It's just Sunday

Highlight of the day: At breakfast, after we ordered, one of the employees got on her bike and rode down the road to buy plantains to cook our meals. It doesn't get much fresher than that!

     I wasn't able to sleep in too late, likely because I was hungry for breakfast! We never had dinner last night, so it was definitely time to eat. First things first though, we needed pesos. Everyone is so nice here at UDLAP, and through the help of many people, we were able to find an ATM. Well, there were three ATMs actually, and we just chose randomly which bank to use. 

We could see UDLAP from where we sat!

     With Mexican currency in hand, we decided to look for breakfast. The streets were fairly empty, except for a few joggers and bicyclists. It was close to 9 am, but even around 11 am, there weren't many people around. We walked past a lot of closed restaurants and a few convenience stores, and we settled on a cafe called La Antigua. 

    They had a lot of specialty dishes, but since we weren't feeling too adventurous, we both stuck to fried plantains with cream and cheese and an americano coffee to drink. The meal was delicious, and I was surprised when it was $86 pesos for both of us. In dollars, the meal was less than $6 in total! I'm sure I'll be back to try some of the other items on their menu. 

     In the afternoon, we all (Savannah, Alex, DJ, and myself) went to Puebla, Puebla, with a local student, David, and got lunch at a small little restaurant. The food was great, and the atmosphere was even better. People were all around --shopping at artisan markets, eating, and just enjoying their Sunday. We asked if there was something going on, but we were told that it was just Sunday. Sunday appeared to be a day to relax and just enjoy the surroundings, not to work or to be stressed about the upcoming week.

There was so much greenery
 in downtown Puebla.

Dinner was delicious

     After a trip to Walmart, we made it back to UDLAP and relaxed for a while. In the evening we decided to go to a local restaurant that specialized in flautas, a Mexican tortilla dish. I had a vegetarian flauta with red rice, or rice with tomatoes. It was filling, delicious, and just what I needed before calling it a night.
   
      Tomorrow we meet with Dr. Casas, so then we should know more about what the rest of the week will entail. I'm excited to get started with our programs!

We made it!

Highlight of the day: On the first flight, when the flight attendant offered us drinks, we each got an entire can. I've never been given an entire can of Ginger Ale on a flight!

The clouds were beautiful as we started the second leg of our journey,
and though the ride was a bit bumpy, it only added to the experience.

     Today was quite a long day, but once we got to Mexico, it was all worth it. I left my house at 7:30 am and didn't make it into Cholula until around 9:30 pm. The layover in Dallas was long, the airport in Puebla was small, but overall it was a good day. The most important part is that we made it, and I have already gotten settled in my new room.

We each have a sink and
mirror in our room. That'll
 make mornings easier!

     Our dorm appears to be really nice. Savannah and I have private rooms next door to each other. There is a bathroom with many stalls, many showers, and even a washer and dryer right on our floor. We also have a kitchen with a large refrigerator, stove, oven, microwave, basically everything we could need. There is a living room on our floor as well as in the main entrance to the building. We're lucky enough to have a beautiful courtyard/sports field outside, so there were even people around at night when we got here.

The view from my door. Excuse the shoe I forgot to put away.

     Tomorrow we will have time to explore and pick up the things we forgot about. Hangers are definitely at the top of my list! I don't want my scrubs to get wrinkled before I even put them on. After such a tiring day, I'm looking forward to some much needed rest tonight, and hopefully we'll have a slow, relaxing morning tomorrow.