November 26, 2021
It's the day after Thanksgiving, and my husband's birthday; why am I sitting at LAX, eating a breakfast burrito instead of sleeping in?
I am on my way to Guadalajara to attend the 'Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara' with the travel committee for Libros for Oregon. This is a giant Spanish language literary event. We will be buying Spanish language materials for public and school libraries throughout Oregon.
So, I'm sleepy, and tired, and a little overwhelmed, and I miss my family already. I am also excited though. I am so grateful for the opportunity to participate in this event. I am very happy to be a part of this incredible service to provide Spanish language books to Oregon.
November 27, 2021
It's hard to believe that it has been 24 hours since I arrived in Mexico. It has been quite the trip already, and the FIL hasn't even started yet!
Though I am having a wonderful time here, I have discovered something very important. Mexico is all about patience, and long lines--more so than any other country I have been to. First, there was the super quick and efficient passport control line that tricked me into thinking it would all be easy, followed by the longest customs line I have ever experienced, and then a 45 minute taxi line, and a really long taxi ride to my hotel. That was all smoothed away though by the amazing room service I had once I finally arrived.
I awoke this morning to breakfast at my hotel with fresh juice and fruit. Then, I headed out to a tour that was arranged by the hotel. This adventure led me in an unexpected direction though. As the only person who had booked the Guadalajara city tour, they decided to group me with the Tequila tour. Under normal circumstances, this would have been great, but a tequila tasting tour is not nearly as fun when you are traveling solo, as when you are with friends. Yet, it was a beautiful day to be in the blue agave fields, overlooking the mountains. I did do a little tasting, but not nearly as much as the rest of the participants, who were dancing, singing, and enjoying themselves completely. I mostly took pictures, and enjoyed the colors of Jalisco.
The best part of the day for me was the trip to the town of Tequila. Sitting in the plaza, I ate roasted corn and watched brides being escorted from the two cathedrals. Then a woman called a mariachi band over, and she sang with them, and it was perfect.
Tomorrow, I will head to the Expo to pick up my FIL pass and start selecting Spanish language books for the participating school libraries. The rest of my group is already on their way from Portland and will be arriving soon. Buenas noches!
December 1, 2021
The past several days have flown by so quickly, that it has been difficult to find time to write about our experiences here at the FIL. However, now that we are almost finished selecting books, I will try to catch up.
On Sunday, I walked over to the Guadalajara Expo to pick up my FIL pass and meet with our heroic vendor team, Multi-Cultural Books & Videos. It was immediately apparent how seriously they take safety at the FIL. There were temperature checks, hand sanitizer, signage is posted everywhere, and they checked our identification passes on entering and leaving, as well as our bags. Then, before entering the fair, I went through the Covid decontamination unit which sprayed me down; this may sound either scary or like sci-fi, but it was actually quite fun. At first, I thought this was just for the fair, but as I experienced more of Guadalajara, I quickly saw how different the mentality about Covid safety is here versus in the United States. This entire time, I have not seen anyone maskless.
The Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara is one of the largest book fairs in the world. As I walked into the expo center, this really hit me. Though it was early in the day, and few people were there yet, the scale of the fair was huge, and it was obvious what an important event it is here. I have since learned that due to pandemic travel restrictions, the fair was much smaller than normal this year, but that is hard to believe. Countries from all over the world were represented, including the guest of honor for the year, Peru. Gigantic booths displayed beautiful books of every genre from Latinx authors. It was so exciting to see, not only all of the newest books from around the world in translations, but to discover amazing new writers from here for the first time. What's more, I felt so privileged to know that I might be selecting books that introduced some of these incredibly talented authors and illustrators to library patrons and school children at home for the first time too.
The Multi-Cultural Books & Videos team this year consisted of Mariana and Alejandro Perez, Diego, and Diego. There are no words to express how kind and helpful they have been throughout our trip. They have truly taken care of us like family, and this is so appreciated during my first trip to Mexico, especially with all of the complications that traveling during a pandemic brings. Though this was my first time attending the fair, Diego and I managed to select a good portion of the books going to school libraries for the year on Sunday. He helped me double check the books to make sure they were written in Mexican Spanish, not Castilian, which is spoken in Spain, and that the books I was selecting were at the correct levels and prices.
Laura Kimberly from Newport Public Library, and Star Khan from Driftwood Public Library joined me in Guadalajara late Sunday night. Though I was having a wonderful time before, I was so excited to get to meet my two traveling companions in person. After the last several days, I have to say that it has truly been such a pleasure to be able to accompany, aid, and learn from these two during my time here.
Monday through Thursday, we divided and conquered in our quest for the perfect books for each category on our shopping list. I wish we had captured some of this on video because I am sure it must have been quite a sight to see Diego, Diego, Alex, and our team camped out on book displays, passing books back and forth to remove the plastic, double check them against our lists, tag and code them, and complete the order forms. Each day after we selected, we would head back to the business area with the team to run totals and see where we were at. It was so exciting when we finally finished too, not because we were done, but because it felt like such an accomplishment.
To celebrate this, our fearless leaders took us to an amazing dinner at an Argentinian restaurant. There we ate the best empanadas I've ever tasted (sorry Dominican Republic lunch ladies), I met the librarian travelers from my local Cornelius library, and I was able to talk with Mariana and Alejandro (Alex) more. During our conversations, I learned how much we had in common. Mariana was also a middle school teacher, and very passionate about literacy. She and her husband had been attending the event for many, many years, and saw it as part of their holiday celebrations. It never ceases to amaze me how you can travel the world, and although there are beautiful, colorful uniquenesses, there is so much more that we share.
January 11, 2022
It has been over a month since we returned from Guadalajara, but I am still not quite over the experience yet. I have been sharing my stories there with anyone who will still listen. My students are the ones who humor me the most, and many love to hear about it and ask questions. One of the things that I have been asked often, was also one of my greatest personal takeaways from visiting Mexico, but especially the FIL. In the United States, there are pervasive stereotypes of what it means to be Mexican, and though I haven't yet seen the more touristy beach destinations, I don't imagine there is much there to contradict these images. What students notice, and I noticed as well, was how modern, developed, and cultured Mexico is. I do not say this to gloss over problems the country may have; I was only there a week. Yet, I do not think we see this side of Mexico, and Latinx culture overall enough.