gun shots, parks, and the fantastic 4

Hola everyone! Today was a busy, busy day! Considering we went to bed at about 2:00 in the morning, it was pretty hard to get up… But we did! Amazing, I know. First funny story of the day- We caught the bus going to school and Ashley and I both got on the bus all the way, but the man behind us got his foot shut in the door! He had to ask the bus driver to open the door so he wasn’t stuck any more! That made Ashley and I laugh. We learned a little bit more about the preterito today. It was scintillating. After school we went to this mall full of shoe stores. It was so overwhelming. There were like millions of shoes and a bunch of stores full of them. Ashley and I were looking for ones that were cool and leather and looked Mexican, but there were pretty much only really fancy high-heels. I definitely don’t want those for right now. We didn’t buy anything, and we came home to take a nap. We always leave our window open… and while I was sleeping I heard a bird chirping. All of the sudden, I heard a noise that sounded like a gun shot and the bird stopped chirping. I was like, “Oh my gosh! They can’t shoot birds whenever they please here, right?” But then the bird started chirping again. False alarm. After lunch we went to our service center. What an adventure. We took the right bus, but we didn’t get off on the right stop. We took another bus to retrace our steps… and finally got the roundabout where we were supposed to get off at. This roundabout has five streets leading to it. That gives me a 20% chance that I will pick the right street to go down. But because I am me, and I went to Oakland instead of Santa Cruz, I had a 0% chance that I would pick the right street. We thought we were going on the right street and we looked at the little map that a man from the university had drawn for us. There was a park on the map, so we figured that we had found the place and continued walking. Well, we reached the next block and saw another park. And the next block had another park. I bet you can guess what was on the next block… That’s right! A park! So basically, we walked for an hour around who knows where in Guadalajara trying to find an asilo for old people. Turns out there are a lot of asilos in this neighborhood… because every time we asked for directions, they would direct us to a different one. We finally found it. I went in and started talking to a really cute lady named Berta. I don’t think we understood each other much. But it was still fun. I understood when she called the worker lady fat. I had to try really hard not to laugh. I decided that I wish I was old. I could say whatever I want and totally get away with it. Everyone would dismiss what I would say because I would be old and senile. But secretly, I would understand. And I would party with myself every time I said something funny and rude. I guess I will have to wait for that day. Anyways, Ashley and I talked in a huge group of ladies. They were SO funny. Two of the ladies were trying to explain to me what drinks were the best. Yes, drinks as in alcohol. I thought that was pretty funny, that an old lady would explain to me which drink would have the most kick. We also talked about serious things, like their families, what they liked to do, music, and Guadalajara. It was really interesting, and I am excited to go back again. Right as we were leaving, one of the workers told us that there was a lady there that spoke only English. This is a slightly sad story. Her son convinced her to move to the asilo in Guadalajara because it is cheaper for him. She doesn’t speak any English, and therefore does not have any friends to talk to. Hopefully Ashley and I can talk to her for a bit over the next month and a half. We left the asilo and waited for the right bus. We waited, and waited, and endured many cat calls. No cat call I have heard so far tops the one from our trip to Ensanada, which was “Hola Barbie, want a free Mexican boyfriend?” Most of the time I don’t understand what they are saying, so I guess that is good. The bus came after about thirty minutes, and we went home! YAY HOME! We ate dinner… it was French toast. Trust me, nothing could make me happier… so I ate all of everyone’s dinner. Poor them. Fantastic 4 (YAY!) was on their TV while we were eating… and it was English. HAPPY TIMES FOR MY TIRED BRAIN! Ashley and I watched that until about 9:30… which felt like 3:00 AM. Now I am doing my homework and about to go to bed. Love you all!