Saturday = Home

Saturday finishes my 5 weeks here, and I will be headed home. I’m glad to have had the chance to be here, but super excited to come back. I want good shower pressure, I want to drive my car and sleep in my own bed, I want to eat green lettuce, I want a really good American hamburger, and most of all I want to see my people!

I peed in a cave

Yesterday some people from our group went on an excursion to Las Grutas, or the caverns. It was fairly different from the caves I’ve seen in the U.S. – wider and more open, and surprisingly not cold. I purposely wore warmer clothes so I wouldn’t get chilly, only to find out that that was an unnecessary precaution in this particular cavern. I’m not positive what the exact temp was, but I’d venture to say it was around 24 (75 Fahrenheit).

They had a wide cement walkway throughout the 2km path we took, and in true Mexico style, very few railings to keep you from hopping of the walkway to touch something that caught your fancy. Some of the formations were lit up with colored lights, and our guide was sure to make many jokes and point out other stalactites or stalagmites that resembled anything from soccer team mascots to a kissing couple to dinosaurs.

But the real surprise came when, about half way in, we saw a bathroom - not exactly what I anticipated seeing smack dab in the middle of the cave amongst ancient rock formations. There was even some poor guy whose job it was to fold up little mounds of TP and hand you one when you gave him the 3 pesos it cost to use the bathroom there. As a side note, I found it interesting from an economist’s perspective (thanks for the inspiration, Daniel), that there was actually no mark up on fee to use the facilities in the middle of the cave. Even though they had people as a captive audience, so to speak, it was 3 pesos to use the restroom either in the cavern or at the main entrance before entering the cave.

I pretty much used the bathroom just to say that I’d peed in a cave. Someone brought up the fact that they weren’t sure where the water came from or where the waste went, a curious point for sure, but not one for which I was highly motivated to seek answers. In Mexico, after you fork over your money it is customary for pay bathrooms to give you a receipt (heaven only knows to what end), and I kept mine as proof that I actually did pee in a cave. Add this one to the time I had to pee off the end of a pontoon boat, full of tourists, and I only need one more to have a nice little triptych of peculiar peeing stories.

VIP

There are many things that Americans do well, and in fact do better than any other country: rap music, hamburgers and fries, and clean public restrooms, to name a few. That said, however, it gives me great pains to announce that going to the movie theater in the U.S. will never be the same again, because Mexico knows how to do it better. A couple days ago, I went to the “VIP” section of the theater to watch a movie, and let me tell you, it was phenomenal. (Pictured: Wes & Carter, two students from our group, hamming it up before the movie.)

First of all there are these big comfy leather (pleather?) seats, and yes, they recline. You simply pull a small lever, your feet are raised to a comfortable angle, and then you push the back of the chair until you find your perfect reclining angle. Second, they bring you food right to your chair. You just press a little button (like the flight attendant button on airplanes, but with much better results – wait for it, wait for it…) and a happy server bounds up to your row, walks on the ample passageway between your raised feet and then head of the person the next row down, and asks you want they can bring you in a way that makes you feel like you are a billionaire vacationing in Greece.

My roommate here, Sara, and I chose to split the beer special, two Coronas for $50 pesos ($4.17USD), she got butter popcorn and I got caramel corn. Our server sped away and arrived in a couple minutes with the popcorns and beer in frosted glasses, complete with salted rims, lots of lime, and even salsa on the side. (Yes, the even put salsa in beer here – you can find it everywhere, but I chose to leave the salsa out of it.)

The lights dimmed, we partook of our libations, and we soaked in the enjoyment over the next 2 hours. I actually drank my whole beer, a rarity, because it was so great ice cold with lots of lime and salt. The caramel corn was some of the best I’ve ever had, and when I couldn’t eat anymore of it, I gently pushed away the swivel table and snuggled down even more in the seat. Really I think I would watch almost anything if it was in the VIP theater – including grass grow, as one student admitted would be perfectly fine with him in that setting. It was incredibly luxurious and I want to go back again. The dollar-fifty theater back home may be cheap, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the experience of the VIP!

Puebla and other Favorites

Last week in Puebla, I realized I really liked the city because it reminds me of three other great cities in Mexico. It is one of the colonial cities, like Guanajuato, which means it has great European architecture with a wide range of Mexican colors. They also have crosswalk signals with a little running guy, who starts out at a normal pace and then as the time ticks down he walks faster and faster until he’s ready to compete as a professional speed walker (just as entertaining as it was in Morelia, Rach!). And finally, I think the same sculptor that made really great funky chairs to go outside of the Hospicio Cabañas in downtown Guadalajara also made ones for the Amaya Anthropology Museum in Puebla. I simply had to try them out.

¡Sí se puede!

That is Mexico’s all-purpose cheer, essentially meaning “It can be done!” or “You can do it!” And today in the World Cup, they certainly proved that to be true! In a fierce game against France, Mexico prevailed with a 2-0 win. I got (a bit) of face paint on each of my cheeks in preparation for the big game, and Ernesto, María Elena’s 7year old grandson, got all decked out. We celebrated with lots of shouts and some jumping up and down. And of course, after each of the two golden points they scored, there was much repeating of the famous “Goooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaallllllll!!!!!”

Agradecida (Thankful)

I’ve found many places with clean bathrooms (thanks for reminding me, Lynn!).
I get to eat salsa verde on something almost every day.
I get to speak Spanish all the time.
My Mexican house mom, María Elena, is precious.
My roommate, Sara, is wonderful.
Friday I’m going VIP at the movies – large recliners, A/C, and they serve beer. (I don’t love Mexican beers, but I do love the idea of getting someone to bring you a cold beer you while you recline in a comfy chair at the theater. Did I mention we’re going to see Toy Story 3? Somehow it just seems right to drink beer while watching a children’s movie.)
Skype – it’s totally my new favorite.
There are lots of cool skulls here (yes, Sarah, pirate roots!)
The weather is cooler than in Durham.
I don’t have to do dishes! (don’t be jealous, Emily)

Spring is Here!

So, it’s 24 degrees (75 for you, Chases) here today, and the high might get up to 28 (83). We’ve had rain the past few days, which is what really serves to cool things off and make everything more comfortable. The so-called City of Eternal Spring finally feels like Spring!

Stupid American

Even though I wear pants instead of shorts to be more like the locals and even though I can barter down taxis enough to impress Mexican friends, I still have fulfilled the role of stupid American a few times recently. Earlier this week, I was trying to Skype while I was at an outside café with people all around. I had to talk really loud above all the other noise for the person on the other line to hear me, so I was the annoying white girl wearing the dorky headset loudly spouting off sentence after sentence in a language foreign to the other, more polite, patrons.

Right now I'm writing from Starbucks - yes, I admit it even if it pains me. It's just that no other place makes iced mochas with, well, ice. They all end up being kind of lukewarm in other cafés which to me means they're missing the point. My stupid American moment today came when I stubbornly decided to walk here in the 34 degree Celcius (93 Fahrenheit) heat instead of taking a taxi. I'm just tired of riding in and paying for taxis. Did I mention that I was also carrying a heavy backpack complete with computer and first year text book?

So I arrived here after the warm 25 minute uphill walk, sweaty and tired. I ordered my drink, and was so focused on getting it and sitting down to drink it, that I accidentally forgot to order it iced. Luckily though, Starbucks in Mexico is like Starbucks in the U.S. in many ways, and they generously offered to fix what was my own mistake. The best news is, though, that I just paid only 29 pesos ($2.42 USD) for an iced venti half caf americano with 4 pumps of white chocolate (I'm thinking of you, Meghann!). And even if I'm a stupid American, I'm at least a happy one.

Semilla de Mostaza (Mustard Seed)

Here is where I’ve gone to church the past two weeks – under a tent. It’s nice when the breeze comes through and when you can see birds’ shadows fly overhead through the translucent canopy. It’s been so refreshing to be there, worshipping God in the presence of community. The music especially has been encouraging. MaElena, two undergrads from my group, and I all go together. The parking lot is certainly a sight to be seen with as many cars packed into an enclosed space as is possible. They have it down to a science, and there’s no problem as long as you don’t have designs of slipping out right after the service ends.

I heart D.F.

Having my friend Ale in town for 3 days this past week made me remember/realize a few different things. 1. I really like Ale, it’s nice to have long-time friends (we’ve been friends for over 5 years), and it’s fun to have Mexican friends. 2. You can see everything there is to see in Cuernavaca in a couple days. 3. When you go to cities surrounding Cuernavaca, such as Tepotzlan and Cocoyoc, you can see everything there is to see in each of those in an afternoon. 4. D.F. (Mexico City) is therefore my new favorite because there’s so much to see and do, and it’s neither dirty nor unsafe. Don’t worry, Mom & Dad, I keep a watchful eye and am careful when I go, but honestly the parts of the city I’ve been to are super nice. I highly recommend if you ever have the chance to go to D.F. that you do it!
We went to D.F. again this past weekend, and got to go to the Castillo de Chapultepec where one of Siqueiros’s murals is painted. Besides Rivera’s murals who I’ve already posted, Orozco and Siqueiros are the other two biggies in Mexican muralism. Siqueiros is incredible. His murals are dramatic and express so much movement. I was in awe as I walked around the 8-sided accordion-shaped room where he depicted the Mexican Revolution. I got in two pictures of it before the camera battery died (I promise I’d checked it earlier in the day, Brett!), but I was so enamored with the painting I didn’t even care. I think many of you who are artists yourselves would prefer Siqueiros’s work because of the sheer impact he creates with vibrant tones, bold shapes, and a mixture of the defined and the abstract.

Frida y Diego

We walked in downtown Coyoacan, a suburb of D.F., and I decided that is where I would live if I had to live in Mexico. It is clean, colorful, has wide streets and good sidewalks, fun shops, and different things to do. There is also a place like Local Yogurt, the healthy frozen yogurt shop that just opened not too long ago in Durham. The only difference is that it’s half the price and twice as good!
Coyoacan (not the same as the mini town of Cocoyoc where you can do everything in an afternoon) is also the home of Casa Azul, Frida Kahlo’s house. Although I have been won over by Diego Rivera’s murals, I have never been much of a fan of the paintings of Frida Kahlo, his equally famous wife. Being in her (their) home, however, was quite nice. It had a number of different small rooms centered around great patios, and it was set up in such as way as to get an idea of her daily life as she struggled with a long-standing back injury that was practically incapacitating.

That’s not the way we did it in Virginia… or in Guanajuato

Family – no explanation needed. Friends, there was a kid who moved to Arizona from Virginia when I was in 5th grade, and anything that wasn’t just to his liking would receive his official commentary of, “That’s not the way we did it in Virginia.” The phrase became a family joke, and now it’s quite convenient for anything that’s just not your favorite. I had heard that there was a woman the nearby city of Tepotzlan who makes tlacoyos, a yummy indigenous fried pocket of goodness. Ale and I would go lots of Saturdays in Guanajuato when I lived there, so I figured it’d be fun to go together when she came to visit. Sadly, however, the version in Tepotzlan was not nearly as good as its northern counterpart. We did get to see some pretty cool things, though – murals made of beans and seeds, a rugged landscape, and a tiny but wonderful museum of various carved artifacts found at the pyramid close by. We went on the day of their weekly market, when the vendors were plentiful and the wears were their own sight to be seen.

New Obsessions

One of the greatest things about being in Cuernavaca is how close it is to Mexico City - the capital of Mexico and the largest city in the world. On Saturday we went to the Palacio Nacional that has some very famous murals painted by the renowned Diego Rivera (who was actually born in the city I used to live in, Guanajuato). Since I will be taking a Mexican Muralism class this fall, I have taken advantage of being here to see as many murals in person as I can! His works are very detailed, very packed, and very interesting, and his murals as well as I some I saw in Guadalajara years ago by Orozco are my new nerdy obsession.

I was also super excited we got to go the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City. Due to a weird and fascinating short story by Carlos Fuentes (my favorite Mexican author), the Chac Mool figure who appears on old mesoamerican temples and pyramids is another one of my minor nerdy obsessions. I definitely wanted my picture with him, and he was kind enough to oblige me.

I love all of the Aztec, Maya, and other Mesoamerican culture designs for some reason. They also use a lot of skulls, which I like. I don't like the gory ones, to be sure, and I certainly don't support the ones that resulted from human sacrifices. However, I think it's the pirate in me (Rach, don't tell your sailor Joel!) that finds skulls kinda neat.

This last week has also been great since besides enjoying time with the gringos in our group, I have also had fun with Mexican friends, old and new. Ale, my friend from Guanajuato, took a 6-hour bus ride to come hang out with me. It was great to chat with her and have some new adventures, including trespassing in an ex-hacienda. Originally someone told us we could go there and look around, but after an hour plus long bus ride, the woman at the gate told us we were only welcome in the bar and no where else. I'm not too big on trespassing generally, but once we made it to the bar, well, we just kept walking and no one bothered us. We took some pictures, I had a limeade and Ale a beer, and then we left. It was a nice little adventure.

My new Mexican friend is Maria Elena, our 60 year old house mom who looks no where near her actual age. After going to a variety show older than on Sunday, we made our way to an outdoor café to enjoy some frozen coffee. She really has been quite kind to me and the other 3 women that she's housing right now, and I even got to go to church with her this week which was a welcomed refreshment.