It's only the third week of school, but it feels like I've been here for so long already.

In the first week of school I made new friends from Puebla, Venezuela and China. I added and drop courses and finally got my tuesday and thursday classes. Hellooooo 4 day weekends! And in the first week of school, I already went through 1 test and several small homework.

I'm currently taking 4 courses, Spanish Level 1, Art History and Culture, Data Structure and Multivariate Analysis. Spanish is honestly the hardest and most dreaded course. We're starting a remedial class on Wednesdays, and I hope the teacher actually speaks English then. The rest of the classes are okay, but I particularly like the Data Structure class, 'cos it forces me to code and revise java.

Unlike SMU, UDLAP separates classes into 1hr 15mins sessions, that we have to attend twice a week. It helps if your concentration span is really short. But more often than not, I feel like the class ends too fast. And, it gives the professors more opportunity for homework ):

Getting to school is a breeze with the bike. I don't have to walk for 20 mins and I can wake up later. But it can get rather chilly to cycle to school in the morning with the wind in your face. It rained this morning and it was a nightmare. It doesn't help that the neighbours often forgets to lock up their dog and it comes running after you.



As for the campus, its awesome. There is at least 2 fields, with amazing grass than is better than NYP's. Their buildings are beautifully furnished with ceramic tiles that shows the historical styles and culture. The library is filled with leather bound books as well. My first reaction was, "Do they not have any new books?", but after a quick browse, I realise that the new magazines are compiled and bounded into a book, and that is so fabulous. My inner bookworm is alive again. The campus also has a small pool, and 2 fountains, one situated in the middle of a small lake, that has ducks floating around.



I spent one of my breaks by the lake and it's amazing to just enjoy the sun (this will never happen to me in Singapore) and watch the ducks emerge from the lake and fall asleep under the tree. It's fairly common for students to chill at the bases of trees or tiny hills too.


But after a visit to another public university in Puebla (BUAP), I realised, the beautiful landscape of UDLAP can be entirely be attributed to the high school fees the students pay. Without scholarship, each semester is SGD$6000. With scholarship, its SGD$2500, and 80% of the students are on scholarship. Regardless, I believe it's still pretty expensive for the locals, and only the middle and higher class can send their children here. Thus, the beautiful campus and high security. But this comes at the cost of pricey food, the cost of the food is not much cheaper than Singapore's and the variety ain't great either.

The topic of food really makes me miss POMO's cai fan and asian dishes in general. My cravings has set alight my desire to cook. But, it's so hard to find asian ingredients here. Someone should start a chinese store here in Puebla. I'm sure it'll be a hit, if not with the locals, then definitely with the exchange students. 

And...that's all I've learnt from my short 3 weeks in school!