Mexico Week IV

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES PART I

Q: What did the mayonnaise say when someone opened the refrigerator?

A: Close the door I am dressing!

In reference to the joke above, the first cultural difference I will mention is that ALL the mayonnaise in Mexico has lime flavor added to it. Whyyyyyy??? Also, the pictures today are completely random and really have nothing to do with what I'm writing about. Just so you know. 

My Verbs II kids class. (From left) Viviana, Jussi,
and Alan. They're super-smart and their smiles
are oh so deceiving. I'm glad the school only trusts me with three of them :) 

Perhaps more than anything else, the most interesting part about living away from "the home country" is getting used to cultural differences. Some of the differences, like the spoken language, are immediately obvious whereas others do not reveal themselves except through time and observation.  I’ve been keeping a list of these differences as I come across them and so far there are enough for at least two or three posts. Hence, Cultural Differences Part I. Enjoy! 

Jussi (yes, his name is JUICY) still needs work on the
present perfect tense, but the last sentence made
me smile! Aww, shucks. 

 One of my favorite things about Mexican culture is the right-cheek-kiss greeting. Whether you’re meeting someone for the first time or saying hello/good bye to an old friend, the cheek kiss is the standard. As you might know, they do this kind of thing differently all over the world. For some places in Europe, it’s three cheek kisses. Hello, sexy Swiss men!! No, I don’t mind smooching your stubbly face, being close enough to smell your cologne, and getting to touch your bicep of steel. I personally think that the cheek-kiss greeting is a custom that Americans should adopt. It automatically makes you feel closer to the other person, regardless if you’re able to speak their language or not. Americans have the hand shake which (when you become used to a warmer greeting) seems distant, firm, and impersonal. No doubt, it is something to get used to, but I say the more besos the better :-)

Carlie and I with our co-teacher, Heather from Canada,
celebrating Mexico's Independence Day on the 15th.

Next, there is what I will refer to as “the water issue”. This is not so much a cultural difference as it is an environmental problem-o. You always hear people telling you not to drink the water in Mexico. Before coming here, I never knew if that was something you really shouldn’t do or if it was some kind of stereotype. But really, don’t drink the water here. Not the stuff that comes out of the tap at least. Bottled water is fine, and there is an ample supply wherever you go. All homes and businesses have water coolers. Being a big water drinker, the first time I heard that the water thing was real, I instantly envisioned myself crawling through the Sahara, tongue hanging out, withering like a prune. What was I going to do without my 64+ ounces/day??!!  Luckily, I have yet to die of dehydration and am pretty positive it’s not going to happen. I still drink my typical supply of water. It was just a matter of training myself to not get it from the tap which probably isn’t the best water to drink even in the States. 

Our tequila bottle, Juan. Because "Juan" shot
of tequila is never enough ...

Some wild creatures getting way too close to people
at the pyramid at Tepoztlan. 

Last cultural difference for Part I: LAVANDERIAS. Can you guess what it is??? Here are some hints - we have them in the States, you take your clothes there, you need more quarters than is reasonable to carry around in your pockets to use one, and sometimes there is a weird man watching you fold your undies down the way …. Yep, a laundry mat!!!  Here in Mexico, only very wealthy people have washers and dryers in their homes, so most people take their clothes to a lavanderia once every week or two. The difference is that Mexican laundry mats are magical.

Brenden (a Spanish student from GA) and Carlie in front
of the Lunar Temple/Pyramid at Tepoztlan.

Imagine this scene: You drop your big mesh bag with two weeks’ worth of sweaty, smelly clothes off to a smiling, long-eyelashed man behind the counter. There are blue bubbles painted on the wall. How delightful! He cheerfully weighs the load like he’s genuinely thrilled that he gets to wash your soiled clothing and charges you accordingly per kilogram. You tell him if there are any special requests for your clothing (no drying the dress, etc.) which makes him smile EVEN MORE!!! G-dang, he loves his job. Your laundry will be ready within 24 hours. When you pick it up, it will all be folded into the most perfectly symmetrical squares you’ll ever see. It will smell like how you imagine that creepy bear, Snuggle, would smell. And it will only cost you between $50-$80 pesos. Luxury. 

Quesadilla de Chapulin. AKA quesadilla de grasshoppers.
A unique and crunchy experience reminiscent of
soft-shell crab. I'd totally eat it again.  

"A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something". - Wilson Mizner

Mexico Week III

MY SEXY MEXI APARTMENT

Person 1: Somebody said you sounded like an owl.

Person 2: Who?

Happy Hump Day , amigos y familia!! Here in Mexico, they have a term they use for Wednesday that is loosely translated as “Bellybutton Day”. Wednesday is the middle of the week much as a bellybutton is located in the middle of the human body. Makes sense!

We currently have no internet access in the apartment. I’ve been using the WiFi at the school, so until we get it set up at home, my posts will be a bit briefer. Since we’re on the subject of the apartment, I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you some pictures of it! 

This here’s the dining room. No table yet, but we do have chairs! We discussed the idea of an Eastern inspired, Zen-like floor table with cushions rather than chairs. As of now, we’re still eating on the floor, just not at a Zen table. Not to worry, all will come together in due time … 

This is the living room and view from the front door. No furniture there yet, either. But we do have a bean bag chair!!  Gotta love the bean bags. Can you see the lovely red accent wall to the right? Classy. 

The rounded archway leads down the hallway to the bedrooms. It’s a three bedroom apartment, and is definitely a space meant for only three people. It’s pretty modern looking, eh? I’d love to fill it with equally modern-looking stuff from IKEA. But IKEA doesn’t exist here. Sad. 

The kitchen minus a refrigerator. There’s a cooler down there somewhere that is working splendidly for the time being. The kitchen is usually always my favorite place in any home. It’s where the magic happens!  And this kitchen is no exception. Some pretty tasty meals have already come out of here  :-) 

My little space in the world! I bought that nearly-new Sealy Posturpedic bed frame from one of Danio’s friends for $150 pesos. That’s less than $15 USD!! I wonder how much it would cost to ship to FL … Because it’d totally be worth it. I must say, I really love my room. It’s simple, it’s cream colored, I have a lamp, a fan, a view of the pool below, a love note on the closet door, a night stand, and books. What else could one ask for?!

           

This is my bathroom “area”. It’s really weird – the sink and mirror are in the hallway separate from the toilet and shower. Obviously, this layout was rationalized by the designer because EVERYONE knows what a darn hassle it is to have to walk through a door to use the mirror or sink when you don’t need the toilet. Duh! Thank you, Mexico. So, for all those people whose dirty little secret it is to wash your hands every other time you use the bano, that will not fly here!! I WILL BE WATCHING!!  

"Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth". - Benjamin Disraeli

Mexico Week II

LIFE AS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE 

Q: What did the Buddhist monk say to the hot dog vendor??

A: Make me ONE with everything

That joke is for you, Art. Because I can definitely envision you actually saying that to a hot dog vendor, haha! ;)  

Buenos dias, amigos! For those of you keeping up with me, thank you very much. I am feeling quite self-conscious about it all, but I'll continue to keep you posted nonetheless! I told myself I would update at least once per week and will try my best to do so. 

I was told from a reliable source that the color of text is a bit difficult to read due to the background tone of the template I'm using. I'm going to mess around with the formatting and will attempt to correct that. Other suggestions for improvement are appreciated. Something else - I figured out how to adjust the exposure and color on the photos I take, so they should be much better quality from here on out. Did you hear that?? I figured this out BY MYSELF, CANDICE!! Candy is my go-to computer problem-solver. But alas, she is having her own adventure on the other side of the globe. Hence, self-taught life lesson numero uno. 

Week Two at Cuauhnahuac has been ... interesting. Long story short, four teachers (including the director of the English Department), abruptly packed their things and headed back to the US. This created a lot of confusion and hectic-ness within the department, but actually has turned out to be beneficial to me because I've picked up a good number of the classes that they were teaching. 


However, it also poses a challenge because I'm picking up classes after someone else has been teaching them for months. Life lesson numero dos: assess the situation and carry on. Worry not, students! We shall overcome. Anyone want to come to Mexico and teach?! I'll hook you up. For real.   

Alright, so about the pictures to the left and below ... Tacolgando la Guayaba is the name of Danio's (in red cap) and his friend, Mike's taco stand business. Bringing delicious tacos de barbacoa y cochinita to the streets of Cuernavaca daily! Barbacoa is beef covered in a pot with maguey leaves and slow-cooked until tender. Cochinita (my favorite) is a traditional slow-roast pork that involves marinating the meat in citrus juice and coloring it with annatto seed. Choose your meat, throw it on a few corn tortillas with a bit of chopped onion, fresh cilantro, and lime juice - delish!!

  

The best part? Each taco is $5 pesos. That's less than $0.40 USD. Eat your heart out, fellow foodies!

Mexico's Independence Day is this Saturday, September 15th!! Everywhere you go around the city, there is red, white and green. I've been informed that it's going to be a good time - music, food, and lots of other festivities. Looking forward to that ....

Other shanigans have included another epic hiking trip to Tepoztlan. This hike was not as much hiking as it was rock climbing. Life lesson tres: be prepared for anything. Or don't be prepared, but do it anyway. The overlook that we hiked up to was a rock wall covered in graffiti. Mexico has some of the most awesome graffiti you'll ever see. Who needs an art museum?? Just bust out your spray paint and go to town.  

The photo above is my "Intro to Sentences" workshop this morning. My students totally ROCKED in identifying parts of a sentence today!!  Exciting stuff. Te amo Mexico y te amo ingles <3

"What we think is less than what we know: What we know is less than what we love: What we love is so much less than what there is; and to this precise extent, we are much less than what we are." - R.D. Laing 

Mexico Week I

AS ALADDIN MIGHT SAY, MEXICO IS "A WHOLE NEW WORLDDDDD ...."

Q: What do you call a pig that does karate?

A: A pork chop!!   

Mmwaahahaaa!! I really like that joke. Why do all of my jokes involve animals?



Anywayyyy, buenas tardes, amigos! I have almost made it through my first week in Mexico. In no other place I've visited have I smelled more interesting smells, been whistled at more, tasted spicier/more delicious foods, seen crazier driving, or walked over more screwed-up sidewalks (and I mean that in the most respectful way possible).








The day after I arrived, my roomies took me hiking on a beautiful mountain past the ancient village of Tepoztlan. We didn't stop in the village that day, but  more on that to come! The surrounding pictures are a few from our hike.

We made paper airplanes and flew them over the look-out into the valley. I totally forgot how to make a proper paper airplane, but whatever structure it was that I crafted actually flew really well!

    

We stayed late enough to watch the sunset. There was this really weird rainbow "puddle" in the sky which we decided was probably a mixture of oil and other gases from the city smog mixed with the moisture of the clouds. Wow, what beautiful pollution!! 

The rest of my week consisted of a lot of classroom observation. On a typical day, I'll get to the school around 8am, teach until 9:30, and then have the afternoons "off" until somewhere between 4 and 7pm when I'll go back for evening classes or workshops. 

 

               

The top left photo is the entrance to the school from Morelos Avenue. Cuauhnahuac Instituto de Espanol e Ingles - I have like a REAL job and stuff!! Haha.



The photo to the immediate left is the front of the school. Bienvenido!

This is what most of the classrooms look like. They're very wide open, letting the lush foliage of the outside in, preparing one's mind for top-notch language learning. I should totally write for the school's website, eh?? What the website wouldn't tell you is about the killer, ankle-biting mosquito's that also have a desire to learn English, apparently :)   Visitors bring your OFF.

"So long as we live among men, let us cherish humanity". 

- Andre Gide  

I'm in Mexico!!

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED

Q: What did the fish say when it swam into a wall?

A: Dam! 

Buenos dias, friends! I arrived in Mexico City yesterday evening around 5pm. Made my flight this time, whoop whoop!! After customs, I went to the bus station and took the Pullman an hour and a half South to Cuernavaca. I didn't take any pictures of Mexico City, but upon flying in, it looks something like the photo below. Driving through looks something like the one to the right. Gracias, GoogleImages! 

Despite it being one of the most highly polluted and populated cities, Mexico City has its own beauty; it was all at once humbling and exciting to be in what feels like another world. I had to give myself a thumbs-up for finding the bus station and reaching my destination in one piece. The first picture I took is actually of me thumbs-upping myself, haha. I can be proud! Once out of the city, the scenery was stunning! There are mountains all around, jutting up from the winding highway roads. Everything is lush and green, almost rain forest-esqeue.

After reaching Cuernavaca, my soon-to-be-roommate, Carlie and her boyfriend, Danio picked me up from the station. I am so grateful, everyone has been so helpful, friendly, and welcoming! It was getting dark by this point, so my picture-taking ended with the mountain views. We had fried quesadillas for dinner at a little side street. Delish! You get two for about the equivalent of $1USD. Can't beat it. Also, we drank Agua de Jamaica - a drink made from dried hibiscus flowers, water, and sugar. It has this intense maroon color - good stuff. 

"It's really easy to complain. If you're not careful, then you end up complaining about your whole life. Concentrating on the good things is really good. Catch people doing good." - Lisa Williams