Okay so I really needed to post that last one because it absolutely was how I was feeling and absolutely how I still occasionally feel...but I can tell you things have gotten significantly better.
I live in la casa San Pedro, with 11 chavos who are between the ages of 9 (Ramiro) and 12. we wake up and 5 and go to bed between 9 and 10. They are in school from 7/7:30 to 2, which is when lunch is. and oh-by the way-I found water to keep me ALIVE while I get used to the water here. then chores and showers and homework and clothes washing and playing before dinner, which is around 7. nope-this is crazy-I am not eating between my meals. which include beans every single day-and besides yesterday when I did eat refried on bread with cheese, I have avoided them all together! after dinner, chores, playtime, and bed.
haha well that was the rough outline...while I am thinking about it, Katelyn & company, Ivan is still here! He is 19 and obviously didnt remember me-he asked if my hair was the same color as last time?? but he did remember "las gimelos" the twins--Claire and Jane!
last night was fantastico because los chavos de San Pedro went out to the "old" soccer field to play-it is by the goats and p.s. the soccer field we put down does look great and green! but they went and then 5 older boys came too and ohh gosh it was so great to watch. I will also play-but not with the teenagers since los chiquitos aqui could beat me any day. and as I have been explaining to people, it is connections like these that are seriously keeping me going. connections like sitting on our patio/step area and seeing who comes by to talk...or gah-I am already suffering hard from loving los chavos mucho mucho mucho and yep I have a favorite and he is a trouble maker-when I place myself in fantasy world-sometimes necessary because this is insane-I am a mix between Mary Poppins and Sound of Music.
Sound of Music is obvious to me-I was fearful and if I had my luggage I am sure I could have used it for singing props and I arrived at a house with a bunch of children who people think misbehave-okay they do-and I am trying to navigate working with the house educator who the chavos call Sita, because she needs a balance of tough love and all I want to do is let them play and sleep past 5 and such. also-I think that the boys understand my gringa accent 1000x better than she does, which complicates things, but we are working at it! also-Marry Poppins comes from my new pastime of sweeping and mopping...those floors are sweeped and mopped about 5 times a day. wow. so I look for those spoonfulls of sugar wherever I can.
But again-things are hard and I miss home and by the way I have yet to enter the bathroom when the boys are awake and in the house since there is no toilet paper, the doors do not lock, and the showers are dirty because...well I guess because they are 10 year old former street children? this is roughing it. for sure. but seriously-I do get excited when I have a conversation with ANYONE in spanish-although it can turn to a series of ¨´lo siento, no entiendo¨¨ very quickly, and I know all the boys names and half of them give me hugs and my favsie gave me a hug from night one and I think there is some chance that I am going to survive this and keep on learning freakin spanish and...who knows?
today estoy nerviosa porque volunteers-which include me, a 20 yr old girl from Estonia (ummmm where in the world is that?) a 20 year old girl from Germany who has been here for a year and a half, and gracias a Dios, a 18 year old from San Fran got here on wednesday and even though he speaks perfect spanish, the kid also speaks english. but anyways I am nervous because volunteers get weekends off and I guess the norm is to leave here and go out to Atlixco or Puebla and meanwhile I am thinking that I can barely communicate here and I am supposed to throw myself into the city? YIKES! but german volunteer said I could go with her and I may or may not this weekend work up the courage to ask San Fran (p.s. his name is Andres-only friends for us!) what he is up to and Estonia has found friends in Atlixco...whatever that means! But I am scared and we shall see what happens-although as soon as I decide to step it up, fabulous and exicting words such as discoteco y cerveza y cena sin frijoles have been mentioned!!
what else...small details like there is an Alejandro in my house...I knew his name in like 3 hrs and rock at pronouncing it thanks to Gaga...IPO looks different but not like, overwhelmingly different...duh everyone stares at me and I feel like I am working the system a little too much when I shower and wear my hair down hehe and yep...
also-time here is weird and I really have a very limited idea of what day it is but a) Carter are you graduating today? fail sister, I know...fail fail fail. If so, CONGRATS! FELITACIONES! not spelled right...I love you and am so proud!!
and if not...I know when your birthday is!!
b) three months is a long time, for those of you who actually processed that one through seriously, so send those text messages just to keep me company because a smile is worth so much more than 5 cents. I will let you know when I am done requiring support!
finally, ápologies now and forever for grammar and spelling on this baby. no idea how to use a Mexican keyboard. nope.
I love you and miss you all and please please let me know what is going on in your fabulous and fantastic life!! In the meantime, tengo que irme, y hasta luego!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Getting Schooled
[written 18 de mayo]
pues, despues de meses y meses de esperanza, emocionada, y crecienda que todo voy a perfecto...
reality hit.
bad sign that i spent half of my 6 hr layover in LAX determining that i was not at all where i was supposed to be -thanks to those who kept me company via phone!-
Had no clue what was going on in Guadalajara with no boarding pass, y por supuesto, when I Reached puebla, mis maletas (I can never remember that word when I need it) did not arrive which would have been frustrating and I would have left in a timely fashion except that we did not cut the price tags off the 40 jerseys SoccerStop (plug?) donated, and so I had to pay 16% of what they were worth-which is dumb for a charity donation.
Also: hours went without showering = [ended up being] 72. consumed water = none-mexican or otherwise. bug bites, which I really should refer to as...bug rapes? idk. but at least 15 and counting.
So its probably no surprise that I used who knows how much $ to call my mommy this morning while eating a stolen-ish orange--the closest thing I could find to water-while crying. All along, I kept telling people that hahahano. I was not doing this for the kids. I was doing it for myself!
otra vez. reality check. this is the farthest thing from all about me. ever. so...shoot?
and these are the thoughts that plague me when i am alone, which is actually not all that often, or when
But as I have been reminded by various friends-no reminder any less important or with less meaning than another-uncomfortable is somehow...good. or at least its how
pues, despues de meses y meses de esperanza, emocionada, y crecienda que todo voy a perfecto...
reality hit.
bad sign that i spent half of my 6 hr layover in LAX determining that i was not at all where i was supposed to be -thanks to those who kept me company via phone!-
Had no clue what was going on in Guadalajara with no boarding pass, y por supuesto, when I Reached puebla, mis maletas (I can never remember that word when I need it) did not arrive which would have been frustrating and I would have left in a timely fashion except that we did not cut the price tags off the 40 jerseys SoccerStop (plug?) donated, and so I had to pay 16% of what they were worth-which is dumb for a charity donation.
Also: hours went without showering = [ended up being] 72. consumed water = none-mexican or otherwise. bug bites, which I really should refer to as...bug rapes? idk. but at least 15 and counting.
So its probably no surprise that I used who knows how much $ to call my mommy this morning while eating a stolen-ish orange--the closest thing I could find to water-while crying. All along, I kept telling people that hahahano. I was not doing this for the kids. I was doing it for myself!
otra vez. reality check. this is the farthest thing from all about me. ever. so...shoot?
and these are the thoughts that plague me when i am alone, which is actually not all that often, or when
But as I have been reminded by various friends-no reminder any less important or with less meaning than another-uncomfortable is somehow...good. or at least its how
Monday, March 29, 2010
[Potential] Dia en la Vida
Although this example of a day at Ipoderac is 2 years old, I'm guessing the routine still may be fairly similar...I'll find out in 49 DAYS!
Ejemplo de horario de un día estándar en Ipoderac:
5:30 Levantarse, desayuno, labores cotidianas de la casa. (These are my basic translations here in parentheses--Wake up, breakfast, morning chores)
7:30 Salida del minibús a las escuelas. (Leave in the bus for school)
7:30 – 11:00 Tiempo libre de voluntarios. (Free time for volunteers)
9:00 – 14:00 Los niños y jóvenes están en clases. (The boys are in school)
11:00 – 14:00 Las personas voluntarias se incorporan a trabajar en alguna de las áreas del Ipoderac, lo cual es designado por la persona encargada del voluntariado. (The volunteers work at their assigned area/job of IPO)
14:00 Llegan los niños y jóvenes de la escuela. Comida y actividades de la casa. (The boys arrive back from school; eat and activities in the house)
15:30 Participación en el modelo de formación para el trabajo junto con los niños. Apoyo y participación activa en alguno de los diversos talleres productivos. (Productively working together with the boys)
17:30 Tiempo de estudio. Apoyo a tareas en casa. (Time to study, help the boys in the house)
18:30 Tiempo recreativo. (Free time)
19:00 Baño, cena y actividades de la casa. (Shower, dinner, and in-house activities)
21:00 Hora de dormir para los niños y jóvenes. (Bedtime!)
Also: my most recent e-mail form Angela, my current contact at IPO, established that I will be living in one of the houses with the boys (If it's the house with the youngest ones I'll be planning on finding room for all of them in my suitcase to take home with me) there will be up to 5 other volunteers (I'm debating on how creeper-esque it would be to ask Angela for their names to establish contact beforehand) and finally they will provide sheets and towels in "good condition" but if I want to bring my own, I can. Yeah, right, because I'm planning on having so much free space in my suitcase. :)
Gah I am so, so excited! Love you all, and one week until my fiesta de cumpleanos! Happy days of sunshine.
Ejemplo de horario de un día estándar en Ipoderac:
5:30 Levantarse, desayuno, labores cotidianas de la casa. (These are my basic translations here in parentheses--Wake up, breakfast, morning chores)
7:30 Salida del minibús a las escuelas. (Leave in the bus for school)
7:30 – 11:00 Tiempo libre de voluntarios. (Free time for volunteers)
9:00 – 14:00 Los niños y jóvenes están en clases. (The boys are in school)
11:00 – 14:00 Las personas voluntarias se incorporan a trabajar en alguna de las áreas del Ipoderac, lo cual es designado por la persona encargada del voluntariado. (The volunteers work at their assigned area/job of IPO)
14:00 Llegan los niños y jóvenes de la escuela. Comida y actividades de la casa. (The boys arrive back from school; eat and activities in the house)
15:30 Participación en el modelo de formación para el trabajo junto con los niños. Apoyo y participación activa en alguno de los diversos talleres productivos. (Productively working together with the boys)
17:30 Tiempo de estudio. Apoyo a tareas en casa. (Time to study, help the boys in the house)
18:30 Tiempo recreativo. (Free time)
19:00 Baño, cena y actividades de la casa. (Shower, dinner, and in-house activities)
21:00 Hora de dormir para los niños y jóvenes. (Bedtime!)
Also: my most recent e-mail form Angela, my current contact at IPO, established that I will be living in one of the houses with the boys (If it's the house with the youngest ones I'll be planning on finding room for all of them in my suitcase to take home with me) there will be up to 5 other volunteers (I'm debating on how creeper-esque it would be to ask Angela for their names to establish contact beforehand) and finally they will provide sheets and towels in "good condition" but if I want to bring my own, I can. Yeah, right, because I'm planning on having so much free space in my suitcase. :)
Gah I am so, so excited! Love you all, and one week until my fiesta de cumpleanos! Happy days of sunshine.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Tengo los boletos...
Somehow I’ve gone from 6 months away from Mexico to 55 days. (Although the first draft of this post was written 5 days ago for a nice 6 months/60 days matching. Oh well.)
I’ve bought my tickets, just sent an e-mail asking for a confirmation for where I’ll be staying, and I am still just as ecstatic as I was in November. You should have seen me last week on my Spring Break Service Trip, when we visited a Catholic Worker House in St. Paul geared primarily towards Hispanic and Latino immigrants-I was literally hopping up the stairs to speak Spanish. I just get this inexplicable feeling when I’m in any environment (other than SPN 311!) in which I can speak Spanish, listen to it, eat it, feel it…and if that feeling comes when I’m a few hours away from Omaha, how much will it be expounded when I’m actually in Mexico?
An outline of my itinerary:
May 16th: Leave Denver in the evening, flying to LAX, Guadalajara, and then Puebla. I’ll arrive in Puebla around 10 in the morning, which should-hopefully!-get me to IPO by noon?
August 13: Leave IPO (ouch.) for an evening flight out of Puebla, flying again to Guadalajara, to LAX for a 6 hour layover, and finally home in the morning on August 14th. For any of you wondering, I am still hesitant about such major travel plans on Friday the 13th, so I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed :)
And finally, for the Spanish friendly, some websites I’m currently pouring over:
http://www.ipoderac.org.mx/
Ipoderac’s website, also in English!
http://www.atlixco.com/
Atlixco is the city/town I’ll be staying in!
http://www.puebla.gob.mx/index.php
Atlixco is the city where I’ll be, and it’s in the state of Puebla. Capital of Puebla? Puebla/Puebla City, which is where I’m flying into.
Not sure if there’s anything else big to add at the moment, but you can be sure I’ll keep you updated. I’m so so very lucky, blessed, and excited. Mil gracias for your love, support, and enthusiasm. Adios por ahora.
I’ve bought my tickets, just sent an e-mail asking for a confirmation for where I’ll be staying, and I am still just as ecstatic as I was in November. You should have seen me last week on my Spring Break Service Trip, when we visited a Catholic Worker House in St. Paul geared primarily towards Hispanic and Latino immigrants-I was literally hopping up the stairs to speak Spanish. I just get this inexplicable feeling when I’m in any environment (other than SPN 311!) in which I can speak Spanish, listen to it, eat it, feel it…and if that feeling comes when I’m a few hours away from Omaha, how much will it be expounded when I’m actually in Mexico?
An outline of my itinerary:
May 16th: Leave Denver in the evening, flying to LAX, Guadalajara, and then Puebla. I’ll arrive in Puebla around 10 in the morning, which should-hopefully!-get me to IPO by noon?
August 13: Leave IPO (ouch.) for an evening flight out of Puebla, flying again to Guadalajara, to LAX for a 6 hour layover, and finally home in the morning on August 14th. For any of you wondering, I am still hesitant about such major travel plans on Friday the 13th, so I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed :)
And finally, for the Spanish friendly, some websites I’m currently pouring over:
http://www.ipoderac.org.mx/
Ipoderac’s website, also in English!
http://www.atlixco.com/
Atlixco is the city/town I’ll be staying in!
http://www.puebla.gob.mx/index.php
Atlixco is the city where I’ll be, and it’s in the state of Puebla. Capital of Puebla? Puebla/Puebla City, which is where I’m flying into.
Not sure if there’s anything else big to add at the moment, but you can be sure I’ll keep you updated. I’m so so very lucky, blessed, and excited. Mil gracias for your love, support, and enthusiasm. Adios por ahora.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Pasos Pequeños
“Quiero comentarte que después de revisar tu perfil hemos decidio aceptarte como voluntaria para el periodo del 15 de mayo al 15 de agosto del próximo año.”
Reading my acceptance e-mail was everything I had imagined it would be. I scanned until I found “aceptarte”, and then went absolutely wild from there. Those on my floor were probably wondering what zoo animal had escaped, since I was sitting (actually madly jumping around and screaming) in our neutral zone, and I faced quite the dilemma coming up with a room to visit and share the good news, since Friday night is not the best time to find someone. Quick calls (I’m going to Mexico, and now I have to hang up with you to tell someone else) were followed by five-exclamation-point-worthy text messages. I ran to find my Paisa (my Spanish-speaking “homie”, Rosangela) to translate and confirm I hadn’t misread it and false-cognate-d the verb aceptar, which thankfully does mean ‘to accept’ in English. I loved receiving everyone’s texts or phone messages back during the night, and when I returned from a successful Kappa date party, I was in a state of exhaustion and excitement.
I am so blessed and lucky to have been granted my wish to return to Atlixco, and it meant a lot that everyone I told (which really was pretty much everyone) was nothing but excited for me. Mom, many people wondered if I had told you yet, which seemed a bit odd, because you were the first person I called. I was disappointed when I processed that the May 15-August 15 date range meant missing Cart’s graduation and birthday, but I decided when I even came up with the notion of applying that if I was going to go, I was going to go all the way, for their entire requested time commitment of three months. It feels strange now to have such a concrete deadline of May 15th; really at this point just a semester away. But I get teary with sheer joy when I look through the pictures from last year, and imagine seeing boys like Jesus or Roberto again. They asked me when I left if I was going to return, and I cannot believe that my answer of “maybe” is now a definitive yet.
I am also excited to start this blogging concept! After I saw my friend Amanda wrote one during her semester in the Dominican Republic, I decided it would be a great way to hopefully keep everyone at home informed of my adventures down south. I have a very limited understanding of how much internet time I might or might not receive (I think the boys had an opportunity once a week?) so I’ll see if I can’t keep things both in hard copy form and then in a later-posted electronic one. Right now I would just like to thank a million times over everyone who helped me achieve that e-mail; from my mom who actually let me apply to all those who helped translate the communication stages of it (which are certainly not over yet!) to everyone who’s support, love and assistance have followed me and will continue to follow me throughout my stay in Mexico.
I am overwhelmingly excited, and cannot wait to share my stories with you, just as I cannot wait to share in the lives of the boys at IPODERAC. I thank God for giving me this opportunity and can only hope I allow myself to make the absolute best out of everything I am about to experience.
6 months.
Con amor,
Laura
Reading my acceptance e-mail was everything I had imagined it would be. I scanned until I found “aceptarte”, and then went absolutely wild from there. Those on my floor were probably wondering what zoo animal had escaped, since I was sitting (actually madly jumping around and screaming) in our neutral zone, and I faced quite the dilemma coming up with a room to visit and share the good news, since Friday night is not the best time to find someone. Quick calls (I’m going to Mexico, and now I have to hang up with you to tell someone else) were followed by five-exclamation-point-worthy text messages. I ran to find my Paisa (my Spanish-speaking “homie”, Rosangela) to translate and confirm I hadn’t misread it and false-cognate-d the verb aceptar, which thankfully does mean ‘to accept’ in English. I loved receiving everyone’s texts or phone messages back during the night, and when I returned from a successful Kappa date party, I was in a state of exhaustion and excitement.
I am so blessed and lucky to have been granted my wish to return to Atlixco, and it meant a lot that everyone I told (which really was pretty much everyone) was nothing but excited for me. Mom, many people wondered if I had told you yet, which seemed a bit odd, because you were the first person I called. I was disappointed when I processed that the May 15-August 15 date range meant missing Cart’s graduation and birthday, but I decided when I even came up with the notion of applying that if I was going to go, I was going to go all the way, for their entire requested time commitment of three months. It feels strange now to have such a concrete deadline of May 15th; really at this point just a semester away. But I get teary with sheer joy when I look through the pictures from last year, and imagine seeing boys like Jesus or Roberto again. They asked me when I left if I was going to return, and I cannot believe that my answer of “maybe” is now a definitive yet.
I am also excited to start this blogging concept! After I saw my friend Amanda wrote one during her semester in the Dominican Republic, I decided it would be a great way to hopefully keep everyone at home informed of my adventures down south. I have a very limited understanding of how much internet time I might or might not receive (I think the boys had an opportunity once a week?) so I’ll see if I can’t keep things both in hard copy form and then in a later-posted electronic one. Right now I would just like to thank a million times over everyone who helped me achieve that e-mail; from my mom who actually let me apply to all those who helped translate the communication stages of it (which are certainly not over yet!) to everyone who’s support, love and assistance have followed me and will continue to follow me throughout my stay in Mexico.
I am overwhelmingly excited, and cannot wait to share my stories with you, just as I cannot wait to share in the lives of the boys at IPODERAC. I thank God for giving me this opportunity and can only hope I allow myself to make the absolute best out of everything I am about to experience.
6 months.
Con amor,
Laura
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