Classes begin!

Yesterday was my first day of classes, and so far everything has gone far more smoothly than I expected. I managed to get to and from the C.U. on the camion without either getting lost or dying, then managed to find my building, my classroom, and my way back to the bus stop, all on time! So far I've only had 2 of my 4 classes, and I like them both. Economics/Politics of Latin America has a really great professor and a really sharp group of students. We'll see how it goes, because it's an upper-level class and I don't really have much experience in econ/gov, but so far I'm completely following everything he's taught us. The other class I've had so far is history of the Mexican Revolution, which was fine, but we basically just went over the syllabus.

Ah, syllabi! These are apparently very VERY rare in the Mexican university system, which tends to present a serious obstacle to us anal-retentive New England-bred college kids. So needless to say, I appreciated the organizational skills of my history professor, but I also don't feel freaked out by the other prof's lack of a syllabus. (Lucky, because I wasn't quite sure how I'd take it.)

In other news, I went to the cinema with my host brother, sisters, and a bunch of their friends. We saw "The Hangover" (subtitled in Spanish) and had a great time! I think we were all a little surprised by how vulgar the movie is, because apparently its Mexican rating was approximately equivalent to PG-13, and it is definitely NOT a PG-13 movie. Other than some shocking scenes, we enjoyed the movie and really enjoyed each other's company.

I also had a meeting today with the Director of the Biology facultad, who basically suggested that in place of a class I should work with a professor on a project. This basically rocks my socks! It will be a great opportunity to make connections, as well as tackle a local issue. I meet with the possible professors some time this week.