Life on the Mexi-side

I’m going to prelude this blog post by saying I’m feeling a million things at once. Sadness, excitement, fear, fatigue etc. etc. I will sum up my feelings by naming them multi-moon. Also, there are many photos of my own face here. So yeah. ENJOY

Rewind to ten months ago, when I was getting ready to head to Mexico— a country I knew little about (although everyone seemed to have an opinion about it). I was kind of scared.  I waved goodbye to my mom at the airport after enjoying my final bubble tea I would have for a while, and wondered if it would be difficult to adapt to this new environment I was heading into: Everyone speaking spanish. No bubble tea. That’s about as much as I knew. I literally had no idea what to expect, and knew nobody. I was an adventure-woman, heading head first into a sea of unknown! Wow!

But right from the time I was greeted at the Mexico City airport by a Japanese/Mexican family who were friends of friends to this point of getting ready to head to the airport tonight (HOLY.SHIT.) it has flown by. Literally fastest 10 months of my life. How am I going to leave the life that I’ve built here?

I’m having these moments of looking around and thinking to myself, “man, I am going to miss this”. Whether it’s just walking back to my apartment from school, or discussing slang with Mexicans over pulque. The other day I saw a pretty common Mexican sight: a bored looking guy on his phone, selling tamales on the side of the road with his bike-cart-contraption. It was simple, and the dude looked pretty bored but  I kind of choked up. Even when I go out I just think “there are so many Mexican around me right now. I’m going to miss being surrounded by Mexicans”.

At the same time though, I feel a slight readyness to go home. Even as I type those words, I get a knot in my stomach. I think wait, am I ready to go home? I think it’s better explained as a weird sense of fatigue. Being here for a set amount of time, and with Mexico being a country with so much to do and see, I always feel this constant need to go go go. To travel to the famous places I haven’t been yet, to go out and have a night out, to spend as much time soaking everything up. I love it, I love it so but oof, I feel like I might be crashing.It’s really been a wonderful year of go go gooooooooo, and now I guess some rest is needed (for just A LITTLE mom!)

Nonetheless, once I get home I know it’s going to be the things that don’t exist at home yet are common and normal here that I’m going to miss a lot. To be honest…I’m scared. I’m scared because I’ve had so much fun this year, and I don’t know if that’s going to happen again. When something is good, I want it to last forever (typical youngest child). But that’s not how life works is it? We got to keep moving, and to keep finding out happiness. It’s that cheesy line of:

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened

It’s so cheesy, but it’s so true. I’m grateful to have experienced such a rich and fascinating culture, and to have met so many people from all over the world. Everyday was like this new adventure, with something awesome to be discovered around the corner. That’s the most exciting thing ever don’t you think? 

So anyways, I guess this is goodbye for now Mexico. You opened your arms to me and I’ll never forget all the amazing experiences I had with you. You’ve made me more curious about the world, and I feel more prepared to take on the world after living here with you. I’m going to miss you and your bright, colourful, full-of-life attitude.

Love forever,

Saki

 

 

As my time here comes to a close, last week I took a final trip with my Danish friend Camilla. Guanajuato is a beautiful town located only two hours away, and we spent one night there. The town is unique because it is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. What makes the place unique is that it was a city first build on the mining boom without any city planning at all. So, there are absolutely no straight streets, and many small mysterious and charming alleyways, curving streets, and hidden side streets that lead to nowhere. The city is also known for it’s arts! Every fall, the city hosts the Cervantino Festival—a couple weekends of lots of arts and theatre and drama. Very nice. They also have a high student population, so we ran into a lot of hip young coffee shops and stores.  Here are the photos 🙂

As somebody who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where there is little exposure to Mexican culture in comparison to southern parts of the United States, before I came to Mexico I knew nothing about Lady Guadalupe. Like, I didn’t even know that she existed. Well, I soon found out that  she is one of the most iconic figures in Mexico. She is a large part of the culture here, since according to Wikipedia (sorry ubc profs), 80% of the country actually identifies as Catholic.

Kind of quick of history about her: So basically according the the Catholics,  on December 9, 1531, an Indigenous dude named  Juan Diego (let’s be real that wasn’t his actual name that was a spanish name) saw a vision of  the Lady G on the Hill of Tepeyac (today a suburb of Mexico City). She spoke to him in Nahuatl (the language of the Aztec empire), and identified herself as the Virgin Mary. And then, she was like

“Son, build a church for me! Or in my honour or something like this…ANYWAYS, so Juan’s like yeah for sheezy lady, and runs to tell the archbishop of Mexico City what was up. The archbishop has his doubts (fair enough archbishop, people be crazy) so tells Juan to go ask the lady for a miracle to prove herself. But anyways, she does prove herself. She first heals Juan’s uncle, and then convinces Juan to go get a bunch of flowers from the top of this Hill of Tepeyac, which was normally this barren desert area, especially in December. And I bet you can guess what happened. HE FINDS SOME FLORES. So then the Lady G puts the flowers in Juan’s cloak and Juan runs back to the archbishop and dumps the flowers infront of the guy. Boom. Also, on the fabric of the cloak there was was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. They build the church where she appeared, and today is  the most visited Catholic pilgrimage sight in the world! And! you can see Juan’s cloak in the basilica still!

But there has been a lot of scholarly debate as how possible this really is, or if it actually happened. Conveniently enough, the Lady Guadalupe, with her darker skin and speaking the local language of the time was a great tool of colonization. The Spanish had destroyed the temple of the mother goddess Tonantzin where this Lady G Church was built, and converted Natives would still address the Lady G as Tonantzin. But nonetheless, she still is a huge part of the imagery of Mexican culture here.

I kind of like it. You can find her image, her statue, or shrines to her everywhere you go. On the street, in houses, in schools. I’ve even seen a gigantic version of her on the side of the mountain in the Sierra Gorda even. On the street, you see people pass by her at randomly made shrines and cross themselves. Also people in their cars will cross themselves.

Over the course of my time here, I have become slightly obsessed with her and I can’t really figure out why. Obsessed like, I take pictures of her wherever I see her, I have her as my background picture on my cellphone, and my friends bought me a Lady Guadalupe CD as a gift. What?

SO WHY DID I CONSIDER GETTING A TATTOO OF HER ON MY BODY FOREVER?! (chill mom, I didn’t, finally). I don’t know. She’s so reliably mexican maybe? Because she’s literally everywhere, and she’s still very important. So on one hand, I think she’s beautiful, and I could stare at photos of her in churches for a long time. But…but…knowing her history? Knowing how she has been used, and is being used? Who knows. Inconclusive conclusion.

 

One of the things I will miss most about Querétaro is walking around the downtown area at night. It’s beautiful with all it’s old buildings, twinkling lights, nighttime mass, and how there’s always something going on in the multiple plazas that dot the downtown. If you don’t like the entertainment, there’s people watching, as Mexicans love to relax and hangout in the public areas in the evenings and on the weekend.

Here’s a video that showcases nightfall in the city 🙂

 

So I cried at school yesterday. It was kind of embarrassing. But generally, it’s always just funny looking back on times when you cry at school, it feels so dramatic.

So why was I crying? I was mad. Okay and slightly disappointed if we’re being honest. I was mad at Tec. I was mad at Tec because they have this stupid reputation to uphold. And because it’s such an obvious place for Mexico’s elite and rich (the tuition here is almost double that of UBC). I could go on with examples but I’ve thought about this bitterness I have against rich students here –because a lot of them are still really great people! Is it unfair to judge a person just based on the fact that they’re wealthy? Yes. But again, discussion for another blog post.

Last week, I was asked to write a speech (in spanish!) for the closing ceremony of the international students. I went to the ceremony last semester and it’s like this formal kind of boring event where they give completion diplomas and stuff like that.

Anyways, the speech. I was told specifically by admin to “not include any negative experiences you’ve had here, only the good things”. To be honest I thought that was a bunch of bullshit because that wouldn’t be my actual experience here. I was told they really wanted me to do it (not because of my spanish skills mind you haha—). However, they had some other options of people just in case. Eh. I was going to write and give a great fucking speech.

So I worked really hard on the speech. My literature/spanish prof helped me translate it. A speech that mentioned some amazing things I love about Mexico, but also some other stuff: Ayotzinapa, Tlatelolco 68′, and how I didn’t like being whistled at and called chinita (little chinese girl) on the street. Oh yeah and one small joke about Tec….

And guess what! After I sent in my speech I was told….nope. They gave it to some other french dude. A dude with a nice positive speech about Mexico (my prof read it).

So why am I pissed? It’s just a speech Saki. They told you at the beginning they might give it to someone else if they didn’t like it. Let me tell you why I’m pissed:

A) Tec is a university, and an institution of ‘higher’ learning that should encourage critical thinking, new ideas, and open discussions. Rather, they cut me off because I wasn’t all rainbows and bricks of gold coming out of my butt.

B) I wanted Tec to hear that there are those of us who are interested in real Mexican issues.

C) It’s important, especially as foreigners, to see past just the beautiful beaches and getting drunk on tequila. It’s important hear names like Ayotzinapa, and Tlatelolco, and to incorporate that into your idea as Mexico as well.  I wanted people, especially foreigners, to hear the names—Say that it’s just important to know about these things is as important to rid the image of Mexico as being just violence and corruption.

D)  I wanted people to know that as visitors we are privileged. That as students in Tec we are privileged. And also that if you have a penis in this country, your life here is a lot easier than that of a woman.

E) I  just wanted to give some real talk.  or I WANTED TO HEAR SOME FUCKING REAL TALK IN A RICH PRIVATE INSTITUTION THAT FEEDS US WITH TEC PROPAGANDA.

F) Also I put a lot of work into that speech, and I was really excited to give it in spanish. To practice and you know, kill it!

Obviously, me talking for five minutes infront of a crowd, while also trying to make them laugh, would not have accomplished these things. But I’d like to think it was a start. Now it’s just another white dude going on about the wonderful amazing time we had in Mexico.

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I’ve realized this will be the first time that I am almost a week behind on my two week blog thing. To my defense, editing videos is a lot more work and time consuming than I imagined, and have much more appreciation for the work that goes into a simple video.

Anyways, a few weeks ago was the Mexican version of Spring Break. It’s more like Easter Break (as the majority of the country is Catholic) and most schools get two weeks off. Here at Tec, we got one week off, so many students took this chance to do a bit of travelling. Two of my friends and I decided to head to the beautiful state of OAXACA! All three of us had been at one point or another, but we all felt there was so much to left to see. We did half our week in the city of Oaxaca, and the other half on the other side of the state at the beach. But instead of writing a bunch and posting photos, I’ve spent way too many hours working on a set of four videos that showcase different parts of the week we spent travelling. So without further adieu, here are my videos!

And be nice, this is my first time editing videos 😀

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my good friends down here has two wonderful Mexican roommates. A few months or so ago, we had an afternoon together that we spent making empanadas.

What are empanadas you ask? Well, they are little pockets of doughy-goodness. Usually deep fried, but I have also seen pan fried variations. Toppings and fillings depend on the region of the country. As our master chef Eric is from Vera Cruz (a long state in the eastern side of the country), we made those specific regional empanadas.

Ingredients you will need:

-masa, water, and salt (to make the dough)

-Oaxaca cheese (filling)

-oil (for frying)

-lettuce, avocado, onion, and crema* (topping)      *crema is kind of like a really mild Mexican sour cream. It’s not sour at all really, just creamy cream? Like the consistency of syrup, but it’s cream.

 

I’ve included an english-version (featuring Saki and some Reynaldo), a spanish-version (featuring Eric), as well as a “how to top it and eat it” .

 

 

It was a wonderful afternoon of great friends and delicious food (and fresh mango water, yum!).

 

I initially started writing about banda music as part of a different post, but realized it was getting kind of long for just a footnote. So! Banda music is getting it’s own post!

When I first arrived in Mexico eight short months ago, I had never consciously heard this abrasive and up-in-your-face music before. Once here though, I encountered it all around me, in all aspects of dat mexican life. I have mentioned before in other posts how it plays on the bus….However, I also hear it blasting out of car radios at all hours, in clubs, in restaurants, and rolling out of tranquil looking homes. Not to mention if you go to a Mexican house party, it is very very likely they will put on banda music at one point in the night. It’s a type of music that’s usually associated with the ranch people–cowboys, aggies, and people in more rural areas. I guess kind of like country music? Although a Mexican friend once explained it to me by comparing it to bad American top-40: something you are fiercely proud of, something you are very vocal about hating, or a guilty pleasure.

At first, I didn’t get it —all of it just sounded the same, there was a lot of obnoxious brass, and dude…everyone was just playing it waaaay too much and waaay to loud. I used to make fun of it. I didn’t like it at all!  But recently…I have come to a strange (and slightly terrifying) realization. I have been craving it. When I need a bit of a pick me up but don’t want to break out into something too dancy it’s perfect! It’s so fun. When I am cleaning my room, when I am cooking, when I am doing my homework. Also it just feels so mexican like “Yeah, I’m participating in the culture” (okay Saki that’s kind of weird. Although it is something that is so distinctly Mexican. I don’t think it really exists in other latin american countries). Not to mention I am able to recognize, and sometimes even sing along to, different songs! Which is a small SPANISH LANGUAGE WIN.

There is a dance that goes a long with this style of music too, and really popular bars that only play banda music! Seeing banda bands play live is especially fun because there are usually like 10 people playing different instruments on the stage and its just high tempo high energy.

Now, maybe you are just dying to hear what this music sounds like? So I present to you, my favourite banda song 😀 Enjoyyyyyy!!!!

Can I just take a minute to say my thanks?

It’s weird how you kind of re-asess stuff when big scary moments happen in your life. Two weeks ago, I got into a pretty bad car accident, and it’s a giant miracle that all of us came out the way we did. The five of us were in a rental car, on our way to a small ghost town called Real de Catorce. If you’ve ever seen the film “The Mexican” with Brad Pitt, you would recognize the town from this film. Well, actually I wouldn’t know as we never arrived and instead spent two days in the hospital. On the way, the driver of the car spaced out and we went off the road. After “waking up” once we hit the shoulder, he tried to correct and swerve back onto the highway. This took the car out of control and we rolled off the highway, doing several flips and turns until we stopped, upside down.

By some enormous stroke of something bigger than luck, the worst of the injuries was a broken collar bone on one friend, and 11 stitches to the head on another. Wow, looking at these pictures again now makes me feel really anxious and scared. But that’s not what this blog post is about! Post-accident, we are still dealing with different things in different ways, although I think overall we are doing okay.

The biggest thing I realized is that I am not super-human (I know guys, it was a big realization lol) and that humans are so incredibly fragile. I am thankful to the universe that in my lifetime, nothing bad such as death or permanent effects of body functions has occurred to me or my family. How do we go through life, with such fragile bodies, so constantly close to death and still survive out the other end? It’s so easy for things to happen, and we forget that so quickly. Even post-accident I do. I realize that not everyone is so lucky and I’m also blown away by the strength of people when bad things happens. Bad shit can really happen at any moment, how do people live their lives knowing that?

You know what, these next few paragraphs are going to be super cheesy and stuff, so…yeah. But I want to get it out there, I am still working on that whole thing of actions are stronger than words but here are some words anyways.

So thank you amazing body of Saki, that keeps me functioning everyday. For my strong legs, that move me to see so many different things in this world (up stairs and mountains I am especially thankful for, I like seeing the view from the top of things); my observant eyes that let me watch humans and the colours and beauty that surrounds me; my sometimes-clammy-sometimes-not hands that type out messages that keep me in touch with my friends and family,  my ears that allow me to hear the banda music playing on the local bus; my broad shoulders that let me carry heavy things on my back and makes me feel big and strong when I feel scared and small; my teeth and mouth and lips that taste all the bright explosive flavours that Mexico has to offer, and my big stomach that digests all that (even though I know it’s hard sometimes) ; my strong Japanese hair that let’s me express me my creativity and keeps on growing for me; my vocals chords that let me sing songs off key a bit but nonetheless I get to S-I-N-G, and finally, my fucking amazing brain and heart that keep all that functioning well.

 

My family, who, no matter what I do always look out for me. I am glad we are as close as we are, and that we can make jokes with each other/about eachother. I am so looking forward to all being back together again for the first time in years this August. まま, thank you for raising me to be a curious person about this world and teaching me to always remember to laugh. 子供の時、いつもお母さんから旅行の話を聞いていろんな場所に行きたくなった。I know saying things about how awesome-ly your parents raise you make you sound like “yeah, I am an awesome person” but fuck it my mom did a lot of good things okay??!! めぐみ, you are the strongest person I know, and you can get through anything that life throws out you while being still being sensitive to the needs of those around you. 大輔, the big bro that never has been too cool for his youngest sisters—thanks for always giving me advice while giving me the space to go for what I want (also thanks to Sonia too, for  letting me hang out with you too so much).     お父さん,  you’ve been there for us in the ways that you know how and you don’t always get the credit you deserve, ありがとう.

怒っても、笑っても、泣いても、私が変な日本語を使っても、最後は皆一緒。それがミーの人生の一番の安心。。。ありがとう。

 

The Mexican and exchange friends I’ve made here, and the friends from back home. Thanks for going along with my crazy ideas, or letting me go along with yours. My life would be colourless if not for all the moments that we’ve spent laughing too hard at silly things, learning or exploring together, or just sitting and chatting. For all the Mexicans friends who have shared their homes, food,knowledge, with me–thank you. You guys are so patient with my super weird spanish and strange questions (POR OR PARA WHICH ONE). You guys are part of what makes this place so special. Roomie, I am sorry I accidentally called you a whore in spanish and did not realize for like 3 days.

Thanks for the International programs office at UBC and Tec for their support. The people in the office here are amazing and work their butts off so that people here have a safe and good time. That’s so nice. Back home too, there are so many people working so that us exchange students have the best time possible. They support us, and want us to have a good time. I am grateful for that.

Mexico. Thanks for being you. For not trying to hide all the different Mexicos that exist, but instead creating levels of complexity that make it so interesting to be a part of. When people ask me what my favourite part of Mexico is, it’s hard to answer that question. I could say nature but part of why I love the nature here is because of the Mexican-ness of it—the $12 ziplining, the Mayan cave guide whose family has been guiding guests for five generations, the travelling on the back of an open truck to go see bird caves.   Some might say the people are the best part but that’s not so simple either–I  remember the lady who I buy veggies from at the market who gives me free fruit with my purchases, or the gate guards at my apartment who are friendly and remember our names, or the man who pulled a clean plastic bag out of nowhere when my juice own bag started leaking on the street,  or the taxi driver who gave me a ride back to school for free. I don’t want to remember the bus drivers that ignored me when I try to get on, or the police officer that hit my friend, or the corrupt government officials that treats their citizens like shit. So yeah, simple and easy Mexico is not. Strong, complex, surprising, beautiful? Definitely.

This list of gratitude can go on and on and on. Like I could do a shoutout to the guy in mysalsa class that’s always smiling even when I mess up, or the people who make the delicious pulque in my favourite bar downtown, or the dude who has the great loud voice when selling tamales in the neighborhood (TaMAAAAAAALes). It can go big, like to the universe, or small to the bacteria in my intestines that prevented me from getting diarrhea after I ate those sketchy tacos. Seriously I could go on and on. But bottom line what I want to say is that Shit, I am thankful to still be alive today and for my life and everything in it. So thanks, everyone. Everyone and everything.

#ifeelweirdafterwritingthis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some more of my favourite photos that I have taken during my time here in Mexico. I have showcased three trips that I took outside of Querétaro in order that I went.

-The first few photos are taken in Morelia, Michoacan. My friend and I went for the International Film Festival there for the weekend. It is about a 3/4 hour bus ride from Querétaro. (Sept. 2014)

-Next is our Tequila Train and Tequila factory tour near the town of Tequila in the state of Jalisco. This place is more of a 10 hour drive from Querétaro. The tequila train was a tourist activity that we participated in, full of tequila and mariachi music. The train took us to the tequila factory, where we toured and saw how this famous Mexican bevy is made (while drinking more tequila…). (Nov. 2014)

-The same weekend we visited Puerto Vallarta, and I have included a few photos from the beach

-And my most recent visit to the small puebla of Valle de Bravo to go see the famous monarch butterflies (Jan. 2015)