San Miguel de Allende- May 21, 2016

We had so much fun in San Miguel de Allende! We decided to splurge and go horseback riding through a canyon. One horse decided he didn't want to carry my roommate and dropped her but otherwise we had a lot of fun. Here are the photos from the weekend:

Guanajuato City- May 14, 2016

I am so far behind on my blog, and I'm not sure what I should say about Guanajuato City so I guess I'll just share the highlights.

I loved Guanajuato City! So much shopping and so much fun! The first place we went is this old hotel where we took lots of photos and explored. It was so pretty.

Next, we went to the center and grabbed something for lunch. We decided to try several different things and share everything. It was delicious!

After that we wandered a bit, then walked up to this statue above the city and took some pictures of the view and then just spent the rest of our time wandering around and looking at cathedrals. It was beautiful and I'd love to go back some day!

Here are the photos we took there:

Una Semana en Celaya, Mexico!

Sunday, May 1st, 2016

Inside one of the beautiful chapels
here in Celaya!

I am officially in Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico and somehow managed to survive all three hours of church almost entirely in Spanish without irreparably embarrassing myself. We just got to Celaya last night (Saturday around midnight, so I guess Sunday at midnight?) The ward is really nice and sweet. One of my roommates is looking forward to becoming friends with some of the older ladies in the area so they can teach us how to make some authentic Mexican dishes. And we've already talked to the Bishop who of course told us to call him if we ever need anything, and we've also already been briefed on when institute is and where. I'm looking forward to practicing my Spanish this semester! 

Although I'm excited and love the ward, I can already feel culture shock settling in. When we got to the bus stop in Celaya, I finally realized what was wrong with what I was seeing: everyone was Hispanic! No one speaks English (unless you get lucky and they realize you don't speak Spanish). So far we've gotten lucky. Only one of us speaks well enough to say something. She served in Brazil so she knows Portuguese.

Outside one of the beautiful chapels here in Celaya

I'll just end on this note: Ricardo (the guy in charge here) is going to set up language classes for us. I'm pretty excited.

It's a love/hate relationship I have with Celaya right now. But it will only get better!

Sincerely,

Claire

Sunday, May 8th, 2016

Just had to get a picture of those Organ pipes!

Same as chapel above.

I really love it here. But let me tell you about my first week here: Monday I started feeling really sick and so I didn't go anywhere really on Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday I felt much better and I was able to jump in and start teaching English. My kids are so adorable, I love them already. Most of the kids we teach are members of the church, and the people we work with at the school are as well. We only teach about an hour a day, because we don't have many kids yet, but we're hoping to get more through the semester. I just hope I get the hang of this teaching thing before that happens. I'm still struggling with Spanish, but I have started writing down words I don't understand that I can study, and I've been keeping up with Duolingo. We will also be starting Spanish language classes soon so that will be good.

I found the architecture on the
outside of this one so interesting!

Eating a Torta

Yesterday we didn't teach, so we walked around our neighborhood and went in a few chapels/temples near us, and we actually ate out for the first time since getting here. We tried finding this place a couple of the teachers recommended, but we couldn't find it, so we just chose a random restaurant. It was called "Tortas Perras" and we all laughed when we realized what that meant. But it was really good and we hope to go back again sometime. The chapels/temples near us are so pretty, I took a few pictures. They're absolutely gorgeous inside. We couldn't believe that this random small city in the middle of nowhere was home to so many big chapels/temples. Celaya is so beautiful, which I didn't really see until a couple days ago, and again yesterday. The food is a little different, but good.

Today we're planning a day trip to Guanajuato City for next Saturday, so we're really excited about that. We're looking up things to do there.

Home Sweet Home for Four Months!

Overall, I'm really glad I chose to come and that I get this experience of teaching in another country and spending so much time around children, and just being in this country that I've loved all these years. 

Oh! Funny thing: One of the parents pays for his kid to learn English by giving us fresh fruit and he has a fresh fruit stand across the street from our school so a lot of days we'll just go to him and get a fairly big cup of fruit each, and he puts weird things like salt, lime juice, chili powder and other stuff like that on it. I've only tried the watermelon with salt and lime (possibly lemon?) juice and it definitely has an interesting taste. 

Sincerely,

Claire

Hey y'all! 

I just realized I'd only really written emails to people, so I copied them here. I will write more next week for sure! And I'll post more pictures too of course. I haven't taken as many pictures as I would have liked but definitely this week!

I hope you are all doing amazing and I can't wait to share more fun adventures with all of you!

Love,

Claire

Diez días!

Yep, you heard right! I fly out of the Salt Lake City Airport on the 30th. I am so excited to be going to Mexico! So, in preparation for Mexico, I bought a few things I'll be needing today.

Looks like I have a stowaway!

As Volunteers we're supposed to bring teaching supplies and prizes for the kids. I bought some supplies today. Still got quite a bit to get!

We were given a list of suggestions of things to bring and suggested to bring a suitcase of teaching supplies. My plan is to have my big suitcase for my clothes and other stuff that I'll need, and the smaller suitcase will be full of teaching supplies (and, when I come back I can either fold it up and stick it at the bottom of my bigger suitcase, or (more likely) fill it with my souvenirs from Mexico).

So, is there anything I'm missing? You tell me. Any suggestions on what I should bring as far as teaching supplies and prizes for the kids go? Let me know below or on Facebook! And keep checking back for more posts and pictures once I'm in Mexico!

Adios!

Here is what I got for teaching supplies and prizes today.

All packed up! Well, for now...

And here are a couple books to help me in
Mexico! <3

Here is a list of supplies they suggest we bring for teaching and prizes:

Aprons

Assorted Candy

Balloons

Beach Balls

Brad Fasteners

Brown Sugar

Bubbles

Buttons

Cake Mixes (brownie, muffin,

etc)

Candles

Card Games

Children’s Books

Children’s Cookbook

Clothespins

Clothes/costumes/props for

Drama

Colored Pencils

Coloring Books

Construction Paper

Contact Paper

Cookie Cutters

Cooking Utensils

Cotton Balls

Dice

Dixie Cups

Duct Tape

Erasers

Felt

Food Coloring

Frisbees

Glue Sticks

Googly Eyes

I-pod and/or speakers

for Music!

Jell-o

Kool-Aid

Large Mixing Bowls

Legos

Magnifying Glasses

Markers!!!!

Marshmallows

Masking Tape

Masks

Measuring Cups

Measuring Spoons

Mirrors

Modeling Clay

Muffin Cups

Nerf Balls

Notebook Paper

Paint Brushes

Paper Bags

Paper Plates

Pencils

Pipe cleaners

Plastic Bowls

Plastic Cups

Plastic Cutlery

Plastic Wrap

Play-dough

Popcorn

Popsicle Sticks

Powdered Sugar

Pudding

Puffy Balls (Pompoms)

Puppets

Q-Tips

Rope

Rubber Bands

Rulers

Scissors

Scotch Tape

Sponges

Spray Bottles

Stamps

Stapler & Staples

Stickers

Straws

Stuffed Animals

Styrofoam

Tempera Paint

Tin Foil

Whistles

White Paper

Wigs

Yarn

Ziploc Bags

Suggested Store Items (for prizes):

Stickers

Small toys/trinkets

$1 store items

Crayons

Coloring books

Bouncy balls

Toy cars

Trinket jewelry

Fun pencils and erasers

Y Así Comienza Mi Viaje...

Por Claire Enos

My journey began a few months ago when a friend of mine convinced me to go to iTalk here on campus at BYU-Idaho. It's similar to TED Talks but run by students on campus. One girl talked about her trip to Africa to volunteer, which got me thinking about the trips I wanted to go on. That same semester I ended up with more money than I was used to, and I decided to use it for something worthwhile, so I looked up programs for teaching English in foreign countries. I've always wanted to travel the world and volunteer and help people!

In November, I found the International Language Program or ILP. They send college students or kids in their twenties to foreign countries to teach children how to speak English. I have previously worked with adults learning English through the Pathway program at BYU-Idaho and I thought it would be fun to work with children and spend several months in Mexico. That is how this all came to be.

I submitted my application and got references from my Bishop up here at school and one of my Spanish teachers here on campus. I heard back the next week saying I was accepted, and I finished the rest of the process of filling out paperwork and submitting it within the past month.

A couple weeks ago I received confirmation that I was indeed going to Celaya, Mexico and I am super excited! I go to training next weekend in Utah, and I will be leaving for Mexico at the end of this semester. This will certainly be a great opportunity, and I hope to share what I learn and see and do on this blog throughout my travels.

This blog is mainly to keep my friends and family informed of my travels, and to share my thoughts, feelings, and other fun stuff as I travel through Mexico and teach English! I will also share the process of how I got into the program and everything in the months leading up to my departure date.

Y así comienza mi viaje al Mexico...

<3Claire