Day 2. An overview of the little things.
By Michelle Newlands
February 20, 2010
Our first night under the Mexican stars..... and it was cold. Since arriving we’ve learned the weather here has been a little unusual for Mexico. It has been quite cold and very damp with more rain than ever expected for this time of year. Only a few weeks ago there were two days of constant rain causing flooding in Mexico City and the town of Michoacan. Cuernavaca was lucky to not have suffered from floods but the rain was definitely in the air.
Quest does Mexico.
February 19, 2010.
Day 1 – we travel!
By Michelle Newlands
And we’re here!!!!! Five am had never come so quickly. After days of packing, weeks of preparation and months of anticipation the time had finally come. Myself and tree other girls would be flying to Mexico to spend 5 weeks as members of an education non-profit organization called Quest Internacional.
During our stay we will be exploring the Mexican culture, learning about international development, human rights, social justice, poverty, education, health care, infrastructure and more.
A trip to Cuentepec
By Matthew Killby
Feb. 25, 2009
Gloria's story
By Matthew Killby
Feb. 24, 2009
Community policing
By Matthew Killby
Feb. 23, 2009
My plan was to sleep in an extra 20 minutes and skip Gary’s walk to get a bit more rest and a chance to work on my journal, which was now two days behind. Instead I slept right through until breakfast.
We listened to a man from Ocotopec tell us about community policing and how it works and differs from the regular police force. Andy asked him if distributing the power to different community police networks fragmented society.
“We are a fragmented country,” was his reply.
A journey into the mountains
By Matthew Killby
Feb. 23, 2009
I woke for Gary’s morning walk. We travelled uphill and came across a man who had just moved to town a few months earlier. He spoke English and told us about an old rail line on top of the mountain that had been ripped out and was now used as a trail. He likes to take his horse up there. We hiked to the top of the hill and found the biggest tree of the trip. We hiked along the old rail line for a few minutes and got an excellent view of the surrounding mountains and Cuernavaca.
A squatter settlement called La Estacion
By Matthew Kilby
Feb. 21, 2009
I woke up and got ready for the morning walk with Gary. I was feeling moderately well rested. We walked up and down the streets of the subdivision by the monastery. The sun was just coming up so it made for some good pictures. We headed up the hill outside the monastery and then down one of the side streets. On the hill, wedged in a large ditch between the road and the monastery wall was a small farm. There were some cages made out of various scrap and a building that perhaps was a home, or maybe just a storage shed. There were some goats, a cow, a chicken and a dog. On our way down the side street we passed some workers mixing concrete, which Gary said they would later carry in buckets up a makeshift wooden ramp to pour on the rebar of the upper level.
Paradise
By Michelle Newlands
Saturday, February 28/09
Options Day!
I spent the day in man-made paradise.
Today we were all given the option of how we would like to spend our day. The majority of the group went to the beautiful city of Tasco while Chrissy, Jill and I went to a water park resort called Las Estacas. We had the funniest taxi ride; our driver let us listen to hilarious up-beat Mexican music and Jill busted out in the front seat. The hour and a bit cab ride only cost us $30 Canadian. We asked him to come back for us at six.
Lessons about immigration
By Michelle Newlands
We were supposed to meet with a panel of Mexican immigrants who worked in Canada, but unfortunately they could not make it, so we had a group discussion instead. Many Mexicans, including one of the Lopez sons, will go to Mexico for five, six seven months at a time; the work is mainly agricultural labour. Canadian and American landowners will provide transportation and accommodations for foreigners and will pay the workers minimum wage, which in comparison to their homeland, is an amazing salary. This type of work is one of highest main incomes amongst Mexican families.
An environmental message
By Michelle Newlands
February, Thursday 26. 2009.
We began our day wondering through the most unique cemetery I have ever seen. The graves were all built differently, some out of colourful ceramic tile, some to look like castles and others simply made of cement blocks. Each grave contributed to the character of the cemetery and I had never felt more life in a place filled with so many dead.
