Mira! Estoy Viviendo en Mexico!

2008-02-03T00:06:00.001-08:00

Puebla, Tlaxcala, and...Puerto Escondido!

2008-01-31T19:32:00.000-08:00

I traveled from Guanajuato to Puebla via bus, which took 7 hrs. It is 2 hrs south of Mexico D.F. and is famous for hand-painted ceramics. The Catedral Basilica de Puebla was so neat with the Spanish and Baroque influence. I will have to post photos later. Most of my time in the city was spent checking out churches, walking down the streets of the city, and spending the next day at Cholula. Cholula is a city about 30 minutes away by bus and has the great pyramid of the city. The interesting thing about this pyramid is, you wouldn't know it was a pyramid until you got to the top and saw the church. It just kind of looks like a hill and you walk up the hill and that is pretty much it. Compared to the pyramid at Teotihuacan, this didn't seem like anything.

We then spent a few hours in a nearby city called Tlaxcala, a colonial city. It really has a small town charm to it and is a pueblocito if you will. The zocalo or main square area is the smallest I have ever seen, but is so quaint. I spent time being in total awe of the paintings of the Spanish conquest in Mexico at the Palacio de Gobierno which was built in the 16th century. The Desiderio Hernandez Xochitiotzin murals depicted Cortez' stay, the indigenous people of Mexico in that region, and the Wars of Independence. Then I went to the Ex-Convento Franciscano de la Asuncion built in the mid-1500s. The doors and interior of the ex-convent are laden with Muslim-influenced art. It reminded me a lot of southern Spain. By 7:40PM, I had a bus to Puerto Escondido waiting in Puebla...

This is definitely one of many long bus rides I have ever had but one of the most beautiful as well. It took a total of 16 hours to get to Puerto Escondido! Yes, I needed to get to the beach THAT bad. The bus ride went overnight and over windy mountainous roads as well. But I have to say that the different shades of black under a star-filled sky was so amazing! After that long bus ride, the sun, sand, and beach was waiting. I spent 2 days basking in the sun, went on a lancha, a boat out to the ocean. We even got to see a sea turtle, or tortuga, swim around and hung out with it onboard! This beach was paradise..I stayed on Zicatela Beach, literally steps from the hostal, and saw Playa Manzanillo, Angelito, Carriazalillo, Principal, Marinero, and Bacocho. This was just a string of beaches all relatively close and a surfer's paradise by the way! Met some really awesome Dutch people from all over Holland, some Americans, and Germans. This beach is a hidden treasure and is not contaminated with tourists. The main street, Calle del Morro isn't flooded with people like Huntington Beach or Venice Beach are back in California. People here care so much about the environment, and are super easy-going. However, I did see sharks being hunted and then cleaned out on the beach which was upsetting. Apparently it is legal here in Mexico. I am just glad that they don't merely cut off it's fins and then throw it back in the ocean to die, but actually use the rest of the animal as well. Still sad nonetheless...

So today is Thursday and just took my first charter flight out of Puerto Escondido to Oaxaca this morning. Definitely have videos and photos to post so hang in there!

Random Daily Happenings of Life Here in Gto

2008-01-24T18:33:00.000-08:00

This is mostly just a slough of snapshots of my life here. Enjoy :)

My host mom, Martha.

Mi habitacion!

My host sister, Keren.

My roommate, Hazel in her native costume blanket

Matilda, Me, Amy, Marian, and Jared on Marian's birthday

On our way to school, Hazel found her dream car

Rojelio, one of my teachers

Mi perro lindo!

This is what we do during study breaks--where
was the hula-hoop when I needed it most in college?

Johnny and I!

Feria Leon!

2008-01-24T17:14:00.001-08:00

Me, my roommate Hazel, and Marian headed to the fair in Leon after school yesterday. It was great to get a chance to hang out and observe how I realy Mexican fair is! I also noticed that we were the only foreigners there--it was fantastic!

Check out these bushes! Yep, that's right, were there.

La feria en Leon!

Entrance to the rides at the fair

There were huge strips of stands such as this one
at the fair with food, candy, fruit, etc.

...and again

This one was interesting...

Check it ou: is this not the BIGGEST burrito you've
ever seen?!?!?!

Cuerpos de Conservación meeting in the Santa Rosa Mountains

2008-01-20T15:59:00.000-08:00

Today was such an awesome day—except for the fact that I was freezing all morning! But just as I was thinking to myself, this really sucks, and I wish I were home with a hot cup of tea, I realized, holy crap, at least I can wish that! These people deal with this EVERYDAY! And not to mention, we had a 100% turn out—families, cooperatives, NGO people, grant writers, EVERYONE. You could definitely see how much people craved to make projects work. We talked about their projects last year and how effective the end-consumer (villagers) thought it was, what road-blocks they ran into, difficulties securing funding from the government in renewing contracts, and how to move forward. I learned a lot about how I would like to help facilitate discussion in my village when I get deployed. I really need to spend the remaining months I have in the states to really be a better listener and hear what people really want and try to help them get there instead of trying to make them want what I want for them. Does that make sense? Even if this means that their quality of life may still be kind of low. I keep reminding myself that this is about sustainable development and in order for anything to be sustainable, I have to be able to walk away and know that the community wants it bad enough to keep it going long after I am gone.

Apparently Cuerpos de Conservación has to renew their contract with the landowner, but in order to do that, they have to renew their contract with the government to get the funding that would then enable them to renew the afore mentioned contract. The government reviews the project proposal and decides how much they will give Cuerpos de Conservación and money is set aside for the projects first. After doing so, whatever left gets distributed to the non-profit workers. None of these people are doing this for the money, and many have decided to take a lower pay in order to have more money for the projects they are working on. It's difficult but there is so much promise.

A little ways before getting to the EEC is a small women's cooperative that produces honey. It's pretty neat--apparently it started with 3 women and has now expanded to 15. Their product is marketed and sold in León, a pretty huge industrialized city about an hour and fifteen minutes away from here.

Here are some photos and video--provecho!

On our way up to Santa Rosa in the mtns.

This is the Environmental Education Center (EEC)
with a partially completed roof. They've put in some
piping for the showers which can be seen sort of
to the right of the window.

This is the main water tank with pipes still above
ground and flowing down to the EEC.

A little adobe-brick water heating system
and a tiny (black) water tank above it.

This is going to be a dormitory that will fit 40 beds (20 bunks)
upon completion. You can see mattresses stacked
up in the back. There will also be a bike room for retreat groups
to take out on trails.

The guys, washing cups for the meeting. See
that hose? The water comes from there and it's FREEZING
cold! That's right my friends, NO HOT WATER...yet.

Hopefully a fireplace will be put in here.

The community showed up, had the meeting outside
in the freezing cold, but everyone was there nonetheless.

Going over last year's projects and what the community
would like to see this year.

Community member talking about solutions to
financing his project.

And there goes the greenhouse! The community
loading materials onto their trucks to set up
the greenhouse for medicinal herbs.

The guys moving stuff from the current
greenhouse to set up their own in their community!

A piece of the EEC roof that is not yet finished.
Wooden support beams have been laid and
coverings will go next.

Topics of discussion for first annual meeting.

Community leader expressing his thoughts.

New Beginnings...Cuerpos de Conservación

2008-01-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

I am currently reading this book about micro-financing in India calle"Banker to the Poor," by Muhammad Yunnus. It's eye opening and continues to make me think about the terrible poverty rut that rural communities struggle with. During my break, I happened to stumble upon this motivational quote that resonates with me:

"You are never given a wish without the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however." --Richard Bach

It is definitely something that I have kept in mind. Anyway, I was supposed to head off to Queretaro this morning but it ended up not working out. No matter, as i still had a productive day of getting through my book, homework, and preparing for an all day beginning of the year meeting in the mountains with a local conservation group here called Cuerpos de Conservación http://www.ccg.org.mx/. They focus on community and environmental development and also educating the community about resources and how to protect it. So you're probably asking how I found out about this. I was having my usual late night of studying and ended up chatting with another American who is working in development. He's working for Cuerpos de Conservación here in Guanajuato and invited me to this meeting. I'm stoked about the opportunity to meet with the main grant writer of the organization, a community assessment officer who is working on the San Marcos Project here, and project representatives who are supported by Cuerpos de Conservación and vice versa. The only thing I'm not stoked about is having to wake up super early again for the 8th day in a row ;) It's a tough life, my friends! hahaa...

Other than that, I've been looking forward to my upcoming week of travel. Marian and I are going to travel together again and we plan to start off in Puebla, about 7 hours south of here by bus. We will be leaving right after classes next Friday and just go with the flow. I know that I'd like to see Puebla, Veracruz, Acapulco, and Oaxaca City and it's just a matter of finding the time to fit in these cities in our short time. I will have to be back in León-Guanajuato by the 2nd of February so that I can fly back to the states on the 3rd. I still can't believe how fast time has gone by already and I am savoring every last bit of time I have left here.

I'm not sure what I am going to be doing once I return to the states, but my friend Becki says that I "fly by the seat of [my] pants." Good 'ol spontaneity...that's how I roll.

Next week may be a really pivotal week--my placement officer emailed me saying that she's reviewing files for my departure group and the anticipation is killing me! This great organization is forcing me to be patient :)

That's pretty much all I have for now.

Nos vemos!

Teotihuacan y Ciudad de Mexico

2008-01-15T17:02:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since my last update. Hopefully this post finds you all doing well in the states or wherever you are. I have just moved into my 5th week of school here and am learning a LOT and really enjoying the experience.

This past weekend, a friend and I went to Mexico D.F. (otherwise known as Mexico Distrito Federal or Mexico City). We left right after classes to grab some street food and head off to the bus station. Five and a half hours later, we were there, found a place to stay, and crashed for the night. We slept for 5 hours and left for the bus station again to get to Teotihuacan, which is about an hour northeast by bus from Mexico D.F. Here's a little background: The area was supposedly created in the late Pre-Classic period and was split into quadrants. The main road, Calle de Los Muertos (Avenue of the Dead), is the axis of the city. The city covers about 20 square kilometers and includes one of the largest pyramids in the world, The Piramide del Sol which was built in the Pre-Classic period, and the Pyramide de la Luna from the Classic period. The city was abandoned by the Teotihuacanans and it is speculated that the city had grown so large that it could not support its inhabitants with the food needed. The Aztecs later found it, and believing that it could only be built by Gods, gave it the name "Teotihuacan"~ Where Men Become Gods."

This site is huge and could take a whole day if you wanted to climb every pyramid. So my friend Marian and I decided to climb Piramide del Sol and hang out in the area. Here is a little blurb about Calle de Los Muertos~ "This ceremonial center was built along a four-kilometer stretch now called Calle de los Muertos, so named because the Aztecs believed ancient kings had been buried alongside it. The northern limit of the street is the Piramide de la Luna, while th southern boundary remains unexplored. The main structure, the Piramide del Sol, lies to the east, aligned with the point on the horizon where the sun sets at the summer solistice. An east-west throughfare is believed to have bisected the calle at some point at the front of the Ciudadela. Along the sides of the calle are the Patio con Pisos de Mica, the Grupo Viking Complex, and the West Plaza and East Plaza Complexes. Farther north is the Puma Mural.

Marian and I along the Calle de los Muertos

The ruins

Prepping to climb Piramide del Sol.

At the top of the Piramide del Sol! You can see the Piramide de la Luna in this photo!

Museo de Sitio--includes a labyrinth, artifacts and graves from the stages of Teotihuacan.

A neat pillar from the museo.

The vista point.

I had always wanted to see the pyramids in Mexico and now I have! It was such a neat experience and I can't wait to explore more when I travel towards Oaxaca after next week. We spent Sunday exploring Mexico City, including the Museo Frida Kahlo, Catedral Metropolitana, Zócalo, and Museo Nacional de Antropología.

I didn't know anything about Frida Kahlo before visiting this museum dedicated to her. It was her former house that she had with Diego Riviera which was full of color. The poor woman had suffered physical shocks and was conformed to a wheelchair for most of her life. Her art was really bizarre in my opinion, but with reason. We also climbed the tower of Catedral Metropolitana and got to experience a bell ringing! The view of the city from the top of the cathedral was really neat and I will definitely post photos as soon as I am able. Other than that, Marian and I hung out at the anthropology museum which was HUGE! If any of you have been to the MOMA in New York, you know that a museum like that takes days to see. The anthropology museum was so neat because it included artifacts from all regions of the country and dedicated sections to minority groups.

In a nutshell, this trip included a LOT of walking until my feet and legs ached but it was all worth it! I'll be posting photos soon.

provecho!

2008-01-10T21:28:00.001-08:00

http://uci.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2193494&l=3e6a7&id=6011022

San Miguel de Allende

2008-01-05T19:47:00.000-08:00

After having seen how awesome San Miguel de Allende was last weekend, I decided to go back today. Two friends from Holland (who also study at don Quijote) and we set out early this morning to the bus station. First of all, I have to say how much I love getting a student discount for being a student here! It only cost me $8.60 USD to get to San Miguel de Allende and back, an hour and a half bus ride (one way). Secondly, buses in Mexico are glorious! It's like one of those charter buses that you had for away games in high school, but WAY better. Let me detail why:

So you've bought your ticket and go to this waiting room area until your bus is ready to start taking passengers on board. You show the ticket verifier your ticket and they ask you what you'd like to drink, and they put that drink in a bag that has a croissant or cookies in it! You board and the floors are swept clean, you have an overhead compartment for your stuff, and have a plush reclining seat and a TON of legroom. Oh, and it gets even better! There's this leg-rest or pad thing that you pull towards you to put your legs on for the duration of your trip. That's not all...they play DVDs, provide heating/air-conditioning, etc.

What I learned was that there are several types of bus services, depending on where you are and where you want to go. Servicio ejecutivo (executive service) or also called de lujo (deluxe) is the royal treatment which includes everything I mentioned previously. Then there is primera clase (first class) with the previously mentioned, but second-rate movies instead. Then you have the segunda clase (second-class) buses which are lower in quality and are usually refurbished/converted school buses. The segunda clase buses will pick up passengers waiting alongside the road depending on seat availability as well. I was told that this may be the only option if one chooses to travel between small towns. On a segunda clase bus, you'd be traveling by ordenario service as opposed to express and directo on servicio ejecutivo and primera clase. For all bus services, they are considered local or de paso. The locales buses originate from where you board, and de paso are buses who stop in to stations for a short time to fill seats.

San Miguel de Allende was neat to explore because of the artisan shops and handcrafts. I found this really neat tea set that I wanted to buy for $32 USD! As usual, I didn't end up buying anything as I wouldn't have been able to bring it with me as I travel. Another really cool item I found and wanted was a sink! Wimmie, Ingrid and I explored La Parroquia, a 17th century church with a neo-gothic facade, Museo Historico de San Miguel de Allende (right next door), and Templo del oratorio de San Felipe Neri--built in 1712 with a neo-classical interior and baroque exterior.

I am planning to go to Mexico City and Teotihuacan (1 hr north east by bus). The massive ruins at Teotihuacan will be really interesting to explore and I am really looking forward to it. It's going to be a busy week--working more to have money to travel, studying, and packing to move to el centro, then leaving for the weekend!

I will post photos soon!

...mas cuadros

2007-12-30T06:41:00.001-08:00

Teatro Juarez

Central

Carlos hanging up one of the pinatas

Sugar cane, lolipops, oranges, and gold coins!YUM!

Lisa, Meghan, Me, and Tamara hangin out at break

mas cuadros!

2007-12-29T06:31:00.001-08:00

This is my school at night!

Street performers in Plaza de la Paz

Religious parade before Christmas Eve.

Top Row: Elie, Tamara, Me, Vada
Front Row: Kavita and Nancy

Universidad de Guanajuato
(the street on the left of the uni leads up to
my house...eventually)

Guanajuato en la noche...gorgeous!

Sorry that the formatting is all over the place--hopefully my next posting won't be so terrible.

for the love of photos...

2007-12-28T15:36:00.000-08:00

These are videos of us breaking the pinatas we made before Christmas. I will be posting more photos when I have a bit more time and a more stable internet connection For now, enjoy :)

cosas (things)...

2007-12-27T16:15:00.000-08:00

I'm nearing the end of week 2 here in Guanajuato and school has been going well, had food poisoning 3 times now, and the walk home from school hasn't gotten any easier. Homestay in combination with school has been helping with language comprehension. I've been thinking that I will take up reading CORREO, the local newspaper starting next week. Going to the movies has really been helpful as well. Now in regards to food poisoning, well, it's only been happening when I eat what my host mom cooks for me. I am not sure exactly what it is, but my suspicion is that she doesn't put things back immediately after say, pouring a glass of milk or something. Of course this is just a guess, but I also don't want to offend her. I left the house very early this morning before she could attempt to feed me and opted for Cafe Tál, a cafe on the way to school. I ate out all day and boy, did it feel great! I haven't been too worried about gaining weight here, as I climb a mountain just to go home everyday ;) The walk is so enjoyable--I sometimes stop to hang out with the kids on the street and set off fireworks. Que divertido! (how fun!)

I miss home more than ever nowadays since I don't know how much longer I will be around before starting my Peace Corps service and also knowing that most of you have returned home for winter break for a week or so. However, do know that I am thinking of all of you during the holidays.

I have been continuing my research on water purification and am trying to set up an appointment to visit the local water purification plant. I'm not too sure how this is going to work, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Another issue here that I have a hard time turning my back on is the baby I saw on the steps of a church, somewhat by the school just yesterday. Someone from the church took the baby in, but this is a huge problem in all of Mexico. Reproductive health education is lacking in Mexico because parents don't want the government to teach their children about prevention, HIV/AIDS, and STIs in school, but parents don't teach their children either, so one often sees 13-14 year olds who are pregnant. Abortion is illegal in all of Mexico, and these unwanted babies are either kept, left in the street, or left in front of a church. There are so many issues surrounding this problem and it makes me sad.

On a lighter note, salsa dancing has been going great~me and two friends from school have been going to a bar in the center of town, and also a gym 10 minutes or so from school. Me encanta!

2007-12-22T16:29:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a week--7 hours of school/day (including our culture class), hanging out with my host family, lots of going out in the evenings with the other students from school, and then studying and doing homework until 2AM. I absolutely adore it! :)

We have learned so much about holiday celebrations here in Mexico earlier this week. The associate dean of my school, Javier, taught us all about dia de virgen Guadalupe Day of our Lady Guadalupe (12th of December) and that 20-25 million people from all over the world celebrate this day by traveling to Tepayac Hill in Mexico City to pray. It is said that the Virgin Mary had appeared there in 1531 and asked a peasant farmer to build a chapel so that she could watch over her people. Juan Diego told the bishop this, but he didn't believe Diego. Mary performed a miracle by allowing flowers to grow where only cactus could survive. A chapel was built to honor her, and many people believe that miracles happen there.

We also learned about the piñata. The authentic piñata is nothing like what we have in the states. It's not an animal, it's not filled with an overwhelming amount of candy, and it's definitely not light even when it's empty. Rather, it is a huge clay pot made by hand. We made paste with flour and hot water, ripped up newspaper, and started to craft this masterpiece. We put paste all around this clay pot to glue the pieces of ripped newspaper to it. We then took huge sheets of colored construction paper and made them into cones--7 cones to be exact. Each cone or 'point' represented the 7 deadly sins. The cones were then pasted to the newspaper-covered pot. We set it out to dry for 24 hours and continued working on it the next evening.

Our teacher, Rebecca, gave us sheets of colored wrapping tissue to decorate the piñata. We all sat around a table and set up an assembly line. One of my classmates, Derek, called it a piñata sweatshop! :) We then took aluminum foil and covered parts of the piñata. Our teachers filled the piñatas the next day and hoisted them up on a rope on the terrace. We gathered after class to take turns hitting it yesterday. When it broke, we found sugar cane, peanuts (in the shell), lollipops, jamaica, and gold chocolate coins--YUM!

I went on an excursion to a local silver mine with some friends from school today. What I find interesting is that there are no guides in the city that speak English. It’s great because it forces us to listen very carefully to what they are saying and get a good idea of what is going on. The listening portion of being in the city hasn’t been overwhelmingly difficult, but the speaking portion still remains a struggle. I am sure that in time it will get easier. This brings me to my next point: I went to a local café today to ask for a job and was hired. I start tomorrow and really look forward to improving my speaking and listening by working there.

I will post some photos I took of the city in my next entry—I’m having quite a bit of trouble with the formatting of my entries.

2007-12-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my first day of school and it reminded me of my first week or so in Germany when I had so much to say, but simply couldn't express myself. I started school at 8AM, taking a placement test and conversation test. I've already made so many friends from all over the world: 2 Germans, 1 Swiss/Uruguayan, 5 Americans, 1 Swiss-German, 4 Dutch, 1 Finlander, and 1 Japanese. It's a crazy mish-mosh of languages at all times--it's definitely awesome. We were in class through the afternoon and went on a walk of the city.

We all went out to dinner in the center of the city and went to a pub for drinks afterwards. It was so neat to see the city at night. I will have to post photos I took soon. The hills are super intense--it takes me 30 minutes to walk to school in the morning, pausing every so often to enjoy the view (I really have to pay attention to the road when I walk because of the uneven roads/cobblestones). Walking home was WAY more intense than my walk to school because everything is uphill. I'm so out of breath when I reach my front door and hopefully it will get easier but I doubt it :)

I'm in school for 6 hours a day and have already learned a LOT--I had a 2 hour conversation with one of my teachers today and I am so surprised how much I have learned from watching TV in the US. I was told that I'd be moving up a level by next week or so--we'll see. We also have Mexican culture classes every night at 7PM. We're learning about how people celebrate Christmas here and King's Day. We learned the history of the piñata and that the 7 points of the piñata star represents the 7 major sins.

Well, I've gotta run, but I'll write again soon.

2007-12-16T15:14:00.000-08:00

I'm finally here in Guanajuato and it's everything Zack said it would be and more. I found my way to my host family's home this morning--my taxi driver was so awesome, telling me about some of the sights as we drove into the city. It really is like a medieval European city!

I hung out with my host sister Keren, her 2 year old son, Carlos, and Roberto, my host brother's 5-year old. My host mom took me into the center of the city to do some grocery shopping and to show me how to get to school. The view is amazing and I already love being here. We also stopped by the central garden area in Pastita for real Mexican enchiladas--yum!

The weather today was “shorts-and-a-t-shirt” great and I spent most of my day hangin’ out with the kids in the jardin.

Here's a photo of Roberto telling me to look at something. He's quite the storyteller :)

Dónde?

2007-12-15T09:56:00.001-08:00

Many of you probably haven't heard of Guanajuato. Guana..what?! Yeah, I hadn't either before this program. I did a little research and here's what I know:

Guanajuato lies in the central heart of Mexico, 380 kilometers northwest of Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City), and east of Puerto Vallarta. In 1558, veins of silver were discovered, resulting in peaks of economic realization as well as repression. I was one of the richest cities in Mexico, attracting the Spaniards. In 1810, the wealthy and poor of Mexico united to defeat the Spaniards at Alhondiga de Granaditas. If you look solely at the architecture, you'd think you were in a medieval European city. Guanajuato is located in the Bajio region, nestled at the bottom of a big bowl shaped ravine surrounded by hills and mountains. With a population of 160,000, its people are famous for a long tradition of music, or callejoneadas. It is also well known for its college town environment.

UNESCO declared Guanajuato and its silver mines a world heritage site in 1988. The city was originally built over a river which flowed through tunnels under it. This caused a lot of flooding (I imagine much like Venezia, Italia) so a dam now exists to redirect the water into underground caverns. The former tunnels in which water used to flow, has now been made into a road underground for car travel. The city is far away from Cancun and Cuernavaca--perfect for learning Spanish!

My school is in the city center in the "barrio Pastita." The method of teaching is focused on socializing and also increasing knowledge of Mexican culture. I'm really excited about meeting my host family, other students at school, and improving my Spanish.

This is now my current address:

Vista Hermosa 26
Guanajuato, Mexico
36000

ph: 7329448 / 7341886

Exciting Plans!

2007-12-11T22:56:00.000-08:00

I had been talking to my fabulous friend Zack O'Brien since this past spring about the possibility of going to Mexico for a Spanish language immersion program for some time now. After doing extensive research on programs in Spain, Central America, and South America, I've made the decision to study at the don Quijote language school in Guanajuato, Mexico.

I got on the phone with the program administrator who is located in Spain to sign up for 4 weeks of intensive and superintensive Spanish, complete with a homestay and half-board. I will be starting school this upcoming Monday, 17. December. I just booked my flight with Mexicana Airlines--one way ticket since I don't know when exactly I will be back :)

I will post as regularly as possible during my program--stay tuned.