éxito!

I made it! Estoy en Cuernavaca!

Here are my few comments on my first day. My fatigue assures you that they will be brief.

Flights/Travel:
Except for the overweight lady (who lifted the armrest up so she could take over my chair more comfortably,) and the screaming child that yelled at the top of his lungs "Es mio! Es mio mami!!! Deja me! DE-JA ME!!" for the entire flight, the traveling was a breeze. No long layovers, good weather, and most importantly, I found the Tec representative the minute I passed through customs. Score. There was a group of 6 students (myself included) who arrived in Mexico City at about the same time, so we just got in a van provided by the school, and left. It took us about 1.5 hours to get to Cuernavaca.

Host Family:
My host family consists of Hiram, who is roughly my age and goes to my school, and his parents, Hannah and Yitzjak. Even though Hiram speaks perfect English, he has predominantly spoken to me in Spanish, which I greatly appreciate. My room is wonderful-- I saw a man on a horse trot by my window earlier today. The house is nice AND they have wireless internet! It is about a 5 minute walk from their house to the school, and the area seems safe. (side note for Annie- They loved the gifts!!)

Culture Experiences of the day:
1. I didn't eat much today, and I definitely hadn't eaten anything since about noon. So when dinner was ready at about 9:00 PM, I was starving. I was so hungry at fact, that when Hannah asked me, "Do you like meat?" I said "Yes." When she said, "Do you like eggs?" I said "Yes." When she asked me, "Do you like picante?" I said "Yes" So what did we have for dinner? Meatballs with hardboiled eggs in them, with a spicy-ish sauce drizzled on top.... AND I SCARFED IT DOWN before I even realized it. I knew I hadn't gone completely crazy though, when she asked if I like cheese, I said "No." :)It was delicious.
2. I was already having some stomach problems BEFORE I started eating the food down here... This could get interesting...
3. Before eating, we all broke off a piece of bread and held it in our hands while Yitzjak said something, potentially in Hebrew. I'm thinking it was a "Bless us O Lord for these Thy gifts..." type of prayer.

Tomorrow I start orientation, can't wait!