In the words of Shakira: Estoy aquí.

So, where to start?
We left home earlyEARLYearly yesterday morning (I can't believe that was only yesterday) so I could catch my 6:15AM flight. Despite all of Delta Airline's efforts to load us at the wrong gate, with the wrong plane and to leave at anytime but the RIGHT time, we somehow made it to Salt Lake City on schedule and I had plenty of time to catch my connecting flight to Mexico City. The flight itself was pretty uneventful although every announcement took twice as long since it had to be said in English followed by an abridged Spanish version. It's a good thing that we didn't have any emergency situations because the non-English speakers definitely didn't get all the details...

It is mind-boggling to fly into Mexico City. It goes on as far as you can see (a tribute to both it's enormity and the size of it's smog cloud) but is interrupted by large hills/small mountains that have simply been incorporated into the city. Customs was a breeze with the only glitch being the expired declaration form that we got on the plane (thanks Delta). I (eventually) met up with a group of other international students going to Puebla and some volunteer students from UDLAP (the university) who led us to the bus. I meant to sleep on the bus but ended up spending most of the ride looking at Mexico City and the beautiful countryside between Mexico City and Puebla- it's surprisingly green! Other students met us at the bus stop and set us up with taxis to UDLAP.

I got into school at about 6:30PM local time and was able to unpack, meet some people, and get dessert with my roommates. I'm living in an apartment-style 7-man dorm (maybe 8 if another one shows up???? yo no sé)that has a living room/kitchen, 4 bedrooms and a bathroom. Five of my roommates are Mexican freshman and one is a junior from N. Carolina.

I was so exhausted from traveling and speaking Spanish yesterday that I didn't really take the time to appreciate how beautiful everything is here and how lucky I am to be here. Everyone is extremely friendly and patient which helps a lot in the language department. It also helps that the natural pace is much slower here. One international coordinator today reassured us that "Hay una solucion para todo" there's a solution for everything. You just have to find it. There's still a lot to figure out but it's nice to have met other international students in addition to the ND crew so we can share problems and solutions.
This afternoon we had a marvelous welcome comida after orientation and campus tours. I think EVERYONE was in a better mood after fresh tortillas, horchata and other delicious dishes.
My main goal for this week is to be patient and not worry too much about the details. Qué será será!!