Doctor Colibridreams, I presume?

I wanted to blog about my graduation, and show you some pictures of the exam (and mostly, the graduation shawl I knitted). But. All the pics - except the above pic of the lovely roses he gave me - are in boyfriends computer and apparently it is very difficult to send them to me... Yes, I took the exam in the end of March and yes, I have been constantly reminding him of sending me the pics. So, if I waited to get the photos, this blog might be silent for a long, long time.

But - the good news is, I'm a doctor in Latin American studies! I was so happy to finish the studies. The last months before March I kind of hated my thesis, I was so tired of it already. Don't get me wrong - I still love my research subject and plan to write about it more and go on with the research at some point. I just had enough of the thesis and didn't want to work with it anymore, even though I knew it could have been better.

The exam went fine. Well, one of the Committee members was really hard on me. But I already had seen it coming, so it was no surprise. Besides, I know that she is kind of crazy and was pissed of with me for personal reasons. She bashed my work because I hadn't cited her enough (I don´t think there is much to cite, really). So when she tried to question and criticize me, I didn't feel nervious, because I could despise her. I can't really respect her as an academic because the reason she was so difficult with me before and during the exam, is mostly vanity on her part.

Well, the good thing I don't have to try to cope with her anymore. And if I ever have to work with her again, at least it will be on completely different basis, as iguals.

For now, I'm quite happy to work outside the University. It's good to see the "real life" too, although my plan is to go back at some moment. I might be giving some lectures next semester, but that will be something extra, in addition to my real life work.

Almost like MTV

Well, maybe not quite... but at least a music video was involved!

Yesterday I was asked to work as an extra again. This time it was about shooting a music video for Jimmy Steel, at least yet unknown Mexican singer and songwriter who is about to publish his first cd.

The shooting of a music video sounds interesting, and at least it was an experience, if not necessarily the most positive one... We had to be already at 12 p.m. in the meeting place, but we were transported to the shooting location two hours afterwards. The shooting took place in an old factory in Ecatepec, not very nice part of the city up in the north. The place was hidious - it was very dirty and you could just imagine that the rats and the cockroaches would come out at any moment (which they luckily didn't do), and there wasn't too many places to sit down. During the night it was also very very cold, and there were little holes in the ceiling, so you had to choose well where to leave your things while it was raining. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so I can't show you how the place really was. (I have to admit, though, that there was some rough beauty when I saw the moon, stars and the building reflect on the pool of water left by the rain.)

The production was very badly organized. The staff came to the location hours later than us and the shooting started about six hours later than programmed. Besides, the order of the scenes was badly planned, which meant loooong and boring hours of waiting for us extras. For example us girls were needed only in one scene, and that was the one they shot last. Instead of being able to leave before midnight, as we were told, we finally left at seven o'clock in the morning. So 17 hours of waiting and hanging around to work for one hour. I had taken my knitting project with me, but the place was so dirty I didn't feel like knitting at all.

What comes to the video, I think it will be quite good after all. The music isn't bad either, even though the singer's voice isn't very good and his English pronunciation is just awful and many times incomprehensible. We got many good laughs with that... and with his clothes too. He's a kind of combination of Familia Peluche, Jesus of Iztapalapa (In Iztapalapa delegation there are every year Easter processions) and walrus (the moustache is much bigger than in pictures).
But I think he's very serious about himself... He even seemed to think that in the concert scene we were jumping and screaming because we liked him so much, not because we were paid. Well, we'll see if he'll be successful or not.

Even though the shooting was very tiring and mostly boring, and today I have felt as if I had hangover even I haven't drunk alcohol, at least I got some new friends.

Home sweet home...

The second workshop on education is over and I'm happily back in Mexico City. It was nice and interesting and a bit less stressing than the first workshop, but I'm still glad that I'm done with it. This time I was sent to Acapulco. Here's the view from my hotel:

Buuuut.... here's where I spent my time:

Well, I actually could spend some time on the beach too, but not as much as I would have liked... Any way, it's nice to get some touch of the reality between the studies. And besides, my group gave me lots of gifts too: one huipil (a traditional Mexican dress), a painted wooden box and a beach dress that I didn't photograph. I guess they liked me!

In order to keep myself busy now that the workshops are done (as if there wasn't enough to do with the studies!) I decided to star my very first lace shawl. To keep things more interesting, I have to finish this Lehmus-scarf next week - I want to use it on Saturday on friends' wedding. We'll see if I can finish it by then...

Back in town...

Here's some chocolate for you! It's a present from my workshop group.

I'm back to Mexico City after my workshop in Chilpanchingo. Interesting and challenging experience, I learned a lot. But it was very tiring too, I have to admit. I have never facilitated a workshop alone for three days, and it really takes all your energy.

I was prepared to encounter some difficulties, especially after I heard that the teachers and school directors who participated in the workshop, had only been told about it the night before it started and were pretty pissed off by that. But my group turned out to be very nice! They worked well together and I think we managed to create a warm atmosphere so everyone felt comfortable enough to speak. I had only one difficult person that joined the group on the second day. He created some negative energy complaining all the time that instead of participating in some useless workshops he should be directing his school and teaching the kids. But finally I won him over too. The third day, when they were telling their feelings about the workshop, he was also saying how important it is that the teachers make the most of the workshops they are offered. I think that was my greatest victory in the workshop!

I learnt a lot about the conditions of the teachers in rural communities in Guerrero state. Nothing to envy, definitively! The salaries are very small and they even have to pay for themselves the sometimes very long trips to the communities where they teach. The material resources are also very scarce. Sometimes they have computers, for example, but not the electricity to use them.

What comes to Chilpanchingo as a town, I really can't recommend it. It's small and ugly and the people aren't very nice - except for my group, of course. We had even difficulties to take taxis - for some reason they always turned away when they saw two foreign girls (my friend was there too as a facilitator for another group). That doesn't happen often in other parts of the country. I'm glad to be send to some other place for the next workshop, even if I'd love to work with the same group (and they wanted me to go back).

Lots of things to do...

... and everything at the same time...


Things seems to be accumulating right now. I have to present some research results at the university during the May, finish an article (also during May), try to invent themes for some conference papers (inventing isn't that hard, really, but then some day soon I'll have to write those papers too), start my custom yarn painting in these days too...

And as that wasn't enough to do for a while, I also promised to work as a facilitator in two workshops. The first one will be next week - it was going to start already on this Thursday, but luckily the plans changed. All this came up last Friday, so there really hasn't been much time for planning or preparing things. The materials for the workshop isn't very useful either, so I have to invent a lot on educational management in the schools, which isn't my area at all. The participants will be supervisors and directors of schools, probably mainly elder men. I have worked as a facilitator in workshops, but they were for teenagers and children, so this is going to be quite different. In total the workshop will last three days, ten hour days each. I'll be there all by my own - there are other facilitators in the same city (Chilpancingo) for these workshops, but we are all in different schools. Sooooo.... it will be interesting!


But even though I'm not very well prepared and the participants may not be the easiest audience (though I'm definitively not going to let them minimize me for being a young woman), I'm still happy to be part of these workshops. And not only because they are quite well paid! I think it will be a great - and challenging - learning experience.


Any way, with all these things to be done, I have finished something too. This bracelet was a custom order for Jonna. As she lives by the sea, it's called "A Day on a Beach". I'm really happy with the way it turned out, and hope Jonna will love it too!