Futbol y Wal-Mart

So, I moved in and thank the LORD JESUS, there’s a Wal-Mart supercenter down the street. For those of you who may be unaware, a Wal-Mart Supercenter is like heaven, if heaven was manufactured by 8-year olds in Taiwan. It’s awesome. They had all of my brands and shit, even my blonde people shampoo! I’m living in a single with two dudes from Berkeley, which is pretty sweet. Apparently a Japanese guy lives here too, but he’s on vacation. Ay, I’ve been going and going and I’m so freakin’ tired. Oh, so here’s a fun fact: despite the constant warnings of my travel books, friends, and advisors, the guys here don’t seem to be that interested. I promise you that walking around Berkeley, I get more shouts and whistles than I do here. Go figure. The only guy who’s made an effort so far was a fat guitar player in the mariachi band during the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico (which was fucking awesome by the way…the ballet, not the fat guy). He winked at me while he was singing and kept waving to me during his bow. What else? Oh ya, World Cup Final today. In el Zocalo, there was a giant screen and everyone was standing around watching and yelling and selling cigarettes. We went to a restaurant to watch the match and I bought my first legal drink, un jarro de cervesa. That’s right, fools. Un jarro. The street food is also awesome and delicious. So far I’ve had hot dogs with salsa and mayo (sounds gross, but it’s good) and huaraches, which are like long, fried tortilla shells with beans, cheese, lettuce, salsa, onions, and carne piled on top. Although, my housemate already got REAL sick, so I’m gonna have to watch what I get. Few setbacks, though. My phone didn’t work and I didn’t have internet, so my mom thought I was avoiding her and got all sad, and if you know my mom, you know how much that seriously blows cuz she’s probably the nicest woman alive. Also, a dude ripped me off in a cab today by getting lost on purpose to drive up the fare. Oh, and I have NO idea how to get birth control here and I’m too afraid to ask the pharmacy. Especially since my Spanish is kinda faulty. Sometimes I understand everything perfectly, but with some people’s accents, they might as well be speaking squirrel. A guy asked me if I wanted parking validation today, and I just stared like a crazy person. I’m just gonna have to keep hanging with smarter people so that they can keep translating for me. That seems like the purpose of independent study abroad, right? Using other people instead of really learning for yourself? Cool.

P.S. New REALLY annoying habit. When I drink now, I get this really heavy chola accent out of nowhere. I guess I feel like if I’m not speaking Spanish, I should act like I am or something. It’s completely ridiculous, and I think I’m doing it sober, too.