Chiapas part 1

To those of you who are still keeping up with me, and don't know already, I am in fact back in the U.S. I got back about two weeks ago and still am not quite used to it. But before I delve into all my reflections and reverse cultureshock after living in Mexico for a year, let me recount my last few weeks there.

The last week of April, Zoe and I travelled to the southern state of Chiapas. It was absolutely one of the best trips I have ever taken in my life. I had wanted to take one last big trip somewhere in Mexico before I came home and it was down between Vera Cruz and Chiapas. After speaking to a few friends who had travelled around Mexico, Chiapas won out as the more interesting place to go. Apparently, Vera Cruz, though know for its Carnival, amazing seafood and incredible dance scene, was not that great of a place to go if you were looking for more different things to do as far as seeing ruins, architeture, and so on. So, I chose the tropical state of Chiapas and convinced my girlfriend to go with me.

We only had week due to a lack of funds and time (because of Zoe's work schedule) so we decided to fly down there. We flew in to Tuxtla Guitierrez (sp?). Zoe apparently had family down there so we stayed with them for a few days. Now, i don't know if it's even possible to describe how freakin hot it was down there. Stepping out of the airport was like stepping into steam room set on high. Just looking down the road you could literally see the haze it was so hot. Zoe's uncle and cousin picked us up from the airport. There is a question as to if she is reallyy related to these people but that didn't seem to matter while we were there. We stayed in their house in our own little room. To say that these people were religious would be an understatement, so of course the details of our relationship were kept very, very quiet. The family, however, was very hospitable towards us the whole time. I feel like I got the authentic Mexican family experience as they kept trying to get us to eat, ALL THE TIME. The uncle kept telling us he was going to fatten us up, he certainly tried. One night he took us to the local festival in town and tried to buy us something from every food stand around. I just wanted ONE churro and he bought me a whole bag of them. The ironic thing was that because it was soo hot, neither Zoe or I had much of an appetite the whole time we were there. It is so interesting what the heat does to you. Imagine it being so hot and sticky that you didn't, literally couldn't eat. And yet, here was the this man trying to get us to eat every five minutes. He was very nice about it though. One of the best things about Tuxtla, Zoe and I agreed, were the tomales. Every region you go to in Mexico has this special food that supposedly the specialty of that area. And in true Mexican fashion, one of the first things you do when you travel to a new place is to ask for the specialty of the area. And here, the tomales were fabulous. They weren't spicy and they usually came wrapped in large banana leaves. My favorite where the mole con pollo (mole with chicken).



We arrived early that first day, so Zoe's cousin took us to see the Canon de Sumidero. Absolutely amazing. My pictures of course don't capture the shear beauty of this place. It's huge canon with it's highest point being something like 9,000 meters high. We drove up the canon to see the outside this day. The next day we took a 2.5 hr. boat tour through the canon. I like the second day better. I had never experienced anything so beautiful in my life. In the boat you got to experience the magnificance of this place. I don't even know how to describe it and my pictures sure don't even begin to capture the awe this place inspired in me. But you can see for yourself. It definitely felt like we were in the amazon somewhere. With the heat I wanted to go swimming in the clear green water, but later when we came across some crocodiles, I changed my mind. Her "family" was very hospitable and insisted on paying for everything. Her cousin and her fiance not only paid for the boat tour but treated us to dinner afterwards. They would not let us pay for anything which was just too kind.

I'm sure Zoe would have a different story to tell about our stay with her family. I noticed that her demeanor changed quite a bit and she seemed almost overly pleased to please her family. The laid back, no bs Zoe I knew, quickly transformed into this chit chatter that somehow always knew the right thing to say at the right moment, how to move to sit down in the chair and exactly how to help clean off the table without offending our hosts. It was this intricate dance where one would politely argue over who would remove this glass from the table while both trying to grab it at the same time. She even discussed pajama ettiquet with me and I was told to where a bra at all times. I could feel her level of stress rise, although I wasn't totally aware of exactly why at the moment. All I knew is that we could not stay there for too long. Luckily we were only there for two days.

Our next stop was San Cristobal, a short 45 min bus ride from Tuxtla. This quaint, colonial town was very picturesque and substantially cooler because of its mountain location. Actually, it got to be so cool that at night, Zoe and I had to buy sweaters to keep warm while walking the streets. I think the charm of this little town stemmed from its proximity to indigenous villages . The short dark-skinned indigenous Mexicans could be found everywhere selling bracelets, jewelry, shirts, shoes, dolls, and just about anything else that could be made by hand and held some novelty value to visitors. Almost always women and girls out on the streets, one had to wonder where all the indigenous men were. On more than one occasion I had been told that mostly stayed at home, drank beer, and spent the money that women earned working in the street. My favorite thing about this place, besides the colonial architecture, was the outdoor market. We spent several hours there bargaining with the Indian women for shirts, jewelry, and for some reason I bought I hammock. I paid 170 pesos ($17) so I don't feel too bad buying it but it definitely was an impulse buy. I mean who wouldn't want a mexican hammock in their yard to remind them of the days sitting on a beach in Mexico.

Guanajuanto y Puerto Vallarta


Well, I'm down to little over a month here in Mexico and what do I have to say for myself? I really dont know. My Spanish is decent but not fluet, still. I think if I had maybe 6 more months I would have it down pat. But life back in the US is calling me...sadly. I plan to go home May 16th in order to have some good time to study before I take the LSATs June 11th. I have found that my focus has decidedly changed over the past several weeks. It has gone from learning Spanish to preparing for the LSAT and my return home which includes finding a summer job. Once out of practice that comes with college life, multitasking I am finding is increasingly difficult. Maybe its because I'm in a country that doesn't seem to take too much too seriously and is easy to surround yourself with people like to relax...alot. Maybe it's because I am not working and spend most of my days working out, running errands and worrying about the LSAT. Or maybe it's because I'm getting old. This is a fact I coming to terms with, however very slowly. By no means do I think of myself as "old" but 23 does feel different than 19. It's wierd. Like I actually have to warm up before capoeira. I get upset when the warm-up isn't sufficient. I actually have to go to the gym for more than a week to get back into shape. I feel like I need to exercise as opposed to it being an option that I simply enjoyed. Grrr.

Anyways, I have at least been doing some traveling over the past few weeks. I went to Guanajuato with Zoe. It is a beautiful, romantic little town with tons of color. It is famous for its mummy museum which of course we went to. I have to say it was interesting but after about the 20th Mummy, I was ready to go. There were of course many more. Apparently the land in which these people were buried (many children) preserved much of their remains and mummified them. I didn't quite get the whole story but it was pretty cool. We also visited the Calle de besos and the Pila which was this big statue . I think she symbolized freedom. Zoe told me the story but I have troubel remembering things in Spanish. I think it's becuase I put so much energy in trying to understand and less into remembering what people are actually saying. Oh well. It was a really nice little trip. The first nigth we stayed in this really run down hotel where we were afraid to take a shower. My roomate had recommended it us because it was cheap but definitely wasn't worth it. The next day we a nice room in this woman's house for only a little bit more than the hotel. the house was huge so it was kind of like a hotel and we were on the top floor and so luckily had privacy. The lady who ran the place was kinda wierd and was ALWAYS around to great us whether we were coming or going. The only other bad was that the city was packed while we were there. I think it was some holiday weekend because there were a ton of people. But other than that, I took tons of pictures and we had a nice, relaxing weekend.

Last week, my friend Jess came to visit me. I was really happy to have a visitor. The first and only one since I have been here despite the fact that other people have said they were coming to visit me (You know who you are! FEEL BAD!). LOL. But we had a great time. I took her to Talaquepaque (a really cute suburb of GDL) and we walked around, did a little shopping, ate and watched Mariachi. We went out Salsa dancing Saturday nigth with some of my friends and Zoe (who can dance her lil booty off) was helpin her out. Then we went ot Puerto Vallarta (the beach) for a few days. All the Mexicans say it's not really that nice of a beach, so I was expecting to see some dirty filthy place. But it actually was really nice. The beach was clean and the water pretty. There was a nice boardwalk that we must have walked up and down about 50 times during our three day stay. We ate at nice restaurants and hung out on the beach (where I definitely got burned :-( ). Our hotel was also pretty cute and nice for less than $40/night. The only thing that I didn't like was that it was really expensive and there were a ton of foreigners. Things that I had bought in other places in Mexico for maybe 100 pesos were being sold for 400. I couldn't beleive it. It was kinda making me mad too becuase I knew it was such a rip-off. Now I know it may sound silly that it bothers me that there were so many foriegners, but it's true. I think I'm going to have a bit of culture shock when I return to the US. It's just that they were sooo stereotypical. Really white, some really fat who felt the need to show the whole world their blubber, and of course the frat boys. And of course to cater to all the foreigners, all the Mexicans speak English. So Jess and I were both a little upset in the beginnging because here we are in Mexico, but in this little beach town that might as well be any beach town in the US. We of course opted to speak in Spanish to everyone there. I mean we were in Mexico afterall. On our last day, we were eating in this cool shrimp restaurant and the waiter actually thanked us for speaking in Spanish and mirrored our sentiments that if he were in the US, he would have to speak English and appreciated the fact that we took enough interest to learn Spanish. So we liked that. And I had always heard that Puerto Vallarta was a really gay place, so I thought I would go looking for the gay people. It turned out that we were on the opposite side of the beach from teh gay onclove. So sad. It was really kind of wierd too because we had to cross this dark uncrowded part of the beach to get to the otherside. It literally was like a divide between the two sides. Kind of messed up right? But almost as soon as we got to the otherside there were rainbow flags everywhere. There was even a rainbow reality office. The bar we were heading to, unfortunately, was closed that night. :-( But anyways, the trip was nice and I got to see another side of Mexico, even it was like being in the States.

Well the plan for the next few weeks is just to enjoy my time here. We (Zoe and I) plan to go to Chiapas in the south of Mexico at the end of the month. My volunteer program is closed for the next few weeks for semana santa and pascua. So I will fill my days doing well something....

TAPALPA!!!!


I find myself having less and less to write about during my time here in Mexico. I think that I have grown so accustomed to my life here, that things that once warranted mention now seem so common place. I really have grown to like my life here in Mexico. I feel quite normal here aside from the constant staring by everyone, a complete lack of Black people, and the ever-present and degrading catcalls by men. It's kind of strange. I definitely feel more at home here than I do in NC. While I really miss my friends back in DC, I am finally starting to feel like I am making some real friends here.

To update, I have finally visited another place in Mexico. Two weeks ago, Zoe (the girlfriend) and I went to Tapalpa. It's a little mountain town about 3.5 hours (by bus) outside of GDL. We left Saturday afternoon and came back Sunday night. It's really cute pueblo that definitely gets really cool at night. It's known for it's waterfalls and these huge stone structures that no one knows how they got there. We saw the stones but didn't get to the waterfalls because they were so far away and we didn't have car. We took a cab to the rocks and rode horses back. What seemed like such a brilliant idea at first turned out to be mistake in the end. Well only a mistake for my butt. I had forgotten how to ride a horse and was definitely bumping my way all the way back to town. It didn't help that our "guides" which were two boys about 16 or 18yrs. kept telling my horse to run. Now that i think about it, it was kinda dangerous. I mean not only did they not give us any tips on how to stay on/ride the horses, but we were riding down the road--with cars and buses. Oh Mexico. We ate at this really beautiful restaurant with a bar and tables in a garden with a water fountain. The food was really good too. Apparently, motocross or off-roading is popular there too because we saw a lot of people in their gear with their 4-wheelers. Next time. Next time. :-)

What else...I finally quit my job. My last day was Valentine's day. I have been somewhat busy since then, hanging out with friends and trying to find a place to volunteer. It's been surprisingly difficult to find a place. I have gone to two places already and have been told that they are not accepting more volunteers or that I need to be associated with a university. Apparently, the problem is that these places are government run and since the new governor is going to take office in March, all the people leading all the social organizations will change according to the druthers of the new governor. I'm not sure how anyone gets anything done this way and from the looks things in this country, it doesn't seem like too much on the social level has been done. But then again, I have little point of reference. I'm going to try my hand a few non-govermental organizations over the next few days. I have one contact and I'm hoping knowing someone will help me. That seems to be the only way to get anything done in Mexico. You have to know someone.

Well, aside from all that, not too much else on my radar right now. I am planning on traveling around Mexico a bit while I am still here. I think I'll be coming home in May to go to my sister's graduation and maybe to my friend's wedding which she is having in Barbados. yea I know, Barbados...we'll see about that one.

Well, I sit here writing this post contemplating the changes in my life since my last post. I had intended (as all amatuer bloggers do, I am sure) to write in December and at the beginning of the new year to make reflections on the past year. But per usual, my good intentions of keeping the world up to date on the small happenings in my life were once again thwarted by those very things we call life. Es la vida.

So a quick recap I suppose is in order. I think I do this more for me than for anyone else, but of course, anyone who wishes may read my thoughts... Christmas came and went without too much of a stir. I returned home to NC to hang with my family. I find that with every visit I make "home" I feel as if I am more of a stranger. But it was nice to speak English again, see my family and take a break from work. I went to DC to celebrate New Year's with my friends. It was great hanging out with them again. I felt like I was at home but at the same time not. It was nice being in places where I wasn't the only black person, well black lesbian wearing a tie at that. But at the same time, all I wanted to do was salsa. Es loca la vida.

I returned to Mexico on January 6th and well, I know it's wierd to say it, but I felt like I was coming home. Back in my house, back to my routine. I was definitely excited to be back in Mexico but not back at work. Did I mention I hate my job. I'm going to quit. Actually, I put in my two weeks notice Friday and my last day teaching for ICI will be Feb. 14. So what am i going to do with all my free time? Well, I plan to travel for one thing. And I am trying to get involved with things I am more interested in in Mexico. I am currently searching for a women's shelter to volunteer in and have found one or two gay oriented organizations I hope to be able to get invovled in. Hopefully, these opportunities will materialize. The main problem with my job was 1) I speak English all day which totally defeats the purpose of me being in Mexico and 2) I don't feel like I am getting to know that much about Mexico. I mean all I do is go talk to these rich Mexicans who work for an American company in English all day. Not necessarily a bad gig, but deathly boring to me. So, we shall see. I'll let you know in a few weeks how everything works out.

As for my personal life, it definitely fell to pieces and put itself back together again in a matter of approximately 25 days. I felt like I was riding a roller coaster at a county fair. There many ups and downs but never enough to really, really get your heart pumping. So the first weekend I got back, things between Grace and seemed great. The very next weekend, we broke up. She tells me in text message about 4 days ago that she is going to get married to her gay (male) doctor friend. Weird right. I don't even know where to begin with this one. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the time, but now I'm just more curious than anything. I mean seriously, something like that has to give one pause. What kind of world do we live in where two gay people feel the need to put on such an extravegant show to appease the rest of the world? And if you think about it, given the culture in Mexico, it seems an almost logical solution because there don't appear (well to me at least) to be many options for gaining security for lesbian women. Interesting. I suppose I could go all day but then sometimes I just think that it's just weakness of character. Oh well. On to the next.

So that's about where I am right now. I've met another chica, an artist who does drawings and sculptures for different venues in the city. What's interesting to me is the dynamics of this relationship (as she is bi) as opposed to my previous. There is much less of the whole azul-rosa thing going on. I know, I know. I analyze these things too much, but I just find it so interesting. Oh well. We met because she and her friend came up to me in a club one night and asked me to be their model. I said, why not. And we had the first drawing session Saturday and no I wasn't nude. They just wanted to draw my face. And they paid me for it too. The hardest part was sitting one place for so long. I think I have to go back another weekend. As usual, there is always so much more to tell, but I must sleep before work tomorrow. I only have 10 working days left! YAY!

Capoeira and well...Stuff :-)


So I know I haven't written in almost a month...and I don't really have any excuses except that whenever I did have free time my roommate was on my comp frantically writting papers.

So to update:

Welllllll, a few weeks ago I had my first test for capoeira. I am now a green belt. Haha I'm not really sure what that means only that I am a beginner. It's the first belt. And it's not really a belt either, it's rope that you tie around your waist. But whatever, it was really cool. We had the graduation at Tec de Monterry which is a really nice university here in GDL. And all the students under Cirino were there, and there were quite a few. ( Cirino is this really dark Brazilian guy who is kind of like the master teacher who oversees all his smaller schools) We all participated in something called a Roda which is when all the players form a circle and two people play/dance/fight in the middle. Everybody had to fight with one of the guest masters that was there in order to receive their belt. If I can figure out how to put up videos I will put videos and of course pictures.



What else? ... This is my problem when I don't write often; I forget what has happened. I had a birthday party at my house at the beginning of Nov. I was a bit disappointed with the turnout. All my friends promised me they were going to come and maybe about 10 actually came. I was pretty upset with people for awhile. The party was ok, just a lot calmer than out previous one. Needless to say the police didn't even show up to this one.

Oh yes. I have met someone. Her name is Grace and like I have told many of you she's great. Doesn't smoke, isn't obese, likes to exercise, and unlike so many Mexicans doesn't live with her parents. Needless to say, she is a rarity among Mexican lesbians and come to think of it, lesbians in general. So besides her preliminary assests, she's really smart and has a job AND doesn't speak English. I think she's a keeper (so far at least). Crazy hasn't even seemed to begin to sprout. OH! and she is out to her parents. I think I am still in shock the more I think about this one because these things just don't seem to happen very often in this country. To illustrate, the reason, as I have come to learn, that there are so many gay bars around here is that gay people can't be gay in their houses. And they can't be gay in their houses because most people live with they Catholic, Bible-toting parents. Sad. Watching the interaction between her and her mom intrigues me. Grace has explained to me that while she does not have conversations directly with her mom about her girlfriends, her mom knows that I am her girlfriend. There is a certain unspoken respect for eachother's space that takes place. For instance, whenever I come to Grace's apartment and her mom is there, she makes sure to leave promptly and Grace makes sure that there is no display of affection between us while we are in her presence. So interesting.

There are so many things I am discovering in this country especially surrounding the lives of gay people. For example, there is no way you can actually be out at work. I don't know a single person who is out at work. I know a lot of gay people here too and everyone is like deathly afraid of anyone finding out they are gay here. I find this particularly funny because for many people there is no mistaking it. I mean seriously, you can smell gay on these people from a mile away. But there seems to be this necessary silence surrounding your sexuality if you don't happen to be hetero/machismo-sexual. Those of you who know me, know how much of a problem this is for me. I do not enjoy being in the closet or made to feel like I need to be there. And yet, here I find myself adapting to the codes and silence my friends adhere to and recommend. I mean am out at my company but at the businesses they send me to, it's a different story. I've heard stories where students just ask for new teachers or all of the sudden want to change times. So interesting how keeping you job all of sudden becomes more important than being free to exist as you are. I hate it. If anything, my experience makes me appreciate the US more. At least there, while far, and I do mean FAR, from perfect, there are some protections and at least conversation. People talk about sexuality on some level in a public arena. Here it seems forbidden. But then again, maybe I'm just not understanding people...Somehow though, I doubt it.

There is something about actually being in relationship that seems to amplify the effects heterosexism/homophobia. It's like all the sudden everything becomes much more real, more immediate. When you're single, you don't have anyone to talk about when everyone is telling you stories about their boyfriends or girlfriends so you have no choice but to be silent. But when you are actually in a relationship, that silence become defning. And there are so many little things that bother me. Well, little things that straight people take for granted all the time, ESPECIALLY HERE. For instance, the whole making out phenomenon in parks, street corners, buses, anywhere basically, is strictly a heterosexual practice. Gay people are restricted to "gay" establishments only, while straight people can frequent which ever clubs they choose doing whatever they like with no harrassment. We can hardly go to a restaurant or bar without some guy hitting her, even when it's obivous that we are together and neither one of us interested. Also, apparently people yell slurs at us in the street all the time. Grace usually tells me what the people said after we have passed them. They are just lucky I don't understand...yet. Grace constantly reminds me that we are not in the US and that it's different here. And I know this. I just find it hard to be forced to return to a place I spent a great deal of time trying to escape--the closet--in any aspect of my life.

Another thing I have noticed so far in my fledging relationship with a very light-skinned Mexican woman, is the apparent unimportance of race. I have never felt this before. It's like it's just not an issue. She is actually the first person I've met who doesn't call me "morena" (it's like dark girl), or constantly tell me how dark I am (which when I think of my Dad and sister, I find pretty funny). In all my other relationships, which have been with other people of color, race has always an underlying issues. Even when i dated guys, I dated Black guys, because that's what Black girls are supposed to do. My previous girlfriends have all been biracial (by chance...well more o r less--that's another story) and the issue of race popped up all the time. It was more of a matter how we were planning to navigate our lives living in a racist society with both of is coming from different racial backgrounds. I'm not sure with Grace, if it's a matter of ignorance, inexperience, or if it just doesn't really matter. Mexico is most certainly a racist country and so I am interested to how things will continue to develop concerning this with her. But so far, I have to say it nice to only have to deal with two oppressions at a time instead of three. Race is a really heavy one too. So, for right now I am enjoying a reprieve if only a slight one.


This is my with my teacher-we call him Bigode which means mustache or something like that. hahah

This is Cirino and Me

PYRAMIDS!







Ok, so do to several inquires, perhaps I am not accurately portraying my experiences in Mexico. Well, maybe I am. I dunno. I don't want to sound like I'm not having a good time but I can't say that I am exactly having the time of my life either. Actually, living in Mexico feels pretty normal for the most part which allows me, I guess, to analyze it intensely. That's just how I am. You can ask any of my friends who have had dinner at my apartment. I analyze EVERYTHING. I don't absolutely love Mexico, nor do I hate it. Like I said, it feels pretty "normal" here and all and all I think i'm having a good experience.

With that said, I went to Mexico City two weekends ago and let me just say, it was soo much fun! It was my first time out of Guadalajara since I've been in Mexico. I met up with some friends I made in ITTO and stayed at a friend's house who lives with his partner there. It is a 7 hr. bus ride from Guadalajara to Mexico and I left Thursday night. We literally didn't sleep from early Friday morning until Sat. night. Looking back at it, we fit in so much stuff considering the short amount of time we were there. Aaron is the one who lives there with his partner Marco who is Mexican and was kind enough to drive us all over God's creation while we were there. My friends Christina, a teacher from Massachusetts and JP, a really funny British guy also in our class met up us in the city. We went to Teotihucan (or however you spell it) to see the Aztec pyramids which were AWESOME. We also went to the city square called the Zocalo which is apparently supposed to be the largetst square in the world. They also have these Aztec ruins there called Templo Mayor. It's kinda crazy because you are walking along the street and you come along to these ruins on an ancient Aztec temple that people discovered like 60 years ago. BUT, you as you read the little pictures, you find out that you are actually standing on TOP of like a 90 foot temple (don't quote me on these numbers). Like what we know now as street level is actually built on top of an entire ancient city. How crazy is that? The Spanish just built right over an entire civilization. But, they are paying for it now because the city square is sinking. You can look at buildings, especially the Basicilica, and they are all slanted and crooked. Apparently, the area used to be a lake it dried up and so the ground is all soggy, thus the sinking buildings. I dunno. I have was half asleep when I was reading the signs but it was really interesting. We also went to the Castle of Chapultepec and walked around Zona Rosa and stared at the gays (haha) and went to parties and drank...alot.

What else is going on in right now... I turned 23 last Thursday. Feels kind of wierd and so uneventful. My birthday kinda sucked actually, but oh well. I'm def getting older too. Like I actually have to warm up before capoeira, sucks. Besides that not too much else really exciting going on in my life. Went to a Halloween party last Saturday which was fun. Work is kinda boring. Maybe I can find something different next year...My Spanish is coming along slowly but surely. In the meantime, I'll try to have more interesting adventures to write about.

Enjoy the pics!

MEXICO's TOP 10

So I know I haven't written in awhile and my only excuse is the lack of noteworthy events in my life. So instead of regalling you with my feminist analysis of my experiences in Mexico, I have decided to make a list in this post. This list comprises the top ten (more but mostly less) things you will only see in Mexico. (in no particular order)

Only in Mexico will you see....

1. A guy at the gym, running on a treadmill and seriously expecting people to think that he is really into his work--sporting a mohawk, Ralph Lauren Polo shirt WITH the collar-popped, wearing sunglasses. No joke. well ok, maybe some other guy was wearing the sunglasses INSIDE the gym, but still it couldda happened. And it's not like i go to such a shi-shi gym either. I mean it's nice but not 'let's work out in Polos while wearing sunglasses and trying to get everyone to look at me nice.' I mean damn.

2. Buses with Spinners. I'm not lying. I have to admit I was kinda in shock when I first saw one but yes, many buses here sport the spinning rims. It's kinda funny too because the rims look like they cost more than the bus itself. And I have to say, Mercedes: I'm very disappointed in your bus craftmanship. VERY disappointed.

3. Buses that make you feel like you have died and gone to heaven when you walk on them. No seriously, if you died (and happen to believe in heaven) I imagine this scene could be very similar to what you would really see. I stepped on to this bus one night and there he was, Jesus, arms open wide occupying the ENTIRE back wall of the bus. He had such a serene smile, so detailed, yet so warming with his halo and the dusty clouds whisping behind him. Oh but that's not all. The huge, incredibly detailed mural of Jesus at the back of the bus was not enough oh thee who doubteth the potentcy (and tackiness) of the Catholic religion here in Mexico. Accompanying our savior was an intricate setup of neon blue track lights strategically placed around the bus so as to maximize the impact. So not only was Jesus highlighted at the back of the bus, but you had the pleasure of sitting under a retro blue haze that may remind some of an acid trip gone bad.

4. Only in Mexico will a blind old man decide to get on the most crowded bus at the busiest time in the morning and decide to try scrunch though the bus asking for money. Now the buses here get very crowded (as in 'no, I can't remove my hand from your ass' crowded but still not as crowded as Japan which was 'if you move have a cm to the left I may be able to exhale' kinda crowded). Now, I'm not knockin' the poor guy for trying to get some money, but I am crackin' on him for beating me and the 30 other people down with his cane while trying to get down the aisle when there was no place for anyone to even move! ahh well what can you do.

5. 60, 70, or 80 yr. old ladies beat you down, push and shove you, and straight sprint to get ahead in line. Forget the fact that you were standing there first. Forget the fact that you were going to be next. Forget the fact that you had been waiting patiently for your turn when they just walk up in there. Yes, you must forget all that, because when it comes to lines in Mexico, especially lines with old ladies in them, they don't exist.

ok....well it looks like my list is only half done. I know there is more to add, I just can't remember it all right now. But keep checking back.

OH! and due to popular demand. I here are some pictures of my housemates. The more I think about it, the more I realized how odd of a bunch we are.


First, we have Louis- a 20 yr. old resident smoker (not referring to cigarretts) who has spent each 5 intervals of his life living between the U.S. and Mexico. I love this kid. I think he's going back to the US next semester to start school. I'll be sad when he leaves. (he's just tired in the picture. It's a bad one. I'll take another one later)








Then, we have Hector. This 28 yr. old soccer obsessed man is apparently fearless on the field but put a little kitten in front of him and he starts to sing little lullibies. (i'm not joking about that part, but shhh don't tell him I said that).







Next, we have Shayne. A 33 yr. old straight, one-armed, white guy from Kansas. Who wouldda thought I would even be living with one of them lol. But he's cool. He's finishing up his degree at ITESO, a university here in GDL. He's making a goofy face in this pic and refused to take a normal pic because he thinks he always look bad. LOL








And then, there's me. The 22 yr. old militant black lesbian with the name that no one in Mexico can pronounce. You have to wonder how we all came together and even more curiously how it all is working out so well. Knock on wood. I can't say, but it is....so far.