A Trip to the Capital

I had a huge weekend in the capital! My roommate Jess and I took a bus to Mexico City on Friday morning. We live about 4 blocks from the bus station which is really convenient. The bus ride took about an hour and 20 minutes. Then I took two trains and walked 25 blocks to get to immigration. But thankfully all went well there and I was able to get my student visa! I feel bad for whoever has to look at my mug shot on the card when I flash that puppy. After immigration, I met up with Jess in Bosque de Chapultepec where we walked around for a while. It’s this huge public park with a handful of museums and monuments. Then we walked to a restuarant with comida corrida. This is a phrase for a full meal. I got fruit water, soup, rice, sopes, and flan for the grand price of $35 pesos ($2.50USD).

I headed over to Condesa (what Lincoln Park is to Chicago) to stay at an apartment of some fellow Fulbrighters (Julie and Anna) for the weekend. The neighborhood is adorable: restaurants, salons, bars, yoga studios. It’s very quaint. We decided to cook dinner so we went to the grocery store (a mere 3 blocks away) and got ingredients for chiles en nogada. It was my first time making the recipe from scratch and it turned out great! We had pan dulce and the most delicious chocolate ice cream for dessert while we chatted about the Fulbright program and future plans. It was very motivating!

Julie and I started our Saturday with a yoga class. We did moves that I didn’t even know were associated with yoga. After we had some delicious omelets, we headed over to Bosque de Chapultepec to check out the Museum of Modern Art. On our way there we stumbled upon a little fair. It had samples of juice, chocolate, tequila, salsa, honey, and more! We satisfied our craving for sweets with gluten free chocolate cookies. At the museum, we got in for free with our student visa cards! They had exhibits about architecture, influential paintings, art critiques and many more. My favorite was the old propaganda that had on display about the Olympics. After the museum we walked around Bosque de Chapultepec and got tatted. We went out to dinner at a cute restaurant down the block from the apartment. We ended the day with a movie in Spanish on good ‘ol Netflix. At night we met up with more Fulbrighters at a pulquería. Pulque is an alcoholic drink made from the maguey plant. It had 4 levels with 2 dance floors and a terrace on top, which we enjoyed. The night ended with tacos, a sign of a successful night out here in México.

On Sunday I was able to find a beautiful church for mass about 10 minutes walking from the apartment. In the afternoon, Julie, Anna, and I took the bus to the mall. The mall not only had stores, but an ice rink, movie theater, and grocery store. Needless to say, the place was massive. We spent a good chunk of the day there. I got a later start home than I should have. It was already dark out when I was walking to the train station. I had some troubles figuring out where I needed to be but two kind souls helped me out. On the train, a man asked me the time, which I knew was a trick from living in Chicago. People who ask that just want to see/steal your watch or phone so I told him I didn’t have the time. When I got off the train I stuck with the people who helped me get to the right train. They walked me to the counter of the bus company I was taking back to Toluca. Then the lady behind the counter said I couldn’t use my American credit card for my ticket and that I couldn’t exchange my US dollars. I had run out of pesos (because we have yet to get paid). The couple paid for my ticket and wouldn’t accept my American money as reimbursement. So we became Facebook friends and I’m hoping to see them when I go to their home state next month!

Mexican Independence Day

Despite what many people think, Mexican Independence Day is NOT Cinco de Mayo (however, I was guilty of thinking that before I came to Mexico). It's celebrated on September 15th but the actual day is the 16th. Late Monday night, President Peña Nieto spoke from a balcony overlooking thousands at the zocolo in Mexico City. It was a call-and-response called  "El grito de Dolores" (The Cry of Dolores) or "el grito" for short, which consists of many rounds of "¡viva!" and ends with "¡viva Mexico!".

I was fortunate enough to have TWO Independence Day celebrations. One was with a co-worker's (Jaime) family on Saturday and the other was with my mentor's (Gaby's) family. I spent the weekend in Jocotitlan, a town about 30 minutes north of Toluca. Saturday morning I helped Jaime's wife finish the traditional chiles en nogada (stuffed peppers). We peeled the skin off of the green chiles and stuffed them with a meat mixture. They are served in a white cream sauce with red pomegrante seeds and so that the dish has the colors of the flag: green white, and red. Jaime went into the corn field to pick about 30 ears to make elote. Elote is Mexican corn on the cob but with mayonnaise, cheese, and chili powder. Later, we went to the papelería (paper store) to buy streamers and flags for the party.

Early in the afternoon, we went to a family member's house to celebrate. We stopped in a field on the way to pick some floral plants with which to season the corn. There were about 30 of us at the party: the siblings of Jaime's wife and their children and grandchildren. When we arrived, we went straight to the smoke house to start the corn, which cooked for about 5 hours. We feasted at about 8PM. I was starved. We ate the chiles en nogada, tacos, salad, taquitos, and pambazo (another traditional Mexican Independence Day dish that is like a sandwich). After dinner people played guitar and sang until midnight. I slept well Saturday night. The next day we went downtown to explore. We went to get drinking water, the church and a statue. In the afternoon, we went back to the family member's house to eat the leftovers (fabulous Mexican tradition).

Then on Monday after work, I went to Gaby's hometown to celebrate with her family. She is from Atlacolmulco which is about 45 minutes north of Tuluca. When we arrived at her mom's house, food awaited us. We chowed down on Mexican spaghetti (which I didn't know existed) and enchiladas de mole. Everything in Mexico is served with tortillas so just assume I eat 3 tortillas each meal. Then Gaby and her boyfriend, Mariano, took me to the feria. I call them my parents sometimes. The feria lasts for a week every year to celebrate Mexican Independence Day. It's like a carnival in the US but with mechanical bull rides (which I obviously had to try). There are also vendors selling everything from clothes to candy. It lasted from early evening to about 2 in the morning. We stayed until about 9PM then went to the downtown area to pick up food. Most of the town was there awaiting el grito. We went back to Gaby's house to eat with her family and watch el grito on TV from Mexico City.

Gaby and Mariano showed me around Atlacolmulco on Tuesday. We visited some churches and saw all of the mini-shrines. Each community around Atlacomulco has it's own church with it's own patron saint. On the 15th, there is a procession to the church in Atlacomulco form the churches of the nearby communites. The shrines stay there for the week. We also took goofy pictures in a beautifully painted alley with Gaby's niece. Then we drove to a neighborhood that is known for selling plants. They had so many greenhouse tents that you couldn't see anything else. When we went back to her house, we feasted again. I helped Gaby's sister make chiles en nogada from scratch. One recipe down! We ended the day in Toluca at a soccer game: Toluca vs. Pumas. Even though it ended in a tie, we had a blast! My "parents" are so good to me. I don't know how I can top this Mexican Independence Day weekend!


 

And the Work Begins

Monday morning I met the English team at the la Unidad de Apoyo a la Educación Básica y Normal. It’s the organization that is in charge of education in the state of Mexico for grades preschool through what is the equivalent of high school and teacher education college programs. For the next 9 months, I’ll be working with the English department. The director of the department held a meeting in which I was able to meet the teachers I’ll be working with this year. Some of the teachers treated me to lunch, which was sweet of them. I received my weekly schedule and I’ll have Fridays off and I don’t work until 4 on Mondays! They did this so that I could take weekend trips around Mexico. I can’t imagine how hard it’ll be to adjust to a regular work week once I return to the states.

Tuesday was a crazy day. I started by going to immigration to get my visa card. They told me I have to go back to the airport in Mexico City because customs never stamped the visa in my passport. Then I have to finish the rest of the paperwork there. Once I got to the office, I met everyone in the building and invited them to take a basic English class that I’ll be offering twice a week. I think I’ll have about 30 students total. My mentor, Gabby, took me to Escuela Normal 3. Escuelas normales are school for teacher preparation. Students attend them after they finish high school. The highlight of my week was when I was observing a class and the students were playing a game in which they had to group themselves in the number of students that the teacher said. The teacher said two and a pregnant girl was left by herself because there was an odd number of students. She pointed to her stomach and said, “two” referring to her baby. Everyone started laughing. Later in the day I helped administer an English proficiency test at the Centro de Ingles Toluca. I think I intimidated the students. After the work day was over I was finally able to move into the apartment we checked out on Saturday! Gabby took me to a Walmart 3 blocks away for some groceries. I wish the Walmarts in the states had panaderías (bread stores) like the ones here in Mexico.

On Wednesday, I spent many an hour on a bus to Metepec, a nearby town where I will be giving English lessons to practicing teachers. It took about 1.5 hours on the bus. Thankfully, one of the interns at the office escorted me and showed me where to go. We’ll see if I can do it by myself next Wednesday. The English department held a welcoming lunch for me at a nearby restaurant. The English department came as well as Jess and her mentor and the director of the whole organization and some of the people he works with, too. We were served 4 courses (see pictures) and the event took about 4 hours. At orientation, they told us that if we are invited for a meal to clear our calendars for the rest of the day. They weren’t kidding. It was a lot of fun though and I was able to get to know people on a more personal level.

Thursday was my first day teaching! I held an English class for the office workers about greetings and introductions. They seemed to learn a good amount. I hope they come back next week! Next Tuesday and Thursday I’ll be presenting at a conference for high school teachers so I worked on my presentation for most of the day. In the afternoon I helped with the English test again at the English Center of Toluca. It’s interesting to see that even though the people taking the test are English teachers, they don’t speak much English. They teach their English classes in Spanish, focusing more on reading and writing.

Friday was my first day off since arriving in Mexico. Jess and I discovered the running track at the end of the street. We were both pretty winded after our workout because the elevation is about 9,000 feet. We relaxed during the day then went to Walmart (3 blocks away) to buy ingredients for the tostadas we made! It’s our goal to master three Mexican dishes by the time we leave.

 

I spent the rest of the weekend enjoying the historic part of Toluca. There’s an outdoor cultural performance center that had a band playing. On Sundays, the town closes one of the main streets and there are performers and craft tents. The weather was beautiful (besides the occasional drizzle). It was nice to have a relaxing weekend. 

My First Toluca Weekend

Things I’ve learned about driving in Mexico from the trip to Toluca:

• Drivers use their flashers to tell people ahead that traffic is stopped
• People generally don’t use turn signals
• Red lights are more like stop signs

On the way to Toluca, we were treated to dinner by our mentors. This was the first of many times I had a quesadilla made with a blue tortilla (just as delicious). For the next several days I stayed with a host family. One of the women who works in the office of my mentor took me in. Her cat obsession reminds me of my own sweet mother. The night I arrived she took me out to eat and began her motherly role. I was to not drink the tap water, wash my fruits and vegetables before I ate them, stay away from foods that are too spicy and not drink milk directly from the cow (which eliminated my drink choice of hot chocolate at the chocolatería). My parents were happy to hear I have a Mexican mother.

My first weekend in Toluca was a busy one! Saturday morning my mentor picked me up from my host family’s house and we went out to breakfast in a restaurant in los Portales (a commercial shopping center in the historic center of Toluca). We also looked at a potential apartment for me and one of the other Fulbright recipients placed in Toluca. The apartment was beautiful. It had three bedrooms and the price per month was all inclusive: gas, electricity, water, drinking water, and even a cleaning service.

During the afternoon Jess, Jemina and I started exploring Toluca. We are the only three placed in the state of Mexico. We went to the Cosmovitral, which is a botanical garden, and lucky for us they had a mushroom exhibit. We also walked through a market, climbed the hill behind the market for a great view of the city, had some authentic Mexican food, visited a church (Templo del Carmen), and escaped the rain under a music festival tent. We then learned that it rains at least 5 days a week in Toluca around this time of year.

 The best part of Sunday was going to a family party with my host family. It was at my host mom’s sister’s house about 30 minutes away. I have yet to see a more beautiful Mexican home than hers. The room we were in was a large gathering room with chandeliers and art glass on the doors. Everyone was very welcoming. One of my favorite Mexican traditions is greeting people with kiss on the cheek. It makes coming and leaving a lengthy process, but it’s worth it. There were about twenty people there, but that was a small get-together for them. They couldn't believe that when my family got together back in the United States there are usually just 6 of us.

One of my goals while I’m in Mexico is to learn how to make some staple Mexican dishes. I wish I could cook like these people did. For dinner we had flor de calabaza (pumpkin flower) quesadillas, chicken and potatoes in a spicy, creamy chipotle sauce, chili chicken, Mexican rice, and chicharrones (pork rinds) and vegetables in a spicy sauce. My nose was running from all the spicy food but it was delicious! Then the younger generation played spoons. I taught them how to play using the whole deck of cards and I think they enjoyed it because we played more than 15 hands. My host mom’s sister said I could come back whenever I wanted! It was a great way to end my first weekend in Mexico.