Rain...and fun!

....say when we signed up for this we were thinking sun and fun....well, we need to tell the weather folks here! It rained and was frio (cold!) here all day but that did not seem to dampen our kids spirits or our plans at all. After our morning lessons (moved indoors) we headed a block or so away to a montessori school to meet our host students. There we were greeted by the Principal, their English teacher and many other faculty and staff and our student hosts (both boys and girls) from their 7th and 8th grades who take English from kindergarten on. After their Principal spoke to us in Spanish about their school, I was asked to speak about our school in English. Our girls paired up with their students, each had brought pictures to share and talk about, and small gifts for one another (some mexican candies, bracelets, bookmarks, etc.) While our girls were shy at first, things broke loose once the soccer ball came out and several very muddy games of soccer were played!

Following our school visit the girls had a neighborhood tour, and visited the Jardin Etnobotanica (OK, I do not have pictures, because full disclosure here--I went back to the school and slept, still fighting this cold...). Everyone returned to school around 2:30 however and we headed home for Comida with our families before heading back to school for Salsa Class! What is a typical Mexican Comida like? Well, our host mom insists on making us traditional Mexican food the authentic way (and is pressed to make it vegetarian too). So yesterday we started with a tomatoey soup with noodles, followed by Authentic Chile Rellenos with corn rice followed by Flan Neopolitan. We were stuffed. Later that evening for the late night meal at 8 we had a variety of breads, puddings and coffee and tea.

So ask your daughter to teach you some Salsa--most seemed to enjoy the lesson. Many went for ice cream afterwards (despite the weather!) and then headed home for the night.

Today we head to the water park. We have changed which water park we are heading for aiming for one a little more south in the hopes of finding the sun and the warmth. The one we are going to now El Rollo has the BIG rides which the girls seem very excited about (sun or no sun). I am hoping to take lots of pictures and then find a nice hot rock and do my best lizard imitation...When we return we are going right into the Zocalo (center of town) for dinner in a restaurant tonight and perhaps some shopping at the artisan market before heading home late tonight.

This will be my last blog entry from Mexico since I dont think I will find a place to blog tomorrow at the airport. The girls have had a wonderful experience--different and fun--which is exactly what we had hoped for. They will be thrilled to be home, and then will soon miss being here. I will add out final pictures once we are home. Please be sure to have your girls write thank you notes to their host families (we will also remind them) and we will get them to them. Thank YOU all for giving them this opportunity to grow and learn with us. It has been a pleasure!

Xochicalco and Taxco

Well, it was a beautifully sunny day but not nearly warm enough for me (however everyone else was happy) as we headed off to the pyramid and the Museum of the pyramids. These pyramids were ravaged by every group that came through (the Mayans, the Spanish...everyone) before they were preserved so what we saw (which was amazing) was only what was left. We hiked around the whole area, visited a living space, the space where they played the sacred ball game (which girls all recognized from Disney's El Dorado), and visited the pyramid of the sacred "plumed serpent". By the time we were done, they were ready for shopping in Taxco!

Taxco is "silver town" and had been a ghost town until revived by an American Robert Spratling who invested in it as a mining and silver town. Now known for its fine silver work and silver jewelry, it took our girls no time at all to employ their Spanish for finding bargains and negotiating deals (this is why you wanted them to learn Spanish, right?) The really sweet pat was that most of the girls were buying presents for you or their siblings (although I did hear a few say, "of course, I'll borrow it...")! By days end, although many wanted to continue shopping, we needed to meet our bus at 6:30 and head home, watching Shrek in Spanish on the 2 hour trip.

Today we head over to a local middle school to be paired with a host student, perhaps play football (the REAL football), and following that, tour our neighborhood and the Jardin Etnobotanico. We will head home to our host families for comida and then be back at school for a salsa lesson this evening!

The rest of yesterday...

So here are a few more pictures of the market and shopping and a few of cooking and home life. This is marja by the way--I"m the one who has been blogging and posting (under Rafael's name since I havent been able to figure out how to change it...but Rafael fixed it so it now reads me...thanks Rafael!)

The girls cooked Chile Quiles with Marusa yesterday (like a salsa verde over tortilla chips served with onions, queso fresco, and sour cream...) but they made everything. You should fully expect them to cook this for you! Following our comida, everyone headed back to their houses to do different things. The girls at my house invited another house over for a swim, despite the clouds rolling in, and eventually despite the darkness!

Finally we suffered our first round of girls not feeling well. Ms Natalie and Ms Zoe were ill (gastro-intestinal) but seem much better this morning, and seem game to go on our trip today (although we have offered to stay if are not. I have wicked head cold. My take however, is that even headcolds are better in 80 degrees....we will continue to take care of everyone and keep you all posted. So far our girls are bouncing back and following directions--drinking lots and getting plenty of sleep. We will let you know if we feel anything gets serious of course.

Today we head off to see the pyramids at Xochicalco and then off to Taxco (silver town) for more shopping (can you stand it?). It will be a long day since we will be on the bus for about two hours in both directions. We have some movies for the girls--Shrek in Spanish and Lady and the Tramp in Spanish! We will come home this evening by around 8 and return to our families hopefully tired and happy.

More tomorrow--keep reading--take care, m

PS...Did I mention we ate salted crickets the day before? Oh, nevermind...

Mercado

Well, the market gave us some wonderful new experiences--we shopped for the ingredients for our cooking class but also wandered through endless aisles of fruits, vegetables, and the infamous meat section. More news to come but I wanted to show you some pictures (and thanks to Kiki who loaned me her camera to shoot these since I left mine at the school...) Enjoy!

Tepoztlan-Day two CARNIVAL!!!

SO think Mardi Gras...turns out we headed to Tepoztlan, site not only of the magical pyramid, but also of the great "Carnival" celebration before Lent the day of the celebration--I call that great timing! First stop--hike into town, threw the Carnival set up, and to the base of the mountain we would hike...pay for our toilet paper so we could take a bathroom break (I kid you not, 5 pesos), and then head up the mountain...all but 5 girls chose to climb (so they headed into the town early to scout the shopping with Ms Jessica) and the restof us headed up the mountain with Shelley taking lead. We had thought that we would spread the rest of adults out throughout the kids and then peel off adults at the back as the kids decided to turn back as we climbed (it is a very steep climb one vertical mile to the pyramid) but....seems all us adults fell to the rear...hmmm...funny that...and the girls all beat us up to the top with EVERY GIRL making it to the pyramid!
Near the top and at the pyramid we were greeted by these assertive little fellows (coatis -tejon in Spanish) who were brought there to eat garbage! The pyramid is said to have magical healing powers which is why folks like Ringo Starr and others were frequent visitors (and was very good news to many of the chaperones' knees). On our hike down, we suffered two small casualities--both Ilana and Zoe twisted ankles, but by days' end, both were still up and walking (although sore...). We will continue to only have kids get wounds whose parents are with us...(jk...we are trying to not have any of the kids get hurt!)
Following our descent (which was quite slow as the mountain was getting quite crowded) we headed into the town for some shopping. It amazed us how crowded the town was with all shops open and street food on each side. The girls bought some gifts, some tried some food, bought plenty to drink and marveled at some of the foods and drinks they could not even identify! We made our way to the bus (parked outside of town) by 3 pm and then as we headed out of town could not believe the miles of traffic still headed into Tepoztlan for the evening celebration which included fireworks, dancing, and a huge party.
We each departed for our host families for "comida" and then had evenings on our own to do as we wished. Several groups headed back to the Zo'calo (the square) for some evening shopping and walking about. Others relaxed in their homes.

This morning the girls are having a long Spanish class in preparation for heading to the mercado (the market--think Travel Channel style) to buy ingredients to make our comida here with our cooking teacher Marusa. The girls will be in charge of buying all of the food at the market--so wish us luck! The girls will also come home knowing how to make this meal--so feel free to ask them to make it at home for you once we return. We will also have time in the market to go shopping for ourselves following the purchase of our foods (we will hand those off to the teachers them get some time in our groups) and I am sure our girls will take advantage of wonderful artisan offerings (there is so much there it is honestly overwhelming!)
This evening we will return to our host families again and relax. There will be time for girls to to head to an internet cafe with their chaperones if they like, go swimming at one another's homes, or just visit each other as many have asked to do. Their host homes vary greatly, but the girls are getting wonderful experiences. The food the host families make may seem different and unfamiliar--for some it is very authentic Mexican, for others, very family style home cooking. Some girls are loving it, others now appreciate your cooking much more. None of it is like Taco Bell. The girls are developing perspective on what they have at home vs. what others have or dont have here. They are learning many things, some in the classroom, and many things simply through observation. You would be immensely proud of them.

for Rafael...

So this is a picture of a relative of yours? His name (the inscription...) is a Mr. del Castillo....

We thought we would get a shot for you...

Greetings from Cuernava!

Hola families!
Well day one is winding down--we have settled into our homes, met our host families, had our Encuentros orientation and our first trip into town. Today we visited the Robert Brady Museum and the Cathedral (we split into two groups then switched). Some of us even got to see the beginning of a wedding in the Cathedral! While it was a little shady and cool in the morning by the afternoon, the girls were feeling the sun and the heat! Some were beginning to feel the altitude, and recognizing they needed to drink more. They learned a bit of Mexican history (and history of the area) although some also admitted that listening and understanding was harder than they thought!

This afternoon, after a big "comida" (in Mexico the big meal is around 330 or 4 pm with a late, lighter meal around 8pm), we are back at school for a Spanish lesson, then we will return to our homes for the evening.

Tomorrow the girls will have class in the morning here at school, then we head off to Tepoztlan. There, some will choose to hike to the pyramid (a steep hike, but no real rock climbing), while others may stay down in the town. All will have some time to eat and shop as well. I will attempt to load some of today's pictures on the blog, and throughout the week take pictures of all the girls (sometimes you may only see the girls that I happen to have been assigned to that day). We will also visit internet cafe's during the week and some of the girls may choose to email home as well--there is already some discussion of when the Catholic high school decision letters will reach their houses (for those girls waiting). Please handle that news judiciously (but whether you tell your daughter or not by email is completely up to you...).