Oct. 18
Wow, it has just been a week since my last post on the blog, and here I am writing again! Last week was the end of the partials, and I had my two last presentations on tuesday. Presenting your work here is quite different from back home since it doesn't feel like it matters how well you do. I still try to make my work as good as possible, of course, but there's usually very little time for discussion and feedback.
Tuesday was pretty interesting since me and Lisa were in a photoshoot. It was in the back of a butchershop and it was a very cool experience! I think we got some good pictures, so it will be nice to see the final result. Rocio, our photographer, will submit some of the work for a contest in a few weeks. After we were done with the photos she took us around town for a couple of hours, showing us a lot of different places. Thanks a lot Rocio, we really enjoyed it! And we found a very cool hotel where we have to go to some day to have a drink...
On thursday me, Lisa and Matilda took a taxi to the airport for our flight to Las Vegas. Everything went well and it was so nice to see the view of Nevada from the plane. I'm pretty sure we flew close to Grand Canyon and the weather was perfect so we could clearly see everything. Once in Vegas I met up with Anders at the airport, so nice to see him again! We went to our hotel where we met up with Valerie, who came one day earlier to Vegas to see her brother, who was working at a fair. Me and Valerie also went to see him at the fair on friday morning, but we were a little bit tired from the night before... Anyway, we had a great stay in the city! Went to some good clubs, hung out by the pool and relaxed. For me and Anders it was maybe easier since we've been there before, this way we were never stressed about walking around and doing sightseeing. And we didn't go crazy shopping like the girls either...
We did some planning of our Mexico trip in december, or at least decided not to plan it too much ahead. We kind of know what route we are taking and that we will be in Playa Del Carmen for New Years. Then I'm flying back from Merida to Monterrey on the 4th of January. Will be an awesome trip!
Flew back on sunday afternoon, but we had to wait in the plane for 1.5 hours since there was a big thunderstorm outside. Finally we could take off and 3 hours later we were back in Monterrey. Now it's monday night and I have a normal week of school ahead of me. Let's see how normal it can be, in Monterrey you never know what the day has to offer...
Tuesday was pretty interesting since me and Lisa were in a photoshoot. It was in the back of a butchershop and it was a very cool experience! I think we got some good pictures, so it will be nice to see the final result. Rocio, our photographer, will submit some of the work for a contest in a few weeks. After we were done with the photos she took us around town for a couple of hours, showing us a lot of different places. Thanks a lot Rocio, we really enjoyed it! And we found a very cool hotel where we have to go to some day to have a drink...
On thursday me, Lisa and Matilda took a taxi to the airport for our flight to Las Vegas. Everything went well and it was so nice to see the view of Nevada from the plane. I'm pretty sure we flew close to Grand Canyon and the weather was perfect so we could clearly see everything. Once in Vegas I met up with Anders at the airport, so nice to see him again! We went to our hotel where we met up with Valerie, who came one day earlier to Vegas to see her brother, who was working at a fair. Me and Valerie also went to see him at the fair on friday morning, but we were a little bit tired from the night before... Anyway, we had a great stay in the city! Went to some good clubs, hung out by the pool and relaxed. For me and Anders it was maybe easier since we've been there before, this way we were never stressed about walking around and doing sightseeing. And we didn't go crazy shopping like the girls either...
We did some planning of our Mexico trip in december, or at least decided not to plan it too much ahead. We kind of know what route we are taking and that we will be in Playa Del Carmen for New Years. Then I'm flying back from Merida to Monterrey on the 4th of January. Will be an awesome trip!
Flew back on sunday afternoon, but we had to wait in the plane for 1.5 hours since there was a big thunderstorm outside. Finally we could take off and 3 hours later we were back in Monterrey. Now it's monday night and I have a normal week of school ahead of me. Let's see how normal it can be, in Monterrey you never know what the day has to offer...
Oct. 11
Finally done with the second partials! The last couple of weeks have been a lot of work on projects but now I'm done for this time. Actually, I have my last two presentations tomorrow but the work has already been submitted. First really free weekday evening in a long time and it feels good!
Anyhow, there's not just studying to write about, even if it feels like that's the only thing I've been doing lately. A bit more than a week ago we went on a trip to the states - South Padre Island in Texas. Marcello was kind enough to take me, Valerie, Ulla-Maija and Sanna in his car so the five of us drove up to the border. Big thanks Marcello! It's said to be the most dangerous higway in Mexico, but we had no problems. Might have been worse if we drove at nighttime, but we went in the middle of the day. After about two hours drive to the border, two more hours of waiting in a car line at the border, and then another hour we arrived at our hotel. Turned out that it was low season so there were almost no people on the island. No problem for us, we still had a really good weekend. Just took it easy, chilled by the beach and pool and went out for food. There were like two bars open but they were close to empty. A funny story is when we just came to the hostel, we went to the pool to grab a beer. Sat down with some americans who turned out to be proper rednecks. Some quotes from them:
"- I'm a true Republican! F*ck Obama, f*ckin socialist!"
"- Oh you're from Austria? Cool, that's where they make the Glock. They sure know how to make guns in Austria"
"- I don't speak Spanish, just Rdneck-English"
"- We're Americans, we don't kill people"
And last but not least (this was said by a guy who sat right next to Marcello):
"- If I see a Mexican crossing the border I will shoot him straight away"
Pretty soon we realised that we didn't have much in common with these guys so we bounced. Luckily we didn't run into them again either. Not even at the "afterparty for the fishing festival" where we apparently went. We thought we just went to the only open bar to get a drink.
We left South Padre Island on sunday morning and stopped at three places for some shopping on the way back. First an outlet mall, then Best Buy and finally a big mall. All of us came back with a lot of good deals.
The other day I got an email from a friend of friend, this girl is a photographer and wanted me to participate in a project as a model. Sounds like a fun thing to do! :) She also wanted a blond girl, so tomorrow me and Lisa will go to a pretty special location for a photoshoot. Must say I'm a bit excited, it will be interesting to see how the result will look like.
On thursday I will fly to Las Vegas! I'm flying there with Lisa and Matilda, who already bought tickets for this trip since way back. Once there I will meet up with my good friend Anders "Enjoyer of life" Västfält, who is currently studying at UC Davis in California. I'm really looking forward to it! We will also meet up with Valerie, Ulla-Maija and Malin who are now on a trip in California. I'm a bit jealous of them I must admit... But no need to complain! Still loving life here and the weekend will be awesome!
And just to mention the security situation briefly. Things have gotten a bit worse over the last couple of weeks, since there has been shootings every day, and now also in the daytime and against civilians. Normally it's just narcos fighting each other or the military and police. Campus even got closed an efternoon last week, since there was a shooting not far away. Because of these recent events, the school now offered us the opportunity to either transfer to another campus (which only makes sense if you're here for two semesters) or finish the courses online. We signed up for the online courses, but it will take some weeks before it can be definite. We just did this as a backup-plan, nothing is decided yet. At least good to have the option to go somewhere else even it gets a lot worse. But most likely we will stay here, so far I don't know any of the people I'm hanging out with who are leaving. We will see what happens. Even though the situation is crazy, I don't feel scared and life goes on as normal. But it puts things in perspective, makes me feel blessed by living in such a safe country like Sweden. Also makes me think that the "problems" we have back home maybe aren't that troublesome after all. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
That's all for this time! i will try to put up a post maybe in Vegas, or at least after the weekend. Buenas noches!
Anyhow, there's not just studying to write about, even if it feels like that's the only thing I've been doing lately. A bit more than a week ago we went on a trip to the states - South Padre Island in Texas. Marcello was kind enough to take me, Valerie, Ulla-Maija and Sanna in his car so the five of us drove up to the border. Big thanks Marcello! It's said to be the most dangerous higway in Mexico, but we had no problems. Might have been worse if we drove at nighttime, but we went in the middle of the day. After about two hours drive to the border, two more hours of waiting in a car line at the border, and then another hour we arrived at our hotel. Turned out that it was low season so there were almost no people on the island. No problem for us, we still had a really good weekend. Just took it easy, chilled by the beach and pool and went out for food. There were like two bars open but they were close to empty. A funny story is when we just came to the hostel, we went to the pool to grab a beer. Sat down with some americans who turned out to be proper rednecks. Some quotes from them:
"- I'm a true Republican! F*ck Obama, f*ckin socialist!"
"- Oh you're from Austria? Cool, that's where they make the Glock. They sure know how to make guns in Austria"
"- I don't speak Spanish, just Rdneck-English"
"- We're Americans, we don't kill people"
And last but not least (this was said by a guy who sat right next to Marcello):
"- If I see a Mexican crossing the border I will shoot him straight away"
Pretty soon we realised that we didn't have much in common with these guys so we bounced. Luckily we didn't run into them again either. Not even at the "afterparty for the fishing festival" where we apparently went. We thought we just went to the only open bar to get a drink.
We left South Padre Island on sunday morning and stopped at three places for some shopping on the way back. First an outlet mall, then Best Buy and finally a big mall. All of us came back with a lot of good deals.
The other day I got an email from a friend of friend, this girl is a photographer and wanted me to participate in a project as a model. Sounds like a fun thing to do! :) She also wanted a blond girl, so tomorrow me and Lisa will go to a pretty special location for a photoshoot. Must say I'm a bit excited, it will be interesting to see how the result will look like.
On thursday I will fly to Las Vegas! I'm flying there with Lisa and Matilda, who already bought tickets for this trip since way back. Once there I will meet up with my good friend Anders "Enjoyer of life" Västfält, who is currently studying at UC Davis in California. I'm really looking forward to it! We will also meet up with Valerie, Ulla-Maija and Malin who are now on a trip in California. I'm a bit jealous of them I must admit... But no need to complain! Still loving life here and the weekend will be awesome!
And just to mention the security situation briefly. Things have gotten a bit worse over the last couple of weeks, since there has been shootings every day, and now also in the daytime and against civilians. Normally it's just narcos fighting each other or the military and police. Campus even got closed an efternoon last week, since there was a shooting not far away. Because of these recent events, the school now offered us the opportunity to either transfer to another campus (which only makes sense if you're here for two semesters) or finish the courses online. We signed up for the online courses, but it will take some weeks before it can be definite. We just did this as a backup-plan, nothing is decided yet. At least good to have the option to go somewhere else even it gets a lot worse. But most likely we will stay here, so far I don't know any of the people I'm hanging out with who are leaving. We will see what happens. Even though the situation is crazy, I don't feel scared and life goes on as normal. But it puts things in perspective, makes me feel blessed by living in such a safe country like Sweden. Also makes me think that the "problems" we have back home maybe aren't that troublesome after all. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
That's all for this time! i will try to put up a post maybe in Vegas, or at least after the weekend. Buenas noches!
