Alis volat propriis

The past few weeks have been pretty dramatic. I'm not going to rant or go into details, but I lost someone I thought was a dear friend over something so ridiculous, leaving me with absolutely no women friends here in Guanajuato. For the first time in my life, every single one of my friends is male. This has ups and downs, but I have to say, I reallllllly miss my girls back in Oregon.

Right before coming to Mexico, I participated in a week long conference with Portland State's Center for Women, Politics, and Policy (CWPP). There, I met 20 of the most amazing women I could ever hope to meet. 20 women of all ages lived together, worked together, and partied together for an entire week with absolutely no drama, cliques, or whatever other ridiculous shenanigans women have a bad rap for. It was absolutely incredible to be surrounded by such strong, ambitious women, and it is an experience I will never forget.

Since then, I look at most women that I meet through a completely different lens. Naively I automatically assume that I'll get along with everyone as fantastically as I did with my lovely CWPP ladies, and it is always shocking to me when I meet a woman who doesn't have the type of confidence, self respect, and ambition that these women do.

That is about as much of a rant you're going to get from me. Parting words: I miss my girls.

My CWPP ladies and Barbara Roberts, Oregon's first woman governor, June 2010

Time Flies

I have worked at the kindergarten for almost a month now. Even though it can be the most frustrating thing ever, coming in the door on Mondays and Tuesdays always makes up for it. 15 adorable little children run at me screaming "KAHLSEEEEE! TE QUIERO!" (Kelsey, I love you!) definitely makes your day brighter (even if later you end up covered in juice, clay, tears, and snot).

A few random pictures...

My classroom!

Pretty much the only place I have found cheap dark beer. Sketchy basement bar. Free tacos (when you go with Abram).

This I Believe

My very first paper in college was the hardest that I have ever had to write. The assignment was seemingly simple: write a three page essay on what you believe. No other requirements.

I remember how much I struggled to write that paper. I must have restarted it at least ten times. Right before starting my freshman year, my life had changed so much that I wasn't quite sure what it was I believed in anymore. In the end, that is what I wrote about.

Earlier today I was cleaning some old files off of my computer and I stumbled upon that essay. After reading it, two things struck me. 1) It is amazing how much I have evolved as a writer in three short years (some parts were definitely cringe-worthy) and 2) it is amazing how that essay still rings true for me today.

2 quotes:

"I believe in embracing the changes life throws your way. Though things may look difficult at first, there is something to be learned in every challenge thrown at you, no matter how menial it may originally seem. In every challenge, from a missed bus to a difficult class, a bad day to a family tragedy, there is an opportunity to come out knowing more about yourself and what you believe."

This especially applies to my life today, living in a foreign country and speaking in a second language. Absolutely every part of every day is a challenge. Nothing is easy, and the smallest victories are relished as if they were monumental. And, just as my 17-year-old self claimed, I have come out of each challenge a stronger person.

"I believe that five, ten, and thirty years from now, my core beliefs will have morphed and evolved, and will only vaguely represent those I feel strongly about currently."

Again, my 17-year-old self could not have been more right. When I wrote this essay 3 years ago, I was majoring in Criminal Justice and Political Science. I wanted to go on to change the world, and live in as many different parts of it as I could. And while some of that mentality still remains, it has also been altered. I joined MUN and learned that while politics are interesting, it isn't what I want to do with my life. I worked at a school and discovered a passion for teaching. I moved to Mexico and discovered that I'm absolutely in love with Oregon and would be perfectly happy living there. The list goes on. And all of those changes happened in three short years. I can't even imagine how different things will be five, ten, and thirty years down the line.

Anyways, enough with the self reflection (for now...I have a few more especially reflective posts in mind). It is Saturday night, off to hit the town :)

Perfect Day

Between working at the kindergarten, being a somewhat good student, and actually having a social life, the past week absolutely flew by.

Nothing important to note between Valentine's Day and today.

At the kindergarten, for some reason the teacher decided to have a two hour long meeting with the school director in the middle of the school day, leaving me alone with 15 rowdy Spanish speaking children (and by the way, she didn't mention this at all to me. I was clueless until another teacher came out and told me that recess for my class was over and I had to get them ready for lunch). I was surprised at how well they behaved at first, but after lunch that all went down the drain. Books were being thrown across the classroom, children were locking other children in closets, and I was trying my best to hold it all together. It was madness. And even though those kids gave me hell, I STILL love them to death.

After class, the teacher I work with, Anabel, invited me to her house for lunch. She is such a sweet lady who is so excited that I am there to help her. (Sidenote- I almost didn't end up with this class because when we were introduced to the teacher I thought she was mean, but I liked the kids. So I chose to be with this class and I am so glad!). She introduced me to her 14 year old daughter and her husband (who works for the Supreme Court of Guanajuato). I thought I was just having lunch with them, but they kept me the whole day. We went and got ice cream, went on a walk, talked a lot about education, had dinner, and then they drove me home. They are all so incredibly sweet, and made me feel really at home. I have a feeling this will be a repeat occurrence.

I WAS planning on doing my ridiculous reading for my class Wednesday morning when I got home from Anabel's, but then a group of my friends invited me to go out. Originally I was only going to stay an hour...but time flies when you are having fun. Now it is almost 1am and I have a ton of reading to do before my class tomorrow.Yet here I am, updating my blog. Oh well, I can be an irresponsible student every now and then, right?

Also, camping is a possibility this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I Discovered the Purpose of Valentine's Day!

That is right...I finally understand what Valentine's Day is good for. But first, I will tell you about my day. And then you will understand.

I volunteer at a school that has kids from ages 3 to 5. I'm working with the oldest kids. Our classroom has maybe 15 and one teacher. You can tell she is so overwhelmed by how energetic these kids are, so I'm really excited to be able to help her out a little bit. For the first few classes I'm mainly just observing, and eventually I will be giving English classes.

Today was my first day working at the kindergarten. It was possibly the hardest day I have had in Mexico so far. Adults don't come running up to you in tears because someone stuck out their tongue at them. They don't lock themselves in the bathroom because they didn't get the same amount of candy in from the piñata as their best friend, and they don't poke and prod at you. That being said, I'm totally used to little kids from babysitting and working at Buckman. But dealing with little kids in English and then in my second language is a completely different story. When the kids come running up to me bawling, I have absolutely no idea what they are saying. Or if I do, I have no idea what to say back.

BUT, today was nice and easy thanks to good old Valentine's Day, also known in Mexico as the Day of Love and Friendship. Patricio stuck out his tongue at you? Patricio, we don't do that on the Day of Love and Friendship! Now hug and make up. Oh, Evelin, we don't throw our lunches at our friends on the Day of Love and Friendship. Now hug and make up.

Seriously, this whole Day of Love and Friendship thing is quite possibly the best thing ever. Not a single fight drug out for more than a few seconds, because no one wanted to be a bad friend during the Day of Love and Friendship. It was so adorable to see all the little kids immediately think about how their actions affected others, and want to say sorry and hug right away.

So, I have come to the conclusion that Valentine's Day was really invented by schoolteachers who needed a break.

Scorpion

The first time I ever saw a scorpion was within my first month of being in Mexico. It was a pretty tiny one, and rather than freak out I just stared at it for a really long time. They are so funny looking.

I find the occasional scorpion in my room, which doesn't really bother me. In this part of Mexico the scorpions are pretty small and not too harmful, whereas in other parts of the country if you get stung you are supposed to run to the hospital.

Friday night was the first time a scorpion actually made me freak out. It was late at night, and right as I was about to crawl into bed I noticed an ENORMOUS scorpion on the wall that my bed is up against, directly above my pillow. It was just out of my reach, so I couldn't just smash it with a shoe. I tried throwing shoes at it, swinging a towel at it, and banging on the wall to try and make it come down (and hopefully not fall into my bed), but it was staying put.

Frustrated, I decided to take a break to get some water. Miracle of all miracles, my host brother was awake and in the kitchen, so I recruited him to help me. Even he freaked out a little about how big this guy was. Picture below. (Though I have to say, the picture doesn't really do it justice.)

We ended up pulling my bed away from the wall. He stood on a chair and with the help of a broom and a huge boot disposed of scary Mr. Scorpion. He left a really large gross stain on my wall.

Mexico City Adventures

This weekend our study abroad group headed to Mexico City for a short three day trip. It was the same exact trip that I took in late July when I first got into Mexico for the new students this term, but I got to leave the group a few times to do something new. Even though I repeated a lot of the same activities, it was really great because it made it clear how far I have come since first getting in Mexico.

We left Saturday morning and got into the city around 1. The start of the trip, we ate at the same little restaurant we did last time. I remember looking at the menu and not recognizing anything except for tongue and tortilla soup. This time around, I knew what everything on the menu was and had eaten it at some point. I was so excited.

After lunch, we walked around downtown. Our tour guide for the day this time around was so much better. He was interesting and showed us lots of interesting places, not just the usual two or three tourists stops. He pointed out this place that sold tacos, and two other girls and I went and got dinner there that night. SO GOOD. Best salsa I have ever had.

After tacos, we went up to the rooftop bar in the hostel for a beer. It turns out that the university had organized a trip for all exchange students to Mexico City (we went with our exchange program, not the university), so the hostel was full of UG exchange students. We had some beers with a few French and Swedish exchange students (a conversation in which everyone was speaking their second language...way cool). All of them have only been in Mexico since January, and it blew my mind when my friends were having difficulties saying something and turned to me to rescue them. Or when someone asked a question and they looked to me for the answer. I was the one avoiding talking last time around, so I had another moment where I clearly saw how much I have learned since getting here in July.

Sunday morning the rest of the group went to Frida Kahlo's house and Xochimilco, and another kid who had already been to those places and I split off from the group. Instead, we went to the National Anthropology Museum with a friend of our program director who offered to take us. It was a super long drive because the city had shut down their main street, Avenida de la Reforma, to celebrate Bicycle Day. There were thousands of bicyclists, which was neat to see, but it made car traffic a complete mess.

The museum was well worth the crazy traffic. It was pretty incredible. We really only looked at the section with all the pre-hispanic art, but we were there for about two or three hours. I was so amazed by it all that I completely lost track of time.

Afterwards we went to an enormous park in the middle of the city, Bosque de Chapultapec, and a real castle at the top, Castillo de Chapultapec. It was pretty, but we walked so much I felt like my legs were going to fall off. Also, almost all of the kids there were on leashes, which reminded me of a dog park. It was kind of hilarious.

We had lots of time to burn after the park so we had some lunch and then some coffee. It was really fun to have Lalo's friend with us because he was really knowledgeable about the city and had a lot to say. We ended up talking a lot about the swine flu scare and narcotrafficking and how hard Mexico was hit by it all.

After our tour I was supposed to go out exploring with the girls, but my legs felt like they were going to fall off. The boys were headed to a bar to watch the Superbowl, so I decided to go with them instead because I could just sit down. The first Superbowl I ever watched was in Mexico.

That night I went up to the rooftop bar to write in my journal and have some alone time, but I ended up meeting some travelers from Argentina and one from Canada that I got along really well with. We hung out for awhile and I finally made it back to my room, completely exhausted, around 1 AM.

Monday was an alright day. We went to see the Lady of Guadalupe and Teotihuacan, both of which I had already been to. When we got to Teotihuacan there was an enormous line because it had been closed most of the day (Why? The president of Mexico was there for some ceremony!). There were a TON of police.

Now I'm back in Guanajuato. This week will be great because both of my literature classes were cancelled, so all I have is Spanish on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then Migration and Politics on Friday.

Now for the good news! I got a job volunteering at a preschool/kindergarten! I'm really excited. We are still working out the details, but it looks like I will be working Monday and Tuesday from 10-1, possibly more. I will be teaching an English class, observing other classes, and helping out the teachers. Today we went to the school for the first time for a little tour. I'm really excited to get started.

One of my favorite things I saw at the Anthropology Museum.

Visit #2 to the pyramids. This time it was sunny!