Trip to Zacatecas

For our second and final “road trip” with the program, we traveled to Zacatecas. Instead of the 6-hour trip to D.F. in chartered buses, we rode in 3 vans for about 3.5 hours. The day we arrived we enjoyed an authentic Mexican lunch in a restaurant called Los Cazadores (“The Hunters”), which was, not surprisingly, but alarmingly-if you know what I mean-filled with many dead animals. We walked to a now-government building which was originally housing and offices for the miners. (Zacatecas, like Gto, was originally a mining town.) Now, though, 90% of the silver in Zacatecas is exported to Europe and the US, so only a small amount of the variety of silver we saw was actually mined there.

Later we drove up a mountain to look down on the city of Zacatecas (population 120,000, I think). And we also saw a smaller town, which was originally where the city was located (in the photo with the big landscape). We saw the first Zacatecan mine, and we saw the famous statue of Pancho Villa. Sarita (a girl in my group) and I joked about bringing Pancho Villa back as a souvenir, so here he is—in picture form. Unfortunately, the week before we left, Sarita adventure—a tour of a mine called "El Eden." got appendicitis, had surgery, and was unable to join us. She’s quite the “conquistadora!” We took a cable car (teleferico o funícular) down the mountain (80 meters?). The picture here was taken from the cable car, overlooking the city. The cable car was constructed around 1979, carries up to 12 people 85 meters over 650 meters of distance We landed in front of our next We had a good time with the hair nets and listening to all our tour guide for the weekend had to say.

That night, with the beautiful sunset, my girlfriends and I went out for coffee and tried to put a dent in al our homework.

En Queretaro con los "Youngs"

When I met Steve Young (the man who gave Pepe’s name to Ann Dye for me to have a Christian contact here), he invited me to come to his house sometime and meet his family, town, etc. So, when we had a holiday (former Mexican president Benito Juarez’s birthday), I took the liberty to call him up and invite myself over! Quite independently, I might say, I took a taxi (first one on my own), to the bus station, bought a ticket to Querétaro, and was on my way! (Actually, I had to buy a ticket to Irapuato first, and we made several stops after that, but that’s how it works the economical way…)

I arrived late, but Steve and his lovely 2 girls, Mary Catherine and Audrey (who I later learned play the violin wonderfully), came to pick me up. At their beautiful home, I met Laura, mother of 4-the two above, a brother at college in the states, and Stephanie, the 18 year-old about to graduate from high school (or “la prepa,” as they say here.) I also met Mary and her boyfriend. Mary lived in Querétaro last semester as a short-term missionary, and she returned with her boyfriend for her last spring break. Laura took us all out to buy ice-cream and “elote,” (giant, white corn-on-the-cob with mayonnaise, chili pepper, lime juice—it’s sounds gross but it’s amazing; I’ve bought more since!) Down town (about 9pm) we watched a hilarious street performer, and I met Nolan, a two-year missionary who just graduated from Berry College, and who knows several of my friends from high school who went there! Small world! (Or as the say here, “El mundo es un pañuelo,” or “The world is like a handkerchief!”)

The next day I attended an English-speaking church with the Youngs, which I thoroughly adored, and got to meet Ann and Dick Dye, who have been missionaries in Mexico 30 years with MTW. Ann and I later played “the name game,” and found we have many common acquaintances. Fun! The Youngs have been here 8 years, and although there are about to take a year sabbatical, the plan on returning—maybe forever, AND they’re thinking about moving to Guanajuato some day! That night I went out with Mary, David, Nolan, and several other students from all over Mexico. We chatted in Spanish about the difficulties of learning a new language, and all sorts of randomness.

I had planned to leave after one night, but Laura convinced me to stay another, so I got to enjoy her small tour of the city the next day. I also met two visitors of theirs from Michigan. When I arrived Laura told me their house had “revolving doors,” and I learned how true that is! We went to the second convent built in Latin America (were Maximilian was assassinated), saw the giant aqueducts of the city, a huge open market, a statue of the “corregidora,” who warned the city of the on-coming Revolution (like our Paul Revere), and much more.

Overall, it was the most English I’ve spoken since being here, but it was quite restful and pleasant. Especially considering that they had an unlimited-calls-to-the-US-and-Canada phone line that I used to call my family and Ryan! Woo-hoo!

Lucky Tuesday!

In some Hispanic cultures (at least in Mexico and Venezuela), instead of the 13th falling on a Friday being bad luck, Tuesday the 13th is bad luck. Well, it must mean good luck for me! :) First of all , Tuesday is the day I get to sleep in because classes start laster. Secondly, I got to run this morning (a rare and treasured event) to the bufa!! Thirdly, and most importantly, Rocio gave me a letter at the end of class from none other than Ryan Fisher! As soon as class let out (which wasn't soon enough), I read his wonderful letter and shared the photos he sent me with the girls sitting around me. They couldn't help but compliment his nice looks! (Of course, I know he's the best looking guy in the world!) I smiled all the way on my walk home. When I arrived, I was so excited to tell my host mother about the letter and pictures, that she had me come with her in a taxi to pick up the grandkids from school. And then, it rained! This is very strange here, because we are in the dry season. Sometimes a few drops fall from the sky, but today it actually rained for maybe even 10 minutes! It's the talk of the town. Back home, I proudly hung up my pictures of Ryan around my dresser mirror. What an exciting day. Oh, and on top of the beautiful, treasured letter, Ryan said he's going to buy plane tickets today! The only thing better that could have happened to day, would have been for Ryan to show up himself! :)

Sor Juana me comprendia...

...

En fin, te vas, ay de mi!
Dudosamente lo pienso:
pues si es verdad, no estoy viva,
y si viva, no lo creo.

Posible es que ha de haber día
tan infausto, funesto,
en que sin ver yo las tuyas
esparza sus luces Febo?

Posible es que ha de llegar
el rigor a tan severo,
que no ha de darle tu vista
a mis pesares aliento?

Ay, mi bien, ay prenda mía,
dulce fin de mis deseos!
Por qué me llevas el alma,
dejándome el sentimiento?

Mira que es contradicción
que no cabe en un sujeto,
tanta muerte en una vida,
tanto dolor en un muerto.

Mas ya que es preciso, ay triste!,
en mi infeliz suceso,
ni vivir con la esperanza,
ni morir con el tormento,

dame algún consuelo tú
en el dolor que padezco;
y quien en el suyo muere,
viva siquiera en tu pecho.

No te olvides que te adoro,
y sírvante de recuerdo
las finezas que me debes,
si no las prendas que tengo.

Acuérdate que mi amor,
haciendo gala de riesgo,
sólo por atropellarlo
se alegraba de tenerlo.

Y si mi amor no es bastante,
el tuyo mismo te acuerdo,
que no es poco empeño haber
empezado ya en empeño.

Acuérdate, señor mío,
de tus nobles juramentos;
y lo que juró la boca
no lo desmientan tus hechos.

Y perdona si en temer
mi agravio, mi bien, te ofendo,
que no es dolor, el dolor
que se contiene atento.

Y adiós; que con el ahogo
que me embarga los alientos,
ni sé ya lo que te digo
ni lo que te escribo leo.

Events..,

Last week Guanajuato observed Dia de los Mujeres, of Women's Day. I think the girls shouldn't have had to go to school, but we did anyway. The only thing that happened were a crowd of booths set up in the centro-mostly jewelry, bags, and food. I bought some dried fruit, guayaba, I think. I brought some home to Margarita (my host mom), and Ester, who cleans the house 3 days a week. More recently, an international car show came. Everyone called it the “rally,” with a rolled “r,” of course. Holly and I went for a little bit, but the centro was so packed full of thousands and thousands of people we could hardly move, much less see anything other than the gigantic balloons which flew overhead. We ended up not doing much that night…

Pepe

Pépe (the taller), Samuel, and me. Pépe is the one Ann Dye, the missionary, put me in contact with. We went out last night and had a marvelous time. First I met Jamie, with whom he works in a campus ministry, aside from his job and research in Multiple Sclerosis, and Samuel is a short-term missionary, who actually graduated from UGA! He is partly deaf and speaks sign-language. Since Pépe is the sign language interpreter for his church, they were able to have an interesting conversation. It appears that although they are different, Spanish and English sign language have much more in common that Spanish and English spoken! Later Pépe and I met up with his girlfriend, Yadira, and her cousin, Mari, to go out for coffee and conversation. I was supposed to meet up my friends from the program at an anthro called Las Damas de las Camelias, where even our professor was going to join us, but I ended up staying with Pépe and his gang. We had a wonderful time, and they were gracious to speak a little slower so I understood so much, so my surprise and excitement. They really challenged me in my walk with Christ and especially in my witness to those around me. Yes, I want to show people that I care about them and show them that I have a great and secure hope in the Lord Jesus, but maybe a best place to do that is not always in a bar, due to the atmosphere where people search for a short-term hope or pleasure and other various, perhaps wise, reasons; they gave me much to think about. We chatted for hours and arranged to meet up for church Sunday, and to, probably, meet every Friday at my house to chat and learn from each other. Oh, I praise God to have such a unique and wonderful fellowship, even here in Mexico!

Mi familia mexicana

Some pictures of my host family, too. Here, Valería is frying fish. She cooked when my host mom, Margarita had a psychology conference in town for a weekend. The fish is "sierra," and was pretty good, I'm just not so great at de-boning yet. My host father here, is standing beside a statue of a "estudiantina," the students who play instruments in the "centro" for money, dressed in "baroque" (I think) attire. Senor Luis used to do this when he was in "la prepa," or high school, when his buddies. I think he said he played the flute. He said they would often play something special when pretty girls walked by. : )

Pictures

These are other random pictures from various outings. I went to a “Grease” play at “Teatro Principal,” put on my the university. “Vasolina,” as it is in Spanish, was cute, but not very professionally performed, and I was disappointed that even thought the songs were in Spanish, all the actors lip-sang!

This is a representation of the “closeness” of the traffic here. Usually when people parallel park, it looks like they could never get out, but my host family says it’s possible. I have to be careful walking to school, because automobiles have a much smaller sense of space here, as you can see.

This is a picture of a “friend” a made in the centro (where everyone gathers to hang out, most often). Actually, the owner said he found the iguana and illegally owns her. He also said she’s only about a year old and will get much bigger. Whew! The group of people are some friends I’ve made at school, the Centro de Idiomas. The guy in front is actually a student from the states, but I can’t remember his name. He wants to live here in Mexico though. The couple in the back left are two vacationers from Canada. They were full of questions, especially since they didn’t know much Spanish at all. I hang out with the other students (Aidee, Rebecca, Mayra, Pati, Mario, and I don’t know the other guy) almost every week; they’re great fun and great to practice conversational Spanish. I fink I actually understand more Spanish in an academic setting because I’m less used to “street” or “youth” Spanish.

There’s also a picture of a band playing in the gazebo in the middle of the centro, at the “Jardín Unión.” Something fun is always happening there.

"Crazy for Fish"

This entry is a tribute to Ryan Fisher. So many things remind me of him here, which makes my missing him somewhat bittersweet. I love being here in Guanajuato, but I definitely don’t like be away from him. This is for you, Ry, and I guess you’re the only one who’ll fully understand these, anyway. I miss you so much, and I can’t wait to see/hug you!

La Bufa

Pictures from hiking up the "bufa" or "picacho" with Sergio and Hans. Sergio has been asking me to join him in flying a kite, but since we hadn't planned for it, and I had been interested in doing some hiking, I mentioned the idea and so it was...I called several girls and guys from the program, but only Hans was able to join us. Turns out it was an excellent idea. The "bufa" or "picachos," as the rocky mountains are called here, was a difficult, yet exhilarating hike. As you can see, the view was gorgeous, and the wildlife (cows, cacti, etc.) was cool, too. We also saw three different caves! at times it was so steep we had to crawl on our hands, but this aspect only made it more of an adventure. We walked slowly at first, but as soon as we started mounting the hill, I understood why; and after 3.5 hours of hiking, I was worn out!

Guanajuato as a Body

One of our assignments for Culture class was to describe Guanajuato as a body. The first thing that came to mind was a hand because if you look at the lines on your palm, they greatly resemble the labyrinth-like roads here. Ashley and Andrea, the girls in the same project group, thought it a good idea, and added that each part of the hand can represent different aspects. We decided that the bones are the university (it is often said Gto is a university with a city instead of a city with a university), the blood is the people who pass through all the city, the veins that contain the blood are happiness/contentment, the muscle are the history (Gto has a rich, strong history), the fingers are the different colonies, the painted fingernails are the gamut of colors that the buildings have here, the tendons are the mines (especially because mines have the veins of deposits), the bracelet represents the highway “Panoramica” which circles around the city (you can draw the correlations there), the joints are the tunnels here that join everything together, and the knuckles represent the “cerros” or hills that encompass the city.

I drew the hand with these parts detailed, Andrea made different colored handprints all around it, and Ashley helped brainstorm and color. We had a blast working together, from the pre-planning, to going to the “Papeleria” to buy supplies (paint, poster board), to meeting at my house with our “pan dulce” (sweet bread) to carry out our plans. That’s also a picture of a bug we killed/smothered with yellow paint. Crazy, I know…

Xochimilco

Before we left Mexico City, we took a boat ride in Xochimilco. Thirteen of us loaded onto a long boat with a full length table, on which we were immediately served a drink of our choice.Boats completely covered the river, but it made for an exciting atmosphere. Some people celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, or other special occasions, some people were obviously tourists like us, some people were just a couple out on a date. The couple dancing in the picture looked so happy that they were giddy! And the river didn't stop the vendors, either. We even had a "stowaway" man jump on the boat after we took off, trying to sell us jewelry. The only thing we did purchase, was an authentic performance by one of the many Mariachi bands floating out on the river, too. Everyone watched them as we rode by and enjoyed the music and, sometimes, dance! We were served a huge lunch, with tacos, quesadillas, fajitas, mole (a Mexican salsa with chocolate, but not sweet--still getting used to that), and frijoles, arroz...suffice to say, lots of food and options. Our cooks rode a tiny boat beside us. It was altogether an amusing experience, though I found out later it's known as a "raunchy" place at night, but overall, it was a good taste to leave in my mouth on our way out of Mexico City.

Mexico City, Day 2 continued

This is another picture from the pyramids at Teotihuacan. Many of the original paintings, like this one, are still in pretty good condition. The tiger is protecting the the water resevouir (below the painting), and with a field of crops in the background. The tiger is sewing the seeds with his claws.



The fountain, even more expansive in life, stands in the center of the surrounding square-shaped Museo de Anthropologia, which represents the indigenous population as early as possible up to this century. We only had time to visit the room on the Mexicas. We saw huge stones were the Mexica performed human sacrifices, weapons, kitchen supplies, and lots of indigenous artwork. The most famous stucture we saw was the Piedra del Sol, a religious calendar of probably a 15 diameter or so, which represents gods, phaser of the moon, the 20 different days (which were like our week), the four geographical directions, and other significant subjects. We also discussed many of the symbols in history class, which complemented are trip well. That night I went to bed early because I was exhausted, which is rare, because before I came to Mexico, a friend told me that if I stay up an hour later every night, after 4 months in Mexico, I'll have added about 4.5 days to my experience.


Our last day, before returning "home" to Guanajuato, we went to Frida Kahlo's house. (Her husband, Diego Rivera, an equally famous artist, was born in Guanajuato, and I visited his home about a week earlier.) Her house was full of beautiful (and strange, if you're familiar with her) artwork. It was sad to see her bed where she worked in her dying days, and the pictures of young children which represented her miscarriage. Although I lament some of Frida's lifestyle, her strong image fascinates me. We weren't allowed to take any pictures of "Casa Azul," which really was blue, except in the garden in the center of the house. In this picture I'm standing with one of the FIVE Sarahs in our programs of 26 students. She's actually not in my group, but we see each other occasionally. With my host family, I'm called Sarita, and everyone else is Sarah, but when I'm at another Sarah's home, she is Sarita and I'm Sarah. "Sarita" is just an endearment, which I have grown to cherish. I often hear my name, "Aaaayyy, Sarita, ayy, Sarita!" I chokingly asked my host father what he meant by this today, and he jovially replied, "No hay remedio," or, "There's just no cure!"

Mexico City, Day 2, Part 1

The second day in Mexico (because in this country, when people say they're going to Mexico, they mean to the capital city), we first went to the Basilica. Here I got to see the Patron Saint of the country, the Virgen de Gaudalupe. The entire area in front of here was composed of moving sidewalks to allow as many people as possible to see her. I felt a strange dicotomy of the observers-the extremely religious, and the curious. There were two sections to the church, traditional and contemporary, and a service was in process when we walked through the enormous sanctuary, fashioned with lights imitating bee hives. The significance of the decor comes from the connation of bees always working, making for a somewhat wearisome religion! Outside, we hiked up a garden trail which led up to an overlook of the city, "guarded" by two stone angels. As you can imagine from the pic, they were pretty big.

From the Basilica, we drove about an hour to Teotihuacan. First we stopped at a museum, where a man showed us how tequila is extracted from the famous Maguey cactus. The tequila comes from a liquid in the heart of the plant, where sybiotically lives the gusano, or worm. Being quite the useful plant, the Maguey also provides a paper, which just peals off the leaves, ready to use, a lotion, from the moist fleshy part of the leaves, and fabric, from the fibrous hairs in the center of the leaves. Then a woman brought of all tastes of tequila, pulque, and agua miel-all alcoholic beverages made from the Maguey. Pulque is a white, medicinal tasting drink which I'll be satisfied never to taste again. Agua miel, literally, "honey water," is sweet, as it sounds, as reminded me of amaretto. Tequila doesn't taste that good, unless my host father makes it into "paloma," a mixture of a grapefruit drink, lime, and salt. Then we saw demonstrations of how the obsidian stones are carved and made into masks and various animal forms. Obsidian is a black, but sometimes with shimmers of either gold, red, or white, produced naturally from a nearby volcano.

We had a pleasant meal at the tequila/obsidian store, and then left for the piramids. Although the sun shone down hard on us, we eagerly listened to the wealth of knowledge our guide Monica had to share over the next 3-4 hours. How amazing it was to see the paintings and remains of water systems of the Mexica (pronounced ma-shee-kah) and Aztec peoples. We hiked up the piramids of the sun and moon, and tried not to make eye contact with all the men selling fake silver and obsidian, who would call in poor English, "Hi, you have boyfriend. Buy thees for heem. You pretty" or, "One dolla, only one dolla for you. Special for you." (What they meant, I found out, was that they'll take one dollar off the price...ugh!) Even though it was quite a hike, the view from the tops of the pyramids was gorgeous!

Mexico City

Friday the 2nd of March, our program traveled to Mexico City for the weekend. Being the largest city in the world, it was quite a unique experience. We rode a chartered bus for five hours and after settling in our hostal (a very nice one), we dined at a nearby restaurant, called Mexico Viego. Trying to be adventurous, I ordered something that looked authentic, called Molcajete, and to my surprise, I received quite a presentation of nopales (cactus), cheese, and meats of all kinds!

Afterwards, we (at least my half of the group) met with our tour guide for the weekend, Monica, and walked around the city for a while. First we visited the Plaze de las tres culturas, where there are structures from the pre-colonial (Templo Mayor), colonial, and modern epocs. Then we walked to the Palacio Nacional, a giant government building with the fabulus murals of Diego Rivera which depict much of Mexico's history. Next we visited the Catedral in the Zocalo (center of town.) The depth of the religious attitude there is very sobering.

During our free time, after walking around a bit, we enjoyed a Jamaican-Latin style band in our hostal, and our tour guide bought us all a beer and tequila shot, to my surprise. The beer was warm, so I couldn't drink more than a couple sips. Afterwards, we went to the famous "Lucha Libre," where grown men in tight suits and masks perform ridiculous fighting tactics in front of thousands of shouting, cursing Mexicans. The first 45 minutes were fun and hilarious, but up until we left 2.5 hours later, I was ready to leave "Mistico" (one of the favorite fighters), and my headache behind! I was also disappointed that they wouldn't allow me to bring my camara into the arena. The process of getting my confiscated camara batteries was quite interesting, too, especially with some of the drunken members of my wild group! I think the night stressed me out so much that I had hives until mid-morning the next day! But over all, the uniqueness of the once-in-a-lifetime experience was worth it. This is Hans, Jacob, and DJ, I think, in the Lucha Libre ("Free Fight") spirit.