Before the concert
A quick video I took tonight to show you the venue of the concert, where our Christmas drama will also take place next week.
Video Blogs
About Modern Times
Every once in a while it’s good to remind ourselves about some of the realities of the modern world. Much of what’s in this video you may have heard before, but it’s a great collection of information (and we all need more information!).
There’s an obvious orientation toward viewers from the USA, but I’m sure those of us from elsewhere can find useful information beyond that….
(Note: I’m not sure the music always fits what’s being said… but the audio isn’t necessary, so feel free to turn it down.) 🙂
Thanks to The Roes Garden for the heads up on this one.
Our Ice Rink
Last night we were down at El Cortijo, the plaza where we’re doing a lot of our December activities. I took some quick video of the outdoor ice rink. There weren’t too many people around (I’ve seen it just packed), but I have some footage here to at least prove that we have a real rink. 😉
I didn’t add the music, that was coming through a speaker to my left. To my left, by the way, is where we’ll be doing the Christmas drama (and that’s what we were practising last night). You can’t see the location here, but eventually I’ll have pictures.
Mexico’s Ballet Folklórico (with video)
Earlier this month we went to Mexico City to see the world famous Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernandez (literally, folk dance of Mexico by Amalia Hernandez, the founder of the group). You may wonder, as I did, why our organization required us to go and see it as a part of our Orientation Year "education". Now that I’ve gone, I understand why, but find it impossible to explain!
I guess that’s because it gives you a "feel" for Mexico, that few other things can in that short a time.
This will sound like a lousy attempt to be eloquent, but visiting downtown Mexico City and seeing Ballet Folklórico gives me the same feelings I have for all of Mexico – hope and despair, joy and sorrow, confusion and certainty, identity and the search for an identity. Are there other countries that live with the same amount of paradox as Mexico?
I love Mexico and am excited to be a part of it. Let’s leave it at that.
To follow are video clips from the performance. This is a much longer video than I normally post – 9 minutes. I hope it will give you a feel for what was going on, but it probably won’t – you need to come and see it for yourself.
The songs and dances are supposed to represent the history of Mexico. I found it hard to catch the words, but you’ll see a lot of typical Mexican things – dancing, kissing, religion . . . 😉 You’ll see mariachi bands. For the wartimes you’ll see lots of women with guns. There are dances representing different regions, and different classes. Remember I’m not showing you everything, just a representation.
A final note before you watch. The singing was actually really good – for some reason it doesn’t come through well on the video. You’ll need to use your imagination, or start planning your trip to come see it for yourself.
The Prusias in Ixtapaluca (video)
The Prusias are preparing for the big (and really cool) move to Mexico! Their passion is to be involved in camping and youth ministries using martial arts (for more, be sure to visit the Prusia’s website).
Recently they kicked and chopped (to be hopelessly cliché) their way down to Mexico for a visit. And, of course, they stopped by Ixtapaluca (who wouldn’t?).
So I thought you would enjoy this video of their visit. Not only can you get to know the Prusias, you can also see some shots of our area. So without further ado, the Prusia Mexico Missions Trip 2008:
Two Mexicos? (video)
Sometimes you hear that there are "two Mexicos". That can mean a lot of different things – politics, rich and poor, urban and rural. I thought you might like to see one of the contrasts in Cuernavaca – the market and the mall (not the only ones in the city, mind you). I’ve shopped at both places once in a while, and so I finally took my camera to both and took some video.
This video switches back and forth between the market and the mall. You should be able to tell which is which – the mall is more spacious. The video starts with me entering the mall through the department store known as Liverpool (a Mexican chain, the biggest department store chain in the country, I think). You’ll also see some wide shots of the mall and a view of the food court.
You’ll see just about everything at the market, though of course it’s hard to see in a small video. But I can tell you what I saw . . . tortillas, piñatas, a lady selling cactus (around 1min – you can hear hear calling "nopales"), statues and candles honouring the virgin Mary and Saint Death (around 1min 45sec I think), shoes, clothes, veggies, meat (including fish and pigs heads – you can see one at 3min 48sec) and much more.
What do you notice? What’s the same and what’s different?