Day Siete

Today marks the first day with the kids. We have been planning so much and there is nothing else to do but to put everything to action. Basically the point of today was to register people for the program, introduce everyone, and talk about what we were there for. I had Oscar translate a small speech explaining who I am and what I would do. I also mentioned the fact that I know little Spanish. Naturally all the kids flocked to me with their questions in Spanish.  

We have a group of older boys who seem pretty close and they might be trouble. They don't seem to want to be split into separate groups and one was separated and sulked the whole time. The girls are all really shy. They barely even utter their names. When it came time for me to speak I felt a confidence in myself and talked nice and loud and smiled at the kids. I think that's why people liked me. The first few days everyone was a little nervous, so I think smiling was a good way to communicate with them that this is supposed to be a fun project FOR THEM.

Some of the kids are the cutest little things. We're teaching about 20 kids that range in age from 6 to 15 years old. The six year old is so tiny, and his name is Jose. There was another little girl who was 9 years old and she was so tiny. Most of the kids were shorter than me, which is a nice ego boost for someone who's 5'4''. Kids in the US at their age are taller than me by age 13.

I think the most important part of this day was making the Akosia map with the kids. This is where all had to brainstorm good qualities that we all supported and agreed upon. For example, respect, responsibility, confidence, courage, etc. All these words were rules. If anyone wasn't respecting someone else, all we had to do was point to the map and remind the kids what they had agreed upon. It was amazing watching them come up with the right words and share their thoughts on the map. After we wrote down all the words the kids were meant to sign the agreement which would be their agreement to come back every day and be a part of this project. There was a group of boys who won't be able to make it tomorrow but they have agreed to come back the day after.

At two it was time for the kids to leave. The five of us worked out some rides for some of the kids for the time they were going to be spending with us. There were boys from California which is a 40 minute dive or a 4 hour walk. There is also a group of 10 girls that were about two miles away and we arranged for them a ride back and forth so they weren't walking those two mile every day.

After everyone left, we ate our lunch. Generally, we eat breakfast in the morning, snack when the kids eat lunch, eat our lunch around 3pm and then have a really light dinner around 9. But I'm not used to eating a ton of meals a day so it feels like we're eating nonstop.

Afterwards we like to plan for tomorrows lesson while sitting on the roof and catching a few minutes of sunshine. The rest of our day is filled with planning while Melissa types up the reports for the day. This day we went back to Dolores Hidalgo to download some movies to demonstrate video making to the kids. The cafe we went to has guacamole that's to die for!

Day Seis

Around seven we got dressed and ready to Fiesta. It was raining again, so we dressed warm. However everyone else there was decked out. The girls were wearing fancy dresses and getting their heels stuck in the mud. Smaller girls were wearing beautiful white communion dresses.

Boys were dressed up in hats and boots. There was music, food, friends, things for sale. It was an event to see.

Men were coming up to us and chatting after they had a few drinks for courage. Melissa met a man named Gus who chatted with her for a while. Later Esme and I were approached by a guy.

He started talking to us about our cameras. Then he mentioned how he was from Texas but lost his passport. He got into trouble with the law and now he needs to stay in Mexico for 10 years before he can reapply to go back to the states. He kept telling us how privileged we were. How we are so lucky to live where we live and to travel around. We were privileged to be beautiful.

It wasn't the last time we would hear this.. but it's still running through my head today. Every time I feel lazy or I don't really want to work I think about this guy and realize that not everyone has the blessing of a job, or income, or strength. I've been able to open my eyes on this trip.

Day Cuatro

I'm happy to say I survived the night. We all did. We woke up to the bright morning light, stepped out of our room to see birds flying around the corridors,  dogs barking, and good smells coming from the kitchen. Melissa had already tried out the shower this morning and gushed at how amazing it was despite the fact that it was outdoors and there really wasn't any privacy for changing after the shower. We decided to walk back to our rooms for changing then and there (I only had a few awkward moments of walking past strangers in my towel while living there). However, a shower this morning was going to have to wait until after breakfast for me. We came downstairs where Chuy was there (the woman from last night). She was cooking tortillas with ham and cheese in them, there was a massive bowl of cantaloup and papaya, there were hot sauces, and a hot water with lime juice and honey. Melissa was downing those like there was no tomorrow because her voice had gone missing from the night before. We had breakfast with the other guy who greeted us yesterday, Aender, a man named Manuel, and Gerry, who helps out around Ceracaly and brings his wife and adorable one year old daughter.

Everything was delicious and we stayed and "chatted" with everyone for a little while. I say "chatted" because I basically sat there and smiled while everyone around me spoke Spanish.

Just at the moment I was going to shower, it was insisted that we take a tour of the place, so we saw the library, computer rooms, bathrooms, and the gardens where they grow all these different vegetables. Right after we got back inside, we met Mauricio. He basically was in charge of everything or anything we needed at Ceracaly. He's 28 years old and plays the guitar and smiles like a little kid on Christmas. We all instantly loved him. Not to mention he had the coolest dog ever named Orpheus. I'll keep coming back to Orpheus and I only have about a hundred photos of him.

During the meeting, we were brought a snack called Tuna. Tuna is the fruit of a cactus, it's magenta in color, and it's got a bunch of little pits that you just swallow. It didn't taste like much but we still liked it.

Anyways we went over our schedule for the first week with Mauricio and he told us a little bit about Ceracaly. After our talk with Mauricio,  after so many photos and meetings with all kinds of people, I was able to shower. We all got ready and packed up our things to go into Dolores Hidalgo to use the internet and get some supplies for the two week stay in Ceracaly. At this point we met the famous Oscar, who was the only person to work on the project last year and came back this year. We loaded into the car and Aender, Mauricio, and Oscar got into another car and we drove about 20 minutes to get to Dolores Hidalgo.

It's actually a beautiful little city filled with bright colors and we took some time to walk around and explore the little shops. People were selling all different kinds of food and there was also famous ice cream in this city that we were on the hunt for.

When we finally found a stand that sold ice cream we approached it and were instantly given all different kinds of free samples of the ice cream. I tried beer, avocado, chocolate, and some fruity ones. They were so weird, but the avocado one was surprisingly good. After some sightseeing we decided to get a drink and get some internet to contact home. We found a place that had two for one drinks and thought it was as good as any place.

Me and my beautiful friends.

At this point I had my first taste of mexican tequila. I had declined a beer because I'm not a fan of the taste. I like girly fruity drinks. So the waitress suggested a margarita. Now, I've had margaritas before; you can barely taste the alcohol in them because they are filled with different fruit flavors. I ordered one and it came without a fruit flavor. It was basically tequila. It was really difficult sipping it because it was really strong. We chatted around the table and then the waitress brought everyone their second drink. Remember, I mentioned it was buy one get one. Well I had forced the first one and I really didn't want the second. I offered it to Melissa who claimed she had to drive. No one else wanted it. I decided if I could just get rid of it fast it would be better. I took larger gulps of it, and voila, it disappeared…as did I a little.

We did some shopping and headed back to Ceracaly. It was about 10 when we got back and we played some cards and hung out with the guys a little longer before we sunk back into bed.