Mini Monkeys, Mr. Monkey, and Mrs. Mommy Monkey hit the streets

There is so much to say about Mexico I don't know that I will ever do it justice.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I will  "si" if I can't get a 100,000 or so covered in this blog! 

This is Mexico *the view from my house!!!!  

I took the picture about an hour ago!

and this is Mexico

Click here to go to a youtube video I made a bunch of years ago.....

and this is Mexico... 

and this is Mexico....

and this too....

THE BEFORE

There is so much trash along the roads.  Almost all of the roads.  In the school where I teach, many of the kids (and their parents just throw their trash on the ground.)  Now before you think I'm up on my "high horse," I will let you know that I am from up along Lake Erie...  a small town you may have heard of that is right outside of dreary Erie, the mistake by the lake.  We got that horrible reputation because of all of the pollution that hospitals and EVERYBODY else threw into the lake.  One of the rivers that empties into the lake actually caught on fire in the '70's sooooooo.....  

BUT.... then the litterbug campaign got started, and I didn't care.  I threw trash out of my friends' car windows because I guess I thought it was funny...  or cool... or something else equally stupid.  I don't do that any more.  In fact, I was involved in those Adopt a Highway programs and went with my family every 6 months to pick up what had accumulated.

So, sometimes my Mr. Mexican Monkey Husband chastises me for not bringing enough of the USA to our world here. Two weeks ago, I got tired of seeing all the trash piled up in the circle in the middle of a coldasac type thing they call a glorieta.  I told my family every morning, if it is still there on Friday when we pass by, we're going to pick it up on Saturday.  Friday, it was still there.... so Saturday the girls and I went to pick it up.  

THE AFTER

Today was the first day the four of us went.  The plan is that from now on, it will be our regular Sunday night thing....  

Here is a picture of my team!

Way to go Mommy's Monkeys!!!  I'm so proud of you!

Wish us luck that we can follow through with this, and that today is the first Sunday in a million!  More importantly though, wish for me that my girls grow up to make this (or something like it) a habit, a tradition, a part of their lives for the long haul.  I pray for them to care about..... something. 

Supporting Monkeys Taking On the World

There are always so many people in need, it is hard to know where to start.  Here in Mexico that challenge is even bigger

than what I was familiar with in the USA.

As an ExPat I'm often confronted with the question of 

exactly what it means to be American.  While I may not have an answer that is complete or even true for everyone, I have found some answers that ring true.  I believe Americans are empathetic and caring.  I believe that we, just as all people, get caught up in our day to day, and may not notice everything that is going on in the world.  However, once we are made aware, once we see a problem, we are moved to swift action.

We have always been taught that we can and must make a difference. One starfish at a time! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star_Thrower

It is our obligation and our delight to find a need and take steps to fill it.  It makes me proud to be an American.  Unfortunately, most of my European and Mexican friends don't know this about us.  I guess it is because they pay more attention to the loud mouth spring breakers or the news about other less than sparkling accounts of what we are, or what we aren't.  Many of those stories are true, but I am going to imagine that the reason that they don't know about all the good things we do is the same reason that we don't know all of the good things our neighbors do.   We are busy and these things aren't really that spicy to talk about it.... and it most certainly doesn't grow taller as it moves down the line, in fact it doesn't even make it to the line to get passed down.

Well, these hard~working generous souls quietly go about their lives lending a hand when they find one in need.  They rarely mention these acts to anyone else.

My mom's family has always been on top of this in a major way!  I'm so proud of them and I am so proud of all my monkeys for caring about their fellow human beings.

Last year (I taught 3rd and 4th grade) we read about public service projects and they started planning to collect and donate things to kids at a low~income special needs pre~school here in Cuernavaca.

Unfortunately, we were in a situation where the school no longer wanted to take on the responsibility of taking our kids on field trips because of the safety concerns here in Mexico.

The moment things settled down my kids sprang to action.

The had 3 weeks to collect what they could.  They started making beaded bracelets, friendship bracelets, and other small items to sell in exchange for a donation.  This is

not a very common thing to do here in Mexico.  No one can trust that those who say they will donate the money will not actually pocket any cash they get their hands on....

My kids raked in $500 pesos.  Which is a BIG DEAL! $45 may not seem like much, but $500 pesos, which is roughly the equivalent, is!  They kept the records, they did the math, they gave change... they did it all!

The class president took the money, bought some class supplies, and brought back the reciept.  (open books is another rather new concept)

Here they are with the things that they purchased!

They also collected clothes, shoes, food and toys from the rest of the school.

On Thursday we took the donations to the preschool across town and had the chance to stay and play with the class for an hour or so.

It was beautiful to watch my monkeys bond and enjoy playing with the little ones. 

 They would ask questions about why the children had different things going on.... but accepted the children very easily.  Most of mine got close very quickly to one of the smaller children and took responsibility for getting them water or taking them to the bathroom.  It was so sweet.  They were so happy, and I am so proud of them!

The two groups of children were lovely and happy.

My students also commented on the fact that many of the children have some sort of orthodontic work done.  The reason why is because this Mexican Orthodontist donates his time to visit the school once a month or so in order to help these kids and their families with something that would otherwise not be a priority.

So congrats to my monkeys!  I love them very much and I am soooooo proud!

Many Mumbling Mice are Making Midnight Music in the Moonlight Mighty Nice

I had the chance to go to a teacher's conference in Mexico City this weekend and because of that, I am absolutely pooped!

I will just make this short and sweet because I have a confession to make....

I have lived an hour away from Mexico City for about 8 years of my life and the only time I really "chilled out" there was when I was 17 years old visiting Mexico for the first time when I was on a high-school trip.  I'm not really sure why I don't visit more often.

It is quite beautiful.

Quite modern, and I have yet to see a donkey there, just in case you were wondering.  

I have seen many donkeys around my house though.  Not that you asked.

I walked out of the hotel to find this lady working.

and selling her wares....

and I remembered for about the millionth time, that Mexico is a magical place.  

Whereever you are you can get caught up in the day to day.... sometimes you need to break out of the  routine to remember that whoever we are, whereever we are, there is most likely something magical around the corner, we just sometimes forget to look for it.

Sometimes we forget that we have magic inside of us.  I quoted Dr. Seuss because I remembered that I like to rhyme and write poems and read these kinds of books with my students and it is thanks to a very talented speaker and author that I met at the conference that I am on a quest to find even more magic....

What is Going on? Topic 1 Job or not a Job

Mexico's got its own Monkey business going on


I imagine that there are tons of things that go on in the United States that are pretty strange for foreigners.  Things that we take for granted.  Things that we think are common everywhere.  But I bet they're not.  When my mom put rice in our salt shakers, I thought that it was something only my family did.  Then I saw salt in restaurants, so I thought it was something we did in my town....  as my world got bigger, so did my realization that pretty much everybody puts rice in their salt shakers, pretty much everywhere in the world, no matter where they are.

Well, just as this is true about so many things, the opposite is also true.  Things we think are really normal are maybe, well, not.

I have lived here in Mexico for long enough to notice some pretty strange things happening.  Things that to a Mexican may seem perfectly normal.  However, to me, a full fledged American girl, it made me wonder what in the heck was going on. 

TOPIC 1 
THAT'S A JOB? The Viene Viene

Literally translated a viene viene is a come come.  What a come come does is work in a parking lot, (or sometimes on the street.)  They wait for you to come out of the grocery store and ask if you want help putting your things in the car.  They take your cart, and then stand behind your car saying come come come when it is "safe" to pull out.

At this point it is customary to hand over a tip.  The amount depends on many things.  Did s/he take your cart?  Did s/he move your things into the trunk.  Do you think this is a useful service?  Is the come come extremely old.  Is it possible that this person stopped someone from breaking your window and stealing your radio.  If you answered yes to any of these questions you should probably hand over something.

What do you think?  Is this a job.

Mucho Monkeying

This week has been a wild one!

Many of us never consider what a bunch of Americans might do 

if they found themselves in a new world.

In this case Mexico!

I lived here in Cuernavaca for about three years before I found ¨them¨  the ExPats....I found them through my desperation 

for an American style library.  My daughter asked

me (about 2 months after moving to Mexico)

¨mommy, where are all the

libraries?¨ My heart

broke.

Had I made a mistake 

coming back here?  She was

six and she was accustomed to infrastructure.

What an important word that has become to me.

Well.....  finally after several years of searching I found

the ¨American style library¨ my words, not theirs!  From there

I got on the list serve and another world opened up 

to me....  who knew?  So just a word...  before I 

share what I just posted on the listserve...

The foreigners in Cuernavaca

are known as wild (spring 

breakers) to many.

However,

we are also known

as a charitable, generouos

caring, and thoughtful people.  In a

time where everyone is always repeating how

much Americans are despised everywhere we go, I 

want to say that I don´t think that this is true, or at least not

a complete picture.  Many people do seem to have a love-hate relationship with us....  but even that ¨haters¨ seem to recognize

the excellent things we (Americans) do when they are pressed.

So, I for one, am attempting to carry on this tradition with 

what I think is a pretty incredible project with 

my 5th and 6th grade monkeys...  I 

simply copied and 

pasted!

oh, and a heads up... a barranca is a ravine, and 

a tope is a speed bump....

Hello Community,

My name is Lucy  and I have been living and working as a teacher here in Cuernavaca (this time) since 2008.

I have 5th and 6th grade at Excelencia Bicultural in the Pradera.  I have always been proud of the Ex-Pat reputation at places like the Salvation Army.  Our community is known for continueing the traditions of volunteering and giving outside of our home countries.  I have always wondered why more people here don´t lend a hand.  So over the years my students and I have tried different ideas... clean up the barranca (too much work) donate to Haiti... success....  I have seen my students really get motivated to help others... many of the kids and their families simply don´t know how or where to start.  Until now.

My 5th graders identified a federal school for children with special needs whose famililes don´t have even the most basic supplies.  My students decided to go along with the SEP (secretary of public education) calender´s value of the month which is generousity. They are accepting donations of all kinds and with the goal of going to the school at the end of February to donate the items and to play with the children.  My students are also making friendship bracelets and keychains to collect money to buy school supplies.  It is incredible to watch as I have put the project in their hands and simply guide when the hit the proverbial tope!

My 5th and 6th graders are starting an ongoing campaign of ¨adopting a classroom.¨ The director at my school is also a teacher in a federal school.  He has identified 3 families whose children often miss class because they are searching for cardboard in the trash in order to get a few pesos to buy food.  My students are attempting to provide these 3 families in particular with some food each week.  As well as donating toys, school supplies, clothes, shoes, etc. to the children and their families in a 5th grade class at the same school.

I am writing to invite all of you to make donations at my school for the same purpose!  I know my kids will do a great job but as my great aunt always says ¨many hands lighten the load!¨  

Fruit from your trees, items from your homes that are in good condition, yet no longer useful to you.  Really, these families are in need of everything.  However, I do not feel comfortable with cash donations. If this is your intent, maybe ordering basic staples from a grocery store that delivers could be an option?

The office at Excelencia Bicultural is awaiting your donations between 7:30 and 3:30.  I apologize in advance that I am unable to make pick ups, but honestly I am spread rather thin as it is.  I am taking this project on with my students for as long as possible....  maybe years?

In the interest of clarifying, I don´t believe in enabling people, but I personally don´t feel like that is what we are doing.  I feel that these kids need help and that they don´t have a way to get what they need without someone stepping in.  When I asked my bosses for permission to contact all of you, I was quite proud to feel that I had back up from so many people, even though I don´t personally know many of you.  If you are able to stop by my school, please consider asking for me so I can introduce you to my students.  They would LOVE to speak to you in English, and I would love for them to see that we have a strong community here as well.  Not to be redundant, but fruit from your trees as well as anything else you can spare will be greatly appreciated.  I plan to post pictures of the kids in action so you can see the  ¨fruits of their labor¨ (yes, the pun was intended)!

Thanks for all you do! So what do you think?