My Internship!

Ok. So I'm really really really really really really really really really excited today.

A) I went to the gym in the morning before it got hot cause I have class in the afternoon instead.

B) Yesterday I found a health food store thing that sells AWESOME granola and get this....BANANA CHIPS!

C) Tonight is the first night of Greys Anatomy and however lame, I can't wait. Especially since Erin is coming over and we are going to watch it with my host mom and her sister and her friends and have Pina Coladas. Yes!

D) I got to skype with Nate for an hour yesterday. And I'll get to skype with lots of people soon. Internet....October 5th. Different company etc. But its going to work this time. And I'm not just saying that!

E) My host mom's sister (Marta) owns cabin/house/hotel things at Hualtulco (9 bays) and she said that I could go for FREE and about 7 other friends for CHEAP!!!! SOOOOOO excited! More my kind of beach than Puerto Escondido anyway. I'm thinking mid-October. I'll keep you guys posted.

F) Best of all....this morning I met with my sociology professor (also in charge of our internships) and now I know where I'm going to work! Almost everyone is being assigned to different organizations in pairs because of how many of us there are and how many organizations are cutting back because of lack of funding. But not me. I'm on my own. Apparantly my professor was talking with Kristen Labs and Tamara Williams and the nursing people and I get to actually do "health stuff." I"m working with Manos de Vida (www.manosdevida.org You should really look it up). It's a program to promote health in Oaxaca, specifically working with children. Apparently its also a little further away/further out than the other organizations, but it sounds amazing. I have to go be trained ahead of time but I'm so glad that I get to do actual work (a lot of people end up just doing data entry and cleaning). I'm sooooooo excited. And it has a Christian basis. And I think I get to be a "Che." And And And.....haha.

Oh...PS...Internships are the last month I'm here. November 23rd until December 18th I think. 9-5 every day of the work week.

Anyway. It's a good day. I send smiles to all. Can they be contagious if they have to travel that many miles? I hope so!

Love!

A blog of Questions....

Why hello my lovely people. I have a plethora of things to talk about today. Horray!

My gecko whom I have dubbed PEDRO visited me again last night. I love him! He eats all the mosquitos and ants in my room and he makes kissing noises at me! Nate....he's your biggest threat while I'm here in Mexico. Hehe.

Needless to say, I DID finish my anthropology HW and the class was a lot of interesting today. We actually discussed and such...and I discovered that what our professor really wants from the questions that we have to answer is discussion points and thoughts. So as long as I don't obsess over the fact that there's NO way I will be able to understand the finest points of the readings for a little while, I'll be OK. Today we talked about how you define someone who is Indigenous....the methods they've used in the past are SO interesting, and if you look at the differences in the Indigenous population in the censuses for the past 50 years, you see HUGE fluctuations in the number simply because of the criteria of someone indigenous. It sounds dumb here, but it was really interesting. The one thing that I need help with is my essay. For the end of the class I have to write a 20 page essay in spanish. (scream). I've never even written that much in English! About Indigenous people in Mexico...anyone have topic ideas?

Also....fyi.....I just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love. And I HIGHLY recommend it. It's so inspiring. And it mentions Oaxaca! Isn't that ironic? I really want to learn how to meditate now. But for real....I recommend it to all. Now I'm reading Jurassic Park. Hehe. And Allie...I love Molo'kai (about the leper community off Hawaii in the 1920s'ish). Also...the 19th Wife is interesting, but I would classify it as OK. Oh...and the Wally Lamb book, "The Hour I First Believed," made me cry multiple times. It's about Columbine. Can you guys tell that I've had a lot of time to read here? The things you have time to do when you can't "surf" the Internet.

Another question.....does anyone have gift requests? I was thinking about Christmas the other day....(=. No really....but seriously....(=

What else? Oh yeah! I saw "LAS VAGINAS" last night. It was good. I really want to see the Vagina Monologues in English now as well. Let's just say that I learned a lot of doble sentidos for the word in Spanish (including conejita, tarantula, palomito, and papaya among others...hehe). But it's a really good play because it combines humorous sections with sections about rape and manipulation of women....which makes it educational and like, eyeopening as well. About half way through, while laughing, I realized that I was viewing a play in Spanish. A whole play! That lasted like 2 hours! And I understood casi total! It was very exciting (=

Hasta luego amigos (=

I am spending all of my money on books. Textbooks! Copies of thousands of readings nonetheless! AND....I love sociology, but anthropology was a bad idea. You should see my notes from the first day. They have arrow all over and make no sense! I have like, 100 pages of dense, academic Spanish to read for tomorrow and questions to answer. It depresses me. A lot. Our professor assigned us the book he wrote to read (of which he couldn't remember the title lol). BUT....we have to read it all....for tomorrow. Death. Death I say!

On a lighter note....I'm going to see the Vagina monologues tonight in Spanish at a theatre. 50 pesos and we're talking a NICE theatre. I'm excited! The play is entitled...."Las Vaginas" I definitely embarrassed myself when I told my host mom where I was going to be....hahahaha.

Hasta manana!

I Can't Think of Anything Clever....

Today I'm randomly going to write about two things: color and words.

One of the things I love the most here are all of the colors. Especially when you are walking down some of the older and less used streets (that still have cobblestones!), all the houses are different colors. Different BRIGHT colors. Yesterday I even walked by a rainbow painted door! It was amazing (= I was also thinking about colors because well, I washed my clothes yesterday. Lets just say that I'm going to need to replace them when I get back lol, especially the white ones. It depressed me. Oh well!

Words. I've been learning new vocab the whole time I've been here obviously, but I've just started to make a point out of writing down the words that I learn. There's so much to learn! I love words. I think I got that from you Mom (=. My intercambio and I were talking today about how it's funny how, for example, someone who has learned English as a second language will know it in a more proper form than someone who has spoken it all of their life because only "proper" language is taught in schools. Ok....story.....All my Spanish years I've used the word Chaqueta to say coat or jacket. That's what Mr. Hance gave us on our 200 word vocab test! I studied the flashcards! Apparently this word has a double meaning....(it references masturbation). We are supposed to say Chamarra (?) instead. BUT...did I know that? No lol. However, the police who had to pat us down to get into the Zocolo in Mexico City did. And laughed their heads off. Awkward..... Yeah. Anyway. The point of that is that I need to learn more street Spanish! haha.

Love to all. Hope your first day of school went well Nate (=

I'm still here! It's been awhile!

Hola mis amigos!!!!

It’s been awhile. And I miss you all! I’m excited to get back into message sending more often, because right now writing this one seems rather daunting. I shall commence in an orderly fashion….

Last FRIDAY after classes I left for Mexico City. LOOOOOONG bus ride involving drowsy Dromamine pills, a frightening bathroom on a moving vehicle, and, after 7 hours, a 2 hour traffic jam in the streets of MC that were currently flooded by the torrents of rain, thunder, and lightning that made at least one appearance everyday.

SATURDAY we talked a lot. Yep. Lol. The focus of our trip….with the organization Witness for Peace….was to learn about how NAFTA has affected economy in Mexico, in terms of the city, the people in poverty, the campesinos, the consumers, the maquiladora women, etc. We listened to speakers, etc. Oh….and we stayed in a hostel “La Casa de los Amigos.” It was run by Quaker volunteers. Cool huh? Only they are activist Quakers. It was nice to have a break from rich food when we ate at the house. I’ve missed salad and granola!

SUNDAY we had free time in the morning and went to el Museo de Anthropologia. Interesting journey on the Metro to get there…..(Side note: It costs 2 pesos to ride the metro. Very cheap. City of 20 MILLION people. Thus…..MILLIONS of people on the Metro. Crazy. End of trip totals=2 stolen cell phones and 1 stolen wallet and 2 butt grabs and 1 chest swipe. I got away without any. But lets just say….ADVENTURE!) When we finally found the museum we discovered that on Sundays Mexican citizens can see the museum for free. MILLIONS of people. But all in all in was really impressive and very fascinating. Especially since I’m starting Anthro this week. Some of the other peeps went to La Casa de Frida Caldo. Y mas saw a parade that was being held for Independence Day.

MONDAY…the 14^th yes? Um…I think that day was mostly learning and discussion. Oh! A woman named Valerie came from the Organization ProDESC which was really interesting to hear about. Google it! That night we went to the Zocolo...(city center) and it was packed. It was the pre-celebration for the Independence day ceremonies. TONS of people selling things. We went kind of crazy with the gear haha (=

The NEXT day was el Dia de Independencia en Mexico City, the country's capital, one of the BIGGEST cities in the WORLD. And we were there! A friend and I went to la Palacia de Bellas Artes in the morning. It was wonderful and beautiful. One of Diego Rivera's murals is called "Man who Control the Universe" or something like that, is absolutely amazing and I could study it for hours and not get bored. After the museum I was pooped on by a bird. Yes. It's true. Our group went to a restaurant to eat Pozole, which is delicious and a tradition on Independence day, and then we were free! So....we went to the Zocolo again. In Mexico on Independence Day they have a thing called "El Grito" where the President comes out to look over the center area from his Palace (it's really called a palace) and yell at 11pm. "Vive (all sorts of people) , Viva Mexico, VIVA MEXICO!" And then there are fireworks and music and such. Now remember....we are OBVIOUS gringos. This is a city of 20 MILLION people. (that don't necessarily hold much respect for their president). With that in mind....IT WAS AWESOME! Such a cool and crazy experience. I'm glad I was there and that I went, because I was kind of afraid to go. The bad part that was difficult to get out of my head (so I stopped trying) was the insane juxtaposition between the fireworks and the decorations and obvious wealth and the numerous beggers and indigenous people selling things and the little girl that came up to me to sell me a piece of candy. It's sad and horrible and wrong. Anyway, it was a day of contradictions and emotions and it was fun, but it wasn't just surface fun either. There was a lot of think about.

WEDNESDAY was our tourist day. We went to the pyramids of Teotihuacan and it was so beautiful and awe-inspiring. The pyramida de la luna is the 3rd largest in the world. We climbed that one and la pyramida del sol. Lets just say I didn't feel like running afterward (=. It was gorgeous. I took lots of pictures and I tried to post then but it isn't working. I'm sorry! I'll keep trying. They're on facebook..... We also went to la Basilica de Nuestra Virgen Guadalupe, which was also beautiful and interesting, but felt awkward. I felt uncomfortable "sightseeing" in a place where people were praying and witnessing something they obviously believe in very strongly. But it was fun. That night we all watched a 10 peso pirated movie in Spanish (=. Horray for El Rey LEON!!!! (It still makes me cry in Spanish hehe)

THURSDAY we left in our giant bus and went to Puebla to listen to another professor and have lunch in that city's Zocolo, then we continued on to Oaxaca, finally returning around 930 PM. It was a great trip. I don't know if I want to return to MC, but I'm glad I got to go.

Since then, I began my class of Sociologia at the ICO (so excited, really interesting, tons of reading), discovered that there's a gecko living in my room and named him Pedro, planned a Greys Anatomy premiere party involving margharitas with my host mom haha, tried a Step class at the gym where I was the only gringa lol, and OH! AFTER A MONTH OF COLD SHOWERS I FIGURED OUT THAT I WAS JUST USING THE WRONG KNOB!!!!! Heaven! And I don't even really have to worry about water because my family (illegally) has a well (illegal cause the government control the water system and wants all the money).

Yep. That's about it. I apologize for the randomness and choppiness of this blog. It's been awhile. I'm excited to be updated cause now I can try to write every day again. It's easier and more fun. More news....Lauren has swine flu? WHAT? Is this true? Brady got stitches???? Seriously? Oh...and we might be going to Puerto Escondido next weekend for one of the guys' 21st birthday!

PS....I miss you guys. I wish for you all the best.

PPS. I love you.

Dos Poemas para Mientras que Estoy Ausente

Do you CARROT all for me?

My heart BEETS for you.

With your RADISH face,

and your TURNIP nose....

If we CANTELOPE

then LETTUCE marry!

WEED make a swell PEAR!!!!

(hehehehehe)

and uno en Espanol...

TE AMO

TE QUIERO

TE ADORO

MI TESORO!!!!!!!

Adios (=

Adios for a while....

My esteemed friends and colleagues....

This is it....the end...sit if you are not already sitting which you probably are cause you are on a computer reading about how it is the end and how you need to sit even though you are probably already sitting because you are on the computer.

ANYWAY. MOVING ON.....I'll be out of touch (probably) for 7 days. I'm leaving tomorrow with mi grupo to go to Mexico City. La Capital. It's a 7 hour bus ride from here and I'm planning on knocking myself out with my anti-nausea meds. Good plan huh? Entonces.....I will be there. Not here. WIthout my computer. So I will prolly be able to check in via internet cafe a few times. But no worries if I don't. We are going with the organization Witness for Peace. It's an organization that fights for human rights and especially those of the Indigenous people. Their first project was in Honduras(?) and besides here they also have a base in Colombia and their main fort in WA DC. I'm excited. We will be VERY busy. We are staying in a hostel and are doing some touristy things (the important ones to see in that region) but are also going to hear a lot of speeches and visit a lot of places that have to do with or work with human rights. We are also going to visit the American Embassy. We were told to dress nice. Sarah....what do you think about my long, tie-dye hippie dress? hehehe. Sorry Dad. Solo un chiste!

It's also supposed to thunder and lightning every day there and be ten degrees cooler than here. I might have to wear pants! (long pants that is....haha)

Also....tomorrow is my last day of my first session of classes (I was taking pure, intensive spanish and 2 hrs of salsa every day). When we get back I'll be taking Sociologia and Anthropologia (about this region and taught in Spanish of course). And the best part is, besides it sounding way more interesting, that I'll only have class until 1130! And only Monday thru Thursday! Woot woot! I'll have so much more free time! Yesterday I discovered that The Vagina Monologues is going to be at the theatre here on the 22nd. We are SO going! What a way to learn the important parts of the Spanish language eh? hehe. Just kidding. But we are going..... (=

Besides this well....I suppose I'll just have to write a long message when I get back. For those of you in school. Best of wishes and love. For those others.....it's getting closer whahahaha.

I love you all. Take care and talk to you soon (=

Smile peace and love (=