5 months

Yes, it has been five months since I have arrived in my new life. And its hard to say how I feel. It just really depends. I have been on Xmas vacation since the 2nd of December and I dont go back until the 4th of Feb. and it is EXTREMELY boring. I have gone to Palenque(Again), the Agua Azul-Chiflon and Misol-Ha waterfalls, and Puerto Arista (the beach) twice now. I have changed families, been here for 3 months and Im not going to be changing until April. There havent been many problems with my family, but things could def. be better. I am treated like the 9 and 11 year old sons (my brothers) so the latest I can ever stay out is until 11 (when everything gets started) and I live really far away from the center, so its either I waste time in my house or catch a bus to the center and waste my time there.
I am getting very, very bored with my life here. It isnt how I thought that it would be, its just really...well, boring. I cant wait for the month-long trip in April all around the center of the country. I WAS excited for the begining of Feb., because I was going to go to a conference to meet all the exchange students in the District, and then we were going to go to Mèrida, Cancun, and all over the Yucatan. BUT the district Chairman decided that since it wasnt an obligatory trip, that they didnt want to pay for it, so were not going. I am very angry with Rotary at this moment.
Really the only good thing that has been going on with me is that Im really picking up Spanish fast. Everyday I learn something new, and now I can carry on a conversation with a stranger and have it last for a long time. So Im getting close to being fluent.
Well, theres not that much more to say, just that nothing has really happened. I'll try to let you guys know when something does happen...

Adios
Richie

PS- Coming home June 30th. Only a little over 5 months!!!

Lucha Libre and Tenam Penche

Last weekend I went to my first ruins with my mom and cousin. It was so beautiful and WARM! After we went through a tiny town and were impeded by a herd of advancing cows.
Last night I went to my first Lucha Libre. Heres a basic overview:

• The line was really long and wound around churro booths and a giant beer bottle into the street.
• A front row ticket cost me $20. I was close enough to get blood and spit on me.
• The whole point of these things I think is to learn a whole slew of cuss words. The luchadors and the spectators have a lot to say.
• Captain America is the villian here, everyone hates him. He also likes to get it on with drag queens.
• Lucha is where the hot chicks are at!
• Even though you can tell everything is staged (just like the WWE or WWF or whatever that is), they are definately athletes and would give those guys on UFC a run for thier money.
• In Mexico, the good guys dont always win. Sometimes they get slammed onto a pile of flourescent lightbulbs and then still get pummeled with glass in their skin and blood pouring onto the ring...
• When anyone cracks open their head, everyone else dances around to divert your attention.
• When its over, you shove everyone out of the way on your dash to the door. And pray you still have your wallet when you get out.

All in all, it was a really fun night. And tommorrow school is an all day party due to the advancing Dia del Independencia on Saturday. My job for tommorrow is to sell kisses for 10 pesos. (1 dollar) Yea, Im cheap. Right after school a big group of my family is going to Tuxtla and Im going shopping, then staying in a hotel and the next morning at five were leaving and going to Palenque, the beach, some waterfalls, and a lot of things. Ill be back Saturday afternoon just in time for the biggest party in Mexico. Update later.

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=53069&l=f102d&id=507225186

newer pics

Brand new_________ http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49385&l=e7b37&id=507225186

new pics

check them out:

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47139&l=48dff&id=507225186

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47146&l=92881&id=507225186

sorry, but thats all i got, my camera is totally dead and my dad is mailing me the charger soon i hope...

And more:

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47738&l=2f1da&id=507225186

One more

post for tonight. I forgot to mention that it is FREEZING here. right now its like 50 F but it feels like 30. The elevation of my city is 8,000 ft. And, nobody needs to worry, Hurricane Dean is far from here, its going to pass way North of my city. Today we did get some mild rain and wind, but nothing like what is happening on the coast...So DONT WORRY!

If its yellow

Let it settle, if its brown, flush it down. Rule of thumb here. Bathrooms are really frustrating here. And I found out pretty quickly that theyre all different. Some dont have toilet seats, most have no toilet paper. Flushing here sucks, you have to know just how to do it for each toilet. [Certain amount of seconds to hold down the handle, how much tp to use, it gets pretty frustrating.]
Then theres the showers. Ive only seen one bathtub my whole time here, because all of the water (minus drinking water) comes out of this big black tank on the roof of your house. You have to take your shower really fast too, or else youll drain the tank. (Done it a few times) Then when that happens, you take a bucket, dip water out of the giant clay tub in the yard used for washing dishes or clothes, and dump water over yourself. But at least the water is clean and warm.
The drinking water here comes out of one of those five gallon plastic jugs in waiting rooms. But it sets on the floor in this metal balancer thing. when you want a glass of water, you have to stoop down, and carefully tip the jug and fill your glass. Theres almost always a puddle on the floor.
So thats how water works here. Lol

In mex.

Sorry everyone that I havent posted anything while ive been here, my familys internet is really slow and ive been busy. just to let everyone know, im doing fine, but i constantly have an upset stomach because of the food and coffee. ha. but the food is awesome, ive only had fast food once here, and that was in the airport. im glad that i came so far south, this has to be as close to the real mexico that you can get nowadays. theres wild dogs running around EVERYWHERE and lots of people who beg or bother you to buy candy or handicrafts. its kindof annoying. last night this little kid kept bothering me downtown and i kept telling him no, but he wanted my money. he went into a store and started counting his change, so i put my hand out, tugged on his shirt, and kept pestering him for some pesos. ha. kinda mean, but he was annoying. not everything here is as cheap as i would have thought. shoes and clothes are really expensive, like $100 usd for a pair of shoes. of course you can go to the freaky markets where all they sell is crap, and its cheap there. oh, and im really big and tall in mexico. the largest size of shoes i could find is a 10, and im a 12. the lady at the store laughed at me when i asked for a 12. i went to school for one day and it sucked. its really small and everyone there is stuck up and rich. stuck up=fresa in spanish. the girls here are wierd and loud, and like to whisper about you while youre not looking. kinda makes me mad, but w/e, its not like i understand them anyways. ive gone to el canon sumidero, the deepest canyon in chiapas and say five crocodiles, and some monkeys too. i hate to say it, but everyone was right about mexico being really dirty, theres garbage everywhere. but at the same time, its really beautiful. anyways gots to go, try to write more often...

Eve of departure

So here I am sitting, it's 11:07 pm and I leave La Grande for an entire year tommorrow morning. At 5AM! I doubt that I will even fall asleep by then though. This has been a crazy summer. I broke the screen of my iPod, had going away parties, did (many)new things, made a lot of new friends, worked in a crappy job, and began the rollercoaster ride of my life. Dorine was right, the whole exchange thing is just a crazy, exciting, and freaky rollercoaster ride that you will never forget. At this moment, I'm just nearing the top of the first climb. The last 9 months I have been filled with anticipation, just waiting for the real ride to begin. And now here I am. It's amazing and confusing and scary to teeter up here on the top of the rollercoaster. I look back and feel sadness and nostalgia for those I am leaving behind, I'll miss being with them on whatever rides their lives take them in the next year. But then I look ahead of me and my stomach drops out of the seat of my pants. I can see it all coming, I know I'll be scared, but I have to hang on for my life and soon everything will work out. I know that it all SHOULD come together, and I'll be great in Mexico, but who knows what loop-dee-loops I'll have to go through... Thats enough lame metaphors, time to finish packing... one day

Two weeks

So I have less than two weeks before I leave left in little old La Grande. I couldn't be happier, but at the same time, I couldn't be sader. I have to leave all the people I grew up with, some of them I'll never see again. Some of them I don't know if they'll be sane when I get back... I kind of feel that going on this exchange is just an excuse that I'm using to try to not get attached or be vulnerable to everyone I know. That is one of the reasons I wanted to go, getting away from everybody. I know that I'll have a fun time, but it SUCKS just waiting and waiting. [I still need to finish my pins, pack, and make a slidshow about LG...] Oh, and the girl, Cheri, who is also going to Mexico, I mean IN MEXICO. Yeah, she's already there, left yesterday. I'm uber jealous. ..........12 DAYS........

Countdown

The countdown has begun. My travel agent is sending me my ticket, visa, and all that good stuff. All that's left to do is pack and drive to Portland. I'm really starting to realize what my life is going to be like after August 10th. Its so mindblowing to think about being away for a year, not knowing anyone or their language. But it's even weirder to think about how things are going to change. How I'll be different, my friends, my town, my dog, my family, my house, my LIFE...24 days...

A Video

here's a link to a video that me and a few friends created the last week of school, it's pretty funny http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1719008623946111308 tell me what you think

Where I'm going

I don't think I've told any of you. (If anyone is reading this) But I will be leaving in about 50 days or so on my way to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. It seems like a really great city and I have really great host parents, I've been in contact with my first host mom for about a month now.

Report Card

So I got my grades this week. Even with Work, Rotary, and everything else going on in my life, I still pulled out straight A's. My lowest was a 91% in Soph English.

After the dance

So we had the last inbound event this past weekend, and I got to go, with a lot of random rides and people... Portland summed up is this: I saw a guy pooping, thats right, POOPING on the street, as people passed by and didn't even do anything. It really is sad the way you have to be so unfriendly in the city. It really made me miss my little hick town.
Anyways, back to the dance. It was a really strange mix of emotions. First off, my best friend I've probably ever had left to go back to France the night of the dance. That was horribly sad. But then there was the kind-of random hookup that happened between me and a certain exotic, older girl. Its not usually like me to do that kind of a thing, and now I remember why. We were kissing when we were separated by one of the adults. I saw my whole exchange flash before my eyes. Worst feeling ever, the guilt and weakness you feel at a moment like that. But I think everything will be fine, the adult told my YEO, but he's just worried about me acting like that in Mexico, so I think that everything is OK. And yes, it was a fun experience, something I rarely do. It was a fun time to come out of my shell like that and to create a lasting memory of my first Turkish girl.

Intro

Hey, my name is Richie Scott. I live in La Grande, Oregon, USA, and I am a Rotary exchange student. I found out that I was going to be leaving the country a little over four months ago, and my life has been crazy ever since. I've met a ton of new friends from all around Oregon to all over the world. I've learned the value of a dollar and taken on so much more responsibility than ever before (if possible).
You see, my dad had a brilliant idea: to let me pay for my entire trip on my own! So since I got the late night phone call informing me that I had been picked up by a nieghboring Rotary club, I have had to save almost every dollar that I made. To make that even worse, I only recieved $400 from my sponsoring club when almost every other outbound got their entire $1,300 registration fee paid for. So that kinda sucks, but hey, I get to live a year away from La Grande, and I am grateful for the oppourtunity I have been given.
So anyways, I had my first job at McDonald's, and it SUCKED. I hated almost every minute of it, and the only thing that kept me there for five months was the huge amount of money that I needed to earn fast. So after a while, I got really sick of coming home covered in grease and being treated like dirt, so I found another job. I now work at Albertson's and get to come home covered in beer, and treated a little better, but I'm still a slave for the man. All around, this job is a lot better, airconditioned, hour-long breaks, and actual human respect. (Plus 10 cents more an hour+15 more on sundays+5 cents more at night+union+health coverage+NO BUTTON UP SHIRTS!!!)
Well, theres the introduction to my life in La Grande, pretty much school, work, sleep, school, work, sleep, school, etc.... But you gots to do what you gots to do.