.

some photos:

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=827525&k=621XZ3W2Q56M5111QD2UWP

saying goodbye

My trip is finally over. I am sitting in Guadalajara, printing my boarding pass for tomorrow and uploading the most recent photos I have taken here. I am trying to reflect on my trip so I can produce some profound words to describe my experience, but I´m falling short. Instead, I will write a few things I have been thinking lately:

1. Mexico is everything I thought it would be and nothing like I thought it would be.
2. As influential as the US is on this country, particularly in terms of immigration and mass media, it is remarkable how little day to day life seems affected by my country. I think I had imagined a place where immigration was always discussed, or where being American was a novelty, but it was nothing like that. People didn´t care much that I was American and just treated me like everyone else, just someone with a messed up accent.
3. First impressions are wrong. They are so wrong it is laughable. The people I thought I would hate became my best friends, the people I adored eventually wore on me. My perception of people changed and their perceptions of me changed, and I am so glad we gave each other the opportunity to recreate ourselves in each other´s eyes.
4. Once you live on your own, is it insanely difficult to live with someone again. In New York I have lived without my family for three years, and suddenly, I was living with a family that wasn´t even my own. It was an integral part of my experience, and I´m glad I got to live it, but I am also glad it´s over. At a certain point, being told you shouldn´t drink cold water or eat mangos when you have a sore throat begins to wear on you.
5. It´s impossible to judge anything without the passage of time. My first two months in Guanajuato weren´t horrible, but they also weren´t great. I was lonely and afraid my Spanish wasn´t approving. Two months after that, I was dreading the thought of going home, speaking Spanish consistently throughout the day, and feeling 50% Mexican.
6. I am so glad Latin American studies in my major. I love Mexico, I love Latin America, I feel like I just tasted a tiny bit of what this amazing region has to offer. It´s corny and cliche, but I feel unsatisfied, unfulfilled leaving here, knowing how much more there is to explore.

more travels

On Friday night, I left Guanajuato. I went out for a last meal with my program friends, which ended up being a noisy meal because there was a huge festival going on. After dinner, we went and sat on the theater steps for the last time together, as I tried not to cry and enjoy my last moments with these amazing people.

At 10, Andres and I left to catch our bus to Sayulita, a beach town in the state of Nayarit. The bus was around 10 hours, but we picked a nice company so it was probably as comfortable as a bus can be. I took my car sick medicine which helped me to pass out, though it didn´t help with the cramp in my neck when I woke up. From the bus station in Puerto Vallerta, we took a 30 minute cab to Sayulita, a funky little beach town that is known for surfing. Because we arrived really early and didn´t have hotel reservations (nobody responded to my emails requesting reservations), we didn´t have many options and had to settle on a hotel that was out of our budget range ($40). It was a really nice hotel, but our nights didn´t go too well there.

Hardly anywhere in Mexico has air conditioning, and this hotel wasn´t an exception. However, it also didn´t have screens on the windows and the bathroom had a little opening to the outside. So the first night we were absolutely eat alive by mosquitoes. We woke up several times throughout the night, basically hysterical, covered in bites and sweat. So the next morning we talked to the owner and go switched to another room. This room at least had glass on all the windows, so we closed them all and just left the fans on and slept wonderfully. The next night, we weren´t so lucky. Around 9 pm, the entire town lost electricity and remained off until the next day. So that meant we had no screens and no fans. First we tried to sleep with the windows closed, but of course it was sweltering, so we then switched to open windows, which left us at the mercy of those damn bugs.

Aside from our dramatic nights, we had a nice time at the beach. It wasn´t very good weather, so the ocean wasn´t exactly picturesque, but it was still relaxing. We ate a lot, including when Andres accidentally bought a huge drink filled with fruit and alcohol served inside a pineapple which he thought was 80 cents until he realized he had misunderstood and it was really 8 dollars. Still very good, but rum at 10 am has never really been my thing.

On Monday, we rented a motorcycle and drove it to some other beaches we had heard about. Being on the motorcycle, driving through this beautiful tropical area, was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. But it was fantastic. And as silly as it is, I have to admit I couldn´t help but gleefully feel a little connection to Che (or Gael Garcia Bernal) in The Motorcycle Diaries. The first beach we reached we arrived at by mistake. There were no signs anywhere, so we pulled off of the first dirt road that looked a little more traveled on than the rest we had seen. We ended up on massive beach, completely empty. The sand was endless and gorgeous and white, the ocean reaching out forever. There was no life in sight except for houses, from which we saw no people. I have to say, as stunning as this beach was, I felt a little uneasy there. Not one restaurant, no bathroom, no human life. Swimming in that ocean would feel like swimming in the absolute unknown.

After that beach, we headed up towards Punta Mita. It was a somewhat built up beach, though strangely the beach itself wasn´t what one would expect for a little Mexican resort town. The beach was very rocky with limited amounts of sand to hang out on. The water was also much colder and the whole area reminded me more of Maine than Mexico. After drinking a beer and taking some pictures, we left Punta Mita. Despite traveling down the wrong roads too many times and asking a million people for directions, we finally arrived in Punta Negra. This beach was much like the first one we went to, though we did see about 5 people way down the beach. We stayed at this beach for a few hours, just hanging out, sleeping, swimming, and getting a little sunburned. Eventually we left because it was getting dark and we could hear our stomachs rumbling.

That night, we ate burritos at a cute little restaurant that had live music. We originally chose the restaurant because Andres thought they were playing Venezuelan music, and although it turned out they weren´t, it was still a really nice dinner. And then the electricity went out!

So fast forward to the next morning. We decided that it was time to leave the beach and get back on the road. We took a bus to Guadalajara, where we now are. We are staying with my sister´s friend from college and her husband, who live here in a nice house with INTERNET! I am actually using the internet right now not worrying if I have enough pesos to cover my time, and I have to say it´s fantastic. Definitely something I won´t miss about Mexico.

So my trip really is almost over now. I fly out early Friday morning and will meet my parents in the airport, as they are also returning from a trip at the same time. Writing this now makes me very excited to come home, as I know I have been missing a lot of things for a long time now. But there will be so much I am leaving behind that I am not ready to face yet. It still has not hit me that I may never seen my Guanajuato friends ever again. One more post before I leave. See you all soon!

photos

pictures from the last few days, including the party:

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=827525&k=6ZB4XVU5W6WM5111QD2UWP

sex education

As I mentioned, I turned in my research paper about sex education in Guanajuato the other day. I just wanted to reflect a little on the situation and thought that it might interest some of you.

Guanajuato is one of the most conservative and religious states in Mexico, with around 98% of the population identifying themselves as Catholic. PAN (the ruling party, National Action Party, and the most conservative) dominates Guanajuato politically and is deeply tied to the church.

Although abortion is illegal in Mexico, each state has the power to decide if abortion is allowed under certain circumstances, such as health risks to the mother. While many states legislatively provide for as many as six conditions where abortion is permitted, GTO is one of two states that allows only for the most restrictive of conditions - when the mother has been raped. However, in reality, a legal abortion has never been performed in GTO. One of the organizations I gathered information from defended a mentally ill woman who was raped and impregnated while working as a maid. When her mother found out what had happened and went to the authorities, attempting to seek an abortion, they were repeatedly pushed away and told not to pursue the matter. By the time they obtained authorization for the daughter to obtain the abortion, it was too late. In addition, large rates of human rights abuses have been documented, particularly against women. Hundreds of women have been killed within the home in the last five years in GTO.

Formal sex education is almost non existent in Guanajuato. When a law was passed two years ago that would provide all Mexican students with a book about sex education, Guanajuato fought forcefully against its implementation. There is one location where citizens can obtain free HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infection tests and condoms (the hospital) but many do not go for fear of being seen by friends/family (remember, GTO is tiny), being interrogated, etc. A large majority learn sex education on the streets, were numerous and potentially dangerous myths are passed along, such as the myth that contraction of an STI will lead to death.

Guanajuato as a state has the third highest rates of pregnancy among adolescents in all of Mexico. I know countless youth who are already parents or have children on the way. It is not at all uncommon for 18 year olds to be married with children, and everyday I pass young mothers on the street, who truly look like children themselves. My guy friend told me the other day that although he and his girlfriend normally use condoms , they don't while she is on her period (Of course, this is a completely unreliable method of birth control).

To make matters worse, government officials have openly denounced condom usage, saying it is not safe, and have called campaigns spreading knowledge about HIV/AIDS as "promoting homosexuality." The government does not release accurate information about infection rates, making it nearly impossible to make the reality of the situation clear to citizens. Last year, government publications identified only 30 people in the entire state of GTO as having contracted HIV. It is no surprise that many people here think they cannot be affected and that they will never contract anything. Aside from this type of mentality, which of course exists to a degree in the U.S., one cannot expect a population of youth to perceive a threat if they are being told it does not exist.

This goes on and on and on. Absolutely terrifying and the possibility of any improvement seems bleak. I think at this point what would improve the situation most would be these developments:

1. The church and the government genuinely untie themselves from one another.
2. I would say vote a liberal party into office, but this is much more complicated than we can ever imagine, given that the liberal party that was previously in office and more or less held the perfect dictatorship for more than 70 years (so let's not even count this as number 2)
3. Mexican people and the international community demand the fulfilment of the protection of their health promised by their government and constitution.
4. Mexican people and the international community work independently of the government to promote sex education and the protection of civil rights.

party

Piñatas should be a requirement of every party. Yesterday I threw a get together on the roof of Jose’s hotel. I spent the whole day on his motorcycle going to buy food and drinks at the cheapest places, which was definitely worth the time because I saved a lot of money. His house is right downtown so it has a beautiful view, and we were first graced with a gorgeous sky around six, and later an amazing nighttime look of GTO. A lot of my friends were there from my program, plus Andres, plus Jose and his sister and her friends. It was a good time, topped off by the piñata which was named Lil Jeannie (it was originally bought for my friend Jeannie’s party and looks like her), which we all took turns at while accidently hitting each other instead. We also played the Adverb game, which has become a favorite of our group. We try to play it in Spanish but sometimes English is the only thing that comes out when you are laughing so hard you can’t stand up. Here is Jeannie’s description of the game from her blog: One person has to leave the room while the others decide on an adverb. Then the person who left comes back and decides on a scene (A lawyer arguing with a judge, a couple cleaning the house before the in-laws come, at a rooster fight– which the actors took to mean that they were the roosters, etc) and picks the actors to act the scene out. The actors have to act out the scene in a way that describes the adverb that was previously selected, and then the person has to guess what the adverb is by watching the actors. Needless to say, it was a good time. I took a lot of pictures which I will try and post soon.

I turned in my 20 page paper yesterday, which was a relief although I must admit it was never too stressful. I think returning to NYU is going to be a pretty big shock, since I haven’t been there since December 15 and a whole semester of work in GTO is comparable to maybe a week at NYU.

Very few days left, so I should begin packing soon. I’m going to spend some time today with Andres just buying things I want to bring back, including presents, and taking pictures (If anyone wants anything in particular, let me know). Friday night we leave for the beach on an overnight bus. We should arrive early Saturday morning and will stay there for a few days before we go to Guadalajara, where we will stay with my sister’s friends. And then May 30th, I’ll be back in Atlanta for a hot, lazy, nice summer. I’m off, will update soon.

things

Yesterday was an amazing day... At 12:30, I got picked up outside Teatro Principal by my two friends Amanda (they have the same name so they´re called Amancita and Amandota), Johnny (Mexican, really really nice), Katie, and Johnny´s two brothers. We were all stuffed into Johnny´s car, with heads bumping the roof and limbs sticking out the windows. It was an important soccer match for Johnny, who used to be semi-pro, so we were going to cheer him on. The game was a lot of fun and Johnny´s team won and he scored three goals. Afterwards, we went with some of his teammates to this store where they sell huge Micheladas, which is beer with chili, lime, and salt. They are a Mexican drink and at this store, they served them with shrimp. Delicious. We hung out in the shade for a while, drinking beer and talking, which was really nice and relaxing. Later, after dropping off people and picking up others, we got dropped off. That night, I hung out with some people and went out to dinner where I ate an amazing meal full of cheese and vegetables and tortillas (not corn, thankfully, which I am so sick of). And then after that, we went to a bar and people watched and just talked. Granted, I was absolutely exhausted by the time I got into bed.

On Wednesday night, we all said our goodbyes to John. It was pretty upsetting and I think we were all somewhat surprised by how much it shook us. By the time we hugged him goodbye, it was 1 am and everyone had probably drank too much and so we sat in the bar shedding tears and hugging each other. I think it was about John, and the end of this experience, but also the realization that this time is going to be over and we have no control over its finality. We are all leaving and are aware, be it consciously or not, that we will never be able to get this time back. We will go back to the U.S. and we will return to our lives and soon this will just be a study abroad program we did for a few months, but right now it feels like a lot more than that. The reality is most of us have made real friends here, both Mexican and American, friends that could last a lifetime if we weren´t separated by state and country lines. It´s upsetting and it reminds me of camp when I was thirteen and we all stood there on the last day sobbing and hugging each other, knowing that no matter how many times we said we would visit, we knew we never would. I hope that maybe now, now that we have some of our own money and are older and have all the fancy technology, that we can change that camp history and actually stay in touch, actually see each other again, but it over Skype or even in person, maybe even in Mexico.

may

A little less than two weeks left. I am sitting in the language center at the university, waiting for another thirty minutes before I meet a boy who I am going to help with his English. We have tried to meet three times with no success, so hopefully this time we actually make it happen.

I am pretty tired but still happy. Like I mentioned earlier, I´ve had to actually start doing homework lately (that is, homework that takes more than thirty minutes) so that hasn´t been the most fun. But through my major project about sex education, I´ve held some really fascinating interviews that further deepen my interest in this topic.

I´m still hanging out with Jose a lot - or more so, his family. They are unbelievably kind and down to earth. His mother is very young and hip and fun to be around. It will be sad to leave them.

Tomorrow one of my closest friends leaves because he wants to get back for his graduation. However, he lives in South Carolina so we´ve already made lots of plans to see each other before he leaves for Germany for his fulbright...

In general, I have been doing a lot of winding down activities. Monday we had a group lunch with our directors. Tonight we´re having a party at my Spanish teacher´s house. And Saturday I am throwing a party at my house. I´m going to attempt to make Sangria and some other good food/drinks.

The news of the earthquake is China was pretty upsetting. I´ve been looking at the pictures online and reading the news, and it is just truly horrifying. It´s interesting how much attention is being focused on the school and the 900 children trapped underneath. We feel so much more when a child is hurt, I suppose because they are innocent, but in this case every single person is innocent... and yet. And then next to the headline about the earthquake is something about a new Nissan model.

That´s all for now. I´ll try to get more pictures up as soon as I can find a fast connection.

...

Mary just left and we had a wonderful time together. It was nice to see a familiar face, especially such a well traveled, fun one. We met up everyday except for one, often to just drink a beer in the plaza or walk around. One day I ate with her family which was really nice, as I got to speak with new people and practice my formal tenses (usted), which I don't get to use very much, since I mostly talk with friends and my family. Luckily, it cooled off a tiny bit before Mary arrived, so the city wasn't quite so steaming during the day. We took some cool pictures together and I know she is going to make a neat photo album of her trip, which will be nice to see when I get back. I keep telling myself I could also make a photo album, but I know that might get pushed back to a summer day at home.

Days keep passing by quickly and I watch myself try to squeeze in every possible activity into the span of a day. I am more than exhausted but feel like I should go out as opposed to sleep. I can tell it's catching up to me today, as I felt overly emotional and cranky.

Homework is also catching up to me and I am trying to start working more. It seems it was all given at the very end of our time here, so I really need to get to work. My main project is a big research paper in which I am looking at the stigmas surrounding sexual education and STD testing in Mexico. I had an interview on Wednesday which was fascinating but also really upsetting, as I learned that the Mexican government releases completely incorrect statistics and no one knows the reality of the situation.

More to come later, off to do some work.

photos

Here are two links that will lead you to a lot of my pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=827525&k=Z4ETYZR3WXYM5111QD2UWP

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=827525&k=ZVMTPVU4W5YM5111QD2UWP