The night before

Tomorrow morning at 5am we wash up, pack up and make our way to the airport. It has been a fun and eventful experience and I hope someday to do something similar.

Palenque was impressive. An ancient mayan city that was only 1/4 excavated took most of the morning to crawl and climb through. It really felt like a piece of my long term goals in life was met as I stood among those ancient temples and saw a larger part of the world I was exposed to as a teenager. It really is difficult to put to words what ran like a cyclone through my brain, but if anyone ever has a slight inkling to see something along these lines, do it...don't waste time hemming or hawing about it...just act and don't be afraid. It's worth it.

Saturday morning and home soon

It's early morning Saturday, I am all packed up and will be leaving to go meet the others for the bus to Palenque very soon. Our last day here is Sunday and on Monday we take a bus to the airport and catch the long flights back. It has been a long and educational month, and I know I will be coming back to San Cristobal someday. Well, the morning awaits.
Adios companeros.

5 days late but with reason

Hola! It is Wednesday the 16th of July, and I survived the weekend. This topic is often chuckled at, snickered about and laughed over but unfortunately is no laughing matter: Montezuma's revenge. Yes, that's right....the squatting splatters, the runs, the squirts, the only party in your pants you will never send out invitations for,and my favorite...el rio de mi culo. I am finally over having a bad case of the runs off and on for the past 5 days and I thank whatever powers that be for the invention of Immodium, as nothing else worked. Montezuma conquered the herbal remedies, he bested bananas, he even defeated home-grown herbal tea. The fingernails scraping down the bathroom walls in anguish aside, it has been a good weekend. The family invited me a second time to the graveyard, which I very reluctantly declined as I needed to finish an inordinate amount of homework. In 3 days we head to Palenque, and I am very much looking forward to exploring the ruins. In 5 days I will be back in the good ol' USA. I must admit having mixed feelings about returning, I love this town, the people, and the family I have been staying with, but I also miss my friends and my life stateside and look forward to returning to KSU.

Slacker: someone who waits five days to publish any new blog entries on a month long trip

Hola! It's Friday and I am finally getting around to publishing a blog entry. Sunday July 6th we went to Tonina, Mayan ruins Southwest of San Cristobal. The ruins were impressive, I did get alot of photos...due to technical difficulties I cannot post them right now, but I will. You never really learn to appreciate physics until you climb about 8 stories of stairs at a 45 degree angle and stand atop this gigantic structure realizing exactly the kind of impact gravity would have on your descent.
There were not many carvings or glyphs due to weathering and looting, but I did manage to get shots of the few I saw. The tour guide was very informative, ie. boring, so I managed to slip away for some nice scenic landscape shots. We finally arrived back in San Cristobal around 6pm, and I must say after a hot sweaty romp in the jungle over some Mayan ruins....beer tastes very good.

The rest of the week passed with essentially school, sleep, more school, and a very nasty fever from Tuesday night through Thursday. Maria was very kind and made sure I took plenty of meds and rested. This weekend we are being left to our own devices for entertainment by the program director, so my teacher seized the opportunity to assign us to go watch a play. It's entitled "Palenque rojo" or Red Palenque, which infers some sort of blood based production regarding the ruins, people, culture of some mix of the above. Off to shove some more delightful dialectical delicacies into my cerebrum. Adios Companeros!

By the dawn's early light

Friday's test went well, even went out for a little celebration after. I tried this local distilled alcohol called "posh" not completely unlike vodka with a hint of corn flavor. Saturday passed swiftly with the meal and everyone loved the chicken. Today, it is 7:30am and I prepare to venture forth to Tonina, a set of Mayan ruins about 4 hours away. Not thrilled with the travel time but I plan on getting some great pictures. Until later.

Pre-test jitters

Tomorrow is the day of the midterm (midmonth) exams. I admit, I am a little nervous...strange surroundings, different teachers, different format....but I am hopeful I'll do very well on this test. If not, I have two weeks to do better. The life, the food and the culture here are just so vastly different and in some ways similar to home that trying to translate ideas from them is not easy to do. I have been asked what I am cooking for the family Saturday, so perhaps I should elaborate a bit.
The recipe is called "Poulet Paysan" or Chicken Peasant-style. It was the first big recipe I ever learned and it has remained as a favorite of mine for years. You take chicken, sear it in bacon grease, add spices, veggies, red wine, chicken stock and let it cook covered for about 2 hours. It turns out very tender and delicious. Since they don't cook with wine very often down here, I am hoping it's a hit. We shall see. Adios companeros.

La vida

I have been writing about specific occasions, so today is going to be about the daily routine. Every morning we have breakfast or desayuno at 7:30ish-8:30ish, time in Mexico is a relative thing. This consists of either eggs and chorizo/spicy sausage, eggs and green beans, eggs and ham, or eggs all served with refried black beans, tortillas, spicy chili verde sauce, and super sweet coffee fresh from the slopes of Mount Whosiewatsits. This lasts until lunch or almuerzo at 11-12ish, which is a light snack. Maybe a grain bar, banana, orange, apple or some such. Then the big meal happens at 2:30ish-4ish....comida..or meal. This varies quite a bit, but it is always a very big meal and everyone in the family gathers for it and talks and sits and eats and laughs and have a good time for about 2 hours. It is during this time that ciesta happens all over town and everything is closed. Family is important and this is the time when the family can gather and talk. This lasts a good while, until about 8:30ish-9ish when dinner, or cena is served. This is ALWAYS a small meal here, maybe coffee and some sweet bread, maybe just a little hot meal smaller than breakfast, but never really anything big. This is the time everyone gets home from work, and the family gathers once again to go over the day and prepare for the next one.

I want to also point out the amount of effort this all takes. The mother and often the grandmother as well make all these meals from scratch. We're looking at an hour prep and cooktime for breakfast and dinner, and about 2-3 hours on average for comida. Lunch ya gotta go git yerself. I have noticed also that the men do not get up from the table for ANYTHING, more water, food, etc...nothing.

In the middle of this I am going to school 3 hours a day Monday thru Friday, studying and working on schoolwork for two, and exploring the city whenever possible for conversation and some interesting sights. Every Sunday, I have something different as a mandatory field trip. This past Sunday I was allowed to pass on it as my experience at the Cemetery was equivalent to a school outing in cultural experience. Next Sunday, we go to the Mayan ruins of Tonina.