, our host. Excellente!
We went to Spanish class at 8:30.
At the school, we worked on pronunciation, abc’s, etc, for 3 hours. We had a 1-hour conversation class where we sat in a courtyard and worked on . . . abc’s.
Academia Hispano Americana – The Spanish school.
Lunch was a wonderful ensalada (salad) with mushrooms, cucumbers, lettuce, etc, with yogurt. There were corn tortillas to munch on.
Stacy arranged a walking tour of San Miguel with Follow Me Tours. We saw several church’s and the Canal family’s ancestral home. They helped San Miguel grow into a city. They charged tariff’s for traffic between two mining towns.
05-16-2023
Objectivos – Television, DVD, mesa, cama, estufa, sofa, regadera, taza, refrigerador, sillon, lampara, pintura, revista, laptop, escritorio, videojuega, computadora, cuadros,
Conversation class – banderas and locations of latin espanol countries.
Posale for lunch corn, chicken, fresh radishes, with corn tortillas.
Another day, another tour! Adventures around every corner! We visited Museo Allende, the house of the the hero of the Mexican revolution. San Miguel de Allende is named after him. They had a sitting room where they would sit and sew, make dolls, play music practice conversation, etc. Much nicer idea than watching TV.
The museo contained the history of Allende and the revolution. The woodwork of the furniture was very detailed and beautiful.
These tall puppets are from Spain. Our San Miguel grupa.
We had churros and hot chocolate, excellente! Went shopping, I purchased dos 300 peso bags. My first peso purchase! At our host family, we had an open faced hollowed out bread with frijoles in it. Mollete.
05-17-2023
Fruit, yogurt, and eggs for breakfast.
Como se llama el? Es llama Pablo. De donde es? Es de espana.
Conversation class was about physical appearance. Color of eyes, hair, etc.
Lunch was a Mexican meatball soup, Albondigas. Yum yum!
On the way back, in a plaza by our house, we stopped and watched some dancers performing authentic Mexican dances with very beautiful costumes.
For supper, we had empanadas con manzanas and one with a slight spicy/picante tuna filling.
05-18-2023
Fruit, egg and yogurt for breakfast. A good way to start the day.
Spanish class: Professiones, touristo ;’) , policia, doctor/a, maestro/a, mesera/o, enfermero/a
En que trabaja Andres? Es mesero. De donde es? De Chile
Conversation class: Family relationships with the Simpsons.
In the afternoon we went to the marcado (market). Yes, that is me with my baby traveler’s backpack.
05-19-2023
Fruit, egg and yogurt for breakfast.
Class and conversation class: Conjugations of ser, esta, . . . . .hacer, bailar
Lunch was mole negro con polla y arroz (chicken and rice) mui sabrosa
Went to the La Fabrica Aurora, a collection of art gallerias. Much beautiful artwork, sculpture and painting. Just a short walk from mi casa.
La noche, mui pyrotechnicas, until it rained. (Fireworks that night)
05-20-2023
A day off from Spanish class, it was Saturday.
Hopped on a van to Guanajuato City. Famous mining town for silver, gold, etc. Built on the side of a mountain with rocks from the mines. We went through tunnels built with native rock from the mines. Everything in the bottom of the town used to be underwater and full of frogs. Now the frogs are statues in a park.
All the streets are up and down and up and down.
We visited the galleria of the famous Mexican painter, Diego Revera.
Lunch was Enchiladas Minineras. Mui bueno, sabroso!
Took a small tram to the top of the mountain around the city. We could see the distance from the lowest houses to the highest houses.
05-21-23
A day of rest. Started out with mui pyrotechnica at 6 am.
In the morning, we went to Petite Four, a little chocolate shoppe/café. I had a chocolate éclair with chocolate filling. I bought some chocolate chip cookies!
Me and my traveling buddy, Pauline, at Petit Four.
That evening, we went to our maestra’s (Stacy, WNCC Spanish instructor) house for supper. A beautiful view of San Miguel.
05-22-23
Fruit and Yogurt is our friend for breakfast!
More classes, working on conjugation of ar, er, and ir verbos.
Gorditas for lunch with mui sabroso guacamole. Dulce is an excellent concinera! She is a very quiet young Spanish woman who cooks for the family.
This is a little resting place we found one day trying to find something else in San Miguel. The map on the sign had east and west reversed.
Arts and crafts workshop painting little paper mache animals. Very relaxing. Mine is the one on the left with the black tail.
05-23-23
Fruit and yogurt is again our friend!
Posesivos in class.
Sabroso sandwiches for lunch on the road to La Canada.
Toured La Canada de la Virgen archeological site. We rode a bus along a stone cobbled road where we started our walk up to the site. There was a pyramid in the midst of a huge plot of private land. The guide gave us some history of the area as we walked up and up and up. I did not climb the pyramid.
05-24-23
How can you get tired of fresh fruit and yogurt for breakfast!
Presente Simple in class (regular)
Mexican Pasta Soup with Flautas and Guacamole.
Toured a museo with hand made toys. They were made with found items. Very colorful and intricate.
Of course, everywhere you go in San Miguel, there are parades.
05-25-23
05-26-23
Last day of class. Had an examination and a fiesta!
Ate supper at a beautiful rooftop restaurant.
05-27-23
Left San Miguel bright and early. Stopped at theTeohtihuacan archaeological site. Amazing to see something that old still surviving.
Ate lunch at La Grotto. This was a restaurant that was set in a huge grotto of stone.
Got to Mexico City late afternoon.
Toured La Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Saw the shroud of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. She is an important religious icon in Mexico.
At long last we got to our home for the next 3 days, the Hotel Catedral.
05-28-23
Went to the El Ballet Folklorico. Wonderful Mexican music. Started with drums, then dancing with a Marachi band on stage providing the music.
05-29-23
Had diarrhea several times in the middle of the night. Felt fine otherwise. Took some Imodium. Stayed at the hotel in the morning and took a nap. Almost everyone in our grupa got sick at some point. The reality of travel to a foreign country.
Went out in the afternoon. We bought some bread at a huge Panadería. Finished the day with a meal at Balcón de Zocalo.
Views of Mexico City from the rooftop restaurant.
05-30-23
A long and tiring day of travel. Left the hotel at 6:30. One lady on the airplane brought an entire Panadería with her as a carryon.
Arrived in Scottsbluff at 5:30. Glad to be home.
It was a wonderful adventure. It was interesting to be embedded into the culture of San Miguel for 2 weeks speaking, listening, and trying to understand Spanish. This made the language come alive in the context of the culture. The sense of history in Mexico is very deep. There are modern buildings next to buildings that are hundreds and hundreds of years old.
The best part of the experience was the 2 weeks we spent with our host family. We learned how they live, work, and enjoy themselves.
Yes, I would go on another adventure like this!