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.