A todos mis amigos y mi familia, voy a regresar este domingo. Es una decisión mía y solamente mía. Tengo un sentimiento que tengo que ir a mi casa pero es complicado... Lo lamento a todos mis nuevos amigos que me voy antes del fin del semestre. Yo sé que es terrible pero es algo que siento que debo hacer.
To all my friends and family, I am going to return this Sunday. It is my decision and only mine. I have a feeling that I have to return home but it is complicated (FYI I forgot how to spell complicated the 1st time typing this).... I am sorry to all my new friends that I am leaving before the end of the semester. I know it is terrible but it's something I feel I must do.
ay yay yay.... maybe I'll update this again when I'm not really tired. maybe. If you do not have access to my Facebook profile, google "monterrey, balacera, ITESM, two students" and find some online articles. I think I've put up a fair amount of info onto this blog, but I know my fb profile has more. Terrible. It truly is. Everything.
People from Monterrey said that 5 years ago, even as of 1 year ago things were no where near this bad. 5 years ago they could go almost anywhere without fear, actually live. Now everyone is constantly worried. It's not so much about being in the wrong part of town, or being cafeful of your surroundings, but more of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Except those "wrong places" could be extremely extremely dangerous (as in the case of ITESM last Friday morning). It's probably really hard to get out of the way of 6 men with automatic rifles firing continuously in your general direction. Just saying. Now if you were to be caught BETWEEN those 6 trained military agents, and a few ex-military trained Zetas carrying AK-47s, pretty much may you rest in peace.
Once again, I am returning home 7 weeks early based on my feeling alone. It is not the logic and thought of the situation and the pros and cons of it all or what my parents are saying. It is MY feeling. I feel I need to go home, I don't know why, but I have learned to trust my feelings. I only hope it proves okay again this time.
People, please do not lose hope in this country. Mexico is truly a very very beautiful place. The mountains, the rivers, the lakes, the vistas, the people, all of it is amazing. Now the country is falling down because of decisions that were made many many years ago, even decades. I do not understand that history well, all I know is that those decisions made long ago, fueled on by the demand for drugs in the US, have helped to create what exists today. And yes, I am blaming the US for a good amount of this. It is not the government, is the people who consume these drugs, who sell these drugs that I am blaming. If they knew what had to happen for their weed or coke to get to them, they'd be amazed. The amount of bloodshed, the loss of money, the amount of fear created through many countries, 2 continents, and potentially millions of innocent people affected. It's incredible. I do not believe that if the US were to legalize drugs it would help much with this situation. Nor will a 15 foot wall across the entire frontera with Mexico. These people want to move drugs, they'll find ways to do it. If no one wants these drugs, they're done. No more fear, no more bloodshed, no more innocent people caught up in the war to deliver a quick-fix, a temporary escape for everyone that takes these drugs.
The warnings from the US Consulate to NOT go to Mexico are there for a reason, but I do not believe they are giving the reasons behind it. Many parts of Mexico are safer than even the mediocre parts of SE Michigan. Sure there is petty theft, maybe a robbery, but no one wants to kill to get away with it. Much like MI. Hell, you will not see me walking around downtown Flint or Pontiac in the day, let alone at night. Compared to those 2 places, walking around down here doesn't seem too bad. The reason the Consulate is giving these warning is because of the unexpected LARGE events that may happen. Balaceras en Tijuana (gunfights in Tijuana) for example, kinda hard to avoid if you find yourself suddenly near one. Walking around Guanajuato or Los Cabos San Lucas, Cancun, Mérida, Oaxaca, Zacatecas, much less chance of a balacera breaking out. If you want to go to Mexico, GO! Just avoid the larger cities, for now. Travel with people who know the area well, hire professional guides and taxis, but go and visit! You will be amazed at what this country has to offer. Truly truly stunning. Standing atop pyramids, climbing mountains, going thru caves, walking the streets of 400 year old cities, going into mines, drinking wine in outdoor restaurants while enjoying music, waterfalls, rivers, todo.
Please take these words into consideration and even to heart. The news doesn't report everything, they only give the BIG PICTURE of what happened. Don't judge an entire country based on the border and a couple other cities. Thank you.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Technological Institute of Higher Learning of Monterrey
The title of this blog is the English version of ITESM (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estuidos Superiores de Monterrey). When I first read the name in the CNN article about the killing of 2 Tec students, I thought "what is that? that's not Tec's name!" I guess I never translated the name ITESM into English... anyway.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/22/mexico.students.killed/index.html?hpt=T2
there is the CNN article covering the end result of what happened. I have friend that were at a bar called La Barca when this happened. Also another that was in a car driving by (he was about 40 feet away from the Militars). They said there was gunfire for about 15 minutes, then a 10 minute pause, then another 10 minutes of shooting. The drug dealers used fragmentation grenades against the miltiars. The 2 students, Jorge and Javier, both masters students on academic scholarships, were leaving from the library. They walked up behind where the car of drug dealers were firing from. It was the military that shot and killed the 2 students. *********The rumor is that the military took any ID's out of their wallets to avoid problems******* might explain why the initial news said it was 2 drug dealers who were killed and not 2 students.
Anyway, for those who read this, you will know that I am coming home. My parents have said that I am free to choose to stay here or return home, my choice. I know that if I stay my mom will be nothing but stress and I cannot do that to her. Therefore I will return to MI somewhere around Sunday the 28th of March.
Talk to you soon.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/22/mexico.students.killed/index.html?hpt=T2
there is the CNN article covering the end result of what happened. I have friend that were at a bar called La Barca when this happened. Also another that was in a car driving by (he was about 40 feet away from the Militars). They said there was gunfire for about 15 minutes, then a 10 minute pause, then another 10 minutes of shooting. The drug dealers used fragmentation grenades against the miltiars. The 2 students, Jorge and Javier, both masters students on academic scholarships, were leaving from the library. They walked up behind where the car of drug dealers were firing from. It was the military that shot and killed the 2 students. *********The rumor is that the military took any ID's out of their wallets to avoid problems******* might explain why the initial news said it was 2 drug dealers who were killed and not 2 students.
Anyway, for those who read this, you will know that I am coming home. My parents have said that I am free to choose to stay here or return home, my choice. I know that if I stay my mom will be nothing but stress and I cannot do that to her. Therefore I will return to MI somewhere around Sunday the 28th of March.
Talk to you soon.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Damn Drug Dealers
For those who are clueless to the current drug cartel war in North American right now, this message is for you. For those who know what's going on, this message is for you.
Thank you, thank you, *dearest* drug dealers (note the 100% sarcasm here) for being *ever-so-smart* and *playing nice little games* of *tag* with the Mexican Military at 2am and 10ft away from the edge of Tec campus. You lost. Good. As for what that says about security in the city of Monterrey, I don't know.
I reallllyyy hope this drug war doesn't progress further in this city, and in the vicinity of this school, otherwise I will have no choice but to come home early. Suffice to say, I am feeling somewhere in between nervous, scared, angry, and confused.
Beyond this, life has been alright. Great weather, had a blast at Privatt on Wednesday night watching Los Claxons! Personajes live!!!! yeah. Okay, its Saturday, maybe I'll update this thing today again. We'll see.
Ciao.
Thank you, thank you, *dearest* drug dealers (note the 100% sarcasm here) for being *ever-so-smart* and *playing nice little games* of *tag* with the Mexican Military at 2am and 10ft away from the edge of Tec campus. You lost. Good. As for what that says about security in the city of Monterrey, I don't know.
I reallllyyy hope this drug war doesn't progress further in this city, and in the vicinity of this school, otherwise I will have no choice but to come home early. Suffice to say, I am feeling somewhere in between nervous, scared, angry, and confused.
Beyond this, life has been alright. Great weather, had a blast at Privatt on Wednesday night watching Los Claxons! Personajes live!!!! yeah. Okay, its Saturday, maybe I'll update this thing today again. We'll see.
Ciao.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Why writing in this thing is becoming harder and harder...
At first, I had a lot of time down here. Yeah that has changed. My apologies for taking over a week to update this thing, but stuff keeps happening! I have a huge headache right now so this is gonna be short.
First off, the differences in salutations between MI and Monterrey. In MI, most men my age greet each other with a handshake and maybe a quick hug with one pat on the back from right shoulder to right shoulder if you are good friends. Greeting women is usually with a hug of right-to-right shoulder if you know each other. When saying goodbye the same process is used. Here when you greet another man of similar age, and even up to 20 years older (if he's a friend of a friend or the Tec security guards because they're cool) you go right hand to right hand with hands open then kind of pull away with your hand still open. Then make a fist, or turn your hand to the side and lightly tap the other persons greeting. When saying goodbye you do the same thing first, then LEFT SHOULDER to left shoulder is a quick hug-and-pat their back and then another fist bump thing. Saying goodbye to a familiar female you lightly kiss right cheek to right cheek.
Of course when meeting unfamiliar women or anyone of learned status (teachers, administrators, attendants tec.) you use the same handshake conventions as in the US. If after a friendly conversation with a woman you may say goodbye with a light kiss on the cheek, but it's up to the feeling of the conversation that will dictate this.
Let's just say that after 2 months a traditional good handshake is rare and actually comforting. Any woman who shakes hand does so with good grip pressure and time.
When walking down the sidewalk in MI and passing by unfamiliar people I generally look at them and nod my head as a sign of "hello". Here, no looking. Just keep looking forward. If you look at a passing stranger it might be interpreted as a sign of "confrontation" or some sort, as I've been told. This is a harder habit to break.
What else... carrying a lighter at all times even if you do not smoke is probably a good idea. It's a way to meet people, it shows that you are prepared to help others even if you do not partake in smoking yourself, and you never know what it might help.
I have noticed that people here shower more than in the US. Maybe its just living in housing, but even though the weather is warm for me, students shower a little more (not that I have heavily analyzed anyones shower schedule in the US). And I know this is going to increase when the temperature is above 30 C (86F).
Classes are going alright. My Spanish Language class is a giant review, which is actually good. Just kinda boring at times. Math for Engineering 3 is also a review with some more in-depth studies of directional derivatives and double integration. Design of Machine Elements is great. It's taught almost like my Mechanics of Materials class last semester with Professor Khosrovaneh. Good problem explanation with some explanation of the theory and dangers within problems. Good stuff.
Fluid Mechanics is just hard. Not only is my professor known amongst students and other teachers as being difficult and "different", but he is very strict and by the books. Example: Since the beginning of January I knew my father would be in Los Cabo San Lucas in the middle of March. In that Fluids class I never received a course syllabus nor a list of exam dates. All there was for exams where the ITESM recommended periods for partial exams. In late January I bought a plane ticket to Cabo to visit my dad from Thursday until Sunday (knowing that I would miss a Friday lecture during the week after recommended exams). Last Wednesday my professor announced that the next exam would be the week after the ITESM recommended dates for partial exams and that it would be a class vote for either Wednesday or Friday. Go ahead, guess which date the class chose. So after class I speak to my professor, explaining the situation and that he never announced the dates of partial exams. I asked him what my options were. His response, nothing. Huh?? Nothing. Can I take the test at a later date? No. Can I do a homework assignment in place of part of the grade? No. What can I do? Nothing. I spoke with the ME Department Head about the situation and he said that the course syllabus should have information in it regarding exams. Refer to 11 lines above (well, 11 for the editor of this thing). No syllabus. What will probably happen is I lose the $250 on tickets and just take the damn exam, then go to Xilitla, La Huasteca instead.
I am now helping the ITESM Solar Decathlon 2010 Europe competition team. I met a guy named Eleazar Garza who is on the team. They will hopefully begin construction of the huse within 3 weeks. I will be helping with the mechanical systems including hot water, plumbing, and general construction.
Swimming and running are going, worse than I'd like. It's really hard to eat enough at the right time to make it through a swim workout and then lifting/running. I really need to find a place nearby that has good healthy food that I can eat around 4pm every day... I'm able to swim 900m fine, but its that 19th lap where I just lose all motivation to keep going so I do one more lap to hit 1000m and just get out. Really depressing actually. Thinking back to last summer when I would get back to Clarkston on Tuesdays and Thursdays from working in Livonia, get a quick and small snack, then head out for a 45 minute bike ride. The bike felt great, but all too often I would hop off the bike after 12 miles and start my run. I would only make it 1/3 mile running and it felt like everything just dropped. I had literally ran out of gas. Those depressing walks back home just sucked. Now I need to learn how to avoid that from happening here...
SigEp related news... Last weekend was CLA in Pittsburgh. I wish I could have went! But I sponsored Grant Burch instead. From the sound of things, he had an amazing weekend and learned a ton. Always brings a smile to my face to do things like that.... You deserved it Grant, now go, make Sound Body one of the best! I am about halfway thru my Lifetime Responsibility of Brotherhood, and I must say that book gets better every time you read it. I will hopefully take charge of some YRR when I get back, maybe take over as Epsilon Coordinator, and we'll see what happens with Executive Board next year. Also, I am making preparations for my Fellow Project. The Fellow Project is a 500 hour/60 day project that uses all of your leadership skills and abilities to work towards a goal greater than you may have ever imagined. I am currently talking to many many people here about the lack of electricity in rural Latin America. I might do something along the lines of Rural Electrification of developing cities and regions. This would also me community awareness of the issues facing less-developed cities and countries around the world plus the technologies involved and how that can be used in Michigan.
Family news.... My Mother will be running a half marathon this Sunday at Walt Disney World for the Disney's Princess Half Marathon. If you can see my Facebook status, there you go. Well heck, I'll just put it here again to quickly summarize my feelings on the situation...
Ian Williams in my 20 years of life upon this planet, I have constantly worked to make my parents proud. I am the man I am today because of their constant love and support. All of my actions are guided by the "would my mother approve of this?" rule. In running races the past few years, I have worked to run for my parents and everyone else. As proud as our parents can be of us, we too, their children can feel the same way. This Sunday, my mother is going to run a half marathon, 13.1 miles, something she thought only a couple years ago to be completely impossible for her. She has learned about food, exercise, stretching, The Stick, and running injuries. I am truly truly proud of her and apologize that I will be unable to watch her race. Mom, I love you with all my heart. I am so very proud of what you have accomplished. Run your race. See you in 13.1...
I will not say any more about this.
Spring break tentative plans: fly to Veracruz, get to Ciudad del Carmen, take a bus to Cancun, fly back to Monterrey. Sound good?? I need to visit Oaxaca while I'm here and I also want to make it to La Xilitla as well.
Okay, it's 12:41 am. I'm going to bed. I hope you all are doing well and thank you for reading this.
First off, the differences in salutations between MI and Monterrey. In MI, most men my age greet each other with a handshake and maybe a quick hug with one pat on the back from right shoulder to right shoulder if you are good friends. Greeting women is usually with a hug of right-to-right shoulder if you know each other. When saying goodbye the same process is used. Here when you greet another man of similar age, and even up to 20 years older (if he's a friend of a friend or the Tec security guards because they're cool) you go right hand to right hand with hands open then kind of pull away with your hand still open. Then make a fist, or turn your hand to the side and lightly tap the other persons greeting. When saying goodbye you do the same thing first, then LEFT SHOULDER to left shoulder is a quick hug-and-pat their back and then another fist bump thing. Saying goodbye to a familiar female you lightly kiss right cheek to right cheek.
Of course when meeting unfamiliar women or anyone of learned status (teachers, administrators, attendants tec.) you use the same handshake conventions as in the US. If after a friendly conversation with a woman you may say goodbye with a light kiss on the cheek, but it's up to the feeling of the conversation that will dictate this.
Let's just say that after 2 months a traditional good handshake is rare and actually comforting. Any woman who shakes hand does so with good grip pressure and time.
When walking down the sidewalk in MI and passing by unfamiliar people I generally look at them and nod my head as a sign of "hello". Here, no looking. Just keep looking forward. If you look at a passing stranger it might be interpreted as a sign of "confrontation" or some sort, as I've been told. This is a harder habit to break.
What else... carrying a lighter at all times even if you do not smoke is probably a good idea. It's a way to meet people, it shows that you are prepared to help others even if you do not partake in smoking yourself, and you never know what it might help.
I have noticed that people here shower more than in the US. Maybe its just living in housing, but even though the weather is warm for me, students shower a little more (not that I have heavily analyzed anyones shower schedule in the US). And I know this is going to increase when the temperature is above 30 C (86F).
Classes are going alright. My Spanish Language class is a giant review, which is actually good. Just kinda boring at times. Math for Engineering 3 is also a review with some more in-depth studies of directional derivatives and double integration. Design of Machine Elements is great. It's taught almost like my Mechanics of Materials class last semester with Professor Khosrovaneh. Good problem explanation with some explanation of the theory and dangers within problems. Good stuff.
Fluid Mechanics is just hard. Not only is my professor known amongst students and other teachers as being difficult and "different", but he is very strict and by the books. Example: Since the beginning of January I knew my father would be in Los Cabo San Lucas in the middle of March. In that Fluids class I never received a course syllabus nor a list of exam dates. All there was for exams where the ITESM recommended periods for partial exams. In late January I bought a plane ticket to Cabo to visit my dad from Thursday until Sunday (knowing that I would miss a Friday lecture during the week after recommended exams). Last Wednesday my professor announced that the next exam would be the week after the ITESM recommended dates for partial exams and that it would be a class vote for either Wednesday or Friday. Go ahead, guess which date the class chose. So after class I speak to my professor, explaining the situation and that he never announced the dates of partial exams. I asked him what my options were. His response, nothing. Huh?? Nothing. Can I take the test at a later date? No. Can I do a homework assignment in place of part of the grade? No. What can I do? Nothing. I spoke with the ME Department Head about the situation and he said that the course syllabus should have information in it regarding exams. Refer to 11 lines above (well, 11 for the editor of this thing). No syllabus. What will probably happen is I lose the $250 on tickets and just take the damn exam, then go to Xilitla, La Huasteca instead.
I am now helping the ITESM Solar Decathlon 2010 Europe competition team. I met a guy named Eleazar Garza who is on the team. They will hopefully begin construction of the huse within 3 weeks. I will be helping with the mechanical systems including hot water, plumbing, and general construction.
Swimming and running are going, worse than I'd like. It's really hard to eat enough at the right time to make it through a swim workout and then lifting/running. I really need to find a place nearby that has good healthy food that I can eat around 4pm every day... I'm able to swim 900m fine, but its that 19th lap where I just lose all motivation to keep going so I do one more lap to hit 1000m and just get out. Really depressing actually. Thinking back to last summer when I would get back to Clarkston on Tuesdays and Thursdays from working in Livonia, get a quick and small snack, then head out for a 45 minute bike ride. The bike felt great, but all too often I would hop off the bike after 12 miles and start my run. I would only make it 1/3 mile running and it felt like everything just dropped. I had literally ran out of gas. Those depressing walks back home just sucked. Now I need to learn how to avoid that from happening here...
SigEp related news... Last weekend was CLA in Pittsburgh. I wish I could have went! But I sponsored Grant Burch instead. From the sound of things, he had an amazing weekend and learned a ton. Always brings a smile to my face to do things like that.... You deserved it Grant, now go, make Sound Body one of the best! I am about halfway thru my Lifetime Responsibility of Brotherhood, and I must say that book gets better every time you read it. I will hopefully take charge of some YRR when I get back, maybe take over as Epsilon Coordinator, and we'll see what happens with Executive Board next year. Also, I am making preparations for my Fellow Project. The Fellow Project is a 500 hour/60 day project that uses all of your leadership skills and abilities to work towards a goal greater than you may have ever imagined. I am currently talking to many many people here about the lack of electricity in rural Latin America. I might do something along the lines of Rural Electrification of developing cities and regions. This would also me community awareness of the issues facing less-developed cities and countries around the world plus the technologies involved and how that can be used in Michigan.
Family news.... My Mother will be running a half marathon this Sunday at Walt Disney World for the Disney's Princess Half Marathon. If you can see my Facebook status, there you go. Well heck, I'll just put it here again to quickly summarize my feelings on the situation...
Ian Williams in my 20 years of life upon this planet, I have constantly worked to make my parents proud. I am the man I am today because of their constant love and support. All of my actions are guided by the "would my mother approve of this?" rule. In running races the past few years, I have worked to run for my parents and everyone else. As proud as our parents can be of us, we too, their children can feel the same way. This Sunday, my mother is going to run a half marathon, 13.1 miles, something she thought only a couple years ago to be completely impossible for her. She has learned about food, exercise, stretching, The Stick, and running injuries. I am truly truly proud of her and apologize that I will be unable to watch her race. Mom, I love you with all my heart. I am so very proud of what you have accomplished. Run your race. See you in 13.1...
I will not say any more about this.
Spring break tentative plans: fly to Veracruz, get to Ciudad del Carmen, take a bus to Cancun, fly back to Monterrey. Sound good?? I need to visit Oaxaca while I'm here and I also want to make it to La Xilitla as well.
Okay, it's 12:41 am. I'm going to bed. I hope you all are doing well and thank you for reading this.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Well that was fun
Editors Note: Writing commenced around noon on Monday.
Okay, back to writing in this thing. At first this was a lot of fun (I had a lot of free time to write though), now it's kind of tedious and extremely time consuming. Oh well, it's for the good of others so I can manage this.
Last weekend: (see, I typed that much 6 hours ago, told you these things take forever to type...)
(screw it, I'm not even going to tell you when this sentence was typed.... I'm trying to get this thing written, I swear. Invitations to go watch a Manchester United soccer game and grab lunch are reallllyyyy tempting).
Yep, it is now 1am on technically Wednesday morning. Told you. So, last weekend, went out to a small pizza place that has New York style pizza near campus with some friends. Afterward I took a taxi to a restaurant called Italiani's for dinner with Israel and his two friends. After a sangria, sampling everyone elses food because I wasn't that hungry, and a bottle of Italian wine between the four of us, we decided to go to a night club/bar/patio lounge place called La Rambla. We talked, had a drink, danced and talked more until I took a friend home about 4am then walked the 4 blocks back to campus. On Saturday I woke up around 12:30pm then had a fairly lazy and unproductive day. I was waiting for a phone call around 5 that I was again going to hang with Israel and his two friends nicknamed Memo and Garza. Well around 8 I got that phone call. After a quick shower and packing I was in a car with Memo (Guillermo) to pick up Garza (Luis) and Israel from their houses/hotel rooms.
We were headed for the city of Saltillo, about 45-60 minutes (depending how fast Memo wanted to drive, we hit 170km/h at one point) SSW of Monterrey. Memo has his family home and other family members in the city so he wanted to go visit them. We arrived to his home around 10:30, then visited with his family at his uncles house until midnight. While at his uncles home the four of us talked with Memo's cousins, sister, aunt and uncle and other family members. His uncle was grilling in the back area (basically a walled in section with no roof that had a grill and counter top outside. Had a drink, ate cactus, steak, grilled potatoes and a tostada with some wickedly hot homemade salsa. Once we left we got ready to go to a club for some fun. So, Dogma Bar as it was called, was this smaller little place with a ton of people in it. I mean packed. Pushing to get thru the crowd. But they had an awesome live band and it was a lot of fun so there are not hard feelings. We finally left about 4am, got some tacos at one of the many taquerias catering to those coming home from the clubs. We all think that those tacos made us sick though because we all felt weird for the next couple of days. Eh, I feel fine now so okay!
The next morning was breakfast with Memo's close family, talking to his family, watching a little tv, going to meet his grandmother, getting a driving tour of the city, packing up and heading back to Tec. We stopped for some seafood and to visit Garza's family and home (oh, he is in my Mate 3 class FYI). Then I got dropped off *near* campus because there was a soccer game at Estadio Tec and the roads were jammed. In Monterrey there are 2 main soccer teams: Rayados (the unofficial Tec team), and the Tigres from another university in the city. Since the stadium is 2 blocks from housing, it was crazy. Every restaurant, shop, or place with a tv was packed with people watching the game. There was a slightly elevated police presence but I didn't see anyone get too crazy. And for the rest of the night I just laid low and talked, and did some homework.
Classes on Monday and Tuesday weren't too bad. Waking up at 8am on Monday was hard. Dozing off in my Español Lengua Extranjera 2 class, but I managed to stay awake. Yeah I didn't do a lot on Monday. Stretched. Looked at the pool, listened to my stomach growling and figured it wasn't worth it. I really need to plan my eating schedule so I can survive these fast 1000m swims with lifting afterwards. I was up late working on some DME homework which made getting up at 8am on Tuesday extreeeeemely difficult. So Tuesday was full of studying, took a 3 hr nap with transgressed into getting some tacos in front of housing because they had another "let's eat and play loud music for the hell of it" event. Fine by me!
This weekend I am going on a roadtrip with Israel to his home in Tabasco and flying back because he has a new job in the Dominican Republic and leaves in a week. So I'll probably leave Thursday after Salsa class.
Sorry I don't have any profound words or new cultural info in this post. Maybe on Wednesday I'll add another short post with, something.
I guess I'll add that I now have 3.5 pages full of typed and written notes about many things SigEp including my Fellow project and 11 (so far) Reflections to write. If any of the new Brothers are reading this, I hope that your Sigma Challenge is proving to be insightful and that you are already enjoying the hell out of your decision to join. If any old fogie SigEps are reading this, pass along my best, and you'll hopefully have a video presentation this Sunday at GB from me.
June 20th, 2010!!!! I'm so excited!!!! If you don't know, contact me separately. If you wish to join me on my endeavor, let me know. We'll talk, make a plan. *Jonatan F. RMX*
Dulces sueños
Okay, back to writing in this thing. At first this was a lot of fun (I had a lot of free time to write though), now it's kind of tedious and extremely time consuming. Oh well, it's for the good of others so I can manage this.
Last weekend: (see, I typed that much 6 hours ago, told you these things take forever to type...)
(screw it, I'm not even going to tell you when this sentence was typed.... I'm trying to get this thing written, I swear. Invitations to go watch a Manchester United soccer game and grab lunch are reallllyyyy tempting).
Yep, it is now 1am on technically Wednesday morning. Told you. So, last weekend, went out to a small pizza place that has New York style pizza near campus with some friends. Afterward I took a taxi to a restaurant called Italiani's for dinner with Israel and his two friends. After a sangria, sampling everyone elses food because I wasn't that hungry, and a bottle of Italian wine between the four of us, we decided to go to a night club/bar/patio lounge place called La Rambla. We talked, had a drink, danced and talked more until I took a friend home about 4am then walked the 4 blocks back to campus. On Saturday I woke up around 12:30pm then had a fairly lazy and unproductive day. I was waiting for a phone call around 5 that I was again going to hang with Israel and his two friends nicknamed Memo and Garza. Well around 8 I got that phone call. After a quick shower and packing I was in a car with Memo (Guillermo) to pick up Garza (Luis) and Israel from their houses/hotel rooms.
We were headed for the city of Saltillo, about 45-60 minutes (depending how fast Memo wanted to drive, we hit 170km/h at one point) SSW of Monterrey. Memo has his family home and other family members in the city so he wanted to go visit them. We arrived to his home around 10:30, then visited with his family at his uncles house until midnight. While at his uncles home the four of us talked with Memo's cousins, sister, aunt and uncle and other family members. His uncle was grilling in the back area (basically a walled in section with no roof that had a grill and counter top outside. Had a drink, ate cactus, steak, grilled potatoes and a tostada with some wickedly hot homemade salsa. Once we left we got ready to go to a club for some fun. So, Dogma Bar as it was called, was this smaller little place with a ton of people in it. I mean packed. Pushing to get thru the crowd. But they had an awesome live band and it was a lot of fun so there are not hard feelings. We finally left about 4am, got some tacos at one of the many taquerias catering to those coming home from the clubs. We all think that those tacos made us sick though because we all felt weird for the next couple of days. Eh, I feel fine now so okay!
The next morning was breakfast with Memo's close family, talking to his family, watching a little tv, going to meet his grandmother, getting a driving tour of the city, packing up and heading back to Tec. We stopped for some seafood and to visit Garza's family and home (oh, he is in my Mate 3 class FYI). Then I got dropped off *near* campus because there was a soccer game at Estadio Tec and the roads were jammed. In Monterrey there are 2 main soccer teams: Rayados (the unofficial Tec team), and the Tigres from another university in the city. Since the stadium is 2 blocks from housing, it was crazy. Every restaurant, shop, or place with a tv was packed with people watching the game. There was a slightly elevated police presence but I didn't see anyone get too crazy. And for the rest of the night I just laid low and talked, and did some homework.
Classes on Monday and Tuesday weren't too bad. Waking up at 8am on Monday was hard. Dozing off in my Español Lengua Extranjera 2 class, but I managed to stay awake. Yeah I didn't do a lot on Monday. Stretched. Looked at the pool, listened to my stomach growling and figured it wasn't worth it. I really need to plan my eating schedule so I can survive these fast 1000m swims with lifting afterwards. I was up late working on some DME homework which made getting up at 8am on Tuesday extreeeeemely difficult. So Tuesday was full of studying, took a 3 hr nap with transgressed into getting some tacos in front of housing because they had another "let's eat and play loud music for the hell of it" event. Fine by me!
This weekend I am going on a roadtrip with Israel to his home in Tabasco and flying back because he has a new job in the Dominican Republic and leaves in a week. So I'll probably leave Thursday after Salsa class.
Sorry I don't have any profound words or new cultural info in this post. Maybe on Wednesday I'll add another short post with, something.
I guess I'll add that I now have 3.5 pages full of typed and written notes about many things SigEp including my Fellow project and 11 (so far) Reflections to write. If any of the new Brothers are reading this, I hope that your Sigma Challenge is proving to be insightful and that you are already enjoying the hell out of your decision to join. If any old fogie SigEps are reading this, pass along my best, and you'll hopefully have a video presentation this Sunday at GB from me.
June 20th, 2010!!!! I'm so excited!!!! If you don't know, contact me separately. If you wish to join me on my endeavor, let me know. We'll talk, make a plan. *Jonatan F. RMX*
Dulces sueños
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
A Weekend Of Climbing
First word, amazing. Second word, ow.
Background on Cerro de la Silla... It is the most recognizable mountain that overlooks the city of Monterrey (technically the mountain lies in the municipality of Guadalupe, but most say Monterrey to make it easier). It is in the shape of a W. There are 4 peaks that constitute the main part of Cerro when viewed from the West, looking East. There is Pico Antena (Antenna Peak), towards the North. Pico Antena is somewhere around 1800 meters above sea level (1970 yds, 1.18 miles) while the city of Monterrey is around 540 meters above sea level (590 yds, .34 miles). Then is Pico Norte (tallest at 1820m), then Pico Sur, then Pico la Virgen (shortest at 1750m). That means we climbed approximately 1260 meters vertically (1378 yards, 4134 feet, .783 miles). The trail length is about 5.5km, 3.3 miles.
Friday night, laid low, talked with friends, procrastinated, slept well.
Saturday morning, 7:30AM wake up. By 8 I was on a bus with 30 other Tec students plus 3 guides on our way to the base of Cerro de la Silla in Guadalupe. We arrived, got off the bus and had all of our bags checked for stuff by security guards for a subdivision that we had to walk through to get to the trail. They took my pen and pencil (labeled them so I could retrieve them of course), probably to deter graffiti. So the group of 30+ starts walking up the hill in this sub towards the start of the real trail. The trail up the mountain is about 8 to 10 feet wide the entire way up. Half way up we stopped for about 15 minutes to see the old aerial tramway station that was built to handle a cable car to go up halfway. Sadly, on the opening day this aerial tramway had an accident that killed 5 people, including the design engineer. It never reopened. But the view from atop the platform was amazing! It was a perfect place to get some good photos of the city and get some water, plus oranges. The trail itself consisted of a multitude of surfaces. Mostly it was just the earth with small gravel and leaves but sometimes there were rocks larger than a foot in dimension that made for an up-and-down path that could get very slippery. Further up the hill they poured concrete into flat surfaces and ridged/speed bumped for the corners and particularly steep areas. I wore my Asics running shoes and did fine. The second photo is of the Tec campus at 20x optical zoom with my Sony DSC-HX1.
Right, Cerro de la Silla... So after 2 and a half hours of walking up the hill we made it to the top. And ohh buddy was it worth it. The view was incredible. Seeing the majority of a city of almost 4 million people without having to turn my head was an experience. It was sunny with a light wind that helped to cool us down after walking. At the top of Pico Antena is, go figure, several antennas for cell phone providers and telecommunication companies. There was even a medium sized transport truck up there. I don't think it drove though (bless you helicopters). We were at the top for about half an hour eating food, drinking sweet sweet glorious H20, and taking tons of pictures. Looking to the back of Pico Antena we could see the rolling hills of the mountain range and part of a municipality of Monterrey. Breathtaking. Some others in the group decided to venture down about 5 yards towards the real edge of the hill (one more step and its nothing but air an a lengthy vertical drop). I didn't go that far, kinda liked the feeling of not being able to truly fall to my death. Given a harness and a good rope oh heck yeah I would have gone right to the edge.Oh, I swear it looked like Pico Norte was below where we were, but anywho. 
So, after resting and taking a bunch of photos, we started the 3.3 mile walk back down the mountain. This hurt me wayyy more than the climb up. Thanks to football and track in high school I have bad knees. It is easy for me to go up stairs, run 5 miles, or bike a long ways. Walking a mile, walking down 3.3 miles, and standing for 8 hours kills me.
Cueva de la Virgen (Virgin's Cave) is in the municipality of La Huasteca inside a park. There were 10 people with 4 guides that went this day. All of us had on full climbing harnesses and helmets. The cave is, I'm guessing, 200 meters in the air. We climbed up the side of this cliff that was quite steep. Sorry, I'm cutting down the length of this part because I need to restart my computer and go swimming, again (yes, this has taken over a day to complete). The climb was difficult, slippery, didn't always have places to grab hold so it was sometimes just using my two feet at opposing angles to walk up. By the time we made it to the cave I was needless-to-say tired. My legs never got a chance to rest after climbing Cerro de la Silla the day before. The cave itself was quite large. 30 yards deep, 10 yards high. We walked into the front of it, ate and rested at the back, then exited out the side. Upon leaving we were greeted with a, what seemed to be steeper hill than what we came up, which sucked because there weren't nice pointy rocks to get a good foot hold. We did however have some nice soil and small gravel that provided a great surface to slide down on our butts. Joy. Oh, did I mention gravity still works even when you are running out of things to grab a hold of so you stop sliding?? Ok, so after sliding down maybe 100 feet we stopped so that our guides could hook up a rope so we could start rappelling down the near-vertical face of the cliff. It took a while to get the lines situated then prep the 10 of us how to properly rappel then actually get all of us down the 3 different levels. There were only 2 ropes so we went down the first rope, then switched lines with the help of a guide, then went to the 2nd level then waited for everyone to get there. Then we joked and talked with the guides used one of the lines to get us down the 3rd rappel section. By the end of that 3rd section it was true what the guides had said, that the rope may "quemar los manos" (burn your hands). Mine had black lines across them. **Note to self: Next time bring gloves! Then it was another run down a hill with a ton of small-medium sized rocks then hopping down big boulders until we were back at ground floor. What an incredible climb. If you can get to my facebook, check out the pics there, I really hate the photo uploader with this site.
Background on Cerro de la Silla... It is the most recognizable mountain that overlooks the city of Monterrey (technically the mountain lies in the municipality of Guadalupe, but most say Monterrey to make it easier). It is in the shape of a W. There are 4 peaks that constitute the main part of Cerro when viewed from the West, looking East. There is Pico Antena (Antenna Peak), towards the North. Pico Antena is somewhere around 1800 meters above sea level (1970 yds, 1.18 miles) while the city of Monterrey is around 540 meters above sea level (590 yds, .34 miles). Then is Pico Norte (tallest at 1820m), then Pico Sur, then Pico la Virgen (shortest at 1750m). That means we climbed approximately 1260 meters vertically (1378 yards, 4134 feet, .783 miles). The trail length is about 5.5km, 3.3 miles.
Friday night, laid low, talked with friends, procrastinated, slept well.
Saturday morning, 7:30AM wake up. By 8 I was on a bus with 30 other Tec students plus 3 guides on our way to the base of Cerro de la Silla in Guadalupe. We arrived, got off the bus and had all of our bags checked for stuff by security guards for a subdivision that we had to walk through to get to the trail. They took my pen and pencil (labeled them so I could retrieve them of course), probably to deter graffiti. So the group of 30+ starts walking up the hill in this sub towards the start of the real trail. The trail up the mountain is about 8 to 10 feet wide the entire way up. Half way up we stopped for about 15 minutes to see the old aerial tramway station that was built to handle a cable car to go up halfway. Sadly, on the opening day this aerial tramway had an accident that killed 5 people, including the design engineer. It never reopened. But the view from atop the platform was amazing! It was a perfect place to get some good photos of the city and get some water, plus oranges. The trail itself consisted of a multitude of surfaces. Mostly it was just the earth with small gravel and leaves but sometimes there were rocks larger than a foot in dimension that made for an up-and-down path that could get very slippery. Further up the hill they poured concrete into flat surfaces and ridged/speed bumped for the corners and particularly steep areas. I wore my Asics running shoes and did fine. The second photo is of the Tec campus at 20x optical zoom with my Sony DSC-HX1. Okay, officially quitting uploading photos to this thing. It takes 3 minutes per photo, then they randomly delete themselves from the page. No more... (after the fact... I tried uploading more photos. Yes, it's still a pain in the rear.)
So, we continued up the mountain. Dang it! It takes forever to write in this thing. I'm going to swim my 1000m. I'll continue when I get back... Which for you will be 3 seconds of reading... Funny eh?
Back. That was fun. I'm really starting to like swimming, aside from the times when I go breathing stupid and i try to inhale as I'm turning my head back down into the water....
These blogs take forever to write, holy smokes... Alright, I'll try to type faster about the rest of my weekend.
Right, Cerro de la Silla... So after 2 and a half hours of walking up the hill we made it to the top. And ohh buddy was it worth it. The view was incredible. Seeing the majority of a city of almost 4 million people without having to turn my head was an experience. It was sunny with a light wind that helped to cool us down after walking. At the top of Pico Antena is, go figure, several antennas for cell phone providers and telecommunication companies. There was even a medium sized transport truck up there. I don't think it drove though (bless you helicopters). We were at the top for about half an hour eating food, drinking sweet sweet glorious H20, and taking tons of pictures. Looking to the back of Pico Antena we could see the rolling hills of the mountain range and part of a municipality of Monterrey. Breathtaking. Some others in the group decided to venture down about 5 yards towards the real edge of the hill (one more step and its nothing but air an a lengthy vertical drop). I didn't go that far, kinda liked the feeling of not being able to truly fall to my death. Given a harness and a good rope oh heck yeah I would have gone right to the edge.Oh, I swear it looked like Pico Norte was below where we were, but anywho. 
So, after resting and taking a bunch of photos, we started the 3.3 mile walk back down the mountain. This hurt me wayyy more than the climb up. Thanks to football and track in high school I have bad knees. It is easy for me to go up stairs, run 5 miles, or bike a long ways. Walking a mile, walking down 3.3 miles, and standing for 8 hours kills me. Nothing exciting happened on the walk down, no photos, nada. So I move on. The rest of Saturday was filled with getting food, showering, and then passing out by 7pm (missed going to dinner with some friends because of that).
On Sunday, jeez I've written this much and I haven't gotten into Cueva de la Virgen... ayyy.
Cueva de la Virgen (Virgin's Cave) is in the municipality of La Huasteca inside a park. There were 10 people with 4 guides that went this day. All of us had on full climbing harnesses and helmets. The cave is, I'm guessing, 200 meters in the air. We climbed up the side of this cliff that was quite steep. Sorry, I'm cutting down the length of this part because I need to restart my computer and go swimming, again (yes, this has taken over a day to complete). The climb was difficult, slippery, didn't always have places to grab hold so it was sometimes just using my two feet at opposing angles to walk up. By the time we made it to the cave I was needless-to-say tired. My legs never got a chance to rest after climbing Cerro de la Silla the day before. The cave itself was quite large. 30 yards deep, 10 yards high. We walked into the front of it, ate and rested at the back, then exited out the side. Upon leaving we were greeted with a, what seemed to be steeper hill than what we came up, which sucked because there weren't nice pointy rocks to get a good foot hold. We did however have some nice soil and small gravel that provided a great surface to slide down on our butts. Joy. Oh, did I mention gravity still works even when you are running out of things to grab a hold of so you stop sliding?? Ok, so after sliding down maybe 100 feet we stopped so that our guides could hook up a rope so we could start rappelling down the near-vertical face of the cliff. It took a while to get the lines situated then prep the 10 of us how to properly rappel then actually get all of us down the 3 different levels. There were only 2 ropes so we went down the first rope, then switched lines with the help of a guide, then went to the 2nd level then waited for everyone to get there. Then we joked and talked with the guides used one of the lines to get us down the 3rd rappel section. By the end of that 3rd section it was true what the guides had said, that the rope may "quemar los manos" (burn your hands). Mine had black lines across them. **Note to self: Next time bring gloves! Then it was another run down a hill with a ton of small-medium sized rocks then hopping down big boulders until we were back at ground floor. What an incredible climb. If you can get to my facebook, check out the pics there, I really hate the photo uploader with this site. All in all, a great weekend. It is now Tuesday at 7pm local time and my calves are still screwed up bad. The quads are good, those I have trained well. Let's just say The Stick is my mortal enemy right now. My roomie Raphael has been laughing at me. Okay, it's about damn time I finished this post. I'm going to get food, and swim, then lift. Then tonight shall be lots and lots of Math and Fluids hw! Joy!!! I wish you all could have come along, it truly was incredible. Oh Michigan, why can't you have 10% of the stuff that is available here?? Right, because you're MICHIGAN!!
On a side note: I miss my car, I miss my cat, I miss my parents, and I cannot wait to get back on my bike. Salsa classes are going well, I'm actually teaching my partners the moves instead of me looking the idiot who can't dance.
Au revoir
Friday, February 5, 2010
[Insert title here], because I can't think of what to call it
So what has happened in 3 days? What could I possibly write about? Well, I was kicked out of the pool on Tuesday because I didn't have a swim cap. Okay. Still got 400m in. After shopping on Thursday, I am now the proud owner of a new 24 peso black latex swim cap. Quite stylish, if I may say so. 1000m on Thursday night. I felt like an idiot at one point because I turned my breathing a quarter cycle, so I was breathing out with my face turned and trying to breathe in on that stroke. Needless to say, I inhaled a good quantity of water thru my nose and mouth. But I did get back into the groove of things. Oh, on Wednesday night I put 2 new friends through a Butterfield lower body workout with some improvised core moves. If you don't know who Frank Butterfield is, as a SigEp, or I'll try to write about him later. It's Friday afternoon and I'm still a little sore.
For those who know Israel Lopez Jimenez, he has been accepted to a new job. Unfortunately the last time I saw him was 2 weeks ago, and I cannot remember when he is supposed to leave... Time for an expensive phone call. Hopefully get to see him once more before he goes to whatever country he is working in.
Tomorrow, Saturday, I will be climbing Cerro de la Silla, to Pico Norte. In the main pic of this blog, see the tallest peak? Yeah, up there. The approximate elevation at Pico Norte is 5971 feet above sea level, 4134 feet above the city. Many a photo shall be taken. Moosejaw, Voltaic, and Sigma Phi Epsilon shall be shown from atop!!! AHAHAHAHAH!!! I'm excited. its a 3.3 mile hike up the mountain to get there. Should take a few hours to climb up and a few to climb down. Then on Sunday I will be going to Cueva de la Virgen, about 15 outside of Monterrey.
Oh right, I'm here to study... speak of the devil. I have Mecanica de Fluidos in an hour. Therefore, I bid you all adieu as I go enjoy the 75 degree weather. Please don't hate me... Oh, Dr. Fletcher has told me that more people are reading this. Great!!! If you have any questions for me, please email me at iwilliams@ltu.edu I am always checking email on my computer and phone. I will reply as soon as I can.
Nos vemos
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