Long Overdue Update

So this is a picture of myself and my really good friend, Jorge. He and I used to work together at the retirement center before I left. Ironically, we are both in Morelia at the same time. Caitlin, he, and I went to an event called El Torito de Petate on Ash Wednesday put on in El Museo del Estado (Museum of the State). The photo on top shows the float (for lack of a better word) that the people of a small, nearby village spent months putting together. It`s 150 pounds and sat on the shoulders of the man inside. How the tradition got started is not entirely clear, but people from all over the region make little bull masks and form parades. They also fill eggshells with confetti and enjoy throwing them at the float. Jorge decided to break his on my head! I kindly returned the favor with mine. All of this inspiration came from Caitlin`s aunt who had broken her egg on Caitlin`s head first. It was fun.

Last Sunday, the 8th, my host family decided to have a party at Edgar`s house, one of my host brothers. The two oldest sisters, Claudia and Gabriella made paella from scratch. Here is the huge pot. They had to make enough food for 14 people. They also made calamari ceviche. It was deliciously served with fresh avocado from this state. My host mom made a dessert called capirotada. It is made from pieces of bread, milk, cinammon, and other spices. Think bread pudding... sort of. I was responsible for the tequila. It`s not a Mexican fiesta without tequila!

I was also thinking that you guys might like to hear a little bit of the music that is popular in Morelia right now. Obviously, the iconic mariachi and banda music is ever playing. But there are also another 10 songs that I seem to hear everywhere, just walking down the street. This one is a duet performed by two Spaniards. The "th" lisp is typically Spanish, so obviously the people here to sound like those the song, but the song is incredibly popular nonetheless. Forgive me for the cheesy music video, but the artist didn`t come out with his own music video for this song. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UuMLzZ4VYo

Parties, Quesadillas, and Monarch Butterflies

So, last Friday night, there was a party to say goodbye to the surgical residents who are finishing their first year of residency. This week they are moving on to Leon. In true Mexican fashion, all the surgical nurses, surgeons, and aneasthesiologists got together for food, booze, music, and lots of dancing until late into the night. Luckily, I was invited, so I was able to partake in the fun. The lady on the right is the head surgical nurse. The man is one of the general surgeons, but not the one I shadowed daily. The other lady is a surgical nurse. Ironically, almost everyone there smoked cigarettes most of the night. But luckily it was outdoors so it wasn´t too smoky. We had a typical Michoacàn dish called Mixiote. It was made with a special sauce, chicken, and cactus. With rice and beans of course. And tequila to wash it down. We had a blast!

Two of my host sisters took my out on Sunday night for quesadillas. They had cheese and meat and cactus with crema Mexicana. Hot off the grill and delicious!

I finally went to go see the Monarch butterfly sanctuary. It was a two hour drive and then an hour hike up in the mountains. The santuary is at an altitud of 9800ft. Needless to say, the air was thin. And cold. But to see thousands of butterflies flying around in their winter home was amazing. In a couple weeks they will start their migration back to the US and Canada when the weather here starts getting too warm for them.

Adventures in the City

Sunday morning Caitlin and I walked through the city. It was so hot, we decided to go buy gazpacho. No, not cold soup. It`s freshly cut fruit with fruit juice and chili powder. Mine is mango, pineapple, and jicama. Caitlin`s is watermelon, cantelope, and pineapple. Yummy!!

Caitlin and I hanging out in the ballet room in the Casa de la Cultura, an ex- Carmelite convent.

So, Valentine`s Day is a big deal in Morelia. Or at least enough to warrant fireworks. They closed off the major blvd that runs through the middle of the city so that people could stand and watch the fireworks that they set off in front of the cathedral. It was really cool.

Living my Mexican life

In this picture you can see my new friend, Caitlin from Wisconsin, who I met at the language school. She is doing part of her student teaching practicum in a bilingual school. The girl is Holanda, the daughter of the Oncology Surgeon I know from the hospital. She goes to a bilingual school so she speaks some English. For a 10 year old, she`s not bad. I`m helping her practice speaking and correcting her when she needs it. Last weekend, Caitlin, Holanda and I went to the mall to watch a salsa dancing event. Then we went to Starbuck afterward because Holanda loves Starbucks. It is interesting to note that the prices for a coffee here are just about the same as in the US. All the interior and many of the drinks were the same too. I guess some things just never change...

So, my life has thankfully slowed down to a steady routine. My week-day morning breakfast usually consists of coffee in the house and then a pastry and drinkable yogurt while I`m walking or on the combi. Weekends afford me a little more time to relax. In my house, we typically eat papaya, banana, bolillo (small bread loaves- freshly baked they smell heavenly!!), and coffee. In the picture, my papaya has cheese on top. It is like ricotta cheese, but lighter and more dry. It is special, very low fat cheese that is made specially for my host dad by the cheese man because my host dad had a heart attack a couple of years ago.

Good Times

Thurday was Regina`s 39th birthday. Her aunt made her a cake, and here we are eating it! Regina is Camila`s mom. Next to her is her sister Julissa. My host dad, Pedro is sitting down and his son Fabrizio is standing up. The lighting is really bad so their faces look darker than they are and it`s hard to see them.

Last night I went to a bar named Balcon del Angel. The roof is open so you can see the steeples of the cathedral. Andrew, I drank a Corona with a lime in your honor. Yes, your sister drinks beer sometimes.

They had a belly dancer as entertainment at the bar for part of the night. There were live drummers and some guys dancing with fire too. My friend Caitlin from Wisconsin and I met some fellow Oregonians earlier in the night in the town square. They were meeting a teacher of theirs at their language school at the bar and invited us. Slowly but surely my social life is growing!

As a side note, I`m sorry I`m missing GenUnleashed for those of you going. I wish I could be there with you. Let me know how it is!

Something Unseen

I heard that the sun has failed to come out recently in Oregon. I thought I would remind you that it still exists. And it is beatiful. Hang on. I promise the rain will slow one day to reveal the sun. As a side note, winter in Mexico is quite enjoyable...

What Mexicans think...

So, I had an interesting converstion with my host dad and brother the other day. They taught me a commong Mexican saying, "When the US has a cold, Mexico has pneumonia". Basically, everybody here hopes Obama can turn around the American economy so the Mexican economy gets better too. I think Obama has the most difficult job in the world; everyone is looking to him to fix their problems. Also interesting, they told me that most Mexicans here don´t like the undocumented Mexicans that come to the US to work. They aren´t well respected here because they aren´t educated but come back with money and feel like they are important. The Mexicans here also resent them because they feel like they make it seem like all Mexicans are uneducated, each rice and beans, and drive lowered pick up trucks.

I have included some photos from the city. Seriously, it is so beautiful here. The photos are a little out of order, sorry. The third photo is of yet another ornate church in the city. The fourth one is of a an ex-convent and the plaza in front. It used to be of the Carmelite order, but the building is now called La Casa de Cultura (The Culture House). It is funded by the government so that people can take music lessons, theater classes, etc for super cheap. It´s really cool walking through the halls and hearing different musical instruments playing. In that hall is where the second photo came from. The rooms used to be the individual bedrooms for the monks. As you can see, the doorways are very small. I guess the Spaniards weren´t very tall back then... The fifth photo is taken from the entrance of El Hotel de la Soledad. The courtyard of the hotel is open to the sky (ie no roof), has a large fountain, and then a bunch of trees around it. There is a small creek running through the trees and small Christmas lights lightening them up. The crystal chandeliers light the hallways to the rooms. It is a beautiful building but spendy, at 1000 pesos a night! What do you notice about the first picture? Curiously, the moon appears to be in a U-shape insead of a crescent the right or left side. Just goes to show how far south I really am.

Today marks a month of being in Mexico. On one hand, the time has flown by. But at the same time, I feel like I´ve been bere forever. I am pretty well settled in now though, and I LOVE working in the hospital. Sometimes, as I´m walking home in a short sleeve shirt, after having bought freshly baked pastries for a fraction of a dollar, I can´t believe I´m actually here.

PS Carrie/Ginger, email me. I have pictures I need to email you. And Carrie, I still owe you 270 pesos. I haven´t forgotten...

Okay, so finally some pictures! This one is of Janitzio, the island in the middle of the lake Pàtzcuaro is located on. The statue is of Morelos, one of the heroes of the Mexican independence. We climbed really steep stairs to the top. It was a beautiful view.

On the way to Pàtzcuaro we stopped for lunch in the small town of Zirahuèn. I had a delicious soup with huge shrimp in it. The lady in this picture is making tortillas, fresh, by hand in the restaurant.

The inside of a church in a small town, also on the way to Pàtzcuaro. It was built in the 1500`s. The inside of the church was done in the 1800`s. Pictures actually aren`t allowed, to help preserve the artwork. I didn`t find that out until after I took the picture...

The government building on the main drag in Morelia, Via Madero. The small bug-bus in the forground is a red combi. The traffic in this city is horrible because all the streets are really narrow because they weren`t built for cars. This picture was taken Friday night at around 7pm.

Quirks of Mexico

So I am finally getting around to updating this blog also. I would have been able to post pictures of my weekend in the nearby town of Pàtzcuaro two weekends ago, but someone is using that computer. So those will come later. I have been keeping a daily journal of occurences that have made me smile with the realization of how different two cultures can be:
1. a young boy (maybe about 10 yrs old) riding the combi (small bus) holding a live baby chick he had just found. It was chirping very noisily because it was being squeezed so tightly.
2. a man riding his motorcycle while talking on his cell phone. wearing no helmet.
3. they still use typewriters in the hospital.
4. they sweep the courtyard in front of the hospital every morning. with a palm frond.
5. employees are allowed to arrive 30 min late to their job. the time just gets deducted from their pay.
6. I ate drinkable raisin-flavored yogurt this morning for breakfast. It wasn´t as delicious as strawberry, but it wasn´t too bad!

Tomorrow I`m going to the local market with my Spanish tutor. He told me not to eat breakfast, so it sounds like I`ll have a tasty update for you guys later!

Taking the Wrong Bus

Whew!! Today was quite a day. I went on a field trip today with my tutor to various museums to look at murals depicting the history of Mexico as seen by the Mexicans today. Unfortunately, I didn´t have my camera, so I´ll have to go back and post pictures later. After school, I went to the hospital to meet my tutor. After waiting for 1 1/2 hours to see the director of the hospital, I learned that my mentor wasn´t there today and that I have to wait to meet him on Monday! During the time waiting, I took some pictures of the hospital, which you can see on the other blog. The real event of the day took place when I took the wrong combi to get home for lunch. Combis are small buses, or VW vans. They are color coded and are numbered for each route. I was so focused on finding a 1 or 4, that I didn´t realize I got on a brown one instead of a red one. In my defense, brown and red seem to be very very similar colors here in Mexico when on a combi. So after taking a nice tour around town and ending up in the middle of nowhere (literally!), I had to return on another bus and walk to my house. All´s well that ends well though and I made it back home safely and then some. On the bright side, however, I am quite well oriented with the layout of the city now should I ever need to find my way home again.

In other exciting news, tomorrow I am going to a nearby city named Pátzuaro. I have made two new friends at the language school who ironically are also from Oregon! Here´s to you, Ginger and Carrie. After spending the weekend at the lake and viewing the well-preserved traditions of the area, I will post pictures of our trip and descriptions. That´s all for now. Please write me emails to let me know how all of you are doing. And starting next week, I should have some exciting hospital stories. It looks like I might be starting in the Emergency Room!

Also, a side note, to explain the pictures. The older man is my host dad, Pedro. He is dancing with his grandaughter, Camila, who lives with us. She is one year old. The other picture of her is with my host mom, Leonor, and her aunt, Julissa, who also lives with us. Camila was opening her presents that the Three Kings brought her. This is January 6, the day kids get their presents if they´ve been good all year. They don´t really have Santa Claus here. The other photo is just a little park I walk by on my way home from school. I also included a picture of a church in the Plaza de San Francisco. It is the same plaza as the huge tree that you can see in the photo from my roof.

In Mexico, Finally!

Hi Everyone! I am finally here, in Morelia, Mexico after two flight connections in Phoenix and Houston. And don´t worry, I´m safe. The architecture of the city is beautifully inspired by the Spanish, and the main cathedral has been voted the most beautiful in Mexico. You can see the two main spires in the distance in the photos that I took from my roof. My host family has been most warm and welcoming. My favorite part of the house is the roof, via the spiral staircase. I am also including pictures of my language school. There is a small terrace where we can hang out and study. I thought I would include some fun quirks about being in Mexico: the computer keyboard is different; I can´t find the "at" sign. The sink in my bathroom has only cold water (nothing like a cold splash in the face to wake you up!). We eat our main meal at around 2pm in the afternoon. Dinner consists of a very small snack. The trashman comes everday, walking down the sidewalk, ringing a bell. If you want him to take your trash, you listen for the bell, and run out to stop him.
Overall, the city is very well off. I have seen my fair share of brand new Jettas and the people are very fashion conscious. Their clothing stores have the same stuff we do. And the people I have met so far are super friendly. And the lady of the house is a superb cook, so I am eating well.

I will write more later....