Hello, I am very sorry for how long it has been since my last post. I actually am going to start writing more. It is hard to keep up with the blog. But a good amount has happened since I last wrote.
It was really cool to have Christmas while I was down here. For 9 nights before Christmas Eve, they have a thing called Los Posadas (The Inns). They are parties that people have at different houses in the neighborhood every night to commemorate Joseph and Mary looking for a place to stay. The most of the houses and business in the neighborhood support the Posada by giving fruit, candy and piñatas. We had one at our house. The whole neighborhood goes outside the house of the night while there is a group of people inside the house. They all sing a song playing the role of Mary and Joseph and the people inside sing the role of the innkeeper saying there is no room. Eventually Mary and Joseph convince the people inside to let them in and the Posada begins.
Everything starts out with a Nativity play. The version we had was modern and related to Mexico. There were four modern Mexican characters that started out talking about all the problems of the current times and making jokes about sports and politics. Then they are transported into ancient Israel by an angel to go see Jesus being born. I played the angel haha. I had a priest’s robe on and some costume wings. It was really hard to remember all the lines though because they were in Spanish! The angel has a pretty big role too and like saying all these intense monologues about how Satan needs to be defeated and stuff so I had to have my lines on cards in case I forgot.
After the Nativity play, there is ponche and piñata’s. Ponche is a type of tropical fruit cider and they serve it hot. It is really good! They put in, apples, guayaba, pears, sugar cane, and a bunch of other fruit. Ponche is the traditional Christmas drink but they make it a lot here when it is cold and sometimes there is a little tequila thrown in there. We had about 30 piñatas! The people in my house told me that our Posada is always one of the best because a lot of people want to give stuff to the house that has priests in it haha. So yea we had about 30 piñatas and the whole street in front of our house was full of people for almost 2 hours. It was wild, there were soooo many kids! I didn’t see any major injuries but there were some serious kamikazes that were going on when the piñata was opened.
It was a very interesting experience. I thought it was cool that the whole community gets together and celebrates together even though everyone doesn’t know each other. And it was cool to see how everyone supports the different houses that host the Posadas.
My friend Adam, who studied abroad with me in Oaxaca, was in Mexico City for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He stayed at Manuel House for the celebration. We went to the albergue for some Christmas Eve festivities and we had our first Mass and dinner of romeritos there, then we came back to the house around 9:30 and napped a little. We had our second Christmas Eve dinner at about 11:30, which consisted of more romeritos, bacalao, turkey, and various side dishes. It was great. Padre Oswaldo had his family there for the night too and we were all up hanging out and throwing back some tequilitos until about 6 am. It was different for me not trying to get to bed early for Santa.
Here they don’t have Santa they have Niño Jesus, and also on January 6th the three kings bring more gifts too! There are Santa Claus pictures in the malls but if you go to the different public areas in the center of the city you will that a more popular option for the kids is a picture with the three kings. It is actually pretty funny, there are three guys dressed like the kings and they are standing in different little huts that are themed in movies like Ice Age and Toy Story. So you can get a picture of your kids with Balthasar, Gaspar, Melchior and Buzz Lightyear haha.
It was a great Christmas, definitely one to remember.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Friday, November 6, 2009
¡Muchas Fiestas!
Hello! So although it has been a long time since Mexican Independence day and my birthday I will still give a quick little overview. Independence day here is September 16th. It celebrates Mexico’s independence from Spain that was the result of a war that began September 16th 1810. This upcoming year is Mexico’s bicentennial of their revolution of independence and centennial of the second Mexican revolution against Porfirio Díaz that was started on November 20th 1910.
But anyway, I really enjoyed Independence Day. We had the traditional meal of pozole which is a type of corn in a chicken broth, then you add in the fixings’ according to your liking, they have chicken, pork, lettuce, radishes, onions, cilantro, and of course you got to through some salsa in there. On the side of that you have a tostada with some sour cream spread with some fresh cheese sprinkled on top. The creamy tostada compliments the spicy starchy pozole very nicely. We also had some pigs’ feet. I did not really enjoy the pigs’ feet but I did eat a whole one, I have decided that I should take a few bites of everything new down here and give these new interesting flavors a chance. There was a ton of other Mexican dishes too but pozole is the one essential Independence Day dish. After that there was dancing and tequila pouring into the late night. At midnight they have El Grito de Independencia (The Yell of Independence) where everyone screams “¡Viva México! ¡Aye aye ayyyyyyyyyeeeee!” (Mexico lives! Aye aye ayyyyyyyyyeeeee!) They sing the national anthem and salute the flag and stuff. It was a great party and I really felt like I bonded with the people here.
The thing that really impressed me was how much I was welcomed into the celebrations. I didn’t feel like a foreigner observing but that I was welcomed and encouraged to be Mexican for that day with everyone. It was just one more experience of hospitality that I will remember from my time here. If I can generally describe the people that I have met in Mexico, it is that they are amazing hosts.
It was not easy being away from family and friends during my birthday but my community here made it a lot easier. We had some breaded chicken, mashed potatoes, and carrots. They make amazing mashed potatoes here. To top it off we had a chocolate cake as well. The tradition here with the cake is pretty much the same as in the US, they sing happy birthday and you blow out the candles. But then everyone chants “Muerda! Muerda! Muerda!” (Bite! Bite! Bite!) and you bite like one corner of the cake and the people who have eagerly jostled to be in the position behind you smash your face in the cake while you are biting it. Ha ha ha it was great especially because my beard is kind of long right now so I smelled chocolate for the whole night! So all in all it is a great time here with the many fiestas.
But anyway, I really enjoyed Independence Day. We had the traditional meal of pozole which is a type of corn in a chicken broth, then you add in the fixings’ according to your liking, they have chicken, pork, lettuce, radishes, onions, cilantro, and of course you got to through some salsa in there. On the side of that you have a tostada with some sour cream spread with some fresh cheese sprinkled on top. The creamy tostada compliments the spicy starchy pozole very nicely. We also had some pigs’ feet. I did not really enjoy the pigs’ feet but I did eat a whole one, I have decided that I should take a few bites of everything new down here and give these new interesting flavors a chance. There was a ton of other Mexican dishes too but pozole is the one essential Independence Day dish. After that there was dancing and tequila pouring into the late night. At midnight they have El Grito de Independencia (The Yell of Independence) where everyone screams “¡Viva México! ¡Aye aye ayyyyyyyyyeeeee!” (Mexico lives! Aye aye ayyyyyyyyyeeeee!) They sing the national anthem and salute the flag and stuff. It was a great party and I really felt like I bonded with the people here.
The thing that really impressed me was how much I was welcomed into the celebrations. I didn’t feel like a foreigner observing but that I was welcomed and encouraged to be Mexican for that day with everyone. It was just one more experience of hospitality that I will remember from my time here. If I can generally describe the people that I have met in Mexico, it is that they are amazing hosts.
It was not easy being away from family and friends during my birthday but my community here made it a lot easier. We had some breaded chicken, mashed potatoes, and carrots. They make amazing mashed potatoes here. To top it off we had a chocolate cake as well. The tradition here with the cake is pretty much the same as in the US, they sing happy birthday and you blow out the candles. But then everyone chants “Muerda! Muerda! Muerda!” (Bite! Bite! Bite!) and you bite like one corner of the cake and the people who have eagerly jostled to be in the position behind you smash your face in the cake while you are biting it. Ha ha ha it was great especially because my beard is kind of long right now so I smelled chocolate for the whole night! So all in all it is a great time here with the many fiestas.
Reflection for the Associate Misionaries of the Assumption Newsletter
This is a reflection that I wrote for the newsletter that my program sends out every month. I thought I would put it up here so you could see some of the things I am thinking and journaling about.
¿Por qué estoy aqui?
Mexico, home to some of the lowest labor standards in Latin America, jails full of people whose only real crime is being poor, transnational corporations that dominate natural resources and workers' lives, is also home to one of the world’s richest men (Carlos Slim), and the 12th largest national economy in the world. Thus, it is easy to see the inequality, injustice, and violence that is the cornerstone of our global economic system. It is also humbling to realize how privileged I am in this very system that I condemn. I have benefited greatly as a middle class American while the vast majority of the world has suffered to support my lifestyle. And because of this, even as I am here in DF attempting to live in solidarity with the people that have been forgotten and left behind by “economic development” and “progress,” there is a gap between them and me that I cannot cross just by being here.
In a lot of ways, I see the distance between myself and the people I am working with when they ask me why I am here. It is a common question from the people at the albergue because people don’t really know why I would come here to work, while most people that they know are trying to cross the border in the opposite direction. The people from Mexico who are crossing to the United States don't share the privilege of choice that I have. They usually cross for economic or political reasons, arenas of life of which they have no say in determining. I am realizing the irony that it is my choice to come here to work with people who lack the ability to choose the direction for their own lives. I think that the word to describe what I feel from these interactions is responsibility, not guilt for the violent system that denies dignity and choice to some while others are guaranteed rights and luxuries, but responsibility to do something about what I am seeing.
But still there is the question of why I am really here. On the surface my job is to clean, cook, and help the guests of the albergue. When I started I was frustrated with the work I was doing because I felt like I was not contributing in a meaningful way to alleviating the root causes of the suffering and inequality that I was experiencing. My attitude was kind of like, “Yea, it is nice to help people at this place but I just graduated and I am ready to save the world.”
What I have started to realize is that the reason I am here is not only to do the physical work of the albergue (although that is important), but also to take advantage of the opportunity to interact with the people through this work. What I am really here for is to experience friendship, hospitality, and community. In the society based on power and inequality in which we live, to value personal relationships with people and truly be a part of a community is revolutionary. It is revolutionary in a non-traditional sense; it isn’t going to change the world but rather this idea creates a new world. If we can actually imagine and create a world where hospitality and friendship are the primary principles by which we interact, then the powers and inequalities of today just won’t be relevant tomorrow.
In some ways I am overwhelmed by the state of the world today with wars, corporate greed, environmental degradation, etc. I am also frustrated with my own place in all of this injustice and destruction. But I can’t help but have hope when I go to the albergue or spend time with the guys at Casa Manuel who have now become my friends. When the world of our hopes and dreams does emerge, it will be because we treat each other as friends and build communities based on hospitality rather than on competition.
¿Por qué estoy aqui?
Mexico, home to some of the lowest labor standards in Latin America, jails full of people whose only real crime is being poor, transnational corporations that dominate natural resources and workers' lives, is also home to one of the world’s richest men (Carlos Slim), and the 12th largest national economy in the world. Thus, it is easy to see the inequality, injustice, and violence that is the cornerstone of our global economic system. It is also humbling to realize how privileged I am in this very system that I condemn. I have benefited greatly as a middle class American while the vast majority of the world has suffered to support my lifestyle. And because of this, even as I am here in DF attempting to live in solidarity with the people that have been forgotten and left behind by “economic development” and “progress,” there is a gap between them and me that I cannot cross just by being here.
In a lot of ways, I see the distance between myself and the people I am working with when they ask me why I am here. It is a common question from the people at the albergue because people don’t really know why I would come here to work, while most people that they know are trying to cross the border in the opposite direction. The people from Mexico who are crossing to the United States don't share the privilege of choice that I have. They usually cross for economic or political reasons, arenas of life of which they have no say in determining. I am realizing the irony that it is my choice to come here to work with people who lack the ability to choose the direction for their own lives. I think that the word to describe what I feel from these interactions is responsibility, not guilt for the violent system that denies dignity and choice to some while others are guaranteed rights and luxuries, but responsibility to do something about what I am seeing.
But still there is the question of why I am really here. On the surface my job is to clean, cook, and help the guests of the albergue. When I started I was frustrated with the work I was doing because I felt like I was not contributing in a meaningful way to alleviating the root causes of the suffering and inequality that I was experiencing. My attitude was kind of like, “Yea, it is nice to help people at this place but I just graduated and I am ready to save the world.”
What I have started to realize is that the reason I am here is not only to do the physical work of the albergue (although that is important), but also to take advantage of the opportunity to interact with the people through this work. What I am really here for is to experience friendship, hospitality, and community. In the society based on power and inequality in which we live, to value personal relationships with people and truly be a part of a community is revolutionary. It is revolutionary in a non-traditional sense; it isn’t going to change the world but rather this idea creates a new world. If we can actually imagine and create a world where hospitality and friendship are the primary principles by which we interact, then the powers and inequalities of today just won’t be relevant tomorrow.
In some ways I am overwhelmed by the state of the world today with wars, corporate greed, environmental degradation, etc. I am also frustrated with my own place in all of this injustice and destruction. But I can’t help but have hope when I go to the albergue or spend time with the guys at Casa Manuel who have now become my friends. When the world of our hopes and dreams does emerge, it will be because we treat each other as friends and build communities based on hospitality rather than on competition.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Starting To Feel Like Home
It has been more than a month since my last blog. Things are still going really well. During the last week of September I was walking to work one day and I realized that going on this walk was now in my routine and not a strange thing to do in the morning. Basically I don’t feel weird being here anymore, it feels normal. One big reason for that is I am finding it easier to speak Spanish. I don’t really know how much I have improved but it is a lot easier to express myself and to understand people. The only people I am with all day everyday are people who speak Spanish. One of the things that were really hard the first few weeks was that I didn’t feel like I could express myself to the people here and so they couldn’t really know me as I really am. I didn’t really have too many problems with conversations that involved informational exchanges but it was my inability to participate in fully in the friendly banter and jokes that was keeping me from feeling like I was belonging here. In these past two or three weeks I have felt like I have been able to include myself in friendly joking conversations and I really feel like I have bonded with a lot of the people I live and work with.
One of the guys in the community is named Chucho (short for Jesus) and he is from a village in Veracruz that speaks Nahautl, which is the language of the Aztecs. Another guy named German, (pronounced Hermahn) who is from the great state of Oaxaca, speaks Mazateco. They speak these languages to their family on the phone and stuff it is really cool, they sound more like Mandarin or Arabic than Spanish. German and Chucho didn’t learn Spanish until grade school because their village still uses these languages to express themselves in their political, economical, and social everyday life. These diverse and special ways of seeing the world and interacting are being lost with the increasing trend of globalization that is homogenizing the many cultures of the world into the non-culture of capitalism.
Elvida is another person that I have really bonded with. Elvida is the cook for Casa Manuel so I obviously had a natural affinity to her haha. She is such a character; the guys are always saying things to provoke her because they know she will be right over to give them a few hits with the quantity and severity varying depending on what the comment was. Elvida is really politically conscious as well and we have had a lot of good convos.
I have also been able to get to know the people at my job a lot better. The person I work with the most is a woman named Magda (short for Magdalena). She is such a lively and fun person to be around. She always either has a group of people around her talking and laughing, or is quietly and compassionately listening to someone who may have just gotten some bad news from a doctor or is having family problems.
So this past Saturday I just started teaching English to people in who live near the parish of San Andres. The classes were great, I think it is going to be a challenge to figure out how to teach these different levels of English but I already have learned a lot and I am excited about continuing. The Assumptionsts just took over the parish so it is an interesting and exciting time to start this up. This parish is in a really poor area and they don’t have very good schools so they are happy to have a native speaker to help the kids. Mexico city is located in a valley with mountains on all sides. The city has expanded sooo much so that the poorer communities that are being built or have been built need to be higher and higher in the volcanic and mountainous terrain. This gives the church of San Andres so serious views and I will have to send some pictures really soon. It is sprawling city for as far as u can see in some directions, like an ocean of city.
I do have some qualms about teaching the language of the gringos to Mexicans. In this country where so much of the culture is threatened by the United States influence I don’t want to be helping to de-Mexicanize Mexico further by teaching English or being an unconscious salesman for American culture. I do think though that I can make these classes into a democratic learning experience for the students and myself with some creativity and awareness.
Well that is the general update for now, stay tuned for more on Independence Day and my birthday!
One of the guys in the community is named Chucho (short for Jesus) and he is from a village in Veracruz that speaks Nahautl, which is the language of the Aztecs. Another guy named German, (pronounced Hermahn) who is from the great state of Oaxaca, speaks Mazateco. They speak these languages to their family on the phone and stuff it is really cool, they sound more like Mandarin or Arabic than Spanish. German and Chucho didn’t learn Spanish until grade school because their village still uses these languages to express themselves in their political, economical, and social everyday life. These diverse and special ways of seeing the world and interacting are being lost with the increasing trend of globalization that is homogenizing the many cultures of the world into the non-culture of capitalism.
Elvida is another person that I have really bonded with. Elvida is the cook for Casa Manuel so I obviously had a natural affinity to her haha. She is such a character; the guys are always saying things to provoke her because they know she will be right over to give them a few hits with the quantity and severity varying depending on what the comment was. Elvida is really politically conscious as well and we have had a lot of good convos.
I have also been able to get to know the people at my job a lot better. The person I work with the most is a woman named Magda (short for Magdalena). She is such a lively and fun person to be around. She always either has a group of people around her talking and laughing, or is quietly and compassionately listening to someone who may have just gotten some bad news from a doctor or is having family problems.
So this past Saturday I just started teaching English to people in who live near the parish of San Andres. The classes were great, I think it is going to be a challenge to figure out how to teach these different levels of English but I already have learned a lot and I am excited about continuing. The Assumptionsts just took over the parish so it is an interesting and exciting time to start this up. This parish is in a really poor area and they don’t have very good schools so they are happy to have a native speaker to help the kids. Mexico city is located in a valley with mountains on all sides. The city has expanded sooo much so that the poorer communities that are being built or have been built need to be higher and higher in the volcanic and mountainous terrain. This gives the church of San Andres so serious views and I will have to send some pictures really soon. It is sprawling city for as far as u can see in some directions, like an ocean of city.
I do have some qualms about teaching the language of the gringos to Mexicans. In this country where so much of the culture is threatened by the United States influence I don’t want to be helping to de-Mexicanize Mexico further by teaching English or being an unconscious salesman for American culture. I do think though that I can make these classes into a democratic learning experience for the students and myself with some creativity and awareness.
Well that is the general update for now, stay tuned for more on Independence Day and my birthday!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Settling In This Surreal City
Already almost three weeks have gone by and although everything has not been easy it really doesn’t seem like it has been three weeks. I do have some stories but first off I want to talk about how it is living here in Mexico City.
The city has a population of about 23 million people. I think that in New York City there is only like 9 million. This massive population is lives in mostly small houses or multi unit dwellings that are 2 to 3 floors. So you can imagine that 23 million people spread out like that is going to cover a lot of land. The city sprawls out to be almost as big as the state of Rhode Island. I live right near the southern most metro bus stop, which is really great because the metro bus line goes all the way up to the northern section of DF and intersects with several Metro lines. The Metro here only costs 2 pesos, which is literally $0.15 cents. The combination of these two systems gives really convenient access to the parts of the city that I need or want to go to.
I don’t want to talk too much more about public transportation haha but I do have to just mention the experience of the Metro. It is really something that people have to experience to understand. It moves millions of people everyday and it does so effectively and it really not any dirtier than the T in Boston. But when you are trying to get on or off a train that is packed so tight that you can feel the person’s ribcage next to you breathing, all bets are off. It is kind of like a mosh pit at every stop during rush hours at he busy stops. It doesn’t really matter if it’s your stop, you are getting off if you are by the door whether you like it or not. And some of the stations are just truly massive. It is impressive to be in a space that big, and underground. It is almost like an underground city.
I have really been enjoying the community that I live with. There are 7 guys in the house I live in who are training to be priests. The ages of them range from 21 to 32. There is one guy from El Salvador and the rest are from Mexico. There are also two priests that live with us, Padre Oswaldo and Padre Ngoa. Oswaldo is from Mexico and Ngoa is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is another house of Assumptionists in our neighborhood with one priest named Padre Flavio and four guys who are training to be priests. They are all Mexican except for two guys who are from the DRC as well. They are all really cool guys. Although they are in the religious life they really are normal people (Not that most people in the religious life are not normal, but some people have certain assumptions about people in the religious life.) and they are always making fun of each other and joking just like any other group of guys. They love teaching me bad words in Spanish and then hearing me say it really seriously with my American accent haha.
Work is also going well. The people who I work with are really nice and I have met some really interesting people who are guests at the albergue as well. I wasn’t really connecting with the people I work with as much as I would have liked but then I found out that they eat lunch at 3. I was eating lunch at 1 because that is when I was hungry and that is when the guests eat. So I have started eating with my coworkers and I am getting to know them better which makes work a lot better.
The guests of the albergue are probably the best part of my job. They are from all over Mexico, from cities, and from small towns. The majority of the guests are cancer patients, orthopedic surgery patients, and mental patients. The three hospitals down the street from the albergue specialize in those three areas. A good percentage of the people who I have met there speak Spanish as a second language and an indigenous language as their first language. Actually 7% of the population 111 million speaks one of Mexico’s 62 nationally recognized indigenous languages.
Most everyone knows about the Mayan civilization that dominated what are now southern Mexico, the Yucatan, and the country of Guatemala and the Aztec empire that was in what is now central Mexico. But the Americas were actually inhabited by hundreds of different smaller civilizations and groups in different areas and times before the genocides of the conquerors. Although the Spanish killed millions of the people that lived in Mexico during the conquests, there are still people who have preserved the beliefs, traditions and language of their pre-Colombian ancestors. Although Mexico celebrates its pre-Columbian history, indigenous Mexicans are usually the poorest and face racism still today.
I really enjoy talking to the people from the many different indigenous cultures here. Sometimes I think maybe I may be one of the first gringos they have ever really sat down and had a conversation with. Too bad for them huh? But yea so the first three weeks were good, I think I can do a few more.
Here is a link to my albums. It is easier to loads the photos on here than scatter them throughout the blog. There are only pictures of my neighborhood up right now but there are more to come!
http://picasaweb.google.com/CareBearSW77
The city has a population of about 23 million people. I think that in New York City there is only like 9 million. This massive population is lives in mostly small houses or multi unit dwellings that are 2 to 3 floors. So you can imagine that 23 million people spread out like that is going to cover a lot of land. The city sprawls out to be almost as big as the state of Rhode Island. I live right near the southern most metro bus stop, which is really great because the metro bus line goes all the way up to the northern section of DF and intersects with several Metro lines. The Metro here only costs 2 pesos, which is literally $0.15 cents. The combination of these two systems gives really convenient access to the parts of the city that I need or want to go to.
I don’t want to talk too much more about public transportation haha but I do have to just mention the experience of the Metro. It is really something that people have to experience to understand. It moves millions of people everyday and it does so effectively and it really not any dirtier than the T in Boston. But when you are trying to get on or off a train that is packed so tight that you can feel the person’s ribcage next to you breathing, all bets are off. It is kind of like a mosh pit at every stop during rush hours at he busy stops. It doesn’t really matter if it’s your stop, you are getting off if you are by the door whether you like it or not. And some of the stations are just truly massive. It is impressive to be in a space that big, and underground. It is almost like an underground city.
I have really been enjoying the community that I live with. There are 7 guys in the house I live in who are training to be priests. The ages of them range from 21 to 32. There is one guy from El Salvador and the rest are from Mexico. There are also two priests that live with us, Padre Oswaldo and Padre Ngoa. Oswaldo is from Mexico and Ngoa is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is another house of Assumptionists in our neighborhood with one priest named Padre Flavio and four guys who are training to be priests. They are all Mexican except for two guys who are from the DRC as well. They are all really cool guys. Although they are in the religious life they really are normal people (Not that most people in the religious life are not normal, but some people have certain assumptions about people in the religious life.) and they are always making fun of each other and joking just like any other group of guys. They love teaching me bad words in Spanish and then hearing me say it really seriously with my American accent haha.
Work is also going well. The people who I work with are really nice and I have met some really interesting people who are guests at the albergue as well. I wasn’t really connecting with the people I work with as much as I would have liked but then I found out that they eat lunch at 3. I was eating lunch at 1 because that is when I was hungry and that is when the guests eat. So I have started eating with my coworkers and I am getting to know them better which makes work a lot better.
The guests of the albergue are probably the best part of my job. They are from all over Mexico, from cities, and from small towns. The majority of the guests are cancer patients, orthopedic surgery patients, and mental patients. The three hospitals down the street from the albergue specialize in those three areas. A good percentage of the people who I have met there speak Spanish as a second language and an indigenous language as their first language. Actually 7% of the population 111 million speaks one of Mexico’s 62 nationally recognized indigenous languages.
Most everyone knows about the Mayan civilization that dominated what are now southern Mexico, the Yucatan, and the country of Guatemala and the Aztec empire that was in what is now central Mexico. But the Americas were actually inhabited by hundreds of different smaller civilizations and groups in different areas and times before the genocides of the conquerors. Although the Spanish killed millions of the people that lived in Mexico during the conquests, there are still people who have preserved the beliefs, traditions and language of their pre-Colombian ancestors. Although Mexico celebrates its pre-Columbian history, indigenous Mexicans are usually the poorest and face racism still today.
I really enjoy talking to the people from the many different indigenous cultures here. Sometimes I think maybe I may be one of the first gringos they have ever really sat down and had a conversation with. Too bad for them huh? But yea so the first three weeks were good, I think I can do a few more.
Here is a link to my albums. It is easier to loads the photos on here than scatter them throughout the blog. There are only pictures of my neighborhood up right now but there are more to come!
http://picasaweb.google.com/CareBearSW77
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Arrival In Mexico City
Hello it is my second day here in Mexico City and I finally have the time and energy to sit down and start this blog. I arrived on Sunday night at 11 o’clock Mexico City time, which is one hour behind Massachusetts’s time. The flight was incident-less. There were no delays and my layover in Houston was extremely brief. It was late so getting through customs took only minutes and I had a 180-day tourist visa. It is extremely easy to get a visa in Mexico as and American, especially when you think about all the challenges that people face coming the opposite direction.
Padre Oswaldo greeted me at the airport with one of his friends who is a taxi driver named Ishmael. Padre Oswaldo and I had met in the last week of June so it was really good to see him again. He and Ishmael were extremely welcoming and described the many different delegaciones (like boroughs in New York) that we were driving through down La Calza de Tlalpan to my neighborhood, called San Pedro Martir (Saint Peter the Martyr).
The next morning I had some time to unpack and get myself settled. I haven’t completely figured out my Internet connection but I do have it pretty regularly, and it is free! I had a leisurely breakfast while I met the people I will be living with this year. There are two priests that live here including Padre Oswaldo. There are also about 8 guys who are thinking about becoming priests that live there too. They are all really cool and I have to speak Spanish all the time with them, so that is already improving my skills. The other person who lives here is a guy named Paul. He has been volunteering here for the past year and is the person I am replacing. It is really great having someone here who can explain all the ins and outs of the community and the job that I have.
Today I went to my job with Paul for the first time. It is at a place called Nuestra Señora de Lourdes albergue para enfermos y familiares . This is a place for people to stay while they are receiving medical treatment in the city. There is a big concentration of hospitals in Mexico City and people from other parts of the country have to travel long distances to get treatment. This is a place for the patients to stay as well as one family member that is accompanying them. It is so important to have people with you while you are going through surgery to assist you as well as provide moral support, but also there is a lot less malpractice that occurs when a patient has an advocate. We are right near a cancer institute as well a hospital that specializes in orthopedic surgery as well as eye surgery. From what I have been told by Paul we usually have guests with those types of medical situations.
I miss everyone at home very much but also I am really adjusting well here. They people are extremely welcoming and understanding. The guys I live with are really cool normal people. They joke around with each other (sometimes I understand what they are saying) and we have already talked about having some tequila soon. I also really enjoyed my first day of work and I think that I am going to learn a lot from being there. So things are going well. Enjoy the rest of August! I will update again in the beginning of September.
My Address:
Brendan Carey
Gardenia 5
Col. Ejidos de San Pedro Martir
Del. Tlalpan
México, D.F.
CD 14640, México
Padre Oswaldo greeted me at the airport with one of his friends who is a taxi driver named Ishmael. Padre Oswaldo and I had met in the last week of June so it was really good to see him again. He and Ishmael were extremely welcoming and described the many different delegaciones (like boroughs in New York) that we were driving through down La Calza de Tlalpan to my neighborhood, called San Pedro Martir (Saint Peter the Martyr).
The next morning I had some time to unpack and get myself settled. I haven’t completely figured out my Internet connection but I do have it pretty regularly, and it is free! I had a leisurely breakfast while I met the people I will be living with this year. There are two priests that live here including Padre Oswaldo. There are also about 8 guys who are thinking about becoming priests that live there too. They are all really cool and I have to speak Spanish all the time with them, so that is already improving my skills. The other person who lives here is a guy named Paul. He has been volunteering here for the past year and is the person I am replacing. It is really great having someone here who can explain all the ins and outs of the community and the job that I have.
Today I went to my job with Paul for the first time. It is at a place called Nuestra Señora de Lourdes albergue para enfermos y familiares . This is a place for people to stay while they are receiving medical treatment in the city. There is a big concentration of hospitals in Mexico City and people from other parts of the country have to travel long distances to get treatment. This is a place for the patients to stay as well as one family member that is accompanying them. It is so important to have people with you while you are going through surgery to assist you as well as provide moral support, but also there is a lot less malpractice that occurs when a patient has an advocate. We are right near a cancer institute as well a hospital that specializes in orthopedic surgery as well as eye surgery. From what I have been told by Paul we usually have guests with those types of medical situations.
I miss everyone at home very much but also I am really adjusting well here. They people are extremely welcoming and understanding. The guys I live with are really cool normal people. They joke around with each other (sometimes I understand what they are saying) and we have already talked about having some tequila soon. I also really enjoyed my first day of work and I think that I am going to learn a lot from being there. So things are going well. Enjoy the rest of August! I will update again in the beginning of September.
My Address:
Brendan Carey
Gardenia 5
Col. Ejidos de San Pedro Martir
Del. Tlalpan
México, D.F.
CD 14640, México
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