Global Kids' Digital Media Initiative

Arturo Morales is an historian we met while in San Miguel. He taught us a lot of history about Mexico and connected most of it to the US. We learnt a wide range of things. We stared off talking about the independence of Mexico in 1810-1821. Even though his accent was strong we were able to comprehend every word and cover a lot of topics.
Mr. Morales seemed very galvanized about the fact that six student of different nationalities and schools that all live in New York, would be highly interested in what I'd like to call the authentic history of Mexico. I saw this through the way he wanted to enrich our knowledge of the history and at the same time slowly covered them so each point would be saturated in our minds.
We really did a lot of work in covering a lot of topics and took the time to listen with in enthusiasm. Some topic we covered, just to name a few were; Mexico's independence(1810-1821) Conspiracy in San Miguel (1810), USA invasion (1821-1846), French invasion (1862-1867), Social Revolution (1910-1920), Presidentialism (1934-1999), URSS-launch first atomic bomb (1949) and the Olympics in Mexico (1968).

Posted by Kemar HRAP at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Mirza HRAP at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ever since I was little, my uncles and a few of my aunts would watch wrestling. But it wasn't the ones where the wrestlers we know would come out. They watched the Mexican wrestling or las luchas, as they would call it. Lucha libre translated literally means free fighting. This term used in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking areas to refer to a certain form of professional wrestling involving varied techniques and moves. The ones who perform are known as luchadores (singular luchador). Lucha libre or mexican wrestling is played by rapid sequences of holds and moves, as well as spectacular high-flying moves. Many of these moves have been adopted by American wrestlers.
The history of lucha libre goes back to the 1900's.. In the 1900's,professional wrestling was mostly a regional phenomenon in Mexico until Salvador Lutteroth founded the Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (Mexican Wrestling Enterprise) in 1933. There, it gave the sport a national foothold for the first time. The promotion company became popular and quickly became the premier spot for wrestlers. When the invention of the television came and everyone had one, Lutteroth was then able to broadcast his wrestling across the nation, making it very popular. That changed the sport of lucha libre. Then , there was a wrestler known as El Santo (The Saint). He made his debut in Mexico City by winning an 8-man battle royal. The public became amazed by the mystique and secrecy of Santo's personality and he quickly became the most popular luchador in Mexico. El Santo's wrestling career spanned nearly five decades, during which he became a folk hero and a symbol of justice for the common man through his appearances in comic books and movies, while the sport of Lucha Libre was played as national sport. Everyone in Mexico idolizes him like a"saint"
So when i went to see them LIVE, I was amazed! Everyone was cheering, rooting, and everthing. Men women, children, od people, little kids, just like i used to see in t.v. They even lokked like the people I saw.I was pretty close, too so that's what made look even more touristic. I finally knew why everyone was so hyped about wrestling. There were two groups, los techinos (technicians) and los rudos (rough ones). Everyone was cheering for the techniques because the technique the used amazed people. I didn't know who to cheer for so i just went with the crowd. I was with Amanda yelling and cheering, and I din't know what i was doing. ! But I had fun.
Outside the arena were sellers who were selling masks, toys, movies and stuff related to wrestling. Then a block away, there was an antenna that was to Televisa, Mexico's main t.v procduction studio. I figured that they used it to broadcast the show. Also, I saw the Av. Champcultepec 28 Colonia Doctores. That address is where my dad's (and also mine's) favorite comedy is. I got so hyped about it, I was like," Wait let me get an autograph!" But seriously I was a little too happy when I found out that was where my dad and I's favorite comedy show.

Posted by Norma HRAP at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I would have to say that this was one the most entertaining parts of this whole trip. We had some time left over on one of the days that we were in San Miguel, so we decided to go to the dance class. I mean who would have thought that there would be an African dance class in Mexico. The teacher happened to be one of Nassim's friends Lamine, he was a dancer and a drummer. The class started with Lamine showing everybody some of the steps that we were going to need later in the class. Everybody was having fun. We all had a chance to show everybody our moves. At the end we had a chance to show them some of Global Kids' stepping. Then we went to have a little something to eat with Lamine so we could get to know him better and so he can get a chance to know us a little better.

Posted by Mirza HRAP at 9:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While we were in Mexico City we decided to go to see some pyramids. The place that we went to was called Teotihuacan. One of the people from our partnered organization (El Centro...) went with us on this trip also. In the beginning we got a little two hour tour of the whole place and the guide told us some of the history that lies in Teotihuacan. He told us that there was four periods of time with humans, before our period of time, which means that we are the fifth "group" of humans to live. One of the things that the guide was talking about was when the ancient people thought that the world was going to end. The ancient myth says that the world will end some time in 2012, I hope that this myth is not true as will most of you (). The last part of the tour was when we went inside one of the pyramids. While we were in there we learned a lot about how the Aztecs lived and prayed to their Gods. Now lets get to fun part, the actual climbing of the pyramids ( again). Thew two major pyramids were called the Moon Pyramid and the Sun Pyramid. The moon pyramid was the smaller one but was said to be the most important. We were all able to climb both of the pyramids. When we were done we went home. This was one of my most memorable moments of this trip.

Posted by Mirza HRAP at 8:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was a day of endless surprises. At breakfast we congratulated the Zerriffi's on their 38th anniversary. Everyone busted out laughing when Ali a.k.a Papa Zerriffi said"oh snap it's today".After breakfast we went to CASA hospital and then their building. It was beautiful. Most of the buildings in Mexico are housees turned into offices or stores.But anyway we did workshops for them and vise versa. We spent most of the day at CASA interacting with the youth. Then we went home and got ready for dinner. We had dinner with the Zerriffi's. This place was so nice and had the best salmon ever made.While we ate we were singing songs, laughing and chatting like a real family. After dinner is when the surprises started. Mirza gave them a glass bird that stood on top of a beautiful crystal. We later found out that she is in love wit crystals. Fahim gave them a little bicycle that had a blue outline. Orginally made in Bangladesh. Then we gave them I LUV NY shirts that we had signed. At the table we let Nassim sign both shirts. Then we let Mama and Papa Zerriffi sign each other shirts. The funny thing was that when they signed them they wrote the same thing "forever yours" in different languages.Naomi a.k.a Mama Zerriffi wrote it in spanish and Papa Zerriffi wrote it in Arabic. This was a night to remember.

Posted by Tashawna J at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was a day of endless surprises. At breakfast we congratulated the Zerriffi's on their 38th anniversary. Everyone busted out laughing when Ali a.k.a Papa Zerriffi said"oh snap it's today".After breakfast we went to CASA hospital and then their building. It was beautiful. Most of the buildings in Mexico are housees turned into offices or stores.But anyway we did workshops for them and vise versa. We spent most of the day at CASA interacting with the youth. Then we went home and got ready for dinner. We had dinner with the Zerriffi's. This place was so nice and had the best salmon ever made.While we ate we were singing songs, laughing and chatting like a real family. After dinner is when the surprises started. Mirza gave them a glass bird that stood on top of a beautiful crystal. We later found out that she is in love wit crystals. Fahim gave them a little bicycle that had a blue outline. Orginally made in Bangladesh. Then we gave them I LUV NY shirts that we had signed. At the table we let Nassim sign both shirts. Then we let Mama and Papa Zerriffi sign each other shirts. The funny thing was that when they signed them they wrote the same thing "forever yours" in different languages.Naomi a.k.a Mama Zerriffi wrote it in spanish and Papa Zerriffi wrote it in Arabic. This was a night to remember.

Posted by Tashawna J at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We had planned to visit the hot springs before going to San Miguel. But due to a very busy schedule it was looking impossible. But the day before we left San Miguel one of our meeting with Arturo Morales got canceled and some people wanted to rest and some people wanted to go to the pool and the hot springs. So we split up in two groups. Wing Mai and Norma left for the hostel and rest of us left for the hot springs. It takes about half an hour to go there. We reached there at 4 p.m meaning we have about an hour and half to stay there. As soon as we went there we went to the hot spring. It is like a small cave followed by another. Hot water comes from a small opening. The water fall is very strong. If you go under you feel tremendous pressure on your body. Then we went to the pool. We dumped each other, raced and a lot of fun there. The best part is when we worked as partners to dump each other. Mirza couold not swim because of his broken hand. But he had fun though. Me and Nathaniel tried to dump Nassim. We tried in vain except once and then Nassim took revenge on us. The hot springs are awesome. Anyone visiting San Miguel should go in there.

Posted by Fahim HRAP at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

El Jardín is located in the heart of the city, and is the meeting spot for most people at anytime. It's surrounded by beautiful buildings and archways from the colonial era. It is like the center of the town. It is visible from anywhere in the town. If you get lost anywhere in the town the church is your destination. San Miguel de Allende has been a designated historical landmark since 1930. As such, the town has preserved its colonial heritage by banning new style construction, neon signs and other heralds of "modernization". The colonial buildings remain, today, in the same style as when they were originally constructed. I was so interested in the history of the town and I did a lot of research. The Jardin has been the center of the city since 1737. In the 16th and 17th century, this area was known as the "plaza parroquial", as the town gathered at the "plaza de la soledad", which is now known as the "Plaza Civica General Ignacio Allende". The "Jardin" was originally a paved, open area with a fountain in the center, much like the Zocalo of Mexico City, that has become the pattern of cities all over the country. In the 1860's, a garden was started and the fountain was replaced with a gazebo. The gazebo that is there today is a replacement built in 1950. The first building in the Jardin was the "Templo de San Rafael", also known as the "Santa Escuela de Cristo". Construction began in 1564 by order of the first bishop of Michoacan. The mansion immediately to the right of the Parroquia is the Casa de Allende. It is one of the best surviving examples of 18th century architecture of the Spanish colonial noblity. Jardin is almost like the Times Square in N.Y.C in the sense that it is always full of people. San Miguel De Allende has a lot of foreigners. People from Canada, U.S.A and other European countries are moving in there. So it hosts events like international film festivals, plays dances, live music performances. It also hosts different international events. The Jardin is beautiful at night. There is something going on every night. One of the most common things is live music performances by the Mariachis. They have hundreds of people for an audience. The confluence of different factors makes the whole environment amazing. You feel like you are in a paradise or something. There are also restaurants around Jardin which has live music both in English and Spanish. You really need to visit it to experience the amazing life in there.

Continue reading "[hrap/mex] San Miguel's Jardín Principal (or main square)" »

Posted by Fahim HRAP at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While our team was in Mexico, we ran into some new friends. When we traveled to Mexico City, we met a retired woman named Rolene Walker. She has a mission to walk from San Diego, California to the south of Chile. That is an amazing, interesting, and long journey that she is going on. She says that she's doing it for the beauty of the Earth. Before, she worked in the criminal justice field for labor workers and now that shes retired and traveling, she is meeting new people and getting a more positive view of people instead of a negative one. I believe that this is a very important journey for her and the rest of the people that are walking with her. She says that others only walked to different parts of California, but she is taking an even longer journey by walking to Chile. I also believe that by doing this she is spreading a very powerful message to others. This journey is suppose take take up to two years and I'm glad that I had the priviledge to interview her.

Posted by Nahtahniel HRAP at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

During our stay in Mexico we made a visit to see a museum of masks on July 22. Bill Levasseur founded this museum and still runs it with his wife. They named the museum, La Otra Cara de Mexico which means, The Other Face of Mexico. This museum is open to the public right behind Bill's house. When we entered the museum, everything was very nice. They had a variety of masks that represented different dances and other things. One mask represented a very popular dance called, Baila Vieja (old man dance). The masks for this dance was never painted. The hair is from the bark of mulberry trees and wrinkled skin is carved into the mask. The dance consists of an elderly man and woman. These dances are from different indigenous groups in Mexico. This dance is from the Chontal indigenous group. Of course there were more masks that I noted about but this seemed very essential to state because it represented the elderly of Mexico. This museum really showed another side of Mexico that I did not see. I guess thats how it got it's name.

Posted by Nahtahniel HRAP at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was a day that really touched my heart. Today we went to a march against homophobia. Two days prior to the march we had a discussion because some didn't want to participate. Their reason which I knew was very important and would come up wasRELIGION.Mirza, Nate and Fahim said because their religion does not support homosexuality they would not attend the march. Kemar and Norma said even thought they are heterosexuals they support gay rights. I respect everyone's opinion and I'm glad they let it be known. On the day of the march Fahim ending up coming. I'm glad he changed his mind. Even though Mirza and Nate didn't come I respect their decision because it's their values. It's what they believe in and they stuck to it. Fahim had a change of heart and was brave enough to come. I give him credit for that. At the march we met up with the people from El Centro and marched. I was having so much fun. I was waving the biggest rainbow flag I've ever seen. We were shouting chants in Spanish which was really cool. We had people taking plenty of pictures of us as if we were famous. I am really happy we supported something that is personal and objective.

Posted by Tashawna J at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was a day of endless surprises. At breakfast we congratulated the Zerriffi's on their 38th anniversary. Everyone busted out laughing when Ali a.k.a Papa Zerriffi said"oh snap it's today". After breakfast we went to CASA hospital and then their building. It was beautiful. Most of the buildings in Mexico are house s turned into offices or stores. But anyway we did workshops for them and vise versa. We spent most of the day at CASA interacting with the youth. Then we went home and got ready for dinner. We had dinner with the Zerriffi's. This place was so nice and had the best salmon ever made.While we ate we were singing songs, laughing and chatting like a real family. After dinner is when the surprises started. Mirza gave them a glass bird that stood on top of a beautiful crystal. We later found out that she is in love with crystals. Fahim gave them a little bicycle that had a blue outline, orginally made in Bangladesh. Then we gave them I LUV NY shirts that we had signed. At the table we let Nassim sign both shirts. Then we let Mama and Papa Zerriffi sign each other shirts. The funny thing was that when they signed them they wrote the same thing "forever yours" in different languages.Naomi a.k.a Mama Zerriffi wrote it in Spanish and Papa Zerriffi wrote it in Arabic. This was a night to remember.

Posted by Tashawna J at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow like wow again. We're leaving like in two days. I'm very relaxed and I see my mom all anxious, Wing Mai and Nassim running around doing errands and lalala stuff. I'm just taking my sweet time !! Well I'm very excited to go. I can't wait t see the ruins, work the workshops, and etc. I also want to say something to someone:
thank you so much for the letter and papers, Molly!! They meant a lot to me!! I hope u have fun in Tulum. It's very pretty.
Have fun

Posted by Norma HRAP at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Continue reading "[hrap/mex]" »

Posted by Kemar HRAP at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I came late so I missed the morning discussion on media literacy. I heard it was so interesting. Then we had a language practice. We learned words related to a social justice. We had to to make up our sentences using the words we learned on social justice.
The afternoon session was really really interesting. We learned about the Zapatista Movement not only in Mexico but around the world. We had a awesome guest speaker named R.J He enlightened us with all the knowledge about that particular group. The revolution itself inspired so many people around the world. So it has become a Global movement. This people are pretty peaceful. Use strategies and tactics to get their message across. I am totally loving this group. G.K Zapatista vamos!!!!! just kidding. Zapatista movement is a growing threat for the Mexican government. So the Mexican government wants to eradicate this group of people permanently. U.S is giving Mexico 1.4 billion dollar for the so called "Merida Initiative" A.K.A "Plan Mexico." The Mexican government is trying to get rid of them by saying that these people are drug dealers. But the fact is that These people are so peaceful that they don't even drink alcohol. They Don't want any violence. Under them men and women have equal rights. They recognize gay rights. These people will not attack you until unless it is for self defense. R.J was really cool. He gave us some articles which dealt with a variety of human right issues.If we look at the demands of the Zapatista people, it is almost the natural rights which they are deprived of. Some of the demands are mentioned below:
-work
-Land
-Housing
-Food
-Health care
-Education
-Independence
-Freedom
-Democracy
-Justice
-Peace

There slogans are very eyecatching.
-"Everything For Everyone."
-:Nothing For Ourselves."

It is said that once Mexican government tried to buy off them. But they did not accept that saying that it has to be done for everyone who is suffering which perfectly reflects there slogans.
which is pretty awesome.I am looking forward to learn more about them.They are really good with planning actions. They make sure they have media coverage needed and us different propaganda techniques to propagate about themselves. They have supporters now both locally and Globally.

Posted by Fahim HRAP at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the continuation of our preparation for Mexico, lots of ideas have been introduced to us. We've also expanded our vocabulary in Spanish. Nassim and Wing Mai want us to be very prepared for this trip. This is why they have established this first time in history- two week long training. Since we are here from about 9:30 until 4:30 we are learning tons of things specifically about Mexico. I absolutely love when we have guest speakers because they have a planned lesson for us that we usually relate to. On Wednesday RJ, a guest speaker, exposed the group to the Zapatistas in Mexico. We've learned so much about this group of people from Mexico. He went into detail about them people and their struggles for los derechos humanos (human rights). The Zapatista are a group of indigenous people in Mexico who fight for natural human rights through revolution. He showed us two videos about the Zapatistas that expressed how they deal with problems violently and nonviolently. it is amazing to continue to learn about Mexico, even in the last five days we have left.

Posted by Nahtahniel HRAP at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, so today we had a guest speaker whose name is RJ. He spoke to us about Zapatismo and how it has an effect on the community and how its affecting globally. It was very interesting and a very hot topic in Mexico. Today I learned a lot about the Zapatismo movement. All I knew about the Zapatismo is that a revolutionary named Emiliano Zapata started it. He was an indigenous person who took part in the Mexican Revolution who wanted a good change for his people. Also that he got shot before what he wanted got into effect. Also, my great-grandmother was kidnapped by the Zapatistas when she was around 10. But luckliy, she came back home safe with no harm done ten days later
Amazing right?
Well here are the things I learned:
The Zapatistas traced back 500 yrs back when the Spaniards came to the New World of Mexico.They (the indigenous people) didn't like the idea of different people taking over their land and in return giving them crappy land
So, A few hundred Years later Emiliano Zapata came and started what I mentioned above. Then in 1993, the Zapatistas in Chiapas, a state with a lot of indigenous people came up and rose on News Years Eve. They started a little war. And every 7 yrs they revolt very loudly. And here's the thing: When they revolt they cover their faces so they won't be seen. Because since they're all indigenous, w/o mask for other people they are invisible. But with the masks, they are not. Cool uh?
Well everyday u learn something new. I hope u guys are inspired to do some research on them
well bye!!
we're leaving in 5 days!!!

Posted by Norma HRAP at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the past days, we have been anxious to attend Mexico. we've learned many more since my last blog. we've met with invited guest and attended the students at the council of foreign relations. its been amazing to know that we are progressing as a movement of activist. with six more days to go, we are impatient but inspired also. to get more specific about our preparation, we met with John Burstein to speak about latin america, mexican history, and indigenous people. im not dont so dont post this wing mai or nassim

Posted by Nahtahniel HRAP at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, we went to the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) When we arrived at the CFR, we did a workshop on immigration. It was very interesting because we disussed a very "hot topic", it was going to be one of the topics for the 2008 elections. One of the people who were in charge of the workshop said another reason y it's an inter

Posted by Norma HRAP at 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is Wednesday, July 15th. We are on the second week of H.R.A.P. It has been going good. Today we learned vocabulary words relating to Immigration. The language practice in the morning is very helpful. The brain or memory usually remains very sharp.

We practiced some workshop facilitation. The funny thing is that all the games were translated to Spanish. I think it will be a lot of fun playing in Mexico.

Some people from Fordham High School came to G.K office today to talk about their trip to Costa Rica. They talked about their experience there and advised us on safe traveling in Costa Rica.

After that, we went to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Since I interned there last year, it was kind of emotional for me to see a new group there. It reminded me about last year. Anyway, this year I saw a lot of diverse people in C.F.R. We participated in their workshops and worked with them. It was a lot of fun there. C.F.R is always very exciting. The fact that youth like me are so concerned about different policies of the U.S is making me so happy because they are the future citizens of the U.S. The more they are involved the better the policies of U.S will be because our actions are affecting people around the world.
I wish I could have been in the C.F.R discussing those issues forever!!!!!

Here is a photo of us in the Council on Foreign Relations:

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Posted by Fahim HRAP at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today we did lots of things. We studied a lot of spanish and read a poem that was about immigration then later we met with the HRAP group from Fordham High School and learnt about their experience with their trip to Costa Rica...... Later we had lunch....After lunch, we went to the CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) to get involved and learn about different political and human rights issues of the world in several countries.
.......hahahahaha......sorrry for fulling you up with all this info but it is soooooo important that you get this...........it was a prosperous day and I am really really really!!!!!! looking forward.!!!!!!

Here is a photo me:

Continue reading "[hrap/mex] visit to the CFR" »

Posted by Kemar HRAP at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow!! Already week two of this GK training and I remember I just started. And we're going to MEXICO NEXT WEEK!!! Today I came in a little late,but everybody was practicing Spanish. I helped a little because mostly everyone knows Spanish very well. They just need help with a few verbs. Anyways, we're getting far with the training and we're doing great.

Today, we had a workshop with a group of people from Japan who are from the program Peace Boat. The workshop was fun. The first thing we did was play Mingle Mingle. I met a few people who were kind of from the same part of Japan. Then we did an activity where we drew maps on how we immigrated from other countries or moved from place to place. It was fun. I learned a lot.

Posted by Norma HRAP at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey everyone it is the 1st day of the second week and man I'm tired. today we watched clips from a movie called "Life and Debt". From what we saw, the movie was about how, we as tourists, never pay attention or understand that the people of the place we are visiting {in this movie Jamaica} are envying us because we see the glory of the land and not the gutter. Then we joined a workshop with the people from Peace Boat. We did a workshop about immigration and migration. Most of the people from Peace Boat were Japanese. There was a translator, so that helped. I also met a person whose name was Yoshi....{very hype}. Now I'm off to my myspace. I'll be back tomorrow....bye.

Continue reading "[hrap/mex]wow talk about culture shock" »

Posted by Tashawna J at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is basically a more loose day because we did a lot the other days and today we are just going online and looking up things that we had questions about. What I did research on was basically what I learned yesterday when John came to talk to us about his experiences in Mexico. I just basically got some more outside information and background information about each of the things that we have discussed.

I have found information on the rights that Mexicans have, Benito Juarez, PRI, NAFTA and I did some more research on some important dates in Mexican history.

this is a picture of Benito Juarez:

this is a picture of the NAFTA logo (notice there are three flags in one):

this is a picture of the PRI logo:

To tell you the truth I really am enjoying every single day at this program because I am getting the chance to learn a lot more things that are interesting and are important for people who plan on going to Mexico. I am still very excited about going to Mexico with all of this knowledge that I have learned.

Posted by Mirza HRAP at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Guys, I feel so patriotic about going to Mexico!! I mean we're going to my native land, my roots, my home!!! I've been doing research on the Aztec and Mayan gods like what their names are, what they mean, where they originate, etc. I also went to a "Mexican" website (its in Spanish and I think other Latin American computer websites, too) to check out the news. Yesterday, I went to my godfather's house and saw the the Mexican News. I saw that the following states were flooded:
1) Chipas 3) Veracuruz
2) Tabasco 4) Districto Federal/ Cuidad Neza( The city of Neza)/ (District Federal/Downtown Mexico City)
5) Pachucca (city), Hidalgo 6) Jalisco

And when I saw these images, I was thinking well not all of Mexico is flooded (like where we're going) at least. So to get that out of my mind, I saw these Mexican Folk Dances. I really liked them, I felt so full of Mexican Nationalism!!!!!!! So these are the dances i found and want to show you guys:
1) El jarabe tapatio ( The Mexican Hat dance [!!!!! I KNOW HOW TO DO THAT DANCE!!!!!)
2) Los Machetes (The dance of Machetes, you'll find it adorable!)
3) Los Alanzas

Continue reading "(HRAP/mex) Gk Training for Mexico WEEK1 Day 5" »

Posted by Norma HRAP at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was one of the days that will be most helpful for us when we go down to Mexico. Today in the morning we were guest speakers in a program that was being run in Global Kids and we spoke to the guests about what we are going to be doing in Mexico and why we decided to go to HRAP. After that we watched a movie called "School of Assassins" which was about how people come from South America to get military training and then go back to their countries and commit horrible crimes against their own people.

After that we went to lunch and when we came back we had a guest speaker by the name of John Burstein, who has gone to Mexico and worked in Chiapas and does development work. He spoke to us and gave us a lot of information about many different topics. Some of the things that he gave us information on are NAFTA, PRI, the American Invasion, Quetzalcoatl, Benito Juarez, the years 1810 and 1910, Human Rights, civil & political rights, ESC (economic, social and cultural rights), indigenous autonomy and Mestizo. You can look up everything here except Quetzalcoatl and Mestizo, which I will explain to you. Quetzalcoatl is an Aztec and Mayan God, which is a feathered serpent. Mestizo, depending on how you use it, is a mixture of an indigenous person and any other person.

As I was saying before, this information will be very useful when we go down to Mexico. I will keep you people posted because I will write a blog for you guys every day that I participate in the program. That's all for now.

Posted by Mirza HRAP at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow, I learned a lot today. We had a guest speaker whose name was John Burstein. He spoke to us about Human Rights and of the rights of the indigenous people. It was very interesting. I mean even though I'm Mexican I learned so much I felt so dumb when he explained about my culture. I mean I knew like 75% of what he spoke about. The other stuff he talked about was like wow...., new. For example, I didn't know what 1810-1910 was. And I'm like wow (I know, I need a new word for wow!!!!)
That conversation was fascinating to me, I actually have this in mind to do:
Go home or over the weekend or whenever to do a little research on Mexico. Modern Mexico and ancient Mexico. Maybe even present it, or put it in a book form. I might even give it to my new English teacher or global teacher next year. Maybe even Global Kids. That sounds very nice, I might start this Saturday!!! Awesome!
Anyways, John Burstein mostly talked about indigenous people and what they believed.
And while I was writing this blog, I was listening to this Spanish rock song on youtube. The song was called " Entre dos tierras" by a Spanish (from Spain) rock band called Los Heroes del Silencio. This song talks about how someone feels tight beteween 2 worlds. Thats what the song translated directly into English means " Between two worlds (or lands)" While I was listening to it, I remembered what John said about mixed indigenous people; like a person being half indigenous and other ( like Mexican or Spanish). Like how would their rights apply to them. Now John asked "Would human rights for Indigenous people go directly to them?" And that kept me thinking. The answer was yes, but listening to this song made me think even more. Did it? If you listen to this song/video, know a bit of Spanish, and try to put it in an indigenous perspective, do you understand it?
Also how do they feel about their culture? More indigenous or Other?

So check the video out:

Continue reading "(HRAP/mex) Gk Training for Mexico Week 1 day 4√" »

Posted by Norma HRAP at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is day #4. I must say it was a long day, we work hard towards this great event that we want to become a GREAT event in the history of Global kids and HRAP and even the world we are in. Today we had some language practice, then later we learned about the School of the Americas, and had a wonderful historic cultural presentation with John Burstein.

Continue reading "[hrap/mex] day #4" »

Posted by Kemar HRAP at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was another exciting day in HRAP Mexico. We started a little bit late today. Our morning started with the presentation to the educators institute. We were kind of ready before the presentation. We were really awesome in the presentation. We answered a lot of questions from the educators. They asked us about our backgrounds, our reason for joining HRAP,what activities we planned and what is our plan after we come back from Mexico.

The Educators institute was pretty happy to be able to talk to us. One of the teachers was asking if we could visit her fifth grade class and share our experiences with her class. Today an Anthropologist, named John Burstein, came to talk about Mexico with us. He talked about the indigenous people. He talked about Mexican history, PRI, NAFTA, Benito Juarez, Constitution, UDHR, Culture etc. He was pretty knowledgeable. He gave us an overview of Mexican history in two hours. That is almost like finishing a years college level course in two hours!!!!!

Here is a photo of me:

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Posted by Fahim HRAP at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)