Chapter 10. No to beer in Veracruz / Yes to beer in Guadalajara

Hi!

Hahahaha, our big houseparty of today was cancelled. The police heard about it and ceiled the house so that no one could get in or out. I bet that it was due to mordidas from the neighbours.. Well one day break doesn't do bad, I've slept an average of 5 hours in the last four days anyway.. In addition I can now write my last blog update until my trip to Asia!

But first about our trip to Veracruz! I enrolled into the capoeira group that the school arranges here at Tec. I found it really fun and decided to leave with them to a big capoeira event that was arranged by the Atitude Brazil Verazruz. I went with our capoeira teacher at Tec, el Bigode, and two other students. They all are super-cool guys and it was them that made the trip especially good! Capoeira has still a traditional ranking system of the teachers and there were various masters (mestres) and pre-masters (contra-mestres) of capoeira coming to the event and I was really eager to see them in action!

On the first day of arrival on Friday we already had one capoeira lesson of three hours. It went really good and the teachers really knew their thing. On the negative side, I could immediatly see the different atmosphere of the event compared to the capoeira classes in our school: The teachers spoke almost only portuguese, you weren't allowed to speak during the lessons and you couldn't go and drink water in the middle or in between classes. That was again some traditional thing of capoeira but to be honest I found it stupid, especially the drinking part. It resulted that I was so tired in the end and couldn't do too much dancing in the rueda, which is the traditional "fighting" circle where two people dance with each others.

Another thing that caught my eye was that the ranking system doesn't necessarily correspond with your skills. It is more about respect and knowing the right people, because only the people with higher rank can put your ranking higher and you have to build good relationships between many people just to maintain your status. For example, the wife of a master was pre-master and she couldn't honestly do too much more than I. Well, she was more of a dancer-capoeirista but still, you get the picture. I wasn't a huge fan of this traditional ranking system and would prefer more a skill-based system, but it's a traditional sport so I guess there is not too much to be changed.

Well anyway, we reserved a hotel for the first and second night in the centre of Xalapa. It turned out to be pretty good for the price (6e/person/night). On Saturday we had another 5 hour lesson of capoeira and on Sunday we had a little a performance for some audience in the same arena. The whole experience was really really good and I learned a lot of new capoeira moves. The only thing that I regret was that I was a bit of a wimp and didn't enter the rueda too often. It was partly because most people that entered had done it for years and the mestres wanted of course to show to the youngers who's the boss in the ring. But still, I should have showed them more!

I ran out of cash in Saturday evening because my trustful and generous (:D) moneylender, Paulina, forgot to withdraw me money on the previous night. This was a bit of a problem because my mexican buddies had about 500 pesos in their bank account so I had to actually spare money for the first time in Mexico so far. On Sunday evening we left to the city of Veracruz and slept in the house of a friend that I just met in the Capoeira event. He was a friend of my tricking friend in Guadalajara, but still... I love the Mexican hospitality! The staying in the house was a really fun experience, there was 4 dogs, a few birds and 3 chimpanzees living in the same house and as soon as I walked outside the room of my buddy, hell broke loose and they started to shout and bark as loud as they could.

On Monday morning Carlos had to go to school and we rest decided to go to a beach for the day. We even did some tricking there, here's a few pics of that!

Group foto at the rocks

My and Bigode doing some aerials

Pose!

Btwist close-up

Backflip to water :)

The others left on Monday afternoon, my flight back to Guadalajara wasn't until Tuesday evening. After many hours of continous begging (yes I know, embarrasing, but what can I do?), I could lend 500 pesos from my buddies, which would have to do it for the rest of the trip. This wasn't actually the easiest thing to do, because I had to reserver 350 pesos only for the taxi rides to the airport in Veracruz and in Guadalajara to my house. That left me 150 pesos money to spend (9 euros). The first day we went to a gimnastic hall which costed 60 pesos already. After breakfast on the next I had about 20 pesos left to spend for the whole day. Although we only went to a big shopping centre to hang out and tried to do some tricking in the blistering wind that was in Veracruz that day, the 20 pesos wasn't of course enough, t. I had to arrange a bit my taxi drive home, but eventually it all went good and I got home safely! Here's a few pics still from Veracruz.

Carlos in front of his house

Street view in the city

There were a lot of funny-looking tourist busses in the centre of the city

Another street view

Cafe Barroquia - really big and famous cafeteria in the centre of Veracruz

I just put a little list of things that I hadn't done before the trip. 1. I haven't done sports for four straight days without hurting or straing my muscles 2. I have never slept with monkeys. 3. I haven't spoken only spanish for five days. 4. I have "never" traveled without having a single beer during the trip. Most of the points are of course pretty easily achievable, but especially the last makes me feel really proud of myself.

Alltogether the trip was simply AWESOME and I was one of my best experiences so far here in Mexico. I didn't learn that much during the event much I got to know a lot of new people and the capoeira culture and also saw some really beautiful places. Totally worth it!

After Veracruz it has been basically just that one Spanish exam. The rest of the time there has been a farewell party every single day (excluding today) and I can really feel it now when writing this blog update at 2am. The parties have been really fun and I already start to miss all the good friends that I made here in Guadalajara!!! Some of them have already left to their trips (mostly to Central America) and some will after this weekend or so. Luckily some will return for another semester to study here so I'll get to see them again! Although this time it will be a bit different, because I'll be only doing the internship and will come to school only for sports. But I don't want to think about those things just yet, now I'm concentrated on preparing and packing my stuff for traveling around the world.

That's basically all that has happened so far here in Guadalajara. I don't have the time or will to write about more things, but just in short: Diego had his birthday on the first of Dec and we are going to celebrate it tomorrow. We were paintballing yesterday with 10 people. It was awesome. I passed all my courses.

So, this is what has happened to Kalle in the first part of his journey. Let's pray for the ancient gods that his trip stays as successful also in the future and that his money doesn't run out before the end of the trip. The future episodes include a massive 3-day stay in Finland, almost a month in Thailand/Filippines/Singapore, returning on January to Mexico and traveling here for 3 more weeks and doing an internship in yet-not-decided company in Guadalajara. He is hoping to put the next blog update somewhere in South-east-asia, let us see.

But until that..

..Last greetings from Mexico!

Peace!

Avautumista

Joo

Tänään hajosi pää pariin asiaan ja päätän raapustaa tänne ennen kun unohdan ne.

1. No tengo cambio

Meksikossa ostoksilla - tai ylipäätään missä tahansa jossa valuutan kanssa on tekemisissä - joutuu kohtaamaan yleisen ja ERITTÄIN ärsyttävän ongelman. Mikään pienempi katukauppa ei nimittäin lähes poikkeuksetta omista yli 200 (12 euroa) vaihtorahaa ja suuremmissakin kaupoissa, kuten Oxxo, 7-eleven tai Bodega Aurrera (suomen K-market ja valintatalo - vastaavat tai hieman isommat) on ongelma älyttömän yleinen. Tänään esimerkiksi yritin tuloksetta maksaa 20 peson tacolautastani 100 peson setelillä. Tilanteen tekee erittäin tuskalliseksi se, että nostomaateista ei saa kuin 500 peson seteleitä (32 euroa joka on samalla meksikon suurin seteli), joilla maksaminen on joko a) käytännössä mahdotonta tai ainakin b) aiheuttaa paheksuvia katseita myyjäosapuolessa. Ja KAIKKEIN ärsyttävintä on se, että usein paikoissa on vaihtorahaa isollekin setelille, mutta siitä huolimatta seteli ei jostain syystä kelpaa. Ja kun tästä mainitsee myyjälle, niin vuorossa on tuijotuleikkiä hetken aikaa, jossa myyjät ovat alansa ammattilaisia.

On yksi selkeä syy siihen, miksi kaupat haluaa pitää niukkaa käsivarastoa: Ryöstöt. Kauppoja ryöstetään verrattain useasti ja koska kiinnijäämisprosentti on muutaman prosentin (!!!) luokkaa niin kaupat varautuvat mieluummin haitan minimointiin kun turvallisuuden parantamiseen. Pikkukaupoilla tilanne on tietenkin toinen, kun vaihdanta ei päivää kohden ole järin suuri. Homma on kyllä lähtenyt vähän näpeistä, jos K-marketin tasoisessa kaupassa pidetään alle 10 euroa vastaava määrä vaihtorahaa ja suurempien setelien ostosten tullessa joudutaan myymään ei-oota. Miten se mun mun vika jos automaatit ei anna pienempiä seteleitä? Helevetti.

2. Mañana

Oon sopeutunut jo verrattain hyvin meksikolaisten aikarytmiin, eli tapaamiseen ei haittaa tulla 30 minuuttia tai vaikka tunnin myöhässä ja peruutuksia ei aina tarvitse ilmoittaa. Nyt on kuitenkin kärsivällisyys hieman koetuksella. Autoani on huoltanut perheen luottomekaanikko, Antonio eli "El otoño". Kutsuttaneen häntä syksyksi tästä lähtien siis. Vein autoni herran syksyn hoiviin kolme ja puoli viikkoa sitten ja siitä asti autoni on pitänyt olla valmis noin viisi kertaa. Neljännen kerran jälkeen sanoin syksylle että voi unohtaa muiden osien korjauksen, kunhan vain saisin käsijarrun toimimaan, jonka tämä itse oli viime korjauksen yhteydessä hajottanut. Homman piti olla valmis seuraavan päivänä eli kuusi päivää sitten, ja kun tänään tepastelin liikkeeseen hakemaan autoani, niin eiköhän jarrusta puuttunut vielä yksi pala, jota mies oli "etsimässä" para-aikaa. Siis mitä helvettiä? Miten voi korjauksen ammattilainen etsiä Meksikon yleisimmän auton jarrun osaa KOLME JA PUOLI VIIKKOA???? Edellisen osan, jonka korjausken piti kuulua samaan hommaan, etsimisessa meni myös pari viikkoa ja kun menin ihmetyksissäni kysymään toisesta mekaanikosta samaa osaa, niin osasivat sanoa samoin tein mistä kyseisen osan löytää. Liike sijaitsi 200 metriä herra syksyn korjauspajasta.

Aika siis mekaanikon vaihdolle. Tämä on jo pitänyt tehdä jo jokunen aika sitten, mutta on reissua ja muuta kiirettä pukannut päälle sillä vauhdilla, että ei autoasiaa ole jaksanut kummemmin miettiä. Nyt on allekirjoittaneella lisäksi enää muutama päivä Meksikossa, joten odotan että syksy pitää lupauksensa ja tuo auton omin päin talon eteen huomenna iltapäivällä. Saakon seistä siinä sitten pari kuukautta. Helevetti.

Chapter 9. Sobre el abuelo y Sayulita

Hiiiii!

The end of the first is approaching lightspeed and I felt the need to keep u guys updated of the things happened during the last weeks. I'll tell about our trip to Sayulita and talk a little about the life in the host family because of the recent occasions. I'll start with the latter one.

About three weeks ago the 85 year old grandfather of the family had a brain stroke. He was taken to the hospital immediatly and spent the first week there - accompanied all day and night long with many family members. It really showed my the power of the family once again, for exampe Susana was staying almost every night in the hospital nearby the granpa. Our schools stupid falta rules obliged her to do her normal work still and she was basically going without a rest all day long with a couple of hours of sleep. I felt a bit guilty to go partying and to a vacation to Puerto Vallarta when they spend all their time in the hospital, but then again, what could I have done..

After the first week the stroke had also an effect of my life. He moved to our house and they wanted him to have my room downstairs. I had to move upstairs to a guest room, which I shared the first week with diego because some of their cousins came to the house and took Diego's room. So my space practically reduced from 15 sqmeters to about 3 sqmeteres for some time, which wasn't of course the best thing but of course I understood the situation. The granpa's having some mental problems and depression so the home life has become a big more stressful.

I can't remember if I've told it already, but I'm moving to another place to stay in after my winter vacations. This was my plan all year long and this incident kind of only strengthened my plans. Well anyway, so far I've had an awesome time here with the family and I feel like owing them A LOT.

Hahahaha, I remember a funny thing that has happened a few times both when being in Diego's car. They happened during the evening or night and I've both times felt asleep in the car, just to find myself waking up to the noise of people laughing and having 3 pair of eyes staring at me with an oddly grin. The thing was that I was having a sleep without noticing. In the dreams I was in the same car but in the dream the people were talking to me and asking some questions to which I of course responded. However, my responses didn't go unheard and my buddies could here everything that I was talking in the dream which of course didn't make any sense. One time for example I found myself talking about the prices of tacos, telling how much I have money and advising the route to a taco place, which later on blurred into reality when I found that my friends clearly weren't understanding a crap that I was saying.

Sayulita 12.-16.11.2010

Finally after many weeks of planning we got the chance to go Surfing in Sayulita, a small city nearby Puerto Vallarta in the west coast of Mexico.

Sayulita on a map

I was traveling with Niklas, a Finnish guy from Helsinki who is also studying at TEC. We left on Friday evening at 6pm and headed first in the centre bus station with 1 hour taxi ride. Later on we found out that the same bus stopped after an hour of driving to another bus station that was 10 minutes away from my house, wippieeeeee.

We arrived to Puerto Vallarta after some 4,5 hours of driving and didn't do too much anything but just have evening dinner and a couple of well deserved beers. We slept the first night in a place called Hotel Rosita, which was ok but still not that good so the next morning we decided to find another place to stay. We weren't sure about the hostel possibilities in Sayulita, so we decided to find a place in PV not to have to carry our bags the whole day there if we couldn't find a place to stay in. We found a much better place with the same price (12 euros per person) with 2 jacussis, king size bed, kitchen and a living room with about 45 square meters. We were really satisfied (in everything else than the super-slow breakfast) and would definetly go there again. Too bad I can't remember the name of it.. Here's a few pics of PV!

Typical street view in Puerto Vallarta

Icecream-time - all year long!

From the hotel window

Ready to go!

On our way to Sayulita

We left to Sayulita at about 1pm after the hotel episode and arrived there in an hour or so. There was a big flood katastrophe two months ago with various parts of the city destroyed and still there was a big river in the centre of the city that was created during the storm and was still quite big.

Somebody must've had a pleasant toilet experience

First we had a really good marico-tostada mix for 60 pesos (a bit less than 4 euros)! Afterwards we headed to the beach, which we heard was good for not that experienced surfers like ourselves. Here's a few pics of it.

Sayulita beach

Our surf-gear renting place!

As soon as we arrived to the beach we found out that we weren't the only ones from the in Sayulita in that weekend. We met at least ten more people in the first afternoon and another dozen more during the next few day. But what the hell, we were here to SURF and not socialize, so we grabbed two longboards for us and headed for the waves. The first moments went of course a bit scetchy finding the right technic, but pretty soon enough we got the hang of it and I successfully succeeded to ride a few waves to the end which was of course nice. I liked the beach a lot and the waves were certainly not too big for us. The only negative thing worth mentioning was the rock bottom in a pretty shallow water that was located of course where the better waves were. It wasn't a big problem and u just had to avoid avoided to crash head first in the shallow water.

The next day we headed again to Sayulita in the morning from Puerto Vallarta and this time decided to take our backpacks with us when informed that there would be room to stay in Sayulita. The hostel that we took in Sayulita had the same price than our Junior Suite room in Puerto Vallarta, but that's about the only thing that the rooms shared. It located 20 meters from the beach so once again we proved the fact of 3 of the most important things of a property: Location, location and location. This time we rented hard boards, because the 2 hour long surfing yesterday without shirts on soft board resulted that even taking a shower hurted like hell and our stomach and chest were full of red remarks. We went together with some other people from Guadalajara in that night and the next day consisted again of some surfing action and taking it easy in the beach. We headed home in monday night, but the memories of the trip were still strong on Tuesday, when I had to stay in the bed for basically whole day because my stomach was hurting. I think the reason for it was something that I ate in Sayulita in the last evening. Wednesday was still not 100%, but Thursday I was feeling normal again and could go back to the school and sport routines, wippiee!

I'll end my update here because my laptop battery is running out and I'm going to do some sports in the kampus area. I'll write one more update about my trip to Veracruz and Xalapa in the east coast of mexico and also add some stories about the last days of the first semester here in Guadalajara.

Hasta luego!

8. Buenas fiestas y revéses

¿¡Hola todos, como andamos!?

Time to put a little update of my time here in Mexico during the recent month. I only have time to tell about the first week properly, I'll add some more stories about my life here in Mexico later on when my exams are over.

We went to celebrate el Servantino in Guanajuato during the first weekend.

Week 43 - 25-31.10.

The schoolweek consisted again of the normal stuff: Sports, school and spending good times with friends at the Campus and in the city. The famous mexican tradition - Dia de los Muertos "the Day of the Dead" - was approaching on the next monday.

Celebrating death in a positive manner

The tradition consists of getting together with your family and honouring the people of the family that have already passed out by celebrating in various manners. I found the event really impressive and different from our culture back in Europe, because instead of remembering the people close to you in a sad and serious manner, it was all about celebrating the soul of the dead people and the positive memories that they left behind. The tradition is the strongest in the cemetaries, which is practically transformed into a sea of flowers, where it's impossible to see any grave without decorations. I think Dia de los Muertos with all the effort really shows the importance of the family here in Mexico. I really liked the whole positive theme of the tradition would like that similar culture would also expand to Finland!

Typical graveyard image during the time of the day of the dead

The tradition involves also a bread that is only eaten during these weeks. It's name is Pan de Muertos "the bread of the dead" and it's like a sweet bread with a taste of orange. It's really delicious, especially when eaten by the traditional way with hot chocolate! I even checked the recipe of it, you can find it here.

TEC had an event for it already on Thursday and it included built-up graves of famous Mexican people, dance performances, food stalls from every state of Mexico with typical foods from that state, and of course Pan de Muerto con Chokomilk!

Built-up grave at TEC

Some people were really making an effort!

Then came the weekend..

We (me, paulina, saana, geert, viri, palina) we're planning to go visit the really famous party in Guanajuato for the weekend and continue to visit Morelia, a city in the state of Michoagan, which is the most famous city in Mexico during Dia de los Muertos. Eventually we didn't make it to Morelia, but more of that in the next chapters..

The trip to Guanajuato was about 300 km, which we decided to drive with two cars, another one being my beautiful bocho. We finally got to leave the city at about 6pm instead of the scheduled 4pm, so lot's of driving in the dark included, yeye! It all went good until the last quarter of the trip, where my car suddenly started to slow speed even though i was pressing the gas pedal all the way down to the bottom, as normal.. So the car stopped in the side of a 110 km/h freeway, which actually resembled the German Autobahn and people basically drove as fast as they dared. It was night and we were standing in the side of the dark road watching a bit scared when 20 meters long trucks were passing us with a speed of 130 km/h.

Of course there weren't any gas station in sight for the next 10-15 kilometerers. Luckily we had the other car with us with Viri's parents on the road with us, which stopped and after some time REVERSED to our car to see what's the problem. At first we thought it was the oil, but the car was in a downhill and the oil level was eventually fine. Then we thought that the battery went out (which seems a bit awkard when driving in a freeway..) and we tried to ignite the motor with the help of cables. Well.. this episode ended in a way that the OTHER car also lost its battery so instead of just one broken car, we had two cars standing in the middle of nowhere at 23 pm.

We had called for some help at around 9pm and got a bit frustrated after waiting for three hours in the cold night.. Well eventually at 12.30 am some car came and after some serious pushing, wondering and cableworks we decided to tow my car to the next gas station which was 15 kilometers away. The clock at that time was about 2.30 am. We finally arrived to Viri's parents house at around 3.30 am and it was time for a good night sleep (which in my case meant under 5 hours).

I spent the next day reparing my car with Viri's dad who was a reaaally great help during the whole episode and I owe him a lot. We got the car fixed in a local mechanic place and the problem seemed to be the accumulator, which, according to my superb car knowledge, transfers the electric energy to mechanic energy and makes the motor to run.. The others spent the day in Irapuato, a city close by Guanajuato where the house that we were sleeping the first night was.

The second night we finally wnet to Guanajuato to see the Servantino. And oh boy, how cool it was. The streets were literally packed already from the afternoon and it got even more impressive in the night with numerous different fiestas and just a really good atmosphere. We slept in Karla's (a friend of Viri) place, whose family were really generous in permitting us to sleep in their house.

The next day consisted of walking in the narrow alleys of Guanajuato and visiting different tourist places. Here's a few pic of the city:

Guanajuato during the day

Memories from the revolution. The revolutionarists' heads were put in sticks to show that don't mess up with the (Spanish) government!

Valley of the kiss. Famous street where a girl and a boy where in love but could only meet on the balcony. The story ended to the death of the boy from the angry father

Another street pic from Gto

Guanajuato at sunset

After the great day in Guanajuato we decided ultimately to head back already to Guadalajara, because we didn't quite trust my car at that moment and wanted to drive with the other car close to us.. Well that ended up to be a good idea. Everything went really good until the first gas stop and we had a great time playing the radio max volume (could hardly still hear it from the noise) and using the extra lights for the first time. The joy continued 20-30 minutes more, up to the point that I noticed that my wallet was missing from my pocket.. We stopped the cars and tried to find it, but without results. I used the wallet to pay for the gas in the gas station, so after some delays we headed back there just to realize that the guys that were working at that time were already at home and no wallet in sight. Besides that, I forgot the radio and lights on for 10 minutes when we stopped the car, resulting in an empty battery. Here we go again..

It's pretty hard to describe my feelings again at 01 am in the night with a broken battery and a lost wallet, but I've had a few better moments here in Mexico I have to admit.. Well, eventually we reserved a Motel nearby the gas station just to wait for the workers to come to work again, hopefully carrying my wallet with them. After a good night sleep with two girls in one bed, we woke up at 6am and drove to the gas station (after a successful ignition, wuhuu!) and one guy had actually brought the wallet with him! YEEHAAAA, I knew this was my week! After that episode everything went good and we drove back to Guadalajara and even saw another city which was named San Juan de dos Lagos. The only setback was my precious car that started to keep a funny noise in the end of the trip. Mechanic time!

Note to yourself: Don't drive the car out of the city. Sell the car?

Bumb. That was the first week since my last update. I'll just put a brief text of the next weeks and add some more stories hopefully really soon!!

The next two weeks consisted again of some projects, hanging out at pool, doing sports and going out with friends. On the weekend of 12.-15.11 we headed to Sayulita to finally do some serious surfing action and actually had a really pleasant, although a really tiresome time there! After that weekend was again back to normal routine in Guadalajara, which has lasted up to this day. Today I'm heading to Veracruz with my capoeira group to a convention. I'm really looking forward to the trip, there is going to be many teachers from Brazil and it will last for the whole weekend. I will come back on Tuesday the 30th of November midnight, really prepared for my Spanish final that will be the next day at 08.30 in the morning. It's only school!

¡Hasta luego!

7.2 The fastest October of my life (part 2)

I have a feeling that I could head all my future posts in the similar way. Time will tell..

Beep. Switch to Finnish. Briefing in English in end. Beep.

Moi,

¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!

Puksutetaan Tequilajunalla suoraan seuraavan viikon tapahtumiin kulkematta lähtöruudun kautta

Viikko 42 - 18.-24.10

Kuten monet edelliset viikot, tämäkin viikko meni ohi ennen kuin edes huomasikaan. Vaikka tuntuu, että ei mitään kovin erikoista tullut tehtyä, niin silti on joka päivänä tehnyt älyttömästi asioita ja saanut paljon uusia kokemuksia. Mitään en vaihtais!

Koulurutiinit meni ihan mallikkaasti. Useat ihmiset ottaa hirveästi stressiä koulun politiikasta, mutta itselle maistuu kyllä ihan hyvin. Ainakin pääsee tapaamaan kavereita koulussa joka päivä ja ei tule notkuttua himassa liikaa (ollenkaan). Koulun tasosta tähän väliin sen verran, että kyseessä on tasoltaan Meksikon yksi arvostetuimmista (lue: kalleimmista) kouluista. Puitteet (aika ajoin omaa motivaatiota lukuunottamatta) ovat erinomaiset oppimiselle, mutta tähän saakka opetuksen taso ei kaikilta osin ole minua vakuuttanut. Minun kurssini opettajat ovat pääsääntöisesti melko hyviä (joidenkin muiden opettajat ovat kuulemma ihan surkeita), mutta tunneilla edetään pääsääntöisesti hyvin hitaasti ja aihetta taidokkaasti väistellen. Tämä on hyvä metodi siinä mielessä, että yleensä lähes kaikki pääsevät kursseista läpi ja vieläpä kiitettävin arvosanoin (jolloin napsahtaa himoittu, yhden viikon lisä sallittuihin poissaoloihin kurssilta). Välillä tuntuu kuitenkin siltä, että faktapohjaisen infon esittämisen sijasta opettajiakin kiinnostaa enemmän jutella niitä näitä ja lopettaa tunnit ajoissa. Tätä esiintyy myös muillakin kursseilla pelkkien vaihtarikurssien lisäksi, mutta luulen silti että meno on hieman letkeämpää erityisesti vaihtareille suunnattujen kurssien kohdalla.

Koska itse opiskelu on heti kielen, urheilun, kulttuurin ja uusien ihmisten tutustumisen sekä sopivien tuliaisten löytämisen jälkeen prioriteettilistallani heti seuraavana täällä Meksikossa, niin en kuitenkaan stressaa asiasta ihan liikaa. Itse asiassa pidän nykytilannetta täydellisenä (faltoja lukuunottamatta), koska ihan liikaa ei tarvitse päntätä ja vapaa-ajan voi käyttää kivasti kaikkeen muuhun tekemiseen. Täytyy kuitenkin myöntää, että välillä on kuitenkin hieman hapokasta nousta 8.30 ylös mentyään nukkumaan neljä-viisi tuntia aikaisemmin.

Anyway, alkuviikko kului letkeästi kampuksella hengaillessa sekä matkatessa autokorjaamolle tarkistamaan, että ei, auton korjausta ei olla vieläkään saatu valmiiksi. Sain autoni takaisin viimein keskiviikkona 4200 pesolla, ja kaikki toimii nyt lähestulkoon hyvin. Ainoana poikkeuksena on se, että kaverit ovat jollain käsittämättömällä tavalla onnistuneet deaktivoimaan auton käsijarrun. itse jarrukapula toimii siis normaalisti, mutta kepillä ei hauskan rutisevan käyttöäänen lisäksi ole juuri muuta käyttöarvoa tällä hetkellä ja autolla voi ajaa normaasti, vaikka käsijarrua olisi kuinka kiskonut ylöspäin. En pidä myöskään lähinnä korkinavaajaa muistuttavasta vaihdekepistäni, joten saatan samalla reissulla vaihtaa senkin uuteen (vaihto kustantaa noin 20 euroa).

Näiden pikkuongelmien kanssa painiessa oon viimeset viikot miettinyt auton vaihtoa isompaan ja turvallisempaan Grand Cherokeehen (1998), jota meksikokaverini myy mielestäni edulliseen hintaan, 40 000 pesoa (2300-2400 euroa). Nykyinen kosla maksoi 29 000 pesoa, joten hyppäys ei olisi sinänsä iso ja tolla autolla pärjäisi paremmin varsinkin meksikon maanteilla (sekä näiden pirun kumpuroiden kanssa kaupunkialueella). Ainoa huolenaiheeni on bensan kulutus (auto on v8) ja ehkä ajetut kilometrit (250 000 km), mutta tällä hetkellä luulen kyllä, että sijoitus olisi kannattava. Yksi, aika "baller" vaihtoehto olisi pitää molemmat autot ja käyttää kuplaa kauppakassina koulumatkoilla ja isoa hevosta muissa tilanteissa. Tämä tuntuu jo ajatuksen tasolla kuitenkin melko humoristiselta köyhälle opiskelijalle ja luulen, että jos ostan ison jullin, niin musta paholainen saa kyllä jatkaa matkaansa muulle omistajalle. Aika näyttää.

Tequilajuna eksyi nyt vähän sivuraiteille.

Taisi olla tiistai 19.10 kun menimme kavereiden kanssa katsomaan jälleen jotain uutta fiestaa, tällä kertaa Guadalajaran keskustaan. Juhla "Festivo de la Octubre" ja se sisälsi ilmaisella sisäänkäynnillä huvipuiston, suuren konsertin sekä satoja erilaisia kauppoja ja ruokapaikkoja. Näimme paikalla jopa luistelukentän, jossa paikalliset yrittivät erilaisten apuvälineiden avulla pysyä pystyssä luistimilla, joita olen viimeksi nähnyt faijan jalassa joskus 10 vuotta sitten ja jollaisia ei varmasti ole valmistettu 60 -luvun jälkeen. Pääasia oli, että jengi kuitenkin yritti, itse yritin tätä vastoin pidätellä nauruani.

Loppuviikosta ei tapahtunut maailmaa mullistavia, kunnes lauantaina alkoi todellinen rätinä. Menimme vaihtarikavereiden kanssa sankoin joukoin äijäporukalla pelaamaan paintballia, jossa yritin parhaani mukaan lietsoa pelkoa kanssapelaajissani armeija- ja sissitaustani kautta. Todellisuudessa olen se mies, joka säätää (komentaa muita säätämään) viestilinjoja kun muut rytkyttää menemään, mutta tämä ei tietenkään kuulosta tarpeeksi seksikkäältä ja jouduin välillä hieman kaunistelemaan tosiasioita. Vakuutin muun muassa sveitsiläisen kaverini uskomaan, että armeijassa tapoin karhun paljaan käsin saadakseni ruokaa. Hän nieli koko tarinan!

Itse kuulasotahassuttelu meni tosi kivasti ja sain kolmen tunnin ähertämisen muistoksi avohaavan käteen ja päähän. Tämän lisäksi olen laskenut viisi mustelmaa tähän mennessä eri puolilta kehoa myöskin kohtitulleista kuulista. Illemmalla menimme syömään gringo-safkaa Chili's -nimiseen paikkaan ja tarkoituksena oli mennä johonkin baariin tämän jälkeen. Teimme sen virheen, että menimme valmistautumaan iltaa varten koteihimme. Lähestulkoon jokainen jäi sille tielle allekirjoittanut mukaanluettuna, hikoilu muovikypärän sisällä sekä hampurilaisateria tekivät tehtävänsä.

Sunnuntaina 24.10 ajoin aamupäivästä Parque Metropolitanoon reenailemaan kavereiden kanssa. Tämän jälkeen menimme Diegon kanssa Guadalajaran parhaimmalle baarikadulle - Chapultepecille - katsomaan futiksen El clasicoa - Chivas vs. Americas. Peli itsessään ei ollut järin mielenkiintoinen ja päättyi 0 -0, mutta aika meni kuitenkin leppoisasti. Illemmalla (yöllemällä) oli taas vuorossa kouluhommia seuraavaa viikkoa varten, joita aloitin tapani mukaan tekemään ajoissa klo 01.00.

Siinäpä kaikki pääasiat männäviikoilta. Nyt on viime viikot pysytty enemmän itse kaupungissa reissaamisen sijaan, ja mikäpä tässä ollessa, kun joka päivänä voi nauttia pilvettömästä taivaasta ja 27 asteen lämpötilasta. Nyt ensi viikonlopulle on suunnitelma lähteä ensin Guanajuaton kaupunkiin, jossa on koko lokakuun kestävä iso juhlakausi (en muista syytä) ja tämän jälkeen lähteä alkuviikosta Moreliaan viettämään kuolleiden muistopäivää (Dia de los muertos), joka itseasiassa on tosi merkittävä tapahtuma täällä Meksikossa. Tulen kertomaa myöhemmin lisää tapahtumasta, mutta täältä voi katsoa lisätietoa, mikäli aihe kiinnostaa.

Sain tällä viikolla varattua myös lennot Aasian jouluksi! Suunnitelmana on siis mennä joululoman ajaksi Jetteä katsomaan Aasian seudulle. Reissu sisältää alustavasti vielä tuntemattoman kohteen Thaimaassa (ehdotuksia ihmiset!), Palawanin provinssin filippiineillä sekä Singaporen, näitä ei ole kuitenkaan vielä lyöty lukkoon. Matkaan toiselle puolelle maapalloa Suomen kautta ja viivyn siellä kokonaiset kolme päivää (välillä 7-10.12)! Pitää keksiä tekemistä tuolle välille, ois kiva nähdä kotimeininkiäkin ja kavereita pitkästä aikaa! Tammikuun alussa palaan uusine kujeineni tänne Meksikoon aloittamaan seuraavan lukukauden, jonka saatan suorittaa muissa merkeissä.. Tästäkin aiheesta lisää myöhemmin!

Mutta tässä kaikki tällä erää, toivottavasti saan hieman kiristettyäni päivitystahtiani tästä eteenpäin. Tällä kertaa en lisännyt yhtään kuvaan tekstiä pehmentämään, toivottavasti jaksoitte silti lukea. Nyt kun on kannettava videokin koko ajan mukana, niin voisin koittaa tehdä pieniä kuvien lisäksi myös videopätkiä, jotka voisin jotakin kautta näyttää täälläkin. Mutta sitä odotellessa.. Adios!!!!


A short briefing in english:

In this week went also really god damn fast and I finally got my card (almost) fixed. We were seeing a Mexican party in the "La festivo de la Octubre", although the reason for the party is still somewhat indeterminate. In the weekend was the long beholded "Bro Down", which consisted of paintball wars of 3 hours and eating some more manly things @ Chili's. Afterwards we were planning to go to a manly bar, but our manly muscles were pretty manly tired and the most of us were mouses and stayed at home.

Next weekend we are going to the city of Guanajuato and afterwards spend the day of the dead's (Dia de los muertos) in Morelia, Michuagan. Lots of cultural stuff expected, yaya! I also finished planning my trip to Asia for December and the beginning of January. I wil leave at 6th of December from Mexico, go through Finland (stay there for 3 days) and go finally to Bankok. From there, were are most probably going to some place in Thailand and later on to Palawan, Filippines and finally to visit Singapore. I'm coming back to Mexico at around the 6th of January and might have some different things planned for the next semester..

But until then.. SEE YA!

Kalle

7.1 The fastest October of my life.. (part 1)

..Has been the fastest! And the funniest! Jajajajaja!

Hi guys!

I've been just so lazy in updating my blog. This is partly because I've been reeeaaalllyy busy durin the whole week, but the main reason is my own lazynesss. Stupid Kalle, stupid Kalle! *Smack smack smack!* I'll write this update in Finnish, because there's lot to tell and its faster to type like. Besides, haven't seen any English comments so far. I'll add a short briefing in English in the end.

Eli tjenare vaan kaikille taas!

Aika on kulunut nopeammin kun rappioalkoholisti ja nyt aletaan jo olla ensimmäisen lukukauden ehtoopuolella (5 ja puol viikkoa koulua jäljellä!). Viime blogipäivityksestä on opittu kielen, ruokien, uusien kavereiden ja latinorytmien lisäksi lisäksi meksikolaista perhekulttuuria ja vähän trikkausta/capoeiraakin.

Johtuen siitä, että mun muistiinpanoväline sanoi itsensä vesipullon ystävällisellä avustuksella ulos muinoin Isla de Mujereksella, en oo pystynyt taituroimaan samaan tahtia muistiinpanoja tapahtumista kuin aikaisemmin. Pitäydytään siis asioissa, jotka pystyn päissäni muistamaan. Kerron vähän myös tulevaisuuden plääneistä!

Viikonloppu 1.-3.10

Ensimmäinen lokakuun viidestä viikonlopusta kului tsillaillessa kavereiden kanssa poolilla, capoeirailemassa ja trikkailemassa. Olimme Susanan, Diegon ja Diegon faijan kanssa käymään myös tosi isolla ja perinteisellä käsityömarkkinoilla Tonalan kaupungissa Guadalajaran vieressä, jonne lähdimme sunnuntai-aamuna, freessinä kuten aina, baari-illan jälkeen klo 9.30. Katumarkkinat olivat maineensa veroiset miljoonine kippoineen ja kuppeineen, vaikka kahlatessa vellovan ihmismeren mukana kojulta toiselle tunsikin välillä olevansa pikemminkin täpötäydessä rockkonsertissa katumarkkinan sijasta.

Koristehiekkaa joka makuun

Löysin pikkusiskolle vihdoin potentiaalisia tuliaisia

Iloiset sammakot

Tequila-kannuja riitti joka äijälle

Menimme markkinan lisäksi käymään myös Tonalan keskustassa, joka oli myös näkemisen arvoinen paikka. Kuvista näkyy hyvin sunnuntai-iltapäivän leppoisa tunnelma ja ihmisillä ei tuntunut olevan kiire mihinkään.

Etsimässä jotakuta?

Kaverukset

Ja päivän chillauspysti menee ylläolevalle korunmyyjälle

Tonalan kaduilta bongattua

Paluumatkalla pysähdyimme vielä juomaan kookosmaitoa

Sekä kävimme nappaamassa päivän hedelmät mukaan

Kokonaisuudessaan reissu oli tosi mielenkiintoinen kokemus! Sain kuvien lisäks napattua mukaan perinteisen meksikolaisen pelin, joka kantaa nimeltä el balero. En oo varma, oonko jo maininnut tästä aikaisemmin, mutta kyseessä on tämän näköinen vekotin ja tarkoitus on käytännössä vipauttaa narun päässä oleva murkula kepin päähän mitä erilaisilla tempuilla. Peli oli tosi suosittu noin 50-60 vuotta sitten, mutta nykyään kapulat ja narut on vaihtunut täälläkin peliohjaimiin. Oivoivoi, nuoriso on pilalla.

Viikko 40 - 4.-10.10

Seuraava kouluviikko viikko kului urheilun ohella pitkälti tenttien ja harkkojen parissa kampuksella. Yöt ovat alkaneet viilentyä pikkuhiljaa näilläkin leveysasteilla, ja laitoin ensimmäistä kertaa pitkät housut päälle aamulla jalkaan koulussa. Tämä olikin viikon suurin virhe, koska tottakai päivällä lämpötila nousi yli 30 asteeseen ja jouduin kärvistelemään koko päivän nihkeissä farkuissani!

Viikonloppuna oli luvassa kauan odotetut isoisän 85 -vuotispäivät, jota Susana oli valmistellut koko viikon. Pippaloita varten oli varattu talo keskustan ulkopuolelta ja tulossa oli noin satakunta sukulaista ympäri Meksikoa. Menimme valmistelemaan juhlia jo edellispäivänä aina iltayhdeksään saakka, josta päästyäni menimme pelaamaan korttia kavereiden kanssa.

Lauantai-aamuna olikin jo sitten anoppia ja pikkuserkkua kylässä, jotka olivat ajaneet puoli yötä päästäkseen paikalle. Roudasimme porukalla kymmeniä kiloja muhennoksia, tacoja, vihanneksia ja tequilaa juhlapaikalle, jossa jatkoimme valmisteluja aina iltapäivään saakka. Juhlat olivat valmiit alkamaan!

Juhlat menivät odotetusti erittäin meksikolaisesti. Vaikka jengi tapasi toisiaan vain esimerkiksi kerran vuodessa, niin silti aina käyttäydytään kuin olisi tavattu vasta edellispäivänä. Family values - check. Ruoka- sekä juomatarjoilut olivat myös aivan erinomaiset, tacoja tarjoiltiin viiden eri kastikkeen kanssa ja erilaisia tequiloja ja kakkuja oli vieläkin enemmän. Välillä tuli tietysti vähän hölmö olo, kun ei tuntenut juurikaan ketään ja kielikään ei aivan suju ongelmitta, mutta tekemisen puutteen iskiessä päätin toimia juhlien valokuvaajana. Alla muutamia kuvia juhlista.

Juhlapaikalta

Joku skidi leikkii mun balerolla

cocinar = divertido

Susana y el guero

Juhlakalulle serenadi

Juhlinta loppui yllättävän aikaisin, jo kymmeneltä illalla ja nukuin ensimmäiset hyvät yöunet tällä viikolla. Dagen efter kului juhlapaikalla rennosti syömisen ja uima-altaalla oleskelun merkeissä, mistä lähdimme kuuden aikaan takaisin kämpille.

Viikko 41 - 11.-17.10

Seuraavalla viikolla oravanpyörä liikkui edelliseen tapaan koulun ja urheilun merkeissä. Sarjassamme hassuja sattumia, Diegolla ei mennyt tämän viikon keskiviikko aivan putkeen. Ensin sen omasta autosta hajosi joku hihna, kun se oli menossa katsomaan tyttöystäväänsä. Kun annoin sille mun auton lainaan niin eikös siitäkin hajonnut vaihdelaatikko ja lähdettiin yksissä tuumin työntämään autoa Zapopanin keskustassa. Korjaus kustansi lopulta n. 280 euroa ja korjaus kesti ajallisesti vain kaksi kertaa luvattua enemmän.

Olin lopen tympääntynyt kaverilta lainaamaani 15 euron nokialaiseen ja halusin ostaa uuden omenapuhelimen muun muassa vessareissuja piristämään. Paco ilmeisesti kuuli hiljaiset avunhuutoni ja toi näytille kaverinsa vanhan iPhone 3GS:n (16Gt), jota hän oli myymässä kun oli kuullut että vanhani oli rikki. Vehje tuntui heti tosi hyvältä ja päätin seuraavana päivänä ostaa sen pois 4000 pesolla (~270 e).

Tein viikolla muutakin kuin kulutin matkakassaani pois ja "valmistauduin" tentteihin. Tiistaina 12.10 oli Zapopanin keskustassa tapahtuma nimeltään "La Romeria de la Virgen de Zapopan". Kyseessä oli uskonnollinen juhla Zapopanin keskustassa Zapopanin neitsyt -patsaan kunniaksi ja oh boy, miten paljon ihmisiä oli taas änkenyt samaan paikkaan. Meno muistutti enemmän karnevaalitunnelmaa kaikkine kojuine ja huvipuistolaitteineen, mutta kaikista mieleenpainuvinta oli nähdä aivan tajuttoman pitkä jono (>1km) ihmisiä, jotka halusivat päästä kirkkoon sisälle katsomaan patsasta. Hulluja nämä meksikolaiset...

Viikosta ei sen enempää. Viikonloppu meni Guadalajarassa rennosti, mitään isompaa häppenkinkiä ei ollut ja aika kului lähinnä kavereiden kanssa. Reenailin myös hieman olemattomia potkutaitojani, jonka tuloksena sisäreidet olivat kipeät koko seuraavan päivän ja alkuviikon. Nyt on siis olemassa pohjataso, josta lähdetään nousemaan!

Menimme lauantai-iltapäivästä eteenpäin paikalliselle olutfestivaalille vaihtokamujen kanssa, jossa tuli testattua monia paikallisia ja ulkomaisia oluita. Hyviä olivat, varsinkin viimeiset! Tämän lisäksi tuli syötyä varmaan elämäni epäterveellisin ruoka, kun menimme saksalaiskojusta tilaamaan ison annoksen jotain, mitä aluksi luulin porsaanlihaksi, mutta joka myöhemmin osoittautui vähintään 90% rasvaksi. Oikeasti, patukka oli pinnalta lihaa, mutta eikös sisältä löytynyt pelkkää sulavaa silavaa, jota syödessä tuli jostain syystä hyvin luolamiesmäinen fiilis. Koko komeus oli pakko tietysti syödä, kun siitä oli kerran maksettu! Ja koko hoito huidottiin alas sinapilla, hapankaalilla ja 1 litralla olutta. Tästä lähdettiinkin sitten kierien (silavaa ikenissä) kohti seuraavaa oluttiskiä..

Läppärin akku vetelee viimeisiään, joten joudun lopettamaan tämän blogipäivityksen tähän. Laitan pian tulemaan toisen satsin seuraavista viikoista, toivottavasti jo tämän päivän aikana.

Hasta luego!!!!

Briefing in English:

The first two weeks consisted mainly of doing sports and some schoolwork at the campus that I never stop admiring. On the first weekend we went so see a really big and traditional handicraft market in Tonala, near Guadalajara. It was a really good experience with some really traditional Mexican stuff, but sadly enough it was totally packed with people. In the next weekend was the long prepared, 85 year birthday of the grandfather of my host family. The fiesta was really traditionally Mexican with some really tasty food and a loots to drink. I didn't know that much people there, but I compensated that by being the official fotographer and drinking a few drinks. On the 41. week my car broke up, I bought a new phone and we went so see some religious party in the centre of the city. On Saturday we went in a big beer festival in Guadalajara and had some really good local and foreign (mainly German) beers there.

That all what happened expressed in shortest possible way. Now my battery is totally running out, so I have to stop this update here. I'll update the next part hopefully very soon!

6.2 Semana de cumpleaños

Hola de nuevo,

Cancion del dia

I was much behind on schoolstuff, so I decided to do them first before updating the second part. Here it comes!

This update is about the first (half) week in GDL after our trip to the east coast of Mexico, some viewpoints of Mexican culture also included!

Weeks 38 and 39 - 23.-29.9

After the beautiful beaches and sceneries, you guys can just imagine how motivated we were to get back to school on Thursday the 23th of September. Well, it ended up pretty well, because the classes (nor homework) weren't too stressful and the weather was really good.

The rest of the week was all about different parties, including my birthday party. On Thursday I was still on "hangover" and tired from out trip, so I didn't go out that day. On Friday there was another theme party in a posh club chalet, but I decided not to Dress to Kill, and went instead to play poker to a birthday party of my Mexican friend. I achieved a huge profit of 20 pesos from that night so it was a success!

On Saturday the 25th it was time for my own birthday party, which we organised on the pool of my friends, Sam's, house. I got myself up from bed from the previous night and accomplished to put my swimming shorts on at 3pm and the party was scheduled to start at around 4 pm, so I was in a bit of a hurry. After doing some shopping we finally arrived to the pool and a little surprise was waiting: The whole pool area (it's a common pool) with the table areas was full of Mexican families, supposedly there was a birthday party of some of their children going on. If the timing wouldn't have been this bad, it would have actually been pretty cool to watch because traditional customs, including piñatas, gossiping grandmas, lots of sombreros and so on. Well, we still decided to go for it, and achieved to get some space in the grass in the middle of scramming kids playing football.

The kids party didn't hamper our fiesta, mainly because there wasn't too many people coming first to the pool, probably due to the party on the previous day, and we got some seats nearby the pool and just enjoyed the sunshine with some piña coladas. The kids hitting the piñatas were actually really fun to watch and I really would have wanted to have my camera with my at that time!

Later in the evening we went inside the house and much more people came after 8 pm. Some guys even bought me a birthday cake and I sure had to try the Mexican tradition with it! It is about having your head smashed to the birthday cake, here's the result, por favor


Later on we left to Old Jacks to hear some live bands and it ended up really good! The only setback was my right eye, which reacted a bit to my contact lenses (or the cake) and turned totally red.. Well it's already much better now, so no worries!

On Sunday Susana prepared a birthday lunch for me and it was just so good, including a kind of soup with a lot o meat and vegetables, tostadas with guacamole and a fruity dessert. Susana's littlebrother, my "uncle", Paco and Diego showed me also how to play with a traditional Trompo (gyroscope), which is kind of their version of our yo-yo in Finland. They were really good at it, here's two pics of the fun

Paco spinnin' the trompo with his nail

Style comes first, right?

After the weekend it was time for another school week. Both days in the school went pretty smoothly, and I kept still on getting birthday felicitaciones. Thanks guys! On Tuesday evening we had another poker night, this time organised by a student organisation Conexion GDL. The night was really good until I started to drive home. I didn't know the destination where we were playing, so when I left there after 02 I just wanted to get quickly home and didn't check the routes too much. I got really lost and drove through the dark streets of Zapopan and Guadalajara for about 1h 30min before finally getting home. The most annoying thing was that every time I stopped to ask the right direction from someone, they gave me the totally wrong way and in most cases I just ended up to a dead-end street.. I heard this happens because the Mexicans don't want to loose their face and say simply say that they don't know now. The thing that wonders me is that what is the embarrasing thing about not knowing a route to somewhere. To me it would be more embarrassing to tell a wrong direction to someone and then later on see him return with a angry face.

That's what has happened so far! Today was my day-off from school, so obviously I haven't done much of anything.

Time for some cultural stuff! But before:

Ximena Navarrete

She was elected as Miss Universe of 2010 about 3 weeks ago. The funny thing is that she happens to be from Mexico, Guadalajara. I'm with good company here!

Climate in Mexico

First of all, Mexico is a really big country and there's a lot of different climate areas as u can see on the picture below
Guadalajara is located somewhat in the southeast corner the climate is treated as subhumid. This has meant so far that the temperature stays between 25 and 30 degrees in the day and in the nights it lowers down to maybe 20 degrees at summertime. So pretty much like finnish or European summer so far (when we get lucky..). There is not too much humidity and the sun shines a lot, even during the days in the rain season . In the coldest times of winter (October, December) I heard that the temperature goes down to 15-20 in daytime and to about 5 degrees in the night. So actually it can get rather cold here during the winter, but hopefully the coldest time shouldn't last for too long.

The coasts of Mexico are much more tropical than the inner land. This is of course due to the sea, but also because many inner cities are at a quite high altitude. During the rain season the coastal areas have a lot of tropical rains which are really wet but don't usually last for too long. These areas are also superhumid during the rain season, so sometimes the rains are a really welcome surprise. Here's some rain stats for geeks like me.

Mexico has also more dry-hot type of weather, mostly on the yellow parts shown in the map. In baja california it was rainy season, but it didn't rain at all and the land was pretty much deserted (exluding the green golf courts for American tourists).

Accents of Spanish, part 1: International

I'll divide the accents of Spanish to two parts. First part is about the foreign accents of Spanish and the second part on native Spanish accents. I'll write the second part sometime in the future, when I've got familiar with more accents than now. Please, don't take it too seriously!

Let's first take a look at the language tree of Indo-European languages - which Spanish is also part of. All the major languages spoken in Europe are pretty much on that list, including English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Scandinavian languages and others, but not Finnish. However, Romance languages (latin based), which for example Spanish, Italian and French is part of, differ from the Germanic languages (English, German etc.). The closer relation between the Romance languages in the language tree can be also seen in real life, because at least the French speak remarkably good Spanish for being French! In relation, the English and German speaking people with the same experience of Spanish have usually way more problems in understanding and speaking the language.

The language tree also helps to understand the learning process of many new languages. Once you have learned to speak one language of a certain group, you are in better position to learn also other languages in the same group. That is because these languages have better 1. Amount of similar words, and 2. The similarity of language structure. At the same time, you are able to improve your 3. Language learning process, and learn the new language better that way. Basic stuff.

Okeys, the theory leads us to talking about the worst spanish speakers and funniest accents. When comparing other Germanic languages with each other, I feel that Scandinavian people learn the best. This is because they have had to learn new languages since childhood so they have a good language learning process. The English speaking people have not, so their Spanish accent funniness ranks pretty high in my list. Other people from middle Europe rank in between Scandinavian and English, but German people surprised me by not managing too well. They have usually learned other languages, so that's not the problem.. maybe it's just that german language is so "hard"-spoken while Spanish is way softer.

When speaking of languages outside Indo-European group, I know only to talk about Finnish and Asian languages. There aren't too many similar words when comparing Finnish and Spanish, and that's why I find the words of Spanish the most difficult to learn. However, we aren't in that bad of a position, because the structure is basically the same as in other germanic languages and the way to say the words (spelled how ir's written) is similar to ours. The Asian languages are the tip of the iceberg in this matter. They don't have similar structure, nor similar words, nor too much learning process. These make them it really hard to learn new languages. By Asian languages I mean mainly Chinese, Japanese, Korean and treat them as one.

Time to rank the

Top 3 of the funniest accents of Spanish

Third place... BRRRRRRRRRRRR

3. GERMAN accent (schhh,rrrrr,...)

And next.... the beloved

2. ENGLISH accent (cumpleaños=cumpleiianjoous)

And finally the one that tops it all..

..wait for it...

yep, guessed right

1. ASIAN accent (wat?)

The English accent is the funniest to listen to, while the German the most annoying. The Asian tops them all, because you just can't understand what the are trying to say :)

As I said, don't take it too seriously. And no, I don't have too much free time.

This was my blog post this time, hope you liked it! All comments are very welcome!!

Saludos,

Kalle