The new header photo is my favorite shot from the amazing, marvelous Guelaguetza festival. I've got a slide show ready to go and am simply trying to figure out how to load it through blogspot. Please check back shortly and post any advice if you're more conversant with these procedures than I am, thanks.
We had a great time and are looking forward to a couple of related events going on in town this week: a tamale festival, mescal festival, and more dancing than you can easily imagine!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
What's in the Water?
Things are going fine; marvelous, fact, since we spent most of today at the acclaimed Guelaguetza festival; but we're not really sure what's been happening to Crispin and Harper. Do they look different to you?
Guelaguetza lasts about two weeks and is generally comprised of excellent dancing from regional troupes representing the diverse regions and traditions of Oaxaca state. There's something going on in most corners of town making for lots of color and fun. I finally have a plethora of amazing photos to share, but will do you all the favor of editing them down before posting. We spent three hours in the blazing sun watching dancers, then about half that time again in the crowd of 11,000, all of whom chose to exit by the same long staircase we did.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
church of Santa Maria El Tule
we were somewhat underwhelmed by our visit to El Tule today, a large cypress described as "one of the largest in Latin America" and also as "15 stories high." I drove around and around the very small town, within sight of the top of this particular tree, not believing it could really be our destination. Does this look like 15 stories? Three out of three Waits Gambill children surveyed do NOT think so.
picture (s?)
Okay, I thought I knew how to do this, but at the moment I'm only able to upload one photo at a time. This may not be exactly what you've been waiting for, but here's a nice shot of the new neighbor I met this morning (note rainbow-colored legs).
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Not Feeling Motivated
Cultural immersion definitely comes in stages. You're thrilled to arrive, everyone races all over the house, opening closets, discovering new bedrooms, and then--cucarachas. Or too many ants in the kitchen.
We've been in Oaxaca since Friday and Art has been back at work since yesterday. "Back at work" in this case means logging on to his Kilpatrick Stockton account from the upstairs bedroom and earning the income that's allowing us to be here. I've given us (myself, essentially) this first week to be unscheduled and unstructured, aiming to enroll the boys in some sort of Spanish camp by next week. We've only found private lessons that can accomodate Amelia thus far, and I don't think that's what she really needs, so for her we'll keep our options open.
You have to be satisfied with small accomplishments. Yesterday we made it in the car to an adjacent neighborhood, found the Domino's pizza place, circled many city blocks, finally claimed a parking space and even discovered a bank with ATMs along the way. Ate cheese pizza and "cheesy bread" for lunch; "cheesy bread," in Spanish, translating to "cheesy bread," I'm pleased to report. Found a copy center. Joined the English language library and enabled children to check out many books. Quiet time at home, followed by a short hike in the nearby forest preserve with Art, who was definitely eager to get out of the house after a day in the upstairs bedroom. Dinner of chorizo and eggs on the patio, with Amelia for once eating all of her vegetables before the boys did. Gorgeous views of the mountains all around. Totally, completely sapped.
So this morning I've allowed the kids to play Wii and watch Cosby much later than I'd planned, but it's given me time to read the New York Times and update the blog. I'm thinking success today will include calling the cleaning lady, Amelia (!), to set up an appointment, and possibly running to Sears (Sears!) in search of a fruit juicer and ice cream freezer. Stay tuned.
We've been in Oaxaca since Friday and Art has been back at work since yesterday. "Back at work" in this case means logging on to his Kilpatrick Stockton account from the upstairs bedroom and earning the income that's allowing us to be here. I've given us (myself, essentially) this first week to be unscheduled and unstructured, aiming to enroll the boys in some sort of Spanish camp by next week. We've only found private lessons that can accomodate Amelia thus far, and I don't think that's what she really needs, so for her we'll keep our options open.
You have to be satisfied with small accomplishments. Yesterday we made it in the car to an adjacent neighborhood, found the Domino's pizza place, circled many city blocks, finally claimed a parking space and even discovered a bank with ATMs along the way. Ate cheese pizza and "cheesy bread" for lunch; "cheesy bread," in Spanish, translating to "cheesy bread," I'm pleased to report. Found a copy center. Joined the English language library and enabled children to check out many books. Quiet time at home, followed by a short hike in the nearby forest preserve with Art, who was definitely eager to get out of the house after a day in the upstairs bedroom. Dinner of chorizo and eggs on the patio, with Amelia for once eating all of her vegetables before the boys did. Gorgeous views of the mountains all around. Totally, completely sapped.
So this morning I've allowed the kids to play Wii and watch Cosby much later than I'd planned, but it's given me time to read the New York Times and update the blog. I'm thinking success today will include calling the cleaning lady, Amelia (!), to set up an appointment, and possibly running to Sears (Sears!) in search of a fruit juicer and ice cream freezer. Stay tuned.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Mexican political election
Elections were held July 5th and I've been reading--and rereading--this article to get the names of political parties down and begin learning what they stand for. Insights welcome.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Introducing...Crispin's Blog!
Okay, little brother is keeping up with big brother; here's Crispin's blog page too:
Crispin en Mexico
and please post comments there, too!
Crispin en Mexico
and please post comments there, too!
Tampico--Pazo Rico--El Tajin--Casitas (Costa Esmeralda)--OAXACA
Note: drafted this over the weekend and forgot to post, but here's the last leg of our trip for those of you who dream of driving through Mexico.
check out this Map of our Drive--fingers crossed I am learning how to embed hyperlinks. Next up: figuring out how to DRAW the actual driving route on this or any other mapping site someone cares to recommend. In any case this shows the key stops along our entire route from Atlanta to Oaxaca. {correction, it does not even show the key stops but I can't figure out how to post my first effort and I think I lost it in any case. enjoy a view of the Gulf of Mexico.)
We arrived here safe and sound on Friday. Before I forget, I want to STRONGLY recommend the drive through Veracruz and Oaxaca states. We left our hotel in Tampico without ever seeing the ocean, but spent the next night at a town called Casitas on Mexico's "Emerald Coast"--a term quite possibly adopted solely to generate tourism, unless Brahmin cattle grazing seaside below coconut palms remind YOU of emeralds...
Meantime, between Tampico and Casitas we had quite a trip. Took the inland route of 2 local highway options to our next stop, planning to detour at El Tajin, an important Mayan archaeological site. The drive through hilly/low mountainous rain forest was fascinating, with mango, pineapple, cherimoya, cactus fruit and local honey stands lining the side of each small town we encountered. Unfortunately the limited speed on the 2-lane highway resulted in our arriving at El Tajin just 5 minutes before closing time, so we squinted at a few stony pyramids in the distance and spent the remaining time checking out a small exhibit on indigenous vanilla production. Read in our guide book about a local tradition of "dancers" who descend from an enormous pole simultaneously, falling upside down and rapidly untwisting from ropes around their waists--saw a pole but no dancers. Concluded the day with a final drive back to the Gulf and a chance for the boys to swim in the Atlantic as the sun went down. Amelia remembered being afraid of the beach at Tybee Island "when I was three" and either this memory, or her intense fear of the tiny sand crabs near the surf, led her rapidly back to the hotel pool.
I'm looking out our front window at a little burro who has just wandered up to check us out. She's nibbling on the grass outside our front gate.
Last day of the drive, slurping Moka Frio (oversweetened chocolate coffee drink from the Starbuck's knockoff Italian Coffee Company) and heading for the autopista (high quality toll road alternative to "libre"=free local highway). Harper saw the Italian Coffee Company sign, in English, and assumed everyone would speak English inside. Led to interesting conversation about the fact that they don't speak, or list their name in, Italian, either. :-)
Again, FASCINATING landscapes. The first hour or two led us again through rain forest, but (forgive my limited terminology, forestry friends) higher and steeper and with much denser green growth. As the mountains grew higher we saw fewer private farm plots along the road, but just as many amazing terraced fields even on slopes of 60 degrees or greater. More trees; banana, orange, then gradually shifting to a variety of pines as the temperature dropped from upper '70's near the coast to '60's and finally a low of 54 degrees and thick clouds at the highest town, Teziutlan. Found our connection to the autopista, paid our toll, hit the highway for even higher mountains of the "Reserva Biosfera" as we climbed into the Sierra Madre del Sur and its drier desert conditions. Cactus replacing and intermixed with pine trees, deciduous varieties, disappearing, more and more red clay visible in the canyons.
Finally pulling in to Oaxaca in the p.m.--more on that to come!
check out this Map of our Drive--fingers crossed I am learning how to embed hyperlinks. Next up: figuring out how to DRAW the actual driving route on this or any other mapping site someone cares to recommend. In any case this shows the key stops along our entire route from Atlanta to Oaxaca. {correction, it does not even show the key stops but I can't figure out how to post my first effort and I think I lost it in any case. enjoy a view of the Gulf of Mexico.)
We arrived here safe and sound on Friday. Before I forget, I want to STRONGLY recommend the drive through Veracruz and Oaxaca states. We left our hotel in Tampico without ever seeing the ocean, but spent the next night at a town called Casitas on Mexico's "Emerald Coast"--a term quite possibly adopted solely to generate tourism, unless Brahmin cattle grazing seaside below coconut palms remind YOU of emeralds...
Meantime, between Tampico and Casitas we had quite a trip. Took the inland route of 2 local highway options to our next stop, planning to detour at El Tajin, an important Mayan archaeological site. The drive through hilly/low mountainous rain forest was fascinating, with mango, pineapple, cherimoya, cactus fruit and local honey stands lining the side of each small town we encountered. Unfortunately the limited speed on the 2-lane highway resulted in our arriving at El Tajin just 5 minutes before closing time, so we squinted at a few stony pyramids in the distance and spent the remaining time checking out a small exhibit on indigenous vanilla production. Read in our guide book about a local tradition of "dancers" who descend from an enormous pole simultaneously, falling upside down and rapidly untwisting from ropes around their waists--saw a pole but no dancers. Concluded the day with a final drive back to the Gulf and a chance for the boys to swim in the Atlantic as the sun went down. Amelia remembered being afraid of the beach at Tybee Island "when I was three" and either this memory, or her intense fear of the tiny sand crabs near the surf, led her rapidly back to the hotel pool.
I'm looking out our front window at a little burro who has just wandered up to check us out. She's nibbling on the grass outside our front gate.
Last day of the drive, slurping Moka Frio (oversweetened chocolate coffee drink from the Starbuck's knockoff Italian Coffee Company) and heading for the autopista (high quality toll road alternative to "libre"=free local highway). Harper saw the Italian Coffee Company sign, in English, and assumed everyone would speak English inside. Led to interesting conversation about the fact that they don't speak, or list their name in, Italian, either. :-)
Again, FASCINATING landscapes. The first hour or two led us again through rain forest, but (forgive my limited terminology, forestry friends) higher and steeper and with much denser green growth. As the mountains grew higher we saw fewer private farm plots along the road, but just as many amazing terraced fields even on slopes of 60 degrees or greater. More trees; banana, orange, then gradually shifting to a variety of pines as the temperature dropped from upper '70's near the coast to '60's and finally a low of 54 degrees and thick clouds at the highest town, Teziutlan. Found our connection to the autopista, paid our toll, hit the highway for even higher mountains of the "Reserva Biosfera" as we climbed into the Sierra Madre del Sur and its drier desert conditions. Cactus replacing and intermixed with pine trees, deciduous varieties, disappearing, more and more red clay visible in the canyons.
Finally pulling in to Oaxaca in the p.m.--more on that to come!
Introducing...Harper's Blog!
We are safely in Oaxaca. I (Lauren) will post about the last leg of our trip soon, but first, drumroll, please: Harper has launched his own blog! He worked very hard on it for quite some time yesterday, even patiently rewriting about 2/3 of it after we lost the wifi connection and most of his work. Crispin's getting on the Mac next and his own blog will be coming soon.
The title of this post is supposed to link to Harper's blog address, but it's not functioning correctly when I test it. Would a kind reader please let me know (thru "comment") if the title/hyperlink is working on your end? In case not, here's Harper's new address: www.harperenmexico.blogspot.com. Trying again: click here to link to Harper's blog.
Thanks for reading, comments welcome and greatly desired by our newly-published author!
The title of this post is supposed to link to Harper's blog address, but it's not functioning correctly when I test it. Would a kind reader please let me know (thru "comment") if the title/hyperlink is working on your end? In case not, here's Harper's new address: www.harperenmexico.blogspot.com. Trying again: click here to link to Harper's blog.
Thanks for reading, comments welcome and greatly desired by our newly-published author!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Houston-Brownsville-Matamoros-Tampico
I have been trying to add this update from the road, via Art's IPhone, all day, but no luck. Our internet connection worked surprisingly well, but blogger would only let me type in the title and link fields; no text allowed.
So here we are at our Tampico hotel, fresh from a swim and attempting to order room service. Can't possibly do justice to the diversity of experiences we've had since Houston, but here's a quick list:
NASA visit, Johnson Space Center, took the last tour of the day and saw an astronaut in training, the demo space shuttle module, a life size model of the international space station, including Soyuz--the TINY rescue pod that somehow fits 3 astronauts--and the enormous rocket used in one of the Apollo launches. (such is the level of detail recalled 48 hrs post-visit.)
Long drive to Brownsville. Observations: Texas is extremely flat. Sorghum fields resemble corn until you realize that corn would have been harvested at a height of about 2 feet, highly unlikely. Got hotter--Crispin monitoring heat at 20-min intervals and thrilled to encounter 104 degrees near Kingsville as flat farmland was becoming desert.
Spent last night with my wonderful friends Alejandra and Rebekah Gomez in Brownsville. They live on a "resaca," which I've finally learned is the lake-like body of water created by a constriction of running water, in this case, the Rio Grande. Ate our last American pizza, slept like babies, and were led to the border by Alejandra first thing in the morning.
Nary a hitch passing through to Matamoros! We knew it was too easy, and after turning the wrong way down a one-way street, were flagged down by our guardian angel, in this case the elderly Arturo in his green and white tourist guide uniform. His tip was worth every penny to ensure we were led to a different entry point and ushered through immigration and the vehicle registration process. Along the way, we even got to see two tigers in their circus cages outside a Wal-Mart. We bid Arturo farewell from the highway heading south and spent a completely calm and easy day watching flat sorghum fields gradually change to hillier green ranchos with cows, burros and horses. Haven't seen the Gulf since New Orleans, but hoping to catch a glimpse, or even hit the beach, on our way to Veracruz tomorrow.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Atlanta-Tuscaloosa-New Orleans-Houston
No pix uploaded yet, but all's well on day 3 of The Drive. Day 1: Harper completed his first Peachtree Road Race in 1:11:30! Then we drove to Tuscaloosa and spent the night with Amelia's birth family. Day 2: Made it to New Orleans, dinner with Lauren's friend Deirdre Johnson (policy breakfast club buddies, eat your heart out). Day 3: couldn't leave NOLA without breakfast at the Cafe du Monde, where Amelia's first taste of beignets led to covering herself literally from nose to toes in powdered sugar. Then a little longer drive to Houston, arriving at Johnson Space Center in time for the last tour of the day. Rockets totally rocked. Off to Brownsville tomorrow, and thus far the bickering has been kept to a minimum. Among the kids, at least!
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