Back from the farm

Hey all! O man, its great reading everyone{s posts, Mads keep at the spanish, you'll rock by the time you get back and watch out for the ladrones. you know what? thats actually not something Ive worried about at all in Mexico. Guanajuato is possibly the safest city I{ve visited, I feel totally comfortable walking by myself at 2 am. (not that I do that that often, usually someone offers to walk with me). And en el rancho, no hay muchas personas.

Ya, so I did get a hold of Oscar, and it turns out he does have a family, but he doesnt live on the farm. This guy Alonso does though, but the day after I arrived he left to visit his familia en México. Getting to the farm was a hastle, because although I had the address, no taxi driver knew where it was. So I lived alone on this cactus farm for a week, at which point I finally met Oscar, and he informed me that his family was going to come the next day and I had to move out. I had been working everyday with the 4 workers that come every day, Vicente, y sus hijos Coco, Adrien y su sobrino Daniel. Vicente invited me to stay with his family, which I did for 3 days. They live in un rancho (basically a very small town with dirt streets and horses and trucks) and I was definitely the only guera there. I was standing outside the house with Vicente talking to a neighbor, and a school bus full of kids stared at me shouting Miren, guera! lol, whatever. Anyway, they are the nicest, most generous people ever. They already have 8 people living in a very small house, but would not take no for an answer when I told them that I didn´t want to cause them any problems. Margo, la esposa de Vicente even cried when I left, even though it had been such a short time.

So working on a cactus farm really isn´t all that bad, but hay muchas espinas. I wore long sleeve and leather gloves and still was pulling them out every hour. Basically what we did was weed in between the rows of nopales. you couldnt even squat down to do this because the cactus would prick your ass, so it was really hard on your back. Vicente and Coco dont even wear gloves to work, crazy.

Now I´m off to Irapuato to stay with and help a professor allá. Hoping that everything goes well. Cuidense mucho, todos.

break-thru

The family I live with consists of my mother, Ibis, and my 17 year old sister, Maria Elena. For the past 2.5 weeks my mother has been the most patient, compassionate, interested, and enthusiastic person in regards to my limited but improving spanish-speaking abilities. My sister however has been more of a challenge. In general she's not the happiest person and is annoyed with Ibis alot. She speaks very fast and does not exactly cater to my handicap... so we have ended up more or less saying hello and goodbye and not speaking much at the table.

HOWEVER, tonight was a breakthrough. For the first time Ibis, Maria Elena, her friend Paulina and I sat down for "dinner" and a conversation emerged. It was one which I could completely understand and that was lighthearted. I forgot all about my selfconsciousness and really enjoyed the conversation. My sister, mother and I all ended up with a mad case of the giggles which was encouraged by a moth flying into my face and my sister making fun of how much food my mom forces on me.

It's moments like these that really get me excited about being here and speaking Spanish.
Success.
Mads.

ps. I saw a whale... does this mean I'm as cool as Natz now? Oh wait, not possible :)
pps. more pictures on my flickr for all to peruse

Blood and Goo

Yesterday I went to my first day as a volunteer in the Vet clinic in Big Piney (or as my mom called it in her youth "Pig's Hiney". IT is about 45 minutes away from my small town of Daniel or Cora, or somewhere in between. We aren't quite sure which we belong to. The morning was really cool. I got to hold an old border collie with a huge tumor so the vet could take a tissue sample. Help x-ray a dog and a horse. Prepped some sutures. It was pretty gruesome actually. I had to get used to all the blood and goo again but I learned a lot. I watched him spay a dog which sort of reminded me of dissecting a mink in bio at Willamette. I miss school. Isn't that weird?

Salemites

Today was bizarro. I led a crew of canvassers down to our dearly beloved Sail to the M. I saw that once some professor had given money and had written his contact address as Eaton Hall. Haha, I didn't recognize the professor's name though and I forgot to check the year. Anyway, when I was dropped off on my turf it looked strangely familiar... let's just say if we had come the opposite way, I would've remembered the route by train tracks at night. I knocked on the Delts' door, and on Brandon and AJ's. I also ran into Bethany from frisbee. Weeeeird. It was so awkward giving the Delts the wrap, although luckily the people who answered the door didn't know me. I saw Aram pass by and the guy that Ming had a class with last semester and came to the Invisible Children movie event that one time came to the door. Anyone know who I am talking about? I'm almost positive Ming and Rachel had a nickname for him but I can't think what it is. Anywho, I will be in the area probably all week and maybe longer. Dan (or Madeline if Dan isn't fast on the response and you want to give him a nice surprise), for the hundredth time, where are you living? Maybe I will pull some devious tricks and accidentally knock on your door... if I do though, will you give me 15 dollars? Man that would be awkward! Haha

Can I direct everybody's attention to an older post made by Brian. Brian, yes Brian Greggs, posted an album called the Jaki Byard experience. Listening to the song Memories of You, I learned how to love.

Dan

er..uh....

Hi guys,
I recently was asked why I don't post anything on the blog and the answer is that I forgot there was one. So, I just went through every one of them, great stuff everybody. I am really happy to see that everyone is still alive and doing well. Ari, you are a tough cookie to keep it up at that job. Natalia, I am super jealous of you seeing otters! I saw some bears in Yellowstone but I bet you see them all the time. Ming and Travis, I am so glad that you have a good house and I hope your jobs work out. I am also glad that you didn't get run over by that car! Brian, getting some ideas down for a novel? Tell those brats to behave! just kidding. Madeline, have an awesome time in Ecuador! Dan, I love the pictures! Katie, have a great time in Mexico! and don't eat anymore meat! Rachel, see you soon and I hope you are having fun. Stina good luck rowing. Evan, good job driving from Salem to Eugene and great post. Now that I have caught up with you and I will tell you about what I have been doing and make this more bloggy like. I have to wake up early so I am going to bed now. there. Just joking, I will be keeping up with this from now on and will write about my summer soon.

Which Weighs More?

A cubic foot of feathers or a cubic foot of gold?

WRONG.

In fact, they both weigh exactly the same amount.