¡Bienvenidos!

¡Hola Hola! Here, in an attempt to bilingual-blog(!), I will document my México experience! I plan on dishing out the deets on my six-week Cuernavaca stay including (but by no means limited to); my immersion into the culture and the language, any random adventures that I may happen upon, weekend travels to D.F. and other breath-taking sights, and, of course, a full report on the delicious cuisine (tacostacos). Kick back and enjoy the adventures as I 'Make Some Big Jumps' and explore our southern-most neighbor!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

23 de junio

Whelp, week 6 is upon us down here in Cuernavaca, and the fact that I am leaving in 3 1/2 days is a frightening reality that my 6-week adventure down here is coming to a close. Writing "23 de junio" doesn't help any, it only emphasizes that time has flown. I was looking at my flight itinerary back to the United States today, which I purchased in the beginning of April. Way back then, I never imagined that June 27th would ever actually come, yet here it almost is. There are still plenty of things I want to do here, too much homework to try and get done and not enough time to experience it all. But it's my last 3 1/2 days, and sleep is going to take a back seat! I won't be writing much, as you have seen that I haven't written much in the past week, maybe at the D.F. airport when I have plenty of time to spare and plenty of tears to shed!!! I will send you my tears via blog-post :)

Besos

Thursday, June 17, 2010

¡Besitos!

Yesterday I was facebook-chatting with my little brother Eric, and he informed me that our mom talks about mexi-Maggie all the time, always asks him if there are new photos up on the fb, etc. I was not surprised as my mama has always had that similar obsessive-curiosity that just makes me laugh. Then Eric told me that mom had been fervently scanning my blog posts to try and figure out what besitos means. Mexicans are all about the diminutives of words, and in my love-craze of the language and culture, I have come to adopt the diminutive form (it's actually not even a form, I just think it is) of words as if they were my native tongue. Using diminutives is the verb of empequeñeciemiento, or more nicely known in the english language as "the act of making things small." Which does not mean making things insignificant, but rather the diminutive adds a sense of endearment. So, entonces, he diminutive form of besos, kisses, besitos... little kisses! There's your spanish lesson for the day, folks.

...besitos!!!!
;)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

we're always open down here in México

Today during our short 20-minute lunch break during the day, Maggie Uno and I went with one of our Mexican friends to this delicious restaurant. But it was really just someone's house that they had opened up to sell people the bomb.com food that they make. They make tortillas a mano, by hand, and create the most mouth-watering concoctions. This comida is as simple as quesadillas with cheese and champiñónes, mushrooms, but it is a burst of flavor in the boca. The morning we leave I am seriously considering going there and ordering a good suitcase full of quesadillas to take back with me to the United States. I plan on having extras for the customs agents both in the D.F. airport and in the Phoenix airport where I will be flying to first so that they don't confiscate my goods.

What was the most appealing thing about this place what that is was literally someone's home that they had opened up so the outside world can discover the deliciousness of their cooking. Everything is open, out in the streets, asking for company and waiting for the human spirit to invigorate life into the air. Things are open, people are open, life is so much more joyful with a constant human presence, even if it's just a passing smile and greeting of two strangers who both have the same open mind and open heart. I love my weather seasons in the states, but I am coming to realize how much more I love the constant presence of another human spirit.

Besitos!

Monday, June 14, 2010

todo de México está paralizado ahorita

The past four days here have been a whirlwind of I-don't-even-know-what. It was the end of week 4 and now it's the beginning of week 5, and while I have had some of my most exciting and invigorating moments in these past few days, I have also felt the greatest sadness and homesickness that I have felt since being in México. Not a homesickness for the United States, but rather the homesickness that I will feel for Cuernavaca when I leave in (what is now) less than two weeks. In addition to that sadness, the amount of homework that we have been given for this week made me feel super-stressed out and I had a good cry on the phone with my mama back in the 'states. I felt eons better after that, thanks ma!!

But let's break these past few days down in terms of the fantastic times that have been had!

Friday: todo de México está paralizado ahorita

At 9am, México took on South Africa in the opening game of the 2010 World Cup. I walked to school that day with two of my housemates, and we all had the identical green México jersey on: we looked definitely like wanna-be-Méxican-gringas, no questions asked. When we got to school we took our weekly grammar exam and rushed from building 12 over to the main campus to take part in the mass-watching of the partido. The amount of national pride I felt during this 2-ish hour period was absolutely astonishing. Every television at the university was turned on to whatever channel was broadcasting the game, everyone was wearing something green, and everyone took that 2-ish hour period off to watch their home-team tear the field apart. I was chatting with one of the advisors that works at the university, and I was telling him how super-hyper-mega excited I was for this game. In concordance, he told me that todo de México está paralizado ahorita, that all of México is paralyzed right now. And it was true, you could feel every television set in the country was in, in offices and in houses, in churches and in schools. When México scored their first goal, I swear it was as if you could hear and feel the entire country erupting in complete and utter pride and bliss for the mother-team. Even though the first goal was renounced due to an off-sides call, the emotion at the time of ball-to-net was absolutely incredible, unlike anything I have ever experienced. During that game, I really started to wish I had been hecho en México...!!

Maggie Uno's brother came into México D.F. on Thursday to visit with a friend who lives in D.F. Friday morning they drove down to Cuernavaca and after the game on Friday Uno and I went and visited her brother and his friends at their house. We got to see another part of town, another walk of life, eat more delicious tacos and quesadillas... it was a good adventure on Friday. Those random experiences have been some of my favorite ones, just being able to go out and explore and experience cultural differences that you can't teach in the classroom or learn from reading a book.

As uña y carne, two peas in a pod, more or less, Maggie Uno and I have spent a large majority of our class and free time together, and have had some really great conversations. On Friday we were talking about the relationships we have built with other Gonzaga people while we are all here. When traveling, a curious mind paired with an open heart prompts you to think about where you are, who you are, who you are with, what you are doing, where you are going, what you are experiencing - thought provoking questions go on and on. You are in a different state of being, in which you share yourself with the world differently than you would if you were at home. The relationship that you build with yourself grows and changes to these traveling experiences, and the relationship that you build with others is different than the ones you would have built with them at home. Not better or worse, just, different. I realize that the word "different" isn't the most descriptive, pardon me for my lack of vocabulary. They say that the first step to truly learning another language occurs when you start to forget your own native tongue... I don't know who "they" is, but I sure hope they are right!

Saturday: the final excursion

Woke up Saturday morning with my stomach in complete rage, but eh ni modo, on with la vida!

We went on an excursion to México City, where we saw Frida Kahlo's house la Casa Azul, el Museo Dolores Olmedo, and we got to visit Xochimilco (which is similar to what México City was like 500 years ago). Frida's house is painted the most beautiful cobalt blue, and save for the missing peacocks (there were peacocks in the movie Frida and we were disappointed to find that none actually resided there) it was a work of art in and of itself. El Museo Dolores Olmedo was a huge compound on which resided a rather extremely large house, plenty of peacocks (and some babies!) and the Xoloitzcuintli, the Mexican hairless dogs that were considered sacred dogs by the Aztecs. If you have a chance to go on facebook, check out the picture of the statue and the black dogs, and good luck telling the difference between the statue and the real dogs! So weird. Xochimilco is a district in D.F. with a series of canals from Lake Xochimilco, and you can take these boats called trajineras on the canal for an hour-long boat ride. These colorful boats are painted with vibrant colors and named after, well, I am not sure what they are all named after. But while you're floating along the river smaller boats come by you selling drinks, food, micheladas (SO GOOD), jewelry etc. And mariachi bands float by on their boats. Our excursion group was too big for just one boat, so we took two different boats instead, but our boatmen attached the two together. The people on the boat behind us paid for the mariachi to play some songs, so we cheated and got to listen to them for free! There were also plenty of boats that passed us by that were having some major fiestas goin' down. Definitely heard Lady Gaga blasting from some speakers.


PRE TEXT: When I take taxis, I really enjoy looking out the windows and seeing what I see, hoping that I will discover something exciting or that I will finally obtain some general sense of direction in this city of CRAZY drivers.

Saturday night after we got back, I was took a taxi to go hang out with some friends. It had jsut started to rain (and by rain I mean torrential downpour of the sky opening up), and not more than 3 blocks from my house something shiny caught the corner of my eye. I glanced really quickly to see what it was, and it was literally a hole-in-the-wall shrine to the Virgen Guadalupe, surrounded inside and out with red and gold foil-tinsel. All this time I should have been counting how many hole-in-the-wall Virgen Guadalupe shrines I see. The Virgen Guadalupe is a huge part of Mexican life, she is often called the matron saint of Mexicans. If you haven't learned about her, here is the Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgen_de_Guadalupe

Later that night, we went to a fiesta that a local salsa/dance studio was having. Our friend is the owner of the studio, so when we got the invite of course we were going to go to check it out! When we got there it was a little awkward at first, as hardly anyone was really dancing and most people were just kickin it on the sides of the big dance floor. But as the night progressed a bit, more people started to dance-and dance well-and we realized that there were dancing 'competitions' going on. Oh man, their feet were so light and their hips so smooth, I didn't know the human body could move that way! At one point there were 5 or 6 guys on the dance floor, competing to be the best male salsa-er of the night. And there was a period for a minute or two when they were breaking their groove down, and we were laughing because we felt like female peacocks being summoned by the male peacocks who were shaking their tail-feathers.

Sunday: tarea tarea tarea

Sunday was no day of much excitement, yet rather a day of much homework and trying to get ahead of the game for this week of homework hell. I am afraid that it is also very late, and that I don't have much energy left to say much else.

So now, as Lord Byron said, "On with the dance, let joy be unconfined!" I have less than two weeks left, and of course I am going to get my dance on, you know me!

Besos besos besos!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

my "name this title with cleverness" bank is currently out of service

Tomorrow marks a month that I have been I México! Actually, tomorrow marks the day that I was almost in México. I was actually in Texas waiting for a flight, praying for my luggage, and sipping on a gin & tonic over dinner. So, as of the 15th it will have been one month for me that I will have been here. Def does not feel like a month. Strange strange strange.

I can't keep my eyes open, expect a longer post tomorrow because that is what you will find (probably around the end-ish of the day)...

Besititos!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

VIVA MÉXiCO!

Today we went to the fayuca, the black market, after comida. You think that it would be way underground and hush-hush, but it's pretty normal. And HUGE! It has everything you would want from shoes to clothes to DVDs and CDs to car stereo speakers to food... you name it, you'll find it at the fayuca. We went down there looking for México fútbol jerseys for the World Cup tomorrow... México and South Africa are butting heads in the kick-off game of what is sure to be a take-down of the host country by a swarm of green guapos. I bought a playera verde, green jersey, and I am pumped to don that baby for the 9am game tomorrow. Oh man, I cannot wait for soccer here. It is safe to say that I haven't ever been so excited to partake in any sporting event, maybe save for our high-school lacrosse championship game, but that's a different story entirely. It's like a green fever is about to overtake this country... get ready for the greatness. Get ready for...

VIVA MÉXiCO!!!!!!!!

(besos!)

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

come on, estomago, man up

So I have been rattling off how much I absolutely love México, which is so true. That fact of that infinite México-love has not changed since my last blog post, rest assured friends and family. But there are two things that I really do not dig about México, let me elaborate briefly before my three-hour-long Gonzaga class.

1. If I haven´t already said this, I despise the machismo society here. Definitely not a fan. If you are not familiar with what I speak here, I will elaborate in a later blog post.
2. Off of that, I really don´t enjoy the fact that it´s not culturally acceptable for women to walk around or go places by themselves, other than the grocery store or to the pharmacy that is nearby. Especially for gringas. Makes me feel as though a sliver of independence has shrivelled up from my free-spirited ways.
[okay, so there are actually three things that I really do not dig about México, here is the third...]
3. Really not a big fan of how much my stomach really does not bode well with any of the spicyness that I eat. For the first week or so, my stomach was fine, absolutely normal and lovin what I was throwin it´s way. But after the first week and a half, my stomach was hooting and hollering and not likin whatever I was ingesting. So I did some self-diagnosis and realized that it is salsa and anything really spicy that makes my stomach go haywire. So much for salsa at every meal... psh, thanks estomago. I make sure that I don´t eat too spicy stuff on a regular basis so I can save my stomach annoyances for the times when I want that reallyyyyy good-lookin taco or just can´t help but down that mole that sitting on the enchiladas in front of me. And you better believe that these stomach things won´t stop me from bringing back my mamás bomb-ass salsa recipe.

Besos!

Monday, June 7, 2010

CCM: un sándwich de crema de cacahuate y mermelada

Right now I am in the midst of one of my homework assignments, for which we have to use the imperative verb form and write some instructions on how to do something or suggestions on what to do when you go someplace. When our prof said that we could do a receta (recipe), I knew my topic was decided: I was do write a recipe for el perfecto sándwich de CCM - the perfect PB & J. It's looking to be a good recipe, once I finish it I will post it up on the blog so you too back in the 'states can learn a thing or two about the perfection of the great worldly-famous meal.

Boy, has it been a good long while since I last wrote! Last week was an insanely busy week school-wise. We had a slew of final essays and tests that were due last week, which made it difficult to spend time away from eating, sleeping, school, and going out for our friend Maite's birthday! But I got over the hill that was that week, and here we are with week 4 having just begun! Four of our group-mates left yesterday, and I miss them quite a fair amount. The group dynamic rapidly and obviously changed, it's strange going from 13 to 9. Here are some other tidbits about today that were noticeably different:
- There are a couple of new groups of students on "campus," and it's strange to see new gringo faces around. By overhearing some of them talk today, it was more than obvious that they are from Texas, and we all know how I feel about Texas...!
- Our class schedule changed today, so now instead of taking a composition class in the afternoon, it has switched to a literature class. Which will be a challenge, but a good challenge I think, and the teacher has a peaceful, harmonious presence about here that will make class enjoyable.
- The grammar class that we were in moved from building 3 to building 12 - let me elaborate. The campus consists of 14 different buildings, each with a different purpose. Buildings 1-9 are on the same "campus," which makes it easy to get something to eat or kick it with friends during the 10-minute breaks we have during class. But buildings 10-14 are all separate from the main campus, so now we won't return to main campus until lunchtime. The buildings aren't far away, only a minute or two walk from main campus, it's not bad at all. And the change of scenery is nice, one can only spend so many hours a day in the same place, you know?
Day 1 of Week 4 wasn't a bad day by any means, I am very much looking forward to these next three weeks here. After three weeks, I really feel like I am in the swing of things, like I have a groove and feel comfortable differentiating from the gringo norm. I am so excited for what will come this next three weeks, I know I will have much to recount!

Catch-up time from the past week-ish!

As I said, last week was incredibly busy with homework and such, but that didn't stop Cuernavaca from getting further under my skin!

On Wednesdays, we have a class with our group of students from Gonzaga and the director of our program, our beloved Luis García-Torvisco! Each student is required to do a presentation of 5-ish minutes during the class on a given topic, and my presentation was last Wednesday on the Mexican Americans... I think it went well! My spoken-spanish is definitely better than my written spanish, that is for sure. We also watch a movie every class period, and this past class we watched Como Agua para Chocolate, such a cool movie! If you have not yet had the grace of seeing the movie, I would highly recommend it. It is set during the Mexican Revolution and focuses on the emotion and love one woman pours into her cooking, and presents the story in magic realism... it is an incredible movie! And if you want anyone to watch it with when you come back to the 'states, hit me up :) Oh and Wednesday was also the first time that I went to this restaurant/taco-joint called La Gringa (III)! I had heard such incredible things about it from my classmates, and I had wanted to go for the longest time. It's only a block away from my house here, so I was kind of surprised that it took me almost three weeks to get my butt over there. On Wednesday I went with a few friends and had tacos al pastor, and holy smokes they are incredible!!! Def one of my favorites, bar none.

Oh man I forgot about this story that happened maybe the 4th or 5th day that I was here! So I was up late doing homework (as I tend to be up late doing homework most nights) and when I was walking to my bedroom, I noticed a bug on the floor crawling toward my room, what appeared to be a small scorpion. Of course, everyone else was asleep, and I had NO idea what in the heck I was going to do, I just knew that it was not about to go into my room. So I took one of my handy-dandy Chaco sandals and flung the little pest across the living room, which was probably a smart idea since it decided to start sprinting away from me as fast as it could. But I was not about to take any chances with this little guy, so I ran after it and just smushed the crap out of it with my Chaco. It took me about 5 minutes to build up the courage to look and see if I had actually killed the fella, and thank goodness I did. The next day when I recounted the story to my classes, I felt like such a hero. My grammar teacher preceded to inform me that "wherever there is one alacran (as they are called), there are five more to be found close by." Thank you Daniél, I really appreciate that spout of sarcasm.

Anyway back to last week...the end of school on Friday came with a huge shout of happiness, a big fatty nap, and a night of salsa-dancing at Los Arcos as per-norm on Fridays. Saturday we went to Rios las Estacas, a sort of resort-ish place with this crystal-clear rivers that are so ideal to swim in. It is the perfect place to just lay around for a day, drink some beers, take some naps, jump in the river a few times... it was a much needed and well-appreciated break. Sunburn? Yep. Well, Maggie2 was smart and decided that because (the majority of) her legs are tan, she didn't need to put on any sunblock at all. But she forgot that there is a part of her thighs that her shorts cover, and that part never gets any sunshine. So by not putting sunblock on those whiter-than-white areas while wearing a bathing suit, she got a gnarly sunburn. It could've been way worse, but I haven't had one this bad since, well, I honestly don't remember. Eh, ni modo, no big thing. When we returned from las Estacas, we went out that night to a Cuban bar and restaurant, literally a hole in the wall place. So legit. We were the only gringos there, there was art and writing all over the walls, for anyone from Portland who has been to Montage, the menus reminded me of the Montage menus, but wayyyy cooler and Cuban!, and there was live music too! Starting at 1am was the live music and we left at 1230, but I mean, it was still there! Definitely going back there. And hopefully eventually going to go visit the real Cuba!!!

One of the things I love the most about where we live is that I can go with my roomdogs to the bakery at the Superama here and just get a churro or two to chow on. People here know how to cook and bake, I really think it is something in the blood. Watch out though, when I come back I bet I will be able to make a mean churro...!

Holy wow the storms here are incredible!!! There was just a huge burst of thunder, and it appears as if it opened up the sky, because an incredible downpour of rain is coming down outside. Yeah, this feels like home.

If there is one thing about México that I have come to love and appreciate so much, it is the food. And not because the food is incredible, but what food, comida, means. Comida is never just a grab-n-go affair as it most of the times is in the 'states. We eat desayuno in the mornings, then have our biggest meal called comida in the afternoons around 3, and then a small light dinner called cena in the evenings, usually around 8 or 830. The times to eat aren't merely suggested times, but stores close down and people stop working so that they can return home for their comida with their family or their friends. Food brings people together in a way that nothing else has the power to. It is a literally physical source of life and sustenance, but even moreso for the spirit. In these past three weeks, I have come to appreciate so much in my life just from sitting down and really enjoying and knowing the people I am eating with. People have always come first in my life, and the comida here has only reiterated and emphasized that ten-fold. Just you wait for some great comida upon my state-side return, just you wait!

Well, I better return back to my sándwich de crema de cachuate y mermelada, can't leave a serious business like that hanging.

Besitossss!!

Monday, May 31, 2010

"Do you like onion rings?"

There is this bar/restaurant (good drinks, crappy food) called Los Arcos that is downtown in the zócalo, and on Tuesday and Friday nights they have salsa (yes, dancing) nights with live music, and absolutely everyone goes to salsa nights at Los Arcos. Last Tuesday a big group of us Gonzaga kids went, and ordered some food because we were hungry. There are these two girls in our group, Maite and Christine, who are roommates and who I absolutely adore they are so funny. When we were ordering they were looking to split something. In keeping up with Mexican culture, Maite asked Christine "Do you want enchiladas?" and before Maite finished her sentence Christine asked "Do you like onion rings?" Oh man, we all died of laughter. And the best part was that the waitress was laughing too. Good old gringa times. That story was better in person, but it's still pretty classic. (In case anyone was wondering, they ordered the enchiladas).

I was not very good about writing in my journal this past (second) week, and my exhausted brain has little recollection of the smaller details of this past week. I'll do a better job this week!

I can tell you that on Saturday, our group went on an excursion to Cholula and Puebla. In the town of Cholula, there are (I think) 350 churches, almost one for every day of the year. When the Spanish came and conquered México, they saw a temple in Cholula, and as our tour guide described it, "they thought it would be a good idea to throw sand and dirt on the temple and build a church right on the top of it." And so they did, and so became the butt-burning hill-climb in Cholula. From the top of that covered-up temple you could see so many churches in all directions, it was a bit overwhelming I must say. While some of the churches were incredible sights, others had strangely-creepy figures that would have made it impossible for me to worship in a place where they were luring over me so eerily.

All of the churches also made me think of my time in Zambia last summer. When we went on our weekend trips around Zambezi, we often stopped in many churches if not attended mass at the churches we went to. What permeated my brain on Saturday was the disparity between the ornate, elaborate churches the Spanish built in Cholula and the simple, plain churches that the Zambians built on their own. Not only were these differences a point of economic comparison, they were also a point of comparison of the beauty found in everyday simplicity, and the beauty that people often overlook in the simple things that are right before them. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, no?

Voy a dormir, hasta luego!

Besos!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

These hips don't lie

It's already the second Wednesday of the 6-week stay, my my time has flown! Thank goodness I am staying for 6 weeks, I couldn't imagine only staying for 3 weeks: there are four students from our group that are leaving a week from Sunday. When originally looking at figuring the trip into my grander summer plans, I figured that I would come to Cuernavaca only for 3 weeks in hopes to come back to the US of A after that and have an internship or shnazzy job waiting for my return. And then something hit me in the face like I was bike-riding into a brick wall: I am only young once (so cliche), so why the hell not get the experience I really wanted to have and stay for the whole 6-week period? So here I am, in Cuernavaca, looking at 1.5 weeks down and 4.5 more to come. Bring it on, baby.

Last week I took the free salsa-class offered to gringos at the University. Dang, rhythm is a hard thing to come by. I definitely have more practice as a sports-player and not as much practice as a dancing-fiend, so not gonna lie, I was pretty dang awkward. But of course since it was so much fun, I wanted to come back this week! So yesterday (the majority of our Gonzaga group) I went to the salsa class again, and this time my feet were feelin the beat. And my hips, my hips were moving kind of like Sharkira's (key word in this sentence being 'kind of').

It just so happens that downtown in the zócalo there is a bar/restaurant called Los Arcos that has salsa nights every Tuesday and Friday nights. They also have a mean happy-hour, and at a normal time too - 8 to 10pm, none of this 2ish to 6ish pm business the United States gives us. So a group of us went down to Los Arcos that night to practice our newly-learned salsa moves and have a Corona or two. That place was absolutely hopping, oh man, and there were some couples that sure did know how to move their hips. Definitely not lying.

Recommendation: Take a salsa class!! Do it. Don't want to go it alone? Bring a friend! Nothing better than improving your groove and being able to laugh with one another. I'll volunteer for the position if you really want :)

Besitos!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

¡Chócalas!

...known in english as "high five" or "knucks," this word has quickly become one of the favorite words of our group. Other favorites include chiflar (to whistle, like the piropos or catcalls gringas get on the streets), que honda qüex (what's up dude), and ¡UF!, which really isn't anything translated - we kind of just use it when we want to.

This week has been absolutely crazy, it's hard to believe that we've been in Cuernavaca for one week already! Time has gone by so quickly.

After classes on Tuesday, Sadie (my roomdog), Abby, Maggie1 and I (Maggie2) went to Superama, which is a supermarket within a 2 minute walk of our house. I believe it is owned by Wal-Mart, which they have in Cuernavaca as well (and of course, I refuse to go there). After exploring the aisles of Superama, we went to the zócalito (little town square) to get some ice cream, which was perfect for the hot hot afternoon heat. Cuernavaca is nicknamed "the city of eternal spring," so pretty much ice cream is always welcome in our daily cuisine.

*being side-note*

Maggie Nelson and I have class together all day, every day. To differentiate us, our professors deemed us Maggie1 (Nelson) and Maggie2 (Cech), I am 2 because I was late coming to class on the first day. For the duration of the blog, I may refer to us as "the Maggies," "Maggie1/Maggie2," or "1 and 2," or better yet what we get quite often, "uno y dos."

*end side-note*

Wednesday was a busy day: in addition to our 6 hours of class, we had our weekly 3-hour Gonzaga class from 4-7pm that has its own extraneous amount of homework it requires. So class got done on Wednesday at 2, I took the salsa-class offered at the school from 2-3, and then had lunch and had our Gonzaga class from 4 to 7pm - needless to say I was fried when the end of the day came. And as for the salsa class... well, it was fun! But I'm an athlete, I have no rhythm. That's not humility speaking, that's blatant honesty. I'll try anything twice though, and the class is on Tuesday, so who knows what kind of moves I'll have after this week.

Thursday we had class as usual until 2, went home and had comida after school was over, and then at 4 we met up at the school for a tour of the zócalo (the main town square). There was a large group of students from the University (Universidad Internacionál, or UNINTER), from GU, Illinois and Indiana. When we got to the zócalo, we hopped on a double-decker tour bus, that was probably designed to make the gringos look even more ridiculous than we already do. They had us take a super-gringo bus because they were making a video about UNINTER for a t.v. station in Cuernavaca, we're gon' be famous!!!

Friday we had our end of the week exam, which kicked my butt, way much. Then we went with Abby's friend to get some ice cream (like I said, ice cream is always appreciated in our cuisine). We were pooped Friday, long first week.

Yesterday early in the morn, we went to México D.F. (Distrito Federal). Our first stop was the Metropolitan Cathedral, which is HUGE and absolutely gorgeous. After that, we headed to the Palacio Nacional where the Federal Government offices are. More importantly, there are some absolute phenomenal Diego Rivera murals there that detail the history and ancient cultures of Mexico. There was so much beauty in the detailed meaning of each figure in the many murals, it was a very spiritually-stimulating experience for me. Following the Palacio Nacional, we went to the Templo Mayor, which is an archaeological center and museum with ancient ruins that now sit preserved in the middle of the city. After the Templo, we had the chance to grab some grub and kick it in the zócalo for awhile, and at one point, a group of Mexican young'ins approached me and asked me if I would do an interview with them in english. We were chatting and they were asking me questions and told me it was for their English class at their university in D.F. "Is it because I'm a gringa?" I asked them in spanish, jokingly of course. They hesitated and looked at each other and then at me and smiled while they said "yes!" We all got a good laugh out of that. Finally, we went to the Anthropology Museum of Mexico, which is abound with ancient and current cultures and artifacts, such as the original Aztec calendar (frickin' giant)! As much as museums are interesting (apologies for a lack of a better vocab word), there is only so much one can handle of museum-going in one day. And Saturday, well, Saturday was a lonnnng museum day, fo sho.

...which brings us to Sunday! Today! We went to mass today at the Cathedral in the zócalo, at 10:30 so we could sleep in. A few things for us to keep in mind for mass next week:
a) the 10:30am mass is the mass at which there are the most babies and children. while they are absolutely adorable and make me want to adopt several Mexican children, they also were rather loud and distracting - partly because there were 3 babies sitting within arm-length of our 6-person group, and partly because I am not used to the attendance of children at the 8:30pm mass in the Gonzaga chapel.
b) pick up the books at the entrance of the Cathedral next week. There weren't books in the pews with which we could follow along the scriptures, and the stuffy heat of the Cathedral along with our newly-christened spanish-listening ears made it difficult to understand what was being said. Our mamá told us that there are books at the entrance that you can pick up for the service to read along with if we wanted to. Good job, gringas, good job.
c) the 12:00 noon service has a mariachi band! We will go to that one next week!

I am rapidly and most definitely falling in love with Cuernavaca. I am head over heels for the language, there is a freedom that comes along with understanding another language. It's a portal of sorts into a world to which the door had been closed before. The culture has come alive vibrantly, and while I am definitely a gringa, I didn't experience the traditional, famous "culture shock."

So this time, I will just say that even though the program ends in five weeks, I have an itching feeling that I won't want to leave. Who needs to graduate and finish their undergraduate career anyway, right? (jokes jokes, mom and dad!!!)

Week 2, here I come!

Besos!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Stairmasters and kegstands

After many attempts to upload photos to the blog, my impatience has gotten the best of me. It has taken at least half an hour per upload, so I feel as though my patience isn't that bad...? I'll upload a photo one of these days, I have about 40 more of them in Mexico, so there's plenty of time left!

Oh man except there was this one photo, of our first tequila "shots" in Mexico [I say "shot" in quotations because it was in an itty-bitty cup equivalent to about 1/4 of a shot of a drank]. But shoot, was that some delicious tequila, 100% hecho en Mexico. This took place at a pit-stop on our way to our excursion site on Sunday...

...and on Sunday we went on an excursion to the ancient Aztecan-city ruins of Teotihuacan. It's located north of Mexico City, and is still in tact after so many years of wear-and-tear [it's estimated that there were agricultural settlements there as far back as 600BC]. It was incredible to see how much people could do with their bare hands and a little bit 'o elbow grease! The temple of the Sun and the temple of the Moon were incredible, with the Sun temple towering about 72 meters, give or take, above ground! And yes, yes we did ascend the Sun temple. Let me tell you-stairmasters 'aint got nothin on this baby. Those old-fashioned pieces of equipment can kiss my thoroughly toned buns-and-thighs, thank you.

Flash forward to today, the first day of clases! Here was the schedule of the day (for me):

8am - Orientation
1015am - Advanced Grammar [this class is in the morning from 8am until 11am, but since I had orientation today I went late]
1115am - Conversation
1210pm - Advanced Composition
2pm - end of classes!

My teachers are great: in addition to speaking extremely-rapido espanol and being very funny, my Advanced Grammar teacher is also very exotic looking [in a very good way, of course] - dark skin, piercing eyes...bienvenidos a la Universidad, muchachas. My Conversation and Advanced Composition teacher is a riot, we talked about the indigenous people of both Mexico and of the United States, and then we chatted about some slang and explained the good American kegstand, which is explained as a very strange American tradition [si, es la verdad]. He told us of a group from Dallas [Texas, my state of choice] that was studying here and had a keg at one of their houses every single weekend... Now, there's the "Go Big or Go Home" kind of mentality that I so lovingly know Texas for. A little bit of Mexican culture, a little bit of American culture, and we're good.

It's really incredible though how much spanish I feel I am soaking up after only one day of classes. I have a feeling that I may not want to speak english for awhile once I return stateside. Amigos, be fore-warned...

OH MY GOSH AND MY BAG CAME TODAY!!!!!!! It was SO nice to be able to change into clean clothes after 3 days. Here's lookin at all of you back in the states: please please don't take advantage of your closets and dresser drawers. :)

Time for some homework. Hasta luego!

Besitos!


Saturday, May 15, 2010

"¡Estoy feliz, estoy en México!"

Buenas noches de Cuernavaca!

After arriving at my host-family's house today with no suitcase, an empty belly and in need of a really good night's sleep, I am currently pretty incapable of writing anything worth reading. One thing I can say with clarity is that the gin & tonic I had with dinner last night was much needed after my looooooong day, I can't recall ever having tasted such a satisfying beverage.

My bag isn't with me though. Because of all of the flight cancellations/etc., it is said to have arrived in D.F. around 4:30pm today, and will be delivered to my homestay tomorrow morning. Same clothes three days in a row? No problemo.

Oh my host family is so fantastic! It's just a mama and a papa, their two daughters are older and have married. I haven't met mi papa yet, but mi mama is amazing! I am living with another GU friend and there are two girls from a school in Pennsylvania that are studying at the Uni. here and staying at our house. Should be a wonderful time, fo sho.

I am thankful I arrived today though, because tomorrow our group is going to Teotituachan, some pyramid ruins north of D.F. With that, I am off to bed.

Besos besos besos.... porque Estoy feliz, estoy en Mexico!!!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Welcome to Fort Hood

Due to severe weather in Dallas, we were unable to land there on our airplane from Portland. So as alternative #1, we were going to fly to Waco, Texas to re-fuel until we could land in Dallas. Whelp, Waco was flake-o with weather as well, so alternative #2 was to head to Killeen Military Base/Regional Airport in Fort Hood, a little south of Dallas. Long story short, I am here now in Fort Hood, Texas [no, no I am not in Cuernavaca]. I am kicking it with two new stranded-traveler friends I made, Laura and Mary, and we are about to watch Netflix to pass the time until we depart to Dallas. Go big or go home, right Texas?

Besos

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Ready, set...

GO!!!

T-minus 7 hours until I hop on a flight for Dallas, my gateway to Mexico D.F. [Mexico City]! It's been a long time coming, and I am so soo ready to let the sails loose and go off to a marvelous adventure. Am I mentally packed? Nope. Physically packed? Heck no. Am I ready?? Well, I will have to be tomorrow!

Last summer, I embarked on a different adventure. Flashback one year to date: Maggie was in Zambezi, Zambia, Africa with the CLP Servant Leadership Program. Hell of a first-time international-travel experience! We had a group blog that the [roughly] 13 of us took turns writing on that was an amazing opportunity for us to share our journey with our friends and family. One year later, I realize that I most definitely left my heart in Africa, as for the past few days I have been religiously checking their 2010 blog for the latest update. It's an amazing group that will undoubtedly have some amazing insights on their experiences. I will continue to check it religiously, I encourage you to check it out too: www.gonzagainzambezi.com.

My friend Liz Purdy introduced this poem to the 2009 Zambezi group last summer, and I have found resonance with it ever since. Dr. Josh Armstrong, the director of the Zambezi program, posted the same poem on their blog this year, he beat me to it so now I feel like a copycat posting it on mine! Here it is though:

For the Traveler by John O'Donohue

When you travel, you find yourself

Alone in a different way,

More attentive now

To the self you bring along,

Your more subtle eye watching

You abroad; and how what meets you

Touches that part of the heart

That lies low at home:


A journey can become a sacred thing:

Make sure, before you go,

To take the time

To bless your going forth,

To free your heart of ballast

So that the compass of your soul

Might direct you toward

The territories of spirit

Where you will discover

More of your hidden life,

And the urgencies

That deserve to claim you.


May you travel in an awakened way,

Gathered wisely into your inner ground;

That you may not waste the invitations

Which wait along the way to transform you.


I look very much forward to updating the blog, which I hope to do a few times a week. Next time you hear from me, I'll be in Cuernavaca!

"The world is grand, awfully big and astonishingly beautiful, frequently thrilling"
- Dorothy Kilgallen

Besos,
Margarita
(Margaret = Margarita in spanish!)