Cuernavaca, Mexico
On Sunday, October 29th, I headed to Cuernavaca, Mexico to begin my classes at the Instituto Chac-Mool. I knew going in that my experience in Ecuador would be hard to top or even measure up to, and, unfortunately, I was right. My first day at Chac-Mool, I realized that I would not be able to spend the remaining 5 or more weeks of my trip there. The school is beautiful (as shown in the pictures below), but I felt like I was in a resort rather than a foreign city where I could learn about another culture and meet interesting people.
Most of the students in the program were in their 60s or 70s, many were older married couples, and ALL were American. This stood in stark contrast to my Ecuador trip, where the students were young and from all over the world. We did take outings, which I will describe below, but even then, a teacher from the school was assigned to "watch over" me and did not leave my side the entire time. Needless to say, I began to feel a big suffocated. I decided a few days into my trip that I would have to return to Ecuador. The time that I have off is too rare a thing to spend in a place I´m less than happy with. So, I´d rather this be the semester of Ecuador. (And hey, my trip has been pretty spontaneous so far, why not make yet another last minute change?) I thought about going to another school in Mexico or to another country all together, but I just didn´t want to risk having a similar or worse experience.
Having said all of that, I am REALLY glad I was in Mexico for the week I was there. First of all, my host family was wonderful. It was a young couple and their five year old daughter, Mariana, who, for some reason, loved me. She walked around the house screaming my name, and every time she saw me, she gave me a huge hug and insisted on holding my hand everywhere I went.
In addition, it just so happened that I was in Mexico for one of the biggest holidays of the year -- El Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. This is a three day celebration beginning on October 31st (yes, Halloween), which commemorates the dead. The holiday is a celebration of their lives, rather than a time of mourning. During these days, people welcome their dead relatives and friends into their homes by setting up offerings, known as "ofrendas," which consist of the foods and drinks the dead liked while they were alive, as well as candles, decorations, flowers, etc. They also throw lavish parties during this time. As one of our teachers explained to us, if someone you love is coming to your house after an extended period of time, are you sad, or do you celebrate?
During this holiday, the local markets sell various supplies necessary for the ofrendas. On Tuesday, we went to a nearby market to buy supplies for our own ofrenda. We saw tons of skulls (or calaveras) made of sugar or chocolate, which is a traditional decoration for an ofrenda:
We also saw marigolds (the traditional flower for ofrendas), various sweets, traditional bread made especially for this holiday, and, of course, masks for Halloween costumes:
Although some in Mexico feel that Halloween should not be celebrated since it is an American holiday which coincides with el Dia de los Muertos, it is customary for children to dress up on Halloween and go trick-or-treating. Here is a picture of Mariana in her vampire costume:
On the first day of the holiday, we made our own ofrenda at the school:
The next day, we visited a nearby village called Ocotopec, famous for its ofrendas. We saw some incredible ofrendas there and had tamales and a delicious traditional warm fruit cider. Here is a picture of a typical Ocotopec ofrenda:
The next day, we went to a cemetery in Ocotopec. This trip was incredibly interesting because during this holiday, Mexican cemeteries resemble amusement parks more than they do cemeteries. All of the graves are heavily decorated, and some people even set up ofrendas around the graves. People sell cotton candy and other Mexican delights, there are Mariachi bands playing music, etc. It was truly a sight to behold:
I am also grateful for the two friends I made during my brief stay in Cuernavaca: Ken and Stacy. Ken and Stacy were the only other two young people at Chac-Mool, and they were a lot of fun. By the end of the week, we were all really sad that I was leaving (although, I still know it was the right decision--more on that later). One night, Ken, Stacy, and I went to a well-known salsa club called Mambo cafe:
We also went salsa dancing another night at a club called Guantanamera, where a bonafide salsa dancing instructor showed me some moves. Good times.
My last day in Mexico, we took a day trip to Taxco, a place known for its silver mines. I was expecting to have a leisurely day buying cheap silver, but instead, we ended up climbing this big and very steep hill to a giant Jesus statue. If you look closely at this picture of Taxco, you can see the Jesus statue at the very top of the hill:
Most people take taxis up to the top of the hill, but Ken, Stacy, and I decided that we would climb it by foot, which was somewhat of a mistake considering I was wearing green ballet slippers. Here is a picture of Ken, Stacy, and me halfway up the hill overlooking Taxco:
On our way up, we met some Japanese kids who currently live in NYC, and we ended up spending most of the day with them:
We did eventually (after some complaining about the hill and the heat, mostly by me) make it to the Jesus statue, and at that point, we were glad we did it, because the views of the city were incredible. The Jesus statue looks a million times bigger up close:
We were guided to the statue by some eager Mexican children. They were adorable, and somehow managed to do the steep climb (yes, the one I was complaining about) barefoot:
I also took this neat picture from a hole in the wall at the top of the hill:
That was pretty much it for Mexico. On Saturday night, I went to a Halloween party with Ken and Stacey until about 1am, when I had to leave for Mexico City. After a 1.5 hour drive to Mexico City, a 5 hour wait in the Mexico City airport (my flight was delayed), a 3 hour flight to Panama, another 2 hour flight to Guayaquil, a 4 hour wait in the Guayaquil airport, yet another flight to Cuenca, and a taxi from the Cuenca airport to my hostel, I´m back in Ecuador, and I could not be happier about it. More on that next...
Most of the students in the program were in their 60s or 70s, many were older married couples, and ALL were American. This stood in stark contrast to my Ecuador trip, where the students were young and from all over the world. We did take outings, which I will describe below, but even then, a teacher from the school was assigned to "watch over" me and did not leave my side the entire time. Needless to say, I began to feel a big suffocated. I decided a few days into my trip that I would have to return to Ecuador. The time that I have off is too rare a thing to spend in a place I´m less than happy with. So, I´d rather this be the semester of Ecuador. (And hey, my trip has been pretty spontaneous so far, why not make yet another last minute change?) I thought about going to another school in Mexico or to another country all together, but I just didn´t want to risk having a similar or worse experience.
Having said all of that, I am REALLY glad I was in Mexico for the week I was there. First of all, my host family was wonderful. It was a young couple and their five year old daughter, Mariana, who, for some reason, loved me. She walked around the house screaming my name, and every time she saw me, she gave me a huge hug and insisted on holding my hand everywhere I went.
In addition, it just so happened that I was in Mexico for one of the biggest holidays of the year -- El Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. This is a three day celebration beginning on October 31st (yes, Halloween), which commemorates the dead. The holiday is a celebration of their lives, rather than a time of mourning. During these days, people welcome their dead relatives and friends into their homes by setting up offerings, known as "ofrendas," which consist of the foods and drinks the dead liked while they were alive, as well as candles, decorations, flowers, etc. They also throw lavish parties during this time. As one of our teachers explained to us, if someone you love is coming to your house after an extended period of time, are you sad, or do you celebrate?
During this holiday, the local markets sell various supplies necessary for the ofrendas. On Tuesday, we went to a nearby market to buy supplies for our own ofrenda. We saw tons of skulls (or calaveras) made of sugar or chocolate, which is a traditional decoration for an ofrenda:
We also saw marigolds (the traditional flower for ofrendas), various sweets, traditional bread made especially for this holiday, and, of course, masks for Halloween costumes:
Although some in Mexico feel that Halloween should not be celebrated since it is an American holiday which coincides with el Dia de los Muertos, it is customary for children to dress up on Halloween and go trick-or-treating. Here is a picture of Mariana in her vampire costume:
On the first day of the holiday, we made our own ofrenda at the school:
The next day, we visited a nearby village called Ocotopec, famous for its ofrendas. We saw some incredible ofrendas there and had tamales and a delicious traditional warm fruit cider. Here is a picture of a typical Ocotopec ofrenda:
The next day, we went to a cemetery in Ocotopec. This trip was incredibly interesting because during this holiday, Mexican cemeteries resemble amusement parks more than they do cemeteries. All of the graves are heavily decorated, and some people even set up ofrendas around the graves. People sell cotton candy and other Mexican delights, there are Mariachi bands playing music, etc. It was truly a sight to behold:
I am also grateful for the two friends I made during my brief stay in Cuernavaca: Ken and Stacy. Ken and Stacy were the only other two young people at Chac-Mool, and they were a lot of fun. By the end of the week, we were all really sad that I was leaving (although, I still know it was the right decision--more on that later). One night, Ken, Stacy, and I went to a well-known salsa club called Mambo cafe:
We also went salsa dancing another night at a club called Guantanamera, where a bonafide salsa dancing instructor showed me some moves. Good times.
My last day in Mexico, we took a day trip to Taxco, a place known for its silver mines. I was expecting to have a leisurely day buying cheap silver, but instead, we ended up climbing this big and very steep hill to a giant Jesus statue. If you look closely at this picture of Taxco, you can see the Jesus statue at the very top of the hill:
Most people take taxis up to the top of the hill, but Ken, Stacy, and I decided that we would climb it by foot, which was somewhat of a mistake considering I was wearing green ballet slippers. Here is a picture of Ken, Stacy, and me halfway up the hill overlooking Taxco:
On our way up, we met some Japanese kids who currently live in NYC, and we ended up spending most of the day with them:
We did eventually (after some complaining about the hill and the heat, mostly by me) make it to the Jesus statue, and at that point, we were glad we did it, because the views of the city were incredible. The Jesus statue looks a million times bigger up close:
We were guided to the statue by some eager Mexican children. They were adorable, and somehow managed to do the steep climb (yes, the one I was complaining about) barefoot:
I also took this neat picture from a hole in the wall at the top of the hill:
That was pretty much it for Mexico. On Saturday night, I went to a Halloween party with Ken and Stacey until about 1am, when I had to leave for Mexico City. After a 1.5 hour drive to Mexico City, a 5 hour wait in the Mexico City airport (my flight was delayed), a 3 hour flight to Panama, another 2 hour flight to Guayaquil, a 4 hour wait in the Guayaquil airport, yet another flight to Cuenca, and a taxi from the Cuenca airport to my hostel, I´m back in Ecuador, and I could not be happier about it. More on that next...
posted by grapefruit at 12:19 PM
1 Comments:
hey anju! sorry to hear you didn't love mexico - i think my love of it has to do with the wonderful (not-resort-like-at-all) school i was at, my very political program and of course, the week and a half i spent in mexico city (which i love!).
i'm sad that i didn't climb up to the jesus statue in taxco. but, i do have a lot of cheap silver now... :)
see you when you get back!
-amita
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