Second El fin de semana

¡Hola a todos!

A quick rundown of what has been happening:

Wednesday, February 22: We visited the house of Diego Rivera when he was a child. It was quite amazing to see all the art, and we are probably going to see some more in Mexico city!

Thursday, February 23: We got a tour of the Universidad de Guanajuato, the university there that is located in several other municipalities of Guanajuato as well. (I might just consider going there for college!) After the tour, we got to have some free time in Guanajuato to buy last-second souvenirs and just have time to contemplate the sadness of leaving.

Friday, February 24: We went to Pressa de la Olla, an area of Guanajuato that has a park next to a dam where you can ride boats. That is also where I summited the smallish mountain on Saturday with my compañeros. We took the bus back home and walked back to the house on foot, and I got some more guacamaya.

On this weekend, we were going to go to Sierra Gorda on Saturday, but that was too far, so we went to Sierra de Pénjamo, which ended up looking extremely different from the photos we saw online because we were there during the dry season. Furthermore, our car got stuck in the middle of the Sierra and we had to turn around. However, it was still quite fun to just be there with my host family, since despite all this, they remained positive and kept me positive too. Later, at home, we celebrated that my host brother was expecting a child soon. It was quite amazing to see how rejoiceful the celebration was and just how much pleasure there was in the event.

On Sunday, we went to Las Palomas, a nature preserve in Guanajuato, and did a nice day hike there, where I saw beautiful flora and some wild cows. After, we had cebiche for dinner and I started painting a caja, or box. I still have to decide its purpose.

Everything has been awesome, and I am not sure if I even want to think about going back to the United States. I do want to eventually return, but I need more time here, with my new family.

¡Hasta luego!

Benjamín

One of the four sides of my caja

Biznaga cactus
from Las Palomas

El Pénjamo's lake. This is the farthest we got

Mercados

¡Salud!

Things have been going great in Guanajuato. Except for one thing, and this greatly upsets me: I only have one week left in Mexico.

Since this trip has been absolutely phenomenal, I want to show you a big part of Mexico and especially Guanajuato before I have to leave for Mexico city on March 1st; the mercados.

Mercados are basically markets. The kind in Guanajuato, however, are more like open-air markets. Following are a series of images, each with a description, to give you a sense of what the markets are like.

My host mother making some wooden boxes and crosses to sell at the market. She designs them herself.

Piles of ceramic mugs held together by string at a ceramics market in San Miguel de Allende.

Another view of the ceramics market in San Miguel de Allende

Another market in San Miguel de Allende, which sells artesanías, a word that means basically any kind of handmade arts such as wood, painting, ceramic, and stone works.

People glazing some ceramic works for the shop in the above photo.

Another ceramics shop in San Miguel.
There are quite a lot of these!

A market in San Miguel de Allende
where everything from books, to
movies, to food, to jewlery, ect.
is sold.

Another picture of the
market in the picture above.

This is Mercado Hidalgo, one of the primary markets in Guanajuato. Here is where I bought most of my souvenirs.

In the markets, one common thing that happens is regatear or bargaining. This is where someone offers an item at a certain price and you ask for it to be lower. You keep doing this until you get to an equilibrium price. For example:

-¿Cuánto cuesta? (How much does it cost?)

-Ochenta. (Eighty (pesos), equal to about 4 USD)

-Quiero comprarlo por cincuenta. (I want to buy it for fifty (pesos), equal to about 2.50 USD)

-No. ¿Seisenta está bien? (No. Is sixty (pesos) good? Equal to about 3 USD)

-Sí. (Yes) [Buys object]

However, you cannot regatear for everything. You can't do it for food, medicines, and the like. It is usually reserved for artesanías. It is also a good idea to not restrict yourself at the mercados, especially if you're a tourist from the United States. Two reasons are 1. It provides money for the people there. 2. Since twenty pesos is equivalent to about 1 USD, you can get a things there for very little money. Something that might cost twenty dollars in the US (400 pesos) could only be twelve dollars in Mexico (240 pesos). That could buy you almost ten boxes of dulces (candies), four large and one small calaveras (painted skulls), or twelve imanes (magnets).

There is also a lot of my favourite kind of food sold at the mercados, street food! Street food is great because it is really cultural and cheap as well. I discovered my new favourite sandwich through street food, guacamaya, which is a sandwich with fried pork skin, avocado, egg, and lime. It is simple to make, but absolutely delicious. However, it comes with a very spicy sauce, but you can ask for the sauce separate, unless you're feeling really brave.

So, the main lessons about mercados is that you should really just admire the artesanías, spend some (a lot of) money, try to regatear once, and buy some street food to snack on while you are doing all this.

Espero que tengas un lindo día, (I wish that you have a beautiful day)

Benjamín

Agriculture in Mexico

Hola,

This is part two of the environment in Mexico. For this one, I just did an interview with the same host brother.

What (food) crops are here in Mexico?

• Corn, beans, sorghum, avocados, apples, lemons, tomatoes, cactus, onion, garlic, oranges, and chili.

What is life like for farmers?

• Life is hard, and food is often sold indirectly, meaning that it is sold to a factory and then the factory gets it to the people. The farmers earn very little.
• The farmers that do sell directly often have to bargain to sell anything. For example, they might sell a fruit for eight pesos instead of ten.
• Farmers need to have huge plots of land in order to make enough money.

Tell me about pesticide use and water.

• There is lack of necessary equipment to handle pesticides, so people using them may get intoxicated.
• Pesticides will intoxicate soil.
• It is not known how many farmers use pesticides.
• Crops are usually watered with wastewater from toiletry use such as showers, sinks, and toilets. However, this does not affect food quality.*

Tell me about food waste.

• There is a lot in Mexico
• Estimate about 1/4 of food is wasted, which ends up in the trash, not compost.
• Caused by the rich and middle class.

So, in the last two posts, we have looked at the environment and agriculture in Mexico. Overall, the environment is something that is simply in the background of Mexico. Few people are actually causing it direct harm, however, there is a lot of indirect harm. Indirect harm would be littering, not recycling, and pollution. While the environment is improving, it is happening at an insufficiently slow rate, especially because of lack of education. But things are getting better.

Adios,

Benjamín

*Wastewater such as from toiletry uses is okay for plants because 1. That water is composed very little of actual human waste and 2. Plants only absorb the water part of the wastewater. The reason why some plants get infected by pesticide runoff is because that is synthetic chemical waste, which plants are not adapted to not take in.

Environmental Policy in Mexico

¡Buen día!

Today I am writing a two-part post on environment in Mexico. This one is about environmental policy, and the other is about agriculture.

For environmental policy, I am going to use two sources: The first being Part 1 and 2 of this extremely long report paper on  Environmental law in Mexico. You can find the link here and at the end of this. The second source is primary, where I will be asking one of my host brothers, who studies biology, about the environment and I will be using my personal observations as well.

A basic summary of Part 1 and 2 of this crazy-long article:

1. Government in Mexico can regulate the environment on two standings: The first being to protect it, and the second being to preserve and restore it.

2. "LGEEPA is the primary environmental law." This law "distributes powers between the three levels of government" and sets policies and legislation on the environment. Environmental laws can also be state-controlled.

3. There are environmental regulations that can be commissioned by both the state and the government.

4. NOM laws set certain techinical environmental standards for contaminants, waste, use of substances, and on endangered species.

5. SEMARNAT is the main governmental power concerning the environment. They oversee many environmental policies and have departments that work under them.

6. "Administrative law is strictly enforced" and is driven by the legality and the processes concerning them.

7. While Mexico has generally improved in the environment, there is still some issues.

8. "The Office of the Federal Prosecutor for Environmental Protection ... are usually outnumbered by the many matters requiring their attention ... [it] does not usually have sufficient resources to properly attend and prosecute ... to an acceptable level."

9. Not much has been done recently about the environment. There is very little concern about them in the court of law.

So in very short summary, this means that yes, there are environmental laws and practices in place but they are not hugely enforced.

Now, present the interview I had with one of my host brothers, I will only present new information. (aka. information that is not said earlier):

Tell me the state of the environment here in Mexico

• Environmental education is mediocre. People have opportunities to learn more about it, but they don't want to and it is not required.
• There is pollution and national reserves are shrinking just a bit.
• Land that protection efforts are focused on is really good land. Protected land is rich in species and resources.

What's the deal with trash, recycling, and compost?

• Trash: littering is common as a result of weak law enforcement and education on what is right.
• Recycling: There is some, but recycling is seldom a habit.
• Compost: It is more common than recycling but still rare.

What should be done?

• Mexico needs a stronger education and needs to teach future generations how to care for the environment.
• The government should spend more money on environmental education and hire and pay janitors better.
• There needs to be stricter law enforcement.

From personal observation, I have seen that yes, there is garbage in the streets, but it is definitely not worse than litter in Boston. Also, most places, such a my host family's house, lack a sufficient recycling system, and all waste is lobbed together into the category of trash.

Mexico is also composed differently than the United States in terms of land use. There are large and dense cities that are then surrounded by miles and miles of undeveloped land. However, in the states, there is no break from the city, but there are huge and vast national parks spread across the states. There are also many outdoor trash cans in Guanajuato that are changed regularly and easily accessible.

More in part two, which will be out tomorrow or the day after.

Nos vemos pronto,

Benjamín

Link: http://us.practicallaw.com/7-508-8956

Comida Mexicana

¡Hola a todos!

I have been having an awesome time here in Guanajuato! A quick rundown of the past two days; on Monday, I went to El Museo de las Momias, a museum showcasing mummies from Guanajuato's colonial period. It was unclear whether or not we could take photos, so unfortunately, I do not have any. Today, we went to Dolores and San Miguel de Allende. Dolores is a city in which the Mexican revolution really picked up and led to Mexico's independence. San Miguel de Allende is a city with a beautiful church and many mercados. You will find out more about mercados in the next post or the one after.

Today, I would like to showcase some of the food here. I am just going to go through a series of pictures and state the name of the food with a short description:

Pozole, a spicy soup often with lettuce and tortilla.

Marzipan, one of my new favourite
foods. It is called mazapán in
Mexico, and is almost just sugar with some nuts.

These are some fried anchovies
crackers I bought in San
Miguel. They are very good
but also extremely salty.

Sopa de veduras, a mild soup
with a mix of vegetables.

Nutella donuts made by my
host mother. They are
dusted with sugar.

This is a drinking device.
It is often used for alcohol.
You pour in the drink
through the top and
drink it out of the beak.

Sweets from a sweet shoppe. They are similar to
flavored caramel.

This is corn with mayonnaise, cheese, and salty chili powder. It is common and very tasty street food.

Huevos rancheros. It is fried eggs with a tomato sauce.

This is garbanza, a common street food made of beans similar to edamame and mixed with many spices.

Sopa azteca, one of my favourite
Mexican dishes. It is spicy soup
usually with tortilla and avocado.

El fin de semana

¡Buenos días a todos!

I am nearing the end of the first weekend in Mexico. The past two days have been absolutely amazing.

On Saturday, I went to La Bufa, one of the tallest mountains in the Los Picachos area of Guanajuato. It was extremely tall, but definitely one of my favourite mountains. What was most awesome though, is that I learned how to break an apple in half with my bare hands. Just kidding, although that was definitely a highlight. I'd say that the best part was standing at the top and being the highest person around. We also saw a city of giant red ants, and we saw cactus and giant crows. We went into a cave unknowingly full of gnats too.

After, I got some guacamaya, a sandwich made of bread and some other ingredients (more on guacamaya and other foods will be in a future post). Next, I met up with some of my compañeros and summited a smaller mountain, but it was still extremely exhausting.

Sunday morning, I ate huevos rancheros (also more on that in my next post), and left for Sierra Santa Rosa, a mountainous region of Guanajuato. Since there are no actual hiking trails, we did a DIY trail up a mountain extremely thick and slippery with leaves. The view was absolutely stunning, and the forest was extremely similar to that of New England.

Actually, now that I think about it, Mexico is not that different from America. There is more alike than there is unalike. Right now, as I type this, I hear my host family laughing and telling jokes, just living life in happiness. They have been full of humility and most importantly, they have been my home away from home. I will write more about this in my conclusion.

Hasta luego,
Benjamín

A herd of goats at Sierra Santa Rosa

This and the next few images are the
geographical features of Sierra Santa Rosa.
If you are native to New England,
you will notice how strikingly similar it is.

Nopal, or cactus. These can
be found all over Mexico.
Here, we found it in an
unusually cold environment.

Manzanita-A tree with red bark
native to Mexico.
It can be used for incense.

This image and the following few are some
geographical features from Los Picachos,
the mountain range I hiked on Saturday.

Me on top of La Bufa's sister mountain,
which is daunting at first, but a good climb up.
(This mountain and many others lack a name,
and is considered part of the Los Picachos
region)

Why I Have a Hard Time Learning a Language

Who said I had a hard time learning Spanish?

Day 6, and Safety

¡Saludos!

I would like to address a big concern most Americans have about Guanajuato and Mexico in general: Safety

But first, I know that most of you want to briefly hear about what I've been up to. Yesterday, I went to La Alhóndiga, a fortress during the Mexican Independence War, but it is now a museum. Next, I went to El Mercado Hidalgo, a huge market in Guanajuato full of food, souvenirs, and more.

Now, onto safety. Since there aren't as many city-by-city statistics in Mexico as in the United States, I had to do some research. The numbers that I am about to present are NOT by each individual, but by percentage. I had to do this since I could find information on the city of Boston, but not the city of Guanajuato; I could only get information on the STATE of Guanajuato. Also, I could only find reliable statistics for Boston's population in 2013, so I am using 650,000 as the population of Boston, and 5,854,000 for the STATE of Guanajuato.

Here is what the numbers say (I did my own calculations by comparing the victims to the total population) (Links can be found at the end of this post) (Also, these were the three most concrete statistics I had, so excuse the lack of information):

Murder rate:
Guanajuato: (Malicious homicide) 0.000150153741% (Higher rate)
Boston: 0.0000584615385

Vehicle Robbery:
Guanajuato: 0.000932183123% (Lower rate)
Boston: 0.00198%

Burglary (Robbery of a place of residence)
Guanajuato: 0.000753501879% (Lower rate)
Boston: 0.00368923077%

Remember, I´m no crime or statistics analyst, so do not use these numbers as if they are super accurate.

So what do these numbers tell us?

Well, they say that while you are more likely to get murdered in Guanajuato, you also are less likely to get robbed (both residential and automotive).

But also, most people care about their life more than something of theirs getting robbed. The murder rate was ~0.00015%, and according to the NOAA, you are far more likely to get struck by lightning.

I could agree that Guanajuato is not the safest place in the world, but it is by far, not the most dangerous either. Even though it is "not real numbers", my host brother has told me that there was only 1 or 2 car accidents (pedestrian-car, car-car, car-object, ect.) in the past month in Guanajuato city. This makes sense because there are many, many speed bumps and the drivers are very good. There are also callejónes, roads made just for pedestrians.

I have also seen a good amount of police around and I have never seen anyone get hurt in Guanajuato whether it was robbery, assault, or just fighting. I might even say that Guanajuato, in terms of people, is nicer than Massachusetts. Here, people are very friendly and personal in the stores and they are very attentive and just a lot nicer than many Americans.

That's all for now. I plan to post later during the weekend or Monday and again during the middle of next week, where I will talk about la comida. If you want to know what that means, you'll have to read it!

Hasta luego,
Benjamín



Links:
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ma/boston/crime/

http://www.ocl.org.mx/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/OCL-Reporte-de-Incidencia-de-los-Delitos-de-Alto-Impacto-2015.PDF

http://www.bing.com/search?q=Boston%2C+Massachusetts+population&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=boston%2C+massachusetts+po&sc=0-24&sk=&cvid=77FCCFE907BF448C9508ADC0A176E8F5

http://www.bing.com/search?q=guanajuato+population&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=guanajuato+population&sc=2-21&sk=&cvid=97883471A2E54573832F73B50403E4C0

Escuela, y ¡Día de San Valentín!

¡Buenos días!

For the past two days, I have been going to escuela (school) in Mexico. So far, I have taken la clase de matemáticas (math class), la clase de historía (history class),  la clase de español (Spanish class; the equivalent of an English class here but in Spanish),  la clase de inglés (English class; the equivalent of a world language), and la clase de físicas (physics class). I am hoping to take biology in the future, but I am not sure how often.

Taking classes in Spanish is easier than one might think. That being said, it does require patience. In la clase de físicas (physics), we were learning about boyante (buoyancy), a concept I did not know beforehand. With a lot of help from my host brother, I eventually understood how to calculate boyante of an object. But when the professor started to explain things, I was extremely confused. One of the things that I really struggled with was peso, which is the currency of Mexico, but in physics, it means weight. Once my host brother explained that to me, everything made sense in the notes. It was quite satisfying, actually, to unlock a whole new concept in a new language just by understanding one more word.

I also attended many English classes, and will be attending more in the future because the teachers want us to be there. In the classes today (February 14th), they were celebrating by singing English Valentine's Day songs such as "Locked Away" by Adam Levine, and "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. I also learned a new type of Spanish music called reggaeton (no, it is not the same thing as reggae), and a few dances for it. After my classes on La Día de San Valentín (Valentine's Day), I went to a cafe where I ate some sopa azteca, an unexpectingly and very spicy soup that tastes amazing. Though my mouth was on fire, I just had to eat it all. Next, I went to the Museo Iconográfico del Quijote, a museum dedicated to Guanajuato's hero, Don Quijote (you can read about Don Quijote here; it is literally a long story).

I ended the day hiking up La Pipila again and taking in the whole city. You could literally spend hours doing it. (More information is below, in the pictures).

Each day it seems, Guanajuato is becoming more and more astounding.

Hasta luego,
Benjamín

A sculpture of Don Quijote

A wood carving of Don Quijote

A painting of Don Quijote

A sci-fi themed comic of Don Quijote. The first panel says "2041. In a place in the [badlands]", the second panel says "Alert! Impact in 3...2...1... BOOM!", the fourth panel says "Sancho!" (Sancho is the companion of Don Quijote), the next panel says "That does not look good, Don Quijote, we should go back.", and then Quijote answers "You stay here", and then he says "I will face them fiercly and with a powerful battle."

This is the heading under La Pipila. It says "Still there are
other cities to burn." This quote references the war in Mexico

View from the top of La Pipila

Another view from the top of La Pipila

Guanajuato, Day 1 and 2

¡Hola!

Now, it is 7 PM, Guanajuato time, and things have been amazing.

I woke up at 3:30 AM, and left the airport at 8:30 for Houston (Pictures are all below; at the end of this post). From Houston, I went to León, a city near Guanajuato. At the airport, I was greeted by a crowd of host families. Once I got together with my host family, we drove to a party to celebrate and eat some delicious Mexico food. There, I learned how to make a Mexican taco:

1. Take a soft corn tortilla
2. Put whatever you wish in the middle
3. Fold tortilla in half
4. ¡Come! (Eat it!)

Some of you might have expected it to be more complicated, like having lettuce, cheese, guacamole, ect. But in Mexico, a taco is simply a soft corn tortilla with some food in the middle. Also, since the tortilla is soft, you don't need to worry about the shell breaking so much!

After, I went to the house, unpacked, and went to bed (to simplify things). It was 2 AM Guanajuato time when I went to sleep.

In the morning, I ate fruit and leftover food from the party last night with my host family. I got to try papaya, although it just wasn't my thing. Next, I met with my compañeros (my group members) at El Teatro Juárez, a local theatre, and we went to a sweet shop called La Catrina, where they had great sweets, including chongos zamoranos, a custard similar to flan. I bought a package of sweets as well. After, I went with my compañeros to a restaurant where I had enchiladas con pollo (enchiladas with chicken) and got to try some green chili peppers. After, we walked around and went on a cable car up a large hill, which had a statue called La Pipila, a Mexican revolutionary. At the hill, I got churros and took in the breathtaking view of Guanajuato. I also received a pair of clackers (balls on a string that hit each other; see images at end) as a gift.  

Once I descended the hill, me and my compañeros went to la Callejón del Beso (The street of kisses), where we looked at some artesanías (little items you can buy), and after, I walked back home with my host brother.

So far, Guanajuato has been something that I just can't believe is happening. It seems that just yesterday, I was looking at the poster that said "Want to go to Guanajuato?" and today, I am in Guanajuato. I have spoken so much Spanish and learned so many things and have had just a whole lot of fun. It is sometimes hard to believe that I am here, that I am not dreaming. All to do now is see what the future holds.

Adios,

Benjamín

Pictures:

the plane leaving Boston

Leόn

My room

El Teatro Juárez

La Catrina

Guanajuato from the statue La Pipila

My souvenirs; the sweets from La Catrina and the clackers

13 Hours...

¡Hola a todos! (Hi you all!)

Just 13 hours left! I have waited months for this moment. I have just finished packing (except for putting things in the actual suitcase). You can see the video below for what I packed. 

I would also like to thank everyone who has been so supportive! I will be trying, as I mentioned in the video, to make another video tomorrow in the morning at the airport.

¡Una día más! (One more day!)

-Benjamín

VIDEO!

¡Saludos! (Greetings!)

¿Cómo está? (Formal greeting)
¿Qué tal? (Informal greeting)
¿Qué onda? (Very informal greeting; for close friends))

I have just made my first video below! I hope that you all enjoy it!

In case you're not a video person, I just talk about what I will be doing on the exchange, how I've prepared, and also about useful Spanish phrases.

Here are the books I mention in the video:
Street Spanish by David Burke
Mexican Spanish by Lonely Planet

Nos vemos pronto, (See you later)

-Ben