a mighty power for foreigners

"so how many months will you be staying with my family?" alonso teased this morning at breakfast. my death stare prompted a spanish translation for his family. then, five heads turned to see my response.

"pienso que...siempre," i returned with a smile. originally, i had planned to visit guanajuato for a weekend and to stay with alonso's family in silao at the same time as two other wcl guests. but as well-planned excursions often do, it fell apart and i ended up making a solo visit, friday through sunday. on saturday, i got the grand tour of guanajuato. i came after a long line of international guests who have followed up on alonso's hospitable invitation.

i met alonso last fall when he applied for students united's mentoring program. from early on, he made it clear that he came from a beautiful part of mexico, near the city of guanajuato. i didn't think much of it because i'm from detroit and find it to be one of the most beautiful places in the usa. but my interest piqued as my winter adventure drew closer and other people - kate kelly, the friendly tapatio on my flight from atlanta, wouter from the language school - informed me that guanajuato was a must-see. even so, i was wholly unprepared for the potent arrow that struck me when i finally arrived. after maybe a dozen reverent praises - wow. you weren't lying. guanajuato is amazing. - alonso responded with clear satisfaction: "it has a mighty power for foreigners."

my visit took a turn when, on sunday morning, alonso informed me that his mother would like me to join the family for new years in the mountains. he explained that i could go with his family and return to guadalajara late on tuesday evening. ever-adverse to unanticipated changes, i protested:

"i have classes and a bus ticket i have already paid for."
"you want to practice spanish, right? why not practice with my family in the mountains?"
"i don't want to impose. it's your last few days with your family."
"mamí! un momentito, porfa!"
"alonso, no -"
"mamí, puedes explicarle sobre tu invitación a las montañas, por favor? christiane está ocupada porque ya ha pagado por cursos y una boleta por guadalajara."



i emailed wouter about monday classes and asked him to let the bustamantes know not to worry about me before piling into the car with victor and marisa (alonso's parents), alonso, ilse, luís, mariano, our bags, and two remote-controlled helicopters. the ride started out in silence. then rufus wainwright's cover of hallelujah came on the radio. i began sing along quietly. then mariano's pre-pubescent soprano voice came from the backseat. luís and ilse joined on either side of me. after dancing it up to el sondito, the ice was officially broken and the ride passed quickly with stories about mexican artists and legends. what followed was the magic life is made of: stepping into someone else's life for a brief moment. observing religious practices, family jokes, vacation mishaps. then listening as a friend confides about their perspective on what is transpiring. and occasionally stepping away from the wall to participate:

"christiane, conoces thalia?" marisa asked at new years eve dinner.
"sí. un poquito," i replied, happy to have a captive audience with which to practice past tense verbs. "cuando tenía diecinueve años, mi padre trabajaba en alemania. por eso, viajé a -"
"christiane," alonso interrupted with a chuckle, "my mom was asking about thalia - the singer who is playing right now - not italia."


collective laughter covered social shame and the festivities continued. at midnight we ate twelve grapes to reflect on each of twelve months. then the dj turned the music up and we danced our hearts out until 2. un mil gracias to the lara-bravo family for making my farewell to 2012 one for the books.

homesickness

i was a little homesick on christmas. not for lack of fun - the bustamante family did a stellar job of including me in their christmas eve celebrations: in the afternoon, tera let me sew up the lomo, which was stuffed full of fruits and nuts, in preparation for la cena. we went to a contemporary-style mass at 9 then gathered with aunt and cousins back at the house to welcome in baby j's birth. as i listened to the animated dinner conversation, taking cues from body language when my ears failed me, i was happy. but when the celebrations were over, the nostalgia returned. so i made my way to bed and drifted off to the sounds of bedford falls and george bailey's voice.

the funny thing about homesickness is that it often motivates me to set out looking for the familiar; an activity or a food or a person that is sure to make me feel at home. as any directionally-challenged extrovert can attest, this often leads to adventure.

on tuesday, miami brad and i hopped on the 80 bus for la barranca de huatatín to do a little trekking.

we met some friendly hikers along the way.

brad got tired before i did so he turned back early. the hike was pretty rigorous so i was happy to see a middle-aged couple selling fresh piña y naranja juice when i reached the top. on the bus ride back to t-paka, i did what cannons do best - sleep. i woke up thirty minutes later, disoriented, and got off the bus immediately. i was only 40 blocks early. so i took the opportunity to explore a new neighborhood and make it back to the jardin hidalgo just in time for a sweet treat.

i decided to try for a visit to the lds temple in zopopan on wednesday. i took the tur bus (which is WAY nicer than the standard buses) to the center of the upscale suburb and set out to find my spiritual haven. en route, i stumbled across a mormon church.

a poinsetta-filled municipal building.

 

someone's pet cochino.

street art.

and a giant christmas festival in front of a large catholic church. yes, erin, the giant speakers pumped out iterations of feliz navidad no fewer than three times in the twenty minutes it took me to eat my elote with lime, salt, and chile.

i arrived back at the bustamante's just in time to convince canada mike to take the maestro's cumbia class with me. we danced our hearts out - occasionally to the actual beat - for a full hour. 

i never found the temple. but i did find myself ready for a good sleep, another day of language classes, and a trip to the teotihuacan pyramids. and so it goes with homesickness. it starts with a craving for the familiar. but the cure often lies in the unknown and the adventure that comes with it.

a playa-ful weekend

there are three sure-fire ways to bring a smile to my face. the first (put me in a room full of people) and third (birthday surprises) are not relevant to this story so i will skip directly to number two: drop me on a beach near a large body of water.

which is why i rode buses for 19 hours this weekend to spend another 36 on mexico's pacific coast (please don't spend too much time going over the math). on the way, i met fernando, a law student from guadalajara who was en route to meet family for la navidad. he made a few suggestions for finding fresh seafood and quiet beaches in vallarta. unfortunately, in my enthusiasm to touch the salty west coast, i neglected to write down fernando's recommendations or any information about my hostel or how to get there from the bus station. which is why the weekend got off to a rocky start. but don't you fret, dear reader, that is the lowest part of this story.

first thing on saturday, i learned the bus route to sayulita and made my way to hippie heaven. think pacific northwest meets mexico. as in: over half the people i met were from the pacific northwest and vacationing in mexico. i played fat dog on the beach most of the day, occasionally diving into surf-worthy waves to cool off. when i came to the painful realization that i had not seen real sun in over 12 months, i threw on a dress and headed into town. after chatting up some trabajadores who were sharing a table with me at the fish taco shop, i wandered through the hills to find signs of human dwelling.

per the usual, i returned to the beach for sunset. then caught a bus back to vallerta and made it to the hostel in time to catch a late dinner with south carolina dillon - who is midway through a seattle-to-southern-mexico bike ride - and uk grace - a graduate student doing research on the volcano in calima for the next several months. feeling satisfied with my lack of physical or intellectual ambition, i fell into a deep sleep. 

on sunday, grace and i headed south to boca beach. the 8-peso bus ride paid for itself in vistas alone. but we didn't stop there. we took a boat ride around some islands (whose names i have forgotten)

where we were met by whales and waterfalls and all things water-fabulous.

and so i concluded my perfectly beachy weekend, boarding the guadalaja-bound primera plus mere minutes before departure.

estoy allá ... o allí ... o aquí?

grammar never has been my forte. 

on the plane from atlanta, hearing references to detroit while eavesdropping on conversations (yup, i'm that girl) that switched seamlessly between spanish and english, i momentarily wondered if i had made a buster-esque blunder and the 747 was actually heading north. fortunately, after a two-fer plane-and-roller-coaster-ride, i arrived safely at the guadalajara airport. 

wouter, an amsterdam ex-pat who followed a woman to mexico two children ago, greeted me at the airport as planned and everything went smoothly from there. we chatted in english on the drive to tlaquepaque about program arrangements, travel expectations, and the like, then switched to spanish upon arrival at the bustamante's home. tera, my host mother, seems lovely and the house is fantastic (dad and jim, it reminds me of the saito's home in araçatuba). the open-air kitchen also leads me to believe that the beautiful weather upon arrival is pretty typical. 

now i just need to finish up the lingering law school assignments from last semester so that i can get my adventure on. more. to. follow. buenas noches!

una aventura de la navidad

"the semester was brutal" and "i have always wanted to" are the two explanations i provide most frequently for my latest adventure. the truth probably lies somewhere in between and will surface (if i am diligently introspective) sometime in the next five years. until then, the adventure itself: in two days i will take a plane to central mexico where a family has agreed to take me in for three weeks while i take intensive language classes and explore an unfamiliar place. i again invite you along for the ride. felices fiestas! the happiest of holidays to you and your kin!