Poco a poco

After writing that last blog post about feeling homesick, I felt a bit better. Just getting it out there and recognizing it helps. And then my parents and I made a Skype date and just having a time in which I knew I'd get to see their faces and talk to them helped, too. And then I spilled coffee in my bag. The bag that was also holding my computer. And my screen suddenly went black. Oh the horror! My lifeline, my connection to all that is familiar! I brought the old gal over to the Centro de Tecnología and choked back tears as I explained what happened to the kind tech guy, Carlos. He told me to come back in 24-hours and I sulked my way back home. Lucy kindly let me borrow her computer so I could talk to my parents and oh how I moped! Nothing like the parents letting you just stew in your self-imposed misery. They were every so sweet and promised me a care package (which I'm sure will arrive any day now, right Mom and Dad?) and I felt a little lighter.
I returned to Carlos will hope-filled eyes to learn that the pieza madre (it's kind of funny trying to communicate about technology here. I have no clue what the pieza madre is in English but it all sounds so much more dramatic in Spanish, the mother piece! Dun! dun! dun!) got the worst of the coffee spill and my computer was in a grave state. I returned two more times before she was finally dry. Carlos pulled the ole "we couldn't save her...... just kidding!" and showed me how she turned on again and toted how he had cleaned the fan so now she wouldn't get so hot so fast. I took her home and lived in denial for about a day, assuring myself she was equally as slow as she was before. But alas, my nearly 6-year old computer may be at the end of her life because apparently playing a YouTube video or moving between Firefox and Microsoft Word are now causes for spazzing and freezing. Oh the spinning rainbow of doom.....

With a broken computer, a conflict with a coworker, and feeling a bit lonely, it felt like the few steps I had made out of homesickness had been erased. But then, something wonderful happened! Allie came to visit. Allie is another Fulbrighter who lives in Pachuca and got a ride with her friend Javi and his cousin Victor and Victor's girlfriend Irma. They are all incredibly warm and sweet. I adore Allie because she has a vivacious and gregarious approach to life and it's simply infectious. Hanging out with Javi, Victor and Irma also reminded me that yes, I do indeed know Spanish, as we talked about US race relations, if D is a vitamin or hormone, and Mexican slang. It's like they collectively hit my reset button. I finally bought myself a yoga mat, painted my nails yellow, and rededicated myself to worrying less about my correctness and just communicating as much as I can in Spanish. And get this! Irma's best friend is moving to Querétaro and they're going to put us in touch. And obviously we'll las mejores amigas.

I'm still looking for a new place to live and feeling a bit hopeless in that department. Although, I went into CutOut Fest today and two people said they have friends with open rooms here in the center. And last night Robert and I started our Spanish class and our teacher was impressed and excited about our level of Spanish. Jamai comes to visit at the end of the month and I'm starting to plan out some trips for us that I'm really excited about. Poco a poco, I'm moving through this stage of living abroad and looking forward to making it to the other side.