Cuentepec

Today my co-workers visited the small town of Cuentepec. This puebla is a rariety in that most if not all of the residents speak their native tongue of Nahuatl, and Spanish. Many of the women and girls wear the traditional dress which includes an apron and a scarf.

Today is the fiest day of St. Michael, the archangel's feast day and this puebla puts on a big celebration for it. Most every household makes molé for the occasion, and everyone's molé is their own special receipe! Molé is a chocolate sause with many different spices that is put over meat...the taste is usually not sweet, and I would never have guessed chocolate was in the receipe. We visited several different households and we were fed at each. Some of women in the households we visited are in cooperatives that were set up by a social worker in the area. One women is in a sewing cooperative as well as a pottery cooperative. The women are very happy to be part of this new way of making a living...

At the first household, the young mother made us excellent handmade tortillas with rice beans, & chicken covered in molé over a fire, a way of cooking that is far from what I have known.

Some siblings took us for a tour of the area...beautiful with it's green hills and valleys, and river at the bottom...

Sitting in the backyard of these families homes reminded me much of my time in the Dominican Republic. There were cats, dogs, pigs, hens and colorful roosters walking all around... I really enjoyed my time in Cuentepec. It was nice to spend an afternoon learning a bit of the native language, learning about the cooperative, and seeing a glimpse of the people's life here.

Learning a bit about the families also was a reality check. One of the women we visited has been raising her children alone while her husband works in the U.S. The family wants to send their children for higher education, and could see no other way to afford it. I asked the mother how he crossed into the U.S., and she told me that he crossed through the desert. This is a very dangerous way to get into the U.S. and I'm sure I would never survive the brutal heat and distance of the journey. For people that are poor and without connections, there are no legal ways to immigrate into the U.S. This extremely dangerous route is one of the few options to cross into the U.S.

Get Updates!!

Subscribe Now! I wanted to point out that I now have the capability for you to be a subscriber to my blog! This way you will be emailed when I add on to it. All you have to do is fill in your email address on the side of this blog, and you'll be a subscriber! And, bonus, you won't get any other spam emails.

On to the update…I'm getting more adjusted to life here in Mexico. I'm loving, absolutely loving the food that we have at the center here. Everyday we have a warm breakfast that can range from spinach omelets, to pancakes, to yummy French toast, and always fresh fruit with yogurt! Lunch is more delicious, in fact I have such a full meal that I hardly get hungry for dinner. Lunch is the main meal here. We always have beans and tortillas (which is also always on the table as part of breakfast too), salad, and then a delicious main course followed by dessert. My favorite dish so far is what we had today...vegetables in a creamy, delicious spicy sauce. Of course I asked what it was called, but like many other Spanish nouns and verbs that I am trying to pick up, I quickly forgot it.

Last week I gained a new co-worker, Isabel! She is from here, and speaks Spanish, English, French, and is learning Italian. She is a wonderful addition to our team. She is always ready to laugh at my stupid jokes, and is very helpful in our work here. The work I am doing is interesting and good so far. We won’t have any real groups come until January, so right now is all the relationship building, prep and organizing work. If you are thinking to visit, it may be the sooner the better! Once groups start coming, I will have a much busier schedule.

I have found some real advantages to my life here in Mexico. I love that I can go out to an outdoor restaurant/bar and enjoy a fruity drink for about $.13, watch live salsa music and dance! Recently I have met Malory, a Lutheran Volunteer that is doing a year of service here. She too loves to go out dancing, and we are both excited to get out experience the dance scene!

This area has some very beautiful spots. I love a nearby city garden that has flowers blooming all year round. Last week I was introduced to the local outdoor market! What an experience that was! It is much more exciting than a trip to the grocery store…fresh fruit, meat, and vegetables all around, friendly venders eagerly awaiting your purchase, and there is some bartering involved if you choose…

I am meeting more people and enjoying getting out. Isabel and one other of my coworkers and I went to a Latin dance class here for the first time last night. We had a great time sweating it up with the other dancers. By the end of class, aguacero! Down pour!! Mother Nature is very serious about her rainy season here. It rains nearly once every day, usually at night or in the early morning. Most of the time it is a down pour, and sometimes lightening and thunder included. Last night was no exception. The small street our dance school is on soon became a road with 2 rivers running down each side. The sewer system isn’t so good here, so water can really pile up fast. We waited outside the school, under the protection of the roof over hang for about 10 minutes waiting for a taxi. When it finally came, my paints were soaked up to my knees, and I dived into the taxi trying to avoid the small river on the roadside. Whew! What a storm!

One part of being here that I am especially grateful for is that I am really enjoying my coworkers. Today, after lunch we were discussing the idea of a quinceañera, which in Latin America is a fifteen year old’s “coming out” party. Almost all of the women on staff never had one; some of them said they didn’t have one due to the incredible expense of this very elaborate celebration. Well, we decided that we should change that, and have a group quinceañera party at our place! We could all go out and buy those fancy hoop skirt dresses to promenade around in and dance! We had great laughs practicing our curtsies and dancing. I will keep you updated if that happens!

Part of what I have been doing in my work is gather quotes. Here is one of my favorites:

"Make me
-wide eyed for beauty,
and for my neighbor's need
and goodness;

-wide-willed for peace-making,
and for the confronting power
with the call to compassion;

-wide-hearted for love
and for the unloved,
who are the hardest to touch
and need it the most."

-taken from Breathe into Me the Courage to Make Something New by Ted Loder

20 questions...

Part of my work here at this time is educating myself on our program and social justice. Please check out the following link with some surprising information!
http://www.truthout.org/article/twenty-questions-social-justice-quiz-2008

The weekend is here!

Saturday I had a pleasant surprise, visitors! James who is traveling Mexico working on organic farms...the last one that he went to was in Tepoztlan, and unfortunately had very poor conditions. James's room was swarming with bees and bats, so he only stayed a small portion of the time he was supposed to at the farm, and then came to our center instead. James and I went out on Saturday night to have some beers and see what we could discover. I say beers because there is no having only one beer here it seems, menus always have a two for one deal. We went to a trendy bar with a live acoustic guitar player.

Sunday brought more visitors! A couple and their two children came to visit us and Kathy, our director. They are a Menonnite family from the U.S. doing work in a small town not far from here. They lived in Chicago for many years but now are enjoying working in a town small enough that it takes a half an hour to walk 2 blocks because you talk to everyone you know as you pass by. They are really enjoying this change of pace. We all enjoyed an Italian meal together in an incredibly good Italian restuarant here. I kept feeling like I was back in the states being at an Italian restaurant!

Afterwards James and I headed out for music. On our way to our destination, we ran into a drum circle! After seeing the movie, The Visitor several times this past spring, I was enthralled to see the drumming and dancing. I held myself back from running into the middle of the circle and trying to do some version of the African dance I had learned a couple years ago. I figure I should try to practice a bit at home first....

James and I made it to the salsa spot later on that night, and watched the live band and some fantastic dancers. I danced one dance, but found that it is difficult to get men to ask you for a dance when it looks like you came as a couple... James loved the music too, but he wasn't ready to try salsa for the first time at this place of incredible dancers.

On Monday, we quickly made our plans for El Grito and Independence Day!! Because of varias other events going on in town, we decided to jump on a bus and visit a the nearby town of Iguala. Casey, (my coworker), her boyfriend Nestor, James and I met up with friends in Iguala. We went to the town square for El Grito. El Grito (literal translation= the cry of pain) is a Mexican Independence Day tradition at 11pm on the eve of independence day when a Government official will yell out varias things about Mexico. It is called "El Grito" because it signifies the cry of pain from the control Spain had over Mexico for over three centuries.

We found our way into the square and listened as the government official yelled and the people responded "Viva Mexico!" (long live Mexico). As soon as he stopped, from everywhere in the crowd white spray went up and filled the air and the spray suds came down on all of us. I asked someone what the spray was, the response was "Independence spray!" Soon the fireworks were going off, and then trailing down towards us. Nearby there was a large contruction that held varias fireworks. The fireworks started at the bottom and worked their way up this construction that had varias symbols and turning wheels. At one point, the fireworks stopped, and 2 men climbed up to get the whole thing going again then quickly climbed back down trying to avoid the sprays of flame; some job that would be!!

Casey and her boyfriend had made some reservations at a well known bar in the area for us to go there later that night. When we arrived, we received our Mexican colored necklaces and red white and green lines were drawn on our faces. The music was loud and a strange kind of party music that had not much more than just a beat. For a moment, I was thinking, I am too old for this kind of place! Thankfully, I was proven wrong...before I knew it disco songs from the US were playing, including YMCA and Disco Infirno! Nestor told me that this is typical; the music will go from US music, to cumbia to merengue to salsa to classic Mexican, and he was right! I had a great time dancing to them all..somehow I managed to keep dancing until 4 in the morning.

My friend James took a bunch of photos and said he would send them to me, so I'm hoping I'll be able to show them soon!

On the actual Independence day, we went to Iguala's proud tourist spot: the site of the Largest Mexican flag in the whole world!! It happens to be the second largest flag in the world, topped only by Israel. Throughout this whole Independence Day festivities, I have learned that Mexicans are very good at enthusiastically showing their pride for their homeland....




















Here is a photo of Iguala from where the flag stands.

Salsa!!

Being here in Mexico, I have to get out dancing! Last night Casey took me to a local outdoor restaurant/bar that has salsa...Tuesday nights are international night! It was nice to see some great salsa dancing, and do some myself! I also learned of where local lessons are, and met some local salsa instructors. It was a great time.

I´m feeling a bit more comfortable here with where things are in my neighborhood, and am enjoying getting to know people here as well. I now find myself joking with the staff in Spanish (which is not easy in a 2nd language). Today has been a nice day. I have met some people that my center has relations with. I have been impressed with what this organization has accomplished!

Tepoztlan

Tepoztlan

Monday right after work my coworker, Casey, asked me if I´d be interested in visiting a village outside the city that is having an indiginous celebration, so I said "Sure!" and off we went! We visited the ancient (meaning over 2,000 yrs old) city of Tepotzlan. The largest indigenous group that lives there are the Nahuatl natives. The city still has it´s Nahuatl culture and language despite repeated attacks by the Aztecs and conquistadores. In the 1521 Cortez was able to take over the area, but the people have not forgotten where they come from. The city is BEAUTIFUL and surrounded by tall mountains. The above photo only barely captures its beauty.

The celebration yesterday was for the ancient god that the city is named after. There was music, dancing, and lots of food. Unfortunately, we were unable to stay for the whole celebration, but did eat there and caught some music and fireworks. I look forward to traveling there again!

Here is a photo of the church...

Imagine...

Here is a photo of the area outside the kitchen, where we eat our delicious meals.



I am hoping to show you more photos in the future. Right now, I have no camera....long story.

Friday some of the staff and I went to visit "Maria" and her family. Maria lives in a small home made of metal sheets with a dirt floor in the middle of a comercial garden. Her home is an improvement from what it was months ago. They recently moved the home and made it a bit bigger. Maria has been given a tough lot in life; she and her husband are raising small children, and 2 that have cerebral palsy. The children can´t see, and have little to no ablities to take care of themselves. Somehow, in all the mud and dirt, Maria and her husband are so clean and well kept. Maria wears a bright white blouse and beautiful skirt. According to the staff here, whenever they make unannounced visits Maria is always so beautifully dressed. Recently, the family has come unto a bit tougher times, Maria´s husband had been sick for the past 2 weeks with a terrible fever, and therefore unable to work. That meant 2 weeks of lost salary. Fortunately, we brought food when we made our visit, and it was much appreciated.

Making this visit was difficult. I had to wonder how Maria can do it. It was uncomfortable for me to visit her home for just a short time, with flies swirling all around, the darkness of the home without any windows, the mud, the crying children. For her, this is her every day life. In conversation with Maria and her family, she is in many ways just like anyone else I know, but her life is so very different than anyone else I know.

Today I went to mass this morning with Kathy, the leader here. It was a small chapel, and the mass mostly in Spanish with a part in an indiginous language as well. The music was fun and lively coming from the balcony of the chapel. Now it is raining. It is not typical for it to rain here during the day, but it is hurricane season, and the hurricanes can bring more clouds and precipitation than usual.

I found some photos online of my workplace and I thought I would show you...

Above: This is where we normally meet in the mornings. Below: This is the path I take to my office...

I´ve arrived!!

On September 3rd, early in the morning, I left for Mexico! And here I am. All travel went as smoothly as possible, including a first class bus trip to my new home. The bus even had snacks, drinks served, and a movie.

When I arrived, I got a quick tour of the place. It is beautiful with flowers all around, and will be all year round. Photos should soon be posted. I knew my dad would be happy to know that there is a guitar here that nobody uses; so I´ll be sure to keep up with my playing!

Lunch is the big meal of the day here, so dinner was small but yummy! A carrot soup and vegetables. After dinner, I took a short tour of the area with a co-worker. The town sqaure is very close to where we live. Last night, to my surprise, I learned that it thunderstorms here every night this time of year. The thunder is loud, which makes falling asleep a little difficult, but do-able. I was exhausted after a full day of travel.

Today is first full day here. As staff, we are now preparing for the groups that will be coming. Today I was working on organizing reflection materials for the groups. At lunch, I was able to meet the entire staff. They are a very friendly, fun loving, kind group. Many of the staff have been here for many, many years. One of the women that cooks here reassuringly told me that I will not feel alone during my time here. She told me that the staff gets along very well, and are very supportive to one another.

It appears that I will be using my Spanish a lot here. Staff meetings are in Spanish and English, but mostly Spanish. I´ve been told that my Spanish is good, but I really look forward to improving!

It looks like I´m off to a good start!