The sweet beginnings of one volunteer's odyssey

Now it's almost two weeks, since I got to Xpujil (Mexico), but it feels like a lot longer. The adaptation process to the new country, a place to live at and a project to be involved in always includes a lot of excitement mixed up with cultural shocks as everything tastes, smells and works different. Additionally, as a woman you find yourself in many offensive situations. Aside of the man staring at you with absolutely no shame while you walk by, you're also occasionally shouted at “guapa” or “guer(it)a”.

The Xpujil (Cat's taill ) ruins. 

When it comes to what I imagined Xpujil to be, and how it looks in reality, there wasn't exactly a match. The naively imagined idyllic jungle village happened to be full of badly placed cement, wires, and, well, civilization, which unfortunately involves lots of reggaeton, dirt and contamination. But to be fair also internet, electricity and running water. And what I definitely learned to appreciate is how safe one feels in here. Even though Xpujil is a little concrete island, the surroundings of it are definitely a jungle. A beautiful lively jungle, that is protected as Reserva de la Biósfera de Calakmul. The whole area belonged to the Mayan empire, and one of the important rulers, the Kaan (or Snake) dynasty used to govern from the nearby Calakmul.

The Chaac, god of rain.

If you wonder what brought me here, it's teaching English as a volunteer in the local cultural center. The NGO that made this all possible is called United Vision. It's a Czech organization receiving volunteers from all over the world. I found them thanks to a friend of mine in a very convenient moment when the “after the summer” times were shaping. What I liked about their philosophy was the long term (3 - 4 months minimum) nature of their projects and the fact, that in future they would like to contribute to creating ecotouristic activities, that support local communities and products. This all made quite a sense to me. The teaching itself was the scary part, but after few classes, I realized, that it's not as traumatizing activity. Besides, it looks like that the previous volunteers did quite a good job as some of the students, that persisted from the beginning of this year already know a lot and are curious to learn more, which is very motivating. What is amazing about the Mexican side of the project are definitely the people. People from whom I am already learning a lot. They are critically thinking activists working in NGOs and within the local communities. It's inspiring to see in them and in others, that surround this community, that understanding and talking about what problems the country and the region has doesn't take away being proud of their roots and appreciation for the culture they live in.

The natural jungle conquering the concrete one.

                                 

And what makes me come here as a volunteer in a first place and a tourist in the second one? I think that traveling is a great thing. You get to know a bit of the world, yourself, experience the life in a more intense way and bla bla bla.. It's not hard to figure the pros of it. And it's even better if you go to some of the places from the Global South where life's so much cheaper, right? But how many travelers stop themselves and think why it is so. We don't realize, that we're taking advantage of an inequality that our Northern/Western lifestyles, economics and politics help to maintain. So, for me personally it's fine to travel around here under the condition of giving something back. I am not trying to show that I know better, nor am I doing this out of any feeling of obligation or guilt. It was somehow a natural consequence and a need to involve myself in something that makes sense inside this world full of contradiction, political chaos and absurdity. It's simply another possible way of looking at traveling and the impact, that you can have while doing it. And, you know, anyways, when you volunteer in a well organized project (cause don't get me wrong, this is definitely not a "all volunteering's good" kind of agitation, there's so much, that can go wrong about it from a bad organization of the whole project, irresponsible coordinators or reckless attitudes to the community), you usually end up receiving more than you give, learning a lot and you're guaranteed to submerge yourself in the culture a bit more, than if you're just quickly sightseeing and passing through.

Other understandings and funky details of the first two weeks are:

• killing the starving mosquitoes is a great training for your reflexes
• the lizards and spiders are friends as they eat the mosquitoes, so you better treat them right
• I named my new bike Guerita, she's as white as I am
• oh... and the Aguacates are as good as I imagined them to be!

My little Granada blues o el arte de saber volver

¿Existe algún arte de saber volver a los sitios? ¿Sería volver al lugar sin demasiadas expectativas y con tranquilidad y paciencia? Quizás, si no se encuentra esa tranquilidad, es mejor convertirse en pleno huracán e ir rompiendo los órdenes antiguos. Pero... ¿que pasa si los órdenes antiguos ya no son lo que conocías y en vez de que los rompas tú, te rompen ellos a tí? ¡Precaución! También suele pasar. Aunque sepas que el cambio es lo más propio de la vida misma.

Cada vuelta es única y proporciona sus propias alegrías y penas. Hay sitios con más cambio y movimiento y otros dónde la vida fluye con más lentitud. Granada es el primer caso por excelencia. Cada año académico abre sus puertas a gente nueva y se despide de los que ya se tienen que ir. Es un sitio de paso, dónde el flujo de gente es muy intenso. Uno se puede encontrar con la subcultura a su gusto. ¿Le apetece un poco de mundo hippie, anarquista, pijo o prefiere la serenidad de los hipsters? Encima, con una gran probabilidad habrán uno o más componentes internacionales en el grupo. Parece ser una maravilla. Lo malo empieza cuando tú te quedas y los otros se van. Entablar amistades estables con gente que se quede más tiempo es parecido a encontrar un tesoro.

Cuando aún estos “tesoros” ya no están, resulta como mínimo inquietante. Cuantas familias de amigos ya se tuvieron que separar y seguir cada uno su propio camino. Y hay tantas historias de amor, o por lo menos muchos microamores pasajeros. Es lo más natural en un lugar con tanta gente joven que vienen a pasar un tiempo delimitado de sus vidas. Por el camino a Granada dejan en los aviones y autobuses el control social, que traían de sus casas, viniendo a una ciudad encantadora dónde nadie les conoce. Las propias calles y alrededores de Granada invitan a perderse en sus rincones pintorescos y descubrirlos sintiéndose uno aventurero. Es combinación perfecta y hace que la ciudad esté cargada con mucha magia. Dicha magia proviene del encanto granaino entrelazado con el hecho de ser un cruce en vidas de mucha gente de todo el mundo.

La vuelta a un lugar así, tan repleto de muchas despedidas y reencuentros, conmueve y desequilibra al principio. Sobre todo si muchas de las “familias” de amigos ya no están. Sin embargo, te enseña. Te enseña que en primer lugar te tienes que dar el tiempo para absorber todo ese cambio y luego abrirse a lo nuevo.