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!  

Curso de Verano

The past 2 weeks have been quite busy around here.  The other volunteer at my site, Shayna, helped to put together a Curso de Verano (a summer course) for kids.   There were two courses of, with each course including 60-70 kids, lasting 5 days, and covering topics such as recycling, pollution, water, forest fires, deforestation/reforestation, ecotecnias, biodiversidad, and even a short lesson on first aid.  Both courses were essentially the same, the only difference being their locations.  The first course was at CEFOFOR so the other 4 volunteers who work nearby were able to come and help out while 2 other volunteers came from other states in Mexico to help as well. Together, we were quite a force to be reckoned with in our official Curso gear:

Here are some photos from the presentations and activities…there were sessions given by Peace Corps volunteers and the general staff at CEFOFOR.

Shayna talking about bidiversity

Activity time!

The group with Savi the squirrel (Mexico's Smoky the Bear equivalent)

Kids Helping fight some fire

 

Planting some trees

The second week of the course took place about an hour and a half away from The Guz, this meant early mornings as we commuted back and forth each day and also meant not as many Peace Corps volunteers could come out and visit as it was quite the logistical challenge just to get me and Shayna out there each day!  This course took place in Tapalpa, a small town in a much more rural than The Guz.  It does have a Pueblo Magico designation though…which I'm not entirely sure what is needed to meet these requirements, but it is kind of equivalent to a historical designation in the States and helps attract tourists.  While a bit tiring to commute every day to this location, I enjoyed interacting with the kids in the rural area where people riding on horseback was not uncommon.  You could really tell a difference in the kids as they were shy at first meeting, but they were also more respectful towards us and very well behaved…at times the kids at the CEFOFOR course were a bit hard to handle :).  

Whitney & Shayna hard at work

 

 Giving a tour of the Medicinal Garden

The kids with their plants they got to take home

Playing Loteria (Bingo)

Activity book time
(book designed by Whitney & Shayna)

So there you have it…a taste of the past two weeks for me.  I learned a lot and had a good time talking with the kiddos…even despite the fact they enjoyed laughing about my accent/pronunciation of words :)

And in case there weren't enough photos in this blog here are a couple more from Tapalpa

   

Cathedral in Tapalpa's downtown

I also got to make my very first tortilla by hand!  These ladies were amazing. They helped out with the course in Tapalpa all week and made us food every day, which they did not have to do.  When I saw them making tortillas I knew I had to try and make one myself…they taught me, but I will need to make 2938789 more to be at their level.

Schooling me in how to make tortillas

My first hand made tortilla!
(cute little guy if I do say so myself)

The 20 hour day

Boring.

If I only had one word to describe this past Saturday I most certainly would NOT use the word 'boring'.  The great days are never boring though, and as far as days go this was a pretty good one.  The day began with a 4:30am wake up call as we were heading up to the Parque Nacional Volcán Nevado de Colima for a summit bid (this is the peak that I keep showing pictures of that overlooks the city). This was a fairly ambitious goal, not because the hike would be super strenuous as there is a road that goes pretty high up so we wouldn't have to be hiking the entire volcán, but because currently we are in the rainy season, making the weather patterns on top of a 4000+ meter peak quite unpredictable with the threat of rain always looming.  We decided to take our chances anyway as there were 3 other Peace Corps volunteers visiting Ciudad Guzman from around the country who had come for the week to help out with a summer course for kids (more on that in a later post) so we decided it would be a good time to visit the park and take a hike.  So 10 of us, the 6 volunteers who live here plus the 3 visitors and our guide, set our alarms and set off for an adventure.

After about an 1.5-2 hour drive we arrived at our drop off point, where we were greeted by a cloudy day (not the clear one we had hoped for).  We began our trek upwards anyway, hoping the skies would clear up on our way and allow us to reach the summit. However, within about 20 minutes the rain began and shortly thereafter hail followed by thunder until eventually these were the conditions we were hiking in:

Beautiful day for a hike! The white is hail, not snow.
 I believe I'm on the far right

After about an hour of walking in the rain and hail and an occasional thunder clap, we decided maybe we should head back down to the van and shelter.  We were all pretty wet and cold, my decision to wear wool socks and hiking boots paid off as my feet stayed nice and toasty…fun fact about Mary, as long as my feet are not cold I can remain pretty comfortable in cold weather, but once the feet are cold it's no fun for me (just ask my brothers for verification on this as they had to put up with my cold feet often on ski trips).  By the time we made it back down to the van the rain had stopped and the skies appeared to be clearing up a bit, always fun when that happens!  This left us at a crossroads on whether or not to hike back up in the hopes that the skies would clear enough for us to get some nice views or continue down and warm up a bit.  Three of us decided to try our luck and retrace our steps back up the mountain and the Volcán de Colima (or Fuego) was nice enough to reward us for our efforts by emitting some ash plumes or as I like to think of it a volcanic burp…granted this is not entirely surprising given that this particular volcano, which sits right behind Volcán Nevado de Colima and on a clear day can be seen from Cd. Guzman, has these 'burps' several times a day, a side effect of being one of the most active volcanoes (and possibly the most active) in Mexico.

Volcán de Colima in action, we are 5km away as the crow flies 

with Whitney, notice no ash rising from the volcán

Here are some other pictures from the hike:

Walking on this sandy/ashy part of the volcano was quite fun.  It reminded me of what walking on the moon might feel like (admittedly I have no first hand experience with moon walking, but in my imagination this comes close to what it would be like).  You sink down a bit with each step, but you also bounce back up a bit so it kind of feels like you're hopping along.  It is also quite fun to run down; digging in your heels and relying on the sandy mixture to slow you down enough that you won't fall, but not so much that you lose the thrill of running down a mountain.  

John positioning himself for the perfect picture

Looking back at the peak as we make our way down

Later on we rejoined forces with the rest of the group, who had done their own hiking, and made our way back to "The Guz" (which is my name for Ciudad Guzman) where my apartment was to play host to a potluck dinner party which was serving as a final get together for the volunteers who had visited this week.  I had a couple of hours to get things ready and then when people started coming over this 'little' spider shows up to the party entering through the front door…I guess he heard the food was going to be good and didn't want to miss out.

Our tarantula friend, we are pretty sure he was someone's escaped pet

Happy after successfully capturing the spider (who is in the bag)

After the spider interruption with continued on with our night.  By the end of the night I had next to no energy after the early wake up call and the day's adventure.  At 12:30 I my bed had never looked so good and I quickly fell asleep, having successfully completed and enjoyed my 20 hour day.  Can't wait to see what next weekend brings!

*Tarantula update:
Eventually he was put in a box and ended up being a surprise for my landlord to find the next day (this was not my intention, but it was outside my door and their curious boys opened the box to find the spider).  They were quite surprised, but the boys were fascinated and I was happy to provide them with some entertainment.  They then assumed responsibility for the spider, much to the dismay of the mother, so I did not have to decide what to do with it.  Who knows what it is up to at this point!