¿Que Onda, Guero?

My schedule here is as follows:
Desayuno (breakfast) – 8 AM
Clase de gramática (grammar class) – 9 AM – 12 PM
Hora de conversación (conversation hour) – 12 PM – 1 PM
Intercambio exchange (Oaxacan conversation partner) – 1 PM – 2 PM
Clase de baile (salsa class) – 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
I usually wander around town a bit, after mi intercambio or after salsa class. Then I do my homework and go to sleep. Last night I let my hair down a bit and watched Los Simpsons en español. Anyhow, It's weird that the 50+ year old students en mi casa are out until all hours of the night drinking mezcal, while the 19 year old party animal is early to bed.

There are two things I try to do every other day: shower and blog – but obviously that’s not working out. I started typing this up yesterday, but my battery died before I could get it posted. I am showering every other day, though. It is the rainy season here in Oaxaca, but families still have to pay to have water delivered to them and I don’t want to be wasteful. And no, I haven’t been drinking “the water”. I get a small pitcher of water in my room each day for drinking, brushing my teeth, etc. Who puts this water in my room, you ask? Marta, the housemaid. Yeah – weird. She even makes my bed and yesterday she folded my pajama pants too… it’s nice but it sort of makes me uncomfortable.

I have a nalgene bottle that I generally drink water from, but this week I’ve bought a few drinks in plastic and glass bottles. If you know me, then you know that it would be impossible for me to throw these away. It would physically hurt me to place these recyclable objects in a trashcan and therefore en route to a landfill. Yesterday I asked both my maestra (teacher), Monezerrat, and my intercambio partner, Paula, where I could recycle things in Oaxaca. Their responses were the same, and it comepletely broke my heart. There are NO recycling facilities in Oaxaca. None. Hay nada. People know what recycling is, but all they really know is that they are unable to do it. I’ve used three botellas (bottles) since I’ve been here – two plastic and one glass – and if I can help it I’m not going to use anymore. This saves my conscience but doesn’t quite solve the problem. So today I was walking to the Zocalo (the big cathedral and town square) to take pictures and check out the market, when I noticed outside of a tienda (store), a clear plastic bag with a sign connected to it that said something along the lines of “please rinse out your plastic bottles and place them here. Help the environment. Thank you for reusing and recycling!” I was so excited that I went straight into the store and started talking to the woman in broken Spanish about recycling in Oaxaca. Her name is Martha Davila Padilla, and she owns a small clothing store on Quintana Roo where she does custom embroidery for school sports teams, company uniforms, etc. She was playing really cool Mexican indie rock, and did my mention she gave me the names and addresses of all the recycling facilities she knew of in this area? She’s like mi nueva mejor amiga para siempre (my new BFF). Anyway, I really needed that pick me up, so I’m glad I met her.

Speaking of pick-me-ups, I made it through a week of school! On Monday I’m going to La Guelaguetza (a HUGE annual dance festival in Oaxaca – we’re talking Bonnaroo size – 80,000 people in one place) and on Tuesday I’ll be advancing to a new grammar class. So today decided to treat myself to some helado (ice cream)! The food here is muy sabrosa (very flavorful), but honestly, I’d kill for a PBJ and some chocolate milk.

There’s much more to share, but I’ll post it later. Tune in next week for the premiere edition of “Stuff Mexicans Like," plus complete details of La Guelaguetza.