6 hours. That's all it took. Only 6 hours to wrap up, box up, pack up, and load up all of our stuff from our house in Mexico onto a big box truck headed to our house in Michigan.
Of course, these 6 hours were bookended by 4 long, hard, stressful days of organizing, sorting, packing, cleaning, saying good bye, and ending contracts. By the time it was over, I was mainly glad that Dave & I had done this a few times and were able to handle the stress without a divorce.
But, in the end, I'm sad to leave. We have loved our time in Mexico. We love Mexico, love the people, the food, the culture, the history, the weather, and also our laid-back way of life here. If only I could have been paid a little better and spent a little less time on Mexican roads, I probably would have signed up for another few years, if that was an option.
Maybe we'll be able to spend another few times here in the future.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Future Plans
As this post is published, big changes are happening in our house.
After nearly 2 years of living in our beautiful house in Metepec, Edo. de Mexico, Mexico, we are packing up. David's "tour of duty" in Mexico is just about over. I'll be staying with friends to finish up the school year here. (As much as I'd love to work somewhere else, God seems determined to keep me here a while longer.)
We have absolutely loved Mexico. We love the sunshine, the friendliness, the beauty, the colors, the food, the music, the language, the history, and the culture. If I could find a better paying job, I just might sign up for a longer stay. Unfortunately, we have known from the time we arrived that our time here was short.
What we have accomplished:
- we now speak Spanish well enough to socialize for up to 4 hours completely in Spanish, visit an history museum with only Spanish-language displays, watch CNN en Espanol and understand what is happening, and fully participate in a Spanish-language protestant liturgical worship service
- we have visited most of Mexico (26 out of 32 states plus the capital and nearly every major city)
- we have learned more about Mexican history and politics than most Mexicans know (I'm teaching Mexican history!)
I also learned how to write a blog. In fact, due to popular demand (since I only have like 5 readers, I figured 3 was a majority...) I've been blogging 5 days a week for the past 6 months. This has been a LOT of fun.
BUT, the time for daily blogging has come to a close. I'll be posting about once a week through April and May, but then our Mexico adventure will be over. For now.
I truly hope that we will have another adventure to share with all of you very soon.
After nearly 2 years of living in our beautiful house in Metepec, Edo. de Mexico, Mexico, we are packing up. David's "tour of duty" in Mexico is just about over. I'll be staying with friends to finish up the school year here. (As much as I'd love to work somewhere else, God seems determined to keep me here a while longer.)
We have absolutely loved Mexico. We love the sunshine, the friendliness, the beauty, the colors, the food, the music, the language, the history, and the culture. If I could find a better paying job, I just might sign up for a longer stay. Unfortunately, we have known from the time we arrived that our time here was short.
What we have accomplished:
- we now speak Spanish well enough to socialize for up to 4 hours completely in Spanish, visit an history museum with only Spanish-language displays, watch CNN en Espanol and understand what is happening, and fully participate in a Spanish-language protestant liturgical worship service
- we have visited most of Mexico (26 out of 32 states plus the capital and nearly every major city)
- we have learned more about Mexican history and politics than most Mexicans know (I'm teaching Mexican history!)
I also learned how to write a blog. In fact, due to popular demand (since I only have like 5 readers, I figured 3 was a majority...) I've been blogging 5 days a week for the past 6 months. This has been a LOT of fun.
BUT, the time for daily blogging has come to a close. I'll be posting about once a week through April and May, but then our Mexico adventure will be over. For now.
I truly hope that we will have another adventure to share with all of you very soon.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
It's all in the carriage
Mexico City has a castle. Most non-Mexicans don't know about it, but it's true. The castle was originally designed as a lavish home for the Spanish viceroy (like the king's ambassador) but wasn't finished before the Mexicans called for independence from Spain. After Mexico got a constitution, they put the castle to work as a military academy. The castle achieved infamy during the war of North American Invasion (oh, you haven't heard of that war? we call it the "Mexican-American War"...) where the cadets at this academy died, wrapped in the Mexican flag, at the hands of the U.S. generals.
I know, I had no idea we actually invaded Mexico and murdered teenagers in the name of war, either, until I moved here. That was the last battle of the war, so that's good.
Today the castle/ cadet academy is a historical museum. Most of the museum is full of really interesting Mexican history that you are probably not interested in hearing. :)
But, there was one exhibit that I thought succinctly showcased a crucial piece of Mexican history.
In 1861, the first Mexican President of Native Mexican heritage was elected: Benito Juarez. He was a very liberal president at his time, and refused to pay debts to rich countries in order to have enough money to pay for education (and other important reforms). The U.S. - likely feeling guilty after the Mexican-American war - and Britain basically ignored the fact that Mexico owed them money. But France demanded payment and when they didn't receive it they sent their own emperor to rule Mexico and oust their liberal president. From 1864-1867 Maximillian of Hapsburg was the emperor of Mexico. This is the carriage he rode into Mexico City to assume his throne:
He had this carriage sent over from France to Mexico on a boat with him, and then he rode it from Veracruz to Mexico City.
Maximillian actually supported many of the liberal reforms that Benito Juarez had promoted, but he also sent money to France for 3 years until the Mexicans revolted and executed him. They reinstated Benito Juarez, who rode to his 2nd inauguration in this carriage:
This carriage would have been made in Mexico City by local artisans.
Today, Juarez is on currency, has his own federal holiday, and is one of the few presidents most Mexicans can name when asked. Maximillian, on the other hand... is best forgotten.
I know, I had no idea we actually invaded Mexico and murdered teenagers in the name of war, either, until I moved here. That was the last battle of the war, so that's good.
Today the castle/ cadet academy is a historical museum. Most of the museum is full of really interesting Mexican history that you are probably not interested in hearing. :)
But, there was one exhibit that I thought succinctly showcased a crucial piece of Mexican history.
In 1861, the first Mexican President of Native Mexican heritage was elected: Benito Juarez. He was a very liberal president at his time, and refused to pay debts to rich countries in order to have enough money to pay for education (and other important reforms). The U.S. - likely feeling guilty after the Mexican-American war - and Britain basically ignored the fact that Mexico owed them money. But France demanded payment and when they didn't receive it they sent their own emperor to rule Mexico and oust their liberal president. From 1864-1867 Maximillian of Hapsburg was the emperor of Mexico. This is the carriage he rode into Mexico City to assume his throne:
He had this carriage sent over from France to Mexico on a boat with him, and then he rode it from Veracruz to Mexico City.
Maximillian actually supported many of the liberal reforms that Benito Juarez had promoted, but he also sent money to France for 3 years until the Mexicans revolted and executed him. They reinstated Benito Juarez, who rode to his 2nd inauguration in this carriage:
This carriage would have been made in Mexico City by local artisans.
Today, Juarez is on currency, has his own federal holiday, and is one of the few presidents most Mexicans can name when asked. Maximillian, on the other hand... is best forgotten.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Paricutin
Mexico is built on volcanoes. We're used to mountains and volcanoes now, so this pic might not be super exciting.
Except that this volcano is only about 70 years old!
In 1943, a farmer family noticed lava and ash coming through their fields. They initially tried to scoop dirt into the fissure, but quickly realized that running was the best idea. Within a week, the volcano was 5 stories tall. It kept erupting, slowly, for a year, until the eruption had caused the population to leave the town and create a new town 20 km away. After a year of eruption the volcano was over 1100ft. tall and the volcanic rock had covered the entire town.
Well, almost the entire town. The lava flow left the 2 belltowers of the old cathedral standing, as well as the altar. Town residents saw this as a sign from God. Whether it was a sign of thankfulness for their prior piety or a warning to future generations is unsure, but either way the Mexicans feel that visiting this site is really important.
Not important enough to build a road or a safe bridge, but important enough to drive for hours over ashy roads up a mountain and then climb over a pile of rocks. I didn't feel confident enough to get right up to the altar, but it was pretty amazing to climb over the volcanic rocks.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Alley of Romance
Guanajuato has an alley of kissing (I blogged that Nov. 4, 2009) but Morelia has a whole street of romance!
A poet named "ortiz" wrote a long poem about the "Romance of my City", referring to Morelia, and when the city renovated part of the town, they redid this alley to be very tourist friendly and also having tiles with lines of his poetry mounted on the walls.
It was beautiful!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Aqueduct
Mexico has really beautiful currency. They use more coins than we do in the U.S., including a $10peso coin which is roughly equivalent to our $1 bill. Each coin and each bill is a different size, to help blind people, and each bill is a different color. The $50peso bill is roughly worth $4USD right now, and has a picture of the aqueduct in Morelia as well as the monarch butterflies from the state of Michoacan. We got our picture taken with the bill in front of the part of the aqueduct on the bill. We even managed to get a pic without any cars in the background!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Morelia = land of morelos
Morelos is famous for a few things - capital city of Michoacan, one of the prettiest states of mexico; its beautiful large cathedral; the site of the aqueduct on the $50peso bill, which I'll blog about tomorrow; and possibly most importantly, the home of Jose Morelos, national hero.
In fact, the city used to be called "valladolid" after a city in Spain, until hometown hero Jose Morelos fought for Mexico's independence. After independence was "won" with a constitution separating them from Spain, the city voted to rename itself. So, "Morelia" was born.
Jose Morelos did not start the Independence movement. But after the priest who did declare independence was executed, Morelos and a few of his friends took up the fight. Morelos was a priest and also a war genius who fought for 4 years before being executed himself. (check out a map of his battles at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Campa%C3%B1a_de_Morelos.png)
Morelos' many military victories paved the way for independence from Spain.
Modern statue of Morelos:
This may be an urban legend, but I had always been told that in a statue of a solider on horseback, if the horse is depicted with one hoof off the ground, the soldier was wounded in battle (and may have died later from the wounds); Two raised hooves indicate that the soldier died in battle. If the statue shows all four hooves on the ground, the rider survived all battles unharmed. I guess that being executed for treason means he died after battle?
The women in this statue are meaningful, also. The woman on the right is holding broken chains in her hand, symbolizing the independence movement breaking Mexico's chains of "slavery" to Spain. The woman on the left is holding fabric that may have been meant to symbolize the flag and also a scroll that symbolizes the constitution.
In fact, the city used to be called "valladolid" after a city in Spain, until hometown hero Jose Morelos fought for Mexico's independence. After independence was "won" with a constitution separating them from Spain, the city voted to rename itself. So, "Morelia" was born.
Jose Morelos did not start the Independence movement. But after the priest who did declare independence was executed, Morelos and a few of his friends took up the fight. Morelos was a priest and also a war genius who fought for 4 years before being executed himself. (check out a map of his battles at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Campa%C3%B1a_de_Morelos.png)
Morelos' many military victories paved the way for independence from Spain.
Modern statue of Morelos:
This may be an urban legend, but I had always been told that in a statue of a solider on horseback, if the horse is depicted with one hoof off the ground, the soldier was wounded in battle (and may have died later from the wounds); Two raised hooves indicate that the soldier died in battle. If the statue shows all four hooves on the ground, the rider survived all battles unharmed. I guess that being executed for treason means he died after battle?
The women in this statue are meaningful, also. The woman on the right is holding broken chains in her hand, symbolizing the independence movement breaking Mexico's chains of "slavery" to Spain. The woman on the left is holding fabric that may have been meant to symbolize the flag and also a scroll that symbolizes the constitution.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Morelia
Morelia is the capital of the state of Michoacan, and is about 300 km - 3 driving hours - away from where we live in Toluca. Like every major Mexican city, it has a beautiful downtown cathedral. This particular one is widely considered one of the most beautiful Catholic churches in Mexico. It is built of local pink volcanic stone and combines the architectural styles of Neo-Classical, Herreresque and Baroque because it took almost a century to complete and kept changing styles to follow the modern changes in architecture.
Inside the cathedral, highlights include a silver baptismal font in a side chapel (Mexico's first emperor, Agustín de Iturbide, was baptized here), a beautiful organ with 4,600 pipes, and a 16th-century corn-paste statue of the Señor de la Sacristía. The statue's gold crown was a gift from Philip II of Spain.
Every Saturday at 8pm, they light up the cathedral and send up fireworks behind it. (well, they told us it was every Saturday night, but we went on Sat. night and there was no fireworks)
I really liked how the sun shined into the cathedral when we visited, which made it seem as if God himself was smiling on the chapel.
This is the 2nd largest pipe organ in Latin America:
This pic shows how pink the rock is:
Friday, March 19, 2010
Violence = Less Tourism
Some of the information in the posting is from a CNN article. For the full article, please go to http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/03/19/Tijuana.mexico.tourism/index.html?hpt=Sbin
There was an unfortunate act of violence this last weekend in the border town of Juarez. It is very sad that consulate employees and their families were targeted by drug cartels. Unfortunately, it is not surprising. Embassy and Consulate workers know the danger they encounter when they choose to work for those places. I teach some embassy workers' children; we had a state department employee visit our class. Anyone in known danger is regularly or constantly supervised by bodyguards. Some of them have 24-hour security at their house. It seems that the incident last weekend specifically targeted the employees who were careless - they were in a residential area of Juarez without protection on a weekend evening. I would never do this.
Tourists need to know that they are generally NOT in danger in Mexico. Tourists who are in tourist areas during the daytime are not targeted by violent drug cartels. Just like anyone visiting Manhattan or Chicago or Miami, innocent people are sometimes injured, but that is not limited to Mexico.
Please consider visiting Mexico. If you are too nervous to drive across the border, fly into Mexico. Visit the beach towns or central Mexico, where there is almost no drug cartel presence. Spend money at locally owned restaurants and hotels, tip everyone who helps you, buy cheap stuff in the market, donate to charities, and do volunteer work. Also, ask your government representatives for comprehensive immigration reform and additional gun regulations. (The guns used in the attack last weekend were legally purchased in Texas and then illegally transported across the border.)
Mexico is our neighbor; we cannot ignore them.
There was an unfortunate act of violence this last weekend in the border town of Juarez. It is very sad that consulate employees and their families were targeted by drug cartels. Unfortunately, it is not surprising. Embassy and Consulate workers know the danger they encounter when they choose to work for those places. I teach some embassy workers' children; we had a state department employee visit our class. Anyone in known danger is regularly or constantly supervised by bodyguards. Some of them have 24-hour security at their house. It seems that the incident last weekend specifically targeted the employees who were careless - they were in a residential area of Juarez without protection on a weekend evening. I would never do this.
Tourists need to know that they are generally NOT in danger in Mexico. Tourists who are in tourist areas during the daytime are not targeted by violent drug cartels. Just like anyone visiting Manhattan or Chicago or Miami, innocent people are sometimes injured, but that is not limited to Mexico.
Please consider visiting Mexico. If you are too nervous to drive across the border, fly into Mexico. Visit the beach towns or central Mexico, where there is almost no drug cartel presence. Spend money at locally owned restaurants and hotels, tip everyone who helps you, buy cheap stuff in the market, donate to charities, and do volunteer work. Also, ask your government representatives for comprehensive immigration reform and additional gun regulations. (The guns used in the attack last weekend were legally purchased in Texas and then illegally transported across the border.)
Mexico is our neighbor; we cannot ignore them.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Journal Entries: "How can quality of life in Mexico be improved?"
I ask my students to write in their journals every day. When I grade them (which isn't often) I get great insight into their brains. My 7th & 8th grade Geography class is very ESL & LD - most of the students in there speak English as a 2nd or 3rd language, and some of them don't speak it very well, and the few who are "native" English speakers have either grown up outside of the U.S. or have trouble reading and writing in any language due to learning disabilities. It's an interesting class, to say the least, but my favorite (I know, we're not supposed to have favorites, but we do) bc they work so hard and have such good insights. They are excited to learn and I can see improvement from week to week and month to month.
We were learning about Latin America recently, and so I spent almost a week on Mexico. They don't know much about the place where they live bc few of my students and little of my curriculum is Mexican. I wanted them to reflect on what they already knew about Mexico with this question: "How can quality of life in Mexico be improved?" (First, I had to describe what "quality of life" meant, but once they got it, they gave good answers):
by not eating oil foods that make you fat. by not eating so much and doing exercises. by eating just fruits and vegetables. This might be a good idea for the U.S., too!
well, instead of complaining, they could actually do something about it [the pollution] ... compared to where I used to live, Mexico City is very clean Believe it or not, she's telling the truth; she used to live in the Dominican Republic, which shares an island with Haiti.
They should make new laws... we should not spit either. Also they should build everything people needs in one town so that people won't travel for long time. This girl travels over an hour to get to school bc of bad infrastructure and heavy traffic. I think DF is actually trying to build everything in one town... but that town is HUGE!
all of the people should help to change it. because most of the time they complain. Good advice for life in general, don't you think?
i don't think Mexico can get any better. Some people could leave. huh.
they could use more money for a clean country. true.
Why do people keep whining? good question!
Mexico is just one of a kind. My thoughts, exactly
We were learning about Latin America recently, and so I spent almost a week on Mexico. They don't know much about the place where they live bc few of my students and little of my curriculum is Mexican. I wanted them to reflect on what they already knew about Mexico with this question: "How can quality of life in Mexico be improved?" (First, I had to describe what "quality of life" meant, but once they got it, they gave good answers):
by not eating oil foods that make you fat. by not eating so much and doing exercises. by eating just fruits and vegetables. This might be a good idea for the U.S., too!
well, instead of complaining, they could actually do something about it [the pollution] ... compared to where I used to live, Mexico City is very clean Believe it or not, she's telling the truth; she used to live in the Dominican Republic, which shares an island with Haiti.
They should make new laws... we should not spit either. Also they should build everything people needs in one town so that people won't travel for long time. This girl travels over an hour to get to school bc of bad infrastructure and heavy traffic. I think DF is actually trying to build everything in one town... but that town is HUGE!
all of the people should help to change it. because most of the time they complain. Good advice for life in general, don't you think?
i don't think Mexico can get any better. Some people could leave. huh.
they could use more money for a clean country. true.
Why do people keep whining? good question!
Mexico is just one of a kind. My thoughts, exactly
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
El Juego - the ball game
The Mesoamericans had a crazy ball game. They played in a narrow passageway between 2 stone walls, trying to get a rubber ball into specific locations. They believed that the gods would bless one group, so often there was a lot of gambling around these games, and the losers would be killed as a sacrifice to the gods. At this "stadium" there are hills nearby for common people to watch the game and big rocks sitting nearby as "box seats" for the important people.
I am not sure I would want to be a player - 50% chance of death is kinda scary - and I also don't think i'd like to watch - games sometimes went on for hours. But now it's fun to imagine what the game would have really been like. (no one knows for sure; the game died out when the Spanish came)
Monday, March 15, 2010
El Tajin - Veracruz
Most of the time when we're visiting places in Mexico, I'm reading in our Lonely Planet tourbook. This visitor guide is designed for eco-conscious and budget-conscious active-ish travelers. Most of their hotels are reasonably priced, many of their recommended restaurants are very local-friendly. Since we speak Spanish, this has worked out for us, bc we can go to places most "gringos" can't. Also, this book gives a lot of history about the archeological places we've visited so that we don't have to pay a tour guide to tell us in Spanish about the place.
We assumed that Veracruz would be very tropical, and the very green trees made it seem like we were in a tropical place. Thankfully, though, the temperature wasn't too high when we went. (about 80F)
The Mesoamericans (natives from central America with civilizations before the arrival of the Spanish) were the first to create a 365-day calendar. But they didn't have paper, so no amazing agendas or wall calendars with pictures of puppies. Instead, they used sculptures to remind the townspeople what day of the week/month/year it was. The "pyramid of the niches" is famous at El Tajin bc it has 365 little "niches" or little boxes - 1 for each day of the year. Likely the priests moved a little statue from one box to the next every day to help people figure out what day it was.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Wind Energy?!
some information from this posting came from an article in THE NEWS, the English-language newspaper in Mexico City. For full article, please go to http://thenews.com.mx/articulo/mexico-to-head-wind-energy-in-latam-10310
Baja California is a miserable place to live. Some parts, on the coast, are very beautiful - like Cabos San Lucas, which we visited September 2009. But most of it is wasteland desert. I went for 6 years to Mexicali for mission work; we had to go on Spring Break bc temperatures in the summer can reach 120F. Because of its extreme heat, and lack of local water sources, this state uses more electricity than most other Mexican states (per person) and pays more for it also.
The current Mexican president has decided to invest in Wind energy for this area. It should provide jobs for a largely uneducated workforce, provide cleaner cheaper energy for the residents, and also produce a little bit of extra money that can be invested in government services for the poor.
Maybe the U.S. can learn something from this plan?
Baja California is a miserable place to live. Some parts, on the coast, are very beautiful - like Cabos San Lucas, which we visited September 2009. But most of it is wasteland desert. I went for 6 years to Mexicali for mission work; we had to go on Spring Break bc temperatures in the summer can reach 120F. Because of its extreme heat, and lack of local water sources, this state uses more electricity than most other Mexican states (per person) and pays more for it also.
The current Mexican president has decided to invest in Wind energy for this area. It should provide jobs for a largely uneducated workforce, provide cleaner cheaper energy for the residents, and also produce a little bit of extra money that can be invested in government services for the poor.
Maybe the U.S. can learn something from this plan?
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Bread Basket
Little History Lesson for today (sorry - I'm a history teacher, I can't help myself!)
In the U.S., at many restaurants, a free basket of bread is delivered to your table while you're waiting for your food. There is often butter in this basket. In Europe, bread is also often available, but no butter. At "Mexican" restaurants, we often get a basket of fried tortilla chips with salsa.
Most North Americans are often shocked to discover that Mexicans love bread and butter, too. In fact, we often get a "bread" basket full of rolls, butter, tortilla chips, and salsa - but the salsa is actually a sauce, not a chunky tomato dip.
This is the history part - the Spanish were sent to Mexico to look for gold, and while they did find some, what they found more of was edible gold - corn. Mexicans had survived on corn for hundreds of years. While the Spanish king strongly encouraged the colonists to Mexico to grow wheat, teach bread-making, and eat only "civilized" food, most of the colonists just couldn't do it. At their fancy Spanish dinners they would eat bread, but then after hours they would sneak into the "ghetto" side of town to eat tacos made from corn tortillas. The men were "slummin' it" in more ways than one!
Today, Mexicans just embrace both sides of their heritage - the Spanish part and the American part. The basket is just a small example of their Mestizo heritage.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Furniture!
We have a furnished house/ condo that we're renting here. The style is very beautiful. Lots of wood - exposed beams, wood furniture, wood cabinets, as well as iron drawer pulls (and some cold tile floors and ugly art, but we can't have everything).
Wooden furniture in Mexico is called "rustico" or rustic. Most Mexicans don't really like it anymore, bc they think it's old fashioned. So a lot of upscale furniture stores sell "modern" furniture full of leather and carved iron. But we really like the wooden stuff! Locals hand carved a beautiful bedroom set just for us and delivered it to our house for an amazing price. Not IKEA cheap, but definitely closer to Art Van clearance center than Amish furniture center. We can't wait to add a little Mexico to our MI house.
furniture
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
"Marianisma"
information from this posting is based on an article from THE NEWS, the English-language newspaper in Mexico city. For the full article, check here http://thenews.com.mx/articulo/womens-roles-polled-1038
A lot of North Americans have heard of "Machismo" which is the Mexican stereotype/ideal/legend of the "ultimate" man. Not so many have heard of "Marianisma" which is basically that every woman should be like Mary - pure but also a mother (hard to be both, but you get the idea). Every man wants his mom, wife, sister, and daughter to be modest and good at homemaking. Or at least, that's the idea.
In reality, most Mexicans are poor. And like poor women throughout history and across cultures, Mexican women do not have the opportunity to be a "stay-at-home-mom". They might stay at home, but they are working, making money however possible, and often sharing in running the family business. Women run small tiendas, work as housekeepers, hawk items in the street, run boarding houses and laundromats, and even run lunchtime restaurants out of their garage.
Perhaps it is this idea that explains the results of a study that an American found "surprising": 91% of Mexican women think women should work outside the home but only 42% do work outside the home. Most women want access to their own spending money, so that they can buy a book to read or shoes for their children or meat for dinner, rather than rely on their husband's infrequent and/or inadequate income. But not every woman has the option of leaving her house to work - there just aren't jobs available.
OTOH, 77% of U.S. women work outside the home while onkly 58% of women prefer working outside the home. In a country where staying at home means wealth rather than poverty, we'd rather show off our wealth.
BTW - March is women's history month, so I'm going to try to add some "women-focused" posts this month.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2006-03-02/news/17285004_1_stay-at-home-mothers-fathers-spend-more-time-suzanne-bianchi
http://women.webmd.com/news/20070906/women-prefer-working-outside-the-home
A lot of North Americans have heard of "Machismo" which is the Mexican stereotype/ideal/legend of the "ultimate" man. Not so many have heard of "Marianisma" which is basically that every woman should be like Mary - pure but also a mother (hard to be both, but you get the idea). Every man wants his mom, wife, sister, and daughter to be modest and good at homemaking. Or at least, that's the idea.
In reality, most Mexicans are poor. And like poor women throughout history and across cultures, Mexican women do not have the opportunity to be a "stay-at-home-mom". They might stay at home, but they are working, making money however possible, and often sharing in running the family business. Women run small tiendas, work as housekeepers, hawk items in the street, run boarding houses and laundromats, and even run lunchtime restaurants out of their garage.
Perhaps it is this idea that explains the results of a study that an American found "surprising": 91% of Mexican women think women should work outside the home but only 42% do work outside the home. Most women want access to their own spending money, so that they can buy a book to read or shoes for their children or meat for dinner, rather than rely on their husband's infrequent and/or inadequate income. But not every woman has the option of leaving her house to work - there just aren't jobs available.
OTOH, 77% of U.S. women work outside the home while onkly 58% of women prefer working outside the home. In a country where staying at home means wealth rather than poverty, we'd rather show off our wealth.
BTW - March is women's history month, so I'm going to try to add some "women-focused" posts this month.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2006-03-02/news/17285004_1_stay-at-home-mothers-fathers-spend-more-time-suzanne-bianchi
http://women.webmd.com/news/20070906/women-prefer-working-outside-the-home
Monday, March 8, 2010
My own Happiness Project
2 years ago, I was begging for someone, anyone, to tell me what I'd be feeling right now. I was so worried about moving to Mexico (check out my first blog http://southernhospitality-mexico.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html ) I just wanted to know that in the end, we had made the right decision and these would not be 2 wasted years but instead 2 amazing years.
Years of discovery.
Years of growth.
Years of happiness.
And they have.
We knew, very strongly, that God had plans for us here, but we didn't really understand why. Why here? Why now? Why not?
Mexico has been my "Happiness Project". Kind of like a mini-quarter-life-crisis or pre-retirement. I got to see what my life would be like if I wasn't a slave to my job. If I wasn't busy every minute of every day. If I wasn't freezing half the year and sweating the other half. If I read more books and watched less TV and learned to blog. If I shopped less. If I met different people. If I stopped doing housework. If I caught up on all the things I was going to do "whenever I got the tiem". If I finished writing the book in my head. If I focused on eating delicious food rather than losing 5 pounds. If I soaked up Vitamin D every day. If I backpacked in Europe and climbed a Volcano in Mexico and walked the streets of Japan.
Turns out, doing all of those things has made me a better person. (I think.) I am more happy with my accomplishments, more comfortable doing "nothing", more confident in my personality, more aware of the big world around me.
Seems like I've got this Mexico adventure all wrapped up.
I'm ready for a new adventure now.
Years of discovery.
Years of growth.
Years of happiness.
And they have.
We knew, very strongly, that God had plans for us here, but we didn't really understand why. Why here? Why now? Why not?
Mexico has been my "Happiness Project". Kind of like a mini-quarter-life-crisis or pre-retirement. I got to see what my life would be like if I wasn't a slave to my job. If I wasn't busy every minute of every day. If I wasn't freezing half the year and sweating the other half. If I read more books and watched less TV and learned to blog. If I shopped less. If I met different people. If I stopped doing housework. If I caught up on all the things I was going to do "whenever I got the tiem". If I finished writing the book in my head. If I focused on eating delicious food rather than losing 5 pounds. If I soaked up Vitamin D every day. If I backpacked in Europe and climbed a Volcano in Mexico and walked the streets of Japan.
Turns out, doing all of those things has made me a better person. (I think.) I am more happy with my accomplishments, more comfortable doing "nothing", more confident in my personality, more aware of the big world around me.
Seems like I've got this Mexico adventure all wrapped up.
I'm ready for a new adventure now.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Happiness Project
Living in Mexico has given me a lot of extra free time. Even working full time and driving up to 3 hours per day, I'm still working fewer hours and those hours are less busy than what I was doing before I came here. So, I've been reading a lot - books, blogs, webpages, ebooks, audiobooks... well, you get the idea.
One of my favorite books recently was "The Happiness Project" (you can check out other books I've read on www.shelfari.com). This book also has a blog, which is fun if you don't have time to read the whole book - although I do recommend at least borrowing it from the library and skimming it. http://www.happiness-project.com/
The blog for Wed. March 3 was about the 10 myths of happiness:
No. 1: Happy people are annoying and stupid. This is an automatic assumption that many people make.
No. 2: Nothing changes a person’s happiness level much.
No. 3: Venting anger relieves it.
No. 4: You’ll be happier if you insist on “the best.”
No. 5: A “treat” will cheer you up.
No. 6: Money can’t buy happiness.
No. 7: Doing “random acts of kindness” brings happiness. The emphasis here is on the word "random."
No. 8: You’ll be happy as soon as you… Falling into the "arrival fallacy" is something that many people (including me) recognize in themselves.
No. 9: Spending some time alone will make you feel better.
No. 10: The biggest myth: It’s selfish to try to be happier.
Maybe one of the reasons I liked the idea of a "Happiness Project" is because moving to Mexico has been my happiness project. Tomorrow my blog will be more about that ;)
One of my favorite books recently was "The Happiness Project" (you can check out other books I've read on www.shelfari.com). This book also has a blog, which is fun if you don't have time to read the whole book - although I do recommend at least borrowing it from the library and skimming it. http://www.happiness-project.com/
The blog for Wed. March 3 was about the 10 myths of happiness:
No. 1: Happy people are annoying and stupid. This is an automatic assumption that many people make.
No. 2: Nothing changes a person’s happiness level much.
No. 3: Venting anger relieves it.
No. 4: You’ll be happier if you insist on “the best.”
No. 5: A “treat” will cheer you up.
No. 6: Money can’t buy happiness.
No. 7: Doing “random acts of kindness” brings happiness. The emphasis here is on the word "random."
No. 8: You’ll be happy as soon as you… Falling into the "arrival fallacy" is something that many people (including me) recognize in themselves.
No. 9: Spending some time alone will make you feel better.
No. 10: The biggest myth: It’s selfish to try to be happier.
Maybe one of the reasons I liked the idea of a "Happiness Project" is because moving to Mexico has been my happiness project. Tomorrow my blog will be more about that ;)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Starbucks
I am off of school this week, which means lots of free time. I learned a long time ago that if Dave is working but I'm not that I need to use that time to do all the things I never seem to have time to do - lesson plans, scrapbooking, cleaning the house, etc. and reserve vacations and fun stuff for the times when we're both off. I also learned a long time ago that if I am in my pjs when Dave leaves for work, I'm still in my pjs when he gets home. :) So, this week I woke up and got ready for "work" with Dave and instead went to Starbucks for a few hours to work on lesson plans for 4th quarter.
Well, lesson plans and next week's chapel message.
Well, lesson plans and chapel and blog writing and internet searching and daydreaming and people watching.
What can I say? people watching is even more fun in a foreign country!
I know that North Americans love their coffee, and their coffee shops. But this is a new fun trend in Mexico, too. The coffees cost about the same, so there are only Starbucks in "rich" areas of Mexico. In central Mexico, that means most of the people here are pretty "white" looking. At the Starbucks in Santa Fe - THE upscale DF suburb - I can often hear more English than Spanish.
8am - 10am is mainly "business breakfasts" with people who work together meeting for coffee before work. They normally do not get their coffee to go, but it does happen occasionally, esp. if someone is buying for a large group.
10am - 12pm is a lot of prepa (high school) and university students, "studying" together. It's not uncommon for teens here to go to school only in the afternoon or to have a flexible schedule that's more like what we would have for community college.
12pm - 2pm is a slow time. Too late for breakfast, too early for lunch. The staff is cleaning and prepping for a busy afternoon. A few people like me, with laptops, "working" might be around.
2pm - 4pm is full of teens. These folks are already done with school for the day but don't want to go home and are rich enough to meet their friends at starbucks for a latte and a sandwich.
4pm - 6pm is a lot of babies in strollers with their moms and grandmas. Presumably visiting before Dad gets off of work. Also older teens/ university students (it's hard for me to tell the difference) on a date. Dinner dates are kind of rare for this age group who might be expected to be home by dinnertime (8pm).
6pm+ I'm normally not at Starbucks, so I can't be sure, but I have been there at this time and it's a common meeting place for families and friends and co-workers of all ages and sizes to meet for a snack after work. They'll go home for dinner at 8pm or so.
I've heard that U.S. starbucks are full of unemployed/self-employed people during the day (using free internet) and college students during the night (using free internet) with a wide spattering of rich and bored SAHMs. Can't be sure, but we seem to have a different vibe here.
Well, lesson plans and next week's chapel message.
Well, lesson plans and chapel and blog writing and internet searching and daydreaming and people watching.
What can I say? people watching is even more fun in a foreign country!
I know that North Americans love their coffee, and their coffee shops. But this is a new fun trend in Mexico, too. The coffees cost about the same, so there are only Starbucks in "rich" areas of Mexico. In central Mexico, that means most of the people here are pretty "white" looking. At the Starbucks in Santa Fe - THE upscale DF suburb - I can often hear more English than Spanish.
8am - 10am is mainly "business breakfasts" with people who work together meeting for coffee before work. They normally do not get their coffee to go, but it does happen occasionally, esp. if someone is buying for a large group.
10am - 12pm is a lot of prepa (high school) and university students, "studying" together. It's not uncommon for teens here to go to school only in the afternoon or to have a flexible schedule that's more like what we would have for community college.
12pm - 2pm is a slow time. Too late for breakfast, too early for lunch. The staff is cleaning and prepping for a busy afternoon. A few people like me, with laptops, "working" might be around.
2pm - 4pm is full of teens. These folks are already done with school for the day but don't want to go home and are rich enough to meet their friends at starbucks for a latte and a sandwich.
4pm - 6pm is a lot of babies in strollers with their moms and grandmas. Presumably visiting before Dad gets off of work. Also older teens/ university students (it's hard for me to tell the difference) on a date. Dinner dates are kind of rare for this age group who might be expected to be home by dinnertime (8pm).
6pm+ I'm normally not at Starbucks, so I can't be sure, but I have been there at this time and it's a common meeting place for families and friends and co-workers of all ages and sizes to meet for a snack after work. They'll go home for dinner at 8pm or so.
I've heard that U.S. starbucks are full of unemployed/self-employed people during the day (using free internet) and college students during the night (using free internet) with a wide spattering of rich and bored SAHMs. Can't be sure, but we seem to have a different vibe here.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Green Tacos & moldy tortillas
Most Americans have read "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss. The funny part of this story is that NONE of us want to eat green eggs or green ham! Veggies can be green, but not anything else. Definitely not meat.
Um... Mexicans eat green meat. In fact, it's a local specialty. Toluca (where we live) is known in central Mexico, for their "chorizo" which is a kind of sausage. Except that in Toluca, there are 2 kinds: red and green. Red sausage looks like, well, sausage. Green sausage looks kind of like... moldy sausage. This is a real food, bc I've seen it in the grocery stores and at meat markets since we got here.
Took me almost 2 years to work up enough courage to try it.
Sheesh.
The tacos pictured above are chorizo tacos - the two on the left are red tacos and the 2 on the right are green tacos. (the white stuff on top is locally made cheese.)
oh, wait, you're wondering what that blue stuff is?
It's moldy corn tortillas. :)
Those I've been eating for a while. They're delicious. :)
And officially, it's not a mold, it's a fungus.
Corn is from central Mexico. Mexicans lived off of corn ("maize") for centuries, developing the largest capital city and largest empire in the entire world while Europe was still in the dark ages. (Un)fortunately, the Mexicans did not have chemical pesticides. There was this nasty blue fungus that sometimes grew on the corn, and they couldn't find a way to get rid of the fungus.
Hmmmmm...
So one day a Mexican ate the blue fungus-riddled corn. S/he didn't die! S/he didn't even get sick! And, bonus - it was kind of yummy! So now, there are yellow corn tortillas and blue corn tortillas. (maybe some of you have seen blue corn tortilla chips in your local U.S. grocery store? the blue corn is real, whether or not any was actually used in the making of the chips is a different story, as I've also seen red corn and green corn tortilla chips in the states which are definitely NOT natural!)
So, on Saturday, Dave & I ate fungus tortillas full of green sausage. Delicious.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
One last Japan story...
Japanese ride bikes.
A lot.
Basically, Tokyo was full of thousands of bikes, none of which were mounted or locked on to anything. We discovered that the back wheel is locked, preventing would-be thieves from riding the bike away, but not doing much to keep someone from carrying it off. I guess that carrying a bike would look strange, and loading bikes into a truck would also be too much of a hassle.
In short, we were often standing on sidewalks with lines of dozens of bikes standing neatly in a row.
Our last Saturday morning, we got up very early and had a long day of touring.
While Dave was looking at the tourbook, I turned around and my backpack brushed a bicycle next to me. In slow-motion, I turned to see the bike slowly leaning to the left. Then, the next bike fell. And the next one. And the nextoneandthenextoneandthenextone....
Until an entire line of nearly 100 bicycles had all fallen over.
A small Japanese boy stared at me with a look on his face that said, "you're in trouble!"
I looked Dave in the eyes and said, "RUN!" We started hoofing it to the nearest metro station in a desperate attempt to avoid whatever punishment the police felt like handing out.
Another travel adventure!
A lot.
Basically, Tokyo was full of thousands of bikes, none of which were mounted or locked on to anything. We discovered that the back wheel is locked, preventing would-be thieves from riding the bike away, but not doing much to keep someone from carrying it off. I guess that carrying a bike would look strange, and loading bikes into a truck would also be too much of a hassle.
In short, we were often standing on sidewalks with lines of dozens of bikes standing neatly in a row.
Our last Saturday morning, we got up very early and had a long day of touring.
While Dave was looking at the tourbook, I turned around and my backpack brushed a bicycle next to me. In slow-motion, I turned to see the bike slowly leaning to the left. Then, the next bike fell. And the next one. And the nextoneandthenextoneandthenextone....
Until an entire line of nearly 100 bicycles had all fallen over.
A small Japanese boy stared at me with a look on his face that said, "you're in trouble!"
I looked Dave in the eyes and said, "RUN!" We started hoofing it to the nearest metro station in a desperate attempt to avoid whatever punishment the police felt like handing out.
Another travel adventure!
Monday, March 1, 2010
the one surrounded by the police???!!!
Imagine me telling this story with a lot of hand motions and voice inflection....
Somehow, with the help of GPS technology, I managed to get to the DF airport in record time on Saturday to pick up David. Still, he arrived earlier than I expected, so I felt rushed and harried. I found the parking garage, carefully stowed all of my electronics, packed up my items, locked the car, and walked into the airport to meet Dave and have some dinner. An hour later, we walked into the parking garage with our paid parking ticket and I pointed David in the direction of our car.
"The one surrounded by police?"
Um, yep! The one surrounded by not only airport security but FEDERAL POLICE. WITH LOADED WEAPONS. oh, yeah. Our car was somehow a security hazard.
Why? I had managed to keep the car running while locked.
How is this possible? because of the genius electrical engineers at Nissan, who developed a key-less ignition with an important safety feature: the car will keep running after the keys are removed from the vehicle (theoretically, to prevent a car crash after your deranged passenger throws the keys out the window, rather than to keep a car running while parked).
As we approach the car, 2 US tourists with suitcases, the police are pretty much shocked. The car has DF license plates - how/ why would tourists have a locally plated car in the parking garage (rather than a rental car, for example)? Then, they explain, very slowly in simple Spanish that the car is still running.
So, I unlock the door, turn off the ignition, smile sheepishly, and apologize in Spanish.
We could practically hear their jaws drop.
Again, in very slow, simple Spanish, one security guard mentions that in Mexico, they generally turn off their ignitions when they park their cars at the airport, because of airport security.
Ah, got it. Thanks for the info.
Thankfully, we speak enough Spanish now for me to joke that it was all my fault; normally my husband drives the car, but that these new Nissans are much to advanced for women & they need to have female engineers design these things! (Women are seen as very bad drivers in Mexico.) They smiled at me. :) The guy with the gun did not seem to be brandishing it... which was good.
Then, in Spanish, we went through 5 minutes of trying to show the paperwork for the car. We don't understand the paperwork, even though we speak Spanish, so they 3 officers ended up holding onto 2 passports, Dave's FM3, my driver's license, insurance paperwork, and receipts for oil changes, new tires, emission testing, etc. By this point, they're trying not to laugh at us.
We thanked them, in Spanish, at least 3 times for their dedicated service, and apologized for our mistake, which seemed to confuse rather than flatter them. ("why aren't they mad at us?" we could see their expressions asking.
And then we drove away!
Ah, it is good to leave the police behind.
Somehow, with the help of GPS technology, I managed to get to the DF airport in record time on Saturday to pick up David. Still, he arrived earlier than I expected, so I felt rushed and harried. I found the parking garage, carefully stowed all of my electronics, packed up my items, locked the car, and walked into the airport to meet Dave and have some dinner. An hour later, we walked into the parking garage with our paid parking ticket and I pointed David in the direction of our car.
"The one surrounded by police?"
Um, yep! The one surrounded by not only airport security but FEDERAL POLICE. WITH LOADED WEAPONS. oh, yeah. Our car was somehow a security hazard.
Why? I had managed to keep the car running while locked.
How is this possible? because of the genius electrical engineers at Nissan, who developed a key-less ignition with an important safety feature: the car will keep running after the keys are removed from the vehicle (theoretically, to prevent a car crash after your deranged passenger throws the keys out the window, rather than to keep a car running while parked).
As we approach the car, 2 US tourists with suitcases, the police are pretty much shocked. The car has DF license plates - how/ why would tourists have a locally plated car in the parking garage (rather than a rental car, for example)? Then, they explain, very slowly in simple Spanish that the car is still running.
So, I unlock the door, turn off the ignition, smile sheepishly, and apologize in Spanish.
We could practically hear their jaws drop.
Again, in very slow, simple Spanish, one security guard mentions that in Mexico, they generally turn off their ignitions when they park their cars at the airport, because of airport security.
Ah, got it. Thanks for the info.
Thankfully, we speak enough Spanish now for me to joke that it was all my fault; normally my husband drives the car, but that these new Nissans are much to advanced for women & they need to have female engineers design these things! (Women are seen as very bad drivers in Mexico.) They smiled at me. :) The guy with the gun did not seem to be brandishing it... which was good.
Then, in Spanish, we went through 5 minutes of trying to show the paperwork for the car. We don't understand the paperwork, even though we speak Spanish, so they 3 officers ended up holding onto 2 passports, Dave's FM3, my driver's license, insurance paperwork, and receipts for oil changes, new tires, emission testing, etc. By this point, they're trying not to laugh at us.
We thanked them, in Spanish, at least 3 times for their dedicated service, and apologized for our mistake, which seemed to confuse rather than flatter them. ("why aren't they mad at us?" we could see their expressions asking.
And then we drove away!
Ah, it is good to leave the police behind.
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