More Mexico Highlights

Finally getting around to finishing this:

• Conquering my fear of heights and climbing to the top of the pyramid at Teotihuacan.
• The view of the Palacio de Belles Artes from Sears.  Mexico City has a 8-9 story Sears and the view of the Palacio de Belles Artes from the higher floors is stunning.
• The buffet at Manzanial:  Oh my.  One of the veggie friendly restaurants in Oaxaca has an all-you-can-eat buffet on Saturdays for about $6.  I went there twice (should have gone more!) including on my birthday.  Definitely a treat!
• Mexican Murals: I really didn´t know much about Mexican Muralism before I came here.  The murals I saw, particularly in Mexico City, were amazing.  It´s hard to imagine the planning that goes into a painting that large and detailed.
• The many dance and music performances I attended, particularly in Oaxaca.  Unfortuantely, many of these took place in low-light settings so I don´t have any photos.  And I really don´t know how to describe any of them.  So I guess you´ll just have to come here yourself!
• The kindness of the school directors in Morelia:  Even though I eventually decided to leave Morelia and return to Guanajuato for the Spanish training, I really appreciated how helpful both of the school directors in Morelia were.
• Gwen: Gwen is an American that I met while using the computer at the Oaxaca lending library.  (we tended to use the computers a lot and at the same time) For the most part, I chose to keep to myself here in Oaxaca.  But it was nice to have someone to talk to and ocassionally have lunch with.

Take me with you

Tuesday, when I told the kids at Estancia that I was leaving, the reaction I got, particularly from the teenage girls is that they wanted me to take them with me. I don´t think it had anything to do with me, they just wanted to go to the US. It was actually something I had thought about. No, no, no! Not bringing a teenage girl back with me. Get your mind out of the gutter!

But I had thought about bringing one or more of the kids back with me, and showing them around the US for a while. The idea came from a book I read about a month ago called “Take Me With You.” The author traveled through several poor countries (India, the Philippines, Kenya, and a few others) with the sole purpose of picking one person and bringing them to the US and showing them around. Someone who would never have a chance to travel otherwise. The author eventually picked a guy from the Phillipines, though it took about 8 or 9 years before he was finally able to bring him over. They went on a road trip across the US together.

Anyway, if there was a way to make it work I would have. But there would have been too many logistical problems. How would I be able to explain my idea to the parent(s). And even if the parent(s) agreed, there would be a huge language barrier between myself and whoever I picked. That´s not a big deal when you´re just playing with someone for an hour or two a day. But traveling together? That´s a whole different story. And then there would be the problem of who to pick (the author of the book I read had the same problem and eventually picked a name at random).

It would have been fun and I´m sure it would have been an amazing experience for whoever I picked. But I just couldn´t figure a way to pull it off.

Sometimes I wish I could stay forever….

My post on additional Mexican highlights will once again have to wait.  Because yesterday, I had a moment that trumped all previous moments.  The story starts about a month again.  I was volunteering at Estancia and having difficulty figuring out what to do because all the kids were otherwise engaged.  Suddenly, this 5 or 6 year old girl – Gabriela – appeared.  I had never seen her before.  Anyway, we started playing together and it was like magic.  She and I clicked and had a wonderful time together.  When it came time for me to leave that day, she was hanging on to me, not wanting me to go.

Since Estancia is a drop-in shelter, I wasn´t sure if I´d see her again.  And sure enough, weeks went by and I didn´t see her.  Fast forward to last Wednesday.  I walked into Estancia, and a little girl ran up to me, all excited to see me.  My reaction was “who are you”.   I asked her her name and she said “Gabriela”.   Now, here´s the thing.  If someone had asked me if there was a little girl that I played with once and hadn´t seen again, I would have said “sure, Gabriela.”  And yet, when she was standing right before me and told me her name, it didn´t register at first.  It took about 10-15 minutes before I put two and two together.

Estancia was closed on Thursday and Friday.  Monday Gabriela was there again and once again we had a wonderful time playing together.  When it came time for me to leave, she pulled me down to her level and planted a kiss on my cheek.  I think my heart completely melted at that moment. 

Sadly, I don´t think I´ll get a chance to see her again.  She wasn´t there today and I´m not sure if I´ll have time to stop by tomorrow before I leave.

Cinco de Mayo

Okay, I decided to wait to finish my post on my Mexican highlights.  Since my sister wanted to know about Cinco de Mayo here in Oaxaca, I though I´d cover that.  Except there´s not much to say.  The schools were closed today and that was about it.  This page in Wikipedia explains why:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo

It´s more of a Mexican-American holiday.  I particularly like this quote “The holiday, which has been celebrated in California continuously since 1863, is virtually ignored in Mexico.”  Wow! Who knew??? 

Hmm…I think this is my shortest post ever.

Mexican highlights

Now that I´m almost done with my time in Mexico, I wanted to make a list of my best expereinces, the things that I´ll remember years from now.  Of course, many of my experiences have been quite mundane.  I´ve heard from some people who are jealous that I´m “living life to the fullest”.  I´m really not.  Sometimes I feel a twinge of jealousy towards those people who are doing a round the world trip where every day brings some new adventure or amazing sight.  But I know that I don´t enjoy running from place to place and that I´d get tired real quickly during that type of trip. 

So here´s my list.  For the most part, they´re in no particular order.  But there are two things that really stand out for me:

• Spending time with my friend Hazel – nothing beats spending time with a dear friend
• Esmeralda – I absolutely adore her.  I hope she knows how much the time we´ve spent togetehr has meant to me.  Even if I never see her again, she will always be in my heart.

And now for the rest:

• All the other kids I met at Estancia Infantil – Maria de los Angeles, Jose Enrique, Gabriela, Stephanie, Victor, David, Federique, Marcus, Luz, Maria Guadalupe, Antonio, Rosa, Clitalla, Isabel, and many others whose names I don´t remember or never learned.
• Three heartwarming moments.  Two I´ve mentioned previously.  Stephanie hugging her dad and the bus driver and his daughter.  These are mentioned here http://edstravels.com/2008/04/25/my-faith-in-humanitybriefly-restoredbut-not-for-long/ and here:http://edstravels.com/2008/01/28/a-somewhat-unexpected-change-of-venue/ The last one happened last night.  As I´ve mentioned previously, many poor families will play the accordian as a way of trying to get people to give them money.  Last night I saw something unique.  The dad was playing the accordian and his son and daughter were hugging each other and dancing, having a grand old time.  Needless to say, I gave them some money, more than I´ve given anyone else.
• The beauty of Queretaro (sorry still haven´t been able to recover my photos) and the kindness of the hotel staff when I was sick.
• Two bus rides.  From Morelia to Guanajuato, we passed over a series of large lakes.  And here´s the thing…the bridge was only a foot or two above the water.  Truly a stunning sight.  The bus ride from Mexico City to Oaxaca also had many memorable views.
• My best day in Mexico:  http://edstravels.com/2008/03/09/my-best-day-yet-in-mexico/

More highlights tomorrow….