A little catching up...

March 1st

It has been a hectic few weeks. To tell you the truth I do not feel like writing now but I am feeling guilty for not keeping all my loved ones up to date so here I am. I do not know where to start though. This last weekend was a huge transition for all of us. Over the weekend our research paper for Poliscience was due and so much of our time was spent writing, or eating while writing or complaining about writing. I had planned to go to the beach during our ‘break’ between classes, but the short time frame in which to do my research and compile it basically left me with the option of staying home and writing a good paper, which I hope I did. We have decided to go to the beach this weekend instead. Yay! Also, to add to the madness Karyn and I had to move on Thursday. There were water problems in our other apartment, which were also causing water problems (worse than ours) for the people below us so ‘Senor’ offered us departamento uno on the first floor. We both have king-sized beds and we have a terrace. At first we were sad to move because we liked our old place but our new place has grown on us. There is hot water all the time, our kitchen is much prettier, we have lots of space and our own showers…plus the terrace…it is so fantastic. This week we spent a lot of time tanning. It has been really enjoyable. Occasionally we take readings out with us, to keep up with the appearance of doing work. :)

March 2nd

Yesterday I officially decided I need to change my eating habits. Lots of bread, organic peanut butter, avocadoes, tortillas and Casa del Pan baking are making me a little thick around the middle. Today we are going to Puerto Arista and there is not much for infrastructure there….perhaps this will help with my reduced food and fat plan. :) Last night we went to salsa class with Aaron. He is apparently the best dancer in San C. and from what I have seen I would agree. Maybe I am repeating myself, I always feel as if I am doing that, but he is Dirty Dancing plus more. *sigh* We had fun and learned a few new spins and steps. Then Heather, Julie and I went to Latinos for a bit to meet her friends. At Latinos they dance salsa in linea which is different than I have danced, but I have learned to follow a lead pretty good so I had a good dance there. Then I came home and wrote my assignment for ARTH 372 that is due Sunday, because I want to relax at the beach all weekend. Alica and I really want to surf but I have this feeling Puerto Arista isn’t going to have a rental shop. It is a small beach town in Chiapas that isn’t touristy at all. We were planning on taking a bus for 13 hours to Puerto Escondido but it is such a long ways to go and then I saw some pictures of P.E.’s wave and I feel that 20 feet or more is a little out of our league. We are happy with waves a couple feet high. Anyways, depending on what happens today we may need to postpone surfing to another time. It will just be nice to swim and be in the ocean.

We’ve had an interesting change of events this past week, as I started by telling you when we moved. Heather and Andres have been living with Alica and Sara until they get their new place and Maria Luisa just arrived so she is staying there now also. Heather practically lives here though, and when they move to their place near the organic tortilleria and the other Casa del Pan I will miss her dearly. She still claims she will be here for yoga and breakfast. I guess we will see what happens. Also, Peggy was living on her own but decided to move in with Alica and Sara when the others move out. I can’t imagine it is fun living alone here, and anyways she is really excited because she can speak Spanish with them. We have all been speaking too much English because it is so convenient. Even when one of us demands that we speak in Spanish somehow we revert back to English…even the native Spanish speakers! So, to continue my story, Peggy is staying with me until her room at Alica’s is available. I love it – having people around all the time is so fun…especially people like Karyn, Alica, Heather, Andres, Peggy, and Maria Luisa. What a great crowd we make.

I have taken some pictures of our new place and we have taken some pictures of us on our balcony etc. I cannot post them now because I am siphoning off internet from Italian Coffee but I will in the next few days.

I’d like to share a story with you now that I have completed updating about the less interesting things. The other day Heather and I had decided to go work at Casa del Pan and have the vegetarian buffet which starts at 2pm everyday. She had gone on ahead because she wasn’t feeling well and needed to eat and I was ‘diddle-dorking around’ as per usual. When I was across the street from TierrAdentro my favourite children selling bracelets and belts came out. I stopped to talk to them, and immediately felt guilty again that they were selling handmade things for so cheap to tourists just to afford food and here I was going to gorge myself at a buffet. So, I asked them if they had eaten and of course they hadn’t. So I asked them if they would like something to eat and of course they would. So I asked them what they wanted and they said tortas. However, I do not eat tortas so I do not know the torta shop so I asked them if they liked pizza and they said yes, so off we went up Real de Guadalupe. On the way some women wanted to look at their things. Daniel and I waited while the three girls sold some hair wraps. We finally got bored and so we told the girls we would meet them there. When we got there Daniel and I sat down with Heather. (Daniel is 5.) Our lovely waiter brought him a juice but the girls hadn’t come and Daniel started to look worried. I asked him if he wanted to go and look for the girls. He did, and fortunately as we were going out they were coming in so we all just sat down. Then came the problem of ordering. The asked for meat and the waiter explained there was none. Meanwhile I was frantically looking at the menu for something else they might like. I asked them if they wanted tamales instead of pizza. They did. Then we waited. It was painful. Heather and I were having the buffet and both of us needed to work on our papers so we did…I couldn’t have a conversation with them anyways. The only language we have in common is our second one. It makes it a little difficult, especially when my Spanish is still limited. It was awkward to say the least. Then our waiter brought the children bread but they wouldn’t eat it. I am not sure if they don’t like bread or if they thought it would ruin their appetites for tamales. I started to worry that perhaps they wouldn’t like vegetarian tamales either and I would feel like a fool. Fortunately that wasn’t the case and they ate their tamales quite quickly. The older children were conscious that they were in a restaurant and even Daniel used his knife and fork. Anita (3) used her dirty hands and I didn’t care. I got a little concerned when she dropped rice on the floor and got down to grab it and eat it but I guess the floor of Casa del Pan is probably a lot cleaner that many things. Afterwards, I told them when they were finished they were free to go. So they left, much to my relief. Of course they had to continue selling their belts etc. It’s hard to describe how I felt about the whole thing. I don’t really feel positive or negative. I am glad they got to eat, but the whole cultural barrier made me feel guilty for even being in the ‘upper’ class that I can’t feel gratified that I fed them for one meal. To pat myself on the back would be disgustingly loathsome and to criticize myself for feeding them would be stupid as well. Each day I reinforce my belief that it is impossible for any of us to make perfect choices. Sometimes I struggle with that. I never want to do anything to hurt anyone and yet just by living I am preventing someone else from receiving what I am privileged enough to have. However, I don’t regret being who I am, because with who I am comes power to change things. Perhaps I can never be perfect but I can do my best to bring issues of injustice to light and do whatever I can to be of help. Maybe by being a conscious citizen I can help and encourage others to do as well. This is not to insinuate that because I am ‘rich’ I am the one who has the right to solve all the problems. The first step is realizing that all people are of equal value. When you do that, your respect for others will help you actually listen to what they say, and solve injustices the way those being dealt injustice feel it needs to be dealt with.

March 5th
On a happier note, there is another little boy who sells Chiclets that we see a lot of. His name is Emiliano and he often comes into TierrAdentro while we are eating and typing. The other day I saw him on the street and asked him how he was.
Me: Como estas Emiliano?
Emiliano: Muy malo pero si compras mi chiclets estare muy bien.
I laughed. He is such a character. Basically he told me he was doing badly but if I bought some Chiclets he would be really good. He is quite a cheeky little kid. I think he is about 6 or 7. He has a lovely bowl cut and I am going to try to post a picture of him for you. Another Emiliano story involves him trying to sell us Chiclets in TierrAdentro. We told him No, gracias. Karyn, Heather, Sophia and I were there. He responded by looking at Karyn and I who were sharing pancakes and saying in Spanish “You are going to become fat.” Then he gave us a cheeky grin and left. Karyn and I couldn’t believe it. Yes it is alarming but it was also hilarious. However, that is not the end of it. Later he came back and tried to sell us some more. We told him No, gracias. Then he looked and me and said I WAS fat! That was the day I decided I needed to cut back on tortillas and baked goods, although the plan hasn’t been 100% effective. Primarily because we went to the beach this weekend and the food options for vegetarians consisted of guacamole (if we were lucky) canned refried beans, tostadas, tortillas and animalitos. :)

I am acquiring a pretty super tan. I have been doing about 40 min. every other day on my terrace and so I felt I was ready for the beach. When everyone lathered up I refused. So, I managed a whole day at the beach, sunscreen free, and have a minimal burn that is quickly turning into a tan thanks to Peggy’s zinc. It is really hot in Puerto Arista. It is a beach in Chiapas so it is one of the beaches furthest south in Mexico. We had an enjoyable, although crazy time. Somehow the 6 of us managed to find an adventure in the tiny, sleepy town of Puerto Arista, haha. Trust the insane Canadian girls to find something entertaining to do always. Next time we head out that way we are going to go to Boca del Cielo…you have to take a boat taxi there and apparently there is no one there which means clothing free tanning. We thought about it at Puerto Arista but alas, everyone’s family there owns an ATV and so frequently there were men and boys going by on ATV’s. We figured that the bathing suits weren’t such a bad idea after a few went by. We also played in the waves a lot. Karyn and I even went swimming at night which was super fun even though it scared the others. Unfortunately there wasn’t surfing options, however I will make sure I get my chance to surf before I leave Mexico - probably on my way north.

Anyways I have an assignment due tomorrow and so I may get started on that. Pictures are coming your way soon. Sending love to all who are reading…