This first post from Honduras contains some good news and some not-so-good news. The good news is that I am finally here in Honduras, my home for the next two years and some number of months. I love it here so far, and I have a lot to say about my new homes, families, and training. This brings me to the bad news. Although I have a lot to say, and a lot to show with pictures, I am lacking resources that enable me to share all that I have.

One of the problems is the internet here in our FBT site, or better said, the lack of it. Opening the page to write this quick update took over 5 minutes, and I could be here all day waiting for it to be uploaded. According to the man at the counter, there are days in which the internet is super fast, and days like today when we are limited to a dial up modem simulation when using the internet. When I am able to travel to the nearest city I will be have a whole host of entries for your reading pleasure, and some pictures and videos for your viewing and listening pleasure.

The most important resource that I am lacking is time. I am learing that FBT may be more about time management than about techincal training. The Calender of Training Events (shortened to COTE, prounced coh-teh, in true government fashion) has our activities planned down to the minute for the next seven weeks. In order to write and post pictures, I need time. To travel to the nearest city to upload everything, I need time. So far, time has been exactly what I haven´t had much of. I am thinking that the Peace Corps might have an hour and a half session on how to manage our time wisely, due to the lack of time we posess from all of the hour and a half sessions we have every day.

I may be jumping the gun on this, but from my experience so far, Honduras feels like perfect fit for my Peace Corps experience. I will have more on this in the upcoming posts, but for now, anyone can contact me on my Honduran cell phone. In order to do so, you will first have to use the contact page to write me an e-mail and ask for my number. You can then go to www.tigo.com.hn and send me free text messages, or if you are feeling very generous, add saldo* to my phone. I hope to be hearing from you in the next couple of weeks. You will be hearing from me as soon as I find a better internet connection. But of course, as always here in Latin America, everything is dependent on si dios quiere.

*Saldo is the word used here for credit on your phone. Since phones are prepaid, you have to buy minutes before you can talk, and the balance on your phone is your saldo

This video, made by my fellow PCT Jessie, gives you a peak at some of the activities we have done in training so far.

The dancing scene actually comes from a car wash, where you can get your car washed and drink some beer and dance while you wait to drive your clean and shiny car back home. The dominoes scene is a common sight in my barrio*. The scenes with the girl laughing and the skit were filmed at our training sight. We have to spice up the long hot afternoons somehow, and laughter is usuall the best way. Thanks to Jessie for putting this video together.

*In Spanish, barrio means neighborhood, but here in the DR, it is used to distinguish between the lower class neighborhoods (barrios) and the upper class neighborhoods (residenciales).

In some ways, it already feels like months have passed since we all arrived in Miami together and started our Peace Corps adventure. We have already become close as a group and formed deep friendships. Spending up to 17 hours a day together for two weeks allows for deep conversations. Our lack of amenities also forces us to bond and talk about things that usually aren’t very interesting or appropriate. In other ways, my time here feels like one big blur. Constantly being challenged in every day affairs that are mindless in the states gives no room for the mind to wander. Having to compartir* with my host family allows little, if any time for self reflection or down time. In reality, it’s only been fifteen days since I officially became a Peace Corps Trainee, and I don’t know whether or not it feels like more or less time than that.

Before I comment on how things are going, I think it is important that I lay out what exactly I am doing with my days, where I am living, and where I think we are going. After arriving in the DR, all 51 of us moved into different neighborhoods in Pantoja, a municipality on the northern edge of Santo Domingo. Most of us live within walking distance to the training center, and we all live with host families. Some of us live with other trainees in the same house, some live in the same buildings but not the same house, usually with members of their extended host families. Most of the trainees live alone, but in the same neighborhood as many others. We are training at a beautifully maintained center called Entrena, where the grass is vibrantly green and extremely short, tropical fruit trees abound, and the majority of our days are passed. A typical training day consists of four hours of Spanish class in the morning, an hour lunch break, and then Peace Corps related sessions in the afternoon. These sessions touch on topics such as health, development philosophy, Honduran history, Honduran culture, safety and security, as well as cross cultural issues. A lot of coffee is consumed at Entrena, usually from the hours of one to three.

A common saying here in Santo Domingo is that there are only two seasons: verano y infierno (summer and hell). As you might have guessed, right now we are in hell, and you don’t have to be here for long to realize that. In reality, the temperature is not much higher than that of the south right now. The average high is around 96, and the humidity usually hovers around 80%-90%. There is the occasional rain shower that usually does a nice job of cooling things down, but most of the time it does more harm than good as the city turns into one big steam room after a nice soaking. Back in the states, even though it’s hot, we don’t feel it as much since we live in nice air conditioned houses, drive in our air conditioned cars to nice air conditioned offices or stores, and sleep under blankets at night in our cool rooms. Here, the only air conditioning that I have felt was in the museum at the botanical garden. Some of us talked about setting up camp there to escape the heat. I have gotten accustomed to sweating all day, drinking more water than I can possibly fit in my stomach, scrambling for the seats in front of the fans at Entrena, trying to stay completely still whenever sitting/laying down, taking three bucket baths a day, and sleeping without a blanket and with the fan as close to my mosquito net as possible so I don’t drench my pillow in sweat every night. But don’t let what might sound like complaining fool you. I love the heat, and actually I am going to do all that I can to be in a hot climate in Honduras.

For the most part, I am really enjoying my unexpected stay here in the DR. Unlike my stay in Mexico, I was lucky with my host family placement. I’m living with an older Dominican couple and their 25 year old daughter. Our downstairs is where my host mom’s other daughter lives, along with her husband and two sons, ages 3 and 2, and another trainee. The rest of the extended family lives on the block and is extremely friendly. We usually pass every night sitting in our narrow street, talking and watching people go by. The whole family is extremely sweet and everyone has a good heart. I’ve been fed a healthy diet of mangú*, plátanos fritos, spaghetti with cheeze-wiz sauce, salami, eggs, chicken, tostones, and potatoes. The other trainee and I usually make a big deal out of a dinner with vegetables, in the hopes that we will see more of them. Our efforts have been fruitless (or vegetableless) as of yet, and I doubt this will change before we leave on the 22nd.

As I said before, a large portion of our days are spent at Entrena. Spanish class has been decent so far, but because I placed into the advanced group we have had very little instruction and have only been conversing in class. The people in my group are what make the class worth it, and our language class has become close during our time here.

Apart from my language group, I feel that I have already made friendships that are going to last for a while. It has been pretty difficult to get to know everyone, and over the past couple of days I have made a conscious effort to talk to people that I haven’t gotten to know that well. We have definitely formed smaller groups within the larger one, which is to be expected with this many people. Usually these groups are made up of people living in the same barrios. Most of the people in H15* are extremely amicable, easygoing, intelligent, exciting and interesting people. There are very few that I feel like I can’t start up a good conversation with without much trouble.

As of early this week, we are finally certain about our future in Honduras. The plans that were set for our departure on the 22nd have held up, and that looks to be the date in which we will finally enter Honduras, si dios quiere*. After our entry, we will start field based training on the 26th and finally become officially volunteers on September 26th. The state department has signed off on this so we are ready to go, rain or shine.

Hopefully I will be able to post more frequently over the next couple of weeks. I don’t know what FBT living conditions will be like, but it seems that we will have some sort of internet access. I have yet to find a computer at an internet café around here that will run Skype. Hopefully I will be able to figure out something soon. Todo está bien por aquí en la República Dominica, así que no se preocupen por mi. Hasta la próxima.

P.S. - I can’t believe I wrote this whole post and forgot to mention dominoes. Everyone here plays dominoes at all hours, and a good portion of every night is spent playing. On the way home from Entrena, a 15 minute walk, you can count more than 20 games of dominoes being played.

*In Spanish, compartir literally means to share. Its usage here in the DR is much more important than sharing something with someone. It is more about sharing yourself than your possessions. Spending time with others without any particular purpose and playing dominoes is a good way to compartir. .
*Mangú is a typical Dominican dish that is made up of boiled-mashed plátanos. .
*H15 is Honduras 15, the name of our training group.
*Si dios quiere, if God wants, is a common saying here when commenting on events that will happen in the future.

If you haven't already heard, on Sunday morning, the president of Honduras was arrested by the Honduran Military, taken from the presidential palace in his pajamas and deported to Costa Rica. Since I'm not in Honduras yet, I can't comment on the situation on the ground. For that, you can check out BBC News' Americas section.

However, I am able to comment on the current status of Honduras 15, the Peace Corps group with which I will be serving in Honduras. Staging will still be held tomorrow in Miami, as scheduled. The big change of plans is where we will be going after staging. Instead of heading straight to Honduras to begin the first part of training, we will be heading off to the Dominican Republic in order to start our language training. While we are there, the Peace Corps will monitor and asses the political situation in Honduras. There is not a date in which we will leave for Honduras, but the Peace Corps office estimates that we will spend around three weeks in the DR at a location that has not been announced as of Monday afternoon. As of this time, the Peace Corps office has stated that they fully expect Honduras 15 to serve in Honduras.

I will be sure to let everyone know as much as I can after staging tomorrow, when I am given more information. For now I will be looking over some information on the DR and making final preparations to leave the country for over two years. I hope that the situation in Honduras works itself out peacefully. While I am extremely excited to be able to see another country and spend a good amount of time there, I am anxious to get to Honduras and learn about my new home. I suppose this is one of the reasons why the Peace Corps states that volunteers should be as flexible as possible, because you never know when a coup d'état on Sunday will send you to the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.

What follows is my aspiration statement that was sent to the Peace Corps Honduras desk. The Peace Corps asks that we write these statements for the host country due to the fact that they do not receive much of the information the Peace Corps has already collected on each volunteer. These statements allow for some sort of familiarity with the motivations, abilities, and aspirations of the volunteer before they arrive in the host country. Also, be sure to check out my tips on writing your own aspiration statement 5 Tips on Writing Your Peace Corps Aspiration Statement.

Nothing is as complicated as it is perceived to be. This thought has gradually developed into one of my core beliefs over time. Because of this, the foundation of my being is a collection of attributes that do not leave any room for the contemplation of impossibilities. Unfortunately, I realize that I may not always strive for excellence in everything that I do. But when I believe that what I am doing is important, there is nothing that discourages me from its realization. My determination is not quelled by belittling voices. My attention to detail is not disturbed by an overwhelming amount of information. My exhaustiveness does not dry up, no matter how many dead end roads, and my perseverance is not blocked by even the largest of mountains.

I am looking forward utilizing these life lessons during my time in the Peace Corps. I understand that the art of preparing oneself for the Peace Corps is toeing the fine line between expectations and realities. There is much to be done in Honduras, and one more able body for two years will not be enough to quench the people’s thirst for a better collected life. Solving every problem in the country, or my community, is not my goal. Instead, my goal is simply to sustain the determination to help in every possible way. Whether it is by building a latrine, facilitating cooperation between two opposing groups, or by simply putting a face to Americans during a time in which stereotypes abound, I plan on doing all that I can to assist my community during my two years of service, without thinking about my limits.

Success depends on the strength of personal relationships, and personal relationships are built on trust. Because of this, my primary goal during the first stages of my service will be to build the relationships that will facilitate cooperation throughout my two years. One of the ways in which this will be accomplished is by committing myself to the indefinite improvement of the community. I will also build trust by immersing myself in their culture and demonstrating that I am willing to work within those parameters. Building meaningful and trustful relationships, above all else, is my strategy for working effectively with my colleagues in Honduras.

My ability to adapt to new cultures is rooted in my essence. My father’s family is entirely Italian American. All four sets of my great grandparents came over from Italy around the turn of the century, and because of that they lived in a world that looked just as Italian as American. To add to this, my paternal grandfather’s job moved the family around the world, spending significant amounts of time in Germany, France, Brazil, and the Congo. Their stories live in my imagination, and because of them, I have never let my physical surroundings bound my mind to its geographical location. On the other hand, my mother’s family is almost entirely from the American South. While they did their share of moving as well, due to the military, their hearts and minds remained in the south no matter where they were, and that is where they mostly remain. These varied tributaries of my background join to make a sea of diversity in my mind and in my essence. Because of this, I have always been interested in that which all cultures have in common, in spite of their differences. That is what drove me to study Latin American Politics, Latin American History, and Spanish at the University of North Carolina. That is why I studied abroad in Mexico during the spring of 2008. It is also why I am interested in the history of my own country and state, and at the same time it is the reason why I have traveled to countries such as Colombia, France, and Italy. Most importantly, it is one of the forces that pushed me to join the Peace Corps.

As my life continues, I realize that I will always have more questions than answers. I know I have much to learn about everything, and the skills needed to fulfill the duties of a Peace Corps volunteer are no different. From my Peace Corps training, I hope to gain the technical skills needed to be an effective member of an agriculturally rooted society. In order to carry out my duties as a Protected Areas Management Advisor, I will need to further my knowledge of Honduran ecosystems, and learn how they function, their current statuses of preservation and/or degradation, and their importance to Hondurans and the regional environment. To work with local governments, NGOs and local businesses, I will need to delve into the nuances of the political and gubernatorial systems of Hondurans and how they interact to effect the protection of the environment and the well being of Hondurans.

The only thing I am certain about with respect to how the Peace Corps experience will affect me is that, without a doubt, it will be a life changing experience in many ways. I know that one career path that interests me is the field of environmental protection. I also know that, no matter what the field I end up working in, I will want to be making a positive impact on the world. My experience will give me a head start in learning how to cope with obstacles, how to circumvent barriers, and how to overcome what may be considered impossible. It will also be very humbling in sorts, as it will teach me the amount of work that is necessary to accomplish a seemingly small feat. However, I am sure that in the end the results will far surpass the prices. The hardships, victories, and relationships will help me to develop myself as a person as well. In the same way I am unsure of the future of my life’s work, I also know there are things about myself that I am currently unaware of. Some of these are certain to be revealed during my time in Honduras. I know that Peace Corps service not only affords me the opportunities to give to the community with which I am living, but also to get to know myself. By both of these tasks I am entirely humbled- and exceptionally excited.

This page is a list of the books that I feel are worth sharing, and a selection of the ones I am currently reading and have currently read.

Currently Reading

Stephen Miller, Conversation: A History of a Declining Art

Miller presents a well written history of an activity that is rarely thought about. In the 18th Century, conversation was viewed as an art form. According to James Boswell, "conversation is the traffick of the mind; for by exchanging ideas, we enrich one another".

Kevin J. Hayes, The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson

This book chronicles, above all, the intellectual development of Thomas Jefferson. While most think of Jefferson as our third president, this achievement was not important enough for him to engrave it on his epithet. Above all, Jefferson was a gardener, a scientist, a philosopher, and like the rest of us, a human being. The good that Jefferson represents should be emulated by all of us. Any study of him is merited by that which we can take away and apply to our own lives, and this biography certainly provides ample examples.

Recently Read

Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Eduardo Galeano, The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent

John C. Chasteen, Americanos: Latin America's Struggle for Independence

Pictures from an early morning in on a tropical beach in Acapulco, Mexico.

This picture may not be the best picture I have ever taken but, for a couple of reasons, I couldn't help put post it. The view is from the balcony of our hotel room in Acapulco, $60 a night split between 5 people for a room and an ocean front hotel. I would venture to say that we got a pretty good deal. While we really enjoyed the beach, we also enjoyed our surroundings, and this pictures gives you a good idea of where we were.

The tranquility of the morning in Acapulco was all around me as I took a walk on the beach, and I tried to capture that in my pictures. One of the most peaceful sights is that of boats floating in our cove and the suns early light giving everything a warm glow. This picture is one of my favorites due to its peaceful nature.

This picture is one of my favorites because of its depth, and how it almost leads you down a path from the beach past the island on the right, and to the hills sitting in the middle of the bay. The warm glow of the morning light also adds a nice touch taking you from shadows to light as you go down the path.

As morning came to an end, I decided to try and take a couple from the patio area of our hotel. You really get for the laid back feel of our area in this picture, as the boats are just floating in the water and the flag is just flapping in the breeze, with no one in sight.

In case you were wondering how the boats got out in the water, here is a group of men rolling one of them along wooden cylinders. It was a great sight to see them use such an effective and low-tech approaching to putting their boats in the water, even though it was tiring just to watch them do it.

A view of the island in the middle of the cove. An oasis type island that was home to a restaurant which we did not end up going to, but still a nice sight to look at while sitting on the beach all day long.

Be sure to come back and check out Sunset in Acapulco, which consists of pictures taken during our amazing dinner on a cliff overlooking the sun set over the Pacific ocean.

This is my first video made in Movie Maker, so its not too fancy. The video and pictures come from San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico.

Walking around San Cristóbal de las Casas on our last evening in Chiapas, killing time before we left for our 12 hour bus ride to Oaxaca, we went to the big market. On our way we stumbled upon this group singing in this plaza type area. The photos come from the same night, and in them you can see just how high up we were. In case you were wondering, yes, it was extremely cold.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from food markets during my time in Mexico.

Veggies

This picture comes from the market in Cholula, the place where I lived and went to school. This market, like most other markets, was extremely crowded on the Sunday afternoon (just like every Sunday) when we went. This woman actually had her back turned to me when I started to frame the picture, but right when I snapped it she turned around, and I'm glad she did, as her face makes the picture all the better.

A View from the Ground

From the same market and same day, another view of some of the beautiful vegetables on display at this typical central Mexican market.

Quesillo

This is Queso Oaxaca (Oaxacan Cheese), some of the best cheese I have ever had. It has a consistency that is very similar to mozzarella, but a distinct flavor that is hard to describe. It is available at some local grocery stores, we buy ours from Food Lion.

Mango Flowers

One of the greatest things about Mexico is the amazingly cheap, delicious, and abundant fruit. As one of the world's leading producers of mango's, Mexicans have come up with creative ways to sell and market mangoes on the streets. They even put chili powder on them (mango con chile).

Mole

Oaxaca is famous for it's chocolate, and Puebla is famous for their mole (a sauce that contains chocolate among many other things such as peppers). This is a picture of freshly made mole from a chocolate shop in Oaxaca.

Grillos

Who doesn't love eating grasshoppers? I, for one. Even though I never tried these things, I can tell you that their smell make them unbearable to stand near for a long period of time. I usually don't go for things that I can't stand to smell. However, as you see in this picture below, people do actually eat these things.

Who Eats Bugs?

This is a group of people eating the fried grasshoppers from the previous picture. Need I say more??

Thanks for checking out some of the many pictures I took while in Mexico. Be sure to check out more photo posts as I get them up, as I plan on posting my pictures from Mexico City, Acapulco (these are great) as well as Chiapas. If you like this post, feel free to share it using the links below!

This video comes to you from the beautiful state of Chiapas, Mexico. The video gives you all the persuasion needed to make up your mind to take a trip.

After climbing to the top of the falls where I shot this video, we explored a little and found some banana trees and secluded parts some tributaries leading into the falls. Of course, we bought some souvenirs and went swimming, too. Be sure to check out my Agua Azul photo post to see these pictures!

Hello to all,

I hope that everyone has been well over the past couple of weeks, and that you haven't worried too much about me, since I haven't posted in a while. We've been keeping busy and enjoying the beautiful weather here in Puebla (playing a lot of basketball and developing a nice farmer's tans), where we had been for the 2 weeks until last weekend, when we went to D.F. for the first time. We got really lucky with our trip, as we were able to stay with a friend from D.F. who goes to UDLA with us. At her house (there are pictures) we were treated like honored guests, and in order to show our appreciation, we made them dinner on Saturday night, although this was just a small gesture compared to what they had done for us.

I won't go on too much about D.F., since the pictures do most of the talking for me, but it was the closest I have felt to being home since being in Mexico, due to both the luxuries of the house and the organization of the city (not what I expected from the 10th largest city in the world). Also, I put up pictures from Veracruz during carnival, and Chipilo, a town of Italians about 30 minutes south of Cholula. Make sure to check them out by clicking on the slideshow and then going to the D.F. and Veracruz-Chipilo albums. And don't worry, there will be more pictures to come soon! Two friends are coming to visit, and the plan is to go to Acapulco next week. Lets just call it an early spring break. Also, I started to write a little bit about some of the minor differences between what I have experienced so far (food, drinks, prices, the little things...), so when I get some time (we actually have some school work this week!) I will be sure to post it. I hope all is well and I am still waiting on your packages!

Até logo,

John

Just to let everyone know, I'm skeptical about the address which I was given by my host family, so if anyone really has any desires to send me a package, card, or whatever, I am posting the address to la UDLA, which I am sure is right. On a couple of side notes, we figured out our Spring Break plans, which we are all pretty excited about. The time spent in each place and activities are not set in stone, but what we know is that we are going to start off by heading down into the state of Chiapas, one of the most unique regions of Mexico, in reference to both people and nature. In Chiapas, we want to get a feel for the strong indigenous community that makes up almost all of the population, as well as visit some banana farms and coffee fields. Palenque and San Cristóbal de las Casas look to be our two destinations. After Chiapas, we leave for Puerto Escondido, a coastal town which is supposed to have one of the better beaches in Mexico, not to mention a laid back atmosphere. We figure that were in the tropics and need to take advantage of that, but we want to be far away from the gringomania in Cancun, so Puerto Escondido looks to be our best choice. I don't know if we are going to be able to travel before Spring Break, but I will definitely keep everyone posted on that. When I get some time I'm going to post some pictures of the house and the room up, as well the family. Hope everyone is doing well, remember to check the address at the bottom.

Cuídense,

John

Address:

John D'Alessandro

Lista de Correos

Universidad de las Americas Puebla

STA Catarina Martir

Cholula, Puebla C.P. 72820

This is a post written about my time spent in Puebla, Mexico from January-May 2008.

From the time we left for Oaxaca until today, we have all been in perpetual motion, with the exception of maybe one day. School, friends, exploring Puebla and Cholula, traveling, playing, going out, trying to keep up with news in the USA, and everything in between have made it hard for me to sit down and collect my thoughts. Not that I am complaining, but it really is nice to be able to sit down and write for once. So, sorry for the delay, but I’ll try to capture the trips to Oaxaca and Veracruz in
words the best I can. Luckily I over-documented the Oaxaca trip with 190 pictures, so the story is already more than half told. Unfortunately for the case of this blog, the trip to Veracruz was all over the place and pictures weren’t on the top of our priority list, as we were more worried about finding a place to sleep. Although, even if we wanted to take pictures, most of the happenings were at night, and without the help of a good lighting system in Veracruz we weren’t able to capture much. Besides, we were too wrapped up in the moment to think about it.

Oaxaca

After being in Puebla for about 3 weeks, we decided that it was time to head out of town and see what else Mexico had to offer. After deciding that we wanted to travel, we then had to pick where we wanted to go, and after researching, talking to people, and looking at money and distance we decided that Oaxaca would be our best bet for the weekend. So, we started our planning on Wednesday, trying to figure out what time we would leave, who was going to go, and where we were going to stay. By Thursday night, we had a pretty decent size group going with us in the morning, leaving Puebla at 10, as well as another group who was going to meet us in Oaxaca, leaving Puebla at 3:30. Everybody and everything was set to go, and Friday morning our group decided to meet at the main gate of la UDLA. Surprisingly, this turned out to be the first part of our adventure, as we encountered a group of students blocking the front entrance in order to protest their scholarships being taken away. We managed to get some pictures of the huelguita, head to CAPU bus station, and get on the next bus to Oaxaca. After a beautiful 4 hour bus ride (of which I took about 20 odd pictures) we arrived at the very nice Oaxaca bus station, crammed 6 people into a cab (which cost us 30 pesos total) and arrived at our hostel, which was extremely nice and very well kept for only 120 pesos a night. After getting settled, we set off to explore Oaxaca, and we soon realized how great of a city it really is. With over 200 thousand people, Oaxaca is not that big compared to the rest of the cities we had seen in Mexico. But, what it lacked in size and people it made up in beauty and charm. The zócalo in Oaxaca is absolutely gorgeous, and with families, couples, musicians, people watchers and tourists present at all times, there is always something for everyone. Take a look at the pictures to see for yourself, although I think taking a trip would be your best option. After a meal and an hour of walking around, we decided to head back to the hostel to see if the rest of our friends had arrived. When we got back, we realized that another small group from la UDLA decided that Oaxaca would be a good place to visit that weekend, and we ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night, which consisted of a little more exploring and another restaurant. We decided to head back early since the next day we were planning on going to see Monte Albán, which we all were really excited to do.

After a great breakfast consisting of eggs, toast, fresh fruit with yogurt, cereal, coffee, and tea, our little group (along with three girls from France, Ireland, and Australia who happened to be staying at our hostel, all of which came to Mexico individually in order to travel) set off for Monte Albán. We read in Lonely Planet that a hotel near our hostel sends buses out every hour, and we decided that would be our best option. Little did we know that Monte Albán was situated at the top of a mountain, and that the roads were sub par and without railing. While going up we were all pretty certain that we were going to fall off (I tried to get a picture to capture this on the way down), but fortunately we survived. Exploring Monte Albán was, to all of us, a pretty incredible experience. One of the best ancient sites in Mexico, Monte Albán is a great place to sit and think, and to learn about a pretty amazing civilization. Don’t take my word for it, just look at the pictures. So, after 2 hours of exploring and allowing the sun to burn all of us, we grabbed a bite to eat, went back to the hostel, and took a 3 hour siesta. Even though we should have been rested after this, we were still worn out, which made for a pretty tranquilo night in Oaxaca, as we only went to a restaurant and had a few drinks at a bar before calling it a night. Of course, we still had some exploring to do the next day so calling it an early night wasn’t such a bad idea.

One of the best things about Oaxaca is the abundance of markets and hand made crafts, so we decided that we needed to take advantage of this while we were there. With one of the largest indigenous populations in Mexico, Oaxaca is a great place to find things that don’t exist in other parts of Mexico. But, this has a downside, which is the fact that you can literally spend an entire day at one of these markets, not see everything, and still have 5 or 6 left. We only had a couple hours to do a market and see Santo Domingo, so of course we didn’t get to see it all. But, we did manage to find and see some beautiful crafts and fabrics, as well as some crazy food. After the market, we headed to the breathtaking church of Santo Domingo. Once again, the pictures will say things that I can’t put into words. After watching the end of Sunday Mass, we headed back to the bus station. Of course, we didn’t think about buying our tickets in advance, so we had to pay an extra 5 dollars to ride the next bus due to the fact that it was de lujo. Although, this wasn’t a bad thing, as we were able to find some authentic Oaxacan street food, run in to some friends who ended up taking the same bus back as us, and buy a newspaper to check out the SC primary results. After a couple hours of waiting, we finally got on our way back to Puebla. On the bus, a movie about Italian immigrants to the US was playing, so content with this, I watched the movie (dubbed over from English to Spanish; go figure), fell asleep, and enjoyed the ride on the camión de lujo.

Veracruz

Our trip to Veracruz couldn’t have been more different than the one to Oaxaca, this due to a couple of reasons. First of all, we knew that we already missed the boat on signing up with the group going from la UDLA, as the trip filled up before I even found out about it. Also, every year Veracruz is home to the biggest carnival celebration in Mexico, and we knew going into the trip that this would make finding a place to stay for a good price pretty difficult. It’s not easy going from 120 pesos a night in an impeccably clean hostel with a great breakfast to talking yourself into paying 300 for a crummy room in a run down hotel. However, when we brought up the idea of going to Veracruz with our host-brothers, Julian and Luis, they told us that they too had planned to go to Veracruz, and we could ride with them and stay at the same place. Of course, when Friday rolled around, we were told by our host mom that Julian and Luis were not going to Veracruz anymore. This was a pretty big setback, as it was 11 o’clock and we knew finding a place to stay and a convenient bus was now going to be hard. But, as stubborn college kids, we were determined to see what Veracruz’s Carnaval had to offer, and we proceeded to call hotels in order to find a room. Using my Lonely Planet and Phil’s Mexico on a Budget, I called 15 different hotels, all of which were completely booked. Ryan, our other friend from UNC who was coming with us, also tried some hotels with no luck. I had talked to some friends from la UDLA who also missed the deadline for the organized trip, and they were planning to camp out instead of getting a hotel. As they offered us a share of their tent, we knew we had a place to stay (albeit not exactly what we wanted) and decided to try to catch the next bus to Veracruz. Of course, every bus for the next 4 hours was completely booked as well, which pushed our departure time back to Saturday morning, which wasn’t such a bad idea. So, after a tranquilo night in Cholula, we headed to CAPU at 8 A.M. Saturday morning, and caught the 930 bus to Veracruz, heading to a crowded city without any idea of where we were going to stay. After a 4 and a half hour trip that surpassed the one to Oaxaca, we got off in a hot and steamy Veracruz, and we all decided that we missed humidity. With no actual place that we needed to go, we jumped on a bus which presumably was supposed to take us to the zócalo, and after a 15 minute period of doubt the bus driver shouted to us that we were at our stop. In the crowded zócalo, we were the only visible gringos, which wasn’t how we pictured carnival. However, we came to Veracruz not only to see carnival but also to see some water, so with a hunch we headed to the right, hoping to find the port and the beach. 15 minutes of going through crowded sidewalks and seeing some pretty strange sights, we found ourselves at the main port, which doubles during carnival as the main strip for the parade and festivities. After taking a minute and sitting on a bench near the edge of the water, we started walking down the boulevard which was lined with bleachers and beer tents, and filled with people of all ages walking around and selling everything under the sun. After a couple beers we decided that it was time (about 2) for our first meal of the day. As we were reading the side of a tent which was situated right off the boulevard, we were rushed by a kid, no older than 16, telling us how great the food was and practically pushing us towards his tent. With decent prices listed on the side we figured that it would be ok, and sat down to eat. Of course, the little tent didn’t have a menu, and when we asked the kid (the rest of his family was doing the same thing, as they owned the tent) how much everything was, he didn’t have a clue. We figured that it was gringo rip-off-week here in Veracruz, and decided to go with the tacos al pastor, which was listed as 5x25 pesos on the side of the tent.

After 20 tacos split 3 ways, we got a call from one of the UDLA students who came with the group, and decided to head to their hotel in order to put our book bags up for the parade at 6, 7, 8 or 9 (we heard that the parade started at all of these times from different people). After a pretty cheap taxi ride to the hotel (if you speak decent Spanish, they won’t rip you off), we met up with our friend and the rest of the UDLA group, and hitched a ride on the bus with them back to the carnival parade. In the 2 hours in which we had left and come back, the boulevard doubled in the number of people, and everything was being prepared for the parade at … you know, 6, 7, 8, or 9. So, after we all decided to eat dinner (3 hot dogs for 20 pesos!), we headed to our seats for the parade, arriving just at 6. As time passed, we counted off the incorrect times that people had given us and tried to guess when the parade would actually start. Of course, passing the time wasn’t so bad, as we all talked, ate, drank, and had a good time, but after 3 hours of waiting we got a little impatient. Finally, at around 10:15 (4 hours after we arrived) we heard the music from the floats on the other end of the boulevard. As the floats started to pick up, we really started to get a taste of what Veracruz was all about. Earlier in the day we already realized that Veracruz was pretty different from the rest of Mexico, as the multicolored buildings, palm trees, wide streets filled with salsa music had been obvious all day long. However, with the floats allowing people to really let themselves go, we were able to look a little bit deeper into the culture of Veracruz. After a couple more hours of the parade, it was time to go back to the hotel, and with no way of getting back except walking, we were in for another hour or two before we could rest. However, by this time we knew that we had a place to stay, as some of our friends had offered us the chance to sleep on the floor of their hotel room. This may not sound like the best thing in the world, but to three guys who came to Veracruz without a place to sleep or a thing to do, we felt pretty lucky. Unfortunately, when we finally got back and at our sandwiches from Oxxo (convenience store), our room became the party room. This really didn’t matter though, as Phil in the closet, and Ryan and I on the floor were so tired that we all passed out while the music was blaring and people were screaming in our room. The next day we tried to get a ride home with the UDLA crew, but as this didn’t work out, we bought the cheapest bus ticket we could find (20 pesos or 2 dollars less than the others) ate some lunch, and found our way back to the bus station. We didn’t realize until we made our first stop in Córdoba that our bus was not direct, and we ended up stopping in every little town on the way from Veracruz to Puebla, as well as picking up random street vendors who sold food and drinks to their captive market, and not to mention the driver honking and waving at about everyone in all of the little towns. The bus ride made for a pretty colorful experience, although it was about 2 hours more than the experience we had going to Veracruz. When I finally got home that night, I laid in my nice soft bed (we think that the whole ‘sleeping on the floor is good for your back’ theory couldn’t be any more wrong) and fell asleep for a good 12 hours.

This is a post written about my time spent in Puebla, Mexico from January-May 2008.

Hey to all,

Sorry for the lack of entries, but as school has started there hasn't been much going on, other than getting into the swing of things for the semester. But, even though I don't have too much to say tonight, I would like to give everyone an update on how things are going.

In terms of classes, I couldn't ask for a better situation to be in. As most of the material is information which I have covered to some degree at UNC, I am able to focus on the spoken Spanish instead of trying to scribble notes as fast as I can in preparation for the tests. However, one class has captured almost all of my interest, because of both the professor and the material; Greek Philosophy. The professor is a quirky man in his upper 60's who loves to change the tone of his voice in the middle of his sentences, tells the most random stories which end up being very relevant to the topic at hand, as well as laughs hysterically at both his own jokes and simple things which, to the normal person, only bring about a slight grin. He also likes to express his opinions on finance and business majors while praising the arts and humanities, as well as their value in education. Basically what I am trying say is that he is 100% my type of guy (no offense to the business or finance majors, respectable careers). Also, the fact that we are reading the likes of Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and Heraclitus doesn't do any damage to my opinion of him or the class (oh, and one other thing, we can also turn in our tareas in English).

As far as the social life goes, I must say, once again, that I believe I am in a pretty fortunate situation. Here, the international students really are international, instead of the title being synonymous with American students. As about 30 students are from France and 40 are from the USA, the rest of the students are composed of a sampling of countries such as England, Germany, Holland, Austria, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Argentina, Colombia, and Canada. There is even a student a small French island off the northern coast of Madagascar.

Apart from all of these extranjeros, we had the good fortune of coming across a group of 3 Mexican students one of the first nights here, a completely random occurrence. As it turns out, we ended up making 3 pretty good Mexican friends, and a bunch of other Mexican acquaintances. Over the past couple of weekends, we have been hanging out with Ricardo, Rafael, and Daniel a lot, more so than with other gringos, and have some pretty good stories to tell from our adventures (pictures to come soon).

Speaking of adventures, we are planning to take a road trip down to Oaxaca this weekend, which I plan to share on the blog in both words and photos. It should be a great time, as we have all heard great things about the city, as well as Monte Albán, the ancient Zapotec city which is now a pretty impressive archaeological site. If you don't know much about Oaxaca wah-HAH-cah) or Monte Albán, check out the links to the Wikipedia pages which I have provided for you (if you have made it this far in reading my blog, I know you have time to do so).

I hope everyone has a great weekend, stay warm, cheer for the heels (I hear that they need it), and if you have a burning desire to do so, send me a package! I finally figured out my address today, so I have it listed at the bottom of the blog. If your not interested in sending me anything, you can get onto GoogleEarth and check out where I live (packages preferred).

Take care.

Ciao,

John D

Address:

TO BE UPDATED

This is a post written about my time spent in Puebla, Mexico from January-May 2008.

Here at la UDLA, life is a little bit different, at least for me. Of course this is pretty obvious at first glace, considering I am in Mexico, but when you compare life at UNC and life at la UDLA, you see some striking similarities. First of all, both UNC and la UDLA are fairly respected liberal arts universities, which means at least 75% of the student body is addicted to some form of coffee, there is a great diversity in hairstyles and places to put piercings, and of course, central areas of congregation which make for pretty interesting people watching places. Even though 82.5% of the student body of UNC is made up of North Carolinians and a comparable percentage of la UDLA is made of up of Mexican students, there are enough similarities to make me have to remind myself sometimes that I am here and not at UNC. However, with all these similarities, there is one huge difference for me: I am an international student.

While walking through campus during one of our first days here at la UDLA, two friends from UNC and I were having a conversation (in English) about what returning and regular students thought when they saw us. Two of us being güeros (in other parts of Latin America this word usually means whitey, but here in Puebla it is almost exclusive to blonds) and the other obviously a gringo as well, we noticed that we caught the attention of many as we tried to find our way to one of the exists. Walking past the library, we noticed another stare, this one without a sign of intended concealment from the onlooker. After we passed, the other güera in the group turned to us and made a remark which couldn’t have described the situation any better, “You know when we’re walking at UNC, and you hear some other kids speaking in some other language like Chinese or Spanish and you wonder who they are and where they are from. Well now we’re those kids.”

After the initial laughter died down, I started to think about what she said, and what I thought of when I saw the students at UNC which she was talking about. What did I think when I saw them? Where were they from? Why did they choose to come to UNC? Did they go to high school in North Carolina? What do their parents do? Maybe they are from the USA. How well do they speak English? What do they think of UNC and people like me when they see me walk by? Of course, the list could go on, but I came to the conclusion that I liked my situation of being an international student, and of being the curiosity of someone else. Not to sound conceited, as there are so many international students here at la UDLA that many regular students may not even notice the most noticeable extranjero, but judging by my and other’s experiences from UNC, I know that seeing a group of two blonds and a pale gringo speaking English evokes curiosity in a Mexican who has grown up in Puebla only seeing US Americans on TV and in the movies, and on rare occasions walking down the street.

Being an international student, I have found out how it feels to not completely understand how things function on a certain campus (although sometimes I'm not entirely sure of how things work at UNC either). I have also come to be familiar with something that has boggled my mind for a while at UNC, which is the notion of every student of a given ethnic background knowing each other. Maybe I am generalizing by making this point, but going by my experiences with students from Latino backgrounds at UNC, I am certain of this phenomenon occurring in at least one group at UNC. While all of us international students are certainly not from similar backgrounds, we all share a common experience, which is enough to allow us to make this place feel a little bit smaller, and give us the comfort to meet others outside of this group. All in all, it’s a pretty different experience for me, with a sort of different setting.

P.S. – Sorry about the length, I decided to make up for lost time. Hope everyone is well and that its not too cold back in the states.

John

This is a post written about my time spent in Puebla, Mexico from January-May 2008.

Hello to everyone,

As today is a big news day around the world and there is a lot to read about (New Hampshire, Bush and Iran, etc.), I don't want anyone to forget about the big news out of Mexico. Standing in line at the la unicaja this morning for about 45 minutes, I realized that its not too hard for a chiquito to become famous down here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7176333.stm

Hope all is well back home,

hasta pronto.

This is a post written about my time spent in Puebla, Mexico from January-May 2008.

Just to let everyone know, the pictures on the left are changed out whenever I update my web album so that the newest set is shown. If you want to see the others, just click on any picture in the slide show and it will take you to my Picasa web album page, where you will be able to find previous pictures.

Hope everyone is doing well -

Hasta luego,

John

This is a post written about my time spent in Puebla, Mexico from January-May 2008.

After a night out in Puebla, I realized that I have a long task ahead of me for the next four months. This task is not exclusive to me, nor to Puebla, but I am sure that I will get my fair share of being questioned and/or attacked on US foreign policy, US Politics, racism in the U.S.A., school shootings, the constitution, why we shouldn’t use the word Americans in reference to ourselves only, and everything in between. Of course, U.S. and international media doesn’t make this task any easier, as misinformation is as abundant as stray dogs here in Mexico. When discussing the Virginia Tech shooting with a friend of my host-brother, a medical school student who has a better English vocabulary than I do, I was asked if I owned a gun. With a confused tone I replied “no, why would I”?

“Wow, an American who doesn’t own a gun!” he replied in a deep voice and atypical English pronunciation for a Mexican.

After this comment, I felt the need to explain the 2^nd amendment, the ongoing gun control debate, the NRA, state’s rights and the constitution, and the fact that occurrences such as what happened at Virginia Tech aren’t as common as they are perceived to be. Of course, this isn’t an isolated incident, as earlier in the night a group consisting of myself, two Mexicans and two English girls discussed foreign policy over a couple of chequileros, a drink consisting of tequila, beer, tomato juice and chili powder (which I do not recommend to anyone). Fortunately, the Brits were there to take some of the heat which allowed me to sneak off and poor it out without any grief.

The point is that studying/being abroad automatically makes you a quasi-diplomat. No matter if you want to talk about these topics or not, they are going to be there, and you better be sharp and thick skinned or else you’re going to be frustrated. Of course, I don’t mind talking about any of these things since I study them anyway. However, it is a daunting task to inform all of those who are misinformed, and I don’t believe it’s a task that I nor anyone else studying abroad is obligated to do, but it doesn’t hurt to tell the other side of the story to those who are already listening.

P.S - You can click on the pictures in the slide show to make them bigger

This is a post written about my time spent in Puebla, Mexico from January-May 2008.

All in all, the trip to Mexico and Puebla went well, besides the fact that sleep wasn't really a luxury I had. We left Fayetteville at 445 AM, and with a couple of short stops we arrived in Charlotte around 8AM. After saying goodbye to the family, I boarded the flight to Mexico City, where I arrived after 3 hours and 57 minutes of watching (luckily you didn't have to listen) Samantha Brown's Travel Trivia on the 1980's tv monitors aboard the plane.

After the plane landed, I passed through customs, an interesting task to perform as there are absolutely no directions on how to do so, and, such as my case, the informers give you the wrong sheet to fill out. Then, after stumbling my way through asking directions to the bus terminal inside of the airport, I began my wait for Phil, my friend who was supposed to meet me in the airport at 3, after his flight landed at 220. After a couple of conversations in which I continued my stumbling, I realized that it was 330 and time to find Phil. I decided to wait in front of the customs terminal which he would be exiting, and after reading arribado on the screen, I figured it wouldn't be long until I saw him walk out, easily recognized by the bicycle he was supposed to be carrying.

As I stood there waiting, beginning to think that the weight of my bags would give me lifelong backproblems, I looked at my phone and saw it was 445. I debated whether or not to leave Phil and head on to Puebla before it got too late and dark, as I knew that he had the hotel information and could find his way without me. I reached my decision around 5 and went to the bus terminal to buy a ticket for the next bust to Puebla. After realizing from the woman at the ticket counter that poco inglés really means poco, I hopped on the bus at 510, talked with a girl from Australia (who had just as long as a day as me due to the tranquilidade at the Brazilian embassy), and fell asleep until we reached the 4 Ponientes bus station.

After much smoother conversation with the front desk workers in the beautiful Holiday Inn in the Centro Historico (it used to be a colonial mansion) and dinner in a department store/restaurant called VIPS (pronounced veeps, not V.I.P's), I recieved an e-mail from Phil saying that he had the flight never took off from Nashville due to engine probelms, and didn't make it to Mexico. It was a good decision to leave D.F. after all, and after a long day of traveling, I watched a little bit of the Fiesta Bowl in spanish (a little ironic?) feeling like I had accomplished something, and fell asleep.

10 more days until leaving for Mexico, and instead of e-mailing people throughout the semester I am just going to keep a blog. Whenever I start to take pictures and video those will be on the side bar to the left instead of on facebook, since not everyone reading this has facebook. I can't promise how often I will update this thing, as I have never really done one of these before, but I hope for it to be more than once a week haha. Ok, until then - John