Mexico Trip - Day Six

March 12, 2013

Today is day six of our Cultural Diversity Practicum in Mexico.  We were in La Paz, Mexico today. The day started out with a wonderful breakfast in a very colorful restaurant.  I had hotcakes (pancakes) and some very fancy chocolate milk. It came in a very fancy glass that was huge and the chocolate milk was delicious!

After breakfast, we all piled in the van to head for Conalep (a chain of National Mexican High Schools).  We were heading there for a ceremony where Valley City State University Professionals (Dina, Anthony Dutton, and Gary Thompson) and Conalep Professionals (Jose Alfredo and others) were to sign an agreement between the two schools so students from both schools can visit each other, do practicums, attend school, and student teach. :)
I was expecting the ceremony to be one where we (Angela, Josie, Jessica, Kayleen, and I) sat in the audience and watched...that was not the case.  We were walked up to the front and center where there was a table (sort of like a table where a panel would sit to answer questions) with chairs for us to sit in.  There was even a nameplate with my name on it!!  I found out soon after that that the whole ceremony was for the signing and to welcome and honor us coming to Mexico and Conalep.  We were treated amazingly!
The ceremony started with us sitting at the panel table where different people spoke about Valley City State University, Conalep, Mexico, and much more.  Most of the ceremony was in Spanish but some of the ceremony was translated into English for us by some Conalep students (Grecia, etc.).  After the initial program was over, we were taken to an area where we could play traditional Mexican games.  I got to throw darts at balloons on a spinning wheel, play Mexican Bingo, try to spin a top from a string, and try to catch a decorated piece of wood on a stick.  It was all really fun.
After that, we were escorted to the front of the audience to sit in chairs and watch some cultural dances and music.  It was all so beautiful.  We got to see some traditional Mexican. Texan, and Hawaiian dances.  There was even a girl who sang a song.  She sang a version of "This is How You Remind Me" by Nickelback.  After some of the dances, Itsell (a girl attending Conalep) announced that we were supposed to come of to the stage and they were going to teach us some traditional dance moves!! It was initially very nerve racking but it was very fun and I learned some steps from Mexican and Texan traditional dances.  The high schoolers laughed at our attempts to dance and it was all really fun and funny.

After the performances, we were escorted around the different student booths.  The students had created these amazing booths of information about different places in and around La Paz.  They were so creative, artistic, and amazing.  And I found out that they put all of it together within 2 weeks!  It was really impressive and I plan to write them a letter so they can know how much I appreciated it their hard work.
Now I am back in the hotel on some down time.  In a couple hours we are going to go on a tour of La Paz, Mexico, see a museum, go shopping, and end at a place to learn salsa dancing.  It should be a really fun afternoon and evening.
I was right, it was very a very fun evening but the plans changed a little bit.  Since we had some down time the museum was closed by the time we got up and moving so we are going to try and go to the museum on Thursday.  But we did end up going shopping, which was stressful and fun.  It was stressful because it is hard to compute how many pesos equal a dollar (12 pesos = 1 dollar) when the number on the tag is a lot of pesos lol.  But it was fun to see the different and similar styles of clothes that were in the stores.  Many stores had similar styles of clothes to what we have but the shoes were a bit different.  I have been told recently that Latina women pretty much all wear stilettos and really tall shoes and not that I am aware of that, I believe it is true from what I have seen.  It is impressive how well they can walk in such tall shoes.  There were many shoes in the stores that would be extremely hard for me to walk in but they make it look easy.
While shopping, I ended up buying two gorgeous scarves from a store and a beautiful painting of the beach where we went snorkeling from a street artist (recommended by Dina).  The beach where we snorkeled was called Playa de Balandra (Balandra Beach).  It was very beautiful and I was so lucky to be able to have that wonderful experience.  It was very humbling and wonderful.
After shopping, we dressed up at the hotel and headed to the restaurant for salsa dancing and lessons.  When we arrived, we sat and order some drinks.  I had a Bailey's on the rocks (delicious).  Then our instructors arrived.  They were an adorable couple that spoke both English and Spanish.  They taught us well and I had a lot of fun.  I even got a couple compliments from the instructors on how well I was doing with the moves. :D

When the lesson was over, we paid for our drinks (Zuzuey insisted on paying for them) and headed over to another restaurant for a late dinner.  Many of us had tacos and Kayleen and I had quesadillas. I had a cheese one and she a pollo (chicken) one.  They were really good.  I also had an apple soda with my dinner and that was delicious.  It came in a tall glass bottle that I was not allowed to keep because they recycle the bottles and use them again, which I thought was pretty great.  The side of the bottles even say reusable (in Spanish) on them.  It was quite amusing.
After eating, we left and went back to the hotel where I am sitting now, typing away on Kayleen's computer.  I am really grateful to her for letting me use her computer to type of my thoughts on each day of our trip.
Well that is it for today, I am exhausted.  Talk to you all tomorrow,

Olivia