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Me and a maguey plant, just outside of Teotiuacan.

Study abroad in Mexico! 2/1/03 - 22/7/03

Well, I arrived here in the Republic of Mexico on the 2nd of January and since then I´ve spent 3 weeks in Cuernavaca, just outside of Mexico City; there I studied in a Spanish language school called UNIVERSAL. Quite a good experience in terms of learning Spanish, although I did not enjoy the city of Cuernavaca very much. It`s perfect for those who want to go to Mexico to go to clubs and see the tourist side of Mexico (and breath in a lot of smog), but it wasn`t for me.

I´ve spent the time since Feburary in Xalapa, Veracruz, and I will remain here until July, at which time I will travel to Puerto Vallarta to spend a few weeks with my family, which is coming down to visit Mexico. I´m studying at the Universidad Veracruzana and having a good enough time. The classes have not been very impressive, but my opportunities to make friends among the Mexican students and to improve my Spanish-speaking abilities have been very good. My Spanish is progressing pretty well to the point where I´ve achieved a certain level of fluency - I'd call it "practical fluency." I can communicate anything I need to and understand most people most of the time, but I still definitely talk like a foreigner and make plenty of mistakes.

Besides my time in the University, I`ve visted most of the major "sights" in Central and Southern Mexico (for specifics, you can view my list of visted locations).

I just got back from Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca a couple of weeks ago and I had a quite enjoyable time there. It was a very relaxed environment.