I'm going to India!

I just got the news that I've been accepted to be on the mission trip team to India over spring break! We will be working in New Delhi with an organization called TruthSeekers. I don't know many details yet, so get excited to learn more with me!

adiós... por ahorita

Well, if I had stayed the whole semester, I would have been back for more than a month by now. Instead, I’ve been back in the States for longer than I was in Mexico. I guess it’s time to wrap up the experience.

Some students come back raving about Mexico. They LOVE the country and everything about it. I never reached that point. Maybe if I’d stayed the entire four months, I would have fostered that love, but I just didn’t.

I did like it, though. And Mexico does hold a special place in my heart. And I was sad to leave. I cried all the way from the parking lot of la Farmacia Guadalajara to the airport, and then again from take off to O’Hare.

I learned a lot, too. Here are some things I learned:

It takes about two weeks to turn on your ears to hear foreign languages spoken in a different accent.

In a second language, checking out at the store can be a very stressful and embarrassing situation.

There’s more to understanding a conversation than just understanding words.

Some colloquialisms of Morelia: porfis for “please”, por nada for “thank-you” (instead the de nada you learn in text books), ándale pues is like “Go ahead, then” or “Don’t let me keep you,” con per for “excuse me”

Saying something, even if it’s not quite right, will get you farther than saying nothing.

Mexicans are so nice. The culture just really understands how to connect with people and values those connections.

Going to Mexico was definitely a worth-while experience. Sometimes, I’m still sad that I didn’t get to stay longer, and I wish that my time there were not associated with the bitter disappointment of having to come home early. I’ll never know what the second part of the experience would have been, but I do know that the first part was worth doing, and I hope that someday I can go somewhere else and have more experiences.

So, stay tuned. This fish has only just started swimming around the world. :)

La Casa Hogar

One of the saddest parts about leaving was not getting to say goodbye to the orphans we tutored at La Casa Hogar. Well, saying
 goodbye to them would have been as sad. We left just after I felt like I had a real connection with some of them. 

About twice a week we went to the orphanage and just helped the kids out with their homework. We had a Valentine's Day Party which was really fun. Most of the time we griped about having to go. Explaining homework in another language is hard, and a lot of the time the kids didn't have good directions, or I didn't understand them any more than the kids did. 

I loved the kids though. There was a group of ten-year-old boys who I worked with a lot. They were adorable and fun. They would recite their multiplication tables to me, which they only memorized them in order and did not them out of order. But don't worry, they could do it con muchisma rapidez, "dos por dos, cuatro. dos por tres, seis. dos por cuatro, ocho..." like little Speedy Gonzalez-es.  I wanted to play Around-the-World with them but never got the chance. 

I worked with one boy named Adán almost every time. He was my favorite. I taught him how to do long division, combining the techniques of my third grade teacher Mrs. Arcand with my Spanish skills. ("Divide, multiply, subtract bring down, hey!" translates into "¡Divide, multiplica, resta, bajamos, ya! ... ok not quite the same rhythm.) On my last day there (not that I knew it was my last day), Adán called me "mami," which I guess is really just an endearing term for any woman, not necessarily Mommy, but still. He was sweet. 

The kids were very nice to each other too. The big ones looked after the little ones. They were friends. 

I didn't take any pictures because I was waiting for the right time or something, but I stole my friend Jeannine's, so you can see how beautiful they are. None of these are my little ten-year-old favorites, but they're cute too. The little boy is Daniel, he's the youngest boy. The girl in the yellow is Areli. She's about 6 and at first couldn't read at all, but by the end of our two months she could.  It was cool to see them improve as we improved. 

 

La Roja Tres

A common mode of public transportation in Morelia and other parts of Mexico is via "combi." Maybe "combi" comes from "combinación" because it's sort of a combination of a van and a bus. There are different color lines and numbers of combis that each have their own routes. To get from home to school or the centro, I took the roja tres. 

At first, combis were kind of intimidating to me. They're small and cramped. And everyone in them is speaking Spanish. After awhile, though, I grew to really like the combis. They create a sort of community because people have to communicate with each other inside, not just pretend no one else is there. From the beginning everyone greets each other. You get on and say "buenos días" to the other passengers. Then, to pay for the combi, you sit down (often squeezed between people), find your five pesos, and hand it to the driver or ask someone to pass it up if you're in the back. People just trust each other to actually pass the money. When you want to get off the combi, you just say (kind of loudly) that you want to get off, and everyone always says thank you. 

People on the combi help each other. When elderly people or pregnant women or moms with little kids get on, others offer their seats. When someone standing is holding a bag, others offer to hold it for them. And the owner lets them. It's like as soon as you get on the combi, you enter into a little honor system in which everyone trusts the stranger sitting next to them. 

Baby Pope

In Mexico City, we visited a lot of churches. Well, in all of Mexico, we visited a lot of churches, but this instance was in DF. This baby was going to be baptized, so of course he was dressed as the Pope. 

There he is, the Baby Pope. 

Photo credit: Elizabeth Ahlem

Morelia

The capital of Michoacán is Morelia,  a beautiful colonial city of about 600,000 inhabitants. 

In one central plaza there is the fountain and statue "Las Tarascas," which is a landmark of the city.  Las Tarascas are three Purépecha princesses that offer fruit to the gods. I don't really remember the whole story, but there they are. The Purépecha people have an interesting history. Compared to other indigenous groups, many more people still speak the language as their native tongue.  The people survived the conquest because when the Spaniards arrived, the Purépechas told them, "Oh, yeah, there's gold, but not here, you have to keep going." So, the Spaniards left the city of "Valladolid" and continued on to ravage other people.  

Another landmark of Morelia is el "Aqueducto," which was originally built to bring water to the city. It doesn't function any longer, but is the oldest aqueduct in Mexico that stands in its entirety. 

To me, Morelia is about the perfectly sized city because it's fairly big, but not huge, and it has a quaint, small feel while also having the options and opportunities of a city. I guess to me, when I think big city, I think skyscrapers, so Morelia feels small. However, when I think small town, I think of a town with, you know, a stop light or two, where "every store clerk says, 'no credit cards, friend, but there's an ATM at the Ben Franklin' " (Aaron Espe, "Small Town"). I've lived near skyscrapers and a Ben Franklin, and haven't felt completely happy with either. Small city is a good fit, especially one as beautiful and friendly as Morelia. 

La Ciudad de México, DF (Parte 3)

Our third and final day in Mexico City, we went to Chapultapec Park, where we visited the Museum of Anthropology and Maximilian's Castle. At the museum, we saw the Ballet Folklórico, which consists of dances from different states in Mexico.  We also saw many artifacts from the ancient indigenous people. My favorite artifact is the quetzal feather headdress. The quetzal is a little bird with a really long tail of pretty feathers. It's very rare and hardly anyone sees them anymore.  The giant Aztec calendar is pretty famous and also cool. 

After Chapultapec, we left the city, stopped for lunch, and headed back to Morelia. It was good to go back. I like Morelia a lot better than Mexico City.  Morelia is smaller and prettier, and all around nicer. 

Change of plans

You have probably heard this already, but due to the conflicts of the developing drug war in Mexico, North Park has decided that they cannot guarantee our safety in Mexico and has terminated the program in Morelia for the rest of the semester.  Cherie, our professor, told us on Thursday after we had finished our mid-term exams that we would be going home.  Because the second half of the semester in Morelia is optional, it really only affected five of us as the other three were already going back this weekend.  So, that night we changed our plane tickets and at Saturday at 2am our flight left Mexico. Now I am home in Iron River for a week during "Spring break" and will then go back to North Park for the second half of the semester and take Spanish classes there.  

I am very disappointed that we had to return two months too soon.  There were a lot of things I didn't get to do and it was a hasty goodbye, but I enjoyed the time that I was there and am glad I could at least have that experience. 

I'm not really looking forward to being back at North Park already, but I'm hoping to make it fun so I don't regret so much.

Now, I still have some anecdotes forming in my mind, so read on as I continue to tell you about my adventures. 

Conflictos mundiales

I've been taking a university class here on global conflicts. I have to write a paper on whether or not the State is a dynamic presence or a disappearing structure. Yes, this class is all in Spanish. Now, I bet you're thinking that sounds hard. Well, it is, but here's the real issue: we have to include citations of the readings and class notes, the professor's name is José Luís de Jesús García Ruiz...

how do you cite that one?

La Ciudad de México, DF (Parte 2)

Long, long ago, (well, post-conquest, but still long ago), an indigenous man named Juan Diego went to the priest of Guadalupe because his uncle was dying. On his way, the Virgen Mary appeared to him and told him to tell the priest to build a church. Juan Diego followed her instructions, but the priest did not believe him. Juan Diego went to the priest again, and again the Virgin Mary appeared to him. She told him to fill his cloak with roses and bring them to the priest. When Juan Diego arrived and opened his cloak, the roses fell out and there was an image of the dark-skinned Virgin on his cloak. Because of this miracle, the priest built a church, and because Mary appeared to Juan Diego, many indigenous people converted to catholicism. 

Juan Diego's cloak with the image of the Virgen de Guadalupe still survives. Her image is an emblem of Mexican culture because she appeared to an indigenous man and reached an entire people. She combines the catholic religion with the culture and faith of the indigenous people. 

Now the old church is sinking. See the tilt of the ground? There is a new church (the round one) that displays the cloak. 

There's also a Pope Mobile. 

ha.   

La Ciudad de México, DF (Parte 1)

After Teotihuacan, we went to Mexico City, Federal District. It was a packed weekend, so I am going to write probably three installations about DF, partly because I can only upload 5 photos at a time and partly because it would get too long and no one really wants to read that much in one sitting. 

Fast facts about Mexico City:

 1. With 20 million inhabitants, it is the largest metropolis in the Western Hemisphere. As a reference, 20 million is the number of inhabitants in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota COMBINED.

2. Mexico City is sinking. 

3. It's sinking because it's built on a lake.

4. It's built on a lake because the conquistadores took over the Aztec civilization Tenochtitlan, which was a city of canals and rivers.

5. The Aztec people chose this lake (Texcoco?) because it is where they saw an eagle eating a serpent on a prickly pear cactus. Ever wonder where the picture on the Mexican flag came from? Now you know. 

6. There are big pollution problems in Mexico City. Note the smog. 

In these pictures are a few of the things we saw: I can't remember if that's the cathedral or the basilica or what, but there it is big and old, El Palacio Nacional, the view from the Torre lationamericana, Bellas Artes, and the Latin American Tower. 

After touring around, we explored a little around the neighbor, outside of the centro, which was really cool. We got to see where people really live, the less touristy part. It was loud and crowded. Vendors with random things stood on corners shouting what they offered, so loudly I couldn't hear what they were saying. There were stores packed with stuff and streets stuffed with people. We walked around a block or two just to see and then headed back. It was cool to see, but I don't want to live there. 

Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan is the city of Aztec ruins outside of Mexico City. When the conquistadores came, it had long been abandoned. No one really knows why -- epidemic, battle, who knows. The ruins were rediscovered many years later and the pyramids were rebuilt, so "El Sol" and "La Luna"(The Sun and The Moon) are not exactly the original pyramids. They are restored but still really cool. 

"El Sol" is the bigger one, and "La Luna" is the one with the view of the Avenue of the Dead. These pyramids were used in rituals of human sacrifice. The Aztecs were warriors, and their life was about growing food and going to battle. They would capture men from other tribes to sacrifice. I don't remember all of the details, but there was a long process that ended in bringing the captive to the top of the pyramid, cutting out his beating heart, and shoving his body down the pyramid. Afterward, the captor had to wear the captive's skin for awhile because if he hadn't been the captor, he would have been the captive. 

Because being taken captive was considered dying in battle, it was an honorable death. Men who died in battle and women who died in childbirth were considered to be warriors who died honorably. 

We climbed these pyramids last weekend, which was pretty awesome. I climbed both of them because El Sol is impressive and La Luna has the cool view. Ancient history is fascinating to me, and going to ancient civilizations is surreal. Like, woah, I just walked where people lived thousands of years ago. I always wonder what happened to them, how the city fell. How are our cities going to fall? Will people find artifacts of laptops and cellphones? 

Guanajuato

Last Saturday we went to Guanajuato, a colonial town that is supposedly about two hours away. We left school at seven am, yeah, off to a bad start already. No, the day wasn't really that bad, it was just long. This is what my day looked like:

6:02-- wake up

6:20 -- eat breakfast

6:35 -- leave house

6:40 -- wait on the corner for a combi

6:50 -- call Brenda to share a taxi as there are no Roja 3 combis in sight

6:55 -- get in taxi

7:05 -- arrive at school

7:15 -- leave school; drive for awhile; watch the sun rise

9:00 -- make a pit stop at a convenience store that has no bathrooms; walk to find bathrooms; use bathrooms; buy a snack 

9:45 -- get back in van and drive for awhile

10:30 -- stop to see a view of a city and the house of Cantinflas (a Mexican comedian/filmmaker comparable to Charlie Chaplin)

11:00 -- arrive at San Miguel to see the church

12:00 -- see some other church

12:30 -- stop in Dolores to see another church and try a lot of weird flavors of ice cream: avocado, mole (a cacao sauce, not the animal), shrimp, rose petal, beer, angel breath, weird black fruit, guayaba 

1:15 -- another church with a lot of steps

2:00 -- graveyard with a famous Mexican singers grave, which was huge and colorful and would have been cool if it hadn't been the 8th stop for the day

2:45 -- arrive in Guanjuato. Go to the legends of Guanajuato museum with moving dolls and teddy bears in dark hallways. yeah. 

3:45 -- go to Diego Rivera's childhood home and see some of his artwork

4:30 -- arrive at the hotel.

5:00 -- sleeeep

6:00 -- dinner in the centro

9:00 -- follow singing, instrument-playing, colonial-dressed men around town for a tour -- p.s. it was Valentine's day. Couple parade plus 10 gringos. 

10:30 -- walk back to the hotel and go to bed

The next day was way more relaxed. We went to an agriculture museum and then to the top of the mountain. Guanajuato is a really pretty city. I love the colors of the houses, and the down-town area is all for walking. There are not street lights in the town to keep it colonial looking. It is very colonial looking, at least I imagine it is. 

Zihuatanejo

Last week, I went to two days of classes. Monday we had off because it was "Festival del 5 de febrero." Thursday, I was sick, but made a full recovery to go to the beach on Friday. There's not much to say about the beach other than it was the beach, so I mean, it was great. Our hotel was really nice, and we had hammocks outside our rooms. The beach wasn't too full, the water was warm, it was sunny and beautiful. We went snorkeling, which wasn't really that exciting but kind of cool. I saw some pretty fishies and a little sting ray. The cool part was that when we were coming back on the boat, I was looking out at the water, blue and clear, and I saw something large emerge on the surface. We weren't very close, but I'm pretty sure it was a giant sea turtle! So cool. I think the best part of the weekend (other than the turtle) was on Friday when I was floating in the water thinking, "If I were at North Park right now, I would be in class and/or trudging through Chicago winter slush." It was a pretty satisfying thought. 

The worst part of the weekend, though, was the other American tourists. Zihuatanejo, the beach-town we stayed in, did have Mexican tourists as well, but the Americans just drive me nuts. By and large, there were a bunch of fat old people and drunk young people. None of whom really speak Spanish. I mean, I'm not a great Spanish-speaker, and it's not that to go anywhere people need to be fluent in the country's language, but you should at least learn "No, gracias" and carry around a little phrase book. Point to the word if you don't know how to say it. And, when the waiter brings you your beer on the beach without a cup, don't be mad that he doesn't know exactly what you mean when you say "cup?"  You are in his country. At least try to speak his language. If you don't want to deal with communication and cultural barriers, go to Florida. I didn't want to speak any English because it made me ashamed of myself. 

Moral of the story, there is reason behind the ignorant, arrogant American stereotype. Let's try to change that.  

Uruapan

This weekend, we went to Uruapan. It was by far the coolest excursion yet. 

We went to another old church, but this church was covered in volcanic rock. Years ago (I don't remember when), the volcano Paricutin erupted and destroyed the town, all except the church. Now, the towers and altar of the church still stand. 

To get to the ruins, we rode on horses up through the mountains. The horses knew how to get there, so we didn't really have to do anything but sit there. Due to my many vacation experiences in the Smokey Mountains, I am an expert at riding horses on a mountain path. I knew all about leaning forward going up a hill and backward going down. Plus, we had little guides. There were about five 10-year-old boys who walked with the horses to keep them in line. The boys were funny and cute and knew what they were doing. We talked to them as we went. Since their first language was Purépecha, not Spanish, they were easy to understand.

When we got up into the hardened lava, most of the ground was black, but vegetation has started to grow again, so it was black with bright green popping up. It looked cool, but I was on a horse, so I didn't take a picture. 

I think it's pretty amazing how everything else was destroyed but the church still stands. I mean, yeah, it probably was the tallest and best-built building in the town, but the rock just stops in front of the altar, like there was some sort of shield around it. Something super-natural. 

Oh, and note my sweet new headband. 

Janitzio

On Wednesday, we went to the Island town Janitzio on lake Pátzcuaro. We hiked up the hill and climbed all the way to the tippy top of the statue. It had stairs inside, don't worry. The space at the top was tiny, and to see out, we had to step up on a ledge and poke our heads through about a foot of space. We were all crammed in there. Then we took came down and took pictures in front of the statue. It was cool. I wish I could have stayed up there to look longer, but there were a lot of people waiting, so I didn't. 

I haven't really figured out the best way to post pictures on here yet. Here's a list of captions... in reverse order

1. Janitzio from the boat.

2. The view of the top of the island from the top of the statue.

3. "Team Morelia" in front of the statue. Christian was not into the pose. 

4. Me with lake Pátzcuaro in the background.

5. A snippet of the many vender tents on the road to the statue.