Today is the first day of the big conference here at UNO. We are primarily registering people and getting them all their materials and information. Surprisingly, we have actually been able to help more than I thought, particularly for those from Belize who speak a different Maya language, but English as well!
Tomorrow at 8 AM, we will be going to Chichén Itzá for the opening ceremony. I don´t know what to expect, but it will certainly be cool to be at Chichén as part of this interesting group of people from all over the Maya world (and the U.S., too).
I am hoping that my huipil will be ready tomorrow because Friday is the day I am supposed to wear it to the Maya wedding we are going to attend in Xocén. Friday will be a super long day because we are first going to the Ceremony of Sacred Fire which will be happening here at UNO at 5 AM!
I will have lots more to share once the Encuentro is over and I will probably be too busy in the next couple days to give any updates, but I wanted to give a brief picture of what is going on here at UNO.
¡Saludos a todos!
miércoles, 28 de julio de 2010
viernes, 23 de julio de 2010
Obra de Teatro
The third cuatrimestre Tourism A students just presented a play about Mexican/Yucatecan cultural identity and it was amazing. They wrote, directed, and produced it themselves, and did all the technical and behind-the-scenes work as well.
In the play, a man rejects his Yucatecan roots, refusing to speak Maya and observe the cultural traditions, even though it hurts his family. Our students dressed in huipiles and danced the jarana. Some of the guys were acting like village drunks and really got their roles pegged! José, the main character, goes to the United States with his wife and child to try to make a better life for them, and starts working at a travel agency. His "American," English-speaking co-workers ask him in really bad Gringo-accented Spanish : ) about his roots and he doesn´t know what to say, and feels ashamed. He fights with his wife, Lupe, because she speaks Maya and is proud of her heritage. Then she leaves him and returns to their village in Yucatán. Finally, José realizes the error of his ways, and goes back to win her back and to rediscover his Maya/Yucatecan heritage. The play ends with all the students on stage dancing the jarana.
All the students were perfect in their roles and took the production seriously. The costumes and set were excellent. The play had dialogue in THREE LANGUAGES: Maya, Spanish, and English. I was so impressed with their hard work and I truly feel privileged to have been their English teacher for two of the three cuatris this year, and to have gotten to know them.
At UNO, we are gearing up for the 10th Mayan Encuentro being held here, in which a couple hundred people involved in the academic world of Maya studies, as well as other, spiritual figures in the community (i.e., shamans and teachers) will converge in Valladolid next Wednesday through Saturday. Betsy and I are having our huipiles made in Chemax and we are going to go for a fitting some time next week, once the embroidery is done. We will be working with students, too, who will be serving as hospitality assistants to the delegates, being available to help direct them to their hotels, transportation, etc. In particular, we will be in charge of helping the Belize delegates in case some of them don´t speak Spanish (although I predict that our role will be pretty insignificant). Nonetheless, I am super excited to be a part of this event!
Well, it is just about time to go home for the weekend, so I will say hasta luego!
In the play, a man rejects his Yucatecan roots, refusing to speak Maya and observe the cultural traditions, even though it hurts his family. Our students dressed in huipiles and danced the jarana. Some of the guys were acting like village drunks and really got their roles pegged! José, the main character, goes to the United States with his wife and child to try to make a better life for them, and starts working at a travel agency. His "American," English-speaking co-workers ask him in really bad Gringo-accented Spanish : ) about his roots and he doesn´t know what to say, and feels ashamed. He fights with his wife, Lupe, because she speaks Maya and is proud of her heritage. Then she leaves him and returns to their village in Yucatán. Finally, José realizes the error of his ways, and goes back to win her back and to rediscover his Maya/Yucatecan heritage. The play ends with all the students on stage dancing the jarana.
All the students were perfect in their roles and took the production seriously. The costumes and set were excellent. The play had dialogue in THREE LANGUAGES: Maya, Spanish, and English. I was so impressed with their hard work and I truly feel privileged to have been their English teacher for two of the three cuatris this year, and to have gotten to know them.
At UNO, we are gearing up for the 10th Mayan Encuentro being held here, in which a couple hundred people involved in the academic world of Maya studies, as well as other, spiritual figures in the community (i.e., shamans and teachers) will converge in Valladolid next Wednesday through Saturday. Betsy and I are having our huipiles made in Chemax and we are going to go for a fitting some time next week, once the embroidery is done. We will be working with students, too, who will be serving as hospitality assistants to the delegates, being available to help direct them to their hotels, transportation, etc. In particular, we will be in charge of helping the Belize delegates in case some of them don´t speak Spanish (although I predict that our role will be pretty insignificant). Nonetheless, I am super excited to be a part of this event!
Well, it is just about time to go home for the weekend, so I will say hasta luego!
martes, 20 de julio de 2010
"El que domina la mente, lo domina todo."
The above dicho (or expression) means "He who masters the mind, masters everything." It was told to me by the head security guard (and my friend) at UNO, Don Moises. He is an interesting man who has a middle school education but lots and lots of knowledge about the natural world. He is Maya and has done many things in his life. He is about 50 years old, I would guess. He´s from a small village near Chichén Itzá and worked on the excavation of archaeological site there years ago. I really enjoy our pláticas (chats) because I always learn something new about Maya culture.
This afternoon, when I arrived at UNO, I decided to take a quick walk on the Interpretive Nature Trail before it rained. I walked to the end of the path, where we had the ceremony of Sacred Fire a month ago. I could hear the thunder of the approaching storm in the distance, and of course the birds and bugs buzzing around me. On my way back, I found a pretty feather. It is half gray and half blue, and I am pretty sure it comes from a Yucatan Jay, which is featured in the photo below.
Well, I have some exams to grade and some other work to do before class this evening, so I´ll say ciao for now!
This afternoon, when I arrived at UNO, I decided to take a quick walk on the Interpretive Nature Trail before it rained. I walked to the end of the path, where we had the ceremony of Sacred Fire a month ago. I could hear the thunder of the approaching storm in the distance, and of course the birds and bugs buzzing around me. On my way back, I found a pretty feather. It is half gray and half blue, and I am pretty sure it comes from a Yucatan Jay, which is featured in the photo below.
Well, I have some exams to grade and some other work to do before class this evening, so I´ll say ciao for now!
lunes, 19 de julio de 2010
Jets´ Meek´ - The Mayan Baptism Ceremony
Today we watched several students perform the Mayan Jets´ Meek´ (hets mek)ritual. It was part of their final presentation for the cuatri. The girls dressed in their traditional huipiles and the boys wore their traditional cotton guayabera-style shirts and light colored pants. They even brought a real baby! Only this baby wasn´t officially being baptized. She was 2 years old. The real baptism happens at 3 months for girls, and at 4 months for boys.
There is significance to every aspect of the ceremony, and everything is related to the gender roles in Mayan culture. The ceremony itself is short, taking only about 10 to 15 minutes total. It consists of the baby being carried around a table a specific number of times by the godparents. The number of turns they take around the table depends on if it´s a boy or a girl. With each turn, or vuelta, the godparent picks up an item from the selection that has been placed on the table. There are foods, as well as items such as a pen and notebook (so the child will be a good student) and gender-role related things as well. As the child is carried on the hip of their godparent (so their legs will develop and be strong as they grow up), all the attendees of the baptism eat pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and throw the shells behind the person and the child as they walk. This is done to help the child keep moving forward in life, or something along those lines.
While this wasn´t a real ceremony, it was really neat to see the students performing it because many had written about it in their Language Journals a couple weeks ago. It was difficult for me to imagine it at the time, so seeing it done really brought the tradition to life for me.
Lately, there have been lots of opportunities lately for becoming acquainted with Mexican and Mayan cultures. On Saturday, I went to Chemax (Chey-MASH)to meet with one of my students´ families with the intention of buying a huipil, which is the traditional dress of Maya women. It is usually a white dress, about knee-length, with brightly-colored embroidery along the collar and the bottom. Underneath, the women wear something called a justan, which is a skirt-slip with either a lace or crocheted border. Both Betsy and I are having huipiles made by my student´s wife. She will hand-embroider them and it will take her about 2 weeks. I am really excited about the final product because I was able to select the design myself, as well as the colors she will use. It is going to be something very special to me, for sure.
When we arrived to Chemax by bus (about 30 minutes from Valladolid), my student picked us up on his triciclo, which is a very cool contraption. It has a bike seat and a rear tire, but the front is a metal frame with a platform where people can sit or you can put firewood or various things. I held their young son as he rode us to their house, where we met the family (wife, mother-in-law, and father-in-law) After we looked at the huipiles and talked and saw family photos, they invited us to stay for lunch. It was a wonderful afternoon.
Then yesterday, I was in Cancun and I spent the afternoon in the tianguis (tee-ANG-eez), which is a bustling open-air market. They sell everything there from clothing to foods (grilled shrimp, pozol, tortas, aguas frescas, etc.) to live animals and cookware. It is basically a big flea market. Then, after spending the day in the sun, I went to the beach for a swim (even though by that time it was raining!). While I was there I got my fair share of lots of live music, primarily African drumming and salsa. I was also able to go to Wal-Mart again and pick up a few things.
In all it was a great weekend, but I´m pretty tired and looking forward to getting off work in a couple hours! I´m hopeful that this week is going to be a bit less hectic because all our testing is done and our Gastronomy students have gone off to do their 6 week-long Prácticas , or internships. Of course, there´s always lots to do, but it will be nice to have fewer classes to give.
More soon!
There is significance to every aspect of the ceremony, and everything is related to the gender roles in Mayan culture. The ceremony itself is short, taking only about 10 to 15 minutes total. It consists of the baby being carried around a table a specific number of times by the godparents. The number of turns they take around the table depends on if it´s a boy or a girl. With each turn, or vuelta, the godparent picks up an item from the selection that has been placed on the table. There are foods, as well as items such as a pen and notebook (so the child will be a good student) and gender-role related things as well. As the child is carried on the hip of their godparent (so their legs will develop and be strong as they grow up), all the attendees of the baptism eat pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and throw the shells behind the person and the child as they walk. This is done to help the child keep moving forward in life, or something along those lines.
While this wasn´t a real ceremony, it was really neat to see the students performing it because many had written about it in their Language Journals a couple weeks ago. It was difficult for me to imagine it at the time, so seeing it done really brought the tradition to life for me.
Lately, there have been lots of opportunities lately for becoming acquainted with Mexican and Mayan cultures. On Saturday, I went to Chemax (Chey-MASH)to meet with one of my students´ families with the intention of buying a huipil, which is the traditional dress of Maya women. It is usually a white dress, about knee-length, with brightly-colored embroidery along the collar and the bottom. Underneath, the women wear something called a justan, which is a skirt-slip with either a lace or crocheted border. Both Betsy and I are having huipiles made by my student´s wife. She will hand-embroider them and it will take her about 2 weeks. I am really excited about the final product because I was able to select the design myself, as well as the colors she will use. It is going to be something very special to me, for sure.
When we arrived to Chemax by bus (about 30 minutes from Valladolid), my student picked us up on his triciclo, which is a very cool contraption. It has a bike seat and a rear tire, but the front is a metal frame with a platform where people can sit or you can put firewood or various things. I held their young son as he rode us to their house, where we met the family (wife, mother-in-law, and father-in-law) After we looked at the huipiles and talked and saw family photos, they invited us to stay for lunch. It was a wonderful afternoon.
Then yesterday, I was in Cancun and I spent the afternoon in the tianguis (tee-ANG-eez), which is a bustling open-air market. They sell everything there from clothing to foods (grilled shrimp, pozol, tortas, aguas frescas, etc.) to live animals and cookware. It is basically a big flea market. Then, after spending the day in the sun, I went to the beach for a swim (even though by that time it was raining!). While I was there I got my fair share of lots of live music, primarily African drumming and salsa. I was also able to go to Wal-Mart again and pick up a few things.
In all it was a great weekend, but I´m pretty tired and looking forward to getting off work in a couple hours! I´m hopeful that this week is going to be a bit less hectic because all our testing is done and our Gastronomy students have gone off to do their 6 week-long Prácticas , or internships. Of course, there´s always lots to do, but it will be nice to have fewer classes to give.
More soon!
martes, 6 de julio de 2010
4 de julio, Estilo Cancun
I had my own little 4th of July here in Mexico. I celebrated Independence Day in Cancun, the most American city in Mexico, by eating dragonfruit (pitahaya) and potato chips on the beach. I also went to several malls to engage in some good, old-fashioned, American shopping. More importantly, and certainly the highlight of my festivities, were my trips to BOTH WalMart AND Starbucks. As soon as I set foot in the WalMart, I suddenly felt so much love for America! However, I think my reaction was more a product of living in tiny Valladolid than actually missing the United States...What I did miss was the family time and, of course, the American barbecue picnic...Oh how I long for a veggie burger and some sweet corn on the cob! But Cancun was a really nice change of scenery and I definitely came home with some color. :)
We have been getting some pretty heavy rains here, but it has been keeping things cool, which is great. I am interested to see how the hurricane season turns out...hopefully it won't live up to the predictions!
Well, it's getting late here so I must go...Buenas noches a todos!
lunes, 28 de junio de 2010
I finished my last class of my longest day of the week about an hour ago, and right now I´m taking advantage of this opportunity to update the blog.
We are currently getting some pretty strong storms: thunder, lightning, lots and lots of rain...Although I haven´t looked at the weather and people aren´t really talking about it, I am guessing it is still Tropical Storm Alex passing over the Yucatán Peninsula. We have been getting a fair amount of rain off and on throughout the weekend, but nothing crazy. It´s been very warm and muggy here - just life in the tropics! I am definitely concerned, though, about what the storm will do when it hits the Gulf of Mexico and disrupts the oil spill, and I´m sure many others in the region are fearful that the effects will be devastating.
In other important Mexican news, the Mexican soccer team is officially out of the World Cup. They lost pretty badly (3-1) to Argentina yesterday. I watched the game (or most of it) and people were pretty subdued all day.
We´re keeping very busy in the English Department. This week we will be having oral presentations with all our classes and we´re working through the last unit of our course packet. It´s hard to believe there are only 3 more weeks left of classes this cuatri and July is around the corner!
Well, I should get back to work. I´ve got lots of Language Journals to give feedback on. More to come soon!
We are currently getting some pretty strong storms: thunder, lightning, lots and lots of rain...Although I haven´t looked at the weather and people aren´t really talking about it, I am guessing it is still Tropical Storm Alex passing over the Yucatán Peninsula. We have been getting a fair amount of rain off and on throughout the weekend, but nothing crazy. It´s been very warm and muggy here - just life in the tropics! I am definitely concerned, though, about what the storm will do when it hits the Gulf of Mexico and disrupts the oil spill, and I´m sure many others in the region are fearful that the effects will be devastating.
In other important Mexican news, the Mexican soccer team is officially out of the World Cup. They lost pretty badly (3-1) to Argentina yesterday. I watched the game (or most of it) and people were pretty subdued all day.
We´re keeping very busy in the English Department. This week we will be having oral presentations with all our classes and we´re working through the last unit of our course packet. It´s hard to believe there are only 3 more weeks left of classes this cuatri and July is around the corner!
Well, I should get back to work. I´ve got lots of Language Journals to give feedback on. More to come soon!
jueves, 24 de junio de 2010
Waving Flag
In the excitement of the World Cup (which may be ending sooner rather than later for Mexico, since they will be fighting an uphill battle against Argentina), Betsy and I have tried to channel the existing energy into our classes. We found one of the theme songs of the World Cup, called "Waving Flag" by an artist named K´naan, and we got the lyrics for it. It is a super-uplifting and catchy song and we have sung it with all our classes now. It has been really cool to hear the students walking around the classroom building singing it on their own!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
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