Monday, October 29, 2012

Regreso a Clases! - 2012 - Back to School! (Covered by Lin Loza)

   Hello dear readers, in this edition of L. M. in Motion we would like to talk to you about our towns school system and how it is conformed. Our most loyal contributor, personal friend and now a representative for our county in the La Huerta H. Ayuntamiento,  Lin Loza has done a terrific job once again of documenting in a small, but mayor way an important aspect of our community.

   Education plays a crucial part in shaping the future of any community, so we are happy to see more High school graduates, even tough they have to travel to another town to attend school and get their diploma. There is now a local daycare where young children can receive early stimulation other than being watched by grandparents or their siblings. We are also happy to see more kids from town become   professionals and return to our community to give back.


Playing "Tazos" after school



   It is both easy and hard to get an education in La Manzanilla, it is for the most part free but only until you try to reach beyond basic education it's were it gets difficult for families to pay for room and board or/ and far away transportation.

    Primaria (Elementary), Secundaria (Middle school, grades 6th, 7th and 8th) and Kinder are mandatory in Mexico, but in our town sometimes there are just not enough 3 year old attending the Primero of kinder garden so the teachers have two include them with the next group Segundo or wait until the child is 4 years old.



Padres de familia charlando afuera del Kinder

   The kinder garden teachers are very welcoming to foreign students and we all remember growing up having foreign classmates all trough middle school in La Manzanilla, they would be speaking Spanish in no time!

  Our Elementary "Manuel Lopez Cotilla" is named after Mexican education visionary from Guadalajara who created rural school systems such as our own and fought hard to eliminate religion from the classrooms; these type of schools belong to the SEP (Secretary of Public Education).



Here we see the classrooms rebuild after the 1995 earthquake, and a cute girl under the Almendro leaves.


   There are 98 boys and 123 girl students today, these students come from La Manzanilla, Boca de Iguanas and Los Ingenios. The school has 7 groups in total because they have two Terceros, 3roA y 3roB due to overcrowding. So there are a lot of 8 year olds! 



Director de Primaria: Jilberto Arechinga Rodriguez  




Alumnas barriendo cancha de basketball/volleyball. 


   Everyone must participate to keep the school clean since they can't always afford a janitor. In fact there is a Parents Committee that helps deal with the schools challenges, they trow benefits, offer their own labor when it comes to cleaning or working on the school, and even help run the school kitchen and cafeteria area. It is truly a community effort! Current President of the Comite de Padres de familia: Rosaura Montes Garcia.


  The next level of education you can get in La Manzanilla is the Telesecundaria, located at the entrance of town and named after Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon a rebel revolutionary priest who lead the Mexican Independence War.


Telesecundaria



   This type of school is a Mexican designed model of education, intended to reach the most desolated and rural areas of the country trough a television signal in an effort to combat illiteracy.



Alumnos antes de clases

  There are 6 groups in this school divided in to A and B respectively with 88 students in total. There are 5 teachers and an administrative person. Principals name is Guillermo Camacho. 

   

Sesion al aire libre


  A Parents Counsil exists as well for parent participation in the Telesecundaria it is represented by Jose Manuel Figueroa "Chemillo". Sadly enough a large number of kids wont make it past here in their education, a lot of them will rather stay behind and work construction instead and the girls work in housecleaning or some form of customer service in local stores or restaurants, etc. Also teenage pregnancy usually occurred during this time and is a mayor reason for drop outs. 


   But now there are more option for the working mother because now we have a Day Care in town thanks to a government program that subsidizes  these types of children homes, so working parents don't have to pay for child care. 



  
Daycare Center

   Here they care for kids under 4 years old, they have 3 groups for 1 years, 2 and 3. Families from both La Manzanilla and Los Ingenios use the Daycare services. They have 23 children currently enrolled, their  Directora is Judith Requena and Josefina Lua Madrigal is her assistant and the children's cook. They also have 3 other caregivers. 



  The main places to get a college education if you are from La Manzanilla are: Melaque (Marine Biology only), Manzanillo, Col., Colima, Col., Puerto Vallarta, Autlan, Guadalajara. And most people achieve their degrees in the Public State Universities like U de Colima or U de Guadalajara



I hope we provided some insight in to La Manzanillas academic structure :)

Hasta la Proxima! 

P.S.: Today was the election for Delegado in our town, we welcome 
Don Pedro Preciado Chavez "El Brujo"looking forward to working with him!



Special Thanks to:

Lin Magali Loza
y
Eloy Soto Contreras.
   
 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Sep 2012 - RECAPITULANDO EL MES DE LA PATRIA!!

Viva Mexico hoy y siempre! 
   Trying to keep up with our effort to upload life in La Manzanilla and it's current happenings we bring you a recap of the month of Septiembre our most patriotic month.

   During this month Mexicans celebrate our Independence manly and our flag, and in La Manzanilla the end of the slow season for tourist businesses and the return of the children to school.

   For those who visit our town seasonally you might wonder what your neighbors are up to while your gone? and if you are a new visitor this is what you should expect on a summer/fall visit to La Manzanilla.


 
A quite famous view of La Manzanilla, while the jungle seems alive and 
vibrant the low clouds make it even more dramatic, 
this is our favorite sunset season. 




During this month the temperature drops just enough 
that you can run around the Campo for an early workout. 



With business being so slow Eloy takes time off his Taxi to 
try one of Vano's customized bicicletas.




And since it's soooo slow he tries another! They say this one can carry a cooler! 



La guapa Josefina celebrando el Grito de Independencia!! Viva Mexico!!




Kevin and Frank celebrated with friends at local bar Las Cabanas. 
Don't let that cute face fool you! 



Every school in the nation goes out in the streets in a parade fashion to perform 
civic acts and celebrate Mexico's Independence Day Sep. 16th. These are some of the High school 
students in the town of Miguel Hidalgo (who was an independence hero himself), the kid's from La Manzanilla have to come here to attend High school and be part of the activities. 



During this time around the country people were typical regional dresses from 
that time period or later, this is what Jalisco women wear when they ride 
their horses and dance el Jarabe Tapatio with their Charros




And now we have reached my favorite sport "el Palo Encebado" which literally means the "Pig Fat covered Post", the objective of the game is to form teams and take turns to see which team can climb the post and collect the prices that are hanging from the top, stuff like food, shampoo, booze, soccer balls, etc etc



Pure entertainment! This year it took them only 5 minutes to get the prices
 down they are going to have to make it more challenging! 



Some years they grease up a pig and close off a couple 
streets and who ever catches it gets to keep it!  




This is an annual event on the afternoon of Sep. 16th put on by the Delegacion as part of the festivities. Strangely enough this is a french custom as well as a Mayan one and many towns in Latin America practice it as well. 


I hope you enjoy the month of September where ever you are!
Saludos y que Viva Mexico! 


Special Thanks to: 
Aby Ramos,
Issac Figueroa,
Oscar Cordova,
Eloy Soto Contreras,
Lin Magali Loza Lopez,
Modulo Miguel Hidalgo and
Delegacion La Manzanilla