More spring break.

We are in Guadalajara for the next couple days until Friday. It is beautiful here and the weather is fantastic. Guadalajara is a fantastic place and I would totally recommend it as a place to visit. Here are the newest pictures from our adventures of exploring Mexico.

PV with the fam

Hey people. So I left Cuernavaca yesterday and then went to Mexico City and got on a plane to meet my mom, dad and Noah for a short 3 days in Puerto Vallarta. Dad and Noah leave on Sunday and then mom and I will head to Guadalajara for the rest of the week until we both return to either the STL or Cuernavaca. I thought I would share some of the 150 pictures that mom took today of either the facilities at the resort or of Noah , Dad and I going jet skiing. The first pictures are of Noah jet skiing with dad. Noah drove. Then later on in the slide show are the pics of Dad and I . Dad first started driving and then I decided that I wanted to drive the jet ski. And boy did I drive . I decided the only way to drive the thing was to go full speed all the time. Mom almost had a heart attack on the beach watching us , and Dad kept telling me to ease up and slow down a little. The ocean wasnt very rough and I had a great time. So anyhow I hope you enjoy these pictures. Happy Samana Santa/ Holy week. For the jews happy Passover and for the peeps who does celebrate passover , happy easter!

Aztec Stadium.

A view of the Stadium from my camera.

Pictures from last weekend

Here are the pictures from last weekend's excitement . The futbol game , butterflies , and Volcano.

Internship

This week started my internship. I work at Don Bosco every Monday and Wednesday from 11:15 to 5:15. I teach three English classes of middle school students and then have an hour where high school and middle school students can come and practice their English with me . My English classes are a roller coaster. I have never in my 3 years at Drake taught middle schoolers. Kids that are shorter then me and maybe a good 15 years younger then me I prefer. These students talk back, like to practice cuss words , ask you out , and in general are a major racket. Two of my three English classes are advanced level and the third one is a beginning to middle level class. It is going to be interesting and a lesson in how to teach and keep 6-8 middle school kids attention. So far, we have played games , listened to music and made me look like a beyond awesome and fun teacher. We even our going to have snacks. I even told them I have a boyfriend who plays hockey back home in St. Louis, so that some of the boys would not ask me out as much. That does not keep all of them away and from asking. This week alone I have been almost kissed, a guy stroked my cheek and told me I am BEE-U-TI-FUL and should smell his stickers on his cheek, and then asked out yet again .All the teachers are amazing and are willing to put up with me as I stumble through Spanish and say a word like 40 times before the next one comes up in my head. One of the coolest things is that I get my own classroom, the same students every time, I get to plan my own lessons(Drake SOE at its finest), and my own dry erase makers and eraser. I even got to sign the teacher’s book so I do not need a visitors tag anymore. I feel powerful, and get to put my Drake SOE knowledge on display and to use. I knew all my classes would come in handy soon enough. But until I get my formal certificate from Drake to teach across the border the world will just have to wait for the next biggest superstar ELL teacher. Until then, Watch out world, Miss Teacher Meira is coming to a school nearest you.

Amatlan

Buenas Dias. While I was in Amatlan, I wrote in my notebook each night what I did each day. These are my “journal” entries from each day. We went a Sunday to a Wednesday.

Day 1- Well, I got here. We had a session with 3 people who spoke about immigration. I am staying with Callen. The host family we are staying with is super nice. It is like a compound, two of the sons live here with their parents. We helped make tortillas for our comida. Comida was amazing . Veggie soup, tortillas, potatoes and rice. It was a starchy lunch with not much protein. But still very good. After lunch, we went on a walk through the fields to the family milpa ( piece of corm field) We climbed rocks, scared off bulls, climbed fences , went under fences, through fields to our destination. The scenery was amazing . Afterwards , we rested /found two of the girls that are part of the CGE program, and are staying with one of the sons. We chatted for awhile, and then had cena(dinner). Normally cena is small, BUT not evertime. You learn you can not say no. SO, we had hot milk( not a fan of that), a pastry, rice , tortillas , and cheese quesadillas. Then we went to bed at 9:30 in our cage of a tent.

Day 2 &3- We go to bed very early here. I get so tired so easily. On day 2, we were asleep by 9:15. It is so tiring that we can not stay up any later. The food continues to be amazing. Day 3 ( Tuesday) for breakfast , hot coco , quesadillas w/ cheese and other w/ potatoes. We ate 4. Lunch: jimaika juice, soup, tortillas w/ salt, noodles w/ cheese and crème. Dinner: cheese quesadillas, like 4-5 again and lemon tea(that is good for your tummy). We ate a ton because you can not say no. We sit around and eat and talk to our host family, and then they keep shoving food at us. On Tuesdays, the moons are lined up and it is the best day for the limpias. This is the ritual where the Shama ( a spiritual leader in the community) drags an egg al over your body in a special way , chanting special chants at you , and then pressing in certain spots to get the bad energy out of your system. The egg goes everywhere. He told me my pressure was low when feeling my right pulse, and my heart beat is weak when feeling m left pulse. After the egg traveled everywhere, he cracks the egg and then reads what the egg does in the cup of water. The many bubbles at the top of the cup meant that I have been spit on many times by many people. The bubbles rising to the top are problems and worries that I have had but are disappearing. The strings from the egg that look like spider webs were my liver and lungs, which were healthy. Then the yolk was full and circular, which meant I have a full healthy heart. He said overall I am very healthy and have no problems. I am sure my family has a different opinion. After the limpia, we returned home to our cage and were in bed early again.

Day 4: Today was our final day. It was a great day. I had a temascal, which is basically a sweat lodge. But before I get into that, lets start at the beginning of the day. I woke up. I packed. I ate breakfast, which was great and was sopes which I absolutely love. They were spicy, which I am getting use to and my spice tolerance is going up. Super good considering I will be living with Sam and her spicy Thai yummy food, and I love Mexican food. Afterwards we went to meet the rest of the group. Then we went and heard Dona Irene speak about her corn fields.**Added later, but read last post to know more about Dona Irene** Afterwards we then went to the spiritual center where we were going to be baked in an oven while wearing no clothes and being with our fellow classmates. We first learned about the center and learned about the teamascal. Basically the spiritual leaders recommend this practice for people who are cold. Not the normal hot /cold, but people who give off a cold vibe. This type of person could not wear shoes when in the house. Meaning I have a cold soul and the only way to get rid of that is to do a teamascal. Anyhow there were 5 groups of 5 to 6 students and everyone gets naked, puts a sheet around them and then you drink a special type of tea before going into the holding area. There the have a carpet set out and they burn incents and do a ritual before you go into this human size oven. You crawl in butt first because you are symbolizing going back in to the womb of your mommy. So you came out head first ( or if you are like me , whole body first) so you have to go in with our butt first. At the back of this human size oven is a fire going that can stay hot enough for 12 hours of people doing 20 minute sessions. So anyhow you go in butt first, take off your town , and then sit on the sides of this oven thing ontop of leaves. A teamascal dude , or as I am going to call him a TD, sits in the front and fans you with leaves. Basically 3 people can sit on each side of the oven, and then you start sweating almost immediately. IF you stay closer to the ground you do not get as hot. For my group, we all went into the oven, sat down and then freed ourselves of our sheet. So yes, I was sitting with a guy I had never met before totally naked. I have never in my life been so open and willing to drop my clothes. I practiced my yoga breathing and it really wasn’t that bad. We got water to splash on our face , and then we got fanned. Being in the oven with 2 other girls and my intern was a total girl power moment. We totally bonded, and it was fun bonding experience. Anyhow it was really hot in the oven thing, and my new BFF Teamascal Dude told me that the first 4 groups it was much hotter in the oven. My whole body literally was covered in sweat beads. I felt like I took a shower/ went swimming. I have never sweat so much in my life. In all my 12 years of dancing with Sandy I have never been so wet/ sweat so much. I will never complain again when at dance and I am sweating and feel nasty. The weird part about this teamascal was that instead of feeling nasty when I came out I felt majorly clean, and like I just took a shower. It was so interesting. After out 20 minutes in the teamascal, we laid on the carpet thing for awhile to cool off. Mind you it was like 80 outside , but it felt like a spring day after being in the oven for 20 minutes. Overall I am super glad I did the teamascal and think it was a great cultural experience , and one that I will not forget . It will go down in the books as one of the best experiences I will have had during my stud abroad.

This concludes my trip to Amatlan. I had an amazing time visiting and learning in a community struck by so many immigrating to the United States. They were very open and willing to share anything. Besides the great time I had , I was still very excited to get back to Cuernavaca and sleep in my own bed again and not get woken up my the rooster and crazy dogs and cats.

Immigration Issues in Amatlan

This week it was my turn to write the blog entry about what we did last week. Here is what I wrote for the MG Blog.

Throughout the first half of this semester, we have been learning about Mexican immigration to the United States and the effect it has on family members who remain in Mexico. To further our understanding, we went to Amatlan for a four day rural home stay. We listened to an immigration panel, with three men from the community that had immigrated to the United States. Each panelist was able to share his story describing why he chose to go to the United States and for how long he was there. Of the three panelists, two were in the United States undocumented, and the third received a work visa to work in the tobacco fields in the summers. All three of the men worked in the United States to support their families back home in Amatlan. After our panel discussion, our host families from the community came to pick up their students and participate in small group discussions on immigration and how it has impacted their lives. In my small group discussion, three women talked to us. All three were directly impacted by immigration as their husband, child, or father had gone to the United States illegally and then returned. One of the women has most of her family living in the United States, and does not get to see them often because of their undocumented status. All of the women know at least one person living in the United States undocumented. I felt it was an honor to have the opportunity to hear these men’s and women’s stories.

During our stay we also heard from the matriarch of the community, Doña Irene Ramirez. Doña Irene is a 74 year old lady who never married and still works in her own cornfields. She took our group, up into her corn fields, and gave a talk on the impact NAFTA has had on her farming and the struggles it has caused her each year. She does not truly own these cornfields, as they are communal land, but she is the one who takes care of the farming and maintenance of the land. In Amatlan, there is no private property but rather communal land. This is due to the belief that land cannot be picked up and moved; instead the whole community shares the land. The NAFTA treaty called for all the farmers to pay a fee each year to farm their land, and in return they would receive help from the government for farming. Doña Irene has never paid the fee to farm her land and is very proud of that. She also told us that she has tried growing genetically modified corn, but found that the corn is not as rich and good as the natural corn she grows in her fields. Also because of NAFTA, she can not sell her crops because of the inflation of prices and how much she has to sell it for to make a profit.

The trip to Amatlan was a great learning experience and really opened my eyes to the struggles and the impact on families caused by immigration and the role of the NAFTA agreement in the community. The trip also caused me to think about certain questions such as: what should be done in Mexico to help the families that are forced to go to the United States? What can we learn from Doña Irene and her view on how NAFTA works with Mexican farmers?