As I was walking the 45 minute walk home today from my galavanting around, I experienced that awful feeling you get in your stomach when something totally startles and scares you. I was walking past a very populated bus stop, my bag on my back, when i felt someone grab my sides. My eyes burst open, my heart and stomach dropped, i grabbed the hands on my sides, scared to turn around to see who it was or what they might be trying to do. But as I turned expecting to find someone trying to rob me, I heard "Natalia!" Looking behind me, I saw Gabi, the daughter in-law of Dona Juana, both of whom I lived with for a month at the beginning of my time here in Cuernavaca. A smile came to my face and a rush of relief swept across soul. I walked with Gabi for a block or two before we arrived at her work where I stayed for awhile to chat and catch up.
Now this story in and of itself is not that exciting. But this morning on my way out, i ran into Angel on the street, a teenager that lives in La Via and helps out at the Buena Tierra just because he wants to. Later I bumped into Zaira, Angel's sister, who works at the Kinder with me for scholarship to attend beauty school. And Wednesday as I was walking the hour walk home from language class, I ran into Sabrina (teacher/secretary at BT) and her daughter waiting in line at the zocalo to attempt a pass at the (weird) ice skating rink.
These are just a few examples of the incredible fact that here in Cuernavaca, in a city of one million people, where I have only lived for 4 months and feel that I know next to no one, pretty much every time I leave the house I run into someone I know on the street. I am constantly amazed by these encounters. Granted, Cuernavaca is no HUGE place like Mexico City, but still, one million is pretty big, and it is incredible to me that I see so many people that I know when I'm just wandering about the city. I find it a blessing and a bright spot in my day. In a city, and country, where i often find myself feeling very lonely, these rendezvouses remind me that i am not alone, and that i have built many more relationships than i might even realize. although its not everybody, its nice to feel like i'm in a place where at least lots of people know my name :)
p.s. in 6 days there will be one more person in this place that knows my name ... elena comes on friday !!! i'm so incredibly stoked ...
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
holiday fun that was had
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.
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 lecheThursday 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, December 15, 2009
happy holiday season!
I haven't written in forever, and my apologies for that. I figured before heading off for awhile for the holidays I would just give a brief update (mostly just in pictures) of what I've been up to the last month ...
We did a campaign for healthy eating ... each class was to present a food group and why it was important. i was put in charge of making the sign of chatarra (junk food) that we put OUTSIDE the school because "we don't want that stuff in here!" i picked up a bunch of trash off the streets to make this sign, and bummer, i just HAD to go eat a big mac so i could put up trash from mcdonalds :-) so here is the final result that i was kind of proud of:
just your average day at school: playing with shaving cream
every monday one class is in charge of honores a la bandera (honors to the flag) and they put on a mini show, some classes dance, some recite historical information, etc. "my" class (the one i spend most time with, kinder II) chose to sing a song they had learned from the "maestra de ingles" (that's me!) so in front of the whole school and their mothers, we sang their favorite song "look at my eyes, eyes, eyes!" (and other body parts)...here they are singing:
just playing with the little tikes (i love legos):
this past month i was in charge of the rincon of doctors...some kids were doctors and others were parents of sick baby dolls so they had to take their kids to the doctors and figure out what was wrong and fix them! oh good times:
in november we had a fundraising fair with all kinds of your typical fair things: food, fishing plastic fish for prizes, marbles, bingo, face painting, etc. etc....
except for something i had never seen before at a fair: fake weddings!:
seriously one of the cutest pictures ever:
I spent the last week in novemeber-beginning of december at an MCC Mexico Reunion in Mexico City. It was actually quite a delight. I was very grateful to be with people to celebrate Thanksgiving. And i whipped up some famous schmucker's pumpkin pie for the occasion of course:
salad, mashed potatoes, veggies, stuffing, turkey...the usual! (except i was missing mom's homemade rolls and grandma's fluff!)
nonetheless, i stuffed myself silly as you may note, and it was worth it!:
the last few months i was blessed with the friendship of some delightful estadounidenses that were studying at Universal where I studied spanish at the beginning of my time here. we spent hours at our favorite spot the italian coffe company overlooking the zocalo, and lots of hours "people watching" (which we decided was more of people watching US) in the zocalo. needless to say, all good things must come to an end and as of this past saturday they have all now returned to their homes in the states. it is sad to see them go, and i feel somewhat friendless now...but it was a delight while it lasted :) here we are at our spot:
Anyways, that's a brief glimpse into the past month. Nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary. i am VERY MUCH looking forward to the next couple of weeks...i have tons going on! my last day of school is thursday (the next two days are basically just party hardy), then we have our teachers' party thingy friday. saturday i am heading into mexico city and will be out of cuernavaca from then until the new year! plans for those few weeks include the following: seeing the nutcracker (yay!), trying to make it feel like christmas amidst serious heat and general lack of being at home (to do: ice skating, baking cookies, decorating the office, watching christmas movies, etc...all with the accompaniment of mcc friends), christmas eve dinner with other mccers at the rep's house, going to playa del carmen (south of cancun) for 4 days to see jes (YAYAYAYAYAY), then back to d.f. for new years. i am really seriously looking forward to all this fun, although it is definitely very strange to be away from home during this time. luckily i have a lot to look forward to that will hopefully help me get through my first christmas away from home (i don't like being grown up...)
I hope this blog finds you all happy and well and full of the joy of the christmas season! for those of you lucky enough to experience the joy of grandma alice throwing a snowball at you inside, or get to taste the delight of my mother's cinnamon rolls with christmas colored frosting, or get to experience the genuine joy of hanging out at 504 short buehrer rd. with the fam, don't take that for granted! i am seriously going to miss so much and you all know i am a SERIOUS sucker for tradition...so extra enjoy those things for me this year! take care, and seriously, embrace the beauty of christmas!
lots of love and hugs i send your way
We did a campaign for healthy eating ... each class was to present a food group and why it was important. i was put in charge of making the sign of chatarra (junk food) that we put OUTSIDE the school because "we don't want that stuff in here!" i picked up a bunch of trash off the streets to make this sign, and bummer, i just HAD to go eat a big mac so i could put up trash from mcdonalds :-) so here is the final result that i was kind of proud of:
just your average day at school: playing with shaving cream
every monday one class is in charge of honores a la bandera (honors to the flag) and they put on a mini show, some classes dance, some recite historical information, etc. "my" class (the one i spend most time with, kinder II) chose to sing a song they had learned from the "maestra de ingles" (that's me!) so in front of the whole school and their mothers, we sang their favorite song "look at my eyes, eyes, eyes!" (and other body parts)...here they are singing:
just playing with the little tikes (i love legos):
this past month i was in charge of the rincon of doctors...some kids were doctors and others were parents of sick baby dolls so they had to take their kids to the doctors and figure out what was wrong and fix them! oh good times:
in november we had a fundraising fair with all kinds of your typical fair things: food, fishing plastic fish for prizes, marbles, bingo, face painting, etc. etc....
except for something i had never seen before at a fair: fake weddings!:
seriously one of the cutest pictures ever:
I spent the last week in novemeber-beginning of december at an MCC Mexico Reunion in Mexico City. It was actually quite a delight. I was very grateful to be with people to celebrate Thanksgiving. And i whipped up some famous schmucker's pumpkin pie for the occasion of course:
salad, mashed potatoes, veggies, stuffing, turkey...the usual! (except i was missing mom's homemade rolls and grandma's fluff!)
nonetheless, i stuffed myself silly as you may note, and it was worth it!:
the last few months i was blessed with the friendship of some delightful estadounidenses that were studying at Universal where I studied spanish at the beginning of my time here. we spent hours at our favorite spot the italian coffe company overlooking the zocalo, and lots of hours "people watching" (which we decided was more of people watching US) in the zocalo. needless to say, all good things must come to an end and as of this past saturday they have all now returned to their homes in the states. it is sad to see them go, and i feel somewhat friendless now...but it was a delight while it lasted :) here we are at our spot:
Anyways, that's a brief glimpse into the past month. Nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary. i am VERY MUCH looking forward to the next couple of weeks...i have tons going on! my last day of school is thursday (the next two days are basically just party hardy), then we have our teachers' party thingy friday. saturday i am heading into mexico city and will be out of cuernavaca from then until the new year! plans for those few weeks include the following: seeing the nutcracker (yay!), trying to make it feel like christmas amidst serious heat and general lack of being at home (to do: ice skating, baking cookies, decorating the office, watching christmas movies, etc...all with the accompaniment of mcc friends), christmas eve dinner with other mccers at the rep's house, going to playa del carmen (south of cancun) for 4 days to see jes (YAYAYAYAYAY), then back to d.f. for new years. i am really seriously looking forward to all this fun, although it is definitely very strange to be away from home during this time. luckily i have a lot to look forward to that will hopefully help me get through my first christmas away from home (i don't like being grown up...)
I hope this blog finds you all happy and well and full of the joy of the christmas season! for those of you lucky enough to experience the joy of grandma alice throwing a snowball at you inside, or get to taste the delight of my mother's cinnamon rolls with christmas colored frosting, or get to experience the genuine joy of hanging out at 504 short buehrer rd. with the fam, don't take that for granted! i am seriously going to miss so much and you all know i am a SERIOUS sucker for tradition...so extra enjoy those things for me this year! take care, and seriously, embrace the beauty of christmas!
lots of love and hugs i send your way
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
quince anos
Saturday November 17 I attended another extremely cultural event...I went to a Quince Anos. (Yes, I too thought they were called Quinceaneras...but no, the Quinceanera is the PERSON celebrating her Quince Anos). It was an extremely interesting experience that frankly blew my mind. In classic us form (us = the family i live with) we left the house at 7:30 when misa (church service) was supposed to start at 7. So sadly, I did not get to experience the misa part...we just went straight to the fiesta. It was in a huge banquet hall, like, imagine the most extravagant wedding you've ever been to in the states and it was AT LEAST that out of control fancy. It was much more than anything i personally had ever experienced, and i was kind of appalled by it all in some respects (mostly the money respect). Every time I would mention something about how "wow" it was, their response was "but you guys have sweet 16 parties like this don't you???" i think they've all just seen the tv show My Sweet 16 and assume we all do that! I was like um....no. the most ridiculous part(s) was when the girl made her grand entrance she like came down this lighted stairway doing this interpretive dance type thing all the way down to the dance floor where she then danced several dances by herself and with a partner. Then later on she and two guys came out all in black and danced to a compilation of Michael Jackson songs (sort of cool being MJ but still way over the top). After her big entrance her parents made this big speech about how she is now a woman and they are presenting her to society and all that jazz. It was just frankly all way too much for me. Tons of LOUD music, live band, lots of dancing, yeah all you would imagine and more. Ridiculous. But interesting. Let's just say we left at 1 am and they still had not cut the cake ... now obviously this family (Itzi's cousin) has money, but I'm told even families don't do money they still make a big hooplah out of it all. anyways, it was interesting, very interesting. not so much my scene, but great to experience yet another very cultural event.
here are some pics of the family at the big event:
in other news, life at school is about the same. i spent the majority of my day teaching english in one way or another, which i am still not totally happy about, but it's life. with the little kids i am in charge and we basically just sing songs all the time, which is a delight i suppose, although the little ones still really just don't learn anything ... in second grade i help itzi out and basically just have conversation with the kids and help those who are struggling. in first grade it was SO overwhelming (really tough class) we decided to split up the class so itzi teaches half the kids and i teach the other half ... not a huge fan of this (especially since we're outside where distractions run rampant) and the kids are really quite a handful but i'll work on it! monday evenings i have regularizacion where i help 3 kids who are around ages 13-15 (FINALLY! an age i know how to deal with!) with english. it's actually a lot of fun. tuesday mornings two kids from the community come and i spent 2 hours with them working on spanish and math. other than that, my days are filled with helping with breakfast, brushing teeth, and not tons else at the moment! pretty much all english ... eh. :-)
regularizacion on tuesdays with brenda and oscar
giving the kids ketchup on their eggs
the whole crew at the kinder
english 101 with maestra natalia: these are your EYES!
here are some pics of the family at the big event:
in other news, life at school is about the same. i spent the majority of my day teaching english in one way or another, which i am still not totally happy about, but it's life. with the little kids i am in charge and we basically just sing songs all the time, which is a delight i suppose, although the little ones still really just don't learn anything ... in second grade i help itzi out and basically just have conversation with the kids and help those who are struggling. in first grade it was SO overwhelming (really tough class) we decided to split up the class so itzi teaches half the kids and i teach the other half ... not a huge fan of this (especially since we're outside where distractions run rampant) and the kids are really quite a handful but i'll work on it! monday evenings i have regularizacion where i help 3 kids who are around ages 13-15 (FINALLY! an age i know how to deal with!) with english. it's actually a lot of fun. tuesday mornings two kids from the community come and i spent 2 hours with them working on spanish and math. other than that, my days are filled with helping with breakfast, brushing teeth, and not tons else at the moment! pretty much all english ... eh. :-)
regularizacion on tuesdays with brenda and oscar
giving the kids ketchup on their eggs
the whole crew at the kinder
english 101 with maestra natalia: these are your EYES!i hope everyone is well and truly enjoying FALL! take care.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)
Just a warning... I am probably going to write a lot more in this space than most of you want to read, but I want a place to keep all my learnings/meanderings about Dia de los Muertos together, and I figured this was the best way to do that. So feel free to just browse and look at the pictures if that's all you want :) I won't be mad ...So I'll be honest, leading up to this weekend I was pretty freaked out about the whole concept of Dia de los Muertos, but now that it's over I'm just totally intrigued by it, although I still find the basic premise to be quite "out there," if you will. I got to travel a little bit and see what it was like in a couple other towns besides Cuernavaca so that was sweet too.
BASICALLY, the idea behind Dia de los Muertos is that the dead have permission to return to earth to visit friends and relatives on Earth once every year ... Dia de los Muertos (Nov. 2). It is thought that those who died as children come one day and adults another day. Throughout the days of the dead, which is actually celebrated like all weekend long, the living welcome the departed souls with "ofrendas" of flowers, incense, candles, and food. This tradition has been around since forever and was started by the indigenous of Mexico.
ORENDAS (which are usually set up in the person's home) include the following:
- marigolds (flower of the dead)
- pan de muerto (no idea whats so special about this stuff, i mean its good, but yeah. the stores have been FILLED with them. the other day i went to a panaderia to get some bread and where i would normally find like 50 different kinds, ALL they had was pan de muerto)
- food (they prepare and set out the favorite foods of the dead from when they were alive)
- candles and incense
- sugar skulls (crazy decorated)
- photos of the deceased
- paper cutout thingies
- a trail of marigolds leading from the street to the ofrenda itself so that the departed can easily find their way home
Also, a big place to see the happenings is in the panteon (cemetery). I went to the cemetery in Ocotepec which is a town nearby Cuernavaca. The gravesites were crazily adorned with flowers, streamers, ofrendas, etc. We went on the day when the kids come back, which was quite interesting. One grave was surrounded by family and they were singing with guitar and other instruments to the departed child. Another grave was adorned in pink and white streamers with a HUGE sign that said "Bienvenida Princesa" (Welcome Princess). Family members usually spend time cleaning and decorating graves. I haven't quite figured out if they REALLY think the people come back or what, but the Welcome Princess sign sure suggests it does. I didn't go to any of the graves of my family's family members so I didn't have that personal of an experience to know. Itzi did go twice to Jojutla where her mother and grandparents are buried but I do not know what they did there.
Jardin Borda (a big garden place) in Cuernavaca had a huge festival all weekend long including a competition of Catrinas. Catrina (i'm still a little confused about her) is kind of like a symbol for Dia de los Muertos. My family told me she represents the dead wealthy high class women. She's basically a skeleton all dolled up. a lot of kids were her for halloween. Anyways, there was a competition so there were like 40+ bigger-than-life-size Catrinas varying from ones made of mcdonald's cartons, to chiles, to popcorn, etc. etc. Check out my facebook pics to see more of her. It was really a sweet display. Also throughout the weeke.nd and in various cities/towns there were real-life Catrinas that you could take your picture with.
In Cuernavaca's zocalo (main square) on Saturday there were tons of huge ofrendas, and I had intentions of taking pictures on my return through but it was gone! So I have no pics of there which I am bummed about. On Sunday we went to Mexico City to check out what is normally a HUGE competition of ofrendas in the giant zocalo there...to find nothing. It was quite disappointing, we drove over an hour just to see these and there was NOTHING. My family figures it's because of a lack of money, but who knows. I was quite bummed...
It was an interesting combination between Dia de los Muertos and Halloween here this past weekend. Kids were trick-or-treating every day (Friday-Monday) which was interesting. People give out candy but more often MONEY to kids who go to "pedir Halloween." (ask for halloween) In all the costumes I saw I would say about 95% of them were the more morbid type: witches, vampires, draculas, etc. (all the things my parents would never let me be when i was a kid). I think my family's kids were the exception to this (Tigger and a jar of Winnie the Pooh's honey). I asked my family if it was a coincidence that Dia de los Muertos and Halloween fell on the same weekend or if it had some purpose to it and they said yes it was purposeful but didn't explain any more...who knows.
check out the wikipedia page on Dia de los Muertos for a decent description of it all (notice the last pic is in Ocotepec where i went)
Here is the ofrenda that we set up in our house for Itzi's mother and grandparents. Just a smaller simpler version of all the grandotes that were out there that I saw.
Anyways it was a very interesting, educational, and rather entertaining weekend.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
just an update and some meanderings
Well it's been awhile since I last posted, and although I don't feel like I have anything marvelous to share, I suppose I will at least just write something...I apologize for the lack of cohesion I anticipate this post to have...
The week of October 4-9 was kind of hectic as we were preparing for a big celebration on the 9th for the inauguration of the Primary School and celebration of 10 years of the Kindergarten. That week Sara and Marlin Yoder of Ohio and their neighbor LaHoma were here (Sara and Marlin were MCC Reps here in Cuernavaca and are good friends of Lizy's) and it was a really great experience to be able to spend time with them and network and all that jazz. The Inauguration itself was quite the success and I must say the best part was a song that the students, mothers, and teachers sang, each group with a verse about what they want to see in the world and more specifically with the students that attend La Buena Tierra.
my view from the front of the inauguration festivities
all of us who work at the kinder chowing down on some yummies
singing at the inauguration
I went into Mexico City that weekend then to spend a last hoorah with Kiara before she left to go back to the U.S. for good. It was a phenomenal weekend filled with lots of movie watching and movie buying, and most of all going to see the musical Mamma Mia! on a whim. I am forever obsessed with musicals, and it was awesome to get to see this great one here, and it was in Spanish which, in my opinion, made it even awesomer. All in all it was a really great weekend although it culminated with saying goodbye to Kiara and I am reminded once again that lots of MCCers are leaving Mexico and this is a bit of a challenge for me to come to terms with.
Things are continuing to go well here at my new house. I cannot say I'm 100% over feeling bad about leaving where I was, but I do realize now that it was definitely for the best of all those involved. I went to visit my old house in La Via yesterday and was frankly shocked at the state of things due to the construction that is now literally IN FRONT of the house. The front walls have been totally cut off, as have part of the ceiling, and essentially two of the four rooms that existed no are not usable. All the furniture is crammed into the living room with people sleeping there and there is hardly any room to even walk. Essentially, it would have been next to impossible for me to stay there, and even more uncomfortable for that family than it is now had I been there as well. I feel content and comfortable in my new home and with my new family, and I definitely feel part of the family, which is awesome. They are all about teaching me stuff about food, history, culture, all that jazz, it's great. Ana (the 18 month old) has taken a liking to me and if my door is shut she shoves little gifts under it and if the door is open she comes in and shuts the door and hangs out with me. They're super cute :)
so she didn't want to smile this time but this is me and ana in my room
What else.... work is going well. I am starting to enjoy it, and am finally feeling a bit of purpose there. I am teaching English two days a week for 20 minutes each to two different classes (one class of three year olds and one class of four year olds). It is quite the challenge at times, but with the use of lots of songs it is going alright. I am really enjoying my time in English class with the other three older classes, where I am not the teacher, just the assistant. I get to go around and spend like five minutes with every student each class and work with them on what they need to work on or have "conversations" with them in English - it's actually a lot of fun. So a lot of my time at school is taken up with English in one way or another. I have still not totally come to terms with the "need" to teach English, but I am working on it.
Something else I have been really struggling with is gender issues, particularly those at La Buena Tierra. I won't go into my whole long schpeel about it, but it's definitely a challenge for me to keep my mouth shut a lot of times...and perhaps keeping my mouth shut isn't what I should be doing, which is also part of the challenge. For one example, to give you a small glimpse into it all, at recess there is a box of "girls toys" and a box of "boys toys." Okay that in and of itself is just wrong to me. Then the other day in front of the entire school the teachers were talking about how one boy plays with the "girls toys" and how they just wish that he would play with boys and with "boys toys." That's just one small example it goes much deeper than that but regardless, it drives me nuts and I am having a really hard time with it and knowing whether or not to do/say something about it and if I choose not to how I deal with the cognitive dissonance inside my own head for the next nine months...
On to happier notes - I have started exercising which is a gift in so many ways. There is a beautiful park like 10 minutes from my house that, although it costs money, provides an escape from "city life" and a quiet haven to run/walk regardless of the weird looks I get. It involves waterfalls, a river next to the entire path, and a lake at the end. It's really pretty and I'm loving it, along with the added physical benefits of exercising and seriously, I forgot about the mental benefits. It's incredible just how much better I feel about life and how much better my attitude is when i spend time exercising and in nature.
I have also really taken up reading again, which is awesome. I will happily take suggestions on books to read. I just finished The Faith Club and a book on Mexican history, and I just started The Secret Life of Bees. I have also become an even bigger history dork and am seriously enthralled with learning Mexican history. I even took a fourth grader's history book from school so that I can read a "simple" (though I'm told not completely accurate) history of Mexico. I have lots of books to read on this topic...
I baked. Monster cookies and Banana bread. It was awesome. I love baking. and I love baked goods.
Okay I'll be done rambling about randomness for now. Just wanted to give an update on how things are going. I'll say I think I am finally enjoying myself here although at times still feel lonely but am truly embracing independence! I hope all is well wherever you may find yourself. If you happen to be in the land of fall, please don't take it for granted. I am really missing fall right now and am waiting for my promised chai tea and pumpkin to make pumpkin pie to arrive so i can at least taste a little bit of fall :) I still sweat all day at school. yay heat.
take care. hasta luego!
(p.s. for more pics of everything check out facebook, i just put a select few up here)
The week of October 4-9 was kind of hectic as we were preparing for a big celebration on the 9th for the inauguration of the Primary School and celebration of 10 years of the Kindergarten. That week Sara and Marlin Yoder of Ohio and their neighbor LaHoma were here (Sara and Marlin were MCC Reps here in Cuernavaca and are good friends of Lizy's) and it was a really great experience to be able to spend time with them and network and all that jazz. The Inauguration itself was quite the success and I must say the best part was a song that the students, mothers, and teachers sang, each group with a verse about what they want to see in the world and more specifically with the students that attend La Buena Tierra.
my view from the front of the inauguration festivities
all of us who work at the kinder chowing down on some yummies
singing at the inauguration
Things are continuing to go well here at my new house. I cannot say I'm 100% over feeling bad about leaving where I was, but I do realize now that it was definitely for the best of all those involved. I went to visit my old house in La Via yesterday and was frankly shocked at the state of things due to the construction that is now literally IN FRONT of the house. The front walls have been totally cut off, as have part of the ceiling, and essentially two of the four rooms that existed no are not usable. All the furniture is crammed into the living room with people sleeping there and there is hardly any room to even walk. Essentially, it would have been next to impossible for me to stay there, and even more uncomfortable for that family than it is now had I been there as well. I feel content and comfortable in my new home and with my new family, and I definitely feel part of the family, which is awesome. They are all about teaching me stuff about food, history, culture, all that jazz, it's great. Ana (the 18 month old) has taken a liking to me and if my door is shut she shoves little gifts under it and if the door is open she comes in and shuts the door and hangs out with me. They're super cute :)
so she didn't want to smile this time but this is me and ana in my roomWhat else.... work is going well. I am starting to enjoy it, and am finally feeling a bit of purpose there. I am teaching English two days a week for 20 minutes each to two different classes (one class of three year olds and one class of four year olds). It is quite the challenge at times, but with the use of lots of songs it is going alright. I am really enjoying my time in English class with the other three older classes, where I am not the teacher, just the assistant. I get to go around and spend like five minutes with every student each class and work with them on what they need to work on or have "conversations" with them in English - it's actually a lot of fun. So a lot of my time at school is taken up with English in one way or another. I have still not totally come to terms with the "need" to teach English, but I am working on it.
Something else I have been really struggling with is gender issues, particularly those at La Buena Tierra. I won't go into my whole long schpeel about it, but it's definitely a challenge for me to keep my mouth shut a lot of times...and perhaps keeping my mouth shut isn't what I should be doing, which is also part of the challenge. For one example, to give you a small glimpse into it all, at recess there is a box of "girls toys" and a box of "boys toys." Okay that in and of itself is just wrong to me. Then the other day in front of the entire school the teachers were talking about how one boy plays with the "girls toys" and how they just wish that he would play with boys and with "boys toys." That's just one small example it goes much deeper than that but regardless, it drives me nuts and I am having a really hard time with it and knowing whether or not to do/say something about it and if I choose not to how I deal with the cognitive dissonance inside my own head for the next nine months...
On to happier notes - I have started exercising which is a gift in so many ways. There is a beautiful park like 10 minutes from my house that, although it costs money, provides an escape from "city life" and a quiet haven to run/walk regardless of the weird looks I get. It involves waterfalls, a river next to the entire path, and a lake at the end. It's really pretty and I'm loving it, along with the added physical benefits of exercising and seriously, I forgot about the mental benefits. It's incredible just how much better I feel about life and how much better my attitude is when i spend time exercising and in nature.
I have also really taken up reading again, which is awesome. I will happily take suggestions on books to read. I just finished The Faith Club and a book on Mexican history, and I just started The Secret Life of Bees. I have also become an even bigger history dork and am seriously enthralled with learning Mexican history. I even took a fourth grader's history book from school so that I can read a "simple" (though I'm told not completely accurate) history of Mexico. I have lots of books to read on this topic...
I baked. Monster cookies and Banana bread. It was awesome. I love baking. and I love baked goods.
Okay I'll be done rambling about randomness for now. Just wanted to give an update on how things are going. I'll say I think I am finally enjoying myself here although at times still feel lonely but am truly embracing independence! I hope all is well wherever you may find yourself. If you happen to be in the land of fall, please don't take it for granted. I am really missing fall right now and am waiting for my promised chai tea and pumpkin to make pumpkin pie to arrive so i can at least taste a little bit of fall :) I still sweat all day at school. yay heat.
take care. hasta luego!
(p.s. for more pics of everything check out facebook, i just put a select few up here)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Changes...
Well, a lot has changed in my life since I posted my last blog…
I moved.
About two weeks ago Lizy (the director at Buena Tierra) sat me down and basically said she’d been thinking and thought it was a good idea if I would move out of Doña Juana’s, and that she had an idea of where I could move to…I was quite surprised by this idea, and spent a lot a lot a lot of time thinking about it, creating pros/cons lists, and trying to decide what was for the best. Here’s a small glimpse into the pros/reasons and cons of moving:
MAIN REASONS TO MOVE:
MAIN REASONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION MOVING:
Physically moving itself was quite the spectacle…With all the construction there is just this TINY little pathway to get through, and cars can’t pass, so I had to move everything by hand through this tiny passageway…Now you all know I don’t pack light, but on top of that, I also moved out my bed and big old dresser because they belonged to Lizy and she wanted to give them to a family in La Via. So myself, along with the help of several others in La Via, helped move all the furniture to its new home and all my stuff to my new home. It was quite interesting…
Saying goodbye to Doña Juana and the family was actually a lot harder that I thought it would be. At first she seemed to take it well and understood that due to the construction and such it just made sense, but later I found out that she really didn’t get it and thought I was mad at them or something. I think I cleared things up with them. Although I definitely didn’t appreciate some of the family members there were also a few that I am really going to miss. Hopefully I can be conscious enough to visit them on a regular basis.
ON TO MY NEW LIFE:
I now live about 3 blocks from the school, but in a privada, not in La Via (although its still super super close). I live with Itzi, the English teacher from the school. She is 30, and has a husband and 2 kids (a 1 ½ year old daughter, and a 6 month old son). Also living at the house is the husband’s mother who helps take care of the kids. They are all totally great. Basically, I feel totally relieved, and I think finally excited and happy to be here in Mexico for an entire year. So as not to write a novel, here I list why:
Anyways, I’ll be done rambling. It’s been quite the change for me, but I still feel like all in all it is for the best for everyone involved, and I am at peace with it. I have been super busy this past week so am still living out of my suitcase and in no way have this room set up like it will be…therefore I have no photos to share, I apologize. They will come soon I promise! Until then, take care, and keep the emails coming!
I moved.
About two weeks ago Lizy (the director at Buena Tierra) sat me down and basically said she’d been thinking and thought it was a good idea if I would move out of Doña Juana’s, and that she had an idea of where I could move to…I was quite surprised by this idea, and spent a lot a lot a lot of time thinking about it, creating pros/cons lists, and trying to decide what was for the best. Here’s a small glimpse into the pros/reasons and cons of moving:
MAIN REASONS TO MOVE:
- the construction in La Via is awful, and only going to get worse (for example, the front wall of Doña Juana’s house is totally going to be ripped off, no water or electricity for who knows how long, etc. etc.)
- I did not feel like I was really part of the family at Doña Juana’s…to me it seemed like the only thing they did was give me food and a bed to sleep on, and I was really hoping for a family to be part of.
- Doña Juana’s was really packed with people often sleeping on the floor and Doña Juana didn’t even sleep in a bedroom, etc. etc.
- At Doña Juana’s nobody ever left the house or did anything besides watch TV, and I was feeling rather lonely and cooped up there.
- There were lots of other little reasons that encouraged my decision like lack of fruits/vegetables, not appreciating a few family members, hoping Doña Juana’s kids would finally help her out financially, the current state of the bathroom there, and just plain being excited about the family I was going to move in with.
MAIN REASONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION MOVING:
- Doña Juana has been very dependent financially on the money MCC/SALTers have provided her over the past 8 years
- I felt very settled, my room was all awesome, I was comfortable with routine, and basically was not looking forward to moving into my fourth new living situation in less than 2 months
- I just felt terrible. What would I say to the family? They would feel so unloved and like they didn’t something terribly wrong.
- where I would move would be quite a jump in terms of SES and I wasn’t sure that’s what I was looking for this year
Physically moving itself was quite the spectacle…With all the construction there is just this TINY little pathway to get through, and cars can’t pass, so I had to move everything by hand through this tiny passageway…Now you all know I don’t pack light, but on top of that, I also moved out my bed and big old dresser because they belonged to Lizy and she wanted to give them to a family in La Via. So myself, along with the help of several others in La Via, helped move all the furniture to its new home and all my stuff to my new home. It was quite interesting…
Saying goodbye to Doña Juana and the family was actually a lot harder that I thought it would be. At first she seemed to take it well and understood that due to the construction and such it just made sense, but later I found out that she really didn’t get it and thought I was mad at them or something. I think I cleared things up with them. Although I definitely didn’t appreciate some of the family members there were also a few that I am really going to miss. Hopefully I can be conscious enough to visit them on a regular basis.
ON TO MY NEW LIFE:
I now live about 3 blocks from the school, but in a privada, not in La Via (although its still super super close). I live with Itzi, the English teacher from the school. She is 30, and has a husband and 2 kids (a 1 ½ year old daughter, and a 6 month old son). Also living at the house is the husband’s mother who helps take care of the kids. They are all totally great. Basically, I feel totally relieved, and I think finally excited and happy to be here in Mexico for an entire year. So as not to write a novel, here I list why:
- my family leaves to do stuff (I will get to know the city better)
- great neighbors
- they eat totally healthy (like I actually eat fruits and vegetables and drink milk)
- they want to teach me how to cook
- the husband travels a bunch and wants to take me to other pueblos to visit
- they’re talking about how I’ll experience their kids baptism, a quinceanera, a wedding, etc. (very cultural events)
- they are super excited for me to learn about life here
- I feel welcome
- I feel physical comfortable
- I do not feel nearly as lonely as I did before
- luxuries (hot water, double bed, internet, HUGE tv in my room…that part is really annoying)
Anyways, I’ll be done rambling. It’s been quite the change for me, but I still feel like all in all it is for the best for everyone involved, and I am at peace with it. I have been super busy this past week so am still living out of my suitcase and in no way have this room set up like it will be…therefore I have no photos to share, I apologize. They will come soon I promise! Until then, take care, and keep the emails coming!
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