three things

La Basilica

Three things I discovered this last week or so about Guanajuato have made me glad about the choice to spend my time here.

1.  There are many things to see...I think over 30 different sites for tourists, which includes a variety of museums, churches, and plazas.

La Presa de la Olla

Events and music are everywhere.  Many Friday nights there are symphony orchestra concerts at a theatre downtown.  I went to one the first Friday I was here.  The museums have free events, too. There is a classic book club on Tuesdays at one museum.  I took part in a free art class on Wednesday,  Friday I went to a talk about textiles.  My plan is to visit one or two museums each week.  Last week I visited the Museo Casa Diego Rivera.

2.  As an extension of the university, there is a place called CAADI.  It is a type of language school affiliated with the university.  For a small cost ($60), I can attend conversation groups for the rest of my time here.  There are Spanish groups, mostly focused on conversation, but at times are about reading or culture.  There are also groups for other languages, including English, French, German, Chinese and Italian.  I have met a lot of new people in the last week from different parts of the world and have a place to practice speaking Spanish.  It is open twelve hours a day, five days a week.  There are also resources there to use for study.

3.  I will have enough books to read.  There is a central library that is part of the university with both Spanish and English books which I can read there.  There are also Spanish and English books available for checkout from CAADI.  Today I went to the English Language Library which has over two thousand English books available for checkout.  I brought six books with me, but they will only last through the beginning or middle of April.