Today isn't a day i'm proud to be Canadian.

I know thats a strong statement, but its one that holds true after the abundance of information today.

This morning we had a guest speaker from an organization called Otros Mundos (Other Worlds). Our speakers name was Gustavo Castros, and he was nothing short of incredible. His passion in his work was something to be admired, and to be able to spend time with him and hear his experiences and information he was willing to share with us was exceptionally lucky. This organization does many things in areas of issues stemming from electric companies, forestry, and especially mining companies. They do educational work in regards to climate change, agriculture, etc. supporting people who need to develop skills to be self sustainable, and a bunch of other things. They also focus on issues that are not strictly due to climate, they also deal with problems due to poverty, such as alcoholism, post-traumatic stress, in home violence etc. so they had put a new face on to issues stemming from poverty, that it is not only a physical problem, but majorly affects mental health. Now i will warn you, i took 4 pages of notes so i'm going to try and fit in what i can before i go to sleep, so it may be long and confusing and intense because i'm quite tired.

We began talking about different contexts like Chiapas or internationally or communal, either way we were given an idea on what they want to do in all of these contexts. One major part of it is to find alternatives to the distruction that is happening everywhere; Environmentally, personally, financially, etc. They do analysis on situations to diagnose reality, to begin considering what can and can't be done. Structures of the world are in crisis, financial, environmental, food crisis, and its not just them saying that, its the World Bank and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) are making the same claims (if you don't know who either of those are, i strongly reccomend you do some googling. look for stuff that speaks of distruction and explotation.)

Last week the price of goods in Mexico skyrocketed, (especially cost of grains) Which bings indigenous people farther from survival then ever before. Capitolism is addicted to petrolium and with the raising price, the cost of food goes up, production of transgendic seeds uses oil and so as the gas prices rise, so do costs of food products that require petrolium to be made. So the decision comes down to, Feed Machines or Feed People? We need to break the link between food and energy in order to all stay alive at any reasonable rate.

Has the UN prevented war? Have they prevented hunger? Have they done anything about deforestation? What about controlling the IMF (which has virtually drowned Europe in debt.) Unemployment is increasing at a global level, and fast. Companies move into a country demanding contracts and put people out of work every day.

Example? Black Fire.
Black Fire is a Canadian mining company (from Calgary) who came to Mexico to mine in Chiapas. In the process they managed to pollute the water and tear down forests, as a result children were getting skin infections from the river, mudslides into the river when it rained, cows were dying from drinking the water, people's houses had big cracks in them due to the constant explosions happening in the mine, so what does this mean? Well, it violates human rights. It conflicts with their right for healthy food, water and shelter. Once the communities would stand up for themselves and show resistance to the workers trying to come and go, they were beaten. Black Fire saw this resistance and went to the Government of Chiapas and demanded that action be taken against the community (after all, its cheaper to pay extra police then to lose money from the mining company). A man named Mariano (who was a friend of our speakers) was put in jail as part of the resistance to Black Fire, a national and international campaign was held to release him. The government said to him that they would release him if he would stop the resistance to Black Fire. Mariano called Gustavo and told him "i'm staying in jail, keep up the resistance" After more uproar he was eventually released to only be assasinated 3 months later. (by Black Fire employees) Black Fire was eventually forced to close the mine, but said "Give us 800 Million dollars to compensate for the closure." They claimed lost wages etc. (It probably didn't help that the were mining gold, silver, barita, and any other minerals you can think of)  Where is mexico going to get 800 million dollars?

33% of Mexican Land is given to mining concessions in Mexico. 71-75% of the Mining companies are Canadian. Canadian Mining companies are infamous for violations of human rights.

Mariano's son did a tour to raise awareness in Canada, to tell people about the mining companies and the destruction they are causing the world. (another google reccomendaiton is the Tar Sands).

Law C-300 is a law that would cause companies to be responsible for their actions, however the law was not passed and only lost by a few votes, another vote is happening soon.

A mining company uses 250, 000 - 1, 000, 0000 Litres of water every hour. 250, 000 litres can be used by an Indigenous family over a span of 20 years. They also use 6-15 tonnes of cyanide everyday, which ends up in the water and the soil. (A drop the size of a grain of rice can kill a person.)

Free Trade Agreements allow all this to happen because of their modifications. Half of mexican "communal" land is on mining interests such as silver, gold, petroleum, and the rest of it can be used for industrial parks and tourism. NAFTA forced Mexico to change their constitution which then allowed them to privatize what was once "communal" land in order for the Mining companies to be able to buy it.

Mining results in many things, but one that has been overly devastating is deforestation. (i reccomend you look up "carbon dioxide credits" and see what you find.) 50% of our forests have been lost. The jungle we're going to, California wants to buy credits for, which could mean a number of things, but none of it is good. Another issue that is becoming more and more disgusting is dams, 52, 000 dams have displaces 80 million people.

All mining companies that are shown resistance make the offers to be bought out and then they will leave, but its always cheaper to repress people then to buy out the mines.

So what can we do?

I think thats all i can write right now, its all over the place from my note taking but its all something we should be thinking about and be aware of. I have so much to add to this but just thought i would update for the day. We had a second speaker this afternoon but i'm sleepy so i'll write about that one tomorrow.

Also, here is a list of english shows i have seen in spanish.
-lie to me
-CSI NY
-modern family
-Law & Order
-Big Bang Theory
-Criminal Minds
-Wipeout

goodnight! miss & love you all.

Sunday

Today i'm still not feeling well, but a group of us were travelling to a place called Monte Sion (not sure about the spelling right now), i can't give too much detail on the day because only half of our group got to go today, the others go wednesday so i will give a full update on that once the other group has gone. The bit i can talk about was transportation, the way there we took a combi van out there, and on the way home we took the back of a pickup truck, (and i was on the end seat, no seatbelts, hoping me holding a bar would save me.) which was actually really cool exepct for the uncomfortable seats and the bumps. (Mom lacey took a picture of me for you to see lol). Other then that the rest will be explained in a future blog :)

On sunday's in mexico, the families have the day to not have to worry about our meals etc. so today we had to worry about our own breakfast and lunch etc. which we all did as a group (mind you i hardly ate at either time) so we are now killing time in the house and relaxing because we give the family some space.

so since i can't really write about the stuff we did today, i will write about some of the things i've noticed or thats different etc. One thing that sticks out all the time is the overwhelming smell of exhaust almost everywhere you go. Its really hard to get used to, its just so gross tasting and smelling and its everywhere. Another thing that is very common is indigenous women and girls coming up and trying to sell belts, pashminas, bracelets, and many many many other things, its something that i'm not totally getting used to, and its weird that the phrase i say the most is "no gracias". Not being able to flush toilet paper has been really weird and frankly kind of a gross feeling for me. Its something that i don't think i'll get used to, even if the toilet paper is scented. The sidewalks are very different, they're really high off the road and really narrow; The ground in general is very uneven and you have to constantly watch your step. The temperatures isn't something i'm enjoying because during the day its so warm, but at night its freezing. So it causes often impractical dress for the weather because its so on and off, if the sun gets covered its a collllllld place. Although they warned us of that, its still colder then expected. Makes me miss my bed even more, and my blankets and my heater i call joshua. Which also brings up the problem that i didn't pack cool sleeping clothes for the jungle (woops) so i have to buy some shorts for sure. The driving here is in one word, crazy. I can't believe we havent seen an accident, there are no stop signs or lights hardly anywhere, people just take their chances turning corners half the time; Which makes crossing the street a pretty scary thing. The food is pretty good, but its stuff that in my opinion gets to be an old taste, fast. I'm not really into tortillas or cheese anymore, i'm even getting a bit sick of fruit. But the street potato chips are amazing, and there is a lot of good stuff here too i'm just feeling yucky and i'm complaining a bit lol. There is the other side of everything that my family is nice, i'm getting better at spanish, the people are interesting and we've been able to do some cool stuff.

Also, people are fascinated with blondes. Like...REALLY interested. The staring here is pretty common, especially when we're all in a group; there are several things that have brought attention to us, but i seem to be very interesting to people because i'm the only full head of blonde hair in our group, and i'm seeing very few fellow blondes here so i can understand the rare image being exciting or whatever.

24 days until the flight home, which i'm pretty excited for. i miss so much. <3

Today & yesterday.

Yesterday we went to a village not far from here, called san juan chamula. It was a small indigenous village and we started by going to their church, which was amazing beyond words. I have never seen so much passion and belief in one place, there were thousands of lit candles throughout, and dry pine needles on the floor. They were performing cleansing rituals on children while we were there and it was all really amazing to see. We really saw the effect of coca cola's influence on mexico (they sell it cheaper than water, so everyone has really horrid dental decay and diabetes, etc.) Overall it was an amazing experience. We then took a hike up a hill, up more stairs and then up to a lookout to look at the village. We then came down and toured a cemetary and another parts of the village, there were such small puppies in the streets, i'm having such a hard time with the street dogs. They're all so sad and malnourished and adorable and they just want some food, and i can't pet them or give them food and i just can't do anything for them and its really breaking my heart. It also makes me really miss my Zuko more everyday. We also saw what an impact tourism is having on this village and its culture and its disgusting. People pulling up in groups of 40+ on tour busses and big cameras around their necks and gawking at the locals (this village has been really terrorized by media, look them up to understand more.) Anyways, then we came home and a few of us had a debrief in our room and it was really nice to just sit around and have that time together before we moved in with the families.

Today we moved in with the families and we are so close to the classes "home base" its really awesome, and we're close to the market too. Our host mother is Clara, her brother Samuel (i think) and her nephew (i believe) Carlos are all kind of our family, although she is the only one who is around all the time. She doesn't sleep here at night, her mother's is next door so ultimately after 10pm we have the place to ourselves. Its a small home with a courtyard with an open roof in the middle, our room next to the entrance garage type area and the kitchen and bathroom across the courtyard. The beds are plenty comfortable and the family is making us really feel welcome. We helped Clara prepare some sandwiches to sell in the market, they smelled good but there was no way i could eat today with a still tossing and turning stomach. We're in an alright part of town, its a little loud but whatever, our bedroom has what used to be a door outside in it, so we can hear the street and people's music when they drive by. Overall i'm happy with our situation, me and janet share a room which doesn't bother me in the least. We did some more exploring today just wandering around and hanging out, it was nice to relax a bit for a couple hours. At 4 we had a guest speaker and then a debrief, we got home around 7:30, and clara had dinner for us but we couldn't eat dinner, i was feeling nauseous just at the sight of food so we felt really bad but it was either eat because we feel bad, or feel bad because we barfed all over her kitchen while trying to eat. Hopefully i will feel better in the morning.

I have no pictures to update with because we weren't allowed cameras in San Juan Chamula, and no pictures of my family just yet. Today was a really homesick day for me but i'm getting through it one day at a time, once it hits midnight, only 24 days until we fly home. <3

love and miss everyone!

hola!

This morning was started early with a very upset stomach, but i feel much better now. We had breakfast and then had to pack to meet our families! We have moved in with a family of 3, Clara Carlos and i don’t know the father’s name. Carlos is around 17 im guessing, i haven’t had a chance to ask. The bedroom is nice, the bed is pretty comfy, no complaints J Laundry is close, the treehouse (our class meeting spot) is around the corner! Which mean’s were pretty close to the market and everything. Nothing much to report other than that since its mid day, but we have a speaker tonight at 4pm.

I know i still need to do yesterdays posts! Be patient aha

Love and miss everyone! (i could also use a grilled cheese right now.)

Today

was really long, and i had a chance to sit and chat until now with some wonderful people so i'm now getting ready for bed and then i'm going to sleeeeeeeeep so my blog is going to be postponed.

We move in with the families tomorrow, im hoping i will get the chance to do a blog about today, at somepoint tomorrow.

But just a quick summary, we went to a community and visited their church, travelled around the area and then came home, had some time to hangout and then we had an amazing dinner at the language school we're using for home base.

i miss home, only 26 days until i fly home :)

Quest day!

Our evening was freezing last night, so the sleep was pretty uncomfortable because of all the shivering, i slept in a sweater and trackpants and was still freezing my butt off, and the follow up to that was no hot water! so i had a difficult time this morning, breakfast was hot cakes and fresh squeezed oj (so fresh that there were seeds in our cups) but the hot cakes made me miss home because josh makes such fab pancakes.

After we ate we were off on our "quest", given a map and directions we break off into groups of 3 and explore the city. Our group first went to the guadalupe church at the top of many many stairs. (look at all of them!) this was at around 9:30

After climbing up and then back down, we were on our way to other check points, (pictures on facebook will be uploaded.) We went to areas like the weavers market (its got so much gorgeous stuff), different side streets and different churches and attractions, we talked to locals, explored buildings and gardens, oh and we climbed to the top of this!

to see this view! (but it was exhausting.)

we made a dog friend! well since we're not allowed to pet the street dogs we didnt touch her, but she followed us for about an hour, she even was guarding us at the market, people rode bikes by us and if they were too close she would bark. so cute:  (i named her carols paulo, i know its a boy name, but its mexican)

We tried a few new foods today, i got home made potatoe chips, with lime and hot sauce on them:

Coconut with some sauce that tasted like butt, several things at a vegetarian buffet (i had AMAZING soup), more deep fried bananas, more watermelon juice, i had a churro (my new love), and i think thats about it. I can't remember all the food! (its so delicious, and cheap as anything.)

I bought some things at the weavers market, i got a spiderman finger puppet, wool slipper/boot things and a pair of gorgeous earrings for mama, made of coconut!

it was certainly a busy day, and tomorrow will be too. I hope i didn't really forget anything in here, but im sure i did somewhere. OH. we heard a backstreet boys song in spanish at one place, and then achey breaky heart in spanish at another! it was pretty hilarious. i got quite sunburnt, i've started quite the farmers tan, woops. my legs are so sore from all the steps oh sheesh.

goodnight, sending my love! <3

So we're here

Finally.

I apologize for my lack of energy and availability to post about my trip so far, i would include pictures but i figure i can start that tomorrow, or sometime soon.

Anyways, the trip from belleville to San Cristobal has been a long one, actually, thats an understatement. It has been a long, exhausting and frustrating trip, but now that we've arrived, it was pretty worth it.

It started by leaving the loyalist caf at Midnight on the 24th, (so really the 25th) and driving to pearson airport, where we arrive at 2:30, and we couldn't go through any steps until 3:30, so it was some sitting around for a while. Once we got through, we went through customs and security and whatnot, (which turned out to be a breeze, lucky us!) and our flight going to chicago departed at 6:25am. Once we arrived in chicago it was time to do some more waiting before our flight to Mexico City. (to jump ahead) once we were in Mexico City, it was a 6 hour wait (time for some catchphrase!) until our plane to Tuxtla where we would be staying the night in a hotel. nce arrived in Tuxtla we had an overwhelmingly exhilirating cab ride for about half an hour, the breeze was a fantastic feeling after so many stuffy plane rides. The first two plane rides were a little less than smooth, second flight we had some motion sickness in a couple people but we all made it! the third was fairly smooth, the landing however, was a little iffy. All in all, we're all glad to be here, the hours upon hours we were travelling i slept maybe for half an hour, so within 24 hours thats all the sleep i had.

The hotel was pretty cute, the beds however, were atrocious. If you've ever tried sleeping on a gym mat, the flat ones that feel almost worse then the floor, thats how comfortable our beds were. Either way, it was nice to have a bed, even if i had to use my sweatshirt to make the pillow a regular size. I killed a mosquito and then found another one alive under my pillow, killed it too, i'm fighting malaria! And tuxtla is pretty warm, woops on the forgetting sleep shorts.

My favourite thing of that whole day? every cup or bottle of orange juice i had was perfect. The bottle i bought on the way to pearson, the bottle at perason, the giant cup in chicago, the glasses on the mexico city flight, all cold and flawless OJ. Second best was getting a phone card and being able to make some contact with joshua and mom :) (the computer was dead and the airports didnt have free wifi) so this is my first time using the computer since toronto!

The food has been fantastic, from fresh watermelon juice (no addatives, just blended watermelon and water!) and pinapple juice, fried bananas, fresh fruit, tacos (of course), rice, soup, mexican dishes, and the hot sauces are TO DIE FOR! I also had a banana smoothie with leche (milk) and it was probably the most fabulous thing i've ever tasted. I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the food i get to try.

The drive from Tuxtla to San Cristobal was about an hour and 20 mins, but it was gorgeous beyond compare (i will post pictures but they in no way do the trip justice). We started at 20m above sea level, and within minutes we were 2000m above sea level, we were cloud level in some places, it was amazing. Driving up the mountains is something i would reccommend to anyone anytime.

San Cristobal de las Casas is a cool place, the textile market is by far my favourite place (obviously) but the shops are neat and the surroundings and the view is spectacular! (google images may help you understand ;)

I got scared by a pidgeon, i will tell that story when i return, just putting it here as a reminder.

I miss home lots, but i'm doing okay as of right now, my spanish is horrendus (uh oh) but im sure everything will work itself out! Sending my love back home, i can't wait to be back. I love you all, and i miss you, and feel free to email on my hotmail or facebook to get ahold of me whenever :)

<3

Departure!

This is short and sweet, because i must continue with the final packing stages and making a list and checking it twice, but it's a really surreal feeling that we're leaving tonight! 

I love you all, and i will update as often as i can! First stop, chicago!