University Life Again

Today I had the awesome opportunity to make my way over to Puebla's largest university for some research. Its name is BUAP, or Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, and I liked the campus quite a bit. Most of all, it was just weird to be back on a college campus thousands of miles from the one I'm used to! Once again, the odd use of space was so apparent -- it seems that Mexicans almost like their buildings to be crowded, because there will be acres of undeveloped land followed by little clusters of buildings. But part of it is just growing pains, not knowing what to do with all the space. Still, the brand new central library I visited (see below) is a good ten-minute walk from everything except the stadium!

I had the chance to talk to a librarian whose friend currently lives in Provo (he took the picture in front of the small library), as if the studying and libraries weren't reminding me enough of home. :) The university was almost empty of students, because they're in between terms, but I'll be back there next week and it should be fairly full (according to my librarian friend).

Pictures:
1. The huge new library. It is fully equipped, with big iMacs for public use and quite a few books (nothing like BYU of course) and generally a great facility.
2. Inside the new library. Note the Mexican penchant for simple exterior design (not a rule, but quite common) but brightly-decorated interiors.
3. In front of the little library where I spent four or five hours researching today.
4. Construction on campus at BUAP SO different from BYU! No cranes, no heavy machinery, no steel superstructures -- just bricks, concrete, and manual labor.
5. The foreign language building. The whole "university city" (as they call a campus) is one of the best-kept areas in Puebla that I have visited. I'm excited to visit when there are more students!