Adventures and Tribulations

2008-06-10T19:17:00.000-06:00

Fotos of Australia, Finally

2008-06-10T19:05:00.000-06:00

I'm attaching here my Picasa album of pictures of Australia and New Zealand

This blog is so cliche! It sounds like a chain e-mail!!!

2008-06-08T16:21:00.003-06:00

I've been a perfectionist since childhood. My mom loves to tell the story of me throwing my crayon and yelling "fuck" for coloring outside the line at the ripe age of three. I still do the same, of course in a less graphic, outrageous manner but I will rip up an imperfect art or craft, I'll work obsessively on a paper or an idea until I turn it into an acceptable form of my over-achieving standards.

These last two and a half weeks have been less than perfect for me. I'm not in the place that I want to be right now (i.e. living on my friend's couch, not studying, not working). But I'm striving to change that.

I can't think of anything but moving to Australia. There's a constant realization or strategy swirling around in my brain. Some new idea or calculation that I could use in the convincing of my dad to help me pay for postgraduate school.

But among all the imperfection, the disorder, I think I'm slowly learning something about myself.

I'm an impatiently patient person.
I'm a disordered perfectionist.
I'm a scatter brain, I can't keep my thoughts aligned and I get so excited and focused on so many tasks at one time that I can't finish any given thing in my personal allotted time.
I'm a procrastinator to the core.
I have a real family who will always be there for me and for whom I will always be.....even across the world.
Shared biology does not necessarily equal shared interests, similar goals, the desire to be with one another.
Burning bridges is sometimes an unavoidable fact of life.
So is giving up and starting over.

I think I am a stronger person than I sometimes give myself credit for. I doubt myself and the people around me way more than I want and should and then they do and say the most surprisingly amazing things to make you remember why you love them. Unfortunately, sometimes they say or do the exact wrong things. I've got to learn to allow those moments weigh less than the amazing ones.

But I think mostly I've learned that nothing is inherently good nor bad. Everything is relative and if I choose to be upset at something that I could just as easily not care about, I'm spinning the situation negatively.

I can create the positivity I seek.

gag!

Change in Plan....and Life

2008-06-02T13:39:00.003-06:00

It's beautiful the way life throws you an eighty mile an hour curveball every once in a while just to wake you up and keep you on your toes.

My plans have changed, my life will change and you will bear witness to it all...

I wish that I had the engery to sit here and spell out my former life and plans for my new life but I'm starting to believe that talking is overrated and I'd rather just SHOW you what my plans are just in case you underestimate my truly ambitious desires.

I'm running at full speed now and there's no turning back.

Exhaustion

2008-05-19T03:38:00.003-06:00

I've finally made it to New Zealand after having missed to flights.

My body is going into something of a shut-down mode. I'm wondering around in a daze and I'm starting to get sick.

I didn't read my itinerary right on Friday (the day I was supposed to fly out) and I missed my flight thanks to my dilerium. Sunday I was supposed to fly out and my company card desided to poop-out on me (manifesting my own mental state into a disastrous reality) and I couldn't check out of the hotel due to a lack of means.

I made it out this afternoon and pretty much haven't done anything but try to catch up on my emails, eat something, take a nap and have dinner with one of our partners.

At this point I feel like my trip is pretty much done. I don't have confirmed appointments for tomorrow as of yet because my office is running a very bad show back home and getting meeting confirmations to me on the day I'm supposed to be meeting.

Wednesday I fly to LA and Sunday I fly home....something I'm actually looking forward to right now.

Who would have known that such a beautiful concept like travel could take such a negative toll on ones mind and body?

Zombie

2008-05-13T23:39:00.004-06:00

Traveling seems glamourous...everyone hopes beyond all possible hope to get a job that would afford them some travel. I wanted this....I still do, but I'm currently wishing that my first international working experience wasn't 4 weeks long and wasn't traveling around the only country in the world I've ever felt an innate connection to.

The first two weeks were incredible. I met more people than I could have hoped for. I was lucky enough to meet people just like me from 22 countries around the world and even more lucky to connect with them on a deeper level than just "colleague".

Upon arrival to BrisVegas I met even more people with whom I made a beautiful connection....I'm talking about spiritual, emotional, mental connections with people that I've never met in my life, with people that live on the complete opposite side of the world or whom just so happened to be on the same side of the world as me at the same time...how well can you know someone after just one day??

Now I'm in Melbourne and I'm alone and continuing to meet people but instead of feeling connections with people I'm feeling an extreme connection with Melbourne itself. I feel like I've been here before, like I know it...like I belong here.

I don't want to sleep, I don't want to eat, I don't want to do anything that'll take away from my time with this place....and now my travels have taken a toll on my body.

I feel like my wits are being tested.
I'm tired, I'm weak. I feel like a zombie.

I'm pushing on, though. I'm championing for my agency, my body, my sanity. I feel amazing in my exhaustion and I can't help but smile when I see people driving on the wrong (when I say wrong, I mean other) side of the road...when I read a sign that says "Dob in a hoon", when I take the train by myself and get lost and have to ask little kids to help me get to "the city".

Tune in next time for AUCKLAND, New Zealand and soon a real summary of my impressions of each city...

Double Cheeked Kiss From Sydney

2008-05-03T03:32:00.002-06:00

This city is amazing wonderful!!!

The vegetarian food is AMAZING! I had pumpkin sage ravioli in creamy tomato sauce.....in love!

Last night I walked across the Harbour Bridge with a friend from Germany and another from the US. Tonight I'm going out with a Danish girl, a South African boy and my Paisana. The perfect part is that going out on the town is paid for by the office because it's considered research for my students!!!! I LOVE my job!

This morning we went to Paddington Market (look it up, I don't have time to attach links right now....sorry!) and this afternoon we took a ferry to Watson's Bay. Tomorrow I'm going to the ever famous Bondi Beach.

I'm still not completely used to the backwards thing but I'm more used to it than my US friend....I almost got hit by a bus today, though.

I really wish I could load pictures, there's no point to talking about Sydney, you have to see it and experience it....pictures don't even do it justice.

on Tuesday night I'll be heading out to Brisbane and hopefully after a couple days I'll post some loving words about the Gold Coast.

Love to all.

new realizations

2008-04-28T22:04:00.002-06:00

So I went to the Opera House and saw the Harbor bridge today.....traveling alone sucks because I don't really get pictures of myself here...You're just going to have to believe me when I say I'm here because there's no real proof....

While walking down the street I've noticed that I'm doing that which-way-you-wanna-go dance on the street with other pedestrians much more than usual. Suddenly it dawned on me that they want to walk to my right instead of my left!!! It's funny how when we walk, we want to follow the rules of the road. I guess I need to start thinking like an Aussie now.

I forgot to say yesterday, following the same lines, that everything is bacwards...the escalators (I keep wanting to go down the ups), the foscets turn the other way...I haven't noticed if toilets flush the other direction because mine in the hotel is one of those square ones that don't flow in a circlular manner.

The other agents and invited guests arrive today and we have a coctail reception this afternoon (early evening) so hopefully tomorrow I won't be breakfasting alone!

G'Day to you all...I'll write again at the end of the week.

48 hours of travel and Sydney

2008-04-28T02:17:00.002-06:00

I realized yesterday that I am absolutely not the international person I fancy myself to be. Yes, I have friends from all over the world. Yes I live in a country other than my own. Yes I work in an office who's main purpose is the internationalization of education but never before did I notice that I'm not a well traveled person.

The travel time beftween Mexico and Sydney adds up to about 24 hours. I missed a whole day in my life, just plain dropped it in the ocean. The 14 hour flight from LAX to Sydney was quite possibly the most excrutiating experience of my life. There's nothing less glamourous (except maybe giving a stool sample) than being on a plane for 14 hours.

The funny thing is though, that once you land your mind almost forgets how awful it was. That's what giving birth must be like, I thought aloud to the Aussie next to me.

There are a few things that I've already noticed that I'd like to point out....keeping in mind that I've only been here for a day and a half.

First of all, the money is impossible to understand. The bills are so beautiful that I actually have troubles using them, so I'm trying more to use the coins. The problem with that is that the largest coin is 50 cents and it's larger than our 1 dollar coin. The silver coins are cents and the golden coins are dollars. The 2 dollar coin is smaller than the 1 dollar coin. The 20 cent coin is about as big as our 1 dollar and the smallest is 5 cents, which is smaller than our dime.

I had to pay 4.45 today and I accidentally gave a 20 cent coin in the 50 cent's stead and the woman shouted at me "FOUR FOURTY FIVE" I told her I thought I was giving her 50 and changed it.....

I keep thinking that I'm in a new state in the US....until I almost get run down by a car because I'm looking for it in the wrong direction. It's really extremely helpful that some streets have it clearly spelled out to me "LOOK LEFT/LOOK RIGHT"...without that warning, I would never do it right!

So far that's the jist of my observations. I love, love, love the accent and the slang (sloppy joe is a sweater, flat white is a cafe con leche).

Unfortunately I won't have pictures until I get back to Mexico....unless someone in the Oxnard area has one of those things for SD cards in their computer.

More to come in a week, after my agent training!!

Sometimes getting screwed over just works out....

2008-04-20T09:45:00.002-06:00

I was kinda wanting to do a vlog for the first time ever but I discovered the the cats chewed through the camera cable and now I can't upload pictures.....which is actually more of a nightmare than it sounds because........

I'M GOING TO AUSTRALIA!!!

SO much has happened in the last month-ish that I haven't been able to write about due to my extreme tiredness but I'm going to let you in on my life right now....

I don't know if you remember, but I paid a lawyer to get me a work visa here in Mexico....turns out that lawyer isn't much of a lawyer and he contracted out someone to do the process for him (the ultimate definition of out-sourcing)....The time was really bearing down on me in the last several weeks because....

I'M GOING TO AUSTRALIA

and I still didn't have the visa....he had me call his "contact" in migration, who tried to bribe me for 4,000 MORE pesos. Things started getting suspicious and I started to slowly realize that I've never even seen my supposed dependent visa.

I paid a visit to migration and it turns out that I'm a ghost, non existent here in Mexico....and not only that but I'm working on an expired tourist visa.... o sea.....SUPER illegal!

Needless to say that guy is supposedly going to pay us the 4,000 and we're never talking to him again!

So this leaves me in a predicament....I really like my job and I don't want to leave it just because I got screwed over by a fake lawyer so...I have to leave the country in order to get another tourist visa....so......

I'M GOING TO AUSTRALIA!

It's a business trip and I'll spend about 3 weeks in Australia (Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne) before flying over to New Zealand, spending about a week in Auckland and then head over to my home town.....OXNARD!

WE'RE MOVING!!!!!

2008-03-16T11:07:00.003-06:00

Because of this:

Our electricity blew out because it is old and rotting and our wonderful, considerate landlords decided not to change it before we moved in. So, now it's getting fixed and this is the result.

Tomorrow we're going department hunting. The good thing is that here, when you pay your first two months rent, they count for the last two months you live in the apartment, so They owe us two months of free stay.....
(click to see the full pictures, I don't want to reduce these gems)

So busy

2008-03-10T13:33:00.002-06:00

I have noticed so many things that I want to write about but I haven't had the energy since i started working. So here's the low-down....

I broke my foot. I had a cast on for a week until it got really soaking, disgustingly wet and I couldn't handle it anymore. We took it off yesterday and last night it felt weird to walk and it kinda hurt. I have a small ball on my foot where I broke it and Toño's dad is going to wrap up my foot in a splint-thing. I have pictures but I can't find them!!!

I've been working for ANZ Education for a month now, I went on a Study Abroad Fair circuit and visited 5 cities (5 universities that are all part of ITESM). I got to see Monterrey, Guadalajara, Querétaro, Estado de México and Cuernavaca. It was fun to travel, I met a lot of really amazing international personalities. By the end of it, my boss came up to me and a co-worker and said "It seems that everyone knows Ashley". It was nice to hear that. I feel like I'm back.....I feel like me again.

The only bad thing about work is that I'm in the office ten hours a day and I'm tired by the time 7 rolls around. Two day-weekends don't seem long enough to recover. I'm just not used to it and I'm not sure how to become used to it.

I'll hopefully be updating soon....I could today because I took a free day (I was the only one in the office who worked the whole ITESM circuit and my boss gave me a day off....I took it today because my stomach is kinda messed up.

Anyway, love to all.....

24 Hours of Birthday

2008-02-23T10:22:00.003-06:00

So I went to Monterrey on Tuesday night for an Education Fair. Thursday I got home around 10:30 and fell asleep around 11. Toño had to "work" so he left me for dead. Suddenly I'm woken up by "Estas son las mañanitas que cantaba el Rey David hoy por ser día de tu santo tte las cantamos a ti!"......Toño brought his three best friends to sing to me at my window.

Anyway, here's an 11 second sound bite of a Tri song that they sang.....

So then I got to work around 10:30 (I was allowed to go in late) and a cake arrived for me!!!! So my compañeros sang to me again, we ate cake and chatted about the trip and got back to work.....When my boss came in, he let me go a little early. Instead of celebrating that I've lived a quarter of my life, I slept (unless my Grandpa was right when he told me that I'm going to live 200 years).....but don't worry! I'm going to tonight!

Finding the good in the Tired

2008-02-12T22:07:00.002-06:00

I started working at Australia New Zealand Education on Wednesday and today I completed a full work week. The hours are long, I start at 9 AM and get off (sometimes) at 7....usually the boss keeps us later.

I like it so far, the people are nice for the most part and the information and the actual job itself is really interesting. I sat in on a counsel today and tomorrow I have an appointment with someone I'll be working with closely from the local university.

I'm nervous. I've never had an administration job before and I feel that maybe I'm not the most decisive, firm handed person I should be.....yet. I'm also nervous because I'm not sure that I'm learning everything I should be and I don't feel like I'm getting the proper training I need.

I need to learn how to swallow my pride and ask questions and make decisions, otherwise I'm afraid I'll be fired.....

Job a job a job a job....

2008-02-05T19:28:00.000-06:00

I start tomorrow.

16 more days until my birthday!

Prospects....

2008-01-31T11:00:00.000-06:00

So I interviewed with ANZ Education yesterday. I had to interview in Spanish and English.......my hands were sweating, and I was squirming until the pre-interviewer let me talk to her in English (after she noticed I forgot how to say New Zealand in Spanish). Once I was done with her, i was feeling an ounce more comfortable and the big boss talked to me in Spanish to check my skills. Wish me luck, cross your fingers, pray for me.....whatever it is you do, I need it!

Our Canadian friend came to visit again, after literally being run out of Reynosa. We had a nice weekend showing him things he hadn't seen before. (some back-logged photos should be coming soon......I hope)

Anyway, enough bore.

Don't forget.....the countdown to Ashley's 25th starts TOMORROW!

This has been a quick update from Mexico City, Mexico. Ashley Smith, Signing out.

Pickiness in Search

2008-01-16T08:30:00.000-06:00

Well, I quit the training for the teaching job. I'm sure that at this very moment my compañeros are saying "I wonder where Ashley is.....I'm sure she's just late" as we did so many times we lost other quitters. No, I'm not just late and later today I'll have to take back my material and give them my excuse for quitting......I literally can't afford to work there. Sounds strange to be financially unable to GET a job but this one is just demanding too much of me economically and in the end, I'll be working there to pay them back. Not to mention the pay is a mere 41 pesos (after taxes) an hour......I have too much debt to take such a low-paying, money sucking job.

So, I'm looking again.

Social Experimentation

2008-01-09T16:20:00.001-06:00

Well, I started my training at Interlingua on Monday, which means (obviously) that I finished my third day of learning their methodology and structure.

I recorded myself practicing teaching a class to Toño, Violeta, Remedios and two other "people" (they were make believe and voiced by Toño himself) but the video turned out SO dark and grainy that I can't post it. Maybe tonight we'll try to make a new one because I'd like to share their strategy.

On another note, I've been mentally performing a social experiment on my way to and from work for the past three days and have proven (again, mentally) Pavlov's theory of conditioning correct.

For those of you who don't remember what Pavlov's theory of conditioning was, let me sum up his experiment....

He put beautiful women in a room with men and at random intervals, signaled to the beautiful women to walk around the room in high heels, making as much of a clack, clack, clack noise as possible.

After a minute or so of clack, clack, the women stopped.

After several months, when Pavlov noticed that the men would turn and look (excitedly, I might add) every time they heard the clack, clack (be it from women in heels or just the scientist himself simulating the noise) Pavlov was able to prove that the men had been trained to expect that the clack, clack meant that a beautiful woman was around.
(confusing? I hope not)

I've been afraid of changing because I built my life around you

2008-01-06T11:47:00.000-06:00

Wow, flash back to junior high, Kirsten Hubbard and I sitting on her bedroom floor, surrounded by bongo drums, Smashing Pumpkins CD inserts and the stereo, which was blasting which ever song we decided to analyze at that moment.

I figured at that time that tearing apart lyrics and relating them to our angsty lives was a passing teenage phase but even now, at 24, I find myself getting lost in the comfort of lyrics and still relating them to real life.....maybe it makes me feel better to know that someone, somewhere at some point in time felt (or at least wrote down) the same things I do.

Anyway, as most of you don't know, I'm having difficulty in the family area at this very moment. I'm trying incredibly hard not to be angry, not to be sad, not to be selfish or egotistical but I'm feeling really stressed out, worried, abandoned, hurt....so many things are passing in and out and in and sometimes not even out (which is bothering me a lot) and I feel like I really can't control it right now....So, true to form, I turned on a bit of Smashing Pumpkins.

I'm taking Stevie Nick's Landslide as my own. I'm hoping with everything I hold deep inside of me that this landslide will bring down my own reflection in the snow and that I can change and grow once I realize that no one is flawless, no one should be put above or thought of as all-knowing, smarter, wiser, better than me because we (even parents) are growing, getting older, trying to handle the seasons of their own lives. It's time to unbuild my life around them and live my own life, worry about my own things....

WOW! reading this and writing it makes me feel SO silly.

Landslide Lyrics

I took my love and took it down
I climbed a mountain, I turned around
And I saw my reflection in a snow covered hill
'til a landslide brought it down

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I've been afraid of changing cause I've
Built my life around you
Time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older, too
I'm getting older, too

I took my love and took it down
I climbed a mountain, I turned around
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hill
The landslide brought it down
The landslide brought it down

One Year past

2007-12-29T19:09:00.000-06:00

If you'll remember my first entry was about my last night in the US and my second about my first night here. It's hard to believe but that was one full year ago. Since then plenty has happened and plenty has been stalled in what seemed to be an eternal and oh-so-typical Mexico City traffic jam.

I shared birthdays, Independence Days, celebrations of all sorts, a very, very, very different Christmas and tonight, a second News Years with and among Mexicans in a very typical Mexican way. It's been a ride, rocky at times, exasperating, tiring but ALWAYS educational.

I think I've learned more about so many things in this one year than I did in my years at University and that's what traveling and living in new countries is about right? Discovering what you know and learning what you don't know.

I start a job on January 7th (finally) so 2008 will start off on a different foot altogether and surely I'll have new adventures (and tribulations) to share.

As for tonight, I'll be celebrating with Toño's family, wearing yellow underwear to guarantee me money for 2008, eating 12 grapes and making 12 wishes on the chime of the clock. I'm sure we'll sweep away the bad of 2007 and travel a distance with a suitcase.

Really, I can't help but notice the things that have changed....

We went from being temporarily homeless....living out of 7 suitcases To having a comfortable, quaint home

Then, we got cats! Who have grown into very, very different personalities,

We've traveled a bit, met new people, learned new lessons, struggled.

All-in-all, after it all....it's been a good year. And 2008 will be even better!

Some people are just disgusting

2007-11-25T13:39:00.000-06:00

Background:

In our tiny neighborhood there is one woman who is schizophrenic. She's a really nice woman, when she's talking to you, but when it comes to her imagined friends, she uses all the slang and bad words in the book. Her family (husband, and children) abandoned here years ago and since then, she's lived here alone. We call her The Water Lady because she has an obsession with water. The landlords cut off the water to her apartments so she used to walk down the steps everyday, many, many, many times a day putting water in a bucket, taking it upstairs to her apartment and throwing it on the floor of her living room. I've been told her apartment looks like a cemetery.

Anyway, flash forward to about a month ago. The landlords took out the water faucet from downstairs so the woman started walking to other neighborhoods to use their water. About a week ago, they put a door on the stoop in front of her apartment while she was sleeping, locking her in. She was able to break down that door. This afternoon, while I was outside talking with a neighbor, The Water Lady came home yelling upstairs for a son: PEDRO! PEDRO! THE POLICE ARE COMING PEDRO! They had put a lock on her door earlier when she had gone out and (we think) her son was locked inside (that can't be confirmed since we never saw anyone come out).

Her family, whom we haven't seen the entire (almost) year we've been here came storming through the community doors, shouting and screaming and because me and the neighbor were the first people they saw, they threatened to sue us and beat us up. They called the police but aside from the siren of the cop car, I didn't hear or see anything else.

Now, what's bothering me about this whole fiasco is that I am essentially GIVING money to people who are heartless enough to do something like this to a sick woman. I've never liked our land lady, she carries a bad vibe about her and now I know why. I don't know what to do about this....I want to move, but we have no money, I just get a sick feeling in my stomach, a sick, guilty feeling for continuing to help this woman financially.

Guess What?!!

2007-11-20T20:28:00.000-06:00

Toño published his first article on Univision.com

Check it out here!!

It'll be on the front page!!!

Día de Muertos

2007-11-03T11:54:00.000-06:00

So, yesterday was Day of the Dead and Toño and I spent some time with the family before they went on vacation and then headed off to various cemeteries.

It was a beautiful site, families eating and drinking and playing. Hired music (or family musicians) playing to the dead while the children, dressed in halloween costumes played around graves sites, looking in awe at the altars made to unknown dead. The graves of babies and children, littered with toys and food and balloons and chocolate milk. I'd never seen or even imagined a cemetery could breath so much life.

We headed to Reforma where there is a constant art exhibition....this month are calaveritas.....actually more like calavarotas decorated beautifully.

And then the various altars made by the government and various tourist spots....

We bought our own little sugar and chocolate skulls and even though I didn't make my own altar to my dead, during these last two weeks I certainly thought of everyone I've lost...

So to gramma Chana, Tata, Uncle Tim, and Gramma Betty and everyone else.....

for more calaveras and ofrendas (these pictures are so beautiful that I didn't want to reduce them....just click on the link to see the full picture)

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain

2007-10-22T11:04:00.000-06:00

I think I'm starting to identify far too much with this song (click for lyrics) lately......

On a lighter note, I got my cutting mat/pressing pad for my sewing so I can start quilting again!!!!! I've been craving it for a week at least and it was so nerve racking to have the mat at Toño's parent's house since Friday but being unable to go pick it up......all in all, I have it now and I'm VERY happy!!!!

perfectionism sucks

2007-10-09T17:50:00.000-06:00

I have all this beautiful fabric and supplies and no idea what to do with them. I feel almost overwhelmed, I can't choose the design I want for my first real quilt....there's too much fabric and too many choices.

I want it to be perfect, that's my real problem

The hotel is out of commision!

2007-10-01T10:18:00.000-06:00

well, we've decided that the Bed and Breakfast on Amado Nervo will be closed for a while for reparations and financial recovery. We're so deep in filth and economic hardship...not to mention illness (yes, I'm sick) that not having people staying with us is a welcome change!

It's been a LONG time since the last time I posted anything (I actually forgot my password for a minute). Since the quilt, we've had 2 more guests and the last one just left on Saturday. I'm going to start my English Classes again today and hopefully get back a routine that I can handle...something that doesn't involve going to money exchanges every couple of days and trying to visit every museum in the second largest city in the world....again.

I've picked up a new habit....for better or worse.....I now drink Yerba Mate. It's an herb that is used almost religiously in South America. It's not the tastiest beverage if you've never had it before, it's definitely an acquired taste....much like beer. Toño's Argentinian friend came for a visit and brought us both mates which are cups specifically used for drinking yerba mate and are generally (aka traditionally) made of gourds. In order to drink the yerba out of the mate, it first needs to be "cured" (the mate, that is, not the herb). In order to do that, one must drink yerba and put the wet, used herb into the mate until the gourd walls turn a bright green color. I'm currently in the process of doing this and I'm told that it could take up to a week before the gourd walls are cured....which means that I must drink mate everyday for at least a week. For now, I'm drinking my mate out of a regular mug and then transferring the herb to our mates .

It's quite a bitter tasting drink and as you can tell, it's not a tea at all. It's more like a big (and when I say big, I mean massively huge) pile of wet plants that you drink with a metal straw (called a bombilla....bombiiiisha if you're from Argentina) until you hear that end of the water slurping sound we Estadounidenses consider so rude. (Toño's bombilla is made of a bullet shell, he's pretty proud of that.) Actually, if you're interested in knowing the etiquette of mate drinking...click here, it's pretty interesting and these "rules" are accurate, I asked Betha!!

Anyway, that's the latest and greatest. here's a closing picture of me, Betha and Toño!

Keeping Busy

2007-09-05T20:18:00.000-06:00

While I'm waiting for us to collect enough money to get that work visa, I've decided to sew a bunch.....today I tried my hand at a quilt. It's tiny and it's not very warm, and it's not done yet (I don't have a walking foot, so I'm stitching in the ditch by hand) but it's kinda cute! (Aside from the mistake I made in putting the top panel on upside down and trying to correct the mistake by putting the bottom panel upside down....you can only notice though by looking at the pirates that are....uhh, upside down).

I have to say, that red plush wasn't fun to sew with....especially without pins.

Also....It hailed again today, thanks to the hurricanes surrounding us!!!

A Day in the Life

2007-08-27T16:19:00.000-06:00

I set out on a trek yesterday, I needed to get from my dad's apartment to my mom's house...for those of you who don't know where either lives, or just can't picture how far that is, I've googled a map:

Basically I needed to get from one side of town to the other. I had no money, no cell phone and diesel shoes (which aren't the greatest for walking). In order to avoid the adventure of it all, I thought that I could just call my brother to come pick me up, but I needed a public phone, so I set out to find one. It took me about half a mile, but finally I came across one.....but get this....the obsolete piece of crap machine cost 50 cents!!!! FIFTY CENTS for a local call....but, of course with my luck, this pay phone refused my only quarters (I only had three). So, I sent out to find another. Half a block later, two turned up. Two just as ornery public pay phones who somehow had also forgotten their purpose in this world and also refused my quarters....I kept on. Finally, upon crossing the street a phone caught my eye and kind of glistened to me in the sunlight. I dropped my quarters in and made my over-priced call....My brother couldn't come.

So I walked.

I thought about taking side roads to avoid all the traffic and the plethora of people but suddedly a wonderful fantasy popped into my head of an old friend who heard that I was living in Mexico pulling up next to me, completely blown away that I was in The Nard and giving me a ride to the house. This happy thought kept me glued to the main roads.

The sun was shining on my left side and even though I couldn't really feel the heat penetrating my skin, I knew it was inevitable that I would be sunburned by the time I arrived to the house. Walking along, I got the typical gross, greasy old man stares. One passenger who was stopped at a Popeyes got out of the car as his driver buddy ordered their food and smiled at me. When I smiled back he, in an almost mockingly child-like voice, said "Are you a little cutie". When I shot him my "aren't you a disgusting man" look, he laughed a nervous laugh and replied "You have a very beautiful smile". Blowing him off by killing him kindly, I rolled my eyes and thanked him without facing him and travelled on.

I turned onto Ventura road, walking happily on the sidewalk, passing houses that I played at as a child and remembering falling of my bike, walking home from high school and playing silly pranks on people, until suddenly (and I had forgotten about this) Ventura road turned into a sidwalkless pedestrian death-trap and I had to stand there waiting for the millions of cars to clear the road before I could sprint across to the frontage road. When I hiked through the freeway flowers and bushes to get to the sidwalk there, I was almost run down by a mid-life crisised man in a mid-life crisis convertible corvette driving way too fast and honking way too loosely at me.

After crossing a street and getting back onto the main road, I ran into a semi-retarded boy who was walking out of Jack In The Box with a soda. He said hi to me and asked me if my name was Jessica. I told him no and that I didn't think we knew each other and introduced myself (mighty good pick-up line, I thought). He went on to tell me that he had just won $15 in a lottery scratcher and that he had used the money to buy lottery bingo (or something of the fashion). He then complimented me on my shoes saying, "those shoes make having two feet look good!" We made idol chit chat for a few more minutes before I told him that I really needed to get to my mom's house and said goodbye.

By the time I got to my mom's house I was hungry and dehydrated and grumpy but I felt good at the same time. It's been a LONG while since I have been able to safely walk around and talk to people without fear of being thieved or getting lost. I do have an awfully ugly sunburn on the left side of my neck and my left arm and my feet and ankles are still aching but that's a small price to pay for walking two hours in your home town, remembering good times and talking to good people.

Visiting Tepoztlan

2007-08-14T10:18:00.000-06:00

Surrounding Mexico City are two cities; in the south, Tepoztlán, Morelos and in the north Tepotzotlan, Estado de México. We decided to go to the south and hang out with the hippies for a day. I got to buy some gifts and get a henna tattoo and start to climb a mountain.

Yeah, we only started to climb because the smarty pants we are forgot just how difficult this mountain is to climb and didn't eat breakfast before the trek....but we got some pictures!

This is the mountain if you look closely, you can see the pyramid at the top...

If you couldn't see it there,

on the way i got a couple of cool animal shots and some greenery

the town was a bit expensive for our taste....the cheapest posada (which is basically someone's house with rooms rented out like a hotel) we could find cost us 230 pesos.....a hostel here in the center costs around 110 pesos! But it was nice to get out of the city (something that toño and i are making a concerted effort to do more often) and get back to the hippie towns.

Count down to home.....4 days!

The best thing about living to far away...

2007-08-10T10:44:00.000-06:00

the separation of oneself from unwarranted and gratuitous drama.

Now I understand completely why my grandparents moved to Tennessee....

Not having to deal with my family's fights and gossip and all around unacceptable behavior is the greatest reward for having moved to another country.

The after vacation blues

2007-08-05T10:48:00.000-06:00

Well, I guess I'm not so much blue as maybe a rich cyan......getting back into actually living in Mexico City (as opposed to just visiting with my visitors) has proven VERY difficult. I'm trying to start a routine but so far it only consists of pilates when I wake up every other morning. We really don't have the money to buy groceries right now so I can't get into a good eating routine and I've just been so exhausted (probably because of the lack of eating routine) to even wash the dishes that were left over after they left.

The vacation was good though! I didn't get to take them to as many places as I'd hoped....I guess I was over-ambitious and they just weren't that interested, but we did get to see Diego murals and the Frida exhibition. We went to Xochimilco as all good tourists do and to the Basilica, the center, Teotihuacan to visit the ruins and get soaked to the bone. (see this video for the beginnings of the storm) And this one for climbing the Sun Pyramid
There are over 200 pictures posted on photobucket...many are VERY unflattering but they're funny either way (the pictures are from my camera only, I have yet to upload Gloria's pictures.....which are many).

Now I'm waiting on getting home for a couple of weeks so that I can finally resolve this illegal visa I currently possess and perhaps get a work visa upon return.

2 week "vacation"

2007-08-01T13:32:00.000-06:00

Photos and stories to come.....it's just taking FOREVER to upload everything to photobucket.....

sad face

FRIIIEEENDS!!

2007-07-15T10:31:00.000-06:00

I have friends coming to Mexico to visit ME! I'm SO stoked, and yet SOOO busy. The house is a mess right now, I have SO many projects I need to finish (paint the pots that I turned into a table base, paint and hang my new decorative boxes, make the curtains because the fabric is just lying around, organize the closet better so that things don't fall out, put shelving under the desk, and clean clean clean clean)....and all this has to be done before TUESDAY! AGH! I'm so excited and yet so anxious and busy and restless and everything all at once!!

also, I'm planning a trip back to California on August 18th through September 2. I need to get a new tourist visa ASAP so that I can start on the road to a Work Visa (again). This is going to be a GOOD two months!!

When are you coming to visit?!

At 6:30 PM

2007-07-06T17:30:00.001-06:00

It's hailing.

Good Times with Military Men and Beach Weather.

2007-07-03T11:33:00.000-06:00

Well, I couldn't handle it in The City anymore, my Visa expired and I couldn't get a new one and I was angry, ready to tear my hair out, punch walls and rip out the electricity cables of my neighbor's house just to stop the constant music....Toño decided it was high time for a vacation. At first we planned on going to Chiapas, cross the border to Guatemala and get a new travel visa and a relaxing vacation all in one....we realized that there is nothing relaxing about a 20 hour bus ride and the dangers of navigating war-torn Guatemala so we quickly switched gears and went for a beach trip to Veracruz.

We left here at 4 in the afternoon to arrive at 10 -- six hours on a bus is MUCH more bearable than 20, let me tell you! The long-trip buses here in Mexico are in a completely different league than Greyhound and I mean Greyhound is a triple A team while the Mexican buses are on the all star major league team. The air conditioning is constant, there is a super clean bathroom (that runs out of toilet paper, sadly) and movies from take-off to arrival. When we got off the bus, my bones were chilled thanks to the air conditioning, we grabbed our packs and stepped off the bus into a solid wall of of humid heat. It was almost hard to breath at first. The women all wore short skirts, tight tanks and healed sandals while the men wore soccer shorts, no shirts and sandals. We were dressed in t-shirts and jeans with socks and tennis shoes....we did not expect this heat so late. After an hour of being promised very cheap hotel rooms with air conditioning and being taken to very expensive hotels with air conditioning, we finally ended up in a cheap, air conditioned, clean-by-Mexican-standards hotel to sleep in for the night.

The next morning we re-packed our things and headed to the center of the Port city. After another long hour or so of fruitless looking for a hotel that we stayed at once before (one without air conditioning), we ended up right on the Malecon in a good, cheap hotel with air conditioning. We cranked that sucker up, took a rest and headed out for a walk. The heat was unbearable in the mid-day and we ended up back in the refrigerator room within the hour. We continued that walk and return ritual the rest of the day until finally we were able to get a hold to Toño's uncle, the military Colonel in charge of a base in the city of Veracruz. This wonderfully lovely (reminds me SO much of my Dad) man took us out to an entirely too expensive Argentine dinner, bought us a bottle of very expensive (and very delicious) red wine and half a cow (empanadas and salad for me) and offered us his chauffeur for the next day.

Come the next day, the chauffeur picked us up in the morning and took us to La Antigua, the tiny town that boasts(?) the ownership of Hernan Cortes' house, his church and the massive tree that he tied up his ships to and burned them when he first arrived. The ruins of the house are really amazing, the trees literally hold up the walls. and the well is still in tact. He had his house built with coral from the Golf Of Mexico which now looks much like petrified brains stuffed within brick and cement.

La Antigua had a strong impact on me, but not because I was standing in the house of a major historical figure but because there were signs everywhere begging people not to leave bottles of water around in order to help the town diminish the spread of Dengue (yellow fever). From then on, anytime I saw stagnant water, I screamed DENGUE!! and backed away. I came home with hundreds of bites, 5 on my face alone, and completely convinced that I had Dengue.

After the Dengue scare, we headed toward San Juan de Ulua. This used to be the port of Veracruz and it's got an amazing history. It's been owned by the government and used a a jail, it's been conquered by pirates, it was once a castle and of course, there's much history surrounding Cortes founding it, it was used as a seminary (the rooms were actually constructed with perfect curvature so that they have practically perfect acoustics...during the tour they say that anyone who sings there sounds like an opera singer. This was actually the first time since we got to Veracruz that I was able to touch the water. It's been over 6 months since I've seen a beach or even a mass of water that isn't a septic river. Touching the golf water and the barnacles and watching fish swim was a real necessity.

The walls in San Juan de Ulua are also made of coral, it's surrounded by watch towers and is covered with openings for cannons or other large artillery. There is a structure below the water that's meant to tear apart the bottom of a boat if it comes to the port without permission. These days the fort is surrounded by many large, non-historical and quite ugly machines used for who-knows-what.

After a long walk around the fort, Toño's colonel uncle invited us for a drink in the center and paid for Toño to get shocked by a machine. In Mexico, it's hard to make a good living so in very touristic places, people tend to grab things that people might enjoy; food, toys, candy, cigarettes, nuts, gum, etc. Well, someone decided that drunk people might want a good shock so he walks around with a small machine that he attached metal handles to. This man charges a certain amount of money to turn on the juice and slowly increase it until you tell him to stop, then he lets you laugh and complain a bit about the feeling and offers you a chance to beat your score. Some drunken 20-somethings sitting across from us made it to 90 watts...Toño made it to 40...he wasn't drunk enough to get to such ridiculously high vibrations.

So the next day we were invited back to the military base to shoot some rounds. Toño and I were places on opposite teams (his team won). First round was 10 meters and were allowed to shoot 5 rounds, I scored 41 and Toño scored 46. The second round was at 15 meters; sadly Toño and I only scored 13 points...apparently neither of us can see long distances. My problem was that my shots weren't going where I aimed! (no, really...I aimed at the head and shot the family jewels!! But at least I know that I'm safe, either way!) Maybe it had something to do with me leaning back (although this picture was taken first round).

The next morning the Colonel bought us breakfast, gave us 2 big bags of coffee and then bought me a beautiful hand-painted wooden hand fan. We got on the bus for another 6 hour ride but were gravely disappointed when Mexico City welcomed us with a flood. A car was completely covered and several men were trying to push it out, a bus much like ours was also stuck....we trodded through and luckily made it, 2 hours later than scheduled, but alive.

I left all the pictures large, so to see them all, click me

An Interesting Experiment

2007-06-22T20:54:00.000-06:00

I really want to share two reactions to the same video....

first, my youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/ashleycorinne22. The video was shot on the day of the Anti-Bush protest. The Video is called "Burning Flag at the US Embassy"
I don't really care if you watch the video or not....what I care about are the responses I've gotten:
°you fucked up mexico and you bring your bad habits here stay where you are and stop bitching
°This is Mexico's laws .fuck Mexico There will be no special bilingual programs in the schools, no special ballots for elections, all government business will be conducted in our language.
Foreigners will NOT have the right to vote no matter how long they are here.
Foreigners will NEVER be able to hold political office.
Foreigners will not be a burden to the taxpayers. NO welfare, No food stamps, No health care, or other government assistance programs.
°Yeah thats right fuck all Americans vengeful bitches go back to Europe where you belong you ugly fucks fuck the U.S. its supposed to be Mexico.
° SPICS SUS PUTAS MADRES PENDEJOS
°poor uneducated mexicans lets cloth them feed them house them wipe there ass etc lets take them into our arms educate them if possible wa wa wa
°WOW< fucking lame ass bitches. If I see any of those FUCKING spics in my country, i'll tie them to a post and burn them along with the mexicant flag.

etc etc etc

Here is Toño's youtube Channel http://www.youtube.com/sateruiz. The Video is called "Queman bandera de EU frente a su embajada en México" It's the same exact video.....here are responses to his:

° SI..chinga tu madre bush..(YES..F!#$ your mother bush)
° cuando bush se muera las va pagar cuando vea a toda la gente que mato alla arriba (when Bush dies he'll pay when he sees all the people he killed up there (up there as in heaven i guess?))
° Que muera el asesino...(death to the murderer)
° Que FAlt de respeto chusma!!!!! (what a lack of respect)
° jeje bien hecho, bandera fea y gente fea (haha, good job, ugly flag and ugly people)

I just thought it was interesting the exptreme racism on both sides of the border.....all addressed to the same video.

Please, don't mistake Mexican hospitality for politeness

2007-06-15T21:14:00.000-06:00

The Mexican culture has a not so misplaced infamy of hospitality. I've had more than my fair share of unrequited hospitable gestures; it's something entirely foreign and slightly unnerving to a person coming from an isolationist culture such as that of us Americans. But once one lets down their guard and seizes to fear the worst -- rapist, kidnapper, robber, serial killer, etc -- the motion is actually seen for what it truly is meant to be.....a favor in exchange for a future favor, or cash.

But don't mistake these hospitable gestures for politeness; while a Mexican will offer you his house, pay for your dinner, or give you even the clothes off his back (actually, I was given a bracelet just because I said I liked it and I offended the girl who gave it to me when I tried to refuse it....also, at a restaurant I complimented the hostess on her necklace and she responded not with the usual "thank you" but with "muy a sus ordenes" -- at your orders, AKA, whenever you want to borrow it, it's yours), their culture can seem to lack a bit in etiquette.

Mexicans answer their phones in movie theaters -- they don't even turn off the ringer
Mexicans honk, cut people off, and nearly run pedestrians over any chance they get
Mexicans will clap loudly and constantly if the play, concert or movie doesn't start on time
Mexicans will whistle the tune "shave and a haircut" to people who make them mad because it means "chinga tu madre"

These traits don't express naquese or rudeness here in Mexico, they are an everyday, common as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (in the US) occurrence that has manifested itself into a cultural characteristic.....a spiky, gritty, hard-to-swallow characteristic, as far as this California girl is concerned.

A (photo) trip through my humble abode

2007-06-01T12:27:00.000-06:00

I figured it's been a while since I've shown pictures of our apartment and since it seems like no more furniture will fit, I thought now would be a good time (aka, it's not looking to change much from here on out). So here is a photo montage of our humble abode.

Starting with the door....we recently put up a "magnolia stained glass window"....it's that stuff that you stick on to make it look like stained glass window

Moving to the left,

and left some more

a bit farther left

close up of the fish

and here we've completed the circle (well, almost) which leads us to the (oriental) kitchen...

and this time we'll go to the right...we had a bbq that day

farther right

and farther right still (avoiding the sink and the boiler for some reason)

we go back through the living room and into the bed room, say hi to Violeta

moving again to the left

skip the bathroom and we jump to the desk...look closely at that taspestry...that's Toño's doing

that would be the tour of our miniature apartment....I figured I wouldn't subject you to anymore bathroom photos, nothing has changed, it's continuing nastiness is just as frustrating as ever and keeping everyone away from it as much as possible is my goal.

An Artist's Week

2007-05-18T09:49:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday Toño had an interview right across the street from the Frida Kahlo museum so I tagged along to take a second look. This house really is beautiful! It's so colorful and vibrant and filled with unconditional love. Her ashes lay there, only everything else in the mueum is so impresive and the ashes so unspectacular (they are in a ceramic vase with a couple of flowers in front) that I've missed them twice.

I couldn't take pictures inside, but even before I got outside, Toño's interview was over and he joined me....

This is just outside the house on the ceiling of a patio-type area....

Yesterday, Thursday, we went to Chapingo, the Agriculture University in Estado de México. This place is amazing and it made me want to go back to school (already)....it reminded me a lot of Santa Cruz, only better because......drum roll please.......it has walls and walls and walls of Diego Rivera murals. It's so beautiful and overwhelming, I snapped as many photos as I could but many are very dark since I obviously couldn't use flash.....here's my unofficial Diego Rivera Gallery: (keep in mind that this is an agriculture university so the murals are focused around the woman, who represents mother earth and the struggle for land and crops. take note also, of all the MANY red stars and hammers and sickles)

This is the ceiling, he made excellent use of 3D effects, the ceiling actually looked as if there were men sitting inside little triangles, but it was in fact a flat plain.

And these the walls:

The doors were designed by him too....

Aside from Diego Rivera, the campus was beautiful, here's proof of that:

I tried to keep these pictures as large as possible, you can click them to see full size.

The Time has Come My Friends To Talk of Other Things

2007-05-14T08:54:00.000-06:00

BBC noted it best, "Mexico City's legislative assembly has voted to legalise abortion in the city, the capital of the world's second-largest Roman Catholic country." The capital used to allow abortions only in relation to rape, the risk of woman's life or in signs of severe defects in the fetus but as of last month, abortion is now legal within the first 12 weeks of conception.

This law has opened a real debate within the city between the conservatives and the liberals, those pro-choice and those pro-life. Being such a religious country, bulletin boards have popped up around the capital in aversion to the new law.

Photobucket" border="0"> "abort the law, not the life"

Photobucket" border="0"> "you can abort him, but then you'd be the parents of a dead child"

Others that I haven't seen but are posted on DenMeChance.org:
Sé un héroe para tu hijo: sálvale la vida -- Be a hero to your baby: Save his life

A un hijo se le defiende con la vida -- You defend a child with your life (this translation is difficult)

Que no te engañen: desde la concepción ya es bebé -- So that they don't trick you: From conception it's a baby

Un bebé no se sabe de leyes: pero tiene derecho a vivir -- A baby doesn't know about laws: But he has the right to life

denmechance.org has taken a strong stance against abortion saying that it is a dictatorial move rather than a democratic one. According to the makers of this site, this law has opened a debate about liberalization, a different kind of liberalization than we are used to discussing as intelligent, cultured, and well-read folk: "Liberalization in this case means the acceptance that the voluntary interruption of a pregnancy is nothing wrong, that it's a private decision or that it depends on what any one person thinks about it. In a word, the acceptance of the principle that anyone can decide if another is human or not, when he is human and when -- because no one has described the human characteristic --, one can take away life without committing a crime." (“ Liberalización significa en este caso la aceptación de que la interrupción voluntaria delembarazo no es en sí algo malo, que es decisión delorden privado o que depende de lo que cadaquién piense al respecto. En una palabra, la aceptación del principio de que alguien puededecidirsi otro es o no es humano, cuando ya lo es, y cuando –porque nadie le ha otorgado la característica de humano-, se le puede privar de la vida sin cometer un crimen.) (in Spanish here)

These people are attempting to turn away from the usual godly anti-abortion debate and direct their disdain more toward the political, economic and scientific population. The problem with that argument is that the well-educated community understands and accepts that abortions will happen, legally or not. Without this law, women without the means or the will to bare a child will run to their nearest "coyote" (here coyote is an unlicensed person who works as if with a license) and abort the child anyway. This manner of abortion, as we all have seen and heard is atrocious, resulting in severe scarring, internal bleeding, the inability to have children when they are wanted, and death.
"There are an estimated 200,000 illegal abortions in Mexico each year.

Of women who opt for illegal procedures, at least 1,500 women die during botched operations performed in unhygienic backstreet clinics" (BBC News)

Of course, as was and is often pointed out to me, a line must be drawn somewhere. It is plausible to say "well, it's going to happen anyway and it's going to be worse when it does, so we should legalize it and make it safer." Of course I don't believe all things should be legal.

But I digress, the point isn't whether abortion should or should not be legal, but that it is now legal and how it's affecting Mexico City.

The Catholic Church has promised to ex-communicate anyone who participates in an abortion, a possible means to strong arm the country into winning back it's waning power? I can't say for certain, but that the power of the catholic church is receding, at least here in Mexico City, is clear. (see the Kaisernetwork.org for this: Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday during a plane trip from Rome to Sao Paulo, Brazil, "seemed to suggest" the Mexico City legislators who voted for a law that allows pregnant women to obtain a legal abortion during the first three months' gestation had excommunicated themselves from the church, the New York Times reports. "Yes, the excommunication isn't something arbitrary -- it's part of the code" of church law, the pope said, adding, "The killing of an innocent human child is incompatible with going into communion in the body of Christ" (Fisher/Rohter, New York Times, 5/10). ) If 18,000 naked people posing for pictures in front of Mexico's first Cathedral isn't proof enough, it says much that the church had no sway over an extremely active leftist community, in spite of the conservative government that claims power over it.

Of course, a court battle is underway to overturn the ruling and a great battle between conservatives and liberals, godly and ex-communicated is underway. But I can say that not even in a city where 90% of it's 106 million residents is Catholic (again BBC News), do I see this decision being overturned any time soon.

NEW REFRIGERATOR!!!

2007-05-11T21:18:00.000-06:00

hey hey hey! After 5 months, we finally got a refrigerator!

And after 24 hours, we were able to connect it!

Feliz Día de le Madre

2007-05-10T11:48:00.000-06:00

Today is Mother's day! So, on this very special day, I thought I'd give the mommies flowers!!

Have a beautiful day!

Mexico Gets Naked

2007-05-08T09:48:00.000-06:00

There must be something in the water lately because nudity is everywhere.

Toño couldn't help but notice some men protesting the theft of their land, in the buff:

(he took this video with his cell phone so it's not incredible)

To add to the naked-fest, Spencer Tunick came on Sunday to take pictures of over 18,000 naked Mexicans. (Photo from La Jornada, not Mexico City)

(photo from Washington Post)

It's Been a While my Friends (and Family)

2007-05-01T09:25:00.000-06:00

I went to Puebla on Sunday with Toño's family. It's a medium sized state just north of us, Puebla City is sometimes referred to as the City of Angels. One city within Puebla is the proud owner of 365 churches, one per day of the year.

Puebla is known for it's mole and candies, neither of which I tried because 1. I don't like mole and 2. I tasted a sampling of one candy and didn't care for it either. Their handcrafts mostly take the form of beautifully embroidered clothing that they say is exclusive to Puebla.

The Cathedral is lined with angel statuetes every 10 feet. It's the cathedral that they say was meant to be built in Mexico City, but the owner of both plans took this plan for Puebla.

We ate lunch with a clown who made us balloon gifts (I got a bracelet in the shape of a flower, Paco got a rat and Jimena, a doll)
Toño ate Sesos (brains) and we decided for his sake that we shouldn't say, hear or see anything about it.

We visited the library that supposedly contains the first Bible ever written, we didn't see it but there are over a thousand books there from the 1500s, 1600s and 1700s, each. I snuck an illegal picture,

We then ate piñaletas and Jicaletas on the street. -Leta is translated roughly into -sicle so essentially these were pinesicles and jicasicles (from pineapple and jicama). I got mine covered in sweet chili and orange powder.

oh, Toño and I played the LOST numbers in the Lottery (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) but we lost.

and, to finish it all, I've decided to try growing a beard....I just can't decide if I prefer it brown or black...

p.s. I'm falling in love with the tiles here.

The Difference between Mexican and American Work Ethic

2007-04-19T15:26:00.000-06:00

American Work Ethic:
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is.

Examples:
Tim the Tool Man Taylor
American Foreign Policy
American National Policy

Mexican Work Ethic:
If it's broke, destroy it 'til it's fixed.

Examples:
My bathroom

My bathroom door hasn't closed fully since we moved here....so they chopped at the door with a kitchen knife and removed it from the hinges and dropped the door lower to put the screws in new wood

The shower drain wasn't working well, so they tore it out, and filled the shower floor with cement for some reason

And I'm sure you remember the toilet? They tore a hole in the wall and the floor....

Everything works now....it's just ugly and tore-up

Imagine This: Los Mercados del Eje1

2007-04-18T11:33:00.000-06:00

You have to decide a good day in a half ahead of time to sufficiently prepare for the Eje 1 because the half block walk from Bellas Artes Metro to the Markets is definitely not enough time to prepare yourself for the barrage of people, shouts, Cd's, DVDs, toys, electronics, food, drinks, clothes, belts, anything and everything in the world. It hits you without warning.

On a daily basis there are no less than 200 vendors on the street alone starting at a 7/11 or OXXO, who knows really, you can't pay attention to what's being sold in the buildings until at least the third time around because you'll miss something or someone on the street.

The sound slaps you across the ears without warning "Qué buscabas, amiga? Te damos precio, sol....." (What were you looking for, friend? We'll give you a good price, jus.....) "Qué buscabas amiga, tenemos discos, electrónicas, todo lo que neces....." (what were you looking for, friend? We have disks, electronics, everything you nee.....) but you move on too quickly, avoiding eye contact.

You march by in line, unable to move anything other than your head and legs, your arms are only useful for grabbing at possible purchases. Sometimes (and quite unwittingly) a vendor touches your arm or pats you on the back, begging for your attention. Before you can shrug him off or flash him the eye, you hear "Qué buscabas...."

Just as you start to think you can handle this, you notice that there's way too much to see in just an hour....or even two for that matter. And once you see that there are markets within the street market (that is to say, there are also markets inside a series of buildings) the day and a half you spent preparing for this trip seems to have been in vain.

So you walk into a building at random that happens to be the Technology market. Suddenly you almost can't breath. The air is heavy, moist, the heat a few degrees higher than the already sweaty weather outside. The jammed corridors make moving slow and unsteady, playing into the vendor's game plan. They grab at you and are now able to finish their sentences: "Qué buscabas, amiga. Te damos precio, solo hay que preguntar". And suddenly you realize the second level. How is it, you ask yourself, that these people can even make money? They all sell relatively the same products at the same general price and there seem to be millions of the same person over and over repeating the same thing into your ear. Sure some compliment you, some wink or smile widely but they are still the same person with the same product in the same place as the others.

Your nerves overwhelm you as you start to see clones, people, DVDs, computers, everything is a clone. Before you suffocate you escape the building only to run straight into a cloned computer program vendor. Begging pardon, you move from the sidewalk closer to the street and suddenly the fresh smell of car pollution hits you.....heck, at this point, anything other than clones flashing at you and begging you to buy is a god send!!!

Friday the 13th is NOT bad luck

2007-04-13T17:49:00.000-06:00

Well, as I'm sure you've heard already, we had an Earthquake around 12:45 this morning. It registered a 6.3 on the Richter and it almost rocked me to sleep. It was actually more of a swayer than a rocker, nice and slow for around 40 seconds (but as we all know, Earthquakes always seem to last a whole lot longer than the newspaper's report). The report stated that this earthquake was centered actually in our delegation (in Mexico City the neighborhoods are called Delegations and in the States they are called Colonias) and that two buildings reported structural damage. Nothing happened to us or our house.....breathe a sigh of relief.

On a lighter note, I went to Cuernavaca on Wednesday and Thursday and came back red as a lobster (well, on my left arm and in a triangle shape on my chest) but no worries because I protected my face....I ain't gettin' no prosthetic nose, no way, no how!

These are my VIP girls (they invited me to their pajama party....a VIP party)
(Sofia, Fernanda, Jimena, Ana)

As soon as we got into Cuernavaca, we went to El Rollo, a water park in the state of Morelos, that was attached to our hotel. Before walking into the park, though, the mothers bought alcohol....

as glass bottles are not allowed inside, the store attendants concealed the liquid into a plastic bottle

Children swam and got on huge slides and rides while the mothers and I sat around, gossiping (about people I don't know) and talking politics.

I felt a little like the middle child, unwilling to get on water rides, but unable to talk about "mommy" things, so I people watched. I noticed a startling trend....Mexicans are getting fat.

Now, in the US, this is nothing new. There are several nonprofits who teach nutrition to the fast fattening Mexican population and statistics are showing that Mexicans are the leading the rest of the American population in Diabetes cases. However, I remember the first time I came here I felt extremely over weight. I couldn't believe the majorly obvious weight difference between Americans and Mexicans. I felt disgusting. While Mexicans are notorious for eating insane amounts or fruits and vegetables, (heck, there's a fruit stand on just about every corner), they are fast turning to fat and grease as a staple canasta basica product.

But I digress...Thursday we stayed at the hotel all day. The girls swam some more

and I read my book, trying so hard to be involved in one group or the other but failing at last. It was a nice time to get away from The City, which can be overwhelming and stressing and just sit around doing nothing but next time, I'd rather go with a group of people my age!

For More Pictures, visit my photobucket page

Wax Museum, Ripley's and Los Monólogos de la Vagina

2007-04-07T23:25:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a big day, compared to the days we've been having as of late. We went to the Wax Museum and Ripley's, which gave us some great photo ops...

(for more....)

Later that night was Vagina Monologues, which I had previously seen twice. The monologues in Spanish were essentially the same, but with major with idiosyncratic differences that I didn't completely understand. There were many, many references to certain places, ideologies and cultures of different places within the Republic that I have never experienced....also, when one specific actress got excited with her monologue, she spoke so fast and with plenty of slang that I felt as though I was learning Spanish all over again....that's to say, I only understood bits and pieces. The orgasms were different, all more relative to Mexican culture. However, all in all it was just as good and totally worth the free show (Toño's cousins paid for our tickets).

We saw a small procession after Jesus had been crucified, but we were unable to go to the huge processsion in Iztapalapa. I'm inserting our own culture in this Easter celebration....tomorrow we are dying eggs.

it's way different here and I'm somewhat missing hanging out with my family and eating Bunny-Shaped cake!

I hope everyone has a happy Easter....

YAY Pulque

2007-04-03T17:13:00.000-06:00

Today I finally got my Pulque fix. I've been craving the slimy yumminess for a couple of weeks now. We went to this really amazing pulquería in the center. It's ceiling is covered in Aztec-style art and the small room is piled high with weed-smoking, shower-lacking hippies. The air is heavy with the smell of both but the environment is so welcoming.

My first was a tomato pulque that was laced with salsa....very yum. And the second, Guava.

Later, while walking home, it started to Thunder, and then pour rain....It's beautiful here when it rains because it's hot and it's comfortable to walk around in a shirt and jeans. People huddle under anything they can find and massive groups of people keep you too warm, sweaty almost.

Summer weather is already beginnging....sadly however, it's bringing with it more pollution...

(there is a blurry mountain peak over the building, toward the middle of the picture that is no more than a couple hours car ride...a distance that should make the mountain still clearly visible (in Oxnard, you can see the mountains easy)...but the pollution makes it almost disappear....sad face.

p.s. here, a parking meter gives you 1 hour and 5 minutes for 5 pesos (50 cents)

It's hit me finally

2007-04-01T12:18:00.000-06:00

I expected for this to come earlier. When I moved to Santa Cruz, I felt good for about a month and then, suddenly as if lightening struck me, I felt terrible. I didn't leave my bed in weeks. I didn't talk to many people. I called my parents in histerics wanting to come home.

It hasn't hit me as hard this time. I'm sure that leaving home is the toughest move and every other there after hurts, but only fractionally in comparison...either way, I'm starting to feel very, very lonely. Because of my lonliness, I'm even more afraid to go out alone and I most certainly don't want to go out with Toño's friend's where I'll just be ridiculed behind my back and judged once I leave.

The only friends I have are Toño's brother and sister,
Paco

and Jimena

I wish I knew of some groups that I could join or something that I could do...I guess I'll just start wandering aound the city, feigning confidence in hope that someone invites me to something cool they are interested in.

School's out for Summer. School's out Forever

2007-03-26T11:16:00.000-06:00

Well, I finally did it. I finished my final report on the Protests in Mexico City. I'm exhausted, My eyes burn and my back hurts but I'm done with school. Let's just hope I get a decent grade!

Some news:

Toño got into a car crash on 24 March. He's fine, afraid he has some kind of brain damage of course, but the car will never be the same.

His story is that he was turning a corner and lost control, a story I believe because since I've known him, I've told him to slow down around the corners. Of course, he thinks himself the greatest driver in the world (ask him, he'll tell you) and never pays attention....maybe now he will.
He crashed into the divider, popping both tires and breaking something that contained liquid under the car. In Mexico, anything that is not provately owned is National Property and it is very illegal to damage National Property....because there was a scratch on the ground, the police wanted to jail him. Toño was ready for that but his father wasn't and instead gave into the corruption that everyone complains about but can't live without. He paid 3,000 pesos to keep his son out of jail.

Toño's dad is getting a new car that the Jetta was supposed to be left to us...who knows what's going to happen now.

A Turn of Events: Ashley Meets People

2007-03-20T11:11:00.000-06:00

Just when I thought I was going to go crazy with writing and reading and writing, in walks Jesus, stage left. By Jesus I mean Chucho, not the almighty himself....sadly.

Jesus is from California too, he met Toño a while ago through a mutual friend and from their we met. He lived in a hostel in the center for 10 months last year and so he has some great connections to some cool trips; on Friday we joined the group to Xochimilco.
There we met some great Aussies

a Greek journalist traveling the world (to visit his multilingual website, please click here, it's an AMAZING story),

an American fisherman,

a few pretty awsome Brits and of course more Mexicans (who LOVE foreigners).

It's been an incredibly fun 4 days of no work and late nights. I want to thank all the backpackers, writers, travelers, and friends for giving my mind a much needed break!

(too bad your face is so glowy Winnie because it's a really amazing picture!)

(more pictures on photobucket)

George W visits Mérida, Yucatan in Mexico

2007-03-14T14:42:00.000-06:00

I hope the first thing that comes to mind with the subject title is protest because if not, you are grossly underestimating the intense rage and hatred that Latin America (and the rest of the world) feels against our president and sadly in consequence against us. There is a complex duality that comes with being born and raised in the US and with identifying as American (estadounidense in Spanish because let us never forget that we occupy one part of the entire American continent), especially when living and/or travelling in a foreign country.

Americans know that we are not well liked in much of the world. We've seen it on TV and we've heard it from the mouths of babes but how many of us can say that we've actually EXPERIENCED the rage, the disgust, the poverty and power conflicts associated with being "under the wing" of the United States of America....not many...I never had before yesterday.

There were molotov coctails and pepper gas. Students climbing the US Embassy fence, throwing rocks and manhole covers onto the riot police. People throwing up, eyes swollen shut, burning and choking, gas masks, signs, flame thrower, shouts, "Cuba sí, Yankees no", burning flags, burning masks, burning paintings. My head spun out of control but I maintained control....I had to or run away screaming and crying like I wanted to.

I don't want to ruin these images with my usual chronical of events, I feel that sometimes words can take away from the intensity of photos....besides, I'm still feeling the residual affects of being involed in a protest against my country, against my president and ultimately against my people.

Below is a series of (many) photos and short videos taken during yesterday's protest from the Hemiciclo a Juarez to the US Embassy in Mexico City. This may take a while to load....good luck.
All photos and videos are courtesy of either me or Antonio Ruiz. To see more, please visit my photobucket and youtube accounts (links to the left) and/or Toño's youtube account --
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"For the blood of our brothers. Bush, out, Murderer!"

"for national sovereignty and self-determination of our towns"

"We demand respect for our sovereignty! No to the shameful wall! Stop the genocide in Iraq! No to Plan Puebla!"

"Bush Murderer"

"Bush, the worst criminal: leave"

"Neither Bush nor Calderon are my sons. Sincerely, Hell"

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Videos shot at the US EMBASSY

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New York Times: "Anti-American sentiment runs high here, with more than half of 1,000 people surveyed in a recent BBC poll saying they viewed the United States’ influence in the world as mainly negative. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percent."

The Politics of Mexico City: An Analysis of Protests.

2007-03-12T17:24:00.000-06:00

I thought that as I write my paper on the research I've been doing, I would post what I've written so far and receive coments, questions and concerns about what I've said. It'll make it easier on the reader if I do it this way so that you don't feel overwhelmed by a fifteen page post all in one day. So, here it goes....
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Introduction –

Reminiscent of many newly democratized governments before it, Mexico currently seems to be facing a political crisis and possible de-democratization after only experiencing one free and fair election (footnote 1). This emerging trend can be traced along the lines of Mexico’s expansive history of protest. This particular lineage serves as the pH paper in a test of Mexico’s governmental capacity and its extent of protected consultation (footnote 2), the result of which may explain the fallout of the 2006 election and the country’s renewed dissatisfaction with the government.

After dozens of restricting presidencies and a few dictatorships that more than frowned upon civil society and organization, and once the citizenry was free to express itself without the fear of granaderos, incarceration or worse, Mexico City quickly became the proverbial nucleus for activists throughout the entire republic. It is important to take into consideration and be sure to not underestimate the importance of this rich culture of struggle for the right to organize in protest because “to think of Mexico in one epoch or another is to lose sight of it entirely” (footnote 3). For this reason, this paper is outlined in a compare and contrast manner using the political, economic and social differences between the successful protests of the past as well as those of the present, whose participation seems to be waning (footnote 4).

The Beginning – Cananea, Sonora

Although there was plenty of governmental dissatisfaction before the Presidency of Porfirio Diaz, some consider the strike at Cananea, Sonora to be one of the first steps toward the Mexican Revolution. Even though the 1906 protest didn’t directly occur in Mexico City it is noteworthy being that this particular confrontation aroused “anti-foreign sentiment and helped justify revolutionary legislation that rescinded concessions to foreign firms, increased corporate taxes and gave more rights to mine workers” (footnote 5).

After a long bout concerning wage inequalities with an American copper corporation located in Sonora, mine workers began a mass protests. During the presidency of Porfirio Diaz, protests were almost always shut down, often violently and the protest at Cananea was no different; what made it exceptional was illegal United States intervention. According to Michael Gonzales, “the presence of armed US troops on Mexican soil – breaking the heads of nationals – was a major embarrassment to the Diaz government, and graphically illustrated the power and independence that foreign firms had achieved (footnte 6);” this great controversy ignited a wave of protests throughout the country and served as an immense uniting force between the conservatives and liberals of the time.

The triumph of these particular protests wasn’t the miner’s protest (in fact, Gonzales points out that the miners returned to work without gaining any ground as far as their demands) but rather, the overall raised awareness and unionization of the press and population. The major problem in any state is the complete political chasm and in Mexico especially, the ever-growing gap not only between liberals and conservatives but also between the individual differences among citizens themselves, a problem always put on the back burner when protests are successful.

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1. The presidential election in 2000 is considered to be the freest and most fair election Mexico had ever conducted. Taking into consideration the great controversy surrounding the 2006 election, I’m counting the 2000 election as the only truly free and fair election.
2. Concept from Tilly, Charles. Inequality, Democratization, and De-Democratization. Social Theory, Vol. 21, No.1 (Mar., 2003). Tilly describes protected consultation as “the combination of breadth, equality, consultation, and protection” (pg. 38).
3. Shorris, Earl. (2004), Pg. 12
4. For simplification purposes, I will focus this paper on protests taking place in Mexico City.
5. Gonzales, Michael J. (1994) (pg. 667)
6. Ibid. (pg. 667)

The Juxtaposition of Past and Present

2007-03-02T20:02:00.000-06:00

Possibly the most beautiful thing about Mexico City is the architecture. Throughout the city there is this amazing juxtaposition of the past and the present. The best example I have of this right now is the Monument of the Revolution. This monument was actually supposed to be a legislative chamber for Porfirio Diaz but construction was stopped in 1910 because of the Mexican Revolution and was never continued again. It's a beautiful monument sitting over its own museum. Right next door to the almost 100 year old monument is a glass building that reflects the monument's arches.

The Palace of Fine Arts is an equally amazing building covered in granite and carved stone that sits directly in the middle of the financial center.

And then there is is Hemiciclo de Juarez, a monument dedicated to Benito Juarez. This is a wonderful monument also in the financial district. This is where there is a chronic (like that choice of words?) protest in support of AMLO on Sundays.

I found out that my dad writes dirty books in Spanish!

(Diet to Lose Weight Before, After and During Sex)

and that Chilangos love Texas

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p.s. I've changed the lay-out of my page. Now only one post will be shown on the page, but there is still the archive links to the right, in case you've missed something! Let me know how this set up works out for you

Flag Day Celebration at the Maddox Academy

2007-02-26T11:31:00.000-06:00

On Friday I had the privilege of going to an annual celebration of the Mexican Flag at the Maddox Academy, a very rich, prestigious catholic school for girls between preschool and high school ages. The girls were dressed very smartly in their school uniforms, overcoats and white gloves and the different classes organized to do their hair a certain way (Jimena, Toño's sister and her class put their hair in a pony and braided the tail into many tiny braids)

(left to right: Daniela, Fernanda, Jimena)

We arrived to the school at 7:30, an ungodly hour that I have been very lucky to not have to experience in many months, the sun hadn't even hit the school campus yet. We had a seat and Jimena ran off to her classroom. We sat, waited and watched girls run around for an hour and a half before the ceremony actually started. Finally and suddenly every door in the school opened at the same time and girls began to pour out in straight, sharp lines.

They marched in time with the military drummers, their arms and legs were in exact sync.

Little blue girls stepped in time for 15 minutes, they came from everywhere, they filled the stairs marching down in the same time.

When they came to corners the "sergeant" yelled YA, the whole row marched around the corner. When they passed the president and the state mayor, the "sergeant" yelled VISTA and the whole row turned their head simultaneously to look at the visitors and in passing, they snapped their head forward. When one class was done marching, they kept moving to the sound, kicking their left leg out and slightly lifting the right, a stationary march.

The governor was given the honors of raising the flag along side the girls who are to graduate this year. These last year students were crying toward the end of their last march.

After the raising of the flag, the school sang the National Anthem, The State Anthem, the flag song and a song in English that was incredibly hard to understand due to hundreds of girls singing with thick accents. For the first time, they didn't sing God Save the Queen (it's a British school).

(national Anthem)

The entire assembly had me stupefied. My breath was stuck in my chest, unable to escape while my heart pounded as if I had just run 10 miles. I didn't know what to think and when Toño's mom asked me if I taught it was pretty I told her it was a little weird for me. We don't even use uniforms in our schools (public schools, obviously) and the only time I've ever seen marching and complete obedience and conformity was when I went to see the Marines graduate in San Diego.

Of course, these things aren't wrong or bad but the horrifying thing about the ceremony was that girls were getting dizzy and being taken out of formation, others were fainting and being carried out. They were all taken into a room behind the bleachers, given fruit and juice and sent back out several minutes later. A few girls were standing too far from the bleachers and were taken to classrooms. One girl began convulsing. These girls are between 7 and 18 years old. The younger ones are completely unable to stand in the blazing sun (I'd guess it's been in the low to mid 90s for the last several weeks) for hours in the middle of the day. I'm sure many of them hadn't eaten breakfast yet and none had pockets to keep candies or small fruits in case of emergency.

Poor little girls.

After the ceremony we got together with Jimena's friends and went to breakfast. Delightful little girls.

I'm not sure I could handle another one of those.

To see more videos click my youtube link to the right

Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca: A camp in Protest

2007-02-20T10:56:00.000-06:00

La APPO is a recently formed political organization that claims to breed social resistance to neoliberalism and authoritarianism. They fight for the "rescue/recovery" (the exact sentence reads "La resistencia social crece por muchos rincones del país en contra del neoliberalismo, el autoritarismo y el rescate de la democracia popular". The word rescate is translated to rescue and/or recovery) of democracy. Considering that the PRI was in power for 70 years (a time often referred to as The Perfect Dictatorship because elections were openly and "freely" held every 6 years, PRI always won and no electoral fraud could ever be concretely proven due to the party's extensive authoritarian control) before Fox was elected in 2000 under PAN. It seems hard to believe that APPO believes there is anything to recover democracy from.

This group has marched from Oaxaca to Mexico city (in order to see video of this march, click Galeria Multimedia and then click the video called Marcha Caravana) to camp out in Mexico City. That was in July; today the camp is about half the original size, and the people who remain consist mostly of street vendors and professors who give information for a small donation (we bought a copy of the caravan march for 20 pesos). We took with us a copy of their National Pact for the Popular Sovereignty and the Vigilance of the Constitution and of course armed ourselves with several questions regarding it.

First we were interested to know what they thought Mexico's economic status would be without neoliberalism. To this the professor inconcretely suggested that Mexico could belong to the First World had they no dependencies on the international community. I'm not sure how I feel about this statement and so I won't comment further.

Many leftists in this country are convinced that they are still living under an authoritarian regime. At home we might call these people extremists because let's face it, Democrats are very conservative in every country but the US. Many from the PRD (the extreme leftist party) consider the new government (PAN) to be the same government that's governed for over 70 years so naturally we asked what APPO's definition of authoritarianism is. The answer was predictable.

It seemed important to know where APPO vendors buy their raw products in order to make purses, scarves, bracelets etc. We often forget that even those groups that are in stark moral contrast with neoliberalism have no true, simple alternative. These vendors must buy their good from large, often international companies; their food products come from Walmart, not the Farmer's Market. So it seems to me quite naive to say that neoliberalism is murdering any economy. Even the street markets sell clothing that bare the name of the company (often times stolen or second-hand....but either way, someone bought it and by buying it again, and you have and privilege of paying to advertise for the company) you believe is blurring your clear path to economic sovereignty.

The responses we received were very rehearsed and political. This is not to say that I don't believe much of what I have read and heard about APPO or neoliberalism or economic sovereignty but rather to say that something new needs to be done to combat it. My research is not going to change the fact that Mexico houses 10 of the world's riches people and many, many million more of the world's poorest. We need to first learn the rules of the game before we can play it because no professor in the APPO camp will convince the government to change their economic strategy, cut ties with the world and please, for God's sake stop stealing money from the citizenry. No mega march or caravan march will change the minds of the people who matter, those in office. Something new and effective needs to be developed. A completely new government needs to be in place, a new police force, we need to breed new ideas so that our children can begin to construct clear-minded alternatives. Right now, no one is clear of mind.

How to use a JERGA for Dumbies

2007-02-17T17:42:00.000-06:00

A JERGA is a sort of heavy cotton towel that may or may not have a small hole in the center and is used as a mop. The JERGA can be bought at any market place for only a few pesos. It is used in conjunction with a JALADOR which is basically a very long squeegee.

First, one concocts a mixture of floor cleaner (I use lemon scent because the others are WEIRD!) and water in a bucket.

1. Place the JERGA in the bucket of cleaner

2. Pull the JERGA from the bucket and squeeze out extra water

3. grab the JALADOR in one hand and the JERGA in the other

4. Place the JERGA (which has a hole big enough for the pole in the center) on the JALADOR

5. mop.

It's that simple kids. I usually clean the bucket junk after mopping every room, but that's only because I'm neurotic that way. Many times people place the Jerga at the doorway when not in use as a sort of mat....that's optional.

Just for fun: Random things from Mexico City

2007-02-09T10:46:00.000-06:00

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This video is kinda bad, it was taken at night but it's something I just had to share. I've been here almost a month and still I laugh everytime we see them...The green man that tells you to walk actually moves here!:

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I bought an In Style magazine yesterday....just because it's an In Style, In Spanish.

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And last, but most definately not least:

There is a group of 20-somethings that stand in front of the Palace of Fine Arts giving out free hugs. The first time I saw it, I almost cried mostly because it reminds me so much of my friends. This is something Stephanie and I would have done when we were younger, I'm sure. Actually, to be completely honest, I cried when I watched this video (it's not mine)

An attempt to win back pride and land...theoretically

2007-02-08T10:14:00.000-06:00

In the pre-show for the game yesterday (soccer, Mexico vs. USA), a cyclical message seemed to create somewhat of a theme: The only advantage that Mexico has over the US is soccer. The only thing Mexico can do to win back stolen pride, liberty and land is play soccer; even if the prize is intangible and temporary. The game was long and goalless most of the time. Neither team was playing particularly well. The US scored first, which of course kicked Mexico into overtime. They began to play a little stronger but continuously made failed attempt after failed attempt at a goal. Finally, 30 seconds from game end, the US scored again.

But to be honest, the game isn't the point. The point is what seems to me to be an extreme inferiority complex on the behalf of Mexico. One reporter talked about the fact that the game is technically being played in Mexico. Let's not forget please that Arizona, California, Texas and several other states were at one time Mexican territory and somehow, winning this game (and every other games of course) might make up for that fact.

I think this is all I have to say about this, but please, I'm sure there are several comments about this. And remember, this is just my preliminary observation....It could be convoluted and/or incorrect.

new arrivals

2007-02-05T21:04:00.000-06:00

So we finally got our pet today only we were convinced to take two instead of one...so now we have two baby cats.

One is named Remedios and the other Violeta. We're not sure which is which yet, though. Remedios is taken from an incredible Gabriel Garcia Marquez character in the book 100 Years of Solitude. Violeta is after the amazing singer, Violeta Parra who died today in 1967.

The one with the brown spots is the more adventurous and curious while the other is a cry-baby; she screams bloody murder if you pick her up or separate her from her sister.

Edit: new picture.....
Left, Remedios. Right, Violeta

January 31, 2007

2007-02-03T21:08:00.000-06:00

Flashback: A few weeks ago I wrote about the price increase of corn. I also falsely claimed that nothing was being done about it. On January 31 there was a rather huge march from El Angel de la Independencia to the Zócalo in supposed protest of this economic fluctuation....as if the Mexican government could possibly do anything to change the international market. What it turned into was a leftist parade and a cry to see Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The march was beautiful; all Mexican marches are.
It started with this old woman carrying a basket of corn in traditional garb. The protest was a collaboration of several syndicates throughout the country. Many of them genuine campesinos with their wives and children along side. Several were of the middle class. Others the Communist party (a group of idealistic twenty-somethings searching for something they can't even wrap their minds around). Behind the old woman was one syndicate that enclosed itself in a corral made of rope, most of them carrying a flag bearing the symbol of their union.

As we continued to walk, we came across the Sheraton hotel which was blocked off completely by riot police. An utterly intense site in a foreign country. Strangely, after passing these police we saw others guarding several other buildings...all of them without guns. Some carried night sticks, but only a few.

Continuing on, we noticed that several stores were closed; the majority of them American. 7/11 , McDonalds, KFC etc. Mexican shops were open, even jewelry stores.

We got to the Zócalo early so there weren't many people but luckily we were able to get on the Press platform, allowing us to take some pretty awesome pictures.
(to see more, click here)

Quickly the crowd stopped listening to the organizers speak and began to shout for Obrador. They called "Presidente" and "Es un honor estar con Obrador" (It's an honor to be with Obrador). The crowd truly believe that AMLO (Obrador) is their legitimate President ever since he declared himself President a while back. One woman wore earrings in the shape of the "president", several carried posters with his face beaming, many sold stickers and patches.

At the end of the speeches, the organizers announced that AMLO would speak on the side stage. This announcement was made around 6:00. Hundreds of people crowded the stage chanting and singing and telling jokes against the federal government. An hour and a half later, Obrador showed up with his entourage. The whole crowd was vigilantly awaiting, still chanting, and flashing AMLO's signature peace sign (for Victory).

His speech was typical of populist leaders. Giving the people what they want; solutions that have no realistic possibility of being carried out. Never in my life have I blindly trusted a public figure as much as these people. At home, I would never wait over an hour to see a politician speak. These people are so desperate for change. They are in so much need for improvement that they allow themselves to be brainwashed by the first new, progressive face that tells them he can make everything better. He can't, he's the absolute opposite of a prudent economist; the perfect example of a modern populist.

Something that struck me hard (aside from the cult following) was a sign that a little girl sitting on top of her father's shoulders held. The sign read: Now my father doesn't make enough to buy even tortillas. I almost cried. Another sign read "Sin Maiz, no hay Pais": without corn, there is no country. There are many people who believe that the founding of the country is centered around the first corn ever grown here. The exact date isn't known, but it's believed to be somewhere around 3000 BC.
"(This) date has more meaning, because it represents the domestication of the wild grass that later became corn...Three thousand BC also serves as a better date of birth because of the nature of corn, which is the only grain that cannot survive without the aid of a human being, because the husk does not open and the seed does not fall from the ear....Corn transformed society, bringing about what was to become one of the world's original civilizations. Mexico was born" (Shorris, Earl. The Life and Times of Mexico.)

Happy Birthday MICHAEL!

2007-01-29T18:44:00.000-06:00

The PRD is organizing a march in The City on Wednesday to protest the price hike of corn. Of course, I'm going to be there with my handy-dandy camera and video camera to interview people.

So I went to the dentist and got an acrylic resin drilled out. The dentist said that my tooth had a huge hole in it which was causing the pain. Since he drilled out the old thing and put in a new one, I'm no longer in pain. Let me assure you, however that I was incredible afraid of going to a Mexican dentist. There are so many horror stories, in California especially, that having to experience a medical visit was stressful. This dentist happens to be Tonio's uncle, and a military doctor and everything turned out fine.

A quote from "Opening Mexico": The PRI was a patronage pyramid that doled out favors in return for allegiance and it discouraged community people from organizing to help themselves.

Things have changed a bit in Mexico. Now, community members are encouraged to organize, through the cunning use of bribes in an unforgiving exploitation of the country's poverty. If you go to a protest, generally you are given a lunch or a dole for the day. You are told to take your family with you. If you don't, you run the risk of being fired from your job.

I have so many pictures to upload but no cables to upload them with.

uneventfulness makes for dull reading

2007-01-24T16:45:00.000-06:00

I've been pretty out-of-it lately. My diet hasn't been as nutritive (is that a word) as it should be and I'm afraid that anemia has returned. My poor blood isn't absorbing/transporting enough Oxygen for my body to function well. I'm tired, I'm crabby, walking is becoming more and more of a task and all I want to do is sleep. But never fear, the internet is here; I did research and found out what I can eat and what I should eat. I've been eating a little healthier; more fruits and veggies instead of Tacos de papa or frijoles. We've found out that we can make a hearty meal at home for 50 pesos total. A lacking refrigerator is making saving food near impossible, but we have a cooler that we've been using to store things on ice.

Tomorrow I'm going to the dentist to see how many cavities I have. My teeth have been hurting me the past several days and I can't pretend that my body will heal them anymore.

Today has been the first "cool" day since we got here. When I say cool, however I don't mean cold, I mean when you don't wear a sweater you feel as though you need one and when you do wear a sweater you are a bit warm. Now, the sky looks as though it'll rain any minute.
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El Mercado de San Cosme

There is something strangely attractive about the market that's situated just a block from our apartment. It's constantly crowded with working class and poor people. The walls and center aisles are controlled by vendors of all sorts: clothing, school uniforms, fruits, vegetables, spices, meats, whole chickens hanging from their feet, shoes, random nic-nacks, pet food, copies, hair cuts, pirated movies and CDs, fruits chopped and chilied.....anything and EVERYTHING you ever thought you needed....or didn't need but wanted.

There's an in-door market and an outdoor one. In doors works a Japonese couple, los famosos Japoneses. Every one (I mean EVERYONE) knows about these Japonese people because they have everything you could ever need for anything. They sell electrical gadgets, kitchenware, oil cloth, plastic, pet food, pet beds, pets....everything and they never cheat you.

Outdoors is mostly only clothing and movies and randomness and it opporates usually at night, closing around 11. There you can find any pirated movie you dreamed of. And if the movie isn't there then, in two days it will be, as long as you ask....20 pesos for one DVD or 50 for 3.

There is one family that has been selling these battery opperated birds in mini cages. These birds scare the bejesus out of me and I have to look away when we pass. Their movement is so real and their cages are open. The vendor shoves them in your face, assuring you that they are fake but nonetheless it's hard to believe.

Admittingly, it seems like it could be a pretty dangerous place. With so much going on, it's impossible to keep an eye on everything. Shopping around is completely necessary, and finding the vendors you like is essential. It's so bustling, it's amazing.....I love it there.
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The Radio

We've been listening to the radio a lot lately since we don't have many CDs. 106.5. In the mornings they play "80s, 90's and more". What's interesting about this station, however is that I've never heard a song in Spanish. Over and over they play Madonna, Modern English, Michael Jackson, Cranberries.....anything 80's, 90's and more from the US/UK.

There is another station we listen to that claims that "All of Mexico is on Air". It's actually kind of interesting. Yesterday an ex-CIA analyst called in to talk about the looming death of Fidel Castro. There have been plenty of callers about the tortilla crisis (which seems to be pretty well averted now, we saw in the market today that a kilo costs 8.5 pesos and we learned with this station that Walmart and another big grocery store is selling them, without profit, for 6 pesos....just to stick-it-to-the-man, it seems)

It seems that one faction of the police force is planning on striking soon due to low wages and no health benefits but I don't know enough about that now.

not much

2007-01-20T15:20:00.000-06:00

nothing to say today except that I fixed the links to the pictures of the house....

http://adventuresandtribulations.blogspot.com/2007/01/new-pictures.html

US's economy...

2007-01-18T19:18:00.000-06:00

http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm

find whatever you want here: http://www.nationmaster.com/cat/eco-economy

Of course the US is doing well....in comparison to other countries, but in comparison to itself, which really is the only way to compare the US, we are spending way more than we have, we're not paying anyone back, we have the second highest child poverty rate and we are spending millions upon millions upon millions of dollars on war. Yes, YOU are doing fine.....yes our houses are nice, we can afford to eat and our streets aren't littered with beggars like many other countries, but that certainly doesn't mean that our economy is as "boooming" as it could/should be.

how dare anyone call me unthinking.

acampamiento

2007-01-18T17:32:00.000-06:00

let me first say that someone is leaving me semi-rude anonymous comments...to be honest, i don't appreciate anonymous comments. If you have something to say to me, please please please say it nombrado, for the sake of character and discussion.

________________________________________________________________
Yesterday we went to check out the APPO camp. I was expecting that everyone there would be (I have no idea why I had this assumption) Chilangos (Chilango is the word used to describe a person from Mexico City) in support of the APPO, what I found was a line of Oaxacans, selling their products directly made by Oaxacan hands. I want so badly to interview these people. Over the statue that they camp in front of, they've hung a home-made flag that I'm sure says something profound/protesty but the wind has rapped around the statue, rendering it illegible. The products sold are typical; bracelets, hats, scarves, inscense and information. The camp is falling apart. There are a couple of co-ops where people bring fod, clothes and the like to support the protesters and the rest are housing. It's definately interesting, nothing I've ever seen in my life.

The news has announced that not only has the price of corn (and consequently tortillas) gone up, but also the price of chickens, due to their increasingly costly diet and thus the cost of eggs. Presidente Calderón promised the people that when he became president he would reduce the salary of his officers -- that he's done....by 200 pesos. 200 pesos....the equivalent of rougly 20 USD. I have more than twice that in my purse right now. The country is mad, but nothing really is being done. These officials earn 151 thousand pesos per month while there are people on every street begging for food, money...anything. Sure, officials in the US gain plenty too, but let's face it, the poverty rates in the US are not close to those of Mexico.

Sorry, I think this is going to be a short blog today, I'm a bit put off by the rude comment made on my last blog....

I hate boilers

2007-01-15T14:32:00.000-06:00

It's been incredibly hot here both during the day and at night. I´ve been woken up every night, dying of heat exhaustion and craving water. Curiously, as hot as it is, you don´t wake up sweating...no, the air is dry and thirsty and before your body can even think about curing the heat with sweat, the air drinks it out of your body, leaving your hands, mouth and throat all arrid. It´s an aweful way to wake up.

Yesterday we took the subway from DF to Estado de Mexico. It´s not very far, but it took a subway ride to the end of the line and a bus ride to our destination. I love the subway. Somehow the people become completely zombie-fied the second a foot touches the train. Many sleep, others stair into space while some walk around the entire circuit selling silly things: coloring books, music CDs, toys, their own voice, their disability....anything. The buses are old and breaking down. Riding in one feels much like a roller coaster at a county fair. Randomly at bus stops or in the subway stations, people jump on the buses (of course asking permission) and sell their product, usually ice cream or chips. Once they've hit everyone, they jump off to wait for the next bus to jump on.

The economy seems to be slipping a bit. Surely due to the US's failing economy. The daily the other day announced that 1 kilogram of tortillas (which according to Toño cost 2.5 pesos when he was younger) just reached 10 pesos. A huge deal. Tortillas are eaten with every meal here. I wouldn't doubt it if we eat about a kilo worth of tortillas everyday, each. Three nights ago (give or take), while making dinner I sent Toño out for some tortillas, he came home with 15 pesos worth and we finished them easily that same meal. Soda prices are going up, even eating on the street isn't as cheap as it used to be (although, it still is dirt cheap). When we arrived we went to have tacos de canasta (tacos from a basket) with someone Toño's been buying tacos from for years, that day they were 3 pesos each. The other day when we went back, they were four each.

The Mexicans have an amazing plan for having everyone recycle. When you buy a bottle of soda, you have to leave the bottle with the person you bought it from. If you buy bottles on the street, you either drink it all and leave it, or ask for a can. In restaurants you can't leave with the bottle. The business owners then take the bottles back to the warehouse and are then charged only for the soda, not the bottle it comes in. It's incredible. If the bottle is tainted with trash inside, however, it is deem non-retornable and the business owner gets nothing for it.

I've been having a good time with the names of products here. Twinkies, for example are spelled Tuinky, Ding Dongs are Penüinos (penguins), marshmellows are called Bombones, Dannon yogurt is Danone and yogurt is spelled yogurth. Instead of pronouncing French words ending in T like Ballet, Valet, Chevorlet, Depot without the T, they pronounce them with it...which makes plenty of sense to me, say what you read...And finally, the funniest of all, yesterday in the mall I came across a shoe store called Athlete's Foot!

I'll post pictures soon.

stuff and nonesense

2007-01-12T17:56:00.000-06:00

We've finished the house to our financial budget (for now) and we're finally starting to get comfortable. We lack curtains and we keep catching one of the neighbor's with her face to our living room window, peering in. It's disconcerting.

Yesterday we went to the center, finally. Although we didn't quite make it to the Zocalo (my favortite place in all of DF). The Palace of Fine Arts is so beautiful and the people walking by it so colorful. It's made completely of granite inside and outside of soft stone. It reminds me a lot of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Speaking of, we went to the Barrio Chino yesterday also. This half a block of Chinese shops and restaurants is non-existant in comparison to SF, but it's also very cheap. The people there don't look chinese, but if you talk to some of them, you diffinately hear a slight accent. They replace r's with l's....something like "si te gusta esta lampala, te la doy pol cinquenta pesos" instead of "si te gusta esta lampara, te la doy por cinquenta pesos". Tonio's (you'll notice I'm spelling his name differently now that I'm back on my computer and I don't have easy access to the symbols) brother bought us a lamp and a wind chime, both of which we hung in the kitchen; making it an official oriental kitchen.

On the way back to the subway, we crossed a camp that was located just outside the Zocalo and in front of Mining Palace and another very turistic musuem....right in front of the very famous statue of the caballito (little horse). The camp was a protset on the part of the APPO (Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca -- Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca), these are the people who have been protesting for the rights of teachers in Oaxaca. I walked right through the camp as if I owed the place (no one was around) and Tonio told me that these people are very protective and that if I want to interview them (which is completely my intention) that I need to bring them gifts and very humbly explain what I'm doing. I'm sure they'd want to talk to me....tell their story at least.

There hasn't been much talk about those protests around here, other than they have died down plenty in the last month. There isn't much talk either about Calderon or Lopez Obrador. As far as the Mexican people are concerned, after AMLO (Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador) declared himself president, he lost all respect and the majority of his following. No one wants another revolution, although it didn't seem that way during the election process.

We're running low on funds now and we're trying to live off of 20 pesos (roughly 2 USD) each daily. It's been working out well although we aren't eating much unless Tonio's parents "invite". Consequently and welcomly, we are losing weight, contrary to what I expected.

All in all, things are going well. We don't have TV so I've been reading A LOT...right now, as part of my research, I'm reading about the "making" of Mexico and the political, cultural and conquered past. There are so many things that make sense, and so many things that the Mexican culture has lost but could have definately prospered from. I'm excited to finally start working on figuring out their style of protest, where it came from, why it is the way it is, how it's changed etc.

side note: we've been having fun when we buy stuff for the house because we've come to learn that the people in the Markets are willing to lower the price to newly weds. So, we've been telling everyone that we just got married and that we just got a new place together and we're buying new things and that we just can't afford to spend too much....it's silly but really, we got the man selling the furniture to drop the price from $3000 pesos to $2300, the TV we were looking at was $1000 pesos and the guy told us that it's cheaper for "recien casados" (recently wedded). Although, it's strang to hear myself referred to as a wife, it's sooooo nice to get cheap stuff!

New Pictures.

2007-01-08T21:11:00.000-06:00

Today we finished fixing the toilet and we got new furniture (a sofa...i guess I should call it a love seat...and chair ended up costing us $250 USD), which is nice and cheap considering that my mom sent our sheets and blankets (which cost $200 in the first place) and shipping ending up costing her $200 more dollars UPS...AND when it got here today, Toño and I had to pay 1000 pesos more just so that the UPS men would release it to us).

Anyway, not too much writing today, just pictures....

this is what the shower floor looked like before I cleaned the paint (the left column is already stripped of paint)...

and this is after...and getting mopped with the jerga let me tell you that the brick you see there is because there are "cat-sized" rats living in the sewer beneath us, so until we can get a new drain cover or something, we have to keep a brick there and covering the drain in the laundry room...I haven't seen any yet but Toño's mom and brother swear up and down that there was a dead one the size of their cats in the laundry room)

building the closet...

the new furniture and lamps that we bought...

new toilet...

kitchen...

and the finished closet/bedroom...

and finally, my favorite thing so far...it should say "prohibido subir con diablos" TR: prohibited to come up with dollies (like the ones you use to move heavy things) but someone scratched off the s on diablos and so now it says prohibited to come up with the devil...

2007-01-07T22:51:00.000-06:00

A night of suspended action

2007-01-07T22:18:00.000-06:00

The toilet broke and we had to buy a new one. Painful for our ever lighter wallet, but better for the apartment. The only problem is that they couldn't finish putting it in today so we have to stay at Toño's parents house for the next two nights.

While walking and driving around, I've notcied more this time than any other time I've been to Mexico that there is a huge American influence here. Everything that we've bought so far is in Spanish and English, Shops in English, restaurants with English names and American stores (Wings, 7/11, AM/PM, KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks, Carl's Junior etc). Obviously I'm aware of the imperialism that we Americans impose on all countries and cultures....I'm quite aware that there is a McDonalds in just about every country but still it makes me sad and a little angry. At the same time, I wish there were certain stores here like Cold Stone (oh how I miss that ice cream....although nothing compares to a mango with chile ice cream) and Urban Outfitters, even though they would never survive here.

I'm even infected with the imperialistic disease. I told Toño the other day that I wanted to teach the kids English, he pointed out to me that it was a bit of a colonialistic idea....it certainly was.

I love going to the crowded markets. Everytime we needed something for the toilet today, I volunteered to go with who ever was going to the market to buy....It's a huge out-door market called San Cosme that we literally live across the street from. They sell everything from $2 pirated movies to clothes to make-up and puppies. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. They make Esquites there (corn off the cob) with mayonaise, chile, lemon and salt (of course you can choose what you don't want....I don't like mayonaise)....they are my life! I love them! The fruit is very fresh in the markets, along with the vegetables....you can find anything in the world there. We bought our toilet in a market today for $45 USD. Incredible.

I was told today that our apartment is old, old, old. The toilet alone has been there for over 50 years....and as Eddie Izzard says "50 years! NO! No one was alive back then!" Of course there are cathedrals and monuments 4 times older than that in the country. The entry I wanted to put here explains our apartment almost exactly....

"The house is of brick with high ceilings and tall arched windows, barred, heavily shuttered, seeming to suggest possible attack....The brick walls of our casa are fifteen inches thick, and plastered in and out. The last occupant had papered the rooms with hideous results, and I, curses be have been laboriously removing it, while the landlord stands by aghast." --Edward Weston.

The streets here are strange. You can't make a left turn (well, to be fair, there are places to turn left but it's a tricky maneuver), in order to turn left, you have to make a U-turn. All the buildings are painted bright, contrasting, happy, happy, happy colors. The outside of our apartment is just yellow, but the inside is teal and the bedroom is dark maroon. The Super wanted to paint the bottom half of the walls (in the maroon bedroom) teal with lighter green spots....thankfully Toño's mom said no but that's the moda (style) here. Our neighbor's front door and the inside of her apartment is an orange base with yellow spots. Restuarants are painted similarly. It's an extremely folkloric place. The streets definately lift my spirits.

School starts tomorrow for the chavos....We'll see what that means for the city.

Tengo cara de....

2007-01-06T21:12:00.000-06:00

Well, we bought a vacuum....well, I guess to be fair, I should call it by its name.....shop vac. Everytime I use it I have to laugh. I cleaned all the paint off the tiles in the bathroom and I think the Thinner made me a little high (although I've never been high, so I can't be certain), I was standing in the doorway thinking to myself, woah I'm dizzy, the world is moving as if I'm on a ship....I realized that it wasn't the world that was moving, but ME! I was swaying like a drunkard.

Yesterday I was talking to one of the boys who lives in our complex and he asked me where we lived before, I told him and he responded "Ah, es que estaba hablando con mi mamá y me dijo wue tienes cara de.....(I can only assume that he was going to say gringa but repented....although that's an assumption) Estados Unidos" TR: Oh, because I was talking to my mom and she said that you have the face of an American. I could only laugh. I wanted to ask if I had the face of an American or the hair of someone not Mexican.

Today is the day of the three wise men. A huge deal here. Like Santa Claus in the US, the malls are FULL, there are three men dressed as wise men with whom you can take your picture....for a price, of course. On the fifth, the children attach a letter to a helium-filled balloon asking the wise men for 3 gifts and release them into the air (a beautiful tradition, I believe). We just cut the Rosca de Reyes, a circular cake that has brown sugar and candied fruit on top. Inside the cake is a baby. In the US, as far as I was taught, upon finding the baby, the eater gets a surprise; in Mexico, however for some reason, finding the baby obligate the eater to make the Tamales on February 2, el dia de la candelaria....no one wants to find the baby. I've asked 2 questions....why the second and why is it so bad to find the baby, who is supposed to represent the baby Jesus. No one knows the answers to my questions.

Damn, I'm being run from the house, I wanted to post a part of a story, but our ride is leaving now.....Until next time....

Ginger heads have no soul

2007-01-04T23:26:00.000-06:00

Wow, living in Mexico City is so completely frustrating. Everything is different here. No one uses a vacuum, so finding one at any store (even Walmart) is impossible. We went to 4 stores today and came up fruitless. Everyone is curious about the weda pelirroja and they all assume that I don't speak a word of Spanish. Today in Vips (the Mexican Denny's), after ordering my own food...in Spanish...the waitress came back over and asked "no hablas ni una palabra de español, verdad?"...surprised I responded "Yo? Si....Claro que si!!"

We bought cleaning supplies for the house today, gross. In place of vacuums, people use brooms and a towel that they wrap around the end of a stick in order to use as a mop....I can't stand this way of cleaning. Mops make me feel sick to the stomach; they stink and they just redistribute the dirt from the bucket of water you soak them in....it's like taking a bath, you're just marinading yourself in your own filth! When we were checking out at Walmart (hell for us UCSC kids...but honestly, I don't know where to buy anything here yet, so it's going to have to suffice until I get better oriented), I paid with my Washington Mutual card. The cashier stared at it, showed it to the bagger and said "Mira, es una tarjeta de Washington" -- Look, it's a card from Washington...that cashier's ignorance of the US made my day.

Our firt major purchase....a stove/oven. It's really small and really cute. There are four burners and a tiny oven. Sadly, we don't have gas yet, so it's useless. We built a closet and stained it a dark mapley type color. It's turning out nicely. For some reason, the people here get paint on everything....there's paint on the windows, in the sinks, on the tiled floors, on the toilet seats....I tried removing it with Thinner and it doesn't work. The walls aren't straight, the doors are made of metal, and you have to use a key to unlock AND lock it. (sorry for this next comment, boys)....The tampon section in the stores is SMALL and a pack of 8 costs as much as a pack of 18 in the US...women here don't use them.

We don't have internet or cable or phone and so getting online is going to be a challenge for the next couple of months (unless Toño gets a job) but luckily the internet cafes are CHEAP...around 15 pesos (about $1.20) per hour!!! As soon as we aren't running around like chickens with our heads chopped off to fix up the house, I'll be able to update more often.

I'm reading an anthology now that Steph gave me. It's a compilation of short stories inspired by Mexico. It starts in the 1800s and ends in the present....There were so many parts that made me laugh because it's exactly the same....I'll publish an excerpt next time.

Thank you all for the amazing comments. It's so good to hear from you all. I miss you.

if you have a slow connection this might take a while

2007-01-01T23:28:00.000-06:00

We´re officially moving in tomorrow and we just discovered that we are more broke than we thought so we probably won´t have internet for a while...in the mean time, I wanted to post some pictures....

This is how much luggage we felt it took to move to Mexico....6 suitcases with us, and one with a friend who left a day earlier!

fireworks on New Years

And now the pictures of our apartment....it´s not incredible but it´s definately cute and cozy. by the time i´m done with it, i´m sure we won´t want to leave!
(front gate)

(walk way leading to apartment)

and finally.....the apartment. It´s small and still needs work to be completely to my liking, but it´s nice (for being in the center of Mexico City) and the perfect size for us....
(front door/living room)

(living room leading to bedroom)

(bedroom and new bed)

(the horrible, horrible bathroom where someone painted the toilet seat green....we bought a new one today)

(leading to the laundry room)

(the ceiling of the laundry room....it's going to be cool when it rains...that is, if it doesn't leak)

(the kitchen that also needs a lot of work....aka a stove, oven etc)

and last but not least "La Loquita". This lady lives above us...everyday she fills bucket after bucket after bucket with water and throws it on the floor inside her apartment. She literally lives in a pool. The other tenants call her La Loquita. Toño's dad calls her La Señora del Agua, The Water Lady

La Imagen de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

2007-01-01T10:51:00.000-06:00

There is something about the Latin American Catholic religion that I've never understood or much appreciated.... the worshipping of idols. Latin Americans seem (this is my observation and it's not meant to offend anyone) to forget that their Bible states that the worshiping of Idols is prohibited. Yet, the image of La Virgen de Guadalupe is everywhere. The image of the Pope is everywhere. People crawl on their knees for miles to reach the Basilica to see the Imagen that Juan Diego presented to the Church on his tunic. It's a beautiful image, don't get me wrong, and they say that the paint has been scientifically tested and it's supposedly nothing like what we have on Earth, but according to the religion I was born into, it is blasphemy to worship her the way they do.

Example: We were told yesterday that on our street people used to throw trash and furniture and leave it there, never cleaning it up. One day, someone put an alter to the Virgen of Guadalupe and now there is no more trash....ever.

Example: There are people who stand at the Basilica and take pictures of people in front of the Cathedral and in front of images of the Virgen and sell them. Blasphemy as far as I'm concerned.

The people who worship her are the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich, very few are much taller then me (the majority is as tall if not shorter) and most have babies....there are babies EVERYWHERE. I was told yesterday that people who concider themselves athiest or agnostic even believe in the Virgen of Guadalupe. She has a cult following, she has her own religion. Blashpemy.

Now, let's talk about the pope. In front of the Basilica there is a massive statue of Pope John Paul the II. A huge thing made of bronze and expensive, I'm sure. Meanwhile, looking around, the people are dressed in rags (the finest clothes they have, I'm sure in order to visit the Imagen -- put on your Sunday best kids, we're going to the Basilica) and the children are dirty. Looking over the never-ending city, your eye moves from Industry to Shopping, to Tourist, to Shanty. The pope's "papa móvil" is behind the statue, a bullet-proof bus-like vehicle with a gigantic chair and a place for him to safely stand, like a monkey on parade. I'm sorry if this ofends anyone, but as far as I'm concerned, if the Pope gets shot in a place as religious and idol-worshiping as Latin America, God probably was the one who had him shot.

Disclaimer: these entries aren't meant to offend anyone, they are just my radical, liberal university kid thoughts. These type of opinions stem from my own personal experiences and points-of-view. That said, if there is ANYTHING anyone disagrees with, please by all means, discuss them here. If you have respect for my opinions, I will have respect for yours.

Well, with that happy note (HA!) I want to wish everyone a wonderful year. This is going to be a great one, I'm sure. Heck....maybe we'll finally get a flying car!

First Night In Mexico

2006-12-31T11:15:00.000-06:00

It´s amazing the cultural differences between Mexico and the US....here, there is no such thing as being rude. People talk on their cell phones and sing as loud as they want and talk about anything they want where ever they want, y les vale madres the other people that may not like it.

I watched the take-off for the first time in my life. I wanted to say goodbye to my home...I cried, trying desperately to find my mother's car on the freeway to no avail of course. The flight home was fine, aside from the chicken sandwiches that I couldn´t eat, the apples whose package claimed were expired a year ago, and the dizzying turbulance that forced me to close my eyes and breath deeply instead of watching the city from above....the same turbulance caused others to vomit, filling the cabin with that awful smell.

Our apartment is cute. It´s very small and literally has nothing -- no stove, refrigerator cable connection, washer, drier or space for any of it. We do have a bed frame that looks more like a wooden crate than a place to rest your head. No mattress as of yet and no closet. The Super told us to put our washing machine in the shower under some shelving (there is a connection there for it -- pictures will follow so that you can see what I mean) but that is certainly not happening....I hope I´m not the only one who sees a hazard in that!

All the keys are in different places on this Mexican keyboard. I keep having to look for the function keys because they aren´t easily accessible like ours. The enter key is a little further away, and the apostrophe is in the same row as the numbres, so I keep pushing } instead. I feel like a child again, learning how to create words on a foreign invention.

And the wonderful news....Toño´s friend, who goes to school at ITAM (supposedly the best school for politics and economics....they told me that all the members of the new presidential cabinent graduated from there) invited me to go with him to his school and talk to his professors.....including Denise Dresser! It's great news, I can possibly include an interview with the most read political/economic writer in all of Mexico.

So, today I start speaking Spanish. Today I start being okay with speaking incorrectly. Today I let go of all of my fears and jump into the pool before knowing how to swim.

p.s. don't forget that I am now 2 hours ahead of you all. I can't call out anymore, but I can send and receive text messages. When we get a phone in the new apartment, I will let you all know.

2006-12-30T01:04:00.000-06:00

Last night in the US

I never thought this day would come. As much as you plan to do something grand, you never expect it to actually come true. Graduation seemed like centuries away when I entered high school, transfering to UCSC seemed like a lifetime away when I entered Ventura College and moving to a foreign country was more of a romantic fantasy than something that would ever become reality. Actually, I have to keep reminding myself that Mexico is in fact another country. I've travelled there so often and I feel so entirely comfortable there than thinking of it as a different land is almost foreign in and of itself.

So...what does it take to move to a different country....about 7 pieces of luggage, the ability to get rid of three quarters of your possessions, access to a person who is willing to store those things you can't take but can't part with and a lot of incredibly supportive friends and family members. I'm really nervous and yet I'm shivering with excitement. So many people have called me brave but right now I'm wondering if they are confusing bravery with stupidity. I guess that answer will come with time.

I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone for everything. Support in college, hugs, lunches, dinners, songs, gifts, shoulders for crying, stories for laughing, everything. I love you all. I can't wait to see you in Mexico!

Megan and Jose sing "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" for me at Golden China Karaoke....Thanks guys!