In the thick of it

This is week 7 in Mexico and it’s a little surreal that in 4 weeks I’ll swearing in as an official Peace Corps volunteer and heading out to my future site for 2 years.  We’re in the thick of pre-service training right now which means it’s a bit like finals week back in college, only for more than a week. Some days I feel really good about my Spanish and some days I just stare at people with a confused look as they talk to me.  The two best things about this point of training are all my fellow future volunteers and my host family, because both provide lots of opportunities for good conversations and lots of laughs!

  Last weekend's Festival de Comunidades Extranjeras. This booth was definitely the most entertaining.

   Germany's sausages were extremely popular.

   And then there was the booth for the USA - all the sugary drinks you desire. 

   The USA also had hot dogs and hamburgers, and star wars posters.

   El Salvador

For training this week we went to a small community outside of Querétaro to learn about how they’re working to help reduce soil erosion, capture rainwater and provide jobs for local youth. It was amazing to see these people living in a small, remote community without access to public transportation using a cistern to collect water for their house, collecting greywater for their plants, using solar to heat their bath water from the cistern, composting alongside their house, growing a small garden for food and using a biofiltration system to clean water.  They are doing these things for survival and all I could think about was how in the states it’s often people with money who are the only ones who are able to utilize all of these tools.

 View from the peak of our hike

 Pictures from our community hike. 

Two young people in the community who spent time building trails, terraces, gaviotas and other projects to help protect their local environment took us hiking in their mountains, and then to lunch at a local woman’s house where we enjoyed delicious rice, chicken, beans and homemade popsicles. The landscape was really dry and so, so windy but it felt like a different glimpse of Mexico and I’m always excited to see animals.  I got a little wind-burned and sadly got my first sunburn in Mexico.  Reminder to self: bring sunblock for reapplication every time you leave the house.

 Livestock roaming in the hills. 

 My language teachers Rocio and Quitze. They are the best!

Perfect conditions for a sunburn. 

My host family has become real family and I’m going to be sad to leave them at the end of May. We laugh so much together and they give me hugs when they see I’m having a hard day. And most importantly, they let me sleep in late on the weekends if I need it :)

   Sunset view from my room.

Next week I go to Puebla for a full week to shadow a current volunteer and give a 30-minute training on biodiversity to a large group of university students ALL IN SPANISH.  Fingers crossed that is a successful venture.  And the following Monday I have to give my “Readiness to Serve” presentation which is essentially the culmination of 8 weeks of training and my site visit with my future team in Jalisco, and then I have a language test to hopefully show I’ve improved an appropriate amount to make it in my future community.  Like I said, it’s busy but I still found time today to a) sleep in, b) go to the post office for the first time in 7 weeks (Katie – your letter from week 1 is finally on its way!) and c) go for a walk on my favorite street in Querétaro.  Now, it’s time to get back to work.  Adios!

    Fun art at a local cafe.

 Found the city sign again after it moved to a new location!

 One of my favorite streets.

 Local art.

                                                    Sights in my neighborhood. 

When you are surrounded by Spanish and thus forget all Spanish

This past week was a big one: I visited my future site and met my new host family and the people I’ll be working with over the next two years.  I was a wee bit nervous about traveling cross country and being immersed in Spanish all the time.  My fears were allayed when I met my first future coworker who was super kind and patient, and led me through Guadalajara on my first “autobus” experience.  For a very affordable price you can travel in more comfort than on an airplane, enjoy precious air conditioning, and watch or listen to just about anything you want, including Miley Cyrus, REM, Guns N’ Roses and my new favorite Shakira song, Gitana.

 Mountains surrounding my new town!

Horses and rock streets.

The rest of my team was also warm and welcoming and the office has a great backyard with both an orange tree and a mango tree in view.  My new host family is also super nice and they have an amazing home with a beautiful center garden and open ceiling where you can view lots of stars at night :)

Backyard at the office. 

Outdoor living - I love it! But maybe not the mosquito bites.

My town has around 8,000 residents and is a “pueblo mágica” in every sense.  It’s surrounded by beautiful mountains and every Sunday night a different band plays music in the gazebo.  People walk around the square or sit on the benches listening to music, talking, eating from the street tents and people watching.  My host family and I walked around and sat for an hour listening to the great music and people watching.  It was perhaps my favorite moment during my week long site visit and something I hope to replicate every Sunday once I’m in town.  There were also men out and about riding their horses through the streets and at night I could hear horses riding along the rock streets from my bed, which was pretty magical.

Downtown square 

 Downtown streets

 I love this fountain with frogs!

Street view

 Ruinas de la Presciosa Sangre

Famous raicilla - I have yet to taste this but will eventually. 

I was feeling pretty good about powering my way through Spanish until a) I had to ask my boss how to say “I am here” which is essentially as basic as “hola” and b) after 7 days, my brain stopped understanding any Spanish and I perpetually had a puzzled look on my face whenever anyone said anything to me (including “hola”).  Even with the language challenges it was a great visit and I saw all kinds of fun things like people riding horses down the street, dogs wearing disco ball lights, a woman riding a bike with a bird in a cage on the back, and cows strolling down the road.

Oh, and since I’m only two hours from the beach, my family graciously offered to take me so I got to experience some real heat and humidity and enjoy my beloved Pacific Ocean for a full day! It was a little surreal being surrounded by so many English-speaking people and to see mainstays from home (like Wal-Mart), but the beaches north of the downtown were really lovely.  The main thing I miss from home is seeing water every day so a full day walking in the water was good for my soul. 
  

The next five weeks of training are going to be pretty intense, but it’s great to know that when it’s finished, I have a great place and great people waiting for me in Jalisco! 

Beauty & Generosity

My life in Mexico essentially revolves around people and food, and this week was no exception.  I got to travel with my small group of fellow Natural Resource Management trainees to two new places in central Mexico: Parque Nacional El Chico and the Barranca de Metztitlán Biosphere Reserve.  I also got to meet with four current volunteers who were fountains of information and experience, and a testament to the power of immersion for learning a new language.  Anytime you hear someone say they arrived in Mexico with little to no Spanish skills and now hear them speaking fluently, it’s a definite confidence booster!

There are so many potential stories to tell from this trip as the landscapes and the people we encountered were so giving in their beauty and kindness.  In the biosphere reserve, we met with a small group in a community of about 130 people and learned about their efforts to conserve natural resources and develop ecotourism opportunities.  They took us on a walk along the river where we ate bananas and guanábana fresh off the trees and saw papayas, pigs, horses and more!  They invited us to an impromptu dinner with quesadillas and my first ever apple soda, and were very gracious hosts. 

 

We had to drive on some narrow, steep roads over those mountains
in the distance to get here, but it was beautiful. 

One of many lovely trees along our walk. 

Jaime and a current volunteer at dinner. 

Serpent-like tree. 

We got to see someone ring the bell for mass here during diner. 

We also visited a cactus farm that was established – in part – to stop illegal poaching of species from the national park and I bought my first plant in Mexico.  Fingers crossed I can keep this little beauty alive and safely transport it from place to place in the coming months!

My precious little plant!

Cactus garden - love that succulent in the background!

In El Chico I got to see a current volunteer working with local children and help read a book to two super cute youngsters.  They won me over when the little girl said I had a pretty name and the little boy laughed at my joke about my Spanish.  Autumn is not a common name in Mexico and a little difficult to pronounce so instead of getting called Amber all the time (like in the states), I usually get called Atún which translates to "tuna." It simply creates more opportunities for me to laugh with people :) It was pretty hot in both places but the skies were clear and that made our long drive and outdoor hikes even more interesting. 

Awesome views while hiking in the national park. 

Our new friend, a lizard on a tree! 

I found Chief Seattle in a tiny town in Mexico!

We stayed one night in Mineral del Chico and it’s a “magical puebla” just like my future site! It was a beautiful little town nestled in the mountains with the most beautiful hotel I have encountered in some time. Unfortunately, we did not get to taste any of the region’s bounty here as we worked past closing time for all the local restaurants.  However, I can verify that Cheetos in Mexico are different than in the US and that they are delicious! 

View in Mineral del Chico. 

Hotel art and seating - so lovely!

Late night dinner view. 

Speaking of food, my new love is a food called “pastes.” I ate pastes filled with potatoes and chicken, mole verde, apples and more and they were ALL delicious.  Also delicious: mango and ferrero ice cream purchased on the side of the road on a hot day. To be fair, that ice cream is probably delicious every day of the year. I also brought home a fruit for my host mom called a "zapote amarillo."  One of the men in Metztitlán gave it to me off a tree and said it was similar to an avocado but sweeter, so in about a week, we’ll see how that tastes as well. 

Breakfast stop for pastes! And an example of local public transportation.

Cool labels on local beer. 

Hotel and mountains in Metztitlán. 

Church in Metztitlán.

Next week I head to my future site for a full week with my new host family and future co-workers, and that will include a 2-day bus trip where I hope I can communicate enough with my counterpart to make that trip a success. I hear that pastes are sadly not popular at my site, but that it is famous for mezcal (i.e. tequila) so maybe there’s a new favorite coming my way soon.