Goodbye February

Hope you all fared well during February. It's always a tough one in the northern climes. We wish you all an early spring!

Ground Rules

Before we left from Kentucky we received a sheet from our study abroad advisor with tips for our travels. It said things like...

a. Keep your passport somewhere safe and keep a copy on you at all times.
b. If you get sick report it to your travel abroad advisor.
c. Don't drink the water.

These were certainly helpful tips, but I wish I had received a sheet of groundrules for Mexico that went something like this....

No matter where you go always bring with you...
....sunscreen
....a hat
....sunglasses
....dramamine
....a few pesos for the baños 
....water*
....*Never pass up an opportunity to buy a bottle of water

Always expect
....things to take twice as long as what you first anticipate
....that the seat belts will not work

Never bring
....any expectations of control

The control over my life and my day-to-day activities that I am accustomed to, have made my time here more difficult. Like most Americans I value my privacy.
I also am more accustomed to the individualistic culture of the US. Here, the culture is more group-oriented. People will try to make sure you have access to a group. They will arrange and plan things so that you always are part of a group. They are just trying to be helpful. I am losing my mind because I want some autonomy and peace. I'm not used to making group decisions on everything. This is a serious brain-stretch.

Initially we were assigned individual language exchange partners. Almost immediately however, we began meeting daily in a group adding two other domestic students to our intercambio group besides Mayte and Enrique. This has been very beneficial to our spanish acquisition. (Mayte (left), Reina and David.)

I never know where I'm going to end up, or with whom. A few days ago David and I went to tour a permaculture site and ended up standing in the back of a pick-up truck with ten other people as it traversed a winding dirt road up a mountain. Last week we ended up playing chutes and ladders with 2 other American students in front of a crowd of 40 Mexican students. This was a favor that was 'asked'of us. It was to serve as a 'didactic' for students training to be teachers. At least 1/4th of the crowd was recording it with their phones or ipads.

I never know exactly what's going on. After meeting with our program director 4 times, I've finally given up on trying to determine exactly when my last day of classes will be. 

I never know what is appropriate. Apparently our professor bringing tequila to class to share with us is appropriate, but it's rude to tell someone you don't want to do something that they're inviting you to. It's more polite to just say yes and then make up an excuse later. It's also the little things. Looking at your watch when talking with someone signals that you don't think the conversation is worth your time. They will quickly offer you an out, which ruins the flow of a conversation if you're actually enjoying it and just wanted to know what time it was.

Why Oaxaca?

Sometimes when I'm walking along the streets to school or to the store or to meet other students somewhere for an activity or excursion I get overwhelmed by how noisy and smelly it is here. There's just nowhere to stop, to hide, to seek refuge. Once a person steps onto the street you can not expect peace until you reach your destination (if you're lucky) or until you return home. I finally understand why there are no yards here, why every block is a long wall with doors at each address that open into courtyards. The home is a refuge here, from the insane hustle and bustle of the outside world. After being on the streets, I'm ecstatic to pass through the enormous gate and enter the home behind the massive walls.

Sometimes it's just so uncomfortable here. We've grown used to Berea and its quiet tree-lined streets, its beautiful campus, the small-town atmosphere. This is a city. It reminds me of living in down town Louisville but even busier. And although David and I agree that we've never had Spanish teachers as great as the ones here, the school itself is not ideal. I don't mean it's not a good school. I's just not great. Compared to UNAM in Mexico City, one of the top three universities in the spanish-speaking world, this school is seriously backwoods.

With that background you can understand why a lot of people here ask what brought us to Oaxaca. Likewise many people from home asked us why we were planning on going to Mexico as opposed to some other Spanish speaking country.

After all we had originally considered going to Cuba, Argentina and Spain as well as Mexico. Though we'd both like to visit Cuba someday, it was too difficult to navigate concerning student visas. For awhile we said we had decided on Spain. We watched videos of the wonderful things students at the University of Granada could do in their leisure time. The idea of learning the most-refined version of Spanish at a very, very old and prestigious institution was certainly tempting. We studied the geography, the cities of southern Spain. We read about the culture, listened to the music, searched out first-hand accounts from the blogs of students studying abroad there. Upon further research however we started to lean toward studying in Argentina. The culture is fascinating. The people are beautiful and so is their peculiar sing-songy italian-sounding Spanish. The landscapes of Argentina certainly did much to sell it as well.

However, in the end we chose Mexico. Why?

It's been interesting to listen to how we answer the question, to see how our answers have changed over time and depending on our audience. Before we ever left Kentucky we had certain reasons that now have been pushed to the margins and we had other reasons that we've now chosen to focus on and that have developed the longer we've been here.

The main 3 reasons are...

It's cheaper.
It's closer.
The Mexicans are our neighbors.

These reasons are simple and they ebb and flow depending on our moods and who we're speaking to. Being closer, travel was cheaper, and will be in the future if we wish to return. These are very functional reasons. But ultimately we came because we wanted to know our neighbors. We wanted to know the Spanish that would most ingratiate us with the Mexican folks that we meet in the US. We wanted to learn about their culture, their history.

Another prehispanic artifact from the Rufino Tamayo museum

Oaxaca is not the most glamorous place. Please allow me to be honest. But it has one of the richest cultures in all of the Americas. Its history is deep. Oaxaca, the capital of Mesoamerica, is instilling in me a new sense of the Americas, of what they are, what they were. It's fascinating. I don't think we will be able to return home with the same perspective as when we left.

We wanted to learn who the Mexicans are and in some ways use the experience to learn more about ourselves. Who are we Americans anyway? There are things here that make so much sense. Things that we could benefit from in the US. At the same time, there are things here, things people do, that make no damn sense to me.

I wonder if, when we return, we will see things in this capacity in our own home, in our own land, with the fresh eyes that we see the things here. I'm very excited to see how the US looks when we return.

Beautiful Blooms

Plumeria, we think.

Aloe Vera

Jacaranda (pronounced ha-ka-rahn-da)

¡Viva los homebodies!

"Me gusta estar en la casa. ¡Pero, soy vieja! says our host mother Ruth. "I like to stay at home, but I'm old!" She continues, "You're so young. You need to be out, enjoying yourselves, seeing things. You never know if you'll ever be able to return here in the future. Take advantage of the time. Get to know the culture. Go see things." After 5 weeks Ruth still does not know us.

She carried on like this for perhaps twenty minutes, all the while my blood pressure rising. Since we've been here, not a day has passed without us being invited somewhere or pressured to go somewhere. Don't get me wrong. I like to go out and see things and do things. I like to get out of my comfort zone. After all, if I didn't I wouldn't be here to begin with.

Even living a routine, boring life in a different country is a cultural experience. I don't need to see every last landmark. I haven't even seen most famous landmarks in my own state. I haven't been to Churchill Downs. I haven't been to Cumberland Falls. These places certainly have merit and I would like to visit them someday, but do I think my life is less rich for not knowing them? No.

Give me a break people. Going to drop my clothes off at the laundromat is a cultural experience here. I've been here for 5 weeks and I've already visited 5 cities outside of Oaxaca. We've seen ex-convents, cathedrals, ruins. We've visited museums, natural wonders. We've attended cooking classes. Quantity does not equal quality. No wonder so many exchange students are sick so often. Take a break!

Now any of you who know David and I, know that we are home-bodies. But we're homebodies with gusto! We're homebodies in Mexico!

All we did Saturday was walk around the neighborhood and look at the different plants.

Oh the horror of a wasted existence!

Surprising things I've learned about Mexico

Mexico is the 10th most popular tourist destination in the world

Mexico is the 11th largest country in the world by population

Mexico is the 14th largest country in the world by land area

We live about a 6 hour drive from a city called Cholula, the oldest still-inhabited city in all of the Americas. Cholula has been continually inhabited since sometime between the 6th and 2nd century B.C. (While the oldest continually inhabited settlement in the USA is the Taos Pueblo of New Mexico which was founded around 1075 A.D.). Mexico is just old. The first university in North America was founded in Mexico City (and is still there) in 1551, 225 years before the founding of the USA as a nation.

500 year old staircase at the ex-convent of Cuilapan. Mexico is just old.

14% of the people here in Oaxaca state (that's half a million) speak Zapotec, a prehispanic indigenous language. 9% speak Mixtec, another prehispanic indigenous language. A full 13% more of the population speaks one of the various other 14 indigenous languages still spoken here in Oaxaca. It's evident that the Spaniards took a much different view of indigenous relations in their conquest of Mexico than the Anglo culture did in their conquest of the north.

A ball court at Monte Alban. I've read that the ancients would sacrifice the losers of the game.

All of the words below come from Nahuatl, another prehispanic indigenous language.

avocado
cacao
chia (like the seeds)
chiclets (from chicle, a tree used for its gum)
chili
chocolate
coyote
guacamole
jicama
mesquite
mescal
mole
ocelot
peyote
shack
tamale
tomato

More to come, I'm sure...

Valentine's Day & PDA

PDA (public display of affection) is rampant in Mexico. It seems as if on every corner there is someone having a moviestar makeout sessions. Here's a couple we spied on behind Santo Domingo. They're actually being very conservative.

Men and women here don't seem to be the least bit awkward about standing around on street corners in everyone's way, making lovey-dovey eyes at one another. Sometimes the guy will be sitting sideways on his moto the woman leaning in between his legs, the two saying sweet-nothings. Other times there will be a tiff for all to see. The woman rolling her eyes and stepping away, but just far enough for him to reach her and pull her back to him, tilting his head, filling her ears with some promise or consolation. For an American, it's a bit like being in school again. I keep waiting to see some girl slam her locker and stomp away.

It's surprisingly paradoxical, because the Mexicans seem so conservative in so many ways. We've seen maybe two shirtless men. Only a small percentage of people wear shorts. There's just not as much skin to see here. But at the same time, we've seen a couple on our street at night really going at it, making out, hands down pants, just unbelievable. I've never actually thought someone should get a room until then.

Out and about in oaxaca

I've been a bit apprehensive about how 'out' David and I can be here in Mexico. It turns out that here in Mexico the federal government is actually more  progressive than our own.

I've been surprised to learn that here in Mexico, a country known for its strong catholic roots, in Oaxaca, the second poorest state, there are more progressive laws regarding LGBT rights than in my own state of Kentucky.

Here in Oaxaca state, same-sex marriages performed elsewhere are legally recognized, whereas in Kentucky they are not. Likewise while same-sex marriages performed in Oaxaca are not recognized, at least they are not banned, as they are in Kentucky.

Below is an article I found discussing the culture of acceptance of LGBT folks here, specifically transgenders, known as muxes (moo-shays)...


from The New York Times...

"...nowhere are attitudes toward sex and gender quite as elastic as in the far reaches of the southern state of Oaxaca. There, in the indigenous communities around the town of Juchitán, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight. The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call “muxes” (pronounced MOO-shays) — men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders."

read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/weekinreview/07lacey.html?_r=0

Also this is an interesting video about muxes...

When we first got here, we asked Ruth, our host mother, where we should put our recycling. She said not to worry about it because it would be separated later. I thought perhaps this meant I didn't need to separate paper from plastic. I just thought we had a language blip. So I started keeping recycling in a separate can from regular trash. She later told us we didn't need to do this because they would separate it later. I still didn't follow, so she explained to me that when the trash is taken away, people actually go through it, to separate out what is recyclable, what can be returned for a deposit, what can be burned in a cookstove, etc. This was just shocking to me to imagine someone going through our trash (by the way, you can't put toilet paper in the toilet here because the pipes are too old and clog easily, so it all goes in the trash).

On one hand I'm glad things aren't going to waste, like they do in the US. On the other hand, it's a strange feeling to have a reminder so close to home everyday that there are so many people much less privileged than myself, people who make a living by going through my trash.

Mexico is a place where inequality is much more obvious and in your face. I don't know if there is more income inequality in the US or here, but you really don't see the inequality in the states as much unless you're looking for it.

A particularly jarring moment for me was in the zócalo last week. David and I were walking through the crowd and we almost stepped on someone down on the ground. It was a woman with legs only to her knees, arms only to her elbows. She had child sized crocs on her knees and her elbows and she was literally crawling, ever so slowly, across the length of the zócalo. She had her head down to the ground. At first I thought it was someone praying. After a moment I realized she was pushing a small basket with the top of her head, her face towards the pavement. The basket was for change. 

I was stunned. I'm familiar with people asking for change in cities and I've seen a number of amputees, but never anything as gripping as this. Before I could think or act, we were swept along with the crowd. Most people never even looked down at this woman and this was more shocking for me than anything. Since I've started paying attention I've noticed a lot of amputees here, a lot of misfits, most begging, some selling goods.

I had to stop and gather myself once we reached the edge of the zócalo. What should I do? Give money? Buy this person a wheelchair? I was so uncomfortable and saddened. I guess this is an everyday thing here. In the end I didn't do anything but think about it a whole lot. I've since begun carrying change on me. After some reading I learned that some villages send their most pity-inducing residents to cities to beg during busy times. I like to think this is the case. After all, this woman could not have taken care of herself in any way, but she was dressed in decent clothing, appeared to be clean, someone had put her crocs on for her. Maybe I just want to believe she has a whole village to care for her, just to make myself feel better.

Cantera is a stone that one sees a lot here in Oaxaca. It was once abundant, but now its quarries have been depleted. It's famous for its deep green color. Many buildings and plazas, such as the zócalo sport cantera stone.

Wow, the past week has been our busiest and most exciting yet. We've had dancing classes and cooking classes. We've visited an ex-convent, a cathedral, two large markets, a museum, a textile shop, three cities outside of Oaxaca, and the largest (in terms of diameter and volume) tree on the earth, El Tule.

It's hard to communicate the amount of new and interesting things we've seen. I've sort of let it wash over me. A justified description of the landscape and of the flora and fauna alone, would require another blog entirely. In short, Oaxaca sits in the center of a valley that stretches out in three directions, surrounded by mountains. These mountains do not look so large from within the city until you realize that the city itself is already at 5,000 ft. In fact, Oaxaca state has 20 peaks over 10,000ft! It's a gorgeous place to drive through - very curvy roads however. This is how I lost my cookies in Ocotlán. Terrible roads, but ultimately it was worth the trip. 'Vale la pena'...'it's worth the pain' as they say here.

We didn't get the chance to post much because we've had so much to do, although I did post the slideshow of some photos from the tianguis (open-air market) at Ocotlán. These tianguises are held in most towns once a week. These are different from the regular street markets. They're more specifically indigenous. In fact the word tianguis means tarp in one or another indigenous language and of course there are many tarps tied taut between either side of the street for these markets. You’ve gotta be careful not to clothesline yourself as you walk through.

Speaking of indigenous languages, there are 16 of them spoken here in Oaxaca! The two most widely spoken are Zapotec and Mixtec. These languages are pre-columbian and sound nothing like Spanish. It's a bizarre and intriguing thing to hear while walking through the tianguis. Finally some confidence with spanish only to find out that we're going to need to learn 16 more languages to be able to communicate with everyone here. ¡Ay Ay Ay! Here's a youtube video that shows some of the many different indigenous languages of Mexico. The intro is a snippet of a classic Zapotec song.

The Tianguis (open-air market) at Ocotlán