When It Rains, It Pours

And I mean that literally and figuratively. As I mentioned a few posts back, I arranged a meeting with my Fulbright advisor to discuss my concerns about my ETA placement—few hours, no office, no English department, etc. Well, let me say that expressing my worries was a REALLY STUPID IDEA. Who ever said that open communication is a good thing? Fulbright decided to move me to a different school in DF. No problem…I really was excited. But, they wanted to move me to the same school that another ETA was already at. Weird, right? There are thousands of universities here in Mexico, and they decide to put two out of the eight ETAs at the same school. I tried contacting my advisor to discuss the situation, but I could not reach her. I even went to her office in DF, but she wasn’t there.


In the meantime, the students at my university got word of my “possible departure” and decided to do something positive about it. They wanted me to stay so they tried to make my situation better by organizing a few conversation classes that I could lead. They told me that they would actually show up to class.

I was happy, but that really put me in a predicament. Should I move to a different city and another school where there is an established English department, or should I stay at my school and try to develop an English curriculum on my own for the small group of students that actually wants to learn English?

Well, yesterday, out of the clear blue I get this e-mail from my advisor saying that Fulbright is threatening to take away my scholarship. What? I couldn’t believe it. I was frantic. Please…I didn’t mean to make you mad. I just thought I should let you know that you were paying me for not doing any work. What is wrong with telling you that? I have been trying to work through this nightmare of a situation since then. At this point in time, I have no control over what happens. I don’t think (cross my fingers) that they are going to take away my scholarship, but I’m not sure whether I will be staying in Cuernavaca or moving to DF. Yep…when it rains, it pours.

As far as the literal meaning to the saying goes, let me give you some advice. If you live in Cuernavaca during the rainy season, do NOT leave your house without bringing an umbrella. Even if it’s bulky and annoying, don’t even think about walking out the door without it. And, if it has already rained once earlier in the day, it can ALWAYS, ALWAYS rain a second or even third time.

So, yesterday it rained buckets around lunchtime. It wasn’t a big deal because I was in a classroom at the university. Jump forward a few hours…I was invited to go bowling with my neighbor Claudia. I had to take the bus to get there, and I decided that I wasn’t going to take my umbrella because it had already rained. Stop. Can I rewind? Big mistake. Let me tell you that on my journey to the bowling alley, it rained like I’ve never seen it rain—cats and dogs, torrential downpour, whatever you want to call it, it rained a lot. Once I got off the bus, I had to walk a good distance to the bowling alley, and by the time I arrived, I was soaked from head to toe. I mean it looked like I had jumped into a swimming pool. Well, I learned my lesson. An umbrella is essential during the rainy season in Cuernavaca!

Despite my wet condition, bowling was a lot of fun. I didn’t do too bad considering that I hadn’t bowled for quite a while.

Anyway, this past week really hasn’t been the greatest, but I’m still hanging in there. If you get a chance, think of me and send some positive thoughts my way. I could really use them after this insane week.

Abrazos (Hugs), Nicole

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Some Randomness…

Since arriving in México, I’ve been on this kind of travel frenzy every weekend. First, Acapulco and then, DF. I really haven’t spent much time in the city of Cuernavaca. So today, I got on a bus and headed to the zócalo to scope out the downtown scene. I didn’t plan to go anywhere in particular. I just wanted to pit-pat around the city with my camera in hand.

No matter what city you go to in Mexico and no matter what the size of the city, I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll find on old cathedral. So, when I came upon this enormous cathedral, better known as La Catedral de Cuernavaca (pretty original name…I know), I wasn’t surprised. But, I still decided to go in and check it out.

As I was walking through the entrance, this random guy stopped me and wanted to know if I spoke English. “Sí, hablo inglés,” I responded. He told me that he was learning English and he wanted to practice it. He asked if he could take me on a free tour of the cathedral. I said, “Sure.” (This kind of thing is not uncommon. It seems that everyone wants to practice their English with a native speaker.) So, he began the tour in English, but eventually switched to Spanish, which was completely fine with me. It was kind of neat to have my own personal tour guide, and I thanked him very kindly for showing me around.

Switch gears…Yesterday my wonderful students decided to celebrate my birthday. They serenaded me in the school courtyard with Las Mañanitas (the “Happy Birthday” song), and bought me a heck load of tamales. “Tienes que probar todos. Es tu cumpleaños.” (You have to try all of them. It’s your birthday.” Each one of the tamales had a different colored ribbon sticking out of the end. The different colors represent different fillings (blue = peppers with cheese; pink = strawberry; green = tomatillo salsa). These were my first tamales since arriving in Mexico, and I must admit they were/are pretty good. I have been eating them slowly being mindful of the advice that was engrained into memory 2 years ago by host mom in Puebla. “No comas tantos tamales. ¡Se engordan!” (Don’t eat too many tamales. They will make you fat.)

Alright. Switch gears one more time…Everyday as I walk through my neighborhood to the bus stop, I enjoy reading the names of the various streets. I live in this really romantic neighborhood, and all of the road names reflect this sort of love theme. Would you like to live on Senda Coqueta (Flirtatious Lane) or Senda Risueña (Smiling Path)? It reminds me of a scene right out of Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorite books. In addition to these entertaining road titles, each of the houses is given a name, too. There is Paloma del Río (Dove of the River) and Quinta Aurora (The Fifth Dawn). It makes the walk up the steep hills or should I say mountains much more enjoyable.

Thanks for joining me for the bits of randomness about Cuernavaca. ¡Que tengas un fantástico fin de semana! Have a fantastic weekend!

Click for more pictures!

Abrazos, Nicole

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¡Viva México!

Although the streets have been covered with green, white, and red (Mexico's national colors) for quite some time now, today officially celebrates 199 years of independence for Mexico.

While September 16th is the official date of independence, most celebrations begin the day before. In many cities in Mexico, there is a zócalo (main plaza in the city center), which gradually fills with people as the evening of September 15th advances. At 11:00 PM, a government official from each town arrives in the zócalo to give the grito or cry of independence. (In Mexico City’s zócalo, the president walks out onto the balcony of the Palacio Nacional to offer the grito.) This ritual recreates the moment in which Miguel Hidalgo, the father of Mexico, called out for freedom from Spain. As he delivered this freedom speech, he rang a church bell. To this day, the same bell is rung in Mexico City every September 16th.

The crowd joins in the grito by proudly shouting the names of Mexican independence heroes and ends with ¡Viva México! You can watch a video here of this year’s grito in Mexico City given by President Felipe Calderón. The best part occurs from 1:40-3:00 on the video...you might want to fast forward.

I didn’t have the opportunity to go to the grito in Cuernavaca because it was raining extremely hard, but I am decked out in green, white, and red today. The pictures in this post are a sampling of the many displays of independence that I have seen throughout Mexico.

I made some puppy chow and chocolate chip cookies to take to my neighbor’s Independence Day celebration tonight. I hope you felt like you got to experience a little bit of Mexican Independence Day!

¡Viva México!

Abrazos, Nicole

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Las Mañanitas

Yesterday, my neighbor and friend, Claudia graciously invited me over to her house for a birthday dinner. When I walked through the door, I was greeted by Claudia’s daughter, Ceci who painted my face with the colors of the Mexican flag (Independence Day is coming up.) The family gave me 2 little presents: a small, silver compact mirror to keep in a purse or backpack and a pin that says ¡Viva México! Before dinner, I was treated to snacks and some agua fresca (fruit juice)—agua de tuna. Tuna is the fruit that is found on the cactus. The agua de tuna tasted like a combination of kiwi and just ripened banana.

For dinner, we had enfrijoladas—corn tortillas filled with vegetables and dipped in a black bean sauce. They were topped with crema (sour cream), queso de canasta (a shredded white cheese), avocado, tomato, and green pepper. Wow…were they tasty.

After dinner, the family sang “Las Mañanitas” to me. This is the traditional birthday song that is sung here in Mexico. While there are many verses to the song, the first two are usually sung at most parties. Here are the lyrics:

Estas son las mañanitas, que cantaba el Rey David,
Hoy por ser día de tu santo, te las cantamos a ti,
Despierta, Nicole, despierta, mira que ya amaneció,
Ya los pajarillos cantan, la luna ya se metió.

Que linda está la mañana en que vengo a saludarte,
Venimos todos con gusto y placer a felicitarte,Y
a viene amaneciendo, ya la luz del día nos dio,
Levántate de mañana, mira que ya amaneció.

And the translation:

This is the morning song that King David sang,
Because today is your saint's day we're singing it for you,
Wake up, Nicole, wake up, look it is already dawn,
The birds are already singing and the moon has set.

How lovely is the morning in which I come to greet you,
We all came with joy and pleasure to congratulate you,
The morning is coming now, the sun is giving us its light,
Get up in the morning, look it is already dawn.

You can hear the music by clicking here.

I was very excited to be able to celebrate my birthday with a Mexican family. For dessert we enjoyed vanilla and strawberry Rice Krispie Treats that I prepared and a creamy gelatin painted with the colors of the Mexican flag. It was certainly a birthday to remember.

Abrazos, Nicole
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A Weekend of Cumpleaños Fun

On Friday, I went to visit my friend Cammie who is an ETA in DF (Mexico City). The trip from Cuernavaca to DF was very short, and it only took about 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there. I met her at the metro stop closest to her neighborhood. We dropped my stuff off at her house and headed out again to meet Jessica, our Fulbright advisor, in the Zona Rosa.

Jessica took Cammie and me out to lunch with several other Fulbrighters who are part of the teacher exchange program (different than the ETA.) After lunch, Cammie headed over to the Biblioteca Benjamín Franklin, and I went to Jessica’s office to discuss my placement at the CCG. Jessica was happy that I informed her of the problem and said she would notify SEP as soon as possible. Now, I just have to wait and see what they are going to do.

During the evening, Cammie and I went to a taquería (taco restaurant) in her neighborhood called Taquería Los Güeros (Blondies). I ordered tacos al pastor which were absolutely delicious. (I would highly recommend trying these if you ever travel to Mexico.) A taco al pastor is taco that is made out of marinated pork that is slowly cooked on a vertical rotisserie (like a gyro). The meat is extremely tender and is sliced very thin to serve. My favorite part of eating at the taquerías is sampling the various salsas.

After dinner, we headed back to Cammie’s house for a little birthday celebration with her Mexican roommates. Cammie was kind (and daring) enough to make some vanilla birthday cupcakes in an oven without a temperature gauge. Despite their looks, the cupcakes were delicious. After cake, we watched the movie Up, which we bought for 10 pesos (pirated) at the market.

On Saturday morning, Cammie’s roommate, Elena, showed us where the food market was. Cammie and I planned to make lunch for her roommates. We enjoyed browsing through the various produce stalls that were brimming with a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. We bought the ingredients we needed, and went back home to begin cooking.

We carefully washed all of the vegetables and began preparing the tomato-lentil-mushroom pasta sauce for lunch. (Click here for printable recipe.) In no time, delicious smells filled the kitchen as we chopped, stirred, and cooked away. Lunch consisted of spiral pasta with tomato sauce, zucchini boats, and fresh cantaloupe. It was nice talking with Cammie’s three roommates over a scrumptious home-cooked meal.

After lunch, we hopped over to Coyocán to meet our friends Andy, Nicolas (Nico), and Renee. Renee gave me three wonderful posters for my birthday that I will be able to use in my Spanish classroom next year. Several other Fulbrighters met up with us in Coyoacán, and we all headed to the Bazaar, a market with beautiful artesanías (crafts). I bought a pair of blue glass earrings from one of the vendors. Andy and Nico bought me a colorful beaded belt from the Bazaar for my birthday. On Renee’s recommendation we tried the famous churros from one of Coyocán’s many churro stands. You could choose to have your churro filled with just about anything from chocolate sauce, to strawberry jam, to cream cheese. I choose cajeta (a caramel-like sauce) as my filling. Man, was it delicious.

For dinner, we got on the metro and went to a taquería in the Colonia Condesa called El Califa. I again enjoyed a different version of tacos al pastor and also a gringa (a taco in a flour tortilla). Afterwards, we went to La Flor del Son, our favorite dancing spot that we discovered a few weeks ago. I enjoyed watching the older couples spin their partners around as the band played lively Mexican music. Nico was so nice and bought me an orange rose with red tips. At about 1:30 in the morning, Renee, Cammie, and I went back to Cammie’s house. We quietly tiptoed through the door toward the kitchen so as not to wake her sleeping roommates. Cammie had used the other half of the vanilla cake batter to make a delicious cake frosted with chocolate icing. We had intended to share the cake with everyone who went with us to La Flor del Son , but it was too difficult to transport it, so we left at home. As a result…it was up to us to eat it:-). I served each of us a modest portion of cake to start. It was so good that we then helped ourselves to seconds and then thirds. And, yes…we three girls proudly demolished an entire birthday cake at 3 in the morning.

On Sunday, we woke a little bit later and walked to a nearby panadería/pastelería for breakfast. We munched on some delicious pastries outside of Walmart and did some quick grocery shopping before heading home. Cammie gave me a beautiful green scarf for my birthday which will be perfect for Cuernavaca’s cool, rainy weather. Renee and I said goodbye to Cammie and headed back to our respective cities.

It was certainly an enjoyable birthday weekend, and I want to say thank you to all of my friends who made it SO special. You guys are wonderful!!! Thank you to everyone back home who sent me birthday wishes as well. I feel so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life!!

Click for more pictures!

Abrazos, Nicole
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I just realized…

...that I haven’t shown you where I’ve been “working” for the past 2 weeks. Working? Not really, I’ve been having a few issues with my placement. Let me explain. The English program at the CCG (Centro de Ciencias Genómicas) is brand new this year. In other words, there is only ONE English class and ONE English teacher. The class meets twice a week for 1.5 hours each time, and here’s the catch…it is completely optional. That’s right. The class is 100% come-as-you-please. As you can imagine, this results in pretty low attendance. I think there are 30 or so students enrolled in the class and on average, 2-5 show up. It’s really kind of sad.

The worst part of all is that I don’t get to teach. I sit in the back of class, and add my input when I’m given the opportunity. For example, a person who alters your clothes is a ‘tailor’ not a ‘taylor,’—yes this is one minor correction that I had to tell the professor…he was extremely hesitant to believe me. So, I’m kind of without work right now. No work? Awesome, right? Are you thinking 9-month vacation in Mexico? Not really…believe it or not, I really wish I was doing something productive and meaningful with my time.

So, I have a meeting in DF tomorrow with my advisor about the situation. I’m not sure what is going to happen, but please send me lots of wishes for the best (whatever that may be).

I don’t want this post to be completely negative, so let me give you a mini tour of the part of the university that I spend my days at.

This is my “office.” Yes, unfortunately I don’t have a space where the students can come to see me if they do want help. When it’s sunny out, it’s a nice place to work. But being that we’re in the rainy season right now, the sun does not make an appearance very often. Sometimes the students come by and chat with me under the umbrellas, something I really enjoy.

This is a view of the CCG from above. The majority of Cuernavaca is built on a hill…yes very similar to Pittsburgh. However, the hills here in Cuernavaca are much steeper…think Mt. Washington-like streets. You can also see the CCG locker area in this picture. I might not have an oficina, but I do have a locker. This has been quite helpful.

Finally, these are my students (the ones that actually come to class). To date, this has been the largest class I’ve had yet. I’m glad I took a picture that day! I really can’t complain about the students because they have been very nice to me. It’s not their fault that there is no reason to come to class. I mean would you go to class if you didn’t have to?

So, that’s how things have been here in Cuernavaca…Kind of slow, but that is Mexico in a sense.

Abrazos, Nicole

P.S. Can I get all the negativity out at once? Montezuma has certainly been getting his share of revenge on me for the last 2 days. I will spare you the details :-S

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Weekend in Acapulco~Fin de semana en Acapulco

On Friday, my wonderful friends and fellow ETAs, Cammie and Renee, came to visit me in Cuernavaca. It was so great to see them and to also share thoughts and ideas about our first week of teaching at each of our universities. For dinner we decided to go to Lucca, an Italian restaurant that had been recommended to me by my nice landlady, Claudia. We ordered 3 different dishes and shared them in order to sample all of the delicious flavors. We certainly had an enjoyable night in one another’s company.

On Saturday morning, we headed out early to the Estrella de Oro bus station to catch a 4-hour bus to Acapulco. On the way there, we made a stop in a small town called Chilpancingo. Thinking that we had already arrived in Acapulco, we got off the bus like everyone else only to realize that we should have stayed on. Oops! Luckily we were able to get back on the bus, and we arrived in Acapulco to some extremely hot and humid weather.

We stayed at the Casa Inn, a high rise that is situated in the Bahía de Acapulco. The hotel had a refreshing pool, a beautiful view of the hills, and a partial view of the beach.

For lunch, we went to a restaurant across the street called 100% Natural Restaurantes. I enjoyed an ordered of molletes—halves of a whole wheat baguette spread with refried black beans, white cheese, and salsa. We enjoyed the tropical breeze that blew lightly through the open cabana.

After lunch we walked along the beach. The sand is much coarser in Acapulco and really gives your feet a good massage. The undertow is very strong, and we found it difficult to walk along the beach due to this. Nonetheless we enjoyed the fantastic views of the surrounding mountains and the splash of salty Pacific water on our bare feet.

For dinner, we headed to Taco Tumbra’s at the recommendation of the hotel bellboy. At most taco stands in Mexico you order a filling and then build your own tacos. We ordered chicken and queso-chile poblano as our fillings. Each order came with 10 or so small corn tortillas. There was a variety of six different types of muy picante salsas that we put on our tacos. They were wonderfully delicious and our waiter was awesome. He gave us small samples of the salsa to go and packed the bag with ice. Yummy!

During the evening, we watched the Mexico vs. Costa Rica soccer game. Mexico won 3-0 and there were fireworks on the beach in celebration of the victory!! At night, we met Renee’s friend, Rebecca. Rebecca was in Acapulco for the weekend visiting her boyfriend, Justin who is a professional poker player.

Rebecca and Justin invited us to their beach house in Las Brisas on Sunday morning for breakfast. The place was amazing with the most spectacular view of the beach. I couldn’t believe it…the landscape was like something you only see in travel brochures. We met Justin’s friends who are also professional poker players. Chucho, the man who works on the grounds of Las Brisas, served us a beautiful breakfast that included fresh fruit, quesadillas, salsas, molletes, fresh juices and coffee. After breakfast we sat around the pool and took in the gorgeous views and the sun’s warm rays.

Like a Cinderella story, the lovely weekend came to an end too soon, but we certainly enjoyed our mini-getaway to tropical Acapulco. HAPPY LABOR DAY to everyone back home and thanks for all of the comments :-)

Click for more pictures!

Abrazos, Nicole

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Welcome to my house~Bienvenidos a mi casa

So after living here for almost a week, I guess it’s time that I take you on a tour of my house. I will only be living here for one month because it is pretty lejos (far) from just about everything. I would love to stay because it’s gorgeous, but location trumps beauty.

Okay…so now for the tour. This is the living area. There are three large couches, a fireplace, a desk, a giant dining room table that seats 12 and a huge china cabinet. Man…I need to make friends fast to fill up that table.

The kitchen is also quite large. It has a sink, microwave, refrigerator, stove/oven, and also another little table. It also has ample pantry space. Unfortunately, the oven is not working…which limits my baking, :-( (I have to inquire about that) and the stove was just fixed today :-) (However, you need matches to light it, which I don’t have right now.)

The bathroom is my least favorite part of the house mainly because the shower sucks—there’s no water pressure and up until yesterday I only had scalding hot water. Can you tell I’m a plumber’s daughter? In addition, like most places in Mexico, I am not allowed to flush toilet paper down the toilet because the plumbing can’t handle it. We must dispose of it in a waste basket next to the toilet. Blah.

There are 2 bedrooms, and I of course took the room with the bigger bed. I think it might be the biggest bed I’ve ever slept in, at three pillows wide. Yes…I measured the width of the bed in pillows :-)

What I do like about the house is that it is surrounded by beautiful gardens. Everything is flowering and the landscape is a lush shade of green. The streets surrounding the neighborhood are very steep. It’s not so bad walking downhill to the bus stop, but walking uphill from the bus stop is building some serious muscles in my legs.

I have wonderful neighbors. We all live in the same house, but it is divided into 4 different parts, each with a separate entrance. Yes…in case you were wondering this house is big enough to be divided into 4 different parts each with its own kitchen/bathroom/living area. It is hacienda-sized. Etienne and Adriana, the young married couple, live in the back wing of the house. Daniel, a student at UNAM, lives directly above me…he is the one who gets to enjoy the balcony. Luis and Laura, the owner’s uncle and aunt, live in the very far part of the house.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the grand tour. I’ll have to take you on another tour of my next house when I move at the end of September.

P.S. It is POURING outside. I have never seen it rain so hard or so much. Yesterday, I learned a new phrase in Spanish about the weather. “Los ángeles están llorando.” It literally means “The angels are crying”, which is Spanish equivalent to “It’s raining cats and dogs.”

Click for more pictures!

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Yesterday 13 was my lucky number

Even though I have not yet posted any pictures of the house I am living in, I will tell you that it is very beautiful. The only problem is that it is REALLY out in the middle of nowhere. There are no stores, no fruit or vegetable stands, no people (except for my neighbors). There are however an abundance of stray dogs that bark all night long, a burro that lives up the street and groans about every 5 seconds, and several roosters who like to compete with the barking dogs and the groaning burro.

Given my rural location, transportation to downtown and the university is somewhat difficult unless you own a car. Needless to say, I attempted public transportation yesterday. My mission: find a grocery store and buy a Mexican cell phone. It took me about 15 minutes to walk down the steep hills of my neighborhood to the bus stop. After waiting for about a half hour, in which time 2 buses passed me, I finally learned LESSON #1 of Mexican transportation: You have to flag down buses with your index finger as if your life depended on it.

I took the bus straight to the zócalo (or so I thought), but in actuality I arrived somewhere near the zócalo. Given that I had absolutely no idea where I was at, I started walking. The cool thing about Cuernavaca is that all of the main roads run downhill directly into the center. So, I began walking uphill towards where I had come from in search of a TelCel store. I walked for a good 2 hours uphill, and I have the blisters to prove it. I came across the local fair that is going on right now, which mainly consists of cheap amusement park rides and people selling little plastic trinkets. But…no TelCel store

I finally reached a place that I recognized…the Emiliano Zapata market. I decided to buy some delicious queso Oaxaca (which I will tell you about in a later entry) and fresh tortillas. I asked the women at the tortilla stand where I could find a TelCel store. The answer: Plaza de Cuernavaca. They told me that I had to take bus #13. They gave me a round about idea of where the bus stop is, so I headed off in that direction. Once I reached what I thought was the bus stop, I asked a woman standing nearby. This brings me to LESSON #2 of Mexican transportation: The bus stops aren’t marked. You just have to “know” where they are at. So this lady pointed me in a different direction, and then this other lady pointed me to another spot. So, after all of these directions, I finally got on bus #13…only to realize that I got on the bus going in the wrong direction. So, LESSON #3 is: Mexicans will never tell they don’t know where something is. They’ll point you in a direction, but it might be completely wrong. So, I asked the lady sitting next to me on the bus how I might get to Plaza Cuernavaca. She told me to get off with her and then she would show me what bus to take. Luckily, she knew what she was talking about and I got on the right bus the second time around. I asked the driver to show me where Plaza Cuernavaca was.

So, 13 turned out to be my lucky number because it took me by 2 grocery stores (now I know where to get food), and it took me to Plaza Cuernavaca, which happens to be a really cool shopping center that has a TelCel store in it.

I will tell you right now that I’m kind of afraid of cell phone stores in the U.S. There are always a million people there and you have to get a ticket and wait in line, and people are trying to sell you phones and plans and to me it’s an absolute mess. So, when I walked into TelCel and it was exactly the same way as the Verizon, I was somewhat nervous. But, to make a long story short, I survived and I succeeded in buying a Mexican cell phone. Juan the nice TelCel guy was extremely helpful and got me a phone and $100 pesos worth of minutes for around $27 US dollars.

Then I hit the Mega (a huge grocery store chain) for some much needed toiletries like toothpaste and shampoo. The best part was that bus 13 took me right back to the university just in time for class.

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