School has taken off..

Reading, speaking, listening, living, is all in Spanish now. I am excited to already feel my growth and comfortableness in Spanish that I remembered I had in Paraguay.  It has consumed my life, brain, and body and stretched it beyond its limits (especially our classes in Spanish). I am happy still, but more of a mellow happiness with days of stress that are quickly left behind through my friendships both old and new.

 I only have a week left of Antonio's class and I cannot remember the last time I have felt pain that a class will be ending. The joy that I wake up to, knowing that I have another day of him cracking my brain open with ideas and words to better myself and my view on this world, will only last another week. This is true education. This is what I was always wanting from education and which I thought I would get but had not until now. His class is not about memorizing concepts, although there are plenty of economic theories if you wish to, but of a change in mentality. Of individual growth, probed by questions, and more questions and more, until you are frustrated and start to see another way of thinking.

Honestly there have been times in his class in which I wanted to say, many people just use drugs to be able to "see differently" or open their minds. But with Antonio's class there is history, theories, and future growth. Hope, that as a society as a whole we can come up with a better solution. It is not about us in that way. But a worldview, a movement toward openness through understanding the past and how it affects our views today.

He never gives a solution. For this he is my favorite teacher I have had. Because he teaches in this way. His view is unimportant. The authors that we read, views, are to be questioned. Ours as well. It affects each of his student individually in a different way. I see the class questioning themselves. So thought provoking, it is the most I have seen anyone participate yet in graduate school. And the first time I am not annoyed by peoples comments. He strikes us. He makes us exhausted.

My Favorite Class in Graduate School

Antonio Saldívar  is a hero to westernize thinking just by being a teacher that questions it. He never gives us any solutions or answers. He makes us come up with them. His objective is not to convince us of anything but just to present ideas. If he was to tell us answers he would feel this is wrong and the opposite of what he is trying to teach us... to question.

So I did question. I questioned everything I believed in about poverty and development  and I remembered something:

Poverty and Development: a story of me in Peace Corps Paraguay

One day I was standing at the bus stop outside CAACUPE. It was 40 celcius, and I had

a backpack full of food. I was waiting for an hour on a busy street for my bus. It was

the only bus that return to my site, one per day, and I could not miss it. It was never

on time.. so I waited.  These moments were mixed with joy and tiredness, I had food,

vegetables!, to last me a month in my backpack. It was summer so no vegetables

were available anywhere near my site, nothing grew in the months of 40 celcius.

I was tired because my bus left that morning at 5:40, and I had carried my big

backpack around CAACUPE picking up various things. It was hot, I was dyhydrated.

A short toothless man approached me. He began to talk to me in Spanish, since I

was a foreigner, they never began in Guarani. He mumbled angrily at me. I could not

understand him, but I understood what he must have said from the one sentence I

could understand. “ Paises como suya saca el miel de nuestra pais”. To translate: “

countries like yours take the honey out of our country”.  He was mean to me, and I

was very happy to run and jump onto my crowded bus to the campo when it finally

came. I was safe from him, but not his words. Those stayed with me.


And still have.

No More Tequila.

I have been here over a week and I have to say, I have spent the majority of my time drinking and getting over being hungover. It has been helping my Spanish out since during these nights of drinking I have been speaking only in Spanish. Rochi is Cintia's friend who is visiting and is really fun to hang out with and try new drinks. She speaks clearly for me, even when we are drunk so I can understand her. She teaches me new slang... my vocabulary has grown a ton, mostly it has been slang words.

Being hungover is not that awful here. There is no pressure to wake up early or get something done. I feel this need that I have in the states, the guilt I feel if I spend a day resting, has been diminished greatly since arriving. This is true in most aspects. Stress is looked down upon here, and not encouraged. I never thought of it like this: in the states we are encouraged to be productive and stressed out. If we are not we feel guilty.

My favorite thing about being hungover, is finding food on the street that will make me feel better. Walking to the market today, I found fresh cut pineapple. Yesterday mango slices with sweet sauce and also spicy sauce. I know I probably could be saving about a dollar each time I buy this food from the street by buying my own fruits but it is worth it not to have to peal, cut it.  Plus I feel like I am helping people out on the streets make a living, and like interacting with them. I try and challenge views that I am a guera (a blond foreign woman) by speaking Spanish and being polite and curious about them (when I am not too hungover).  I also like about San Cristobal that almost everything on the street is the same price. 10 pesos (I am guessing about  80 cents in USD) will get you corn on a stick with cheese butter and hot sauce, or you can get mango slices, or pineapple, or .... And the best thing is that it is all close to my house.

Also close to my house is the market, both the indoor and outdoor. I love the stimulation of the people and the items for sale. I feel like each time I go, I discover something new. Since it is so close, I sometimes go twice a day. The first time I look over and see what they have. I may buy something and then I come home. Later on in the day, I want to return.

I also get my laundry done in a near-by store and for a few bucks and a day later, I pick it up clean folded in a plastic bag like a gift. I wash some items at home by hand, but it takes forever for anything to dry here. It is the rainy season and everything is very damp. I find myself spending more hours playing with my fireplace, than I ever thought I would. I have it going often to dry out my place and because I am intrigued and challenged by it. I love watching it. It has become my TV.

The weather has been fluctuating to pouring down torrential rain, absolutely miserable if you are in the street walking, to a day of sunny blue skies. This happens about once every four days. It is never hot. We are at 5,000 feet (? i have to check the exact amount).

But the drinking stops tomorrow as it is our official first day of class (well slows down I hope!). Last week was orientation and a few things were interesting but I felt the teachers were talking too slow and elementary. I think this is because they are still trying to figure out what our spanish level is. For me it is slow and repetitive but for others it maybe challenging.

I hope that tomorrow proves me wrong and our classes are more challenging and interesting than the orientation week.

Our Group at EcoSur with Faculty and Partners from The Nature Conservancy in Mexico and FONCET

Villa Hermosa: Visiting Friends and Family of Cintias

 Cintia and I left Friday night for Villa Hermosa. We began our journey with a bus to Tuxla (1hr) and then to Villa Hermosa (4.5 hrs).  The bus ride to Villa Hermosa was in a small van and the driver played his music full blast and made frequent unnecessary stops for the bathroom. We did not sleep.

We arrived around 4:30am to the terminal in Villa Hermosa. Cintias friend Rochie picked us up, and took us to a taco stand where she had been with her friends. They had been out all night. We got Tacos al Pastor and Tacos de Bistec. I told myself that I would never be a vegetarian again if I had access to this delight in my life. The Tacos al Pastor have pineapple in them. To read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_pastor.

The taco stand sells beer as well and is open obviously late and attracts the party crowd that has been up all night. I could smell liquor on everyone and the waiters had impeccable service.  We drank a beer, ate and went back to Cintia's friends house where we slept for three hours. Awaken with slices of Papaya we were off to the Ranch of Cintias Uncle. It was a big two story beautiful house on three hectares with exotic plants. Cintias Uncle Aunt and Cousin were so nice, I immediately liked them. We had breakfast and I was suprised that i could speak spanish after such a small amount of sleep. I think it was because I felt so welcomed, accepted and happy to be there.

Uncle Armando took us for a walk around his property. I had asked to see it because he had told us about an ecotourism/ education project he wanted to do. His vision was to have students learn about agroforestry and the natural environment on his own property. Armando is a professor of Evolution at the nearby University. I noticed his passion for teaching others. Walking around, I found a tree that was similar to a Madrone Tree we have in California. The bark peals, yet this tree almost seemed to glow with its red bark.

 We continued our walk, and it reminded me of Paraguay with its leaf cutting ants, cedros, etc, but it had its differences with its vegetation.

I loved it.

 We continued onto the next property, which was owned by another family member and had cleared the forest for pasture.

We came back and slept before the party that night. It was Cintias friends mom's 60th birthday. We drank Vampiros (Tequila with sprite and a red sugary liquid), a ton of beer and four different types of tacos. There was an enormous amount of generosity that was shared by the family putting on the party. They had more tacos for when it got later, and the beer just kept coming. We also each got gifts. Then it began to rain. But after two tequila shots we were out in the rain without shoes on, dancing with the cumplenera, the mom, and her friends. I was impressed that at 60 years, they were dancing barefoot in the rain in their nice dresses. We came back to Uncles house out at the Ranch in which a car followed us with partygoers and friends of Cintias. The party at the house maybe over, but there was still a cooler full of beer. At 4am, I went to bed. I was sober enough to take off my wet clothes and go into an air-conditioned room with a comfy bed.

The next afternoon (morning we slept), Cintias cousin made Chilaquiles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilaquiles. 

Which are great for hangovers :). We spent the day watching a movie, and helping Cintias Aunt make Mole.

and Napole catcus

The next day we returned back to San Cristobal.  We ate dinner at an amazing pizza place

My first week in Mexico

      I know I am still on the high of being in a new country and soon it will fade, but I just have to say that it feels wonderful to be back in Latin America. I have arrived with a feeling of familiarity of overcoming challenges and experiencing the new, and learning... which I have learned a lot already. Once again I feel that what I learn a week abroad is more than what I learn in a few months at home or is impossible to do so. I learn about myself, this world and people, their thoughts and feelings which for me is so crucial. I find myself feeling so much more comfortable here, than I ever did in Fort Collins, and so much more happier. I know a huge part of that was my adjustment back into the states, but still, even still, this feels like... well.. home.

     I see the amazing contrast of living here versus Paraguay. Mexico is so much closer to the states, and has so much more influence. The food stores are huge, packed with brand names that I recognize, there are Walmarts, but even more than that, it is easier is to live here. It has only been a week.. but wow. Although so hard to admit, I do not want to ever live in poverty again. It feels good to be somewhere outside the states and not feel like I have to live like many do in Paraguay (as well as here).

      I love learning spanish. I love learning new slang, I love feeling privileged to be here and surrounded by Cintia Charly and Lesly. These three women are my closest friends here and my best teachers. I am so lucky to have their friendship.

    So this morning, I tried out what I learned during my weekend in Villa Hermosa with Cintia's cousin Armando, that old tortillas are great for frying up and putting a salsa verde with cheese on (I think they are called tata chiles or something and was told they are also great for when you are crudo, or hungover). I did not have jalepenos nor tomatos, nor cheese so I had them with eggs. I feel so silly that I never thought I could do this with my old tortillas (the older the better i am told)... tortillas cut into squares and fried are tortilla chips like we have back at home. DUH.. and also something I will not be missing from home, like how when i was in South America...Chips and Salsa, this time homemade.

Speaking of the food... OMG its amazing. I have landed in foodlandia, where even pizza is better than the states.

My breakfast this AM: