So...its been awhile!!

I don´t really feel like writing alot but i am goin to show u all a bunch of photos. Since I last posted i have gone to two diferent amazing places. Ixtapa ( the beach on the pacific coast) and the Sierra Gorda which is a jungle full of crazy creatures and as we all found out......sickness. At least half the group got sick and three had to go to the hospital. I luckily didn´t get sick but i am just now gettin over some weird skin rash reaction and that may be a result of the Sierra Gorda

This pic is the beach but what i like about it is all the pelicans. What they were doin was holding little fish in the air and these giant pelicans, hundreds of them, would dive bomb and grab them from your hand. It was crazy.

Heres me just chillin.......with the sunglasses that dad said wouldn´t last 12 days.


Heres a pic of a couple we met in Ixtapa. They were like the nicest people in the world. They own a small business that takes tourists out to a small island. We went with a group out to that island just to snorkel and spend the day and afterwords since we didn´t have a place to shower, they invited us to there house to shower and hang out till our bus left to return to Queretaro. They didn´t want us to take the 8 hour bus ride back to queretaro with salt water all over our bodies. We promised we would return and exchanged emails. Great people.

Here i am in paradise partaking in one of the many pleasentries. We ordered a piña colada but got a virgin piña colada...we were goin to complain but then we realized that it prolly tasted better this way....so we just drank it.

Heres just a cool pic of Ixtapa Beach at night. ¡Que bonita!

Yes.....there are aligatoes in Mexico....im never goin to swim in the ocean at night again........long story.

This is me and alicia in the Sierra Gorda.....we had just gotten done swimming under the watefall....it was incredible!!

Heres the full group.....or i gues.....just all the 12 weekers.....this is in the water next to the waterfall of the previous pic....it was awesome but the water was freeeeeeeeeezing.!!!
Heres me and my buddies matt, me, cole, and krista standin in a line....it was funny we didn´t even know we were doin it until somebody took a pic and said ..."hey....u guys r standin in a perfect line"

Dedicated to John Darnell III

Whats up Everybody,

So i am now starting my second 6 week session here in Queretaro. I am excited for my new classes and all the time I still get to have here. However, with the end of the first 6 week session, many of my good friends left to go back to "Grindolandia" (they seriously call the USA that here sometimes) In particular, the one I will miss the most is John Darnell III. So i am goin to dedicate this blog to "Mississippi John" in remembrance of our most comrads. He was the only student not from Oregon, but instead from Mississippi. And by Mississippi i mean REAL mississippi. Small town boy, hardcore southern accent, and a student at Ole Miss university. He was prolly one of the smartest guys I´ve ever met and also by far the best story teller. He is a ultra ultra conservative southern baptist. His humor clean (most of the time) and just really funny. He got bit by a scorpion, lost his luggage when coming here, got his sandel stuck in a drain and twisted his ankle and many other hilarious things. I told him that I would have to come down to ol´miss for a football game and he said he would come out and watch the ducks. He was the type that loved to be in the spotlight. Comfortable as I´ll get out in front of a crowd while speaking great spanish. He could get the entire group to laugh until their mouths hurt after doing president bush impersonations. I envy his confidence.

Here is me, ole miss john, and jenna doin the tourist thing in Queretaro

Classy Genuine Guy,

I hope I see him again someday.

Fun in the Sun!

Whats up Yáll,
So I{m now half way thru week 5 out of 12. Lots of the students here are only 6 weeks and will be leavin soon. I am really glad that I am stayin for the whole 12. I feel like I still have so much to learn before leaving. If I was leavin next week like alot of the others, i just don{t think i would feel satisfied.


We all went on this walking tour about the history and legends of Queretaro. It was awesome. He I am with all the ladies..... :)



This last weekend was a free weekend so me and a few friends took a taxi to a place called Oasis which was about an hour ride. And what do u think an hour long taxi ride would cost in the states?? Well ours (split between 4 people) was 300 pesos or a little less than 30 bucks. Super cheap!

Heres another photo of the waterpark. I was funny cuz its just like out in the middle of nowhere. And...ha....i bet u can guess who the gay guy is in this picture!

This is a photo of a soccer (fútbol) game that we went to watch. The mexican on the left is the host brother of Devin (the kid in the white tshirt) and he was playin in the game so we just were there to cheer him on. I have actually gone to 4 of his games...its cool, its just in this mini stadium. Something crazy always happens. At this game, the ref got attcked by an angry player who got a red card. It was hilarious.

However, with all the great and awesome things that have happened here in Mexico, there is also a downside. This pic is of me and Devin. He was prolly my closest friend while we were here. Hes only 18 but he was hilarious and we always had a good time. Unfortunately. he went out one night with some of the "heavier drinkers" and Devin had hardly drank alcohol before queretaro, but so ya, he went out and drank way too much. Nobody was there to slow him down or warn him about how much he was drinkin. If i was there, i know this wouldn{t have happened. But so anywayz....he ended up gettin alcohol poisoning, went to the hospital and was in a coma for like half the day and consquently...he was booted from the program and in now back in the states. It sucks cuz we hung out like all day everyday. He was the type who didn´t care what anyone thought about him. He would listen to his ipod and sing really loud in front of everyone. Ha, super funny. But ya...that was a really long explanation. Soooo.....anywayz....hope all is well with everyone. See you all in September. Love You. Chase

PS: Everyone who reads this needs to write comments (mom...just left click the button that says comment end the end of the blog :) its very easy)

La ciudad de Mexico!

So...these pictures are not going to give justice to our weekend trip to D. F. These arent even my pics, they are ones that people put up on facebook. I have a lot of good pics on my camera that you will have to wait to see when I get back.

This pic is of a place called Teotihuacan that is about 45 minutes outside of mexico city. Its a huge tourist trap but its still really impresive. My butt is still sore from the climb to the top. And oh ya....i bought Alex something really cool from a mexican at the bottom of this pyramid. My bartering skills are definately improving!







Heres the Director of our program for the first 6 weeks. His name is Pedro and everybody loves him. Hes from spain but sounds like he has an english accent since he lived there for eight years. He always wears his safari hat and is always taking amazing picture. (almost as many as the infamous Billographer....the only difference is the amazing part.)

This was super fun. We took these little boats around this island that was surrounded by kind of a river which was supposed to show us how life would have been before Mexico City. By that i mean. when is was just an island where the Aztecs lived.

This is a pic of downtown Mexico City. This open square is called the Zocalo and our hostel was like a 2 minute walk from here. The square is the second largest in the world behind Red Square in Moscow. Mexico City was crazy. It definately had a different feel. Its the only place that I have been where I felt people were out to "get me." But it was still awesome.

Alright well thats all. I will try to get the pics that I take up here for the next blog. Alrighty.....hope all it well. Adios

More in Queretaro!

Whats up Everyone! So heres the next line of photos about life if Mexico. This is a pic of Bernal, that place I mentioned last time. These are all the people who made it to the top. It was alot of fun. I´m the buff one in the back. jk



Heres the city right next to Bernal. We just kind of hung out and ate lunch after the hike. It was an awesome little town.

So....this is what I accidently ordered. I definately still have a lot of work to do on my spanish. Yes., those are little fish with the heads still on them.

Heres another cool place we went to. Thats me, Alicia, and Brandon (my next door neighbor in Queretaro). This is on an island that we had to take a boat to get to. Its in the state of Michoacan which is SW of Queretaro. It was funny. There were these little kids everywhere asking us for money because they supposedly needed it for pencils at school. They would follow you around with their hands in your pockets.

Heres just another pic of everyone from the group.

Sorry this isn´t very long. Theres a milion things i could tell you about and a million little stories I could tell. This weekend we are goin to Mexico City for two nights, stayin in a hostel, its prolly gonna be kind of crazy. Someone from the group might not make it back to Queretaro! JK. My spanish is improving but its still nowhere near good. I use english still way too much. Its hard with the big group but I´m gettin better and better by the day. The weather is nice and sunny during the day but its rained everynight since we´ve here. There have been some crazy thunder and lightning storms. Anywayz..........talk to u all soon. Love you all!

Chase

Semana Dos

Whats up Yáll!

So I finally got some pics up for ya. Everything is still fantastic and i am loving every second. (well i guess there have been a few seconds....haha) but ya....everythings great. Heres a pic of my entire group in front of the college that I go to monday thru friday.


Alright......yes dad....there are a lot of cervezas here but thats definately not all we do. We watched the Estados Unidos vs. Mexico in the final of the GOld Cup. I think that was worthy enough for me to crack a cold one. It was crazy...we were all rooting, " U-S-A " while they were chanting "Me-xi-co" It was hilarious. But I am pretty sure everyone knew it was all in good fun. I do´t know if u watched the game dad but we came back from down 0-1 to winning 2-1. I do´t think I ever wanted a team to win more than that game. ¡Que Bueno!


Here is a pic of a group comida one of the first days here. My señora is the lady in the black hair thats not facing the camera. Shes the best!


And heres just a pic of another group thing. Don´t think that its always just a big group of american tourists. Its a rare thing when we are all together like this. Usually i am by myself or with a small group of two or three. Trust me....its the real deal here. Anyways.....Hope all it well with you all. I am goin to Michoacan this weekend which should be really good. Last weekend we went to a place called Bernal. Google it.....we almost made it to the top! Adios y Hasta Pronto familia.

I'm about to wet myself......

Tomorrrow is Departure day! I'm off to Queretaro, Mexico which is about two hours NW of Mexico City. I'm nervous but still really excited to .......... get out of my parents house. JK....i'm just excited to experience something completely out of the norm. Its kind of something that I always felt that I wanted to do and something that I thought I would enjoy, so i guess we will see.

Anywayz, flight is from the Eug to P town to LAX, to D. F (mex city for the domestic types). Well thats it for now. Next entry (if there is one) will be from Queretaro. Hopefully ..... this 12 weeks will change me and my life for the better. Here are just a few pics of my new city. Anyone jealous? David? haha. Oh ya....i also invite anyone from my family to come visit! Hasta Luego!