Un Otro Mundo Es Posible: Mexico

Hello Loves,

Right now I am eating a mango and writing you from the Mexico Solidarity house in San Cristobal. Though I am in the middle of the city I can hear roosters crowing (at night?!) and people selling big jugs of water outside. So far my experience in San Cristobal has been amazing.

For the past week I have stayed at Universidad Teirra, which is affiliated with the Zapatistas. The school is free and is open from age ten and on. There are usually between 100-180 students enrolled at any time, though the students are free to come and go as they please so they can stay connected with thier community. The only rules of the school are that students must bring what they learned at the school back to thier community. In addition to more classical education seminars, there are also classes on carpentry, pottery, gardening, tree growing, raising and butchering animals, sewing, shoe making, weaving, bread baking, using a torilla machine, typing, working with computers, architecture, music, and painting. Some of the classes are taught by other students at the school or by community members. There are about five full time teachers. Students are allowed to take any classes they want, and that includes boys/men taking bread making classes and weaving, or girls/women learning to be an electrician or how to build a house. Though most of the students are indigenous, there is a range of ages and also a few travelers that stay there for awhile and take classes.

The school itself is extremely physically beautiful and decorated with all the paintings and pottery of the students. The chairs and walls are painted bright colors, there are murals everywhere, and every room has at least one plant. There is also a speaker in every room that projects music from the main office so students can listen to music while they study and work.

The food there has been rather hard on the belly. We eat beans (unrinsed) with noodles or rice three times a day. Sometimes there is carrots, boiled vegatables, or a little cheese. And of course tortillas with every meal. We also can drink tea sweetened with pineapple, cinnemon, or mint and lots of sugar. We also get coffee about twice and day and little bread roll. Though all this food sounds great, it is a little bland and a lot of us on the program have farting issues. There have also been many cases of diarreah and vomiting, though (cross my fingers) I haven't had any problems yet! But yeah farting isn't just smell...it HURTS! :(

The politics are amazing and really inspiring. They are based on the concept of from below and from the left. The words, "another world is possible" or "a world where many worlds can fit" are everywhere. Also, the zapatistas stand against sexism, racism, homophobia, and oppression of youth and youth culture. They constantly about a movement built on love, on autonomy, on education, and on community. Next week I am going to a Zapatista education, cultural, and commercial center where we will be spending the next five weeks (though I can come back to San Cristobal on the weekends for hot showers, internet, and the laundry mat). I have learned so much so far and I know I have so much more to learn still.

The other students on the trip are really fun. Though we come from different places, we definitely have a lot in common and get along really well. I hope to make some lasting friends. The Spanish is coming along and has been getting better in only five days. Though our group has been speaking a lot of English, today we decided to speak more Spanish. I know I have been trying to avoid English as much as possible.

I miss all my loves, both abroad and in Ithaca. I know when we get back to the states we will be able to put what we learned to good use! Also, being here has really reinforced for me how important community is, a lasting and loving community. Next year and into the future I hope we can build that together.

Besos y abrazos,

Marlena F.

life on the road

dearest watermarginals (icks, whatever you like to call yourself, etc.) this is from my main journal i keep while on the move. this is my second entry from new zealand. there will be more soon enough...

after a long (well, short actually) week and a half or so, i guess im up for a pretty long update. i moved on from auckland after three days; just left myself enough time to get a bike, and then peaced out. it truly was an awful place.

on the morning that i bought the bike, i realized that i hadnt planned my next move at all, really quite unusual for me. this, however, seems to be the trend for this trip. anyway, i quickly grabbed my guidebook and picked to closest city along the coast and made a hostel reservation. i rode away from the dealer's lot without really ever riding a roadbike, but made it successfully the two hours, winding through the hilly farmland country outside of auckland to raglan, a tiny little surf town on the west coast.

i spent about 5 days there, waiting for the time to come when id have to move on to my first WWOOF farmstay. it was amazing. people go there to surf for a few days and end up staying for 5 months. i was so very very tempted. all of the people that live "permanently" and stay for short periods of time in the backpackers hostel are so amazing. really really fantastic people. i just spent 5 days with them and i feel like ive known them for years. (tove, lucan, sof, dede, fabio, etc. - cheers. i miss you all dearly).

it was really hard to leave sunday evening (the 11th), especially as they were just starting to have a few beers, go for a surf, and a lovely danish friend was trying to coax me into staying by batting her beautiful eyelashes and making the cutest face she could muster up. but alas, i found the strength to hop on the bike and move on (sorry sofie).

i got to rotorua just after sunset and was met with open arms by the bolivian couple that i met in auckland. theyre incredibly friendly and hospitable. we stayed up late talking in hushed voices, so as to not was 2-year old Mateo, and woke up early monday morning for breakfast before they scooted off to work and i headed into town, where i spent only enough time to grab a coffee, check my email, and refuel before heading out on the road again. rotoua supposedly has some amazing hot springs, but is also awfully touristy, so i got on my way as soon as i could.

from there i headed to gisborne and had quite the drive. if you look at a map, youll see that there are a few ways from rotorua to gisborne, with one of them following the coast along the whole east coast "cape" along the top of the north island. i tried to take this route, but failed. instead, i somehow ended up on the inland gorge route, thinking i was bordering the coast the entire time and wondering where the hell the bloody beaches were. ah well, it was beautiful anyway. it was an incredibly curvy, mountainous road and i encountered so few cars the entire 3-hour drive. of course, there's only one "township" along the entire road, which obviously reduces the amount of traffic. regardless, it was a gorgeous (ha) ride. (you can see fotos, by the way, at my picasa site: picasaweb.google.com/wrenar. there are shots from raglan, a mountain hike, the curvy, beautiful road to gisborne, my farmstay, and everything else along the way that ive experienced this far. check it out).

i spent the night after what turned out to be a long, 6-hour drive to gisborne. met some great guys from brazil and holland and spent the night chatting and putting back cheap, shitty new zealand beer at the backpackers hostel. then i headed out around noon the next morning for my first week at a WWOOF farm.

to make a long story short, i lasted two days. dont get me wrong, the place was amazing. i had to drive about 7 miles out into the hills on a tiny, one-lane dirt road to get to the farm. and from the top of their hill i could look out over the hills and countless sheep grazing in the valley to the pacific ocean. absolutely phenomenal (check the photos). the hosts, however, were another story. honestly two of the most awful people ive ever had to spend time with in my life. the father, christopher, was a bossy, controlling, terrible english bloke who thought that the world revolved around him and he was the next einstein. he gave me lectures on why the word "sure" was an unacceptable substitution for "yes, please," and argued on the vast differences between jelly and jam. jesus. it was fucking terrible. i was going to leave on the night that i got there. after having to clean the pool and sweep/clean chicken shit off their porch, i soon realized that i wasnt going to gain as much agriculture and permaculture experience as i was hoping. nevertheless, it started pouring rain just as i finished tying up my equipment to my bike and i was forced to stay the night.

i ended up working the next day and miserably just thought i would have to stick it out for a week, but another couple WWOOFers showed up and reminded me that it wasnt a prison and to just go for it. so after dinner (strategically planned to approach them after they put food in my belly) i told them id be leaving the next day.

so on wednesday the 14 i woke up early and took the long, winding road through the mountains from gisborne to napier (photos). i spent the night there, hung out on the beach and refreshed, then took off the next morning for wellington, the windy capital.

i got to wellington yesterday and was immediately impressed - infinitely better than auckland. fully equipped with great restaurants, bars, a fantastic downtown area, their own part of the city dubbed "Brooklyn" (!), and countless beautiful, interesting travelers, im already siked to move in and start classes.

after a spicy dinner at the flying burrito brothers, where i exchanged stories with the mexican and chilean travelers serving, i grabbed a bottle of wine and passed some time on the docks at the bay. its so beautiful. i promise to upload some gorgeous, long-exposure night shots once i get back.

i woke up early this morning, made a wonderful, enlightening trip to the organic grocers, and boarded the Interislander, a huge ferry that brought me to the south island. after arriving in picton and filling up the tank, i bundeled up and adjusted my gear for the rough road i had ahead. from my pictures you can see the conditions: pouring rain and 30-mile and hour winds along the winding mountain highway nearly the entire 2-hour stretch to nelson. needless to say, i was soaked to the bone and freezing within the first 5 minutes of the ride, but hey, it builds character, right? despite the drenched nature of the ride, it was actually really beautiful - bigger mountains than ive seen thus far in my journey, opening up to grand, 180 degree views of the nelson bay, surrounded by a mountain range in the distance. its so breathtakingly beautiful here.

ive posted up in a backpackers for the night and will head out to check out the city in the morning. from what i hear (thanks, mom), nelson is a lot like ithaca. if she's right, im sure ill love it. then off to the next WWOOF host around noon. ill be staying at an ecovillage this time, and am really looking forward to it. my host, Cheryl, and i have been corresponding for over a month now and she seems fantastic. there's no doubt itll be better than the last one.

wish me luck and keep warm, those of you suffering through the cold american winter. oh how i pity you. take care and keep in touch. (i promise i wont wait as long to write again).

one love,
wren