Birthday Tacos

I recently celebrated my first birthday in Mexico and it was a fitting start to my last year in my 30s.  It had all those things you look for in a birthday celebration: a house full of volunteers, local bebidas for everyone to taste, a live rendition of the Las Mañanitas birthday song in Spanish (with dancing), lots of laughter and tasty food.  I guess Mother Nature was looking out for me because there was no rain, zero incidents with creepy crawlers in the house and both bathrooms held up to heavy use. 

We ran into this little guy on the trail where we saw lots of his friends. 

 Talking shop under a huge plastic orange tree, as one does. 

I tried to absorb all the wisdom I could from these expert volunteers who each had 1.5-3 years of Peace Corps experience and are some seriously cool cats.  I’d say this was a good poster group for the “work hard, play hard” credo, and we viewed some great Youtube videos showcasing the talents of two of my guests.  Cindy and I did our best to show them the local sites and had Sonia, one of our English students who also works as a tour guide, take us on a grand journey traveling through the surrounding mountains to see some of our charming pueblos (and a luxury resort with perfectly manicured grass which is a definite rarity).    

Our intrepid tour guide, Sonia. 

 Waterfall near Navidad. 

 Lake at Sierra Lago. 

If you've got 3500+ pesos a night to spend, you can stay here (i.e. I will never be staying here).

 Lots of art on display. 

A few words about Sonia as she is worthy of some praise.  The first time I saw Sonia she was "graduating" from the tour guide program and taking SO many selfies.  Here's what I've learned in the last 5 months: Sonia is an incredibly kind and hard working woman.  I'm guessing she's in her early 30s, and I know that she is married with three young children.  She works as a tour guide, is going to school and studying all the time, and almost always attends our weekly English class where she diligently works on pronunciation and creating strong sentences.  She also has this great, outgoing personality that makes people instantly love her and is the best photo-poser I've ever met  She has an amazing ability to create a model-worthy pose every time the camera comes out and I'm trying to learn this important life skill from her.  

The lovely Sonia; my posing skills need a lot of work. 

During our tour I got to see some new sites and while walking around a lake Sonia asked me if Cindy and I lived together.  I said no and she asked “why not?”  I tried to explain the difference in the cultural norms in the US and Jess added that it’s against Peace Corps rules for volunteers to live with other English speakers, but it highlights a perception that I frequently run into: that it’s really sad that I live alone.  

One day at the fruit stand I was talking with the owner about my new house and saying that “the only thing I’m missing is….” and she jumped in with “company?  You must be so lonely in that house.”  I was going to say “a sofa.”  People often look at you sadly when you say you live alone and they almost always ask right away if you have kids.  Or a husband.  Or a boyfriend.  Even the people who I buy gas and water from ask me these questions.  And they give you the head tilt with sad eyes and slightly downturned mouth when you say no.  They seem a little less sad when I tell them about my 3 nieces and cat back in the states (all similar enough to my own kids to fit the bill), and when I explain that I only have this great opportunity to live in their community because I don't have all those things (i.e. world, you are welcome).      

I finally got that sofa, but I'm still missing one more chair (and all that family). 

 That mountain in the middle with a kind of flat top is a volcano!

 Sights from our tour. 

Bird chilling in Yerbabuena. 

Living in a culture that seems to value family more has made me think about how I should try to live closer to mine when I'm done with this adventure.  And after such a great six months with my host families, I was a little worried about if it would be different to live alone again, but worry not, I readjusted just fine. I love coming home to do, and wear, whatever I want and if I want to talk with people all I have to do is open my front door.  Or have 6 volunteers come stay with me.  That filled my house with plenty of company and gave me even more things to talk about with the locals.  After dropping off all the gringos at the bus terminal on Sunday, I headed out to do my weekly shopping and everyone asked me about my visitors.  Where were they from?  What did we do?  Did they all really stay at my house?  And, most importantly, did they like it here? (Of course - this place is beautiful!)

The following Monday I headed into work for our weekly English class where I got a second round of Las Mañanitas, enjoyed a cupcake with our students, and shared all kinds of important stuff regarding birthdays in US culture (how to help people celebrate turning 29 forever, etc.)  At the end of the day, I headed to the local taco truck for some birthday tacos.  If you want food but don’t want to cook, you've basically got two options here: go to a restaurant or go to a taco stand.  I am lucky to live next to what Peace Corps staff has described as the best taco stand in Mexico so I splurged on $2 for 4 tasty tacos which you can top with all kinds of goodies.  I decided the best thing I could do in the coming year would be to start visiting that taco stand on a regular basis and form a strong friendship with the owner.  Only good things can come from friends with fresh tacos. 

The beloved bistec birthday tacos. 

 Birthday cupcake with Enrique and Carlos. 

Important birthday vocabulary. 

Coffee, Cats & Dogs

A coworker told me it’s now scorpion season and that they love wood ceilings (just like my termites) so I need to shake out linens and clothes and keep a watchful eye out.  Apparently they’re only deadly if you have an allergic reaction and there’s some kind of anti-venom for scorpions sold in the local drugstore, which is information that should comfort me more than it does.  Cindy recently found a scorpion in her house and I’ve started finding small yellow larvae from something dropping from my ceiling so I’m a little amped up about critters these days and my sleep is starting to suffer. 

Showing off my town to an ex-volunteer who now lives in Mexico, after a rare, good night's sleep.  

Sign from a bar in Guanajuato; here's to a life without termites.   

Every time I hear a different noise or think I feel something on my bed, I have to jerk off the covers and turn on the light to make sure all is as it should be.  I’m starting to mellow out a little bit as I get more familiar with seeing things crawling around (although clearly not enough to stop writing about this).  For example, this morning I found a small spider crawling on my bed and I just knocked it off with only the noise of “Merrr” vs. any shrieking.  Then I saw a huge cockroach on it's back by my bed and realized that at least one noise I heard in the night was real.  There went my mellowness.  My house is scheduled for a termite fumigation soon so let’s hope that poison knocks out a few other things at the same time.  

In the meantime, I’m lucky that we have really good coffee here, which I often need after a sleepless night, so let’s talk about coffee.  And dogs.  And - because why not - cats.  

If you know me well, you know how much I love dogs – especially dogs I don’t know that I run into on the street…. Yesterday I saw a giant German Shepard romantically (and aggressively) pursuing a teeny-tiny Chihuahua.  I really wanted to tell him that no matter how great her personality, the physics of this relationship just weren’t going to work out.  Other dogs clearly make more appropriate choices for their novias because I’ve seen quite a few pregnant dogs here, and this is not my first time to witness two dogs engaged in a courting ritual on the street.  I’ve only had one dog act aggressively towards me and sure enough, it was a small dog that chased me in front of my house.  I was like, yo, I live here so you’re the one who needs to step off, perrita!  I’m pretty tough.

This would be one of the nice dogs - who frequently hangs out at our office and has fantastic ears.  

I don’t see many cats here in Mexico but I have seen two napping in my backyard.  One is a tabby who looks well-kept and the other is a wilder looking white-when-clean cat.  I’m not sure which one was responsible for pooping in front of my patio door but if that was some kind of power move, it’s on gato! It’s possible that all the cats in town are currently in heat because I heard a serenade of cats howling like they were engaging in some kind of fight-club for cats for hours the other night. I also awoke to the sound of a cat howling outside my bedroom window two nights in a row so something is definitely in the feline air these days.

Scruffy white cat napping in my jungle of a yard. 

As for coffee, that’s one of the core products targeted for sustainable practices with our project so I’ve had the opportunity to taste many different blends.  I’ve also had the opportunity to get out in the woods to see coffee plants and talk with people who are growing and processing this liquid gold (which I have at times bought directly from their house).  We are blessed with especially tasty coffee in this region and should you come visit me, I will totally hook you up!  It’s so good that one of my fellow volunteers returning to the US requested that I bring her 4 bags of it to take back as gifts.

 Perhaps the most polite person you'll meet in Mexico, Don Balbino. 

 Coffee plants.

Coffee bean; sadly many are suffering from plagues. 

 

A sampling of our local coffees. 

I must confess that Starbucks is present in Mexico but only in the big cities and I promise I haven’t purchased any of their coffee here.  I did take advantage of their free wifi once in Guadalajara and I bought my favorite drink, a Sanpellegrino Aranciata.  Side note: if my family wanted to have this delightful beverage available for me in copious amounts during my next visit, I would not object.  I was a little sad not to be able to take advantage of my free Starbucks cup of coffee this year for my birthday because I definitely can’t afford Starbucks now and free stuff is my favorite, but such is the hardship of being a Peace Corps volunteer.  Instead I had to brew my own fresh, locally-grown coffee.  That’s right – I finally took the time to learn how to use a coffee pot.  I realize this is something most people learn when they’re like 4 years old, but it took me a little longer to put forth the effort. 

To be fair, I forgot to buy coffee cups after I bought the coffee maker, so the first time I actually tried to make coffee, it was only partly successful.  Now I have 2 lovely coffee mugs and, thanks to my coworker Alma, I'm up to 4 plates and 4 bowls!  I also purchased a big jar full of utensils from a volunteer heading back to the US, so now I have more than 2 forks.  Good coffee, 4 plates, plentiful forks AND a fumigation on the way?  Living in the lap of luxury. 

 The white dishes were a much-appreciated gift from my coworker!  

My colorful coffee mugs.  

Starbucks in Guanajuato; yes, they have cups with each city name on them here too.  

The End of Autumn-E?

It finally arrived: the time to start doing “real” work in my office.  That’s not to say that I didn’t do any work my first four months here, but I was still struggling to understand Spanish and trying to get my bearings and figure out just what my office's project was all about.  I spent most of my time attending workshops and meetings, visiting different communities, reading documents, getting to know people, and trying to learn everything I could through osmosis. 

Chilling by el rio with some of my coworkers while getting to know my new community. 

Typical view out exploring el campo.

I knew the town I was moving to before I left the US but I only learned about my work assignment once I arrived in Mexico.  I remember getting that 2-page document with my job description in Spanish and racing back to my hotel room to translate each word.  WTH was “fortalecimiento”? Or “cultivos agrícolas emblemáticos”? Or “así”? Seriously, I have learned so much Spanish this year.

I’m still working on integration, Spanish and understanding relationships and opportunities at work, but I’m also starting to meet with people outside of my office and talk about more concrete projects.  Here’s what I’ve discovered: I like efficiency, getting accolades, measuring results, and feeling like I’m in charge of things, with a certain amount of power and respect.  Apparently you become accustomed to those things after 15 plus years working in the US.

I’m not going to lie to you, it’s been a little bit of a struggle trying to find myself work-wise here.  My nickname is Autumn-E because I am efficient and good at getting stuff done!  I set and meet deadlines.  I create strategic plans and build relationships.  I start and end meetings on time.  I try to infuse an element of fun into my work and I’m good at starting new projects.  The only resemblance my current work life has to that legacy is that I can still make people laugh (although not always on purpose) and one time I finished a meeting on time.  This presents some challenges for Type-A Autumn-E (who is working on being mellow and going with the flow).  

  Cows in the morning. 

Early morning light.

I work in a really great, laid-back office with a boss who is supportive of pretty much any idea you have.  Just pitch it and then go do it.  At times that’s easier said than done as I don’t fully speak or understand the language, I don't know exactly who to work with to move things forward, and I want to be strategic about what I'm proposing and how it fits with existing efforts.  I'm also working on a project that's being tried for the first time here in Mexico and there's no legacy of volunteers whose shoes I'm filling, so everyone in my office is figuring things out for the first time.  Things are starting to have more clarity, but I’ve needed all this time just to start to get a handle on all the intricacies of a different work culture (i.e. that pesky patience thing again). 

My coworkers (and 3 Peace Corps staff members in the middle). 

Students from our weekly English class. 

I have been able to accomplish some things since I arrived in June, presented here for your reading pleasure (see, I really do need to measure things and get pats on the back):

• Created a print series of 8 handouts for use in community workshops on organic farming practices.
• Drafted and coordinated the review and development of (a little bit of) content for the new project website.
• Developed posts for the project Facebook page.
• Organized the office electronic file structure for storing and sorting photos (I know, how did I not lead with this gem?!).
• Created informational labels for and assisted with the installation of multiple public photo exhibits at local municipal buildings.
• Assisted with annual project reporting (a teeny-tiny bit).
• Developed three proposals for public events.
• Taught numerous English classes with Cindy, participated in an English-only What’s App group with students working in tourism, and developed a Duolingo classroom.
• Roughly drafted an activity book about local forest resources and species.
• Met with local officials to discuss opportunities to partner on some environmental education initiatives.
• Had a lot of fun. 

I have to create lists like this for reporting to Peace Corps every 6 months but I also need to create these lists to clarify what it is that I’m doing (and reassure myself that I am moving forward with developing work).  It is surprising how much time it’s taken for me to get to a point where I’m starting to have an understanding of the local actors and issues and to really see what projects I might be able to develop or help with.  Apparently learning to speak a new language and operate in a new culture actually does take time, and it changes how you are able to approach your work.  

At el centro magnético asking for help and giving thanks.    

I have full faith that I will have many great accomplishments here as my service grows -- or at least one "ok" accomplishment that I can brag to my grandma about in 2 years.  She's good at spinning a yarn; like the time I told her I had a table on residential energy efficiency programs at a local naval base's employee fair and she told everyone I was consulting with the navy on their energy program.  Not exactly......  In the meantime, I'll keep plugging away, trying to be of value wherever I can and continuing to learn from everyone I meet.  Or I'll just keep listening to this song over and over again, which is only loosely connected to "work" but is totes my favorite song right now (and I hear it everywhere I go in Mexico so I think that's some kind of sign :).