Mexico Madness: March 2009

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

News From South of the Border

So much to blog, mi amigos. Where to start?

I'll have to break it into subjects.

Part one: Educacion.

The classes that Con and I are teaching have been getting better and better. We've come a long way from the scared little newbies of a month ago. Now I actually look forward to teaching the huge first grade classes. We're learning how to connect with the kids using songs and games, and they're actually learning a few things.

The best class ever is Rincon (see: Rincon: Small Town with a Big Ol' Heart). I get along so well with those kids, and their mothers say that they miss me when I'm gone. The kids are smart as whips and remember everything I teach them. Last Monday Connor and I were playing soccer with the kids (who, I must report, were running circles around us) and Con twisted his ankle pretty good. He's fine now, but his legs are still mega sore (as in, can't walk up or down stairs without groans of pain) from the game.

We've decided that kids in MX are significantly tougher than kids in the U.S. A little boy named Cecilio played soccer/futbol with us. He's just a hair taller than my hip, and he runs like the wind, throwing his whole body in front of the ball, smashing into the concrete. He got his personal parts kicked twice during the game and got hit in the face with a ball (the ball was from Connor and one of the kicks to the sensitive parts was from me), but kept on giving his all without complaint.

Part two: Cumbre Tajin.

This past weekend Con, Shelly and I took a bus five hours outside of Xalapa to go to a huge festival called Cumbre Tajin. The festival celebrated the Totonac Indians, indigenous to Veracruz state, and other Veracruz traditions. It was definately not a festival for the weak. We camped out in a tent on Friday and Saturday night, and attended concerts that went from 7:00 at night to 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning. The band that rocked my world was a very popular Veracruz band by the name of Los Tigres Del Norte. You can't listen to them without cowboy boots and a white cowboy hat. Con was excited when his old favorite band from Junior High, Kinky, played on Saturday night. The crowd went absolutely nutzoids for them.

During the days, there were countless things to do. Traditional indigenous dances were going on everywhere you looked, and food was prepared using ancient methods and utensils. La comida estaba muy rico! Everything was really family friendly. You could make your own rain sticks, make your own pottery (which we definitely did - mine was a shot glass!), learn traditional dances...I'm just scraping the surface here but you get the idea.

It wasn't all giggles. There were literally thousands of people at the festival, and the sun was beating down on us all day long. Fortunately, we found a tent filled with pillows, cucumber slices, and cool refreshing drinks. Hipsters were lounging around everywhere you looked, and it was one of our favorite haunts.

I've saved the best for last. Their is an ancient ritual known as Danza de los Voladores de Papantla (Dance of Papantla's flyers) that took place everyday at Cumbre Tajin. Five men wearing traditional clothing would climb up a pole roughly 10 stories high. Once at the top, four of them would tie a very long rope around their torsos, and the fifth would dance on top of the pole, playing music for the gods. I nearly peed myself when the musician stoop on top of the pole, which was swaying in the wind, and was about the same size as a telephone pole, playing away on his flute. The four men fell backwards and spun around and around the pole until they reached the ground. It's quite a spectacle.*

It was a great weekend, but we're glad to get home and get back to work.

*Apparently, the day before we arrived, one of the men broke their rib bones during the ritual. Glad I didn't see that one. Woa doggies.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Rincon: Small Town with a Big Ol' Heart

It's been a long, tiring, productive day. I'm going to make this quick.

Con, Shelly and I go to an itty bitty town called Rincon every Monday. There, Con teaches cooking classes to a group of women. We sell their wares in Xalapa and the women sell their stuff in Rincon. It's a really nice program.

Meanwhile, I teach their kids English. It's a great opportunity for the kids, because they wouldn't normally get a chance to learn English until secondary school, so this gives them a step up above the rest. They've never had any prior instruction - I hope I can make the most of our time together. The kids are great and seem eager to learn. We had a lot of fun together today, but dang did they ever wear the poop out of me! I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight.

To get to Ricon, we have to take two buses, and then walk for about two miles down a dusty old road. The whole process takes about 2.5 hours. Today we got to the bus station an hour early, foolishly thinking that Daylight Savings was a global event. Not in Mexico!

I think things went pretty smoothly today. The women hearted Con Con's carrot cake (obviously) and the kids hearted me (obviously). Tomorrow I teach kindergarten in the morning, mentally handicapped kids in the afternoon, teachers in the evening, then spanish class, and finally salsa class at 9:00. It's gonna be a doozy. Con also is teaching teachers english tomorrow, then Spanish class, then teaching a group of teenaged boys (who love him - it's a really fun class, I helped out last week - one boy is the spitting image of George Michael from Arrested Development, except brown, and he's just as awesome), then salsa class. In conclusion, es tiempo para dormir. Buenos Noches!

(Side note: Lizzy, get well soon! I heard you were sick! And Lucy, thank you for mentioning me to Nick's mom, it sounds like she's working for a really cool program!)