introductions

After a fun day with the climbing team soaring through the air from the roof of the gym to a platform a distance off, I am in for a restful evening.

I've been, for some time now, wanting to give you all an introduction to the people I have been meeting here. Below are just a handful of the awesome people that I am getting to know!

JAMIE is the first person I met here in Querétaro while my parents were still here staying in Casa Cayala. He is from Australia and is in most of my classes. A fellow Sociology major (with an additional International Business major), he is quite an interesting guy. He has never taken a single Spanish course before and is doing very well--better than I am I would venture to say. Jamie is quite endearing to me and just goes out and does what he wants to, whether he succeeds or not, at least he has tried. He is everything honest and to the point, but very encouraging at the same time.

He lives in an apartment with Francois (from France) and Adrian (from Ireland). Oh, and Pedro, he may be your hero. I think he has washed his hair twice since being here. haha! He doesn't like how poofy it gets.



MARTHESE is the second person I met, also while my parents were still here. Also from Australia, Marthese used to live in the "Res" with me but didn't care for all the rules so she found a great house that I am hoping I might be able to move into next semester.



Marthese has become a confidant of sorts here. You ought to hear this girl talk about food, almost as if it were a piece of artwork. She is a very passionate person, specifically about women's rights and generally about everything. She has already connected with a human rights organization here to connect them with her human rights work back home. This girl is going to change the world, and if not the entire thing, at least a piece (though with her travel plans after the semester, the whole world may be possible).

Since I am on the Australians, this is CHARLES. Charles and Marthese go to the same university in Sydney, but hadn't met before coming here. Once finished with the semester here, Charles will have his degree in English Literature and will start med school when he returns to Australia.

Charles is a total hipster and a gentleman, with excellent taste in music and film (and when I say excellent I naturally mean similar to mine) so he has become my pop culture friend here.

He has also been an enabler and enricher of my experience here in a sense. Helping me up the pyramid in Teotihuacan and assisting me when we went to Mexico City for the Dolores O'Riordan concert, I am so thankful for his willingness to make sure I have the opportunity to participate in things here.

This is PABLO, my RA. I haven't seen him much recently, but got to spend a little bit of time with him today with the Climbing Team. Pablo is studying Agricultural Engineering, or something to that effect. His family has a ranch somewhere around Mexico City, I believe. Pablo is very smiley and sweet. And after watching him today, I thought to myself, "No wonder the kid broke his ankle!" I swear he was going to strangle himself on the cords over the pool during one of their activities.

This is LUIS, my Hermano Mayor (Big Brother) through the AMI program on campus. His girlfriend moved here from Germany about a week after I got here. I haven't seen much of Luis recently either. He seems like a cool guy though. He is sarcastic and makes fun of us students who are trying to learn Spanish, getting impatient when we try to construct sentences that take minutes to spit out. That's OK, he makes up funny words in English (like "moisty" instead of "humid") so we were poking fun at him for that.

SUSIE lives in the Res with me and is a complete doll. She is from Montreal, Canada. She is studying business, and since she is fluent in Spanish (her mother is Mexican and so she learned at a young age), is taking all of her courses here with the Mexican students. Susie is the perfect balance between sweetness, fun, and being down-to-earth and relatable. She has also been helping me a lot both with Spanish and with doing my laundry since I can't access the laundry room here. It's good to have a friend so close!

RACHEL is a surprise. She is from Missouri and wants to be a Spanish teacher. In the first week that we were here, she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to do it and I worked to convince her to stay and now she has completely embraced her time here, fearing that it is going too quickly. She is quirky and indecisive in a completely lovable way, very enthusiastic about hearing everyone's opinions and thoughts, and a good listener. I am also turning her into a Cranberries fan. :-)


This is REBEKAH (please note the spelling). She is from Southern California. Kim, this is your twin. She describes herself as an "alpha female" who at times clashes with her host mom over being able to toast her own bread. She and I get along well, both being a bit more reserved, especially when it comes to the party scene (though I call her a lush because she can really down the wimpy fruity wine...hehe).


She got engaged just before coming here so she is missing her fiance very much.





JOHN is also from Southern California and goes to CSU Channel Islands with Rebekah. He is 50 years old and a cool guy. He recently went back to school to become a teacher. He has a daughter in her mid-20s who is also a teacher. I love hearing him talk about his daughter, always with great affection and admiration.


When he first went back to school he lived in the dorms with all the young guys. The administrators asked him if he knew what he was getting into. He said "of course!" and was once selected as resident of the month (or something like that) by the guys in the dorms.


ELKE is from Germany. She is always up for going out and doing something fun, but me being the kill-joy that I am only take her up on it about half the time. She is at the same time spontaneous and a planner, ready to try something new if the opportunity presents itself, but still attentive to her studies. After the semester is over she will likely be doing an internship in France for school. Lucky Europeans, get to travel all over and generally know at least three languages (in Elke's case, four)!



BRIGID goes to CSU San Francisco and is from Berkeley (living the dream, eh, Desiree?). She and I have all of our classes together. I've found in her a bit of a kindred spirit, with a love of hanging out and having chill nights. Brigid is studying literature but has a dream of one day owning an international bakery.

She lives just down the street in a house she shares with Lily from CSU Monterey Bay. They always have a new drama to tell about their house from not being able to get their gas refilled, broken plumbing, or leaky roof. They also just got a little wiener dog puppy and named her Mija.





This is ADRIAN. He is from Ireland and is super friendly and a completely fun person to be around. He loves Dolores O'Riordan and the Cranberries, which naturally makes him awesome. He got to hear her sing his favorite Cranberries song (Ode to My Family) at the concert. Marthese made the observation on one of our first days of orientation that she wasn't sure if he was naturally funny or if she just found him to be funny because of the accent. I think it is both.


And finally, this is ANTHONY. Anthony is originally from Lodi but has lived in Indiana for so long that I think he identifies more with that area. He is interning for the semester for the Programas Internacionales and is studying journalism. He's spent two summers in Querétaro before this semester.

We had a discussion this week that he just might be the worst person in the world because he doesn't believe in global warming (or at least that we have had anything to do with it), is part of the media, and is a white male from the U.S. hehe

what's the craick?

No, I have not taken up drugs in Mexico. This is simply a phrase that Adrian said I should use if I got to meet Dolores O'Riordan. Sadly, I did not get to use it, but it may come in handy one day if I ever need to impress someone from Ireland.

So one of the greatest experiences I have had since being here in Mexico is distinctly non-Mexican but was pretty much a dream come true for me. Last Sunday Adrian, Charles, Tiffany and I went to Mexico City to see DOLORES O'RIORDAN!!! For those unfortunate readers who do not know who she is, she is the lead singer for The Cranberries and has now gone solo. And for those of you know know me well, you know that The Cranberries are my favorite band of all time!

Since it is parcials time (like midterms, except three times a semester) we didn't get to spend much time in Mexico City but got there enough in advance to find a cool little Cuban restaurant in a quiet part of the city and have a relaxing meal. Pictured from left to right are Tiffany, Charles, and Adrian.

The restaurant was pretty interesting, with writing from past-patrons scribbled on every inch of the walls, ceiling, and lampshades. They also had cute waitresses peddling t-shirts and trinkets of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and cigars. I wasn't terribly hungry so I just got platanos con crema...Mmmmm! After we were done eating a friend Charles has that lives in Mexico City met us at the restaurant and joined us for the concert since we had an extra ticket. Off to el concierto!

The concert was at Auditorio Nacional. Charles, Adrian and I had splurged on the expensive tickets but it was SOOOOO worth it! We were speculating beforehand whether she would perform any Cranberries songs. The concert started just as we got to our seats and the first song she did was Zombie!!! It was incredible! A majority of the songs she did were Cranberries songs, including Pretty, Linger, Salvation, Animal Instinct, Ode to My Family, Free to Decide, and others. Her solo songs were awesome too and I can't wait to get the album. I was beaming and singing as loud as I could the entire time. :-) Dolores finished up the concert with Dreams...perfect! Immediately following the last song, however, they turned on the lights in the auditorium and started playing a Glen Campbell song over the speakers. What the...?!?! Total mood-killer!!! We suspect it was an effort to get people to empty out quickly--and it certainly worked. For more tiny pictures of Dolores, visit my Facebook album.

The concert ended early enough that we were able to get back to Querétaro around 1am and be semi-rested students for our exams that morning. :-)

OTHER HAPPENINGS

Last week in my Introducción a la cultura mexicana class we took a field trip to el centro. Since this class is only once a week for three hours it is feasible to do such things. I really love this class. It is totally relaxed, but certainly not a waste of time. Most of the classes consist of getting into groups consisting of both international and Mexican students and learning from each other. The professor is one of the kindest and most genuine people I have come across here and creates an environment where both international and Mexican students can inquire and share openly without fear of judgement. The Mexican students in this course are great too and are so happy to share their culture with us.

I have been to el centro several times before, but am usually in search of a restaurant and have missed so much of what there is to know and see (aside from admiring the occasional building and snapping a photo). Our professor first took us to the government building and shared with us some of the history of Querétaro's role in the independence movement of Mexico. He shared with us the story of the corregidora (the wife of a ruler back at the beginning of the 19th century) who conspired against her husband and the Spaniards to organize the movement to liberate Mexico. I have heard a couple versions of this story from two of my professors, but it boils down to that she was discovered and locked away in the building that is now the office of the Governor yet somehow was able to get a message out that mobilized the people. I believe she was later imprisoned, but not executed. El Día de la Independencia is coming up next Saturday and I hear the celebrations are spectacular! The city has been decorated in preparation for a couple of weeks now.

A part of this government building used to be a prison and for prisoners that we to be punished in harsher ways than to be locked in a cell, they would place them in these little spaces (as Mel is demonstrating) for days at a time.

After seeing the government building we stopped to talk to some activists that I have seen several times before in one of the downtown plazas (my professor is on the right). The protesters are students who have been standing in that plaza for three years. They started out petitioning the government to provide a housing facility for poor students so that they could afford to go to college. If I recall correctly, I believe they were told that they would have been successful except that they are associated with a national organization that the government opposes. A teacher that is a leader in the organization has been imprisoned for years. They have gone to court to free her four times, and have won each time, yet she is still in prison because the government doesn't agree with her ideals. They are still working to free her.

The students have been protesting in the plaza every day for three years, prohibited from attaching their signs to any building so they take one-hour shifts holding their sign day and night. They are completely supported by donations from people on the street.

I have heard that the government in Mexico is corrupt, but after hearing from that student and then in our class yesterday hearing about the protection provided to elected officials which basically means they are untouchable while in office, I was shocked. I wasn't as much shocked about the degree of corruption, because there is corruption in every country, but I was mostly astounded by the blatancy of everything. In that U.S. the corruption is hidden much better. I don't know that one form is better than another, but the difference is interesting.

The tour ended with a fruitless hunt for churros and hot chocolate (they were closed) and then gorditas for all. You've got to love a class like that!