Guanajuato--Weekend--Recap

Hola a todos,

I hope everyone had a great weekend!
As promised the group had a wonderful time and enjoyed their opportunity to visit the picturesque city of Guanajuato, explore mines, a museum of mummies, eat chili and other-flavored ice-cream, and not least of all enter the Museum of Don Quixote. Further, a group of students took a city-bus-tour and ate dinner together with 2 of our instructors Saturday evening in San Luis Potosi.
Everyone is in a rhythm and our third week of classes, chorus, and other activities are off to a great start.
Updates to follow later this week. A look ahead: we are scheduled to celebrate the 4th of July this Friday at a park which offers swimming, basketball, volleyball, and soccer courts, as well as other activities and even some rides.
Hasta Luego,
Team SLP

Guanajuato Pre-departure saludo

Hola y Muy Buenas Noches,

The SLP team just wanted to notify all that we completed another very successful week and will be heading out bright and early tomorrow for our second excursion to Guanajuato (one of the most picturesque and colonial cities in Mexico).
Although the students have not received our official comments yet, we completed our first round of student evaluations and they are overall excellent! As a whole the group is advancing and growing and all instructors agree that the students are a down right pleasure to be working with.
Additionally, on Saturday, a bus-city-tour of San Luis Potosi will be offered.
More pictures and updates to follow by weekend's end.
Hasta Luego,
Team SLP

The week in review from SLP

Hola Hola from SLP Mexico,

Overall, I am pleased to report that we are doing quite well. This week we: successfully completed our first week in San Luis Potosi, took group photos, began classes and choir, celebrated A.J.'s Birthday with a gathering and tres leches cake, and yesterday we visited San Miguel de Allende.
The students are really doing an exceptional job at following the honor codes of the program and it shows in their progress with the Spanish language.
Our trip to San Miguel de Allende was excellent and as promised the sights and shopping fantastic.
Today, Saturday, some students will take part in a tour of the SLP market as well as spend time with their host families. Tomorrow, those students who are interested will take an afternoon jog in Tangamanga park.
Lastly, given the students have been doing so well (and we are impressed) they will be permitted to call the USA for 5 minutes tomorrow Sunday.
For now Hasta Luego and we will keep you posted.
Sincerely,
Team SLP

Search in the city center

Hola from SLP,

Today we officially started classes.

Students attended classes of Spanish grammar, culture, conversation, and literature.

Later in the evening we met in the city center where the students split into groups in order to compete with each other in a city style egg-hunt.
Each group had a list of monuments, dispersed in 3 city squares, along with a list of other random cultural items such as spicy-tamale flavored ice-cream, which they had to identify and then complete a group picture in front of. We plan to use these pictures in a competition where each group makes a collage best representing San Luis Potosi.



Tomorrow we have another full day of classes as well as professional photos in the morning and chorus/theater in the afternoon.
Expect another update this week.
As well, keep your fingers crossed that your children have you in mind this Friday when we visit San Miguel de Allende, which offers one of the most impressive and authentic cultural markets in Mexico.
Buenas Noches,
Stephen y el equipo de SLP

La Cantina, Futbol, 1-1 USA & England

Un saludo de Mexico,

I just wanted to let everyone know that we had a great time at La Cantina restaurant yesterday, as we witnessed team USA earn a hard-won 1-1 tie with England.
Today, for those who want, we are offering a tour of the Plaza de Armas as well as an ice-cream/cafe.
The rest of the week will be dedicated to setting the rhythm of our daily classes and activities.
More to follow this week.
Have a great Sunday.

--Team SLP

Introductions in SLP

Hola family,

I wanted to send a brief picture and update from our first day in SLP. All of the group is fine, aside from some culture-shock--mostly getting used to the heat without AC, and expressing themselves in Spanish for everything.

The students went in a group to buy phone cards. We also spoke with host families to ask for their assistance in connecting the students with their parents. If there is a student who has not contacted their parents by tomorrow please let me know.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to meet at a Mexican restaurant with wall-to-wall flat-screens in order to watch the USA-England match and enjoy some excellent authentic Mexican cuisine.

Hasta pronto,
Stephen

Safe Arrival in SLP

SLP--1st Update from MX,

Hello family!

I wanted to let you all know that we arrived safely last night to a nice and calm San Luis Potosi MX (almost at our scheduled arrival time). All students found eager host families awaiting them and are probably talking in Spanish at this moment with their new temporary families about Mexico's 1-1 performance against South Africa in the opening game of the World Cup this morning.

You should hear from your children sometime today. We plan on meeting at 4pm (5pm your time) for an orientation of the school and city center. We will seek out those students who have not had the opportunity to call home yet and we will make sure they have the chance to do so this evening.

Please regularly check our blog for future updates as that is how I will continue to keep you informed of our whereabouts and activities. I recommend investigating how to change your blog settings in order to receive automatic updates from the Blog and this way you will avoid having to randomly check for posts.

Today is warm and sunny in SLP and we are in for a comfortable evening full of new sights and home-made Mexican ice-cream.

Receivemy best for now and I will send another update later this weekend.

Sincerely,
Stephen

Pilot Blog and count down to SLP Mexico take-off

Dear proud parents of the 2010 San Luis Potosí (SLP), Mexico IUHPFL team.

Primero reciban un saludo cordial.
(First, please receive a warm welcome/hello)

I am sure you are all very eager, as am I, for the 2010 SLP group (your childern) to embrak on a wonderful and life-changing journey this summer in Mexico. I will have the privilege of sending weekly updates on the SLP team's whereabouts, adventures, and achievements. I have decided to create this blog page as my primary means of sending pictures and updates to you all. At the same time, if anyone has any specific concerns you may email me directly at sfafulas@indiana.edu

Again, let me express my congratulations to you all as you have obviously been instrumental in making this experience a reality for this very impressive group. I feel very confident in all of their abilities as well as the IUHPFL staff and program. I am sure this will be a positive experience for all.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Hasta pronto!

Sincerely,
Stephen Fafulas