Guadalajara & NAACS

The main reason for going to Mexico was to attend the National Association of Chicana/o Studies Conference (NACCS) in Guadalajara City, which became my third stop.

The conference was no different than any other conference, a week full of paper presentations, workshops, and discussions concerning immigration, borderland theatre, Chicana feminism, Chicana/o studies, gay, lesbian, transgender Chicana/o issues, Chicano poetry, music, and oh, so many other things that I can go on forever.

La razón principal de ir a México fue para participar en la Conferencia Internacional de la Asociación Nacional para los Estudios Chicanas y Chicanos (NACCS)la cual se llevó en la Ciudad de Guadalajara, Jalisco.
La conferencia fue como toda otra conferencia, presentaciones, talleres, discusiones y todo acerca de inmigración, teatro fronterizo, Feminismo Chicano, Estudios Chicanas/os, Estudiso gay, lésbicos, transgéneros Chicanas/os, Poesía Chicana, música y muchas otras cosas que puede hacer una lista enorme.

One of my favorite events was the “open mic” session where anyone had the opportunity to show any talent other than academics. So yes, there were people who danced, did poetry, played instruments, did solo performance pieces, sang, did stand up comedy, etc…

I, of course, participated by showing a little of my acting talent (or lack thereof.) I presented a selection from my one-man show as a sneak peak to my official presentation later in the week.
The conference lasted a week and we were having way too much fun, with plans to seal the event with a huge party celebration.

Uno de mis eventos favoritos fue el “open mic” donde cualquier persona de la conferencia podía participar demostrando un talento fuera de lo académico. Así que hubo poetas, cantantes, actores, músicos, artistas de performance, y comediantes.

Yo, por supuesto, participé demostrando un poco de mi talento de actor, (o la falta de éste.) Presenté una selección de mi obra unipersonal, algo para que se animaran a verla después.
La conferencia duró una semana y estuvo muy divertida, con planes de terminar con una gran fiesta.

Unfortunately everything came to a sudden stop when, because of the presidential elections, a Mexican law requires the ENTIRE country to stop selling alcohol from two days before the election until a day after the election. And although we don’t need alcohol to celebrate, because of such law, all restaurants, bars, dance clubs, and entertainment centers were close. So the last two days were not as fun because we all knew there was nowhere to go and party at night. Luckily, my presentations were done a day earlier so I didn’t have to stick around any longer. I said good-bye to my colleagues, my new and old friends, the city itself and headed back to Mexico City a day earlier than planned.

Desafortunadamente, todo paró cuando, debido a las elecciones presidenciales, una ley mexicana le pide a todo el país que no se venda alcohol dos días antes y un día después de las elecciones. Y aunque no se necesita alcohol para divertirse, debido a esa ley, muchos restaurantes, bares, discos, clubes y centros de entretenimiento cerraron sus puertas. Así que nos quedamos sin lugar para celebrar. Afortunadamente, mi trabajo terminó un día antes así que le dije adiós a los nuevos amigos y viejos colegas y regresé a la Ciudad de México un día antes de lo planeado.