Sorry, I forgot the extension to upload pictures from my camera. I'll add them soon. Lo siento.
I suppose I could tell you a little bit about my life lately. And trust me, I do want to. I am just very, very busy. Everyday we have class, everyday I walk up a huge set of stairs to get to class (see picture). Everyday I try to learn more from my family, especially this week as I am preparing to move back into our house with the other students at school. As usual, life has consolations and desolations. My consolations with my family have been numerous. My desolation is that I have to leave them. I am not fond of good-byes. I feel that I have learned so much about life here from living with a family, and I have been immeasurably enriched by the homestay experience. I have been blessed to belong to another wonderful family.
I have been talking about my mom (the wonderful chef) teaching me how to make tamales since I arrived at their house. Really, I love tamales. Seeing as it was my last weekend, I hung around with the family as much as possible at the house (though two huge projects kept me in my school hermitage for most of the day Saturday). I had told my parents that my novio had a surprise for me. He likes giving me surprises. So far, I like them too J And my family promptly advised me to invite him over for a surprise (our tamales)! So Sunday morning, we packed into my brother’s taxi with our treated maiz to go to the mill (molina). The owner thought I was my mom’s daughter-in-law. Sometimes, I wish. Then we went to mass (sent the masa home with the son). That morning my family teased me for thinking about my novio because I was really clumsy: breaking a glass, spilling water. I think I was just thrilled in general. Tamales are a lot of work, but generally pretty easy. We worked the masa with mazteca (see picture) and hurried to stuff them so they could steam cook before novio arrived.
He did arrive, and he brought my surprise: my favorite flower (an orchid) in my favorite color (red). I just mentioned that I liked orchids one day along time ago and apparently he remembered. I didn’t even know red orchids existed, but they do (see picture)! I laughed to myself as I sat on the couch and oogled over the flower and meanwhile my dad and novio are talking about business. *sigh* somethings are universal, no? Eventually, we all sat to eat together. And the tamales were graciously received. My family told me that now, ‘eres mexicana (you’re Mexican)’ and ‘puedes casarte porque sabes como se hacen los tamales (you can get married because you know how to make tamales).’ Great! I guess I’m ready! In reality, don’t worry, there are no plans for marriage in the near future. Later, novio and I went for ice cream and a stroll in the afternoon sun. It was a very nice day. Good thing too, because this week has been kind of hellish.
Monday we visited the public facilities of La Lagunilla (the colonia where I’ve been living). We saw the health center, schools, market and a roaming dentist office! Then we had a lecture about health care systems in Mexico. Classes have been kind of dull this week, and we’re all tired from trying to spend time with our families and complete a major paper assignment. Nonetheless, I went to salsa classes as usual last night. I started going to two in a row, which I like, and sometimes it helps to be the foreigner because no one volunteers to dance with me. Why is this good? Because the teacher likes me, and I get to dance with him! I’m going to invest in private lessons once Semana Santa has passed. I literally have no free weekends except for the one immediately before I leave to the U.S., which I have reserved for my finals....and my final farewell to life, family, friends, and perhaps novio. These are things which are making my stomach hurt today, much to the concern of my mom, because I can’t eat when I’m stressed and she really likes me to eat. I love Mexico.
I am working on a powerpoint and my next paper before this weekend because novio and I are going to el Estado de Mexico to visit his cousins and see a rodeo/carnaval there. I’m pretty excited. I love horses; I love cowboys; I love spending time with novio; I love getting out of Cuernavaca. Next week, the social work students from UNAM are coming to stay with us here too. Then it’s Semana Santa.
I just received my schedule for next week, week 10. How can nine weeks have already past? I am not ready to accept that I will have to go home and do something with all of these experiences, all of these thoughts, and emotions. Tomorrow, my brother the taxi driver is moving me out of my house at 8 o’clock in the morning. Our class will be going to a rural village in Guerrero to see the effects of poverty, colonization, and globalization in a community of palm-weavers. And then I’m going to salsa dance. It’s like going through culture shock within one culture on a daily basis. Eso es la vida loca. And it is sometimes baffling for me to consider what I could/should/will/have to do with what I know, what I’ve seen, what I’ve felt.
Godspeed.
aly
I suppose I could tell you a little bit about my life lately. And trust me, I do want to. I am just very, very busy. Everyday we have class, everyday I walk up a huge set of stairs to get to class (see picture). Everyday I try to learn more from my family, especially this week as I am preparing to move back into our house with the other students at school. As usual, life has consolations and desolations. My consolations with my family have been numerous. My desolation is that I have to leave them. I am not fond of good-byes. I feel that I have learned so much about life here from living with a family, and I have been immeasurably enriched by the homestay experience. I have been blessed to belong to another wonderful family.
I have been talking about my mom (the wonderful chef) teaching me how to make tamales since I arrived at their house. Really, I love tamales. Seeing as it was my last weekend, I hung around with the family as much as possible at the house (though two huge projects kept me in my school hermitage for most of the day Saturday). I had told my parents that my novio had a surprise for me. He likes giving me surprises. So far, I like them too J And my family promptly advised me to invite him over for a surprise (our tamales)! So Sunday morning, we packed into my brother’s taxi with our treated maiz to go to the mill (molina). The owner thought I was my mom’s daughter-in-law. Sometimes, I wish. Then we went to mass (sent the masa home with the son). That morning my family teased me for thinking about my novio because I was really clumsy: breaking a glass, spilling water. I think I was just thrilled in general. Tamales are a lot of work, but generally pretty easy. We worked the masa with mazteca (see picture) and hurried to stuff them so they could steam cook before novio arrived.
He did arrive, and he brought my surprise: my favorite flower (an orchid) in my favorite color (red). I just mentioned that I liked orchids one day along time ago and apparently he remembered. I didn’t even know red orchids existed, but they do (see picture)! I laughed to myself as I sat on the couch and oogled over the flower and meanwhile my dad and novio are talking about business. *sigh* somethings are universal, no? Eventually, we all sat to eat together. And the tamales were graciously received. My family told me that now, ‘eres mexicana (you’re Mexican)’ and ‘puedes casarte porque sabes como se hacen los tamales (you can get married because you know how to make tamales).’ Great! I guess I’m ready! In reality, don’t worry, there are no plans for marriage in the near future. Later, novio and I went for ice cream and a stroll in the afternoon sun. It was a very nice day. Good thing too, because this week has been kind of hellish.
Monday we visited the public facilities of La Lagunilla (the colonia where I’ve been living). We saw the health center, schools, market and a roaming dentist office! Then we had a lecture about health care systems in Mexico. Classes have been kind of dull this week, and we’re all tired from trying to spend time with our families and complete a major paper assignment. Nonetheless, I went to salsa classes as usual last night. I started going to two in a row, which I like, and sometimes it helps to be the foreigner because no one volunteers to dance with me. Why is this good? Because the teacher likes me, and I get to dance with him! I’m going to invest in private lessons once Semana Santa has passed. I literally have no free weekends except for the one immediately before I leave to the U.S., which I have reserved for my finals....and my final farewell to life, family, friends, and perhaps novio. These are things which are making my stomach hurt today, much to the concern of my mom, because I can’t eat when I’m stressed and she really likes me to eat. I love Mexico.
I am working on a powerpoint and my next paper before this weekend because novio and I are going to el Estado de Mexico to visit his cousins and see a rodeo/carnaval there. I’m pretty excited. I love horses; I love cowboys; I love spending time with novio; I love getting out of Cuernavaca. Next week, the social work students from UNAM are coming to stay with us here too. Then it’s Semana Santa.
I just received my schedule for next week, week 10. How can nine weeks have already past? I am not ready to accept that I will have to go home and do something with all of these experiences, all of these thoughts, and emotions. Tomorrow, my brother the taxi driver is moving me out of my house at 8 o’clock in the morning. Our class will be going to a rural village in Guerrero to see the effects of poverty, colonization, and globalization in a community of palm-weavers. And then I’m going to salsa dance. It’s like going through culture shock within one culture on a daily basis. Eso es la vida loca. And it is sometimes baffling for me to consider what I could/should/will/have to do with what I know, what I’ve seen, what I’ve felt.
Godspeed.
aly
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