Mi familia mexicana

Today we met our intended host families! Even though the homestay program through UDLAP was cancelled (financial reasons?) our coordinator, Lisette was nice enough to organize some activities so that we are still able to meet and spend time with Mexican families. We took taxis from UDLAP to a fancyshmancy hotel in Puebla (the taxi cost $15MEX or about $1 each. win.) and had buffet breakfast with our mamas. My big FIRST of the day is eating chicarrones which are fried (?) pork skins covered with cheese and salsa.
NOTE: Salsa in Mexico is not necessarily what we would eat with tortilla chips but just sauce.

After breakfast we went with our respective host moms for the day. We ended up going to WalMart to get soap, food, etc before going to my host family’s home. Mexican WalMarts are interesting because they carry a lot of the same things as American WalMarts but also have different clothing styles, food brands and FREE SAMPLES. As far as I understand, companies hire people to wander around with little table carts offering samples of anything from ice cream to rice & shrimp. While we were there they played not one but TWO Michael Jackson songs, "Ven conmigo" by Cristina Aguilera, and "I've gotta feelin". So successful WalMart adventure.

THE BEST THINGS ABOUT MY HOST FAMILY:
1. My host mom's name is Olivia and today she was wearing pink and orange (favorites!)
2. Within 5 minutes of meeting Olivia I accidentally told her that I have 3 sons instead of 3 brothers. And she took me home with her anyways.
3. La familia breeds chihuahuas and currently has 5 (3 adults and 2 puppies) in the house. If I wasn't sure whether I was in Mexico before, this solidified it.
4. In addition to the chihuahuas, they also own a boxer who is known to accidentally maul small creatures (kittens, chihuahua puppies, the neighbor's dog) in friendly play. Also, a half-blind cat and a Xoloitzcuintli, a Mexican hairless dog, Petra (see source photo below).

5. It turns out that my host brother works at a restaurant/pub close to UDLAP called Tiki and was our waiter the other night.
6. My host dad is the most precious person ever for the following reasons:
a. He told me a joke in Spanish and I understood it and laughed for real.
b. calls his favorite Chihuahua la reina, the queen.
c. He memorized my new cell phone number in order to give me pop quizzes all day about it.
7. In addition to some other little things, my host mom sent me home with a full salt shaker because "you can use salt with everything."

They are marvelous.