The One Where I Become an International Superstar

I started off this week in a good manner, with the opportunity to sing in the massive and beautiful cathedral here in Puebla.  My host mom is a member of the choir, and she was more than happy to help some of us Notre Dame students sing in the choir.  On Saturday evening, she gave us copies of the music we would be singing.  I was ready to go and excited to sing in the cathedral.  However, as we were driving to mass Sunday morning, my host mom mentioned that sometimes the director will change the music right before mass.  Also, the mass is televised.  No pressure.
My nerves were calmed after the opening hymn, which we had the music for.  I flipped through my music to pull out the Gloria, which would be our next song.  However, once the music started playing, I realized that the music I had been given was completely different.  The notes and the words I was looking at were completely different from those the people around me were singing.  I looked around to see if I could share with anyone that might have the music.  However, I had other ND students on both sides of me, equally lost.  I looked forward, and there was a camera pointed right at our faces.  So, in an effort to not look a like some hopelessly lost gringo on TV, I looked straight forward and did my best to look confident, opening and closing my mouth at what seemed like the right times.  We didn't have a single correct piece of music for the rest of the mass, but luckily the cameraman never focused on us again.

I only look somewhat confused...

  Even though we were pretty lost the while time, I still enjoyed singing at the mass.  Overall, singing in Spanish is a fun experience which really helps to learn the language.  Also, I got a funny picture out of it, courtesy of my host brother Luis.   I'm looking forward to this next Sunday.  Hopefully it will go a bit smoother.

Unfortunately, singing at the mass was probably the most exciting event all week.  The rest of the week was filled with a lot of lectures for the international student orientation.  However, they did mix in a little bit of fun stuff throughout the week, so that we wouldn't get too bored.  Here's a few quick notes:

.Tour of El Centro de Puebla, the "downtown" historical distric

.Good food, including amazing churros and surprisingly tasty chapulines (grasshoppers)

 .Fiesta mexicana for all the exchange students, which included traditional food, baile folclorico, and marichi

.Last but not least, this hilarious Mariachi singer at the fiesta

Overall, it was a pretty good week even though it was boring at times.  I'm getting better with the language every day, and I'm looking forward to starting real classes on Monday.  Starting classes means I'll be more mixed in with the actual Mexican students, without the entire ND group together all the time.  I think it will be a bit overwhelming, but I'll also be learning a lot more quickly than I am right now.  Hopefully it all goes well.  I'll update you when I get the chance!