Introducing the Blog Rebranded, "Poco a Poco"

27-June-2019, 9:26 PM (CDT), Queretaro, Mexico

Wow. I’m in Mexico. I’ve been here for about three weeks. I recall moments throughout the last year. Discovering the Peace Corps volunteer posting, thinking of how it was exactly what I wanted, navigating the red tape-infested application and clearance processes, praying that I’d be invited, containing my excitement once I was invited but not yet medically cleared, sharing my excitement when all was a go and I knew where I’d be teaching, leaving my crying mother to once again take a leap of faith, feisty turbulence on our flight to Queretaro, realizing that I am part of an outstanding group of trainees, finally sitting down to write another blog post.

Faithful readers of this blog, whoever you are, will notice a few things are different. 1) The title has changed. Kandid Kandor had a great run, and some of my most...developmental writing was showcased there, but it’s time for a change--one that will bring more consistent posts. “Poco a Poco” is a Spanish phrase that means “little by little.” It’s my credo for acquiring Spanish as a second language and also a phrase that applies to life; you don’t reach a worthy goal overnight; it happens gradually, and you observe in admiration as you turn raw materials into a final product. And 2) all of my old posts are gone, well, not completely gone. They’re stowed safely on a USB under the title, “Vestiges of Kandid Kandor” for future appreciation. Those writings portray a bygone segment of my life. I don’t want to forget them, but it’s just time I establish a more focused theme for my blog.

“Theme, you say, Kory? Well, what if this new theme of yours?” Glad you asked constant reader. The theme will be my experience as a teacher and learner of language in Mexico. For reasons that are not cleanly defined, I’ve wanted to become immersed in a Latin American culture since, well, probably since meeting Fes. Some of you might remember Fes. Max Jesus Antonio Castro was the beloved foreign exchange student of Shamokin’s Class of 2009. Fes and I were tight from the beginning, and our bond was as inexplicable as my desire to teach in Mexico. (PS Fes now lives in Puebla, the state where I’ll be teaching come August [Kais a wheel.]) My friendship with Fes along with an unplaceable interest in Mexican culture, food, languages, and people was enough for me to pursue this path. A final reason for the decision was so I could bring Mexico home with me and use my newly acquired language to connect with Spanish-speaking students back home. But my plans for when I return stateside are twirling unseen and out of my control somewhere in the stratosphere (how high is that one?).

So what have I been doing since my last post three weeks ago? Well, considering how we Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs, though we’re technically “trainees” until we swear in) are agents of the Fed, I will withhold my criticisms because Big Brother is always watching. We’ve had training on everything from avoiding/coping with sexual assault to cleaning fruit before we eat it. My favorite parts of training are the Language and Culture classes. This is where we have a chance to practice our Spanish with an excellent group of teachers. We’re also getting into our respective project frameworks and how we will monitor and evaluate future students (there are three programs in our cohort: Environment Education, Natural Resource Conservation, and, my program, English for Technical and Academic Purposes). A few things to look forward to before we disperse in August: our future site visits and field-based training.

Right now, 37 of us are staying with host families in Queretaro, QRO, Mexico (I didn’t even talk about how great mine is--next time). Come August, we’ll all be shipped out to sites along a belt of Central Mexican states like Jalisco, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, and Puebla, where we’ll begin the work of our respective project frameworks; in my case, I’ll start teaching English to college students. Next week I’ll visit my future site, Tepexi de Rodriguez, Puebla, and meet my coworkers and next host family. And before training is over, we will have made six more trips to Universidad Politécnica Querétaro. At this university we’ll practice co-teaching and co-planning with Mexican counterparts, two activities that are unknown to them--and many of us. More on these things as we lose time (time is “lost” in Mexico, as opposed to “spent” in the US). 

Now for some cool cultural stuff I’ve been doing. Miguel is the best host brother ever. Breakfast is always ready when I wake up in the morning, we talk exclusively in Spanish, he and his mom clean my room every day, we watch movies in Spanish together, and he takes me to some beautiful places of this wonderful country. My first weekend here we went to San Miguel de Allende y Dolores, dos ciudades en el estado de Guanajuato. These places are, respectively, home to two of Mexico’s revolutionary heroes: Ignacio Allende and Miguel Hidalgo. The architecture of these cities’ iglesias is marvelous. In San Miguel I prayed under the ever watchful eyes of the city’s patron saint, gave five or ten pesos to a begging boy, and paid five more pesos to use a toilet, sans seat (PS if you’re ever visit Mexico beware of Montezuma’s Revenge, for it is real and it is ravaging). In Dolores, we visited the original home of Miguel Hidalgo—a revolutionary tantamount in fame and reverence to George Washington—ate some delicious helado de guayaba, and admired a few magnificent cathedrals. 

Del patio de Museo Regional de Querétaro

Miguel Hidalgo, Museo Regional de Querétaro

Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel

Arcángel, San Miguel 

Rotunda de no se

Just this past week Miguel and I went to El Cerrito, the closest pyramid to us; one goal while I am here is to see a lot of pyramids. El Cerrito is one of Mexico’s smaller ones, but it is till massive—a fact that excites me to see more of them. It was built by the peoples of the Chupícuaro culture well before the Spanish reached South Central Mexico. It was a spiritual place used by Indios for ceremonies—including ritual sacrifices—to worship the gods of the Omeyocan (see below). In the park there was a variety of native plants, including these giant aloe plants. While here, the father of a family asked me to take their picture. From about 30 feet away he goes, “¡Oye, guero!” then in rapid speech, “¿Toma nuestra foto?” I knew what he meant because I heard “foto,” he was holding his phone, and his family was standing in picture formation. Coming from a place where I look like most other people, it’s a new sensation for me to look different and be called by a name that’s based on my skin color (guero is not a mean name, but I think it’s closer to factual than endearing, also...guero). 

The thirteen levels of heaven include a variety of deities: the god of fire and heat, the god of the underworld, the god of the night and dark, and the god of earth and sky

View of El Cerrito from the museum

Giant aloe plant, should have stood next to it for reference

Mi hermano anfitrión, Miguel, y yo

A nice shot of the pyramid

Me and a giant doll

There is a lot more that’s happening, and I’ll just cycle through a brief list in closing. Last night there was a cockroach in my room, I had a vicious case of diarrhea for about a week, if you’re leaving a restaurant after dinner, it’s common to say goodbye to nearby diners even though you don’t know them, the people here are nice and the city is safe, the grocery stores don’t give bags, so I pushed a shopping cart (one with a baby seat) from Soriana to my place (about ½ mile), my friends and I went to a show where a band covered Dammit by Blink, cigarette packs here have grotesque images of smoking-related disfigurations, some of the best food comes is served by women in the street, prepared on fold-up tables and kept warm in Gatorade coolers, and I’m part of an intelligent, kind, curious, and driven team of Americans who came here to improve Mexico’s environmental and educational sectors, share our culture, and take Mexican culture home with is. Till next time. Questions? Let me know. ¡Hasta luego!     

Pasquala says, "¡Hola de Mexico!"

       

Peace Corps Staging Event

     Yesterday I arrived in Arlington, VA and checked into the hotel. After registration all 37 of us volunteers were allowed to do as we pleased and spend the $130 given to us by the Federal Reserve. As everyone was leaving the conference room, I gave a blanket invitation to anyone who wanted to go watch Game Four of the Blues-Bruins series. Three guys accepted and we went to Four Courts, an Irish Pub on Wilson Blvd; Kim, in her disabled state, joined us as well. I was disappointed by the crowd at the bar when I noticed few people were there to watch Game Four. We had a good time anyway. Ed was a high school teacher in Oregon, Kyle and his wife taught English in Korea for three years, and Rob of Connecticut taught in Thailand. We, mostly I as the sole hockey fan, watched St. Louis tie the series and left after a few rounds becuase we had an 8 AM start the next day, today actually.
     All of us Peace Corps trainees met in the lobby and went off on foot for the Rosslyn Metro station, a short walk from our hotel. I let everyone exit before me and took up the position of sweeper as is my wont when travelling in a group that must stick together. Though he never assigned me the position, Benjamin Rance, our Country Desk Officer, looked toward the back and saw me giving him the all-clear thumbs up; he would later thank me for making sure nobody was left behind. Once at the station, those who didn't have Metro cards bought them, and we flocked underground for the Orange Line to Foggy Bottom.
     After a walk east on K Street below the ever vigilant and heroic General Washington atop his mount, our group reached the Mexican Consulate where our visas were processed and we heard from Mr. Rafael Lavaega, Chief of the DC consulate. He ensured us that Mexico is a beautiful country with citizens who can't wait to welcome us with open hearts and minds. At the consulate we received a state-specific handout with an economic summary of trade between US and Mexico. Fun Fact: PA exports more to Mexico than the US does to Luxembourg and the Czech Republic combined. Mr. Lavaega praised NAFTA for such apparently flourishing trade between the two states.
     We met back at the hotel for noon and were in sessions till 5 PM. During this time we got to know each other and ourselves better. One activity that I enjoyed was creating and sharing my identity map. It's basically a bubble diagram in which you illustrate the essentials of identity--race, sex, religion, ethnicity, and so on--as well as other hobbies and aspects that make up who you are. We were also debriefed on the goals of the PC and its Core Expectations. Before arriving for staging, I described it to those curious as time not worthy of the attention or even the presence of trainees, but, having completed it, I feel much more confident about my service in Mexico and much closer to my fellow trainees. I've been a part of many teams over the short span of my life and can tell when they are bad, okay, and exceptional. I can already tell that this group of Mexico '21 trainees is going to be an excellent one. Everyone I've met so far is intelligent, articulate, driven, and excited to begin life's next great adventure. One thing that stuck out to me from today was a quote from PC Marketing Specialist Teresa Claxton. She said, accurately and two times, that it was the first time we didn't have to justify or vaildate why we chose to serve in the PC, and realizing this truth felt good. Reaponses were about 50/50 postive/negative when I told people I was going to Mexico as a PC volunteer. But today the response was resoundingly 100% positive for all of us. I'm ready to go!
     As I write it is just before 9 PM on Tuesday, June 4. We're slated to meet inthe lobby at 2:30 AM on Wednesday June 5. The time to depart has finally arrived, nearing a year after I applied. My next post will be coming to you from Querétaro, Mexico. I'll be with my host family (whom I can't wait to meet) and will be beginning the three months of pre-service training (PST) that will prepare us for the challenges we will face over the next two years.
     Please join me on this journey of discovery and language acquisition. I'm rebranding the blog to deal exclusively with my Peace Corps experience. Fiction writing and essay writing are still a huge part of my craft--and there's plenty going on behind the scenes that I hope you will read some day--but for now Kandid Kandor will be all about my experiences teaching English and learning Spanish in Mexico as a Peace Corps volunteer (PCV). Thanks for reading, and I hope you stick with me on this amazing new journey of mine.

Salud,

Kory