Last Day of Mexico

Kristina Subsara November 19, 2012

I suppose I should wrap up this trip. I'm not really sure why it has taken me so long to post the last day. Maybe I dont want to give it up. Deep down I didn't want to go back home. For the first time ever I stepped out of my comfort zone and had an adventure. I succeeded. I won. I made friends, good and kind people! (a rarity for me). I felt beautiful inside and out when I was there. Going back home meant I was surrounded by others who could take photos or speak spanish way better than me. On the plus side, I was going home taking away this incredible experience. I have made plans to travel with Esme in Africa. I have an incredible friend and partner whom I can work with in the future, Oscar. I have talented kind people in my life I now call friends and have proven to be the same kind people in the few months that have slipped passed since this trip. It seems silly to think a two and a half week trip could change someone so much but it's as silly as a summer love. Those who experience it understand, and the others just think the rest of us are silly fools.

So on the last day we made a hardcore decision to actually drag our butts out of bed to make it to breakfast. We got dressed and walked out of Maria Jose's apartment making a right and walking by some new shops enjoying the rare rays of sunshine. We had walked about half a mile when someone realized that we were supposed to make a left outside of the apartment. We were almost double the distance we needed to be and on a time schedule of -minus 20 minutes until breakfast was over. We hailed a cab and hauled ass, because lets be honest, this was important.

Breakfast was a buffet of yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola. We all got different kinds of things including chocolate caliente!, hotcakes, omelets with interesting dips, and waffles. I'm pretty sure this breakfast made all the other missed ones worth it. Afterwards we went onto the roof of the restaurant where there was a bar and a big open seat that all four of us could lay on. We settled down there laying in the gorgeous sunshine while Melissa sipped on some sparkling drink and enjoying these last few carefree moments with each other before we separated.

It took a little while to get motivated to move from this, but spot eventually we started making our way into a part of Mexico city that had a archeology museum surrounded by a park. We ended up walking there and taking photos and of course getting stared at. Walking through the park it was filled with families and kids, people selling things, face painters, vendors selling food. It was amazing. We decided to try something that looked like paper. It actually tasted a little like paper to. I can also describe it as a wafer like the host in church. Not surprising that I liked it.

We also decided to get fake eye lashes and wore those around as if we didn't stand out enough. They were incredibly fun and bizarre to feel your eyelids be touched every time you blinked. It started sprinkling and we made a run for the museum. Of course it happened to be free for all people that day because in Mexico the stars aligned for us. So we explored various areas. Some signs were only in Spanish but I got the gist of things. Mostly I missed Oscar and got really tired. (It wasn't the right day for a museum for me. Somehow everything we experienced these last two weeks were way better than statues and things that are in a building). But Esme and Melissa had a good time because their dad is into those things.

We decided to skip some clothes shopping and hit up the market and get some souvenirs since that was going to close soon and I technically had nothing physical to show from this trip. We got to the market just as most of the shops were closing and the things I really wanted were outrageously priced. But that's okay because I ended up finding these incredible green blue square shot glasses. They are lined on my windowsill as we speak and I want to fill them with some decorative tall grass when that comes in season. (Go ahead and laugh that I'm not using them to take a shot of tequila. Maybe I'll save one to drink out of).

After losing Esme shortly, we ended up walking out and going to show her the big square and the church that Sarah and Melissa and I had already seen. We walked around photographing these graffiti walls and figuring out where we wanted to go for dinner. We settled on a place around the corner and I had my first ever TAPAS!

Tapas are like hour devours made into meals. So instead of having this giant meal and only getting to taste one thing from the menu you order a couple of small things and share. We also ordered drinks and watched this restaurant get progressively more awkward as they brought out a random DJ and like expected everyone to start dancing? We didnt stay there long because believe it or not it was a really freaking long day and we were still recovering from the past few days.

We went back to the apartment to freshen up and see if we could find a party. Now we had taken a cab back to the apartment and as we got out a guy was getting into the cab and just happened to invite us to his birthday party. We got his number and told him we might. (Like I said, anything we needed Mexico provided for us!). We sat on MJ's porch sipping wine and just listening to the city. We all sort of decided to stay in and relax and watch a movie instead of go out. Esme and I needed to be up early the next day for our flight. So we got popcorn and drinks and I'm not sure who mentioned 'Just Friends' was a great movie but we ended up watching that movie. (Okay, it was me. but Ryan Reynolds is a babe, can you blame me I look past the crap in that movie?).

Anyways there was laughter and I remember looking around the room trying to soak everything up. I was ready for this trip to be over because at this point I didn't anything to come up and spoil a perfect trip.

Goodbyes that next morning were so hard. We hugged for a long time promising to stay in touch and to do great things. Sarah was off to explore the rest of the world starting in South America, Melissa had a few free weeks before the chains of grad school held her down, and Esme had less than 24 hours until she was due back at work. As for me I had a few weeks before I started my last semester at grad school.

As you know it is November now. I am working on my capstone project. My topic is Mexico and I am looking to go back there sometime around March and work on a video and really show people why the four of us fell in love with this place and the people we met. My project will be part of a kickstarter that will raise money for the organization down there, FAI.

A lot has changed in the few months that I have been back. I really think I am a different person. There were a few weeks that I couldn't stand people bitching about their jobs when all I could think about were the 3 year old kids selling gum to the tourists. It's sort of hard to feel bad about the trivial things. I've had my friends tell me I am a more outgoing person now and that I don't complain so much. That's a personal goal achieved. I even have my next travel plans coming up in about six weeks. I can't get over the doors that this trip opened (really the doors that my school, S.I. Newhouse school of Communication have opened). I really feel like this is what I might want to do with my life.

However nothing is for certain. All we can do is live our lives to the fullest, take advantage of the time we are spending here, and understand how similar we all are. I think more people need to travel and understand that. Maybe there would be more empathy out there. Anyways I want to thank anyone who has stuck by this little travel section.

Keep checking in, I officially head to Liberia at the end of December. For now, ¡hasta luego.

Day Diez

Kristina Subsara August 16, 2012

Friday! We had a lot to do today, but the reward is getting the weekend to ourselves and enjoying a small mexican road trip for the weekend. Today was the day where we actually split the group into two separate groups and they were to pick a story, storyboard, and maybe even start filming. A couple of the kids actually brought in stories they had written, and surprisingly they were incredible.

First we showed the kids their silent films from last night. We talked about the importance of storyboarding because if you don't then the editors don't know exactly what you want with your movie and it might come out completely different. Luckily, Oscar and I were pretty spot on with the stories.

new friend who wasn't sure what to think about 32 kids.

There was a lot of disorganization with the kids today and one girl ended up having a panic attack when she wasn't being heard in her group. Esme got her and Mauricio, and they sat her down and got her a cup of hot water and a warm taco to put on her chest. That's what she said her mom does for her because she's had heart problems before.

We ended up voting on the genre of movies and had one group consisting of mostly older kids who wanted to do a drama and a huge group of younger kids who wanted to do a horror movie. Then we made the groups get together and decide on a story. This took forever. Pretty much the rest of the day was filled with discussions on how to create a story (who was the main character? what was the problem they had to overcome? what was the resolution? and so on).

During all of this, Melissa came upstairs and told me that there had been a shooting in the US. She said it had been in the midnight premier of Batman but she couldn't remember which city or state it was in. Since my boyfriend was at the midnight premier, I was freaked out and I went to go check the news, email my family, and check in on everyone.

Thankfully, no one in my family was hurt, despite me having cousins in Colorado. Unfortunately, I was pretty distracted by the news.

So we ended the day with the group having a story and asking the kids to work on storyboards at home.

The five of us had lunch, packed, and then jumped into the car to drive to Guanajuato! Basically we had to drive up and down a mountain. It was narrow roads, sharp curves, crazy people passing us, and the most beautiful views.

We arrived in the city about 50 minutes later and drove through it. It's a gorgeous city built on and around a cluster of mountains. The city is famous but it's amazing because it doesn't look touristy at all. Theres a Starbucks and a dominoes pizza, but they are sort of hidden, there are no traffic lights, and no neon signs. It's gorgeous and colorful. We drove to Oscar's cousins house which houses travelers. It was small, but we didn't need anything extravagant.

We settled in and Esme and I explored a little with our cameras. Then we got all dressed up and went out for a night on the town. Melissa, Sarah, and Oscar discovered that the Guanajuato International Film Festival was this weekend which was pretty amazing, and also there was a tunnel party that we HAD to check out.

We went to a place that had loud music in a populated square and ordered some drinks and small things to share. I had a piña colada and a blue hawaiian. The drinks tasted okay, but the food was like ballpark nachos. It was really crappy. Later we learned that this place had awful food that was really cheap and it was the sort of place for extreme tourists.

It didn't matter, it was late when we finally left there, so we started towards the tunnel party. We met a ton of people that Oscar went to school with, and we left him to wait for more as we went into the party. It was a tunnel that went through the mountain and cars drive through, but a portion of it was closed down for this massive party. There were so many people in there and there were bars set up. It was an awesome party. There were flashing lights in all different colors, loud music, and a ton of people staring at us. We danced for a little while and then Esme decided to go back with Sarah to the house and sleep (they hadn't gotten much sleep and were exhausted). I wanted to stay a little more with Melissa.

We got some refreshments and kept our eyes open for Oscar or his friends. A couple of people stopped and talked to us. We also saw a really famous Mexican actor. We kept being approached by these photographers who kept taking our photos and talking to us a bit. They offered to get us into the VIP area. He gave Melissa a bracelet and then I just walked in. I was stopped, but I took some of my acting skills, made my eyes really big and acted like I had no idea why I couldn't be let in. Eventually they said "oh she doesn't speak spanish" "what harm could be done?" "She's fine" and I got in. Drinks were free here, the people were classy, and we were feeling good.

We danced and attracted the same photographers who were over eager to talk to us and lead us around. Finally we found Oscar and acted like we hadn't seen him in a while so we could go talk to him. It took about four attempts to get away from the photographers and hang out with Oscars friends and just dance alone. We stayed for a few hours and then left around 5 am. It was crazy and so much fun. I'm not really a party person at home, so I probably appreciate a night out more than the regular kid.

Both Melissa and i were given flowers on the walk home by boys and she even was given a pair of sunglasses and was told to drink a shot for this random dude and think of him. I can't emphasize how nice and accepting everyone here is. At no point do I feel like I'm in danger or scared. I feel safe with the group of girls and even more so with Oscar. Mexico keeps getting more and more beautiful and amazing.

Day Ocho

Kristina Subsara August 12, 2012

Today is Wednesday which means the first week was almost halfway over. I just want to keep reminding you that we got less than two weeks with the kids, because it's much more impressive to know that they did this in literally seven days. Wednesday was the day that Sarah and I were teaching about storytelling. We drew them a story arc and taught them the key elements of storytelling. I was able to show them five minute clips which demonstrated the character, the problem, and the solution. They were able to identity each part of the story and I think that impressed the five of us.

I mentioned yesterday that the "california" boys wouldn't be here for the second day. However, we got 10 new kids today. We were only supposed to have 25 at the most. We're all wondering what's going to happen tomorrow when the "california" boys are back and the rest of these kids come back as well. We'll have 32 kids then! We just decided to see who comes on Thursday, and those people who don't would just miss too much information to be allowed back.

Before we let them break for lunch, we wanted them to start writing a story. So we brought out these amazing dice which had characters and actions on it. They split into teams and then each team had to roll the dice and create a story using each one of the dies. The groups did a great job working together and actually writing out the stories.

After lunch we broke them into groups again and passed out "Kristina's cards." These were pictures I had drawn and colored that they were then to take and draw out a story. Oscar went around and sort of split their papers into 6 sections to start out storyboarding. The teams did amazing with this task and we were able to see some really great artists and watch their personalities slowly come out. Each day we meet with this kids feels like an incredible accomplishment. They are slowly coming out of their shells, especially the girls.

After we finished with the kids for the day, a huge crowd of girls gathered around me and were spouting off spanish to me, for which I awkwardly smiled and said politely, WAT?

Oscar told me they wanted me to ride with them in the truck back to where they live. I agreed and hopped in the truck. I asked Oscar to go with me so I wouldn't be alone and I might understand what the girls were all trying to say to me. They are the cutest things. I sat with my legs hanging over the back of the truck as everyone started pointing around the area and saying what things were in spanish. The scenery around us was stunning. Cerecaly is a place where it's flat but 360 degrees around you, you can see the mountains in the distance. Today there were blue skies, the grass all around us was green, and there were dozens of farm animals out grazing. Because of all the rain, parts were flooded and it definitely made the ride interesting, if not bumpy. My camera could not do the beauty justice.

Oscar and I got back and we had lunch and all of us got right into reports and planning. We're all pretty exhausted by night and we all sort of fancied a lazy night to just relax and watch a movie. It took about three hours though to set up one of our movies on our computer, to hook it up to the tv, and after ALL the trouble that it took we ended up watching a chick flick that basically no one liked (all while i convinced everyone it was a pretty good movie). Oscar said he liked it though.. kidding.

Also, meet Jerry's daughter, Allondra. She's the sweetest little thing.

Day Seis

Kristina Subsara August 7, 2012

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 Cinco

Kristina Subsara August 5, 2012

Day Cinco We slept in a little bit today and went downstairs for breakfast of eggs and sausage with tomato salsa, and beans on the side. Everything Chuy has made us has been delicious. After breakfast we dove right into work and planning. We found games to play and tested them out. We planned schedules, correlated our notes, and I drew up some flashcards. I learned a ton of Spanish but I’m not sure what has actually stuck yet. After a while we stopped and had some lunch. It was soup, rice, and more beans. The food is healthy here despite the cheese and carbs. It’s like China’s cuisine, better in the country than its version in the states. We went right back to working on stuff and planning. There’s so much to think about when teaching kids.

At around 8 we left to visit a town and get some dinner. We drove to Pozzo, this town that was supposed to be filled with art and museums and a great view. When we got there it looked more like a ghost town. There was no one out, it was already dark out, and nothing looked like it was open. We drove around and through the town and finally Oscar hopped out of the car and asked someone if anywhere was open for food. They said it was Sunday, and pretty much everything was closed.

We chalked that up for experience, saying that perhaps Sundays are better nights to stay in. Still we forged ahead and drove into another city, San Luis de la Paz, that was 100 times more lively than the last. Everyone was out, there were stalls selling cakes and corn on the cob, and everyone stared at us like we had stepped out of a space shuttle.

So the girls bought some cake and we walked around, still looking for a place to sit and eat, while taking photos of this lively little town. It was getting later and later with no luck, so we stopped at the grocery store and picked up some food to take back to Ceracaly.

Day Seis

Today is a long day and I actually took a ton of photographs. So I decided I would split the two events even though they are from the same day.

We thought that Monday would be our first day with the kids, but Mauricio mentioned that Monday was a fiesta day. We spent the morning continuing with planning for the arrival of the kids tomorrow. Part of today was also communicating with the people of Ceracaly why we were there. Six weeks ago I skyped into London and talked to Esme, Melissa, and Sarah. We trained on dealing with people and different thoughts and feelings. We all talked about our fears, hopes, and times we were brave. As a thank you for trusting one another, we all received a bracelet to remind us how courageous we all can be.

We were supposed to do this training with them, and I will respect everyone by not mentioning what they talked about. I do want to say that I was the youngest person there; and I'm not saying I've had a good or bad life. My life is what it is, but talking to these people opened my eyes to others problems and priorities. It made me reanalyze the hardships that people go through and it made me realize how much shit people can deal with. Everyone will have something go wrong in their lives, but proof that someone is a good person is all about how someone deals with those hardships and overcomes them in the end. The best thing about this project was asking some questions and having the people say "no one has ever asked me that." It made them think about themselves and reflect everything they have accomplished.

I loved watching the emotions on their faces. This trip is awe-inspiring. I can't believe I get to work with these people and be a part of this project. I hope the people that take the time to read this realize the hardships others go through to get where they are. I hope you see that the things you go through aren't stronger than you.

*Note: I am still sorting through my photos. I know I took photos from Day Cinco, but I just haven't found mine yet.

Day Cuatro

Kristina Subsara August 3, 2012

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.