Two-Month Mark

Guanajuato Take II

This past Saturday was the first weekend of the international music festival in Guanajuato, El Cervantino. I went with two of the volunteers to see Los Hermanos Carrillo, a group playing traditional music from the region of Veracruz, Mexico (sones jarochos). The group leader was very personable, and their encore song was a stylized version of "La Bamba."

In the evening, went to see Amon Tobin, an artist from Rio de Janiero, Brazil, for a free outdoor electronica concert that started at 9:00pm. It was packed out with young people--I would say at least 95% were Mexican. Throughout the concert, it never stopped smelling of cigarette smoke. Since the 'concert' is basically him pressing different buttons, they made it more interesting by projecting animated images and designs onto an array of white cubes that were synchronized with the music. The crowd was more or less subdued at the beginning, but by the end almost everyone was bobbing their head and screaming for a triple encore.

Fundraising

Sometimes life is pleasantly surprising. When I came to work yesterday morning, Donna informed me that a volunteer who came nine years ago had sent a check to our office in the States for $10,000. Miguel was over the moon, letting me know that $10,000 covers all of our operating costs (teachers' salaries, food, office supplies, maintenance, Volunteer House expenses) for two entire months. It's incredible to me that someone who was here so long ago still thinks about his time at the daycare and was so touched by his experience that he donated so generously almost a decade after the fact. Amazing.

The idea of fundraising makes me squirm a bit because I feel uncomfortable asking people for money. However, I take comfort in the fact that actually there are a lot of people out there that are just looking for worthy causes to donate to, but haven't found something yet that's a good fit. Wednesday we had a fundraising event at a nearby bed and breakfast/mask museum, Casa de la Cuesta.

Zelina, Alice, me, Maria and Colleen

Surprisingly enough, around 90% of the attendees had never heard of Casa de los Angeles before, so it was a good opportunity to share about the work that we do. One of our volunteers, Eimear, has a background in sales, and used her skills to talk us up at every opportunity. She shared with one of the attendees that the Casa de los Angeles documentary brought her to tears. She is a keeper.

Despite my discomfort with talking to strangers, I managed to speak with four or five people and share my journey of having been a volunteer three years ago and of returning to work as the Volunteer Coordinator. Most of the attendees were older adult Americans who spend part of their time here in San Miguel de Allende and another part either back in the United States or in another part of Mexico (usually a beach). We'll be having events like these every month through March, so hopefully with each successive month we'll build momentum as participants tell their friends about the amazing time they had talking with young volunteers from around the world, listening to live music and drinking margaritas.

So thankfully, due to the combined earnings of the September Global Giving campaign, the Chicago Marathon, the generous $10,000 check from the former volunteer and the Casa de la Cuesta event, we should be okay at least for the next short while at Casa de los Angeles.

Transitions

It's been interesting getting accustomed to living in the Volunteer House with all of the other volunteers. It feels a bit like college yet with a lot more change, as some volunteers are in and out within a week while others stay for 11 weeks at a time. Today marks a significant transition for me. The only volunteer that has been here since I've started the position of Volunteer Coordinator left early this morning! He's probably the one I've gotten along with and gotten to know best so far, so it'll be strange not having him around. We've been going to the gym six times a week together (he's basically been my personal trainer) and usually in the evenings we watch a movie while doing Sudoku or working on solving a rubik's cube. I even realized that I had been spending so much time with him that I had started to talk like him--inflection and emphasis and all. He's like the brother I never had.

My job is kind of remarkable because I get to spend a lot of quality time with the volunteers by living and working with them. I start to understand the way that they think, where they're coming from, their idiosyncrasies...and then they head on to continue with their lives as I continue mine. In a way, my background in social work has prepared me well for this because in my past internship experiences, despite getting attached to many of my clients, I had to say goodbye to them at one point or the other.

It's all quite cyclical. Andreas left today, then two volunteers from Denmark arrive on Sunday and will be here for two months. So I get to start all over again getting to know new volunteers as they get to know me. At this point I can only be thankful for the time I've had with each of the volunteers I have met so far. They've all definitely been unique and for the most part fascinating in their own way.