Altars, ofrendas

I've got a few more pictures to put up from the Mexico tour. I'm at the post-tour stage where I'm wondering if it was just a lovely dream. The pictures remind me that I was truly there. I keep finding small themes in my pictures. Here's one.

Here's an ornate baroque altar from a church in Queretaro. In the middle is the Virgen de Guadeloupe, who is deeply important in Mexico. I recommend zooming in to look at this picture.

This little altar was deep inside Las Grutas de Garcia.

In contrast, the Day of the Dead ofrendas are temporary. This was part of the ofrenda in Xochimilco. Don't these skeletons look dapper?

And speaking of dapper, these paper skeletons were decorated by kindergarteners and preschoolers at the Liceo de Monterrey. I took this and the next picture in part to explain to North Americans that as I wrote earlier, Day of the Dead is a giant celebration for the whole family, not scary at all for small children. One of the teachers at Tomas Moro was telling me how her small children love setting up their altar, choosing who it will be dedicated to (her brother-in-law who died a few years ago), deciding which of his hobbies to display.

This altar is on the wall at the Liceo de Monterrey, perpendicular to the decorated skeletons above. It includes pictures of family and friends who have died.

Mexico building entrances and facades

Here are a few of the pictures of building entrances and facades from the Mexico tour.

This horsehead was up at the roofline on a building near our hotel in Mexico City. Quite a contrast with the noisy electronics stores at street level.

Colonial style in the town of Garcia, Nuevo Leon (near Monterrey).

This was in the Barrio Antigua of Monterrey. I'm not sure, but I think that tire is for sale.

Another entrance in the Barrio Antigua. One side is stacked with books, the other with big chunks of tree trunks. Where did that wood come from? There were no big trees in the area. And what was going to happen to it?

This is a close-up of the door handle on the building above.

I saw many of these hand door knockers, but I only had my camera with me for this one. Some of the most ornate were in Colonial Queretaro. This one is in Garcia.

Family Literacy Nights in Mexico

I often perform at Family Literacy Nights in the US--I've got one coming up this Thursday in Wamego, KS. I had three in Mexico last week, at two branches of the same school in Monterrey.

The first show was difficult, in large part because of the setting. It was in a big echoing room, with many small children who didn't understand enough English to care what I was doing up by the microphone. I realized too late that I should have asked the parents to sit with the children. I think the librarians were as dismayed as I was.

The next one was that very night, at the same school. Fortunately, we moved to a smaller, cozier room and there were only a couple of tiny children who sat easily with their parents. It was a completely different experience!

As the families came in, I played with the kids, getting them to sing "Twinkle, twinkle," "The ABC song," and "Baa baa, black sheep," all at once. When I began the show, I discovered that the students were great fans of Robert Munsch. They knew some of my favorite Munsch stories, such as Moira's Birthday and Stephanie's Ponytail. I told one they knew and one they didn't, then went on to my own stories. We had a fabulous time! I even got a fan letter from one of the parents the next day (hello, Adriana!).

At the end, as often happens at Family Nights, kids came up to say goodbye to Trixie:

The next night I was at the other branch of the school. They've had more Family Nights, so the families knew what to expect. Here are a few pictures from that session:

The parents were wonderful listeners as well.

At the end, kids came up to ask for my autograph. We were in a hurry to get to the airport to fly back to Mexico City, but there was still time to sign a few. Trixie didn't sign, though--she's left-handed while I'm right-handed, so it would have taken more time.
Here's the real payoff for a Family Literacy Night: kids checking books out of the library after the stories. At this branch, the children are told they can borrow extra books if they come to the event. As a former librarian, this makes me very happy.

Las Grutas de Garcia

Sunday before last was a day off. Whew! After breakfast, Alberto and I hopped in a cab to the Monterrey bus station, then took a bus to the town of Garcia, then a cab to the foot of the funicular, then the funicular itself up to Las Grutas de Garcia. I think the exact translation of "gruta" is "grotto," but this was much more than that, an enormous set of caverns inside the mountain. The caverns were discovered in 1843 and are over 60 million years old. They now have tour guides, stairs, lights, and paths that cover more than a mile inside, but it's not a cakewalk--I found myself out of breath a few times.

In looking at my pictures, I realize I didn't get any that show the scale. Mostly I was fascinated by the stalactites and stalagmites.

The shapes are incredible!

This one was called "The Hand of Death." It rose more than twice my height. [After I posted this, my sister commented to me that it looks like our hands. True! It also reminded me of the way my father and uncle would jokingly imitate a pair of very old men shaking hands--even when they themselves were getting up in years.]

Though this is labeled "El Gorila," the tour guide pointed out the striking resemblance to Homer Simpson.

Here I am in my Monterrey tee shirt just inside the caverns.

And here's Alberto, my intrepid tour manager and friend.

This is the view from the outside. In the lower right, you'll see the ticket counter for the funicular. It was also possible to walk up. It takes about an hour.

From the caverns, we went into the small town of Garcia for a delicious lunch on the town square. This is the church in that square.

Then back to Monterrey by bus. Happy-trip!

Monterrey writing workshops

Through the years, I've offered a workshop for kids called Storytelling, Storywriting. We start with the difference between written and told stories, discuss structure and backstory, and play with a story or two. Then we write, using a modified version of Natalie Goldberg's rules for writing practice, from her book Wild Mind. Sometimes we have time for a last writing game, sometimes we just write (and read aloud) more.

On Saturday, I presented this two-hour workshop twice for 105 fifth-grade students, age 11 or so, at the Young Authors' Workshop at Colegio Ingles in Monterrey. The students are chosen by their teachers to attend this special three-day workshop. They come from different cities, from schools where they are taught in English for part of the day. The students arrive with their teachers and then go home to host families here in Monterrey. For many, it's the first time they've been away from home.

I was apprehensive about doing this with non-native English speakers, until I remembered that I did it in Belgium a few years ago, in classes where only some of the kids were native speakers. It worked, both there and here.

Here's what some of it looked like: Notice the teacher writing with the kids. These teachers were enthusiastic and helpful throughout. Some modeled good writing behavior, some did general crowd control. Many told me they would take the exercises back to use in their classrooms.

The only tough part was getting the kids to listen. While they were writing, they were absolutely silent, but when they were done, they were so excited about writing and reading aloud that it was deafening!

After the second workshop, I went to use the bathroom. I heard a voice from another stall intoning, "I...am the ghost...with the one...black...eye." Love that!

I've had an e-mail from one of the other students, telling me how much he enjoyed the workshop. Hey, Pablo! Keep writing!

Mexico Tour, scrambling to catch up

I had good intentions to write more often! Last week I was in Mexico City and Monterrey doing fifteen shows and two tw0-hour workshops, so I have an excuse.

On Tuesday, I went to the Comunidad Educativo Tomas Moro for three performances with older kids. It was especially appropriate to tell Mary Culhane and the dead man just after El Dia de Los Muertos, though the dead man in the Irish story is creepier than how death is portrayed in Mexico for the holiday. I told some of my other favorites for the groups of slightly older kids.

A small digression about my favorites. In the Q & A sessions, kids often ask which is my favorite story. I explain that in storytelling I know of only one hard and fast rule: only tell stories you love. Therefore, my favorite is the one I'm telling at the moment. I love them all. The favorite story of my listeners over the years has proved to be The ghost with the one black eye, though.

I went directly from the school to the airport, where I met Alberto. We flew to Monterrey, in the northeast. Though it's quite an industrial city, Monterrey has its own charm. Our hotel is in the Zona Rosa, a pedestrian area near the old city. It's ringed by the Sierra Madre mountains, some of which are impossibly steep. Here is a view of the mountains and the cathedral from the hotel (you can't see the high rise buildings on either side, but they're there):
That mountain in the background is called "the saddle."

And here's a view from Liceo de Monterrey, the girls' school where I spent three days:

I had a great time at the Liceo. I told stories to everybody from the five-year olds to the college prep students (not the preschoolers, though). On the first two days we were in the Forum, a space with a stage and also where the children do gymnastics. It's open to the outside, with curtains to make it quieter and warmer on cool days. Many schools in Mexico feel more open than those in the US, which seem hermetically sealed from the out of doors. Here are a few pictures from the Liceo:

I show the students a map so they can see where I'm from and they can get used to my voice: Here are some of the younger ones joining in on a standing-up song:

And the ever useful Shaking Hands:
I wish I had pictures of the older students--I think they weren't sure they were going to enjoy the stories, but they did. They even liked the puppets. Beautiful faces on these attentive listeners, aren't they?

Next post will be about the writing workshops I did on Saturday.

El Dia de los Muertos

When I learned that I would be in Mexico in October and November, I was thrilled: I'd be here for Day of the Dead! Officially, it's All Soul's Day, but there's huge lead-up to the holiday. This holiday has its roots in ancient indigenous civilization. It's NOT Halloween, and is not scary, but is a joyous celebration of the ancestors (Kent reminded me that it's not much different from the "begats" in Genesis). All over Mexico, people create altars (ofrendas), display skulls and skeletons, eat pan de muerto and have a giant party. Families go to the cemetery to clean the graves and have a good time.

Though it's not Halloween, in recent years, some of the trappings of Halloween have come into Mexican culture: children dress up and hold out plastic jack-o'lanterns for candy or money.

Marigolds are traditionally used in the ofrendas, as are offerings of food, sugar (or clay) skulls, skeletons dressed as upper-class ladies. Some of the ofrendas are very personal, showing pictures of family or friends who have died. Some are political, some are historical, some are general. There are markets where chocolate skulls and sugar skeletons are sold. Here are some of my favorite pictures of the holiday (I'll do another post with more pictures and less chat).

This is an ofrenda I saw in a small park near my hotel.

Outside a restaurant in Queretaro, with my best skeleton smile.

Another ofrenda in the park near my hotel. Frida Kahlo!

These are made of sugar!