"THE FOOD"

Something that we have to get used to here is the extreme difference of our role in the house. At home as Americans we are expected to help make or clean up after dinner, sometimes even make it ourselves. We are expected to do chores and help out around the house and just generally be very independent people; we've been trained since childhood to be self-sufficient, girls these days are encouraged to grow up and go to school and get jobs so that they CAN support themselves if they're not married.

Mexico, on the other hand, is different. Here, we sit down at the table, and our host mom brings us the first part of our meal, usually soup or salad. We eat it, and then she takes the plate of food away and gives us another one. And then we eat that, and again she takes the plate away, we excuse ourselves, then usually go take a nap. We couldn't help clean up afterwards even if we asked... I don't think I'm even allowed in the kitchen. I know we all feel a bit gulity for the way we're treated here, because we have all been taught to help out. "No no no no! Esta bien!" our host moms would tell us (It's fine!). Here, for women, many of them get their self-worth from the meals they make; its an honor to make great food and serve it to her family. She wants everyone to feel comfortable and fulfilled, and the best way to do that is to cook. So because of this, we are forced to NOT help, which though at first was a bit unsettling, now is pretty nice. So see Dad, all that stuff you taught me about helping out and not being so self-absorbed doesn't even apply here! I'm not lazy, I just grew up in the wrong culture! Haha ;)

Also, my host mom, and I know that some other moms in our group do this too, doesn't like me to eat alone. So she'll get up when it's my breakfast time, serve me the breakfast, then sit there with me while I eat it. Which can make me feel a bit awkward sometimes when we're not talking. I keep thinking of random things to say, but then I'm like, no that's stupid, don't say that moron. I don't even know how to say that in spanish...

We went out again last night and Livey had her very first shot of alcohol, I was so proud. And today, to avoid doing our homework, we went on a search for pan dulce (pastries) -which we found in abundance down the road from our houses- and coffee, which we didnt. We just discovered the other day that our host families have been giving us decaffinated coffee in the mornings, which was kind of a big let down... but I think the fact that they make amazing lunches makes up for that problem. Oooh lunch... The translation for the word "lunch" here is "la comida" which, translated back into english, is The Food. So their meals here consist of- breakfast, THE FOOD, and dinner. Perfect.

Last night the group and some of our intercambios went out for dinner together; we were an even bigger group that usual (there were 16 of us I think), but I considered it much more legit as there were 6 mexicans with us so we didnt seem like such white american tourist losers. Oddly enough (not) our intercambios added salsa to their pizza... with every meal there is always salsa on the table, no matter what we're eating. And I swear, when our group of white Americans go out to dinner together, the servers like to put ketchup on our table, no matter what we're eating. Because we're Americans, and Americans like ketchup with everything. We also continue to take our intercambios out for ice cream at the zocalo, which I know is unhealthy for us, but the ice cream here is SOOO GOOD. I want to ship everyone I know from the US here, so that everyone can have the pure joy of eating all the food. I'm still not tired of it at all, and I've been here for 3 weeks!