Merry Christmas!!!

I can't believe that Christmas Day has already come and gone.  Despite having to work Christmas Eve and Day in the park I count myself as one very lucky girl this holiday season.  And as the new year approaches, I have many things to be thankful for:

1.  My family and friends back in the states who supported me when I made this crazy decision to join the Peace Corps and head to Mexico.  Those same family and friends who send me letters, emails, messages, and even packages so that I still feel like I am a part of their everyday lives.

2.  My new families here in Mexico, both my host family from Queretaro and my host family here in Puebla.  Both of these families welcomed me with open arms, immediately letting me know I was a part of their family.  In fact, I spent Christmas Eve here with my host family sharing their dinner, conversation, and bottle of tequila.

3.  My Peace Corps family, man it's nice to know there are people going through or who have already gone through the same things that I can talk with about my frustrations.

4.  While working Christmas Eve in the park was not ideal (mainly because we had 8 visitors all day), the good part about working that day is that one of my fellow volunteers, Emilie, who was in town for Christmas came to hang out for the day.  Her visit and our chats reminded me of how lucky I am to have been placed in Flor del Bosque.  The people here are really nice and have been really helpful and understanding (especially with my Spanish).  In fact, when my counterpart realized that the apartment Peace Corps had already approved might be falling through he immediately talked to a couple folks about helping me look for a place and everyone is now actively helping me search for a new place to live.

5.  And finally my Spanish is getting better and better everyday!!!!  I actually surprised myself Christmas Day by answering visitors questions instead of waiting for someone else to answer them for me.  While I am nowhere near fluent (yet?!), I am feeling more and more confident and am ready to really get started working.

I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas and wish y'all a Happy New Year!

P.S.  Not only is my Spanish speaking improving, but I am learning lots of new words almost everyday.  My newest favorite word is TABLE that's right my new favorite "spanish" word is really an english word.  However, TABLE isn't referring to the piece of furniture, but rather is short for table dance and is a stripclub.  So if you are ever in puebla, mexico and someone asks if you'd like to go the table, remember they aren't referring to the piece of furniture, but instead are asking if you'd like to go to a strip club.  And of course your response should be, Hombres or mujeres?  (men or women?)

Too many goodbyes to count....

Last week was a week full of ups and downs for me.  It was great because I was finally sworn in and thus can call myself a volunteer, our days in training were much shorter, and I didn’t have to think about my language proficiency test because I was done with it.  However, last week was also a week filled with hugs and goodbyes and lots of good lucks.  Of course most of those goodbyes are only temporary because at a minimum I’ll be seeing folks when we return in late February (?) for some more training.  However, the hardest goodbyes were those with my host family. 

It’s amazing to me that people can come to mean a whole lot to you in such a short amount of time (11 weeks), especially when you don’t really speak the same language.  But it did happen, by the time I had to say goodbye I was truly sad to have to leave, not only because Lupita (my host mom) had spoiled me, but because they had embraced me and included me as if I was child #6.  

Lupita and me after the swearing-in ceremony

 They didn’t just provide me with a place to sleep and food to fill my belly or help me with my Spanish.  They worried about me, chatted with me, laughed with (and probably at) me, included me in family events like baby showers and birthdays, shared their tequila and mescal, and gathered together for one last comida my last night just to say goodbye to me.  

One example of how wonderful this family was, is that when the grandmother heard that all my stuff wouldn’t fit in my suitcases she brought me a bag so I wouldn’t have to go buy one and then on top of that gave me a pair of awesome Mexican doll earrings (picture coming later).  Another is when I had to go to the hospital to get an xray of my foot (because it turns out I broke my pinky toe), Lupita offered to take me even though her life was already crazy with having to help Manuel, her husband, with pretty much everything because at the moment he isn’t able to walk.  Further, not only did she gather her family for my last night, but spent hours in the kitchen that day preparing a wonderful comida.  I can’t wait to go back to Queretaro and share with them my experiences here in Puebla and wow them with my (hopefully) awesomely better Spanish.

Mi familia!

 So while I had to say more goodbyes than I liked, I’m ready for the next part of my journey.  I’m ready to be one step closer to living on my own again and cooking for myself, not only improve my Spanish, but also learn how to talk about climate change in Spanish, make new friends here in Puebla, find ways/things to get involved in outside of work, and determine how I can best contribute in El Flor del Bosque (the park I’m working with).  So here’s to not having to say goodbye for a while and instead lots of hola’s, and much gustos. 

Oops!

Okay, so I am really bad at this blog thing, there are so many things I want (and have wanted to share), but by the end of my very full days of training my brain is complete mush and doesn't want to cooperate.  Thus, I will summarize a few things that have happened since my last entry.

Piedra Grande (October 15-26)
I left October 15th, along with the other environmental education (ee) folks, for a very small town in the state of Mexico called Piedra Grande for our almost 2-week practicum.  One of my main focuses as an ee volunteer will be to work with folks in the communities surrounding my park on understanding the purpose of ecotecnias (green technology) and helping them get them into their communities.  Some of the ecotecnias I helped build and took extensive notes about were a rain cistern, a more efficient wood-burning stove, solar (food) dehydrator, and a couple family gardens.  I now have a pretty good understanding of what is needed to build these things - in the case of the cistern lots of mixing of cement, sand, gravel and water - and in a couple cases think that with a little help I could actually be in charge of the building process.  So friends whenever you're ready for a large-scale, backyard food dehydrator, I am your woman.

Me inside the cistern watching the master at work

While we were there we also put on an ecoferia (eco-fair) at the local primary school.  This for me was even harder than the physical labor involved in building the cistern.  While I do have some experience teaching and working with kids I've never done that in Spanish.  Preparing to teach our short lesson on water (The Incredible Journey for all my ee friends in the states), was good in that I learned lots of new words in Spanish and realized that I needed to change my teaching style a bit to make things work.  That is I needed to do way less talking, ask short-answer questions, and make things very hands-on (and of course in the perfect world always have someone around who knows Spanish to help me).  I think that Greg (another trainee) and I did a great job leading and along the way adapting the activity and the kids really seemed to enjoy traveling the water cycle.  There are many things I took away from my experience in Piedra Grande such as talking to people doesn't have to be as scary or intimidating as it can sometime seem, building things for people is way more fun when they help and you get to interact with them, casual conversations can help you learn a lot about a community, and I want to continue working on my Spanish so I can have even more conversations and be an even better teacher.

Dia de Los Muertos (November 2)

Celebrating dia de los muertos or day of the dead in Mexico was both a beautiful and a slightly sad experience for me .  It was beautiful in that it is a time set aside for families to not only remember their loved ones who are no longer with them, but to actually get together, clean and decorate their loved ones graves, and reminisce.  Some of these gatherings were quite simple, while others included hiring large bands to play graveside.  The sad part for me were the forgotten graves, the graves of people who's families lived far away or they themselves were no longer around.  In fact, a group of us went to the cemetery to see what this was like and ended up cleaning one of those graves.  While we definitely got lots of stares (most likely due to our obvious gringa-ness), someone at a nearby grave let us borrow their brush so we could really clean the grave.  The other sad part for me is that I actually had someone to think about and mourn for because a wonderful woman - DEB TYMAN - who helped with my high school year group and went to the Presbyterian Church in Whiteville with my family, and who was just an all-around awesome lady passed away while I was in Piedra Grande.  So as I laid those flower petals on this unknown grave all I could think about was Deb and her beautiful smile and how lucky I was to have known her.

Death by Deodorant!

Or at last almost death...

Now that might sound like a funny title to you, but as I found out earlier this week for me it might just have been possible.  For those of you who don't know I am very allergic to soy and by that I mean back in college within one week I went to the ER twice because I couldn't breathe (anaphylaxis).  A couple weeks later I found out this was because I was very allergic to soy and that I needed to avoid anything with soy in it. Over the last 11 years I've managed to mostly keep my body happy by not eating soy, religiously reading the ingredients in all the food I buy, lotion, and shampoo.  Last fall, to my utter dismay I discovered Burt's Bees had changed the ingredients in two of my favorite products (their chapstick and some awesome hand lotion) and sadly they now contain soy.  However, for some reason I had never thought to read the ingredients in deodorant, sadly I learned this past Monday night why I must now add deodorant my long list of things whose ingredients I must read before purchasing.

Honestly I assumed at some point during my first few months here in Mexico that I would have an allergic reaction and probably need to use my inhaler, however I assumed it would be because of the food I ate.  However, Monday night when I got the splotchy, super itchy rash on the top half of my body I was shocked because I wasn't having any problems breathing instead I couldn't stop itching and my skin just looked gross.  It wasn't until Tuesday morning, when I started going over what other than food (by now I knew food wasn't my culprit) was new in my life and the only thing I could think of was the deodorant I had just started using that I bought right before leaving the states.  So then I read the ingredients and sure enough it contains hydrogenated soybean oil.  I can't believe it that now makes two "natural" products companies that since being purchased by much larger corporations that have changed the ingredients in their products to include soy - thanks a lot Burt's Bees and Toms of Maine.  Thank goodness for Benadryl and soap and water, which helped clear up my rash in about 36 hours.

Don't worry friends I brought more than one thing of deodorant with me and thus will still be smelling fresh and clean with the help of my Arm & Hammer deodorant.

Is it really October?

I can't believe it's already the 14th of October and I have yet to post about Dia de Independencia and my Future Site Visit.  So here it goes I am condensing those two blogs into one.

Future Site visit (Sept 26-29)

This has got to be the most exciting part of training (or at least thus far), not only did I get to meet the people I'll be working closely with, but I actually traveled to Puebla to visit El Flor de Bosque and actually met just about every single person within the state park system I'll be working with (except my bosses boss).  Yep that's right I met the staff of 3 different state parks and was given a tour of each by their environmental education staff.  It was amazing to me how different these three parks were even though they are very close to each other.  There are a few things I took away from my visit the city of Puebla is BEAUTIFUL, living in such a big city is going to be a challenge for the girl who loved living in remote Minnesota, and that Mexico is ahead of the US in how they present climate change to their citizens and how their state parks are serving as huge resources (more on this once I start my service).
Also I am very lucky to be working out of El Flor de Bosque, where I will get to work in this amazing park just outside the city of Puebla, get to also work with the communities around the park, and possibly spend some time after I've learned the ropes well working out of another state park.

This park has everything, including a huge reserve they have been reforesting for almost 20 years

Unfortunately all the pics I took in the reserve didn't really turn out, except for this one!

This is a view of Puebla from one of the highest points in the reserve, it's amazing how close this 13,000 state park is to the very large city of Puebla.

There are a few major things I learned while spending those two days with my counterpart, my Spanish is nowhere as good as I thought it might be and thus I need to start studying the words that will be useful for my job - like the names of plants and animals, how to describe climate change (or cambio climatico - and I need to start having more conversations.   All of my counterparts (and by that I mean that I have at least 10) are very knowledgeable and nice and I can't wait to get back and ask them lots of questions.  By the time my two years is up, I am going to know a whole lot about green technology, I'll actually know how to build a rain cistern, dry toilet, and food dehydrator (Austin and Tanya as soon as I figure it all out I'll definitely share), I'm going to learn about and then work with the communities on worm composting, backyard gardens, natural medicine gardens (super excited about this), and lots of other cool things.  Finally, I also figured out why my counterpart kept talking about me needing boots instead of tennis shoes, that would be because of the rattlesnakes (cascabels) that are in the park.  I of course only figured this out when I saw my first (of what I'm thinking will be many) rattlesnake here in Mexico and he once again repeated I needed to wear leather boots, thus I'm very glad I brought my hiking boots with me since I'll be wearing them quite a bit.

Dia de Independencia (Sept. 15th)

Viva Mexico!

  Independence Day was very fun and exciting.  I started with a play about Mexican Independence on Thursday, continued with a fiesta during lunch on Friday, and watching a whole separate celebration.  On the actual day, I spent the morning exploring on my own and then spent that evening/night celebrating with my host family.  The entire family - grandparents, kids, grandkids, greatgrandkids - came over to my house to celebrate with some traditional food, lots of music and tequila, and later that night singing and dancing.  Here are some shots of that night.

My host mom cooking.

My host dad and his dad

Escenas in Mexico

Here are some photos I've taken over the last couple weeks.

Waiting at the Mexico City for the bus to take us to Querataro!

The halfway point of my walk to the Peace Corps office.

Los Acueductos

This just makes me giggle.

Who needs barbwire when you've broken glass?

Store where you can buy chicharrones.

This pics for you, Dad! Chicharrones! (pork rinds) 

Shrimp or finger gordita, you decide!

ONE TEAM, ONE GOAL

It's amazing how time flies when the Peace Corps keeps you busy with lots of training.  It's hard to believe it's been almost two weeks since I left the states, but based on the amount of stuff I've learned and the amount of Spanish I've attempted to speak two weeks sounds about right.  Somedays I think trying to relearn Spanish is way worse than trying to learn a completely new language because somewhere in the back of my head I know these things, but can't seem to pull them out.  My spanish is definitely getting better everyday, I just can't wait for the day when I can speak without too many hesitations.

The most exciting that has happened lately (other than realizing I do kind of know how to speak Spanish) is I found out where I am going to be working at the end of my 3 months of training.

I'm going to be moving to the city of Puebla, which is located in the state of Puebla.  Puebla is a big city located about 90 miles southeast of Mexico City.  I haven't been able to learn too much about Puebla, but I will be visiting in a couple weeks so I'm sure I will learn lots.  I also learned that I will be working at Flor del Bosque a state park that is located just 15 minutes north of downtown Puebla.  I don't have an exact job description, just a very general environmental education volunteer job description so even though I was under the impression I was going to be writing curriculum I know don't really know what exactly I'll be doing.  Based on the little bit I've been able to translate from their website and the awesome tourist video I found in English it seems like it is going to be a great place to work for a couple years.  I think the funniest thing I've learned is that they have a huge habitat for white-tailed deer, which just shocked me considering in many area of the US we have too many.

Or if you are wanting to challenge yourself by reading Spanish check out their website http://www.flordelbosque.pue.gob.mx/

That's it for now, next time I'll share some of the pics I've taken

Adios!

Shayna

One last time...

I titled this one last time because it hit me that I have done a lot of things for the last time (not for forever, but at least for a little while).  I hung out with friends for one last time, at the beach with the Bronski’s and Medfords, Allison House drove down to hang out, and of course dinner at San Jose’s with Sally, Mandy, and Rachel.  Ate my dad’s BBQ chicken one last time.  Not only did I drive my car for the last time before it got parked for the next 2+ years, but I drove myself somewhere for what could be the last time in a very long time.  On Wednesday I will use the cell number I’ve had for the last 10 years for the absolute last time.  I repacked my suitcase for hopefully the last time.  Gave my wonderful Grandmother what I hope is not a last kiss and hug.  Said my last goodbyes.  Ate my last meal in an American restaurant.  Ate one last pint of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food thanks to Gina!  I will have been surrounded by the sounds of mostly English for the last time.  I also packed away the last box of my stuff and put it in the extra room at my wonderful parent’s house.  

If I didn’t say a last goodbye to you I apologize I simply ran out of time and goodbyes.  Just know that I have thought a lot about the people who have crossed my path over the years as I packed away all my possessions and attempted to ready myself for what just might be the craziest thing I have ever done.  If you had asked me a year ago what’s the craziest/scariest things I had ever done I would have answered moving to Minnesota when I had never been there and didn’t know anyone.  I find it pretty funny that I’m choosing to do this again, except now I’m adding in a new language.  The next 27 months should be interesting.  

Only 19 days to go....YIKES!

It seems like just yesterday I drove away from Lutherock knowing (for the 2nd time) this was it for me, my last summer on staff, my last summer spent hiking into breakfast, enjoying the beautiful views, and watching both the campers and counselors faith grow, as well as my own.  Back in 2008, when I reluctantly left at the end of the summer I knew (or thought I knew) this was it for me, that it was time to get a real job.  However, that didn’t quite work out since I was layed off after a year and like so many others had a hard time finding another job.  Sometime, during the search I began seriously thinking about Peace Corps.  At the time, it seemed like a crazy thing to do, to contemplate leaving everything/everyone behind to go work in another country for 2 years.  However, the more I thought about it, it seemed like a good idea.  What better time to do Peace Corps than when I’m not married, don’t own a house, and wouldn’t be quitting a good job since I didn’t have one.   

Thus, here I am sitting at my parents’ house, packing up everything I own, trying to figure out what to take and what to leave, and completing my very long to do list, including starting this blog.  It’s hard to believe that in 20 days I’ll be in D.C. to start my Peace Corps adventure.  This of course means I also only have 20 days left to get everything done, to have a little more fun with friends and family and to say the rest of my goodbyes.  While I know I will miss out on a lot while I am gone, I know that this is my perfect chance to go out into the world and do something like this. 

It seems perfectly fitting to me that I would once again spend my summer working at camp right before leaving since I know the only reason I ever contemplated doing this is because all those years ago Hillary and Allison Smith talked me into being a camp counselor at Lutheridge.  It is because of that first experience and all the people I’ve met there and at Lutherock that I’ll be flying to Mexico August 29^th. 

So I would like to say thank you to all the people that are the reason I am doing this.  I would especially like to thank the 2012 Lutherock staff for reminding me why I love camp so much and for sending me off to Mexico with peace in my heart, a smile on my face, and many new friends that I can’t wait to send mail.