Guadalajara, Mexico, the second largest city in Mexico with 6 million people. I studied at the Tec de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara. One of the first and best surprises of the program was all the other international students, from Europe, Canada, etc.  There were a lot of us, and we had a good time. I was in Mexico form December 26, 2002 until May 30, 2003.

What I did
I took four classes, a total of 12 credit hours. They were Spanish composition, Computer Science theory, Microeconomics, and Mexican Culture.  My Mexican Culture class was the only one in English (oddly enough).  And they were all really really easy. I wasn't supposed to be able to take the econ and computer science classes as they were regular classes in Spanish with Mexican students, but I talked the director of the study abroad program there into letting me, and it worked out really well. At the beginning of the semester I had to concentrate very hard just to get the gist of lectures, but by the end I could be doodling and I would still understand what was going on, things just flowed in and made sense.

One of the best things about being in Mexico was being able to travel around the country. I went to the beach three times, to Queretaro, to Mexico City, Guanajuato, the town of Tequila, and more. I lived with my aunt and uncle and cousins at their house in Guadalajara (my uncle is Mexican, my aunt is American, the sister of my mother) which worked out really nicely, as they lived a 15 minute drive (by car) from the school, and an hour bus ride (which is what I did every day! a good way to see all types of people, not just the rich yuppies at my school. :) ) In my house I spoke too much English, but we did speak Spanish more and more toward the end, and with our maid (yes, it was rough) and with many of the cousins of my cousins, I was forced to speak Spanish, which was good.

Photos

	This is a view of Mexico's clouds, I'm about to arrive in Mexican customs. :) Fun times, for sure. My flight was Mexicana, so I was already getting some doses of Spanish.
	This is my room where I lived for five months. It was very nice, spacious, a big comfy bed, cool glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, I give it a thumbs up.
	This is me and my cousins and some of their cousins and friends, in Puerto Vallarta for New Years (el aNo nuevo).
	This is the group of international students who arrived the same time I did, we all took our placement exams together, and it's from this group that I made many friends.
	This is a view of downtown Guadalajara from our tour that the school took us on.
	A view of a government building in downtown Guadalajara (el centro).
	A gallery of murals by the famous muralist Orosco, located in an old orphanage in downtown Guadalajara. The end of my first and last school sponsored trips (all the ones they offered were over priced and too structured and parented).
	Me and a small group of other study abroad students, from the US, Canada, France, and more, eating out one of the first weekends. Being a vegetarian in Mexico was interesting, but very doable (beans and rice and avocados and mangos are amazing!).
	Me with a bunch of mostly Canadian friends visiting the town of Tequila (um...yeah, where Tequila is from!). We rented cars and drove there (I drove, very fun! :))
	The blue agave plant that tequila is made from. Lots and lots of this in Jalisco, the state Guadalajara (and Tequila) are in.
	Sticking our fingers into the vats of tequila (hey, it's alcohol, it'll kill whatever germs we put in) on our tour, learned how tequila is made by baking the blue agave cacti and pressing them. Weirdly enough we had to write about this in my Spanish composition class a couple times too (the process, I mean), so that was easier as I'd been on a tour of a plant.
	Me in the Forest of the Spring (el bosque de la primavera), about forty minutes out of Guadalajara, where I went with friends a couple times. The cool thing about it is el rio caliente (the hot river), a natural hot spring that flows through it. It was fun to hike and explore. Hmm, Mexico was so nice and spring like while I was there. A man was murdered (mob-like) in this forest about 24 hrs before this photo was taken, which I learned from my aunt when I returned home from this excursion. :) Mexico is a crazy place.
	The view from my uncle's condo in Puerto Vallarta. :)
	Sunset in Puerto Vallarta....mmmm...the beach is a nice thing, and beer and the beach are very nice together too. Surfing, body boarding, partying, made this almost five hour drive worth it.
	My friend Matt (from Canada) and I took the city buses and asked people how to get to this canyon that is right outside the city. We hiked down to the river and back up, good exercise, it was fun. Saw an iguana, a nearly vertical rail road with people climbing up it (more direct than the winding path we took).
	Me driving my cousin's car to Guanajuato with some friends. Guanajuato was by far the best trip, a very good time. We stayed there with my friend Bilge's (from Germany/UK) friend Fabienne (german-speaking part of Switzerland), seven of us crammed in her tiny one-room apartment, it was a really good time. Guanajuato is an old mining town, and has these really cool Tokein-esque tunnels that you drive through to get into the city, and that actually go under the city. It's not that big of a town, but it has so much character, and has a really good night life, the locals are always getting out and doing things. We visited the famous mummy museum, hiked all around the town, and just had a really fun time.
	Guanajutao, fountain in a plaza.
	Me in front of the famous pyramids outside Mexico City. We stayed in this cool Quaker hostel in Mexico City and figured out the subway system (and didn't get robbed!) and toured museums and went up the highest building in central america. It was an eight hour bus ride to el districto federal (Mexican equivalent of Washington D.C.), but it was worth it.
A Frenchman, three Americans, and a Canadian having fun with prohibidos. :)
	One last view of the Mexican country side, at about 160 km/h. :) Mexico was everything I'd hoped for: relaxing, fun, educational, gorgeous weather, good food. I would recommend studying there to anyone.