Snow Day

Over the river and through the woods, climb two mountains to see some butterflies and snow I go. At least that was the plan going into out trip to see the monarch butterflies and see snow on a volcano on Saturday. This excursion was a trip for any student that wanted to go along with the staff and their family's that work at CEMAL. We all got up bright and early and were out the door by 8. After 4 hours of driving we arrived at the butterfly sanctuary in the state of Mexico.The Monarch butterflies migrate through Mexico every year around this time each year. We stood in a very long line , got our tickets to get into the park and then  had to decide if we wanted to walk an hour to get to the top or take a horse with a guide. I choose the horse, and boy am I glad that I did. We literally climbed a mountain , and went straight up forever. I had to duck under branches and trees , but it was a beautiful ride . When we finally got to the top and were in the clearing where the butterflies were suppose to be there were maybe like 50 flying around. Not what is suppose to be there at this time of year. What we were told later was that the bad rains that we had maybe a month ago killed many of the butterflies because it was hail on the top of the mountain . So, we did not see many butterflies , but instead got to see beautiful scenery. After eating lunch at 3 , we got back in the vans and drove an hour to the volcano to see the snow. Normally , we can drive up the volcano to actually get to the snow covered part of the volcano. But because of 2 things , 1. Mexicans do not know how to drive in snow,  2. There was alot of snow , we were not allowed to drive up to the part that we wanted to go to see. So instead we climbed through brush and through the woods, and attempted to get to the snow , but we never did. Many of the people ran ahead and got much further up then I did but even they did not make it to the part with the snow. So instead I got really muddy and got really good exercise by walking up the side of the mountain. It was good exercise because besides the fact that I was walking we were really high up in altitude because of the volcano and because most of Mexico is really high up. We all came back down and ate dinner at the volcano. I had blue tortilla quesidillas, which were really good. And yes Mom I know I should not be eating them but I was hungry and it was going to be 11 by the time we got back to CEMAL. We ate , then piled back into the vans, played 20 questions, and drove back to CEMAL. We had to go a longer way because the way we came on the way to the butterflies and volcano is not safe at night so we went through Mexico City. Mexico city is very pretty in the dark, and it is huge. We dropped off some people in Mexico City that were staying there for the night and then continued to Cuernavaca. I do not remember anything about the trip/ traffic/ how Ismal drove between DF and Cuernavaca because I apparently feel asleep hugging my ipod.  I woke up when we dropped off Ann, the director of our program at her house. I then went to bed after getting back to CEMAL at 11:30.

On our trip we set out to see a trillion butterflies, and see snow on the volcano , but we didn't see either. Instead we had a great day trip, got to interact with the staff and their family, and see more beautiful parts of Mexico.

Now today , I am leaving for the futbol game in Mexico City . I figured out that I am spending more time in a bus and outside of Cuernavaca then I am in Cuernavaca this weekend. But , that the life of Meira la exploradora.

Until next time. Vive, amor y risa.( Live , love , laugh)

My soccer outfit

Hello from Mexico. This is Meira Sondov-Gold reporting from Casa CEMAL, and I have a ground breaking exclusive story that no other station has gotten their hands on yet. Futbol is the new hockey. That is right you heard right. Hockey and the NHL are so yesterday and are an old story, and totally a fashion craze from last year. The new trend is Futbol, or as you United Statens call it soccer. I tagged along to the market to prepare for our adventure to the soccer game on Sunday, and had an amazing time. I got my jersey and a couple other things to go along with my outfit. When I showed mom she told me I look like a super fan, and should take a picture of myself so that everyone can see how I looked. So as my faithful readers you get an exclusive look at the newest fashion to hit Cuernavaca , Mexico.

 

Yes  I am wearing a jersey, shorts and socks that have the team emblem and then on the bottom it says America, which is the team that we are rooting for on Sunday. And dont worry we made sure our tickets are on the America side and not the other team side. I wouldnt want to die at my first soccer game or get trampled. 

The second picture is my fellow team America fan, Katy. Katy is taller then me but  I am faster and can beat her with my mad soccer skills.

That is it from News Channel Mexico. This has been Meira Sondov-Gold reporting from Casa Cemal. Over and out.

CGE web blog

I thought I would post the blog for my program for the semester. Each week someone in the group has to write a blog entry to what we are doing each week. If you are interested the web addresses are below.

The MG Blog ( My program blog)
Migration and Globalization Blog

I am off tomorrow to experience a wonderful adventure of living in a village that deals with many of its residents immigrating to the United States. I am very excited to spend the next 4 days there and have a fun educational experience. I will write next Thursday/ Friday before we leave for our three day weekend trip to watch the migration of the monarch butterflies, and then see a soccer game.

<3 Meira

The 10 day push

First off let me say that I did nothing interesting last weekend. I stayed at home and I did homework. It was a blast from the past and the most fun ever!!! The next 10 days are going to be a push. I end Spanish ( the first session ) on Thursday with a rather large 2 hour test with 100 questions. Then Thursday afternoon we go to Mexico City and go to the Embassy ! Friday I go to my internship, and then have a histroy test. Then Sunday I go to Amitlan , the rual village for 4 days . We get back a week from tomorrow , and then have a 3 day weekend. I am going to see the monarch butterflies, and then a soccer game in Mex. City. So that is a small recap of what is going on in the next 10 days. I will write more when I have something interesting to say/ not in the middle of doing homework. I will also post pictures when I take new ones. Have a good week/weekend.

Meira

Meira the lost nina.

Hello my followers . I am alive and have been enjoying my time in Mexico.  I am sorry that I have not written in forever. Just yesterday , Mom was telling me that I NEED to write a blog because no one knows what I have been doing and I have been doing some really cool things. The next 10 days are going to be way hectic and I am in the middle of a very hectic last couple of weeks. This week alone ,  I was in a rual village yesterday learning about the impact of trade has on indigenous people and also seeing and learning about their rituals, then on Saturday I am going on an all day excursion to another rual village form 7 in the morning to 8 at night . Half of the group is going tomorrow and then the other half is going on Saturday. I am looking forward to it all . In between all these trips , I got to history class , and then have spanish every day from 8 - 10:50.  I rarely have time to relax. The past 2 weeks have been filled with going to Acapulco , seeing the Diego Revera mural , and then going to Tepozlan to participate in the carnival for the beginning of Lent.   I also start my internship tomorrow , which I will decribe along with everything esle below. And Sam, this post is dedicated to you . It is culture overload , just the way you love it .

Internship: My internship is at Don Bosco , which is a elementary to high school. It is a private school. I will be working there on Monday and Wednesdays. In Mexico high school starts at 7 in the morning and then they go to 11. Then from 11- 2 , the middle school kids go to school. Then from 3-8:30 the elementary aged students go to school. I will be working with the middle school aged students teaching english. I will be doing pull out classes, for kids that are more advanced. I will be developing my own lesson plans and then being a real teacher. I will have a bunch of different classes of students. Then from 4- 6:30 on Monday and Wednesdays , I will be facilitating an English round table  where students of any age and any level can come and get help with their English . I am really excited to start feeling like an Ed major again , after not doing any education stuff for 2 months. For anyone that is an Ed major , be lucky you will be teaching in the US of A . Here in Mexico there can be anywhere from 40-50 students per class  in the ELEMENTARY school.

Amitlan: This was the indigenous village that  I went and visited yesterday . It is where I will be doing my rural home stay in two weeks. We first got a talk from a healer , who is also a shama , a spiritual leader of the community . After our talk ,  He took us up to to the sacred place where they perform ceremonies . We had to climb up a mountain and trough rocks, and over rocks and it was a very interesting and beautiful climb. We participated in this ceremony which heals people and brings positive energy. It was super neat . I am excited to go back in two weeks.

Tlamapec- I do not know what I am doing there this weekend , but I will let you konw when I get back.

Considering that this post took more FOREVER to write because I was doing it between other stuff , I am going to end it here for now . I will try to post more often , and about cool stuff. Happy Ash Wednesday from the land of the Catholics.

Meira

Acapulco and Carnival

Hello, here are the pictures that I keep promising from Acapulco.  I was not feeling well today when we went to the Carnival in Tepozlan, so I did not take many pictures. I believe I caught the bug that everyone has had in the past week. But, that is life . I will attempt to post a new blog post in the next couple days. It all depends on homework and how I am feeling in the morning . Good Night. Have a great Saturday / Sunday.

Meira in Mexico 3

Meira

New Pictures

I have finally got around to posting pictures from my trip to the ruins I went to about a week and a half ago they are on the side of the page or if you go to

Meira in Mexico 2

then you can look at the pictures in a larger view. I will attempt to post the pictures from this weekend and a blog post by Wednesday. Happy Monday!