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.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
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......
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The party house
El fuego
Chrissy and me
LeSales and the pony
Vanessa
the cake
the moon over the castle
