BaxGlobalAdventures

Fiesta!

2009-03-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

The last night in Oaxaca, we had a big fiesta with all the students and families that participated in the program. All the host-moms made some food for a pot-luck type dinner. We had a graduation-type ceremony then broke some pinatas. To end the night we listened to music and I danced with my host family!

Night out on the town

2009-03-14T13:26:00.001-07:00

The second to last night we were in Oaxaca as a group, we went to the gato loco (crazy cat). It was a club in downtown Oaxaca. We went dancing and hung out with some of our Oaxacan friends.

Presentation of ISPs and hanging with friends

2009-03-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

For the last few days, we presented our projects in front of the group and were able to spend some time as a group. Here are some pictures of all of us together during the presentations and also just hanging out.

COMI Staff

2009-03-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the people that worked at COMI...

Padre Fernando: founder and leader of COMI

Susan (in charge of COMI) and Nancy (secretary)

Wendy (doctorate student from Tuscan, she's doing her dissertation with migrants)

Sherylene, Joaquin, and Rosio (the people who live and watch the Casa de Buen Samaritano)

Pictures of Downtown Oaxaca during Christmas

2009-03-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks, the city of Oaxaca decorated the zocalo with poinsettias. The whole square was decorated with red and there were some poinsettia trees (wire towerings with poinsettias stacked on them. Also there was a big lighted and decorated tree close to the city building. There was also a large nativity scene.

Final days in Oaxaca

2009-02-03T11:43:00.000-08:00

Even though the whole experience seems to have passed quickly, the last week in Oaxaca seemed to last less than the blink of an eye. All the students met together in the hostal for the last week and we made up for all the time that we had been apart. The only stress we still had left was our final presentations (and I had to go first!!!!). But once I finished my presentation, I was able to enjoy the other student's projects and relax a bit. Most of my days were filled with presentations, shopping for presents, eating at my favorite restaurants, stopping by COMI, saying goodbye to my Spanish Becari teachers and spending time with my friends.

Three nights before my flight, Giovanni (Nancy's brother) called me and asked if I wanted to get some coffee. I decided that there wouldn't be any harm in spending a bit of time with him (especially because Nancy had been so wonderful to me). The 'date' wasn't too bad and the coffee and cookies were really great. We went to an outdoor restaurant with a balcony overlooking a guitarist playing and singing some Mexican classics. It was a nice environment and Giovanni and I talked about lots of random things (Nancy, his job, his goals for the future)... It was a good indicator of how much I had improved because I was able to hold a conversation with him for almost an hour... and understand the majority. After we finished eating, he took me to the lookout over Oaxaca and we talked. (The only awkward moments of the evening were (1) when he tried to feed me cake with his fork (2) when he mentioned that his nephew still needed a godmother meaning me and (3) when he wanted to go for a walk with me around the lookout I politely declined)

I spent one night with Jackal and Wendy, eating pizza at a restaurant in the zocalo and then guarding the Casa del Migrante with them. The people who usually live there had taken the weekend to travel to the coast for their once a year vacation. It was nice to spend time with both Jackal and Wendy... we represented three different perspectives, three different generations (Jackal - 45 and finishing his bachelor's, Wendy 28 - and finishing her doctoarate and I - 21 and finishing my bachelor's).

The second to last night in Oaxaca, our whole group had finished all of our presentations and we were ready to hit the town and enjoy our last moments together. We went to a bar called El Gato Loco (The Crazy Cat) and it really was a crazy cat!! We danced all together as a group. There were a few times where we danced with people outside of the group, but for the most part we all stayed together. Next, we went to another club called Elephante (Elephant) and met up with some of the guys we had met at the radio station. I danced with a guy named Nahu for a few dances and I really had a great time with my friends.

The last day, we spent some of the morning recovering from the long night (we had been out until 5:00) and I finished preparing packing. I got a few last minute gifts then went to our favorite restaurant Cafe Brujula with Christian. The party seemed to arrive faster than I had expected and I got there to see my host family already waiting for my arrival. We spent the evening eating, dancing, talking, and hitting pinatas. There was a traditional pasada and Christian led our group through the pasada while we all sang and lit sparklers. When it came to hitting the pinata, everyone was blindfolded and told to only hit the pinata once (and I followed directions even though I think you are supposed to ignore them and hit the pinata as many times as you can). I was the only person who went twice because my host dad kept encouraging me to go again... At the end of the party, there was a band playing some traditional music and I danced with my host mom and dad.

Once the party had finished, my host family drove me to the COMI Christmas party to say goodbye to the staff at COMI. I dropped in while their party was winding down and was able to say goodbye to everyone except Jackal and Nancy (who had already left). Padre Fernando was dancing a mean Kumbia when I walked in and Joaquin was rocking out on the guitar. It was sad to say goodbye, but everything seemed to be passing so quickly.

My host family had waited for me to finish with the COMI party and then drove me to the hostal to say good-bye. It was hard to say goodbye to them because we had spent so much time together over the past 3 months. My host mom had gotten me a green scarf because it's my favorite color. (We had gone shopping for poinsettias and Christmas presents and she had asked what my favorite color was). Even though it was difficult to say good-bye, I am pretty sure that I will return one day and see them again.

Back at the hostal, we helped Jennie and Sarah catch a cab headed for the bus station. They were going to spend a few extra days in northern Mexico. After they left, everyone continued packing and we all stayed up and talked until we were too tired to keep our eyes open. At 4:30 A.M. Grace, Katy, and I went to the airport and waited for our flights. The two of them left at 6:00 and my flight left at 6:30. I had four flights for a total travel time of 20 hours and arrived in Cleveland at 12:00 pm. When I got off the plane, I smelled winter and knew I was back in Ohio ready to spend Christmas with my family, finish college, then find a way to get back to Mexico...

Time with family...

2009-02-03T08:48:00.001-08:00

In my last week, I went out with my different families (family from COMI and host family). My host mom and I were supposed to go see a concert together, but I ended up going to the concert with my host dad because she was sick. Finding the concert hall was quite an adventure because the concert was held in one of the spare rooms of a clinic a little north of the city. After going to the wrong clinic then walking around for a while, we finally found the concert.

The music had already started when we arrived and my host dad and I snuck into the only two seats left. It was an interesting venue... the medical equipment had been pushed to the corner and the medical curtains were serving as a backstage area for the performers. There were four performers: a violinist, a clarinetist, a pianist/clarinetist and a man who played the bagpipes. The guy who played the clarinet and piano, also served as the MC for the concert and he introduced the songs and explained the purpose of the concert...

The wanted to educate the Oaxacan population about classical music, so that day they were playing songs written by Johann Bach. He explained each song and gave us some background information about Bach. (An interesting story was that Bach went blind towards the end of his life and the MC said that he and Beethoven would have a hard time watching concerts together because Beethoven was deaf and Bach was blind). Part of the concert included an explanation of each instrument and how it worked. My host dad was really excited about the piano because he has been taking keyboarding lessons for almost a year. The finished the concert with two fun popular songs to keep the interest of the audience. They were going to continue their concert series the next week with a session on Beethoven...

After the concert, my host dad and I stopped at a taco stand on the street. We got two tacos and watched the beginning of a soccer game with Cruz Azul. He also convinced me to try a jalapeno pepper.... it was soooo hot. But to be a gentlemen he bought a coca cola to cool down the spiciness. It was really nice to spend the evening with him.

Later that week, my adviser's sister came to Oaxaca to spend the weekend at the beach. Before they headed out to the coast, Susan and Randy wanted to take us out to lunch. So Wendy, Jackal, Susan, Randy, Susan's sister and brother-in-law, and I piled into Randy's tracker and went to a little restaurant on the outskirts of town. The food was served in buffet style and I decided to try as many things as I could. The food was really wonderful and it was nice to learn a bit more about Susan.

The next day, Susan left for the coast and Wendy, Jackal, Nancy and I were in charge of the office. The rest of the week went pretty well and I spent my weekend working on my final project. During my study breaks, I hung out with my host family... Denise and I went to see Crepusculo "Twilight" at the movie theater. After working hard all weekend, I took a break Monday after work to go to lunch at Nancy's (the secretary's) house.

Jackal, Wendy and I split a cab and bought a tray of cookies to bring to the house. Nancy's mom made us memelitas with dough that she had prepared at home. They were amazing and it was fun to hang out with Nancy and her family. She has a 13 year old son (Jesus or Chucho) and a six year old daughter (Frida). Also at the lunch, Nancy's younger sister and her children had some memelitas too.

(pics of memiltas)

About half-way through the lunch, Nancy started talking about her younger brother Giovanni. Her dad told Wendy that she should think of dating Giovanni (to practice her Spanish). But Wendy mentioned how she has a fiance and is about to get married in May. As the other female (non-family) option, her dad then said that I could date Giovanni... As always, I wasn't very good about being direct and so I just laughed and said that I could definitely use help with Spanish. We joked about how Mexican weddings are really fun and last for almost a week. By the time they were about to finish joking about me becoming their daughter-in-law, Giovanni pulled up on a motorcycle in his police uniform...

He was definitely an attractive guy, but I wasn't planning on dating anybody... especially during the last week of the program. I thought that they would stop talking about me marrying their son when he was at the table... but I was wrong. Nancy's mom ended up asking me if I thought her son was good-looking and if I wanted to be her daughter-in-law. I just kinda giggled and mentioned that I would have to ask my boyfriend if it would be ok for me to marry Giovanni... but they still didn't get the point...

After lunch ended, I played tag with the kids and spun the little ones around in circles. We went back to the city center by bus and then walked back towards the zocalo all together. The kids were going to see all the poinsettias decorating the center. (I'll put some pictures of all the flowers). The entire zocalo was covered in red with poinsettia trees in the middle of the walkways. Wendy, Jackal and I said good-bye to the kids and stopped at Wendy's house. She helped edit my paper and give me suggestions (as a doctorate student she has quite a bit of experience with writing research papers). I spent a very long night (without sleep) working on my final paper.

The next day I turned in the paper and then spent the evening with my host family. They dropped me off at the hostal at 11:30 that night with all my luggage packed. I told them I would come and visit before the going away party scheduled for a few days later.

Los raices and San Jarocho

2009-02-03T07:58:00.000-08:00

RAICES!!!

For the next few weeks, I kept working at COMI during the day. I spent my evenings reading for my independent study and going out with my friends as much as I could. We would either meet at one of their houses or go out to a bar or street concert. Jennie, Joshua, Christian, Sarah and I went out together quite a few times. (It was nice because we all could meet in the zocalo and then head out to wherever we wanted to go in the city).

There was a musical group called Raices almost like the Von Trapp family. They are a family from Veracruz who played alot of protest songs during the uprising in 2006. We went to see them four different times while we were in Oaxaca. In that final month, I watched the group with my host mom at a big book fair.

The next week, Jennie, Joshua, Christain, Sarah and I went to an abaondonded railroad station turned into a museum for a 'jam session.' Raices was there with many of their fans. It was really cool because they were just playing and dancing with everyone. There were five or six non-members of the group that had guitars and just started playing with them... one guy was a short little chubby American with gray hair. My favorite part of their performance was the pateadores the 'steppers.' The daughters, mother, father, and one of the brothers all took turns 'stepping' on a wooden platform. It was cool to watch them and the percussive element it added made the music even more exciting. There were about 8 guitarists with guitars of different sizes, and the mom played an interesting percussion instrument (she used a stick to strum the teeth of a cow skull... it sounded kinda like a xylophone)

This is not Raices, but you can see the box that they step on...

The concert at the railroad station was so much fun that we decided to go see them play in the center another time. It was a bigger concert and there were more people, but Raices put on a great show again. I have their songs on my itunes but I couldn't find a video of the group on youtube so I have an example of a group that sounds like Raices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z7rptEKE1Y&feature=related

Thanksgiving

2008-12-25T12:52:00.000-08:00

For the next two weeks, I continued working at COMI and started to organize my project. Every student had to write a 25-30 page investigation about what we had learned while working for our organization. This meant that I had to start reading a few secondary sources (books and articles) while organizing everything that I had learned at COMI. During the weeks at COMI, the office gained another volunteer (Jackal) and continued working with any migrant who stopped by the office. We had quite a few migrants from Ixtepec and alot of them needed to visit the doctor... some with injuries from robbers and others with injuries from walking for such a long way without proper shoes...

Padre Alejandro (a priest in charge of a migrant shelter in Ixtepec... where 50,000 migrants pass through almost every year) came to COMI for the first meeting between the two organizations. I was really happy that I met him because he was such a patient and loving man. He truly loved all people... not only the migrants but even the people that tried to hurt and extort the migrants. He came to COMI to discuss what the future role of COMI would be. The violence against migrants has been steadily increasing for the past few years but there are more and more migrants every year. Padre Alejandro told the workers at COMI that he would be sending more migrants towards Oaxaca, which also means there woule be more danger for COMI. Right now the migrant shelter is well hidden and not many people in the city know that migrants stay in the house. The reason Padre Alejandro came to COMI was to ask if the workers were ready to accept the more dangerous position as a shelter that houses more and more migrants... the workers at COMI said they were ready to do whatever was needed. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to interview this amazing man and I used his words in my final project.

One of the best parts of working at COMI was the wonderful staff that supported me and helped me get involved with so many experiences. For example, instead of spending Thanksgiving alone my advisor Susie and her husband Randy invited me to their friend's Thanksgiving party. There was a really great group of Americans at the party (all of them have worked in Oaxaca for quite a while... some with organizations like Witness for Peace and others with missionary organizations like Maryknoll). We had turkey and pumpkin pie and sang Mexican songs while looking out over the mountains of Oaxaca. It was a really nice evening and even though I missed my family in Ohio it was good to have a 'family' in Oaxaca.

After the party with the friends of my advisor, I went to one of the student's apartments. All the students who stayed in Oaxaca met up for a late Thanksgiving dinner. We all made different dishes to share (no turkey but still some really tasty food). It was really nice to see everyone especially after having time apart (with our independent projects we had been seeing each other much less). We ate, danced, and enjoyed our Thanksgiving in Mexico...

Pics of the family in Espinal

2008-12-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

A few pictures at Denisse's house and with the family.

ABOVE: Baby goat that was born while we were there... It was soooo cute.

ABOVE: Field of sheep behind their house.

ABOVE: Some of the roosters and chickens at their house. There was a really big turkey as well that was going to be their Christmas dinner... yum

ABOVE: Mimi, a cute little chihuahua who had become Denisse's replacement while she was at school. She wasn't very friendly at first but she eventually warmed up to me (Mimi).

ABOVE: Denisse and I supporting Cruz Azul (a Mexican soccer team who came in 2nd this year)

ABOVE: Jennie, Rosario (Denisse's mom), me, Denisse

ABOVE: Christian, Jennie, Denisse's mom, me

Bull fight!!!

2008-12-23T07:43:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pictures from the two days of bullfights. Starting out with a picture of the stadium... you can see it in the background of the first picture.

This was a stylish popular thing that that bullfighters would do (picture above and below)... they would get on their knees in front of the bulls like this. It was usually towards the end of the fight when the bulls were a little more tired. Even though the bulls were a little more tired it was an impressive thing to see... a man kneeling in front of such a powerful animal.

Some of the tasty food we had while we were watching the bullfights. And below that you can see the guys who were selling the food in between fights.

In the next four pictures there are pictures of the campesino (farmer or country man) who was a pretty popular bullfighter. He seemed like a pretty crazy guy but the crowd really loved him. In one of the pictures... if you look closely... you will see when the bull got the better of him and knocked him to the ground. Luckily he just rolled over and hopped to his feet ready to keep fighting. After that fight the crowd went wild and threw flowers and money at him. You can see the flower necklace that he has around his neck...

ABOVE: Nice flowery necklace for the bull....

ABOVE: Dog wanted to fight the bulls too...

ABOVE: Many of the bullfighters used this wall as a barricade to hide behind when the bulls got to close or too aggressive.

ABOVE and BELOW: As you can see, to get the riders in place many of the guys would hold the bulls by their tails and tie their heads to the pole... Doesn't look too comfortable... I think I would be mad too!

ABOVE: Yuxi, Denisse, and Christian eating some of the tasty free food!

ABOVE: Yuxi and I sitting in our box at the bullfight. (Her mom did her braids that morning)

ABOVE: Jennie talking to Yuxi.

ABOVE: The whole family and Christian... starting from the bottom left: Hector (Denisse's dad), Christian, me. Top left: guy in a brown shirt I don't know, Juan Carlos, Juan Carlos's fiance, Hortencia (my host mom), Virgen (her sister)

ABOVE: Christian, Yuxi and I

ABOVE: Denisse and Christian

ABOVE: Christian, Yuxi and I

ABOVE: Adrian (Virgen's grandson)

ABOVE: Me with one of the tasty snacks

ABOVE: Jennie with an orange

ABOVE: Denisse and Yuxi

Denisse making a silly face

Fair in Espinal

2008-12-22T12:22:00.000-08:00

For a break in work, I decided to go to Espinal (a community in the Isthmus where my host mom grew up) for their annual fair. I went with my cousin Denisse (who lives there when she is not at school) and my two friends from school, Christian and Jennie. To get to Espinal, Jennie, Christian and I took a bus from Oaxaca. We left the city around 11 pm and arrived in Espinal at 5:30 a.m. It wasn't the most comfortable ride, but I was able to get a few hours of sleep. When we arrived in Espinal, we went to Denisse's house and got a few more hours of sleep before waking up for breakfast.

Denisse lives in a small Zapotec town. Although the majority of the youth speak only Spanish, there is evidence of the Zapotec culture and community all over the town. Many older women still wear the typical Zapotec dresses (the ones with all the flowers) and many adults still speak in Zapotec. Denisse can understand Zapotec but she doesn't speak it. This seems to be pretty common but recently there has been more of a focus on saving the language and many people are teaching their young children to speak it. The Mexican schools used to forbid children from speaking indigenous languages but now the language is used in some schools.

It was cool to see my host mom in such a different environment. The whole weekend she seemed a bit more animated and excited to be with family and in the community of her childhood. (She left the town in high school because there was no high school in Espinal. After high school she went to a Univeristy in the city and then went on to get her masters and became a chemistry professor in the city). That morning I woke hearing her voice in the kitchen but she wasn't speaking Spanish. Christian and I joined her for breakfast and then we went to a bull fight!!!

I was really nervous when we walked to the stadium because I had no clue what to expect. I didn't want to see any animals killed and I also was not looking forward to any humans being impaled... Luckily, it turned out to be more of a rodeo than a bull fight. The people brought the bulls out into the middle of the rings and tied them to a post. Then they would attach a saddle (which was really just a rope tied around the bull) and sometimes put on a flower necklace. Next they would find a rider... sometimes they were schedules riders and other times they were volunteers from the crowd. The rider would mount the bull and then it would be released from the pole. Usually the bull would go crazy for about 15-20 seconds and if the rider held on the guys with the capes would come out and taunt the bulls. There were a few guys who were thrown by the bulls (a bull hit one guy in the head with his horn and he started to bleed pretty badly. The other guys pulled him out of the stadium).

After I realized that they weren't going to kill the bulls, I felt a bit more relaxed... The stadium itself made me a little nervous because it didn't seem like it was as sturdy as most of the stadiums that I am used to. Our family had rented a box on the second level of the stadium and about 20 people crammed into the box. They were nice enough to let me sit close to the ledge so I could be closer to the field. It was pretty scary when the bull would pass under us because some of the people would lean out and kick the bulls... If I had felt the desire, I also was close enough to lean out and touch the bulls... but I didn't. When I got back to Oaxaca, my host dad told me that about five years ago a bull ran into the wall of the stadium and the whole thing collapsed... I'm glad I didn't know that while I was there...

Throughout the day people would pass by with different food... papas fritas (freshly made potato chips) and some sea food because we were pretty close to the ocean. I spent lots of time talking to Yuxi (a very friendly and talkative 10 year old) and Denisse. Yuxi wants me to come back to Espinal for her quincinera in five years. I told her that it was a pretty good possibility and I would try and make it back. She told me that she wants a better quincinera than Denisse's four years ago. I really got along well with the family. Most of the family was pretty excited when I was able to say hello to them in Zapotec (thanks to my host mom who had taught me a few words). I guess learning the Zapotec accent is easier for a native English speaker than a native Spanish speaker... maybe I will have to learn how to speak it one day.

After the bull fight, we went back to Denisse's house to get ready for the ball. Denisse, Jennie, Christian and I all dressed up (in Denisse's dresses) and went to the town center for the ball. At first, as four girls without dates it was kinda hard to dance... because everyone had partners. But after a while we all got up and started to dance. One of Denisse's aunts was dancing with us and some of her other relatives got up to dance as well. There were two live bands that would trade off playing time. The music was really great and it was a fun dance environment with people of all ages dancing. We got back to the house around 3 in the morning and got some much needed shut eye.

The next day we went to the second day of the bull fight. During the breaks in between the bulls there was a little bit of entertainment (two six year olds who played the drums and sang). It was really funny because they were screaming more than singing but the whole crowd knew the songs and sang along with the kids. Day two of bull fighting was pretty much the same as day one. In the middle of one of the fights a dog snuck out onto the field and the guys tried to chase it off the field and away from the bull. One of the strongest bulls almost escaped into the crowd... Three guys had lassoed him and were about to guide the bull out of the ring but the bull decided to run. Two of the guys let go of the rope and the third guy was dragged across the ground as the bull ran towards the exit. Luckily he slowed the bull down enough for a few other people to grab their ropes...

After the bull fight, we walked around the fair... It was pretty much the same as most fairs in the US with lots of games, food, and scary fair rides. We ate some garnachas which are tiny little tostada looking things. The tortilla is a mix between a soft and hard taco and really small. It is eaten like a mini pizza. After eating, we walked around the fair and played a few games with my host mom. She had played bingo with her sister a few times and had no luck. Like my host dad said later... If you have luck with gambling you aren't lucky with love, and if you are lucky with love then you aren't lucky with gambling...

Even though the fair lasted for 3 days longer, Denisse, Christian, Jennie and I had to get back for school and work. We left Espinal at 1:00 and arrived in Oaxaca around 6:30 Monday morning ready for another week of work and school...

First COMI incident

2008-12-21T11:50:00.000-08:00

My adviser Susie told me that the work at COMI sometimes can be very demanding and other times very slow (as it depends on the migration of other people, it is sometimes very difficult to predict). The migrants are typically allowed to stay in the shelter for three days and nights but depending on their situation this limit can be flexible. For example, if a few Salvadorians arrive that need special medical treatment, the staff at COMI allows them to stay until they feel healthy enough to move on. During my month at COMI, quite a few migrants passed through Oaxaca and Susan always told us (Wendy, Jack and I) how much she appreciated our help.

The first week of my volunteering, Nancy (the secretary) and Susan were really busy with accounting. Because they were so busy with paperwork, I had to jump right in with my responsibilities as a volunteer.My third day, I walked a group of three woman from the Casa de Buen Samaritano (House of the Good Samaritan) to the office in the north of the city. It was about a 20 minute walk and I was pretty nervous at first... I wasn't sure what we would talk about and I also didn't want to run into any trouble. The migrants were from Guatemala and not legally residing in the country and I didn't want to create any problems. The work that COMI does is permitted by the government because it considered to be supporting human rights. Back to the walk, everything went well with the three ladies and I helped them make phone calls to their families when I got to the office. It was nice to be able to spend time with them and hear their stories about Guatemala and why they were leaving their homes...

That Saturday, we received a group of migrants that were traveling from the Casa del Migrante (Migrant Shelter) in Ixtepec. The group came to Oaxaca instead of continuing on the train (many migrants choose to travel by jumping on the trains that head towards the north. It is really dangerous and many people die or lose limbs by falling onto the tracks. FOR SOME REALLY GOOD PICS CHECK OUT THIS SITE http://www.enriquesjourney.com/latimesphotos.html).

This group of seven men were very special because they were serving as witnesses against criminal activity close to the train in Oaxaca. Many of the migrants had been waiting for 3 days for a train to arrive and when it finally did arrive the migrants began to climb onto the train. Four men with AK-47s showed up in a pick-up truck and started to chase the migrants. The men kidnapped 12 female migrants (one of which was a 21 year old girl who had been traveling to meet up with her husband in Texas). One of the young migrants in the house showed me a picture of her and told me how he had been running beside her when one of the kidnappers grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back.

Although it seems like this kind of abuse couldn't exist in the modern world, kidnapping of female migrants is becoming more and more common. Sometimes the woman are forced into prostitution, others are ransomed and still others are sometimes used for their organs. Part of the work of COMI is to try and change the system of impunity (police and officials do little to punish or stop these crimes against migrants) and reach out to these migrants who have seen so much abuse. Specifically Padre Alejandro (the father at the migrant shelter in Ixptepec that is really close to the train and sees over 50,000 migrants a year) fights to denounce the crimes against migrants. I was fortunate enough to meet this inspiring and wonderful man and even got an interview with him for my paper.

Back to the witnesses, that night a film crew from Mexico City came to COMI to interview the men. Three of the men testified to the crimes against migrants even though they were nervous about what the consequences could be... It was an incredible experience to listen to the denouncement and try and understand how they felt after such a horrible experience. All three men spoke about the faith they still had in God, how they believed that there are good people and bad people everywhere in the world, and how they wanted to speak out against the crimes to help all the migrants who would be following them. I couldn't help but think of the picture of the young migrant girl who may never have the opportunity to see her husband in Texas.

Picture of some of the migrants on COMI's website...

ISP Period begins...

2008-12-21T11:39:00.000-08:00

Once again, to all my readers, I apologize for taking so long to update this blog. For the past month I have been volunteering with an organization called COMI (Center for the Orientation of Migrants in Oaxaca). Part of the SIT program involves participating in an organization that is working for positive social change and I chose to work with COMI. (If you want to check out the website, here it is… http://comi.giving.officelive.com/english.aspx). In general, the organization is a shelter for the Central American migrants who are passing through Oaxaca. There is an office in the center of town, where I worked from five to six days a week. At the office, the migrants can come to make phone calls to be in contact with their families (who are usually pretty worried about them). COMI also has a shelter called La Casa de Buen Samaritano or the house of the Good Samaritan. Usually the migrants stay in the house for about three days to rest and build back some energy to continue along their way. I plan on talking more about COMI in the next few blogs but I will let you read the background information on their website if you are more interested… or maybe you can read the paper that I had to write at the end of the experience.

My advisor for the period was a lay missioner named Susie. She and her husband had been coming to Oaxaca for about 14 years. In 2003, their friend Father Fernando (the founder of COMI) wanted to start a center to provide a safe place for the migrants… so they started COMI. I worked with Susie, Randy and Fernando, but there were also a few more workers and volunteers that I got to know pretty well during the experience. I really enjoyed working for the organization and all of the people involved. Nancy, the secretary, and I spent a lot of time laughing… there was one time that she was trying to get some medicine out of a clogged bottle. She ended up trying to squeeze out the medicine and it erupted all over her face and clothes… unfortunately it smelled like garlic so she smelled like garlic for the rest of the day. We also had a volunteer named Wendy who is a doctorate student from the University of Arizona. She helped me so much with both my written research project and advice for what I could do in the future (as an anthropologist she has been able to live in Mexico and research as a profession… it could be a possibility for me…)

During this last month, I lived with my host family from before. Some of the students decided to stay with their host families, while others got apartments with students. I really got along well with my host family and wanted to be able to practice my Spanish, so I decided to stay with them for the last month. Although the first day was a little bit of an adjustment (after being away for two weeks), it quickly felt very comfortable and normal to be living with them again. I was happy to have my double bed back with my balcony and beautiful view of Oaxaca. I even noticed that the loro (the parrot) had learned my name and kept shouting it whenever it was bored… I also spent a lot of time with my host cousin Denisse (who, thanks to my improvements in Spanish, I could finally understand a little bit better)

For the next few weeks, my life was pretty well structured. Although some of my friends did their project through research and interviews, I chose to act as a volunteer for COMI… that meant that I worked almost everyday. My schedule was pretty similar every week day… I woke up at 7:30 then went downstairs for breakfast with my host mom Hortencia. We chatted and ate breakfast (usually fruit and juice followed by quesadillas or eggs) for about an hour then I went to work. From 9:00 - 2:00 I worked as a volunteer (answering phones, escorting migrants, helping them contact their families, giving them orientations). After working, I would usually stop by SIT (my school) and check the internet… then head home for comida (lunch). Once we finished eating, I would do a little bit of research and update my work journal (I took detailed notes after everyday at work). Then, if my friends were meeting in the center or just hanging out at a café, I would usually go and meet them for an evening snack.

One night, I helped my host mom pluck the legs off of chapulines grasshoppers… don’t worry… they were already dead. We needed to take off the legs so we could re-cook them with some garlic and hot sauce and also because apparently chapulines look more appetizing without their legs… It was a difficult task to pull the legs off without ripping their little bodies apart (except for the bigger ones because they were a little more resilient). As an award for my hard work, my host mom shared some of the tasty chapulines with me… They weren’t too bad. The tasted like chicken but were a little bit crunchier.

Another night, my host dad decided to treat me with some tastier Mexican food. There was a little hole in the wall restaurant that sold tlyudas (huge tortillas that are folded over like quesadillas). We walked about two blocks from our house to a little restaurant on the corner (which was really a house that operated as a restaurant during the night). Inside, we ordered two tlyudas and went into the kitchen to sit and eat our meal. I could tell that my host dad knew the family pretty well and he told me that his mother and the lady who owned the house were good friends. She came to eat with us and listen to her nightly radio soap opera (she was almost completely blind so she listened to radio shows instead of watching tv). The tlyudas were delicious. Mine was filled with cheese, beans, chicken, hot peppers, and guacamole. It was a really good night, being able to spend some time with my host dad (who can sometimes be a little more reserved and quiet).

Istmo de Tehuantepec and Puerto Escondido

2008-12-05T10:25:00.000-08:00

On our way to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and Juhitan, our two vans with tourist plates were stopped at almost every military stop (product of the US war on drugs in Mexico). At one of the stops they had us get out of the vans and searched through some of our bags. And then at another stop, a soldier asked for our passports, but our directora Sarita said “pardon me, but don’t you have to have a special license to ask for our passports, and you don’t have it.” The soldier didn’t react visibly but just nodded and let us pass through. (Sarita explained that the soldiers like to try and abuse their power on people who may not know they laws). But, after 6 hours of travel in hot vans through the mountains, we arrived at our hotel in Juchitan, which is a part of the Isthmus.

Once we were in the hotel, Rosario (the mother of Denisse… who is my host cousin from Oaxaca) called my cell phone because she wanted to take me to Espinal (the town where the family is from). She came and picked me up at the hotel and we took a colectivo (a group taxi) to the town of Espinal. The ride was only about ten minutes, but by the time we arrived it had started to get dark. Rosario and I walked to her house, which was located towards the back of their little town. I met Denisse’s little Chihuahua named Mimi and her parrot named Paco. Like almost every other Mexican mother that I have met, Rosario insisted that I sit down and eat something. I ate some really tasted empanadas and washed it down with a Coca-Cola while I was waiting to meet Denisse’s dad (the brother of my host mom in Oaxaca).

After a few minutes of waiting and about four empanadas, I met Denisse’s dad and we headed out to meet the rest of the family. In the next house over, I met Denisse’s cousins and Hortencia’s (host mom) other brother. We sat in their house and talked for a few minutes then headed to meet Hortencia’s older sister. Almost everyone in the family speaks both Zapotec (indigenous language) and Spanish. In Oaxaca, Hortencia had taught me a few Zapotec phrases, including Jimodnolu (hello). So when I met the family, they were all really excited when I greeted them with the Zapotec expression. They kept talking about how my accent in Zapotec was really good (I guess it’s easier for English speakers to have a natural accent because the sounds of Zapotec are closer to English than Spanish).

At the house of Virgen (Hortencia’s older sister), the family welcomed me really enthusiastically. I was able to see Juan Carlos (Denisse and Rossy’s cousin) again because I had already met him in Oaxaca. We interrupted the family in the middle of preparing food for el dia de los muertes. Juan Carlos (as a teacher by profession) felt obligated to take me around and show me what was happening. Virgen was making a sweet traditional food to put on the altar for her mom and dad.

Dia de los muertes is a day to remember all of the people in your family that have died. Most Mexicans celebrate it by creating an altar with flowers or vines (decorated with sugar skulls and sweet treats that are hung like ornaments). On the altar they usually put a picture of the loved ones and also their favorite food and drink (some people get a shot of their favorite drink too).

But, I was able to see Virgen making some sweet tostadas covered in coconut. There were a few different stations and at each station the family did something else to prepare the sweets. They had a big pile of coconuts that had been chopped with an axe. Next to the pile of coconuts, there was a shredder that they used to shred the coconuts in small pieces. Once the coconuts were shredded, they put them in a large kettle that was sitting on a fire pit. They added sugar and red dye and stirred the coconut with a really large spoon (they also insisted that I stir it so I could be a part of the process). The final step was just putting the coconut on the sugary tostadas. I was lucky enough to get to try one and it was really sweet.

Even though I was really enjoying myself with the family, we had a class that night and I had to go back to the hotel. As I was leaving, Juan Carlos gave me a book about Juchitan and Rosario gave me a doll with a traditional dress. She wanted me to bring it back to share the culture with my friends and family. Adrian (Juan Carlos’ five year old nephew) asked me if I would come back to the fair in November. It sounded like it would be really fun so I told him that I would try.

Later that night, we had a class back in Juchitan about the mushe population in the Isthmus. Of all places in Mexico, the people from the Isthmus are the most accepting of different gender identifications. There is a mushe population (mushe’s are men that behave as women and they usually dress in the traditional flower dresses like the dress on my doll). I’ve heard that the isthmians accept five different gender classifications and have a festival every year where many people come from all different countries to participate. Our speaker was actually a mushe and talked about some of the rights of mushes and showed us a documentary that showed different people who support mushes and others who do not.

The next day we went to an organization that was protesting the development of many windmills in the Isthmus. At first,

I wondered why an organization would protest against wind

technology because I thought that wind power is so much more ‘environmentally friendly’ than other forms of energy. We learned, however, that the wind fields are really affecting the crops and levels of dust in the area. In addition, many of the transnational companies are using the government to force people to sell their land for very little compensation. This land is then used for building windmills and the energy doesn’t even go to the people… it is sent to Mexico City to be used by the big factories surrounding the city. So the people are upset because they are losing their land and not even getting to use the energy that is being produced. After our chat with the organization we went to the windmill fields and talked a bit more… here are some pictures of us enjoying the windy day…

After the talk with that organization, we went to a chat in a town called new-Jalapa. Old Jalapa is now about 60 feet underwater… As an attempt to ‘develop’ the area, the government decided to construct a water dam.

Unfortunately, the location of the dam happened to be where the town was located. Like the windmills, the people are upset that they are being forced off their land and not seeing any of the benefits that come from the electricity (all the benefits seem to be going to the big factories in Mexico City). It was strange to see the dam, because in many ways it was very beautiful, but at the same time, we knew what it has cost the community….

Thankfully, after working and learning for almost two and a half months, we finally had a break. Our whole group went to Puerto Escondido (the beach of Oaxaca) for a few days of rest and relaxation. We went to one organization that was protecting the crocodiles (but that organization was more like a boat tour… it felt like something I would do on a vacation). As a group of students, we went to two different very tranquil beaches. At the beaches, we played in the water, made a sand castle, soaked up some rays, and just relaxed… We definitely needed the break because when we got back to Oaxaca we had to start our month long independent study project.

Pictures from Oventik

2008-11-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

So here are some pictures from our time in Oventik. As you can see there were lots of murals throughout the city. They were on almost all the walls of the buildings. Also you can see how foggy it was in the community. It is the season for fog right now and it was hard to see anything that was 10 feet away when it was foggy. There is also a picture of my friend Jennie wearing my friend Christian's glasses. I included this picture because it was taken in the restaurant that served us the bad food and started the Oventepidemic. Also, the picture of the guys playing basketball is right outside of the restaurant. I figured I would include it so I will always remember that wonderful place. And lastly there is a picture of the Junta de Buen Gobierno in Oventik. They were really awesome people and I really loved what they had to say, but you can see why it was a littleunsettling to be in a room with them at first. We're just not accustomed to masks in Ohio. But after the initial shock, it was clear that their intentions were good and that they were very friendly.

Oventepidemic

2008-11-17T17:16:00.000-08:00

After the emotional experience with the abejas, we stopped at a small town for food before we continued on our way to Oventik. The food was really tasty (and we were also really hungry because it had been a long time since breakfast). I ate huevos con chorizo (eggs con a spicy meat) and quesadillas along with some really good lemonade. I even got the opportunity to practice my new tortillas rolling trick with the basket full of tortillas. When we got back in the van, I felt like I would need to change into my sweatpants because I had eaten so much food. The next hour in the van through the twisty mountain roads was not good on my stomach but I figured it would get better once we got to the community.

It was starting to get a little dark when we arrived at Oventik (the Zapatista carracol). The mountains were covered in a light fog when we entered the gate on foot. Even though we had learned that the Zapatistas were peaceful and intellectually we knew that their purpose was to change the oppressive system through words, it was a little intimidating to walk into their town as a group of foreigners. We all shuffled into a small house, where Julio asked permission to stay in the community overnight then talk to the Junta de Buen Gobierno (Group of Good Government… their governing force) in the morning. The three men were wearing ski-masks, the typical outfit of the Zapatistas. Their masks are not meant to make them look like robbers but to represent that they want no power… they are representing an idea without a specific face.

This is a quote by one of the leaders named Marcos “The mountains told us to cover our faces, so we could have a countenance. It told us to forget our names, so we could be renamed. It told us to guard our past, so we could have a tomorrow.” The Zapatistas say they will take off their masks when the Mexican government takes off its mask to show its true nature… of oppression and corruption. Even though I admire what they are doing, it was still slightly overwhelming to be in a room with three men in masks. They were very professional and permitted us to stay in their meeting room (which was a big barn) overnight… It’s a good thing we brought our sleeping bags… even though I didn’t end up using it too much…

About 15 minutes after our introductions, they started to show us around the community and I didn’t feel too well. I figured that I was still feeling queasy from the ride… but while we were walking through the city, I felt the urge to empty my stomach (usually I’m pretty good at controlling myself but my stomach won). After meeting with the Zapatistas, I threw up on the steps of their clinic… and thus started the Oventepicdemic. After throwing up, I felt better and ate some animal crackers and drank some tea while the group was writing questions for the Junta de Buen Gobierno. I thought everything was going to be fine, until I felt the urge again, and threw up in the middle of their meeting room. At this point in time, I realized that something was wrong with me but I still had no idea what was about to come…

For the next few hours, one by one, other students started to get sick as well… Around 1:00 in the morning, we convinced our director to let us sit up in the van which was close to the bathrooms up the hill. By the 2:00 in the morning, half of our group had gotten sick, while quite a few others were feeling queasy. It was a VERY long night of many group trips to the bathroom and nearby river that ran through the town. We all agreed that it was better that there was a large group of sick people, because although all the sickness sucked, we spent quite a bit of time laughing at how ridiculous the situation was… There we were, 20 Americans, in a Zapatista community throwing up all over their community… I guess Jonathan (our director) is not going to take students to that restaurant again.

The next morning, Jonathan took a few students back to San Cris to go to the doctor, but many of the students (including me) felt well enough to stay for the chat with the Junta de Buen Gobierno. Sarita (our other director) went to the store and got all the sick people a special drink… water, salt, and lime… to give us some nourishment after a night of emptying our bodies. Although I was pretty exhausted and still a little queasy from the previous night, I was very glad to have stayed for the discussion. There was a group of 7 masked Zapatistas (3 women and 4 men) who were filling their position on the Junta de Buen Gobierno.

Each member only serves for a small period of time, then goes back to their community and takes off the mask. The anonymity helps to reinforce the idea that they do not want to accumulate individual power. Every member of the group spoke and helped to answer our questions about their group and why they were fighting. At the end of the discussion, they asked us to carry their words back to our communities because they want the world to be better. They are proposing “that there are many worlds, everyone has their place, their time and their way, and that therefore there must be mutual respect between everyone.” The Zapatistas have been the inspiration for many groups that are resisting the oppressive systems that have been destroying indigenous and marginalized communities. It was incredible to see how little interest they have in power and to hear their ideas about the future for a better world.

The majority of our group, continued on a tour through the carracol, but a few of the sick (including me) decided to sleep in the van after the long night and intense discussion with the Zapatistas. The next few hours passed quickly, as I was sound asleep for the majority. We arrived back in San Cris and I called dad for some medical advice. With my Gatorade and pepto, I headed back to sleep some more at my homestay house. My host mother also had a few ideas about how to make me feel better. The strangest and possibly most helpful was a special tea (Chamomile mixed with a tea called Hierba Buena good herb and burnt tortillas). It seemed like it would be horrible, but the combination really tasted good and helped to settle my stomach.

After a day of rest and recuperation, I went out to a big celebration in the center of town. There are tons of foreigners in San Cris (especially Europeans). The festival was really fun with poetry readings, plays, and live music. The next day, we went to a discussion with a lady named Maria Elena. It was another wonderful discussion about the organizations in Chiapas and the economics practiced here and in the United States (she received her doctorate in the United States). We ended the discussion with a group circle where we reflected about what we learned and then danced and sang a bit. As a periodically awkward person, I didn’t know how to feel about the dancing and singing at first, but I eventually was able to enjoy the experience with the group.

It was an exciting, emotional, and exhausting week in Chiapas, and we prepared ourselves to go to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca (the hometown of my host mother in Oaxaca)… stay tuned for more adventures in Mexico and sorry it’s taken so long to get this posted ☺

San Cristóbal, Chiapas!!!

2008-11-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

So, as a group of 20 (18 students and 2 directors) we left for two weeks of traveling and learning. Our first stop was San Cristóbal, Chiapas (in English Saint Christopher). My friend Jennie and I sat together in the front seat of the bus (which was kinda scary because we could see the road right in front of us for the whole night). At one point in time, the bus had to slow down because of trouble on the road. To warn oncoming traffic, the people had pulled large branches into the road so the drivers would slow down. Even though it seemed like the Mexican version of traffic cones, it still seemed a little dangerous to me. But other than the branches there weren’t any other obstacles that I know of (because I was sleeping for the majority of the 12 hour trip).

We finally arrived in San Cristóbal around 9:00 in the morning. When we got out of the bus, I noticed to major differences from Oaxaca… it was much chiller in San Cris and also there was a clear military presence at the bus station. Every since the uprising of the Zapatistas (EZLN) in 1994, there has been a sort of militarization of the city. We passed through the station quickly and after a quick orientation, Annie and I moved into our week long homestay. Our host mom Blanca has eight children and only one that still lives in the house. Her husband Julio Cesar and Blanca were both very welcoming and kind. Throughout the week, we got to meet 7 of the 8 children and many of the grandchildren. They also had a live in maid named Susana (and it was pretty strange for me to get used to because she was only 14 and the family treated her more like a maid than a daughter. It was especially strange because the family treated Annie and I like family but not the girl who had been living with them for years). We spent the rest of the day resting and exploring San Cris (which is a really touristy city.

The next day we had a meeting at a university called CeDeCi, where we were introduced to our Chiapas guide named Julio. Julio was a wonderful guy to meet, it felt like everything he said was genuine and very profound. He gave us a quick introduction to the situation in Chiapas and a little information about the uprising in 1994. From his information, we learned that a group of people decided that they had had enough of the oppression and inequality in their area so they formed an organization called the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). On January 1^st 1994 (the initial day of NAFTA), this group overtook many cities in Chiapas including San Cristobal. After a few days, the communities expressed that they didn’t want an armed conflict, so the Zapatistas laid down their weapons and have been conducting a peaceful resistance ever since. Although they have been peaceful, the Mexican army has been putting pressure on them and giving incentives to paramilitary groups to attack their caracoles (or Zapatista communities). Part of the purpose of our trip to Chiapas, was to study how this group is resisting peacefully and creating a new more just world for their community (and possibly an example for the rest of us).

After our talk with Julio, we went to a really cool Mayan medicine museum. A young guy gave us a tour of the museum, which had statues of Mayans practicing the ancient medical treatments. One of the most interesting parts of the museum was a room with parteras (midwives). The way that women give birth is much different than in hospitals in the United States… I have a picture of the statues because it’s too difficult to describe in words. After walking through the museum, we watched a film of a Mayan midwife in action. It wasn’t as revealing as the movie we watched in junior high, but it was a little uncomfortable to watch when they buried the placenta… After the movie, we learned about how many pharmaceutical companies are patenting plants. This means that it is illegal for people to grow plants that they have been growing for hundreds of years. It was interesting to see which pharmaceutical companies are participating in this biopiracy because I’m pretty sure I use some of their sample pens when I am at home. (Below is a picture of some of the companies listed on a 100 peso bill)

The next day, we were supposed to take taxis back to CeDeCi but Annie ran into a taxi driver who didn’t really know what he was doing. After arriving at the University (we took a picture to prove that we had really gotten lost at another University... not just made an excuse to sleep in later), Annie and I realized that there was something wrong about the situation. The University didn’t look anything like the one we had gone to the day before. We showed the taxi driver the map again and he assured us that we were at CeDeCi. However, when we called our director Jonathan, we realized that we were on the other side of the city so he sent a taxi to us to come pick us up and bring us to CeDeCi.

Once we arrived at the school, we were able to go on the tour of the school with the rest of the group. It is a school that teaches people trades that help to create a community that is autonomous and self-sustainable. There were people spinning thread, people making shoes, people studying medicine, people studying architecture, and people studying agriculture. We were able to visit a little barn with lots of baby bunnies (they were soooooo cute and we tried not to think that one day they would be food). I took lots of pictures of the murals around the school because they were really beautiful and powerful…

After a lunch at CeDeCi, in the cafeteria with the rest of the students, we went to another chat with a guy named Gustavo. He explained the economy and the stock market in a way that was clearer than ever before (even though it was in Spanish). It was almost funny the way he described how everything was complete speculation (especially in the commodities market) and how everything can crash or skyrocket according to mere speculation. It was the best economics discussion I have ever seen.

That night, we played with the kittens in our house and chilled out at the house and watched some telenovelas (soap operas) with Susana. We were able to talk to her about why she was working at the house, and it seemed like her father didn’t want her in the house anymore. For that reason, she and her sister left their pueblo for San Cristobal. They both are working at different houses in San Cris and can spend time together on Sundays when they have a little break. I didn’t know how to feel about having a maid. I suppose it is part of culture, but I don’t think I could hire a fourteen year-old girl and not treat her like family…

The next day, we all packed for an overnight stay in Oventik (which is a caracol for the Zapatistas). Our first stop of the day was an hour away through the mountains, a little village called Acteal. In 1997, a group of paramilitaries (with weapons from the Mexican army) interrupted a church service and killed 45 people from the town (including children and four pregnant women). The town was made up of a group called the abejas (bees), who are a non-violent Catholic group who (along with the Zapatistas) has been resisting the imposition of capitalism. To this day there has been no investigation of the killers but the community continues to fight against the oppressive forces that threaten to limit their freedoms. We saw the cemetery where the pictures of the 45 lined the walls along with Bible verses from the Sermon on the Mount (the Beatitudes). We also went into the church (a little wooden building with a dirt floor) where they were killed. It was incredible to see people who had remained in the community and to listen to the leader of the abejas who is continuing to fight for what he believes without losing his faith in God and in the goodness of people. We left las abejas, feeling both inspired by the people and sad for everything that the people have gone through.

Some fun with friends!

2008-11-17T13:59:00.000-08:00

Pictures of the Mexican Wedding!!

2008-11-17T07:23:00.000-08:00

This was the wedding that I went to with my host mom. As you can see it's like a huge party in the square with the huge puppets and dancers.

Host Family pics!!!

2008-11-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

Last weekend in Oaxaca

2008-11-04T05:31:00.000-08:00

For my last two days in Oaxaca, I wanted to spend the days with my host family (just in case I didn't decide to come back for my final project). In the morning, I went to a photography museum with my cousin Denise. She really like photography, so it was fun to see her in her element while we went through the museum. While we were walking to the museum, Denise and I ran into Joshua (the only boy out of 17 on our program). He decided to come to the museum with us, and it was a good group for museum observing (Joshua walked fast enough to keep the pace moving through the museum...boys...)

After the museum, Denise and I headed to the street to get a few pirated dvds to watch for my going away night. We headed back to the house and watched her favorite soccer team Cruz Azul get outplayed by the Pumas (the team from the University). After the game we had lunch with the family and I noticed that my host mother was acting a little strangely, a little distant with her husband. She made a really fancy lunch and it seemed like my host sister Rossy and Denise were trying to give him hints. Once we finished the meal, everyone was sitting around and talking and then my host dad jumped up and started apologizing. It was their wedding anniversary and he had forgotten about it... (I guess dads are the same everywhere ;-)) But he gave her a big hug and insisted that he remembered a few days ago, but he had just forgotten today. My host mom didn't seem to be too mad, it was more funny and she was glad that he finally remembered.

That evening was a night of movies... I watched a Oaxacan movie with Denise called Casi Divas. It was a really good movie and I was surprised how much I understood. After that movie finished, my host mom popped up some palomitas (popcorn) with chile sauce, and we wacthed Mama Mia with Spanish subtitles. The movie was fun to watch for me because, I kept checking to see if the subtitles were actually saying the same thing (and alot of the time it was a little different). Once the movie finished, my host mom brought out one of her old photo albums and we looked at pictures of the family. It was really fun to see how much they have changed over the years.

The next morning, my host mom took me to the Sam's club to find another sleeping bag for Chiapas (the one that I had was a little too thin for the freezing mountains of San Cristobal... no te preocupes Christie). It was really fun to go through the grocery market with her and search for sleeping bags. I was reminded of shopping with my dad because every other aisle she saw someone she knew and we stopped and talked to them for a few minutes. We eventually found a pretty good sleeping bag (esleeping) and also stopped by the cake aisle to get a going away cake for me. It took a while to pick the perfect cake, but we eventually settled on the 5 chocolate cake with tres leches and cookies lining the outside (it was amazing).

My family threw me a going away party at the house down the street. We had some great mole verde (a green sauce that is kinda spicy but also sweet at the same time) and almost all of the extended family that I had met was there. My host uncle (whose name I don't know because I always refer to him as the one with cabello gris or gray hair) offered me a little bit of Mezcal (which is the Oaxacan version of Tequila). The Mezcal was super strong and I was the only person who had a glass besides my uncle and his two brothers. I felt like everyone was staring me down when I took a drink, and I tried not to make too much of a face but I don't think I was very successful because everyone laughed. My host mom told me that my face was getting a little red (and it may have been a mixture of Mexcal and a little bit of embarassment)

After the dinner ended, they brought out the cake and I did a mordida (which is a tradition during Mexican birthdays where the receiver of the cake takes a bite, face first, of their cake). Luckily, nobody pushed my face into the cake (traditionally someone usually runs up behind you and shoves your face in the cake). Once everyone had eaten cake, we all just chilled and I played with Raulito (my three year old host cousin) for a while. Denise (the photographer that she is) took some photos of our dinner. She also gave me a bracelet for Cruz Azul (I'm going to have to buy another one supporting America so I can remain neutral in the battle with Cruz Azul and America).

Once dinner finished, we went back to the house and I packed my bags for Chiapas. I was looking forward to the trip but also sad about leaving. My host family has offered to host my for another month, during my final project, so I think I will take them up on the offer. They dropped me off at the bus station at 9:00 p.m. for our 12 hour ride to San Cristobal, Chiapas. I can't believe how fast the first half of the program flew by, but I'm really looking forward to the next half...

A family photo of my host family at the going away dinner. From left to right... my host dad Jaime, my host mom Hortencia, my host sister Rossy, me, my host cousin Denise, and on her lap Raulito (holding still for like five seconds before he had to break free... he has sooooo much energy!!)

Museum at Templo Mayor

2008-11-03T18:51:00.002-08:00

Dos de octubre, no se olvide (protest pictures)

2008-11-03T17:54:00.000-08:00

Pictures from Mexico City

2008-11-03T17:50:00.000-08:00

Two more weeks in Oaxaca and pig cheese

2008-10-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

So, after Mexico City, we came back for two more weeks with our host families and lots of homework. The first week, we had our final in our Spanish conversation class and in the grammar class (both were kinda tough but not too bad). Also we had some essays and journals due in our field seminar classes. The following week was NGO week (where we visited three different NGOs and were required to interview one of the organizations of our choice. With all that to do, the two weeks seemed to fly by faster than I expected.

Even though the two weeks were full of homework and studying, I was able to spend some time with my friends and host family on the weekends. The first Saturday, I woke up early to spend the morning with my host mother (my host father had left for Mexico DF to visit with my host sister Pamela). Around 9.00 in the morning we headed out to the market to do some shopping for the week. It was really neat to watch my host mother interact with the vendors. The lady who sold us the vegetables had some advice for how to prepare certain foods that my host mother was interested in. They seemed to have built up a pretty good relationship because the lady had some fresh vegetables saved for my mother when she got there.

After the fruit and flower stands, we walked to the pork shop. Every part of the pig that you could imagine was there. There was bacon, pork, ham, salomi, pig head, and pig feet. Because I had told my host family about my bad experience with chicken feet, they wanted to show me that all animal feet wasn´t disgusting... so my host mom decided to buy some patitas del puerco (pig feet). They were sitting on a shelf inside the glass window and they looked like they were cut off around where the knee would be. To make them more bag handy, the lady took the three feet that we ordered and sliced them through a saw that you could find in an industrial tech classroom. All the while, I just kept trying not to think that I was going to have to eat them...

Once I secured the dismembered pig feet in our grocery bag, we saw a little boy order a piece of queso del puerco (pig cheese). I should have learned my lesson before, but like an idiot I asked her what it was. Thinking that I like to try everything, she asked me if I would like to eat some. It was a huge jello looking mass of brown with big white chunks of pig fat. The man cut a few slices about the width of turkey at thanksgiving and asked if I wanted any salsa. Despite my host mom saying that the salsa was pretty spicy, I asked for alot because I wanted to hide the taste of the pig fat. Unfortunately, I don´t think there is enough salsa in the whole world to cover the taste and texture of the pig fat. It was absolutely disgusting and I had to fight every urge I had to gag, just to be able to swallow the jello like pig fat.

Luckily, my host mom helped me finish the pig cheese and she bought some sweet bread to eat while we walked around downtown. We walked towards the main center of town and the cathedral Santo Domingo. I still hadn´t seen the inside and my host mother wanted to give me a tour. Unfortunatley, there was a wedding going on inside the church and they had a sign posted on the door that they didn´t want any uninivted guests to enter. The sign, however, did not seem to bother my host mom and we went into the church and sat in the back row. In a skirt and nice shirt, my host mother looked like she could have been invited, however, I was wearing jeans and a tank top and carrying the pig feet in my bag.

I was content to be sitting in the back of the church, watching the ceremony and listening to the music played by the orchestra. After about ten minutes of watching, my host mother asked if I liked the music. I told her that I loved listening to music (especially with violins and organs). I probably should have told her that I hated music because once I told her that I liked the music, she decided that I needed to see the choir. So, with the pig feet in my shoulder bag and the service still in progress, we marched up the side isle towards the front of the church to see the choir in the balcony. About four rows from the front, we stopped and turned around to look at the balcony as I tried to hide the bag of pig feet behing my host mother.

Eventually (after about a minute that felt like hours) we sat down in a side row and waited for the service to end. After the wedding party exited we followed the rest of the crowd out to the plaza where a live band was playing celebration music. There were two huge puppets (one of the bride and the other of the groom) that two people were propping up above their shoulders. The puppets were probably 15 ft tall and flopping around to the music. Also, there were 4 girls dressed in cultural outfits with flower baskets on their heads. It was a really fun and happy reunion after the wedding and we were able to watch the wedding party march down the street like a parade (I hope nobody recognized me as the girl with the pig feet who walked to the front of the church).

Later that afternoon, I met with my friend Jennie to make an apple pie for our friend Sarah´s 21st birthday. There were no pie crusts so we had to make it our of graham cracker crust. It ended up being a success and Sarah was very happy to have her apple pie (Jennie had emailed her mom for the recipe). After eating the pie, we went out to a bar as a group and enjoyed some live music under a starry sky. After a bit of time at the bar, we headed out for some salsa dancing. Even though most of us don´t really know what we were doing, we were lucky to find some guys who knew how to make us look like we had a realtive idea. We spent the rest of the night dancing and having fun with friends.

Last Day in DF

2008-10-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

For our last day in DF we had a semi free day to do whatever we wanted to do. There was an optional tour of the National Palace with Alvaro (the guy who took us on the tour the first day). I decided to wake up at 8:30 to go to the Palace and see the murals of Diego Rivera. It was totally worth it becuase the murales were amazing (the size of the entire wall) and also the stories that Alvaro told us were pretty awesome as well. The murals started as a project to show Mexico´s history to people who couldn´t read very well (almost like a huge comic book). Unfortunately Diego Rivera (the guy in charge of the project) didn´t get along with all of the presidents so there were many years that he couldn´t work on the murales. In the end, after 40 or so years of working on the murals Diego died and the project ended. But he got up to the Spanish conquest so his murals told the history of the indigenous people. Also there was a massive collage of all the parts of history together that showed up until the mid 1900s.

After the National Palace, a few people decided to continue with Alvaro to the museum of Bellas Artes, but I decided to go to mass in the Santo Domingo Cathedral. It was a tough choice to make but I was glad that I decided to go to the cathedral. We got to see the really political cardinal enter and give a sermon about opression (which is interesting because the politicians that he supports are the ones who have created more opression for many Mexican people) When he entered the cleared everyone out of the aisle and lots of people were taking pictures... It felt like a star was entering because many of the photographers seemed like professional photographers.

After mass, a small group of us went to a museum of photos from the student movement in 68 and also from the opressive government in CHile during the 80s. There was a great documentary about the photographers who documented the government violence against the people during the reign of Pinochet. The movie was very revealing about how the neoliberalism projects that the US imposed on many latin american countries has caused alot of suffering for the people of the countries. It seems to benefit the very weathly but hurt the majority of the citizens. One of the girls in our group goes to the University of Chicago were many of the neoliberal ideas began with Milton Freidman... it was interesting to see her reaction to the film.

Once the film ended we went to a really cool place for lunch with great vegetarian food. We ate on the second floor on a balcony. The view was great and there was a pianist playing jazz in the restaurant... it was a very relaxing lunch after such a busy week. For the night we went to a bar and danced to some reggae music with lots of people from Jamica and the US. When we got back a 2:00 in the morning we were definitely ready to sleep after such a long fun week.

part 3 of Mexico City

2008-10-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

After we left our families, we took a few taxis to the center of the city (called the zocalo) If you remember from Oaxaca, they also called the town square the zocalo and we finally learned why it’s called this. The town square in Mexico City had the base of a statue that was going to be constructed in honor of Hernado Cortez (the conquistador of Mexico). But it was never constructed except for the base, and the people referred to it as zocalo which is a word for base. And the name just stuck as the name for town square, so all over Mexico you can find zocalos even though there are no bases…

But, back to what happened in DF, we arrived at the hotels and dropped off our stuff in the rooms. I shared a room with Christian (a girl from LA), Jennie (goes to college with Christian in LA but is from Seattle, Washington) and Sarah (goes to college in Chicago but went to the same high school as Jennie)… a bit complicated but also interesting… After we dropped off our stuff we got a quick tour of the zocalo and surrounding area (so we wouldn’t get lost when we explored on our own). Then we split off into groups for the remainder of our day.
My group went to the museum for the ruins of the Templo Mayor the large temple of the Aztecs that was destroyed by the conquistadors. It was really cool to see what archeologists had discovered in the mid 1900s. When the Spanish first arrived at Tenochtitlan (the original Aztec name of what we now know to be Mexico City), they were amazed by how advanced and beautiful the city was.

"There are, in all districts of this great city, many temples or houses for their idols. They are all very beautiful buildings .... Amongst these temples there is one , the principal one , whose great size and magnificence no human tongue could describe, for it is so large that within the precincts, which are surrounded by very high wall, a town of some five hundred inhabitants could easily be built. All round inside this wall there are very elegant quarters with very large rooms and corridors where their priests live. There are as many as forty towers, all of which are so high that in the case of the largest there are fifty steps leading up to the main part of it and the most important of these towers is higher than that of the cathedral of Seville" ... Hernán Cortés

The Aztecs welcomed the Spanish into their city (partly because they thought Cortez was Quetzalcoatl a god that was supposed to be returning). Over the next few months, the Spanish conspired with all the surrounding nations that were tired of the Aztec Empire. With the help of the diseases the Spanish brought to Mexico and the large force they had organized, they attacked Tenochtitlan and brought down the Aztec Empire. After they had control of the city, they began destroying the buildings and constructing colonial style buildings. The religious temple was destroyed and with the rocks of the old building, the Spanish constructed a cathedral that is still in the center today. They began to use the site of the Templo Mayor as a big landfill, and over the years it was buried under the streets of Mexico City.

In the mid 1900s, a project began to dig up the Templo Mayor and preserve it as a part of important culture for Mexico. So, today in the middle of the center square of Mexico City, there is a huge hole where the bases of the temples have been uncovered. We walked around the ruins and then checked out the museum at the end of the pathway. The museum was pretty cool, especially the full scale model of the Aztec City right before the Conquistadors came. It’s incredible to imagine what the city would have looked like if the conquistadors hadn’t destroyed everything.

Another thing we noticed about the temple bases was that they were relatively level to the ground. Many of the buildings the Spanish built were much heavier than the Aztec buildings (made out of volcanic rock). Because Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) used to be a city build on top of a huge lake, the ground is not very sturdy. For this reason, many of the older Spanish buildings are starting to sink and tilt. I took a picture of a cathedral that is clearly tilting and sinking into the ground.

Because it was the 2nd of October (the 40th anniversary of the massacre at Tres Culturas) there was a huge demonstration/protest in the middle of the zocalo. Our director Jonathan told us that we couldn’t be anywhere that made us look like we were participating in the protest, but we could watch from far away if we wanted. A group of five of us decided to watch the protest from a restaurant on the top of a hotel (about 5 or 6 stories). Of course, the restaurant wanted us to spend at least 100 pesos (10 dollars) on food and drinks. At first we thought that would be hard…but we definitely each spent about 200 pesos after 3 hours of watching the protest.

The view on the balcony (where we were sitting) was amazing. We could see the different student groups marching into the square and we could still see and hear the main meeting. The protest was very well organized. There was a parade of many different student groups marching. Each group had their own signs and some groups had special cheers or coordinated clothing. There were some groups that had drummers and others clapped and chanted while they were entering the plaza. We saw a few buses with big speakers on top, either playing music or just projecting the voices of the protesters. I took tons of pictures so you can see the scope of the protest and how many people were there (tens of thousands). Also, you will be able to see how many armed police officers were there in full anti-riot suits.

As the night went on, it was interesting to watch the development of the protest. About 5/6 of the people were all in the center square listening to the speakers and band. They were peacefully protesting against the oppressive government that had murdered over 200 students in 1968. However, there was also a group of people off in one corner throwing pop bottles and pushing the police. After a few skirmishes between the police and the small group, the leader/speaker of the protest started urging the violent protesters to stop and go home. He was concerned that a few angry people would ruin the purpose of their nonviolent protest. Although the aggressive protesters didn’t immediately turn and go home, the skirmishes died down and everyone (including us) headed home by 10:30.

The next day we went on a tour of the Templo Mayor and Santo Domingo (the cathedral that was built over the previous Aztec religious center). Our guide told us two interesting stories about the bells in the cathedral (they have been involved in many political incidents)

A while back, the bells needed a ringer to climb up in the rafters and ring all of the bells. One day, on of the ringers was doing his job when one of the swinging bells hit him and he fell to his death. The head priest at the time condemned the bell and fixed its clapper so it would be forever mute. But don’t worry too much about the bell because years later another priest pardoned the bell and now it can continue ringing with all the other bells.
The recently elected Mexican cardinal is a very politically conservative leader in the Catholic Church. One day there was a very liberal protest going on in the main square and the cardinal did not support its message. To make his lack of support more apparent, the cardinal rang all of the bells (and they are very loud). The bells were so loud that the meeting couldn’t continue and the protestors stormed the church in anger…

After our tour, we headed to our next destination (an organization that supports the health of female prostitutes in Mexico City). To get there, we took the subway. The subway system was completely different than I would have expected. It was very clean and efficient (not nearly as difficult to understand as the one in Paris and 10 times cleaner than the one in Italy). Because we went in the middle of the day, it wasn’t too crowded (according to Mojdeh) but we still had to squeeze into some tight spaces… I can’t image what it would be like when it’s busy.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at two different discussions (the one at the NGO for female health and the other at a hotel with an author of one of our books…John Ross). That evening a few people went out, but I went to get ice cream with a group of girls who just wanted to chill a bit… The ice cream was great and I definitely needed a night of relaxing after such a busy week.

Good thing I had my relaxing night because Saturday was a day of lots of traveling and activity. We took a bus from the hotel to Tlataloco (or the plaza of Tres Culturas… the place of the student massacre of 1968). It was a strange experience to be there after we had just learned about the massacre and seen the protest two days before. There were still bullet holes in the ground from forty years ago. The plaza is called tres culturas (three cultures) because there are ruins from an ancient indigenous society, a catholic cathedral, and modern buildings from the university all in one plaza. We walked around exploring for a bit then headed out for our next destination.

Our next destination was the basilica of Guadalupe (a mestizo version of the Virgin Mary). The area with the basilica actually has three cathedrals from different periods of Mexican history. The original cathedral was very small and at the top of a hill. The walk up the hill was beautiful (very green with lots of flowers). It’s interesting because there are many places in Mexico where people don’t have enough water, but the church has enough to water their flowers a few times a day. At the top of the hill we could see the city and the heavy smog that coats the horizon. After our mini tour of the area surrounding the basilica, a friend Morgann and I went to buy some flowers for some friends who had recently passed away. I bought some flowers for Judy Weaver and it was the first time that I had an opportunity to say goodbye in a church setting. A friend of Morgann’s had also passed away and she and I spent our remaining time in the church saying goodbye.

After the church, we headed out to Teotihuacán (a place where the ancient pyramids and temples still had not been destroyed). We stopped and ate lunch before we headed into the area with the pyramids. I tried quesadillas filled with cheese and the fungus that grows on corn (suggested by our director). It was actually really good, kind of like mushrooms but with a stronger flavor. We never have this plant in the United States because our chemicals kill the fungus that grows on the corn. Once we were full, we headed out to the pyramids and explored the ancient city. The pyramids were pretty tall and the steps were steep but it was definitely very fun to climb them and see the view from the top.

When we got back to the hotel, we wanted to sleep and relax but a group of us decided to go to a mariachi restaurant. It was in a plaza with tons of mariachi bands waiting to play for tourists. We chose a restaurant with 3 or 4 bands circulating through the room and playing songs at tables for 80 pesos each. It was Morgann’s birthday so we bought a few songs to celebrate her birthday. Two of my friends (Jennie and Christian) play in a mariachi band at college so the band let Jennie play the guitarron (the big cello/base looking guitar).

Once the songs finished, a small group of us left the mariachi restaurant to go salsa dancing. The restaurant was called Mama Rumba and it had a live band and tons of people dancing salsa. The space was really open and people were dancing everywhere (even between the tables). I danced with a guy named Edson from UNAM (the big Mexican University). He wasn’t the best dancer… but neither am I and he was really patient and good at teaching me. After a few hours of dancing we went back to the hotel completely exhausted.

Well, I will keep trying to update the blog… I’m off to Chiapas in two hours so I have to finish packing… hope everything is going well :-)

Pictures from Santo Domingo part 2

2008-10-18T06:43:00.001-07:00

Santo Domingo (Mexico City) continued...

2008-10-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

We spent two more days in Santo Domingo with our host families and left for the center on the fourth day of our trip to Mexico City. The second and third day in Santo Domingo flew by so quickly. Our group was always visiting Non governmental organizations, attending cultural shops, or just spending time with our families. I will include some of the highlights of our time in Santo Domingo…

One of the mornings we traveled around the city in small groups. My group went to UNAM, the biggest university in Mexico. It was absolutely huge (and it kind of reminded me of OSU). We went there with one of the mothers from the community and walked around the big greens in the middle of the campus. When we stopped for a break, we met a group of students preparing for a show (they were dancing and practicing on stilts).

On the way back to the community, the mom started talking about which parts of chicken are our favorites to eat. To my surprise she said her favorite part was the patas de pollo (chicken feet). I told her that I thought it sounded interesting and I would have to try it some day… But, I guess it was my lucky day because a lady was selling patas de pollo on the very same street on which we were walking. So, I tried the chicken feet covered in hot sauce and I’ve decided that I was glad to have tried them and I never want to eat them again. There is barely any meat and you have to chew on the foot almost like it is gum… but for some reason I think I like gum a little better…

Later that afternoon we went to a park that had preserved the original landscape of the community. It was incredible to see how uneven the volcanic rock was. There were beautiful flowers growing out of the sharp rocks. People had carved their names in the cacti sprouting from the rocks. Also there were a few animals carved out of the rocks (on snake that was about 30 feet long). It was amazing to imagine how difficult it would have been to build a city ontop of the volcanic rock (especially without many resources). While we were taking pictures, a police officer approached Mojdeh and said we weren’t allowed to be taking pictures without permission. Good thing Mojdeh is very used to these run-ins with the police. She was able to manage the problem and we didn’t have to pay a fine…

We began the next morning with a film about the events of the 2nd of October 1968. It was a situation kind of similar to Kent State (but much more intense). Lots of students were fed up with the oppressive government and were protesting against the government in a square called Tres Culturas. After the mitin (meeting) ended, the government had snipers and helicopters positioned around the square. These forces opened fire on the students who were protesting in the square. For that night and the following days many people (including the people in the surrounding buildings who housed injured students) were “disappeared” or killed by the governmental forces. The militant forces even went to hospitals and abducted people with bullet wounds. The media sources reported 20 deaths, but the number was much closer to 200 and there are still unaccounted people.

After the movie, we went to the Coyoacan Market to spend a little time browsing through the shops and museums nearby. We went to Frida Khalo’s house (famous Mexican artist with a very interesting style). Her house has been transformed into a museum with some pictures and photos of her. All the furniture is set up to show how she lived (she was a very strange woman so seeing her house gave us some perspective to her life). Later in the afternoon, Joshua, Lauren, and I played with our host sister Elsa and talked to our host mother. We then went to a silk screening shop to make a design and silk screen it onto a shirt of bag or whatever we wanted. It was very interesting to see Flavio’s (the guy who taught us) process of silkscreening shirts with very little resources. Later that night, we went to salsa classes and learned a little bit about how to dance. It was pretty difficult to learn because the guys all taught different ways to dance so there was no one way to learn (I probably needed to relax and just dance instead of worrying about the steps)

That night, Joshua helped our host mom make some talmales for the breakfast the following day. All the host mothers and families met the next day to eat tamales and enjoy one last meal with all the students. Earlier in the morning, Lauren and I observed a government run lecheria where the government gives a certain amount of milk to children. Each boy (until 13 years) and girl (until 15 years) gets a certain amount of milk from the government. It was really interesting to see the system of receiving milk. There were lots of rules and the moms had to arrive at a certain time every week or they would lose their privileges to the free milk. (Unfortunately we had to get up super early 6:00 to see the lecheria… but it was very interesting).

After the breakfast with the moms we said our goodbyes and thank yous and headed off to the center of Mexico City for the rest of our adventures… (to be continued)

First day in Santo Domingo with host family (also pictures of the landscape during bus ride)

2008-10-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

Beginning of Mexico City!!!

2008-10-10T18:17:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone!! I’m sorry it’s been such a long time. These pasts few weeks have been absolutely crazy here in Mexico. Last week, we spent seven days in Mexico City, the biggest city in this hemisphere with 23 million people living in the city. The center of the city is about 6 hours from Oaxaca City (if you travel by bus). So at 8:00 on Monday September 29, our families dropped us off at the bus station in the center of town. My host mother gave me a ham sandwich (with hot salsa), a bottle of orange juice, and an apple for the road. The bus was comparable to a Greyhound except the bathroom was cooler (it had a self-cleaning toilet). We watched four movies on the way to Mexico City (3 American movies with Spanish dubbed over top and 1 French movie).

Finally, after six hours we arrived at the bus station in Mexico City. Our guide and coordinator,

Mojdeh was waiting at the station to greet us and transport us to Santo Domingo (our first destination). Santo Domingo is the largest squatter community in the Americas. In 1971, over the course of one day, over 5000 people arrived at this spot of land. In Mexico, the people refer to the squatters as parachuters, because they float in to an area overnight just like stealthy paratroopers. The story of this community is really incredible…

In 1971, all these impoverished families moved onto this desolated land. The land was desolated because there was barley any soil, only volcanic rock. Over the course of the next few years, the community worked together to carve streets out of the volcanic rock, carry buckets of potable water to the people and build houses. The majority of the organization of the community was done by the women of the community. They even built a community center called the Escuelita (little school) where people can learn about a variety of things including salsa, cooking, and sustainability.

It may seem strange that an entire community can move onto a piece of land without paying for it. However, in Mexico, there are many communities of impoverished people who have done this. This culture may be related back to the conquest of Mexico back in the 1500s. Before then, the concept of private property didn’t really exist and the majority of the people lived on communal lands that were owned by everyone. After the Spanish arrived, they organized an army made up of the indigenous people who had been oppressed by the Aztecs (the most powerful indigenous group at the time). With the help of the other indigenous groups, the Spanish defeated the Aztecs. After their victory, the Spanish also conquered the other indigenous groups that had previously been their allies (they were conquered through means of violence and sickness). After 100 years of Spanish occupation over 90% of the native people had been killed.

So, the Spanish sent viceroys to Mexico to control large groups of the remaining native people. From this moment, the native people of Mexico lost their access to the land. Therefore, the culture of squatters may have ties back to the conquest, because in many ways, the land that is now privatized was once everyone’s land. It is part of the Mexican culture, for the political parties in power to allow the squatters to live on the land as long as the communities give their support and vote to that political party. And, the circumstances are very similar in Santo Domingo. The people have an unwritten permission to live on the land and the political parties expect their support during elections.

With all this knowledge about the community, I already had a picture in my mind what the community would probably look like. When the taxis arrived, I was surprised to see that the community looked like many of the other Mexican communities I had seen. Most of the houses were made out of gray cement but many were painted bright colors. The road was well paved and there were many shops with arcade games, clothes, or food. Although in the 1970s they began as rickety makeshift houses made of anything the community could find, they were now cement sturdy houses.

Instead of only having one student per host family, three or four students lived in each house. When we arrived at the community, we went straight to our house for a late comida at 4:30 (I was starving even after my sandwich on the bus). Lauren, Joshua, and I were living with Magda, Jesus, their three daughters (Elsa, Evon, Maria) and their puppy Camila (I was very happy to have a puppy again). The first meal was great (a sort of vegetable soup with a half of an ear of corn in it and some tortillas). We didn’t have much time to get introduced because we had activities with the group later that day.

Everyone lived about one block from the Escuelita, and we met up at the Escuelita after our lunch. The school was alive would tons of people from the community going to classes and just hanging around. One of the founders of the school came to meet up with us and explained about the process in which the school was created. It was hard to pay attention because all of the activity around us was more interesting than the speaker. Upstairs there was a dance class for little girls and they were peaking out over the rails and waving at our group. And on the behind the staircase, a huge mural representing the Spanish conquest filled the entire wall.

That night we returned to our houses exhausted from the traveling and ready for some warm food. (In Mexico City, the weather is quite extreme during the days. In the morning it is chilly and I needed my sweatshirt and jacket. In the afternoon, I was comfortable in a tee-shirt and jeans. During the nights, I needed my sweatshirt, jacket and gloves.) We spent about 2 hours talking to Magda and Jesus, who came home late from his bicycle repair shop. We also played with Camila (their puppy) who was incredibly cuddly and cute.

Around 11:30, Lauren and I went up the staircase that wrapped along the outside wall of the house, to our makeshift bedroom. It was like a typical bedroom with bunk beds and a dresser, but instead of interior walls, there were sheets that hang from the ceiling to create a room. The layout of the house was interesting… the downstairs section was one big room with a kitchen, living room, and dining room all in one. There was a small bathroom attached to the main room. Outside there was a big patio with storage, one car, and clothes lines. The metal stair case wrapped around the patio and up to the top story where there were two rooms with cement walls and our makeshift room. In some ways it reminded me of a big cement tree house.

Well, it’s Friday night, and we are going out to some salsa clubs in Oaxaca… I will work on finishing my Mexico City blog so I can get you caught up! Hasta luego…

My chocolate rice krispie treats

2008-10-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

Watching the presidential debate and bar afterwards

2008-10-06T16:38:00.001-07:00

Tule (the big tree in Oaxaca)

2008-10-06T16:30:00.001-07:00

Teacher's protest in Zocalo in Oaxaca

2008-10-06T16:27:00.001-07:00

Mojdeh's site

2008-10-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone... I'm back from Mexico City. I feel like the week just flew by and I need to write up my experiences to share with all of you. I kept a daily journal (old school style in a notebook) so I will be able to post about my travels throughout Santo Domingo (the largest squatter village in the world), Teotihucan, and the center of Mexico City. But that will be coming in the next few days with pictures too... For now, I wanted to post the link to the tour guide that took us around Mexico DF. Her name is Mojdeh and she was such a wonderful guide because she was able to show us Mexico City from a perspective that is much different than tourists usually see. If you want to check it out here is her website... http://www.travelmexicocity.com.mx/index.php

So, stay tuned for updates from Mexico DF!!!

Busy week in Oaxaca

2008-09-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

After my exhausting weekend, I was looking forward to a more relaxed week with only school to worry about… but of course, everything was busy and exciting here in Oaxaca. When I arrived back at my Oaxacan house on Sunday, my host mother was making some food for lunch (which was perfect timing because I was really hungry). We had a pasta type soup that reminded me of Spaghetti-Os with some parmesan cheese on top. After the soup we had a few tostadas, some with really tasty guacamole (I have the recipe so I can share at home) and some fishy white meat. When the meal was over, I asked what type of fish it was and my host mom said that it was baby tiburón, which I discovered was baby shark. She had even saved the backbones to make a necklace later… it’s really creative how she uses things that I would usually throw away (like using limes in her soap to give them the lemony fresh scent).

Later that evening, I went to the movies with my “cousin” Denise. We saw a Spanish movie called REC (short for record). The movie was a horror movie that reminded me of Blair Witch Project because of the shaky camera work. I learned how to say that the movie nos dio ganas de vomitar (the movie gave us desire to throw up!). Even though the movie was much too scary for my liking, it was interesting to be in the theater with my cousin. Instead of piling butter on their popcorn, some people had chili powder on the popcorn. Also, they were serving crepes at the vending stands (my cousin shared a crepe with cream cheese and strawberries with me).

The very next evening, I made my way back to the movie theater to see Arrancame la Vida (a very popular Mexican film) with my friends from SIT. A love story about a young woman living in 1930s Mexico, it was definitely a different type of a movie. I understood about 60% of the movie and I want to watch it again at the end of the program to see how much I have improved.

On Tuesday, the day was pretty normal with my Spanish classes in the morning and a seminar about the Oaxacan water supply and environmental concerns in the afternoon. That evening I accompanied my family to a church a few streets down the road from our house. My host father’s mother had died 40 days before Tuesday, so the family was having the traditional 40 days after the death ceremony. I arrived a little late with my cousin so I stood outside the completely full church and tried to listen and understand the ceremony. The service consisted of lots of Hail Mary’s to help the grandmother get to heaven. It’s definitely interesting to observe a ceremony like this and try and understand the culture. There were very few tears at the ceremony and even less at the after party across the street where we ate taquitos and spent time with the family. During the party, I played with the two 3 year old cousins Raulito (aka diabilto) and Esau. I finally had a break through with the boys and they were more than willing to play with me.

The next significant evening was Thursday… I spent a little time after class at a coffee shop with my friends and enjoyed a hot chocolate and sandwich with fresh avocado. When I got back to the house, my cousin Denise asked me if I wanted to go out on the street with her (she more or less told me I was going out on the street with her and I agreed because I definitely wanted to experience Mexican culture everywhere I can). But we headed to the southern side of town and watched one of Denise’s friends play soccer in a rapid soccer (which is a lot like indoor soccer). The game was in a pretty sketchy area of town and the wooden stands were falling apart so we had to walk pretty carefully to get to our seats. Right across from the soccer arena was the circus that has temporarily come to Oaxaca. I’m not a big fan of the circus here because during the day they drive the animals around cages attached to pick-up trucks. It’s really sad to see to lions sitting in a cage in the middle of a city… After the soccer game we hung out at a club and just talked. It was tough to understand everything and Denise definitely talks very fast with her friends, but it was still fun to hang out with them.

Friday, after our morning classes, Sara Farr, Josh, and I went to the center of town (the zocalo) to check out the protests. But on the way we stopped by a purse and rug stand in one of the markets. I had stopped by the purse stand every day this week since Monday, because I wanted a small purse with a certain fish design on the outside. The first day, didn’t have any money with me so he told me to come back the next day. So the second day, he had the design but the purse didn’t have a way to close so he told me he would fix it the next day. Then the third day, he had accidently sold the fish purse that I wanted but he promised he would have 3 more on Friday. So, I went back on Friday and he had the three purses like he had promised and I bought one for 50 pesos (5 dollars). The purses are handmade by his aunts and they make the dye from vegetables and other plants. He asked if we were students and offered to take us on a type of field trip to see how the purses are made and how they dye the strings. Maybe we’ll have to ask our director.

So, after I got the purse and talked to Victor (the vendor), Sarah, Josh, and I made our way to the zocalo. Right now, the whole teachers union from Section 22 came to Oaxaca to vote for a new union leader. The protest and marches through the city are partially just a celebration of solidarity but also slightly reminiscent of the teacher protests in 2006.

(In 2006, the teachers went on protest for higher wages… in Oaxaca the teachers are paid the lowest in Mexico… and for better condition for the students… some students come to school without shoes or breakfast… But, instead of allowing the peaceful protest in the zocalo to continue, the generally disliked governor Ulisis Ruiz Ortiz (URO) sent the police into the zocalo in the middle of the night and forcibly removed the teachers. Although many groups didn’t necessarily agree with the teachers protests, the forcible methods of the governor caused a social uprising among many Oaxacans. On the same day that the police pushed the teachers out of the center, a huge group of citizens formed and retook the zocalo. After that point, the group called APPO formed and began a nonviolent protest of the government that is still continuing today.)

Being in the zocalo was captivating because it was so alive with people. Some teachers were socializing under tarps and sewing, others were participating in the speeches that were in the middle of the zocalo. There were tons of signs saying Fuera URO (out with URO) and also a pop up market that had formed around the perimeter. It was overwhelming and very interesting at the same time. Later that evening, we all crowded in the classroom to watch the debate between John McCain and Barak Obama. We used my computer and streamed the debate through the internet but it was hard to watch because my computer can’t go as loud as a television… and also some of the girls brought drinks for the debate and everything always gets a little louder and crazier with drinks…After the debate, we went to a club that seemed to be filled with international students. We watched a band playing there and just hung out until it was time to go back to our houses.

Saturday, I woke up a little later and went over to the school to get caught up on some homework and use the internet (and to update my blog for you). At around 3:00 in the afternoon, I met up with my friends Annie, Emily, and Kristen to go to Tule, the oldest living tree on the planet (it’s over 2000 years old). We took a taxi from the center (for 8 dollars) and rode for about 20 minutes to the town of Tule. It’s a really cute little town with an economy centered around the tree (sounds kinda like Sandusky and Cedar Point). When we got there, we saw a huge parade of people with flowers that was lead by a mariachi-type band. Upon further investigation, we realized that it was a funeral procession coming out of the church. The people were really celebrating the life of whoever had died and it was really interesting to see there way of celebrating.

The tree itself was definitely a sight to see. With multiple trunks and huge twisting branches, it was difficult to see where the tree had started and which branches belong to which trunks. All around the tree were signs warning not to touch the tree (in Spanish, English, and German). In addition to the tree, there were many bushes that were shaped to look like animals or people. Across from Tule, there were market with different kinds of food and we stopped by to get some empanadas to hold us over until we got back to town. We caught a colectivo taxi on the way back (80 cents a person!). It was much cheaper but more squished, because I had to share the passenger seat with another guy. I spoke with the driver a bit, who is learning English because he wants to read the Bible comments that are written in English. I guess most of the commentaries on the Bible are in English and not many have been translated to Spanish… I meet interesting people everywhere…

So, today is Sunday, and I have to pack for Mexico City and get everything ready for the week that we will be spending in the DF (kinda like saying DC in the USA). I’m also planning on making my host sister some rice crispy treats (they only had Coco Krispies at the store so they will be really chocolaty). Later this evening there is a big game between Cruz Azul and America (two popular soccer teams in Mexico). My host parents support America and my host cousin supports Cruz Azul so it will be interesting to see who I choose to support… Well, I have to start getting things ready for the DF and make my rice crispy treats. I won’t be able to blog in Mexico DF because we aren’t bringing computers so look forward to the next installation next Sunday!! I hope everything is going well… Miss you all :-)

La Mixteca!!

2008-09-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

This week has been incredibly busy, so I’m very sorry that I haven’t been able to update my blog. But, now that I have a little bit more time this weekend I will catch you up on everything that has happened in the past week.

Last weekend we spent three days and two nights in an indigenous community (la Mixteca) north of Oaxaca City. To get to la Mixteca we took a bus out of the city to a place called Tilantongo. From there we rode in the back of pick up trucks up the mountain to the house of Eleazar (the president of a non-governmental organization called CEDICAM). Before we arrived at the house we met at the headquarters of CEDICAM and talked to Eleazar and Phil Dahl-Bredine, a liberation theologian who has been living in the Mixteca for many years. We have been reading his book The Other Game: Lessons from How Life is Played in Mexican Villages… and I really suggest reading it if you want a good perspective of some of the big issues we are discussing in my classes. It was a really good talk and I am thinking that I might ask him to be my independent study advisor for the last month of the program.

Well, after our meeting, we made our way up the steep mountain path to Eleazar’s house. He lives with his extended family up in a small beautiful mountain town. It was a wonderful experience to ride up the mountain in the back of the trucks because we could see the landscape. In the Mixteca, with the help of the CEDICAM organization, the community has started use ancient indigenous methods to grow food and restore the land. About 20 years ago, all of the land in the mountains was becoming to dry to grow crops and people had to migrate to different cities to have water and survive. But with the help of indigenous methods (digging trenches in the mountains to collect water and planting trees to create better soil) the landscape has completely changed. It is now green again and the farmers have a way to autonomously sustain their lives. (You’ll have to check out the pictures below to see the landscape that looks like there are green lines in the mountain side… those are the trenches)

The family that we stayed with was so welcoming and kind (they had to feed 20 people meals for 2 ½ days). The first night we had some warm soup and freshly made corn tortillas for dinner. It was really cold outside so we also had some hot tea before we went to bed. Before bed, we all went to the “bathroom” or a hole in the ground in a small shack of a building. (Now I know how Grandma felt when she stayed with Paul and Oliver) Even though it was much warmer inside the room because 8 people were in each room, the floor was absolutely freezing and my esleeping (sleeping bag) wasn’t enough to keep me warm on the cold floor. So the first night I had a tough time sleeping (it was so cold that I put both my legs in the same pant leg to keep myself warm). But after eight hours of slightly restless sleep, I got ready for a long day of tequio (tequio is a part of indigenous community culture… it’s a type of mandatory community service that every citizen is expected to perform without pay)

WARNING!!! WARNING!!! I’m going to explain a little bit of indigenous culture and it may be a little bit like the economy description so forgive me…

Community life in many indigenous areas are constructed around a few main principles. First of all, the land is not privately owned by the people like in the United States and it’s not publically owned by the government either. The land is owned by the community and the usage of the land is determined by the assembly that runs the community… (the assembly is like a direct democracy, where each family has one vote in the assembly decisions… and all the decisions need to be consensus where everyone has to agree on a decision before it can be enacted) To maintain their status as a member of the community and keep their rights to the land, each citizen has a few mandatory obligations… (1) they must fill political and religious positions called cargos. These positions are kinda like our politicians and police, but in the community these are free services that the people perform in addition to their other jobs. (2) tequio is the community work that is necessary for every citizen to perform. It could be fixing a road in the community or helping to build a greenhouse. (3) la fiesta: people in indigenous communities also know how to host a party. The wealthier members of the communities also serve positions as the hosts of community parties. Sometimes they are the host of the food (where they supply the food for the party) or they can be the host of the drink (where they provide the drinks for all the party-goers)

But back to my weekend, we participated in some community tequio by helping to build a greenhouse at Eleazar’s house. We were well fed in the morning with some eggs a la Mexicana and some hot coffee. Building the greenhouse was definitely a group effort but there was no way that we could have done it without the help of Eleazar and his brother (both of the guys were amazing carpenters and really knew how to put the greenhouse together). Our first job was clearing out a space for the greenhouse, so we all threw rocks and pulled weeds out of the ground. Some of the students had to break up rock with a pick axe to clear out a space. While most of us were clearing out the space for the greenhouse, a few of the students were sawing rods of metal that would be used as the support for the greenhouse.

After the greenhouse space was cleared out, we noticed that there were “too many chefs in the kitchen” and we needed to find another job so we wouldn’t get in the way. So while Eleazar and a few other guys were sawing the wood and setting up the poles, we decided to help transport a pile of cement bricks up the mountain. It was exhausting work to carry the bricks up the mountain but we eventually made an assembly line and the work went a little faster. While we were working, Eleazor’s six year old daughter Karla and his nephew Jose Antonio were coloring and swinging on a tree at the top of the hill. They were both precious, and Karla made sure to talk to everyone and ask them what they were doing.

We took a break and had some lunch around 3:00 but then we went back to work on the greenhouse. Our next task was to wrap the metal poles with plastic so they wouldn’t rip the big plastic cover. This task was a bit more tedious and our fingers were pretty sore after wrapping all of the poles. By the time we had most of the poles wrapped and helped to build a little more of the structure, the light was fading and it started to rain. So we decided to wake up a little earlier to finish the greenhouse. That night, dinner was great again, and we talked to the family and played with the three dogs (these ones were safe to pet). Thankfully, my second night in the Mixteca was so much better because the family lent me some blankets to keep warm and cushion the hard floor.

The next morning we woke up early and did a few touch ups on the plastic covering the poles and then as a team effort, we pulled the huge sheet of plastic over the greenhouse. It was satisfying to be able to pull the cover over the greenhouse and see all of the fruits of our combined efforts. After pulling the plastic over the greenhouse, we had another wonderful hot breakfast with fresh tortillas and eggs a la Mexicana. It was a nice weekend of sharing with the family… they were kind enough to share their house and their food with us and we were able to thank them by helping with the construction of the greenhouse.

Well, I will have to fill you in on the rest of my week in the next entry! Espero que todo vaya bien! (I hope that all is going well)

Bathroom and Sarah with pile of bricks

2008-09-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

Pictures from the Mixteca

2008-09-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

Viva Mexico!!

2008-09-22T14:21:00.001-07:00

El grito and More!!!

2008-09-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

So, I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog… this week has been so busy that I’ve barely had time to take a shower (and I haven’t taken one sometimes…but I’ll get to that later). First I need to talk about el grito (the yell) and Independence Day for Mexico. On Monday the 15^th of September at 11:00 at night, different public officials perform a ceremony known as el grito. They stand on platforms (or in Oaxaca’s case on balconies) and do a sort of cheer with the crowd. The official comes out at 11:00 and yells Viva Mexico (Long Live Mexico) and then the crowd repeats VIVA!! This cheer goes on for about 3-5 minutes and the official yells lots of different things that he/she wants to viva. (It kinda reminded me of church when we do the prayers for all different people and organizations)

This tradition is actually based on Mexico’s first Independence Day (in 1810 from

Spain

). At this point in time in history, Spain had been losing hold of all of its colonies. Most of the other Latin American countries just broke apart from Spain in a nonviolent way but for some reason, Spain put up a fight to maintain its first country in the “New World.” In the middle of the night on September the 15^th, Jesuit priest Father Hidalgo ran to the bell of his church in a small town outside of Mexico City. He yelled Viva Mexico and then rounded up some fellow revolutionaries from some surrounding prisons. Eleven years later, (after Father Hidalgo had been shot and decapitated) the Spanish gave

Mexico

its independence.

So, now that you know the general backstory, Independence Day in

Mexico

is pretty much a good excuse to have a huge party in the streets… and we did. A big group of my friends (from SIT) and I went to the zocalo to see all the commotion and participate in el grito. When we got there, the zocalo was absolutely packed with people. While we were making our way closer to the front, we encountered a wonderful Mexican tradition called espuma. The best way to describe espuma is a mix between silly string and foamy/soapy water. Kids all over the zocalo, had cans full of espuma and of course (as a group of gringos) we stuck out and they all sprayed us with the white soapy spray. It seemed like many of the Mexicans had known about this tradition as they arrived in rain jackets and covered baby cribs with plastic.

Eventually, we arrived at a good spot where we could see el grito and some of the fireworks that were to follow el grito. Unfortunately, the only guy in our group decided to start an espuma war with all the surrounding groups of Mexican teens. Needless to say, we were inexperienced sitting ducks and very soon we were all covered in espuma. (I’ll be posting pictures of the espuma war shortly) In between the espuma battles, we were able to talk to some of the surrounding Mexicans and I had a fun conversation with a little three year old on his dads back. I let him borrow my can of espuma but then he later betrayed me by spraying me when my back was turned.

Around 11:00 Ulisis Ruiz Ortiz (URO), came out onto the balcony to deliver the grito. He is not a very well liked figure throughout Oaxaca, especially after he sent armed police officers into a peaceful teachers protest in 2006. Nevertheless, he appeared on the balcony to give the grito and everything went well as we all yelled VIVA MEXICO. Directly after the vivas, everyone was shooting more espumas and confetti. Then, we noticed that a large structure very near to our group was about to be lit on fire. The man lighting the structure couldn’t get his matches to work so he lit it with his cigarette. It was a little terrifying to see the sparks flying in all directions from a structure so close to the crowd… but it was very entertaining to watch the drunken guys running through the sparks.

After all the espuma and fire excitement, Sara (a friend that lives close to me) and I made our way through the crowd (which was not easy to do because there were so many people trying to go different ways). Finally we made it out of the crowd and headed back towards our houses…

The next day (Independence Day) was nice and relaxing. We didn’t have Spanish classes or our afternoon session so I had the whole day off to catch up on some homework and spend time with my host family. At midday, my host sister (Rosi), host father (Jaime), host mother (Hortensia) and I dropped off my other host sister (Pamela) at the bus station. Pamela lives in Mexico DF so she only came home for the Independence Day celebration. It was kinda sad to say goodbye even though I had only known her for 4 days… I think it’s Mom’s fault that I’m so emotional. After we dropped Pam off, my host mom and dad took me downtown to see the parade… but it had already ended.

It wasn’t too big of a deal because we went straight to my host aunt’s house where we had this amazing Mexican Independence Day meal. We had a green pepper (slightly spicy but only for gringas) stuffed with plantains and covered in a white creamy yogurty sauce then sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. It was absolutely amazing but there really hasn’t been a food here that I haven’t enjoyed. (except chicarones which are pork rinds and I absolutely hated them… I had three on my plate and ate one and folded the other two into a napkin and put it in my pocket when nobody was looking) But… back to the awesome Independence Day food… I discovered why it’s the Independence Day food. The colors are green, white, and red… just like the Mexican flag. After the dinner we watched telenovelas (soap operas) with the family, even though I would have rather taken a nap.

The rest of the week passed without too many eventful things. The only thing worth mentioning is that I had to do a presentation in my Spanish class about something to do with Mexican culture, and I chose to interview my host mom. I didn’t just interview her because she’s from Mexico, she was actually born in a Zapotec Indigenous community in the south of the state of Oaxaca. She can speak fluent zapoteco, as it was her first language. She talked about her childhood and how it was really tough to go to school because the teachers only spoke Spanish because the government didn’t allow zapoteco to be spoken in the classrooms. It’s sad because the language is now starting to die out because children don’t speak it anymore. (It’s a language that’s been around for over 2000 years… the same people that built Monte Alban are the people that spoke zapoteco). It was a really good conversation with my host mom and she really opened up to me.

Well, I guess this entry will give you enough to read for a while. We went to the Mixteca (a really awesome little pueblo) where we did tequio (free community service) and built a greenhouse. I will have to fill in the details in my next entry… until then look forward to some pictures of espuma!!! Nos vemos

Storm on Monte Alban!!!

2008-09-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

Monte Alban continued

2008-09-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Monte Alban beginning

2008-09-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

Hike in the Mountains!

2008-09-16T16:12:00.001-07:00

Busy Weekend

2008-09-16T16:10:00.001-07:00

When our director told us that we had the weekend free, I expected to relax a bit and catch up on some homework… but my weekend turned out to be much more exciting. Friday night we decided to check out one of the bars that some friends suggested. So a group of six of us went to Bar Central, located in the central of the city… go figure… We got there around 9:30, and the bar was pretty empty, but we found a table with a few couches around it and chilled out for a bit. Although the bar is usually supposed to be cheap, they charged a 30 peso cover because there was a show with acrobatas… So around 10:30, a group of four strangely dressed people came out on the sort of stage at the front of the bar (three girls in white lingerie looking outfits and one boy). They did some crazy tricks by climbing up to pieces of cloth hanging from the 20 ft ceiling. There was also a juggling type act and some strange Mexican humor was incorporated with the show. Needless to say, the night at the bar was much more interesting than I had expected…

On Saturday, I woke up early (8:00) because my friends and I wanted to hike up into one the mountains close to my house. So around 9:15, we set off up the escaleras fortin (a huge cement staircase that lead us up into the mountains). It was nice to spend the morning walking around instead of sitting in a classroom. We spent about an hour and a half walking on the trails in the mountains and then we turned back towards the city. On our hike we saw lots of Oaxacan people running and walking for exercise… there was even a lady doing yoga at the top of the mountain.

After coming down from the mountain, we stopped at the school to check the internet and watch a documentary about the social uprising in 2006. The documentary was pretty good but also kind of tough to understand because it was all in Spanish. Once it finished, I headed back to my house for la comida. My other host sister (Pamela) came home from Mexico D.F. so we celebrated her homecoming with a traditional food called posole (it’s a mix between a casserole and a soup with tons of ingredients: corn that’s been taken out of its shell and boiled so it puffs out, chicken that had roasted all day in herbs, lettuce, radishes, some oregano, chiles, and lime squeezed on top). With the posole we had some tostadas with homemade guacamole (absolutely amazing). And for dessert, Pamela brought home a chocolate cake that was extremely moist. It was torta con leche cake with milk.

I had so many helpings of the food that after dinner had finished I felt like I needed to go on another hike to be able to fit in my pants. But, the weather had different plans, and right when we were about to go for a walk a huge storm came into town. So, instead of walking I hung out around the house and read my assignments for class. I also got the chance to play their electric keyboard (complete with headphones to block out the sounds of my piano playing). A little later in the night I chatted with the girls (Pamela, Rosi, and their mom). Rosi is a big fan of the backstreet boys and really wants her dad to take her to one of their concerts in South America.

Around 9:00, I left the house to meet up with some friends at a bar about two blocks from my house. As always, we arrived way too early and I Katy and I decided to walk around downtown to see the nightlife in the streets. Because Independence Day is Tuesday I guess celebrations were starting a little bit early. On one of the main streets leading to the zocalo, we saw some fireworks shooting up in the air and heard lots of music. Apparently, there was a parade of Mexican musicians and dancers heading towards the center of town. The parade was headed by two large cardboard puppets and followed by a group of people with red, green, and white candles (the colors of Mexico’s flag). It was an unexpected but very cool experience…

The next morning, I woke up pretty early to go to church with my family. We went to la catedral de Oaxaca in the center of town. The service was interesting to attend because everything was in Spanish but I recognized some of the passages they read from the Bible. Instead of having an organ to lead the music, there was a band of people with guitars, wooden flutes and a few other light woodwind instruments. Also, the priest used a hand held microphone to speak, but when he needed both his hands, he stuck the microphone down his collar and continued speaking (very thrifty).

After church, my host family went over to my host uncle’s house, which is located about two streets away from my house. We had a late breakfast at the house with about 25 members of the family (including two three-year olds). It reminded me a bit of our big family meals at Grandma’s house. And like most meals at Grandma’s house there were lots of inside jokes and fast talking. If it’s a little intimidating for our in-laws to meet the whole Barney family, it was twice as intimidating to have breakfast with my extended host family because I had a hard time concentrating and understanding one conversation at the table, let alone 10 different conversations. Although it was a little overwhelming, it was good practice to try and listen to all of the people at the breakfast.

After eating and talking, a few of my friends from school and I decided to go to Monte Alban. It’s a site of ancient Zapotec ruins, one of the oldest metropolitan ancient indigenous cities still in tact. It was inhabited from 500 ad to 850 ad and nobody knows why it was abandoned. So, my friends and I caught a bus that led up the steep winding curves of the mountain. The top of the mountain was breathtaking and it was amazing to see how well preserved the city was. It seems like the Zapotecos definitely knew what they were doing because there building have survived the centuries much better than ancient Greek and Roman buildings… Allie, Rebecca, Kristen and I walked around the ancient city for a while until we noticed the wind picking up and the temperature dropping rapidly… A heavy storm surprised us and we rushed into the nearby museum for cover, but I got some amazing pictures of the sky as the storm was approaching. We couldn’t help but stop and watch how amazing the sky looked as the storm rushed over the valley towards us. (I know it may sound a little crazy but it was definitely an experience where you needed to be there to understand) You’ll just have to see the pictures to try and get an idea of what it was like… I’ll be posting them soon!!

-Well, I’m off to here el grito for the Independence Day in el zocalo. !Viva Mexico!

Casa de los artesanias

2008-09-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

For our Spanish class today we went to La casa de los artesanias and learned about the cultural art and crafts that are made by the indigenous cultures aroung Oaxaca. Here are a few pictures of the arts and crafts

Views from my balcony

2008-09-14T11:45:00.001-07:00

My Homestay Pictures

2008-09-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

A Regular Day in Oaxaca

2008-09-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe it’s already Saturday. My life in Oaxaca has been really busy for the past week. We just started all of our classes and we are getting into the rhythm of going to call and spending time with our families and friends. We are only going to be following this schedule for the four weeks that we are in Oaxaca, and the rest of the time it will be similar but we will have to be more flexible because we will be in Mexico City, Chiapas, and the Coast. Then, the last month we will be wherever we choose to do our last project and then we will be researching, conducting interviews, and writing our final papers. But, for now, we are pretty set in Oaxaca City with our families.

My house is in el centro which is in the Center of the City and very close to all of the places that we go for classes. Some of my friends live on the outskirts of the cities which means they have to either walk for about 45 minutes or take a 30 minute bus to get to classes. I’m very lucky because it only takes about 3 minutes to get to my classes and I can also go to the main city square el zocalo in about 5 – 10 minutes. Also, I have a beautiful view from my balcony and I like to sit out there and read my assignments for class.

On days during the week, I usually get up around 7:30 in the morning and get dressed and make my bed (as a gust in the house it is more polite to keep things neat and make my bed… not that this tradition will continue when I get home…). After I get everything ready in my room, I usually go downstairs and eat breakfast at 8:00. Depending on everyone else’s schedules, I either eat my breakfast with my host sister and cousin or my host dad. My host mom always is there when I eat breakfast. Even though I’m not too much of a breakfast eater in the US… I have been eating huge breakfasts while I have been here.

Every morning, we usually get a plate of fruit with granola on top; usually bananas, peaches and sometimes papaya (which I am slowly getting used to). This plate of fruit isn’t just randomly put on my plate, the fruit looks like a different art design every morning. With my fruit I usually get a glass of fresh fruit juice and then a piece of bread with sugar on top (it’s kinda like a Mexican doughnut). Then… after my first course of breakfast, I usually get quesadillas or enfrijoladas. The quesadillas are a little different here because the tortillas are corn tortillas (made by hand) and the cheese is special oaxacan cheese. It’s a little bit stronger than American cheeses but I have grown to like it a lot.

So after my awesome breakfast, my host mom and I usually talk for a few minutes (it’s good warm up for my Spanish class). Then, I say buen provecho as a way to say thanks for the good food, and I head off to my morning Spanish classes. Our classes are divided in four groups by level of speaking ability. Within my group I feel like we all have different strengths, some of us can speak really well and others of us are better at grammar. My group consists of Sarah, Kristen, Morgann and me (and mom the me is right because it’s in the predicate). We have a morning grammar teacher (Javier) and an afternoon conversation teacher (Arturo). Our Spanish classes last until about 1:00 (but on Mexican time they sometimes go later) and then I head back home for la comida which is the biggest meal of the day.

We usually don’t eat until 2:30 or 3:00 so I sometimes check my email or do some more reading for my evening classes. Then around 2:30 we eat comida… which has also been amazing every day so far. Sometimes we get enchiladas in green sauce and a salad with lime squeezed on top. Other times we get a spicy kind of stir fry with chiles and beef, or even spaghetti (Mexican style with oaxacan cheese, beef, and hot sauce). After lunch we usually stay at the table and talk a little then most of my family goes for their siesta (nap). I have taken a siesta or two, but usually I do more reading or head over to the school to use the computer.

After the siesta (or homework time) I go to the SIT homebase. It’s only like 4 blocks away from my house and it’s where we can use the internet, sit in the SIT library, get mail, or talk to the directors. It’s also the place where we have our development and economic seminars. People from many different fields in and out of academia are the presenters. For example, Gustavo Esteva who has written many books and articles on development and served as an advisor to the Mexican government but now is involved in Non-Governmental Organizations was one of our speakers. Also, a young woman named Diana and and old journalist named Nancy came to present about the social uprising and the teachers movement of 2006. The seminars are really interesting and they last for about 2 and ½ hours.

Once the seminar finishes, I stick around the school to use the internet and then leave before it gets too dark outside. During the night the meal is called cena and it’s usually a piece of fruit and some break and tea or juice. I’m usually not too hungry after la comida so I don’t mind eating such a small dinner. Afterwards I talk to my host sister or host cousin for a bit (one night I watched a soccer game Mexico 2 – Canada 1). Then take a quick shower (there’s a water shortage so it has to be quick). At around 11:30, I’m usually pretty wiped out so I try to read until my eyes are too heavy and I fall asleep.

(So that’s a pretty regular day here in Oaxaca, but this weekend is going to
be fun because I am meeting my other host sister and we’re getting ready to celebrate Independence day! I’ll have talk more about Independence Day in my next entry. Hasta luego!!)

More pics...

2008-09-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

Day of the Tour and more...

2008-09-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

Pictures of my adventure to Arrazola and others...

2008-09-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

Move in with families

2008-09-10T14:01:00.001-07:00

Today we finally met our Mexican families!! I was really nervous in the morning because I was starting to grow accustomed to living with all my friends in the hostel. It was also a little stressful because I was so used to speaking English with my friends and living with my family meant that I was going to practice my Spanish… So, this morning I had another orientation session at the school to prepare us for the move in with our families. We were all pretty antsy about the upcoming meeting but also very ready to be free from orientation.
Around 1:00 the whole class left the school and headed back to the hostel to meet our host mothers. It was really cute to see them all waiting in the patio of our hostel. Most of them were wearing nametags (with our names printed on them) and my host mom had a boquet of flowers for me. Her name is Hortencia Hernandez-Fuentes. After our introductions which included a Oaxacan greeting of a hug and kiss on the cheek, we grabbed my bags and headed towards my new house in there mini SUV.
On the way to the house, we were talking about my letter that I had sent to them earlier in the year. I had mentioned that I liked music and played the trumpet and piano in my letter. Right when we were talking about the letter, I heard a mariachi type band outside of my window and told my host mom that I loved live bands. So… Hortencia pulled the car over and we went to investigate the source of the music. In the courtyard of a colonial church we saw a band with seventy-six trombones (just kidding…. a joke for the Music Man fans), two trombones, three trumpets, two saxophones, a tuba, and two drummers. They had just finished their set and the members were taking a break.
One of the saxophone players was trying to play his friends trumpet (not very well) and he saw Hortencia and me pointing and talking about the trumpet. Like most Mexicans I’ve met, he was more than willing to come and talk to us. We started talking to him and my host mom let him know that I play the trumpet too. And like most friendly Mexicans, he was also more than willing to let me play his trumpet in front of everyone in the square. I didn’t want to disappoint my host mom… so I took the trumpet and played the first thing that came to my mind… the Perkins High School alma matter… All of the band members looked surprised that I could play and it was an interesting experience. After I finished my song, the band started their next set and we watched for a few minutes then left to meet the rest of the family at the house…. There is never a dull moment in Mexico….
Luckily, my house is really close to the center of town and I only have a five minute walk to my language classes and a three minute walk to the SIT center. The house is really pretty, with marble floors throughout the house. On the first story there is a kitchen, a formal dining room, a formal sitting room, a study, and a laundry room. The laundry room opens up to a patio with clothes lines to dry the clothes. On the second story there are three bedrooms and a bathroom. I have my own room, and there is a balcony right outside of my room that overlooks Oaxaca City because we live on a hill. The view is breathtaking and it is difficult to focus on homework when I sit on the balcony because the view is so pretty.
At the house, I met my host dad (Jamie) and my host sister (Rosi) and my host cousin (Denise) who lives with my family right now. The oldest daughter (Pamela) lives in Mexico DF right now, but she is going to come home for the Mexican Independence Day, which is the 16th of September. Ironically, my host dad is a doctor is very friendly (especially in one on one situations… not in bigger groups) He is one of eight children and he is the equivalent of a family doctor. My host mom used to be a teacher but now she is retired and works as a house mom in the house. She is really friendly and welcoming and I really like talking to her. Needless to say, with these family dynamics, I felt quite at home in my new house.
After I met everyone, I moved all of my bags into my room and started to unpack before dinner. I kept hearing this annoying child yelling for their papa and practicing some random phrases like Pamela and Hola. I figured it was one of the kids in the neighborhood and just ignored the yelling. Later, I went downstairs and had my first meal with my family… comida (which is the biggest meal of the day). The conversation was pretty good… a little awkward at first… but my host parents are really helpful and gently correct my grammar (which I appreciate… also it reminds me of mom…) During the lunch, I noticed that the kid was still yelling, and I mentioned it to my host family. They all chuckled and I seemed to be out of the loop on a joke. My host father explained that they had a loro. When I was still confused he pointed towards their patio and I saw a colorful and talkative parrot sitting in its cage. Apparently, their 26 year old lorito has learned many phrases in Spanish and can imitate speech very well…

(Well, I bet this is enough to read for now… stay tuned for my next adventure in Mexico… Hasta luego)

Part 2 of exciting day in Oaxaca

2008-09-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

After eating the chapulines, Elizabeth and I thanked the Castellanos family for their hospitality and left the house to return to the city. Catching the colectivo back to Oaxaca City was much easier because we knew what to look for… Once we were back in the city we met up with the other groups and shared our adventures over some Oaxacan pizza and soda. Everyone else went to different historical or cultural locations throughout the city and surrounding area. Two of the places that I want to visit are Monte Alban (ruins that were built by the Zapotec people about 500 AD years ago) and Tule (the oldest tree in the world… it’s 2000 years old!!) It was really fun sharing our experiences with the local transit system and our adventures at our cultural locations.
When we returned to the hostel, it was a little sad because it was the last night that we were going to be together as a group (we were moving in with our families the next day). To celebrate our last night, a group of seven of us decided to visit one of the local antros (bars) to dance salsa. Unfortunately, it was raining a little bit outside and when we arrived at the club we discovered that it wouldn’t open its doors for another hour. Outside of the club there was a group of Mexican boys from DF (or Mexico DF… many people say DF almost like saying DC when talking about Washington DC). We walked through the streets with the guys for a few minutes. They were really friendly and willing to talk to us gueras (a term for light skinned girls).
After walking around the square for a bit, they decided that they wanted to go to a different club a little further from the center (which meant we needed to take a taxi). I was a bit hesitant to go in a taxi with strangers, but I thought it would be safe because we were in a group of seven. (And… to take away the suspense for mom… nothing bad happened at the club or with the guys, I was just being cautious). So we eventually got to the club which must be the club for the rich kids in the city. It reminded me of a club in the US with hip hop music and lots of dancing. It was pretty fun to dance and talk with all the guys (a few of my friends did a bit more than talking and dancing… some besos latinos). Overall, we had a nice time hanging out with people our own age and made it back to the hostel in one piece.