I was gently awoken at 7am this morning to Angelina softly saying, "Parteras, hay un parto" (midwives, there is a labor). I slipped on my clothes, brushed my teeth, and came downstairs and over to the "casita" (little house) to find a 14 year old girl calmly relaxing in the bed, breathing nicely with each contraction. She was accomapied by her old brother and sister. She was 4 centimeters at this time. I left her for a short while to make some tea with one of the other Spanish midwives. While we waited for the girl to become in more active labor, we sat and drank some tea and had some toast with fresh avocado. It was going to be another beautiful day here - the birds were chirping, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining brightly.
About an hour later I checked in on the "joven" and found her to be still relaxing wonderfully. Sleeping between contractions and only awakening to have a contraction. They were palpating stronger now, her water had broken on its own, and she was 5-6 centimeters. At this time, some of the consultations were arriving - pregnant patients, patients seeking Angelina's special fertility treatments, and some for other complaints of general aches and pains. Angelina, me, and Eva were seeing these consults while periodically checking in on the young girl laboring.
At 10am, it became clear that things were becoming more active. She still slept between contractions and barely uttered a sound when she was contracting, but her uterus was palpating stronger and it looked like she was spontaneously pushing. She was 9 centimeters dilated.
At this time, the three of us focused all of our attention on her. Angelina was at her head, wiping the sweat from her brow and singing lovely songs in Spanish, Eva was at the other end awaiting the baby, and I was in the middle with my hand on her bell and my mouth to her ear, gently whispering words to help her relax. It was beautiful. At 10:10 am, a beautiful baby boy was born. He was placed onto his mother's chest and tears of joy and relief fell down her cheeks.
After delivering the placenta over an intact perineum, and assisting in breastfeeding, the mother was given hot chocolate to drink and breakfast of fresh papaya with granola and yogurt. It is tradition here in Mexico, that the women drink hot chocolate after having the baby. They prefer something warm to keep the body warm in preparation for the milk to flow. They even keep themselves under heavy blankets and their heads covered too in order to keep warmth in the body. Interesting...I need to get some hot chocolate packs for those postpartum Latinas at the hospital...
Once mom and baby were tucked in, we continued with the consultations. After they were finished, Angelina, myself, and the other Spanish midwife, Ane went to pay a home visit to a mother who had delivered at her home with her own mother midwifing last night. We were called to the home by the husband, because the mother was bleeding heavy. The property was about a mile down a dirt road. I entered the home which was about as large as my dining room. The walls and roof were made of sheet metal, the floor was dirt, and the door was a sheet blowing in the breeze. The bed took up half of the space in this home. Other than the bed, there was a small table, one chair, a stove, a small refrigerator, and a dresser for clothing. I was stunned. The mother lay in the bed with her baby. Her head covered and under lots of blankets. She complained of some pain but had the biggest smile on her face despite. We uncovered her and upon inspection found that part of the placenta was still inside of her. Very gently, Angelina coaxed out the placenta but had to go deeper inside for the rest. I held the woman close while Angelina did this. Afterwards, her bleeding lessened and all seemed OK. Next, Angelina filled out some paperwork for the birth certificate. While she was doing this, I went outside where I found three little girls, ages 2-4. All beautiful with big brown eyes and wide grins despite the dirt and grime all over their clothes, faces, and bare feet. Once we had this woman settled and were preparing to leave, the one youngest little girl ran up to me to say adios. She gave me a big hug and I wished that I could just scoop her up and take her home with me. Oh...if only I could....
The next house we visited was near to this one but a step up because the walls were concrete. In the yard was a really cute, friendly dog tied to short chain leash, two puppies in cages, and about 20 roosters, each in their own cage. I pet the puppies and filled the dog's bowl with my bottled water. We were greeted with big smiles and hugs by the family as we arrived to check in on a mom and baby. All was well. I did find out however, that these roosters are used for fighting and gambling - a way for these people to make money. When we got back in the car to leave, I felt emotions overwhelming me - the children, the living conditions, the animals - all of it and I broke down and sobbed. Angelina and Ane were great in comforting me and shared with me something that was very eye opening. Despite the living conditions of these people, they are happy in their hearts, they explained. They may not have much in the way of money and material things, but they have strong beliefs in God and family and for this reason, they are rich. Wow...so true.
Once we arrived home, we sat down to dinner together -Angelina's whole family, me, the Spanish midwives. And during dinner we were visited by Angelina's three sisters - a big family affair - the Mexican way. The tortilla soup and fresh salad was delicious, but now I am tired from the day. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A Beach Weekend then Thrown into the Fire...
School has ended and for the first time in my life, I am missing it. Who knew it could be possible? And what better way to end 6 weeks in classes than going to the beach....
Last weekend, 14 of us headed south - me, Austrian painter Kathi, three girls from Holland - Emma, Kat, and Alex, crazy Rene from Switzerland, Birgit from Sweden, two Californians living half the year in Mexico, and the rest were the family from the school. Sad to say, there are no photos to post here because we went to such a remote area that my cell phone did not work. Dummy me left it turned on and it went dead really quick trying to find service. And of course, I did not bring the charger...therefore, I could not take photos. So you will have to imagine riding in a van south through desolate villages where children run barefoot in the dirt roads with their dogs running along beside them. Imagine restaurants lining the road and people staring out their windows and sitting on their porches watching the few cars that travel along.
We went to a beach called Playa Ventura which is a town 4 hours south of Acapulco. No tourists here...in fact, we were the ONLY tourists in the town. Half of us checked into a really cute hotel owned by a Mexican woman and her German husband while the other adventurous half camped on the beach. My fear was scorpions and other desert creatures that might find their way into my tent. We arrived around 4pm and sat down to a meal together. I ate a boring quesadilla with the hottest hot sauce while the others had these gigantic plates of whole fish, rice, vegetables, and beans with tortillas, of course. This is when I wished that I liked fish...After dinner, we went for a swim - the water was so warm and inviting and this particular beach where we swam was bordered by huge rock formations. Just beautiful...We watched an amazing sunset followed by a rich red sky and the planet venus shining bright. But the night was not over...we walked back to our hotel, showered and then walked into town for a little dinner. Well, every restaurant but one was closed on this Friday night because everyone in the town was at a fiesta - a birthday party for a 3 year old that was taking place in the street - yes, IN the street. As we walked through the party to go to dinner, all eyes were on us. We were 5 gringo girls - very out of place and noticed as we walked along the street. Literally every head turned to look at us. It felt strange until we joined in the festivities after our dinner. That crazy Swede we were traveling with bought a case of cornonas and had a table all to himself. So as the bands were playing and the people were drinking and dancing, we too took part. It's really funny because the next day, every person we spoke to from the town said they saw us there....how could you not?
So the next day was just a lazy day on the beach - playing in the waves, walks on the beach, eating seafood...That night was low key. After another amazing sunset, we had a beach bonfire and went to bed exhausted from a long day in the sun.
The next morning, we got up early, went to the beach for a few hours then headed back to Cuernavaca - which was a really long ride home. It took 9 hours, and by the time we got back we were all running to get out of the car and into our beds.
The next day, I packed up my room and came to live with Angelina the midwife. As soon as I arrived, I literally dropped my luggage without being shown anything except two laboring women. On Mondays, Angelina has two midwives from another town in Mexico helping her. At her home, Angelina has a building separate from here house where women deliver their children. She even has one room in her home for overflow - which got used last night. I will get to that....so I was thrown into helping these women. The Mexican midwife from Tepoztlan did the first delivery and I did the second. A 20 year old girl having her first baby....the father of the baby was about 40 (not uncommon among poor Mexican women). She did great without any drugs. Pushed only 5 minutes for her first baby (love that). After the delivery I ate my first meal of the day at 4pm - tofu, vegetable soup, mashed potatoes and refried beans, with tortillas, of course. Crashed at 8pm in my room that I am sharing with two bohemian spanish women who are midwives in a rural area in south Spain. They also make jewelry and other crafts and are into natural remedies and healing (and speak no English).
10 minutes after I laid down, one of my roomates alerted me that there was another woman in labor. She would go assist this one and they would call me for the next. I got woken up at 4am. Apparently while I was sleeping, there were two deliveries and this third one was mine. When I walked into the room though, one of the spanish midwives was catching the baby and I got to do the repair - gee thanks. All in all, 5 deliveries yesterday - busy!!!
Today, knock on wood has been more tranquilo....I observed Angelina as she saw about 6 women, two gyn problems and the others for pregnancy. She spends about 45 minutes with each patient. I observed her do some cool massage and body rocking for round ligament pain and I observed her use a technique that I've never witnessed for leg pain. She lit a cotton ball on fire, placed the cotton ball flame in a small glass then quickly removed it and placed the glass on the woman's leg where she was having pain. The skin under the glass rose like a bubble and then she removed it and repeated this all over the area in her leg where she was hurting. She told me that she uses this technique to move energy. She also accompanied this fire stuff with some massage of arnica ointment. Amazing...the woman's pain was relieved and she left without limping. Don't think I could use this in the hospital though...plus I think my gringa patients would think I was nuts...
Angelina is VERY vegetarian friendly - I'm eating so healthy here and it's great. She has 4 sons at the house plus a husband and a maid, plus all of us living here. SHe cooks not only for her family and students but also for the women in labor. She feeds them after they deliver.
Angelina is very into healthy diet and thinks this is the way to heal most ailments. She prescribes juices of vegetables and fruits, herbs and homeopathics.
One day here and I feel very overwhelmed though. She is so busy and speaks hardly any English. Actually no one here speaks English. I feel almost like I'm living in a world by myself sometimes. It takes so much work and concentration to listen intently and translate in my head. I am exhausted. But, I believe that despite the exhaustion and my brain feeling like mashed potatoes, I will learn a lot and have a great experience.
Last weekend, 14 of us headed south - me, Austrian painter Kathi, three girls from Holland - Emma, Kat, and Alex, crazy Rene from Switzerland, Birgit from Sweden, two Californians living half the year in Mexico, and the rest were the family from the school. Sad to say, there are no photos to post here because we went to such a remote area that my cell phone did not work. Dummy me left it turned on and it went dead really quick trying to find service. And of course, I did not bring the charger...therefore, I could not take photos. So you will have to imagine riding in a van south through desolate villages where children run barefoot in the dirt roads with their dogs running along beside them. Imagine restaurants lining the road and people staring out their windows and sitting on their porches watching the few cars that travel along.
We went to a beach called Playa Ventura which is a town 4 hours south of Acapulco. No tourists here...in fact, we were the ONLY tourists in the town. Half of us checked into a really cute hotel owned by a Mexican woman and her German husband while the other adventurous half camped on the beach. My fear was scorpions and other desert creatures that might find their way into my tent. We arrived around 4pm and sat down to a meal together. I ate a boring quesadilla with the hottest hot sauce while the others had these gigantic plates of whole fish, rice, vegetables, and beans with tortillas, of course. This is when I wished that I liked fish...After dinner, we went for a swim - the water was so warm and inviting and this particular beach where we swam was bordered by huge rock formations. Just beautiful...We watched an amazing sunset followed by a rich red sky and the planet venus shining bright. But the night was not over...we walked back to our hotel, showered and then walked into town for a little dinner. Well, every restaurant but one was closed on this Friday night because everyone in the town was at a fiesta - a birthday party for a 3 year old that was taking place in the street - yes, IN the street. As we walked through the party to go to dinner, all eyes were on us. We were 5 gringo girls - very out of place and noticed as we walked along the street. Literally every head turned to look at us. It felt strange until we joined in the festivities after our dinner. That crazy Swede we were traveling with bought a case of cornonas and had a table all to himself. So as the bands were playing and the people were drinking and dancing, we too took part. It's really funny because the next day, every person we spoke to from the town said they saw us there....how could you not?
So the next day was just a lazy day on the beach - playing in the waves, walks on the beach, eating seafood...That night was low key. After another amazing sunset, we had a beach bonfire and went to bed exhausted from a long day in the sun.
The next morning, we got up early, went to the beach for a few hours then headed back to Cuernavaca - which was a really long ride home. It took 9 hours, and by the time we got back we were all running to get out of the car and into our beds.
The next day, I packed up my room and came to live with Angelina the midwife. As soon as I arrived, I literally dropped my luggage without being shown anything except two laboring women. On Mondays, Angelina has two midwives from another town in Mexico helping her. At her home, Angelina has a building separate from here house where women deliver their children. She even has one room in her home for overflow - which got used last night. I will get to that....so I was thrown into helping these women. The Mexican midwife from Tepoztlan did the first delivery and I did the second. A 20 year old girl having her first baby....the father of the baby was about 40 (not uncommon among poor Mexican women). She did great without any drugs. Pushed only 5 minutes for her first baby (love that). After the delivery I ate my first meal of the day at 4pm - tofu, vegetable soup, mashed potatoes and refried beans, with tortillas, of course. Crashed at 8pm in my room that I am sharing with two bohemian spanish women who are midwives in a rural area in south Spain. They also make jewelry and other crafts and are into natural remedies and healing (and speak no English).
10 minutes after I laid down, one of my roomates alerted me that there was another woman in labor. She would go assist this one and they would call me for the next. I got woken up at 4am. Apparently while I was sleeping, there were two deliveries and this third one was mine. When I walked into the room though, one of the spanish midwives was catching the baby and I got to do the repair - gee thanks. All in all, 5 deliveries yesterday - busy!!!
Today, knock on wood has been more tranquilo....I observed Angelina as she saw about 6 women, two gyn problems and the others for pregnancy. She spends about 45 minutes with each patient. I observed her do some cool massage and body rocking for round ligament pain and I observed her use a technique that I've never witnessed for leg pain. She lit a cotton ball on fire, placed the cotton ball flame in a small glass then quickly removed it and placed the glass on the woman's leg where she was having pain. The skin under the glass rose like a bubble and then she removed it and repeated this all over the area in her leg where she was hurting. She told me that she uses this technique to move energy. She also accompanied this fire stuff with some massage of arnica ointment. Amazing...the woman's pain was relieved and she left without limping. Don't think I could use this in the hospital though...plus I think my gringa patients would think I was nuts...
Angelina is VERY vegetarian friendly - I'm eating so healthy here and it's great. She has 4 sons at the house plus a husband and a maid, plus all of us living here. SHe cooks not only for her family and students but also for the women in labor. She feeds them after they deliver.
Angelina is very into healthy diet and thinks this is the way to heal most ailments. She prescribes juices of vegetables and fruits, herbs and homeopathics.
One day here and I feel very overwhelmed though. She is so busy and speaks hardly any English. Actually no one here speaks English. I feel almost like I'm living in a world by myself sometimes. It takes so much work and concentration to listen intently and translate in my head. I am exhausted. But, I believe that despite the exhaustion and my brain feeling like mashed potatoes, I will learn a lot and have a great experience.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Taxco and Bryan's Visit
Last weekend Bryan came to visit for a week. We started the weekend by taking a bus trip south to the town of Taxco. This is an old town built into a mountain where there were silver mines many years ago, thus the town is know for all of the silver shops. We checked into our hotel and found our room to be divine!!! It had a beautiful balcony where you could sit outside and look out at the view of the town, including the large cathedral situated in the zocalo (center of town). We thought to ourselves...wow, this doesnt get much better! This was a special weekend because it was Bryan's birthday and a very happy reunion as well.
We walked the two blocks into the zocalo, checked out the amazing interior of the church - all the statues, floweres, chandeliers, and all the gold baroque decor. We walked into about 5 silver shops and were silvered out by then. Everything started looking the same. So we focused on lunch!! We found a great vegetarian cafe with lots of hippy decor and a friendly dog named Miss Pinky who sat next to Bryan through the whole meal. We found out later from the owner, Sascha, that Miss Pinky is very choosey in her friends.
We explored the town some more with Bryan feeling very adventurous and getting us lost in the back streets where NO tourists go. As we delved in deeper into the neighborhoods, the streets became dirtier and the homes went from beautiful haciendas overlooking the mountains to shacks made of corrugated steel. Luckily we saw the tip of the cathedral in sight and made our way back to the hotel. Once inside our safe haven, we were pooped and took a long nap. We discovered while resting however, that the main thoroughfare into town was a big hill leading to the zocalo and it was right in front of our hotel. So, while napping, and all night long when trying to sleep later (after a romantic birthday dinner at an outdoor cafe with views of the city at night and a full moon), we heard cars reving their engines to get up the hill. I am of the belief that the people in Taxco never sleep because the cars never stopped!! But did I mention the view was amazing......?
The next morning, we put our climbing shoes back on and explored the city some more. And you know me....I've got to find the nitty gritty to this town. The place that the tourists don't go...and we found it in the Sunday market. We walked through stalls of fresh produce as well as everything a person may need to survive...including the best gorditas I've ever had. Mine had a mixture of potatoes and tomatoes with a green salsa verde while Bryan had his with green salsa verde, cheese, and cream. I will shamelessly admit that I have had the ones at Taco Hell and these blew them out of the water. I'm a gordita snob now - only the best will do.
We made our way back to Cuernavaca on Sunday where we befriended a Swiss man, Rene who checked into the school. Rene is really interesting. Not only is he lively in personality but has tons of interesting stories to tell from his world travels over the past 30+ years. He and Bryan quicky became friends and thank goodness, because while I was in school, he and Rene would hang out in the town. (Rene is fluent in Spanish and was only visiting his friends who owned the school).
I wished Bryan a Happy Valentines today and wished him un buen viaje back to the states. After his sendoff, I came to Coyoacan with two friends from the school, Katharina from Austria, and Brigit from Sweden. Coyoacan is a suberb of Mexico City (to the south). This place reminds me of LA with all the beautiful spanish style homes behind large ornate gates with bougainvilla blooming everywhere. We went to the Frida Kahlo museum today and I have become infatuated with her. The physical and emotional pain she went through in her life and the production of such intense paintings full of her grief....wow. And to see that actual bed that she laid in with the mirrow above it so she could paint her self portraits. Very cool.
After the museum, we traveled 10 minutes by taxi to the area of San Angel where every Saturday, there is an artists market in the park. We walked through a beautiful park checking out all kinds of cool paintings and photographs. It's a good thing I wasn't close to home or I would have been tempted to buy, buy, buy.....
Now, I'm back at the hostel, decompressing from the day and chatting with my friends about where to go for dinner. More later....
We walked the two blocks into the zocalo, checked out the amazing interior of the church - all the statues, floweres, chandeliers, and all the gold baroque decor. We walked into about 5 silver shops and were silvered out by then. Everything started looking the same. So we focused on lunch!! We found a great vegetarian cafe with lots of hippy decor and a friendly dog named Miss Pinky who sat next to Bryan through the whole meal. We found out later from the owner, Sascha, that Miss Pinky is very choosey in her friends.
We explored the town some more with Bryan feeling very adventurous and getting us lost in the back streets where NO tourists go. As we delved in deeper into the neighborhoods, the streets became dirtier and the homes went from beautiful haciendas overlooking the mountains to shacks made of corrugated steel. Luckily we saw the tip of the cathedral in sight and made our way back to the hotel. Once inside our safe haven, we were pooped and took a long nap. We discovered while resting however, that the main thoroughfare into town was a big hill leading to the zocalo and it was right in front of our hotel. So, while napping, and all night long when trying to sleep later (after a romantic birthday dinner at an outdoor cafe with views of the city at night and a full moon), we heard cars reving their engines to get up the hill. I am of the belief that the people in Taxco never sleep because the cars never stopped!! But did I mention the view was amazing......?
The next morning, we put our climbing shoes back on and explored the city some more. And you know me....I've got to find the nitty gritty to this town. The place that the tourists don't go...and we found it in the Sunday market. We walked through stalls of fresh produce as well as everything a person may need to survive...including the best gorditas I've ever had. Mine had a mixture of potatoes and tomatoes with a green salsa verde while Bryan had his with green salsa verde, cheese, and cream. I will shamelessly admit that I have had the ones at Taco Hell and these blew them out of the water. I'm a gordita snob now - only the best will do.
We made our way back to Cuernavaca on Sunday where we befriended a Swiss man, Rene who checked into the school. Rene is really interesting. Not only is he lively in personality but has tons of interesting stories to tell from his world travels over the past 30+ years. He and Bryan quicky became friends and thank goodness, because while I was in school, he and Rene would hang out in the town. (Rene is fluent in Spanish and was only visiting his friends who owned the school).
I wished Bryan a Happy Valentines today and wished him un buen viaje back to the states. After his sendoff, I came to Coyoacan with two friends from the school, Katharina from Austria, and Brigit from Sweden. Coyoacan is a suberb of Mexico City (to the south). This place reminds me of LA with all the beautiful spanish style homes behind large ornate gates with bougainvilla blooming everywhere. We went to the Frida Kahlo museum today and I have become infatuated with her. The physical and emotional pain she went through in her life and the production of such intense paintings full of her grief....wow. And to see that actual bed that she laid in with the mirrow above it so she could paint her self portraits. Very cool.
After the museum, we traveled 10 minutes by taxi to the area of San Angel where every Saturday, there is an artists market in the park. We walked through a beautiful park checking out all kinds of cool paintings and photographs. It's a good thing I wasn't close to home or I would have been tempted to buy, buy, buy.....
Now, I'm back at the hostel, decompressing from the day and chatting with my friends about where to go for dinner. More later....
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Queretero, San Miguel de Allende, and Guanahuato
This past weekend was one in which I discovered many new towns in Mexico all situated to the north of Mexico City. My traveling companions consisted of two French Canadian married couples, another French Canadian girl, a women from Sweden, a girl from Holland, another girl from Switzerland, and finally the owner of the school that I am attending along with his wife, daughter, and grandson - a large multilingual crew!!!
After 4 hours in the van, we arrived at out first stop, Queretero. Queretero is an old colonial town that was founded in 1531 and is known as one of the cleanest and wealthiest cities in Mexico. Rightly so...the people in the town were so different from what I had experienced so far in Cuernavaca. They were dressed modern and nice and the streets were impeccable. Even the old buildings and churches were bright and colorful. We arrived in the evening, had a meal together and then when all the young people were coming out for the evening, I went to bed because I was so exhausted. In the morning, I had a chance to explore the town. I took a photo of a Mexican girl who wanted to sell me gum for a peso (13 pesos to a dollar). She was really cute and obviously trimmed her own bangs. After I gave her the money for the gum, the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by children - about 6 of them who all wanted to sell me something - or just to hold out their hand for money. I told them that I wanted to take their picture but they all ran away, not wanting to be photographed - bummer!
The next town we visited was San Miguel de Allende. I had already heard from other people that this was a cool town - and it was!! My favorite by far of the three. The streets were narrow and made of cobblestone. The houses were all very colorful with interesting doors and windows decorated with beautiful plants. I felt like I was walking around in a painting. The town is known for drawing artisans to live there. And it showed...the people and sites were beyond words. There were also a lot of foreigners abound who apparently live in the town. The shops were great! This town sells a lot of painted and decorated tin - mirrors, crosses, sacred hearts - anything tin. One shop I went into had a gallery and artist studio upstairs and the girl working in the shop let me walk through the private studio of the two artists (from San Franciso) who work out of the gallery. In San Miguel, the center of town was bustling in the evening. It was a holiday weekend in Mexico, so many people were out and about.
The next day, we rode in the van through some beautiful mountains to the town of Guanahuato.
I found this town to be fascinatingly creepy. First of all the town is made up of colorful homes that all are sitting in the hillside of a mountain. Then, when you actually drive into the town, you discover that most of the streets are under the ground, in tunnels. And I´m not talking about nice modern tunnels like Harbor Tunnel...no, these were narrow, one way only, claustrophobic caves. Our van maybe had a foot of clearance on either side. You could put your hand out the window and touch the old, stone, cold wall of this dark tunnel (most without lights). OK, so to further my thoughts of a strange town, we picked up a guide who gave us a driving tour of the town. Our first stop was a haunted house where young girls back in the 15 and 1600´s who became empregnated outside of wedlock were buried alive in the walls. We were also shown a basement room where during the Spanish inquisition, the indigenous people were chosen at random and tortured and killed. They still had the dusty, cobweb filled torture devices. Ugh! Next this guide wanted to take us to a mummy museum - the class resounded together with a ¨No thanks¨. We ended up checking into our hostel and touring the center of town on our own. This proved to be really fun because the SuperBowl was on every TV. It was really strange watching these Mexican people watch the game - with most routing for Arizona. The next morning, my french canadian friend and I shopped in the town market where I found some great buys. Then, it was back in the van for a LONG trip home - 9 hours to be exact. My ipod died, my phone battery went dead, and I could not wait to get back.
All in all, it was a fabulous weekend of discovery (and shopping). Bryan is going to have to bring the extra large suitcase when he comes to visit this week......
After 4 hours in the van, we arrived at out first stop, Queretero. Queretero is an old colonial town that was founded in 1531 and is known as one of the cleanest and wealthiest cities in Mexico. Rightly so...the people in the town were so different from what I had experienced so far in Cuernavaca. They were dressed modern and nice and the streets were impeccable. Even the old buildings and churches were bright and colorful. We arrived in the evening, had a meal together and then when all the young people were coming out for the evening, I went to bed because I was so exhausted. In the morning, I had a chance to explore the town. I took a photo of a Mexican girl who wanted to sell me gum for a peso (13 pesos to a dollar). She was really cute and obviously trimmed her own bangs. After I gave her the money for the gum, the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by children - about 6 of them who all wanted to sell me something - or just to hold out their hand for money. I told them that I wanted to take their picture but they all ran away, not wanting to be photographed - bummer!
The next town we visited was San Miguel de Allende. I had already heard from other people that this was a cool town - and it was!! My favorite by far of the three. The streets were narrow and made of cobblestone. The houses were all very colorful with interesting doors and windows decorated with beautiful plants. I felt like I was walking around in a painting. The town is known for drawing artisans to live there. And it showed...the people and sites were beyond words. There were also a lot of foreigners abound who apparently live in the town. The shops were great! This town sells a lot of painted and decorated tin - mirrors, crosses, sacred hearts - anything tin. One shop I went into had a gallery and artist studio upstairs and the girl working in the shop let me walk through the private studio of the two artists (from San Franciso) who work out of the gallery. In San Miguel, the center of town was bustling in the evening. It was a holiday weekend in Mexico, so many people were out and about.
The next day, we rode in the van through some beautiful mountains to the town of Guanahuato.
I found this town to be fascinatingly creepy. First of all the town is made up of colorful homes that all are sitting in the hillside of a mountain. Then, when you actually drive into the town, you discover that most of the streets are under the ground, in tunnels. And I´m not talking about nice modern tunnels like Harbor Tunnel...no, these were narrow, one way only, claustrophobic caves. Our van maybe had a foot of clearance on either side. You could put your hand out the window and touch the old, stone, cold wall of this dark tunnel (most without lights). OK, so to further my thoughts of a strange town, we picked up a guide who gave us a driving tour of the town. Our first stop was a haunted house where young girls back in the 15 and 1600´s who became empregnated outside of wedlock were buried alive in the walls. We were also shown a basement room where during the Spanish inquisition, the indigenous people were chosen at random and tortured and killed. They still had the dusty, cobweb filled torture devices. Ugh! Next this guide wanted to take us to a mummy museum - the class resounded together with a ¨No thanks¨. We ended up checking into our hostel and touring the center of town on our own. This proved to be really fun because the SuperBowl was on every TV. It was really strange watching these Mexican people watch the game - with most routing for Arizona. The next morning, my french canadian friend and I shopped in the town market where I found some great buys. Then, it was back in the van for a LONG trip home - 9 hours to be exact. My ipod died, my phone battery went dead, and I could not wait to get back.
All in all, it was a fabulous weekend of discovery (and shopping). Bryan is going to have to bring the extra large suitcase when he comes to visit this week......
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Mexico City
Ah, finally my stomach virus has gone away, there is a free computer and I have a moment to write...
School is getting increasingly harder. The grammar that we are learning is getting more involved and the instructors are expecting us to know a lot of vocabulary. Each day, we have classes until 2pm, then students disperse to head into town to eat the main meal of the day, then back to school to work on homework and study before an activity from 6-8pm. These activities are either a lecture about Mexico - art, culture, history, or cooking classes, and twice a week the students are expected to take part in what is called intercambio - two hours of language exchange with Mexican people who want to learn English. The first hour is Spanish conversation to aid the students here at the school, and the next hour is conversation in English. I am tending to count down the minutes until I can speak English because an hour of only speaking Spanish is really hard!! But, the more I do it, the better I get.
I saw something really strange today...coming home from a class trip to a restaurant, I saw a man rolling around in the street looking like he was in pain. One of the other students was surprised that I had not seen that before. Apparently there are people here who accept tips from people in cars to roll around in broken glass in the middle of intersections. OK, that is strange!!
Last weekend, several students went on an excursion to Mexico City for the day. Our first stop was the Museum of Anthropology. Very interesting to see Mexico from Aztec civilization, to the spanish influences, to their independence and modern day. I especially loved looking at all the masks used for tribal celebrations and the dress, especially of the women - so colorful with all the hand stitching designs. You can bet you all are gonna see me in some Mexican dresses when I return home.
After the museum, we went into the downtown area - the center of town, called el zocalo. Each major town has a zocalo, or center of town. This is where there are usually historic structures, street performers, artists, and vendors selling their wares. One thing I saw that I found quite interesting (no photo though) were these shaman, men and women, who were performing spirit cleansings on different people willing to pay. They were encircling their bodies with some kind of incense and then hitting all over their bodies with bunches of herbs. All the while chanting some kind of prayer. I was not brave enough to have it done, but it was fascinating to watch
In the city, we went to eat at a famous restaurant that has been around since the early 1900´s. All the women wear white uniforms with big bows in their hair. There were beautiful murals all over the walls and a live mariachi band was playing for all the patrons having lunch. I´m really liking the mariachi music.
I found Mexico City to be very different from Cuernavaca. The city had so many visitors - a big melting pot of people - as you would expect in any city. Many seemed to be from South America and Europe. Not too many Americans hanging in Mexico City.
Not much else to report. This weekend several of us are headed to the towns of San Miguel Allende and Guanajuato - two bohemian meccas full of artists - right up my alley!! I will post next week when I get a computer and break from my studies. And speaking of studying............
School is getting increasingly harder. The grammar that we are learning is getting more involved and the instructors are expecting us to know a lot of vocabulary. Each day, we have classes until 2pm, then students disperse to head into town to eat the main meal of the day, then back to school to work on homework and study before an activity from 6-8pm. These activities are either a lecture about Mexico - art, culture, history, or cooking classes, and twice a week the students are expected to take part in what is called intercambio - two hours of language exchange with Mexican people who want to learn English. The first hour is Spanish conversation to aid the students here at the school, and the next hour is conversation in English. I am tending to count down the minutes until I can speak English because an hour of only speaking Spanish is really hard!! But, the more I do it, the better I get.
I saw something really strange today...coming home from a class trip to a restaurant, I saw a man rolling around in the street looking like he was in pain. One of the other students was surprised that I had not seen that before. Apparently there are people here who accept tips from people in cars to roll around in broken glass in the middle of intersections. OK, that is strange!!
Last weekend, several students went on an excursion to Mexico City for the day. Our first stop was the Museum of Anthropology. Very interesting to see Mexico from Aztec civilization, to the spanish influences, to their independence and modern day. I especially loved looking at all the masks used for tribal celebrations and the dress, especially of the women - so colorful with all the hand stitching designs. You can bet you all are gonna see me in some Mexican dresses when I return home.
After the museum, we went into the downtown area - the center of town, called el zocalo. Each major town has a zocalo, or center of town. This is where there are usually historic structures, street performers, artists, and vendors selling their wares. One thing I saw that I found quite interesting (no photo though) were these shaman, men and women, who were performing spirit cleansings on different people willing to pay. They were encircling their bodies with some kind of incense and then hitting all over their bodies with bunches of herbs. All the while chanting some kind of prayer. I was not brave enough to have it done, but it was fascinating to watch
In the city, we went to eat at a famous restaurant that has been around since the early 1900´s. All the women wear white uniforms with big bows in their hair. There were beautiful murals all over the walls and a live mariachi band was playing for all the patrons having lunch. I´m really liking the mariachi music.
I found Mexico City to be very different from Cuernavaca. The city had so many visitors - a big melting pot of people - as you would expect in any city. Many seemed to be from South America and Europe. Not too many Americans hanging in Mexico City.
Not much else to report. This weekend several of us are headed to the towns of San Miguel Allende and Guanajuato - two bohemian meccas full of artists - right up my alley!! I will post next week when I get a computer and break from my studies. And speaking of studying............
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A Weekend of Pyramids
So Mexico is full of pyramids built by the ancient civilizations who lived here. A lot were built as places where sacrifices (people´s hearts) were made to the Gods to bring power, certain weather, luck in wars, etc... On Saturday, I went on an excursion to the puebla, Tepoztlan, which was only 40 minutes from Cuernavaca. This small village is made up of cobblestone streets and surrounded by massive mountains. The people indigenous to this area, believe the mountains to be sacred and often visited by UFO´s (?!) One particular restaurant where we dined had photos of what the people believe to be a UFO hovering over one of the mountains. On one mountain in particular, is nestled a pyramid. We were told that it is about an hour climb up the mountain to the pyramid. Three of us out of about 9 made it all the way up - whew!! Steep rocks and inclines...it was good exercise. The view at the top was maginificent. You could see the vast spread of the land. I thought that getting up the mountain was hard...but actually, coming down was much harder on the knees. After a good lunch of enchiladas we headed back to Cuernavaca. On the way, I saw roadkill for Mexico, a horse - very sad. I was asleep in bed by 7pm...
The next day, I awoke with aching calves, BUT that did not stop me from going on the next day´s excursion to Teotihuacan - home to one of the largest pyramids in the world. Once again, I climbed the steep steps to the top and took in the view of the remains of this ancient city. Anyone who is afraid of heights would not do well at the top of this pyramid or going down for that matter. There is no guard rail at the top or railing to hold onto to get down. And, as you look down, all you can focus on is planting your foot onto the short, steep step in front of you. Because if you look at the ground, it almost looks like a completely vertical drop - kinda scary. After the pyramid of the sun, I climbed the pyramid of the moon. I´m glad I did because the view of the other pyramid (the larger one) was amazing from atop this one.
All in all, it was a great weekend, full of seeing other cultures within Mexico, magnificent sites, and good exercise!
The next day, I awoke with aching calves, BUT that did not stop me from going on the next day´s excursion to Teotihuacan - home to one of the largest pyramids in the world. Once again, I climbed the steep steps to the top and took in the view of the remains of this ancient city. Anyone who is afraid of heights would not do well at the top of this pyramid or going down for that matter. There is no guard rail at the top or railing to hold onto to get down. And, as you look down, all you can focus on is planting your foot onto the short, steep step in front of you. Because if you look at the ground, it almost looks like a completely vertical drop - kinda scary. After the pyramid of the sun, I climbed the pyramid of the moon. I´m glad I did because the view of the other pyramid (the larger one) was amazing from atop this one.
All in all, it was a great weekend, full of seeing other cultures within Mexico, magnificent sites, and good exercise!
Friday, January 16, 2009
To Market to Market
Every Friday, after the morning session of classes, the instructors take all the students on an excursion in town where they practice language skills in different situations. Today we went to the market - the same one that I visited previously. We walked through all the different sections again, but this time, I made the mistake of following my class through the meat section. Hanging from hooks (and not refrigerated) were various types of meats, most of which I did not even recognize. There were even the heads of pigs hanging up. And to add, the smell was not pleasant. While the rest of the group stopped to take photos, I ran through trying not to breathe, look, or vomit. When I finally made it to the fresh aired vegetable section, I was really queezy. A few minutes later, and not fully recovered, one of the intructors pointed out live bugs crawling around in bags that are apparently crushed fine and used to spice up some salsas. So, now, not only do I have post-tramatic stress images of pig heads, but I´m thinking, OMG, am I eating bugs???? Needless to say, I´ve lost my appetite for the day.
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The party house
El fuego
Chrissy and me
LeSales and the pony
Vanessa
the cake
the moon over the castle
