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Tuesday November 25, 2008 |
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Spanish Language and Mexican Culture Trip For the number of years that I have traveled in Spanish-speaking countries I have tried to learn a bit of the language. I even signed up for some Spanish classes at the local rec center, but that adventure was somewhat hampered by the fact that it is well and good to learn how to say Buenos Dias and Gracias and the like but it is entirely a different matter to try to communicate in a country where no one knows English. Some years ago I learned that the city of Antigua in Guatemala had a cottage industry of Spanish immersion language schools. In fact I had friends who had taken some of these programs and they were very pleased. I always wanted to take one, but the problem was that they were two weeks minimum and taking that time off away from the dive business and not going diving seemed like a waste of time. Then I sold the store and found that I had a lot of time on my hands. One day I read about an ElderHostel program at Cuernavaca Mexico that combined Spanish Language immersion with local history classes. It sounded like fun and for once I had the time and the money so I signed up.
It was a rather new experience for me. Up until that trip I had never been a customer on a trip out of the country where 1) I was not in charge and 2) there was no diving involved. (Although I did bring a mask and snorkel along – just in case. Well, really to get in some swimming. The hotel had advertised a heated pool but we found out that they only heated it on weekends. The rest of the time it was about 68 degrees). We all arrived at various times on Friday, Jan 26 in Mexico City and made our way to the Hotel Bristol. The hotel was chosen because it is near the US Embassy and apparently quite popular with English-speaking travelers. At the hotel I met my roommate for the next two weeks, Meg Marshall from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I don’t know what criteria that ElderHostel uses to assign roommates but Meg and I could not have been more compatible. Except for the fact that she had a much better handle on the language than I did. There were 37 people on this trip. Some of them were very advanced in their knowledge of Spanish and some very novice – like me. That evening we attended a cocktail party and dinner where Jim Horn of Educational Travel Service, Inc, our trip leader, went over the details of the weeks with us. In the morning after breakfast we boarded a bus for the trip to Cuernavaca. We went directly to Universidad Internacional, the language school, for a placement test – which amounted to having to conjugate a bunch of verbs in a document. I was not totally clueless but was afraid that I might just guess right and end up in a class that was too advanced for me so I took the coward’s way out and just put my name at the top of the page. That way I got placed in an entry level class which was essential where I belonged. After the language school tour and placement tests we had a short bus tour. Cuernavaca is a mountain city of approximately a million people about 50 miles south of Mexico City. The area is known for its flower gardens and as a resort town for Mexicans. It is also somewhat famous for its language schools. I was not sure what I really expected but I discovered that even though the city traces it roots back to pre-Spanish conquistadors it is a beautiful and sometimes very modern city. When the Spanish first arrived it was know by the Nahuati name Cuauhnahuac (near the woods). The similar sounding Spanish name of Cuernavaca means “horn of the cow” but the city is generally referred to as the city of eternal spring. And as we were to find on some of our later tours this seems to be a good name because the weather seemed very spring-like even in January and February. A lot of the homes and museums we visited did not even have glass in their windows so apparently there is not supposed to be much of a temperature change – although I went for a jacket some evenings at the open aired bar and patio at our hotel. Jim managed to fill two weeks with a lot of educational seminars, tours and presentations in addition to the 5 hours of Spanish instruction that we had every day. Most evenings there was an educational video, a lecture or some other fun event. On our first Friday in Cuernavaca we had an optional dinner away from the hotel. Most of us went with Jim and Lalo (short for Eduardo – Jim’s assistant) to Gaia, a very nice restaurant where we were seated pool-side for a lovely evening where I had my first adventure in trying to order in Spanish. I got the meal I asked for but there was a bit of a communication gap in the drink order. I wanted a run and coke with no lime. I got a glass half full of lime juice and a can of coke. Jim tried to help me straighten this out and the result was that I got a brandy glass of rum and a bottle of water. Next time I will stick to Margaritas. Everyone understands what that is. Aside from the Spanish classes and Jim’s frequent lectures on Mexican history and politics, here were some of the other activities that I enjoyed. A Tequila Tasting party was followed by personal histories of all the members of our group. The introductions were very informative and the tequila was – well - excellent. Cooking Class - One evening Jim put on a demonstration of how to prepare some simple Mexican appetizers and promised that the bean dip he showed up how to make would be a feature at the Fiesta on Saturday. He gave me the recipes that he presented and permission to publish some of them. I will do that soon. One Sunday we took a bus tour to Taxco – a Mexican mountain city that was once a thriving silver mining camp. It is now a tourist town but retains the “old Mexican village” atmosphere. The buildings and the architecture were awesome. The people very friendly and some of the silver jewelry was very impressive. Even though I missed the jewelry gene I did buy a pair of silver earrings that are very nice. I also bought a water color painting that will go perfectly in a frame I picked up years ago in Honduras and have been looking for the picture for it ever since. On February 5 the school was closed due to a national holiday so the teachers came to our hotel and conducted half day classes. Then we all pilled into a bus for an excursion to Xochicalco – a huge archeological site that has had extensive excavation and reconstruction. In spite of the massive amounts of money that have been poured into this site there is still little knowledge about the people who lived there about 800 A.D. We were at the site for only about two hours – not nearly enough time to really get a feel for the massiveness of it. There is a very excellent museum nearby that I literally ran through. If I get back to this part of Mexico again I am going to devote a couple of days to Xochicalco. Following the trip to Xochicalco we stopped at Los Pequenos Hermanos, a ranch/orphanage that that was founded by Father William B. Wasson in the 1950’s after he became known as a priest who would take in stray and abandoned children. The name means “Our Little Brothers and Sisters”. Not having had much experience touring orphanages I really had no expectations one way or the other, but this home really impressed me. It is a very large ranch area where the children assist with raising pigs and chickens and other farm-type duties. The facility depends on private donations and the sale of excess farm products for their funding. What impressed me was that the children that we saw were all happy and smiling and the grounds were remarkably well kept. They had no prior warning of our visit so one would have to assume that this was normal. The young volunteer from Wisconsin who gave us a tour explained, among other things that these children are not up to being adopted. Once a child is accepted at Los Pequenos Hermanos he or she will be there until they graduate from college. She said that acceptance in the orphanage guarantees a college education for the child. She also said that a lot of their graduates return to either work or volunteer at the orphanage. For details about how you can get involved follow this link. www.friendsoftheorphans.org
One afternoon a small group of us took a taxi to the Muros museum. This new and modern structure which is supported by Costco and Comercial Mexicana houses the collection of art that was acquired by Russian filmmaker Jacques Gelman and his Czech wife Natasha Zahalka beginning in 1940. There are a number of works by such well-known Mexican artists as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Maria Izquierdo. There is also gallery space devoted to modern contemporary artists. The building was opened in 2004 and also houses murals by Josep Renau and Jose Reyes Meza which were originally in the Casino de la Selva Hotel. I enjoyed this tour and came away with a totally renewed awe of the works of Kahlo and Rivera. Up until them I had though that Kahlo was rather ”weird” and that all Rivera did was murals. This is a Costco link to information about the Muros. On another afternoon we toured the Robert Brady museum. Brady was an American artist who settled in Cuernavaca in the early 60’s. He was on the faculty of the Art Institute of Chicago at the same time I attended school there but “surprise, surprise” I don’t think I ever met him. His home is now the museum and according to his instructions the rooms and gardens are left exactly as they were when he lived there. He is buried in one of the gardens. Unfortunately, my camera battery died before I got a photo of this fabulous house/collection. But a number of other people who were on this trip have sent me some of their photos and I am very grateful. It is an incredible house and an amazing collection of art that should not be missed. www.bradymusuem.org
Aside from the tours and the language school and everything else I met a lot of wonderful people whom I plan to keep contact with. In fact some of us talked about getting together at one of the Bay Islands of Honduras’ language schools were we could also enjoy snorkeling together. I have sent for further information on these programs and will keep you posted.
Since this was my first ElderHostel trip I have nothing to compare it to but I really enjoyed myself and had a great time. Having had considerable experience organizing and running trips I can honestly compliment Jim Horn and Lalo for the attention to detail that made this trip so much fun. They both did a wonderful job.
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