new place

One of my friends from the IMBA program, Stephanie Brown, came for a visit this week and the day she arrived, the running water went out for an indeterminate amount of time. It was absolutely a great time...showering at school, scheduling bathroom usage, etc. But we didn't let it bother us too much. I might have been a little ansy because with all of the trips to school and such, I decided it was time to move somewhere closer to town. It took only two days to find a very cute one-bedroom furnished apartment in a wonderful area. There are cafes, art galleries, and bookstores all within walking distance. And the best thing, it is only 2 blocks from the bus stop, versus my current 25 minutes walk!!! I am so psyched and I know it will make my experience in Guadalajara so much better. The landlords, Mexican Buddhists, are extremely cool. They have promised to introduce me to their friends and get to know people in the area. My search was a little fun...and I mean a little scary. There is an Internet roommate matching service I was using when I was looking for a place, and there were actually a few guys that contacted me, looking specifically for a younger foreign woman. I think they wanted more than a roommate... :)

Anyway, I was just thinking how this will be the 6th place I've lived in in the last 12 months. I know, it's crazy, but it has been a crazy 18 months. Moving to South Carolina was part of the frenzy, though. The day I move in, March 1, will be the first anniversary for me officially being single on paper. This seems to be a popular day for starting over, at least in my life. I think I will celebrate it with some friends here, maybe drinks in my cool new neighborhood.

We had an assignment today where we had to look in the classified ads here for job postings. I came across so many crazy ads for professionals. Here is an example, translated into English:

Accountant wanted
20-27 years old
Woman, Single
Good looking

This wasn't just one, there were several like this. This would never fly in the States. It just reminds me how good we have it back home, at least with women and jobs. It is by no means perfect and the U.S. does have a lot of room to improve with women's job opportunities, but at least we can find great jobs over 30. Can you believe it, I am nearly too old to apply for this job!

Things are getting better in Guadalajara, I think. Despite finding out this week that customs forgot to stamp my passport and that it might be a real problem in the coming days in getting my visa registered, things are becoming a bit more relaxed. I am meeting new people, reading an excellent book in Spanish about World War II, and am planning on doing some hiking at a nearby canyon this weekend or next. I will also be signing up for a class on Mexican cooking here shortly.

That said, I still do miss some things that some may find silly, such as peanut butter in large jars. It is very hard to find peanut butter here and the only place I've been able to find it is at Super Wal-Mart and even then, they are only in very small jars. So, even though Wal-Mart is a 30 minute walk each way, I will go out of my way to go there to stock up on peanut butter and Quaker Oat Squares, my all-time favorite cereal. I cannot do without my peanut butter and Quaker Oat Squares. It is amazing what one will do for food.