Last Days

I've not gotten to upload all that I wanted to upload....pictures and videos.  I will have things ready for cultural lessons though for next school year.  I don't have much realia to show, mainly gifts for people, but each item tells a story.  I hope all have enjoyed reading this blog.  If any one is interested in more detailed information about anything I've posted, please don't hesitate to email me  mknappsmith@suddenlink.net and I'll respond as soon as I can. 

Tomorrow is my last day here officially.  I have class and then spend time with my host mom and sisters.....for once, I'm the oldest instead of the baby...lol. 

Saturday morning, around 8am (9am EST) I'll be taking a 2 hr bus ride to the Mexico City Airport and my journey will end around 11pm in Charleston (gotta love long layovers in Charlotte International Airport (almost 4 hours to be exact) - I figure though, with customs and getting to the domestic terminal, finding my gate and a fresh salad, I'll have about 2 hours to relax. 

My calves feel like steel  from all the walking.  I've certainly toned. 

I've so enjoyed this journey, but it's time has come to end.  I need to get home and get geared up for next school year....lesson planning, organizing, scheduling and well, life itself. 

If any of you who are following this blog ever get the opportunity to study abroad, I strongly urge you to do so.  It is a rewarding and blessed experience.  I've learned so much about the language and culture that I love as well as much about myself....who I am becoming, who I want to become and what is important to me. 

I so wish I could have shared this experience with my college Spanish professor, Sra Carolyn Halstead, and I know she is with me in spirit always, but I wish I could talk to her and tell her all the exciting things I connected to what I learned from her.  She is the inspiration that helped to bring me to this point. 
Te extraño mucho Señora.

Mexico City Museum of Anthropology

The jefe of the school I'm attending, Charley Goff, is an anthropologist, activist and progressive.  Quite a man.  He and his sister, Harriett, spent many years in Cuernavaca in their youth and both married Mexicans and settled here in Cuernavaca, running Cemanahuac. 
When Charley runs the excursions I've attended, he is a wealth of knowledge that I appreciate greatly.  I've been to this museum before, as a child, and when I brought students here with colleagues from Ohio back in 2005, but today, all was different.  I saw things differently from all the things I've heard from Charley these past 3 weeks.

I'll post more tomorrow.  I'm exhausted but happy.  These extra 2 weeks have been wonderful, but I'm going to be glad to be home this Saturday. 

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (pictures coming soon)

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz de Asbaje y Ramirez was born in San Miguel Nepantla, near Mexico City. She was the illegitimate child of a Spanish Captain, Pedro Manuel de Asbaje, and a Criollo woman, Isabe Ramirez. Her father, according to all accounts, was absent from her life. She was baptized December 2 and described on the Baptismal rolls as "a daughter of the Church." The future poet was raised in Amecameca, where her maternal grandfather owned a hacienda called Panoaya.

Juana was a devoutly religious child who hid in the hacienda chapel to read her grandfather's books from the adjoining library, something forbidden to girls. She learned how to read and write at the age of three. By age five, she could do accounts, and at age eight she composed a poem on the Eucharist.By adolescence, she had mastered Greek logic, and at age thirteen she was teaching Latin to young children. She also learned the Aztec language of Nahuatl, and wrote some short poems in that language.

In 1664, at age sixteen, Juana was sent to live in Mexico City. She asked her parents' permission to disguise herself as a male student so that she could enter the university. Not being allowed to do this, she continued her studies privately. She came under the tutelage of the Vicereine Leonor Carreto, wife of Viceroy Antonio Sebastián de Toledo. The viceroy (whom Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography names as the Marquis de Mancera), wishing to test her learning and intelligence (she being then seventeen years old), invited several theologians, jurists, philosophers, and poets to a meeting, during which she had to answer, unprepared, many questions, and explain several difficult points on various scientific and literary subjects. The manner in which she acquitted herself astonished all present, and greatly increased her reputation. Her literary accomplishments soon made her famous throughout New Spain.

She was much admired in the vice-royal court, and declined several proposals of marriage.^[1] In 1667, she entered the Convent of the Discalced Carmelites of St. Joseph as a postulant. In 1669, she entered the Convent of the Order of St. Jérôme..

In Juana's time, the convent was often seen as the only refuge in which a female could properly attend to the education of her mind, spirit, body and soul. Nonetheless, she wrote literature centered on freedom. In her poem Redondillas she defends a woman's right to be respected as a human being. Therein, she also criticizes the sexism of the society of her time, poking fun at and revealing the hypocrisy of men who publicly condemn prostitutes, yet privately pay women to perform on them what they have just said is an abomination to God. Sor Juana asks the sharp question in this age-old matter of the purity/whoredom split found in base male mentality: "Who sins more, she who sins for pay? Or he who pays for sin?"

Sor Juana's “thinking out loud” was especially dangerous because the Counter Reformation was raging. Anyone who challenged societal values and ecclesiastical dogma could be investigated by the Spanish Inquisition on suspicion of heresy.

Matters came to a head in 1690, when a letter was published attacking Sor Juana's focus on the sciences, and suggesting that she should devote her time to soft theology.

However, powerful representatives from the Viceregal Court and the Jesuit Order were her protectors and she was widely read in Spain, being called "the Tenth Muse". She was lauded as the first great poet of Latin America. Her work was also printed by the first printing press in New Spain.

In response to her critics, Sor Juana wrote a letter entitled Respuesta a Sor Filotea (Reply to Sister Filotea), in which she defended women's right to education. In response, the Archbishop of Mexico joined other high-ranking officials in condemning Sor Juana's "waywardness".

By 1693, Sor Juana seemingly ceased writing rather than risk official censure. However, there is no undisputed evidence of her renouncing devotion to letters, though there are documents showing her agreeing to undergo penance. Her name is affixed to such a document in 1694, but given her deep natural lyricism, the tone of these supposed hand-written penitentials is rhetorical and autocratic Church formulae – one signed, "Yo, la peor de todas" (I, the worst/meanest of them all (the women)).

She is said to have sold all her books,then an extensive library of over 4,000 volumes, and her musical and scientific instruments as well.

Only a few writings have survived, which are known as the "Complete Works." According to Octavio Paz, Sor Juana's writings were saved by the Viceroy's wife. In April 1695, after ministering to the other sisters struck down by a rampant plague, she is said to have died at four in the morning on April 17.

Todo está bien

Amigos:  I realize I've not written in a while.....with all the rain we're having, I'm learning about all the tropical storms and hurricanes that are coming on both coasts of Mexico.  No worries with me....we are pretty far inland so nothing is going to happen.  The streets are flooding daily and our house is getting flooded a bit, but nothing tragic.  We're sweeping water out of the floor on a daily basis. 
A week from Saturday I will be returning to WV.  I'm not sure what other excursions we will have as the enrollment for the school has dropped significantly. 
We visited an orphanage today.  It wasn't what I'd expected.....much better actually.  Many of the children are there because by being there, they will have a better life, and have a better chance to go to college.  I didn't take my camera because I was nervous about what I'd find, but it was like a large campus.  They raise animals for food, corn to make tortillas and much of their needs are donated.  The name of the place is Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos.  Apparently, there are other branches across Latin America.  Perhaps, another opportunity for our program to help out somewhere......more details later.

Copa de Oro - México ganó

México GOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Here's a video of México scoring their second goal...........

México ganó La Copa de Ora Mundial de Fútbol 4-2

Amigos:
   I went out with 3 of my 4 housemates to the Zócalo tonight to watch the World Cup Soccer Game between USA and México tonight.  The crowd was amazing.  The game was projected onto a BIG screen for all to see. 

At the end of the first half, a rain storm came through. (we are officially in the rainy season here in Cuernavaca...it's rained almost every night, which is wonderful, as the humidity isn't as horrible.)

 We all went to a tented area of a restaurant, Los Arcos, where we shared some spirits and ate ñoquis.  You're probably wondering what in the world those are, well, next time I go, I'll take pictures, but simply, they are like mashed potatoes rolled into little balls, and deep fried.  They are served with a picante dip, that's like Thousand Island salad dressing with a kick. 
The town is full of pride tonight, and despite the thunder and lightning, I've heard some fireworks.  People were running through the streets in the torrential downpour, screaming and smiling with pride.   

When the US scored, several of us cheered.  There are several schools for American students here and we felt very comfortable.  I did see some police driving around with their lights as we were leaving.....some people were probably fairly drunk. 

Me, I'm going to put my headphones on to drown out the thunder (never been a fan) and sleep.  Our two new roomates came today and so tomorrow, we're going to show them around town and give them advice.

Photos de Taxco y Tepotzlan

Repaso de Taxco

Amigos: we've just gotten home from Taxco.  What a city!  So many stores of jewelry, so much history and so much melancholy. 

Seeing this woman saunder up the street, shuffling one foot in front of the other, uphill, I might add....was so heartbreaking.  I think she may have been begging at the bottom of the hill, but saw that there were several turistas coming and wanted to get in a prime spot to be seen. 

Many more pictures and stories on the way, but I have homework to do. 

Pensamientos de la mañana

Ya es muy temprano - a las cuatro y media de la mañana, pero, no pudiera dormir.  Tengo muchas cosas en mi cerebro.  Nada mala, pero pensativa.  Estaba pensado en todas las cosas que había hecho, y que me afectaron mucho.  Viendo el mundo con ojos más maduros - es algo que no me permití a mi mismo antes, pero ver a la gente tan pobre al lado de la riqueza en una manera diferente es tan triste.  Los vendadores en las calles, y en los sitios turísticos, tratando ganar suficiente dinero para comer en la noche.  Cuentos de familias grandes sin comida, es muy triste pero pienso en las vidas de mucha gente en WV que no tiene suficiente para sobrevivir..........me deprimió mucho. 

Pienso de mi vida tan privilegada - ¿Cuántas personas pueden hacer una maleta para dos semanas en Cuernavaca - y entonces decida quedarse dos semanas más, sin parpadeando los ojos? Es algo muy raro y no hay mucha gente que pueden hacerlo.  Soy muy afortunada. 

Ayer, estuvimos en la puebla de Tepoztlan - algunos compañeros fueron al pirámide, otras fueron de compras y un hombre y yo fuimos con Charley para ver la iglesia y monasterio del ordén dominico. Los cuentos de historia son muy interestantes.  Cuando tengo más tiempo que más detalles, voy a ponerlos aquí.  Charly me mostró en el mercado un taco que era riquísimo - con carne, queso, y hojas de catcus....me aproveché muchísimo. 

Pues, necesito descansar más.  Tengo clases y entonces vamos a Taxco - un pueblo conocido por la producción de la plata.  Estoy buscando algo para mi mamá.    

Hasta luego.

Extended stay

Amigos:  I have decided to remain in Cuernavaca for 2 more weeks.  This experience is priceless and I want to get all I can from every minute.  I'll be back home July 9th.

I can't explain the feelings I have other than by saying, I am here, in the moment, breathing, thinking and being - in a way I've never lived before.  I'm soaking in this experience like a sponge and I'm not ready to leave. 

This kind of opportunity may only come once, and I have to seize it. 

I'm still having problems uploading video, but I hope you're enjoying the pictures I have posted.  Remember, if there are any questions you have, post them and I'll be sure to answer them. 

Ya tengo fotos

Frida Kahlo's home

Diego Rivera's home

Diego Rivera's coat and cane - his hands were VERY small

Un pavo real

Hoy es el lunes

Pues, amigos, es mi última semana aquí en Cuernavaca.  Regresará a los EEUU el sábado.  Habría muchas cosas para ser este semana.  El miércoles, vamos a Tepoztlan para ir de compras en el mercado, el jueves, vamos a Taxco, la cuidad más famosa para la producción de cosas de plata, y el viernes, vamos a tener una Hacienda Fiesta.  Hay muchos de nosotros que vamos a salir a sábado........quizás será muy divertido. 
Voy a poner más fotos aquí este tarde después de mis clases.

Well friends, this is my last week in Cuernavaca.  I will return to the United States on Saturday.  There will be many things to do this week.  On Wednesday, we are going to Tepoztlan to go to the open market and shop.  On Thursday, we're going to Taxco, the city most famous for its production of silver products, and on Friday we will have an Hacienda Dinner.  Many of us in the group will leave on Saturday, so I think this will be a lot of fun.  I'm going to put pictures here this afternoon after school.

Spiritual Sunday

After sending my dad a virtual card for Father's Day, I headed out with my classmates to Cuicuilco in the center of Mexico City and then to Teotihuacán.  Did you know there was a volcano that overlooked Mexico City?  It's name is Xitle (pronounced sheet le.)  Throughout Mexico there are 8000 volcanos.  We were walking on lava rock.  From Cuicuilco we could see the volcano and I'll post pictures tomorrow. 

Cuicuilco is Nahuatl for "Place of Prayers and Songs." People would come to worship at these pyramids, often dressed in white.  They would perform what we would consider pagan ceremonies and many other rituals.  Now, it is prohibited to wear white, have lighters, incense, video cameras or anything that could be considered ritualistic.  (Our teacher, Charlie, who is sick with bronchitis, couldn't use his megaphone to talk.)  The people who worshipped here became known as the Mexicanidad.  The Catholic Church and local archeologists were afraid of them.  Ironically, the UNAM School for Archeology is directly across the street.

From there we headed to possibly the most famous pyramids of Mexico, Teotihucán.  I have some photos and video I'll post tomorrow, for now, I need sleep - school comes early in the am.

Reflections of Today

We spent the day in Mexico City, touring the home of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, then to birth home of Frida Kahlo and to the Museo Dolores Olmedo - whom Diego Rivera friended the last years of his life, and to whom he entrusted his and Frida's estates.  I have some video of each place, and will try to get some still shots from the video as well.
My housemate is letting me borrow her digital camera tomorrow for Teotihuacan, so I'll be doing a lot of editing tomorrow evening and most likely Monday.  Stay tuned for pictures.
These Mexican Mosquitoes REALLY LOVE ME!!!!!!

reflección de mi primera semana en Cuernavaca

As I awake to the sunrise and birds singing, I am pensive.  I have one week left to explore and live here in Cuernavaca.  I've been thinking I'd love to be here much longer than two weeks...there's always next summer. 
I must say, the heat overcame me yesterday and wow....sick isn't what I'd call it.  I am feeling better now and today we were heading into Mexico City to tour museums and other things, including the home of Diego Rivera/Frida Kahlo - their artistic visions have always interested me.

Tomorrow we return to Mexico City - nearby to see the grand pyramids of Teotihuácan.   Though I've seen them before, I will see them differently this time.  Thankfully, our bus has air conditioning....

I'm planning many cultural activities for students for next year, and when I return to WV, that's what I'll be doing all summer - lesson plans.  Once a teacher, always a teacher, I suppose. 

Many of you know I spent many summers in San Miguel de Allende when I was younger.  I didn't appreciate its beauty and charm, but I would love to go back there and relive the magic of the city where my parents fell in love.

Pués as they say, vaya con Diós.  Besos y abrazos - voy a escribir más quizás a lunes.  Espero que tengan Uds. buen fin de semana.  Feliz Día de Padres a domingo a todos los padres del mundo.

Y más fotos de Xochicalco

Más Fotos de Xochicalco

Xochicalco Mexico - Pyramids

Amigos, finalmente, fotos.  This is one of the Xochicalco Pyramids about 45 minutes from Cuernavaca.  This was my outing today after classes.  I have more to post, but I must study for a while and have dinner with my family. 





lo siento

I'm having the worst time trying to upload pictures and video......I will do my best to post them as I go along.

Decisiónes

Decidé no ir a la excursión hoy.  La escuela va a hacer la misma excursión la semana que viene - voy a ir este tiempo.
Quería explicar más de mis clases.  La primera clase es más de gramática y la estructura del español.  Anoche, tuvimos que escribir diez y nueve frases usando las maneras diferentes de usar "para" y "por." Esta noche, tengo que escribir una cuenta de 200 palabras usando el pretérito (particularmente los verbos irregulares)...uf, qué divertida.  Mañana, si tengo tiempo voy a escribirla por máquina y ponerlo aquí. La segunda clase - es más de la cultura, la literatura y la conversación. 

!Qué ricos son mis profesores!  Me gustan muchos mis clases y mis compañeros.  Hay solamente 4 personas en cada de mis clases. 
  

Soy estudiante

Today was my first day in classes.  I have two classes - one starts at 9, the other at 11:45.  We have a break between classes, and at 1 - we leave.  Some days, we'll have excursions after school, like tomorrow, we are taking a walking tour of downtown Cuernavaca.  I hope to get my video/camera equipment working.  As I type this I hear rain.  I enjoy the sounds here.  There are dogs barking (like in my own home) and birds chirping.  The people here are wonderful.  They are warm and gracious.  They like that I am trying to communicate in their language...very patiently.  They are gentle to correct and always willing to answer questions of vocabulary or pronunciation.   

Amigos: I must say, some of the sights are tragic.  I've seen many beggars, both old and young - tired eyes, old, cracked hands hoping for some sort of help.  I know that we have many poor people at home too, and it's so disconcerting to see a McDonalds, Walmart, Sears and many other American stores - with so much of our cultural influence in this country and children are starving.  I'm not sure I told you, but one of the asks from my school was to bring children's vitamins for a local orphange.....I've done so, and will give them in the name of our program.  Perhaps we can find a way to "adopt" a child here to help them in some way.   

Qué día tuve - What a day I had

En mi segundo día - el grupo fue a Puebla.  Visitaron un museo,dos iglesias, el zócalo y el sitio dedicado a la batalla del Cinco de Mayo.  El museo se llama El Museo Amparo.  Es una colección del arte que era dando a la cuidad por Manuel Espinoza Yglesias.  El nombre de museo viene de su mujer, Amparo.  Esta colleción del arte viene de muchos años.  Cubre tres periódos de historia: preclássico (1500BC-300AD), clássico (300-900AD), posclássico (900- conquista por los españoles).  Mi profesor dice que cada periódo  era basado en las prácticas relígiosas.

In my second day, the group went to Puebla.  We visited a museum, two churches, the town square and the site dedicated to the battle of Cinco de Mayo.  The museum is called the Amparo Museum. It is a collection of art that spans many years.  It covers three historic periods: PreClassic (1500BC-300AD), Classic (300-900AD), and PostClassic (900AD - Spanish Conquest).  My profesor says that each period was based on religious practices. 

Amigos:  My pictures will come soon....my digital camera stopped working and Sra Vititoe's flip camera just got new batteries, so hopefully pictures will come soon.
Te prometo - I promise you.

Estoy en Cuernavaca

Amigos:  Llegué en México a las dos - y quedé en el aeropuerto casí 3 horas para otros estudiantes quiénes estudiando conmigo.  Llegaron a Cuernavaca por autobús a las seis de la tarde.  Comí con mi familia.  Hay 2 otras chicas aquí en la casa que son estudiantes.  Mi madre mexicana es muy divertida y simpática.

I arrived in Mexico at 2pm and stayed in the Mexico City Airport for 3 hours for other students who were studying with me. We arrived in Cuernavaca by bus at 6pm.  I ate with my family.  There are 2 other girls staying in the same house with me who are students.  My Mexican mother, Hortencia, is fun and nice.

I will post some video and pictures tomorrow, I hope.

First day trip

Amigos:  I leave mañana (tomorrow) and on Sunday, I'll be heading to Puebla.  Here's the description of my day:

Visit the historic colonial city of Puebla, “City of the Angels,”  founded in 1531.  On this trip, we will visit the main Zocalo and the Cathedral, the new Amparo Museum, the Church of Santo Domingo and its Rosary Chapel, the Uriarte family talavera tile factory, the Museum of Santa Monica (where the nuns lived in hiding for over 75 years!!), the Museum of Santa Rosa with its marvelous tiled kitchen a nd regional handicrafts exhibit...and we might even fit in some time for shopping at the many talavera pottery stores.  Bring a lunch to eat in the Zocalo or have lunch at Tony’s Tacos, the best taco place in Mexico!!  And we’ll drive through the battle site of the “Cinco de Mayo” victory, which took place in Puebla in 1872.

I must say, I'm extremely excited.

9 days and counting

Amigos:  Remember, I'm leaving el 11 de junio, very soon.  I have to be honest with you; although I've traveled many times, this will be the first solo trip out of the country for me.  How do you think you might feel?  I'm staying with a family I've never met before in a city I've never been.......what would be going through your mind? 

Feel free to post comments or questions and I'll be sure to respond.

Have a safe and wonderful summer.

Imagénes de Cuernavaca por Google



La Catedral



 

El jardín



Teopanzolco

Countdown to mi viaje a México

Amigos:  I'm counting down to the date I'm leaving for Cuernavaca.  El 11 de junio es la fecha voy por avión a Cuernavaca.  3 semanas más. 

¿Dónde está Cuernavaca?





 

Cuernavaca está situado al sur de la Ciudad de México.  Dura 45 minutos por autobús.

Ésta es la escuela de Cemanahuac dónde voy a estudiar. 

 

Preguntas para los alumnos de México

Amigos:  In just less than a month, I will be traveling to Mexico.  Thank you for submitting such wonderful questions for me. 
I will be compiling them shortly before I leave, so if you haven't sent one, you have time. 
I will take pictures and video of many things that I see and will post them here.  Next year, I hope to have created cultural activities for you to enjoy. 

La Catedral de Guadalajara México

(es cerca de una de mis cuidades favoritas, San Miguel de Allende)



Estación del radio en español

Amigos buenos:  Me gusta escuchar la radio mucho.  Aquí está una estación en que puedes escuchar en vivo de México.  EN VIVO

Bienvenidos a mi blog

Hola amigos:  Estoy animada que vas a venir conmigo a México.  Si quieres mirar a la escuela dónde voy a estar, Cemanahuac, sigue el enlace. 

Hello friends:  I am excited that you are going to come with me to Mexico.  If you want to look at the school where I'm going to be, follow the link.