Esperanza

Mexico Dia Setenta Dos

2006-08-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

~My last day in Mexico~
I went to el centro to meet up with some friends. We went to a coffee shop and talked, swapped info, and said our goodbyes. I returned to my house for my final lunch. It was sad, but the food was good. We had sauteed portabello mushrooms. After lunch, I had to say good bye to my family. It was hard, they are some of the nicest people I have met. Very friendly, understanding, helpful, and kind. I am sure we will keep in touch. I took a taxi with a friend to the airport. After the taxi ride, I had no money left in my wallet and $1 dollar left in my bank account (excellent planning).

Security checked my bags, and didn't have a problem with me taking my bow and arrow on board the plane. The plane had a bunch of mosquitos in it and for 10 minutes people were swatting mosquitos, it was pretty funny. The flight three and half hours and went by quick. I felt sad leaving Mexico, but I also wanted to see my family. I walked though customs with no problems, passing by the two arabs wearing tourbines who were the only ones being searched in the airport.
The traffic was pretty bad and it took about an hour just to get out of the airport.
I have a little reverse culture shock. Everything is so huge, the people all speak english, and everything is just a little strange.

Mexico Dia Setenta uno

2006-08-26T18:21:00.001-07:00

My second to last day in Mexico. I spent most of the day packing my stuff. My family was nice enough to give me an extra suitcase to bring stuff back in.

It was a friend of a friends birthday. I went to a bar for his birthday. We got some food and drinks and then started to dance. There was live music and we all danced for most of the night. It was a really fun night.

Mexico Dia Setenta

2006-08-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

The school held a going away breakfast for all the students, their families, and the teachers. It was held in one of the nicest hotels in Morelia. The food was amazing and from our table we had a view of the entire city. I said goodbye to all the teachers and a bunch of friends who were leaving. After which me and three friends got a ride down the hill with our history teacher. We were off to climb a mountain.

Our leader was Castor, a crazy friend, who had a machete and had planned the climb. We got a taxi and asked him to drive us to the base of a nearby mountain. It took us awhile to get their. The driver needed to ask a few people for directions along the way. He also warned us not to get shot by people who grow marajuana in the mountains. We finally found the base of the mountain. Then we spent four hours wacking our way though brush, bush, and trees. Finally, we reached the top. It was beautiful, an absolutely amazing view and we felt like we had acomplished something great. On the way back down we found a nice path that we walked down (and which we could have walked up if we had known, but it was more of an adventure going through the brush).

After the 6 hour mountain climb we all went home, showered, and ate. Then I went to a party at a friends house. We relaxed, talked, and had some "rice crispy treats."
y ...z....z.....z....

Mexico Dia Sesenta Nueve

2006-08-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

Soy terminado. I´m done...done.done..done.done. I took my last two exams, Spanish and Literature, today. They both were pretty easy. After school I went to put my photos on a cd. Lunch was good, we had papas with spinach and shredded carrot. After lunch I went to el centro to meet some friends.

Y....z....z....z....

Mexico Dia Sesenta Ocho

2006-08-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

Arnold from the Magic School Bus once said "I knew I should've stayed home today." My history test was crazy. It was really long and no one finished on time. It required indept knowledge of all the material and retention of a bunch of obscure dates. Despite how bad it was, I think I did ok. My society test on the other hand was very easy. He basically asked us to give our opinion on certain topics. It required little memorization and it was open note. After school I went to the nearby mall to buy thankyou cards for my family and teachers. I bought UNICEF cards, because each card I buy goes to help support children in third world countries.

For lunch; cheese filled zuchini, rice, and tamatoes with crumbled egg, and beets. Then, bamn. A unicorn flew through the window and I went to happy land of magical forest creatures and knomes (is it nome o knome...maybe i should have asked). OH well. Adios.

Mexico Dia Sesenta Siete

2006-08-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

I woke up feeling pretty sick. I went to el centro with a friend to look through the markets. I bought two Mexico soccer jerseys. I still felt pretty sick so I went to sleep. My parents came back from Tsitzunsan. They gave me some medicine and I felt better. After which, I cramed for my two tests on monday. Then bed.

Mexico Dia Sesenta Sies

2006-08-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

~A Mexican Massage~
I woke up late and had breakfast. Then, I was off to get a massage with some friends. The atmosphere of the "center for salud" was really nice. They were playing zen music and there were plants all around. Then the massage. Wow. They massage your entire body, starting with your chest, arms, legs. Then, turning to your back, legs, arms, head, and buttocks. Yep, I got a but massage. It was 200 pesos ($20) for an hour and fifteen minutes (cheap compared to the U.S.). After the massage I went back home to study. After all it was the weekend before finals. I studied allot and then watched The History of Violence. It was an engaging thriller, but a little sad. It is about a simple farmer whose wife had died and who lives with his two boys. The farmers brother comes to visit, but is really looking for the gold that their dad had left. The two get in a fight over the gold and the farmer is killed. The two boys then runaway with the gold. The estranged brother eventually catches them, but the boy throws the gold in the river. Then, the brother is killed. Anyways, i'm not very good at describing movie plots...lo siento.

Y bed.

Mexico Dia Sesenta Cinco

2006-08-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

Back to the regae bar (macai). The club that plays reggae on fridays and saturdays. But, is known as the reggae bar. The music is pretty good and the walls are decorated with strange paintings (such as a babies head). The bathroom is disgusting. I was using the restroom, when another guy came in and started peeing in the sink. It was extremely hot because the doors to the balconies were closed. It would seem that the owners didn´t want the Mexican FBI to come back. After about an hour, the heat of the club became to much to handle. It was an early, but fun night. I had another friendly cab driver and we talked about Australia.

Mexico Dia Sesenta Cuatro

2006-08-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

Thursday. School.

After lunch I departed for a party at a fellow students house. Francesca is from a small village in Switzerland. She moved to Mexico to live with her Mexican boyfriend about six months ago. It was a hourswarming party...but the house was not very warm (that ones for you Dr. S). There house is really nice. The arquitecure was very rustic spanish style. Their main beedroom was decorated in IKEA style furniture. The party started when her boyfriend and his friends started playing drums outside. It was a nice relaxed party.

Afterwards, we wandered through some eerily empty streets. A solitary car started driving up behind us and people were yelling at us from a car. Luckily, it turns out it was guys from the party. We finally found a taxi and headed home.

Mexico Dia Sesenta Tres

2006-08-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

Wednesday. School. Comida. Something?

Mexico Dia Sesenta Dos

2006-08-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

School. El medio ambiente.

The power of the city/people in Mexico. Mexico is a unique country, the goverment has little power over its people. A little while ago the state of michoacan build centers where people would be required to take there cars. Similar to the smog check in California. The problem was that each check would cost 120 pesos and was mandatory. The people of Michoacan were outraged at the fact that they would have to pay. Generaly, there is a dislike for giving money to the government in Mexico. The people of Michoacan simply did not take there cars to be checked. The government, with a small and corrupt police force, and bigger concerns decided to close down the locations. According to my society teacher this is part of the reason Mexico has failed to develop from a non-axis one country into a developed pais. It is also the reason so many pirated good and illegal goods can be sold in open markets.

Speaking of pirated good, there is a very funny comercial when you go to the theatres in Mexico. A women comes home with a pirated movie and her daughter says "that's stealing isn't it." The mother says no. Then her son comes by and heads for the door. She asks him were he is going because he has a tests tomorrow. He says "it's ok I bought the answers to the test." The add ends as the camera pans out on the mothers grim face. It is so serious and ridiculous that it makes you laugh.

Donde esta mi criada? My maid was not in the house, so we made our own food. Her mother had gotten sick so she had to take the day off. After lunch I went to el centro to study and meet some friends.

y ...zz...

Mexico Dia Sesenta Uno

2006-08-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

School. Literature was a little boring as usual. I guess i´m just not very good at seeing meftafors. We read a poem, in spanish of course, that was about a statue searching for a voice. Apparently, the statue was a metafor for a women and the voice she was searching for was an echoe of her own. Then she is murdered. It makes allot of sense to me. Our spanish teacher gave us an assignment and then left for the entire class as usual.

After lunch a friend came over to study. We listened to music and wrote our papers. I made myself some awesome quesidillas for dinner with beans, cheese, avacado, and a whole lot of love. y ....zzz....

Mexico Dia Sesenta

2006-08-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

I woke up, and had some breakfast. Breakfast was still pretty good because my brothers friends were still visiting. Again I got totopos with a salsa, frijoles, and crema. In adition, there were nopales, mango, and papaya...oh and pan dulce. After breakfast and departed for the zoo with a friend and his mexican brother "gustavo." Morelia has the second largest zoo in Mexico. It also houses one of the worlds largest collections of birds. It was 20 pesos ($2) to get into the zoo. First we saw the reptiles, my favorite was the dragon turtle...which looked like a dragon turtle. The zoo had an impressive array of animals, from white tigers to polar bears. ustavo turned out to be a little bit of a joker. Every animal we saw he would say "tu hermano no?" (your brother no?).
It was suprising how the fencing system worked. The rhinocerous enclosure was bordered a small woden fence. It could have walked into the enclosure without a problem. It was also suprising to see "every day" racoons in the zoo. Aparentely, the American racoon is rare in Mexico. Unfortanately, it started raining when we were half way through the zoo and we were stuck in a little enclosure for about thirty minutes after which we left.

After lunch I went to meet a friend who I had met in the reggae bar on friday. We went to a cafe and walked around el centro for a little bid. I then went home and had some food, watched a little tv, and went to bed.

Mexico Dia Cincuenta Nueve

2006-08-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...so I decided to go shopping.
I went with some friends and we looked through the mercado de independencia y el mercado de dulces. I bought a couple of gifts and a cool little puppet. After shopping we went to get a bite to eat. We ended up going to a pizza shop that is owned by the mexican family of my friend. When we were done and ready to pay, the "brother" of my friend said it was gratis (free). It was some pretty good free pizza.
After lunch I went to look for a Monarcas (morelias football team) jersey, because we were going to a game that night. I couldn't find anything that fit so we headed to the game. In front of the game they were selling more jersey's and a bought one that fit perfectly.
It was my first football game. It was pretty exciting. There was lots of beer, chips with chile and lime, and screeming fans. Morelia won and we decided to go out to eat as celebration. We went to a nice little place in el centro. I got enchiladas, which were covered in a delicious creme sauce. After dinner we went to a bar for a little bit and then went to bed.

Mexico Dia Cincuenta Ocho

2006-08-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

Shower, breakfast, school, relaxing, lunch.

After lunch I went to el centro to study and after studying I went to reggae bar. Macai is a nice little bar in the center of town. It has a very low key atmosphere and the reggae music is normally pretty good, oh and the beers are 8 pesos (80 cents). Unfortunately, that night the club got busted by the Mexican FBI. These large black SUV´s with tinted windows pulled up outside the club, and the music was cut off. I asked a friend what was going on and he said "the cops." For about twenty minutes no one could leave as the cops searched the club for weed. A couple of people were taken downstairs and arrested. After, the party started back up as usual. I met a girl from Germany working in Mexico and made some new friends. At around two I went outside to get a Taxi, when a pickup truck pulled up with a bunch of guys in it. I asked them where they were going and it turned out it was kinda close to my house. So, I hitched a ride with a bunch of pot smoking mexicans guys. When it was time for me to get out, it was a little difficult getting the driver to stop. Finally, he stopped abrubtly, almost throwing everying out of the truck, and I got out.

Y bed.

Mexico Dia Cincuenta Siete

2006-08-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

Shower, breakfast, school.
After lunch I went shopping with a freind for a chess set. We were trying to replace the king, that we had broken while playing in San Miguel Allende. Everyone seemed to have a difficult time deciphering the word "ajedrez" (the word for chess in spanish) when we said it. When we showed one guy the broken king and asked him where we could buy a new one he kept saying "kluza loco." We thought he was loco, but it turns out he was telling us to buy crazy glue. The glue worked perfectly, and the king was restored to his former glory.

In the night I went out to eat at a churo and hot chocolate restaurant. I had morelian enchiladas which were pretty good, if not a little spicy. I also made $15 pesos by eating a spoonfull of hot salsa. After dinner, we went to a bar with giant, two liter, corona bottles. We played a few games of pool, which I won, and listened to the live music...y bed.

Mexico Dia Cincuenta Sies

2006-08-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

I dediced to have a relaxed day. I watched en El Orto Lado de la Cama(on the other side of the bed). I really liked it. It is a spanish comedy about the entertwining of two couples lives. Every now and again the actors will break into song about their situations...which was a nice touch. There is one scene where one of the main actors is trying to hide from a girl who he doesn´t like. He runs behind the stage in a theatre and hides inside a prop. Then, the play starts and one of the actors opens the prop, which is supposed to have a fake baby mellon inside. Instead, it is the guy with a melon head and he says, "soy un niño melon." Anyways, I´m not very good at describing stuff.

y bed.

Mexico Dia Cincuenta Cinco

2006-08-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

School. We were talking about imigration in sociedad. It´s crazy what lengths people will go to in order to cross the border into America. The minimum wage in Mexico is 48 pesos per eight hour day. This is what many people make and have to live on. The posibility to make 50 pesos per hour in America draws millions to try and cross the border each year. Many are not even Mexicans. They come from South America, usually by train, crossing the Mexican border and head for the U.S. The second major source of income for the Mexican economy is money sent to Mexico from relatives in America. The journey to America is dangerous, expensive, and often ends in failure. It generally costs 2000 pesos to make the trip, which is a large amount to save for most Mexicans. Then, one must avoid the border patrol, the perilious desert, and the minute men who patrol the border and kill Mexicans trying to cross into America. The desert and minute men (pinche cabrónes) kill approximately 500 migrants per year. It´s good to know that their are groups that try and help imigrants. Groups like Humane Borders, which has put a number of water stations in the desert that borders Mexico.

A little bit about the empanada lady: There is a lady who sells empanadas on the corner outside of our University. She is an imminent presence in the lives of the students at the University. In the ten minute breaks between clases she provides refreshements, snacks, and empanadas to knowledge hungry students. Without the work of this every vigilant women, it is likely that many students would have decreased glucose levels, making it harder to learn. She has earned the nickname of empanada lady. I normally get a queso empanada from her most days.

When I came home my madre told me it was time for me to repay my debt for having her correct my spanish papers. I helped her correct the english in a scholarship application for a friend of her sons. It was enouraging to realize that my spanish wasn´t that bad, since my madre who is an english teacher could not recognize allot of mistakes. A freind of the families was over for lunch. Lunch was fantastic. We had this tomatoe/tortilla soup which is really good. First you are served a tamatoe soup, then you get bowls of avacado, cheese, and tortillas, which are added to the soup. After lunch I had a nap and then wrote my papers.

y zzz...

Mexico Dia Cincuenta Cuatro

2006-08-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

I gotta go back, back, back to school again
You won't find me, till the clock strikes three
I'm gonna be there till then
I gotta go back, back,
back to school again
Whoa whoa, I gotta go, Back to
School......AGAIN!

No quiero ir a escuela. ¿Quieren ir a la playa?

Woke up, took a shower, ate breakfast, and went to school. We are learning about modernismo in literatura and imigration in socidad. For spanish, we had our weekly conversation group with estudiantes mexicanos. We had to help them describe pictures for their upcoming test.

After school I came home and had lunch. My madre and padre were half an hour late, so my hermano told me to start eating. I was finishing my salad when my madre rushed through the door and started talking rapidly to my hermano. The only word I could understand was morir (to die), which didn´t sound to good. It sucks not knowing enough spanish, but my madre explained that a Janitor at her school had cut himself and went into diabetic shock. They had called an ambulance, but it never came...the rest i couldn´t understand. Lunch was good; salad, savory soup, and cheese and bean stuffed bell peppers. After lunch, I was typing up papers when my little hermano (2 and half years), who doesn´t live with us, came in and started watching the simpsons. He set up 4 little (baby) chairs infront of the tv and told me I had to sit down. It was fun watching tv in a tiny chair while reading my books. It´s also fun to realize that a 2 year old child knows more spanish than you.

My family had our first dinner together, probably inspired by the presence of my brother. Normally, we just prepare our own food and eat when we are hungry. But, this time my madre made quesidillas and we talked about how walmart and big corporations are making it hard for small businesses to make money in Mexico.

Y dormiendo.

Mexico Dia Cincuenta Tres

2006-08-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

I woke up to the sound of fireworks once more, and enjoyed the view from our bed breakfast for one last time. After showering and packing we headed for the estacion del autobus. But, not before the owner of the bed and breakfast gave us some delicious blueberry cake. We thanked her and hopped into taxis. We had to return some raincoats which we had borrowed from the ATV place the day before. The shop wasn´t open but there were some Americans waiting for it to open, so we gave them to them. Hopefully they got home safely. We then caught the bus to Celaya (there are two connections to Morelia). There was a 2 hour layover in Celeya. We were looking for food in Celaya, when a guy asked us what we were looking for. We told him a restaurant, and he told us Celaya had no restaurants. He may have been right, because we ended up getting pizza and ice-cream and then boarded the bus for Morelia. We arrived back in Morelia at around 6:00 and parted ways. I unpacked, watched a little TV, and had some food. Then, Bed.

Mexico Dia Cincuenta Dos

2006-08-06T16:52:00.000-07:00

We woke up to the sound of fireworks again. We cut up the fruit that we had bought yesterday and it was delicious. After fruit, we went down to get lunch in the city. There was a nice rustic restaurant in the center of town. I got queso fundido with nopales (cactus) and mushrooms. For dessert I had some flan, which was mouth wateringly good. The orchata (rice milk, with cinamon and other spices) was also good.

After lunch we went to try and rent ATV´s (4 wheelers). We found a place that was ten dollars for an hour and decided to do it. ATVíng was really fun and we got to see allot of the city and some of the countryside. We went offroad for awhile. Then it started to rain and we were driving through mud and lakes of water. One of the other ATV´s didn´t stop in time and ran into our ATV, breaking the light. We then drove back, in the rain, to the rental agency. The guy was nice and it was only 250 pesos for the broken light. He was also nice enough to tell us that there were rain coats in the back of the ATVs, even if it was a little late. We then caught a taxi and returned to our castle.

It felt good to take off my drenched clothes and shoes and hop in a hot shower. After showering we were going to go out, but we all got lazy. Someone had bought a Pinata (of Nemo the fish), but we some how wound up eating all the candy from it, without smashing it open. Therefore, we just relaxed with a little wine and music in our room/house.

Y zzz...

Mexico Dia Cincuenta Uno

2006-08-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

!San Miguel Allende¡
We were awoken by loud noises, which sounded like cannons firing. It turns out there was a festival that weekend and they would let fireworks off every morning. Walking out onto our balcony and looking down over the city was surreal. The view was breath taking. After showering we all went to get breakfast. We found a nice place in the center of town. I got an omlete and some fresh squeezed orange juice. After breakfast we looked around the town for a little bit. Then, we went shopping for food to make ourselves dinner in our new kitchen. We went to a mercado where we met a vendor named Rafael. He was super friendly and kept giving us whole pieces of fruit to try. He also wanted us to mail him a photo that we had taken with him. We ended up with mangos, guavas, figs, tamatoes, avacados, and a bunch of other yummy fruits and vegetables. We then went on a search for some wine and bread. Asking a local, we were able to find a nice wine shop and a panaderia (bread shop). The bread was cheap, so we got a bunch to make tortas for dinner. We then took a taxi back to our castle.

After relaxing, listening to some relaxing spanish guitar, we started to make dinner. First, we saute´d the vegetables in some oil and basil. We then grilled some cheese over buns. The end effect, were tortas filled with portabello mushroom, onion, tamatoe, basil, avacado, and bell pepper. Cooking my own food for the first time in awhile was fun. The tortas were amazing and we all had a glass of wine with dinner. After dinner we just relaxed in our room/house, listening to music, sitting in the hammock, and talking.

Luego...Bed.

Mexico Dia Cincuenta

2006-08-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

I woke up a little late and had breakfast. I then asked my new brother to help me with my papers, after which I went to school. My friend was giving a presentation about Mexican families and offered to play a role in his presentation. When he was talking about his family, he mentioned his drunken cousin and I took my shirt off and played the role of the drunken cousin. It was pretty funny. After school I departed for San Miguel Allende. It was the birthday of a friend and she had invited people to go to the city to celebrate her birthday. We first got some tortas and then headed for San Maguel. Along the way we stopped in a city named Celaya. There I got a nice coconut from a street vendor, which had excellent juice, but I was to afraid to eat the flesh.

Arriving in San Miguel, I was astonished at how gorgeous it was. The mother of the girl whose birthday it was knew the owner of a bed and breakfast, were we could stay for a very discounted rate of 40 pesos ($4) a night. The bed a and breakfast was amazing. It was located on top of a hill that overlooked the whole the city. The building itself was like a castle or villa and was beautifully designed and decorated. The room was amazing, with a large balcony con hammock, full kitchen, couches, and comfy beds. It had feeling of a nice little cosy home.

After settling in, and eating a little cake, we went out for a birthday dinner. Pasing through the city we saw a number of marachi bands playing on the street. We went to a nice rustic and fancy mexican restaurant. The bread, the salsa, the mushroom and cactus stuffed pitas, and the alambre vegetariano (vegetables with tortillas) were all amazing. After dinner we went to a couple of different discotecas. Despues...bed.

Mexico Dia Cuarenta Nueve

2006-08-02T16:49:00.000-07:00

Breakfast and off to school. In spanish class we watched a movie called AmarTeDuele. It is a play on words, as "Amarte" means "to love you" or "I love you," while "te duele" means "it hurts you." It was a love story about a rich girl and a poor boy who fall in love. It was kind of like a modern interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. It was actually pretty good, expect for the trajic ending. Lunch was good, we had a nice salad and pasta. In the night I went to a bar with a couple of friends and we played pool. I won three out of the four times and it was a pretty fun night. Despues...bed.

Mexico Dia Cuarenta Ocho

2006-08-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

Shower, breakfast, school. When I got home from school I met my new brother from spain. He is 35 and has been working in Spain for the past three years in design, but wants to get into the film industry. He speaks with with a thick accent, which involves allot of th,th. He seems friendly and it´s really nice to have a younger person in the house. In addition, there was really good food for lunch...to celebrate the arrival of my new brother. There was a really good salad with baby corn, tomatoes, and palm hearts. For an apitizer there was tora soup with avacado, toritillas, and cheese. The main course was spagetti. After lunch i went to a cafe to study and type my papers. Despues, I went to a bar with some friends and got a bite to eat (some tacos and guacamole).