Observations

Here are some things I've noticed lately.

1. Bus travel in Mexico is like air travel in the US. Terminals are crowded, food is overpriced and help is expensive. However in Mexico, the buses are almost always on time. There is no such thing as having your bags checked through. Yes we had to arrange a "porter" to transport our bags to the central terminal, wait until we got our tickets and transport them to the departure gate! Did we ever learn the value of traveling light! It was only 8 bags, thank goodness it didn't count by weight!







2. The Mexicans have figured out some efficient methods of control. For instance, there are the "sleeping policemen". On lots of streets there are speed bumps; BIG speed bumps. This slows traffic for the safety of pedestrians and cars. Plus saves money on gas from idling and not having to pay traffic cops! Oh, but keep your teeth loose as the bounces can really jar them.
The other method of control is in the public restrooms. If you don't have to pay to use one, you have to purchase the paper. This cuts down on wasted paper and messes to clean up!

3. One last observation is that the people use everything they can. The former plaza shopping center now houses many government offices and a university! Beside the old are brand new modern buildings. No wasted slums here.
Even the dogs have it figured out. Yesterday I saw a dog walking down the sidewalk and scratching his back on the wall at the same time! Now that's using your time.

And the celebration!!!









!Salud!

Moving on.
This our last day in Queretaro. Today was Swearing in and tomorrow we will move all that 80 pounds plus all we have received in training, to an new location. It is bitter-sweet. We have made friends here with staff, other volunteers and of course our host family. We enter yet another phase of this adventure as we get to know our Host Country Agency, our counterparts and new people.
A few comments about some thoughts the last days here.
Dogs have conversations. Every morning as we head to "esquela" we pass a man leaving in his truck with his 2 dogs. As they round the corner the dogs are barking to their "friends" and the "friends are barking back. I wonder what they say and is it in Espanol?
I have walked a lot! I brought several pair of new shoes and one not as new but a favorite. Believe it or not the treads are worn down in just 3 months and I am hoping they will last a little longer so I can get new ones from the states.
I never thought I would wear out a dictionary, but I have worn not one but 2 pretty hard!
The brain suffers pain! When we sit through an entire day of Spanish the brain can actually HURT.
And last, the Peace Corps office here has a beautiful wooden garage door with an entry door in it. Every morning as we all arrive it magically opens! Of course the gurad is there behind it, but it gives a little of the "Ali Baba" feeling. Plus the guards are SOOOO nice, friendly and cheerful.

Field trip, quilting and RAIN

We took a field trip Tuesday and Wednesday. It was in the area around Queretaro to see the water shed area, reservoirs and canyons. It was very interesting. Some areas were clean and nice and some needed some work.
We stayed in some cabanas and hiked the "montanas" for 5 hours on Wednesday. The views were impressive! It was refreshingly cool after the heat in Queretaro.







On Friday I was able to return to the quilt workshop before she closed and visit with the lady who teaches classes! It was so good to sit at a machine and sew again! She was impressed with my hand sewing and asked me if I would teach her! I agreed to contact her when we return in 3 months and have a session together.









THEN came the RAIN. It has rained off and on a little since Wednesday so we figured it would be a five minute rain and move on. WRONG! by the time we reached the restaurant we were going to, we were so drenched that it was funny. Went and bought 2 paraguas and a towel (why did we leave those in the states???) Oh well at least there was no air-conditioning to freeze dry us!

Mother's Day

Well, it's Mother's Day weekend and so far it has been a delightful day! This morning we walked to our friendly hangout (they are getting to know us by name and order), visited with some other volunteers a while and went to find a Mother's Day gift for our host Mom. One of the guys was SURE he knew of a small chocolate shop just up the street. We walked all the way up to the top of the hill and didn't find it, but he was sure it had to be there. So we walked back down the hill to look again. Low and behold we did find it! Not only was there a chocolate shop!! (with hand made chocolates, think DeBrand's but much smaller), but there was a quilting place, too!!!!! I was in heaven! No fabric, but a really nice lady AND machines I was invited back to use. I can't believe I just found this place and we will be leaving Queretaro in just 2 weeks.
This evening we went to a movie (The International) and when we came back we opened the door and the windows and enjoyed a great breeze.
Here is a picture of me working on my new quilting project. I hope to have it pieced before we leave and plan to complete it before 2011! It will be a small wall hanging with all the volunteer's signatures and some other important PC people. This one is completely by hand!
Happy Mother's Day to all you who are Moms and all who have or have had a mom!

Week-end R & R

El aqueducto

view on the shady side .....................Head water of el Aqueducto


Yesterday morning we met a co-volunteer at our favorite hangout (Starbucks) and took an early morning walk to the "headwaters park" for the aqua duct. From there you can look all the way to the end (well almost) and get a real sense of the amount of work required to construct it!
On the way back we saw these headlines...
Don't worry we are staying out of crowds and carrying our masks!

El Cambio
The Spanish word for change is cambio. This week we have had a full exposure to the meaning of the word. On Monday we showed up for our trip into the field, loaded the bus and waited for more instruction. Finally after at least half an hour we were called together and told the trip had been postponed because of the flu issue. All the schools and many other places had been closed. So along came the first change, no trip, but lots of Spanish classes. The next 3 days the staff and teachers found creative ways to practice our Spanish. On Thursday the other trainees who had been on visits to other volunteer sites returned and we had half a day of normal Spanish classes. Then yesterday afternoon it was announced the everything for the rest of the week was canceled and we were to go to our host homes, rest, study, work independently and not return until Monday. Many of the planned activities for the next 3 weeks have been canceled or are pending.
Right now health is the primary issue and we are being closely monitored!