Home again, home again

I am in Portland.

I flew home on Monday night, and have received an amazing welcome from my family and friends. My parents have been feeding me delicious, non-Mexican food, and Portland is experiencing an early Fall season which is okay by me after the heat of Mazatlan.

My time in Mexico was amazing. I definitely recommend immersion if you want to learn Spanish. I have so many wonderful friends south of the border now, and I can't
wait to go back and visit them all. For now,
however, it is nice to be home.

Gitta and I had a lot of fun during our last weekend in Mexico. On Friday night we took a bus 30 minutes out of the downtown area to visit our friend Jesus' family (see picture below). Jesus met us in our neighborhood, and we boarded a bus that was filled with locals who were heading home after work. Gitta and I got some strange looks as we got on the bus- it was headed to a much poorer area of Mazatlan, and I get the feeling that there aren't many tourists who venture out in that direction. Jesus' neighborhood was a different part of Mexico than we had seen before, but I would guess that it was a more authentic representation of how most Mexican people live. His home was a little blue house that he shares with his parents, his four sisters, his brother-in-law, and his two year old nephew. His married sister lives in one half of the house with her family, but the part that I saw was made up of three rooms: the living room, a hallway/bedroom where they all sleep, and the kitchen. I am pretty sure that the bathroom was outdoors. It was humbling to see how happy they all were while living so simply.
We received an incredibly gracious welcome from his family. His mom started laughing when she saw us because she hadn't believed Jesus when he had told her that he was bringing two American girls to visit. They sat us down in the kitchen, and insisted on feeding us Jesus' favorite food- fish cake. Before we had left, our host mom told us that it was important to eat what they offered us, so we ate a good amount of the food and then looked through stacks of family pictures with his family. The whole time that we were sitting in the kitchen, little neighbor kids were running in and out of the house, and there was the occasional adult neighbor as well. It was fun to see such a communal way of living. I guess it would be hard to be lonely while living in such close quarters with your family and neighbors. :)

Mazatlan is a city with culture. There are statues, fountains, museums, and theater performances all available for public enjoyment. During the last two weeks that I was there, a collection of a photographer's work was on display in the Machado- a historic courtyard in the middle of the city. The photos were absolutely stunning, and I took a picture of my three favorites (see picture on right). The Mexican Independence Day was also during our last weekend in Mazatlan so on Saturday night, the Machado was completely filled with people celebrating the holiday. It was kind of exhausting to push through all of the crowds, but there were tons of food vendors, and traditional Mexican dance performances so it was worth the effort (see picture). Vive a Mexico!

My school in Mexico was also a great experience. A gentleman named Verne who has an insurance business in California ended up being at the school for the same weeks that I was, and he was a lot of fun. For the first three weeks of school, Verne and I were in a class by ourselves, and then a girl from Virginia, Ashley, came and joined us during the last week that we were studying. The teachers in the school were wonderful, and I got along with all of my classmates really well (see picture for a reenactment of a typical class session).

Although I am ashamed to admit that I only blogged once after Gitta arrived in Mazatlan, it was so much fun to have her with me. It really wasn't safe to venture out at night by myself, so prior to Gitta flying in, I spent a lot of evenings watching Mexican soap operas with my host mom. That was an important cultural experience, I suppose. The actual Mexican independence day is on Sunday, so a ton of family came over and we had a bit of a fiesta. Ana, a family friend, and Veronica, our host mom's daughter were also having a birthday the next week so we had cake as well which was a treat. We were so welcomed and looked out for while we were living with our host family, it was amazing. Lupita, our host mom, is in the picture on the right in the yellow, and our host brother, Ernesto, is in the blue. The other people in the picture are Lupita's two daughters, Dora and Veronica, their children, and then family friends- Marta and Ana.

I have so many thoughts bouncing around in my head about my time in Mexico, but there are perhaps two main "topics of discussion." First, I have been thinking a lot about American privilege, or Western privilege. Gitta and I have so many friends in Mexico who want to come visit the United States and can't. Strangely, it isn't even an issue of money, although having money helps. If you are a young adult, particularly a young guy, it is extremely difficult to enter the United States because they are afraid that you won't leave when you are supposed to. The only prayer that young adult males have of entering the U.S. is if they come from a rich family or can prove that their life is in Mexico (this is accomplished by having a lot of money in the bank, a business, a family, etc...). I had this conversation with our friend Jesus, and when I asked why he doesn't visit the U.S., all he could say is, "I can't," and it's true. Everywhere I went in Mexico, I was aware of an unearned sense of privilege. Just because Gitta and I were white, we could walk into any resort in the city and use their pool, beach area, etc... Furthermore, I can travel to Mexico anytime I want because Americans mean money in Mexico, but the majority of my friends cannot come visit me simply because they are Mexican. It just seems wrong.

Second, God has been teaching me the importance of giving my life completely to him. Before I left for Mexico, I did some research online about the different Christian organizations in Mazatlan, and what opportunities there might be for ministry while I was living in the city. I ended up getting in contact with the YWAM (youth with a mission) base in Mazatlan, and was invited to drop by for dinner some night to discuss ministry opportunities. Once in Mazatlan, however, I neglected to follow up on this invitation for the first 2 1/2 weeks that I was there, and only got back on the ball after Gitta arrived, and I started to feel guilty. We headed over to the base on a Saturday, and I soon regretted my procrastination. I was incredibly impressed by the ministry, philosophy and people of the YWAM base in Mazatlan. The base has a house right in the historic, downtown area, and they seem to practice a lot of ministry through relationship. Anyone is welcome to come for dinner in the evening, and they have an entire room full of food, drinks, and supplies in case anyone walks off the street needing help. They build houses for people in Mazatlan year round, as well as having a weekly skateboarding outreach, and a weekly outreach to "the zone"- the drug and prostitution area of the city.

I loved what I saw at the YWAM base, but sadly I only had one week left to join the wonderful work that they are doing after getting my act together. I have learned, however, that God may open doors for you, but He won't push you through them. He put it on my heart to look for ministry opportunities, put me in touch with YWAM, and then waited for me to follow His leading, which of course I ignored until almost the last minute. I am excited by how God might use me in the future, especially regarding my desire to speak Spanish. One of the YWAM leaders told me that I would be welcome to come back next summer and teach English at the base which would be amazing. I am not sure where God is calling me after graduation, but I intend to actually walk through the next open door that He gives me because He knows what I will enjoy doing, and where I will best be able to serve Him.















Here are a few more of my favorite pictures. :)
On the top- Our friends Rosie, Patti and David. Patti is our American friend who works at the U.S. embassy. This is from a day when Patti took us on a little trip to a small town outside of Mazatlan for breakfast.
On the bottom- Our friend Edgar from Rico's coffee letting Gitta make my latte.

Tropical Times

Hola!

Well I have just enough time for a few updates.

First off, Gitta is here! She arrived on Thursday, and has quickly adapted to the Mexican way of life. :) I am so impressed by her ability to pick up languages. She was already conjugating verbs during her very first class session, and she has never had a Spanish class before! We have been having a ton of fun seeing our friends, and spending time with our host family. It is nice to have her here.

Another interesting tidbit is that I am officially an illegal alien in Mexico as of today. The director of our school suggested that we check our documents to see how many days they gave us to be in the country, and it turns out that my time is technically up. I was only given 18 days and today is day number 19. Whoops! I should be fine, however. I am planning to make a trip to the U.S. consulate tomorrow to get it straightened out. If I don't make it back to the States, however, please divide my things equally amongst yourselves. :) I've had a good life.

Ok, in other news, school was cancelled for tomorrow because we have a tropical storm headed our way. Hurricane Henrietta hit Cabo today, and we should be getting some of the wind and rain tomorrow. No one seems to be expecting a hurricane, but technically anything could happen, so people are preparing for the worst just in case.

Overall, I am having a great time, speaking a ton of Spanish, and trying to avoid sunburns.

Love to all,
Bethany

La Gringa Mexicana

I am slowly becoming more and more Mexican.

To begin with, I am proud to report that I made my first joke in Spanish the other day, and it went over very well. I was explaining to a group of ladies that I wear contact lenses when someone comented that it must be difficult for me to see "hombres guapos" (handsome men) without my contacts, and I responded that without my contacts, all men are handsome! They thought it was pretty funny.

Second, I am beginning to conquer my fear of large insects, out of necessity I suppose. A few nights ago, I opened my bedroom door and found a cockroach in the hallway, much to my horror. Since then, I have had several cockroaches in my bedroom, and one in my bathroom- all of which I have handled myself with courage that should be commended. In the fray of one of these battles, the hunted cockroach decided to seek cover in one of my tennis shoes that was on the floor. Luckily, I discovered where the nasty little thing was hiding, but it still makes me gag to think that it was in my shoe. My host family's house is well-kept, but I think it is pretty much impossible in Mexico to avoid a few cockroaches here and there.

Third, I have now hand-washed my clothes! My host family has a washing machine, but for some reason they hand-wash their socks and underwear so when I did laundry yesterday, I learned to use a scrub board. :) It seems that Sunday's are a big day for family in Mexico so Lupita's daughter, Dora, was over yesterday with her two boys, Geranimo (3) and Sebastian (2 months). Geranimo has become my buddy so when I went wash my unmentionables, he pulled a bucket over to stand on and went to work right next to me. It was pretty funny to see a three year old boy washing my underwear, but I'm pretty sure that he was better at it than me (see picture).

Fourth, my Spanish speaking skills are quickly improving. I need a ton of practice still, and a lot of instruction from my teachers, but it is encouraging to be able to communicate a little bit better.

Other than that, I have really been enjoying spending time with the people here, and I really like my school. My teachers at my language school teach entirely in Spanish, but they are really good at communicating the lesson in a way that we can understand. I have also had the opportunity to see my friends from Pueblo Bonito (the resort that I have stayed in), so that has been fun, and I made a new friend from my school- a Canadian girl who is studying Spanish while she is here with her husband for his job. Although I have been having a lot of fun getting to know people, I am really looking forward to Gitta's arrival this Thursday. It will be nice to explore the city with a good friend.

Thanks for the comments everyone! It is fun to hear from you all.

Just Ask the Locals

Hello friends!

I have a blog post already written that I am going to hopefully post today, but here are some pictures for now. Ernesto, my host brother, took me on an amazing tour of Mazatlan yesterday. I am can't believe that I have been to Mazatlan twice before now and never once went to any of these places. I guess it pays to know the locals.





This first picture is 1 of 3 canyons left over from when the Spanish were in Mexico. It is extremely old, and situated on a cliff overlooking the ocean.






We walked for a long time along the beach in the historical section of town where there are a ton of beautiful lookout spots. At one lookout point, there is a floating stairway up to a platform over the ocean where every hour on the hour, a man jumps from the platform into the ocean. It is quite a drop, and definitely not the safest part of the ocean, but it was quite impressive to watch. I looked over just in time to see the guy jump, or I would have taken a picture. I was there during the afternoon, but apparently at night they jump with lit torches.

Hey, remember when I described the weather in Mazatlan as being ¨as hot as hades?¨ Well apparently I wasn´t too far off in my description because it turns out that the entrance to hell IS in Mazatlan! And you all thought that I was just being dramatic. Apparently, ¨hades¨ is an underground tunnel that leads to the market downtown, but it isn´t in use anymore because it is too old, and apparently dangerous.



This next picture is a house that was built by Mazatlan´s mafia two years ago, but it was never completed because they were caught. It is massive, and has an amazing view of the ocean, but it is entirely abandoned. Ernesto said that it belongs to the State owns it now, but I have no idea why it isn´t being used or at least sold.










Finally, at the top of this incredibly beautiful cliff is the 2nd tallest lighthouse in the world, El Faro. I haven´t been up there yet (I guess it is quite the climb), but the view from where I took this picture was so beautiful that I couldn´t think of any words in Spanish to describe it when my host brother asked me if I liked it. Of course I have the vocabulary of at Mexican 3 year old at this point. :)

The beginning of an adventure

Hola mis amigos!

Well, I have survived my first 2 days in Mexico! It's a good thing that life here in general is pretty laid back because it is quite a transition thus far. The trip here went great, I had no problem navigating the airports, making my planes or getting through customs. I caught a taxi to my host family's house and was greeted by the granddaughter of my host mom, Aspasia, who ended up being a lot of fun. I taught her a few card games last night, and we had a lot of fun. my host mom, Lupita, is very gracious and thinks that I don't eat enough. :) It's true that I'm not eating my normal amount, but that is because of the heat. Oh the heat. The day I flew in, it was so hot that I began to question whether I wanted to stay and risk death or turn around and go home. I'm not even being dramatic- it was as hot as hades. Fortunately, however, I soon found out that it was only that hot because there was a massive thunderstorm brewing which turned out to be nothing like the thunderstorms that I am used to. I normally really like thunderstorms, but this was a whole different level of rain, thunder and lightening. About 2 in the morning, I awoke to booming thunder, torrential rain and flashing lightening that was centered right above the house. There was absolutely no time in-between the thunder and lightening- it was centered directly above us. Needless to say, it was quite the event, and actually quite frightening. Due to the storm, however, this morning was much cooler- still hot but definitely bearable.

Ok, moving on. I have to make this quick because I am using my host brother's computer, and I don't want to monopolize it. I didn't expect to have internet access in the house, but Ernesto (my host brother) showed me that if you put the computer in the window of the living room, you can pick up wireless internet for free. It is pretty high tech here in Mazatlan. So anyway, I went to orientation this morning at my language school, and I was really impressed with the people there. I didn't meet any of my teachers, but the women working there were really nice, and it was great to speak English for awhile. It is unbelievable, by the way, how much practice I have had just living with my host family. No one speaks English, so it is a pretty Spanish-intensive environment. :) I can't space out for a minute or I've missed an entire sentence that is crucial to understanding the person speaking. It is really good for me though. I will be a lot better at Spanish after a whole month!

That's it for now friends, I'll write again as soon as I can!

A Month in Mexico

I am currently in a unique stage of my life- my early twenties. At 21, I am not yet responsible for a family, a full time job or mortgage payments. In June of 2008, however, I will graduate college and will begin to pursue a career, a permanent living situation, and an independent life for myself. This last year of college, therefore, is my last chance to live and study abroad for any significant length of time, and I have decided to take it. Tonight I am leaving for Mexico, and I will be studying Spanish there at a language school for one month. I had three years of Spanish in high school, but it has been 5 years so I'm a bit rusty. My Spanish is decent enough that I'll be able to get around okay, but I am really looking forward to an intensive review of verb conjugation, etc... Seeing as my host family does not speak any English, I should get a lot of practice in! This is going to be quite an adventure.

Tonight my family is going out to dinner to celebrate my sister and dad's birthdays. It is also a send off dinner for me although I won't be getting any presents. :) At 12:30 am, I am catching a red eye flight, and I should arrive in Mexico about 10:00 am. I am really excited to have such an amazing opportunity, but traveling alone does make me a little nervous. For the last two weeks that I am there, however, my close friend Gitta will be flying down to study with me. It will be so wonderful to have a friend! We were both in Mexico this past April on vacation with my parents, so it will be fun to catch up with the friends that we made.

Wish me luck, ya'll! I'll post pictures as soon as I can.