the end

So, i guess it might be good for all of you to know that i'm now out of mexico, and back in the states. I miss all of my mexico friends, and my united states friends that I spent so much time with on the program, very much. However, I am truly glad to see everyone here, even if it isn't an easy transition. I'm sorry, it would've been a long blog to explain all the stuff that happened between my last post and this one. If you wanna know, just ask me. See you all around!

So I'm not even sure where to begin, but i think this'll have to be short, since i have a decent amount of homework to do, and also want time to hang out with people. So i've been doing a lot of baking for the past week, starting on last tuesday, when I and my host family and relations made chocolate chip cookies. Then on thanksgiving we made apple pies. And then yesterday, we made chocolate cake with homemade chocolate frosting (they'd never heard of actually making this), for my host sister's birthday, on Dec. 1. She turned 15, and is having her quinceañera in February. All the times have been a lot of fun. I've also been hanging out with my friends and family a decent amount, and i really want to stay a few days longer until Dec. 12, which is the Day of the Virgen of Guadelupe, but I have to go back to Oaxaca on the 9th for presentations, etc. Also, last week i got quite a few interviews for my project, and it was actually a lot of fun chatting and hanging out with the bus drivers of the university. On Saturday, me and 2 of my friends dressed up as cowgirls, and went to a party, which was also a lot of fun. Oh, and yesterday, since it was theh 1st of December, we decorated the house and put up the tree and other christmas things. I guess that's when they always do it. And, on Sunday, I got to go to a rally for some delegate of my colony. All pretty cool. I think that mostly says my last couple of weeks. They've really been quite full, but there's too many things that I can't remember them all. So, I'll add more stuff if I have time, and happen to think of it. And I'll try to get some pictures up, at some point. See you!

Finally got a meeting with a person from the Union! Yay!!!

wow, so i'm getting really bad about keeping up on this blog. But basically, i've been thouroughly enjoying my time here in Santo Domingo, Mexico City. I love the family, and i've made some really nice friends. Last Saturday was crazy. In the morning, my host brother taught me how to box, with the gloves and everything! So cool, and kinda fun. I guess he's been boxing for 5 years, and before he did karate and ti kwon do. But boxing was always his favorite, and he got pretty dang close once to going to the olympics! Wow! Pepe is really cool, and he calls me hermana (sister), and is just a really nice guy. It's really nice to have a brother, and a guy my age around the house (he's actually to turn 21 in january). He's been gone with his girlfriend all this week, and I have to say i kinda miss him.
After this, I went to a baby shower for one of my mom's sister's. All the other 7 sisters were there, and a couple others, and it was quite a party. I crossed my legs once, and had to wear a towel diaper, a bib, and a baby hat. That was one of the games, that u couldn't cross your legs. Absolutely hilarious!
Then that evening, i went with a couple friends to a huge concert of music Banda. It's a little like mariachi, but different. I can't really explain it. But it was a lot of fun, and we got home at around 4am.
Since then, i've just been hanging out with my family and friends here, and am beginning to get a little more comfortable. Not that I was really uncomfortable before, but now it's becoming even better! Everyone's soo nice and accepting. : ) I've also discovered some more stuff for my project, which i hope won't take too much time out of the days to hang out here. But i'll hopefully get ahold of the union sometime soon, and that sounds really fascinating. Also, my host mom taught me how to cook a little today. So maybe I can bring some stuff back. and the want me to cook something from the US, so i'm thinking Apple Pie, and maybe some cc cookies, at somepoint. This weekend is a big fiesta for some saint i think. Should be fun. Happy thanksgiving everyone!

Santo Domingo!

So basically, the rest of the week after the elections on tuesday was very stressful with work, project, and housing/travel plans. Too much. but, we all made it through, and I headed out of Oaxaca back to Santo Domingo, Mexico City. Yay! Back to the best host family ever! Flavio and Luisa are my host parents, and I have three host siblings. Jose is 22, the oldest. He studied to be a optomotrist. Juan is 20, and married to Concha, with a 7 month year old baby named I don't remember right now, but he's absolutely adorable. And Tania is almost 15, and so is practicing the walze for her quincieañera. I'm not quite sure what's wrong, but she can't really walk very well, so she has to use a walker. But it's very cute and awesome to watch. My host uncle choreographed it, and 6 guys, her cousins, dance around her and she's the star in the middle. It looks like she has to work pretty hard to do it, but she does it very well. It's so wonderful to watch! The whole family is absolutely wonderful, and I think it'll be hard to get myself away to do my project. They want to take me places, etc (like maybe a soccer game?), and I just love to hang out and talk with them.
However, I have done some work by wondering around on the buses and talking with students in the university, and I just met my advisor today. He seems very cool, and is working on a masters in Human Rights through the liberation theory at the university.
I've also been hanging out with some cool people around the community. It's kinda weird, some of the girls that i'm hanging out with are my host mom's sisters. They're of a family of 8 kids. But it's a lot of fun, and i'm speaking spanish a lot more, which is good. However, I still definitely have lots of awkward moments. Ah well, así es la vida.

Isthmus and Costa

So, I have to agree with Mike that I'm not really in the mood to sit down and write more in the blog. However, I am two weeks behind, and I finished two essays today, and a project info thing, and I don't want to start on my third essay yet, so I am now writing. : )
Anyway, in my last post, we were heading to the isthmus, so I will go from there. The isthmus is the shortest stretch of land between the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean. It is the place where the US, and a lot of other countries/huge companies are trying to push the Plan Puebla Panama, which is to create a huge system to transport things there, rather than going all the way down to Panama. This includes a lot of other projects that are skrewing over the people, such as building windfarms, dams, and trains, etc.
We were only there for a few days, but we did tons of stuff in those few days. First we visited windfarms. In the isthmus, it is windy for at least 10 months of the year, with winds up to 130 mph. There are four of them, huge operations, all by different multinational companies. The people are pushed off their land, with promises of payment for rent, but they only recieve $300 a year, if that, which is barely anything. Also, the windmills mess up the water table, and dry the land out, so the people can't farm or ranch. They also catch chemicals in the wind that causes a lot of new diseases for the people that live there, and kill and or injure thousands of migrant birds. Also, rather than having cheaper energy, electricity, etc, they actually have to pay higher taxes to fix up the problems that come with having windfarms there, and all the energy is sent far away to stores owned by the companies. I always liked windmills, and thought that they were our hope for the future. And maybe if we treat people right, and work it correctly, they might work. But hearing all of this, I get kinda depressed. I think our only real hope is to just stop using so much energy. Take some initiative and limit ourselves, rather than just finding other "good" ways to satisfy all the energy that we use. I realize that I'm probably a hipocrite, cause I use lots of energy, even right now on the computer, but I will try to use less.
We also went to a place that got ruined by a dam. The government put it in there for some reason, I guess to provide more energy for somebody. Anyway, the whole town of Jalapa was submerged in water. Sometimes when the water is down, you can see this whole catholic church. So sad. I don't like dams, except for the tiny ones. Although I do like to swim in reservoirs. But seriously, natural reservoirs are so much better.
We also visited a few other organizations there, that were working against Plan Puebla Panama and for indigenous and campesino rights. But then we headed off to the coast. Gorgeous places. They looked like paradise beaches. It was hot, humid, and GORGEOUS! I got kinda excited about the sun, and didn't put on enough sunscreen, so I got burned kinda badly. But I caught a lot of waves, and we had some delicious beach drinks (mainly consisting of Malibu and various tropical fruit juices : ) ) It was great. But it was also kinda funny because their large wal-mart-like chain was called Súper Ché. So ironic.
We had two and a half days at the beach. Those were absolute, pure vacation days. We all really needed it. Kinda funny because at school, I always get excited about a 4 day weekend or something. And here, I'm excited about a 2 day weekend. But it was a marvelous place to rest. (Although I was kinda sad we weren't in Oaxaca for Day of the Dead. Next to nothing happened there, since it was a very tourist town). Oh, and we also met and hung out with for a little bit, with some english speaking guys. Two from British Columbia, one from England, and one from New Zealand. I have to say that it was so nice and kinda weird to be speaking to guys at all, and in English. With 17 girls and 1 guy on the program, we don't get that opportunity very often.
Then we headed back on a 6 hour, long, windy van ride back to Oaxaca. We got back to the hostel, where we were the first week of the program, and were immediately submerged with 3 essays, our final independent project proposals and figuring out our situations. Very stressful. So, on election day, most of us spent all day doing that stuff, then at 7pm our time, we became glued to the TV screen (CNN in Spanish), and the computer screen for the elections in the hostel. ahhhh, so exciting. When it was announced that Obama was the winner, we all hugged each other, screamed, laughed, everything. It was amazing. We sang the national anthem, and a few other patriotic songs at 12ish am. We felt kinda bad for keeping up everyone else in the hostel, but then again, this only happens once, so, we had kind of a right. SO amazing! History! Unbelievably wonderful! So that was on tuesday. and now I think I'm gonna go to bed. I'll continue this later. Good night all!

Saints, Zapatistas, and a few other adventures cont.

Ok, now I will try to continue from where I left off in my most recent post.
So on I think the 3rd or 4th day, we left for our excursion to a community of Las Abejas, and then the government place of the Zapatistas. Both were rather amazing experiences. Las Abejas were a group that started in 1992, because of a conflict going on between the government and the community over some injured people, and some people blamed wrongly for the crime. A group of them joined up, walked to Mexico City carrying crosses, pictures of the Virgin Mary, and praying the whole way, and in a rest time they decided to call themselves Las Abejas (The Bees), because they always work together to save the whole "hive" or community if they were ever in danger, and a few other things as well. The are a totally nonviolent group, and always follow what God tells them to do by placing the bible in the center, and waiting and listening for the word of God. It's very impressive. Also, something that strengthened their movement was a massacre of a community in 1997 by the government military. I don't remember exactly why the military attacked them, but I think it was because they were indigenous, and because they were supposedly causing problems between them and other communities. They knew the military was coming, so set to pray in the chapel, but the military came and massacred them anyway. It was soo sad and hard to hear, and I'm sorry that I have to be the messenger of this really sad, but very real news. It hit very deep. From this especially, they gained a lot of solidarity from other groups in Mexico, and around the world. They're an amazing people.
We went from this to the Zapatista government headquarters area, called el Caracol (the Snail), where their Junto de Buen Gobierno (Joint of the Good Government) meet. The Zapatistas are also an amazing group of people. They decide everything by total accordance of everyone (called an asamblea, and indigenous term and idea), are nonviolent, and are trying to create a whole new world where anyone and everyone of any race, religion, gender, beliefs, etc, can exist without discrimination, and in accordance. There are 7 Juntos de Buen Gobierno in all of Mexico, and each one covers a different area and different communities. In this one, there are 23 communities. There are always 7 people in the government at a time, and they rotate through every week for 3 years. However, they make sure that not everyone leaves office at the same time for those 3 year periods, so that the new people coming in can learn the system from the older members. A really smart idea. Also, everyone that is actually in the office has to wear a ski mask. That way, they will be completely anonymous. As somebody said, it is one of the few jobs where somebody can become important for awhile, and then go back to their house just as poor as they left. It is also for security reasons. It was a little intimidating at first, but on meeting with them, and listening to them speak, we discovered they seemed very amiable, and like really nice people.
It was really interesting because every decision they made, had to be discussed by everyone in the group. For us to be allowed into the community, we had to give them our passports, Julio had to explain exactly what we were wanted to do there, and then they discussed among themselves in an indigenous language, to see if it was ok or not. Also, we had to write questions for them the night before, so that they could prepare their answers. The next day, when we met with them, we also asked if we could tape record them. They said that since they didn't recieve this request earlier, we weren't allowed to do this. It was too rapid a request. They are known for being a slower paced social movement, because they have to wait for everyone to be of accordance, but I think that this is a safer way to work it. They are trying to make a new world, which is a big process. So far, it sounds like it's working at least in their areas. The good thing is that, instead of saying that they are the best organization possible, they admit that they are not the best, and are still developing, and need the voice of everyone to continue, and that it will be a long process. I was very impressed, and encouraged at all the good things they are doing.
This was a great experience, Zapatista level wise. However, for many in the group, that night we stayed there was horrendous. Somehow, in the food we had eaten for lunch that day, there must have been some type of food poisening. I somehow managed to escape getting sick, but a good half of our group (7 or 8 people out of 18), got sick that night. It was rather like a nightmare, and yet also absurdly funny. I've never been in a situation like that. Every hour, another person went down, it seemed. Eventually, they took the sick people in a van down right next to the bathroom, so they could just run there if needed, and it was probably a bit warmer and a little more comfortable than on a cold concrete floor. It was really insane, and really gross.
We went back to San Cristobal de las Casas the next day where we went out a few times, hung out with our families, aaand, on sunday and monday, spent all day working on our Independent Study Projects. That was rather intense. Me and Megan were in the internet cafe for 4 hours monday morning/noon. Luckily, that evening, we went to a really good presentation, right afterward of which, we had a hugging/humming session. A glorious break. And that evening me and Megan stayed in, talked with our family, and our maid (I considered her more of a sister, she was very sweet), and played with some kittens that didn't seem well loved in the household. I was sad to leave them, especially the maid, she was not having a good time with the family. Which was so weird, because they were so nice to us. It was a very strange dynamic.
The next day we all had breakfast together, said bye to Julio, our guide (We were all very sad to leave him), and headed off for the Isthmus, a good 5 hour, rather windy drive.

Surrounded by Saints, Zapatistas, and a few other adventures

Ok, so it's only been a few days and already it seems like soo many things have happened here in Chiapas. So my family is quite wonderful. The host dad is one of the first saints that is around this place. He goes to mass every night, is friends with priests, works as a doctor with traditional herbal medicines, and is just an absolutely lovely, gentle man. He's a little bit older, and I think he's kinda sick, but I'm not exactly sure with what. It seems like the kids (there are 8 of them), take turns coming over to say hi every evening. They're all grown up, and married with children, but most of them live near. I've met 3 of them so far, in the 3 days I was there. The mom is also very sweet, and I've had some lovely chats with her. There is also a maid, who's only 14 and lives with them. Her story is her story, so I don't feel allowed to tell it, but it sounds very hard and difficult, especially since her family lives 5 hours away. But she's very sweet, and me and the other girl staying with me in this house, Megan, have spent the last couple of nights chatting with her and watching soap operas.
The first night we ate dinner with a catholic priest! Wow, that was amazing, I was kinda in awe at simply the idea. He was from france, had been in an indigenous community for around 30 years, and recently moved to San Cristobal de las Casa a few years ago. The life of a priest sounds very difficult, because they don't have any real family, except those that invite them in. And they only live off the money they get from offerings. This priest eats with my family every monday, friday, and i think sunday. Very lovely, and really interesting. He was also quite amusing, and really friendly. It was cool to actually get to know him.
On the third full day in Chiapas, we went to another alternative university, called Universidad de la Tierra, Chiapas. However, we had to get there ourselves. So, me and Megan took a taxi, told the guy what it was called, showed him the map, and then had a lovely talk with our taxi driver while he took us there. When we arrived, we were kinda confused because we didn't recognize anything. (We had gone to Unitierra the day before for a brief orientation about Chiapas). We asked the guy if this was really the place, and he assured us that is was. So we got out, and he left. We then asked some students if this was the university. They said yes, but kinda laughed at us. Then we asked some other people and they said that it was the Universidad Multicultural de Chiapas. Shortened to Unich. I guess it sounds kinda the same? Anyway, it did sound like a really cool place where both indigenous and mestizo people attend school, and they learn indigenous languages, and about other cultures. Pretty sweet. However, it was NOT the place we were supposed to be. So we had to wait for a good 30 mins till another taxi came (that we called especially), and got to Unitierra a good hour late. Also, for breakfast that morning, we'd gotten chincharron (pig skin deeply deeply fried), which I hadn't eaten a whole lot of, because I just couldn't stomach it, but I still did not feel great for a little bit of the time. It was kinda a fun adventure tho!
Once we made it to Unitierra, we heard the last bit of talk, then went on a walk around the place. At this university, people, mostly indigenous people, can come and choose what they want to learn, then take an on hands class where they learn about it. Also, they make all their own food by having a garden/miniature farm, and by having various animals. It's right in the forest and absolutely beautiful. It kinda reminded me of home. It was about a 2 hr walk or so, and is where I got to know Julio, the other saint that is in Chiapas. He's also very gentle, very easy going, gets along with and accepts everybody, quite funny, knows how to speak very well and sincerely (which I found out in later visits to Las Abejas and Los Zapatistas), knows a lot about life and everything, has seen a lot of life, including things that are very difficult, and would be a very good director of this program because he's very aware of what's going on in the group, and knows a lot. For example, at every new location he points out where the bathroom is. Ok, so that's rather funny, but hey, it makes sense. He's one of our drivers, but is basically our guide around Chiapas. He's an absolutely great man.
Afterward the whole group went and heard a speaker about capitalism, neo-liberalism, and all the crap that has happened because of this system. It was actually fascinating, and the guy was a really good speaker and teacher for economics. I think that I understand (kinda) economics, because he explained it so well. He described capitalism as a train that is heading for a crash into a ditch. The closer we are to it, the more worried people get and try to make a change (or at least talk about it). but if they find out that we're actually farther than somebody had said, then they just decide to forget about it. Hence, this is why the crashes, and more recent crash, has happened. Wow! I liked it. It also gave us a bit of an orientation to the Zapatistas, who are working totally outside of the system.
After this, our amazing chofer, Julio, took us to this great artisan chocolate shop. This is where I ate what I think is the absolute BEST pure dark chocolate I've ever had. We didn't do too much that evening, (altho I do have a great story which I will add later), and the next day we left for Las Abejas community, and then to the Zapatista government place. But now I have to leave. To be continued...

Chiapas!

Hi! So I haven't posted for awhile because not much has really been going on for the past week or so. Just chillin out in Oaxaca, doing various stuff. Last night we left our host families in Oaxaca, and aren't going back to them, and made our way down to San Cristobal de las Casa, Chiapas (a state further south east of Oaxaca.) A really pretty mountain town. But we had to get here by a 12 hour, really windy bus ride. ( by windy I mean like very sinuous, through mountains, etc. I'm not sure that's the right spelling). That was the first time I ever took dramamine, something to keep you from getting motion sick. That helped me, and put me to sleep, but the first hour or so was terrible. So yeah, we'll be here for 8 or so days, visiting different NGOs, and the Zapatistas! then we're heading over to the coast for a week or so (at the isthmus). It's a bit colder here as well. And that's about all.

Mountains right behind Oaxaca at sunset.
Our lovely Spanish grammar class. Left to right: Jennie, Grace, Manuel (our teacher), me, Sarah Farr, and Christian. Manuel is THIRTY-NINE (39) years old. Wouldn't think to look at him.

A bit of Oaxaca, and México City!

A cathedral in the zocalo in Mexico City. It took 300 years to make. And part of it is sinking because it was built on what was a lake.

"Never forget October 2nd." The day when 100s, maybe 1000s of students were massacred in protest against having the 1968 olympics. This was the 40th year anniversary.
Heh, globalization at it's best. There was also a Starbucks, as well as many

other multinational chains.
The Zocalo in Mexico City. The evening of Oct. 2, there were around 30,000 people here.
El Templo Mayor. The major Aztec Temple, also in the Zocalo

The church is called Santo Domingo. It's about 1 block from my house in Oaxaca. It's absolutely gorgeous. El Tule. One of the biggest and oldest trees in the world. Over 2,000 years old!

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). National Autonomous University of Mexico. 3,000 people attend there. It's humongous.
Frida Kahlo Musem in Mexico City. Wow!

Indigenous community and protests

Some new graffiti that got put up two weeks ago. A lot of the graffiti has a lot of social commentary.

Teacher's march. This is part of the zocalo, where they were camping out. 7,000 showed up.
Part of the teacher's march. They were going to vote for their new section union leader.
Protestation in process. This is against the modified corn that comes into México. "Wtihout Corn, there's no country."

Out in the campo (country), in a Mixteco community. It was so lush. This is part of the milpa (squash, corn, and beans), with a path going right through it.
This is the room that we fit 8 people into. 3 on the bed, and 5 on the floor. It was cozy. : )

Crazy Week

So basically, all last week was insane with a bunch of work for SIT. Pretty much all of the work for the whole semester is due this week and last week. I was up till 2:30ish both wednesday and thursday working on homework. Also we had sooo much class. I was just calculating the class hours, and normally it's 30 hours a week! Isn't that crazy! and friday was insane. NINE hours in one day. I wanted to die.
But luckily, this weekend was a lot of fun. Me and some friends went salsa dancing! Both friday and saturday! The guys really know their stuff. I felt pretty clumsy, but it was a lot of fun, and I kind of learned a decent amount. And Saturday was a friend's birthday, Sarah, and some other friends made her apple pies. It was very cute. And now it's pretty much more work. Tomorrow we have Spanish exams, so after that, less class. Although I will miss our teachers. They are totally awesome. Also, we are figuring out our independent projects. I'm going to Mexico City, to work with a transportation union! Woo-00! Lots of things going on. And now, time to study for the Spanish exam. Yay grammar! Subjunctive. I think my mind is gonna be shot. Love you all. Have a good day!

ahhh, so much!

Ooooh my goodness it's been ages. This might be long, might be short, depending on how much I shorten it/ remember. Ok, so i have to go over the last two weeks which will be hard. But some highlights from two weeks ago.
On thursday and friday, Sept. 25 and 26 or something like that, around 7,000 teachers from all around Oaxaca came to the capital to march, and vote for the new leader of their section. It was awesome! We got to see them marching, and then some of us also went down to the zócalo (central plaza) to see what exactly was going on. When we got their, it seriously appeared like a fair. A lot of stores took advantage of many people being there, and so set up all of their booths. There must have been a least a hundred of them, if not more. It was a lot of fun to walk around buy things. Including a shirt that supported la APPO, a big movement composed of 300 non-governmental organizations at least, and is what was brutally repressed a few years ago. And also a really cool head scarf. That was the start of my obsession with headscarves, and I now have 4 different ones, blue/purple, green, brown, and white. They are fantastic. It was so fascinating to be in a place where they have marches and gatherings like this.
On Friday, since it was the first US Presidential debates, nearly the whole group of around 20 people in the program met up in our little school room, and watched them on one of our computer's. Or well, tried to watch them. It was rather hard since the computer was only so big, and only so loud. So I probably actually heard about half of it, at most. But I remember some quotes. "We are winning in Iraq" (McCain). "Economy," "Iraq," and "experience, or lack there of." Even though we couldn't hear very well, it was a lot of fun.
That saturday, me, Megan, Kristin, and Emily went to a place called El Tule, where they have this HUGE tree, that's 2000 years old, at least. So that means it was around when Jesus walked the earth. Isn't that crazy!? And it's bigger than any redwoods or sequioas I've ever seen. It was gigantic!
Ok, and a cool anecdote. A few minutes after I walked in the gate and was starting to take pictures, I heard somebody say "Annie, Annie." I turned around and saw my advisor from Gettysburg, Alicia Rolón! She was there traveling around with a different group for intermediate Spanish in Mexico. Now that totally blew my mind! What a coincidence! After recovering from this excitement, we went around taking more pictures, and then went to a restaurant to eat empanadas, which are supposedly famous there. They were actually tortillas with chicken and mole and inside. That's what empanadas are here. Cultural experience!
The next day me, Katie, Rebecca and I think a few others. walked around town. That night I went to a beautiful church called Santo Domingo with my host mom to mass. Have the time i was just staring at the beautiful ceiling. It was amazing!
And Monday, we left for Mexico City!!! For the first three or so days, we stayed in a lovely neighborhood called Santo Domingo. And I stayed with the best host family ever! Flavio and María Luísa were my parents, and I had one sister, Tanya, of 14 years. The 2 older boys were either married, or living far away. I don't know, there was just something so warm and welcoming about them. We lived in a little apartment in a big building that were composed of the 8 brothers and sisters and their families of my host mom. And the community in general... I don't think I've ever been in such a place where I've felt such a sense of community. It was absolutely lovely! : ) Partially because of this, I am now thinking very hard of doing my independent project there.
Since Santo Domingo is right next to the big university of around 300,000 students, I also took the opportunity to go over there a couple times. It's a gorgeous campus, and absolutely humongous. Also, a lot of the buildings had murals on them. Soo cool! The second time I went there was especially cool, because I actually got to meet some students. Me, Sarah Farr, and Jennie went over there for an observation and interview project for one of our seminars. It was an adventure going on the little bus over there, and then we got off at a random spot, which happened to be by the othodontic department. We watched for awhile, then went and talked with a group of students. They were really nice, and I admit that is was refreshing to be in a college environment again, with more people our age. Kind of another reason why I want to do my project in Mexico City.
Another day, we went to Coyoacan. We went to the house of Frida Kaolo (and Diego Rivera), and then a museum about October 2nd. There was also the Trotsky house museum, but I didn't have time to get there. It was a really cute town, and a lot of fun to walk around. After that we went to this ecological park full of volcanic rock and plants. (Hannah, I thought of you when I heard about the volcanic rock : ) ). We saw this partially to understand more about Santo Domingo, which was actually built out of volcanic rock. Very impressive.
On Thursday, October 2nd, we left the lovely neighborhood, and headed to the center of Mexico city. This was just in time for the march of October 2nd, which was in remembrance of 1968 massacre of students in Tlateloco. This was when students were protesting the Olympics in Mexico that year, and the federal police totally surrounded them, and massacred nearly all of them, then towed the bodies away to make it look pretty for the olympics. If you ever want to see a really good movie about it, but really sad, watch Rojo Amanecer. For the actual march, around 30,000 people showed up. Me and some of my friends in the program watched the proceedings from a restaurant high above the Zocalo, but with a very good view. (We couldn't participate by law since we were foreigners. If we had, we would get deported.) It only got kinda violent at the end, but I don't think anything terribly bad happened. It was just amazing to actually see a march that huge. I often got shivers up and down my space it was so intense.
The days sort of ran together now, in trying to remember them. But a few other things we did. We went to the Temple Mayor, Aztec ruins right next to the Zocalo. And an absolutely HUGE cathedral, also in the center, that took 300 years to build. And to Tlateloco and La Plaza de las Tres Culturas, where the massacre happened. This was also where there were some other ruins of I think a different tribe other than the Aztecs. There were so many of them that I had no idea about, that I get kinda confused and can't remember all of them. Speaking of ruins, we then went to Tehuantepec, which was there before the Aztecs, but was actually very commercial and made of communities of many different indigenous people. It was kinda like any big city nowadays. I walked up to the top of the Temple to the Sun, and the Temple of the Moon. Very cool. And I got a cool whistle that sounds like an eagle when you blow it.
On the way to Tehauntepec, we stopped at the Basilica of the Virgen de Guadelupe. It was impressive. There were probably 10-15 churches/cathedrals, and then lots of other buildings, statues, fountains, and things that were all catholic related. Oh wow, and in one church, they had the original picture of La Virgen de Guadelupe, which is printed (?) on a poncho that Juan Diego owned. It's considered to be a miracle, because nobody knows how it got onto the poncho, and what type of material it's printed with. Wow!
Three nights in row, me and a various friends, went to an all mariachi square. We went into a restaurant, and paid for one of at least 3 bands to play songs for us. Also, two of my friends, Christian and Jennie, play in a mariachi band at their college, so they actually got to play their instruments with the band that we always asked to play for us. It was soo awesome. I even picked up the violin, and kinda followed people to play in a few songs. I miss music soo much. It was so good to play anything!
Sunday was our free day, so me, Katie, and Morgann took the subway (exceedingly efficient!), back to Santo Domingo to visit our family and friends there. We had lunch with our family, then some of our friends invited us to go watch them play in a soccer tournament. That was a lot of fun, and they won! Yay. We then went out with them to the mariachi place for the last time. The next day we had to wake up at 5:30ish am to go back to Oaxaca. I didn't really want to leave. But it will be good to rest for a little bit. I felt like I had no real breaks in Mexico City. I'm hoping to sleep for a week! And that concludes my long account. (I think, I hope?). I'm sure I forgot something so we'll see!

A few more things

So, I was kinda distracted last time and talked mostly about all the good things that went on in the indigenous community. But they are doing all of these things because they are living in very hard conditions. The government has totally skrewed them over. Also, in the past 8 years or so, their population has gone from 1200 people to 300 people now, because of migration to Mexico city, and the US. Isn't that crazy? Also, there has been a lot of deforestation, and erosion, which is why they are making things to catch water, and also reforesting a lot of things. This is helping to bring the water table back up. But of course, it's taking a long time. So yeah, anyway, just some more interesting info. See you later!

San ¨Pedro de los Cantarros (indigenous community)

Wow, so many days have passed since I last posted. But the majority of those days have been filled with a weekend visit to an Mixteco Indigenous community. This was really cool because we got to participate in Tequio, a community work expectation, building a greenhouse! Also, we got to see a lot of the ways that they live, and do agriculture. Seriously, they live at one with nature. They are surrounded by the food that they eat. They grow corn, squash, beans, and a few other things, in the form called milpa, where they are grown in alternate rows. I think it's better for the ground, and they complement each other. (Dad, you might know more how that works?). Also, they have done a lot of reforestation, have made trenches to catch water and irrigate, make cement things to catch rain water so that they have enough water for the dry season (7 months), and of course green houses. Everthing is organic, or with homemade pesticides so it's healthy, and totally sustainable. Everything we ate there was homemade, and the food homegrown, and from right there by the house. Handmade corn tortillas with FRESHLY picked corn. Seriously, I swear it tasted better.
So we were there from Friday, till Sunday. Then I was mostly dead. The next day we had only Spanish. The grammar part of it is kinda killing me. I haven't learned much of all this subjunctive stuff, so it's really good to over it, and my professor is a great teacher, but it just kinda fries my mind. But that afternoon, we didn't have our thematic seminar class, so I got a bit of a break, and that evening, a group of us went to see a movie at the movie theater. Called Arráncame La Vida. A Mexican movie, originally in Spanish. I actually understood a lot of it. That was kinda exciting. And a very good movie. I'd suggest everyone to see it. But then I left my water bottle there. :(
And then today after Spanish class, a few of us went to get some icecream. Well it was actually this flavored icee stuff. And I tried Rose icecream. I thought it would be like heaven. In reality, it tasted like pink. That's the best way I can explain it. They had a lot of interesting, different flavors, including like Mescal (Oaxacan alcoholic drink made from cactus), and Tequila, etc.
Speaking of food, I've also gotten more used to eating tortillas and picante with nearly everything I eat. Ok, so I think that's about what I've done over the past few days. Oh yeah, and last week I also saw this really weird, kinda freaky free international movie (i think made in Denmark, but in English), called The Element of Crime. Any of you film majors, I'd suggest you'd check it out. I think you'd enjoy it.

Pictures from around Oaxaca

Feliz Día de Independencía!!!

Yes, September 16 is the actual independence day of Mexico! Way awesome! I will go into detail momentarily. But to do the days in between...
Saturday was pretty chill, just hanging out with friends. Then Sunday, me and a few other girls went to this place called Monte Albán. It was Zapotec ruins. The Zapotecs had a great empire here a long time ago. Nothing to do with the Aztecs, who were more in Mexico City. But it still had some very cool structures and buildings. There was this one that was just a whole lot of stairs that were rather steep. At the top, some Mexicans (who get in free on Sundays), were cheering on anybody who tried run up the stairs. Shouting "yes you can, yes you can" or, "go him of the yellow" or "go little boy." It was hilarious! We got lots of pictures, of which I'll try to get up soon. We got back around 3ish, then I had lunch, then it began to pour, then sprinkle for the rest of the night. Needless to say, i just stayed home all that evening.
Monday, we had more classes, one of which was at a radio station that had been an important part of the teacher protests that took place a couple years ago. Some of the stuff the guy said about ways of communication, and how the government used the media basically just for their use of propaganda, etc, was really interesting.
Then Monday evening was probably one of the best times I've had for a long time! A group of us from the program all met up near my house, which is right near the center, then we walked down to the Zocalo to see the sights and hear "El Grito." (The Shout). We didn't really know what to expect. When we got there, there were a whole ton of people all crowded together. And they were spraying eachother with FOAM! It was this foam stuff from a spray can. It was hilarious! So pretty much all of us bought a foam can, and sprayed eachother... and everyone else. At times many of us were totally covered with it. We even got into wars with random people! Oh my goodness, it was soo much fun!
Then we were standing in front of what was the Municipal Palace (now it's a museum), and waited for the governor to come out and shout Viva México! Then some military people, and government people marched by... these were all the people that supported the governor (not many... he has caused so much pain and death in Oaxaca that most people hate him in one form or another). It was kind of strange to see this man. But it was still kinda cool to see the march, I'd never seen that type of thing before. Then, all of a sudden, the whole crowd started moving! We were just kinda freaking out, we had no idea what was going on! Then we stopped, listened and did the Grito, then watched the huge fireworks further away, and the less huge fireworks that was right next to us! They were on these moving structures. The one near us wasn't working real well, so a guy kept climbing up and lighting them with his cigarette! That's soo dangerous! But it was also really cool!
After this we went out to a disco (here they're called Antros) till 2ish, then went home. What a fantastic day!

Start of the Weekend! and a few other days

Oh man, this week has been so long. I feel like i've been running around all over the place just to get the basics done. We have spanish everyday from 9-1, and then the other class called Thematic Seminar where we listen to lots of lectures, etc. Wednesday was decent, but in the evening I had a sudden lapse of lonliness, cause i missed home, and i missed hanging out with the group here, so I ended up going to the coffee shop next door to read some assignments, and make new friends. I ended up meeting the owner and one of the waiters, and we talked about soccer, politics, etc. It was really interesting hearing his point of view on all the teacher strikes and violence that had happened a few years ago in Oaxaca, which we have been talking a lot about this week. He said that it especially affected the middle class people and small business owners. The poor people who were with APPO (the umbrella organization for about 300 other organizations that were participating in the strike), had very little to lose, and the rich people could just leave. But he said that within one block near the center, around 50 stores closed, and 300 or more all around the zócalo (center). And he said that experts calculated that it would take 7-8 years to recover. He didn't like either the government and governor (Ulises Ruiz), who APPO was demanding to force out of office, or APPO. Oh man, but all the stories are so sad. Of the federal police coming and attacking the people striking in the night. And women coming to meet them with hands painted white, and holding flowers, in an attempt to keep peace. And some people walked all the way to Mexico City and held a hunger strike. And god all the violence, disappearing, and dirty war like issues. It's just so crazy. And that all happened 1.5 to 2 years ago! It's really sad to think that this kind of repression is still going on.
Anyway, next day was much better. In our spanish grammer class (5 people total, and our teacher is Manuel), we got into a conversation about politics! And our professor told us a Bush joke! It was hilarious, and totally awesome! He has a good style of teaching for grammer, and is just plain a lot of fun!
For the conversation part of Spanish, we went to the artesania place where the had original artwork from different indigenous groups in Oaxaca. There were so many beautiful things! I'll really have to go back there and buy things before I go.
Then I went over to a friends house (from the program), and we "worked" on a presentation about Chiles that we done some interviews for on Monday. We ended up talking about it for about 30 minutes total. The rest of the time was filled with talking with her mom, chatting, and listening to some really pretty Shakira songs, and giving eachother massages. Heaven.
Then we went to an NGO. We hoped to hear about what they were doing, but we only ended up listening to more history on Oaxaca, most of which we had already heard. It was really long, and we were all tired. So a group of us went out to coffee, and me and two other people worked on a different presentation on some readings we had done. Me and a friend, Megan, had to take a bus back to the center at around 9ish. I walked for a little way, and when I passed by the coffee shop the waiter, Raúl, was chilling in the doorway. We talked for a bit, then I got a bit of dinner, then tried to go looking for an interent cafe, but it ended up being closed, so I ended up talking with Raúl for like. 30 minutes. It was pretty cool. He had been in the US for 3 years on a work permit, and seriously, had been more places than I've ever been in the US. It was pretty cool.
Friday, we had our presentations and discussions about the readings, etc. It was soo long. Very interesting, but we ended up going 1.5 hours over, and even then, the last few things were rushed. Oh, but we did have a brief interruption. There was a march going on in the street outside our school, so we simply had to go see it. It was a group of students protesting the privatization of schooling. Sweet! We got done around 2:30, we went home for lunch, came back to watch a documentary, then a group of us went out to dinner, then out to a bar where they had acrobats! I'd never seen a live acrobat performance before, so it was quite cool!
The next day, leaving at 9am, a group of us decided to go up some stairs, and ended up hiking a ways for a couple hours. We got a gorgeous view, and it was good to get some excercise. And now, I don't know. I know that the fiestas have already started for the Día de Independencia, which is on Tuesday. I'm sooo excited!

PS. Oh yeah, and for all of you coffee lovers, I have had coffee here at least 10 times since arriving. : )

More stuff

So yesterday we did another drop off, but this time around to market places around Oaxaca city. My friend Rebecca and I had to do stuff on Chiles. We had to take the bus over there, which was a bit of an ordeal. So we asked a lot of people, and a nice guy on the bus helped us get off, amazingly like, 2 blocks away from the market. Then we walked around, did a few interviews, and observed people for awhile. It was basically like being an anthropologist. Kinda cool. Then I went back to my house and got there around 4pm, and had lunch. I hung out at home all that evening, doing my reading/talking with my host mom. We talked for an hour! And she told me that I really should take showers every day because it's good for the health. She felt really strongly about it. Also, (I still kinda naw at my nails), and she told me that I should really stop biting my nails, because then I won't get a job. Anyway then I went to bed at around 11:30pm. Rather early for me, but, in order to get up at 7:30 the next morning for classes.

Today, I had my first day of classes. Somewhat advanced Spanish class for 4 hours. The first 2 hours were of grammar. Bleh. But I realized that I still have quite a lot of mistakes in my speaking. So I guess it'll be good. And then tomorrow one of the 5 people in our class is supposed to write a paper, and do a 30 minute presentation, with questions, etc to last 1 hour. It's supposed to be about our projects. What the heck! He didn't even assign who was going to do it, and didn't tell us how long the paper had to be. But he's pretty cool regardless. It shouldn't be too bad. We'll figure this stuff out as we go along. The next 2 hours were simply conversation, and it was actually pretty fun.
After class, me and a couple friends, Morgann and Megan, went down to the zócalo (center) to read articles for the next class, and chat for a few hours. Then I went home for lunch at 2:30pm. Then we had our Thematic Seminar about social organizations, etc (today was about the mexican economy and history), at 4pm. I think it will become quite busy with readings etc, but there will still be some time for chilling out. Good night!

What a day!

So yesterday was just amazing! First, from the morning till around 5-6pm all of us got paired up and we had to go look for various places around the city, and to some little towns right outside the capital. We had to ask people, and look at maps, and figure out transportation and everything. We had to look for a specific building, and then have some questions to get answers for. Me and the girl I was paired with, Lauren, had to go to a place called Tlachapahuaya. We thought we were looking for a Zapotec temple. However, after we found our way to the colectivo (taxi thing), which took a long time, and got to the city, the driver took us to this catholic church. We were kinda like, is this actually right? Ok, I'm sorry, my computer is about to die and orientation is about to start. To be continued.

Ok, so as a continuation of the post I made yesterday. Me and Lauren went to Tlocachahuaya in search of a Zapotec Temple. When we got there however, the taxi driver dropped us off at a cathedral. We were very confused, and decided to go look for the temple. But then, since we were there anyway, we went inside, kinda looked around, then asked the one and only person there, a man of whose name I forget, if he knew of any Zapotec temple near there. But he didn’t. He told us that the cathedral was supposedly built for the Zapotecs by the Dominicans. (Haha, I’m the Zapotecs were soo appreciative). So, we decided that the cathedral WAS the Zapotec temple we had been looking for. (When we were going over our experiences later that day, our instructor, Jonathon, totally cracked up when he heard about our mistake). So, we asked our man some questions about the place, like when it was constructed, and why it was special. I guess all of the paintings were made out of colors from native plants there. That was kinda cool. Then he said we could go upstairs to where the organ was for 10 pesos ($1), so we did. The stairs were sooo steep and huge. They looked like steps made for a giant. I was basically climbing my way up. We took some pictures, got some more information, then walked around the town, looking for food. The main little market had just closed, so we went down to a little restaurant and got some stuff there. The interesting thing is that when we entered asking for food, the lady was like, I’m sorry, I don’t have any hotdogs or hamburgers for you. I just have eggs, beans, and some meat that you probably won’t like.” Isn’t that sad that she just assumed that we would only like American food? Well, the food was actually delicious. Some eggs and beans, with fresh squeezed orange juice. Yumm.
When we got out of the restaurant, it was perfect timing because right at that point, a man was herding a group of cattle and goats right down the middle of the street. It was so cool! I know that’s their normal way of life, but I couldn’t help but be excited. I had never seen anything like that live before!
So Lauren and I walked and chatted for a bit, then caught a colectivo back to Oaxaca capital. We chilled out a bit at the hostal, then all met up and talked about our experiences. We all have so many good ideas for weekend excursions! Then we went back to the hostal, changed, then went out for the night.
Going out was soo much fun! There were 7 of us girls. We were going to go to one place, but it didn’t open till 11pm. So, we asked some guys if they knew of any other place that was already open, so they took us to this place that was themed as the circus. There were big couches, and lots of mirrors, and it was all in this huge circle. So we chatted, danced, and tried this Mexican beer mix called Michelada (I think?), which had beer, lemon, and chile powder and before we knew it, it was already 1:30am. Since we had to get up relatively early the next day we decided to go home. Oh man, what a good time!
Sunday was the day that we got to meet, and move in with our host families! We had a meeting about it beforehand. We were all really excited, but really nervous as well. We had relatively no idea what to expect. But, at the very least, the welcome they gave when we arrived back at the hostal where they were waiting for us seemed to be a good start. I swear, every one of the host moms had flowers for their student! I just thought that was adorable. And my family seems lovely, although I still only barely know them. There’s my mom and dad, Lourdes and Octavio, and their son and his wife, Jorge Octavio and Leticia. They have a HUGE house, and I’m in a HUGE bedroom with it’s own bathroom, tv, two beds (I only get one, obviously : ) ) and tons of drawers about half of which I can actually fill. In fact, the whole house is just soo big. When I first walked in I was thinking like, this has to be at least two houses, right? But no. I was rather dumb struck. I definitely didn’t think I’d be in a big fancy house down in mexico. And jeez, it seems almost contradictory to what were studying in the program, which is more about indigenous people and social movements, that are being repressed, and therefore are very poor. But then again, the program is responsible for us, so I guess they pretty much had to put us in safe, more well-to-do houses.
So, right when I got there, my host mom and I went over rules, and the basic structure of the day. I have to admit, at least as far as she was telling me ( I have yet to find out), they have a big, healthy breakfast, a pretty big lunch around 3pm, and then a light dinner (merienda), at around 8:30 and 9pm. My host dad has a saying that “we should eat like a queen in the morning, a like princess in the afternoon, and like poor person in the night.” Tonight for example, I had fruit, water, and tea, with the option of a little bit of bread. And seriously, I like that soo much. That’s the way I would like to eat, and according to all the studies, it’s more healthy that way.
So I then took a nap cause I was exhausted, then we had a bit of dinner at around 9ish. Then my host parents went to bed, but I stayed up talking with Jorge and Leticia for another hour or so. And it was hilarious because I tried to use some new slang I had learned. I was explaining about when I discovered that “estar floja” meant lazy. I said that my room at home was a desmadre (disaster) because estaba floja, y no “estaba vaga.” When I said desmadre, they both started laughing and explained that is was more of a slang word used among younger people, but for the older generation, it meant to go out and get drunk or something, and make a mess. Haha, oops. : ) Oh well, we all thought it was hilarious, and I’m glad it happened with them, and not with somebody who might get offended. And now I’m off to bed. Good night all!

Aaaawesome speaker

Ok, yesterday, I don't think a whole lot happened. We had a lot of lectures and more orientation stuff. I was very tired, and no tenía ganas (I didn't feel like) writing in my blog. Well, we did have oral examinations to see what Spanish class we would be placed in. I hope I did well. Other than that, nothing much happened.
Today however, was absolutely awesome. A guy named Gustavo Esteva came and talked with us. He had done various things throughout his life, including almost becoming the minister in Mexico. He also writes lots of articles and books, and is involved in a few different NGOs, and some other organizations. Some of the things he said totally made me think hard, and nearly blew my mind. He talked about autonomy of states throughout the world, and how development is really hurts more than helps countries. In fact, it should not even exist cause it causes a lot of prejudices, and futures. He was for sustainable living, and said that in order for this to happen, cities had to disappear so that we could make food for ourselves, and still have other things for the global market to get us accessories. Autonomy was of the individual, not of the nation, state, etc. Wow! That's crazy radical. How cool!
Also, we asked about peace. He told us that peace came from the latin Pax, which actually was a contract of domination and meant that "I will not destroy you, as long as you do this..." Isn't that crazy?! Also, 1/2 of the world's languages don't even have the word peace. ahhh, that's kinda sad, but makes sense. He said that the only way for there to be peace was to get rid of nations. Wow! But what about keeping everyone autonomous. It seems kinda opposing. I dunno. It's really confusing, but fascinating to think about.

So that was our awesome morning! Then we had lunch, in which I had my first mole! It was delicious! I tried mole negro (black), and mole roja (red). It's like, sweet and spicy at the same time. YUMMY!
In the afternoon, we went on a tour around Oaxaca city. We saw some places that were important community and NGO meeting places and where a lot of violence had happened. Also, we saw how the poor and rich communities were thouroughly separated. We saw some squaters that had come in 8 days ago. I totally meant to bring my camera, but i forgot. Sorry. Others did, so I might try to get some of theirs from facebook eventually. I was really rather tired then too. I swear, I came down here and immediately got into wanting a siesta after break. So, we got done with that around 6:30ish, then some of us went out to dinner where I had more mole. (pronounced moe-lay) And on the way home, we stopped and got Oaxacan hot chocolate. mmm, cinnamon hot chocolate! Delicious! What a long, but good day!

oops, a few things I forgot.

Oh yeah, so today we went down to the Zócalo (plaza, or main square), and there was this music going, and all these people dancing. I asked some people watching what was the occasion, and they said that the sun was out, so the people were dancing! I just think that was sooo cool, and really cute. We should seriously do that in the US!

Orientation

So, today was sooo absolutely thrilling (haha). We did a lot of orientation stuff, which consisted of sitting in a small room that was quite warm, and I began to get a headache. We started at 9:30am (we were supposed to start at 9:00, yay we're in Mexico!) then listened to a lot of talking by our instructors. Then we had lunch at 1:30pm, then back for more listening stuff at 3:30. But at the end it was really interesting, because we began talking about actual Oaxacan culture, and some of the facts of the country. Such as the fact that there are 16 different indigenous languages, and 14 dialects. Also, 70% of the people live in poverty, and 40% are unemployed or underemployed. Those statistics are staggering! Also, 85% of the land is owned communally, much of which is by indigenous communities, and are run by their own governments. Except, while the federal government respects them on paper, they totally disregard them in person. Really rather lame of them, I think.
Our instructor, Jonathon, is really cool, and the other instructors seem awesome also. I ate cactus tacos, with oaxacan cheese for dinner. The girls in my group are all here now, and a lot of fun! Oh, and there's 17 girls, and 1 guy. Jeez, I feel kinda sorry for him. Well, we all do. Tomorrow we have our evaluation to figure out what spanish level class we'll be in. Whoohoo!

Flying to Oaxaca

Ok, so most of my flight to Oaxaca was fine... except the actual timeline in Mexico City, trying to get to Oaxaca. So I had a total of 2 hours in Mexico city to get off the plane, go through customs, and somehow find my way to the next plane. I waited in line for customs for about 45 minutes, then was getting too nervous with time, so I told a security person that I had to leave on a flight in about 30 minutes, so he let me go in front of the line. Then, I sort of new where I was going, but only kind of, so some security guard person "helped" me, and then I had to give him a tip. It wasn't much help, but it was still good to have I guess. I then tried to go through to the gate, but the people there said I was in the wrong terminal. I was in terminal 2, and I had to be in terminal 1. I took a quick 5 minute train ride over there.
Once I got there I looked for my flight on the screen, and couldn't find it! I asked a guy there if he knew where my flight to Oaxaca was, and he looked at my ticket and said it was in terminal 2. Ahhh, I had like, 15 minutes till my plane began boarding! I then asked some people that I'm pretty positive were pilots, and they totally helped me. They were going back on the train anyway, and made sure I got through the first gate there. Then they somehow got to the other side and pointed me the right way. Thank god for nice people!
I ran over to the gate for my flight, and then there was some trouble with my ticket because they couldn't originally find it electronically. Eventually they did, so I ran down 4 flights of ramp, and made it on to this little bus that took us out to the airplane. I think I was the last person there! But I made it, then met up with a guy who was also in the program. Once we got to Oaxaca, we took a taxi into the center and made it to the hostal. Yay!
There were already around 10 people here. It's pretty cool Today we walked around Oaxaca a little bit, got some pesos, and some coffee (chocolate for me), and then bought fruit, fresh tortillas, and mole from a mercado (market). Oh yeah, and I ate cactus fruit (tuna). Quite tasty. We start orientation tonight!

Frantic preparations

Wow, so this is my first post on a blog. How weird. Anyway, so I am now in the midst of frantically preparing to go to Mexico. I have a looong list of things I have to do, that I didn't realize I had a week ago. Ooops. :b However, one of the main topics on my to do list is to NOT PROCRASTINATE! Now I'm off to go bury my head in some hotpads, book pages, and shopping (not to mention packing), and hope I come out alive in Mexico!