Mexico City, June 2013 - #3: Officially in Mexico

Sunrise from my office Friday morning

Well, after my very optimistic and cheerful last post, I should have guessed that I was tempting fate. This past week has been a roller coaster. My giddy consumption of Mexico City's delicious fresh fruit  in my fruit smoothie last week angered Montezuma. And he had his revenge. So I spent Tuesday in bed, drinking as much water as I could muster and trying to sit up at the table in the living room for more than 5 minutes before giving up and going back to bed. It was not pretty. But luckily I was in good hands. On his way out to see his mother, my roomie saw me skyping with my parents and said hello to them. He saw how sick I was feeling and asked if there was anything I needed, to which my parents yelled from the screen, "Chicken Soup! She needs some chicken soup!" Embarrassed, I insisted that I was fine, but he said he would bring some back to me. Then, over the course of the next hour and a half, I got updates on the progress of the soup, which he was not just picking up for me, but was being made from scratch by his mother! It was so sweet! So when he got home, I had homemade chicken soup which made me feel oh so good, and then I curled up and went to sleep, hoping to wake up better in the morning. The chicken soup must have done the trick, because the next morning, feeling much better although still a little tired and queasy, I got up and spent the day at work. By Thursday I was like new. So now I have officially been inducted in the Mexico City visitors club, having eaten of the street and learned my lesson, and learned yet again how friendly and caring people are in this city!

After thinking I would never get better and wishing I was home in my own bed feeling terrible, I could never have predicted that on Friday I would have one of the best experiences I've had here and be happier than ever that I decided to come. My wonderful co-worker Jenn, who arranged my whole internship, wanted to make sure I had a chance to visit a public school before they closed for the summer this coming week. We didn't think I would be able to because it's so late in the school year for them, but then last week she told me that she thought I could go visit a school after all! So thanks to her and my other coworkers, on Friday, I got to go on a school visit to see a very impressive public high school in the north part of Mexico City.

It. Was. Incredible. The school has been recognized for its excellence and is doing some really great things. First of all, the director is an amazing leader. The teachers and staff gushed about him throughout the day. When we arrived, he invited us into his office to talk to us about his philosophy about education and running a school. He talked about a school needing to be about passion for the students, about creating a community and teaching students not just academics but how to be good people, how to contribute to their communities and their world, how to learn for a purpose beyond test scores and grades. I was hooked and we were only half an hour into our half-day visit!

My intro: It's so nice to meet someone who smiles so much

The teachers were also amazing! They were energetic and passionate, and at least on Friday, teaching in platform stilettos. For real. (I still don't get it! Even less in a high school! But one of my coworkers told me they dressed up for our visit and would not normally spend an entire day on their feet teaching in stilettos...)We visited some classes and the teachers were doing really creative things to teach their subjects. They had integrated technology into the classroom in a way that seemed to complement and support the subject matter, from student-made videos about Mexico's economic history to the school's student blog on its website, kids of all ages were doing some really creative things. In one class, the teacher created a PowerPoint to accompany his dramatic reading of a story the class was studying. It had to do with what a child was waiting for - a goodnight kiss, to change the world, etc. - and this child had a piece of string that formed part of the illustration of each thing he waited for. On their desks, the students also had a red string, and a worksheet with what looked like the outline of a face. I'm not sure what exactly the activity was, but it was clear that this teacher had put a lot of thought into teaching this lesson and there were many different components to it. Not only does the school have departments of teachers, but also teachers dedicated to student activities and student 'orientation' and to evaluating teachers and classes.

A student, Esperanza, reading the welcoming and introductory remarks at the school presentation.

After visiting classes and getting a marching band and color guard performance (see the video above), we went into a 3 hour long presentation where the director, students and staff presented all aspects of the school. The students who were sitting around the perimeter of the school turned out to be the top students, all of whom participated in a project where the school brought in a film director and worked with the students to select and produce a student-written screenplay as a short film. It dealt with issues of hunger and domestic violence in students' homes and how that affected students' school experiences. It was really stunning. And that was just one of the dozens of school activities and projects that students were involved in. Students have singing and dancing groups, band, a radio station (linked to facebook) sports teams, and public service groups and events. And the whole school was so engaged in the community. They did a march against violence and organized 20-something weekend events and activities throughout the year for students and families.

The school's dentist office (Espereanza modeling as the patient)

As the presentation went on, each teacher talked about different aspects of the school, from test scores and test prep to a program on emotional development and awareness. Each thing they talked about reflected some best practice I learned about this past year. It was as if someone had taken all of my classes and read all the research I read last year, and said, "Ok, let's do this" and implemented everything. It was so so impressive. One particularly striking program was the teacher evaluation system. In addition to having a system of formative and sumative teacher evaluations that include several classroom observations a year (both announced and unannounced), the students themselves can complete online surveys about their teachers and classes through the school's website. The full evaluation system rivals that of the most progressive school districts in the U.S. and is done completely in-house through the school's evaluation department. At one point I leaned over to my co-worker and said, "This is by-the-book what you should do to have a great school and a great education system! This is everything I learned this past year!" He told the director who was sitting next to him, who said that I should share my thoughts during the commentary at the end. I smiled and then panicked because there was no way I could express what I wanted to say in Spanish in front of at least 40 people. (In the end, I made a valiant effort but luckily the English teacher very sweetly asked me during a particularly long pause if I would like her to translate. I gratefully accepted.)

Our radio-host interviewing us for the school station

As I was sitting and listening both to the presentation and the comments at the end, thinking about how to put this incredible school into the broader picture of education in Mexico, about how to answer the question "how do we scale this" with the idea that maybe for this type of detailed school ecosystem, scaling is not the right response; about how to learn from this school knowing that simple or even complex replication would not work in any other school with its unique students, parents, teachers, leaders. As I was thinking about all the different incredible things each member of this school does, and the community they create together, I saw that change is made both in broad sweeps and tiny shifts, through building structures secure enough to support the individual actions that make change each day. One without the other will never be enough.  Even more, the broad strokes (like legislation, a national evaluation institute, charter school legal structures, whatever they are) must complement and be complemented by these important single acts and not simply laid on top of them or made half-hazardly without consideration of the enormous effort teachers and families and schools are making every day. The work done by the members of this school, just by the simple fact that they have done it, has already made a difference. It has set the bar high. It has paved the way for other motivated teachers and parents, other motivated school directors and administrators to build their school's ecosystems. And I found myself thinking that maybe the most important thing to take away from what the school has done is to urge them to share what they know, to talk to others who want to listen, to recognized the hard work of all involved and share their experiences with as many people as they can. Then more people can take the important steps of taking action on the individual level, while broad strokes are being made to help those individuals succeed. Anyway, those were the deep thoughts I was thinking when my brain could no longer concentrate enough to understand what everyone was saying. But I think maybe there's something there...I think I somehow rearranged how all these pieces fit together in my conception both of what I'm doing and of social change more generally. I am waiting for the rest of the pieces to slowly come together as I keep moving forward in this work.  

 And of course, the icing on the cake, as we were leaving, the director hurried us back into the conference room so that he could hand us some to-go containers and napkins, saying that they had hoped to invite us to lunch but since we had to leave they would send us away with something at least. When we got in the cab an opened our packages, we found delicious delicious wings! The cab ride back to the office from the school was bone-sucking, lip-smacking goodness to top off a truly excellent day!





How do you follow such a great day? Well it continues so keep reading! My weekend was full of markets and museums, and of course delicious food!

Flower Market on my way to the Bazar de Sabado

On a high from my wonderful time on Friday, I decided Saturday to get to it and start exploring like a tourist should. Saturday, I went to a market that has been high on my list since I got here. El Bazar de Sabado is an artisan market that happens every Saturday in the neighborhood next to mine. So I set out to go visit, and I found so much more than just that market! I found the flower market I had been hearing about but had never seen, full of styled arrangements of every size and type you could imagine. Starting one block in from the main street, there were artists showing paintings and sculptures, people selling handicrafts, and even small clothing boutiques that I didn't know existed here. There were a couple markets where artists showed their work, with crafts skirting the outer edges of the fine-arts filled squares.

When I finally found el Bazar de Sabado, it did not disappoint! It was colorful and had all different arts and crafts, with a beautiful restaurant in the central courtyard where a band was playing as people were enjoying the Saturday buffet. There were ceramics, chocolates, shoes, bright paper flowers, sculpture, clothing, mirrors, and so much more. I strolled around for a while looking at all the different little stalls, and then when I was hungry, I got in the quesadilla line and ordered two absolutely delicious quesadillas and a limonada, and then ate them while watching the band play to the diners in the courtyard. It might have been my favorite little excursion so far! And there were markets all around the market too selling all things Mexican, with giant puppets and skeletons artfully crafted and straw place mats and coasters and everything in between.

Inside the Bazar de Sabado, looking down onto one of the stalls with brightly colored paper flowers

After such a lovely day Saturday, I decided to continue my sightseeing and went to a contemporary art museum on Sunday (Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil), followed by a short visit to Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera's house, also in the neighboring area of San Angel. On Sundays, both are free, so I just walked in and saw some really cool exhibits followed by a pretty stroll to the blue house where Frida lived (connected to Diego's house and studio). Much of it was closed for installation, so I'll just have to go back soon for more :)

Outside the market, an impromptu stall in front of a group of artists' shops

Although this week started of very rough, it certainly ended on a very high note! And now I'm full of energy to continue my exploring and get to know this amazing city with so many different things to offer! Until next time, and thanks for reading!

Abrazos!     

The band playing in the courtyard of the bazar, with a delicious looking fruit sculpture instead of a fountain

Mexico City, June 2013 - #2: The wonderful gringa quality of believing everything will work out

Well, its my second weekend in D.F. (Mexico City is in the Districto Federale, D.F. for short) and I'm starting to settle on in. This week, I had to take advantage of my friend Cecilia being in town so we did lots of fun exploring together! This fun exploring meant I got to know the public transportation system well, probably better than I should have...but I'll get to that later. To start, I will give you a little peek into why I'm actually here and what I'm doing at work.

I'm working at Mexicanos Primero, which is housed in a gorgeous office in a kind of modern looking building called Torre Prisma. My "roomie's" business partner thinks it looks like where Batman would live...I'm not sure I agree but I understand the sentiment :) The view from the office is amazing. You can peer out over Mexico City on a clear day, and on a rainy day you can see the city through rain-streaked windows.

 The directors of the organization have been out, and the one I work most closely with was sick for the first week. He told the woman who coordinated my internship that he felt really bad for missing my first days at work, but that he noticed that I had the wonderful Gringa quality of believing everything would work out, which I think is true! What can I say, I'm gringa through and through!

 My official title is Investigadora Legal, or legal researcher, and I'm doing comparative legal research on international and national cases that have to do with either the right to education or the right NOT to join a union. My supervisor is a really cool lawyer who has worked in policy and government and in litigation. She's starting to build a couple cases to try to get through to the Mexican Supreme Court to enforce the right to a quality and equal education for children in Mexico. She's also working on a case challenging teacher hiring practices on behalf of a teacher who was not hired because she did not belong to the teachers' union. The teachers' union in Mexico is very corrupt, and has completely captured the education system. The leader of the union was recently arrested (several months ago), and at the same time Mexico passed a number of significant education reforms, so it's a really exciting time to be here and be working in education!

My desk in the office

 My office mates are all wonderful, and I'm really enjoying working at MP. The people there are so passionate about what they're doing, and they are so good at conveying complicated ideas about education in simple and appealing ways. I hope to soon get more involved in the day to day evolution of what they're doing in addition to more distant legal research, because the organization's leaders are constantly at the Senate and in meetings shaping the direction of education reform in Mexico. It's incredible! As for my work, I had some exciting breakthroughs where I found a case asserting a negative right of association in Mexico, which means the right of free association means that you can association with anyone or no one at all, which could have important relevance to teachers and the teachers' union here. There are a small number of cases about the right to a high quality education, but they are very limited, which is both daunting and exciting, because we're charting new territory! So work is really exciting, exactly what I wanted to be doing, and full of wonderful people!

The other thing I did a lot of this week was get to know the public transportation system. In Mexico City, everyone drives everywhere. And parking is usually very difficult. (Presumably why this Starbucks on my way to work has its own valet parking!) Everyone drives partly because there is not great public transportation, or at least not enough of it for all the people that need to get to and from work everyday. Another reason is that public transportation is a magnet for petty theft. Even the most vigilant have been pick-pocketed and everyone talks about it and has warned me about it multiple times. So what is Mexico's grand solution for pick pockets on public transportation?

 Ladies Only! The front of every bus and subway car is designated for women, children, the elderly and handicapped people. Obviously. It's the perfect solution! So all those male pick-pockets can only prey on each other (and the unfortunate non-pickpocketing men who are also relegated to the sketchy cars) while us ladies and other vulnerable classes can enjoy our rides in safety up front. I make fun, but actually there is something very comforting about being in an all women's car, and for some reason, it does feel a little safer. I may get pick-pocketed, but I probably won't get groped, which is somewhat reassuring. But the reason I spent so much time on the subway and metrobus is because Cecilia was in town and staying on the opposite side of the city, so we did a lot of meeting in the middle, which entailed facing my fears born of the dire (but somewhat exaggerated) warnings I got from everyone about public transportation. Getting to the various metro stops entailed walking through new neighborhoods, which revealed surprising discoveries...

Harvard Grad School of Education nursery school discovered on my walk to the metro! Imagination villa...sounds fun!

It also meant embracing my terrible sense of direction and, as a result, riding the metro bus in the wrong direction multiple times. The plus side? I got to see lots of Mexico City! There are some really nice sports arenas and funny blocks of strange stores. The down side? Well...it took me forever to get anywhere when I spent at least half an hour riding the bus in the wrong direction. And from what I gather from reactions of Cecilia and my roommate, it was perhaps a little bit dangerous. But now I have learned how to use the metro bus and metro, and I also know all the stops for miles!

And I got to visit the city and experiment with public transport guided by the expert Cecilia, which was really fun! We ate at Sanborns, the oldest department store and restaurant in Mexico City, had dinner with my roomie and a French guy who was staying here for a few days, and visited a free museum housing the private collection of the richest man in Mexico (Slim) which is attached to a fancy shopping mall that he built right next door. The museum building is really cool and is surrounded by a gorgeous rose garden.

In the museum there is everything you could imagine, from Mexican and European artifacts to paintings to Dali and Rodin sculptures. We found a particularly funny explanation of two old photos in the section of old stocks and photographs. If you can't read the descriptions, the first says "This is a typical Mexican woman but not very beautiful." The second reiterates, "This is also a Mexican girl but not very beautiful." Well, I guess at least they're immortalized in a museum, guapa or not. We also saw a description of the printing company Cecilia's grandpa used to own (Galas Printing)! It was really cool!

 

The last new and exciting thing I did this week was to buy a delicious fruit smoothie from a street vendor. My roomie told me exactly which one to go to so that I would not get sick, and after my weekend run in the park (quickly becoming my favorite part of the week, and also very informative - I found yoga classes that take place in the park every day!) I ordered a Jugo Verde, full of yummy fruits and apparently low in all things bad for you and full of all things good. All I know for sure is that it was the perfect refreshing reward after my weekend jog. 

 So that's the update for this week! My goals for next week are to go to a yoga class (and make it through in Spanish...) and really work on improving my language. Oh, and seeing more museums and markets of course! More to come and thank you to everyone who sent me notes! I loved them! Abrazos de Mexico!!

Mexico City, June 2013 - #1: Hola de Mexico!

Mexico City, June 2013

Hola! I arrived in Mexico City on Tuesday for a two month summer internship with Mexicanos Primero, an NGO doing really exciting work at the intersection of education and law (right up my ally!) While I'm here, I'll be doing my usual travel blog posting to keep all of you up to day and share the fun and funny things about my trip. There are sure to be many!

My apartment and the cute (incessantly barking) "guard" dog above us.

The first night I arrived, my friend's sister Edme picked me up at the airport and I spent the night at her beautiful apartment. She and her brother were (unsurprisingly) so welcoming and wonderful! They took me out for tacos for my first Mexican meal, and boy were they delish! The next day, Edme brought me and my mountains of luggage to my apartment in an area called Florida (or Altavista - I still haven't figured out exactly what my neighborhood is called) where I am renting a room from a designer who has a beautiful apartment covered with art and cool lamps and furniture. His name is Lorenzo (although his girlfriend calls him José...I haven't figured out what I should call him yet) and he is currently working on an ingenious project where he has designed normal looking adaptive clothing for the elderly and disabled. It's so cool and such a great idea (iqclothes.com)! He's super nice and so accommodating, and best, loves to cook and share with me!  I started work on Thursday, and everyone is wonderful there. Best of all, it's a pretty 15 minute walk from my apartment, which means I don't have to deal much with Mexico City's notoriously terrible traffic or even the overcrowded and pick-pocket prone public transportation. I'm also close to a few really cute town centers that I have yet to explore, and every world cuisine you can think of. So far things have worked out pretty well :).

So now I'll give you a taste of my first few days here.

First, I should note that all the women in Mexico City wear incredibly high heels. Everywhere. To work, to friend's houses, to dinner...it doesn't matter, they all wear them. I don't understand how they manage, because the sidewalks are uneven and sometimes cobblestone or grooved, and they seem to walk decent distances in stilettos with absolutely no problem! I am in complete awe.

On my run this morning to the park nearby

The second thing I should note is that I planned all wrong for the weather here! I thought it would be hot and sunny, but it turns out it rains all the time, and on Friday, it hailed! Big balls of hail banging down on the cab my co-workers and I were taking back to the office from a venue "scouting" trip for an event they're planning. One minute it was sunny, and the next there was a torrential downpour that turned into hail bouncing around us everywhere. Oh - and an hour and a half taxi ride that should have taken about 30 minutes. My first real taste of Mexico City gridlock.

Someone was thirsty for jugo de naranja!

The third thing I have discovered has nothing to do with Mexico City, per se. Most of you know that Lou and I recently got engaged. We are so incredibly excited! Annnnd, upon my arrival in Mexico City, or rather, my first day at work, I learned that being engaged means you're in a club of other engaged women who want to talk about weddings all the time! One of my co-workers, Ayi (her nickname) also recently got engaged and is planning a wedding for next May. Well we made fast friends! And everyone in the office, well, everyone in general, wants to hear all about the engagement and wedding planning! This has a lot of benefits. First, it's an awesome way to meet people and have something to talk about immediately. A great friend-maker! Second, I can ask a simple question, and then listen for a long time to descriptions of engagements, plans, venues, dresses, everything you can imagine, without having to struggle through complicated and unforeseen vocabulary and verb conjugation. Finally, weddings present a finite and manageable set of vocabulary that I can certainly master quickly! One of the first things I did when I got home that day was to review the wedding section of my Spanish textbook.     

Here are some exciting things that happened in my first week here:

Path on my run Sunday morning - lovely!

1. Speaking Spanish and a Watermelon Party!
After settling in and finishing my first day of work, I decided that I would only speak Spanish at work starting day 2. Thankfully my co-workers are incredibly patient and finish my sentences for me to move the conversations along from there painfully slow pace. Even after a couple days though, I am feeling more comfortable with the language and with speaking, and I am hoping that I'll pick it up quickly! My first Friday, my roomie (as they're called here - it's the cutest thing ever and everyone says that!) hosted a small party with his friends. There was a frozen vodka soaked watermelon that we turned into something like a frozen margarita - it was really tasty and also just fun to make. Lorenzo and his girlfriend's friends were really nice, and mostly patient with me. One of them was an art therapist, which is apparently somewhat unheard of here because all of their other friends were intrigued and confused about why you would have art therapy and what it even was exactly. I just listened, but I couldn't figure out how to say anything so I couldn't help explain or even say that I knew about it - it was the end of a long day of speaking Spanish and I have to admit my brain had started to turn off by that point too. But all in all, it was a very successful first day of functioning in Spanish!

Lesson for the kiddies about seeds :)

2. Making a friend!
Saturday evening, I met my soon-to-be married co-worker at Club France (a francophone/francophile country club near my apartment) for a photo exhibit of restored family photos by her soon-to-be sister in law. It was really fun to meet her friends and see really historic pictures that trace the history of Mexico and were just plain cool. We went out to dinner afterwards, and I actually think I got better at speaking from the beginning of the night to the end, but more importantly, she's the sweetest and I had a great time! So here's to friends in Mexico City!

In the park near my apartment on the 2K loop

3. EARTHQUAKE!
After coming home from my exciting night of socializing in Spanish, I was brushing my teeth when all of a sudden, things just started to shake back and forth, and then the lights went out, and there was seriously frightening swaying for at least 10 seconds and maybe longer! It was terrifying! And I just froze, my toothbrush in my mouth full of toothpaste, and grabbed on to the sink. In case you do not know, this is NOT the correct response to an earthquake. But I just froze! First I thought, get in the doorways! But then realized that was for a tornado. Then I thought, get in the shower! Close the curtain! Then I thought, maybe that's a tornado too, or a hurricane. Then I thought, oh god, I'm going to get buried in this building when it collapses and I have no idea what to do, and then I thought I would crawl out of the tiny bathroom window. While I was fruitlessly wracking my brain and also just kind of weirded out by the swaying, everyone else in my building was running down the stairs and out of the building into the street, which is what you're supposed to do in an earthquake. Ooops.  When I finally got my phone and turned on the flashlight, my roomie came up and realized I was home (I only got home 5 minutes before the earthquake). He knocked and when I opened the door he said, "Becky! Did you feel..." (I cut him off and yelled, mouth still full of toothpaste, "THE ERFQUK???") He then informed me that if there was any other earthquake I was to immediately grab my keys and exit the building as fast as possible! So now I know. And luckily, even though it was a level 6 earthquake, no one was hurt and not even a dish in the apartment broke. I told him today that I am a very heavy sleeper and to please make sure I wake up next time there is an earthquake, and he assured me he would :).

So that's my exciting week 1 update! I will keep posting at least once a week throughout the summer, so follow if you feel so inclined and definitely send me emails about what's going on with you! I love getting emails and even though I have so far had success at making a friend, I miss all the ones back in the States and love hearing from all of you.

Muchos Besos!