It'll all work out

I didn't think I'd ever be treated like royalty, but today had the weird connotations of that. I woke up early and ran, took my time showering and getting ready (those who know me know that when I say I took my time, I mean it probably took me like, an hour and a half...), ate breakfast, then went back to my room for a while, reading an subsequently napping for about 4 hours. I got up and caught myself up on some old Time magazines, then went to dinner in Celaya with the fam. Here's where stuff gets interesting. It's about a hal hour drive, and it was me and most of my host family--Moises & Amparo (the parents), Moises Jr (18), Pedro (16) and Carlitos (8). We stopped at this one place on our way, but they didn't have a Mariachi band, something that we'd talked about and evidently I'd seemed interested in seeing, so it was a must-have wherever we went. So we kept on driving through Celaya, which has a Walmart, a Costco, and various other very American things...it's a city for sure. So we just stop by the side of the road and get out at what, to me, seems very underwhelming. I was correct.

We walk in and it's this sort of hole-in-the wall, though the restraunt it pretty big. There a Mariachi band at the front of a long hall where undescript tables are set out and it's about half full of Mexicans, all of whom look inquisitively at us, probably because A) we're semi-dressed up and B) I'm a gringa with a Mexican family. There's a buffet that looks less than appealing to me--mostly because the majority of the foods in it are mariscos (seafood), and I hardly trust seafood in the United States when we're more than 3 hours away from any ocean. But whatever. I'm not one to complain. Even about food that might make me sick. Plus it probably won't. Right?

To give me the most genuine experience (I think) Moises (el doctor) asks that we be able to sit right up front. Now, when I walked into the place I thought it was loud. Mariachi bands have about 9 players, two of whom in this group are trumpet-players. Loud. So we sit down and I can barely hear myself think. At this point, I'm just way overwhelmed and thinking, is this really what people want to pay to do? I mean, if you want to hear a Mariachi band, cool. But if you want to eat, don't you talk? Carlos was very entertaining, trying to take pictures of his brothers and generally acting like an eight year old, something I've found surprisingly comforting being here. So they give us a menu and say we can get the buffet or order from the menu. We all decide the menu is a better option. Kind of. I was trying to understand it, but still menus confuse the hell out of me. I just don't have enough food item vocabulary. There were like, 3 things I fully understood on the menu. Like Hot Dog. Hambourghesa. These were in the kids section. So I went for something that sounded interesting and had Pina (pineapple) in it. That and some sort of mixture of seafood. I figured the worst that would happen is I would have to eat bread. I did manage this time to order water that was plain, not carbonated (as I accidentally did last time). I was pretty proud of that.

At this point the lead singer of the Mariachi band talks to el doctor and they're asking me if there's anything I want to hear. I say I don't know...because I thought they were talking about specifically Mariachi songs. El doctor says something to him, clearly indicating that I'm visiting and to do something special for me (which makes me feel real awkward, and I'm sure I was bright red). Next thing I know, he's singing "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," and looking at me. It takes me a few minutes of embarrassment to remember that no one else in the restraunt can understand the words, and then I felt a little better. Still very much like I was on a pedestal for no real reason...but whatever.

When my food came, I was once again in shock. This was no ordinary dish--it was an entire half of a pineapple with the stem and all, middle cut out, filled with all different kinds of seafood with a half inch thick layer of melted cheese across the entire top. So I start eating the mostly unidentifiable parts of chopped up seafood. The shrimp was good and seemed pretty safe. There was something else I recognized as having eaten before, muscles? I didn't really know, but I picked those out too. As or the legs of whatever animal is a small octupus? I left those alone. The cheese was pretty good. I put some of it on the bread they'd given us before our food. As usual (and expected), the pineapple was awesome. I mean, I could have just eaten half a pineapple and probably been happy. El doctor asked me if I liked my food of if we should order something else for me. I told him I was just fine. I always feel like I might as well just eat what's in front of me. I mean, I ate enough that I wasn't hungry, and even if it wasn't my favorite thing, I'll most likely survive.

After our fairly sucessful dinner, we went to Costco, or as they call it "Cotsco." I felt like I'd walked into the Costco in North Carolina--it was EXACTLY the same. Same layout, basically the same stuff. That's kind of weird. We got some stuff there for their store (they own a pharmacy where el doctor sees patients and it is connected to the house) and cheese...and just looked around some. The boys fought with Carlos, as they had the whole trip. Interesting trip. It was nice to get out and do something, but I did feel sort of deficient in my Spanish, which is always frustrating. Speaking of which, I got a cell phone last night. It's pink. I don't have the number on my at the moment, but when I get it I'll post it. Just in case you need to call me in Mexico. Like if you come visit. But obtaining the phone was more unpleasent than I'd anticipated--the girl who sold me the phone spoke really quickly and was giving me directions about it and I could NOT understand her. I think partly because I was already nervous...but I got it and I think I understood her well enough to be able to use the phone. Frustrating though.

I also talked to el doctor last night about my research. He told me that he'd ask around and, as he knows so many people, that it would be very easy to find people, especially for the shorter part of my research. So I'm taking the Mexican attitude and letting it become what it will. That's the biggest thing I think I'm going to get out of this trip--it is entirely possible to live your much of your life without anxiety, and in fact, that anxiety rarely does anything but create more problems. Let people know what you're thinking and what you want, and it will happen. You don't have to be pushy. On the same token, with yourself you can be laid-back and just don't sit still, keep doing things, but that everything will get done. It's a great attitude, I think. It'll all work out. That's my new mantra. I would love to hear comments if you have them...hope you are all well!

Welcome to Mexico

This will be short. I think. It's the afternoon of the first full day here. I have already thought quite a few times "what in the hell am I doing here?" But that feeling was relieved a little by going for a walk around town in serach of a Cajera (ATM) and a papeleria (place to copy my passport). I also found a watch at the market. I've read a bunch, taken a nap and done some pilates. I'm trying to be patient with myself but I miss being around lots of people. I think people my age are also not really around--they are at University or who knows. I just keep reminding myself that this whole networking thing is going to take a little time and that, as my dear father included in his email, things down here have a way of working themselves out in a very interesting way. People don't really work to make things happen, they just do. So I'm working on adopting the Mexican attitude of relaxation :-). It should be good for me.

I've arrived!

I am writing you from the lovely home of my host family, safe and sound in Juventino Rosas, Guanajuato. I had some fun adventures on my trip--at 5am I went through security in RDU and there was a problem--I had a "moving violation" which evidently means I have too much liquid. Even though I'd tried to prevent this by checking the American Airline's website and looking at the restrictions, I evidently didn't read carefully enough, because it's not "whatever fits into a quart-sized plastic bag" but rather a specific amount per bottle, as long as all the bottles in total fit ino the quart-sized plastic bag. Lame. So they took away my face wash, toothpaste and moisturizer. I don't know if it was that it was so early, or I was just emotional that ANYTHING would go wrong, but I started crying and explained to the poor security guard that I was going to Mexico for 2 months and had packed extras but didn't think they'd be enough...then I apologized for crying, saying maybe it was that I was traveling alone internationally for the first time. I also had to go pour out my water. Of course they didn't have a recepticle there though, I had to go back to the bathrooms, up stairs by the ticket check-in. Awesome. The security guard told me he's look for me when I came back through...and I found out what that meant--after going through the security again (and this time making it out with only the swabbing of my computer for bomb-making chemicals), he handed me a quart-sized bag with my precious toiletries and quietly said, "Merry Christmas." I was so elated I told him I loved him and thank you so much and quickly walked away toward my gate. He seriously made my day.

The beautiful bag that made my day:


I thought that would be enough excitement. I was wrong. I flew to Dallas-Fort Worth and that flight was fine...whatever. I get there and take the fun little Skylink tram to my terminal and I arrive with almost 2 hours time to just hang out and eat something. As I got off the tram, I had this weird feeling like I was missing something important...but I couldn't quite figure out what it was. And I had to pee really badly. So I found a bathroom and as I washed my hands, searched non-chalantly for my passport and boarding pass..........that I'd left on the Skylink. 7:51, my flight leaves at 9:40. I talked to a police officer and he called the Skylink offfce...they looked for it and couldn't find it. Which is when I started freaking out. I had a nice little chat with the police officer though...his wife is Mexican American (though he looks way Texan) and he's been to Spain with her as his translater. Sweet guy. Finally we went to the gate, which wasn't open yet because I still had so much time. The attendant at the gate next to us told me that I just needed to wait though because someone would turn it in and bring it to the gate and that I had plenty of time before my flight left. I went to get some food and when I came back--magic! Second miracle of the day! They had my passport.

So there you go--people are good. That's how my day went. Or my conclusion from it. The second flight was a bit more difficult--smaller and there was an obnoxiously screaming baby. Not so fun when you woke up at 3am. But now I am here and I venture on (yeah, that was meant to be cheesy). Until later--
Shannon

Less than a week...!

Hey all! I am writing from Chapel Hill still. I haven't even started packing for my Mexican Adventure quite yet, thought I did buy a digital voice recorder to do interviews with today. I wanted to give everyone a little background about what I'm doing. My plan, if you will. Some of my posts may be in Spanish. Probably only at the beginning, since mostly I'll probably be missing being able to speak so easily. But I apologize in advance to anyone who doesn't speak. I'll try and include translations.

I will be in Santa Cruz de Juventino Rosas in the State of Guanajuato, Mexico. To the right is a map of Mexico and Guanajuato is highlighted. Or made brown. Whatever. That's where I'll be. The town was named after a famous composer, Juventino Rosas. They have a nifty little website, if you speak Spanish. If you don't, you can look at their humorously translated tourism page.

I will also spend some time in Guanajuato when I need to get away and see more foreigners and maybe speak some English. The city is incredible--first of all, it is built on a city that kept getting flooded. So there's an entire city underneath the current one. Secondly, it is shaped sort of like a bowl, with a big jardín (garden) in the middle. It's cool because if you ever get lost, you can just go down until you get to the jardín. Easy. Below is a picture...so gorgeous!


My plan is to live with the same family my dad & I lived with last summer for two weeks. They are incredibly sweet and generous people and I cannot wait to see them. I will then be going out into the community, either just talking to people on the street or finding people through the contacts I already have an interviewing women about their lives and how they see their roles in their communities and homes. Feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions, questions, whatever. I'll be happy to explain more, though I'm sure it will become more clear as I update the blog.