Addict

Hello, my name is Kelly, and I am addicted to the television.
Not the programs, so much. Just the noise. And the sound. And the news.

I thought everyone needed the TV on when they were working. I thought everyone watched the news at breakfast, and at dinner.

Ok, so I'm over-reacting a bit. according to http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/465910/4_signs_that_youre_suffering_from_television.html?cat=25 TV addicts schedule their lives around TV and overreact when they miss a program. That's not really me.

But after a week with no electricity, and then another week with no TV connection, and now 2 weeks with no cable, I'm starting to get used to the silence.

It's like being on vacation.

An earthquake happened in China, and I didn't know about it for a day or two. My students started talking about last night's episode of one of my favorite shows, and i had to admit I hadn't seen it. I can hear noises from the street during breakfast and I talk with my friend(s) during dinner bc there are no newscasters keeping me company.

This very helpful (sarcasm implied) website http://www.articlesbase.com/alternative-medicine-articles/tv-addiction-as-serious-as-drug-addiction-382100.html#axzz0lw8P5n9p
exercising, watching TV, playing board games, and actually leaving the apartment as the cure to my addiction.
So... extra novel from the library - check!
Twilight scene it board game played on a laptop with a battery - check!
Taking a 2 hour bus ride to the nearest starbucks for computer access and to read the novel mentioned above - check!
Yoga on the roof at sunset... well, i'm still hoping to try that one.

Seems like my addiction may soon be cured! Only side effect is watching "Glee" episodes a few days late... but that can be acceptable.

Free Time

For most of 2 school years, I had a loooong commute. Now, we Detroiters are used to long commutes. Driving is how we 'drive' the MI economy. Without cars, we're all out of a job.
But still, 2-3 hours per day, sometimes in stop-and-go traffic, sometimes through 8" puddles, sometimes across precarious bridges, sometimes through narrow mountain passes had become rather exhausting. Few North Americans, outside of southern California, ever have that kind of commute.

So... since I no longer live in Metepec but instead in an apartment building just meters from the school, the popular question now is:
"What are you doing with ALL your free time, now?" Implying that I now have 2 to 3 hours of extra time every day when I used to be driving.

Honestly, I also thought I'd have lots of free time.
I had planned to wake up early, with the sun, and actually make time for exercise and spiritual reflection before school. I had planned to get home early from work with time to bask in the sunshine, reading a novel. I had planned to spend my weekend scrapbooking memories of my time in Mexico.

Yeah, not so much.

Problem #1: While I no longer drive for 2-3 hours per day, a bus trip to the buy groceries, register my cell phone, print my pictures, or pick up something I need for school will take me about 2 hours, even though the location of these places is about 5-10 km away.

Problem #2: With daylight savings time, the sun is barely up before I leave for school, and I am not so motivated to get out of bed before the sun unless I really really have to do it (and most days, I do have to shower and eat before the sun is up. but I don't have to exercise or meditate...)

Problem #3: I spent my first week in the apartments without power. So we spent a lot of time and energy getting electricity from alternate sources, or using as much electricity as possible during the hours when it was on.

Problem #4: I had previously used my car time to my best advantage - listening to books, talking on the phone, buying cell phone minute cards from the guy on the corner. So now, all of those activities are still happening, even though I'm not in the car, so that is not really time 'gained'.

In short, I spent most of my first week settling in, and most of my second week doing school work. Not really exercising, or praying, or relaxing, or scrapbooking. Just living like I normally do.

I'm going to try again in May.

The Other Mexico

After nearly 2 years of living in our beautiful house in Metepec and only 2 short weeks living in a small apartment on the poor side of DF, I have learned a lot about the "other" side of Mexico. I now refuse to call it "real" Mexico, bc the way I was living before was real to me. That cushy way of life is also real to the millions of upper-middle-class Mexicans - like many of our co-workers and friends - who actually live in beautiful houses with manicured lawns and housekeepers and big screen TVs and pantries full of food (kind of like what we call 'normal suburbia' in the U.S!).

But for most working class and poor Mexicans, their daily life is a little different than what I was used to.

As a background, my co-workers who live in the apartments are living off of a salary roughly equivalent to $5.50/hour with unpaid summer vacation. And for those of you who think "well, it's cheaper cost of living there" you're mainly wrong. Some things are cheaper, some things are about the same, and some things are pricier. But living in small apartments, using public transportation, and buying only enough groceries to get you to the next paycheck is always going to be cheaper than how I am used to living.

So, here in these apartments on the poor side of DF, this is what I have learned:

1. electricity, hot water, garbage pickup, internet strength, and working laundry machines are all sporadic and cannot be counted on to be available when needed.
2. standing on a bus for 45 minutes without falling into the lap of the lady next to me is a serious workout
3. carrying my groceries through the market, over the steps across the highway, onto the long bus ride, and then up the stairs to my house is also a serious workout
4. when the electricity and washing machines are not working, it is pretty tricky to carry my dirty clothes, laptop bag, and purse onto the bus to find a laundromat and an internet cafe
5. it is super tricky to keep Mexican germs - picked up during the multiple bus trips - from spreading through my apartment if I don't have hot water to wash my hands when I return
6. shopping for fresh produce saves me lots of money, but then I need to find a place to store all of it in the closet-sized kitchen, which I can't find, so I eat all the food right away, esp. because anything that needed to be refrigerated was probably lost bc we don't have electricity and anything that needs reheating has to be done in the oven bc the microwave isn't working bc we don't have electricity, so within 2 days I have eaten all of the fresh produce I bought and now I need a 2 hour bus trip to go get more.

It's been an interesting two weeks.

Bilingual

Yo x 2

por Jane Medina

Leo por dos
Escribo por dos
Pienso y sueño
y lloro por dos

Yo río por dos
Yo grito por dos
Canto, pregunto,
Intento por dos

Hago mucho más
que hacen todo ellos
Porque yo hablo por dos,
Lo doble que aquellos

Me x 2

I read times two
I write times two
I think, I dream
I cry times two.

I laugh times two
I shout times two
I sing, I ask,
I try times two

I do twice as much
As most people do,
'Cause most speak one,
But I speak two!

Happiness is...

I have been reading about happiness. It all started with The Happiness Project http://www.happiness-project.com/ which was interesting. Now I'm reading The Geography of Bliss where a reporter travels around the world searching for happiness.

Of course, true joy comes only from a relationship with Jesus, and this joy gives me strength to carry on during my roughest days. But most days, when I'm just a little cranky, I'm wondering what I can do to be a little happier.

Today, Happiness was a hot shower in the morning, electricity at night, reading a book in the sunshine eating a cookie, and humming a tune while cooking dinner. The tune was one I remembered from a musical my mom directed a few years ago ("You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"):

HAPPINESS IS FINDING A PENCIL.
PIZZA WITH SAUSAGE
TELLING THE TIME.
HAPPINESS IS LEARNING TO WHISTLE.
TYING YOUR SHOE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.
HAPPINESS IS PLAYING THE DRUM IN YOUR OWN SCHOOL BAND.
AND HAPPINESS IS WALKING HAND IN HAND.

HAPPINESS IS TWO KINDS OF ICE CREAM.
KNOWING A SECRET.
CLIMBING A TREE.
HAPPINESS IS FIVE DIFFERENT CRAYONS.
CATCHING A FIREFLY.
SETTING HIM FREE.

HAPPINESS IS BEING ALONE EVERY NOW AND THEN.
AND HAPPINESS IS COMING HOME AGAIN.

HAPPINESS IS MORNING AND EVENING,
DAY TIME AND NIGHT TIME TOO.
FOR HAPPINESS IS ANYONE AND ANYTHING AT ALL
THAT'S LOVED BY YOU.

HAPPINESS IS HAVING A SISTER.
SHARING A SANDWICH.
GETTING ALONG.

HAPPINESS IS SINGING TOGETHER WHEN DAY IS THROUGH,
AND HAPPINESS IS THOSE WHO SING WITH YOU.
HAPPINESS IS MORNING AND EVENING,
DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME TOO.

FOR HAPPINESS IS ANYONE AND ANYTHING AT ALL
THAT'S LOVED BY YOU.

Experiences make us happier

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/15/materialistic-people-less-happy-less-liked/?hpt=Sbin

After 2 years in Mexico, I have precious little to "show" for it. 5 extra pounds, maybe, from all the flan and arrechera and sopa tortilla and tres leches and jamaica water and tacos arabes and... well you get the idea. (or maybe you don't, bc it's in Spanish, but just assume that anything with a name you can't pronounce is NOT low in calories!)

We have a few pieces of artwork for our walls and our bookshelves, a few pieces of clothing for our closets, a few pieces of jewelry for special occasions, an amazing bedroom set :) and thousands of pictures.

But I also have a lot of experiences that can't be cataloged on an insurance form. (we're talking house insurance this week in math class). Learning to rely on each other when there's no other friends or relatives or neighbors or co-workers or church acquaintances who know our names or speak our language. Floating on a boat through a canal smelling flowers and watching the birds while debating the history of Cuba in Spanish. Negotiating a lower price on cheap souvenirs and paying double for my avocados. Teaching others how to teach or how to engineer or how to speak English or how to survive in Mexico or how to get through airport security so that after we're gone, even if we're forgotten, we still left a little piece of ourselves behind here in Mexico.

Yesterday at Spanish Class/ Bible Study, we found this question in our book: "What will we do when someone tells us that the best God has to offer us has passed us by?" We had a nice long discussion, in Spanish, about whether or not the Bible supported the assertion that God would let His plans for us slip by unnoticed. We basically decided that no, He would not, although some in the group were still skeptical, asserting that God might put them right in front of us, and we just wouldn't take the chances being offered to us.

Is it possible that God has great things planned for us, but we can decide not to do those things? Sure, I guess so. But is it also likely that no matter what our choices, if we keep coming back to Jesus, He'll keep giving us great opportunities?

The author (of the book we were using for our study) also seemed to remind us that not everything God wants us to do is something we want to do. Or even something we think we're good at. Or something we think is important. A lot of the "best God has to offer us" is stuff we don't want to pick up and take.

Sometimes Jesus calls us to raise babies or care for an aging parent or sick spouse, when we'd really rather not clean up after these people. Sometimes He calls us to lead craft time at VBS when we'd rather not be covered in glue. Sometimes He calls us to make sandwiches for the homeless, when we'd really rather be at home eating steak and potatoes (or, in my case, advocating on capital hill for better homeless funding).

Sometimes, Jesus calls us to move to a new place, where we don't know anyone or anything and we are working for incompetent people and we don't know why He couldn't have called someone else to do this because our lives are really going to be interrupted by this little "break" far away and when are we going to get back to the life we had planned and a slightly larger checking account, Lord?

Sometimes, Jesus explains why He asked us to do this, and sometimes He doesn't.
I'm still not sure exactly why He asked us to move to Mexico, and work here, and live here, and absorb this culture. But I do know that I feel, deep in my soul, that this is where we were supposed to be for the last 2 years, and that even though part of me wants to stay here, and part of me wants to go back to the life I had before this experience, I'm peacefully ok with the fact that our next adventure just might not be anything I had ever imagined.

Jealous, are we?

http://thenews.com.mx/articulo/children-greet-us-first-lady-10415

The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, visited Mexico this week. She had a youth-focused tour, so she met with some Mexican children, of course, but she also met with the embassy kids - those between 8 & 14. One of the kids at our school got to go! I am super jealous.

Rumor has it that she said only 3 words in Spanish while she was here: "Si, se puede" which roughly translates to "Yes, We Can!" the campaign slogan of Obama 2 years ago. This was also the slogan of the farm workers movement/ latino civil rights movement in the 1960s. So very political. ;)

Another of our students met Barack Obama last spring break & when the pres. shook his hand, told him, "I used to have a haircut like that"! which is true. they had matching afros. This student of mine is a great kid and a reader, so I told him to read Obama's books before he runs for president. All of us teachers have been promised a place in his administration, so we're definitely pushing for this kid to be president in about 20 years. As long as he remembers us.

Teaching doesn't pay much, but I'm basically in it for the side benefits - starbucks gift cards as end-of-the-year thank you presents, calls from alumni saying "you made a difference in my life", parents who say that their kid turned a corner this year and isn't acting out as much as s/he did before.
But honestly, seeing the first couple would be a benefit I wouldn't turn down. If it was offered.

Hermano is watching you...

There's a funny episode of "Arrested Development" where a main character is looking for someone named "hermano" and keeps punching guys until he finally figures out that "hermano" means "brother" and isn't a name so much as a title. :)

Mexico is used to "big brother" watching them. Many Mexicans do live "off the charts" because it's pretty easy to avoid paying income taxes, and also pretty easy to live without an address. Think hermit in Montana, times 14 million, all squished into a tiny polluted valley and you've got Mexico City.

Well, big "hermano" is now watching out for Mexicans, too. The Mexican government, in an attempt to persuade criminals and other annoying persons from using pre-paid phones, has passed a law that all cell phones must be registered with the government. This will be like a yellow pages of cell phones, except that since Mexicans don't have an address, their cell phone number will be listed with their CURP - the Mexican equivalent of a social security number.

Important background information: Currently, most US cell phone users have a contract tied to a credit card, which is tied to a bank account and a permanent address. Most Mexicans have a pre-paid cell phone tied to nothing. US police can subpoena to access those phone records if there is a warrant for your arrest (I think - that could only be on Law & Order, I'm not exactly sure). Mexican police can call your number and see if you're stupid enough to answer.

Anyway, since I am not Mexican, I don't have a CURP. I'm not going to get one, either. It's against the law. But, I still need a "registered" phone, because unregistered phones are going to be cut off from service. Basically, until I register it, the phone company doesn't know I'm a foreigner, so they have to assume I am just a Mexican with a procrastination problem.

Mexicans with this special ID number can just text it to the company to register their phone. I have to take my passport to a very special elite phone service center and ask politely for them to register my phone.

Except, now that I have moved into an apartment on the poor side of DF, registering my phone actually went something like this:

Buying a new phone card: $200pesos
Going to the mall twice(4 bus rides, 2 taxi rides, a car ride, and a long walk): $150 pesos + 4 hours
Finally being able to make a call to the U.S. without a Spanish error message: priceless

Got to love Mexico!

"real" Mexico

"So... are you all settled in?" well meaning acquaintances are trying to small-talk about our recent "move". I should be better at small talk - at least more polite - because I talk so much. But I have this crazy tendency to actually say the truth, or at least something resembling the truth.
So, no. We are NOT settled in. Our truck left mexico 2 weeks ago (today) and isn't likely to arrive at our MI house for another week or so.
we arrived at our house with 10 suitcases (no joke!) and unpacked them. Then, we had to "reorganize" the house to move the renters' items into storage and our items into display.
But really, we've been living at our house, out of suitcases, every time we visited MI for the past two years! So, no, I don't feel "settled" at "home" bc my home is still here in Mexico.

It was very sad to see our beautiful house in Metepec returned to the landlord, to be repurposed for the next family. It was also sad to "leave" Mexico.

But I'm back already!

I flew back to the DF airport, took a taxi to my friends' apartments by the school where I teach, and started work yesterday morning.

I'm more settled in the apartment(s) than I am back home.

And as such, I get to experience "real" Mexico. Not the beautiful, well-manicured lawn and housekeeper-cleaned mansion we had in Metepec. A very small (600 square feet?) apartment. With no hot water. or electricity. I don't own a car. I walk to work.

But I'm still liking it. :) I get to spend time with my friends, and practice my spanish and eat tortillas.

I do miss Dave terribly. But I think he misses Mexico, too, already, so I'm trying to soak up as much "real" Mexico as I can. for him.

"traffic"

Riding with us this weekend, a friend of ours commented that Dave drives "more aggressively than [he] used to". I didn't notice. I thought Dave was driving not only normally but also pretty calmly.

Truth is, we'll have some weeks of driving here before we re-adjust.

Driving in Mexico means speed bumps, crowded lanes, slow trucks, dangerous curves, rude taxis, swerving scooters, jaywalking children, stalled VB bugs, stray dogs, toll booth lines, traffic light lines, left turn lines, right turn lines, short exit ramps, passing police officers, and "hoy no circula" rules (emission testing regulations). This translates to a very stressful stop-and-go driving experience with lots of waiting, bumping, brake slamming, and aggressive driving. I would regularly zip between 3 lanes of traffic - passing cars left and right - and while I was the fastest driver I was still 10 km under the limit.

Driving this morning in Michigan - during "rush hour" - meant straight roads, long entrance and exit ramps, wide lanes, plenty of space between cars, driving 75 miles per hour, lots of signs, and otherwise calm and organized driving. But I just couldn't drive casually. For 45 minutes, I was constantly checking my mirrors for police officers or unruly drivers, I had both hands firmly on the wheel, and I had to remind myself to use the cruise control. I spent most of the time in the right "slow" lane, even though I was driving 5 miles OVER the speed limit. I was so busy driving, I didn't even have time to change the radio channel or drink my tea!

It might be a while before I am so confident driving casually that I can pick up my phone and make a call while driving. Then again, maybe I shouldn't ever get that comfortable.

Tonight at the restaurant...

I knew I had been in Mexico for a while when I...
- thought the gal who took our order had a really good American accent
- saw everyone standing awestruck in front of the big-screen TV and thought "must be a world cup finalist game"

I knew I was in Ann Arbor when I...
- saw that everyone was intently watching Pres. Obama play basketball in his backyard
- the "burger of the month" was a homemade black bean patty

I knew I was in the U.S. when I...
- ordered a water and got an empty plastic cup (to fill myself from the spout for free)
- figured out that Pres. Obama playing bball was a commercial during the NCAA basketball semi-finals

*sigh* Reverse culture shock has already sunk in!