It'll all work out

I didn't think I'd ever be treated like royalty, but today had the weird connotations of that. I woke up early and ran, took my time showering and getting ready (those who know me know that when I say I took my time, I mean it probably took me like, an hour and a half...), ate breakfast, then went back to my room for a while, reading an subsequently napping for about 4 hours. I got up and caught myself up on some old Time magazines, then went to dinner in Celaya with the fam. Here's where stuff gets interesting. It's about a hal hour drive, and it was me and most of my host family--Moises & Amparo (the parents), Moises Jr (18), Pedro (16) and Carlitos (8). We stopped at this one place on our way, but they didn't have a Mariachi band, something that we'd talked about and evidently I'd seemed interested in seeing, so it was a must-have wherever we went. So we kept on driving through Celaya, which has a Walmart, a Costco, and various other very American things...it's a city for sure. So we just stop by the side of the road and get out at what, to me, seems very underwhelming. I was correct.

We walk in and it's this sort of hole-in-the wall, though the restraunt it pretty big. There a Mariachi band at the front of a long hall where undescript tables are set out and it's about half full of Mexicans, all of whom look inquisitively at us, probably because A) we're semi-dressed up and B) I'm a gringa with a Mexican family. There's a buffet that looks less than appealing to me--mostly because the majority of the foods in it are mariscos (seafood), and I hardly trust seafood in the United States when we're more than 3 hours away from any ocean. But whatever. I'm not one to complain. Even about food that might make me sick. Plus it probably won't. Right?

To give me the most genuine experience (I think) Moises (el doctor) asks that we be able to sit right up front. Now, when I walked into the place I thought it was loud. Mariachi bands have about 9 players, two of whom in this group are trumpet-players. Loud. So we sit down and I can barely hear myself think. At this point, I'm just way overwhelmed and thinking, is this really what people want to pay to do? I mean, if you want to hear a Mariachi band, cool. But if you want to eat, don't you talk? Carlos was very entertaining, trying to take pictures of his brothers and generally acting like an eight year old, something I've found surprisingly comforting being here. So they give us a menu and say we can get the buffet or order from the menu. We all decide the menu is a better option. Kind of. I was trying to understand it, but still menus confuse the hell out of me. I just don't have enough food item vocabulary. There were like, 3 things I fully understood on the menu. Like Hot Dog. Hambourghesa. These were in the kids section. So I went for something that sounded interesting and had Pina (pineapple) in it. That and some sort of mixture of seafood. I figured the worst that would happen is I would have to eat bread. I did manage this time to order water that was plain, not carbonated (as I accidentally did last time). I was pretty proud of that.

At this point the lead singer of the Mariachi band talks to el doctor and they're asking me if there's anything I want to hear. I say I don't know...because I thought they were talking about specifically Mariachi songs. El doctor says something to him, clearly indicating that I'm visiting and to do something special for me (which makes me feel real awkward, and I'm sure I was bright red). Next thing I know, he's singing "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," and looking at me. It takes me a few minutes of embarrassment to remember that no one else in the restraunt can understand the words, and then I felt a little better. Still very much like I was on a pedestal for no real reason...but whatever.

When my food came, I was once again in shock. This was no ordinary dish--it was an entire half of a pineapple with the stem and all, middle cut out, filled with all different kinds of seafood with a half inch thick layer of melted cheese across the entire top. So I start eating the mostly unidentifiable parts of chopped up seafood. The shrimp was good and seemed pretty safe. There was something else I recognized as having eaten before, muscles? I didn't really know, but I picked those out too. As or the legs of whatever animal is a small octupus? I left those alone. The cheese was pretty good. I put some of it on the bread they'd given us before our food. As usual (and expected), the pineapple was awesome. I mean, I could have just eaten half a pineapple and probably been happy. El doctor asked me if I liked my food of if we should order something else for me. I told him I was just fine. I always feel like I might as well just eat what's in front of me. I mean, I ate enough that I wasn't hungry, and even if it wasn't my favorite thing, I'll most likely survive.

After our fairly sucessful dinner, we went to Costco, or as they call it "Cotsco." I felt like I'd walked into the Costco in North Carolina--it was EXACTLY the same. Same layout, basically the same stuff. That's kind of weird. We got some stuff there for their store (they own a pharmacy where el doctor sees patients and it is connected to the house) and cheese...and just looked around some. The boys fought with Carlos, as they had the whole trip. Interesting trip. It was nice to get out and do something, but I did feel sort of deficient in my Spanish, which is always frustrating. Speaking of which, I got a cell phone last night. It's pink. I don't have the number on my at the moment, but when I get it I'll post it. Just in case you need to call me in Mexico. Like if you come visit. But obtaining the phone was more unpleasent than I'd anticipated--the girl who sold me the phone spoke really quickly and was giving me directions about it and I could NOT understand her. I think partly because I was already nervous...but I got it and I think I understood her well enough to be able to use the phone. Frustrating though.

I also talked to el doctor last night about my research. He told me that he'd ask around and, as he knows so many people, that it would be very easy to find people, especially for the shorter part of my research. So I'm taking the Mexican attitude and letting it become what it will. That's the biggest thing I think I'm going to get out of this trip--it is entirely possible to live your much of your life without anxiety, and in fact, that anxiety rarely does anything but create more problems. Let people know what you're thinking and what you want, and it will happen. You don't have to be pushy. On the same token, with yourself you can be laid-back and just don't sit still, keep doing things, but that everything will get done. It's a great attitude, I think. It'll all work out. That's my new mantra. I would love to hear comments if you have them...hope you are all well!