¡He llegado!

I have finally arrived to Tec de Monterrey :)

(This picture is compliments of the Tec website.)

Yesterday was a cloudy day---physically and metaphorically. When the plane was coming in for landing at Monterrey, the whole sky looked like a blanket of clouds. I don´t know how the pilot landed safely, but thankfully he did. Coming off the plane at 4pm I had no idea where I was going to be staying that night since orientation did not begin until today. Fortunately, I met a really nice girl, Amanda, from Wisconsn at the airport and asked her where she was staying. By the grace of God, she invited me to stay with her. She happened to have a room reserved with 2 beds anyhow :)

So we took a cab and spent last night at the Holiday Inn a couple blocks down from Tec. On our way up to the room we met another international student, Alex, from Australia. We all decided to go have dinner together. That was an adventure!

Although the hotel was surrounded by classic American eats such as Applebees, Subway, and Chille´s, we decided instead to indulge ourselves in the local flavors. We went to the hotel counter and asked them what place was their favorite around here. The guy answered Palomitas and pointed us in the direction. So we went down the street, crossed the bridge over the 8 lane road, and yet found no Palomitas.

We then approached a gas attendendant standing outside and asked him where Palomitas was and he said he never heard of the place. In return, we asked him where he recommends for good local Monterrey food. He suggested Rancho Viejo, a resturaunt across the street where we just came from. So we took the local man´s advice and headed to Rancho Viejo.

However, upon arrival to Rancho Viejo, we walked in damp from the rain and the place was empty except for the nicely dressed waiters. I asked them for a table for 3 please, and they responded that they were sorry, but they were not open. LOL. I asked them why not and they said they close after 5. We apologized and returned to our loved 8 lane street.

Finally, Alex said that Chille´s was looking really good and, in fact, he had never been there before! LOL. Apparently, Australlia (or at least the Sydney area) does not have a Chilles. So we chose Chille´s and Amanda and I laughed as we watched our new Australian friend enjoy his cultural experience :)

It was a great night. But by 9 we were all spent. It was a long day of traveling.

This morning Amanda and I caught the cab to Tec. The driver was really amiable and he even told me that he had lived in western Virginia! Apparently all 4 of his kids were born there. At the arrival to Residencias 3 we were greeted warmly by Marcello and his staff. They helped us get organized. Props to the study abroad office at Tec (and Tech)!! You deserve it for all your hard work for us!

In 2 hours I get to meet the rest of my awesome staff! So far I´ve met back up with Nacho and some others and I´ve met a few of the ladies too, Monica and Allie. All of them have made me feel like I´m home :)

For tonight, I´m staying in Residencias 1. I still don´t know where I´m living permanantley yet. But that´s the adventure of it all! :)

It´s still cloudy here, but things are beginning to clear up :)