VaST Mexico Adventure 2010

Stilt Walking Movies

2010-08-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

Our show at El Mango was a great success. We had a wonderful time and lots of friends came out to support us. We will upload footage from that tonight. Here are some clips from our second stilt walking workshop yesterday. Everyone was independently strolling around, picking fruit from high up in the trees and we even got some great choreography going. After the show, we played a huge game of soccer until it was too dark to see the ball. Today we will be in the market and we will attend a birthday party that we were all invited to. The van will pick us up at 3:30 am to head to the airport. See you soon!

Stilt Walkers and Photo Journalists

2010-07-31T06:38:00.000-07:00

Well, all eight kids are officially stilt walkers now. It was amazing to watch the process unfold so quickly and see everyone walking around confidently way up high in the air. We will go to part two of the workshop this morning and then get ready for our show later today.

We had another cooking class yesterday as well. We made a sort of Mexican eggnog and pudding to bring over to Ivan's house where we had a bonfire and then watched Suki's selection of each kid's best photos from the trip thus far. It was incredible to see the images projected and notice how unique each person's perspective can be. Suki would like to put together a book of a lot of the best shots from each person.

It is hitting home that our trip is coming to a close. We will be waking up at 3:00 am on Monday morning to take a van back to Mexico City for our early flight. Tomorrow we will climb up to the pyramid and finish shopping, pack up and say goodbye to a lot of people. We look forward to seeing our families on Monday. We will do our best to get some footage of our show today. The kids sound great. We will be singing six or seven songs.

Three Videos from our Day

2010-07-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

Making Breakfast with Senora Tere.

Drum Workshop with Mo

(The camera died during this song, but you can get a taste of our jam in the taco restaurant).

El Rollo

2010-07-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

We didn't carry a camera around with us all day, but here are a few shots of the water park. We all woke up at 6:00 am and took a bus that we rented through Cuernavaca to the countryside where El Rollo is located. The trip took about an hour and we were 19 people (15 kids and 4 adults). We are proud to say that we were the first ones there and the last ones gone.

We had a private area with two hot tubs just for us. Here is a before and after of that and a few other pictures. Click on them to enlarge. Enjoy!

Thunder and Lightening!

2010-07-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

We are experiencing a huge storm right now and it is quite exciting. We decided that we will bring all of the boys' beds downstairs so they aren't spooked all night by the noise. It should make for a cozy nights sleep. We will be waking up at 6:30 for our day at the water park tomorrow.

We had a long and great rehearsal this morning and then spent most of the day in the town doing our "treasure hunt". The boys' team got side-tracked by the Orchata stand and barely got through their list at all. We will try again later in the week, it was really fun.

Our schedule is pretty packed right up until we will be leaving. We will not be calling until tomorrow night or Thursday morning if we don't catch you. We hope everyone is well and having a great time doing what you are doing. Hasta Pronto. Sarita

More Photos

2010-07-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

Bean and Seed Mosaic by Avi

Hi. Today we went to Amatlan, the birthplace of Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent God. You may have heard the story that when Cortez came here, they thought he and his white horse were an incarnation of him. The swimming holes and nature in the town are amazing. Here are photos from the rest of the gang from the last 3 days.

El Comal by Avi

La guitarra by Avi

Market by Avi

Chili pile by Avi

Cactus, Dog, Branch by Avi

Ada y Xochi by Claire

Dog love by Claire

Interior of Ivan's by Claire

Soaking wet and loving it by Claire

Onion Man by Claire

After the hike by Ethan

Pine needles by Ethan

Suki style by Ethan

Tomatoes by Ethan

VW Thing by Ethan

Comal by Jonah

The Market by Jonah

Police by Jonah

Ferret or Wiesel by Jonah

Virgin alter by Kaya

For My Mom, Love Kaya

For Mom, Love Kaya

Meat, by Kaya

Skipping Rocks, by Sarita


Amatlan Creek, by Sarita

(Sorry about the sideways shots, when I figure out which program I have to turn them around, I will edit.) Today we have our Market Treasure hunt and we are cooking and rehearsing. The sun is out!

Photos by the Kids

2010-07-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

Market Kids by Shanti

Ethan in a whirlpool by Matthew

by Matthew

The famous "tepoztnieves" by Mathew

colored chicks by Shanti

Virgin by Maggie

Fields of Nopales by Matthew

By Matthew

Market Day by Shanti

Our House by Maggie

Our Door by Maggie

By Maggie

Ivan's Ranch (where our hike began) by Matthew

Our feet (by Maggie)

Photos from everyone else coming later this evening...one card at a time! We just got back from hiking and swimming in rivers and waterfalls in Amatlan. Enjoy the photos.

Journal Entries from the Group

2010-07-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

Claire:

Everything here is super awesome! When we first got here we were in Mexico City. Mexico City looks very much like any other city, but in a way very different. When you get into Tepoztlan, it is a totally different picture: colorful buildings, cobblestone roads, and a lot of other amazing things. The next day we walked around the pouring rain and got soaking wet. We were mostly in the market that day. We had aguas en bolsas...they were delicious. We also had amazing Mexican food! Yesterday was probably the most adventure I've had. We started at Shanti's cousin's house and went through a mountain. We went to a waterfall in the mountain. The whole experience was hard to even describe. Over all, our trip has been super awesome . I'm sure there is more awesomeness to come.

Matthew:

On Thursday at 3:30am, Sarita, Maggie, Ethan, Matthew, Jonah, Avi, Claire and Kaya got on a shuttle leaving from the Hilton Hotel. When we arrived, we checked our bags and the woman who was helping us thought that Avi's passport picture made him look 16. She said to call her when he was 18!

When we were on the plane, Jonah went to the bathroom and when he came back, he walked right by his seat and almost walked through to first class.

When we landed, we got on a new plane. We were on the plane for about two hours. When we landed, we had to go through immigration. They had to check Avi's bag because he had a big bag of fresh fruit.

Then we took a big bus and went home :)

Jonah

Yesterday we went on an epic hike through a cactus field, a mountain jungle, and a waterfall and me and Ethan went NINJA! On Friday, I decided to eat a cricket and I barfed all over the market. At first, I thought that it was good, but then I...well...never mind.

Ethan:

"Being Ninja"

Today, our small group of 9 people went on a hike from Sarita's ex-brother-in-laws house to our house (that we rented for the trip). This hike involved a trip to a waterfall, long conversation with Shanti's cousins: Ianxul, Adais, and Ilai. We also took amazing photos with the help of Suki, Shanti's Dad, and Ivan, (Sarita's ex-brother-in law).

Once we reached the waterfall, about halfway through the hike, everyone except Jonah and I went to frolic through the water, but Jonah & I went to explore the path. We didn't go out of the eye-sight of the group until Johnny came with us and we walked down the mountain. On the way, we all told jokes and Jonah and I went ninja climbing slippery rocks and taking the more dangerous routes. When we reached the bottom, we retold our adventures from the past hour an waited for the others to catch up.

Avi:

Today we went to the market to take pictures and buy cool souvenirs. For the first hour we took really cool pictures of the cooks, vendors and everything else that we thought was interesting. For the second hour we bought little chachkies.

Kaya:

Yesterday, we went on the coolest adventure. We hiked up the mountains, then we found a waterfall. We all got really wet (but it was so worth it). The water felt really magical. Then we went back to the house and talked and ate American food (lol). All in all, yesterday was the best day in Mexico so far.

Maggie:

Once we got to Mexico, we decided our names were pretty American and didn't fit our surroundings, so we changed them: Maggie to Maria, Avi to Alfonzo, Ethan to Jorge, Kaya to Carmen, Matthew to Mateo and Clairey to Claire...

Shanti:

If I could describe yesterday with one word it would be MAGICAL. The long hike we took led us to the most amazing waterfall ever. I can not describe the feeling of laying down in the water and looking up at the dripping of the huge rocks. As all of us got soaking wet, I looked around at my cousins from two different families and all of my best friends together in one place and I realized that this was an experience I would never forget.

Random shots

2010-07-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

Shanti comiendo un Chapolin (7/23) (Ethan)

Taken by Mathew (7/22)

This archway to the church is a mosaic made of beans, seeds and corn and is made by everyone in the town on yearly holiday. (Ethan 7/23)

Tacos, tlacoyos, y sopes...mmmm (7/23)

Nina, our cat, gets lots of love (Ethan 7/24)

7/23

7/22


Taking a rest on our hike...we will try to flip this one later. There are hundreds of photos from our day today that will need to be sifted through. Stay tuned!

"Chapolin"

2010-07-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

We hope you enjoy this little song we wrote. Here is a little video we took of our band. :)

Llegamos!!!

2010-07-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

7/22/10: Look how beautiful our house is...and look how much we love each other! This was just before walking to our first meal at a restaurant called "los Colorines: The food was delicious. Many of us had Mole (some for the first time) and the walk through the town was a bit wet but AWESOME.

WET ROAD=WET SHOES=WET SOCKS=UGG!

Jonah loves tortillas (and mole)!

When we entered this church, Sarita began singing classical church music which reverberated really loudly and scared the bajeezies out of everyone who thought they were interrupting a sacred moment. They were relieved when they realized it was just Sarita, but then concerned when they noticed that a mangy dog was dying in the corner of the church.

7/23/10: After getting soaking wet walking around the market today eating, trying to eat, or not eating crickets, we came home and wrote and recorded a great song called "chapolin". We attempted to post the video tonight, but the file is too big so we will work on it for tomorrow. After eating an amazing home-cooked meal, Suki came over and gave us an inspiring and informative presentation. We are all excited to try some of the tricks that we learned tomorrow and during the rest of the trip. He is going to continue to work with us individually and as a group all week.

Tomorrow we are going to a party and, if it stops raining, we will let off the mini hot air balloons that we bought in the market today. We will be sure to take some pictures of everything and figure out how to take easier videos to post tomorrow!

Viva mexico!

One more photo and one more thing. First, our names for the trip:
Clairy: Yo soy Claire
Kaya: Yo soy Carmen
Maggie: Yo soy Maria
Ethan: Yo soy Jorge (hor-hey)
Avi: Yo soy Alfonzo
Mathew: Yo soy Mateo
Shanti: Sigo siendo Shanti, gracias!
Jonah: Yo soy Donavan (which isn't spanish, but someone called me that in the airport and it stuck)

y un corazon el la calle:

Claire took this! We love you.

The photography of Sebastian Belaustegui and Stilt Walking...

2010-07-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

I thought you might want to see some of Suki's photo work. Here is a link to his website:
www.photosuki.com
It will be great to get some pointers from him on Friday.

Also, the troupe is going to have the opportunity to learn (or in Ethan's case, practice) stiltwalking on Friday as well. We will have a class with an old friend of mine who works with Middle Schoolers in Tepoztlan and surrounding villages. Stay tuned!

COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!

2010-07-20T00:36:00.000-07:00

I've packed my guitar, two ukuleles, two casio keyboard and the songbooks I made for the trip ...but no clothes or anything truly practical yet.

I am so excited I can barely think about anything else than our adventure. We will arrive to Tepoztlan around 5:00pm on Thursday, claim our beds and then walk to eat dinner in a local restaurant. Friday, Sebastian Belaustegui, a renowned photographer who's photos have graced the covers of National Geographic and many other publications, will be giving the troupe a photography lesson and then a photo-taking tour of the town. Check back here on Friday night to see some of our favorite shots from the day, and please subscribe to the blog to get an update every time we post a new story, movie, or slideshow! Hasta luego amiguitos!

Spending Time With Local Kids...

2010-02-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

Once in Tepoztlan, we will be spending portions of our days with a small group of local kids who are anxious to put on a show with us, show us around the town, swim and play "Football" (soccer) in some of their favorite Soccer fields amidst the corn-fields and castle-like mountains. They will also accompany us to EL ROLLO...an amazing water park where we plan to spend one of our days.

Airfare!

2010-02-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

We will be able to buy our tickets as a group to get a lower price. We will all fly down together and then take van to our house in the town of Tepoztlan (1.5 hours south-east of Mexico City.

What will our days be like in Mexico?

2010-02-01T17:09:00.000-08:00

We will divide our days between rehearsing, outings and physical activity, Spanish culture and language sessions, down-time in and around the pool, workshops with local artists, cooking and eating delicious food, games, campfires and ??? E-mail saritasong@gmail.com for a tentative daily schedule.

Videos from our past trip

2010-02-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

We will be posting videos to our blog while on our trip, so you can see what we are up to. Here are four such videos from the last time we took students down to Tepoztlan. Please note, our trip will not be as academic and we will not be visiting a local school, though we will be hanging out with local kids:

Why Tepoztlan?

2010-02-01T14:06:00.000-08:00

From Drop Box

Sarita lived in this amazing Mexican village for over 7 years, (her daughter, Shanti, was born there and spends 3 months a year in the town.) Feli and Sarita led a trip of nine 7th and 8th graders to Tepoztlan four years ago. It was such a rich, wonderful trip, that they have always wanted to make an annual adventure out of it...this is hopefully the first of many trips!

Tepoztlan is in the mountains and we will be going right at the cusp of the rainy season, when all of the waterfalls and swimming holes begin appear after the dry season. Rains are warm and usually occur for just a moment during the day, leaving behind lush rainforest flora and fauna.

The Market is the center of town and it is full of beautiful fruits and vegetables, hand made blue-corn tortillas, and many, many treasures and delicacies.

Here are some articles about Tepoztlan that you might find interesting:

Tepoztlan

LA Times

Tour By Mexico