La Vida Oaxaqueña

Back @ AU

2007-02-03T20:28:00.000-08:00

Well i've been back at Acadia for a little over a month now.
and its still all sinking it, that whole mexico thing remember? its very, overwhelming. even being back at home in my 'normal' life is much more overwhelming than my time that i spent in mexico. superficially i've been fine adjusting to life here, but allowing the two worlds to combine as one and let it truly change is much more difficult.
i'll write more about this later.
I have decided recently to keep up with my blog on such issues. posting articles and school progress and other such areas of interest as they pertain to my life. i'll avoid sharing the day-to-day things like volleyball, parties and such. this is more of an exercise to keep an active learning process on adjustment and bringing mexico into my life and learnings.
I am officially an honours student by the way. BA Honours in Political Science and a minor in Spanish is my neat little degree title. All this boils down is that i'm writing a 60 page thesis on mexico. My sister laughed tonight when my answer was simply mexico, but i assure you theres more to my plan than that. I hope to explore the process of democratization in mexico as civil uprisings reflect those struggles in a traditional one party system. Clearly Oaxaca will be my main case study. i'm quite excited about it, but i'll contain myself until i speak with my advisor on tuesday. and then again until its all done over a year form now. its a daunting task thats going to take a ton of work but work it shall.
anyway, that is all for now.
cuidate mucho...

Sad News

2006-11-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

hey to all you out there still checking my blogspot. sorry i havent been keeping you as up to date as i should have been. but as you can imagine its been busy and things just arent open liek they used to be. or they werent until this week.
Now, i got some sad news last night from our program director. The ProWorld Staff in the USA has decided that Promexico needs to terminate its operations in Oaxaca until the conflict has subsided. Unfortunately, that is an indefinite length of time since no know can predict whats going to happen here at this opoint. This means that the group is goingt o be travelling to another part of mexico. To the beach in Puerto Escondido again, then Mexico City and then north to Guanajauto which is another colonial city much smaller than Oaxaca.
I won´t lie to anyone, i am overwhelmed with comphrending what this means for the next week with packing and preparing to say goodbye to my host family and new friends in Oaxaca. I´m so sad to think about leaving this beautiful place, even in the conflict its been good to me. a bit unpredicatble but you learn to roll with the punches, and thats an invaluable lesson its given me. It breaks my heart to leave knowing how other ppl that have to stay here are suffering. we are the last international program of our sort to leave Oaxaca. Its probable that our language school will have to close when we leave, putting friends out of work, etc. Its just terrible to see the economy dying before your eyes, and now feeling responsible for it. The decision is out of our hands though, and with the growing amount of uncertainity it might be a good idea logically. It will never feel good to us though.
We´re all looking at it on the upside that we get to see more of mexico with this adventure Together with some new and fantastic friends. The staff will be taking us around and thats liek having a good friend as a tourguide, they know what they are talking about, and they know us. what more could you ask for? it wont be the same as the program we are supposed to be doing here, but given the situation we have to be adaptable. Oh for those of you considering my academic well being, we still be getting credit for the semester since it was not our choice. it will just involve more independent study than previously planned.
anyway, thats my update for now, i will put up more information soon, bc life should start to become more normal from this point on. but in short, no worries, you can all rest easy, i will be out of Oaxaca by november 20th and far away from the conflict.
011529515692466 this is my cell number here in mexico. its now free for me to recieve calls. so call if you´re worried or something. but it will still be expensive for you! but i am reachable at all times now.
alrighty, thanks for trying to stay uptodate on my life here. more soon.

My Favorite Curandera... Tía Luz

2006-10-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

With my Mexican health class this week, Rachael and I got to experience a limpia, which means cleaning. Our professor, Dr. Javier Mendez, took us to a nearby town called Mitla, and we met with a curandera named Tía Luz. (Aunt Light). Basically, she is a traditional medicine practitioner, similar to what we would think of as a shaman. Medicina tradicional is very important here, as you could note from my brief write up on parteras(widwives), which are also a part of this tradition.
So off we go to meet this curandera, not really knowing what to expect. We ended up meeting one of the cutest ladies I have ever seen, ever. Tía Luz, is a almost 90 year old lady, under 5 feet tall, with a tiny wrinkled face and big sunglasses from the 90's to protect her eyes following a cataract surgery a few months ago. (i will be posting a picture of her next week sometime.) Her laugh is just incredible, a huge toothless grin making her eyes almost non-existant, and cackles, usually grabbing her face in an adorable way.
Tía Luz is specialized in Espanto or Fright. She does a ceremony to discover your fright, which is an event in which you were traumatized in life, then she will do a limpia and clease you of that frightful event because the belief is that even pyschological things can affect your physical health. The ceremony starts with her sitting you in a chair and lighting a ball of wax on fire with sand and other things in it, this is burning in a bowl of water at your feet so that when it has burned completely there is a pattern left in the bottom of the bowl. while your fire burns she take a black pottery pot and calls for your spirit to come and cleansing the room by going into each of the 4 corners of the room repeating the call. At some point during each other you call out to her, "ya voy, ya voy" meaning "i´m coming", all the while you are supposed to be staring at the fire at your feet. Then when this is completed, she waits for your fire to burn up before removing the leftovers and interpreting it.
My friend, Rachael, had the whole cleaning done first and her espanto was a big fear of an animal when she was younger, but its passed now. Tía Luz said it was probably a snake. My Espanto, when it was my turn, involves people, lots of people, have frightened me, and there are lots of people around when i am frightened. Rachael didnt think it was acurrate, but still a little curious because she lived in Arizona as a kid so she's been around snakes as a child. Mine, i think is fairly accurate because there have been a few incidents in my life when a friend or someone has really terrified me because of something they said or did.
Once the fright is interpreted, Tía Luz begins the limpia (cleaning). This process starts by sitting you in the chair again, and then she calls your name out again before taking a big clear bottle of mescal and tips her head back and appears to chug it. As a bit of a shock, she spits out the mescal at your feet where the fire used to be. For those not well versed in Mexican alcohols, Mescal is similar to tequila but is made from a different type of cactus plant called Manguey, personally, I think it smells and tastes like rubbing alcohol. Tía Luz takes another big swig of this mescal and spits it out on your feet and lower legs, then on your outstretched forearms, then down your shirt in the front, down your shirt in the back, then you have to stand up and she spits more mescal out on the back of your knees. Once this is done, and you've somehow managed not to laugh while it was happening, she takes a certain type of palms and beats the floor at your feet before hitting you in all the places she spit mescal all over you. When this is done, you're clean, and free of your frightful event!
We had a good chat with Tía Luz afterwards, as well. We found out that she learned from people in her family and started practicing around 40, before that she sold fruit and other things. We're still not sure we should believe them, but she said that one of her grandparents lived to be 122 years old so her 90 years is not that out of the ordinary for her family. She was incredibly full of life, and her laugh was infectious to say the least. She was hard to leave, but maybe we'll get back to visit her someday, if you ever end up in Mexico and want to be cleaned or learn how to do cleanings, look up Tía Luz in Mitla, Oaxaca State. She doesn´t have an apprentice, because no young people in the area want to learn, the old ways are starting to slip away. She's very friendly, and will only charge you a small fee of around 100 pesos for a cleaning, which is about 11$Can. I definitely recommend it!
Mitla is a gorgeous town of artisans and ancient ruins in the middle of the town as well. Its not big compared to Oaxaca but its beautiful and full of life. Again, I find myself recommending a trip to Oaxaca to any and all. If you ever consider it please ask me about it! My professors wife is a tour guide here and i could get you in touch with her! (she's american and therefore language is not an issue!)

Day of the Dead Info

2006-10-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

Here's some links to excellent sites about the Day of the Dead festival in Oaxaca. I'll be putting up more information about it as i experience next week, but incase you've got some time on your hands and want to put some more meaning on our Halloween check the sites out. The pics are really interesting and actually the whole basis of it is really interesting. To all you teachers out there you should talk to your classes about this, a fun alternative to normal class while still learning about another culture at Halloween when most students will refuse to pay attention anyway!
Really quickly, the Day of the Dead Festival is from Ocotber 31st to November 2nd, and its a huge tradition in Mexico, especially here in Oaxaca. Its mostly practiced by the catholic population, so i dont get to see much of it since my host family is mormon and they dont participate. Essentially its a time when the spirits of family come back through a door open to this world and visit their family members. They are honoured in altars with pictures, fruit, vegetables, traditional dishes like mole, and sweets, along with visiting cemetaries for special ceremonies, bringing their relatives music that they like, or food or whatever their ancestors enjoyed in life. Its a huge deal and in some families its more important than Christmas as a religious holiday.
anyway check out the links that the Lovely Kacki sent me and i'll put up more info next week!

Offers a good explanation of the holiday
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/mdiaz/mdmuertos.html

This website offers cooking classes traditional food for the Day of the Dead
http://www.day-of-the-dead.org/

A nice, personal account of a foreigner describing in detail the Day of the Dead festivities- some nice photos
http://www.viva-oaxaca.com/Day_0f_Dead/DayDead_text.htm

Another website that describes the holiday of how it is celebrated and also offers tours and cooking classes
http://www.go-oaxaca.com/traditions/daydead.html

Link to other Blog

2006-10-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

Hey Hey.
So in the wake of writing a few things while in Mexico, i decided to post them so you can read them at your leisure. it also helps me to make sure i dont lose them! its in another blog and i havent figured out how to make a link onthe main pages to the other blog... so check it out if you like...
http://lavidaoaxaquena-articulosycosas.blogspot.com/

The situation...

2006-10-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

THis is Puerto Escondido. the beach we went to which is world famous for surfing. this is where Rachael and i went to escape the situation in Oaxaca for a weekend! so nice!
This is my group of girls! in San Martin Huamelupam or something. its early but we're still happy because we're in Mexico! another little escape out of the city in september.

Well. the situation is as it was. We had crazy high hopes that it would clear up last week, but it looks like we've got another couple of weeks to wait until things get worked out. Actually, as with most situations, it will appear to get worse before it gets better.
Unfortunately i dont have much time right now, I have to go write an article for the Ath now. But if anyones interested it should be in the online edition next week at www.theathonline.com so check it out if you want!

Pics of Me!

2006-10-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

This is me and my Varuna! I miss her... especially today... i'me wearing a shirt she gave me b4 she left! oh have fun at home in school V! oh i only appear to be naked because i'm wearing a tan dress of Varunas...
this is my group of girls that arrived in september! We're at a club called High. we found it to be a rather low experience. Me Natalie, Maggie, and Rachael.
Me and Natalie!!! yes, i'm wearing another dress, shockin eh? i bought this one just to wear for 'fun'!
none of these ppl are me... no my tan is good but its not that good! Varuna, Agustin ( ProMexico Staffer) and Sonia!

There ya go! a few pics of me since i realized i havent put up many of those and y'all might be curious to see what i look like after all this time away! haha! more up soon i hope!!! Be Good! Be Happy!

Fotos!

2006-10-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

random spiderweb i enjoyed in the morning dew
i swear its not scary here!
this is the puppy that made me bleed in two places... devil puppy!

raise of Hands

2006-10-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

Alrighty! Everyone at home who´s heard any news about Oaxaca... Raise your Hands! and i mean on main circuit news, not my fancy little blog here! No One? Oh! One or two in the back! Okay cool! Well.... Limme tell you a little story...
So Once there was this corrupt govenor Ulises Ruis. And once there was this very organized teachers union that back in the day started to go on strike every summer to get more money. Then wayyyy back in June, everyone decided to agree that Ulises is corrupt. the Teachers and all kinds of other groups banded together and now we have the APPO!
Now the thing you´ve got to understand about this whole she-bang is that everyone has gone to extremes. Today they were all supposed to sit down again and have a lovely little chat about how to fix this whole mess, but this being the sticky situation that it is... the APPO and the teachers wouldnt go because not all the same groups of people were invited as before. Now, to be brutally honest, we dont have a clue whats going to happen. So we wait. and twiddle our thumbs and go on with normal life more or less.
The federal police could come in at any point and essentially fumigate the city of all the little pesky protesters. but i doubt that will happen today. Who knows? no one! well... presidente Fox might. but he aint sayin a word! shhh... secrets! Anyway, more of this story today is that we're just chillin and livin like normal. shopping trying to stimulate the economy and going out to dinner tonight for the same purpose! Officially i suppose i could tell you that we're sticking close to home and not staying out late this week just incase. and if the federal police do come in Our darling staffers might just wisk us away to the mountains... or beach.... for a perfect few days together! haha! seriously... no worries! s'all good in the Hood as they say!

A little Update!

2006-10-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

Manuel, Maggie, Rachael, and Gil.... on Rachaels 21st Bday in Sabina!
Marco and Celso! My davorite Mexican Couple! Celso is in Black and is one of my spanish teachers... whose favorite english words are DUH and Hanky Panky! How do you not LOVE that?
please meet Kacki... or Kiki, or Kackinder! Shes ProMéxico Staff and is super fun from Tennessee!

And this is also a ProMéxico Staffer... Tim or Timo our program director... and yes, if you´re wondering is he dancing to MC Hammer, the answer is yes. Ah the things that man will do with some coaxing....

Hola Todos!
I just thought i´d steal a few more pics from my buddy Rachael so you can all be nosy and look at my friends! Again these are all stolen pics but you get the point! I´m still working on getting mine on a cd so i can actually put up some that i´ve taken!
Now on to the update!
I´m offically and semi legally allowed to stay in México until december 14th! eventhough i will be home to bug everyone a few days before that! I´ve decided that i will be super sad to leave all my few friends and staffers here when i leave, but i´ve still got... like 72 more days to enjoy in the beautiful Mexico! Yes i went and got my tourist visa extended today, with the help of my passport and bank account which is rather plump right now.. thanks Daddy! I´m all set to stay now! As long as no one figures out that i´m not actually only a tourist then i´m good! but it wont be a problem! Since its pretty much our main way to pass the time!
Rachael and I are heading to the beach in Puerto Escondito this weekend to get out of the city and away from the craziness. We still manage to enjoy ourselves despite classes, and the demonstrations and threat of military invasion. our staffers are actually encouraging our little outing for the weekend considering what could happen this week with the attempt at resuming talks with the APPO and all the protesters with the federal and state governments. You just never know. There have been helicopters flyin over the city since saturday to assess how things are, and make a plan. Plus the actual protestors are not laying down. there was another march today that Rachael and i got to witness with Tim and kacki outside the office. Tension seems to be building, and if something happens this week wé're in our houses with our families until Tim says otherwise! Unfortunately our staffers cant come with us this weekend because they have orientation with the new group of girls coming in, but we're all trying to plan a trip on the 21st of october again and then another one in November maybe?! I hope!
Um just a little note about media back at home, if any of you get to see news about Oaxaca, be critical of what you see. Not that its necessarily wrong, but dramatic. We were looking at CNN today, and they seem to like their thesaurus more than they like anything else in the world. they tend to paint a very negative picture that isnt how the city actually feels. for example, apparently there were some 'attacks' on banks here today, but we had no idea, and we wouldnt if we didnt check the news. If you avoid the problem areas at the problem times and pay attention to rumours and whats going on around you then you're fine. But speaking of which, it is 8 o clock and i promised Tim i´d be home by now! hahaha! no worries!

Puppy Attack

2006-09-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

For some reason, i feel the need to tell you my ancedote for the day. maybe its because my posts are always so serious... Anyway...
So today, all the girls of ProMéxico went to Etla to see a modern arte museo and church. Then we went to some pools that had waterslides and random other things like a trampoline and a puppy that we discovered near the end of our little sunning session. Yea its september 30th, and it was like 40 degrees in the hot sun, so we layed out and tanned in our bikinis. good times with the girlies!
So Kacki and i were sitting up at a patio table when a cute little puppy came over. we laugh, we pet, we chat with the puppy because thats just what you do with puppies. the little darling was jumping and playing with us, then in his adorable innosence he started chewing on a shoe. Clearly thats adorable because hes barely bigger than the shoe, so i take a few pics before taking it away from him.
This whole process happened again with a different pair of shoes, except he got more into it... running away with the shoe... hiding under a table really chewing on it. Being the strong one that i am, once again, i go over take some cute pics, and then take the shoe away from him. At this point, Kacki, which i will remind you is a ProMéxico staffer... starts to laugh like crazy. Because the puppy is literally a Ankle Biter! with his sharp teeth he bit me repeatedly. Drawing blood in my ankle and my finger as i tried to jump out of the way without stepping on the little thing. Damn Puppy.
Luckily he was a pet so no rabies! I think! haha. good story eh? only i could get attacked by a puppy i think! i'll show you pics when i can! silly little ankle biter! not my friend! I´ll remember this Kacki!

The one time to listen to Rumours

2006-09-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

Well I promised to attempt to explain the situation here, not sure why i put this on myself because its super complicated but i´ll at least try. Maybe it will help, maybe'll have to clarify or completely change parts of this but if you have any questions let me know and i´ll try and figure it out!
Well for starters, currently, the city of Oaxaca is on a supposed commerical strike. It was supposed to be closing all stores for two days, thursday and friday. The effect it was supposed to have was to tell the government, State and Federal, that the business people are sick of all this because they are making no money. UNfortunately i dont think it will have the effect that was planned because not everything was closed yesterday, buses ran as normal and today, its the same thing except more stores are open. I havent been all over the city yet, but i´m sure theres a smattering of open places. So unfortunately, all the businesses are still losing money because locals arent going out as much, and there are very few tourists which usually bring in the most money. Its really quite sad because since I arrived restaurants and businesses have started to close and move away to other places to make money, be safer, and have their kids in school.
I say safer, not because we are living in a state of supreme anarchy, but there is a significant lack of police presence in the city now. The result has been more common theifs coming to Oaxaca from outside the city and state. Theres been robberies, and a few other incidients, and of course, peoples tires being stolen off their car while they're in a restaurant eating, but in general, i would disagree with the canadian consulate here. I had an interesting encounter with her on Monday. Its really too bad shes giving the reports to the Canadian government because she has a bit of a skewed opinion i think. But if you want to up to date on her report check out: http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/sos/ci/cur-en.asp?txt_ID=798 . The facts that she says are true, and you do have to exercise discretion and caution, but pay attention to rumours and you´re okay.
For example, there have been rumours in the past few weeks that the Federal Police are going to come and clear everyone out thats protesting as a part of the APPO. There was this rumour last night and it never happened. Personally i dont think it will happen independent of a political change because it would only cause an escalation of events, not solve anything. But at the same time, noone knows what will happen, even those that are very informed. The reason for that is that its very tricky politically to solve this problem. Ulises Ruis, the governor that the APPO wants out of office, is being supported by all the mayors because they are all worried about what precedence this would set. But the APPO have said that they wont stop protesting until he is gone. UNfortunately the change over of Mexican Presidents is set to occur on NOv. 30th/ dec. 1st. The current president Fox has pledged to deal with the issues here before he leaves office and is under a lot of pressure from the President elect to do so, so he, Calderon, doesnt have to deal with it as his first order of business. the other tricky part is that if Ulises leaves before dec. 1st, the constitution says there has to be a special election which would probably result in a popular vote for the opposite party of Ulises, the state legislatures majority, and the Presidents. If he leaves after dec. 1st, the state legislature gets to appoint a new governor to finish out the rest of the 4 years remaining in his 6 year term. More than likely the apointee would be the same party as Ulises and therefore, won´t make the people happy because they all have the same politics. I dont really see how anyone can solve this politically, and if they try to use force, they dont have the resources and it will only enrage the already dramatic APPO. I guess only time can tell the rest of this story, and when it gets down to the end of November and nothing has happened it will be a very interesting time.
But just a quick reminder, i´ve never felt unsafe here in Oaxaca. We're rarely alone wandering unfamiliar streets. Its not as dramatic as the consulate or even the papers would lead you to believe. its easy to be aware of whats happening around you. I´ve sensed tension in the downtown areas at times, but i was never alone, and actually usually had either a mexican friend or a ProMéxico staffer with us so it was fine. Its really the one time in my life that its been smart to listen to rumours! You dont stick around to see the danger, listen to the rumours, your house family, staffers, friends, and still manage to have wicked times out and about. We even managed to close a bar this week, 3 am, the staff wanted to leave so we had to. You know what they say... When in México...!

Un Poco Fotos

2006-09-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

@ a bar called La Divina... Rachael, Oscar, Varuna, Me, Sonia & Carlos.
Me and My Varuna. Hindu, Indian, English and most of all Beautiful! and hilarious!
El Arból de Tule... the biggest biomass in the world... Gil, Sonia, Me and Varuna. We look so cool, the coolest tourists ever, a very good mexican guide as well!
Alrighty! Finally a few Pics! Naturally, i still havent figured out what to do with my own camera since i didnt bring my cord to hook it up. but i´ll work it out. In any case i stole these ones from Varuna and Sonia! Thus making them far classier than i could ever imagine. Since they are English you know! I miss them terribly, but they are having good random adventures in Argentina and Peru right now! I wish they would come back to Oaxaca after that trip but they are going home. Soon Varuna and I will meet at one level, i´ll come down from Idol status and meet her on her ascent upwards! haha. sorry this is short but enjoy the pics!

APPO

2006-09-22T11:39:00.001-07:00

I promise i´ll write more explaining the whole protesting situation here very soon. Sunday perhaps, but for those very curious, or very bored this weekend, not enjoying the rolling stones festivities in halifax, below is a Link to the APPO´s official page. I havent looked at it yet myself, but it says it has videos and should explain who they are.
generally the APPO is the Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca. Essentially they are a big organization of all the groups of people from Oaxaca state that are against the Govenor of the state, Ulises. The groups included in the organization are the state teachers that started all of this, the Communist party of Mexico, and other groups that think the govenor is corrupt. I cant say i disagree with them through all the stories i´ve heard, and just then general feel of the population including my house family. But this isn´t necessarily the best way to go about it, especially since all the other governors of mexico have pledged their support of Ulises.
I warn you they´re a bit radical sounding with a lot of propaganda that makes you take notice. But i reassure you, we are safe and careful while we´re here! Its actually a really well made website just goes to show, never underestimate anyone! Check it out and i´ll write more explaining it in english as i understand it, and more of what reactions i here from locals and my ProMéxico staff!!!

http://www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com/

Nova Scotia

2006-09-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

For those of you that do not recognize this pic, this is one i took of the Toney River Beach at a great family party this past august just before i left. I´ve been in Mexico for 3 weeks today, so i guess this pic was taken 4 weeks ago! So hard to believe!
people always ask where i´m from when i´m in a cab or whatnot, especially since my Canadian pin broke off my bag and got lost. I´ve gotten into the habit of being as general as possible by just saying, "soy de Canadá". then they´ll ask about vancouver, and expect me to have been there. Its fun to shock people and say that nova scotia is closer to Europe than it is to Vancouver. Our Country is huge! But our province is very small.
Explaining the concept of winter and snow and storms all the time is a bit of a challenge at times even with my american or english friends. They all know the stereotypes cant be true but when they think of canada, they picture, mounties vs. eskimos in an intense hockey game while all are speaking french. You can´t help but laugh along with them at the absurity of their imagination. Its fun, and the people i´ve met are far from ignorant or arrogant, in fact most are either knowledgable or embarassed at their lack of knowledge.
Either way, Its forced me to examine my country from a more simple perespective. I find myself missing french lately. Sure i still mix in french in with my spanish, which im sure makes no sense to the people listening to me, but of course in my head its perfectly logical that comme is the same as como! Withe every new spanish word i learn, i feel like i´m forgetting my french. It makes me a bit nostalgic, and has resulted in some interesting conversations explaining why my new cell phone is not in English or spanish, but in, as my phone calls it, "canadian french".
Its very hard to explain canada as a whole, and i always end up saying "on the east Coast". My friend from Washington state noticed this, but i´m sure all the east coasters understand the distinction. I think Mexicans have a better chance of understanding it as well because they have a strong regional identity. Every region is very different politically and culturally from the rest of México on the whole. Its very interesting! I find myself becoming more and more proud of Canada despite all the regional distinctions. We´re like 8 countries in one!
I dont miss nova scotia per say, but i´m always thinking about home and appreciating where i am and where i come from in the same instant. Thinking of the music, and the friendly "stop to let you cross the street 3 meters from a crosswalk" atmosphere, friends and family. the Culture of our supposed bilingualism, vast geographic differences, and good water everywhere for either drinking, fishing or swimming. I even had a funny conversation with my spanish teacher about Scottish culture in Nova Scotia, as a light hearted gay man he was especially interested in Kilts!haha Clearly Nova Scotia is phenomenal, but so is Oaxaca! I think they will both be very near to my heart forever.

noises and nightlife

2006-09-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well, i previously write a huge entry that was all about the good and bad things in Oaxaca, including the noises, but i managed to lose it before it got uploaded. so this is my attempt to write it again and if it doesnt work out, then i guess you´re just not meant to know that there are some things that i´m not in love with in this city. best get to it then!
Its been said that mexicans have the highest tolerance for noise in the world, and after moving here i can completely understand why. I´ll put it into perspective, my house is on a quiet street full of trees and houses, but is in between two larger busy streets that run up the neighbourhood. So on a normal day sitting in my room, close your eyes and imagine: you hear the neighbourhood rooster crowing at all hours of the day. every once and a while the dogs will start barking at something, last night they were howling at a cat that was wailing for some reason. then sounds start to filter in from the streets beyond. theres the big old diesel buses shifting as they make their way up the hills after stopping with squeaky brakes to let someone on or off. Theres an array of cars honking their horns at the bus for blocking their route, or for the people on the street to move out of the way before they get run over, or perhaps its a cab honking to ask if a pedestrian needs a ride. once that subsides you´ll hear the a ringing of a triangle type instrument or the beating of a metal tub signifying that a man is selling flavored water as he walks up and down the streets. then theres a squealling sound of metal rings being dragged on the ground behind a moving truck resulting in the house mother to yell her son´s name, "José!!!" because thats the sound of the garbage truck and here you have to carry your own garbage out and put it in the truck yourself. It comes by at least three times a week. Then shortly after this, theres a cry of "AAAAAGGGUUAAAA!!!" and possibly a bell ringing along with it. Clearly this means theres a man sitting on the back of a truck selling big bottles of water to the neighbourhood. Theres more but that should give you a good picture of the constant noise in Mexico.
Downtown its worse, a thousand more honks of horns as impatient taxis honk at the cars in front of them to go through the red lights Theres also random men wandering around yelling to sell newspapers, and men in the mornings directing traffic through certain intersections. a spurt of sirens is heard every once in a while too. Then on top of all of this, theres the cat calling. Being a Tall white female i get mistaken for a Gringa, eventhough, technically since i´m not american, i´m not a Gringa. But that minor distinction doesnt much matter. Just an example of what thats like, one night i was sitting on a bench waiting for some friends next to a busy intersection. in the 10 minutes that i sat there, probably 8 out of every 10 cars either honked, flashed their lights at me, stuck their head out and yelled something in mexican or for the more adventurous souls, in broken english, and last but not least whistled. One, or a combination of these things happens when you are visible to mexican men, regardless of their age. I´ve had a boy probably around 11 yell something, and a man as old as 60 stick his head out and whistle as he drove by. Honestly though, it doesnt really bother me much. I find it more amusing than anything, especially when they yell out, "BEAUTIFUL LADY!" or the only other english words they may know, "WHAT TIME IS IT?"99.9% iof the time they are completely harmless. I have yet to experience anything that made me nervous. You learn to ignore it, or to be amused by it, which is easier for me than it is for my friends here because they understand more of what the men are yelling, so in that respect i´m glad my spanish is lacking!
Moving on to the nightlife! which is really oh so very interesting here! I´ve been told that oaxaca is very different from what it usually is due to the protesting, which i hope to explain in another entry very soon. Its been really quiet at night, with the exception of saturday which i assume is as close to what real oaxaca is like, with tonnes of people out on the streets buying from vendors, and lots more in teh bars themselves. We always go out in a big group and taxi it home, and no worries, we´re careful not to get into unmarked cabs, or ones that are associated with the APPO (the general grouping of everyone protesting here). Sure theres lots of guys that come up and ask "quieres Bailar?" but for everyone of those theres 2 average guys and at least 2 really nice guys around. i´ve met a few and they´re good to help out if necessary. The bar staff is always really good too, especially at this one place we went to called Sabina. It just opened. and was fantastic! We have lots of fun, and i´m never worried about things while i´m out. The night life is good here, and i cant wait for the protesting to be over so i can see what the say its really like.
I´ll try and figure out my picture situation early next week and explain more about the different places i´ve been and my friends once you can see what i´m talking about! it smore interesting for you that way and more fun for me! and on that note, i have to run to pick up some stuff before spanish class and then try and get out a ´double date´ i´m not interested in going on! Hope you´re all good and happy!

Semana Dos

2006-09-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I´ve officially been in Oaxaca for over two complete weeks. Its such an odd concept to think about it like that because somehow it feels like i´ve been here for months, and in other ways its like i just landed here today. my friends are getting ready to leave to go back home, and they´ve made me think a lot about what it will be like to be leaving. Right now i find it hard to imagine wanting to leave, or wanting to stay either. I imagine it to be a bit bittersweet after three months. I´ll be happy to get home and see everyone, but i´ll have to miss this place too.
I should mention the incredible things about Oaxaca so you can all put your horror stories of Mexico out of your head for now. For starters, Mexicans are incredibly nice and helpful people, that dont want to harm you because your white or any other reason actually. Theres a lot of poverty, but a lot of love and family, and pride in their home and culture. Setting aside the hospitatily, imagine a place where its around 30 degrees everyday, with huge white fluffy clouds resting atop of tall green mountains surrounding a city filled with palm trees, flowers, brightly painted buildings on cobblestone roads! Sure theres political turmoil, machismo, stray dogs and homeless people, but its still the most beautiful place i´ve ever seen in life, movies, or pictures. I would recommend a trip to real Mexico any day of the week, even on my bad tired days. if you ever get a chance to come down and try mezcal or quesillo, or chocolate oaxaqueño hop on the plane regardless of the amount of debt you will acquire. Its worth it to be the only white person around for miles, and for that to not really matter other than getting a touch of extra attention.
Granted there are some downsides to being a tall white woman in mexico, but at least im not considered a gringa because i´m canadian! But I´ll write up another entry about the noises, machismo, and the political stuff thats going on so you can understand why i´m not concerned about it no matter what north american media is saying. Oh, but the BBC website is the best place to get updates if you dont read spanish news of course. Dont let anything you hear spoil the image i just created for you, put your mind at ease, i´m super safe, and super happy with a new cell phone to ensure that fact is true, and a fantastic bunch of friends making the experience great.
i wish you were all here to share the experience of real mexico with me, but someday, maybe, I´ll come down with you to Cancún for Spring Break and be your mexico tour guide. Three and a half months should be sufficient to know the lay of the land!!! Until that day comes, in honour of Dia de Independencia which was last yesterday, i´ll say la Grita, about 16 hours late, because its supposed to be said at 11pm on september 15th... and feel free to join me... VIVA MÉXICO!!!!

Sonia & Varuna

2006-09-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

Sonia, and Varuna.
yes they are ppl thats for sure! they´re my two friends that i´m sorely going to miss when they leave after this weekend. I may have only known them since i got here on the first, but they´re good friends regardless. Sonia lives with me at my housestay and varuna is her friend from home that did the program with her this summer. They´re from England, and are hilarious Hindus. Unfortunately for me, they have befriended me to the point where i wish they would stay until decemeber with me, and then i can go back to England with them... oh well. I hope that when i get to go over there for school in a couple of years they´ll still be there to be my english friends!
I´m nervous for next week. They´ll be gone and i will have to start to settle into my own way of life here in Oaxaca. Plus my house will be lonely without Sonia around, but oh well. we´ll keep in touch and fill in those empty moments with emails and blogs! Next week should be interesting too bc rachel and i start our coursework for the semester program and our volunteer stuff starts then too. though my project is still being worked out, but it looks like i´ll be working at the banco del alimentos here which is the food bank. we´re also meeting some random blokes for salsa lessons, we´ll help them with english and they´ll make me feel like an idiot for having no dancing ability.
anywho, back to my dear sonia and varuna... i´ll try and get my pics postable, so you can see just how darling they really are. So sweet for letting me infiltrate their fun times. i´m sure i´ll post some more details about our recent adventures soon once i have the pics to go along with it!

The Beginning!

2006-09-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

Hola!
I just thought i´d start up this makeshift blogspot incase anyone is really interested in my vida oaxaqueña! I dont have any way to upload my pics yet but i´m working on that!
For starters... i´m in mexico... a place called Oaxaca. and its fantastic here! theres a group of 4 of us that will be here most of the time that i am here, and then theres staff, and my homestay family, and my teachers! its all very exciting!
Mexico is very different from Nova Scotia, of course, but who can really complain about hot sunny days with palm trees and mountains all around you? I can´t!
Life is good, food is good!
Be in touch bc i´m online checking my mail every few days at the least! so be good and happy back home!