Solo adventure, Chac Mool and food

On Tuesday, I ventured out by myself for the first time!  It really wasn't that big of a deal, I had taken the bus many times with Reed so I knew what to do and where to get off.  I was just a little nervous--a solo adventure!  I rode to the institute that I am starting classes at on Monday, Sept. 1st.  It's called Instituto Chac Mool and has an approach to teaching spanish using Stephen Krashen's Theory of Second Language Acquisition and the Seven Intelligences which Reed says are good.  I will be tested on the first day and placed with 4-5 adults in a class at the same level of ability.  We start at 8:50am and go until 2:35pm.  The time includes: Spanish structure and practice, conversation workshop and 20 minutes of your choice of a private tutor, lecture/guest speaker/songs/games or Taller Bilingue (grammatical explanation).  Sounds fun!  I hear from a teacher-friend of mine who has taken classes there that they play soccer sometimes!  YAY!  :o)

On the way home, I decided to walk up the street for awhile instead of catching the bus. Unfortunately, what seemed like a good workout ended up with me feeling sick from breathing in the fumes from the cars, buses and trucks.  I caught the bus.  

Pictures of food: 1.  Take out from the restaurant on the corner.  The plastic bags are filled with horchata (a milk-like liquid made from almonds, cinnamon, rice, lime and sugar).  2.  Tamale from a street vendor. (L)  3.  Chicken. (R) 4.  A torta!  (bottom, my favorite)

Coming soon:  A trip to Mexico City!