Annnd it's December! SO CLOSE.

Full of christmas cheer-induced happiness

First off, I'm so, so excited because it's December. That means there is now less than a month to go before good ol' Navidad, and the festive spirit is going to take over the world for the next month! Christmas is my absolute favourite holiday and I love EVERYTHING about this time of year. Excessive baking and consuming of seasonal food? Check. Comfy, hideous knitted sweaters? Check. Classical festive music, enormous christmas trees and beautiful decorations? Beautiful christmas lights at night everywhere you look? DOUBLE CHECK. And up to this year, a requirement of adding to Christmas cheer was a giant, fluffy dump of snow covering the world. Obviously, this is not going to happen this year, (nor the fuzzy festive outfits, it's not quite the right climate), but I'm still beyond stoked! And talking to everyone here, Mexican Christmas is like a mix of traditional and Western celebrations. So basically starting mid December, various holidays and special traditions start popping up and don't end until the first week of January. It's going to be a month of celebrating the best holiday ever! I walk past stores with christmas trees, or people in the streets selling santa puppets and other christmas themed objects and 1) take a picture (tourist forever and always) and 2) get even more excited. I was walking around downtown the other night and my Mexican friends couldn't understand why I was almost skipping with joy. They wanted to go for coffee and there I was, running around taking pictures of Christmas themed market items.  I can't help it, smelling the pine trees, thinking of gingerbread and Santa.... How can you not get excited?!

STOKED (Also I have no shame, this is in a drug store)

I came across this in the market.
Just thought it was a bit funny, why would you WANT your room to smell of marijuana? Don't people usually try very hard to cover up that smell? 

Christmas tree in the central plaza!

Random concert going on in the plaza.






It's been pretty calm the past few weeks. I've been attending school like usual, but exams started last week and so I spend my days in the library. And thank goodness, we enter at 10 or 11 instead of the usual 7:45! I've been alternating between working on the dreaded university applications and wasting time avoiding said applications. Nothing like university applications to kill your happy, carefree mood. Class planning, course prerequisites, entrance requirements, essays explaining in 500 words or less why you deserve a spot in a program.... Makes you want to tear your hair out in frustration! However, it's a necessary evil, and I am very, very excited to go to university next year.  Just need to sit down, get it done, and then I can forget about it for a little while.With Spanish class we went to the ruins of another factory (this time completely destroyed). It was really interesting, and we climbed around on some of the less precarious stairways and walls. We then went to La Cruz de Zacate, which is this garden inside of a cathedral that has a grass patch that  supposedly naturally grows in the shape of a cross. I'm a bit skeptical, but it could be! 

More food pics.... Yummm

At a Japanese restaurant for my host dad's birthday

Yummy traditional Mexican dish called posole (It's a form of boiled corn with vegetables and chicken)

I made my family the classic Canadian meal of pancakes with authentic Canadian maple syrup

One day with our Rotary club, us YE's helped hand out wheelchairs! The recipients were individuals in Nayarit who couldn't afford to buy a wheelchair, and had therefore applied for one through a social service program. It's a program that my club participates in, and the wife of the Governor of Nayarit came to give the opening speech. We first constructed the wheelchairs and set them up in the hall, and then helped hand out the wheelchairs to the individuals, or to a family member that came for them. It was pretty great to see about 90 people walk away (or roll away, i suppose), in brand new wheelchairs and know that you helped get them there. We also stood there during the official speech in our blazers holding the club's flag (Club mascots, I suppose. The exchange student presence- makes every presentation more interesting!) I really hope that there are more activities like this in the future. It makes you realize how privileged you are, and I think especially as a representative for a country it really is important to contribute your time and effort to other people and their well-being.  As wonderful as it is learning and experiencing things for yourself, it's also important to help others out. I feel like sometimes exchange students get a bit egotistical, and they forgot that not only are they on exchange to learn about another country, but to represent a country as well in a foreign land. I know I certainly get very self-centred sometimes, and when you help out at an event such as this it makes you see the bigger picture! It's not always about us, and we are lucky enough to be in a position to help others!

Oh my, that's a lot of wheelchairs!

Ye's of club Tlatoani and the governor's wife

I recieved this MASSIVE care package from my parents and friends last week. I actually got a little teary-eyed, I was ecstatic! Among the contents were a few pairs of pants (I neglected to bring a reasonable amount and sometimes shorts just don't cut it), some surprise Christmas gifts, various 'stocking stuffers' such as socks and lip chap (thanks Dad), and TEA. Lots and lots of delicious, holiday flavoured DavidsTea. Every night just before I go to bed I try out a new tea. Instant mood booster. My mum, Maribel, was actually super amused at how content I am to sit at the table, mug in hand, and just savour my tea every night. But with flavours like buttered rum, gingerbread and chocolate orange, how can you NOT be ecstatic?! I love my parents so much, best care package ever!

 

I mentioned a couple posts ago that I joined a university rec league soccer team. It was a sort of spontaneous, I-need-things-to-do-stat  decision, and so I requested that my equipment be included in the package.  (Way too broke to buy equipment here.) I finally feel official again- running around in running shoes doesn't have quite the same effect as cleats. I had my first game this Saturday! It was bloody hot, about 30 with the midday sun beating down upon us, but it was super fun! I played rather horrendously, but as I've not played for over two years I'm going to look at it as a starting point- I can only improve! All of the team members are super chill and very encouraging, and so when I trip over the ball they just yell encouragement instead of cringing in horror.  It's a good time, and hopefully will be constructive towards loosening the fit of my pants.  (I have, unfortunately, finally accepted that I've gained weight. Enough to make my formerly baggy pants very form fitting. I'm not especially thrilled about this, but it is one of those inevitable parts of exchange. It's a legitimate thing, just talk to any other exchange student. However, that doesn't stop me from wanting to get rid of it! Wish me luck, time to up the amount of exercise as a last-ditch effort to stop the taco belly.)

One very sunny soccer field!

After the soccer game, I returned home and quickly transformed myself from sweaty and tomato faced athlete to a classy kid ready to dance! I finally got to experience the famous quinceanera. It's this enormous, elaborate celebration they have for girls when they turn 15. It starts off with misa in a church, and then moves to a salon de eventos filled with friends and family. It's a huge affair, and the girl is dressed in an elaborate ball gown more formal than most girl's graduation dresses! The lucky birthday girl introduces herself, and then there are usually fancy choreographed dances performed by her and her companions. Usually, the girl has a group of boys to escort her, and they do at least one dance together. After this, dinner is served, then there are live bands with more dancing to follow. Obviously, each party will vary, but there you have the general idea.  This particular party, the girl appeared from the floor- very fancy entrance! There was then a picture slideshow of her various birthdays and celebrations up to present day. After the dinner, the dance floor filled with excited teenagers and a dancing robot, all rocking out to disco music. After dancing the conga line the teenagers filed out and a mariachi band appeared. At that point, all the parents and older attendees started getting their dance on! Everywhere you looked, people were dancing salsa and banda with varying degrees of skill. I decided to try my hand at dancing banda, and asked a random guy to teach me. The poor guy probably very quickly realized that this Canadian does not possess a natural musical rhythm.  However, he was very patient and said I did a great job by the end!  I danced alongside Maribel and Alex, and we each got to show off our dance moves. (Their moves are considerably more graceful than mine, just saying.) It was a really fun night with my family, and I know have experience with yet another classic Mexican celebration that consists primarily of dancing and having a blast!

The salon de fiestas

Arrival of the birthday girl

Kicking off the event with a father-daughter dance

The meal- not especially traditional, but still good!
Apparently no matter the country, catered food for these type of events remains mostly the same. 

And the formal dinner quickly turned into a dance party...

...Complete with a giant dancing robot

My host parents having a grand time showing of f their dance moves

In the entrance of the coliseum-themed party room

 On Sunday I went over to Caro's house and we decorated her Christmas tree while munching on watermelon. To me, these two things belong in complete opposite seasons. To me, watermelon represents summer, while decorating the tree belongs unmistakably in the middle of winter. Welcome to Mexico, I suppose. Not that I'm complaining, watermelon anytime is fine by me! Once more, I was by far the most excited kid in the room while we were decorating. The smell of pine trees.... Mmmm. But I'll eventually infect others with my holiday cheer. Either that or they'll leave me temporarily to cool off from my excessive holiday excitement! I'm hoping the first- I have plans to make gingerbread cookies!

Chowing down on watermelon while decorating the Christmas tree... not an especially common sight!

Very proud of our accomplishment

Voila! Que bonito

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Saludos

Wendy

Changing Families + Visiting the Beach in November!

Alright, almost caught up to present time! Fantastic.

November 15th was a busy day! As a Spanish class we went on an afternoon excursion to these natural hot water springs just outside of Tepic. Various pools had been constructed to collect the water so people could bathe. It was a perfect place to relax for a while, as the day was sort of misty and cool! We went to one of the lower baths as the upper ones were empty for cleaning, so the water was lukewarm- nonetheless a very nice place to be on a cool Friday afternoon!

Rotex and YE's

I then arrived at home and had about 2 hours to clean up everything in my room and put it all into transportable bags, as it was FAMILY CHANGING DAY.  There was no way I was fitting all of my belongings back into the two suitcases I arrived with, and so I completed the task by stuffing the surplus possessions into bags. It was pretty ugly, I'm already worried about how I'm going to be able to return to Canada with a reasonable amount of luggage! 

Farewell, fantastic room, fantastic bed....

I was actually really sad about this. I love my first host family to pieces. I also felt like I'd just really gotten settled and comfortable with the location and house in the past month, and suddenly we were changing things up again! I now regret not doing even more with my family. We had a huge amount of fun times together but I didn't always take advantage of spending time at home with them. I thought I had more time to do some sibling bonding or have a bake fest with my host sister, but WHAM suddenly there was no time left! I will still see them around at Rotary events and I'll absolutely come to visit Johannes who is now living there. However, I'm definitely going to make more of an effort with my next family so I avoid a repeat of the regret. I've learned as awkward as it is suddenly being the oldest sibling in a close-knit family, you really need to make an effort to integrate yourself! Don't get me wrong, I had a great relationship with my family. I just know I could have made a bigger effort to become closer to them, especially with my siblings. Not being the most emotional or affectionate person, I sometimes had a bit of trouble connecting. Ah well, now I know! I cannot express how grateful I am about them being my first family. I couldn't have asked for a better family. We went on so many trips, and they were amazingly helpful and generous with everything. My parents are honestly two of the friendliest and good-hearted people I've ever met. I hope they come someday to Canada, I'd love to show them my home and repay them for their kindness! They were always so happy and keen to help me out with something. If I was feeling sick my mum would fuss over me like I was seriously infirm (by bringing me tea in bed and making me buttered toast), or if I was having a bad day they would do what they could to cheer me up. They welcomed me with open arms, and I always felt at home with them. They went over and above what was expected of them as a host family. I still feel like this entire speech doesn't fully express how amazing they were. But it probably gave you an idea. So now you can see why I didn't want to move! However, part of learning more of the culture is experiencing a different family situation. Different activities, interests, and different location. And so, despite the sadness, it is a good thing to be moving on.

The best host family you could ever ask for :) 

Visiting an arcade at the mall

Anyways, lightening up the mood a bit! We had an official Rotary meeting that night with the families of Johannes and I , our counsellors and then the president and youth exchange board of the club. Gosia was also there, but as her host family situation was a bit complicated (her first didn't work out, she was staying temporarily with another and her next host family wasn't in town at that time), so she didn't change families that night. Johannes and I did a direct switch- we brought up his bags to my old room (my goodness I'm going to miss that bed, it was heavenly soft). Then, I set off with his family across the city and to their home which is actually not even in Tepic! It's in a tiny pueblo called Xalisco just to the South of Tepic. It's pretty far from everything, but I can easily walk to a main road and catch a bus to just about anywhere. (Good thing I learned how to take a bus a couple weeks ago!) We spent the weekend getting to know each other, the family and I. I still have 3 siblings here, a 15 year old brother Lalo, and two young sisters Alejandra and Vanessa (9 and 5). We went out for a scrumptious Italian pasta dinner on Saturday and then walked around the mall for a while. The next night we watched a family movie. And on Monday, we went to the beach!

We went to San Blas, which was absolutely gorgeous. I was stoked. Where I'm from, you don't hear about people going on a day trip to the beach in the middle of November! It was a bluebird day, the water was lovely and calm, and we basically ate delectable seafood the entire day.  I learned how to slurp oysters directly from the shell, and properly and efficiently peel off the shrimp shells (in order to eat more and waste less time preparing the shrimp). The day's menu consisted of shrimp, oysters, grilled fish, watermelon, carrot cake and ice cream from the ice cream truck (it has a route on the beach too, apparently). A beach and scrumptious food- I was in exchanger heaven. When the sun started to set, we went to the town of San Blas and walked around for a bit. We munched on churros as we checked out the market. I found some cute handmade wooden fish trinkets to put on my Rotary blazer. After picking up some yummy banana bread, we headed home tired and stuffed to the gills with good food. Such a fantastic day :)

Just your average Monday morning view, right?

Put hot sauce on the top and then slurp off the meat. Attractive? Not at all. Delicious? Of course. 

Pescado sarandeado. One of my favourite parts of Mexican cuisine

The ice cream car was tearing around the beach in front of us. Naturally, we had to indulge in a n Eskimo bar (chocolate and coconut over ice cream)

Alex cutting up his birthday cake and Vanessa... not sure what that face is for!

San Blas town square

I'm not sure why, but I'm fascinated by how they make churros! Also, they're greasy, hot deliciousness.

From rabid overachiever in school.... to this.

This is (to me, at least), pretty hilarious. How my role in school has changed...Pretty great considering how this time last year I would have been that kid at the front of the class frantically taking notes or attacking math problems with intensity. I have no shame about this- I was a hardcore overachiever. If I got under a 90% on anything I would be disappointed. Under an 85% was unacceptable. I even went to school when I was sick because I didn't want to miss any important lessons in my classes! I spent hours outside of school studying, on top of being focused during the actual class. And now, flash forward a year later. I've become that kid everyone's envious of because I am required to do nothing in class. Ever. I've become the token slacker. In fact, when I do participate everyone is extremely surprised! (I do actually participate in Health Science and Calculus, but the rest I often find a bit tricky to follow along with as I was given no textbooks or anything.) I do try, but it's pretty hard ti concentrate when you can't follow along very easily and you aren't actually required to. And so when I'm not working on Spanish or reading, sometimes the sleepiness overtakes me and I just have to rest my head for a little while... (especially during religion class). This happened a couple weeks ago. It was Monday morning and religion, and I guess I was a tad sleepy. Next thing I knew, I jolted awake and realized it was strangely quiet in class. Usually it's obnoxiously loud, but I could hear no one. I raised my head and realized there actually was no one in the class. Completely deserted. I'd fallen asleep and they'd left me! I discovered later all the classes went to a school-wide Mass. My classmates told me later what had happened. I was only out for half an hour or so, but I guess when I wasn't responding they just figured it was easier to let me sleep in peace! A bit embarrassing. But ah well. I look at this school year as a scholarly break, before I go to university next year and cram my head full of education with renewed vigour!

Cheers
Wendy

From my lonely perspective in the back of the class, all alone on a Monday morning at school.

Dia del Muertos

This is deserving of it's own post. Honestly one of the most awesome things I've experienced so far this year. Before actually witnessing this holiday firsthand, I'd briefly heard of it and just assumed it was a Mexican version of Halloween. As in, get dressed up in scary costumes, and go bumming candy off your friendly neighbours in nearby communities. I couldn't have been more wrong! 'Day of the Dead' is a huge Mexican holiday that honours the dead. Family and friends get together and remember their  family, by celebrating at their graves on the day of (November 1 to  2)  and by building altars. Some families camp out at the graves, while others come and visit for a few hours, bringing food and drink, even a mariachi band! These altars are specialized for the honoured person by including their favourite food, clothes and interests, along with photos. There are always a few staple items that are present on each altar, such as special Dia del Muertos bread,  cempazuchil (marigolds), and sugar skulls.  In schools, they've turned it into a competition where each class builds an altar, which is then judged. I got to experience two different school's altar building competitions, and as a result got to see an amazing diversity of altars. They're beautiful, and I think it's a fantastic way to not only remember your loved ones but celebrate their qualities and interests as well. The altars seemed to take over 5 hours to build, and the end results were extraordinary. Hopefully the photos can give you an idea!

This altar was dedicated to someone's little brother, who died at age 4. It was a really amazing altar,  but it goes without saying how tragic it was seeing the dates on the ground (2006-2010)

I watched this class build the entrance- it took hours.
 It's composed of marigolds and another type of flower woven around a wire frame- looks fabulous! 

One of the altars built at school. Check out the elaborate sand/salt formation.
It looked even better at night illuminated with candles

The celebrations started on the Thursday and went until Saturday. On Thursday, I ended up being the katrina (skeleton doll) for the altar of my class during my school's presentation night. It's a bit of a funny story how this happened- a total misunderstanding on my part. Exchange students are not known for their attentiveness in class, and I'm no exception. Lets go back about a week. On this particular day,  I might have been studying the recuperative benefits of resting (that is, full out sleeping in my desk). Suddenly, I woke up to half my class chanting my name while the class president stood up in the front taking a vote for something. Someone briefly explained to me what I was being so enthusiastically nominated for. I understood that there was this altar building competition for Dia del Muertos, and they wanted me to paint a doll's face and dress her her up so they could put her on their altar. I didn't fully understand why they would put a doll on an altar (or even really what building an altar entailed), but putting the exchanger motto "Just Say Yes" to good use, I shrugged and agreed. In case they were expecting me to be some sort of Picasso, I tacked on that they shouldn't expect any artistic demonstration- I didn't have any special skills of that sort. I got some weird looks at that (which I understand now because my comment didn't make much sense. You don't need any skills to stand in place.) However, I'm used to getting weird looks when I speak by now, so I thought nothing of it. I fell back asleep and completely forgot about it. Now returning to Thursday, during the day. The class was finalizing who would bring what for the altar (clothes, food, flowers, etc.). Then they asked me if I had my clothes ready for the night. Or what I was thinking of wearing. I was all 'Ummm, of course I don't have clothes for a doll, I've an extremely limited wardrobe, being an exchange student and all'.  Then they asked me if I had any paint for my face. I started getting extremely confused, realizing that perhaps I hadn't quite understood my job requirements. Fast forward a few very confused minutes, and finally I realized there would be no decorating dolls to put on altars. I was the doll.  I still didn't really know what this job included, but my classmates assured me all I had to do was stand still while they were presenting the altar. However, I would be dressed in scary black clothes, with my face painted like a skeleton's. I didn't want to look like a total idiot and considered backing out, but I'm so glad I didn't. It was AWESOME.

My lovely mum and I with the altar in the background. Bit of a height difference, eh?

I borrowed black clothes and heels from various classmates, and my awesome mum tracked down this veiled monstrosity of a hat from a friend. I arrived at school later that night and some lovely girls did a great job painting my face. I then got to go experience being a celebrity for a different reason than the usual foreign kid excuse. People really enjoyed getting pictures with a towering 'blonde' skeleton- bit of a change from the usual dolls I suppose! I just stood and stared at the camera- the face paint did a good job with the menacing part. (I actually smiled for a few pictures at first before realizing it changed my look from scary to absolutely demonic. I made a child start bawling when her parents wanted to get a picture with me.) There were other students dressed up as dolls for the other altars, in equally awesome costumes. It was such a fun night! It ended with me getting to sample various types of the special Day of the Dead bread and drinking atole, which was delicious. Just another great example of how saying yes to something (even without knowing the full details) permits you to experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on your year abroad! Luckily, I have a lot of photo proof because my mum proudly took hundreds of photos of me and the altars.

MMMM pan de muertos....me gusta mucho. Que rico!
(Is what I said basically the entire drive home as I devoured various types)

The next day, all the exchange students had a Rotex activity at another preparatoria school. This time, I got to participate in the actual altar building. While ours definitely wasn't the most artistic or creative, considering it was a bunch of foreigners directed by only a few Rotex who actually knew what they were doing, we did very well! We started off by piling crates into a pyramidal shape, and then covering this formation in sheets. Sounds easy, but it was very finicky getting the shape just right. Then we put the food, skulls, photos and Rotary objects on the levels. We were honouring the first Mexican Rotary International president Dr. Carlos Canseco. Other than taking a brief lunch break, we were hard at work under the blistering sun the entire day. It was a very satisfying, busy day. Before we presented our altar, we took a tour through the nearby panteon (graveyard) with our Spanish teacher checking out all the ancient graves (some had been there since 1810, amazing!).  Upon returning, each of us explained a bit about our altar (hopefully our audience understood our strong accents in Spanish). Then we took a tour through the other altars. Especially because it was now dark and the completed altars were lit up with candles, the overall effect was really amazing!

(PS the photo cred for the photos with Rotex Tepic on them goes to Roberto, one of the Rotex. They were so beautiful I figured they did a better job showing the process than mine did)

The look of supreme concentration. 

A messy work site- true sign of hard work

Setting up the awesome tissue paper cutout pictures (another apparent staple material in building altars)

Andrea (Rotex) and then some happy exchangers

Outside the graveyard

In front of an ancient tomb

Ome massive family tomb from the early 1800's!

Mariana and Wendy, half of Tepic's Brazilian dream team

All of us with the school's principal

Touring around the other altars

My turn to get a picture with the scary skeleton doll!

Completed altar. It may not have been the most detailed,
but in my opinion it had some excellent personality,!

The team! (Plus a couple frightening katrinas we stole from the altar next to us) 

On Saturday my family and I went to Guadalajara, where we arrived in the early afternoon and went straight to the graveyard where my host mum's mother is buried. My mum's father and sister were already there. We set up a picnic, and left some of the food on the gravestone besides a bouquet of marigolds.  I took a tour around the huge graveyard (it took over an hour), and viewed the various gravestones. Like I mentioned earlier, some of the families had set up a lively party with a feast and a mariachi band, where others had decorated the grave with flowers or a mini altar and were quietly sharing some private time with their loved ones. It was kind of like viewing an enormous picnic, which I suppose it was, with the added element of including the dead as participants! I will definitely never forget these celebrations, they are just one more element to the rich and unique Mexican culture. Who would think that remembering the dead could be a lively event?

Creeper shot of this beautiful arrangement of flowers. This lady was onto me, and gave me a pretty weirded out look

A Mariachi band serenading a not so lively audience member

Your average Saturday afternoon picnic... with a twist!

Thanks for reading!

Wendy