Update...

Hey all, James here:
We just finished our first week of school. We LOVE the school. There is a pool, table tennis, a small tennis court, computer lab, and wireless internet for our laptops. Its a great place to just chill after classes sometimes.
We walk a lot. Everyday we walk downtown to hang out and "shop" without really buying anything, and then we walk back, which is a few miles both ways. We've eaten at the Burger King a few times, which is REALLY weird because it is a mix of the American Burger King and some Mexican dishes...weird.
The last two days have been quite stormy. LOUD thunder, lightning, and pouring down rain. Not like Portland rain, mind you. Real, tropical downpours that last an hour and could fill a swimming pool in about that time.
Emilee has been sick for the last few days, so keep here in your prayers. Last night she woke up about 1:30am with a fever and started throwing up until about 8am this morning, so we are both quite tired. At least today is our free day, so she is resting at the house while I am here at school trying to finish some homework since she's feeling a little better. She took some antibiotics that the school doctor told her she should take since we had brought it with us, Ciprol. She should be back to her old self by tomorrow or the next day, at least in time for school on Monday. Not sure if she will make the field trip tomorrow, tho. I hope she is well enough to go.
Last night Emilee and I, with three other students, went to a movie. This place, called Cinepolis V.I.P. was AMAZING. For 98 pesos (about $10 USD) each we sat in a theater that would cost probably around $40-$50 american dollars in the US...I'm talking full on LA-Z-Boy recliners, waiters that brought your snacks to your seats, and fold out tables for your food all on a movie theater screen. We walked Busqueda Implacable, which is the American movie "Taken" starring Liam Neeson. It was in english with spanish subtitles, so it was nice for us all to just relax and not have to translate everything in our heads to enjoy the movie.
Both of our Spanish skills have improved, especially Emilee's. I'm so proud of her, she is understanding tons and is almost speaking in complete sentences now.
Well, I'd better get back to finishing the homework I spoke of. Later!
James

First day of school!

Well we are here at school, waiting to start. We had a little mix up in time; normally we start at 8am but they forgot to tell us that this week we will be starting at 9am. So far things have been pretty good, but we are having a little trouble adjusting to the food and nighttime noises, so sleeping well hasn't happened yet. I'm sure it will soon. Our little city is quite nice, as well as our family. I'll post some pictures of our house in the gated community with this post.
Don't know how hard the workload will be for either Emilee or I yet since we're still waiting to start the first day, but we'll let you all know as we go. Doesn't seem like there will be a huge out-of-class workload, but we'll see. I hope not, anyway. We are pretty excited for things to get going here, and before you know it, we'll all be back in the States wishing we were here again. Ah, thus is life...
Well, thats all for now...
James

Cuernavaca

Hey Friends and Fam!

James and I wanted to write a quik blog to let you know that we are safe and sound here in cuernavaca. Orientation is tomorrow, but for now we are settling in with our host family which from what we can tell so far is going to be a great experience. We have only met part of the family and will be meeting the rest tonight. The house is super nice we have our own bedroom (cuarto) and sitting room and bathroom. Our host mom Guadalupe is awsome. James took a nap and I decided to look over my "how to learn spanish in 10 min." book and she sat down with me for about 45 minutes to go over the lessons with me. Very nice. Anyways that is all for now!

P.S James and I went to the airport for the third time in 48 hours and got my bag back! Thank you God!!!!

Mexico City

Hello Friends and Fam!

Real quick, if you could be praying for my family, my uncle Bill passed away last night from a sudden heart attack. Keep his wife and kids in your prayers, as well as my family too. --James
Here´s Emilee:

James and I are sitting in Hostel Cathedral on the main Zocalo using their internet cafe. We arrived in MC after a super bumpy flight. James and I were so grateful to finally get off the plane although it was only a three hour flight. We took a taxi to our hotel Monte Real, which is in an interesting part of the city ony 10 blacks from the Zocalo. Right next to the hotel is a designer undies store. decked out with thongs for both women and men on display, but I think the most impressive were a pair of the mens that left the bum totally exposed. Across the street is a "Show bar" and our room shares a wall with strip club. Thank you AAA. These things were definitly not mentioned under the near by actractions section.We had a yummy dinner in a near by taco stand. And then we were planning on an early night, but there was just one teeny tiny PROBLEM. I opened up my suitcase to find childrens clothing. James and I spent about three hours going back to airport to switch the bag back only to find that Alaska closes at 6pm and we were too late. Thankfully we had the coolest cab driver named "kevin".....or Humberto. He talked us down told us it would be ok and even parked the taxi to come inside the airport with us and did not charge us too much extra for that which was really helpful. He even took a little bit of a round about way back to the hotel through the Zocalo and pointed things out to us (where to get good food and beer) just a really nice guy. I love it as he dropped us off at the hotel he told us again that it this was not the end of the world that we should get some tequila. Nice Guy! And he was right we contacted alaska this morning and we are meeting the owner of this bag tonight at the airport. I bought our new lime green set of luggage thinking no one else will have this, it will make it super easy to find our bags. Go figure that in the second largest city in the world, on the flight 244 to Mexico city someone else from portland had the exact same flippin bag!!!!

The Adventure Begins!!!

Hello all, James here:
Well here we are, sitting in the airport in L.A. waiting for our flight to Mexico. The trip that never seemed would get here is finally here!! We just finished a fun week in California, visiting family and friends. We're both nervous and excited for our four month adventure abroad. Four months of no work, a little school, no pressure and no Portland rain. I know we are both ready for this hiatus. Its kind of like retirement, except not. Yeah. Well, check back soon for more updates!

Emilee here:
I definitely second second James thoughts! We had a fun week in California! It was relaxing with going out to eat, going to movies--step brothers...which was funny, but slightly crude and tropic thunder...which we walked out on:( One of the days we went to Knotts Berry farm and had the rude awakening to the fact that we are no longer kids and our systems can no longer stand the twisty upside down roller coasters:( Although our favorite was a ride that was only 22sec long and went from 0-82 mph in 2sec. Holy Cr@p! The next day James and I got to spend some quality time with my Aunt Marcy and Uncle Steve for some Zen and relaxation. We had some nachos, some margaritas and a long walk on the beach with good convo, it was just what we needed! And then they took us out for our last American meal in the states! Yum! This morning was pretty uneventful, we woke up at 5am (yikes:) and were picked up by the shuttle by 6:15. Our driver was quite interesting..... you would think that as you are on your way to the airport the driver would not be repeating over and over how dangerous the city you are flying into is and pulling out stats on how many tourists have been mugged, ohh and lets not forget the detailed account of Mayan and Aztec sacrifice. Apparently those cultures were also cannibals..... news to me:) But anywhoo here we are waiting to board the plan. We are very excited and a little nervous. Miss you guys lots and please keep us in your prayers as we travel. Well thats all for now, more to come in the next few days.