el banco, la salsa y planes para el fin de semana

We FINALLY managed to get to the bank today. We've had a lot of trouble because we brought travelers' checks (per the school's recommendation.. not the best idea) and the bank opens after we start classes and closes before we finish them. We actually made it there on one of our breaks on Tuesday but they wouldn't cash the checks for us because even though we had our passports, they wanted copies of our passports. We will still have to go back though because we were only able to cash a portion of our travelers checks.. but at least we have money now! As a sidebar, we also found out that the bank we used (Banamex) is actually Citibank in the U.S. It's funny how everything is connected globally now.

We were exhausted today for some reason, and after dinner Jaime and I napped for an hour and a half (not sure what Amber was up to). We all went for a walk to "el Centro" after we got up, which is the center of the city where the majority of the action is. We looped through it yesterday but thought we'd try to better acquaint ourselves with it today. On the way we ran into Gonzálo, who is one of the teachers at the school. We walked with him for a while and when we passed a salsa bar he knew he offered to take us up so we could see it. Well, we did.. but then they made us "dance" (learn) salsa for an hour! The impromptu lesson was kinda fun but none of us had anticipated it and we were pretty worn out after. We went to a nice little cafe by the University of Guanajuato afterwards. He is having a party or get-together of some sort for the American students on Saturday for the 4th of July, so we are looking forward to that.

Saturday before the party at Gonzálo's we plan on taking the bus to León to do some shopping. I want to try to pick up a sweater or sweatshirt or two because I've been pretty cold. You'd think Mexico in July would be ridiculously hot, but the temperature here is really mild because the city is at a fairly high altitude. The temperature is in between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit every day.. which is nice, but unless it's above 70 I am freezing. It's the "rainy season" here, which means that there have been passing rain showers every day. Of course, I didn't bring an umbrella either. It's not too bad though.

On Sunday we plan on going to the Museo Iconográfico del Quijote, which is a museum dedicated to artwork depicting Don Quijote (sorry, this link is in Spanish.. but you can get an idea of what the museum is like). One very interesting thing we learned today is that our house-mother, Rosario, was actually in charge of starting the museum 20-some years ago. She is a really interesting person. Last year she received an archaeology degree.. and she is 70 years old! So far we are really enjoying our homestay.

Pictures to follow soon, hopefully!