Something to blog about!

Hola amigos, estudiantes, colegas, miembros de mi familia!

Today was, as the title suggests, something to blog about!  I made my first solo trip to the UNAM (Doug and I did a "dry run" yesterday to figure out how to a.  use the Metrobus; b. find the school of social work; and c.  time the whole thing).  It's about 45 minutes including walking a few blocks at one end and about two blocks at the other.  The altitude is getting to me some, I'll admit, especially uphill and upstairs.

Yesterday I had made e-mail contact with the director of exchange programs for the school and we agreed on a time for me to show up today to be presented (i.e., introduced) to various people.  In an attempt to be culturally appropriate, I didn't worry about the exact time we had agreed on, but showed up 30 minutes or so "late".  He was very welcoming and patient with my at-times failing Spanish.  When he wanted to present me to the person with whom I'm going to be doing research, he realized he was a little confused and that person was not available on campus at the moment, but dealt with it like a consumate problem-solver--he set up an alternate meeting time and site for me later in the day and then presented me to various other staff, including the staff in the library who could control my access there.  After arranging a transportation staff person to pick me up to drive me to the later appointment at an office on the other side of the city, and making sure I knew how to get back to the Metrobus (which, of course, I did, since I had been there yesterday), we said goodbye.

I'll admit, it was a little disconcerting that he wasn't sure, off the top of his head, who I was to be working with and how long I'm staying; however, he did seem to recognize me (we met once, last summer) and knew my name, and how to pronounce it (any word presents a difficulty if it has two vowels in a row that are not both pronounced separately).  However, I'm committed to going with the flow and not expecting everything to be perfectly figured out [insert comment about meds helping with anxieties here], so I called Doug to let him know I was on the way home, and hiked back to the Metrobus.

Later, the driver picked me up as scheduled, within a window allowing for heavy traffic.  We arrived at my destination, chatting about this and that in Spanish much of the way.  He had even complimented my Spanish at one point, which is kinda the kiss-of-death--because it completely failed me when we arrived and needed to discuss whether he was supposed to wait for me or what.  This was an instance of my being more prepared to initiate small talk than respond to a question I don't expect and other factors, such as I'm not in charge here.  I stated back to him part of what I thought he was asking, and we agreed that I would take his cellphone number and have the guy I was meeting with call him for further instructions.

The long story short here is, I found the professor I have planned to work with, and he was well aware that I was coming to Mexico and what I wanted to do--he just wasn't aware that I was coming this week before school starts next week.  However, he completely rolled with the early arrival, he's excited I'm here and about what I'm going to do, and we had a great conversation (he did most of the talking and Spanish was not entirely my friend on the speaking end) and made rough plans for the next several weeks, and for the next nine months.  Whew!  He remembered having met me last summer, etc.  He was aware of a colleague we have in common--someone he knows from his home country of Chile who is a new colleague of mine at OSU.  In short, we're off to a very good start and this experience is going to be very cool and extremely productive; hence, the title of this entry:  Something to blog about!

How do you pack for a 9-month trip?

We’re on the plane—NOW I’m excited.  People have been asking me for weeks if I was excited and of course I was, but there was just so much to do that I couldn’t even think about being excited.  And, no, I wasn’t “all packed” days or weeks ago.  I was “all packed” 10 minutes after the cab arrived to pick us up!  How do you pack for a nine-month trip?

In the taxi, as I often do, I struck up a conversation with the taxi driver, who was about 70+ years old and clearly from the US:

Me—I usually ask taxi drivers where they are from, but you are probably from Ohio or somewhere around here.

Driver—Well, originally I’m from Amarillo, Texas.

Me—(incredulously)  Really? Me, too!

Well, turns out he wasn’t really from Amarillo, but from a wide place in the road (as we say in Texas) 100 miles away.  That’s okay, I’m not really from Amarillo either, although I was born there.  Still, the Panhandle is the Panhandle and we had a nice chat about the wind (it blows all the time) and the sun (shines a lot more than Ohio) and fried  okra (we both love it).  A bit of old home week.

We’re on the plane, and I didn’t nearly get everything done that I wanted to.  Sorry, Jennifer, for leaving stuff in my office for you to pack (and the office a wreck in general).  Sorry Karen that I didn’t get the dining room table all the way cleared off (truth be told, Doug did the clearing of it that got done).  Chris, I’ll e-mail your reference letters and get Jennifer to print and mail a hardcopy of the one.  Judy, I’ll e-mail you the performance evaluation.  Joy, I’ll read your draft and send you feedback (and I had already written that before you e-mailed me!).  If anybody else knows of something else I’ve left undone, Facebook or e-mail me.  Not saying I'll get around to doing whatever it is.  Meanwhile, we’re going to Mexico!  I still need to call credit card companies about that—I can do it from Houston.

So, how do you pack for a nine-month trip?  Well, I didn’t get a book to read (although I had two I was planning to bring); I packed one rain jacket and one umbrella for the two of us; I brought a yoga strap and a fitness ball and its pump; my Spanish dictionary, five pairs of shoes, a dress and a skirt, which most people will find hard to believe; and I’m not sure what all else.  I guess I’ll see in a few hours when we get to our apartment in Mexico!

P.S.  I wrote this yesterday, mostly on the flight.  We made it, we're in our apartment and learning how to work things.  Doug's next project is getting the wireless internet working, but I have to get off of the wired connection for that to happen.  Chao!

Getting Ready to Go

This is my first attempt at blogging.  I'm writing this to document some of my experiences during my upcoming stay in Mexico, and to let friends, colleagues, students, etc. know what's going on with my Fulbright project.  Here are some answers to the questions I'm most frequently asked about this whole enterprise:

Q:  What are you going to be doing?
A:  I will be working on a research project related to the work of faculty and students at the National School of Social Work, with youth in Mexico City neighborhoods.  The project is in the area of youth development.  I hope to document the work being done and work on program evaluation.  That may take the form of developing ways to measure outcomes.  I'll know more once I get started, and a lot more several months after that!

Q:  Where are you going to live?
A:  We have rented an apartment, fully furnished.  It's quite nice and in an area where we will feel comfortable.

Q:  What's happening with your house?
 A:  Not to worry--it will be lived in while we are gone.

Q:  How's your Spanish?
A:  Not as good as it will be by the time I come back!  Seriously, though, it's good enough to usually be understood and for me to usually understand most of what is being said to me. 

Well, that's enough of the question and answer for now.  I still have tons of stuff to do before I leave, but I wanted to try to get this set up. I am looking forward with great anticipation to learning more about the culture and people in Mexico. It is a great opportunity that is amazingly coming together. I hope you'll check out my blog from time to time if you want to know what I'm up to.