Waterfalls, by Ellie

Standing on the stairs above the first waterfall, I finally unclenched my hands from the railing and prepared for one of the most exciting things to happen in my life. We all had butterflies, especially watching another group of kayakers disappear over the drop. Becca was the first to go down the waterslide, then me, and then Maggie. The feeling of going down the slide was indescribable. Just before going down the first one, I remember deep breathing, concentrating on where to go, and the thought of what I was about to get myself into. While going down I wanted to scream and squeal because I was having so much fun. I lifted my paddle above my head and before I knew it, I was on the surface absolutely elated. After conquering one waterfall, I felt like I could do anything. Of course, running the next six waterfalls I was definitely nervous, but I had so much confidence that it didn’t really matter. We scouted each one, so we all knew what to expect, but each one was different and after each one I felt so exhilarated. The best part of the day was definitely looking back at all of the waterfalls that we just did; their beauty was unfathomable and the feeling of accomplishment was irreplaceable. I was able to test myself, push my limits just before going down each one which has made me a stronger person altogether. I will never forget how proud I was of myself and everyone else while looking back behind us at the water cascading down. The only question I had about running the waterfalls was whether I wanted to jump off them, or run them in my kayak. I will never forget the feeling of nervousness before running them, suspense while watching my friends go down, accomplishment and pride looking back at what we had just down, and of course, excitement and exhilaration while going down each waterfall. The confidence this trip, along with the seven waterfalls, has instilled in me will last a lifetime, and my memories will too.

End of the Maggie Trilogy

It is strange to think that tomorrow, I will be back home in New Orleans. I will be back in my city, with my family and friends, sleeping in my own bed… back to the old grind. I don’t feel ready to leave Mexico, because for the first time in my life, I feel like I’ve experienced a genuine adventure. Yes, I’ve been to camp, paddled rivers, climbed mountains, and slept in the woods…but there is something about this trip that has pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me in very unique ways. Leaving the United States and traveling to different countries is definitely something that I think everyone should try and do at some point during life. Regardless of where you go, who you’re with, and whether or not you speak the language…international travel can five you a chance to see the world and its inhabitants from a completely different perspective. I am so grateful that I came on this trip, because there really is just no denying the impact that cultural immersion has on a young person. Everything from directly interacting and experiencing the mountains and rives of Mexico has helped me to understand who I am and where I want to go in life. Stepping back from the superficial worries and demands that can so easily take over our lives as teenagers in the USA and leaping into a different culture and lifestyle is refreshing. It has served as a huge wake-up call for me, because I remember the elements of life that are universal: friends, family, love, nature, and adventure. The amazing experiences and realizations that have hit me while in Mexico will be a part of me, hopefully long after I leave here. I feel like every day here has been a non-stop adventure, and that is due not only just to the amazing paddling, but also to each and every aspect of life here the we’ve been opened to.

Attempt to Describe the Indescribable - by Becca

The trip to Mexico has been indescribable. It’s difficult to talk about one part of the trip in order to sum up what I have learned from this experience. I have learned to be more giving and grateful of what I have when we took the hike up to Xopilapa, the sight we saw at El Tajin taught me about the culture and history in Mexico, the ones that had existed before our time, and the ones who still exist today. The river experiences have been incredible, especially the last one we ran. The daring “rock slides” made me feel proud of the group and myself. We have traveled from very rural, to large cities, and the change always was interesting to see. For me, finding peace with change and different places has always been something I have worked on everyday. The challenge is exactly why I like these trips. It makes me a stronger, wiser person, but we are learning outside of classrooms. As I live through a day I think about good leadership and personality qualities I want to portray to others. Today, on our way to Tampico, we stopped at Xilitla to see the garden of Edward James. It is a huge elaborate architecture display of wild ideas, shapes, and stairs. The man who had it built was very wealthy and seemed to be a little out there. The people who are different and bold enough to create a home such as this are the ones who create the amazing things in this world. As I was carefully winding down the spiral staircase, taking plenty of pictures, I was thinking about what it would be like to meet this man. Would he be selfish? Selfless? Funny? Open-minded? Cranky? I searched through the art in the buildings to try and find the answer, but I couldn’t find one. Both contradicting characters seemed to fin this style of scenery. Instead, I imagined myself building a home like this, and years later people would look at it, weave through it and wonder the same thing I wondered today. The difference, in my home and gardens I would somehow show the important qualities to good character, in hopes of making them think about the world outside their own, as well as themselves in how they act and help the world. I don’t think I would even have enough money to create large kooky, twisty, tricky buildings today, but the point is, before this trip, I wouldn’t of thought anything about character if I saw these buildings. This trip to Mexico has been indescribable, but I hoped I have described it enough so you can grasp why these kinds of experiences are the ones one should have in his/her lifetime.

La cuenta de Marisol, 1.3.2009

Hola!
Bueno para empezar en este pequeno pero importante viaje que hice con mis amigos de Alzar School, para mi fue muy gratificante e incredible; descrubi cosas sobre mi misma que no sabia y que tenia. El primer dia que pase con ellos fue divertido por que me ensenaron muchas cosas sobre el kayak que apesar de que nosdoia me dijieron que estaba aprendiendo muy rapido y a buen ritmo. Por la tarde fui con ellos a remar solo un poco al rio de Cuetzala, per me di cuenta de un problema, lo mas importante y no lo sabia REMAR! Con ayuda de mi maestra Katie aprendi y despues con ayuda de Sean pude un poco mas; en la noche tuvimos una deliciosa cena en la que yo ayude a cocinar. Al dia siguente, regresamos a Cuetzala y esta vez aprendie como pasar por una corriente me llevaba, hasta que por fin pude! Regresamos a Jalcomulco y tuvimos un tiempo para hacer tarea y en la noche a cenar algo rico. El martes fue un dia muy importante para mi amiga Mayan y yo ya que fue el primer dia que ibamos a bajar el rio, pero, lo bajamos los dos en pato; la experiencia que tuve fue algo maravulloso para ser nuestra y mi primera vez en el rio. El miercoles fue un dia muy malo para mi ya que amaneci enferma y por esa razon no pude bajar por el rio en kayak pero mi amiga Mayan si, su experiencia fue incredible (bueno eso fue lo que ella me dijo); es dia fue ano nuevo y tuvimos una cena pequeno pero muy rica! Al dia siguen te hicimos un viaje a una pequena comunidad llamada Xopilapa, salimos de Jalcomulco por la manana e hicimos una larga y consada caminata entre bosques y montanas para poder llegar a la pequena comunidad en la cual junto con todos mis maestros y companeros, Sean, Kristin, Jessica, Maggie, Ellie y Becca; al llegar a Xopilapa (a la que por cierto fuimos por que Sean y Kristin querian llevar alguno utiles para la escuela y pequenos regalos para los ninos de ese lugar) fuimos a casa de una senora la cual fue muy amable al recibirnos en su casa llamada Guadalupe, ella junto con su familia nos dieron hospedaje y comida; despues de estar un pequeno momento decidimos dar los utiles para los ninos, asi que nos llevaron a la pequena escuela de esa comunidad y Sean me asigno la tarea antes de empezar a repartir de hablar con las personas y explicarles que era el Alzar School y que cosas les habiamos llevado y el motivo por el cual los visitamos; esa pequeno explicacion fue muy bueno por lo que ellos me dijieron y descubri que tenga la habilidad de poder comunicarme con las personas.

Pasamos la noche en casa de Dona Guadalupe y nos despertaoms muy temprano al siguente dia ya quen teniamos que regresar a Jalcomulco; el camino fue un poco mas pesado pero mas corto, aunque me di cuenta de que cuando me propango algo intento o lucho. Por alcanzarlo y eso fue muy bueno para mi persona; en la tarde fuimos de compras mas comida para el campamento. Con my ayuda, Sean logro no percterse en Xalapa y no tomar caminos equivocados, ya que las carreteras de Xalapa son un poco mas complicados! Al regreso a Jalcomulco, todos nos preparamos para cenar y tuvimos nuestra reunion, despues nos fuimos a dormir. El Sabado fuimos al Rio Actopan el cual fue otra experiencia incredible. Bajamos de Nuevo el Rio en Pato Mayan y yo, aunque al principio nos costo porque yo no podia muy bien llevar el pato y darle direccion, pero al final con un buen trabajo en equipo de las dos logramos llegar al final del recorrido, el problema de este rio al del anterior fue que sus rapidos eran muy largos y su nivel esta bastante bajo por lo cual era mas dificil pasar por los rocas. Este viaje me enseno cosas muy importantes de las cuales estoy muy orgullosa de haber aprendio y haber tenido la oportunidad de vivir. No podria haber pasado unas mejores vacaciones que estas, estoy muy contento de haber conocido a estas fantasticos y marvillosas personas loas cuales me prindaron so amistad sin condicion, verdadermente muchas gracias a Sean, Kristin, Jessica, y Katie por haberme ensenado poco pero much sobre el kayak y tambien a mejorar un poco mi ingles y descubrir muchas cosas que no sabia que tenia a mis pequenas pero grandes companeras de cuarto y amigas Ellie, Becca y Maggie por al igual que mis instructores ayudarme y brindarme su amistad y por sertes de una poca de ayuda para que ellas aprendieran a hablar mas el espanol y descrubrir que son todos unas magnificas personas, estoy muy agradecida y espero que esta experiencia algun dia se vuelva repetir y no desperdiciar esta oportunidad tan grande la cual tuve el placer de vivir y poder contar a todos ustedes.

Muchas gracias!

Les deseo a todos una bonita experiencia.

Attentamente,
Marisol Anell Soriano
Jalcomulquena de corrazon

A perfect beginning, by Ellie 1.3.2009

Talk about an exciting past couple of days! We experienced how people celebrate New Years Eve down here. Some houses make old men stuffed with plastic and fireworks and dress them up in outfits, which includes a mask; seeing them in front of the colorful houses was a little scary. Around dinnertime, someone dressed up with the mask of their old man, and danced and sang in front of our door and wouldn’t go away until we gave him money. At twelve o’clock, on New Years, they burn the stuffed old man, who symbolizes the past year. Besides watching a stuffed man turn to ashes, we also learned that you are supposed to eat twelve grapes, on for each month, and make a wish on each. When we woke up on New Years day, we quickly got dressed, ate, and set out for our hike, which was nine miles or so- no big deal. The hike, or caminata, from Jalcomulto to Xopilapa was very challenging, but it was all worth it when I reached the top of the montain and saked in the beautiful sightes of the mountains covering the horixon. Standing there, looking out at the canyons drenched with green trees, whith my friends at my side, and a donkey carringing all of our school supplies, was the perfect mixture for a great day- and that was only the beginning. As we progressed into rural Mexico, my excitement to give all of the supplies to the kids grew immensely. When we reached Xopilapa, we quickly hurried over to the school, where all the kids were waiting for us. We organized our supplies into piles as the kids organized themselves into two lines according to age and gender. Just before we handed out all of our things, Marisol stood up and spoke to the kids. The way she captivated the audience was so inspiring. The little kids looked up to her with big eyes filled with excitement and it was at that moment that I thought Marisol should run for president. While handing out pencils and crayons to them, I realized how much a thing like a pencil could do for them, they were grateful for all of the things that they got; for me I realized how fortunate I am and how great it felt giving things away.
After that, we went and relaxed by the river for a while; when we returned to the house we were going to stay at for the night, we were welcomed with a nice, hot authentic Mexican meal. We had beans, rice, and hand-made tortillas filled with deliciousness. After I got a tour of the town, I played various games with the kids at the house, like running around, skip-it, spinning around in circles, and soccer.
The next day we had a great breakfast of tortillas, beans, and eggs with some sort of red sauce. During our walk back to Jalcomulco, Becca and I sang numerous duets for the lower-school Christmas concerts and time just flew by. When we got back to the hotel, we took showers and ate lunch. We then left for Jalapa to get groceries. The car ride was fun because we got to decide exactly what we were going to be having for dinner for the next five days and buy them in the grocery store. I wandered through the aisles looking for a soup that everyone liked—looking back on it, I probably looked pretty silly. That night, Jessica, Maggie, and I made dinner and after that Becca and I walked to the paleteria and got chocolate and coconut nieve (which is icecream but Bluebell or Coldstone can’t even compare)… it kind of has the consistency of dough.
Today (January 3rd) Becca and I were the “leaders of the day” and we got to pick which rivers we were going to go on, when we were going to wake up, have meals, and so on. Today we paddled el Rio Actopan and it was one of the funnest rivers ever. Each rapid was really long and had plenty of waves and holes and swift currents. We tried surfing in a spot which was really challenging; then we also tried doing some tricks (by the way, surfing is something you do in your kayak, we didn’t bring a surfboard, Dad). These past couple of days have made out to be a perfect beginning for 2009.

Maggie Volume II

It is necessary to start this blog by saying that Mayan is the first girl in Jalcomulco to be able to roll a kayak. She is rolling in the pool right now with Sean, and I am excited for her. So many awesome things have been going on, I don’t even know where to begin. I think it’s safe to say that New Year’s Eve was one that I will never forget. At midnight, scare-crow like figures were burned and grapes were eaten for good luck in the new year. It’s hard to describe exactly what it was like, but regardless of the fact that I was kind of out of the loop, the feelings of celebration and community were definatley there. People smiling, strangers hugging, a scare-crow clowing up in flames..what better way to celebrate a new year. The only downfall was the loud music that vibrated our hotel all night… ha!

New Year’s Day that will remain with me forever. We loaded up TONS of school supplies on the back of a mule, packed our bags, and hiked to the estemely rural town of Xopilapa. Mayan, Marisol, Becca, Ellie, Kristin, Sean, Jessica, myself, ate the oh-so-lovable Beto (the mule-steerer) hiked for about nine miles as Pebbles tagged along. It was brutal but the burning in my calves and thighs was so worth it. The long hike and the scenery that we saw really helped me to see how lucky I am to be a part of this world. I can’t explain exactly how I felt during the hike, but it was the perfect mixture of delirium, gratefulness, and excitement for what was to come.
We finally reached Xopilapa and after Marisol spoke to the children and townspeople, we handed out all of the school supplies. Kristin and Sean pretty much left it up to the five of us to decide how to hand it out, and I have to say that we did pretty awesome! The smiles on the faces of those children are imprinted into my heart.

After a night of awkwardly sleeping (or not sleeping) next to snoring Beto, we began our journey back to Jalcomulco. We were all kind of tired, thanks to the choir of roosters/dogs/cats/Beto’s snoring that had been going on all night, but we attacked the trail with a since of fulfillment. We had to climb ladders that were placed along the mountain trail, and the views that we got to see (plateaus, a mountain with a snowy top, messages written on the stone) made them well worth it. When we got back the hotel, we were so tired, but finished off the day by doing some grocery shopping in the city. We had one task: groceries for five dinners, under a $100 budget. We did it, but it wasn’t easy- so many different kinds of soup! After that, I proceeded to get lost in a Wal-Mart’s toyville with Sean…it was like Santa’s workshop exploded (complete with kids running around like crazy). It looked so fun. Definitely not like the New Orleans Wal-Mart. Today, we paddled the Rio Actopan. It was beautiful! The waves were huge. I get so annoyed with myself when my boat flips or I get turned around…but I try to remember…its NOT that big of a deal. Life goes on. Keep trying to do better. I remember the love and hospitality of the people of Xopilapa, and through I tower over them and speak a different language like some Martian, they’ve helped me realize that life isn’t always about being the “greatest” or absolutely perfect. So, that being said, maybe I’ll roll better tomorrow. And maybe I won’t. I’m just so grateful to be here.

A Change in Pace, by Becca 1.3.2009

Mexico has been awesome so far! I was supposed to write about it days ago, but it all passes by too fast. Two days ago, we took a long hike up to Xopilapa. The hike made our legs hurt, but the view was worth it. The whole trip was worth taking; we got to gather and give a bunch of school supplies to children who don’t get those kinds of things easily. It made me think about how lucky I am, and how things can be taken for granted so easily. The kids looked so excited to receive pencils, paper, stickers; whereas shopping for school supplies at home has never been the highlight of my year. I truly am lucky and the experience made me grateful.
After the hike, we all drove to Xalapa and shopped for our dinners. Mayan and Marisol were a big help in the grocery stores. It’s really cool having two girls from Mexico on the trip. I feel my Spanish is improving from talking to them and they know their way around Jalcomulco very well, which is the town we are currently staying in. They are very nice, along with everyone on the trip. Unfortunately, Marisol is leaving us tomorrow night and Mayan is leaving Tuesday. It makes me sad, but I’m glad they were part of my experience in Mexico.
Today, we paddled a very fun river in Actopan. The rapids were very continuous and lots of fun! We paddled for most of the day, and today, Ellie and I were “leaders of the day,” and we make the decisions and lead the group for the day. For example, we helped find a way to and from Actopan and we decided we wanted to paddle the river in Actopan and what we wanted to do the rest of the day. Tonight, we will get feedback about how we led to help us become better leaders. Mexico has been awesome so far and I am excited for what’s left to come!