Farewell fiesta pics!

Top left: Mexican Literature class
Top right: Friends from Mex. Lit class: Pedro, Marta, María Elena, and Ruby
Bottom left: party yumminess!
Bottom right: Writing composition workshop (maybe 2/3rds of the students are pictures)

June 15, 2008

Past two weekes update:

1. Still feel good about my living situation. I have loved the last two weeks living alone. However, as of today I have one (maybe two) roommates; a professor and her daughter, although I don´t know if her daughter is coming or not. I have met the professor, but very briefly, so I haven´t really gotten a chance to know her yet. She will be here the rest of the time I will be. I have been a little anxious about this change, but I knew it was a possibility when I decided to live here and was willing to take that "risk". As school is out, it might be nice to have a little company. Either way, it is for only for three weeks.

2. Farewells continue. Classes are finished, and most are also done with exams. I threw two official goodbye parties (celebrated with cake) with the two classes with whom I have been both semesters. I also said goodbye, earlier than expected, to my friend Alberto who is off to France for the summer. Needless to say, the these farewells have made me sad and melancoly. However, I am grateful for having gotten to know them: they have helped make this year a great experience and some of my best memories are with them. (It´s a good thing there are still friends here who I haven´t had to say goodbye to yet.)

3. Social time: Carne asada with Carmen this weekend, farewell for Alberto, lunch with Carlos (Veronique´s boyfriend), salsa/excercie classes, lunch with the family at the old house, running into classmates at school, etc. (I haven´t had a lack for those of you that worry about me!)

4. Reflections: saying goodbye, end of semester, almost the end of my year here have made me very reflective. Much of this year has been so different than I expected; with many parts more wonderful than I antipated, and other personal things more painful and difficult than I thought. I have so many feelings that surface: readiness to go back to the US (to understand everything again, to be finished with my papers for BGSU); nostalgia and grief that comes with saying goodbyes and approaching the end; disappointment and suprise at the goals, hopes, expectations that haven´t been fulfilled like I had wanted them to be; realization about the changes that I will have upon returning to the US and the areas that wouldn´t get any easier (starting over again in a new place), desires to take advantage of the time I do have left with the people I know. Again, many many reflections. Shocker I know!

5. BGSU papers...still working on them. Slower than I´d like or should. (One reason to appreciate having classes done and some goodbyes made already).

6. Three weeks left. (10 1/2 month completed). Very strange to think that will no longer be my home.

7. Still cooking yumminess! Still insanely hot!

Strike Update

They’re still on strike. It’s been two weeks. The judge declared it illegal this Thursday, but the union leader failed to acknowledge the decision by immediately claiming the strike legal and failing to turn over the University, as well as rejecting the University’s most recent proposal. Seriously? I don’t get it.

I still feel good about the work I’ve gotten done, but I’m more than ready for classes to resume (as are all the majority of students). I had hoped that the ruling would mean we’d be back to classes this Monday, but that appears to not be the case. Although the University president can use police to force the Union to turn over the University, it appears he is avoiding it for now in hopes that the union does it voluntarily. Again, who knows, except that this strike seems to be very political, and I find that extremely irritating.

STRIKE! (And we’re not talking about baseball, however it seems Hermosillo is a fan of both.)

For your reading pleasure this entry has a shortER and long version. The underlined sections are for those of you that want the shortER version. The long version is for those of you interested in some of the details of the strike. Not sure if it’s cultural, but it’s definitely complicated. The bolded is just for organizational benefit, or the really really short version!

The big news here is that the workers of the university are on strike, since last Thursday the 3^rd, which means the school is completely closed. Everything is inaccessible, under lock and key, plus patrolling union members. As a result, I have had a week and 2 days of no school.

Here’s a little background information: there are two unions here, the teachers’ union STAUS and the workers’ union STEUS. However, there are also other employees who fall under neither category. Both the teacher’s union and the worker’s union voted last Thursday whether or not to accept the University’s budget proposal regarding their salary, benefits, and other compensations. Both unions were requesting for more than the university was offering, but in the end, only the workers’ union voted to strike.

However, the strike is much more complicated then salaries and budgets.

One, the strike was immediately declared illegal because they didn’t strike under the established procedures, supposedly. That decision was appealed. This past Wednesday the judge was to give his verdict on that, however, that day was pushed to Thursday. However, the University president failed to show up on Thursday so the meeting between the two parties (and the judge?) has been moved to next Tuesday, the 14^th. That means I for sure don’t have school until the 15^th.

Two, this strike is both politically entangled with the state and nationally supported. The workers union is supported by several other Mexican university union equivalents, Canaea’s mining union (which has been on strike for several months) and PRD, one of the national parties. PRD is involved because it wants the strike to reflect poorly on Sonora’s governor Bours, who is with the PRI party, and is up for reelection next year. (Hermosillo is the capital of the Sonora, the state). All this to say: it’s quite complicated.

When will this end? Potentially this coming Tuesday. However, if it is declared legal and they don’t reach an agreement, they are proposing a strike until May 8^th (supposedly a strikes come in time increments, such as 15, 21 days…I don’t get it.)

So how has this impacted me?

The good part is that it has given me some time to study without worrying about classes. I have taken full advantage and have put in long, fairly successful days, working ahead on school work, including reading the next novel for my lit. class, as well as finishing one paper and starting the next.

The bad news:

Bad news #1: The library is closed, and although I have many books to read for my papers yet, not having a library means what I have is what I get to work with.

Bad news #2: I have zero access to the school library, which means I can only use what I have. I do have many novels to read, can write my opinions, but I would have to save most of the research and support for later. (Plus I can’t work at school, which is always a nice option.)

Bad news #3: The strike has potential to last until May 8 (and maybe longer), depending on what happens this coming Tuesday.

My opinion on this all?

Primary opinion is quite selfish. I was glad for a week of no classes, but I am ready to get back so I can have as much as possible of June to use for Bowling Green papers.

Regarding the union and the university: both have some just fair reasons for some of their requests and actions; however, both have also failed in how they have approached and responded to the entire process. Overall, I support the university over the union.

Again, we’ll see what happens on Tuesday. It’s hard to say what’ll happen. Everyday it changes, so until this ends, this is just a whole lot of drama!

First Week of Second Semester

1) First day of class: Anyone remember my first day of class back in August? Words to describe that day would be: anxiety, shock, overwhelmed. First day of second semester: normal, easy, routine. What a difference a semester has made! So it was very fun to reflect of the growth I have made!

2) Courses:

After much planning and debating about which classes were best for me to take, I finally know my schedule and courses for this semester. Most importantly, I am quite pleased about it, especially regarding the content! They are classes a) of personal interest to me, b) related to my BGSU assignments (except the Soc . class), and cover a variety of educational fields. So, the classes I am taking are Mexican Literature 4 (1960s to current), Writing Workshop 2, Spanish Morpho-syntax (Linguistic study of the how words and sentence are formed) and Sociology of the border/migration. Furthermore my schedule is from 8:00-1:00 Monday through Thursday with an hour break at 9:00, and on Friday I only have two hours of class. This means that every afternoon I have a big open block of time, which is helpful for studying. I still need to figure out if I am going to incorporate a possible PE course, which would break that up, but would be beneficial in carving out time to exercise.

3) Classmates:

Two of my classes, Mex Lit 4 and Writing Workshop 2, are continuations of the classes I took last semester. This means I have class with two of the same groups of students (about 50 students altogether)! This is really nice as it means that I get to continue those relationships instead of having to meet two more sets of students. Furthermore, both of the groups are quite fun and I definitely enjoyed the class atmosphere. (In one class, I have the same professor, but in the rest the professors are all different). Returning to the topic of students, in my Morphosytaxis we are only three students. I guess I’ll be doing al my homework in that class!

4) Balance of study and fun

Although overall I did a decent job of balancing these areas this week, I will need to be extra intentional in this area this semester with the work I will need to accomplish. The trick will be not burning out of too much studying and therefore making my work less efficient, being able to say no to fun when I need to work, still feeling like I am taking advantage of living here, and time to deepen relationships. What else to say…same story as always for me.

5) Cold: I don't exactly know what the outside temperature has been here in the mornings, although one especially cold morning it was 2 degrees Celsius. However, even when it warms up outside (for example at 11:00), the classrooms are freezing. So I tend to wear my winter coat or heavy fall coat and scarf (and hat) in class, and still am cold. However, I can't complain too much as soon enough it will be hot again here, and midday can often be 80 degrees Farenheit now in January.

Lists 1:

My classes:

1. Mexican Literature II...
   My most difficult class, but best homework (reading short novels!)
2. Español II…
   Easiest class /Most success in this class, Class in which the teacher loves me
   
3. Taller de Redacción I / Writing Workshop I…
   Most directly helpful class (since I have to write a text weekly)
4. History of Mexico/US Relations ...
   My favorite class in terms of content.

Things I miss:

1) Colorado in the fall

2) Chocolate, especially dark chocolate

3) Self – sufficient return transportation at night

4) Comprehension, comprehension, comprehension. (In case it hasn’t been obvious from my other emails!)

5) Friends and family

6) The mountains, of course! In general, just having easily accessible spots to be in nature.

Things I am thankful for…

1. My Chaco sandals

2. Internet (Even though I do a great job of checking, sending emails is a different story.)

3. My scholarship…not having to worry about money.

4. Cell phone

5. My backpack with its Nalgene pockets to hold water bottles!

6. A good place to live.

7. Not having to cook or clean. I am utterly spoiled in this area.

Pet peeves…

1. English television and music

2. People trying to talk to me in English

3. Some of the fatalism I have encountered here (both positive and negative)

September 29, 2007 Part 1: Good news!

The awesome news of this week is that I got to drop a class! All along, I have been anxious about my course load. I had asked about my credit requirement for at the beginning of the semester, since the credits are calculated differently here. I kept all my classes as I would be a little under if I were to drop a class. However, going to Mazatlán two weeks ago made me realize how stressed I have been and how little time I had for anything else. So, I re-evaluated the situation. Upon realizing how many strategies and adjustments I have made regarding my classes and the homework, I decided that it would be better to have the heavier course load next semester when I’ll know what to expect and have a stronger level of Spanish. I wrote my Bowling Green advisor a very lengthy email explaining the situation and requesting his permission to drop a class. He responded saying he needed to know the numbers of hours I spend in class, in addition to my number of credits. Based on the number of hours I was spending in class, he responded my saying that I could and should drop a class! Needless to say, I am thrilled!

(I know I will continue to put many, many hours of work, but I also believe this change will help me be able to narrow my focus giving me more success in the classes I do have. Above all else, I can study much more calmly.)

Classes-Week #1

The following is a what I wrote for one of my classes here about the first day of classes (translated into English of course!)
Today, Monday, August 13, was my first day of class here at the University of Sonora (UNISON). As it´s been 5 years since I graduated from Calvin College and 6 since I actually took a class, I was feeling both excited and a little bit nervous about the reality of studying again. My first class was Mexican Literature III (20th century) from 10:00-11:00. Veronique, my house mate, is also taking this class and so that helped me to not feel so alone in this adventure. However, my feelings changed as the class progressed and I soon was in shock. I didn´t understand hardly anything. I don´t have very much literature background in regards to classes and furthermore I haven´t taken the prerequisites to this class, so both my vocabulary and background knowledge were severly lacking. I though, What am I doing? and Should I even be in this class? The second class was better. It was Composition Workshop I, an hour class for incoming freshmen. As a result, many students arrived late to class and then received a mini-lecture about the importance of arriving on time and their assistance. I was humored by this and quite relieved that I have pasted that stage. Español II was next. The teacher is quite the dramatic, energetic, animated woman. Upon entereing, many students proceded to give her the warm welcome with hugs and kisses. Then in class, she commented that over the break she had missed them.....yesterday. I certainly have a variety of professors! My final class is History of the US/Mexican Relations at 7:00-9:00. I enjoyed the class and I felt better about what I understood (perhaps because I had more back ground history and perhaps because I had better expectations of what I´d understand). Anyway, I enjoyed the class. Thankfully, we got out at 8:00 since it was an introduction. So thus ended my first day of classes. Tomorrow I get to start it all over again.

Follow up: One week later, Monday, August 20, 2007
I know have been to a full week of classes. Overall it went well. However, there was definitely less homework than I´ll have normally. It has had its ups and downs of course. I understand much less than what I´ve expected so that´s the hardest part. It also means that even if I work super hard, I´m not going to get the success I´m used to receiving with more hours of work. I know that part of it results from the adjusting to being in classes (and in Spanish), but there are days, like today, that I doubt that and just think that I´m in over my head. However, professors have been very understanding and helpful and students are welcoming and helfpul as well. The other challenging part is my schedule. I have classes scattered through out the day and so that makes for a long day, but also means I don´t ever get a large block of time. Furthermore, I am still looking for housing so that takes up time as well. Anyway, as you can tell, today, I´m stressed and more anxious, but last week overall did go better than I expected.

Not so Sola after all...

The good news I´m not as alone as I anticipated. The Unison (University of Sonora) has a student exchange program and there are approximately 20 of us. Two of them are staying in the same house as I am. Veronique comes from France and will be here for a year. She is also studying in the Literature program (I am as well, officially, but with my liberal arts background, I am diversifying my classes and have classes with 3 different "schools" or programs here.) We will have one class together this semester so that will be great, especially since her Spanish kicks butt (really, she speaks like a native). Andrès is here for a semester and is from Puebla, a town relatively close to Mexico City and if the battke site of Cinco de Mayo. It´s been nice to be with them as we are all have similar needs right now (exploring the city and area, learning the streets and public transportation, no friends, etc.) They are both exceptional people and just good folks so that´s very comfortable and comforting for me. I am the eldest of the group, though as they are both 21. So, obviously been pleased to have them as companions that are becoming my friends. Regarding the rest of the group, most are from Mexico, but not from Hermosillo. Most of the students (of the 20/25 thousand) are from Hermosillo or Sonora There are also two other students from the US (one from the Midwest and the other from Arizona). There is also another girl from Spain (and maybe 1 or 2 more coming as well). All the foreign exchange students that have arrived met this past Wednesday as part of our orientation. I am the eldest of the group (I think), but at least I have mom´s young looks! (Thanks Mom!) I´m also the least fluent of the four non-native speakers. A little intimidating. At least, it´s good for my Spanish, even if I feel like I don´t qualify to be here. Anyway, the group will reconvene in a few weeks to have some typical Sonoran/ Hermosillan food. And, if we´re lucky, the exchange office, is going to try to organize two trips during the semester so we might even get to travel! Not so sola after all, no?