The end of semester Blues

Now most people approaching the end of the semester would most likely be thinking "yeahhh summer!" (or winter depending on where they are... it still baffles me) but for a lot, the end of the semester is something a little sadder than not having to do another exam/essay or sit through another boring class again. The end of my first semester in Mexico means a lot of things, but most sadly, the departure of many wonderful lovelies who I won't see for a long time/may never see again. Which brings me to the point of this blog (if that's to say that any of my rants ever really have a point) the things that I will miss about Cholula/the things that I loved the most.

The small town vibe

In a town with approximately 12 000 people (I'm just pulling numbers out of my ass here people) it is not hard to see a few faces around. And after a few (many) big nights out, parties, making new friends and meeting friends of friends it doesn't take long before you have a big circle of friends/acquaintances. So it seems these days whenever I may be strolling down Camino Real either in search of a party or just to buy an orange juice there will always be SOMEBODY that waves, says hello, has a chat and catches up on daily life etc. The phrase: "Heyyy I remember you from the party in the red/white/orange/green/polka dotted house" is one that is all too frequently repeated and its always a pleasure to see a familiar face when you're in a strange and scary country. I would say that I have made more friends here in a semester than I have from living in Brisbane for 2 entire years and I will miss my favourite taco stand where they remember my name every time I come in (this may be a bad thing considering the frequency of my visits!)

My Wolf Pack

Obviously I have made a tonne of amazing friends here in Cholula, both Mexicans and the foreigners, and as much as I love and cherish every one of them (ugh... where is this mush coming from!) there are two friends in particular that have always been there no matter what. A wolf pack? You may be thinking? Well the name came from a spontaneous trip to Queretaro and a comment that I reminded them of Allan, the strange guy from the Hangover (really? NEVER! how could that be!?) And so I of course said that if I were Allan, then they must be my wolf pack. And so it stuck. But over the semester there have been many trips away, vegemite breakfasts (we found the one non Australian in the world who actually likes vegemite), many gossip sessions, big plans, sharing secrets and enough dirt for us to write a book about. While there are a million friends that I share everything with, its something special to have a group that is always there for eachother, has heaps of fun and are just all round top blokes (err... gals?). I will miss Vadgey and Wizard Sleeve sooo much and I doubt I will ever replace that amazing wolf pack dynamic that we shared all semester. (and did I mention that even though we are all fluent english speakers we ALWAYS spoke spanish together!!)

Always discovering something new

Sometimes it feels that after a while of being in the same place, eating in the same restaurants and drinking in the same bars things become stale and one begins to feel as if they know the place back to front. But all it takes is a flash of inspiration, and idea to turn left rather than right or a spontaneous little adventure and one begins to discover what is lying in their own backyard. Until a few weeks ago I never knew that there was a Zocalo in San Andres, millions of little second hand stores all over the place, an amazing restaurant which makes killer pizza, a church where the clergy leaves the giant bells unattended (so TEMPTING!), a fun thing to climb on in puebla, a store that sells REALLY weird looking dolls and many other things. I always thought that to find something new and different that I would have to take a bus to another city/place several hours from here (which is also very cool) but I realise now after a few weekends staying put in Cholula that adventure is all around.

The "newness" of it all

Although familiarity and friendship is amazing and can make a place feel like home, there is nothing like experiencing something for the first time. The excitement and anticipation of arriving in a new place, seeing your new place, meeting your new roomie (who turned out to be AWESOME!), first day of classes (which got less and less exciting as I kept going) and of course finding your way around a new place (and getting lost, and rocking up to class late, and being the only whitey in the class) is very exciting. And nobody can every forget their first taco (Mexican taco that is... cactus jacks or homecooked 'mexican night' really don't count), torta, mole, elote, sunset from the top of the pyramid etc as well as the newness of the culture, getting used to ignoring the people wolf whisting from their pick up trucks, haggling over prices are all very exciting things. What was once made me think 'what theee!?".. is now normal everyday stuff that I would hardly notice. And even though having been in other latin american countries may have lessened the shock slightly, its still something very cool and unforgettable.

And even the shitty antro music!!!

David Guetta, Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga etc etc. It really doesn't sound very Mexican and it REALLY isn't. However it seems that every night this music pumps from almost every club and bar on Camino Real and it seems that in the 4 months of being here that it hasn't really changed. But as much as we tolerate, despise and whinge like a little bitch about the music (more those with more refined taste in music... some people genuinely enjoy this shit), it seems that it gets stuck. The catchy beats and poppy lyrics just seem to implant themselves in our minds so that whenever we may be slightly intoxicated (ok... rat arse drunk) with a cocktail (or beer) in hand, it can become hard not to bop along, sing and have a bit of a dance. And so even though I despise the songs, they will forever form the soundtrack of my semester (1) in Mexico and represent all of the fun times that were spent dancing until 4am.


And sadly, the song that has stuck the hardest in my head and really seems to sum up the semester in a nutshell (and it makes me cringe to even say it!) - Time of my life. And not even the original Dirty Dancing version that I used to like but the crude and hideous hip hop remix by Black Eyed Peas. Because even though realistically we will all have amazing nights out, meet new people, visit Cholula/exotic new and exciting places, see our spanish mejorar and have probably even better times the semester has been pretty bloody good.

But hey! At least I still have another semester of awesome wonderful people, beautiful Mexican people who are just lovely and a million more fun times, it is sad to think that half of my time here is up and that some really cool people that I have met along the way have to leave. But until then, I have 3 months of holiday to enjoy!!! So FuK sKooL!! Hello freedom!