'Tis the season...of Posadas

It's Christmas time!  While billions of people celebrate Christmas each year, the manners in which we celebrate are highly variable.  Just as each family has their own traditions...mine likes to tap into our Danish roots by baking up some aebleskivers for breakfast...so does every country.  Over the past few weeks I have learned how the Mexicans like to celebrate...and no surprise to this volunteer, it includes a lot of fiestas.

In México, December 12 marks the Día de la Virgin Guadalupe, or Day of the Virgin Mary.  This holiday is particularly significant in México City as thousands of people travel to the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe to pay homage.  In Guzmán, the main celebration includes a gathering of people outside one of the churches with live music, food, and again, no surprise to this volunteer, a castillo! I don't think you could call it a holiday here without igniting one of these firework-laced contraptions but I digress...

December 12 is significant in terms of Christmas celebrations because it marks the beginning of Posada season.  Starting on December 13 and running until the 24th (Posadas also begin earlier in December, the timeline is not really strict) people begin hosting Posadas.  These are essentially holiday parties.  Posadas are hosted by a variety of people including; offices, organizations, friends and family.  I was able to go to a handful of Posadas, some for work organizations, one where I take Spanish classes, and one with friends. They can be big or small, elaborate or simple, at a restaurant or in a house.  While these characteristics vary, most of them seem to include the following things...

Ponche: A warm, cider-esk drink with slices of fruit bobbing around in it for you to consume. Apple is the boldest flavor of this drink.  It is also perfectly acceptable to add a few drops of tequila in your glass.  I was told that doing this was the key to staying healthy during the chillier winter months in México.  Not wanting to put my health at risk I obliged and added a little tequila myself...safe to say it kicks it up a notch.

Tamales: Your traditional tamales...some with meat, some with cheese, some with fruit.  There are a plethora of varieties here.

Buñuelos: A thin and crispy, fried cookie most commonly found in the form of a snowflake/flower form depending on your interpretation. They are quite tasty, but how can you really go wrong with fried dough and sugar?

Piñatas: Fun fact- instead of cardboard they put candy in a clay jar and decorate around it.  I participated in one Piñata bashing (blindfolded) and was confused when I struck the Piñata as it felt like I was hitting a wall...When I took the blindfold off a few strikes later I investigated and saw it was a pot inside the piñata I was hitting!  It takes a little longer to break the Piñata when it is a pot...

Somewhere under the pink there is a clay pot
full of candy

Now that we know what happens at a Posada, what is the significance? Posadas (which means inn and "dar Posada" means "to give" shelter) are meant to represent the journey Mary and Joseph took to Bethlehem and how they had to ask for places to stay along the way.  So by hosting Posadas, the invitees are representing Mary and Joseph while the hosts represent the Inn owners.  There is even a song that is sung at the beginning of some, Posadas that represents a back and forth conversation between Mary and Joseph and Inn keepers as they request lodging.  A group of people will stand on one side of a door or gate while the other group will be on the other side and they sing back and forth to each other.   There are different versions of the song, but I will share the version I heard.  

Afuera- Outside group representing Mary and Joseph

En el nombre del cielo,                     In the name of heaven,

os pido posada,                                 We ask for shelter

pues no puede andar                        because my beloved wife cannot go further

mi esposa amada

Adentro- Inside group representing the innkeepers

Aquí no es mesón                              This is not an inn

sigan adelante                                   Continue on

yo no puedo abrir                              I cannot open my doors

no sea algún tunante                        You may be a rogue

Afuera

Venimos rendidos                            We are worn out                         

desde Nazaret;                                 all the way from Nazareth               

yo soy carpintero                             I am a carpenter

de nombre José                                named Joseph

Adentro

No me importa el nombre                 Nevermind your name

déjenme dormir                                 Let me sleep

pues ya les he dicho                          I've already told you

que no voy a abrir                            I will not open the door

Afuera

Posada te pide,                                 We request lodging,

amado casero,                                  dear innkeeper,

por solo una noche,                         for only one night

la Reina del Cielo                            for the Queen of Heaven

Adentro

Pues si es una reina                        Well, if it is a Queen

quien lo solicita                                who is asking

¿cómo es que de noche                    Why is it that she's out at night

anda tan solita?                               wandering so alone

Afuera

Mi esposa es María,                         My wife is Mary

es Reina del Cielo                            She is the Queen of Heaven

y Madre va a ser                              She will be mother

del Divino Verbo                             to the divine word

Adentro

¿Eres tú, José?                                Is that you Joseph?

¿Tu esposa es María?                     Your wife is Mary?

Entren peregrinos,                          Enter pilgrims,

no los conocía                                 I did not recognize you

Afuera

Dios Pague Señoras,                      May the Lord reward you

su gran caridad                               for your charity

y los colme el cielo                          and may the sky

de felicidad                                     be filled with happiness

Adentro

Dichosa la casa                               Happy home

que alberga este día                        harboring on this day

a la Virgin Pura                              the Pure Virgin

la hermosa María                            the beautiful Mary

While the Door or gate is being opened everyone comes together to sing the following verse:

Entren Santos Peregrinos                 Enter Holy Pilgrims

reciban este rincón                            receive the corner

no de esta pobre morada                  not this poor dwelling

sino de mi corazón.                            but my heart

Este noche es de alegría                  Tonight is for joy

de gusto y regocijo                            for pleasure and rejoicing

porque hospedaremos aquí             for tonight we will give lodging 

a la Madre de Dios Hijo                   to the Mother of God's Son

After the song ends, the Posada begins!

I took a video of this song at one Posada, but the sound quality was bad.  However, if you click here you can hear a version of the song (it doesn't follow this version exactly, but it is pretty close).

Nativity Scene in the Centro

Aside from Posadas, México has another unique tradition, Pastorelas Navideñas.  These are similar to Christmas pageants, but with a twist.  The storyline for a pastorela is the shepherds from the Christmas story are trying to visit Baby Jesus, but are faced with many obstacles on their journey.  These obstacles are crafted by the Devil and his helpers, but the shepherds receive help from the angels in order to overcome these obstacles and eventually are able to find their way to Baby Jesus.  There isn't a set script for these Pastorelas, which allows for some creativity especially when it comes to deciding what the obstacles will be.  The teachers at the school at take Spanish classes at wrote and performed one that I was able to watch.  It was quite entertaining as all of the teachers were very into their performances...it reminded me of the notoriously dramatic telenovelas Spanish speaking countries are known for!

Pastorela Navideña performance 

So there's your account of how México does Christmas.  I will not be in México on Christmas Day itself as I am heading back the States for the holidays.  This will mark my first trip back home since arriving in México. I plan to spend time with family and friends as well as gorge myself with foods you can't find in México (Chick-fil-a, sweet tea, barbecue etc.)  I guess based on these cravings you can definitely tell I am from the south!  

From this volunteer to you...

I wish you a...

Surprise!

The other week I closed out my classes with the schools I had been working with over the past semester.  Christmas break was near and it seemed to be the right time to end my term as a visiting teacher.  The plan is to start up with new schools in January and embark on a new adventure and see where those partnerships lead me. On my last day at one of the schools I was treated to quite the surprise.  When I walked in the door I was fully anticipating teaching my final class.  We were going to play a game reviewing the concepts we had gone over since I began teaching classes there.  However, upon entering the classroom I was greeted by this performance:

I was completely surprised, but the fun didn't stop there! They had also brought in snacks and which made this a full blown fiesta to commemorate my final day at the school.  I quickly realized I would not be doing my review game, but "ni modo" as they say here, which means 'what are we going to do about it'.  I think all parties involved had a better time enjoying the food, chatting, and taking what seemed to be a never ending stream of selfless with me anyway.  I was quite surprised by how many kids had phones with which to take photos with....these kids are in 6th grade mind you!  I very much enjoyed this impromptu party and am grateful for all the support the 2 schools I have worked with this year have given me in my first months as a volunteer. 

After my classes ended there hasn't been much going on in December as it is a slow month.  Taking advantage of the slowness, I was able to help out Whitney with her mural in the park last week.  I had previously worked on the mural in August and just thought I would post a picture on the progress.  It is coming together nicely!  

Wall #2 complete!

Painting close up...lots of detail!

Other view

A Mexican Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is probably the most uniquely American holiday we celebrate.  While people may argue that the 4th of July holds this distinction, I disagree.  Every country has their own version of the 4th of July to celebrate either the signing of a declaration or the end of a revolution.  How countries celebrate their Independence may differ from country to country, but the sentiment is the same, it's a birthday party for the country.  Thanksgiving, however, is uniquely American- something I don't think I entirely appreciated until I spent this holiday in México.

Firstly, try describing to someone who has no prior knowledge of the holiday, the significance of Thanksgiving.  This past week I found myself explaining Thanksgiving to my coworkers and as I was talking, I realized how silly it must seem to someone who has no prior knowledge about Thanksgiving that we have a holiday to celebrate Indians and Pilgrims sharing a meal together???  Growing up as an American, I know there is more significance to the holiday than that, but at its most basic, this is what we are celebrating.  For their part, in order to try and understand the significance of Thanksgiving,  many of my coworkers would try to equate it to another Mexican holiday..."Is it like 16 de Septiembre?" (their independence day) or "20 de Noviembre" (Revolution day).  After them throwing out many holidays to try and find one that is even a little bit similar, we come to the conclusion that there is not a similar holiday in the Mexican calendar.

Secondly, given the the fact that there is no other holiday quite like it in México, or anywhere else, how does one explain why it is such a big deal in the states.  How has celebrating a meal shared between the Pilgrims and Indians become what is in my opinion, one of the two most significant holidays in America (the other being Christmas)?  That is something I could not even begin to explain to my coworkers, as I do not know the answer myself.  While I think Thanksgiving is deserving of its stature as one of the top holidays, I do not know how such a seemingly insignificant act of sharing a meal ad giving thanks for the year's blessings has come to be so significant in American culture.

Despite the fact that I have rambled on here for quite some time about Thanksgiving and how American it is, the funny thing is, I have probably never had a more American Thanksgiving than I did here in México.  For starters, Whitney invited us to Thanksgiving at her house.  She invited Cassie and me, people from her office, and friends in the community. Her idea being, what a great opportunity this would be to share an American tradition with those that have shared so much with us about the Mexican culture...something I couldn't agree more with.

For some time this was the only thing I thought I would be doing to commemorate Thanksgiving, but very suddenly my week became very full with Thanksgiving activities, hence how I had one of the most Thanksgivingy Thanksgivings ever.  Here is a rundown of some of my activities:

-Bring apple pie bars to the office to commemorate the day with my coworkers.  I enjoyed doing this as no one expected it and I got to share a little bit about Thanksgiving with everyone.
-Judge an English Spelling Bee at the school where I recently began taking Spanish classes. There was also a Thanksgiving celebration afterwards with the English students and teachers dressed as Pilgrims, Indians, and Turkeys. They also performed a skit commemorating Thanksgiving.  See what I mean when I say my Thanksgiving was very Thanksgivingy...I felt like I was in the states...I mean the skit was even in English!
-Thanksgiving Feast in the evening...finally!

Whitney describing each dish

It is a little bit tricky to make a Thanksgiving dinner in México as they do not carry all the same ingredients as we do. This meant we had to be a little creative with some of the recipes.  For example, there are no fresh or canned cranberries to be found here, but they do have dry cranberries.  Whitney had the foresight to look up a recipe to see if you could make cranberry sauce from dried cranberries and what do you know, you can...and they are quite tasty!  Completing our meal was turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, honey wheat bread, apple pie, a strawberry tort, and my additions of green bean casserole, sautéed spinach, and dipping into my southern roots-homemade mac and cheese! All in all I felt we did an excellent job creating a traditional Thanksgiving meal in México.  The only 'missing' items were sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.  All the food was excellent and we had a great evening celebrating the holiday.  Our Mexican guests all seemed to enjoy the food, even if they asked where the chile was!

The complete spread

Cassie whipping up the whipped cream

After Thursday ended I thought that besides eating leftovers, this would mark the end of my Thanksgiving celebrations.  Oh how I was wrong.  Friday, I had a Spanish class and my teacher invited me to the annual Thanksgiving that was later that night that the school hosts for the employees and any Americans they know in Guzmán who may be missing out on Thanskgiving (I believe there were 3 Americans there). I showed up not really knowing what to expect, but turns out there was another traditional Thanksgiving feast awaiting me.  There were probably 30 people there, none of whom I really knew, but I enjoyed getting to know some new people in the city.  This feast included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, fruit salad, AND sweet potatoes!  If you recall sweet potatoes were one of the foods I was missing from the previous night's feast.  And to further satiate my southern taste buds they happened to be mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. After devouring the food, enjoying some of Guzmán's traditional Ponche de Granada (a pomegranate flavored alcoholic drink), and listening, but not participating in, karaoke, my second Thanksgiving for 2014 was in the books.

After my second feast- notice the sweet potatoes!

Again, I thought I was done with Thanksgiving activities at this point, but at the feast I was invited to a little program the next day the school was hosting.  So the next day I appeared yet again at the school to find little booths full of thanksgiving facts and food samples the teachers had prepared for the students at the school.  Food samples included cornbread, mashed potatoes, pizza (?), and PUMPKIN PIE.  Now pumpkin pie was the only traditional food I had been missing from my previous two feasts and while they called this pumpkin pie it tasted nothing like the dessert.  It was more of a cheesecake flavor, but I did appreciate the fact that I still got to eat a dessert that someone at least called pumpkin pie.  Also, I'm not sure where they got their information about eating pizza on Thanksgiving, but the teachers were saying it is traditional to eat pizza before the Thanksgiving feast.  I personally have never eaten pizza on Thanksgiving, but I was amused hearing non-Americans describing the Thanksgiving holiday and the traditions even though some things may have been slightly off.  I also "learned" that apparently pumpkin pie is only traditional for African Americans to have on Thanksgiving!

After this event, my marathon of Thanksgiving activities came to an end.  I must say it now feels strange to think that I had worried that I may not be able to do my favorite holiday justice in México.  After not one, not two, not three, but FOUR Thanksgiving themed activities I managed to celebrate this holiday more thoroughly than I probably would have in the United States.  Now I may not have had my immediate family with me to celebrate Thanksgiving, but my family in México of fellow volunteers and new friends sure came through to make Thanksgiving 2014 one I will never forget.

Thanksgiving skit by students from the English language school

Work Update

You may have been wondering what I actually do here in México, or if you haven't I bet you are now...
The first few months of any volunteer's service are spent figuring out what you can do to help your community.  For me, I quickly found myself venturing out to the schools in Ciudad Guzmán inquiring if they had any interest in a gringa coming around to teach the kids about environmental topics. Fortunately for me, the schools said they did and off I went!
So far I have taught at 2 schools, primarily teaching students in the 5th and 6th grades. I started in September and this week will mark my last week at these specific schools as I will find new ones to work at in the new year.  This has been a learning experience for me for a couple of reasons:

1) I had no formal classroom teaching experience prior to this
AND
2) I had to teach in Spanish, a language I am still getting the hang of and probably will be for the rest of my service and beyond...so many things to learn!

Here are some photos from my classes:

Students digging for trash pieces in the mini landfills we
made to observe decomposition rates

Happy kids!

I will be eternally grateful to these schools for letting me come every week.  They were very patient with me as I learned how to teach.  Some classes went better than others as I tried out activities and figured out what works and what doesn't.  I'm happy to say that in my opinion I have progressed greatly in 3 months (most of that due to my Spanish improving) and I look forward to continuing that trend in the coming year.

Lately I have also been out visiting rural communities in the area.  This past month my other mission at work right now is to find a rural community to work in (I think after much searching I have finally found one, yay!).  In my efforts to find a suitable community I have been traveling to various communities and here are some photos from those trips.

Inauguration ceremonies in the community of Ferrería in honor of
 the opening of their Casa de Paja
(aka a straw house, a cheap and durable way to build a building)

Respiratory section of the medicinal garden located
behind the Casa de Paja

Lombricomposta (worm compost)

View of the completed Casa de Paja

View of the medicinal garden in the community Epenche

My office works in various rural communities by providing them with the training and funding to build medicinal gardens, worm composts, and casas de paja (among other things).  Usually it is a group of between 15-25 women, or Señoras, in the community that provide the manpower for these projects. Once the women learn the ins and out of growing the medicinal plants they are able to sell products such as soaps and oils.  It seems to take a few years for the women to learn the tricks of the trade and organize themselves to do this, but once they do it is an added income source for their families...every bit of money helps in these small communities far away from cities.  I love the warm and welcoming people you find in the more rural areas which is why I'm looking to work in one, plus I feel I could be useful. My plan would be to go and visit the community every week or so and provide assistance as needed whether that is teaching kids or picking up trash, I am open to whatever!

For the inauguration ceremonies in these communities we were served A LOT of food.  Here is a view of one of the meals I was served...although this one was a little oily and greasy for my taste and I am 99.9% sure was the source of a recent stomach bug I had, I still appreciate the gesture!

Meat, beans, rice, tortillas, and coke to wash it down: typical Méxican meal

While touring a community I  found corn about 10 feet tall! 

Here ends your little update on my work happenings in México.  I also want to say Happy Thanksgiving! to everyone back home.  Be sure to eat a little extra pumpkin pie for me as that will be missing from my Thanksgiving meal this year...turns out there is not enough demand for pumpkin pie mix in México for it to be found in the supermarkets.  I will have to 'settle' for apple pie this year :)

October 23rd

Before I get to the significance of October 23rd, I wanted to quickly recap a few events that took place.  It has been a busy few weeks here in México.  In September, all the volunteers in my group, PCM-16, traveled back to Querétaro for a week long training.  In Peace Corps lingo this particular training is called, Early In-Service Training or EIST.  EIST comes after your first 3 months in site and serves as a time for the group to get back together and share stories and experiences from our sites.  A large part of EIST focuses on how to develop and manage projects.  Now that we all have 3+ months in site and we know our ways around our offices and cities a little better there it is about time for us to plan and implement projects.  This training helps prepare us for this undertaking... (I realized recently I haven't really posted a blog about what I do here, so that post will be coming up shortly...my bad).

After our EIST finished, all of the Peace Corps volunteers in México joined us later in the week in Querétaro for two events. The first was for a technical forum on Climate Change our counterparts attended as well.  We had a keynote speaker, roundtable discussions, and then a variety of afternoon sessions you could choose to attend. Personally, I chose a session on classroom management skills as I have been working in schools and thought this would be useful...and what do you know, it was! This was a well thought out and professional event organized by Peace Corps. I think everyone who attended learned something new that day which is what I would call a success!

Picture of all the México volunteers and their counterparts during the technical forum

The second event all the volunteers participated in was the All-volunteer conference.  A much more casual affair :).  This was volunteer led and organized and consisted of a variety of sessions we could choose to attend.  Everything from project development to Mexican cooking to a storytelling workshop were session topics.  The sessions were all facilitated by volunteers and provided a chance for us to learn from each other's experiences.  This was very useful as there are only a few people who can relate to the experiences and challenges you go through as a volunteer in Peace Corps México and those people are your fellow volunteers.  This type of conference usually happens every 2 years so I may or may not be around to attend another one, but it was a great experience to meet ALL of the volunteers (I had not met a good chunk of them before this event).

Enjoying late night tacos at the hotel, I love everyone's faces in this picture!  It was awesome to see everyone from PCM-16 (and all the other volunteers) during our week in Querétaro.  

More recently, and in terms of recent, I mean yesterday, Ciudad Guzmán celebrated their Patron Saint, San José (Joseph).  I think just about every city in México has a patron saint and each year there is a celebration in honor of their Patron Saint.  For Guzmán, this day is the 23rd of October.  Leading up to the 23rd, we have had the Feria in town (think of a small scale state fair type event, with a ferris wheel, pirate ship rides, games where you win stuffed animals, carnival food, arts and crafts, and LOTS of fireworks/castillos).  The culmination of these celebrations come on the 23rd in the form of a parade that ends on the steps of the Catedral de San José.

Top: Empty streets in the Centro lined with chairs people set out the night before to save a spot

Bottom Left: Cassie looking like a tourist and passing the time before the parade by writing postcards.

Bottom Right: Catedral de San José

We were warned that you need to get to the parade route early to claim a seat. Cassie and I took that to heart and arrived at 9am...the parade didn't start until 12pm.  However, we did end up with good seats. A lot of people had set out chairs the night before so in the end it was probably a good idea we got there early, but it meant we were in for a long day of waiting and sitting.  Not only did we wait a long time for the parade to begin, but the parade itself was 4 hours long.  It didn't help that it was a swelteringly hot day as the sun baked us in our seats, but we were true Guzmanites this day as we stayed until the end of the parade. In total we spent 7 hours at the parade, including waiting for it and then watching.  It was good there were two of us as we were able to take breaks and walk around as the other guarded our spot...teamwork!

Horses made up the first part of the parade.  I think we watched horses walk be for about an hour.

Top Left: This was maybe my favorite part of the parade, a man standing on his horse, swinging his lasso around the horse...impressive

Top Right:  If you look closely you will notice the rider holding a beer, this was not an uncommon sight, something I found quite amusing as the riders drank their way through the parade.

Bottom Left: Least favorite part of the parade- for whatever reason boys are allowed to whip these 'toy' whips at every possible moment.  When they whip them they make a loud noise which isn't fun, but they whip their whips in crowded areas, making innocent bystanders have to dodge these dangerous toys.

Bottom Right: Not really sure the story behind these guys, but their costumes are fascinating

Top Left: Looks like the heat has gotten to this boy

Top Right & Bottom Left: The Sonajeros.  The majority of the parade consisted of the various groups of Sonajeros that exist in the area (there are a LOT).  I'm not entirely sure of their significance, but they have fun costumes and rattles they shake as they do a simple dance step as they pass by.  

Bottom Right: There were 11 of these 'floats' that passed by depicting various religious scenes honoring San José

Besides the Sonajeros and the horses, these Aztec inspired dance groups were the other main feature of the parade.  Their dances were a bit more complicated than those of the Sonajeros and the costumes even more elaborate.  As you can see in the bottom left photo they start them young! 

Those pictures pretty much sum up the parade.  There was not a huge amount of variety in the parade despite its 4 hour duration. We saw horses, a lot of Aztec dancers, and even more Sonajeros, but it was still fun to experience.  After witnessing this event that people mention all year, I feel like I am one step closer to being a full-fledged resident of Ciudad Guzmán!

16 de Septiembre

¡Viva México!

 This was the cheer that could be heard at 11pm on the evening of September 15. Every year on this date, Mexicans gather in their town centers to begin the celebration of Mexican Independence, which is officially on September 16.  I bet right now some of you are thinking…but I thought Cinco de Mayo was Mexican Independence Day?!? This is not the case.  Cinco de Mayo does not commemorate Mexico's Independence in any way, but rather an unlikely Mexican victory in a battle against the French way back when. This day is not celebrated with the same gusto as September 16.  In fact, I was in Mexico on Cinco de Mayo and don't remember a single festival or celebration on this day, but somehow it has become a sort of holiday in the U.S. (if by holiday you mean an excuse to eat quesadillas, salsa, and drink a margarita).  But alas, the true Independence of Mexico is September 16, with the celebration beginning the night before with the reenactment of the "El Grito de Dolores", or more simply called, "El Grito" (translated gritar means to shout, so it is like a chant/cheer for Mexico).   This commemorates the moment when Miguel Hidalgo addressed the country and officially declared Mexico's Independence from Spain.  In honor of this occasion, every year local government officials lead the people in the following cheer honoring famous Mexicans (municipalities will alter the cheer to honor various Mexican historical figures as they see fit).

Spanish:                                                          English:

¡Mexicanos!                                                                         Mexicans!

¡Vivan los héroes que nos dieron                                       Long live the heroes that gave us 

la patria y libertad!                                                              the Fatherland and liberty!

¡Viva Hidalgo!                                                                       Long live Hidalgo!

¡Viva Morelos!                                                                      Long live Morelos!

¡Viva Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez!                                        Long live Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez!

¡Viva Allende!                                                                       Long live Allende!

¡Viva Galeana y los Bravo!                                                   Long live Galeana and the Bravos!

¡Viva Aldama y Matamoros!                                                  Long live Aldama y Matamoros!

¡Viva la Independencia Nacional!                                         Long live National Independence!

¡Viva México! ¡Viva México! ¡Viva México!                 Long live Mexico! Long live Mexico! Long live Mexico!

Of course, I had to go see this event for myself as a newly minted Mexican resident.  And so with the company of a few volunteers we set out for the Jardín (aka the central plaza).  After walking the arduous 5 minutes it takes to get from my house to the Jardin (great location, eh?), we arrived to a Jardín teaming with people eagerly anticipating the Grito.  To pass the time there were plenty of food tents for people to enjoy. Lots of hamburger, french fry and hot dog places could be found, but also more traditional foods such as tostadas, tacos, and churros were around.  After wandering awhile and examining my options, I decided to try a fruity dessert.  I forget it's exact name, but what it amounted to was a fried plantain served with butter, jam, and canela (carmel-like topping) on top. Needless to say, it was quite delicious, but not something I need to be eating every day.   Satisfied with my snack, we then ventured to find a good spot from which to view the Grito.  Whilst waiting for the Grito to begin, we were entertained by a beauty pageant that was occurring on the stage that had been set up for the night's festivities.  These ladies were competing for Señorita Zapotlán (the municipality that includes Cd. Guzmán).  These were not the finals, but a group of 5 was narrowed down to 3, with the finals set for a few weeks from now.  Anyways, after all these activities it was finally time for the Grito…I was able to capture a video of the ending of the Grito and beginning of the fireworks and can be seen here:

In Mexico, they not only enjoy setting off traditional fireworks, but also enjoy the added excitement of the Castillo.  A Castillo is a little hard to explain, but I will do my best.  The Castillo is a tall structure with various types of fireworks/sparklers attached.  You light it at the bottom and then watch the pyrotecnic display commence.  Each section of the Castillo has its time in the spotlight, and then as one section fizzles out it lights the next section…in other words a chain reaction.  This whole process probably takes around 10 minutes and you watch as the fireworks travel up the structure all culminating with the lighting of the topmost part, which when lit, starts spinning and then flies off into the air ending the life of the Castillo in spectacular fashion.  See for yourself below…this is a video of the last moments of the Castillo when the top is finally lit, starts spinning and then flies off into the sky to join the other fireworks.

As you may notice in this video, we are awfully close to the Castillo and the fireworks.  It is a little more dangerous watching fireworks in Mexico as there is not a great distance between where they are set off and where the people are.  The fireworks were literally right over your head engulfing you in a haze of smoke as ashes rained down on you (and perhaps into your eyes).

Left: The Castillo

Top Right: View of the stage with the government building in the background where city officials led the Grito

Bottom Right: Closer view of the local government building

After the fireworks, we were treated to musical performances on stage.  Later on, a huge downpour occurred, making everyone run for cover to wait out the storm as the music continued.

Top Left: People braving the rain to be up close to the stage

Bottom Left: People crowded into shelter, you can see how high the water level in the street is by looking at the traffic cone

Top Right: Members of the parade going by

Bottom Ride: School children marching in the parade

The next day brought with it more celebrations. The morning included a Desfile Militar (or military parade).  There weren't many military members as it primarily consisted of school children marching in their uniforms through the central.  Not the most thrilling of parades, but still fun to see all the school children proudly marching through the city.  The rest of the morning the city continued its celebrations. The Jardín was like a fairground with food (and some craft) tents set up.  The city was hosting the first ever Festival de Birria where they were going for the world record for making the largest birria.  What is birria you may ask…I had no idea either.  It is apparently a traditional spicy stew that originated in Jalisco, so a regional specialty.  And this being Mexico, it of course includes a lot of meat.  I assume they achieved the record (I can't imagine there was much competition), but will have to verify this.  I tried vegetarian birria (it had mushrooms instead of meat) and it was quite tasty, very flavorful.  

Left: Mexican regalia/souvenirs

Right: Trying another regional specialty, a Tejuino.  Hard to describe the flavor…the base of the drink is a fermented corn mixture, then there is something sweet in there, and also lime.  A bizarre mixture of flavors, but not so bad

Left: Mexican flag flying in the Jardín

Top Right: Morning scene in the Jardín, Festival de la Birria in full swing

Bottom Right: The pot in which the world record Birria was to be cooked

And this concludes the adventures of my first Mexican Independence Day!  Can't wait to see what next year has in store.  Maybe Ciudad Guzmán will beat its own world record and make an even bigger supply of Birria next year…fingers crossed :)

House Hunters: Ciudad Guzman Edition

After spending my first 6 weeks in Ciudad Guzman with a host family I was able to find an apartment.  Apartment hunting here required a lot of walking around looking for "Se Renta" (For Rent) signs and showing up to apartment visits with no expectations of what you were going to find…no Zillow websites here to show me pictures of an apartment beforehand!  Fortunately, Cassie and I (volunteer in my Peace Corps group who came to Cd. Guzman the same time as me) were searching for apartments at the same time so we were able to tag team a bit and report back to each other what properties were promising and what properties were not so promising.  This system is how I happened to find this place, Cassie found it first and told me it had potential and then I took a look at it and BAM, I knew I wanted to live there. 

For me, as with a lot of people, the most important thing about an apartment was the location.  This place is a perfect location for me, only a 5 minute walk from the downtown area and a leisurely 25 minute walk to the office (considering my office is on the outskirts of town, a 25 minute walk was definitely a win for me).  The place was also undergoing renovations including new tile, paint, fridge, stove, and bathroom updates so that was a plus as it would have a fresh look to it. I also have plenty of space (3 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and bath), it is off the street in a little alleyway so it's quiet, the landlord lives next door so if I have problems I can tell them right away, and Cassie lives in the upstairs apartment so if I ever need to borrow a cup of sugar I'm all set.  Anyways, enough about how I found the place here is my new home.     

Top Left: Outdoor view, I live in downstairs apartment

Top Right: View of the living area from the front door

Bottom Left: Shoe Mat…One of the great things about living alone is I can walk around without shoes! Everyone in Mexico always wears shoes in the house so when living with my host families I had to wear shoes all the time which I did not like very much, my feet need to breathe!  The only drawback to this shoe mat is that now when people come in to visit they feel they need to take their shoes off as well, which is definitely not necessary…I'm not a clean freak, this just helps me keep my shoes organized and if I take my shoes of right when I come in the door my feet can enjoy maximum freedom-from-shoe time.

Bottom Right: View of the alley way I live on that leads to the street

Left: One of my extra bedrooms, it's only occupant is my bike
Top Center: Bathroom
Top Right: View of living from the other direction
Bottom: Second spare bedroom, I don't have anything in here

Left: View of the kitchen (galley style)

Top Right: Bedroom view

Bottom Right: Bedroom view

Top Left: My mail wall in my room with all the letters I have received since being in Mexico

Top Right: Ceiling detail in the main room I enjoy, gives my place some 'character' as they say

Bottom Left: Coffee table I bought and painted, the place needed some color

Bottom Right: View of the other side of the kitchen

And that's the tour of where I live.  I've been here since mid-July and while living with host families for several months was definitely a valuable and enriching experience, it has been nice to settle in to the place and make it my own a little bit (it was unfurnished so I had to buy all the furniture), cook my own food, and make my own schedule. So far, so good in my new home!

A week in the forest...and other thoughts

I was able to spend the past week helping out another volunteer on one of her projects.  This meant I got to spend a week in Parque Nacional Nevado de Colima (yes...the same park I have mentioned many times on this blog).  Most of the week was spent working on the mural Whitney designed for the revamping of the park's environmental education center. As you can see in the picture below, this is quite the mural.  It was designed to give the effect that you are in the forest and only includes those animals that can be found in the park.  The mural will eventually encompass the entire room when it is completed (all 4 walls and the ceiling).  We were able to finish off the first wall during our week in the park with the help of one of her coworkers.  This mural will look (even more) awesome when all is said and done.

Whitney and her mural

There were also many clear days where we were able to get some great views of the Nevado on breaks from painting.

View of Nevado de Colima

Climbing a tree in the forest...because why not???

Because we had so many nice clear days during the week and we were diligent in our painting and completed the wall on Thursday, we decided to reward ourselves with a day of outdoor exploration in the park on Friday.  It had been so nice every day of the week that we thought we may have a chance to summit if the weather remained clear for Friday. Alas, we awoke to find that the awesome days of weather were behind us and found ourselves facing another unlikely bid for the summit due to the weather (see previous blog post about my other attempt to summit here). After about an hour or two of walking and no real signs of the clouds letting up we thought our chances of summiting were slim to none…so we decided to take pictures of us on the summit of something just to say we had summited that day.

At a "Summit", notice the weather predicament
we were in

We slowed our pace a little bit at this point as we had no real time crunch now that the summit seemed out of our reach, but we still continued going up because at times the clouds would clear just enough to give us hope that maybe it would clear up.

Enjoying the view while there is a break in the clouds

Expedition Ready

As we kept walking up, we kept wondering how much further we should go up without fear of getting lost as the stubborn clouds kept on following us.

Pesky clouds impeding our visibility

However, the clouds still kept breaking just enough for us to feel safe continuing upward and little by little we made our way further up until all we had to do was make our way up this rock face to reach the top.

Somewhere at the top of this rock face is the summit

And low and behold after starting our trek at 7:08 in the morning at 11:40am we made it to the summit of Nevado de Colima, the tallest point in the state of Jalisco at about 4,339 meters or 14,235 ft.

Whitney and me at the summit

Given that the weather had still not completely cleared, there was not too much of a view with the clouds blocking the way, but it was still fun to have made it to the top!  We were able to enjoy a snack of homemade pizzas on the summit, take some pictures, and then head down when it started to rain.

Perfect post summit food, pizza!

…and then the rain turned to hail which just makes it more of an adventure heading back down.

Making our way down in the hail

The hail didn't continue for too long and later in the day when we were meandering our way back to the cabin we were able to get our first view of the peak from afar that day (due to the clouds we actually never saw the peak while walking up, only after we had summited were we able to see it)

A cloud free view of the peak

All in all it made for a fun day of adventure to the summit…never knowing until we were actually on the summit if the weather was going to allow us get there.  I now can check off summiting Nevado de Colima off of my things to do…although I wouldn't mind returning on a clearer day when you can get a better view of the surrounding landscape.

So that's all for my week in the park.  We returned back to Ciudad Guzman on Saturday and then it was back to the routine in the city.

Here are some other thoughts and updates I thought I would share just so you don't feel like you keep reading about my walks through the woods on this blog…

-I have begun my work teaching environmental education in schools in Ciudad Guzman.  The plan for now is for me to work with 2 schools and give classes weekly at each school.  I had my first class this past Monday with a group of first graders. The kids were nice, but a it was a challenge to get them to do what I wanted them to…I then realized later that this is only their second week in school in their lives, so I probably should have expected that.  I still enjoyed it though and look forward to my future classes.

-I felt like I had made it in Mexico when I made my weekly trip to the market and one of the vendors gave me my chiles for free…there are a few vendors I talk with when I go and he is one of them, so I appreciated this gesture. I tried very hard to pay him, but he said I was taking too little an amount of chiles for me to pay him, I beg to differ now as I made refried beans with my 'small' amount of chiles and they are some SPICY beans.

That's all for now…have a great week!