Campion Celebrity 2012: Rotaract

Showing posts with label Rotaract. Show all posts

Friday, March 4, 2011

Hanging out with the kiddos

Last weekend I went with some members of the Ciudad de México Rotary Club to an orphanage to do some activities and play with the kids. The organization is based out of Spain and there are 3 houses -- all run by nuns-- in the same zone. The house we visited had about 18 kids ranging from 6 to 14 years old. Robert, a fellow scholar, joined me and we were quite the hit when we arrived. "They're from the US!" "Speak to each other in English!" "How do you say _____?"

We split the kids into three group. One made crepes with cajeta (like caramel) and fresh fruit, one group made treats with marshmallows, honey and candies and our group made bracelets with gum balls and gummies. They made enough so that all the children could have one of everything. They ate the bracelets and crepes, but fortunately the marshmallows were put away for later (sugar high!).

marshmallow creations

From there we went to a nearby park to play (and burn off some of that energy!). We weren't there too long before it started to rain, but the kids seemed to enjoy the activities, playing in the park and some extra attention from a new group of people.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Week in review: Back to school, Rotary and Rotaract

0 comments Posted by manok at 5:04 PM

This week we started classes -- not quite as fun as traveling around the country or playing tour guide with my parents, but nice to catch up with my classmates.

Monday I started Portuguese. From the very beginning the professor only spoke in Portuguese. I can follow most of it since it's similar to Spanish, but there are enough differences (in pronunciation and false cognates -- words that sound similar but have different meanings) that it will definitely take some work. The professor had something else going on this week though so she was only there the first day -- we had 3 different teachers this week. The most challenging part was they all had different accents (and the difference between the accent from Brazil and from Portugal is especially confusing!). The classes fly by because they're only an hour. I remember when 90 minute classes seemed like an eternity, but after a semester with 3-4 hour classes, 1 hour classes are nothing! My Spanish was struggling a bit leaving class Monday after speaking English most of the previous week and then an hour of Portuguese!

I was supposed to have my Culture class Monday as well, but the professor had decided to start next week instead and failed to inform any of us. I found out one of my classmates travels 2 1/2 hours to get to campus! That's when it's really a let down the professor doesn't show...

Tuesday and Wednesday I had Literature. The class is only 2 hours, but feels a lot longer. Hopefully it will pick up once we get into the material.

Tuesday night I went to the Ciudad de Mexico Rotaract meeting. I think I'm going to start getting more involved because I like the group and they do lots of interesting things , whether service-oriented or just for fun.

Wednesday morning Billy and I attended the weekly Rotary meeting of Club Rotario Plateros Centro Histórico. They meet in a beautiful building in the historic downtown (apparently it was a theater and then a psychiatric hospital, though it does not look like either). As usual, the club was very friendly. We included more about the purpose of the scholarship in this presentation, since most people think we're just here to take Spanish classes. One of the members (below on the left) was also an Ambassadorial Scholar and studied in Florence! I think I'll be joining some of the members next week on a guided visit of Los Pinos -- the Presidential home!

Billy and I with 2 members and the president (center) of Club
Rotario Plateros Centro Histórico and a representative
of the Plateros Rotaract Club

Thursday I had the Identity and Culture in the Caribbean course. It was interesting and the professor seemed really nice, but I'm going to drop the class. I've decided to switch to a course on Globalization and Migration offered by the Anthropology Department (instead of within my program), which is more relevant to my thesis. I'm still in the process (ie: jumping hoops) to make the official switch.

Today the only class I had was Portuguese -- and the professor (or sub) didn't show! I was bummed about a "wasted" afternoon, but it turned out really well. As I was crossing campus, a woman ran up to me saying, "Excuse me!! Did you come by to ask about a sweatshirt the other day?" UNAM has been selling various merchandise to celebrate 100 years and I've been trying to buy a blue and gold UNAM sweatshirt since December (maybe even November), but it has always been sold out in my size. I guess it brings me back to when everyone was deciding which school to attend for undergrad and would wear their school's shirt/sweatshirt/shorts to show where they were going. I felt like I needed a UNAM t-shirt (check) and sweatshirt to show I go there. I've been asking periodically for months, but last week the guy told me they were getting more Monday and he would hold one for me. However, I went Monday and the woman working said that no, he must have been mistaken because there wasn't a new shipment. Apparently the guy had already pulled mine aside, but hadn't informed his coworker. They've kept my sweatshirt all week and have been on the lookout for me, hoping I'd pass by again! The woman just happened to see me walking across campus and ran up to tell me.

I finally have my UNAM sweatshirt =)

From there I ran into a friend, who invited me out to lunch with some of his friends. We went to a restaurant not far from my house (though I hadn't known about it) that serves typical food from the Yucatan Peninsula. I enjoyed a tasty lunch, caught up with a friend and met some new friends!

Tomorrow I'm off to Puebla with some friends for the long weekend. More updates when I get back!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Pastorela and Posada with Rotaract

0 comments Posted by manok at 12:44 PM

Saturday I attended a Pastorela and Posada with the Ciudad de Mexico Rotaract Club at Fundación Renace.

Fundación Renace is a place for treatment for alcoholics and drug addicts and the patients range from children to adults.

A pastorela is a skit and the tradition goes back to colonial times when the Spanish used skits to evangelize/convert the indigenous. The pastores or common people are always faced with a dilemma and there are angels and devils who try to convince them to choose the good/bad option. There's a battle between good and evil and good always wins.

In this skit, a family was traveling to seek a healer for their sick son (the guy with the shark/piranha on his head because the sickness was "consuming" him). The devils wanted to found a new hell and needed 4 willing souls, so tried to convince the family they could help. The angels (all 3 characters were based on famous singers) intervened and tried to convince the family not to believe the devils. There was a battle between the good and evil forces and in the process the sick son was killed. However, Death said that since he and his family had shown faith and believed, he would give him another chance to live and without the sickness.

This was the third year the Ciudad de Mexico Rotaract Club has hosted a Posada at Fundación Renace, but the first year that one of the people who lives there has participated in the Pastorela. One of the boys played Death and did a great job -- his gestures/movements were hysterical and the audience loved seeing someone they knew up there performing.

pastorela

From there, the posada started. The group divided into two groups, one representing Joseph and Mary pidiendo posada (seeking shelter) and the other group the innkeepers. We sang the the traditional song, which is a call and response between the two groups, asking for shelter until finally they're invited inside.

view from the "innkeeper's" side,
with figures of Mary and Joseph and the group asking for shelter
on the other side

the Posada song

From there, they hung the piñata (that I helped make the week before) from one of the rafters and people started taking turns trying to break the piñata.

hanging the piñata

I've seen piñatas in the US, but they definitely make it more fun/challenging in Mexico! Someone is in charge of holding the other end of the rope and once the person is blindfolded, they lift and lower the piñata. The crowd has to direct the participant with shouts of "higher", "lower", "in front of you", etc. They can also mess with the person though and a couple times (especially with the boys) they'd raise the piñata all the way up so the participant was swinging at the air.

There's also a song the crowd sings and the participant's turn lasts the length of the song.

When the piñata finally broke, there was a mad rush (of little and big kids) to get the candy inside.

From there, we all enjoyed bread/pastries and coffee and then the Rotaract Club + guests went on a tour of the building to learn more about the Fundación. Let me just say it is a very strange building -- it used to be the Public Bath building, as in from back in the day when there weren't baths in the houses so everyone went to the community building to bathe. It's obviously been converted a bit, but it's still rather strange, with shower rooms serving as bedrooms, for example.

Touring the facility and learning more about what goes one was definitely a bit intense. It was a bit uncomfortable at times when our guide would talk about things in front of the patients, but I guess that's a way to show it's all a part of life and the process and not something to hide. I'm glad to see that Mexico City has this type of service available, although they have very little funding. A lot of what they have comes from donations -- and we saw the huge tortilla-making machine that the Rotaract club had purchased previously.

Ciudad de Mexico Rotaract Club + guests

After we finished, I went out to lunch with 3 of the members and we enjoyed some seafood (marlin tacos and shrimp tacos and spicy shrimp) at a restaurant called Mi Gusto Es. Yum!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Piñatas

0 comments Posted by manok at 6:01 PM

Just to show I really did help making the piñatas!

(Photos courtesy of Ernesto Ibarra, Rotary District 4170 Scholarship Coordinator)

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Making piñatas

0 comments Posted by manok at 1:57 PM

Today I met up with members and guests of the Rotaract Club Ciudad de Mexico to make piñatas for a Posada for children at a Casa Hogar (orphanage). Rotaract is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young adults ages 18-30. The Ciudad de Mexico club was very welcoming and friendly and I hope to participate in more projects and events with them in the future.

A posada is a traditional Christmas celebration and is meant to represent when Mary and Joseph were searching for a place to stay. There are apparently traditional songs that ask for a place to stay ("pedir posada") which are sung by guests before they are welcomed inside for the party.

Piñatas (yes, those things you hit to break open with candy inside) are a tradition at Posadas and birthdays. The Christmas piñatas originally had seven points to represent the seven sins. Therefore, when the children take turns hitting the piñata, they are trying to break or destroy the seven sins, and there is a celebration (with treats!) when someone is finally able to do so. Christmas piñatas traditionally are filled with fruits, but now candies and toys have become common as well. (Piñatas for birthdays are more likely to be in the shape of cartoons, etc and be filled with candy and toys).

Today we made 6 piñatas -- 5 for the Casa Hogar and 1 for the Club's Posada (though they only have 4 points instead of 7).

So, without further ado, here's (one version of) how to make a piñata:

Step 1:
Cut paper to the appropriate size and fold it into a cone shape.

Step 2:

Cut and fold the edges of the cones.

Step 3:

Add tassels (in this case made out of strings of tissue paper) to the tip of the cone and cover the cone in colored paper.

Step 4:

Attach the cones to ceramic pots (harder to break, but then the kids all get more turns attempting to break the piñata). We glued the tabs down and then put newspaper strips with a mix of glue/water on top.

Step 5:

Cover the remaining area with tissue paper.

Ta-da! You've now created a piñata! Here they're shown "upside down", but you just have to flip them over and hang them up with the string handle of the pot -- and fill them with treats!