Do you know the cultural norms of where you live?

And somehow, while I was at my favorite cafe (in the whole world), a guy named Marcos approached me about wanting to learn and practice English led to meeting a girl named Abigail (who speaks fluent English and Spanish and is learning French) that was part of an organization that was putting on a dance for international students and she introduced me to a guy named Paco (who was born and raised in Queretaro and is studying to be a musician) who gave my girlfriends and I a ride to the event where we met many more beautiful souls. My favorite thing about traveling (along with so many incredible moments) is the connections, the people, and the experiences that you create with them. Like fleeting moments, forever lost in translation and expression, they are purely captured by those who were there. At the event, I met a guy named Florent, who took me back to Cambodia...having been there himself and living in Laos for 8 years. But his dad's a French doctor and his mom was born in Madagascar so he calls France his home, but he's studying abroad in Mexico. Meeting him in Queretaro, Mexico felt too crazy to be true. There were so many foreigners, people from all over the world, brought to this place for their own unique reasons. 
We went on a class field trip with our teacher Alejandro on Friday. I have him for Civilization of Mexico and Context of Mexico. He is such a wise and incredible teacher. He took us to the centro and for over two hours we explored the historical sites of Queretaro. Our assignment was to do research on specific places, mine was the acueducto, the famous arches of the city, and when it was your turn, you had to inform and talk about the site that you researched. There is so much historical evidence in this beautiful city. Today is Lupita's birthday. She celebrates with tequila and her cousins and sister. Throughout the whole day, there are people coming in and out of the house. I can hear her laughter through the music in my room. She is constantly in a state of happiness. I'm thankful to be sharing this experience with her. Although Lupita and Leon have hosted many many international students and especially for this program, she never slows down.
     
Today as I sit here on this couch, the sound of a soccer game from the television is playing, I'm content and amazed. Eder has just managed to impressively open a wine bottle using someone's shoe and hitting it against the wall. I walked down to the centro with Kelly to join Lucas. We sit in one of the popular dining areas downtown and in the hour that we were there, child after child after woman stop at our table to sell things, beg, and ask for money. This is a common, tragic, and reoccurring situation. It feels too easy to only mention the beautiful and breathtaking moments, but it is without a doubt that those moments are not the only part of the whole. I would be blind and ignorant to say that I've never seen the ugly side to Mexico, or China, or even the U.S. for that matter. And for that, I know that I haven't even experienced the worst of it yet. A protest was taking place. Hundreds of children, teenagers, and parents gathered with signs, to walk the streets against the government's actions on the injustice that took place a year ago. All the while, a rapper is singing lyrics to portray the feelings of those who were affected. 43 students went missing on a bus after the police had allegedly taken them. It is assumed that the police officers handed the young students over to criminal gangs where their bodies were incinerated and their remains tossed into a river. These are the stories that Mexico is known for and this is the image that encompasses what many people think of when they imagine Mexico.

I woke up at 6 this morning, on a Sunday to attend a festival in Boye, Queretaro. It is about an hour away from the city and a friend picked me up. We met with his sister and her husband and friend. They all understood English fairly well. I strained to catch words, to understand their fast Spanish. Boye was surrounded by tall, luscious green mountains, stretching for miles, it reminded me of Oregon in many ways. It was a BBQ and pulque festival. Pulque is a special type of drink made from fermenting maguey (which is a type of cactus plant). It has alcohol and different types of fruits. Although I don't eat meat, I did try a tiny piece of the special lamb that they were serving. They cooked it under the ground, covered in leaves, creating a certain type of flavor. There were so many people there that when we walked around the fair, we had to shuffle our feet just to move from one place to the next. What a wonderful, wonderful way to spend my Sunday.

3 de, Octubre 2015

The dangers of traveling that no one really talks about...two days ago, around 6 in the evening after visiting a huge church with my classmates, I walked home alone, a routine that I felt safe and comfortable to do. With my headphones in my ears, blue skies, I was oblivious and taken back when a man approached me from behind. He told me that I was beautiful, I subtly returned a polite "hola". As I continued to walk, he continued to follow me. The urgency behind my words as I told him that he needed to leave did nothing to the situation. I didn't want him to know where I lived, but I had no idea how to handle the situation; the language barrier and the aggressiveness combined. I held on tight to the pepper spray in my hand, but frozen and unable to press it as he pushed me through my gate, against the wall, and tried to touch me. I don't know how, but I managed to push him out and I ran inside the house. No one was home, not even my host brother. There are 4 cameras set up at my house and I watched as he waited outside for me, wandered around the streets, looked under the gate, and before long, finally left. A minute too late, Keaton and Lucas showed up and looked around the street for me. Later that day, my host parents showed up and I asked Kelly to come over to help explain the situation. As she listened, she interrupted with statements of things I shouldn't have done; I shouldn't have said hi, I shouldn't have been wearing a skirt, I should have sprayed him with the pepper spray, I shouldn't have led him to the house..... I was annoyed and disappointed. She proceeded to talk about the culture of Mexico, about how when we go out to the clubs we need to be more careful, about how wearing certain clothes will get you certain reactions. What she missed was the fact that it was daylight out, the sun was shining and that I was returning from the museum, not some bar. What she didn't hear was that he followed me, that I tried to leave him. Queretaro is a fairly conservative part of Mexico, especially compared to the D.F. I understand that every country thinks different thoughts, have different beliefs and cultural norms, but I don't care if I was wearing a bathing down the street, a woman should always feel safe. I would be stupid if I didn't say that unfortunately, this is not the case, anywhere really. I grew up believing that women are equal, empowered, and strong. Feeling insecure, vulnerable and any less than someone else is something that I can't bring myself to believe. But it is important to always be aware of your surroundings. Do you know the cultural norms of where you live?