But we agreed that the short stroll was well worth it.
They even feature a small cafeteria which uses locally grown products.
Incredibly advanced by Mexican standards was the announcement of a cooking class focused on vegan cuisine.
I wonder if there was any demand in meat eaters' country...
What I liked most (apart from the tranquility) were the roses which smelled awesome.
But in general, each and every green spot will make it for me.
Especially when most of Mexico's inhabited countryside looks like this - greyish:
Oh by the way, I just received my TOEFL results (Test of English as a Foreign Language). I was kind of nervous, because the official page recommends you to start preparing at least two months before. And my Mexican classmates are even crazier and attend intensive courses in specialized cram schools for half a year. It happened to me several times that I mentioned that I don't have half a year anymore to prepare and they told me "Well, don't worry - two months will be enough". Then I told them that I didn't even have two weeks left. And they stared at me in disbelief - just before gaining control again over their facial expression and assuring me (totally not credibly) that two weeks would... erm... also be enough.
Well, anyway my thought was that even in two months it is impossible to learn English. So what the preparation had to be all about was to know what kind of questions to expect. And therefore two days were enough. And indeed - with my two days of preparation (I had final exams before, inhibiting any previous engagement in the subject) I totally succeeded. Although I was kind of surprised sometimes, it worked out really well and I scored in the highest category in each of the four categories, namely reading, listening, speaking, and writing. My final score was then 114 out of 120 which is toootally enough for each and every master's degree I could be thinking of. Nice.
The testing day was really funny, because I asked the advisor where we had to wait and where the exam would take place - and she immediately asked me "Bist du aus Deutschland?" (Are you from Germany?). It turned out she was as well. Germans everywhere...
Before being allowed to enter the testing facilities you have to pass a body examination like in the airport. The metal detector was beeping like crazy, as I had some coins in my pocket. And guess what - I honestly was not allowed to enter with them. Man, how could I trick you with them anyway?! Bureaucracy...
The "funniest" part was writing. I remembered that the preparation guide had suggested to become acquainted with the layout of an English keyboard. Well, I thought I was and didn't to it once again, but on that particular Spanish keyboard it turned out to be kind of weird. The special characters were definitely not in their "normal" place and so I ended up sitting there like an idiot, pressing every single key in order to find the correct symbol. Must have been a ridiculous scene...
It was also kind of sad to the that any effort is doomed to failure if the education system sucks. In fact, there are hardworking students at my university (not the rule, anyway). But as long as the professors don't know how to teach efficiently and effectively, it just doesn't make sense. I feel that many guys here never learned how to learn... And seeing my Mexican friend totally fail in the TOEFL exam for the second time, although she had prepared in cram school is another striking reassurance for this subjective perception...
Last weekend, in a final attempt to find a yellow fever vaccination, I went to Puebla - again with my roomie F. Of course we didn't find it, but it was still well worth the trip, as we also went to the "Museo Amparo".
In general it focuses on interior design in Mexico how it was several centuries ago. This was nice, but I particularly enjoyed the temporary photo exposition about Latin America. So eye-opening! Unfortunately, taking pictures was not allowed...
Yet, the atmosphere and scenery from the roof terrace was also really nice, as you can see.
Right now I'm attending summer school. I have two courses which basically fill up my whole day: Fundamentals of Representation, and Latin American Markets. The former is a course from the humanity faculty. We have to choose one of their offerings in order to get an insight into other studies. At first I thought "Jesus, where did I end up here?!", but it turned out to be a great choice. Many of my class mates study things like history of arts and their way of thinking varies greatly from mine. Very interesting, indeed. And apart, I really enjoy the relaxed feeling which overcomes you when you are drawing for several hours. We use many different materials and techniques, so it's very rich in diversity and never boring. I might not be a great artist, but I like it anyway.
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