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isaac . the blog
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meet my friends
read my archives
mail me at iphillips@gmail.com
eat my RSS/XML.
see myspace
Emo Bullying in Mexico
I know that this is a serious subject, but I find the anti-emo riots in Mexico rather humourous. Read about it here.Labels: mexico
Broken Fountain
I just found this picture my mum took last year at our old home, Vista Hermosa, in Mexico City. When I was little, the fountain rarely worked, but it was much more useful to my sister and me when it wasn't full of water. Once we put the yellow ducklings my mum bought us at the Tianguis market inside the dry fountain. We thought this would help protect them from the dogs. It worked for a while, but eventually the dogs caught and ate the ducklings. On other occasions, the dry fountain served other purposes. It was pirate ship! Hannah and I would take the fountain to the high seas of our imagination and capture treasure. It was a beautiful garden, now it's overgrown with weeds.
In background, you can see the ruins of old house. The property was almost half a hectare, and the garden was terraced. From the house - located on the top terrace, you could see downtown Mexico City. That's why it it was called "Vista Hermosa" - the beautiful view" ... Today the property is being developed. In the picture above, you can still see the ruins of our house, but there are also four or five expensive condos on the property with BMW's and Ashton Martins guarded by private security. The only things that are still the same are the view and security guard hut ... and the fountain is still there.
Scattered Around the World
Rob Foxell and I had a discussion recently about the advantages and disadvantages making friends around the world. Rob is English, and like me, he has done several programs abroad where he has made many good friends. Sometimes it makes me sad: I develop deep friendships with people, and then after separation, I wonder if we'll ever see each other again.
Fifty years ago, people often lived in the same place for most of their lives, and a move was a defining event. Thus the people who attended your graduation went to your marriage, and possibly your funeral! Today, our relationships are scattered around the world, and we are forced to communicate with our friends with skype, messenger, and facebook. This bothers me a lot, and sometimes I hunger for deeper relationships with more permanence. Yet Rob reminded me that as travel becomes cheaper and more common, this we will see each other often. Also, he brought up that using technology, we can support more relationships. It is said that we can only have 12 deep friends, and around 100 other acquaintances. Today, I think that is changing. I keep in touch with hundreds of acquaintances, and I have more than 12 close friends. Applications like facebook allow us to know what's happening with our friends no matter where they are. Skype allows us to talk with them for free wherever there is an internet connection.
Here's an example: last week I went to Monterrey, Mexico for a few days with a group from my church. Though I've never spent time there before, I already had good friends there. Above is Luly Uribe, a student at the Tech in Monterrey. We studied together in Paris at the Alliance Française. We became quite close over after-class coffees and weekend excursions around Paris. Though I haven't seen her since May 2006, I have kept in touch with her via occasional phone calls and messages on facebook. Further more, I have spent time with Christopher, a friend of Luly's from Monterrey. Christopher is studying in Boulder, and we've spent a few weekends together in Denver and up in mountains.
Despite its disadvantages, I'd rather have my friends scattered around the world. Though we don't get to see each other as often as I'd like, our relationships are deepened through cross-cultural experiences. Technology helps us maintain these friendships, and cheaper travel lets us spend time together - despite the distance.
(i can't believe I just wrote something cheesy!)
Labels: mexico, muse, technology
24-7 Prayer Video from Mexico
Mr Carlos Sanchez of global 24-7 fame just uploaded a video he made a few years ago. The quality is old-skool (vHs), but that kind of makes it cool.For those of you who don't understand, it's about waking up in the middle of the night to go pray. Brings back loooots of memories.
( ( Put your hands up for Detroit! ) )
Cruz Verde
Last week we stayed at the Prats 's house in Magdalena Contreras. It's near Vista Hermosa, the house I lived in as a child. I don't remember the streets well, but since my brother, Joel was there, we took an afternoon to walk around the old streets. Vista Hermosa is on the street Cruz Verde. In the picture above, I'm walking up the (very steep) Cruz Verde. On a clear day when there's not much pollution, you can see downtown Mexico City from there.
Cruz Verde seems to have changed a lot. It's more modern, and there are more privadas - or private neighborhoods. Vista Hermosa is destroyed, and in its place are five apartments. I spoke with the gatekeeper, who assures me he sees my dog Joya's ghost at night. Joya died from rat poison when I was four or five years old. What freaked me out was that he knew exactly where she was buried.
I'm back home for the week ... It's finals. My last class ends at 15h30 next Tuesday, and I'll fly out to Maryland at 18h30 to work for Speak*New*Words* for a week. I'll come back for a week and then will leave for Paris/Barcelone on the 17th of May. Should be a busy month!
In other news, I'm worth 6 921 200€. haha...
Je vaux 6 921 200 € sur HumainAVendre.com, et vous ?
Two and Half Hours
I just finished an assignment in art history, and so I can now begin to pack. I leave for Mexico City in two and a half hours, and won't be back till Sunday. Si kieres hacer algo en chilangolandia, mandeme un texto o un email.ciao
A Photo
I'm trying to avoid calculus homework ... so here's a photo I found of my dad and I doing business in Mexico City. It made me smile. hehe... The blur adds to the photo imho.
Friends: Diego Casas
Carlos, my sister Brianna, and Diego. Diego and Carlos were two of my best friends growing up. We met in Mexico, but both of them ended moving up to Colorado with their families at different times. Ironically, they've both been my neighbors in Colorado. Though I've see Carlos often, I lost contact with Diego for a long time.
I still remember the first time Diego came to our church in Mexico. The church often met in our house, and I was up on the patio when Diego's family arrived. My sister came to me and told me to go and talk to him, because he was about my age. I must have been five, and he had maybe four years. We must have hit it off, because we became good friends. When he moved to Colorado he was seven, and I was eight. Since he lived down the street, we saw each other a lot. We sledded, skied, and created an imaginary police force together. In May of that year we went to the east coast together. We were the only two non-adults on the trip, so it we chased fictional criminals with our imaginary secret police force.
But when Diego moved back to Mexico after a year in the States, we lost contact. (After all, most seven and eight year-olds don't email, call, or even text that much.) I didn't see him or even hear from him for more than ten years.
Last Saturday, at a church reunion picnic in Mexico, Diego walked in. You can imagine my surprise! The photo isn't great, but it is the first time adult Diego and I talked. I think his facial features are almost identical, but he's taller, his hair is longer, and he is a lot stronger.
Here's a better picture of Diego with his cousin Emiliano. After the church BBQ, I went out with Diego for dinner, and I ended up spending the night at his house and spending most of Sunday with him. Obviously, we've both changed a lot. Not only that, but we have gone down very different roads, but there was still some sort of connection between us. It's odd how that happened .... I hope don't lose contact again.
Why I haven't Posted
I haven't been blogging much this week, but that's because I've been so busy. In company of the most diverse group of people imaginable, I've spent the last five nights in five different beds, and slept in three different cities.In Maryland, I'm working with the ASF in some urban schools. We're promiting character education in highschools. I'm filming and helping out in any way I can. The program is fascinating, and it is giving me a chance to experience a part of American culture that I've never been a part of. I've only been here one day, and already I can see it will be fun.
Here's what my life has looked like over the last few days:
Friday:
15h00 Lunch with Monica Lemus in Polanco
20h00 Dinner with the Casaubons in Santa Fe. They're a Mexican family from French descent.
23h30 Blank with Natalie Casauban in Bosques de las Lomas ...
4h00 Go to bed chew Casauban
Saturday
12h00 Meet at the Prats' house in Tlalpan for a Pueblo de Fe reunion after a tasty breakfast with the Casaubans ... It was surreal to speak French in a plush Mexican garden.
22h30 Meet my best friend from Elementary school - Diego Casas Galindo - for dinner in San Angel ...
4h30 Fall asleep at Diego's house in Herradura
Sunday
10h00 Hang out with Diego and his family ...
18h30 Pick up Cristina and head south ...
19h30 Meet Sofia (a friend from Paris) at Starbucks on Altavista, the Mexican equivalent of Rodeo Drive.
20h30 Go bowling with the Prats in Tlalpan
2h00 Finally go to sleep in Tlalpan after a movie and packing
Monday
7h00 Leave for the airport.
13h00 Arrive in Houston's airport and eat at Papidoux ... mm .. Cajun food. :D
18h00 Arrive in Denver
21h15 Go with Ben to lunch in Breckenridge.
0h00 Starting doing homework and packing.
3h00 Go to bed in Frisco
Tuesday
8h45 Stop by Brianna's house to chat
9h30 Calculus Class
12h00 Lunch with calculus buddies ... while writing a speech
13h00 Speech class ... while finishing the speech
14h00 Give speech, say thanks and run out the door to airport
17h25 Flight out of Denver (again)
21h00 Talk Mexican real estate with a pilot in Chicago
00h25 Arrive in Baltimore, Maryland
2h00 Go to bed in Baltimore
Wednesday
7h30 Wake up and get ready to go to work with the ASF at Dunbar highschool.
DF
My dad and I arrived yesterday in Mexico City. I love flying into the airport here. The views are incredible. As you enter the city, the only non-urban structures are the distant snow-covered volcanos. Other than these peaks, the city seems to stretch infinitely in every direction. Skyscrapers and barrios, slums and penthouses ... The diversity is astounding. After leaving the airport one of the first thing I noticed was the smell. A strange mix of pollution, all the open markets, and a developing city fills my nostrils with a smell that reminds me of my childhood.I'm staying in the south near Pedregal with the Prats. It's odd to be here so close to the neighbourhood where I used to live. Yesterday on our way to dinner, we drove by my old school. Though I don't know my way around, I do recognize many of the streets.
The Prats used to be in Pueblo de Fe, a church my parents started in the nineties. I used to play with their kids in preschool and elementary school. Then when the Prats spent a year in Frisco we played Monopoly and went sledding. But now the oldest, Michelle, is seventeen. Christopher, the second oldest is sixteen, and he's currently studying at the Japanese school near here.
whups... I've just been told I have to leave in a few minutes.
ciao
Labels: mexico
Fatigue
The last two weeks have been very busy and almost monotonous. Between my seventeen credits at CMC, working six days a week, skiing, and church, I have barely had time to sleep. Anyway, the end is in site: spring break is next week, and I leave for Mexico City on Monday.:D
well... I've gotta get to class.
( ( listining to: nada ) )
Random Thoughts and Happenings
Monsieur Pierre-Elie Robert is putting out some amazing photos lately. Please check them out. He has some great venues for photography, and his subjects are always lively. He did a series at Montmartre, at La Défense, and at the Château de Saint Germain en Laye. My favourite is one he took of his brother Alban. He's riding his bike through the park, and there is something amazing about the photo. The bleak background, the ancient park, and the young child riding his bike. (btw, I'm supposed to VJ at Pierre Elie's 18th next June! be there. ;) )
Next, Dan Hames has been recording this week. :D Enough said.
My life? It's been busy the last few weeks. I'm in my third week of classes. My classes this semester are Calculus II, English Comp II, Public Communication, and Art History II, and so far it looks like Calc and Art will be my hardest classes. Actually, I'm supposed to be writing a paper about linear perspective in the early renaissance right now. whups...
Other news: I think I'm going to Mexico in February. I'll probably only be in the DF and maybe GDL. A group from the church is going, and we'll probably be there about ten days.
Finally, I have a new nephew! Simeon Michael Ryan was born last Friday. He's beautiful, and is just now starting to leave his house.
ok... I have to go!
cheers.
Latino Power
I was looking through the recent Oscar nominations, and I was (pleasantly) surprised to see all the Latinos nominated this year. Spanish is less and less of foreign language in mainstream culture, and in the US, it's becoming more and more the other main language.In English class, my professor said that 'foreign' words are italicized. This rather offended me. What is foreign? Spanish isn't a foreign language in the US, and since half the babies born today, it may well be the first language of the half the student population in twenty year.
The fact that Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron, Adriana Barraza and Guillermo Arriaga (all Mexican) were nominated for main awards shows that in the arts, Latino culture is gaining influence. Plus there's Almodóvar and Penelope Cruz (Spanish) who also have a film that received a nomination.
Last year, I started to notice how important Latino arts in the world. Gasolina was played at every party in Paris, and everyone seemed to have mastered reggaeton grinding. La Camisa Negra was constantly on the radio, and every girl wearing a black shirt loved to dance to the song. ;)
Here in the US, a girl from Chihuahua recently told me that in the middle school 'Ahora a los gringos le gusta RBD'. Even preppy Mexican pop music is gaining popularity.
Anyway ... Just a muse on Latino culture.
