Something that we have to get used to here is the extreme difference of our role in the house. At home as Americans we are expected to help make or clean up after dinner, sometimes even make it ourselves. We are expected to do chores and help out around the house and just generally be very independent people; we've been trained since childhood to be self-sufficient, girls these days are encouraged to grow up and go to school and get jobs so that they CAN support themselves if they're not married.
Mexico, on the other hand, is different. Here, we sit down at the table, and our host mom brings us the first part of our meal, usually soup or salad. We eat it, and then she takes the plate of food away and gives us another one. And then we eat that, and again she takes the plate away, we excuse ourselves, then usually go take a nap. We couldn't help clean up afterwards even if we asked... I don't think I'm even allowed in the kitchen. I know we all feel a bit gulity for the way we're treated here, because we have all been taught to help out. "No no no no! Esta bien!" our host moms would tell us (It's fine!). Here, for women, many of them get their self-worth from the meals they make; its an honor to make great food and serve it to her family. She wants everyone to feel comfortable and fulfilled, and the best way to do that is to cook. So because of this, we are forced to NOT help, which though at first was a bit unsettling, now is pretty nice. So see Dad, all that stuff you taught me about helping out and not being so self-absorbed doesn't even apply here! I'm not lazy, I just grew up in the wrong culture! Haha ;)
Also, my host mom, and I know that some other moms in our group do this too, doesn't like me to eat alone. So she'll get up when it's my breakfast time, serve me the breakfast, then sit there with me while I eat it. Which can make me feel a bit awkward sometimes when we're not talking. I keep thinking of random things to say, but then I'm like, no that's stupid, don't say that moron. I don't even know how to say that in spanish...
We went out again last night and Livey had her very first shot of alcohol, I was so proud. And today, to avoid doing our homework, we went on a search for pan dulce (pastries) -which we found in abundance down the road from our houses- and coffee, which we didnt. We just discovered the other day that our host families have been giving us decaffinated coffee in the mornings, which was kind of a big let down... but I think the fact that they make amazing lunches makes up for that problem. Oooh lunch... The translation for the word "lunch" here is "la comida" which, translated back into english, is The Food. So their meals here consist of- breakfast, THE FOOD, and dinner. Perfect.
Last night the group and some of our intercambios went out for dinner together; we were an even bigger group that usual (there were 16 of us I think), but I considered it much more legit as there were 6 mexicans with us so we didnt seem like such white american tourist losers. Oddly enough (not) our intercambios added salsa to their pizza... with every meal there is always salsa on the table, no matter what we're eating. And I swear, when our group of white Americans go out to dinner together, the servers like to put ketchup on our table, no matter what we're eating. Because we're Americans, and Americans like ketchup with everything. We also continue to take our intercambios out for ice cream at the zocalo, which I know is unhealthy for us, but the ice cream here is SOOO GOOD. I want to ship everyone I know from the US here, so that everyone can have the pure joy of eating all the food. I'm still not tired of it at all, and I've been here for 3 weeks!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
"She said 9:30... in Mexico time."
So I've finally started getting into a routine here, which helps me alot because I feel like I'm starting to know how to LIVE in this culture. I wake up and open the blinds, knowing full well that it's sunny outside... it's so different from home, where I wake up and look outside to judge how the day's weather will go and what I should wear. Here, I could get dressed without even looking outside and know that it's going to be nice. We're starting to get into our classes now, with quizes coming up, and presentation and papers. I'm still excited for lunch every day, and I think this will remain the same no matter how long I'm in Mexico.
With our intercambios, we're starting to talk about other things than just surface topics... the language barrier we have to get over every day just makes it that much more interesting. Yesterday I was listening to a story Mayra was telling me, "Our teacher was hungry, so she gave us more homework." And I COULD NOT figure out what she meant by the teacher being hungry... and then it hit me! Her teacher was ANGRY, not hungry, and I laughed and had to explain to her why I was laughing... Also for a homework assignment, we had to ask our intercambios for a joke to tell to our class. I always feel ridiculous when someone here obviously says a joke, because they do the pause at the end waiting for you to laugh, and we just stare at them. Or when I say something and Mayra laughs, but I can tell she's hesitating, and I say, "Do you understand?" and she says, "Umm, no?" We also attempted to explain "thats what she said," jokes to Olivias intercambio, but that really didn't turn out right. The only thing we could say was, "Americans can be very sexual. Its a sex joke." But we couldn't really explain WHY or HOW to use the joke... so we had to let that one go. Yesterday Mayra says to me, "Owr teachar sayd that we have to stop watching the tele and read more, because that is wat Americans do." I laughed!! And she continued, "But I wanted to tell her, umm, no, that is not!"
Olivia and I went on a walk yesterday around our neighborhood. In mexico, there are concrete walls surrounding almost all the houses, so when you walk around, all you see are these different-colored walls and gates and sometimes the houses behind them. Its a very rustic, dirty kind of beauty, because although there are not gorgeous houses and flowering gardens, it is in a way still beautiful. I could make it sound greater than it is, with cobblestone streets and flowers of all colors hanging over the walls along the sidewalks. Though what I said is true, that description leaves out the graffitied walls and the dirty roads and the polluted water in the ditch. In mexico we live in an extreme contrast of beauty and poverty, that makes it very easy for us to appreciate the fact that we live in America, where you can drink the tap water, live in safe neighborhoods in houses that dont have to be behind concrete walls, and can swim in the rivers. We also realize how lucky we are to be spending a semester in Mexico: all the food is fresh from markets, the sun is warm every day, we do our homework under palm trees sitting on the grass, and we eat some of the best food in the world. It seriously is an experience of two extreme contrasts of life at one time.
With our intercambios, we're starting to talk about other things than just surface topics... the language barrier we have to get over every day just makes it that much more interesting. Yesterday I was listening to a story Mayra was telling me, "Our teacher was hungry, so she gave us more homework." And I COULD NOT figure out what she meant by the teacher being hungry... and then it hit me! Her teacher was ANGRY, not hungry, and I laughed and had to explain to her why I was laughing... Also for a homework assignment, we had to ask our intercambios for a joke to tell to our class. I always feel ridiculous when someone here obviously says a joke, because they do the pause at the end waiting for you to laugh, and we just stare at them. Or when I say something and Mayra laughs, but I can tell she's hesitating, and I say, "Do you understand?" and she says, "Umm, no?" We also attempted to explain "thats what she said," jokes to Olivias intercambio, but that really didn't turn out right. The only thing we could say was, "Americans can be very sexual. Its a sex joke." But we couldn't really explain WHY or HOW to use the joke... so we had to let that one go. Yesterday Mayra says to me, "Owr teachar sayd that we have to stop watching the tele and read more, because that is wat Americans do." I laughed!! And she continued, "But I wanted to tell her, umm, no, that is not!"
Olivia and I went on a walk yesterday around our neighborhood. In mexico, there are concrete walls surrounding almost all the houses, so when you walk around, all you see are these different-colored walls and gates and sometimes the houses behind them. Its a very rustic, dirty kind of beauty, because although there are not gorgeous houses and flowering gardens, it is in a way still beautiful. I could make it sound greater than it is, with cobblestone streets and flowers of all colors hanging over the walls along the sidewalks. Though what I said is true, that description leaves out the graffitied walls and the dirty roads and the polluted water in the ditch. In mexico we live in an extreme contrast of beauty and poverty, that makes it very easy for us to appreciate the fact that we live in America, where you can drink the tap water, live in safe neighborhoods in houses that dont have to be behind concrete walls, and can swim in the rivers. We also realize how lucky we are to be spending a semester in Mexico: all the food is fresh from markets, the sun is warm every day, we do our homework under palm trees sitting on the grass, and we eat some of the best food in the world. It seriously is an experience of two extreme contrasts of life at one time.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Cochinillas!
Okay. So today is definitely flashback to the United States day... This morning Olivia and Abby and I took a taxi to Office Depot, which although had many things from the US, still felt like Mexico because of the crazy things they like to put on the front of their notebooks here... I found notebooks with cartoons of cows, hippos, paintings, and other random things on their covers.
Then we walk across the street to Sears. As soon as we walk in, I feel like I'm back in Oregon, in a mall. It even SMELLS like a mall in the US, which is weird because most things here don't smell like they do at home; the air's different, the detergents for the clothes are different, the food is different... but SEARS is the exact same. It's probably because of this whole feeling-like-I'm-home syndrome that makes me forget about bathrooms in Mexico... I walk into the bathroom and spend about 10 minutes in confusion, because there usually isnt toilet paper in the stalls, you have to get it from the lady that's ALWAYS in the bathroom, or you have to get paper towels, and you have to throw your toilet paper away in a bin rather than flush it, and you have to tip the awkward bathroom lady... I really don't like mexican bathrooms.
When I get home my mom is sitting in her kitchen and Santiago, the grandson, is watching Spongebob while eating lunch... another flashback to Brayden watching Spongebob and my sisters singing the song. Spongebob calls Patrick PATRICIO, "Ayyy, Patricio!", which is what I always call MY friend Patrick... and ON TOP OF IT ALL it's CLOUDY right now. Just like Oregon.
Well, unlike in Oregon, last night we went to a bar! The group got together after our excursion (we were rather impressed with ourselves, as we all started out as tired, exhausted, and dirty from the long day we had climbing up mountains to look at caves and tasting mezcal and eating worms and looking at the most massive tree in the world... and we ended up looking pretty and dressed up and proud of our great attempts we made to hide how tired we were) and we went out to dinner. It was a place that was a bit more expensive than we thought it would be, but it didn't matter because they had a great band playing... well I can't really say band and have it have the same conotations that it does in the US, because it was a group of mexican men and one woman all dressed up and playing guitars and singing songs in Spanish. Then they came and surrounded our table, counted, "Uno, dos, tres!" and then they all cat-called at us, to which we just laughed, embarassed. Then they all played their guitars and sang a song about love (like always), and moved on to the next table.
The first bar we went to wasn't really what I would call exciting... it was more of a bar where you sit with sophistocated people and drink wine and talk about things such as politics or literature or the French... although there were some pretty funny attempts at drunken salsa dancing. Soon we moved on to a bar we had heard alot about, "El elefante", which was MUCH more of what I thought a bar here would be like! It had great music playing, and the atmosphere is more... young and hip, I guess you could say. It was also two drinks for one night... we bought 2 shots and 2 mai tais for 100 pesos, which is less than 10 dollars. We also danced. The mexican boys here are pretty great dancers, but being a bit intoxicated I couldn't really understand what my dance partner was saying to me over all the music and the language barrier problems... the only thing I understood was "me amas? me amas?" (do you love me?) Thank god for Beau, one of the guys in our group, who likes to cut in and dance with us when he thinks that we want a break, and then lead us off the dance floor.
Today is saturday, which means that we have the lunch with their daughter and her family... including Santiago! Today for our little adventure after lunch, Remigio, Santiago and I went looking for cochinillas (potato bugs) in the garden, so that Santiago could play with them. "Cochinillas! Cochinillas! Donde estan?" he kept saying, with his child accent that all children have, no matter what language they speak.
Already I'm starting to slightly miss living in a culture where I dont constantly have to THINK about the culture... Where I can just talk without having to think about every word I say and listen without making an effort, where I can eat whatever I want whenever I want however MUCH I want, where I can watch movies, understand the jokes, cuddle with my boyfriend, call and text with my phone, walk around town without being stared at, BELONG. Where I dont have to pay a lady in the bathroom to give me the damn toilet paper. But then I remember that I'm in MEXICO for only 3 months. And that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I can learn so much from! I really am truly happy to be here, its just so different, and a bit difficult to get used to. And I feel blessed to have one of my best friends, Olivia, here with me... it makes things so much easier, to know that I do have at least one of my loved ones here with me, and that we can go through this together. We both miss the same things and most of the same people, but we both know that this is a great time and that we'll enjoy it. Being a part of another culture and learning about it from WITHIN it is an amazing experience for me, no matter the tiny setbacks of comfort.
Then we walk across the street to Sears. As soon as we walk in, I feel like I'm back in Oregon, in a mall. It even SMELLS like a mall in the US, which is weird because most things here don't smell like they do at home; the air's different, the detergents for the clothes are different, the food is different... but SEARS is the exact same. It's probably because of this whole feeling-like-I'm-home syndrome that makes me forget about bathrooms in Mexico... I walk into the bathroom and spend about 10 minutes in confusion, because there usually isnt toilet paper in the stalls, you have to get it from the lady that's ALWAYS in the bathroom, or you have to get paper towels, and you have to throw your toilet paper away in a bin rather than flush it, and you have to tip the awkward bathroom lady... I really don't like mexican bathrooms.
When I get home my mom is sitting in her kitchen and Santiago, the grandson, is watching Spongebob while eating lunch... another flashback to Brayden watching Spongebob and my sisters singing the song. Spongebob calls Patrick PATRICIO, "Ayyy, Patricio!", which is what I always call MY friend Patrick... and ON TOP OF IT ALL it's CLOUDY right now. Just like Oregon.
Well, unlike in Oregon, last night we went to a bar! The group got together after our excursion (we were rather impressed with ourselves, as we all started out as tired, exhausted, and dirty from the long day we had climbing up mountains to look at caves and tasting mezcal and eating worms and looking at the most massive tree in the world... and we ended up looking pretty and dressed up and proud of our great attempts we made to hide how tired we were) and we went out to dinner. It was a place that was a bit more expensive than we thought it would be, but it didn't matter because they had a great band playing... well I can't really say band and have it have the same conotations that it does in the US, because it was a group of mexican men and one woman all dressed up and playing guitars and singing songs in Spanish. Then they came and surrounded our table, counted, "Uno, dos, tres!" and then they all cat-called at us, to which we just laughed, embarassed. Then they all played their guitars and sang a song about love (like always), and moved on to the next table.
The first bar we went to wasn't really what I would call exciting... it was more of a bar where you sit with sophistocated people and drink wine and talk about things such as politics or literature or the French... although there were some pretty funny attempts at drunken salsa dancing. Soon we moved on to a bar we had heard alot about, "El elefante", which was MUCH more of what I thought a bar here would be like! It had great music playing, and the atmosphere is more... young and hip, I guess you could say. It was also two drinks for one night... we bought 2 shots and 2 mai tais for 100 pesos, which is less than 10 dollars. We also danced. The mexican boys here are pretty great dancers, but being a bit intoxicated I couldn't really understand what my dance partner was saying to me over all the music and the language barrier problems... the only thing I understood was "me amas? me amas?" (do you love me?) Thank god for Beau, one of the guys in our group, who likes to cut in and dance with us when he thinks that we want a break, and then lead us off the dance floor.
Today is saturday, which means that we have the lunch with their daughter and her family... including Santiago! Today for our little adventure after lunch, Remigio, Santiago and I went looking for cochinillas (potato bugs) in the garden, so that Santiago could play with them. "Cochinillas! Cochinillas! Donde estan?" he kept saying, with his child accent that all children have, no matter what language they speak.
Already I'm starting to slightly miss living in a culture where I dont constantly have to THINK about the culture... Where I can just talk without having to think about every word I say and listen without making an effort, where I can eat whatever I want whenever I want however MUCH I want, where I can watch movies, understand the jokes, cuddle with my boyfriend, call and text with my phone, walk around town without being stared at, BELONG. Where I dont have to pay a lady in the bathroom to give me the damn toilet paper. But then I remember that I'm in MEXICO for only 3 months. And that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I can learn so much from! I really am truly happy to be here, its just so different, and a bit difficult to get used to. And I feel blessed to have one of my best friends, Olivia, here with me... it makes things so much easier, to know that I do have at least one of my loved ones here with me, and that we can go through this together. We both miss the same things and most of the same people, but we both know that this is a great time and that we'll enjoy it. Being a part of another culture and learning about it from WITHIN it is an amazing experience for me, no matter the tiny setbacks of comfort.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Classes and such...
We now find ourselves learning spanish, and forgetting english. The other day, Alli said, "Not so quite." and Charlotte, "I want my water without gas." We have started pronouncing each others names with spanish accents, a-BEE, a-LI, char-LOTE, gor-DON, and say okay like ho-KAY. I was watching a telenovela last night with my housekeeper (SOOO DRAMATIC, these telenovelas! I'm starting to get addicted to at least one of them...) and Cassy called me on Skype, and I started out speaking in spanish! We have also discovered that we dont really realize when our profesora switches from english to spanish anymore. Its WEIRD to realize that our language skills are starting to change the way we think.
Classes started yesterday. At 9 we have either an anthropology class, taught by an intelligent man who is from Canada but married a Oaxacan woman and obviously speaks spanish with an accent, or instead of the anthropology class, a Mexican Identity class taught by our very own Profesora. We get a half an hour break after that, then at 11:30 our spanish classes start... the group is split in half with a more advanced class and a less advanced one. My class, the higher level one, is taught by a Mexican man in his mid 20's named Saul. Every day we start out the day by playing games! I know the rest of the group, who has their class right next door, is jealous of us because we never hear any laughter coming from THEIR room... ;) which is rather sad for them. Anyways, the games we play are vocabulary games... today we played Muerte Subito (Sudden Death), where the rounds consisted of each team naming "places to go when you skip school," or "parts of the body that are NOT usually complimented," etc. The way he teaches the rest of the class is actually really constructive, I've never had a spanish class that I've liked more!
After class, at 1:30, we all head back to our houses for lunch. At 2:30 we eat the biggest meal of the day, la comida, which consists of a small salad, soup, and a main dish... With this amount of food I'm usually never hungry for dinner, which is served around 8, and is usually just something small like cereal or fruit. Anyways, after lunch I take a little nap until 3:45 when I have to go back to the school for intercambios at 4... we meet up with a student from here in Oaxaca and we practice speaking spanish, for our benefit, and english for theirs.
I met my intercambio today... her name is Mayra, shes 17 years old, a little bit timid, but so sweet! And we managed to talk for the entire hour about random things, the weather in Oregon, our families, our boyfriends... she doesn't seem like it, but this girl is pretty much a bad ass... She's been dating this guy for a year tomorrow and her parents dont even KNOW because they say that she can't have a boyfriend until she's 18 and she's been sly enough to keep it from them! I'm rooting for her, she still has about a year to go before she can come out and tell them about this boy of hers... she says " He es not vary cuute but he es a vary goood man." Which made me laugh. At the end of our time up, we did the weird awkward hug thing, and she did the awkward try to kiss me on the cheek thing and so finally had to stop the dance of awkwardness that we were doing and ask how we should do it and she said just one kiss on the cheek then bye. Haha.
Quick side note, I MUST tell the story of Alli's intercambio... The first thing she says when our group slowly starts to meet up after intercambios is, "Well, mine was DRUNK." Apparently, her intercambio had gone to a bar before this with her cousin, because her boyfriend was acting weird... Alli decided to give this the benefit of the doubt, thinking possibly this was a relationship of several years and they were going through a rough patch... but no. 17 days. A relationship of 17 days, and the girls is already freaking out. Her eyes were completely glazed over the entire hour they were talking. In Alli's words: "She said, 'This is my first boyfriend,' and I thought, 'Well this is your LAST intercambio." I kind of feel sorry for the girl, but come on honey. Pull it together.
After the intercambio I work on some homework... today I stayed at El Instituto and just sat down at one of the many tables they have on the patios outside every bright yellow colonial style building... there was music in the background because someone was teaching a dance class outside, and there are these bright redish-pink flowers and a large trellis covering this sitting area, and a courtyard with green grass and big trees and kids playing in the shade... It's so relaxing. It was weird to me to think that, so far away, all the people I love are under the same sun, that the same sunlight thats glowing on my skin is also on theirs... Which makes me feel like we're much closer than we actually are.
In the evenings, I like to talk to people on Skype before bed, and I usually keep my door open unless I'm changing my clothes or having a private conversation. My host dad finds it quite amusing to come in and see who I'm talking to and wave at them and make funny comments, which I and the person who he's waving find freaking hilarious. When he found out I had a boyfriend he got super excited and just HAD to talk to him, even though Tyler still doesn't have a camera. "Hallo Ty-LAR!" When he met Brittany, he asked me if we were twins, and said to Brittany, "Estas muy guapa!" You're very pretty! Brittany just laughed without comprehending, and I had to translate for her. My host family is basically AWESOME, haha. :)
I've only had brief glimpses of homesickness so far, little things like the bus that took us to Oaxaca was playing Milo and Ottis, and it reminded me so much of Brittany and Cassy, when we use to watch that when we were little, or on the news when they showed an american football game which reminded me of Tyler, or when its dark outside and I think about having to use my mase, reminding me of my Dad... I'm sure he'd like that, haha. Or yesterday when I was listening to my iPod and country music came on and I thought of the fair in the summertime and then my mind went off on all the great things about summer in Oregon, or how I was talking about the rain today with Mayra, and how it has a smell. Its weird all the things I dont realize have an impact on me when I'm at home until I'm away from them. I guess it's just a process of knowing yourself a little bit more than you did before you left.
Classes started yesterday. At 9 we have either an anthropology class, taught by an intelligent man who is from Canada but married a Oaxacan woman and obviously speaks spanish with an accent, or instead of the anthropology class, a Mexican Identity class taught by our very own Profesora. We get a half an hour break after that, then at 11:30 our spanish classes start... the group is split in half with a more advanced class and a less advanced one. My class, the higher level one, is taught by a Mexican man in his mid 20's named Saul. Every day we start out the day by playing games! I know the rest of the group, who has their class right next door, is jealous of us because we never hear any laughter coming from THEIR room... ;) which is rather sad for them. Anyways, the games we play are vocabulary games... today we played Muerte Subito (Sudden Death), where the rounds consisted of each team naming "places to go when you skip school," or "parts of the body that are NOT usually complimented," etc. The way he teaches the rest of the class is actually really constructive, I've never had a spanish class that I've liked more!
After class, at 1:30, we all head back to our houses for lunch. At 2:30 we eat the biggest meal of the day, la comida, which consists of a small salad, soup, and a main dish... With this amount of food I'm usually never hungry for dinner, which is served around 8, and is usually just something small like cereal or fruit. Anyways, after lunch I take a little nap until 3:45 when I have to go back to the school for intercambios at 4... we meet up with a student from here in Oaxaca and we practice speaking spanish, for our benefit, and english for theirs.
I met my intercambio today... her name is Mayra, shes 17 years old, a little bit timid, but so sweet! And we managed to talk for the entire hour about random things, the weather in Oregon, our families, our boyfriends... she doesn't seem like it, but this girl is pretty much a bad ass... She's been dating this guy for a year tomorrow and her parents dont even KNOW because they say that she can't have a boyfriend until she's 18 and she's been sly enough to keep it from them! I'm rooting for her, she still has about a year to go before she can come out and tell them about this boy of hers... she says " He es not vary cuute but he es a vary goood man." Which made me laugh. At the end of our time up, we did the weird awkward hug thing, and she did the awkward try to kiss me on the cheek thing and so finally had to stop the dance of awkwardness that we were doing and ask how we should do it and she said just one kiss on the cheek then bye. Haha.
Quick side note, I MUST tell the story of Alli's intercambio... The first thing she says when our group slowly starts to meet up after intercambios is, "Well, mine was DRUNK." Apparently, her intercambio had gone to a bar before this with her cousin, because her boyfriend was acting weird... Alli decided to give this the benefit of the doubt, thinking possibly this was a relationship of several years and they were going through a rough patch... but no. 17 days. A relationship of 17 days, and the girls is already freaking out. Her eyes were completely glazed over the entire hour they were talking. In Alli's words: "She said, 'This is my first boyfriend,' and I thought, 'Well this is your LAST intercambio." I kind of feel sorry for the girl, but come on honey. Pull it together.
After the intercambio I work on some homework... today I stayed at El Instituto and just sat down at one of the many tables they have on the patios outside every bright yellow colonial style building... there was music in the background because someone was teaching a dance class outside, and there are these bright redish-pink flowers and a large trellis covering this sitting area, and a courtyard with green grass and big trees and kids playing in the shade... It's so relaxing. It was weird to me to think that, so far away, all the people I love are under the same sun, that the same sunlight thats glowing on my skin is also on theirs... Which makes me feel like we're much closer than we actually are.
In the evenings, I like to talk to people on Skype before bed, and I usually keep my door open unless I'm changing my clothes or having a private conversation. My host dad finds it quite amusing to come in and see who I'm talking to and wave at them and make funny comments, which I and the person who he's waving find freaking hilarious. When he found out I had a boyfriend he got super excited and just HAD to talk to him, even though Tyler still doesn't have a camera. "Hallo Ty-LAR!" When he met Brittany, he asked me if we were twins, and said to Brittany, "Estas muy guapa!" You're very pretty! Brittany just laughed without comprehending, and I had to translate for her. My host family is basically AWESOME, haha. :)
I've only had brief glimpses of homesickness so far, little things like the bus that took us to Oaxaca was playing Milo and Ottis, and it reminded me so much of Brittany and Cassy, when we use to watch that when we were little, or on the news when they showed an american football game which reminded me of Tyler, or when its dark outside and I think about having to use my mase, reminding me of my Dad... I'm sure he'd like that, haha. Or yesterday when I was listening to my iPod and country music came on and I thought of the fair in the summertime and then my mind went off on all the great things about summer in Oregon, or how I was talking about the rain today with Mayra, and how it has a smell. Its weird all the things I dont realize have an impact on me when I'm at home until I'm away from them. I guess it's just a process of knowing yourself a little bit more than you did before you left.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
El dia primera
My first full day in Oaxaca...
1. My host mom wakes me up from a dead sleep, I say things like, "bahh, huuh? ughh... what? oh, hola? Que? Puede entrar!" (You can come in!) She just tells me through the door that breakfast is ready, fruit and 2 small quesadillas.
2. Olivia and I walk to the Zocalo and swear off frappuccinos from now on.
3. We walk to el mercado, where I discover that I have a rather large obsession with shawls... I end up buying 2 and ALMOST buy another one, but decide to save that for another day.
4. We go BACK to the zocalo and sit down to watch a concert. A little old man with a grand total of 2 teeth sits next to me, listens to me and Livey talk in spanish, and asks if I'm from Spain. I GET SUPER STOKED ABOUT THIS. Then he continues to talk to me for about 10 minutes, and I catch words like, "dangerous", "writing", "tourists" and "fish". I nod and smile.
5. We get sunburnt. Damn the Oregon weather that I'm used to.
5. My family and Liveys family end up going out to lunch together, and Livey and I battle through eating our entire meal... it's impolite not to finish what's put in front of you. And we can't eat our tacos with forks, so we pick up the lettuce/cheese/guacamole covered tacos with our fingers. We both have a rather good sized pile of napkins next to our plates by the end of it.
6. We get super excited when we see that our waiter is wearing an OSU baseball cap!!!!
7. I learn how to do laundry. I have to hang my wet clothes up on a line on the top of the house. I decide NOT to show all my underwear to the world, so I put them in my closet on hangers to dry instead. Now my room smells like bleach.
1. My host mom wakes me up from a dead sleep, I say things like, "bahh, huuh? ughh... what? oh, hola? Que? Puede entrar!" (You can come in!) She just tells me through the door that breakfast is ready, fruit and 2 small quesadillas.
2. Olivia and I walk to the Zocalo and swear off frappuccinos from now on.
3. We walk to el mercado, where I discover that I have a rather large obsession with shawls... I end up buying 2 and ALMOST buy another one, but decide to save that for another day.
4. We go BACK to the zocalo and sit down to watch a concert. A little old man with a grand total of 2 teeth sits next to me, listens to me and Livey talk in spanish, and asks if I'm from Spain. I GET SUPER STOKED ABOUT THIS. Then he continues to talk to me for about 10 minutes, and I catch words like, "dangerous", "writing", "tourists" and "fish". I nod and smile.
5. We get sunburnt. Damn the Oregon weather that I'm used to.
5. My family and Liveys family end up going out to lunch together, and Livey and I battle through eating our entire meal... it's impolite not to finish what's put in front of you. And we can't eat our tacos with forks, so we pick up the lettuce/cheese/guacamole covered tacos with our fingers. We both have a rather good sized pile of napkins next to our plates by the end of it.
6. We get super excited when we see that our waiter is wearing an OSU baseball cap!!!!
7. I learn how to do laundry. I have to hang my wet clothes up on a line on the top of the house. I decide NOT to show all my underwear to the world, so I put them in my closet on hangers to dry instead. Now my room smells like bleach.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
My host family!
Today I met my host family! We got out of the bus (We didn't show it very much, but I think we were all pretty nervous at this point) and walked several blocks down the road to the Instituto Cultural. Outside the gates the streets were filled with cars and rushing people and stop lights and chaos, and as soon as we walked through, it all seemed to fade away. The courtyard of the institute is beautiful, with tall trees and flowers, cleanly cut grass. The building is colonial, and painted bright yellow. Its absolutely beautiful. We all breath a sigh of relief as we sit on the veranda, waiting for directions on what to do next. The host mothers aren't there yet... the longer we have to wait the more our anticipation builds again. Soon the mothers start trickling in, and with each one I can't help but ask, is that her? Is that the woman I'm going to be living with for the next 3 months?
Soon names are called and students in my group are paired up with one of the host mothers. After about ten minutes, there's only Olivia, Abby and I left standing awkwardly to the side, while everyone else got acquainted with their family. "What if they forgot about us?" Olivia says. "Psh. They wouldn't do that." I say, though secretly I'm kinda wondering the same thing. Suddenly I look over at the entrance and see two women walking together up the path. "Olivia! Do you think that's them?" She looks too. "Oh my god oh my god, that HAS to be them." We get more and more nervous as they get closer and closer, and soon my name is called out. "Ashley (except they say it like, Ash-LEE)" the woman says, and she motions to one of the women. I immediatly run up to her and give her a huge hug. "Mucho gusto!" she says, and I say it back. Olivias name is called next, and gets paired off with the other woman. Through their hurried conversation they have with the woman working with the institute, we discover that they're sisters! "Es bien, porque estas chicas son como hermanas tambien, " our profesora says. (Its fine, because these girls are like sisters too.) Its true, the other night our profesora said the exact same thing when we had a shortage of beds at the hotel and she made us sleep in the same one. "Somos hermanas." Oh yes. Perfect excuse to share a bed.
Anyways, so Olivia and our host mothers and I cram ourselves into a taxi with all our luggage, and I end up with one of Olivias suitcases on my lap, my leg squished and falling asleep. As we tumble out of the taxi at our destination, we soon realize that our houses are RIGHT NEXT to each other! Relieved, we give each other a goodbye hug, and enter our houses. Each house is contained behind a gate, with cement walls around it. My house is small but very nice! There's a room that has one wall open to the outside, a table and a bar. Inside, my host mom Doris shows me my room and tells me all about the house and it's rules. Breakfast at 8:15. Lunch at 2:30. Small dinner at 8:15. Don't use the phone alot, because its expensive. Don't use the water alot, because it's expensive. There's internet, but she doesn't know how to do it so I'll have to wait until her husband gets home. If there's anything at all that I need, just let her know. My room has a queen bed, a closet, vanity, and several chairs. There's a big window, almost like glass doors. "Puedes abrir la ventana cuando estas aqui, pero cuando sales, cerrarla, porque hay ratones en el jardin y no los queremos que entrar." (You can open the window when you're here, but when you leave, shut it, because there are mice in the garded and we dont want them to get in."
After telling me that one of her daughters, her husband and their child are coming over for lunch, she lets me unpack, which I do quickly. When I come out of my room, I meet my host father, Remigio, who is a very friendly, charismatic, funny man who likes to practice his english with me. I also meet their grandchild Santiago... 3 years old. I feel a quick moment of homesickness when I think about the 3 year old I left at home... as I watch this kid, he reminds me alot of Brayden, except for he's speaking spanish of course. WHICH, by the way, I think is the CUTEST THING EVER, little kids speaking spanish. Anyways, so we all go outside to the room with the open wall and the bar, and the housekeeper and my host mother serve lunch. "Tu sopa es diferente porque la otra es muy picante." They give me different soup because I told my host mother before that I dont like things that are really spicy. They also give me a different entre, made with fish, instead of the lamb everyone else was eating, because she wasn't sure if I had ever had it before, or if I'd like it. After dinner, which was filled with them talking quickly in spanich (to which I at first tried to follow, but ended up giving up quickly), slowing down to ask me a couple questions and hear my response, playing with Santiago and hearing things like, "tu espanol es muy bueno!", Remigio askes me if I like tequila. I say yes, and he pours me a shot. Slightly taken aback, I put it on the table, not sure what the etiquette is for drinking here. Suddenly they take out this jar full of salt and these brown things... which I quickly find out are dried worms!! "Take one! Try it, its very expensive, its what rich people eat." They keep telling me. "Es un insecto!" I say, and they laugh at my reaction to this offer. I dont want to be rude, so reluctantly I take one in my fingers, and they continue to laugh at the face I make. "Look! Look how much Santiago likes them," they say, pointing at the three-year-old. Sure enough, he is scarfing them down; as soon as he swollows one, his hand is outstreched for another one. Slowly and reluctantly I raise the dried worm to my mouth, and finally put it in. It tastes exactly what I think a bug would taste like... crunchy in a rather upsetting kind of way, and salty. At this point I drink part of the shot of tequila and suck on some lime. The tequila is SO GOOD, much different than the Jose Cuervo that I'm used to.
After dinner, Remigio asks if I would like to walk down the street to a tienda (store) with him and Santiago. Not being able to pass up a moment with this ADORABLE child, I go with them. Santiago brings his child-size shopping cart, and it's filled with model airplanes of all sizes. A plane flies over us and he stops and points, "Adios avion!" he says, waving at the sky. At the store, Remigio buys us both popsickles. While we're waiting for Remigio to pay, I open Santiagos popsickle for him, and let him try mine. He then raises up his popsicke so that I can try his in return, and then wants another bite of mine. ES MUY PRECIOSO (CUTE). We walk back up to the gate of the house, pushing his cart of planes the whole way.
When we get back to the house, I go back to my room again and get ready to go meet up with the group, because we're going to walk to the Zocalo and look around Oaxaca. Immediatly, as we reach the first streets and the first market, I fall in love with the place. It's just beautiful, the buildings are so brightly colored and colonial, the market is full of so many different authentic things; necklaces, shirts, shawls, paintings... the cathedrals we walk by are small but gorgeous. It's valentines day and the Zocalo is filled with people, there's a band playing, there are balloons everywhere. The people are so nice.
On the walk back we search for awhile, trying to find everyones houses as some of us have forgotten. When I finally make it back home, my host family is gone, and I'm alone. I really want to call my mom, but I can't use the phone. I really want to call Tyler because it's Valentines day, but I can't. I remember that I have a phone card, and try to call each of them but no one answers. I dont know how to use the internet. Suddenly, knowing that I can't reach anyone I love and my host family isn't even there and I'm alone in Oaxaca, I feel like crying. I go into my room to write, because that sometimes calms me down, and within 10 minutes I hear my host family come back. They are so friendly and caring that I calm down instantly... my host mom makes me a small dinner and we sit and talk together for about half an hour... and I'm so surprised with myself at how comfortable I feel speaking spanish! So... the first day has been pretty good, I just wish that Skype was working! Hasta luego!
Soon names are called and students in my group are paired up with one of the host mothers. After about ten minutes, there's only Olivia, Abby and I left standing awkwardly to the side, while everyone else got acquainted with their family. "What if they forgot about us?" Olivia says. "Psh. They wouldn't do that." I say, though secretly I'm kinda wondering the same thing. Suddenly I look over at the entrance and see two women walking together up the path. "Olivia! Do you think that's them?" She looks too. "Oh my god oh my god, that HAS to be them." We get more and more nervous as they get closer and closer, and soon my name is called out. "Ashley (except they say it like, Ash-LEE)" the woman says, and she motions to one of the women. I immediatly run up to her and give her a huge hug. "Mucho gusto!" she says, and I say it back. Olivias name is called next, and gets paired off with the other woman. Through their hurried conversation they have with the woman working with the institute, we discover that they're sisters! "Es bien, porque estas chicas son como hermanas tambien, " our profesora says. (Its fine, because these girls are like sisters too.) Its true, the other night our profesora said the exact same thing when we had a shortage of beds at the hotel and she made us sleep in the same one. "Somos hermanas." Oh yes. Perfect excuse to share a bed.
Anyways, so Olivia and our host mothers and I cram ourselves into a taxi with all our luggage, and I end up with one of Olivias suitcases on my lap, my leg squished and falling asleep. As we tumble out of the taxi at our destination, we soon realize that our houses are RIGHT NEXT to each other! Relieved, we give each other a goodbye hug, and enter our houses. Each house is contained behind a gate, with cement walls around it. My house is small but very nice! There's a room that has one wall open to the outside, a table and a bar. Inside, my host mom Doris shows me my room and tells me all about the house and it's rules. Breakfast at 8:15. Lunch at 2:30. Small dinner at 8:15. Don't use the phone alot, because its expensive. Don't use the water alot, because it's expensive. There's internet, but she doesn't know how to do it so I'll have to wait until her husband gets home. If there's anything at all that I need, just let her know. My room has a queen bed, a closet, vanity, and several chairs. There's a big window, almost like glass doors. "Puedes abrir la ventana cuando estas aqui, pero cuando sales, cerrarla, porque hay ratones en el jardin y no los queremos que entrar." (You can open the window when you're here, but when you leave, shut it, because there are mice in the garded and we dont want them to get in."
After telling me that one of her daughters, her husband and their child are coming over for lunch, she lets me unpack, which I do quickly. When I come out of my room, I meet my host father, Remigio, who is a very friendly, charismatic, funny man who likes to practice his english with me. I also meet their grandchild Santiago... 3 years old. I feel a quick moment of homesickness when I think about the 3 year old I left at home... as I watch this kid, he reminds me alot of Brayden, except for he's speaking spanish of course. WHICH, by the way, I think is the CUTEST THING EVER, little kids speaking spanish. Anyways, so we all go outside to the room with the open wall and the bar, and the housekeeper and my host mother serve lunch. "Tu sopa es diferente porque la otra es muy picante." They give me different soup because I told my host mother before that I dont like things that are really spicy. They also give me a different entre, made with fish, instead of the lamb everyone else was eating, because she wasn't sure if I had ever had it before, or if I'd like it. After dinner, which was filled with them talking quickly in spanich (to which I at first tried to follow, but ended up giving up quickly), slowing down to ask me a couple questions and hear my response, playing with Santiago and hearing things like, "tu espanol es muy bueno!", Remigio askes me if I like tequila. I say yes, and he pours me a shot. Slightly taken aback, I put it on the table, not sure what the etiquette is for drinking here. Suddenly they take out this jar full of salt and these brown things... which I quickly find out are dried worms!! "Take one! Try it, its very expensive, its what rich people eat." They keep telling me. "Es un insecto!" I say, and they laugh at my reaction to this offer. I dont want to be rude, so reluctantly I take one in my fingers, and they continue to laugh at the face I make. "Look! Look how much Santiago likes them," they say, pointing at the three-year-old. Sure enough, he is scarfing them down; as soon as he swollows one, his hand is outstreched for another one. Slowly and reluctantly I raise the dried worm to my mouth, and finally put it in. It tastes exactly what I think a bug would taste like... crunchy in a rather upsetting kind of way, and salty. At this point I drink part of the shot of tequila and suck on some lime. The tequila is SO GOOD, much different than the Jose Cuervo that I'm used to.
After dinner, Remigio asks if I would like to walk down the street to a tienda (store) with him and Santiago. Not being able to pass up a moment with this ADORABLE child, I go with them. Santiago brings his child-size shopping cart, and it's filled with model airplanes of all sizes. A plane flies over us and he stops and points, "Adios avion!" he says, waving at the sky. At the store, Remigio buys us both popsickles. While we're waiting for Remigio to pay, I open Santiagos popsickle for him, and let him try mine. He then raises up his popsicke so that I can try his in return, and then wants another bite of mine. ES MUY PRECIOSO (CUTE). We walk back up to the gate of the house, pushing his cart of planes the whole way.
When we get back to the house, I go back to my room again and get ready to go meet up with the group, because we're going to walk to the Zocalo and look around Oaxaca. Immediatly, as we reach the first streets and the first market, I fall in love with the place. It's just beautiful, the buildings are so brightly colored and colonial, the market is full of so many different authentic things; necklaces, shirts, shawls, paintings... the cathedrals we walk by are small but gorgeous. It's valentines day and the Zocalo is filled with people, there's a band playing, there are balloons everywhere. The people are so nice.
On the walk back we search for awhile, trying to find everyones houses as some of us have forgotten. When I finally make it back home, my host family is gone, and I'm alone. I really want to call my mom, but I can't use the phone. I really want to call Tyler because it's Valentines day, but I can't. I remember that I have a phone card, and try to call each of them but no one answers. I dont know how to use the internet. Suddenly, knowing that I can't reach anyone I love and my host family isn't even there and I'm alone in Oaxaca, I feel like crying. I go into my room to write, because that sometimes calms me down, and within 10 minutes I hear my host family come back. They are so friendly and caring that I calm down instantly... my host mom makes me a small dinner and we sit and talk together for about half an hour... and I'm so surprised with myself at how comfortable I feel speaking spanish! So... the first day has been pretty good, I just wish that Skype was working! Hasta luego!
Monday, February 9, 2009
The first week...
We made it to Mexico City! This city is HUGE, the biggest one I've ever seen, and also the most colorful! We had to lie to the customs people in the airport... each of us had a story we had to tell. My rehearsed line was, "Puede darme ciento y viente dias porque voy a viajar con mi amiga por todo mexico." (Can you give me 120 days, because i'm going to travel with my friend through mexico." we could NOT say that we were students, as they would only give us 90 days! It was VERY nerve-wracking to us, as the first spanish we had to speak in Mexico was a lie! As each of us made it through, there were rounds of high-fives and pats on the back. We took a couple taxis from the hotel... people here drive like CRAZY! There is room on every street for 2 lanes, but there aren't any lines on the road, so people drive wherever they want, and they have GREAT reflexes... and they use their horns MUCH MORE than we do in the United States. We stayed in the Hotel Canada (haha) right near the Zocalo (the center of the city). 
We walked around Mexico City a ton... people there love to STARE. We were standing in the metro station at one point and the entire station had turned to stare at us... it's really unsettling, and I still can't seem to get used to it. We get at least 5 cat calls a day, and also several "que hermosas" (how beautiful), etc. ALSO another very interesting cultural difference is that every available place to sit is usually taken by a couple, and half the time that couple is making out. ALL OVER THE PLACE here, people are kissing like they'll never see each other again, and then just continue walking down the street! I even saw an older couple making out, it's just so different than in the United States, where PDA is not appropriate, except in little things like holding hands. Mexico City is super overwhelming, and the pollution was really starting to get to my lungs. I really liked learning all this really interesting stuff and seeing everything, but I was so ready to leave. I really hate being a tourist.
We arrived in Puebla today, which is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! At least around the Zocalo it is. The buildings are all brightly colored and colonial... our hotel is amazing. We have a small balcony that looks out onto a street, where we can hear people playing music... I feel like we're in Europe somewhere rather than Mexico.
We visited many tourist destinations, the first of which was el museo de antropologia (the museum of anthropology). It had tons of amazing stuff in it from the Aztecs and Mayans and other Mexican civlizations. We also went to El templo mayor, which was the biggest temple of Tenochitlan, the capitol of the Aztec world. It's located right near the center of Mexico City, because when the Spaniards overtook Tenochitlan, they built their city right on top of it. 
Our next destination was Teotuihacan, which is the remains of a huge city built in the times of the Mayans. There are two pyramids there, as well as the ruins of palaces and places where the nobles lived. WE WALKED SOOOO MUCH, one of the guys in our group counted 227 stairs on the pyramid of the sun... HOLY CRAP.
Our next destination was Teotuihacan, which is the remains of a huge city built in the times of the Mayans. There are two pyramids there, as well as the ruins of palaces and places where the nobles lived. WE WALKED SOOOO MUCH, one of the guys in our group counted 227 stairs on the pyramid of the sun... HOLY CRAP.
Several of us bought tickets to see a ballet foklorico that was being performed at the museum for 400 pesos (about 32 dollars). It was totally worth it!! The dancing was AMAZING and I took a some really great videos of it. The did dances from around Mexico and from different time periods, they were great!!
We walked around Mexico City a ton... people there love to STARE. We were standing in the metro station at one point and the entire station had turned to stare at us... it's really unsettling, and I still can't seem to get used to it. We get at least 5 cat calls a day, and also several "que hermosas" (how beautiful), etc. ALSO another very interesting cultural difference is that every available place to sit is usually taken by a couple, and half the time that couple is making out. ALL OVER THE PLACE here, people are kissing like they'll never see each other again, and then just continue walking down the street! I even saw an older couple making out, it's just so different than in the United States, where PDA is not appropriate, except in little things like holding hands. Mexico City is super overwhelming, and the pollution was really starting to get to my lungs. I really liked learning all this really interesting stuff and seeing everything, but I was so ready to leave. I really hate being a tourist.
We arrived in Puebla today, which is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! At least around the Zocalo it is. The buildings are all brightly colored and colonial... our hotel is amazing. We have a small balcony that looks out onto a street, where we can hear people playing music... I feel like we're in Europe somewhere rather than Mexico.
On the bus rides we've taken, I've seen la pobreza (the poverty) of mexico. Its crazy. So many of the people here live in shack villages surrounding the city... I've heard about poverty before but I've never ever seen it like this. It makes me so thankful that I live in the United States and am able to go back to my home.
As for the language part of the trip, I've been trying it out with people here, but usually in our group we speak english, as our professor isn't really enforcing it yet. I have made more than several mistakes talking with people, and when I don't understand what they're saying, I prefer to nod my head and smile and make what is hopefully a neutral sound so that they don't think I'm stupid. I did have a rather long conversation with one guy the other day, in which I was going to buy a necklace... the longer I talked with him, the lower the price went! ;)
I'm so excited to be out of Mexico City and on to something new, and closer to having a routine and home to go back to. I think we're all tired of living out of our suitcases, though this hotel is much much nicer than the one we stayed in in Mexico City. I really want to get to LIVING in the culture, rather than walking around in a group of white people looking like complete tourists. I think that the things that we're seeing are really interesting, and necessary for the historical value they have, but having a host mom and dad and living in a home is really going to be a wonderful experience.
As for the language part of the trip, I've been trying it out with people here, but usually in our group we speak english, as our professor isn't really enforcing it yet. I have made more than several mistakes talking with people, and when I don't understand what they're saying, I prefer to nod my head and smile and make what is hopefully a neutral sound so that they don't think I'm stupid. I did have a rather long conversation with one guy the other day, in which I was going to buy a necklace... the longer I talked with him, the lower the price went! ;)
I'm so excited to be out of Mexico City and on to something new, and closer to having a routine and home to go back to. I think we're all tired of living out of our suitcases, though this hotel is much much nicer than the one we stayed in in Mexico City. I really want to get to LIVING in the culture, rather than walking around in a group of white people looking like complete tourists. I think that the things that we're seeing are really interesting, and necessary for the historical value they have, but having a host mom and dad and living in a home is really going to be a wonderful experience.
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