Typical Friday

So since its been awhile since I've posted anything, I figure I should update you all and let you know I'm not dead.

I'd like to give you an idea of a typical Friday here in Mexico while attending Universal. Most of you may remember that we don't go to school on Friday so we ALWAYS have a 3 day weekend. So my Friday looked alot like this: Wake up at 10 am, find breakfast in the fridge, eat, scan the internet and waste time, pack up a swimming suit and change of clothes, walk to Universal while enjoying the sweet, sweet sounds of Imogen Heap. Swim. Sunbath. Sunburn. Return to my home for lunch (stopping along the way to buy a small Coke with REAL cane sugar in it for 3 pesos), shower, meet friends at OXXO and head downtown for a carnival that is happening this weekend.

Yes, life is pretty sweet.

So, a couple updates on some stuff here in Mexico: The teacher's strike is getting worse and worse everday. Kids haven't been to school in 3 weeks and while striking, the teachers are blocking roads which is causing a lot of traffic in downtown Cuernavaca. My host mom is a little upset about it all and she's been keeping me well informed. The reason they're striking is 1) Because the government is threatening to make public school here in Mexico, well, not free. And 2) many of the teaching jobs in Mexico are actually inherited. So when the government tried to test the current teachers to see if they knew the subjects they were teaching, 68% failed the tests. Now the teachers are afraid they will lose their jobs to people better suited to teach and they're protesting. Apparently, this same kind of strike happened in Oaxaca last year and ended in some violence so let's hope that won't be the case here. Right now it seems more like an annoyance than anything else.

The real problem here isn't the strike, its the fact that the education system in Mexico is very poorly planned out. Carlos, our history teacher, was telling us about the schools here and they seem pretty sketch. There are just a lot of obsticles along the education process that make it easier, if not more profitable for a student to drop out before finishing school. In fact, only 1 in 100 kids even graduates from college here. Its very unfortunate. Especially because of the state of the economy in Mexico, which is not doing so well right now. The average person who hasn't graduated college earns 50 pesos a day for their work. That's roughly $5USD a day. In Washington, minimum wage in $8USD an HOUR. It makes me feel very lucky to be living and working in America, and on top of that, going to a good college which from which I'll have a diploma in just 1 1/2 years.

Sorry for all the random facts, its just a couple things I've been picking up on.

Anyways, tomorrow my group and I will be heading to Mexico City for a tour of the National Palace as well as the Museum of Anthropology. I've heard the museum is so large that most people don't even get through the whole thing. I'm excited because there's suposed to be alot of ancient Aztec artifacts on display! So fun!

In the group, theres been a few issues with adjusting to the food (still), adjusting to the altitude (still), along with homesickness and insecurities about spanish speaking abilities. Just keep us in your prayers as many of us have been sick in the last two weeks. Everyone seems to think its just the food that we need to adjust to, but right now, when one thing goes wrong, its easy for everything to get thrown off course just with the newness of everything.

I will post some more pics tomorrow of D.F. and such. Hope you're all doing well!