Greetings from Cuernava!

Hola families!
Well day one is winding down--we have settled into our homes, met our host families, had our Encuentros orientation and our first trip into town. Today we visited the Robert Brady Museum and the Cathedral (we split into two groups then switched). Some of us even got to see the beginning of a wedding in the Cathedral! While it was a little shady and cool in the morning by the afternoon, the girls were feeling the sun and the heat! Some were beginning to feel the altitude, and recognizing they needed to drink more. They learned a bit of Mexican history (and history of the area) although some also admitted that listening and understanding was harder than they thought!

This afternoon, after a big "comida" (in Mexico the big meal is around 330 or 4 pm with a late, lighter meal around 8pm), we are back at school for a Spanish lesson, then we will return to our homes for the evening.

Tomorrow the girls will have class in the morning here at school, then we head off to Tepoztlan. There, some will choose to hike to the pyramid (a steep hike, but no real rock climbing), while others may stay down in the town. All will have some time to eat and shop as well. I will attempt to load some of today's pictures on the blog, and throughout the week take pictures of all the girls (sometimes you may only see the girls that I happen to have been assigned to that day). We will also visit internet cafe's during the week and some of the girls may choose to email home as well--there is already some discussion of when the Catholic high school decision letters will reach their houses (for those girls waiting). Please handle that news judiciously (but whether you tell your daughter or not by email is completely up to you...).