BODIES
"Bodies" is comprised of thirteen human bodies, preserved through a complicated process of "plastination" and erected in various active poses, their skin removed to reveal the intricacies of the human anatomy. In addition, the exhibition displays over 200 human organs and several examples of the development of a human fetus.
The exhibition has been making its way across the world, giving visitors a fascinating insight into our anatomical systems, including the skeleton, the muscles, nerves, our respiratory tract, digestion, circulation and reproduction.
Tardes Calenas
Saturday we planned a outing with our students. In the end both Aaron and I really got attached to our students and we really wanted to celebrate the year with them. So we invited the kids and their families to meet us at a kind of water park/club to spend the day. Luckily the weather was great and most of our kids showed up and stayed all day. We tried to just stay and hang with the kids all day because socializing with the parents is a little stressful, it is not bad it just isn’t relaxing. Despite there being many pools the moms just congregated together and sat in the shade chatting, the dads planted themselves infront of the TV to watch the world cup and some even joined in on the water park fun. The strangest thing was seeing some of our kids show up with their body guards or drivers instead of their parents. This really gave me a real peak into their reality. When the kids who came with their parents showed up they walked in together and greeted all the other moms and kids but for the few kids who showed up with their body guard the scene is very different and somewhat surreal. The nine year old child walks into the big group alone with the armed guard and driver trailing a good 10 feet behind. The employees (as they are commonly referred as) take a seat away from the group and the child is on his own. It is difficult to explain but it is very different for us. We stayed there for almost 7 hours playing in the sun and socializing with the parents; the parents were so appreciative for us planning this day and for the year we shared with their kids. It was a really good closure, especially with the parents.
TULUA
Yet, another long weekend, this time we headed to a small city called Tulua. We went with a group of friends, one of who had a finca just outside the city. The goal of the trip was to take part in the towns annual fair but when we arrived to the fair and parked the car the sky just opened up and that changed our plans, instead we ate huge burgers and returned to the finca and played charades; A game that can really bring together people despite their language. It turned out to be a relaxing time at the finca playing games and enjoying the pool and eating not so good food, except for the fresh squeezed Mandarin juice.
Both Aaron and my family have always put a big emphasis on food. When planning a party, a weekend trip or a simple get together, the first plan of action is always food…always too much food for that matter. Yet, it seems to be quite the opposite here, at least with our group of friends. Food is always an after thought and we usually make a vaca (literally a cow, but we would say a pool) and use that money to buy food. There is never enough and it is never that great. Simplistic and frugal seem to be the main goal and despite the availability and low prices of produce they never seem to be option….except of course plantains, which I am starting to consider not as a fruit at all but rather a greasy potato chip.
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