Tuesday, March 8, 2011

TWO WEEKS IN MEXICO: My "atmosphere" shots.

When I was planning to go down to the huge (huge!) mercado near El Centro in Cuernavaca, I was warned of a few things: always keep you purse in your hand; wear tennies (not sandals) because there is garbage on the ground; and, if you want to take a picture of the people and their stalls, ask first. The first two warnings were no problem; but when I tried the third, the hoped-for subject of my photo asked me a question, presumably to get clarification regarding why I wanted to take her picture, and having no idea what she said, I answered "Si." Apparently that was the wrong answer, because she said, in Spanish, "Then no." Woops. Thereafter, I got my shots of the mercado, the multitude of tiendas (shops) and taco stands surreptitiously. Unfortunately, most are terrible! So here are the few passable shots:


One of the few shots in the mercado that came out in focus. This is a meat stand. Most of this is raw meat hanging and sitting and being chopped and beheaded for customers. There are buckets of chicken feet and chicken necks and livers and everything imaginable. But that's not even the most incredible thing about this market. The incredible thing is how HUGE it is: it is a maze of vegetable stands, meat markets, fruit stands, makeshift taquerías cooking up food on the spot. There are giant sacks of spices and huge mounds of dried chiles. But all of these things are sold from tiny little shops run by one or two people. And in between the little shops are little old ladies or little old men, sitting on the pavement, selling their mountain of strawberries or their basket of seasoned peanuts.

Troughs of beans, spices, nuts.... And often on the shelves in the background would be candles with images of the Virgin -- in case after seasoning your food you also want to say "Gracias a Dios." 

What looks like mounds of mud are actually mounds of mole. And notice the giant sacks below full of spices and beans.


Behind every roll-down metal doorway is a tienda (shop). Every inch of every block of every street has a little tienda. And in front of an actual building with a doorway might be another little sidewalk stall selling more. It is like capitalism run wild. And forget about zoning laws.


Fruit stand in front of the shoe store.
Fruit stand in front of the sofa, furniture, clothing, shoe store.
Taquería in front of the magazine stand.
Have giant frying pan, will sell tacos.
Here...
or here....
or here...
or here.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

El ultimo dia de mi viaje.

The last day of my trip. I spent it hiking straight up a mountain to an archeological site: a small pyramid covered in graffiti. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind for my last day, but the exercise did feel good. The town with the trailhead is a small town about 40 minutes outside of Cuernavaca called Tepoztlan. I have to say that the most interesting thing about this trip was the big carnaval that was being set up in Tepoztlan. As I was leaving town at about 3:30, people were pouring into the town. The buses coming from Cuernavaca were packed, but the one I was on going back was half empty.

By the time I left, downtown Tepoztlan was packed with people and with booths and stands selling everything. I can't possibly express how many small stands are set up all over Mexico selling tacos, but in Tepoztlan, it seemed like little taco and beer stands had taken over the whole town. And the highlight seemed to be a cold beer poured into a cup that had been rimmed with what looked like chili sauce. Everyone had these huge cups with red sauce dripping from the rim. Some also had straws dipped in this red sauce. It is called Michelada, and here is what I found on Wikipedia: "Michelada is a Mexican cerveza preparada made with beer, tomato juice or Clamato, lime juice, and assorted sauces, spices, and peppers. It is served in a chilled, salt-rimmed glass. There are numerous variations of this beverage throughout Mexico and Latin America." And today, throughout Tepoztlan. By now (about 8:00 at night) the whole town must be falling down drunk.

I came home exhausted, took a shower, and fell asleep. That's practically become my routine. I have started taking an hour nap each afternoon. But I miss my schedule back home. I don't think I'll be adopting the Mexican way as far as eating and sleeping is concerned.

I did acclimate to the schedule by the end, though. I started learning how to bring snacks to school for mid-day, and because I was leaving school at 2:00 rather than 3:00, Lupita and I ate comida a little earlier, closer to 3:00 than to 3:30, which helped. I could stay awake and concentrate in classes better, and I do think my Spanish has improved somewhat, but not enough!

I'll post a few pictures -- Nicole called them "atmosphere" shots -- in which I tried to capture the feel of Mexico, and not just pretty cathedrals.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

More pics

The first garden one comes to at the Hacienda de Cortes. We got there just as the sun was beginning to set, so the lighting gets a bit worse as the pictures go on. I tried to fiddle with my camera settings, and even with the brightness/contrast after I loaded the pics onto the computer, but not much could be done. Hopefully the pictures give a sense of the ancient (i.e., 1530s colonial hacienda) and the new (2000s spa resort)

Entrance to one of the meeting areas. Plants are growing up and around and through all these buildings.

Case in point: This tree.

And this vegetation growing all around the interior walls of the restaurant.

And this!

This was in a slightly different part of the estate where it seemed the oldest construction was still preserved. Our guide (some guy at the hotel who saw two gringas wondering aimlessly) told us that these were the rooms for Cortes's family. You can kind of see that there were two stories. A pic below shows remnants of the old stairway.


The old stairway, but note toward the back a newer stairway, and modern lights. That is the entrance to the modern part of the hotel, which is built right up against the older buildings, using plexiglass to wall off the old and new so that one can still see the old from inside the new. It looked to be very tastefully done (but we didn't go inside -- guests only).



A newer courtyard but preserving the old columns. Through the arches is a very modern-day pool.

Casi termina. Casi termina.

This trip is quickly reaching its last days. I have a few random thoughts about my time here, and since I'm not keeping any other journal of my trip, I guess I have to post them here. Then I'll post some pictures.

Why do I keep buying Snickers bars? Crap.

Every morning in conversation class we have to say what we did the day before. Luckily I have done some pretty fun things! But then we have to use the past tense.

The past tense in Spanish is sooooo difficult. There are four ways to say "It was" (estuvo, estaba, fue, era) and four more ways to say "They were" (estuvieron, estaban, fueron, eran) depending on the context. You know how many times one uses "It was" or "They were" in a typical conversation? And actually, if one counts the compound tenses, there are probably even more ways. The verbs are my nemeses. Los verbos, los verbos, los verbos (pronounced "bairbos"). I have flash cards. I bought "501 Spanish Verbs" for my Kindle, which is a huge book that everyone at school carries around. OMG, the verbs are really hard.

Every day at comida Lupita says "grace," and so I bow my head and say "amen" at the end (which apparently is the same in both languages). Today she asked me if I would like to say grace. Gracias a Dios que yo no tuve que decir "Gracias a Dios"! (Thank God I didn't have to say "Thanks to God" -- i.e., I got out of it.)

Today I blew off salsa class (lo siento, Nicole!) and went to a free showing at a documentary film festival going on in Cuernavaca. I picked a Spanish-language film. Yo no podría entender ninguna palabra! I couldn't understand a single word. The sound system was terrible, the people were mumbling. I have no idea what they were saying. But I do have a vague idea what the movie was about: the life of a small town in Mexico, where people farm and work in sweat-shop factories and wait for word from their spouses, sons, or fathers who have gone to the United States.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Una tarde tan agradable.

If one believes the tales (and marketing materials), I just had appetizers and wine in Hernán Cortés's own hacienda. Plus almost 500 years of change, war, revolution, but still, it was pretty awesome. Dios mio, Doug and Sam, if you are listening, we should have the next SO meeting in this hacienda. La Hacienda Cortés. And spa. And restaurant. Pics tomorrow. So great. Such pleasant company (gracias a Nicole). Such good wine. Best day so far here in Cuernavaca.

Un pequeño problema de los malentendidos culturales.

Oh my goodness, my hostess is such a wonderful cook. She can make a simple chicken salad taste delicious. Even spinach soup. Even flan.

But I think I would be holding back if I didn't describe a small problem of miscommunication or misunderstanding. It really was no big deal, but it came at a time when I was feeling a bit more homesick than other days. At first, I was actually relieved, but later I felt just a little awkward about the whole thing. Voy a explicar.

Typically, people in Mexico eat their main meal of the day at 3:00. Even businesses close down between 2:00 and 4:00 so that people can go home for comida. Last week I had been having comida every day after school, at about 3:15, just with Lupita. (Her granddaughter was typically taking a nap then.) Saturday I was gone all day, so I missed comida. Then Sunday, Lupita's daughter and son and daughter-in-law were all here. In the morning, I talked a little with the daughter and played with the granddaughter, and then Lupita asked if I would be back for comida, and I said I would. I went into town, saw a museum, read a little in a cafe, and came home. The main table in the dining room was all set for multiple people, and Lupita was busy cooking in the kitchen. Her daughter and a friend were talking at the kitchen table. I introduced myself to the friend, and then Lupita said, or I thought she said, that we would eat in a few minutes. So I went to my room, checked email, washed up, and went back into the house. Everyone was basically in the same position. They invited me to sit at the kitchen table, so I sat and listened a bit to the girls' conversation, and then Lupita set a place for me at the kitchen table, took out a serving of food from the larger pan, served it to me, and invited me to eat by myself. I did. I thanked her and went back to my room. A little later, the family all ate their comida together at the large table, while I sat back in my room alone.

So, at first, I was a bit relieved because I knew my contribution to any conversation would be pathetic (and therefore a bit stressful). But as I thought about it, it seemed a little odd to me. All signs pointed to the family including me, but that's not what happened. I'm not taking it personally -- I'm really not! But if I use "what would Americans do" as a benchmark for cultural understanding, this seemed far from the mark. I can't imagine an American family that has a foreign student studying English living with them and not inviting him or her to the family meal on Sunday. My Spanish is certainly good enough that she could have asked me if I preferred to eat with the family or not. But she definitely did not ask. And I would certainly have understood if they needed to have a family meeting, or family time. My Spanish is good enough that I could have understood that, if she had explained it. I later discussed it with Nicole who said that the family she is staying with always includes her in their family meals, in family outings, etc. She's gone to the movies with them, gone to see sights with the daughters....

Anyway, not a big deal. But if the point is to engage in cross-cultural communications, of all kinds, I have to include this example, verdad?

Otras noticias: I took a salsa dance class last night (and served as the example for the male students of how to lead a female partner who doesn't know what the hell she is doing -- and I think that is an important role in a dance class!), and had una copa con Nicole, and skyped with the fam, and did my homework, and had a good day at school today. Now I am going to the huge mercado, donde todo está a la venta: carne, frutas, vegetales... toda. But just to look around. We always go to these huge markets in the towns we visit. And some students are meeting later at a hacienda-turned-restaurant-and-hotel... para una copa (my new favorite phrase: more literally "for a glass" but also "for a drink").