Decision to improve my Spanish with a course
In Colombia I met an Australian who was travelling through Latin America for over 1 year. Nevertheless he still could not speak Spanish and his smile showed me that he was even proud of this cultural ignorance. I thought to myself: you don't want to go home like this. Because my Spanish, too, was only rather poor after being 4 months in Latin America. Until then I had only learned the most basic vocabulary via an app. Now I decided to take a course.
I decided to take a Spanish course at UNAM National Autonomous University of Mexico), the biggest university in Latin America. At this university in Mexico City there are about 356,000 (!!!) students. The course lasted about 8 weeks.
Return to Mexico for the 2nd time
So I interrupted my trip in Ecuador and flew back to Mexico City where I arrived shortly after midnight. I checked into a well-rated hotel, which turned out to be a sex hotel. They had a big mirror above the bed and you could borrow sex toys or costumes by room phone.
The Airbnb, which I checked in 1 day later, was also different than expected. It was just a mattress on the floor, it was basically a student flat and the view of the poor, unplastered houses outside was not the best!
I went to the placement test for the course the next day. I was placed in the 4th of 7 levels and so I was able to skip 3 levels due to my self-learned language skills.
A very motley crew of students
The course took place from 9 to 12 o'clock in the week. 2 times until 14 o'clock for different extra courses. So quite pleasant. There were about 15 people in my class: from France, Germany, USA, Congo, Nigeria and many also from Korea & Japan. My teacher was an older Mexican woman with a smoky voice, but relaxed enough to control such a motley crew.
Each of my classmates really wanted to learn Spanish and so I learned a lot more in this Spanish course than in my course in Germany. I successfully completed the course with an exam and certificate.
A university as big as a city
The area of the UNAM is huge. Not least because of this it is also called "Ciudad Universitaria", meaning university town. The area is almost as big as a small city. One has to take the bus to travel between the different parts of the university. However, my classes were always in the same building complex, the CEPE, especially for foreign students. The UNAM campus is also very beautiful with a huge mosaic on the main building and a large green area on volcanic ground. The UNAM even has its own security patrol, the police has no authority here.
My accommodation was a small room close to the university, which was rented to me by an elderly German-speaking Swiss. I shared the small apartment with 2 other Mexicans. In retrospect, I consider it a mistake to book my room so close to the UNAM, because the university is far away from other beautiful districts like La Roma, Coyoacan or the city center. At the weekends, the UNAM campus is absolutely dead, because all the students live mostly out of town and go home for the weekend. And bars are not allowed in the immediate vicinity of the university, as there is a prohibition to serve alcohol near the university.
The Day of the Dead
In Mexico, a big celebration is the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), in which the deceased family members are remembered. At the university, a painting of rice and beans was created and a large plaque with the deceased was erected. In addition, special culinary delicacies were distributed only for this day. Many Mexicans paint a "Catrina" on their face (a skeleton) on this day.
With my classmates I visited Xochimilco on this day. This is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and today it is especially known for its floating gardens. We rented a trajinera, a colourful excursion boat, with a guide and drove through the floating gardens. Many Mexicans were out and about and had all kinds of provisions with them. There was a real traffic jam on the waters.
Infected insect bites & antibiotics
About 6 weeks I was already living in the flat when I was bitten by something at night. The sting got infected and a red line formed from the sting. If you don't act quickly, it can lead to blood poisoning. I immediately informed my landlord and he was kind enough to accompany me to the pharmacy.
In pharmacies in Mexico there is usually a doctor with a general education who can give you prescriptions quickly and easily. She gave me an injection in my backside and prescribed antibiotics and antihistamine for 2 weeks. I ought not to consume any dairy products, eat chocolate or drink alcohol. The infection went away quickly as a result.
Unfortunately, the little animal hid somewhere in my room and I was stung again a short time later. So I had to repeat the same procedure with pills & co. My landlord finally gave me the empty room next door and I remained sting-free. However, a queasy feeling remained and I moved out of the apartment earlier than planned and spent the last week in 2 different Airbnb apartments. One of them was the apartment where I stayed at the very beginning of my trip.
