June 6, 2011
– Hello Yellow Jacket fans!
It is so hard to believe that I only have two weeks left in Mexico. The time has really flown by, and I feel like the last two weeks are just going to go by faster. The way the program is designed is that as you learn more and it gets later in the program, you spend less time in the class room and more time in the city and on excursions. Which, I am totally ok with. This past week we had some really awesome opportunities.
We went to the only Mexican car company, Mastretta- they produce costume made sports cars and have only been around for five years and this is their first year of production. They plan to make no more than 100 cars a year; mainly because they are a 41 man team of workers and engineers that build each car by hand. Seeing a plant that everything was still done by hand like that was really cool. Not to mention, it was a really awesome car and design. I may not be an engineer, but I know enough to know that the car is an extremely solid sports car. I asked to drive one and they told me I wasn’t allowed. It was probably best considering when I tried to sit in one, I couldn’t move my right leg at all because it was stuck between the dash and the wheel. Guess that’s what happens when you’re 6’3”.
We also got a cooking lesson in Mexican cuisine this past week. That was an incredible experience. The chef split us in to six groups, handed us recipes and said go. It was really hard, because most of us didn’t know individual ingredients names, but our teacher was really helpful in making sure we got things right. Which is good considering we got to eat the food after making it and it would have been a huge shame if something had gone wrong and tasted bad. We also go to take all of the recipes with us, so hopefully I’ll be able to replicate the meal back in the States.
This weekend, we experience our first non-Distrito Federal trip. The whole weekend we were in Puebla, and what a beautiful town it is. The town is full of gorgeous churches and tons of markets to buy fun trinkets at. The first day we literally spent 5.5 hours walking around and talking pictures and going into the churches and staking out which markets to buy from. Not to mention find a restaurant for dinner that served mole, which was invented in Puebla. Then second day was when we spent a couple hours putting our market stake out to use. It was a blast seeing all of the cool things made by the people. Each thing was an original and slightly different from every other one. It was a really cool experience, and a really fun way to spend the weekend and see a different side of Mexico.
As always, if you’d like to hear more about my adventures abroad you can visit my daily blog (gtraviswagner.wordpress.com) or email me (gtraviswagner@gmail.com). GO JACKETS!
Glenn Travis Wagner
Men’s Swimming and Diving, 2011
