Stayed in the city this whole weekend for the first time since before the GEO LAC meeting in October... Met some really interesting people, "assisted" an event at a film school and a couple house parties, even made attempts at learning to dance at a cabaret called Casa Blanca (same name as the hotel in Pie de la Cuesta but very, very different). Didn't get home until after 5 either morning... Good times.

[Anna (Swedish intern working at UNIFEM with Maria) didn't remember my taking this picture in the washroom of the cabaret at 4:40am Sunday, right before we went for tacos & quesadillas. What you don't see is the sign addressing the "senoras" and requesting their cooperation in showing up Mondays and Saturdays, as "the establishment is in the process of recuperating clients, and it just won't do if the ladies don't show up on Saturdays"; also, the note called for their earlier arrival, as male clients had apparently been showing up and leaving for lack of available women, "which had been harming both the establishment and the ladies themselves, as the men are frequenting other businesses" - go figure. I think we (the 6-ish of us gals) were probably the only paying female customers in the place; most of the others were "professionals" ;)]

Dreamt that McDonald's was advertising healthy food as unsustainable. They had a huge outreach campaign trying to convince people of the long-term unfeasibility of eating well due to the high price of a sensible diet, and that eating McDonald's is a viable option because it costs less. Awoke mildly disturbed. More so the more I considered it, realising how close to the truth the seemingly unrealistic vision was...

Thing is, I actually ate a "pay de queso" (like their familiar apple or cherry pies but filled with an almost-cheese-like filling) at the McDonald's on the way to Acapulco (cuz I was super-hungry and nothing else was open) – likely the inspiration for the dream. I can't remember the last time I ate there... Ick. Not again for a long, long time.

Which reminds me of a topic I've been wanting to explore for a while: the almost surreal "health notices" at the bottom of ads all over Mexico City (bus shelters, TV commercials, etc.). These are somewhat akin to the "tobacco smoke causes lung cancer" warnings on cigarette packs in Canada. Instead, though, they say things like "Chocolate is a < fuente > (fountain or source) of energy" (Kit Kat); "Health is Beauty" (Hair dye); "Boil the Water" (Herbal Tea); and "Eat Well" (Potato chips). I can't tell whether they trying to be ironic or not. I don't think so.

Really, though, wtf is up?!?

Is the government behind these "public health" messages? If so, what are they hoping to accomplish by informing people that "chocolate is a fountain of energy"? Do they want their citizens to eat more chocolate? And does the “Eat well” on the high-fat snack ads mean that by eating the product, people are in fact eating well, or that they should be eating other things instead? I would have to assume the latter, but the intended meaning isn’t that obvious to me, and maybe I’m overstepping a line by saying it wouldn’t be any more clear to the average (less-educated) Mexican. But regardless of whether I’m being picky or racist or over-health-conscious, I’m sure the companies benefit from this ambiguity.

Or maybe the messages are contrived by the advertisers themselves… To confuse us? To desensitize us to “real” health warnings? (Could the cigarette companies that want to discredit the compulsory “Cigarettes will make your life hell and kill you and your children” warnings possibly own the herbal tea and hair dye brands?) Or maybe it’s all just one big inside joke??

Anyways, I think the Adbusters folks should definitely take a field trip to Mexico; there’d be lots to write about, not to mention many ridiculously immense billboards to jam ;)

crosses line the highway
from the city to the state
reminders to the speeders-by
the recklessness of fate

hawkers pull your pesos
each their first sale of the day
in the dotted line of history
this point a well-timed play

faces in the pyramids
sit smirking in the sun
reconstructed in its image
after crumbling one by one

i envision them contorting
with the flesh of ages past
spirits summoned to the present
tense and rigid holding fast

many legions more have trodden
up this terrible incline
than legends now will follow
new this age of clean decline

firmly laid by dusty feet
steps rise steep on the ground
solid settled facts to bear
lost gleanings meanings found

these steady stones much more
than words convey the ancient lore
at which i grasp for balance
grounded deeper than before

We arrived at Pie de la Cuesta (near Acapulco but without all the big fancy touristy stuff) Friday night just before midnight. Holy humid heat! Pants and jacket were immediately retired to the hotel room I would be sharing with 4 folks who'd been there since Thursday. Thomas and Marianne, who had driven me there, were not so lucky; their hotel reservations had been mysteriously erased (suspect: bribery of the attendant by non-reservation-holding vacationers) and they were forced to spend the night in a noisy "shit-hole" room in a hotel across the road. They were pretty peeved, as they'd already paid the deposit and had pre-arranged everything, but soon enough we were all happier and more naked, sharing drinks with a very international group of generally 20-something folks on the beach.

The scenery was beautiful, plentiful stars and soft sand and warm air. Accustomed to calmer Canadian waters, all I could think of doing was running directly into the Pacific. Unfortunately, the others informed me that night swimming was not an option; the water is apparently extremely dangerous, as are the Tiburon sharks that inhabit it... Poor me (note sarcasm), I had to stay dry, lying on a hammock and listening to the waves crashing and rolling rhythmically ;)

So Saturday, with the benefit of sunlight, I had my first encounter with submergence. Let's just say I provided some entertainment to onlookers, as swimming peacefully in a violent waters is definitely a skill I haven't acquired yet. The problem lies in the delicate balance between the undercurrent, which basically pulls your feet from under you towards the great wide open, while the oncoming waves have the conflictual effect of dragging the rest of you back to shore. The ocean floor immediately transforms into a big sand-paper trampoline, without the benefit of stretchiness. However, aside from the scratches and bruises and a bit of a bruised ego, as well as sand sticking in every bodily orifice, it was a whole lot of fun. Plus, once I got farther out, staying afloat became a whole lot easier; there, you can dive under the waves, or, if you time it right, ride on top of them. (Merci a Pierre for rescuing me when I didn't dive quite deep enough!) I love the water!

When we weren't swimming, tanning, or sleeping, we ate and drank in the shade of palm leaf shelters, ordering food from our hotel or others nearby. I even rented a horse for 15 minutes, although I didn't ride as hard as I would have liked cuz I felt badly for the horse, which seemed tired. But it was pretty cool to canter a bit along the waterfront, very much like the cliché always described in personal ads and pictured in romantic movies. I really miss riding.

Saturday night, I got sung versions of happy birthday in Spanish, French, English, German, Dutch, and Italian, surrounded by a mostly ex-pat-living-in-D.F. crew. Then I blew out one of the lantern candles and made my official birthday wish. It was nice.

Monday night, I went over to the Farca Luna's house and was greeted by a huge cake bearing the inscription "Felicitaciones Cara" and candles alit (for my second/unofficial birthday wish). The whole family was there to sing Las Mañanitas join me in enjoying the scrumptious chocolate-strawberry confection. Those guys are absolutely amazing, consistently blowing me away with their seemingly endless generosity and positive energy and love. Not only do they stuff me with wonderful, home-made vegetarian food every time I visit (Miche is like the best cook I've met here) and make me really feel like su casa es mi casa, but both Miche and Pepe (who, incidentally, is off work this week with a neck injury and should be resting it) insisted on accompanying me the whole 45-minute bumpy micro-bus ride to Puebla Metro station when I left their house last night. They really make me realize the truth to those Beatles lyrics: "money can't buy me love..." Although they are not that materially wealthy, their family dynamics put a constant smile on my face. When I grow up, I hope I can be just like them.

Overall, I'm pretty happy. I still feel young enough not to resent getting older; after all, people keep guessing I'm anywhere in the 16 to 28 age range, although the average seems to be slowly creeping up past the teenage years. Once the guessing hits 30, maybe I'll start worrying...

If there's a downside, it's that birthdays really make me miss far-away friends. Therefore, Friday's waiting-for-my-ride-to-Acapulco conference call with Katie and Dharma in Vancouver brightened my week a whole ton! Thanks sooo much - I love you guys!!

Leaving for Acapulco in about half an hour to celebrate my 24th birthday (tomorrow) and my first weekend off since October! Write when I get back :)

Even the rigid timeline doesn't stop the silly hour, with its early morning waves of inexplicable hilarity, from creeping up right on schedule. I'm evaluating submissions for the "Agua" group when I come across a drawing of what appears to be a cowboy riding an ant in the ocean. Given the context, it is the funniest thing I have ever seen. I am not alone in my hysteria, as everyone seems in acuerdo, needing comic relief after too much time with no relief. I think the editorial team will be the last to fully appreciate the image, as it (unfortunately?) didn't make the cut for the final report. However, I think it has been burned into my memory, pencil-colour lasso and all...

In addition to playing fine art judge, I have voluntarily taken on the role of group masseuse, as necks and shoulders tend to get a little stiff after 18 hour days in plastic chairs in front of computers and flip charts. Needless to say, my services have been much in demand. I don't mind the energy transfer, but I'm a bit peeved that took off my silver ring, the one I've been wearing since high school, to do some choppy-type strokes and it disappeared. I know that Mexico is known for its affordable silver, but there's something about the sentimental value of a piece of metal I've carried around to every continent I've ever visited. Oh well.

Probably the funnest (I know that's not a word!) part of the work is getting to help Ixchel, the artist/designer charged with illustrating the themes. We're painting re-used cardboard (tissue, film, and cereal boxes, etc.) with various designs, which she is then chopping up and assembling into 3-D montages of stuff like climate change, natural disasters, etc. to be scanned into the book. It's super cool, and I am realizing how much adults miss out on when we give up arts & crafts time.

Oh, one more thing... People here are popping whole fried crickets and little fish (widely sold in plastic bags and flavoured with lemon and chilly) like they're honey-roasted peanuts or something. I think it's pretty yucky but they seem to think it's yummy... That's cultural relativity for ya, I guess!

The plan is to work hard, eat a lot, and, when time permits, get some sleep. We are a frustratingly "so close yet so far" 3 minute walk away from Lake Pátzcuaro, a visually pleasing but polluted body of water surrounded by beautiful greenery and housing the cute Island of Janitzio, home to "La Statua de Morelos", the Mexican equivalent of the Statue of Liberty. Our mission is to assemble the best of the contributions, incorporate them into factual text compiled from various sources, make projections of possible future scenarios, and integrate all these components into a state of the environment report representing the way Mexican youth see their environment and how they are acting to improve it. It's quite the lofty endeavour, and "extra-curricular" activities are apparently not on the agenda. Sunday to Sunday, twenty-four hours a day, our only guaranteed breaks are mealtimes, when we are treated to non-diet friendly foods like main courses of cheese-filled chillies with rice or hand-stuffed penne (as well as various meaty dishes that, as a vegetarian, I can't describe in any detail), along with fresh salsas and juices and such treats as a home-made gelato-like frozen dessert. The lovely ladies in the kitchen were kind enough to write out recipes for the yummy guacamole and pica de gallo (sp?).

[Photo of Lake Pátzcuaro]

We're over a week late for the famed Day of the Dead celebrations held in Pátzcuaro (and the nearby Isla de Janitzio), but our computer-top mosquito cemetery keeps growing, along with our annoyance at the itchy bites accumulating on our bodies. Childhood summers in Northern Ontario have equipped me to laugh off these silly Michoacán "mosques," which lazily hover long enough to be squashed before they attack. Still, I can't help but worry that nobody seems to know whether Dengue fever and other more dangerous mosquito-borne diseases are a problem in this region. An indefinite discussion of the topic leads to a conscious decision to ignore the frightening possibility. After all, aside from the already ongoing assassinations and incessant burning of toxic-smelling coils (which I abhor), what more can we do?

It's 3am on Thursday, November 13th, and we (a team of some 25-odd people from different regions & academic backgrounds, most between 17 and 30, and all from Mexico except me) have been working non-stop since the beginning of the week. Focal points from every Mexican State have gathered here at CREDES-SEMERNAT (Centro Regional para Educación y Capacitación Para el Desarrollo Sustenable/Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) to bring their energy, input and expertise to what's been branded "the most important project for youth and the environment in Mexico." Collectively, the various regions have amassed over a thousand submissions: poems, drawings, photographs, essays, research projects, and other artistic expressions. It's a bit overwhelming, both visually and mentally, to take in the various media now spread across the one-room-schoolhouse-type building where our week-long editorial meeting is taking place. The entries have been organized into categories representing resources at risk: water, atmosphere, forests, biodiversity, natural disasters, urban zones, coastal and marine zones, and land & food. That pretty much covers off all the valuable things we (human beings) collectively own and are allowing to go to pot...

That's all for now! [Photo of the GEO for Youth Mexico team relaxing "a casa" at CREDES]

Okay, so this relatively mellow week back at the office went by without taking the time to write about last week. This is unfortunate, as I'm leaving Sunday for Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, where the GEO Mexico Editorial Meeting is being held, and I'm expecting yet another note-worthy non-stop week. Sunday to Sunday. Wondering when I'm actually going to get some weekends to do some "real" traveling!!

Anyways, I'm going to point-form the stuff I wanted to write about from last week for future reference:

-All the amazing GEO participants: Elena, Osmond, Camila, Kenneth, Edel, Rolando, Rafael, Jorge, Israel, Anguie, German, Ennio, Cesar, Mariela, Greses, Juancho, Angela, Lilian, & Jose (& staff, too!: Claudia, Sonia, Lorena, etc., and those crazy PRESERVAMB folks like Lola & Jesus & Susana & Rodrigo & Fernando!) [sorry if I forgot anyone!]

- Conversations, shared meals, spirited bus rides, silly dancing & singing in the rain, hard work, visits to cool places...

-Night walks through the monastary (including the underground "catacombas") and the surrounding forests at Disierto de los Leones, including in-character story-telling by Brother Caramelo and La Marguerita (is that the name of the Dia de los Muertes woman?)

-Building our alter of offerings for Dia de los Muertes

-Visits to Xochilmilco (tequila, tamales, & quesadillas in river boats, including a mid-water Dia de los Muertes show); Garibaldi (serenaded by the mariachis et al.); UNAM (to see the competition of offering displays); Teotihuacan (to climb pyramids and be sold lots of things to many vendors, all of whom had, oddly enough, seemed to wait for us to arrive to make their first sale of the day ;)); Coyoacan, etc.

-The challenges of translation (both for Angela & Osmond, and myself). Being saved many times by those able to interpret my "caras" of (mis-)understanding!

-Politics (i.e., the issues involved with my being the only "Northerner" at a conference for youth from the Latin America & Caribbean region)

-Planned vacations!



Totally unrelated, but worth putting down, reagrding the health hazards of living in D.F., a co-worker yesterday mentionned she suspects her "benign" brain tumor may have been a result of the toxicity in the city...


[photo: GEO for Youth LAC participants encouraging me to eat a worm in the bosque (forest) at Desierto de los Leones as we paused during a nature-walk to examine the soil.]

Oh my goodness, what a time!

I'm still coming down from what was probably one of the most amazing and intense weeks of my life. So much to do in the aftermath that I definitely won't have time to even start describing...

For now, let me just say wow and thank you to all the people who have made my last 9 days so awesome. Muchisimas gracias.

Possibly I'll fill more in later.