Campus

As mentioned, I could move into the dorm this Monday, and all I can say is that the "Colegio" is awesome!

View on the dorm from my living room's balcony.

Over the fountain of my dorm, in front of the gym (by the way, there are several other gyms directly on campus - really convenient!)

In total there are four dorms, three of them being on campus. Mine is the only one "outside", but you only have to cross the street and "ya" (more or less "done" in Spanish).

The dorm from outside.

Yesterday there was a lot of registration. I have my student ID card now and additionally, as a welcome present, we got a new mobile phone - will still come in handy, I suppose.
There was also a nice lunch in the university's gardens. The single complaint some fellows expressed was that our waiters overdid it a bit with the instant refill of our beverages ;-)

What came to my mind yesterday was that it's pretty strange to say "tener el pelo chino" (lit. "to have Chinese hair") when someones has curled hair. In Spain you don't say that. At least, I've never seen a (naturally) curled Chinese person. But since "chino" also means "odd" (as in "that's Greek to me"), might be this kind of meaning...

Our campus lake

Another fountain on the campus

There are around 150 students from foreign countries here, but only very few of them actually stay for two years. Bad luck for them - I'm still really happy to be here (let's see how this will change with exams every single month...).

Although there should be around 8 other students in my shared apartment, up to now I only met Juan, a Mexican who studies something like mechatronics. Quite useful in a automotive city like Puebla (Volkswagen, Audi...).
He's really nice and when I came home from a party last night (really useful to have all the bars directly in front of the campus) he was cooking a hamburger (yes, at around 2:30 a.m.) so we could still have a little chat. I suppose the rest of my mates will move in during this week, as nationals don't have the "Orientation Week", but start directly with their courses on Aug. 12th.

Cholula might be small (around 80,000 inhabitants), but even from Puebla, the next city here and also the fourth largest of Mexico, people come to make party in front of our university. Great "supply" of bars and clubs. And really cheap for all the ladies, as the Mexican "macho" manner requires to invite all the girls. Hmm, wrong sex ;-)

What else? Yesterday there was also already the first earthquake alarm. It seems to be quite normal considered the closeness to Popocatépetl and the only thing, which happens is that people come out of the buildings and wait until the siren stops. A bit weird to come out, since in Japan and the US people are told to stay inside under a desk. Hrm.

Aaand of course - Asian story continued - my coordinator asked me about my age, as she thought I was 18 and already prophesied that I (as the oldest one) will be the only one required to show his ID before entering a club. At least, yesterday night she was proven wrong.

So, today there will be some icebreaker games and also the course registration. Already excited how tough my schedule will be. Stay tuned!

Local fiesta near the university.