One of my new years goals is to blog more often so that my blogs aren't so long, but since so much has happened since i've last written, that goal will be met starting with the NEXT one...feel free to just look at the pictures if you don't want to take the time to read it all!
Saturday December 12, 2009 5:56 a.m.
I am startled awake by blaring trumpets and harmonizing voices. Momentarily I am confused, but then remember my family's warning ever since I arrived here that on this date, a mariachi band would begin to play at 6 am at my neighbors' house. Although slightly not pleased to be awakened at such an hour on a Saturday, I lay in bed awake for the next hour, thoroughly enjoying the music I was being serenaded with, that I have finally (with some effort) learned to genuinely love. It was the start of the Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe, one of the most important icons of the Catholic faith here in Mexico. On this date, millions from all over the country make the most important pilgrimage of the year to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City...supposedly over six million went this year. Although I did not attend these festivities, my family and I did go to the church named after her here in Cuernavaca were there was a big fair and lots of flowers. Check out the pics to see what it was like:
p.s. bottom left is me eating the deliciousness of an empanada de arroz con leche
Thursday December 17, 2009 6:00 pm
As I sat and watched the students of the primary school recite their paragraphs about different traditions Mexicans have around the holiday season (such as pinatas, candles, angels, posadas, etc.) I anxiously awaited the telling of the Christmas story that the students of the kindergarten were about to perform...wondering if 3-5 year olds could really pull this thing off. As the little ones took the stage and began gracing us with the classic tale (with a very Mexican spin...for example as maria and jose travelled to belen, they encountered puestos selling tortillas) I realized that it didn't matter how well they remembered their lines or when they were supposed to move...they were SO adorable that all I could think about was how cute they were. All in all, it was quite a success!
Friday December 18, 2009 10:30 am
I arrived running late to Lizy's house (the director of Buena Tierra) were I immediately began helping to prepare all the delicious food we were to eat that noon. After a couple hours of work, well, enjoying the beauty of cooking, all the other maestras from Buena Tierra arrived at Lizy's, where we partook in a delicious meal together. Hanging out with these women outside of school I realized what phenomenal people they are and how blessed I am to spend the majority of my time here with them. We shared not only good food, but great stories and some seriously good laughs. After the meal we exchanged gifts with those whose names we had drawn, including not only a true gift, but a "joke gift" as well. It was a good time, and a great way to end the calendar year with great company.
December 19, 2009 Mexico City, Mexico. 7:30 pm
Elizabeth and I walk off the metro to find the National Auditorium, covered in lights and pinatas, with men yelling and trying to sell DVDs and CDs of the Nutcracker. It was the start of my Christmas season. Wearing a green dress, red scarf, and best of all, a gold bow in my hair, I felt again like a little girl walking into the Stranahan Theatre with my grandma anticipating the wonders of the Nutcracker to befall me. It was a beautiful sight...full of lights, presents, Christmas trees, poinsettas, and all kinds of Christmas cheer. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and upon leaving the auditorium, felt like I was truly ready to embrace the Christmas season!
Sunday December 20, 2009
I stumbled out of the metro into the Zocalo to find a world I never would have imagined here in Mexico. The buildings surrounding the zocalo are covered in giant decorations. Throughout the middle of the square, one can indulge oneself in any sort of snow-related activity you could imagine. Though not with the beautiful flakes falling from the sky, it is a close second. With manufactured snow, thousands of people enjoy any of the following available activities: ice skating, sledding, snowmobiles, making snowmen, or having a snowball fight. We went into the National Palace to check out Diego Rivera's murals, where we find other great Christmas decorations including the beautiful tree you see below. I was amazed at all the decorations and options of indulging snow, despite the lack of snow in the area. I decided to leave the snow for those to whom it was a novelty, figuring I would be somewhat disappointed if I had chosen to try them out. Frankly, I found it all quite hilarious!
Continuous Dates: Dec-Jan 2009-2010
Paseo de la Reforma
As we waltzed down Paseo de la Reforma one beautiful afternoon, we came across lots of nativity scenes lining the street. Made out of various materials (check out the one of cigarette cartons in the upper lefthand corner) the nacimientos were quite interesting to me. Never before seen recurring characters in these themes caught me offguard and confused me: both the devil and the woman at the well were found numerous times throughout the nacimientos. Interesting, nonetheless...
Wednesday, December 2, 2009 4:00 pm
After spending a week in Mexico City celebrating Thanksgiving and having a team meeting with all of MCC Mexico, I returned to my home in Cuernavaca, and to what, in my mind, should have been the start of "Christmas Season." Instead, I was confronted with nothing of the sort, which was quite a challenge for me. The warm weather, lack of snow, lack of family, lack of everything i've ever known to BE Christmas, caused me to feel quite disappointed and rather homesick. Facing the reality that I was going to be spending my first Christmas away from home was kind of hard to do. I spent the next two and half weeks attempting to feel Christmasy...I bought christmas movies, and listened to Christmas music on youtube. Finally, upon arriving in Mexico City, with grace of Elizabeth who humored my every obsession with tradition, I was able to truly embrace Christmas. I spent my time in Mexico City decorating the office, buying a mini Christmas tree, watching Christmas movies, baking cookies, baking cinnamon rolls (down to the green frosting) and red cake, blasting Christmas carols, and doing anything else I could think of to make it truly feel like Christmas, despite how far away from home I was. All in all, it was a success.
Tuesday December 22, 2009 6:00 pm
Elizabeth and I arrive at Marion and Ricardo's house (the MCC Reps) to babysit their 3 year old daughter Isabel so that they could go see the Ballet Folklorico. As Christmas cutout cookies were baking in the oven, there was a knock at the door, with some little kids inviting us to attend the apartment complex's
posada. I was frankly stoked, because I had left the day before the posada in my neighborhood in Cuernavaca, and was sad that I wasn't going to get to experience this classic Mexican Christmas tradition. Posadas are celebrated to symbolize the trails that Mary and Joseph went through seeking a place to stay on their trip to Bethlehem before giving birth to Jesus. When we joined the posada, people were just sitting around eating and drinking. When we finally decided to "start," we walked around the apartment complex following large figurines of Mary and Jesus, carrying candles, singing songs that hardly anyone knew. Finally we arrived at a conveniently empty apartment, where half of us went inside to represent the innkeepers. What followed was a hilarious attempt at a sort of call and response between those of us outside seeking posada, and those inside as innkeepers telling us that there is no room. The hilariousness came because no one knew the words to anything and we had one booklet that was like the Bible of posadas and we had to keep passing it between the doorway for each group to sing...anyways, afterwards, like any good Mexican party, there were pinatas to be had. Three. huge ones, in fact. Instead of being full of candy, however, when the pinatas broke I was surprised to see jicama, apples, mandarins, and peanuts falling to the ground. Needless to say, Isabel loved the pinatas, and I was pleased to have experienced the festivities.
December 24, 2009 6:00 pm
We arrive at Marion and Ricardo's, myself carrying my classic Red Cake and cinnamon rolls that I just couldn't do without on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, respectively. Marcos, his two friends from Germany, Elizabeth, Marion, Ricardo, Isabel, and myself, shared a delightful evening with delicious food. Given the state of public transportation on Christmas Eve, Elizabeth and I crashed at Marion and Ricardo's for the evening. When we awoke there were 5 handmade stockings beneath the tree. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast of homemade bread, cinnamon rolls, and of COURSE leftover red cake. After opening out stockings, us ladies headed off to the park so Isabel could play. In reality, it basically just didn't feel like Christmas at all. It is sort of as if it just never happened. But it was a good time spent with great food and good company at least. :-)
December 26, 2009 9:45 am
With backpack, passport, and confirmation number in head, I head off on the metro towards the airport. After a two hour flight, I land in the Cancun Airport. On my shuttle to the bus station in downtown Cancun, i see the Hotel Zone off to the east and remember the many times before that I have been here before, when my transportation had taken me towards that strip of high class all inclusive resorts, and for a moment have a burst of homesickness wishing my family was there with me. Instead, this time i head alone towards the bus station in Cancun, where I hop a ride to Chetumal, a city bordering Belize. 6 hours later, I arrive in Chetumal where I take a taxi to a hotel. I ask what room, then go up a flight of stairs and knock on door fourteen. Behind that door awaited my dear friend jes buller, who is serving with MCC in Colombia and who I hadn't seen in almost a year. I stayed the night with her and her family, before we headed back north the next morning. Arriving in Playa del Carmen, we had lunch with her family, then said goodbye as they continued on to the airport to go back to the states. Jes and I, then sauntered down the famous Quinta Avenida towards our hotel. A little overcome by the extreme touristy nature of the street, we were happy to find our haven in our hotel. The next three days were spent doing the following: talking, watching movies, eating ice cream, catching up on life, shopping, lying on the beach, discussing mcc life in different countries, finding awesome little eating joints off the beaten path of the touristy street of 5th Avenue, and just genuinely enjoying being with a friend. It was an extremely short visit, but it was a phenomenal visit nonetheless. In these days I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to have such great friends, and it saddens me that I am so far away from every single one of them. It was great to just be with someone who I didn't have to explain things to and with whom I could totally and completely be myself around. oh, those three days brought me more joy and contentment that words on this blog could ever express.
Thursday December 31, 2009
I spent a lot of the day trying to decide whether or not to really take in the fact that I was in the second biggest city in the world for New Years Eve, or if all the chaos made it not worth it. In the end, I decided I didn't want to deal with the masses, and Elizabeth and I made our way over to Marion and Ricardo's for dinner and a "party." The delicious dinner consisted of Ricardo's barbequed chicken and ribs, along with other delicacies. The "party" consisted of streams and sparklers. Isabel loved it all and it was a good time. Elizabeth and I returned to the office before the metro stopped at 10:30, where we watched the Family Stone, stopping it momentarily to watch the countdown to 2010 on the TV. A tranquil, yet enjoyable new years eve. can't wait to see what the new year brings! i have NO CLUE! :)
Saturday December 2, 2009
We hopped on the metro to the end of the line, where we then got on the Light Train for almost its entirity to the end of its line. Our long trip was rewarded by the beauty of the Museum of Dolores Olmedo, a good buddy of Diego Rivero, and a very rich woman, who left her estate behind as a museum filled with lots of Diego's work, hideous dogs, and beautiful peacocks. We were disappointed to find Frida Kahlo's exhibit on a world tour. But the grounds were beautiful and it was great to see so much of Diego's smaller works since most of what I had seen of his up until then was huge murals.
After finishing up at the museum, we hopped back on the Light Train for 4 more stops to the true end of the line, where we were greeted by various persons telling us which way to go. After accepting the fact that there's no way of getting around looking like a tourist, we listened to them and followed the street down to the canals. After a little searching, we found a collective boat that we shared with about thirty other passengers, as the men on the roof pushed our boat down the canals with large sticks. Xochimilco is what remains of the canals that one made up basically the entirity of Mexico City. To compare it to Venice is a terrible mistake, as the only similarity is the concept of water and boats with people taking you on rides. The ambiance is completely different, as you can choose from purchasing elotes (corn on the cob with chile, mayo, lime, and cheese), beer with chile and lime, ice cream, chips, or plants from vendors floating down the river in boats who have to make quick maneuvers in extremely full waters to catch up with someone who wants to purchase. It is quite a hilarious scene. Mariachis tooted around on the banks, and rode up and down the canals in their own boats. You could purchase one and they would hook their boat up with yours to serenade your watery journey. Although we never chose to pay for it, our watery journey was serenaded by several mariachis we passed by, as well as the banter of the great company of two older men (and our friends for the 45 minute ride) sipping on their beers across from us in our boat. Luckily we had chosen to go on a weekend and the canal was seriously PACKED by boats, hideously decorated if you ask me, but with just great classic Mexican ambiance. good times, good times all around...
January 6, 2010 my 24th birthday 12:00 noon
I hear little kid hands pounding on my door, but i ignore it as it is a common experience as i sit in my room with the door shut. But then another sound joins the knocking, as i hear
las mananitas begin to serenade me. After spending several hours reading in my room in the morning, i open the door to find my host family singing me las mananitas, the classic birthday song here in Mexico. I'm told it's time for me to come down stairs so that we can share the
Rosca de Reyes, the classic sweet bread shared by all on this date. I always knew I was born on a holiday, but it wasn't until this year that I actually had to SHARE the day :) Downstairs I found my family and several of our neighbors, where we all began to share in mugs of hot chocolate. As the birthday girl, I was the first of the group to have the honor of cutting the bread, with everyone waiting to see if in my piece a little doll about one inch in size would come out. Of course, it did, which means I get the joy of the responsibility of making tamales for everyone on February 2, the next holiday coming up here in the land of holidays. In the giant rosca there were several other dolls, but the two people who got the dolls in their pieces were myself and my 20 month old host sister, of which neither of us know how to make tamales! could be an interesting feb. 2....after the festivities of el Dia de los Reyes, I decided to head off for some good alone time to enjoy the beautiful day on my birthday. I went on a walk, read tons, hit up my favorite coffee shop, and got a slice of carrot cake [though it was NOTHING like my mama's :-)] Had it been your average day, I would have said it was a great day in which I did lots of fun things. However, since it was my birthday, and i pretty much spent the whole day by myself, it was kind of lonely. I'd say my first real bouts of loneliness and homesickness hit on that day, and although that is not fun, i have to be grateful that the past five months here I have not experienced that hardly at all. thank you to all for the lovely birthday wishes in the various forms that they were delivered. they definitely brightened my day!
p.s. i cannot believe i'm 24. when i close my eyes and think about the age 24 it is an age of accomplishment and sophistication and just plain oldness that i do not feel i have arrived at! i feel so much younger than 24 and its crazy i'm so "old" already!
well now that i've completed the world's longest blog in history, i will despedir you all quickly and with few words:
i hope your holiday seasons were a delight, filled with tradition, family, and laughter.
may this new year be full of adventure, joy, and learning.
Tuesday morning I was assigned my group of 5 students that I would be responsible for during our trip. We all piled into one ruta that a dad in the community owns and drives daily. (He told us his job is extremely tiring and monotonous as he drives the same route from 5 am until 10 pm every day of the week.) 5 adults and 23 super excited kids in first and second grade made their way to the Papalote Museum.
Walking through the doors the kids' eyes grew huge and I myself was impressed with what I found there, having no idea what to expect. It was a children's museum, but not at all a "museum" in the general sense of the word. It was all hands-on, super colorful, fun, exciting, learning adventures. Examples of options of things to do were: play a giant piano by walking on it with your feet, play "mindball" like soccer but using your brain waves (whoever relaxes more pushes the ball further towards the other persons' goal), and a bed that had thousands of screws pointing up on it...you laid down, the screws raised you up so you were laying on a bed of screws...kind of freaky, but really awesome!
We arrived back to school around 1:30, with 5 adults glad the day was over and 23 students totally wiped out and exhausted from an exhilarating day of fun and novelties.
