My (extended) Year of ME: March 2011

That's my room on the 2nd story.
That's my hooping deck up top.

Something about my plan to study Spanish in Guatemala just wasn't sitting right with me. Even though my flight was purchased and my school chosen, I had some major hesitations about going there. Then one morning last month I immediately knew that instead of Guatemala, I should go to the Mexican state of Guanajuato. Same initial sound; same syllable count; different country. After a few conversations and coincidences, I narrowed my plan to the colonial town of San Miguel de Allende, which is beyond beautiful and far fancier than I had expected. It's somewhat of an upscale utopian society...filled with bright colors, blooming flowers, yoga studios, boutique hotels, expensive restaurants, Buddhist ex-pats, poetry readings, and artists of all kinds. It's a Disneyland for American hippies in their sixties and seventies. I keep seeing women who remind me of myself in thirty years...wearing long skirts, comfortable sandals, folkart purses and handcrafted jewelry. It's kind of freaking me out.

I don't regret choosing to come to San Miguel, but I am feeling slightly disappointed about being in such an Americanized town. (There's even a Starbucks here!!!!) Someone reminded me last night, though, that these next two months are what I make of it. I can choose to stay in my comfort zone by hanging out at the ex-pat places, speaking in English and floating on the surface of this town...or I can choose to dive deeper into immersion. We tend to gravitate toward what feels familiar and it's up to me whether or not I leave that safety net. Only time will tell.

Sunset from a fancy deck at a fancy home with fancy people while eating fancy cheese.

Guinness on St Patrick's Day with Connie

On my first day here I somehow got completely lost while walking around town and consequently will never again underestimate the importance of a map. Since then, I've gotten the lay of the land and now have the basics: the market, the bank, the post office, the bar. Speaking of bars, my trip to this town's only Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day turned out to be very strange (in a bad way), so my classmate took me to her favorite hangout spot, La Adelita, which has now become a favorite of mine too. Coincidentally, this bar has a taco shop right next door that serves food reminiscent of late night TJ street vendors. Delicious & cheap.

And they get a day off from school for this!

Connie & I convinced our Spanish teachers to take us to see the primavera parade, which is a way to welcome springtime with all the preschoolers in town. It's quite a big deal. The parade is also a way to spread the importance of needing clean drinking water and protecting the environment (through the use of fairytale costumes?). This was 1) a reminder for me not to drink the water here and 2) shocking that even the residents can't drink their own water. How horrible! Not only is buying bottled water expensive, but this must also be creating an insane amount of trash!

I met a local couple yesterday who suggested that I attend the Gran Charreada today. Trusting their advice, I found my way to the rodeo arena just outside of town. I couldn't believe that with all the thousands of tourists in San Miguel, I'm the only one that went to the event this afternoon! I loved being surrounded by so many vaqueros and also enjoyed the fancy horse tricks, but wasn't so into the lassoing, kicking and tail pulling. In fact, I found it all a little disturbing. I know that when immersed in other cultures, one should lose a sense of judgement when it comes to differences. However, animal cruelty shouldn't be tolerated anywhere. The part that saddened me the most was the "steer tailing," which is when the horse rider (charro) chases a steer and then yanks the steer's tail, wraps it around his boot and knocks the animal into the ground. A few of these steers couldn't move afterward. They did similar things to horses, but used ropes to lasso either the front or hind legs so that the horse loses its balance and crashes to the ground. The show could have been just as exciting and entertaining without the unnecessary cruelty and it bothered me that I was a participant in it all...especially when an animal made eye contact with me in a moment of pain (at least it did in my mind).