Monday morning I had planned to get up, shower, and do some exploring before my checkout at noon. However, it was raining when I woke up, so I packed all of my stuff, planned my activities for the afternoon, and went back to bed for a couple of hours. : ) I finally checked out around 12:30, had the hotel store my luggage, and walked a block to the Zocalo. In Mexico, all cities will have a Zocalo, which is where the city first began. There is typically a church and government building on either side of the Zocalo. From this center point, the city begins to move outwards and all street numbers and directions originate here. The Zocalo in Puebla is a beautiful area with colorfully designed shops and restaurants surrounding a park area with fountains, pathways, and benches where you can sit and enjoy the day, which people seem to do… Mexican culture and lifestyles seem to be so much more relaxed and laidback than our quick paced and jam packed lifestyles in the States… To add to my American, touristy look, I grabbed chicken McNuggets from McDonalds for lunch. I took a little more time to explore the Cathedral and shops surrounding the Zocalo before taking a bus tour around the city. After the tour, I returned to the hotel for a little bit to read and rest. Then, I went back to the Zocalo for a chicken caesar salad from Burger King. I have every intention of trying every Mexican dish and treat while I am here, but not until I have full descriptions and tips from my home-stay family!

After dinner, I returned to the hotel and read a couple of chapters of my book before claiming my luggage from the front desk and calling a taxi. It was finally time to meet other students from my group and my home-stay family! : ) I was supposed to meet the rest of the group at 9:30 pm at the residence halls on campus. When I arrived at 9, there was nobody there and the student working the gate entrance did not know anything about our meeting. Luckily, another family pulled up behind us and said that they were also early and would wait with me. As we were talking and waiting in this parking lot, another home-stay mom came up. Once we asked her if she knew the name of the student she was picking up, she said Chelsea. This was such an exciting and reassuring moment for me! We took my bags to her car, and then went into the cafeteria to wait for the rest of the families and students to arrive. Finally, around 10:45, Ignacio, my Resident Director through my program, arrived with the other 7 students who are enrolled in my program. We all introduced ourselves, met our home-stay families and were told to meet back on campus in the morning at 8 am.