Mexico Wins!

This is a brief video that I took of the craziness of Mexico City when Mexico beat the United States in soccer a few weeks ago.

Visiting Frida's House

Ever since my senior year in high school, the year I discovered the artist Frida Kahlo, I have been dreaming of visiting her house here in Mexico. I remember reading about "La Casa Azul", about the gardens where her many animals would run around, and about the bed she would paint from when she was too ill to stand up.

On Friday I took the Metro down to Coyoacán, the town where Frida lived. Coyoacán, now a delegation of Mexico city, also has the home of Leon Trotsky, who was a friend of Frida and a revolutionary marxist. I found Trotsky's house first, then continued to walk to Frida's house, just a few blocks away. When I walked into the patio I saw the gardens that I had read about, adorned with fountains and now tables and chairs to sit in to enjoy the ambience. As I entered the rooms of the house (no photos allowed) I tried to picture what life must've been like in this house for Frida. Many of the walls are adorned with her own paintings, with several others by Diego and other artists. Being in the room where Frida used to paint was like a dream come true for me. I saw the bed with the mirror so she could see her face for all of the self-portraits she made. I also saw several of her casts that she used to have to wear that she decorated/painted and made them into works of art themselves. Like many people who are big fans of Frida, being in her house was an amazing experience.

From Frida's house I walked toward the center of Coyoacán. Unlike the part of Mexico City that I live in, Coyoacán is more of what people think of when they think of Mexico (in my opinion, at least). Beautiful, bright-colored buildings, old churches, and plazas where people stroll around and sit on benches. I found a small restaurant where I sat to relax and breath in aromas of the homemade tortillas I could hear being made (slap! slap! slap! slap!). My 3 course lunch, which included Tortilla soup, a cauliflower dish, and mole was only 45 pesos (about $3.50). After lunch I strolled around admiring the old buildings painted bright orange and yellow and trying not to trip on the uneven stone streets and sidewalks.

Yesterday I was a tourist for the day and rode one of those double-decker buses around Mexico City. I LOVE riding double-decker buses! It's so relaxing and you get some really great views. I took pictures of a lot of the things I see everyday on my walk to and from work, and some pictures of things that were particularly interesting that day. Like, the guy dressed like Michael Jackson who was dancing on the sidewalk. His moonwalk put mine to shame! Or, the demonstration that was going on by the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Hundreds of people along the streets were wearing Obama masks holding a sign that said, "If our politicians treated us like they treated Obama, this would be a different country." I'll have to get to the bottom of what that's about. I have to say that seeing all of these people with Obama masks on was quite funny.

I'm hoping that my quest for my long-term apartment is over. I found the place I want to live in, located in the area called La Zona Rosa. It's right by Chapultepec Park and just a few blocks from La Reforma (my favorite street in Mexico City). Hopefully I'll be moving next week... stay tuned!

2 Weeks Down...

Today I finished my second work week here in Mexico. I've told myself that I will never complain about work because, compared to what I'm used to, my schedule and work life is great. This morning, however, I encountered a few interesting incidents that made me frustrated, only because I was tired and haven't had a great cup of coffee in awhile.

I got to my office around 6:50 am to get the books I was going to be distributing to my students. As I went to leave the office, my key wouldn't come out of the lock. I stood there for about 5 minutes, doing everything I could and almost breaking the key in the lock, but nothing worked. What do I do? There was NO ONE around (there aren't that many classes at 7 am) and I didn't want to leave my key in the door. I share that office with 2 other professors and if they showed up and saw my key in the door, they probably wouldn't be too happy with me. At about 7:01, I left the key there with the intention of finding someone on my way to my class.

I get to the classroom where I teach English III and the door was locked. There weren't any students around, either. It was a few minutes past 7, and my Mexican students do have a tendency of being late, but, NO ONE? Hmmm.... so, I went up to the "Enlace" to find someone to open the door for me (and to fetch my key out of the office door), and NO ONE there either. Does anyone else work around here? I went back down to the ground floor (class is on the 4th floor, enlace is on the 5th, office is on the 2nd floor of the building across the street which is connected by an indoor bridge on the 2nd floor, so yeah, I was running all over the place). I asked the security at the door if she could call someone to open my door for me and get someone to get my key out. By the time she got a hold of someone, she said that the classroom was open. Whew, back up to the 4th floor (this time I cheated and took the elevator) and time to teach! Did I mention I hadn't had any coffee? :) A few minutes into class Enrique, the guy from the enlace, came to give me my key. He did confirm tha,t yes, the lock is a little messed up and he would look into getting it fixed. After that my day did slow down, but I had to laugh at the circumstances.

I have had the chance to sit down and chat with my mentor, Yolko, twice now. I really enjoy our conversations because I get ask her about all sorts for things that I'm curious about without feeling like I need to culturally hold back or act a certain way. I asked her about her opinions on the Mexican government, how universities work here, and we were able to peacefully talk about and make comparisons with the United States. She studied at Stanford University so she spent her time in the US, which helps in our conversations and mutual understanding. What's most interesting for me is that I'm able to make comparisons with how the Mexican Government is PORTRAYED in the US with how people here actually feel about. Granted, I've really only spoken to 2 people (I also talked to Angeles' husband, my exchange teacher who is teaching my classes at FHS), but they seem to share the same reality. Here I thought the Mexican President was popular and well-liked. Yeah, not so much.

Yolko has also been a big help me understanding how things work at UACM. She said it's hard to compare UACM with how things are in Mexico in general because they tend to do things differently. She said they tend to be more of a socialist kind of university. I thought that was funny because if you know me, you know that I tend to lean that way, as well, which isn't the norm in the US. An example of how it's different at UACM than other universities that I've encountered is that they give students a lot of freedoms when they're registering for their classes. I have a few students that are in my English 1 and English 2 classes. To me, that's just weird and doesn't make sense, but she says they let them do it because if they're willing to put in the work for it, then why not? She sees how it doesn't really make sense, but it does go along with the philosophy of the university, "Nada humano me es ajeno".

Another interesting conversation that Yolko and I had today was about Earthquake Drills. She said they'll do a drill and there will be a loud bell, and we all file down the stairs to the street. That isn't too different from what we do in California. Then, I asked her what to do in an ACTUAL earthquake. Do we get under the desks and wait for the trembling to stop, then evacuate? No, she said, as soon as you feel it tremble you leave the building and stand outside away from the building (because it can fall). THAT is different. We talked about the earthquake here in 1985, the destruction that it caused, and compared it to the earthquake I experienced in San Francisco in 1989.

Food-wise I have been trying not to be too overindulgent. I have enjoyed a couple of plates of super-delicious enchiladas, tortas, and tacos, and you know I'm enjoying my helados here, too. I rediscovered malletes, which is what we ate in Cancun everyday when I went with my girls (and Gabe!) for our Senior Trip in '96. It's bread with black beans spread over it and covered in cheese, served with an avocado salsa. Yum. The fruit is what I'm letting myself go crazy on. The fresh fruit on the street is SOOO good. So far, my stomach has been ok (knock on wood) and I've been somewhat careful about my choices, but I'm not being a total freak about it.

Here's my blooper of the day:

I hadn't done laundry since I left Fairfield on August 1st. I think the fact that I can go this long and still have plenty of clothes is evidence that I WAY OVERPACKED. Oh, well, you live, you learn. So, I go to drop off my laundry at the closest place, according to Google. The guy itemizes my clothing, gives me a slip and I leave. When I got home I realized how RIDICULOUSLY expensive this place is because I'm going to be paying $62 dollars for my laundry. Yeah, I know. I'm pretty mad at myself right now, but I wasn't going to run back there and ask for my clothes back! It's a punishment for me not paying attention. What can I say... I'm really tired today.... I'll look for another laundry place soon.

Casper?

My quest for my "permanent" apartment continues. Today I looked at two more and found the perfect place.... I hope he picks me!

I must say, it was never a shock that I was going to be stared at and made comments about. I'm 5"8 and I'm still blond under Mexican rules even though I dyed my hair darker. Children look at me like they've never seen anything like me in their lives. Yesterday, though, I got the BEST reaction out of this one man. I was walking down a street that was relatively crowded. The man is walking by me right next to me. All of the sudden he looks up at me (yes, looks up) and actually took a step back with his mouth gaping open. I had to keep walking to keep from busting up laughing. He literally looked like he'd seen a ghost. It was awesome. I think I need to hit up the beach fast because I MUST be pale if I'm getting that kind of reaction out of people.

Today was the first day that I walked to school AND home without getting detoured by my own carelessness (meaning, I didn't get lost at all). This little victory today felt great.

Attitude

While I was searching through the books I will be using this year to teach English, I found this great advice from Charles Swindoll. It´s extremely fitting to us as educators, and I´m going to try to remember this, especially now when I´m experiencing something pretty amazing, yet very frustrating at times.

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.

It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past...we cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... We are in chargeof our Attitudes... Don´t you think so?"

Back to the Mother Land... or so I thought...

Tomorrow marks the one week anniversary of my arrival in Mexico Lindo. I feel like I've been here a lot longer than a week, I must admit. Within one week I moved into my studio, got (somewhat) acquainted with the enormous city I will be calling home for the next 10 months or so, and started teaching English at La Universidad Autónoma de la Cuidad de México (or UACM). Because I'm a bit behind in starting this blog, I'll highlight the past week for you.

Saturday I wondered around El Centro Histórico (The Historic Center), yearning to see with my own eyes the massive Mexican flag that dances in the middle of the Zócalo. As I walked upon it I had to keep my cool and not act like a nerdy tourist. It was a Saturday and the entire surrounding area was packed with people all in a hurry to be somewhere. Not the place to take out my camera and marvel. So, I quietly marveled and continued on my journey. My plan was to find the university where I'll be teaching, but to no avail. With the limited knowledge I had about the location of this place, it was just enough to get me within the vicinity of it. I wandered down small streets, inhaled deeply as a walked past corn cooking on open grills, tacos being fried up and tortillas being served with salsas of all colors. Listening to the advice of our Fulbright/Comexus mentors, I passed on the food and ate another favorite treat of mine... MAGNUM ICE CREAM (except here it's Hollanda.). Oh, yes.

Soon I realized I was not where I thought I was. Lost? Well, that's a relative term. It was just a matter of getting back to La Reforma, one of the main streets in Mexico City and, thankfully, one of my cross-streets. I turned a corner and laughed really hard inside at what I was surrounded by; about 100 mariachi guys standing in an area I only guesses was where one would go to hire a mariachi (?). As I walked by I was extremely conscious of the fact that, not only was I the only woman around, I was the only person not wearing a fancy jacket with matching pants, holding an instrument of some sort. What must they have thought of the little lost gringa that stumbled upon them? Oh, Gretchen....

Sunday morning I set out with certain areas of Mexico City in mind for discovery. To my surprise La Reforma was completely closed on both sides and was filled with people on bikes, on rollerblades, running, etc. What is THIS?!?! You'd think I'd died and gone to heaven! Apparently every Sunday they do this thing here as a campaign for healthy families and they shut down most of La Reforma and allow people to enjoy the city on wheels and on foot, sans cars. I can't wait until next Sunday!

I found Chapultepec Park (the name of my dorm at SDSU!) and, wow, it's huge. I decided that I would leave the actual Chapultepec Adventure for another day, with my running shoes strapped on. I'm hoping to eventually live closer to this park so that it can become my regular running spot. I won't look like a total weirdo running in there.

I think the funniest thing to happen to me yet happened yesterday. I hadn't had the chance to see "Harry Potter" so I waited until Wednesday to go. I paid 36 pesos (Wednesday's are half price day in Mexico, too, like in Spain) for the movie, which is like $2.75. I KNOW. Guess where I'll be every Wednesday?!?! Anyway, I walked out of the theater which is on La Reforma. There was a ton of people outside, all wearing their Mexican soccer jerseys, waving their Mexican flags, and shouting México! México! With all of the police presence I thought it was some sort of political protest or something, especially since I've been hearing a bunch of stuff on the radio about "Nuestro México" (Our Mexico) and how they're trying to work on unity right now. I was a little nervous because I know that political protests can get a little hairy...

I ducked into a little restaurant to grab a bite to eat and asked the women working there what was going on. "It's just that Mexico just won the soccer game against the US." Oh, yeah! duh! I had been hearing all about that, too. I looked down at my shirt, the one with the Spanish flag that says, "Hola Barcelona". Hmmm.... not exactly patriotic USA material but not Viva Mexico either. I was supposed to go look at an apartment at 8 o'clock and didn't want to be walking around wearing anything that was NOT representing Mexico's red, white and green. I quickly went back to my studio to put on the shirt Sarah gave me that says, "Mexico. Jugamos para Ganar." (Mexico. We Play to Win). I thought it was only fitting that the Americana wear this shirt. Hopefully I wouldn't be lynched. I made my way to the apartment, walking through La Glorieta del Angel de la Reforma (one of the main roundabouts in Mexico City, the one they always show in Rebelde :>). As you can only imagine, I got everything from cheers for being the gringa in the Mexico shirt to belligerent fans telling me that they won. Really? I hadn't noticed. I really did enjoy the sights and hearing the people cheer with so much pride just has to put a smile on your face, even if it was your country that they beat. (Although you all know that, even if I had been at home, I would have been rooting for Mexico.)

What happened yesterday was truly an example of how you can take the Gringa out of Gringolandia (what they jokingly call the U.S.), but she'll always be a gringa. I don't try to hide my "gringoness", I just try not to flaunt it. I think even if I went to a beauty shop here and told them to give me a complete Mexican Make-over (whatever that means, I have no idea), I would still have GRINGA written across my forehead. This is a truth that I will have to face all year. It's for reasons like this that I'm here... I represent our country and I'm hear to teach about our country, what it is to me, and to put a face to what my country is. Hopefully, I'll be able to teach, at least my students, that some gringos are not so bad, we're even pretty cool. :)