Heads Were Flying

This weekend I went to San Miguel de Allende for the third and probably last time. The original plan was to watch the Running of the Bulls that is part of the Festival de San Miguel. Unfortunately, it was not until after we arrived that we learned that this particular event has been canceled for the last three years due to people getting completely out of control. Apparently, several years ago some kids got really drunk and ended up killing each other in the heat of the moment. So, we didn't see the bulls, but the trip wasn't a total bust - there were several events in the Jardin featuring traditional indigenous dances and exploding dolls as well as a parade.
The most interesting indigenous performance involved five men climbing to a platform at the top of a metal pole where they tied ropes around their waists. These ropes were long enough to reach the ground and they were wound around the top of the pole. As one man played a flute from the top of the pole, the other men let themselves fall off the platform and as the platform rotated, they were slowly lowered to the ground. Of course, all this was head-first. It was really neat, but terrifying because the pole swayed in the wind and it was really high.

We also watched one of the strangest rituals I have ever seen. People had been making these paper mache dolls that were mounted on metal frames. They then put the frames on long sticks and lit the dolls on fire. They must have had firecrackers or something in them because after spinning the dolls around in the air, they exploded. The most entertaining part was that the dolls' heads went flying and all the children raced to see who could catch the head. At first I thought maybe this was a good luck thing, but after asking around, it's basically just so the kids get to run around and take part in the ritual. It was hilarious!

On our way out of San Miguel the bus was prevented from going to the bus station by a huge parade. We had to walk the rest of the way which turned out to be one of the best parts of our day. This parade knocked the socks off the Guanajuato parade from last week. Every indigenous group from the area was represented and the people were dressed in traditional clothes and everyone was dancing to the pounding of drums. I've never seen such a wide variety of crazy headdresses - including feathers, beads, pompoms, and so much more. There were people carrying huge wooden sets that were decorated with flowers and grass. They looked extremely heavy and were very elaborate. It was loud and colorful and completely worth having to walk to the bus station.

The parade and all the other events combined to make an impressive display of culture, history and pride for their city and heritage. It would be so neat if we could have festivals like this in the States. I suppose that our fairs and parades show our own traditions, but it would be so much fun to have something like this be a part of our culture.

Word Pictures

This morning I went with CIEE to San Miguel de Allende to get some migration paperwork out of the way. I spent the entire bus ride looking out the window at the countryside. Guanajuato state has a lot to offer, but unfortunately I have no pictures. I'll have to do my best to describe it with words.

The early morning sun glows through the mist shrouding the mountains. The peaks are invisible giving them an eerie appearance. As the light increases, some mountains are revealed to be covered in short trees while others are bare and have rock-face peeking through. Some are rolling and safe while others are sharp and foreboding.

In the valleys, the trees and bushes are slowly revealed by the morning light. Everything is very green - the grass, the trees, the nopales (cactus). Random patches of wildflowers show pink and yellow and white, waving in the slight breeze. Cornstalks mingle with sunflowers. Herds of cattle meander throughout the valley grazing and mocking the horses limited to a single spot of grass. Dirt roads, hardly plentiful than the shallow rivers, lead off into the distance ending in homes, haciendas, rancheros.

There is an occasional pueblo with small, run-down homes and the typical large church, but many homes are isolated on the edges of the corn fields. As we drive past, we see people washing clothes, repairing walls, walking to the fields. Do they still see and love the beauty that surrounds them? Or are they so accustomed to it that they no longer notice? Maybe that beauty makes their day just a little better when the hardships get to be too much to handle. Maybe they take comfort that those mountains will remain long past their human existence.

The Day I Stood Within 5 ft of the President & Almost Blew Up the Kitchen

It turns out that holidays in Mexico can be some of the most exciting days of all. Today Guanajuato celebrated the Toma de la Alhondiga. Two weeks after the Grito of Hidalgo, the fight for Mexican independence moved to Guanajuato. The Alhondiga was a granary that the Spaniards holed up in but were defeated by the Mexicans because of the bravery of El Pipila, our local hero. It is a storming of the Bastille story, just in Mexico. Every year there is a huge parade through the streets of the city and everyone turns out to watch. Schools and businesses are closed and everyone participates.

I went to the parade. I love parades, but my real motivation was to see the president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, who attends every year. Sure enough, he was there and I was able to stand within 5 feet of him. It was pretty neat. I did find it interesting how little security there was. There was a helicopter that flew in circles around the city and there were security guards on the roofs of the buildings around the Plaza de la Paz, but that was about it. He walked right through the streets and there was very little fuss. No one tried to talk to him or bother him. Still, it was a neat experience.

The parade lasted for three hours. It was eternal! Every school in Guanajuato sent a marching band to participate, all the government offices had people marching, and every organization in Guanajuato was represented. Just when I thought we might be getting to the end, all the cities in Guanajuato state marched through with their representatives and then the policemen, firemen, red cross volunteers, and every type of rescue people had to march through.

I joked that today would be the best day to commit a crime in Guanajuato and the worst day to have an emergency because all the policemen and emergency response crews were in downtown Guanajuato. It was an impressive display for sure.

After the parade, my friend Jessica and I decided that we were going to bake cookies since we didn't have class and we were craving chocolate chip cookies. This turned out to be a bigger challenge than we had originally thought. We went to the Mega which is like a Mexican version of Wal-Mart supercenter. They have everything, you just have to know what it is called in Spanish. We finally found all the ingredients we needed and headed back to my house to make the cookies.

When we arrived, my host family was out so we had to figure out how to light the gas stove all by ourselves. We looked up on youtube "how to light a gas stove" and then proceeded to follow the instructions. The lighters that my host family had in the kitchen were almost out of fuel, so keeping them lit while we waved them in front of the pilot light was extremely difficult. We couldn't find any matches, so we settled with a candle that we found in the kitchen. All this time I had been turning off the gas while we were in between flames so that we wouldn't blow the whole kitchen to kingdom come. We did finally get the oven lit; however, it was with a huge whoosh of flame that blew out of the oven. I don't think Jessica or I had ever moved so quickly in our lives. Nothing caught on fire and we were ok, but it was a moment before our hearts stopped pounding. We now know to ask someone before we try something like that again.

The oven knob had no temperature markers, so we just had to guess how long to cook the cookies. We must have had it on 700 degrees because they only took 4 minutes to bake. The cookies were delicious despite all the excitement and some substitutions with the ingredients. I personally think that if a person can bake yummy cookies in a foreign country with foreign ingredients and no standardized measuring utensils, they are all set in the cookie-baking category.

Cuan Grande Es El

Señor mi Dios
al contemplar los cielos
el firmamento y las estrellas mil
al oír tu voz en los potentes truenos
y ver brillar el sol en su cenit

Mi corazón entona la canción
Cuan grande es El, cuan grande es El
mi corazón entona la canción
cuan grande es El ,cuan grande es El

Cuando recuerdo del amor divino
Que desde el cielo al salvador envió
aquel Jesús que por salvarme vino
y en una cruz sufrió por mí, murió,

Cuando el Señor me llame a Su presencia
Al dulce hogar al cielo de esplendor,
le adoraré cantando la grandeza
de Su poder y su infinito amor

La Comida Mexicana

When I decided to come to Mexico to study abroad, the food was one of my biggest worries. I had never really loved Mexican food. I didn't hate it, but I pretty much only liked quesadillas. My fears were foolish because the food is incredible! And going out to eat is much more fun now because I'm not just picking an item at random of the menu and hoping it will be good. I know enough food words to be able to make an educated selection, and so far, I haven't gone wrong. Below are some photos of some of the best meals I've had in Guanajuato:

Quesadillas con jitomates y aguacate: quesadillas are the best when you put the avocado inside the tortilla with the cheese. The cheese is different here and so much better.

Sopa de crema de frijol: Basically this is cream of bean soup and it is served with strips of fried tortillas and topped with queso.

Flautas con pollo and topped with guacamole: Flautas have meat inside the tortillas and they are fried and served with lettuce, tomato and some sort of sauce. In this case it was guacamole, but often it is crumbled cheese and a cream that is used for everything here.

Humbertinas con queso: These delicious things are cheese knots that have been fried. They make a wonderful snack and are easy to share with a friend.

Camaron y scampi: Pasta with a scampi sauce, served with vegetables and shrimp.

Tacos Dorados con papas y bistek: tacos filled with potatos and fried to make the tortillas crispy. It was served with ground beef cooked with onions and topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese and crema de vaca. This was probably my favorite meal that I've had here so far.

All the food in the pictures was from different restaurants, but we also eat much of the same things at my host family's house. The food is a little more kid-friendly because of the little ones, but we still enjoy quesadillas, enchiladas and flautas on a regular basis.

So, all this to say that the food is delicious. I still can't really handle the spicy flavor that some of the dishes and salsas have, but I simply avoid them when I can, and I'm good to go. It never ceases to amaze me that in spite of the overwhelming presence of tortillas, chicken, tomatos, and beans, everything has it's own flavor, and I don't feel like I'm eating the same food everyday. I am hoping to learn how to make some of these dishes so that I can make them for my friends and family when I return.

A Day in the Life

I realized the other day that while I have written a bunch of blogs about the different experiences I've had and observations I've made while in Guanajuato, I haven't written anything about my daily routine. Now that I've been here for two months, my days have a pretty set pattern.

Every morning I wake up at 6:35 to shower and get ready for my day. I eat breakfast around 7:05 which consists of a huge plate of fruit and a main dish. This can be anything from quesadillas to eggs and ham on toast. I leave for class at 7:30 so I have time to make the trek to the university. Along the way, I see many of the same people every day. There is the elderly man with the straw hat and the security guard at the government building who I always say buenos dias to. I spend a good portion of my walk dodging the slow walkers on the sidewalks and trying to avoid being hit by the camiones (buses) that rule the streets. As I walk I like to try to figure out where all the kids go to school by what their uniforms look like. I've actually gotten pretty good at this game.

I have class at 8:00 every morning, but I finish up at a different time depending on the day. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I stay at the school after class and hang out in the courtyard area to do some reading or I will go up to the computer lab to check my email or write a blog. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Jessica and I go to one of our favorite cafes and drink coffee or hot chocolate and chat or do some reading for class. Friday afternoons are spent in Valenciana where my History of Mexico class is held.

I get home in time for lunch everyday which is usually at 3:00. I often hang out in the kitchen while the family's housekeeper/nanny cooks lunch, and we chat about our lives. She has a very interesting life, but I will save that for a later blog. This is not only good practice for my Spanish, but it allows me a glimpse of life through her eyes. Plus, by being in the kitchen while she is cooking, I am learning how to make Mexican food.

The post-lunch time slot is definitely not the most exciting part of my day. I usually watch a movie on my computer, blog, or take a nap. Somedays I spend a couple hours reading Harry Potter. I've also started helping my host sister Paula with her homework and sometimes I color with Cesar, my host brother. The only day that I have a planned activity in the afternoons is Wednesday when I go to El Buen Pastor which is a local orphanage run by nuns. I go with two other CIEE girls, and we help the kids with their homework. I think the plan for the next time we go is to bring art supplies so we can do some more activities with them.

My weekends are spent resting or exploring Guanajuato. This can mean going to a museum, shopping or just sitting in the Jardin and people-watching. Sometimes I go out of town, like I did this past Saturday, but the majority of weekends are spent in GTO. On Sundays I go to church and then spend the afternoon doing homework, reading, watching tv.


My host family eats dinner at about 8:00 every night and this is usually the smallest meal of the day. We have had everything from cereal to hot cakes to taquitos (small tacos). Then the kids go to bed while I finish up my homework. I hit the sack pretty early myself so that I have energy for the next day.

As you can see, my days are pretty full. I don't have a lot of homework, so I am able to use my freetime to explore or relax at a cafe without having to worry about doing hours worth of reading or paper writing. The weeks go by quickly and while I have a consistent schedule, every week something unique comes up and makes that week special. I hope this gives you a better idea of what I am up to everyday while I am here.

*Photos in order from top to bottom: One of the local school buses - I think it's funny that they are called "special" buses. A calla lily or alcatraz as they are called here. A funny restaurant sign that brings back great memories from Guatemala. A street sign in San Miguel that paired with the arrow is priceless.

Birthdays and Sidewalk Chalk

I turned 21 today, and while this is an important birthday in the US, here it doesn't care quite as much significance. I didn't do anything exciting for my birthday. Yesterday my friend Jessica and I went back to San Miguel de Allende. There was supposed to be a festival that involved running angry bulls through the streets, but we found out once we got there that this part of the festival had been canceled due to complaints from the town residents. We were pretty disappointed, but we spent the day shopping at the artisan shops and market and ate some of the most amazing food I've had here so far. We also found a beautiful park and spent some time watching a basketball tournament there. It was a good day, but we were pretty tired when we got back.

There hasn't been much birthday fuss today. The youth kids at church found out that it was my birthday thanks to the other CIEE kids that go to church with me and they all sang for me. I went back to the house for lunch, chilaquiles verdes, and rested for a little while. I got bored so I decided to go down to the Jardin and checkout the sidewalk artists that were decorating the sidewalks in the downtown area. It was incredible! For me, sidewalk art means hopscotch, but these people were amazing artists! I included below some photos of their work:

This one was my favorite.


This artist was still working while his assistant provided shade.


Another artist still working. I can't imagine how sore her knees and back had to have been after working all day.


I thought this piece of art was especially colorful.

I like this one because the man on the side looks like he is actually kneeling on the sidewalk when in reality he is part of the work.

After wandering around for a while, I sat down to people watch. This is always an entertaining activity. The children are always so cute and funny, the teenagers always have a significant other hanging on their arm, and the adults are frantically trying to keep track of their children and all their belongings. As I was sitting there a man came up and sat down on the other half of the bench. He began making necklaces out of unique stones and wire strips. We began chatting and he showed me how he made these necklaces and even let me help pick out the stones for each one. He was a very interesting person. He is from Guanajuato but he spent several years traveling in Europe and Africa. He asked me about my time in Guanajuato and about the different things that I have done. The conversation turned to religion, and he told me about how he disapproves of the machismo aspect catholicism has to it. He asked me how Christianity was different from catholicism. It was an interesting conversation even though I'm not sure I understand all of it.

My birthday was different this year. Not in a bad way, just different. Overall the weekend was good. I found some really neat souveniers and was able to see a unique style of art that I have never before seen. I had 25 youth kids sing "Feliz Cumpleanos" and I had an in-depth conversation with a complete stranger. Not bad for one weekend.