Last Days in San Miguel

JOSH'S SAN MIGUEL
Photos taken from his iphone: the Parroguia (top left) and other churches;  me at the Mercado; street scene; the inside of Teatre Peralta with SheepDog, the Beatles tribute band, on stage; and SMA at night.

January 1, 2013 Tuesday

“It’s our last day,” Josh said this morning. 

“Yep, and we have only 200 pesos left!”

“I think we managed our money pretty well.”

“I think so too.  We’re down to our last penny.  Well, our last 200 pesos!”

We walked and talked.  Took a route we hadn’t taken before. Went to town.  Had supper at a nice Italian restaurant, lots of food and a good pistachio gelato. 

“Should we take one last walk into town,” Josh asked.  “Sure!"  I was glad he suggested it.

I checked my email and Josh checked out some songs from an old video game that he kept remembering.  “You know how some songs from the past just come into your head, and won’t go away?”

“Yes, I do,” I replied.  “That happens to me a lot.  Like I’m singing Imagine with John Lennon.  In fact, I’d like that song played at my funeral.  That and Let it Be.  

                                                                                         

“NANA! How did you go there?” 

“Oh I don’t know. It happens, like a song popping up in your head.”

“Okay,” Josh says.  “Now I’m noticing the details of the architecture.  And that tin sculpture of Don Quijote.”   We were at the hotel across from the Parroquia.

“Right, I want to take a photo of you with Don Quijote, in his new year’s mask, and his partner Sancho Panza.”  

Josh was amenable.  I tried to tell him a little about Cervantes’ famous novel, about the idealistic chivalrous knight and his partner, a simple farmer, fighting evil.  It’s a bit of a “Star Wars” story, I told him.    

I’m not sure he got it, but so what? I’ll give it  to him again, at some point.  It’ll have more meaning.  

Meanwhile, the most important thing is being together in San Miguel: showing him the traveler side of his Nana, enjoying Josh and his emerging travel personna, winding up a fabulous trip, and  making lifelong memories! 

We're packing it up.  Adios, San Miguel! Hasta luegol.  Regresaremos!

Waiting for Josh: A travel lesson, again

We are home from San Miguel, safe and sound in Sylvania, with some great new memories.  Now I can tell this story.  I wrote it last Sunday, about a moment of anxiety, well, for a few hours. This is what happened, and how I felt then:

Josh at B&B Don Quixote.

Josh decided to walk back to the B&B from Starbucks at the Jardin, and he’s been gone over an hour.  I’m here to get online, check email, finish writing and posting another blog, and I’m taking too long. “I want to go back to the B&B,” Josh said.   “I’m almost done,” I responded, “and it’s a winding road.”    

“I know where I’m going,” he insisted. 

“Are you sure? Go down to Zacateros and to San Antonio and you’ll recognize the landmarks, right?”

“Yeah, right, I know Nana.  Trust me.  I know where I’m going.”

Hmm.  I want to trust him.  But now I’m getting a bit nervous.  The young Mexican man across the table from me notices it.  He saw Josh take off, and overheard our conversation I guess, and understood and spoke English fluently, as it happens.

“It’s hard to get lost in San Miguel,” he said, smiling. 

“So you can see I’m wondering where my grandson is!”

"Yes,” he said.  We chatted. He’s from Mexico City and his family has always spent Christmas in San Miguel. He goes to the University of California at Santa Cruz, and loves it.  “Not cheap, but beautiful! I love America.”

“Where are you from,” he asked.

“Ohio, Toledo, Ohio.” 

“Oh, I like Ohio. I visited Fostoria once!”

So we had a lovely chat.  But I decided to pack it up and look for Josh around Starbucks and the Jardin.

I’m back at Starbucks.  Waiting.   I’m thinking: I gave him 20 pesos when he left here, but I should have given him 30 pesos, so he could always hop in a taxi and find his way.

 A basic instinct for reassurance surfaces.   

I look out the window of Starbucks.  The Jardin is crowded, a typical Sunday, even more so because tomorrow night is New Year’s Eve. It’s hopping. It’s sunny, warm and bright out, and everyone is enjoying the day. Josh can’t be lost.     

I decide to go to the police and see if they can check the B&B.  They don’t speak English.  Told me to go next door to the Tourist center.  I did, and they called Maria, the owner of the Don Quijote B&B; she  went to check on Josh.  Yep, sure enough, he was there, playing games on his iphone. She put Josh on the phone.

“Josh!  I thought you were coming back to Starbuck’s.  I’ve been waiting 2 hours for you.”

I wonder where my Nana is.

“Nana, I never said that.  I’m here waiting for you!”

Got it.  Lesson learned, again: you can’t be too explicit or clear about meeting arrangements.  How many times do I have to learn this? And actually the young Mexican man was right: it’s hard to get lost in San Miguel!   

Feliz Ano Nuevo from San Miguel

December 31, 2012
"What's on today?"
"Errands. Then tonight, New Year's Eve in the Jardin." 
"Sounds good. Vamos! Let's go."

So on the last day of 2012, Josh and I ran around doing errands in town.  We confirmed the shuttle back to Leon airport for the 2^nd;  changed dollars for peso (at 12.50 peso to the dollar, a good deal);  went to the pharmacy for some Tendra, which relaxes the stomach (no big deal or anything); stopped at Mesa Grande wifi café to check email (and were gently reminded by the owner, who knows me well, that we had left the restaurant last time without paying).  

We walked to the park (above), where young kids played on swings, young men  played soccer or basketball, and a man went along a path walking seven dogs (Josh counted them!).  I noticed the murals and the flowers.  On the way back to the B&B for a little siesta, we stopped for lunch at a favorite outdoor street restaurant (under the yellow tent, Josh on his iphone waiting for his salad).  A women, Judi, whom we had met earlier at the Mercado (with her husband Michael, both from Oregon) saw us and joined us.  That happens a lot in San Miguel.  Josh is a delightful conversationalist, and we chatted about anything and everything, including that she was a pilot at one time, and now they are thinking of moving to San Miguel fulltime. 

Every day is an adventure, exploring new streets, scenes, and senses.

New Year's Eve in the Jardin was no exception. We headed there around 7pm to join a boisterous crowd.  The Christmas lights seemed  multiplied and magnified, the Parroquia glowed in heavenly light, the balloons and sparklers added to the festive spirit.  We didn’t make it to 12:00 midnight, but we did wait for the opening of a  Mexican rock and roll band.     

As we waited and people-watched, after dinner at a pretty restaurant, Josh regaled me with his incredible knowledge of the “Star Wars” series.  He knows every detail, the story, the characters, the lines, the meaning of the fight between good and evil, the complexities and intricacies of the productions.  He loves talking about it, and I love listening to him.  He calls himself a “Star Wars nerd!”   Honestly, his knowledge, insight and understanding is amazing.  He says the lines with passion, drama.  He treasures the three books he has on the series, and he can’t wait for a new series to begin, "sometime in 2015" he informed me.   He speculates what the sequel could be.  He’ll be 18 then! I think he’ll be the first in line to see that movie when it comes out.     

How thrilling to be in San Miguel with Josh on New Year's eve. What a wonderful time we had.  Memorable. What gratitude filled my heart.  Being with Josh on the dawn of 2013 was the best New Year’s ever! 

And the fireworks? Oh, right.  We were in bed when it hit 12 midnight.  Then I heard the boom, boom, boom.  The fireworks filled the night sky, from the Parroquia, around the hills, everywhere. The church bells pealed, joyously, on and on. I ran up to Josh' bedroom to get to our  rooftop deck, calling to a soundly sleeping Josh on the way.  It was glorious, and Josh finally did stir to join me for most of them.  Best view in town. Thrilling!  

(sometimes I think I'm wearing Josh out!).

A Peace Corps Success Story: Good News from Starobelsk, Ukraine

Photos of Starobelsk English Club

Does Peace Corps make a difference in the communities it serves? Here's one success story.  One of many.

I just received this good news from Starobelsk, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer for two years, 2009-11: the Starobelsk Public Library has received 15 computers from the Bibliomist project.  At last.  Hurray. Ура! What fantastic news!

Bibliomist is a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation project, managed by IREX, to computerize 1000 Ukrainian libraries. 

We started the process in Starobelsk in the fall of 2009.  That's when I read about the project online and immediately got information to share with the local public Library. The Library was skeptical at first. Some of you remember my blogging about it.  

How, I wondered, could I work with the Library to help it improve its services and grow into a 21^st-century community resource?  How could we help make this Library a center of information, change and civic education?  

My models were our fantastic American libraries, but most Ukrainian libraries, especially in small towns and in the east, were far from that model.  Very far.  Most didn’t have computers; used old card catalogue systems; did not encourage borrowing; did little community outreach. 

The USAID “Windows on America” project helped Oblast (county)-wide libraries, and I remember how important it was to the Chernigov Biblioteca when I trained there.  I tried to get "Windows on America" for Starobelsk, appealed and begged, but the library is not county-wide and I couldn’t convince USAID to make an exception. 

So I began to position the Library to apply for the Bibliomist project, with the ultimate goal of getting 15 computers, support for internet connectivity, and computer training for the librarians.  It was a step-by-step process, not easy. The interpretive services of Natalia Dohadailo, who teaches English at the local university, were essential. We also had help from Anton the poet, whose mother was a librarian and friend of the director.

First I started an English Club; that took many cups of tea, patience, and perseverance.  Then, with a Peace Corps Partnership grant, and help from Toledo donors and many of you, we began an English-language book collection, another first for the Library.  Then we made an initial application to Bibliomist and learned we had to 1) begin with preparing the library for computer installation (modern wiring, sprinkler system, security), and 2) apply to Bibliomist for small community outreach grants. 

I raised funds ($800) from friends in the US for computer installation preparation, essential but not the most exciting part of the project.  With help from Marat Kurachevsky at Peace Corps headquarters and Bibliomist staff, the Library received a $2,500 grant to reach out to teachers and develop a "sister" partnership with an American library, the Boyd County Public Library in Kentucky.  Amanda Stein, the outreach coordinator, helped make that possible.  

The Library learned as it went. It didn’t know how to partner with the American library and of course had trouble with outreach and access.  Still, when I left, the Library was better positioned to get 15 computers. I was also hoping it would get a PCV to move it forward. On the other hand, I wasn’t sure it would happen.  

Then I got the news: the Starobelsk Public Library does, indeed, have 15 computers!  The Library and community will celebrate on 1 February 2013.  I hope I can Skype in and join the celebration.   

Peace Corps Volunteers often wonder whether or not they make a difference.  I wondered the same thing.  Now I can say my work did make a difference.  I left a small legacy in a village in far-eastern Ukraine. Not alone, of course, but in partnership with Starobelsk's concerned citizens and friends.  Together we helped “e-power” the library so it could in turn empower the community it serves.   

Peace Corps does makes a difference, one community at a time, from the bottom up, all over the world!