More Mexican Adventure

Culture Fair

Today we had a culture fair for around 1500 high school students. Our cast setup booths for each country represented – around 20 in all. It was a great success – except for the fact that I got sunburned (again!). The kids would go to each booth, hear a little spiel about that place and then get their UWP passports stamped. At the end, we performed yet another BTS for the kids. The afternoon was easy – internal time with the cast. We read our letters to ourselves from the very first week of staging. And then wrote another to ourselves for the end of the tour. I should do this more often – when I’m out of UWP! We all had “thank you” time with each other and hugs were the most common way of showing your gratitude.

Later that night our family took us out to a restaurant at a mall and we watched the Mexico vs. Columbia soccer game – and man let me tell you that was an intense game! Soccer (or futbol) outside of the US is way better! Our family also hooked Phil and me up with a Mexico t-shirt so we could show our team spirit. Unfortunately we lost 1-2 but it was fun anyway.

City Tour

Yeah! We got to sleep in a little. We drove down to Mexico City – Distrito Federal. There we toured around the downtown area and saw the theater, art museum, walked around the streets, El Zocalo (center square), and the big church that is sinking. Mexico City is unique because it was built on a lake (a long, long time ago). The Native Indians, the Aztecs, moved to the location after a vision from one of the leaders. There they settled in an area which had the classic Mexican symbol of the eagle with the snake in its beak sitting atop of a cactus. Well unfortunately for them, the cactus was in the middle of a lake. The Indians built their city over it anyways. And after the Aztecs were conquered, the Spanish built their city on top of the Indian structures. That means Mexico is sitting on top of a lake and shifting sand – which explains why the city has so many problems with its buildings and infrastructure.

Teotihuacan Pyramids

Lunch was AMAZING! We went to a place called Fisher’s. Yes it was a seafood joint and they prepared us shrimp, fish and chips and chips and guacamole. Yum. A bus-ride nap later, we arrived to the famous pyramids of Teotihuacán. This is the home of the Pyramide del Sol (the third largest in the world) and its sister Pyramide de La Luna. After our cliché cast phot with the pyramid in the background, we decided to conquer the beast! Arrrrg. Many photos were taken at the top – some candid, some serious, but mostly were goofy. Then we walked down to the base of Luna breifely before we toured the labrinth and visited the shops. Meawhile, every step you took, a peddler would ask if you wanted to buy an obsidian turtle or mask or a jaguar whistle or a necklace. The only place you weren’t haggled was at the top of the pyramid.

i feel loved

Today we had 2 BTS in one day. The first was very apathetic in my opinion. I had very little energy from the long travel day and early rise. Plus there was literally no audience there to perform for – so my motivation waned. Then we took off to a small school somewhere near the park and I was of course taking advantage of the bus time by sleeping. Once we arrived, the students put on a short presentation for us that included a small band, guitarist, pianist and opera singer. All were very nice to hear. Then we did our routine BTS – this time with way more energy and enthusiasm. I have found that energy is transferable – especially between humans. I was pumped to do the BTS with 500 smiling faces looking back at me. Then CHAOS after the show – fotos, fotos, fotos! No besos! Lunch was great – pollo hamburgers!

Later we had a Jai Ho photo shoot for the Mexican newspaper, Reforma. It is an equivalent to the NY Times. I have never done a photo shoot before but it was a lot of fun. We got dressed in our Indian show costumes and took pictures. We ran through the trees, jumped up, acted casual, posed, and goofed around. Then we made a Jai Hoe music video. Check out how funny this is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivb29IDgWig

My host family was amazing. They gave us maps and printed out some information for our regional learning day at the Teotihuacán Pyramids. At the end of the book they made us, there was a nice little note written in Spanish full of love. I love the love! But one thing I’ve found in my host family experiences is that its hard to receive all the love. It’s almost unnatural human love. I understand that we are guests of the house for a temporary time – but all my host families have shown so much love and generosity towards me and my roommates. That night we had an awesome dinner. I was able to savor many of the different flavors. I was such a rich taste and 100% authentic. Can't get any better!