Hi Everyone,
Well, tomorrow is my one year anniversary in Mexico! Can you believe it? I'm having a little trouble believing it myself. Of course things have changed in a year, but ultimately I feel like I've only been here for a few months. The time has passed super fast. I have now officially seen four kids graduate from Casa Juconi. I have seen kids run away and come back months later. I feel like a part of the house and with time, have had the opportunity to form relationships with the kids. I always like to think about how things have developed since I've arrived here, because gradually my relationships with the kids have changed as they've grown to trust me more. They come to me with problems, we have inside jokes, we have favorite songs, we have memories. I don't know what I'm going to do when December rolls around! It will be a very difficult goodbye.
In the last three weeks we welcomed back to the house two brothers who ran away in March and had been out of the house since then. It was different to see them after so much time and I felt truly happy to have them back in the house. I often worried about the 11 year old and wondered what kind of experiences he was having living on the street. We also had our week long inservice which should technically happen every 3 months, but due to Bibiana's pregnancy and changes in the staff, hadn't happened in about 6 months. Anyway, I always enjoy these weeks because we actually have time to sit back and reflect on what we are doing and how we can do it better. I also feel a little amazed that I can keep up with what's happening and make contributions to the group. I feel pretty proud of my Spanish in those moments.
It is the rainy season here in Puebla and we've been having quite a bit of rain in the afternoons. It's crazy that for 7 or 8 months out of the year we don't see a drop of rain, and barely ever see clouds. Today, I took a day trip to a small town in the state of Puebla, about a 3 hour drive from here, called Cuetzalan. It is a beautiful small town up in the mountains and it's apparently almost always foggy and wet there. We were pretty lucky as the rain didn't start until around 2 or 3 when we were leaving. It is an amazing town in that it feels like a different world. We took a highway for the first 1.5 hours, but then the second 1.5 hours you spend winding through mountain roads. You crawl around these green fields, trees, occasional houses, donkeys, horses, etc. for what seems like forever. Finally, coming down a mountain you arrive in Cuetzalan. It is much like Taxco, in the way that it is on the side of a mountain and the streets sometimes feel like they go straight up. Think some of the hills we have in Bellefonte. But, all of the streets are stone and narrow, narrow, narrow. I was very happy not to be driving. On Sundays many indigenous people living in the surrounding areas come for the market. Many women and men dress traditionally and speak different dialects. The majority of the older women don't wear shoes, but we noticed that many of the younger newer generation were wearing something like jelly shoes (yes, you remember those). The women dress in white skirts and white blouses with colorful embroidery around the top. The men dress in white linen pants that stop above their ankles, white linen shirts, a straw hat, and leather sandles. There is relatively little tourism in Cuetzalan, so the majority of the people come to the weekend market to do the necessary tasks like buy food, trade, etc. Speaking of food...the region is known for it's coffee and vanilla production. I bought a bundle of 5 whole vanilla beans for 20 pesos (1.70ish), what a steal, right? We also bought coffee, first from a store that seemed more organized as the bags had proper labels and all of that, but then later, when we sat down to eat lunch, a local man entered with his knit knapsack selling small bags of unmarked coffee. He told us that the coffee beans were still warm because he had just finished roasting them himself. The three of us each bought two small bags for 7 pesos each. 50 cents each. He told us that one bag should make 2 liters of coffee. I'll let you know how it is when I try it, but it smells amazing. The region is one of much poverty as many people are farmers etc. After the man left, the women I was with commented that they were surprised that it was his first sale of the day and that it was after 2pm, while they were talking about what a hard life it must be. I didn't understand how they knew that it was his first sale of the day, and they explained to me that after their first sale vendors often make the sign of the cross and say some sort of blessing or prayer in the hopes that they will continue to have a prosperous day. I didn't notice, but they had noticed the man do this after the first one of us bought our coffee. I still learn something new each day!
After we packed all of Cuetzalan into one day I am pretty beat and I'm looking forward to going to bed early tonight=) I hope everyone is well!
Buenas Noches
Here is a link to some photos from Cuetzalan
http://picasaweb.google.com/eharanin/FotosCuetzalanBlog2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPLojtasgYblSQ&feat=directlink
