Viva Mexico!

This week was an incredibly important week for Mexico. September 16th is Mexico's Dia de la Independencia. Everyone had been preparing for weeks. Balconies were hung with flags and streamers and the streets were decorated with red, green and white lights. Many of the street corners hosted vendors selling huge sombreros, Mexican flags, plastic horns, and everything else Mexican that you can imagine. The general enthusiasm got me really excited as well.


I learned from my host family that the most important part of Independence Day takes place on the 15th of September. This event is called the Grito, or literally "the shout." The history behind this is that the leader of the independence movement, Miguel Hidalgo rang the church bells in the town of Dolores Hidaglo, summoning all to fight for their independence. This has turned into the most intense display of nationalism that I have ever seen. Every person in Mexico is either out in their town centers to participate in the Grito or they are watching the proceedings in Mexico City on their tvs. Regardless, everyone in Mexico is awake and ready to yell "Viva Mexico" at 11:00 pm the night of the 15th.


The town of Dolores Hidalgo is in Guanajuato state, so needless to say, as the capital city, Guanajuato gets really excited about Independence Day. The Grito is held at the Alhondiga which is a huge square building that used to be a granery. Now it is a museum, but it has a huge plaza out front that can accommodate a lot of people. So, my friend Jessica and I decided to go down to the Alhondiga and see what was going on. We arrived early and wandered around looking at the decorations. Then we saw that there were a bunch of food vendors set up with huge tents across the street from the Alhondiga, so we headed over there to get a bite to eat.


We were immediately attacked by several different people. "Gueras!" "Aqui! tacos y enchiladas!" "Dos? Sientate aqui, dos asientos!" "Tenemos posuele, flautas y gorditas!" No one asked us if we were hungry, instead they commanded us to sit at their tables. So we sat, and proceeded to eat some of the best food that I have had here. I ate tacos dorados con papas y bistek. Basically, they are small tortillas stuffed with potates and then fried so the tortilla is crispy and then they were served with ground beef mixed with onions and topped with lettuce, tomatos, queso and crema de vaca (which is kind of like sour cream, just not sour). It was incredible, and to top it all off, I had churros for dessert. Completely Mexican food on a completely Mexican day.


At about 10:30 the place started to fill up with people wearing the large sombreros, holding Mexican flags and making all sorts of noises with the plastic horns. The president (governor) of Guanajuato arrived and made a short speech. Then as time ran out and it was 11:00 a voice over the loudspeaker began shouting "Viva Hidalgo!" "Viva Allende!" "Viva Pipila!" "Viva Guanajuato!" and finally "VIVA MEXICO!" Between each shout out, the crowd responded with "Viva!" and when they finally reached the most important "VIVA MEXICO!" everyone went nuts. They were all screaming and cheering and waving their flags and spraying silly string. It was absolute chaos, and then to add to it all, they started the fireworks. It was so much fun to be a part of! I can't even begin to imagine what next year will be like with because Mexico will be celebrating 200 years of independence from Spain.

While all this was very clearly excitement for the Mexican holiday, I was surprised by how large a presence the USA was. For example, the vendors selling the Mexico paraphernalia had stickers that not only had the Mexican flag, but also the US flag and the Canadian flag. All the government buildings were flying these three flags as well. And it seemed really odd, but during the week there were several people wearing shirts that had US independence day themes. I even heard one of the cafes playing "America the Beautiful" as their background music. So while Mexico has an strong atmosphere of nationalism, there is a lot of evidence about US influence especially through NAFTA.

Rain, rain go away...

Rain. I know it's necessary, and I don't mind it at all when I can sit inside with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate, but when it rains everyday and stays overcast and damp, it definitely is not my favorite weather. All this to say that it has been raining here in Guanajuato for the last week and a half. Not all day long, but everyday.

Guanajuato is a different place in the rain. There are hardly any people in the streets but the shop doors are crowded with people huddled together awaiting the end of the cloud burst. The people who are in the streets have umbrellas or ponchos. All the street venders pack up their wares or cover them with tarps. Because Guanajuato is shaped like a bowl, when it rains, the streets turn into rivers and the callejones are like waterfalls. The water rushing downhill brings with it small rocks, dirt, and trash which then collects on the sidewalks and street corners.

Everyone remarks about how great it is to get rain, but it is also incredibly inconvenient. Washing clothes is a nightmare because no one has dryers and so line-drying is common and sun is essential for this to succeed. I washed clothes on Saturday morning, they got soaked in a shower that afternoon, Sunday was sunny until Sunday afternoon when it poured again, and Monday, when it started to rain, I ran out to get my clothes and bring them inside to dry. Even though they had been hanging all day in the sun, they were still very damp. Everyone walks everywhere here: kids walk to school, parents walk to work, the markets are outdoors. So, rain sets everything on hold and often it comes up without warning, so it is common to be caught without an umbrella or a hood.

And, unlike the US where rain often leaves a behind a freshly-clean scent that is not the case here. I don't know what it is, but the whole town smells a little like a sewer after the rain. It might be that the underground aguas negras flood and are brought closer to the surface, or maybe it is the dirt and trash that is pooled during a shower.

All in all, rainy days are not my favorite. They do make the weather cooler, but once the sun comes back, it is usually just humid. I guess I just associate fall with dry, crisp weather, and this rainy season stuff is just different.

*Photo was taken by Jessica Cruz.

Two Months Down, Three More To Go!

I spent a lot of time this weekend thinking about how I've already been in Mexico for two whole months, eight weeks! In some ways I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by and how, at the same time, it feels like I have been here forever. I've been thinking about what it was like when I first arrived in Guanajuato and how so much has changed and yet how much has remained the same.

In the language department, my general understanding of Spanish has improved greatly. I can carry on a conversation now and understand the majority of what my professors are saying in their lectures. My reading comprehension has grown tremendously, and while there are still lots of words I don't know, the grammar and sentence structure doesn't throw me for a loop. I can write a comprehensive essay without stressing about it, and I know Dr. Barbas-Rhoden would be amazed at how much better I am with subject-verb agreement and subject-adjective agreement. I'm trying to read as much as I can in Spanish, so I've been working my way through the Harry Potter series. It isn't a hard read, and because many of the words are common household words, it's helped me with my vocabulary as well as grammar. Not to mention, their great stories that keep my attention. Unfortunately, my speaking is still pretty iffy, and I tend to freeze up if I have to articulate something.

I have good days and bad days when it comes to Spanish. For example, this past week I had two conversations with the nanny at my homestay. We talked for a good hour or so each time and they were legitimate conversations about our families and our lives. She has a very interesting life that is completely different from mine and she is more than willing to tell me all about it. She also seems very interested in learning about my life back in the States. On the other hand, there are days when I can't focus on the Spanish to save myself, and end up getting caught in awkward situations because I wasn't listening. It is easy to get discouraged by these times and forget about the successes, but I try to stay positive and keep working at it. I think that if I were able to make some friends that were Mexican and I was forced to speak Spanish with them, my speaking would improve greatly.

In regards to my homestay family, I don't yet feel like a part of the family. Not in a bad way, but I still feel a like a guest. However, the feeling that I am a guest in the home of a stranger has passed. My host family has given me a nickname, two nicknames actually: la chica and Rebeca-Becky. They take good care of me and have even begun to trust me to take care of their kids if they have to run an errand or go to an evening party.

I remember arriving Guanajuato and going to an overlook of the city and not knowing how in the world to find anything. The curving, narrow streets were a mystery to me, and I wouldn't have known where an Oxxo was if I desperately need a bottled water. However, yesterday I was walking home from church, and I noticed that a new bakery was opening on one of the street corners. I was excited to know that I could now tell if a new shop had opened because I am familiar with the streets. I know more than one way to get to class, and I see the same people everyday on my way to the university. There are people here who know who I am and who recognize me enough to say hi when we cross paths. I have my favorite cafes and places to sit and people watch. I know where to go to get things like shampoo or peanut M&Ms.

While it is neat that I've become acclimated to Guanajuato and feel comfortable here, the place hasn't lost it's charm. Things still amaze and amuse me, and I am confident that I haven't seen everything there is to see. I may have my favorite spots, but I am also constantly finding new ones. Every time I stop focusing on the sidewalk so I don't trip as I walk, I see something I never noticed before. The next few months are going to be so filled with all sorts of fun and new experiences between all the Mexican holidays and the Cervantino festivals that final exams will be here before I know it. So while three months sounds like a long time, I know it will fly by and I'll be home sharing my pictures and telling everyone about just how wonderful Guanajuato was.

Do I have goals for the rest of my time here? Of course...goals of fluency in Spanish, good grades in my classes, exposure to Mexican culture, and growing as a person with increased confidence and openness to new ideas and a new culture. And, once I can understand my three-year-old host brother, I'll know that everything else is in the bag.

P.S. Today was a good day, Spanish-wise. I was able to follow my professor in my Migration class, I had a brief but understood conversation with the nanny, and I screwed up the courage to go by a cellphone, and it didn't turn out to be nearly as difficult as I had feared.

Scariest Place on Earth

I recently heard from a friend that Guanajuato was on TV as one of the scariest places on earth. Of course, my immediate reaction was "no way!" but then I remembered that Guanajuato has a really strange museum. It's been almost two months since I visited Guanajuato's mummy museum, and I can't believe that I haven't written about it yet!

The Museo de las Momias is one thing that Guanajuato is most famous for, so of course, I had to visit. I don't know what I was expecting...probably mummies like the Egyptians had. Not quite what I encountered at this museum - there were no gold sarcophagi or linen-wrapped bodies.

Apparently, the soil around Guanajuato naturally mummifies anything buried in it very quickly. As a result, the mummies are extraordinarily well-preserved. Most of them still have their original clothes and many have their hair, nails and skin.

The mummies all have unique stories. There is the world's smallest mummy, a pregnant mummy, and a mummy who had been buried alive. Because of the rapid mummification, it is possible to know exactly how many of these people died. Many of the bodies are from the lat 19th century and early 20th century. The dates show that the people were buried five to six years before they were exhumed and discovered to be perfectly preserved.

The reason the mummies were discovered in the first place was a shortage of graves. As a result, the people of Guanajuato were forced to reuse graves and in the process, they began finding the mummies. The mummies were originally displayed in giant stone hallways, but now they are in temperature-regulated cases. The mummies travel all over the world as part of various exhibitions. If you get the chance to see this exhibition, you should definitely jump on the opportunity.

The Museo de las Momias is a great example of the strange obsession people in Guanajuato have with death. While this is a fascinating museum, it is not a place that I would ever bring little children, however, there were whole families snapping photos of themselves in front of the mummies. Something like this would be considered morbid in the States, but here it is a part of life, and no one is shielded from it. I knew that the general view of death was different after studying the Dia de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead, but this really made me realize how differently Americans see death. As a culture, we try to ignore it and avoid talking about it, but here it is definitely a reality that is in your face! It raises the question of who has the better viewpoint....

Piñatas a la Fiesta

I have officially experienced an authentic Mexican birthday party, and let me tell you, American parties pale in comparison. This Sunday my host family celebrated the birthdays of my host siblings, Paula (6) and Cesar (3). Their birthdays were actually in April and June, but now was first opportunity the family has had to celebrate. I didn't understand what the big deal was until I arrived at the party.

At Mexican fiestas, everyone is invited...everyone. Even though the party was for the kids, there were over 100 adults at the event. There was food, drinks, games for the kids, two piñatas, and of course cake. All the adults sat around and ate and talked while the kids played on the playground and had their faces painted. This was all good and fun, until it lasted from 1:00 pm until 8:00 pm. Actually, the time went by quickly because there were several people there that I knew, the food was delicious, and I got to play esconditas (hide-and-go-seek) with the cutest little 4-year-old I've ever met.
Some basic differences between Mexican fiestas and American parties:
1) People who are not invited come. Fiestas are basically free-for-alls, but nobody cares.
2) The family makes all the preparations, including cooking enough food for 100+ people.
3) The party lasts as long as the last guest stays, and there is no such thing as outstaying your welcome.
4) Nobody cares that the little girls are dressed in beautiful dresses and playing in the mud.
5) The birthday song is different. I'm not sure what the words are, but it is definitely different.
6) There is piñata song that determines how long each kid's turn is for hitting the piñata. (The whole blindfolded and spun around thing doesn't happen.)

I also got to spend some more time with my host dad's family. I met them early on in my time here in Mexico when I knew no Spanish, so it was nice to see them again and show them that I am not a complete idiot. They are really friendly and seemed glad to see me. I hope I get the chance to spend more time with them before I head back to the States. There are several cousins that are about my age, and it would be a lot of fun to get to know them better.

Viva Lucha Libre!

I went to a Lucha Libre fight last night, and let me tell you, it was an experience like none other. I think I'm still in shock a little. The event was held in a baseball stadium, and despite the fact that we paid general admission, we had great seats where we could see everything. And in the end, I was thankful that we weren't any closer. The first three fights were between local luchadores and they were entertaining, but you could tell they weren't especially good. As these fights were going on, the "super estrellas" were arriving and being swarmed by the crowd for autographs and photos. The last two fights were between these superstars in the lucha libre category. They were not only more impressive with their moves, but there was a lot of drama that went on at the same time as the fight.

Apparently, each lucha libre has his own story that is on-going in his personal life. They have lovers and enemies - basically it's like a violent version of the telenovela. The fights are the lucha libre's way of defeating his enemy or staking his claim on a particular woman. This was apparently manifested last night in one fight where two fighters who were on the same team hated each other and one ended up betraying his teammates to win the fight. (They fight in pairs or triples.) It was all very weird.

There were several highlights of the evening. One of the luchadores was a transvestite, and had the crowd roaring when he kissed the referee. It was quite creepy to have a man dressed as a woman fighing in a ring. Another highlight was a really famous lucha libre who wore probably the skimpiest speedo I have ever seen and who played up his "sexy" vibe to the crowd's delight. The women went berserk. There was also a lot of chair throwing and hitting. Of course, this whole time, I had no real idea of what was going on or what the point of any of this was. So, I looked up lucha libre on wikipedia to get a better idea of what this was all about.

Basically what happens is the luchadores fight in threes. They can defeat the other team by pinning either the captain or both of the other team members. They fight in three rounds and each round has a different characteristic. For example, in the first round, they fight one at a time, the second round they can tag-team the other team, and the third round consists of a slapping fest and a competition to see who can get the most applause from the audience. (At least, this seemed to be the pattern last night.) The luchadores rely on a lot of aerial moves and use the ropes to catapult themselves toward the other luchadores.

My favorite part of the evening was watching the crowd. They all had obvious favorites and they really got into the action by yelling at and even flicking off the luchadores that they hated. The kids all bought masks and were wearing them. There were people selling popcorn, churros, chips, sodas, masks, and all sorts of noisemakers. The stands were loud and full of energy. There were all kinds of people, too: little kids, teenagers, women, men, old men, tourists. In all honesty, I don't really understand what the fuss was all about. The fights appear very staged and it is all very melodramatic. The fighters were big, but they weren't toned, and I felt like there were many that I could have defended myself against. I'm not positive, but I think that a lot of the lucha libre is about making a stand for social change, and that many of the luchadores use their free time to speak up for reforms. Maybe that is why they are such a hit. Or, it may just be that I have no real appreciation for this type of fighting. Either way, it was a fun cultural experience that makes me interested in learning more.

Uniforms Everywhere

This was the first week of school for the kids in Guanajuato. It was quite an event. Over the last couple of weeks, everyone has been buying school supplies, backpacks, and uniforms. And Monday morning, everyone was out in the street walking their kids to school. It's made for a more interesting walk to class for me. Here are some observations that I think are interesting about the schools and the students:

1. All the schools here require their kids to wear uniforms. All of them, public and private. Each school has a different plaid or central color. As I walk to school I try to figure out where each different uniform group is going. No one seems to mind wearing the same clothes as everyone else and they all look really sharp.

2. The amount of clothes the kids wear while walking to school is incredible. I think their parents are afraid they will catch their deaths of cold. For example, the little girls wear wool skirts, long-sleeve button-up shirts, sweaters, knee socks, and often a wool coat (like a peacoat) with a scarf and mittens. For me, this is an outfit for mid-January, but here it is barely chilly in the mornings, so I don't really understand it.

3. The setup of the school buildings. The classrooms are located around an open courtyard in the middle of the building. Because there is no real place to have recess, the kids take their break in this courtyard. As a result, it is always very loud. I can't imagine being a teacher and having to talk over the recess noise that is happening two feet away from your classroom door. Talk about a distraction for the students.

4. Many of the schools have two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The morning session begins at 8:00 and ends around 2:00, and the afternoon session is from 2:00 until about 8:00 at night. As a result, there are children in uniforms all day long. I'm not sure how lunch time goes because the main meal is eaten around 3:00 by most families, so I don't know if the kids eat at school or not.

5. There are a number of kids who wear face masks to school. I'm assuming that this is to prevent the spread of Influenza A (H1N1) or the swine flu. At the entrance to each school there is a person with the biggest container of hand santitizer that I have ever seen, and each child gets some as they go into school.

All in all, I think it would be an interesting experience to go to school here. Obviously most of my observations have been from outside the school walls, but it would be really neat to be able to compare the classes and the classroom settings with those in the US. Another interesting aspect would be the mindset of the students, that is, whether they are excited about school or if the attitude is one of "just get me out of here." I'll have to ask someone someday.

*The photo is one of the secondary schools here in GTO. You can see that there is a courtyard under the metal room and the classrooms are around the courtyard.