The wondrous month of April

Where has this month gone?!

April started out calmly enough, with a day trip to Valle de Bravo with Nicole three weeks ago, where we strolled around the town known as the "Mexican Hamptons." Despite the town's reputation for being a bit fresa, or snobby, it actually has a really quaint feel to it and the large man-made lake in the center of town gives it the feeling of Newport or Nantucket, but with a Mexican flair, of course. Our afternoon was spent strolling through town, enjoying lunch in a restaurant located on a barge in the lake, and enjoying the day's slow place.



Two weeks ago, all of us Fulbrighters in the state of Mexico hopped on a bus and headed 5 hours north to Aguascalientes to visit our dear friend, Will and experience the opening weekend of the city's infamous month-long festival (which also happens to be the largest in the country). To give you an idea of the scale of this feria, some workers are able to earn their entire year's salary by working just one month as vendors, etc and cab drivers earn more in a day during this month than they typically make in a week. It was great to have everyone together in Aguascalientes: Will, Alexis, Will G, Nicole, Andy, Cammie and her friend Cathy, and to boot, it was Andy's birthday on Saturday! We went out to a bar that serves you dinner with the number of courses depending on the number of drinks you order....dangerous combination. Towards the end of the meal, Cammie surprised Andy with a giant (delicious) chocolate birthday cake and we sang to Andy in both Spanish and English. Later that night, we went down to the main feria area, which is built specifically for the festival and has everything from a casino, to numerous restaurants, bars and even a plaza de torros. We had a great time celebrating together among the throngs of drunken Mexicans.




The following morning we went to the rodeo competition being held downtown. Alexis was the only one in the group who had been to a rodeo before (in Atlacomulco, the epicenter of Mexican culture) although the one she had been to was all female, and was basically a giant horse ballet. This time, there were competitions that involved lassoing wild horses and knocking them to the ground. After a short while this became less than pleasant, and so we moved on to the general feria area to check out more of the exhibits and activities.



The weekend went by more quickly than I would have liked, but it was really great to have everyone together to hang out and celebrate Andy's big day. It's becoming all too clear that we have just a short time left in Mexico and I don't think any of us are ready to return to the States. As excited as I am for this summer in Manhattan (where I'll be working at a law firm and finally seeing friends from back home) and starting law school in the fall, I'm already envisioning myself shivering in the library during the cold Chicago winter day dreaming of Mexico.

Last week I flew back to New York for my cousin Alyssa's beautiful wedding. I arrived at JFK on Wednesday night and got revved up to spend all of Thursday apartment hunting in Manhattan. My mom was a great sport and spent the entire day with me running around the city and seeing some really not-so-nice places. I also got to see Libby when we first arrived! She met up with us outside Penn Station and after grabbing coffee, she came with us to check out the first sublet option. With Libby's expert advice, I picked out an apartment on the Lower East Side that I love and I'll hopefully get (I'll find out this weekend and I'm crossing my fingers!). I can't wait to spend the summer in the city and to be so close to so many of my best friends!

Rockefeller Center

The wedding, which was held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was on Friday evening. We were late arriving to the ceremony after I experienced some a serious wardrobe malfunction. A piece of advice for all women: try on dresses before you plan on wearing them in public. In my crazed state of apartment hunting, I grabbed this dress I've worn once before and threw it into my suitcase on Friday morning. When we got to the hotel in PA with just this one option, I realized that the top had stretched out and had suddenly become quite revealing. Despite my sister's best efforts, no amount of safety pins or double-sided tape was going to fix this one. I arrived at the ceremony with a cardigan thrown over the dress and feeling pretty sloppy. Immediately following the ceremony, there was an hors d'oeuvres hour, during which time I grabbed my sister, drove to the nearest Marshall's, ran in like a crazed woman grabbing whatever dresses I could find, trying on one that I liked, running back into the car with the new dress and doing a not-so-private wardrobe change in the front seat while my sister drove the getaway car. As I arrived for the second time, I definitely got a few double-takes, but I was ready (and covered) for the rest of the wedding. The reception was beautiful. Alyssa planned out every last detail, including a candy bar for the guests that was color-coded to match the theme of the wedding. The rest of the evening turned out to be a giant dance party and we all had a wonderful time!

Saturday was spent shopping at the outlets (the last thing I expected to do in Amish country), hanging out with the family downtown and watching a movie together in my grandparents' hotel room. It was nice to have some down time with the family after not having seen them since Christmas and I'm looking forward to seeing them more this summer!

I have to say it was bittersweet to be home. I of course had a wonderful time seeing my family, but it was also the last time that I'll ever step foot in the house I grew up in since my parents are moving in a week's time. I guess it's all about moving forward, so I'm sure it'll be for the best, but I feel like this upcoming month is going to involve a whole lot of changes. I guess I haven't sit still for the past year, so why start now!

Abrazos de México!

Steve's Visit to Mexico and an Adventurous Spring Break

What a couple of weeks! Steve arrived in Mexico City on March 20th for a week-long visit, which of course flew by, but we managed to make the most of our time! We spent Sunday in the city visiting the historic district and meeting up with some of the Fulbrighters for drinks in the Torre Latinoamericana, which boasts incredible panoramic views of the sprawling city.


We then headed to the Ballet Folklórico, which Steve was initially less than excited about, until he realized that it's much more of a Mexican version of Lord of the Dance than a traditional ballet. The next three days were spent in Toluca, where Steve accompanied me to work and taught my students about the proper medical terminology for different limbs while discussing an article about racism (he's a natural). Though Toluca isn't exactly a hot-spot tourist destination, we still managed to enjoy the beautiful botanical gardens and some delicious food (and let's not forget a memorable trip to Wal-Mart).



On Wednesday afternoon we left for Puebla to experience firsthand the birthplace of mole and the Mexican revolution. Can you guess which of the two Steve was most taken with? We spent Wednesday evening and Thursday strolling around the beautiful colonial city and visited Cholula, a nearby city that claims the world's largest pyramid by volume on Friday morning. On Friday we bused back to Mexico City to visit Coyoacán, Chapultepec park, and eat the most delicious tacos Mexico has to offer. Not to mention an amazing house party at Cammie's house on Friday night and Steve's birthday on Saturday! For his 24th we went for round 2 of Mexico's most delicious tacos, and I'm not exaggerating. Despite my wishes, there was no grand mariachi band to properly mortify Steve on his big day, but I think we managed to have a great time celebrating nonetheless.



After a sad goodbye on Sunday morning, it was time to begin Phase II of Spring Break: turn Renée into a cow-shit lovin' hippie. The transformation began with a bus ride to Guadalajara on Monday night and a 3 hour dirt-ridden drive to a pueblitititititititio (with roughly 10 people) where we'd be helping to build an adobe house. The contractor we worked for, Levi, grew up on a nearby commune and was beginning to build 100% biodegradable houses that invoke the Mayan spirit and are ALL NATURAL (phrase of the week).

On Tuesday morning we drove to the job site where we began what would be our task for the next few days:

STEP 1: Grab a handful of the cow shit mixture.


STEP 2: Smack it against the chicken-wire enforced straw wall and smear.



STEP 3: Continue and repeat as needed.

That's right, my friends. I barehanded cow dung. Toto, I don't think we're on Long Island anymore. It was actually a pretty cool experience, despite the pungent fragrance. Levi liked to refer to it as a spa experience. I was on board until I literally was pouring blood and swear into the project and began to wonder what sort of cow-dung born blood diseases I might be extracting. Having grown up around construction workers, electricians and plumbers, it was definitely an eye-opening experience to see such an alternative, natural approach to building a home.



One of our highlights of the trip was getting to know the workers on the job (who went by Chewy, Kilin and El Negro...amazing) and learning more about the little town we were staying in. It was pretty empty and there wasn't a young man to be found, as most of them work in the States half the year. Since we were technically WWOOFing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms), our work was exchanged for housing and meals, and our gracious host Cheli made us some incredible home cooked Mexican deliciousness. Mornings that begin with café de olla, homemade tortillas and beans can never go bad.



On our last morning, we went to one of Kilin's farms, where he grows garbanzo beans. When we arrived at 6am to what seemed like an endless field overrun with bushels of garbanzo, it looked like we were in for a day of pain, but just 2 hours later we looked up to realize that the sun had risen over a newly barren landscape (although we can't take too much credit, 3 of the guys with us were MACHINES). With that, I had spent my first half of Spring Break rubbin' some dirt in it and actually enjoying it! (Much to Cammie's surprise).






Our last few days of our break were spent camping in Sayulita, a small beach town about 30 minutes from Puerto Vallarta. Sadly enough Andy and I had to say goodbye to Cammie (who headed back to Mexico City), while we met up with our friends Nico, Jairus, Ale and her friends from San Luis. Our days were spent lounging on the beach, drinking beers from 12-12 and eating the original Chocobanana (kind of a highlight). It was a pretty magical place and not a shabby way to end my weeks of adventure.

Once again Mexico, you never cease to amaze me.

Abrazos!

Life Update: ETA lovin', Meeting the Ambassador, and Traveling around Mexico with my Mom

During the first week of February, I went to Mexico City for our Fulbright ETA midterm reunion, which also included the ETAs from Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. After hearing everyone's presentations about their experiences so far, I realized a couple of things: first, I am incredibly lucky to be in this amazing country! After hearing an ETA describe her life in the "Baghdad of the Western Hemisphere" (aka Caracas, Venezuela), I was about to ready to kiss the floor. Secondly, I am so grateful to be here with this year's group (pictured to the left), which is full of incredible people who have turned out to be great friends who love to live, laugh and eat - you simply can't do better than that!

Upon my return to Toluca, I was finally able to get my workshops off the ground and it was so nice to get back to my routine and see the students again. It really made me remember why I love to teach and how fun it is to have the opportunity to set aside the grammar books and teach English through things like hip hop songs, taboo, and idiomatic expressions. Not to mention the fact that my conversation workshops have included discussions on anything from the end of the world to the obesity epidemic in the US and Mexico. It's certainly never a dull day!



I also had a great time with my friend, Patricia, on Valentine's Day, when she took me to a Paté Fua concert in Mexico City and then introduced me to the band's lead singer (who immediately recognized her and gave her a big hug - I'm officially impressed). The following week, we decided to have some good old cultural exchange in the kitchen, when she came to my house and taught me to make a flan and I showed her how to make my mom's famous oatmeal cookies. I'd call that a giant Fulbright-friendly success ;)


The month ended with a trip to Mexico City for a reception at the home of the US Ambassador to Mexico. We ate mini bacon cheese burgers on napkins featuring the US national seal, drank a few too many cocktails and rubbed shoulders with diplomats. Throw in the mariachi at the end of the night and I can say I was thoroughly entertained by the experience. After the reception, I hopped in a cab and headed to the airport to pick up my Mom, which brings me to March!



For the past week, I've been in Mexico City, Guanajuato and then Toluca with my mom. We started our trip in DF, where we climbed the pyramids, visited all the major museums, rode a trajinera (boat) through the canals of Xochimilco, and saw the Ballet Folklórico (above). We had a great time and I made sure she tried each and every form of deliciousness that Mexico serves up. We then headed to Guanajuato, an old mining town NW of Mexico, which is known for its colorful landscape, narrow streets and overall beauty. Below is a shot of the aerial view of the city and to the right is the old theatre Juarez by night.



When we got back to Toluca, we spent a day walking around the city (and basically saw it all within the first hour), and then had a "bring mommy to work day" at the school. Absolutely NO ONE believed that she was my mother, including the taxi driver who drove us to the bus station this morning at 6:30 am and spent half the ride apologizing for making the mistake, but that he just couldn't see how it was humanly possible that she's my mother. After our photo shoot yesterday in the Cosmovitral (below), otherwise known as Toluca's claim to fame, we cooked up a big American dinner and enjoyed our last evening together. We had a great trip but it definitely sad to say goodbye! Love ya Mom ;)

Coming soon: Road trip to Oaxaca.

Abrazos de México!

"Guadalajara" in Guadalajara

I'm back from the States! After spending a month at home that included Christmas in NY, New Year's in CT, a scps reunion in NYC, a weekend in Chicago checking out U of C Law and a week in Urbana (playing med student with Steve), I'm already heading into my third week back in Toluca!


I haven't wasted any time getting back to traveling. Three days after arriving back in Mexico, I hopped on an overnight bus to Guadalajara with my friend, Patricia (a student at my university), who invited me to join her for a long weekend. We spent the next four days staying with her aunt and uncle and exploring the beautiful city of Guadalajara.

Our first day was spent walking around the town of Tonolá, which is known for its artesanía, or craft market. If only I had a plane to fill...We later headed into the downtown area of Mexico's second largest city, where we meandered through the zócolo area, the cathedral, government buildings adorned with the masterpieces of the likes of José Clemente Orozco, and the beautiful Teatro Degollado.




Our next day was spent in the downtown area, where we lost ourselves in the Hospicios Cabañas, a world heritage site that now holds numerous works of Orozco and happened to be the site of President Obama's August meeting with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. After wandering through the winding halls of the museum and getting lost in the winding halls that led to all nine courtyards, we ended up in a movie theatre in a back area of the Hospicios where we watched a French musical, Paris 36, which was wonderfully whimsical, colorful, and most of all, unexpected.


The city was incredibly beautiful, and it was great to spend time with Pati and her family and friends, who were nice enough to allow me to stay in their house and feed me amazing Mexican food....not to mention the caldo de pancita (tripe soup) which was definitely a first, but I can now officially say that I'll try anything once!

The highlight of the trip was definitely our third night, when we went to the town of Tlaquepaque (say that three times fast) and ate in a plaza of mariachis. Not only did I get an autographed copy of a CD (with a giant red kiss on the inside cover), but I was able to enjoy my delicious pozole while being serenaded by a mariachi singing, "Guadalajara". It was one of those moments when I just thought, Guadalajara in Guadalajara, life is good. Thanks again, Mexico, you're a rock star.

Since then, I've been working at the school getting prepped for the upcoming semester and I just spent this weekend with my fellow ETAs, which of course means that great music, tons of food, and lots of laughs were involved. The week of February 7th I'll be heading to Mexico City for our midterm Fulbright reunion with our fellow ETAs in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela so there will be plenty more to post in the near future. I did promise to get better about this...

!Abrazos de México!

Saying goodbye, for now

I can hardly believe it, but I'm just two days away from the end of the fall semester here at the Facultad de Lenguas. It's been a great four months, although I feel like the time has absolutely flown by. As much as I'm excited to go home and spend a month back in the States, there are a few things I'm going to miss about this country: the intoxicating smell of the many varieties of the tortilla + meat + cheese + salsa combination lining the streets, the warmth of the people who don't just wave hello as they pass by, but actually stop to give you a kiss and ask how you are doing, the thrill and mild terror that comes with a public transportation system that lacks established routes or stops, the fact that I can get my shoes shined so well that I can see my reflection in the black leather for a dollar or take a bus all the way to Mexico City for four, coffee dates that last for more than three hours, the incredible friends I have made here, the creepily mechanical voice of the automated vendor selling "tamales oaxaqueños" in the neighborhood, and the feeling after teaching a class that went really, really well.

I never expressed what I was grateful for during Thanksgiving, so I may as well do it now. I am grateful that I have great family and friends to see back home and I am very grateful that I have five more months to explore this incredible country.

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo!

New Year's Resolution: Be better about updating this blog!

The Three Amigas

La abuelita ha llegado!

The past couple of weeks have certainly been eventful! My grandma and her cousin, Cathy, came to visit for eleven days, which turned out to be non-stop fun. When they first arrived we stayed in Mexico City for the four-day weekend and soaked up as much of DF as possible. Being that it's the second largest city in the world, there's definitely a lot of ground to cover and I was able to see a bunch of the tourist attractions for the first time. Over the weekend, we visited the Bellas Artes Museum, the zócalo area (the downtown plaza), the main Cathedral (which is sinking), the Palacio Nacional, which holds some of Diego Rivera's most incredible murals, the Ballet Folklórico, Coyoacán, the Frida Kahlo museum, Xochimilco (which is famous for its floating gardens) and the Dolores Olmedo Museum. Needless to say we were busy, but had a great time and ate some incredible food!



After the weekend, we headed back to Toluca, and my grandma and Cathy stayed with me at the house and even came to my school on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The students were pumped to meet them and after three days I think they understand why I refer to my grandma as "la loca" (in the most endearing way). We spent Wednesday afternoon with one of my students, Alba, who is a Colombian woman I tutor and one of the sweetest people I've ever known. She's also hilariously energetic and dramatic and it didn't take long for my grandma and Cathy to pick up on her favorite expression, "OH MY GOD, Renee," which is heavily sprinkled into conversation whenever she is surprised/excited/upset/embarrassed/needs a filler. That became the phrase of choice for the remainder of the trip. Sadly enough, Alba is moving back to Columbia next week, so she had us take home a "souvenir" from our meal, in the form of a hand knit throw pillow off her couch.





We had a huge dinner party on Friday with 4 of my friends from the language faculty, the Fulbrighters from Mexico City (along with a very significant other), my roommates and one of my private tutoring students. Our long menu consisted of sopes (a Mexican specialty) with the choice of chicken, sausage and potato, or beef toppings, chicken parm, two apple pies, brownies, ice cream, beer and margaritas. It took us hours to get through the courses, but luckily with Cammie's help we were able to polish off those pies without any trouble.




The next day we headed to Taxco, a city about 2.5 hours away that is known for its silver markets. The city is sprawled across a mountain range and is full of extremely narrow roads, colonial buildings and every last antique VW bug in the country. We stayed at the hotel, Monte Taxco, which is on the edge of a cliff and is accessible via cable car. It was pretty incredible and I came home with roughly a pound's worth of silver jewelry.

Life in Mexico is wonderful. I encourage you all to visit! I just finished a very Mexican Thanksgiving and can't stop thinking about how lucky I am to be here this year. I miss you all but I'm starting to realize just how much I'm going to miss this place.

Día de Muertos

So I may have missed out on some Halloween costumes and candy corn this year, but I was able to experience my first Día de Muertos here in Mexico. The holiday, which takes place between November 1st and 2nd, is a celebration of deceased friends and family members. To honor the deceased, families will build private altars covered with merigolds, and ofrendas, which include the person's favorite food and drinks. During the weeks leading up to the holiday, the cities are filled with the sweet scent of pan de muerto, a sweet bread, and calaveras (skeletons) made out of either chocolate or sugar.

For the long weekend I met up with Cammie and Nicole in Mexico City and then traveled to Michoacán (one of the Mexican states) with Nicole's friend Claudia and her family. We were told we would be traveling in a camioneta, which turned out to be an amazing Toyota van that could fit a small country, looked like a spaceship and was fully loaded with camping gear. Two highlights from the drive: 1. Getting stuck in traffic because of the horde of people on horseback along the highway and 2. Getting stopped by a group of small children in costume shouting "No hay paso" and blocking the road with a piece of rope to collect money or candy (aka a fun twist on door-to-door trick-or-treating) from the passers-by.

We left Mexico City on Friday evening and arrived in Morelia, the capital of Michoacán, by night. The colonial city was entirely illuminated and as we drove through the narrow, cobblestone streets I felt as though I had been transported back to Spain. Since the camping grounds were full we ended up staying in a hotel that night and I'm sure you can all guess how disappointed I was. Who wants a hot shower and warm bed when you can experience nature? Umm, me.

We spent the day on Saturday stopping through nearby towns, including Santa Clara which is known for its copper production. The streets were lined with markets selling just about everything you could imagine that can be fashioned from copper. In the evening we headed back to Morelia for a fireworks show in front of the famous cathedral. I felt like I had landed in Disney World. The show was accompanied by a video on the history of the city and I found myself singing along to the soundtrack because it was, I kid you not, music from The Lion King with new lyrics.

That night we were going to try our luck on a campground, but one of Claudia's friends had an empty house just outside the city with hot water and electricity. We basically camped out in the bedrooms with the mats we packed. I was the happiest little high-maintenance camper you could imagine.

On the actual Day of the Dead, we spent the day in Pátzcuaro and night on the island of Janitzio, which is famous for its celebration. After having missed out on Independence Day back in September (thanks a lot, swine), I was really excited to experience the authentic Día traditions. The island was llenísima with people who took launches over to climb to the top of the island and visit the cemetery full of ofrendas. It was incredibly beautiful and really interesting to see how different the concept of death is in Mexican culture. Rather than sharing ghost stories, people will talk about how their deceased relatives are coming to visit them and some will spend the entire night in the cemetery alongside their loved one's grave.

The family we traveled with was great! I'm really enjoying being adopted by Mexican families, especially ones with adorable 10-year sons. They were total champs for driving for hours on end, surviving on chips and Coke, and managing to smile the entire time.

Abrazos de México!