Felices fiestas

Hola!

I haven’t written for a few months and there’s a lot to tell you. It’s so nice to be able to write to my Wisconsin family and friends in December from warm, sunny Mexico.

My work is going well and I am deriving much satisfaction from doing what I came here for. My counterpart and I made a presentation to the Director General for improving internal communication at our center, and he approved all our recommendations! Implementing them will keep me busy for my remaining 18 months here. My workshop at the botanical garden also went well, and they asked me to do it again next year (see photo with fellow volunteers helping at workshop http://www.flickr.com/photos/20264995@N07/). Among my proudest accomplishments is that one of my English students passed the TOEFL (test of English as a foreign language), a requirement for graduation for the master's program.

My son, Jonas came for a week at Thanksgiving, and I loved showing him my Mexican home, the local sites, my center and the town where I lived when I arrived in Puebla. We had Thanksgiving dinner with fresh produce from the local Mercado, a turkey from COSTCO and fresh cranberries from Superama labeled, “Something special from Wisconsin.” It was so much fun to Skype with my family on Thanksgiving – Jonas and I on the Mexican side of the table, my son Jacob and the rest of my beautiful family on the other. I also Skyped with my kids on the first night of Hanukkah. Jonas lit the menorah candles, prayer and all. It was beautiful.

My kids might come for Cinco de Mayo -- a big deal in the State of Puebla because it commemorates the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. The rest of Mexico is blase' about the holiday; the U.S. makes a bigger deal out of it.

I was a guest at a Posada last week, a Christmas tradition held at the homes of the more devout Christians to re-enact Joseph and Mary’s search for lodging on what is now known as Christmas Eve. After enjoying a traditional Christmas punch called ponche (like mulled cider with stewed fruit), we re-enacted the posada, choosing whether to be outside and pleading for lodging, or inside saying “No.” (Since it was chilly outside, and having assumed no guilt whatsoever for the innkeepers’ selfish behavior … or other acts to follow years later, for that matter, I opted for inside). We took turns reading our part from a printed script. The whole role play lasted about five minutes, thanks to a very familiar conversation I overheard among the family members about doing only part of the hours-long re-enactment so they could hurry up and eat. Afterward we played with sparklers – the big, 2-foot-long kind, which they call “Luz de Bengala” (lights of Bengal). The Mexicans were surprised to learn we celebrate with sparklers on the 4^th of July. After an untraditional dinner of “Mexican hot dogs” (avocado, cheese, mushrooms and bacon), the festivities wrapped up with the breaking of a Piñata.

In the past month I have visited Tlaxcala, Queretaro, Leon and Chignahuapan. Tlaxcala is a lovely little pueblo about two hours north of Puebla with a charming centro and archeological ruins nearby. As my friend and I were exploring the ruins I commented that during my visits to ancient sites I sometimes imagine that the people I encounter there are spirits from another time. At that moment a coyote ran across our path. Cool or what?

I and several other volunteers were weekend guests in Chignahuapan, Puebla, at the home of a woman who works at our center. The town is famous for hand-painted Christmas ornaments and produces millions every year. After shopping for souvenirs we headed for the thermal baths nearby. The baths are nestled in a river gorge and offer a spectacular view of the fog-shrouded cliffs from the outdoor pool (see photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/20264995@N07/). I had a soak and a massage, then considered asking someone to flip me over with a spatula.

The photos of the harvesting of marigolds (cempazuchitl) on Flickr.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/20264995@N07/ were taken on Oct. 31 in my neighborhood just before the holiday of Dia de los muertos. These are traditional flowers of the holiday and can be found everywhere -- on alters honoring deceased loved ones, in doorways, and used to create pathways to lead the departed to their alters. I was lucky to catch the harvest during the brilliant yellow light of late afternoon.

I have two more weeks of vacation and might take some day trips, but am mostly looking forward to relaxing, painting, reading, and doing lots of nothing until I return to work on the 9^th.

Until next time, may you all find happiness and peace in the new year.

San Miguel de Allende

Hi everyone!

I have been busy these past few weeks. My Peace Corps group returned to headquarters last week for more training, which no one was looking forward to. But it was relatively painless,and it was nice to see some people I haven't seen since June.

From there I went with two friends to San Miguel de Allende for the weekend. We didn't realize that weekend was the festival of the patron saint, San Miguel, but we came at a perfect time. The festivities began with fireworks at 4 a.m. and continued for two hours. They were repeated the following night with a spectacular show. I saw some things for the first time – fireworks were shot from the windows of the huge church in the center of the city (a jaw-dropper), and a flaming circle was launched over the throng of people packed into the central square. Just when it started to descend and I said "this isn’t good,” it ignited into a starburst and dissipated before hurting anyone. A piece of shell casing landed next to someone near me, however, and a cinder hit my friend above the eye and made a carbon tattoo. I never witnessed this kind of show in the U.S., probably because it would never be allowed.

People from five nearby pueblos converged upon San Miguel for the weekend and to participate in a massive parade dressed in indigenous costumes. Sunday morning we thought we heard the sound of horses in the street and ran to the balcony of our hotel. The sound was coming from people walking down the street wearing anklets made of shells. They were decked in fabulous feather headdresses, skull masks and glittering rainbow-colored costumes and on their way to the parade starting point at the end of the block. So we grabbed our cameras and ran to the corner to join them.

We had an amazing time photographing people while they waited for the procession to begin. People were mingling with others in similar costumes, adjusting children’s plumage or reminding them to behave, practicing knife fights, painting faces – and everyone was smiling and enjoying themselves. One pot-bellied man in a costume involving a skull, feathers and makeup was having a final word with his wife, who was dressed in normal, modern attire. I could imagine this man as a furniture salesman or fruit peddler during the week, now transformed into a ferocious weekend warrior.

I also photographed the remarkable face of a woman who was begging on the sidewalk. I asked if I could photograph her and promised to pay. She agreed. Then I told her in Spanish that she had a beautiful face, and took her photo just as she looked away and smiled, perhaps recalling hearing those same words from admiring young men. You can see all the photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/20264995@N07/. There are lots … I had trouble deciding which ones were really special. But I hope you will feel as if you were there, too.

Everything I have heard about SMA is true – it is a haven for Americans. Most of the people – shopkeepers, waiters, hotel staff -- speak English, the buildings are maintained and freshly painted, and the cobblestone streets and sidewalks are in good repair. In other words, it is not representative of the Mexico I have seen, and is not the place to come if you want to experience the true essence of the country. That said, there are many fine restaurants and shops, and the scenery is breathtaking. I can understand the appeal for Americans and look forward to going back.

Today I completed the workshop manual for the garden I have been writing to you about. It felt good to get that off my plate. I have an appointment there on Tuesday with the communications director to discuss artwork for a new book they are publishing. I may decide to let them use some of my past work, or create something new for the book. In either case, I feel so privileged to have this opportunity. Imagine – my artwork in a book to help promote a beautiful botanical garden in the heart of Mexico.

Until my next post, I hope you are finding ways to do things that bring you great satisfaction.

Donna

New photos posted

Check out my latest Mexican photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20264995@N07/

Some bests and worsts

I´m sitting in an Internet cafe and it´s pouring outside, so I thought I would take advantage of the time and write another update. As the salt tag line says, "When it rains, it pours." It rains heavily almost every afternoon or evening here and floods the streets and sidewalks in my neighborhood. If this kind of rain occurred in Milwaukee it would be on the 6 o'clock news; here it's a daily event. The rainy season ends in October; none too soon.

In my last update I mentioned I saw people decorating the floor of a church with flowers. As I suspected, it was in preparation for a religious event. This one was to celebrate the ascencion of the Virgin. The churches all over the pueblo were creating similar carpets, or alfombras, which the parisheners walk on as they carry the statue of the Virgin out of the church for a procession in the street. I´ll upload some photos soon.

I just started teaching English to three master´s degree students, and I´m having a ball. I now officially have too much to do, and that´s just the way I like it. I have my primary job of helping with communication strategy at my center, a secondary recycling project, a project at the botanical garden, English classes, and Spanish classes, and the time is going very quickly. When I need some down time I enjoy my new garden room, which is now filled with green plants.

I compiled a Best and Worst list -- all true:

BEST

new fruit: guanabana (pronounced (gwə-nä'bə-nə) -- great as agua fresca or in sorbet or ice cream.

cookie: tortila de santa clara

band name: "Los Dandys." And they are -- dandy, that is.

Mexican entree: Mixiotes (pronounced mish-ee-OH-tees. These are little plastic or parchment bags filled with chicken or other meat in a tomato broth, seasoned with avocado leaves, onion and sometimes vegetables, and steamed for hours. There´s a store nearby that sells them already prepared.

comment: I was working at a children´s event last week, and spoke to the kids in Spanish. One boy, who speaks only Spanish, told my Mexican friend: "She was speaking English and I understood everything she said."

folklore: I visited a church in Tlacatepec last week that houses a Black Christ. Legend has it the statue was discovered on a mountain top there, and no one knew where it came from. A church was built to honor it, and the Christ remained there for some time until it was stolen, where or by whom a mystery. The next day the Christ reappeared on the mountaintop, where it is said he preferred to be. It was stolen several more times and each time reappeared on the mountaintop. By the way, it has decidedly Roman features -- straight, narrow nose and thin lips. I´ll upload photos of that as well.

WORST

menu items:
lard-fried agave cactus worms
butter-fried ant roe

form of transportation: local busses. They get me where I need to go, and for only $6 pesos (about 40 cents). But the bus drivers get paid by the number of routes they complete, so some days I feel like I´m riding on a coach out of hell.

most difficult to pronounce (not really a "worst") Chiconauhquiauhitl (goddess of nine rains)

sighting: a butchered hog being carried over a man´s shoulders into a meat shop. The pig´s head and four hooves were dangling by small pieces of skin, probably to prove to the buyer that they came from the same pig that was purchased. I involuntarily groaned and covered both my eyes with my hands. A young teenage boy who was helping stared at me like I was from another planet.

It has stopped raining and I’m heading for the Mercado. More soon.

I am back to work after three weeks of vacation while the center was closed. I enjoyed the time off but am happy to be doing what I came here to do. I did some painting inside my house during my free time and added some touches of home. My décor is minimalist, at best, but the place has good vibes and I look forward to going home at the end of the day. And by the time I have other visitors it will be comfortable and accommodating. I also went to Ixtapa, Guerrera, with two other volunteers; one of them owns a condo there. It was a great change of pace, but it was so hot and humid I was even sweating in the pool. The bus ride took nine hours but we traveled at night, so it didn´t seem so long.

I spent my birthday having lunch with my beautiful sons via Skype. It was great -- they sent me an e-mail inviting me to lunch, with instructions to make or buy lunch and be on-line at 12:30. They both went to Jonas´s house so I could see them together, and the three of us ate lunch and visited. Afterward, I was able to Skype with my twin brother, Daryl, too. That´s one birthday I will never forget.

All PC volunteers have a secondary project, and I found one from heaven. I will be working at a local botanical garden, tiny in comparison to other urban botanical gardens but an absolute jewel. The garden is non-profit and supported by admissions and workshop fees, plus sales from compost, live and dried plants, botanical-themed gifts and revenue from the cafe. I am working on a workshop reusing recycled materials, and am also going to donate my artwork for calendars and other items to sell in the gift shop. The director also said I was welcome any time and could paint in the garden. I am thrilled at the thought that my art can be used to help support this beautiful place and that I am leaving a legacy of my art behind in Mexico.

I attended a family confirmation party with my host sister in a pretty little private garden, of which there are many in Mexico. It was a lovely day filled with wonderful homemade Mexican dishes and desserts, and beautiful people. I was the only gringo but could not have felt more welcome. Her family has adopted me as their own, and the mother, who is my age, said as I was leaving, "Mi familia es su familia."

Earlier this month there was a battery of bell “fire” from my neighborhood church, signifying an important festival in honor of the Virgin Mary. The people created a beautiful carpet on the church floor with flowers, and celebrated with live music in the little park across the street -- a scene repeated in many of the churches throughout the town. Most of the festivals and holidays in Mexico center around the Virgin Mary, moreso than Christ. September marks another festival, this one to honor the Virgin of the Remedies. Many artisans will be converging in the downtown area for the month. I´m saving my pesos to find some Mexican treasures.

More soon.

I'm home

I have been really busy since my last update finding a house and moving in. I found a roomy, sunny place about 10 minutes from work. It's inside a little compound with 5 other houses. The landscaping is lovely and the neighbors are awesome. Everyone is looking out for me and doing what they can to make me feel welcome. We were told during Peace Corps training that we would be in a fish bowl 24 hours a day. Normally I would run in the opposite direction at the thought of a small-town mentality, with everyone knowing my business. But in this case it’s very comforting. For example, I was having trouble with the water heater pilot light. A neighbor called the gas company for me, then wrote a note in Spanish explaining the problem in case I was unable to communicate with the crew.

There is much to see and do nearby, and the bus transportation is excellent, so there is really no need to own or drive a car (prohibited by the Peace Corps anyway). Taxis are relatively cheap and plentiful for the occasional shopping trips or getting caught in a downpour. I enjoy the walk home from the bus stop, and pass flower fields and a pretty blue and white church.

There is a mercado about three blocks from my house on Wednesdays and Sundays, with a huge variety of fruits and vegetables, clothes, household items, plants and flowers grown in the nearby fields, and some things I have not yet identified. People spread out their goods on cloths on the ground and talk to you as you pass to entice you to buy their things. I’ve been called “bonita” more than once while shopping there, and pretend it’s because they’re awed by my exotic beauty (I heard that) and not that they’re trying to flatter me into stopping to buy their wares.

The food that’s prepared there looks very tempting, but I pass it up in favor of fresh produce that I buy and take home to wash carefully, then eat with gusto. I think that’s the single best thing about living on my own again – I have control over how my food is prepared. There are large, shallow copper pans filled with frothy chocolate de agua (cacao with water and cinnamon). The cold liquid is stirred continuously with a special paddle to create a foam, which is scooped into plastic glasses and served with a straw. One woman had a cell phone hanging from the ceiling at ear level so she could talk while stirring her chocolate.

There are piles of charcoal and what is possibly compost (I’m afraid to ask), pails and mops, hardware, small avocados with smooth, thin purple skins that look like plums, huge baskets of bread, and the ubiquitous chicharron (rendered pig fat). I bought some ears of corn and boiled it, eager for a little taste of home. I slathered it with butter, sprinkled it with a little salt and dug in. It was the worst corn I ever tasted – tough and bland. Maybe it was intended as maize for tortillas and this stupid Gringo ate it right off the cob. Speaking of tortillas, there are several little tortilla factories, or molinos, in my neighborhood. These are co-ops where the people bring their corn, which is grown in nearby fields, to be ground and made into tortillas while they wait.

I had a going-away party last weekend for four MBA students who were working at the institute for the past few months. It was also a surprise birthday party for another volunteer whose girlfriend asked if we could use my house for the party. I knew things were out of control when I received an e-mail invitation to my own party a few days later from some other volunteers who were “passing the word.” I was expecting 15 people and 32 showed up. The girlfriend came over during the day and blew up a couple dozen globos (balloons), which she filled with confetti. Between the occasional spills, busted balloons and confetti, the floors looked like clowns had partied there the night before and got sick. But it was worth it. Everyone brought something to eat or drink, and there was music, dancing and laughter – a perfect way to break in a new house.

A fellow Peace Corps Volunteer is coming to visit me next weekend. She’ll be here for my birthday, and the other volunteers in the area are also coming over for dinner.

The center is on vacation for the next three weeks and I’m looking forward to fixing up my house and just relaxing – something I haven’t done in quite a while. My landlord gave me permission to paint a mural on my utility room wall that faces the glassed-in kitchen. And I want to fill the sunroom with plants and flowers from the mercado.

The rainy season here extends from May thru September. It usually rains in the late afternoon or evening, but is mostly sunny and pleasant during the day. In the winter it can get chilly at night -- down to the mid-40s! (These people don't know what "cold" is.) My home town is suffering through a heat wave. That’s one thing I don’t miss: the swampy Wisconsin summers. Throw in the miserable Wisconsin winters while you’re at it.

I’ll write another update in August, when the institute is back in session and my work gets under way in earnest. Until then, enjoy summer, heat and all. I bet shoveling doesn't sound so bad right now.

"Normal"

Hola everyone:

I hope you're enjoying summer. I'm loving the weather here.

Life is becoming more "normal," and I'm falling into a regular routine. I put "normal" in quotes because I often feel like I'm living in a parallel universe. Much is similar to life in the U.S., but something is always just a bit off center, like seeing cars pass on the highway, followed by a donkey cart, or looking down a city street and seeing a man herding goats, then there's the public toilets with no seats (and I was worried about squat toilets in Morocco), display cases filled with pig-sized chunks of chicharron in the deli section, a Sam's Club with a volcano looming in the distance, soldiers with rifles at a shopping mall, and on and on.

The juxtaposition of the research center where I work against the little town is perhaps the most striking. I sit in an office all day using modern technology, surrounded by brilliant scientists conducting world-recognized research, then step out of the campus gate and into a third-world country. I have a new theory about the church bells and fireworks: they're to maintain the town's identity and not be overshadowed by the center. The bells say: "We're still here -- do you hear us? We're loud, we're strong, and we won't forget who we are."

I'm making a real contribution at work and feeling very good about what I have to offer. I have been editing English web pages and other documents, and just submitted a proposal for a web content management database.

The most surprising development is being asked to work with a group of women to start a local recycling program. Another volunteer remembered reading about my recycling past in my resume and asked me to become involved. The goal is to empower women by helping them start their own recycling businesses. Someone mentioned that the new governor has made recycling a goal. I suggested we contact his office and ask for his support in making the town a model for his recycling program. We're going to try to meet with the Secretary of the Environment to talk about it. I didn't think I'd be revisiting that part of my life again, but I'm glad I can apply my experience.

I posted some new photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/20264995@N07/?saved=1. I took these during my trip to Tlatlauquitepec last week to help at another science fair. The pueblo is in the mountains northeast of Puebla. It's a gorgeous place, but I still don't know how the science trailer made it through the narrow roads and tight turns. I tried to capture the enchantment of the children who were engaged in making the models of Saturn, Mars and 20-sided models of the universe. Their faces reflect the openness and generosity of the people in Mexico.

I also posted a photo of my first Mexican painting. It is of the entrance gate to Zapopan, in Guadalajara.

I have also experienced what it is like to be "different." I can recognize children who have little, if any, contact with gringos. They stare unabashedly at me as if I'm from another planet, especially when I talk, and smile with wonder at my strange speech. I'm hoping those children will grow up with a positive memory implanted in their brains.

Speaking of speech: I am now at the "Intermediate" level in Spanish. I can carry on a conversation (albeit limited) and usually get my point across. But once in a while I run into someone who doesn't have a clue what I'm saying. It's probably a combination of my accent and pronunciation (could it be I am not using the right words?!). An unexpected side effect of learning another language is my memory seems to have improved.

I'm hoping to have a new house by next week. When that happens there will be another flurry of activity as I shop for furnishings and supplies and move in. I'm looking for a place with a patio so I can fill it with plants and flowers and create an outdoor room to make the most of my time in Mexico.

More soon.