What I do everyday....

I teach computer on Tuesday and Thursday as a volunteer. On Tuesdays I teach the 6th graders and on Thursday I teach 4th graders. They are enthusiastic about it. They clean up their area and we are learning how to type correctly with our fingers placed on the right places on the keyboard and how to use Microsoft Word. I love seeing that they are improving and we are teaching them everything in English so they know how to use the computer in English as well as in Spanish. I teach English at the same school on Wednesday from 130 to 530. This is the day that I introduced flash cards to them. They had never worked with them. Kids here are not taught to work in groups so it has been a challenge to always have partner activities because I want them to practice using their English with each other, but they don't understand me sometimes because they are so used to just having one teacher sit at the front and dictate to them for 8 hours at a time. It's a challege, but I love it. Look at those faces.

que paso ayer?

I love cathedrals.

I love walking in and seeing the people come have a down time. I envy their devotion to something that means so much to them. Not only are these places beautiful, and full of history. It's full of something else too. It's like a presence. I don't know how to explain it. I just feel like it's so sacred everytime that I go into one. I feel so peaceful and people come out looking so relieved.

This picture is from a cathedral in Puebla. One of the many , of course. The room this picture was taken on is full of this type of adornment. It's so intricate and beautiful. I can't say enough things about it. You can tell that someone thought so much into it and busted ass making it what it is. I think I am forgetting my English as time goes by. I have no vocabulary, so excuse "busted ass" and other phrases like that I suppose. Makes things a bit more interesting.

The picture on the right is from a museum in Puebla named Casa de Dean. He was a famous writer and his house was in the center of the downtown area. When renovations to the area were started, they wanted to tear it down. In the middle of the process they found murals all over the walls in the bedrooms. Every room had scenes from famous poems written in the 1500s. .. they still tore it down to build a theater. . . and no not a theater for acting. A movie theater. Of course. . . Half of it was conserved. The murals are beautiful, I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but I think we all know how Cyntia feels about murals. I love them. They were great.

Sitting in Starbucks, I try to feel American at least once a week or I go crazy. Service everywhere SUCKS, people are never on time, there is no Dr. Pepper, there are no tampons, fireworks are a must every day because of the 365 churches in the area that have their celebrations. And can I please NOT get lost on a bus just ONE DAY.

Public transportation is not my friend. . . at all. I rode on the bus for 45 minutes to an hour yesterday before I realized.... hey I should ask someone where the fuck I am.

This picture is from the day my friends and I hunted down every museum in the Puebla Historic District. Those are the days that I will remember forever. Just walking around colonial downtown Puebla learning about the history and trying it's famous candies. I think this building is beautiful. You walked in and inside was this courtyard. This is taken from upstairs but I love that it's open in the middle with this in the middle. It went all the way down to the ground.

This picture was also taken on Museum day, in the center of Puebla. This library contains the oldest books in Mexico. It's amazing. So many great works, and look at those shelves! Floor to ceiling! I hope I marry someone that loves to read as much as I do. I want a mini library like this. . . floor to ceiling. Seriously.

Smallest Volcano in North America

The smallest volcano in North America sits right in front of the school where I teach. It's pretty cute and interesting.

It's TINY inside!














Inside of the volcano, Cuexcomate.

tatttteedddd.

So, I'm obsessed with Xavier Rudd. He's activist/musician, blah blha. I have been wanting to get the lyrics from this song forever tattooed on my foot. What better place than in Mexico right? I can't believe I did it, but I love it. Then I got a little too excited and since he already had the needle out and etc. . .

Why not get something else really quickly? So I got a peace sign on my wrist. Just to remind me when I look down that. . . peace is better, NOT everything else that I get caught up in. Corny, but mine. That's all that matters/

Chaputepec Forest. My best impression of Moctezuma.

Viva la Bandera!

Los Niños Heroes.

Story goes, 6 boys were defending the Castle of Chapultepec and when the Unites States came to take over (because they take over everything) they all died in battle although Santa Anna told them to leave. They were the only ones that stayed to defend the castle before the US made it one of their headquarters. . .

I had a rough week. I missed my sisters and the rest of my family a lot. Jacob and I are both moving on and it's great but I missed my best friend. Looking over this lake and some of Mexico City brought me back to reality instead of thinking about home. How lucky I am to have this opportunity and to remember that I have the strength to move forward and not live in what is going on miles and miles away from me, that I could not ever fix even if I was right down the street from.

Aztec dancing in the forest!

This is one of the original trees that have been in the Forest of Chapultepec, I forget the name of them. Some of them had probably been there since Cortes came, maybe not that long, but they were OLD!

I love flowers. . . that's all.

In the Castle of Chapultepec, this room houses the original constitution of La Republica de Mexico.

Looking over some of Mexico City, Lago de Chapultepec [Lake of Chapultepec]

celebrations- September 16, 2009

Mexican independence day is something I have been looking forward to since I got here. Mexican's are very patriotic and they are proud to be Mexican no matter what the connotation. It is different here than in the north where pretty much everyone wants to live in the states. I deeply admire their love for their country. Gillian, Stephanie and I went to Mexico City to celebrate in the Zocalo. They had a really neat light show on the Palacio Nacional which is a historic building where the leaders meet to make decisions. The president did the cry for independence just like Hidalgo did when he was trying to bring everyone together to fight for independence from Spain. It was very moving. It's weird, I have never been close to see Barack or George Bush, but I saw Felipe Caldaron, the president of Mexico. Pretty awesome stuff.

In the Zocalo with our Pancho Villa mustaches.

These are some of the greatest girls I have EVER met. They are a blessing seriously. We are all from the States. Amy is from Ohio, Stephanie on the other side of me is from Canada, MY BAD, and Gillian on the end is the read head from Scotland/grew up in North Carolina. We all have classes that we teach here and are able to whine about how discouraged we get and toss ideas around for how we can get our kids to be more motivated. Over all, great girls. I feel blessed to have met such great people.

This is Alejandro. Another person with a BIG heart. I met him "drunkily" at a bar and he sobered me up by arguing with me about the US, Cuba, and literature that we had both read about our favorite ideas, Don Quijote, Reinaldo Arenas-Cuban author thrown in jail for expressing liberal ideas and tearing away from the communist party. we walked home as the sun was coming up and he met up with me on the beach the next day and we had the same conversations. He was in Acapulco for a convention because he is a librarian in Chihuaha which is a state in the north of Mexico, next to where my mom is from. During the day he was handing out books to promote literacy, and etc. These are the people/conversations I have been waiting to meet and to have. Someone who makes me look at something different. A side I had never known. I love opening my mind to new ideas and new sides of the fence. We are meeting in November for a protest against the "drug lords" taking over the country in Mexico City. Scary, but can't wait.

Beautiful sunset in Acapulco the first night we were there.

Touching the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

Overall, Acapulco was a great experience. Beautiful beach, AGAIN, not Belize though!