bienvenidos al año 2006

rang in the new year in guadalajara, mexico, with-- what would you expect?-- mariachi music (the best of the best from mexico, i was told), a few fireworks, a piñada (not a piñata, mind you-- but a virgin piña colada--piñaDa), and hours of great multilingual conversation with a bunch of cool folks in the hostel (didn´t get a wink of sleep the whole night!). and who could forget my first real tequila shot (the other time in the mercado was just a sip-- an awful sip), complete with lime and salt and a little funny looking coffee artisan-ist mug (hey, it was all they had at the hostel). whew, 2006, the first tequila shot, now we know what this year is going to look like for me (the big 2-1 is coming up, you know). ha! but really, what a great way to celebrate the new year, with truly GREAT company (chilling with people from mexico, canada, sweden, japan, france, germany...!)...... was really glad that i didn´t return to the GTO for the new year after all (heard there wasn´t much of anything going on here, and who knows if i would have seen or talked to my friends to find out about anything before-hand).

so, made it back to guanajuato (enjoyed the hours of sleep on the way, on the most comfortable bus in the world! seriously!, mexico has amazing long-distance buses, i always feel so spoiled riding in them) on sunday afternoon, right in time for lunch (whence i said hook me up with lots of mexican food, linda-- because the last time i was at the house i was living off of apples and bananas as a result of being sick-- they really went all the way with making sure i had nothing that could keep me from getting better!). turns out that there´s a new girl living in the house for a few months now, her name is stephanie, and she´s from holland. we get along GREAT!!!!, we´ve already sat for hours talking over coffee/hot cocoa/lo que sea and we´ve seen a movie... and tonight... DANCING!!!!! it´s wonderful to have great company! so this week (what little bit of it is left now, good grief, i just realized i only have FOUR MORE NIGHTS! and then it´s A CASA PARA MÍ!), dancing is on the agenda, without a doubt. (because you know, where there´s dancing with locals, there´s great spanish conversation. see, it´s like classes, except for free, and there´s even more spanish conversation involved than what takes place during a semester at college-- so bam, there you go! why NOT?)

the weather remains perfect here.

i went to the mercado hidalgo today, ended up talking with a local for about 20 minutes, and at the end when i tried to buy something from his little area of the market, he wouldnt take my money! he gave me the little guanajuato flower vase i wanted, for free, and said it was a pleasure to talk with me (buddy we talked in spanish-- you, sir, already know spanish well-- me, well, i´m in need of improvement-- so for WHOM was it a pleasure?, man, let me pay you the measly amount of money!, but nope, he wouldnt let me!). people. friendly people. i love ´em!

saw ¨más barata por docena 2¨ today at the theatre-- translation: cheaper by the dozen 2. it was FABULOUS!, and ever so in spanish (loved that part, too!). lots of laughs and even a couple tears at the end! haven´t seen the movie? go, go, gooooo now!

all for now, not too exciting of a post, but you know, i try.

love you all. see you so, so, so soon!