Night stay in Irapuato

We had a great time in Guanajuato. It is a beautiful city with a lot of lfe and many colorful houses. The view from our hostel was magnificent. A patchwork of colors with mountains in the background.

We are now in Irapuato. We stayed the night at Adrinana´s colonial home! We are stalking up on snacks, WATER and meeting with the crew to talk about our mission, our expectations and regroup to have a game plan. Our boxing crew is a good solid team and even though I am the only girl with them. I hold my own, I showed them my fencing equipment, and showed off my jump roping skils¨:D

I am not on my computer right now but as soon as I can I will upload pictures!

Arrival and First day touring Guanajuato

Arrival at the airport. I got my bags checked completely...of course...

We went up MANY steps in order to arrive at our cute and wonderful hostel. With the luggage I seriously got a good calve work out.


Some art at the restaurant we ate at: a Mexican celebrity...Frida Kahlo's auto portrait.


MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!


Here are two plazas that we visited in the city of Guanajuato. The plazas come alive, mariachis are playing, vendors, little kids selling chicle, young teenagers hang out. The plazas are central to the Mexican city of Guanajuato. What is special about this city is that there are many plazas and each have their own character and feel ;)


There is a legend to this street that towns people tell tourists and they also describe all the ways of kissing! The legend is that lovers lived right across the street from each other. The young girl was from a well off family and the young boy from a low class family (like many love stories). The balconies to their homes were built so close that they could kiss from their respective homes! This is where the guides described all sorts and ways to kiss to cite a few examples there wall the kisses described by the guides!

El beso monaguillo tocar la campanilla

El beso arabe salva ba saliva biene

The end of the legend is tragic, the father of the young girl could not stand the relationship of the couple and the legend says that he ended up killing both of them.
Taxi ride back to our hostel after a full day of touring the city.

The first two weeks!!!!

Here is a video of the Chicago Youth Boxing Club, the group with which I will be for the first two weeks of my trip to Mexico. We will be 4 students from the University of Notre Dame and there will also be other athletes from the boxing club. We will also be joining the Latinos Progresando group for this immersion in Mexico.

I sure hope to learn some self defense skills :D

I will be in Mexico on Friday! YAY

HOME Documentary by Yann Athus-Bertrand

EVERYONE must watch this movie. Here is the trailer, but the full versions are on Youtube.



CLICK HERE to watch the English version.

CLICKER ICI pour regarder la version française.

CLICK AQUÍ para mirar la versión español.

GivesMeHope.com (GMH) - Like FMyLife, but for optimists!.

A new site that two of my friends launched this past week. For instant pick-me-uppers!

GivesMeHope.com (GMH) - Like FMyLife, but for optimists!.

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Tamaula in the news!

Here is an online article that I found surfing on the web. I will be staying with Adriana and I am very excited and honored to be her guest at her house.

CBS News, Small Mexican Towns Try To Stop Emigration: Rural Communities Try To Create Jobs And Make Staying Home A Brighter Prospect. Oct 29, 2007

The same article was also published in The Christian Science Monitor.

About Tamaula

Tamaula is a community of about 300 people in the municipality of Irapuato, Guanajuato. The community was founded in the 1970s by several brothers who worked in agriculture but did not own any land of their own. They staked claim to the community and built homes there, although at the time there was no road, water, electricity, schools, or other amenities. The community is located on top of an extinct volcano, about 4 miles up an unpaved road that was cut about 8 years ago. The community members built the first elementary school themselves. The primary economic activity is farming and raising livestock, mostly goats. Corn is not sold but used for their local consumption. Most of the families depend for their livelihood on money sent back by relatives working in the United States (“remittances” or “remesas” in Spanish). The primary destination to which people from Tamaula emigrate is Athens, GA, although there are also people from Tamaula living in Kansas City, MO; Texas; and Washington, among other places. Most who live in the United States work in the poultry industry.

The community got electricity about three years ago but still has no telephone. There is no running water in Tamaula. A water truck known as a “pipa” brings water to the community once a week. This water is allocated on a per household basis and is used for drinking, cooking and bathing. The town has two reservoirs which provide the water for livestock and washing clothes. Some of the homes have catchment basins for rain water. There is no sewer system. While some homes have toilets, most have outhouses. There is now a pre-school, elementary school, and secondary school in the community. There is a high school program that is all internet based with no teacher. The community has one church. A health clinic was built several years ago but was never staffed due to the remote location. None of the roads are paved and most are very rough and rocky. There is no central plaza, jardin, market, or gathering space in the community.

Preparing to Travel

With all the warnings and the Swine flu epidemic ongoing many would not want to risk traveling to Mexico. Of course I am keeping updated on the subject and today I will be getting my vaccinations! OUCH!