I do not know about everyone else, but as I type this blog entry, I am trying to understand how it is already May. I can still vividly remember where I was and what I was doing for new years eve 5 months ago. I was downtown St. Louis at the first night celebration with my mom in the freezing cold watching awesome drummers and the freezing Javier Mendodza sing and finally singing and dancing to fireworks. How did 5 months fly by so quickly? How is it that there is only 2 weeks left in my study abroad program? If I had not been lucky enough to be able to extend my time here in Mexico by a month, I would be leaving in what in the short amount of time of 16 days.How is that possible? This has been a challenging semester, but at the same time of the most amazing semsters yet and one that I will remember and be able to tell everyone about for many years.
I have always said that when in Mexico time is going at a speed that is much faster then in the United States. Don’t get me wrong, time flies when I am at home or at Drake, but I just think time just feels like it goes faster here in Mexico. I am told almost on a weekly basics that time is different here in Mexico then in the United States, and well my professors are correct. Even though they are not referring to how in my opinion time goes much faster, but are saying that time is valued differently here in Mexico, I like to use that quote to help my way of thinking about time here in Mexico.
I have always thought that my month in Mexico during the summer was a short amount of time and went by very quickly, but I didn’t think 4 months would feel the same way. Looking back at before I came I thought that this semester would be long, and I didn’t know how I was going to get through 4 months in Mexico, but here I am 3 and a half months later and I feel like I have only been here a month. How does that happen? The next 2 months are going to fly by, but I am ready to take them on head on. I am armed and ready for battle with my sunscreen, camera, and Spanish dictionary. I am ready to cram as much as possible into the next two months so that not one rock isn’t turned over, and I have experienced and seen everything that I wanted to within a 2 hour radius of Cuernavaca. Buckle up this is going to be a bumpy ride with many stops along the way.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Feeling privledged
As I was writing my post for today I came across a blog post I wrote before spring break that I never actually uploaded to my blog . It apparently was hiding in the folder of blogs I have written this semester. So I am posting it now along with the next post that I actually wrote for today. I think it is very important to document how I was feeling in the moment. So enjoy a double post day!
Written: March 26, 2010
I want everyone to take a moment and consider my next sentences. What does privilege mean to you? What is privilege? I might not be able to answer either of these questions with the right answers, but I do know that I do not like the feel at all. I cant be too judgmental because I am sitting in the airport typing this out on my laptop computer, but non the less I am still having a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, and am still feeling majorly out of place. Consider that I was in Cuernavaca getting ready to go to see my family in Puerto Vallarta at 1pm. Then I got on a bus at 2pm and traveled to Mexico City, which is huge and in my mind is what I think of when I say the word Mexico. I am use to seeing the scenes that I saw on my way into the city and then as we proceeded to the airport. I have lived in Mexico for almost 3 months now. The landscape of Mexico City and Cuernavaca are both beautiful. It make me love living here in Mexico because it is colorful and is just Mexico.
Now, I have been preparing myself to go into shock when I go to the resort later today, but I did not think that I would go into a weird state of shock at the airport. I have been in an airport more times then I can count, and I thought I would be fine. Think again. I walked into the airport, it is clean, and very American looking. Normally I would think it was very pretty and one of my favorite airports/terminals at first look, bit this time it made me feel very uncomfortable. But I went forward, and I spoke Spanish to the people outside and at check in . Then I went through security and got to the other side, and I just stood in one place for a good 5 minutes because I felt like I was in JFK, Dallas, Houston, Newark or any other large airport. I did not feel like I was in Mexico. There is more English around me then I have heard in 3 months. I got my Starbucks coffee then sat down with this weird feeling in my stomach. The only think I could think about was being in Cuernavaca and how amazing it is and how much I miss it .Yes, I am glad to be going someplace on spring break, and yes I needed a break. And most of all I need to clear my head of some things that have been bothering me. But most of all I did not feel like I belonged in the airport. I felt like an outsider. I could not place the feeling I was having. Then it dawn on me like I was hit with a ton of bricks that I felt privileged because here I am in the airport , flying on a plane , and going to a resort to visit my family. Most Mexicans can not afford to get on an airplane and travel someplace for Spring break. The ones that can are the higher class and the privileged. I never have felt this type of privilege before. Sure I travel to see my grandma twice a year, and I am lucky enough to be able to have been to some amazing places. Thanks Mom and Dad. But sitting on the carpet (which I have not seen in 3 months) and watching people go by, I feel completely out of place. I have not seen so many Americans, or English speakers in a long long time. There are so many people switching planes here to go on their High school or College spring break at one of the resorts on the beach in Mexico. To tell everyone the truth, I hate it and that might be a part of my uncomfortableness . All these people going on their spring breaks are just rubbing me the wrong way. I am proud to say I am an American/ United Statesian, but the American culture as a whole is pushy and just plain annoying when they are in large groups. For someone who is not use to Americans all around them (besides the people in my program), I can truly say I partly understand why other countries hate us. We are loud, obnoxious, and pushy. But here I am in the airport, trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am in the middle of being in a state of large shock all because of an airport, and am trying to deal with the feelings of major privilege that are making me feel so uncomfortable. I did not picture that a simple thing as the airport would make me feel so uncomfortable or like I didn’t belong.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Plans change
So followers you are one of the first few to know that I have officially extended my time here in Mexico. I will be staying in Mexico through June 27!!!!! I am super excited , but at the same time sad because I miss my family and my friends and wont see them until at least June. It just isnt going to work out to have Mom, Dad or Noah come down anytime in June. Oh well.
But on the bright side I get to continue with my monster angels at Don Bosco, and then I get to continue with Spanish. I will get to take Spanish for 3 hours a day 5 days a week from 8am-11am. Normally that time would be great for someone who is a morning person but it stinks not being able to sleep in past 7. I will also hopefully in the next 6 weeks conquer my fear of calling a taxi. I still have not accomplished that task.
I also will hopefully get to attend a gay pride march in Mexico the last week I will be here. That is still up in the air because it is not fully planned yet and I dont know if I want to be leaving Cuerna 4 days earlier and dragging my suitcases around DF. And truthfully I do not know how excited I would be to be lugging those large suitcases around Mexico city , especially if we are going to more then one hotel without an elevator.
Anyhow that is all the news that is fit to print in this post. Since I have already posted twice today I am cutting this short.
Guide to Meira Lingo:
When I said the March is in Mexico it is in Mexico City. DF is Mexico City too. It means district Federal. And here in Mexico natives call Mexico City Mexico , like New Yorkers call NYC, New York. Got it? Great.
But on the bright side I get to continue with my monster angels at Don Bosco, and then I get to continue with Spanish. I will get to take Spanish for 3 hours a day 5 days a week from 8am-11am. Normally that time would be great for someone who is a morning person but it stinks not being able to sleep in past 7. I will also hopefully in the next 6 weeks conquer my fear of calling a taxi. I still have not accomplished that task.
I also will hopefully get to attend a gay pride march in Mexico the last week I will be here. That is still up in the air because it is not fully planned yet and I dont know if I want to be leaving Cuerna 4 days earlier and dragging my suitcases around DF. And truthfully I do not know how excited I would be to be lugging those large suitcases around Mexico city , especially if we are going to more then one hotel without an elevator.
Anyhow that is all the news that is fit to print in this post. Since I have already posted twice today I am cutting this short.
Guide to Meira Lingo:
When I said the March is in Mexico it is in Mexico City. DF is Mexico City too. It means district Federal. And here in Mexico natives call Mexico City Mexico , like New Yorkers call NYC, New York. Got it? Great.
Verb: Crazy- loco
Don Bosco: a private catholic school that has elementary to high school students and has no obvious structure and where the students are more in charge then the teachers .
Don Bosco is where I work . It is where I get stress headaches but also laugh the most and have a lot of fun. Don Bosco is loud, the students are everywhere , and students believe it is acceptable to do the most crazy things ever. One example is throwing carrots at the teacher . Never in my life have I had food thrown at me , but 2 weeks ago my students thought it would be funny to throw carrots at Miss. My students either call me Meira , Miss , profe(like professor , but a short version) or teacher. This particular class calls me Miss , and is a little hyper. They even told me my boyfriend should throw carrots at me.
The students believe I have a boyfriend named TJ. Well actually that is his name this week. Each week it changes because they always forget. I have learned it is easier to lie to them about having a boyfriend then being asked out fifteen thousand times. So anyhow TJ and I are lovely. TJ for anyone that does not need to hear me carry on about random things and people is one of my favorite hockey players on the blues.
The carrot story was 2 weeks ago , now yesterday the students decided that they wanted to hear me speak in Spanish, and then proceeded to inform me that I sound very funny and have a bad accent. Thank kids , like I didnt already know that. The crazy part about this interaction is that I was the teacher of the 30 students yesterday because their teacher had to go to the dentist because he broke his tooth. There is always a reason why I end up standing infront of 30-40 students for one block and then end up in another classroom doing the same thing over again ....Yesterday it was the tooth and tomorrow it can be something else. I am positive that none of my education friends or teachers I know have ever gotten carrots thrown at them or had students come up and start dance around you singing their lungs out wanting you to sing along with them. Its just the life of the crazy education student intern at Don Bosco. The more crazy the day, the more I have to write in my Don Bosco journal and the more funny it is to read over weeks later.
Don Bosco is where I work . It is where I get stress headaches but also laugh the most and have a lot of fun. Don Bosco is loud, the students are everywhere , and students believe it is acceptable to do the most crazy things ever. One example is throwing carrots at the teacher . Never in my life have I had food thrown at me , but 2 weeks ago my students thought it would be funny to throw carrots at Miss. My students either call me Meira , Miss , profe(like professor , but a short version) or teacher. This particular class calls me Miss , and is a little hyper. They even told me my boyfriend should throw carrots at me.
The students believe I have a boyfriend named TJ. Well actually that is his name this week. Each week it changes because they always forget. I have learned it is easier to lie to them about having a boyfriend then being asked out fifteen thousand times. So anyhow TJ and I are lovely. TJ for anyone that does not need to hear me carry on about random things and people is one of my favorite hockey players on the blues.
The carrot story was 2 weeks ago , now yesterday the students decided that they wanted to hear me speak in Spanish, and then proceeded to inform me that I sound very funny and have a bad accent. Thank kids , like I didnt already know that. The crazy part about this interaction is that I was the teacher of the 30 students yesterday because their teacher had to go to the dentist because he broke his tooth. There is always a reason why I end up standing infront of 30-40 students for one block and then end up in another classroom doing the same thing over again ....Yesterday it was the tooth and tomorrow it can be something else. I am positive that none of my education friends or teachers I know have ever gotten carrots thrown at them or had students come up and start dance around you singing their lungs out wanting you to sing along with them. Its just the life of the crazy education student intern at Don Bosco. The more crazy the day, the more I have to write in my Don Bosco journal and the more funny it is to read over weeks later.
New Blog Title
I think I should be changing my blog title to something that reflects me a little more. Today that would be Meira la exploradora y su llaves. This translates to Meira the explorer and her keys. I have always been terrible with keys and unlocking and locking buildings and doors. My family can attest to this , since I am never allowed to try to unlock or lock a door. Well today , I went home after a quick run to school and I couldn't get into the house. Now this door does get stuck a lot and I have trouble with it all the time but today I decided to try to use my key and that was the wrong choice. I do not know what I did but I either locked the door and kept unlocking it without knowing it or I just plain out locked it . The conclusion to the story is that I locked myself out of my house and I hope my mama or Sol can figure out how to get the door open to the house or else it will be all my fault that I broke the door. The moral to my story is to never give me a set a keys and assume that I will know how to open and properly lock a door. There was a reason my parents got me a car that I just press a button and the doors unlock and lock because that is as far as I can normally do when it comes to keys and the process of locking and unlocking a door.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Immigration Issues and Bills
So today Arizona in my opinion did something that was completely stupid and downright unbelievable . I have attached the article from CNN.com , but basically Arizona signed into law a bill that requires immigrants to carry papers at all times. It also allows police to determine if a person is in the United States legally or if they are illegal. I know this is a sticky subject , but I wanted to post this link to the article in my blog so that when I look back at my blog from the semester I will know that this stupid bill was signed by a totally backwards Arizona.
Arizona governor signs immigration bill
Arizona governor signs immigration bill
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Just another Sunday....
Today was just another Sunday in Mexico. Woke up, hung around the house , ate breakfast with my mama, watched TV with my sister Sol, got dressed, went to church, got dropped off with my mama at the mall , went shopping for fabric, saw a movie, cried, took a joy ride in a taxi, came home, met Diego(Sol's boyfriend) , did homework, and then took a shower. Yup that was my day in as little words as I could possibly make it . I think I am liking this schedule... Maybe I should start doing this every Sunday even when I return to the States. Going to church is pretty awesome . I even got to sit in on a catholic mass today. Dan, you are taking me to more of these masses in Des Moines. A friend also told me recently that all catholic preist dudes sound the same when they speak , and this priest at this specific church I went to did not help my cause in proving my friend wrong. I think I am turning into a catholic jew... Actually maybe those are called Jews for Jesus. Ah well, I will call my new religion , Jew for Judah macabi and the culturalness of cathlicness. If anyone wants to join me , we meet on Wednesdays at 2am Mountain Standard time in our dreams.
Anyhow , so today was pretty awesome . I love hanging out with both Sol and my mama. I found out today that we are praying for Sol to get a job and also for the violence to stop in Cuernavaca and for everyone to be safe. Hey , even before I knew that I was telling God those prayers. I am going to sound totally religios for a moment , but hey , a girl who goes to church everyday is allowed to be a little religios ok. So anyhow , I think it was meant to be that I got taken out of Ofelia's house and placed with my mama and Sol. The almighty person/golden retriever up their in the sky , just had different plans for me then where I was a week ago. And I personally like this new road that the almightly person/ goldren retreiver has me following. I also apparently have my own personal taxi driver , AKA my sister. Mama told me that if I pay Sol just like I do to any taxi driver then she will take me places I need to go because she does not have a job and needs to get out of the house more.Eh Momma Wendy , can Noah hire me to drive him places? I personally think it is pretty sweet deal I have going with Sol. Cemal doesnt want me walking , or waiting for a taxi so I found myself a good conpromise. The only rule is I have to make sure Sol gets time with Diego on the weekends, which I can totally accomodate.
Ok, so back to the reason I even was posting this post again. I saw a movie that everyone should see. If you are on an emotional movie kick or just want to see a great movie or love Richard Gere or love dogs then this movie is for you. It just came out here in Mexico but I looked it up and it is available at your local netflicks , blockbuster, or anyplace where you can rent or buy videos. The title is Hachiko: A Dog's Story . It is a true story about a guy, who finds a dog at the train station and then their story together. The stroryfollows how the man dies and how the dog copes.
I did not cry as much or as hard as I did with the movie Marley and Me, but I did cry. This movie made me miss Roger more then I have at any point in this semester. Anyhow here is a photo of the movie poster. I give it 4 stars out of 4 stars.
So somehow I always end up making my posts long . I type how I talk, fast and alot at one time.
This week should be pretty chill. I work tomorrow and Wednesday with my monsters at school, and then have Spanish Classes on Monday and Wednesday. My students are teaching me soccer and how to pierce parts of your body by yourself. I will let you know how my lesson turns out. You learn the best things by teaching middle school monsters. They are monsters because they scare me and are taller then me . Otherwise they are like little angels.
Other then my spanish lessons and going to see my precious angel monsters, I have very little CEMAL classes this week. I might hang out with my mama and Sol or I will go with Rubi my ex- supervisor to her other school to teach and where ever else she wants to take me . I like living the life of the free spirited and spontaneous and make decisions as you go. It fits the Mexican Meira. Who knows I might decide to pierce my nose or something or get a tattoo or take a joy ride to the beach. Watch out world the newly religious and spontanious Meira has just been unleased.
Peace , love , and tamales followers.
Anyhow , so today was pretty awesome . I love hanging out with both Sol and my mama. I found out today that we are praying for Sol to get a job and also for the violence to stop in Cuernavaca and for everyone to be safe. Hey , even before I knew that I was telling God those prayers. I am going to sound totally religios for a moment , but hey , a girl who goes to church everyday is allowed to be a little religios ok. So anyhow , I think it was meant to be that I got taken out of Ofelia's house and placed with my mama and Sol. The almighty person/golden retriever up their in the sky , just had different plans for me then where I was a week ago. And I personally like this new road that the almightly person/ goldren retreiver has me following. I also apparently have my own personal taxi driver , AKA my sister. Mama told me that if I pay Sol just like I do to any taxi driver then she will take me places I need to go because she does not have a job and needs to get out of the house more.Eh Momma Wendy , can Noah hire me to drive him places? I personally think it is pretty sweet deal I have going with Sol. Cemal doesnt want me walking , or waiting for a taxi so I found myself a good conpromise. The only rule is I have to make sure Sol gets time with Diego on the weekends, which I can totally accomodate.
Ok, so back to the reason I even was posting this post again. I saw a movie that everyone should see. If you are on an emotional movie kick or just want to see a great movie or love Richard Gere or love dogs then this movie is for you. It just came out here in Mexico but I looked it up and it is available at your local netflicks , blockbuster, or anyplace where you can rent or buy videos. The title is Hachiko: A Dog's Story . It is a true story about a guy, who finds a dog at the train station and then their story together. The stroryfollows how the man dies and how the dog copes.
I did not cry as much or as hard as I did with the movie Marley and Me, but I did cry. This movie made me miss Roger more then I have at any point in this semester. Anyhow here is a photo of the movie poster. I give it 4 stars out of 4 stars.
This week should be pretty chill. I work tomorrow and Wednesday with my monsters at school, and then have Spanish Classes on Monday and Wednesday. My students are teaching me soccer and how to pierce parts of your body by yourself. I will let you know how my lesson turns out. You learn the best things by teaching middle school monsters. They are monsters because they scare me and are taller then me . Otherwise they are like little angels.
Other then my spanish lessons and going to see my precious angel monsters, I have very little CEMAL classes this week. I might hang out with my mama and Sol or I will go with Rubi my ex- supervisor to her other school to teach and where ever else she wants to take me . I like living the life of the free spirited and spontaneous and make decisions as you go. It fits the Mexican Meira. Who knows I might decide to pierce my nose or something or get a tattoo or take a joy ride to the beach. Watch out world the newly religious and spontanious Meira has just been unleased.
Peace , love , and tamales followers.
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