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Chips!

This weekend I went to a tennis tournament at Los Atlas tennis club here. The setting was nothing like I ever imagined Mexico would be. My friend Kristen's boyfriend was playing.

 She went everyday for the tournament and I went 3 out of 5 with her. While there, we got to take on a new food experience...chips! So how would you like your chips? Here's how it works...

Fill a medium size cup with chips.
Add sunflower seeds and nuts on top.
Load on your toppings. Common combinations include chili, salsa, lime and cocktail sauce or soy sauce with lime (if you can't handle hot).
Put another cup on top and shake it all up (like those salad shakers mcdonalds used to sell).
Do your best to eat them without making a complete mess. I recommend using a fork. It'll be especially necessary when you get near the bottom of the cup.
Doesn't sound real great, but it's actually pretty yummy.

Lucha Libre y Parque Colomos

Mexico is hot! It is hot hot hot! Even the Mexicans are melting. That meant this week’s quest was to buy some new clothes. I don’t usually wear shorts in Chicago, so I’ve been looking pretty ridiculous wearing my Soffees around everywhere. Most Mexicans actually don’t wear shorts, but they also don’t go walking around outside for hours in the afternoon, so while it isn't popular fashion here, it is perfectly acceptable. They do need to be a little longer though for daily use (as opposed to club use), and preferable a lighter material than denim. 

I went shopping at about 4 different plazas/malls. I was really disappointed by the majority of them because they all have the same chain style stores with prices relatively the same as in the US. I didn’t come to Mexico to have to pay the same price for clothes, no no no. Thankfully, yesterday Kristen and I walked to seek out a new area by the school. Much to our surprise, we actually found another plaza that had some really nice little boutique style shops. I was able to get the shorts and tanktops I’ve desperately been needing for nice prices. Surprisingly, having new clothes that don't suffocate me is making me much more optimistic about everything in general. 

Last weekend Kristen and I visited Parque Colomos together. This is the biggest park in Guadalajara. It’s described as a haven of green space in the urban jungle. With images of Millenium Park and Central Park in mind, we ended up setting our expectations way too high. The park was finally relatively small, had dangerous sidewalks, and was mostly dirt and dust in place of the grass we’d hoped for. There were some animals and a lot of trees providing shade, but it wasn’t exactly beautiful. We wandered around trying to find specific areas of the park, like the Japanese garden and bird fountain. In the end we figured out that the map was a complete joke though--nothing was drawn proportionately or correctly and over half the paths were missing. Due to the heat we spent the majority of our time wandering trying to figure out ¿Dónde está el snack? because I really wanted a nieve de garrafa...aka lemon chill. We made it eventually, but no nieves. The fruit juice was a nice alternative though.

Tuesday I went to my first lucha libre. This is the event with the masked fighters, sort of like a minor league WWF. The Rotarians invited me to go on Monday while I was at their meeting. I took a taxi to the “arena” and met up with Enrique, Ale and the visiting Chicago-ins.  We got seats in the second row for about $12 each.

The food at the lucha is a sight in itself. Men with huge boxes of ACT II microwave popcorn bags circle.  There was lots of beer, and ordering one actually gets you two bottles poured into a paper cup. There was some sort of fish looking plate covered in lime and salsa, as are nearly all Mexican foods. Or, you could buy chips (covered in salsa) or fruit cups.

The first fight was absolutely hysterical. The guys were terrible. They moved so slowly and were so careful with each other. I was really nervous about how the entertainment for the night would turn out. I really couldn't watch much more of that though.

Already in the second fight though, everything was much better. The wrestlers fought one on one, two on two, and three on three. They threw each other out of the ring and did flips against the ropes and all sorts of stuff. I was glad to not be in the front row, as those people had to keep running from their seats so they wouldn’t get squished. We all had a really good time cheering with the foul-mouthed crowds and laughing frequently throughout the fights. My favorite was El Gallo. He bobbed his head around like a chicken a lot. His mask looked like a chicken too. (I couldn't take pictures inside but these are actual fighters I saw.)

I really enjoyed the lucha and I love how authentically Mexican it felt. These were really all people in their city there to laugh and scream off the frustrations of their working lives. They were excited to be there and loved every minute. I think it would be impossible for a foreigner to not love the experience, but I guess we’ll see when my family comes and I take them. After the fight, Matt and Enrique, from Rotary, paid 30 pesos ($3.00) to hold metal poles connected to a car battery to make a circuit and see how much electricity they could handle.

The only minor downside is that the arena is in a really shady part of town. We took a little bit too much time deciding what people were going to do afterwards. Someone threw a glass bottle and it hit the taxi in front of us. Enrique quickly shoved half the people inside that taxi and rushed the rest of us to the minivan. It didn’t feel like there was a pressing danger and nothing else was thrown, but it was definitely time to go. The Chicago group went to Wall Street, but I headed home. I got there at 7 and it was surprisingly already 11. Finished up my hw and went to sleep.

Extra Photos:

At the market in Tonala

 

Birthday party for Christina

Kristen and I

Carolyn, Kathryn, Christina and I

What a Weekend!!!!

Last Monday I went to my first Rotary meeting. I took the bus to the hotel and made my way to the conference style room. I got a lot of questions about why I was there, but was bright and cheery talking to people. I started to ask if the man I was supposed to meet with was there yet. The Rotarians told me he actually wasn't in there club. hmm that's odd. Then I asked about the man I've been corresponding with. Turns out he's in the same other club. Being the inventive thinker that I am and realizing I was at one of only two hotels in the whole city taller than the cathedral, I calmly asked if it was possible that other club was also meeting at the hotel during this time. yes yes and yes. The Rotarians kindly accompanied me to the meeting place of the club I was scheduled to meet with.

My first meeting was with Ciudad del Sol. Lots was the same as home, but lots different too. My biggest mistake was assuming there would be dinner. I survived on snacks though. The club didn't say a prayer, which surprised me because of how Catholic Mexico is. Then, they seemed much more formal in their procedures than my Antioch Club which has lots of laughter and yelling out. The club was very welcoming and I look forward to going back and doing a presentation for them soon.

The most significant part of the meeting for me, was an invitation to attend the district conference that weekend. Since it was being held in Puerto Vallarta, I naturally said, "I'd love to!!!"

I rode to the conference bright and early Thursday morning with Enrique and Alejandra. They were wonderful to travel with. On our way out of GDL, I ate my first roadside taco and am happy to report it was delicious and there were no negative effects.

The drive to PV is 4.5 hours. The roads are absolutely ridiculous. They wind back and forth through the mountains and are mostly one lane. They say if they built a direct highway it would only take 2 hours to get there. Before I thought this was ridiculous, but after the drive...I really hope they start building soon.

The conference was being held at an all inclusive resort. Rotarians stayed in the adults only side while myself and all the high school exchange students had rooms on the family side. I was supposed to room with another young girl, but she wasn't ever able to make it.

In the hotel, I felt like a complete idiot. I've never been to a fancy, all inclusive resort like that. Thankfully Enrique and Ale explained things to me a bit. I could eat and drink whatever I wanted. They even fought for me when the receptionist tried to put a kids wristband on me, which would've prohibited me from ordering alcohol.

Once we were all checked in, we agreed to meet in about 30 minutes to head to the conference. I came down and waited for them, waited some more, checked the other reception desk,  and then decided I must have been confused and we were supposed to meet in an hour and thirty minutes. I went to my room and got my stuff organized a bit more and was just heading out when Ale called to ask if I was going to come down. She sounded a bit frantic, like they'd been waiting a long time. I said I was on my way and ran down. When I got to reception of their part of the hotel though, they still weren't there! I was thoroughly confused, frustrated and feeling helpless. Finally, I decided to venture to the conference alone and fend for myself. Once inside I found them almost immediately. Turns out, they had planned to meet there. I arrived to see about the last 20 minutes of the days events. They laughed when I apologized and explained why I was so late and then they invited me to have lunch with them.

My second missed connection took place after we all had lunch together. We decided 30 minutes and then meeting down on the volleyball court to play. I arrived on time to find NO ONE there. So I wandered around, laid out by the pool, and even took a little nap. About four hours later, while on my way to the jacuzzi, I saw Ale over by the volleyball. I came over to meet her and we said hi like nothing was out of the ordinary. She introduced me to a lot of the high school exchange students from Rotary. I talked with them a bit and then played volleyball with them all.

On my way back up to my room, I noticed a Brazilian and Canadian flag on the balcony next to mine--must be Rotary kids! I knocked on the door and met my neighbor Alias. I asked him if I could go with him to dinner because I was here alone, and he even said he could wait like an hour for me to get ready. I really appreciated his company and enjoyed chatting with him. On the way back, we met more kids by the pool and hung out with them a bit before heading back to our rooms for the night.

The next day, feeling like I might have a lot of free time coming up, I decided to get up early in order to  buy a Spanish book. The receptionist pointed me in the direction of a grocery store. I arrived and selected a book successfully. On the way back, I even met up with some of the wives of Rotarians and was able to chat with them. They were all very well dressed and wearing really high heels (like the average 4-5 inches of all women here) so when we came up to a ramp with some sand on it, I was really concerned for the woman next to me. In doing so, I forgot to look out for myself though, slipped and ended up SMACK! on my tailbone. My hands didn't even make it down in time to cushion the fall.

The women helped me up, dusted me off, but the damage was done. I made it back to my room. Got a big back of ice and laid down to ice my "ouchie". I skyped with Yann along time and took him up on his ingenious suggestion of taking a pain reliever. (I really don't know why I didn't come up with that on my own.) After relaxing a bit and eating some lunch I was doing alright. I swam in the pool and hung out with the Rotary kids.

Although I didn't go to many of the speakers, the benefit of the conference for me was getting to know the Rotarians in the area and spending time with the exchange students. The exchange students were from all over the world: Japan, Finland, Germany, Canada, on and on. They were all really wonderful and welcoming to me as a new "student".

I wasn't able to meet as many Rotarians as I'd hope because I was staying on the opposite side of the hotel. I did meet up with Enrique and Ale quite a bit though and they were quick to introduce me to lots of their friends. There is also a Group Study Exchange (GSE) from Chicago here. This is about six business people who are in Mexico for a month to learn about how their job functions here in Mexico. (Last month about 40 Mexicans went to do the same in Chicago.) I was hoping to see booths set up about service projects and clubs at the conference, but there were none. I guess, like all things in Mexico, I will just have to be patient. I was hoping to see both (GSE) groups presentations, but the schedule was continuously changing and I missed them both as they took place a day or two before they were scheduled.

Even with my injury, I went out to a nightclub with all the exchange students on Friday night, I made it to windsurfing lessons organized by the hotel, and was able to spend hours playing sand volleyball (which I completely love!) Really this was a highly educational experience because I now know all the Spanish vocabulary associated with sand volleyball. I'm sure this will be highly useful in my future.

Saturday night Rotary had a big formal dinner. Silly me didn't bring a prom dress and felt a little undressed, but not too embarrassingly. The decorations were gorgeous. The band was fun. The food was delicious (except the tiramisu, but I guess I'm kind of a critic for that). It was a really nice closing to the weekend with all the Rotarians.


There was also some sort of pageant type of event that I don't think we have at all at home. Each club had a "Reina" (queen). They came out in their fancy dresses and tiaras and then a new district queen was elected. I believe her role is really only for show and in the words of the person I sat next to at dinner "she just has to show up and look pretty." I guess I'll see if there's actually more to it or not during this time.

Sunday was heading out day. I said goodbye to all the other students. I had made business cards in advance and felt especially proud of them. Upon seeing the highly professional designs and printing quality of the exchange students cards, I felt completely dwarfed. Well, at least I didn't have to write my email and phone number on a sheet of paper like before. Many of them gave me pins, which is a rotary tradition I'm still learning about.

Enrique, Ale and I headed back around 12 and made it back to Guadalajara about 5. It was really a wonderful weekend!

My butt was still bothering me from my devastating fall, so I went to see the doctor today. I just wanted to make sure I didn't fracture anything. The doctor seemed very thorough and pushed my legs in all sorts of directions to see what hurt me and what didn't. He determined it was not a fracture, just painful. He gave me a set of stretches to do 3-4 times a day and wrote me a prescription to help with the swelling and pain. He said I should start to feel immediate results, but it'll be about two weeks before I'm back to normal. Knowing of the humiliation sitting on an inflatable doughnut would bring, he also recommended I bring a hoody to class to fashion into a circle and sit on. A very helpful doctor. I guess the pain was worth it though for the amazing weekend.

Massive Mercado

This weekend made two weeks for me here. It feels so long and so short all at the same time.

Highlights of the weekend included taking the bus to the Mercado Libertad and a bbq with my friends.

The market here is absolutely crazy. It's in the Centro histórico and called either mercado libertad or San Juan de Diós. It's a mostly indoor market. It's three stories tall and has just about anything you can imagine from horse saddles, to videogames, to birds, and tons of clothing. The aisles are very small, about four feet wide with merchandise spilling into then. There's a near constant sensation of claustrophobia. It's also incredible hot and stuffy inside, no room for fans. 

The shopping experience was completely different than anything I've experienced. Given the tight quarters about every five feet you have someone "a sus ordenes señorita." They are there wanting to help you with anything they possibly can. A couple times a vender didn't have what I was looking for, but was happy to point me in the direction or accompany to someone else's booth that did have it. I really liked this sense of community the vendors had with each other. It was really encouraging compared to American competitiveness that suggests if the store doesn't have what you want they will order it for you and overnight ship it directly to your house just to prevent you from going anywhere else. 

Anyways, I purposely didn't bring much money with me because I know my tendency to impulse buy lots of things I don't need. But, I'll be going back soon and bringing some cash as well.

The next event worth mentioning was a bbq with my friends on Sunday. I have to say a big thank you to them for adopting me here and including me so much! I think I'd be going pretty crazy without them and they've certainly made a big impact on helping me improve my Spanish. 

Diego picked me up and we went to see some art at a park. It was just nice and calm. There were also about 100 puppies around this relatively small park which was pretty fun to see. Then we met with Izhel, Tanya, and Tonio at the grocery to get stuff for dinner. We went to Tonio's house, listened to music, cooked good food, ate a lot, drank a little, played some word games all together and then called it a night. I had a really good time and am hoping we'll all go to the luchas libre Tuesday.

Upcoming events

I thought Mexican was supposed to be laid back....

First Rotary meeting tonight, Monday.

Tuesday, school, talk to yann, meet up with kristen quickly, volunteer at orphage, lucha libre? (these are like the wwf masked fights like in nacho libre. I can't think of a great American way to describe them, but the Irish would say they are good craic.

Wednesday, school and hopefully making it to the big park here.

This weekend we're trying to get a group to go to La Manzanilla together on the coast. Sonja's family has a place there and I'd love to spend this weekend on the beach. Keep your fingers crossed it works out.