Fotos de Semana Santa!!

I have the feeling that no one is really reading this anymore since its been taking me so long to write posts. Lots has happened since I last wrote. So what's new...I have a new favorite Mexican candy called Paleton de Cajeta aka a Goatmilk Lollipop. I'm trying to make a concerted effort to learn Mexican slang. It's funny because lots of slang makes no sense when translated literally and also its takes time to really have an understanding of how foul and/or inappropriate certain words are in different contexts. In Mexico you hear lots of, "al huevo", "guey" "cabron" etc., but my favorite so far is "que pedo". You can say "que pedo" to say "whats up", "that sucks", "that's cool" or you can say "no hay pedo" to say "no problem or don't worry about it". Here's where my 5th grade humor comes in...pedo literally means fart. I love it. I can only imagine how it sounds to the Mexican ear to hear me attempt to be cool by using foul language.


que mas...
My brother, sister-in-law and two cousins came and visited for a week. They rented a "casita" which was actually 3 story house. It felt like I had a vacation home away from home while they were here. We ate lots of home cooked meals, drank beers with limes on the roof and I even got to use their washer and dryer! I requested that we have family photo shoot with corny backgrounds and that we all wear red shirts. Needless to say the fotos are amazing. We also went to Mexico City for the weekend because they had to fly out on Sunday. Coordinating meal plans for five people en el D.F. turned out to be a challenge for us. It seemed like every time we tried to each lunch or dinner we ended up walking the streets starving and looking for a place to eat. Overall it was really great to hang out with my family and I was sad to seem them go. Once the fam headed back to the states I stayed in Mexico City through Monday. I went to see Diego River's murals at the Palacio Nacional, walked around the market tepito, ate tamales de mole, tacos al pastor, chopped up beets, carrots & jicama w/ chile and lime, etc. I couchsurfed with a guy named Alex in Coyocan, a neighborhood in Mexico City. For the most part it worked out well, but it was inevitably awkward a times to be hanging around someone's house that I barely knew. That being said, I definitely plan to couchsurf again.

I wasn't so exited to go back to San Miguel de Allende. Sure, San Miguel is situated in a beautiful hilly area of Guanajuato with a very temperate climate and lots of sun shine. For this very reason, however, it's a place that has attracted a lot of Americans and Canadians. I've heard there is an estimated 10,000 expats roaming around San Miguel, myself included. Most are middle aged to elderly and have come to San Miguel to retire. A lot of the foreigners I've met hear have been living here for over 10 years and can barely order a taco! For me that's just not okay. While one could argue that there are lots of Mexicans that immigrate to the U.S. and don't learn English I still feel like its a different situation. A lot of Mexicans come to the U.S. looking for work, because there isn't any in Mexico, with the intent of saving money to send to their families. The Americans that I meet here come to retire and most definitely have the time and the money to work on their Spanish...but they don't. For this reason being in San Miguel has been a little bizarre. Yes, I'm American, but I don't feel like I necessarily fit into the same category as the older, can't order a goddamn taco, Americans that reside here.

Mexico is in the midst of celebrating Semana Santa. Fortunately for me, I have the week off from working at CASA. There is a tradition in San Miguel that the Friday before Easter people set up alters to La Virgen Dolorosa and open up their homes for anyone to stop by. From what I observed, the alters are made up of lots of images of the Virgin, candles, white and purple cloth, containers of wheat grass and piles of chamomile. Everyone was out and about in the streets buying food and passing by homes and churches to check out the elaborate arrangements of flowers, candles and Virgins. The best part when you stop by to visit an alter you get an ice cream cone or a paleta.

Right now I'm hanging out in the city of Guanajuato visiting with a friend. I had planned to go to Michoacan and then Guadalajara, but for a number of reasons it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Regardless, its nice to have a break. My internship has been stressing me out. I plan a little too much and things at CASA have been a little too disorganized for me. I'm still really trying to find my place and to figure out how to make progress on projects when people here seem to have a totally different sense of time. My time off so far has been very relaxing. It's been nice to stay with my friend Leon and his family. I've eaten lots of home cooked meals and have been able to hang out and read and chat in their big, beautiful garden/patio. I've also been going for lots of long walks and treating myself to good coffee and street snacks.

I had planned to post some photos, but for whatever reason its not allowing me to. Que pedo! I'll post them as soon as I can.

I was informed by my mother that it was time to write another blog entry. Sorry for the delay. Here goes...

l've been here for two weeks and a 2 days now. I can't quite tell if time is moving slowly or quickly. I've been spending a lot of time walking around San Miguel, tripping or almost tripping, going to markets, carnicerias and tortillerias and of course cooking in my kitchen. In case any of you were wondering my blender is working and thank god! since i got the blender cooking has been much more exciting as i've been able make all sorts of sauces, like salsa verde, tinga, ranchero sauce, etc. I'm planning to make mole soon. My co-worker swears by her moms recipe and has agreed to have me over to teach me how to make it. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out. I've also got a tasty recipe for a really quick guacamole from Lila, the lady that I'm renting from. I've made it several times already. Here's what you need: 3 small tomatillos, 2-5 serrano chiles depending on how hot want it, 1/2 and onion, cilantro, 1 avocado, lime juice, about 1/4 cup of water and salt and pepper to taste. Throw it all in a blender and there you have it. Quick and delicious. I've been putting extra lime juice in so that it keeps a little longer. Roasted garlic is also a good addition. Try it. You'll like it.

As for CASA things are definitely getting busier. I met with the debora, the director of the midwifery school and she wants me to help the students with their practicums. In order to graduate each student has to have talked with a certain number of patients regarding topics such as contraceptive options, nutrition, breast cancer, etc. It wasn't quite clear to me what exactly she wanted me to do with the students until later on in the week when i met with debora again as well as a group of students. From what the midwifery students told me they don't feel particularly confortable discussing these topics. To be quite honest, I was very suprised by this. As future midwives a very important compenent of their jobs is going to be counseling people on these very topics. But I'm excited to work with and get to know the students. So it appears that what I will be doing is helping them to become more comfortable providing health education to patients, reviewing the material and then helping to organize the actual practicums. I feel pretty good about this project, because I actually have some skills in this area. I'm also working on the news bulletin that goes out to doners, translating and will be working on some other projects related to the midwifery school.

I've definitely had some ups and downs since arriving. For the most part I think I'm adjusting well, but some days I'm sick of spending all my time alone. Its been nice to have so much free time to wander around, cook, read and write letters. But sometimes its tiresome to not be able to come home and talk to someone about my day or cook for someone besides myself. And as much as I like CASA as an organization its been it has been a frustrating process to figure out what my role as in intern in. Fortunately, I'm starting to meet some people and I'm feeling like I have a more defined job at CASA. I knew before I came here that the transition would be somewhat difficult, and part of why I wanted to do this whole trip in the first place was to challenge myself to do this trip on my own. So I'm trying to take it day by day. One thing is for sure is that the weather is much more pleasant that that cold wintery mess in Chicago. The last few days I've been wearing skirts and tank tops. Okay I think that's it for now. More later....

Arrival

I have arrived...finally! Its still hard to believe, but here I am. The first few days I couch surfed with a sassy 75 year old lady named Joyce. She's traveled and lived all over the world, but has been in San Miguel de Allende for the last 10 years. She welcomed me into her home with a beer in hand and directed me to the only food vendor on her street that was still open when I arrived. They were serving hamburgers with bacon and fries. It wasn't exactly what I expected my first meal in Mexico to be, but it was definitely tasty. The next few days I wandered around the city looking for apartments to rent. Fortunately I was able to find a small, cheap apartment fairly quickly. It has a tiny kitchen, living room area and bedroom. The apartment is just what I need and is close to where I'll be working. I'm exicted to cook, but its been sort of a stuggle as I have limited kitchen supplies. Its also a little more time consuming because all my fruits and vegetables have to be soaked and cleaned before i can eat them.

I decided today that I needed to buy a blender. Without a blender I wouldn't be able to make sauces or refried beans. I figured that if I planned to attempt to prepare any sort of Mexican food these are two things that I would need to be able to make. I was directed to Bodega Aurera, which was described to me as a poor man's Walmart, to find a cheap blender. When I was buying the blender I noticed the cashier's name tag said Walmart. Its sort of disheartening that Walmart is also taking over Mexico, but I suppose its not a surprise. It was raining as I walked home with my new blender in hand. As I was making my way down a a busy street the bottom of the box gave out and my new blender went flying into a big muddy puddle. Its currently drying off it my kitchen. Its pretty cheap so I hope that it still works. But enough about blenders...

I started working at CASA on monday. I'm not sure exactly what projects I'll be working on as I'm still in the process of familiarizing myself with all of the different programs. I've met with the Director of the School of Midwifery and it looks like I'll be doing some work with her, but nothing has been finalized yet. I have been told by past interns that I need to be very proactive about deciding what I want to do. I'm trying to be, but its hard as I don't really know what I could do that would be of use to CASA currently and after I leave. I'm considering proposing doing some sort of photo project and I definitly want to see some babies be born. But we'll see...

If you are interested in checking out CASA's website here's the link: http://www.casa.org.mx/programs.html

The above picture was taken in 2004 in front of La Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City. That's my friend Karen and I standing awkwardly with our arms linked and big smiles plastered on our faces. What can I say, we were excited to be there. This picture was taken on our last day in Mexico and I distinctly remember that feeling of dread and melancholy that always settles in when you know that your trip is coming to an end. I promised myself that I would go back. Honestly, I thought it would have happened sooner, but life got complicated and I needed to do other things for a while. But Mexico has always been in the back of my mind. A couple of years ago I finally got to the point where it actually seemed feasible to start planning a long trip. So I saved my money, applied to an internship, moved home, gave my notice at work and bought myself a one way ticket.

And here I am now -my last night before my flight to Mexico. Goodbye family & friends! Goodbye cold wintery Chicago! See you when I see you.