Time to update again! My updates are getting fewer and farther between! Things are really routine and I pretty much just go to work, hang out with friends and then sleep. Things are starting to get a little hectic between the two schools now that the semester is beginning to wind down. In the tech, we have tests every 2 chapters so there are 4 grading periods in a semester. A little frustrating that my boss gave me the program on the computer and the final class lists today to do my grades! It’s November! So I have some catching up to do as far as plugging in grades. The high school does grading 3 times each semester but I have already handed in 2 periods so I’m caught up there. The high school has things a little more organized; it’s a private (Catholic of course) school so the parents expect quality for what they are paying for.

I haven’t really had any problems with any of the students so far; there are a few that talk during class or do things where I have to lecture them or kick them out of the classroom and send them to the office but for the most part they are pretty well behaved. It makes me laugh a little now to be on the other side of things. I suppose this is a glimpse of what being a parent will be like. I look at the students and when I have to yell at them or remove them from class I think of all my teachers in high school. I was one of the students who was always talking or always doing homework in the classes. To have to yell at 15 year old girls for being the same way I was is ironic. Karma, I suppose!

On November 2nd, Mexico celebrated Day of the Dead. I was excited to be here as I’ve studied and done presentations on it before but never experienced it. Here, there is no Halloween. October 31st is just another day on the calendar to them. It’s starting to become more popular with children in bigger cities such as Guadalajara or Morelia but here in Los Reyes I didn’t get any kids with costumes walking around. I made my friends carve pumpkins with me however, I was a little homesick as I always am on holidays and a few friends came over and carved pumpkins with me. It was fun to teach them how; they had never done it before in their lives!
On November 2nd, the Mexicans celebrate and honor the lives of people who have passed away. They build altars with the pictures of the dead and decorate them with flowers, candies, favorite foods of the dead, books, toys etc. They also go clean up the gravesites the night of the 1st and many spend the entire night in the cemetery with their loved ones who have passed away. It is strange to us as once a person is buried; their grave is rarely visited after some time. The cemeteries I saw were full of people; there were vendors selling tacos and food all night, people were with their families drinking and eating and chatting with neighbors. It was almost a big party. There was no work on the 2nd either as it is a federal holiday.
In the schools as well they build memorials to the dead, often decorating imitation gravesites and altars. They use colored sand and sawdust to create patterns and designs on the floor. They bring in dirt for the gravesite and marigolds are the flowers of choice for the Day of the Dead here. In the Instituto (the high school) the students built a really nice memorial to the priest who was the director of the school up until last year. He was killed by someone in his home last year and the students are still really shaken up about it. There is no obvious reason nor do they have any idea who shot him.

On a happier note, I bought my ticket home for the holiday season! I will be home from December 20th-January 12th and I hope I have the chance to see everybody while I am there. I won’t be able to come home for Thanksgiving but the gringos here are getting together so I’ll at least get turkey!
Miss everyone back home, see you all soon!

Sept. 16th

This past week was full of fun activities as it was a holiday week- Last Saturday I went to a party to celebrate the anniversary of the union at the tech. I’m obviously not part of it but the teachers wanted me to go. They said it was going to be a luncheon type party so I figured I would go for an hour or two and then go back home. Needless to say, Mexican parties are just a little different than the ones back home! I arrived a little after 2 and didn’t leave until 8:30pm! Most parties here are like that, some go until 1-2am. There was a live band playing music- they started with older songs while we ate and then after dinner they started with the banda and salsa music. Everyone got up and danced in a big circle- they taught me a new dance as well, not sure of the name in Spanish but it uses stepping moves, almost stamping your feet in a pattern, sometimes going in circles around your partner. It was really fun actually. The funniest part of the party was when, I kid you not- the band started playing Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Achy Breaky Heart” but singing it in Spanish and everyone started doing a mix of the electric slide and line dancing! It’s always funny to see a Mexican twist on something very American like line dancing. Especially when they are better dancers than we are! I met most of the teachers and administrators in the course I took over the summer through the tech and have become good friends with a few of them. They are all very nice and easygoing; some of them are hilarious pranksters too.

On Wednesday Mexico celebrated the 199th anniversary of Independence from Spain. The celebrations actually began Tuesday night in the plaza and continued into Wednesday! We went to the plaza (the center of town- they have plazas in every Mexican town with landscaping, benches, a pavilion and the downtown surrounds them) they had a short ceremony where the mayor gave a speech and then everyone yells “Viva Mexico!!” Fireworks and shouting follow and everyone goes out to celebrate. It was pouring during this ceremony so there weren’t as many people and we got entirely soaked! I was determined to get it all on film though! Afterwards I went to one of the local bars with some friends where I stayed until 3:30am. There was a live band playing at the bar as well and it was very chill.

The next morning I had to get up early to go see the parade. Every school marches in the parade along with some other organizations like the Red Cross and some local agriculture organizations. I was supposed to march with the tech but I wanted to watch the festivities as it was my first independence day here. When the parade finished, a group of us got together to cook out in a park in Tinguindin- a town about 45 minutes from here. It was a beautiful day and we cooked on the grill and of course had the staples- refried beans, tortillas, salsas, guacamole, cheese, tostadas and of course Corona! They celebrate much the same as we do- most with their families and they cook a big meal and relax all day.

On a different note, work is going well. I got hired part-time at the local high school as well so I teach some mornings there and head to the tech in the afternoons. Most teachers here split their schedules here and some work at as many as 4 schools to supplement the income. The high school is private and pays much better than the tech college but the catch is you have to put up with adolescents!! So far I’ve only taught one group, I start the full schedule this week so we will see. My classes at the tech are going really well so far. I like the students a lot and the environment is great. It’s a small technical college- there are roughly 400 students total and only four different careers. It’s nice though, most faces are familiar now and the only problems I’ve had are the students occasionally asking me out or whistling when I walk into the room. It’s strange, I still haven’t completely become accustomed to the cat- calling here; it’s a cultural thing and here it’s a compliment to women to be whistled at or cat-called on the street. I’m more used to giving the finger if someone is rude enough to whistle at me in the U.S.! My students don’t mean any disrespect doing it and I try not to pay attention to them. None of them have gone overboard or needed any disciplining so I usually just ignore it.
That’s all for now- still no complaints about my Mexican life!! Miss everyone back home- feel free to come visit me!

Return

I made it back to Mexico this time without any delays or problems! Yay! It was good to be home for a month and see everyone but I'm glad to be back. It's been a little boring as the coordinator at the tech had not yet organized classes so I had nothing to do the last two weeks. I started teaching last week but I only had two classes, neither of which had their books. It's been a little frustrating trying to get started this semester- organization is not a strong point here! I'm supposed to start my full schedule this week and right now he has me scheduled for 30 hours a week. I have two English 1 classes which is very basic so my Spanish is getting a workout. This week I should have a few higher level courses and he is having me teach the English teachers to improve their grammar and pronunciation. It should be a fun class, there are three other English professors at the tech and I enjoy teaching advanced levels. Strange that I will be teaching the teachers but they are excited at the opportunity. He also wants me to give English classes to the directors of the tech- including the principal. I'm a little nervous about that one!

My classes for the basic level are huge, I have 29 students in one class and 23 in the other. Not very many girls either! It's definitely a challenge and they are testing me to the fullest right now. The boys are a little rowdy- it's the first semester for most of them at the tech so they are fresh out of high school and are getting a huge kick out of having a young blond English teacher. The first class I was trying to gauge how much they knew in English as most have classes in high school and one of them asked, in English, "Do you have a boyfriend?" I said no and he asked if I wanted one! Took a few minutes to calm the class down but I'm just being really strict the first few weeks until they figure out my class isn't play time. There are a lot of really good students with a lot of potential but I have the clowns and one or two students who don't like to be told what to do. Definitely a different experience so far from Culturlingua! It feels good to be back in the classroom, I never saw myself as a teacher but I really enjoy it most days!
I'm also trying to organize a few private classes on the side. Some of my friends want some private lessons and it should be fun to teach them.

My parents were worried about the hurricane affecting me here but not to worry- it was way north of Los Reyes. I have noticed a little change in the weather, it's been cloudier than usual and we have had a few days of just solid rain all day with no sun. Not sure if I can blame it on the hurricane or if it's just part of the rainy season. Most days we only get rain in the afternoons for an hour or so and the sun comes back out so the days of cloudiness and rain are a little strange.

That's all for now, I'll update again soon- next week is Mexico's independence day- the 16th of September and I'm really excited to be here for it. They actually get a lot more excited than Americans do- they celebrate the entire month, there are flags everywhere. I mean everywhere- they have flags that fit over car hoods and on the mopeds and in the stores and on the buildings and they sell them on every corner. I guess they celebrate the 15th and the 16th with parades and fireworks and bands in the street- the whole shebang! So I'll put a posting up after Independence day and try to describe the chaos! Hopefully it's a kind of quiet day- last year there was a bombing in the capital's plaza during the celebrations and with all the violence lately it's a little worrisome but I'm staying in Los Reyes for the holiday- no big cities for me that day!

the tech

Hey all! I started at the tech school, I am giving an intensive English class that lasts for 2 weeks. It runs from 8am-2pm everyday Monday through Saturday. It seems like a lot but I got really lucky and have a great group of students. They are really advanced and most of them speak very well. I am able to do a lot of conversation activities and less bookwork with them. There are seven students from the age of 18-30 and they all know each other already so it is a very comfortable class. I am really really enjoying teaching it and I hope the courses that begin in August are similar! The tech college gives me more freedom in my classes than Culturlingua did so I can incorporate other activities into my class, we have been working on pronunciation activities, listening to song lyrics in English, debates and sometimes just letting them talk to each other in English and correcting mistakes. It ends on Saturday and I'm a little sad, I wish I had this group for an entire semester, they are really eager to learn.
I bought a ticket home since I don't have to teach at all in August. I am coming home from July 26th-August 23rd. I am very excited to come home and see everyone! I'll miss Mexico a little bit while I'm gone, but all in all it should be a fun trip home. Sorry this post is so short, but I'll be seeing most of you next week! :)

Happy belated 4th!!

Happy belated fourth to everyone!! Things have been pretty quiet here, Jay moved to Periban to teach the summer course there and Neal went to Cotija to teach at that location since there aren’t any students signed up here in Los Reyes for the summer. I guess summer courses aren’t very popular here because my course at the tech currently has four students and we need at least 8 to make the course worth it. I was supposed to start teaching on Monday the 6th but now I have this week off again. The coordinator wants to wait to see if more students will sign up. I was a little irritated with him because he had made it sound like the summer job was a sure thing so I left Culturlingua and now he’s telling me we may not have the students for me to teach. I’m a little restless with nothing to do all day and no money to really travel anywhere.
For the fourth we had planned to rent a cabaña on a lake about 2 hours from here. Jay and Neal flaked out so I was the only gringo with three of my Mexican friends celebrating Independence Day!! It was really fun, we had a big cabin close to the lake and brought food and of course other supplements. I made fruit pizza since Aunt Meg always makes it. It was a struggle and a half to make it though!! For starters I don’t have an oven at this place, so I took the dough to my friend Karla’s to try to cook it. They never use their oven, I guess cooking things in the oven isn’t popular here; most Mexicans use it for storage space. Her oven didn’t want to light (everything is gas here) so later that night we went to a bakery to see if they would let us cook it there. It was an old traditional place run by a small family and they still use the old school stone oven. It was really neat to see how it is done; it is kind of like a small cave with the bottom all stone and they light a fire inside of it and keep the coals going all day. They put two buckets of water in there as well to keep it humid so the bread doesn’t dry out. The man had fruit filled empanadas, (flaky crust with jelly filling in them- they sometimes put meat in them too), different rolls and loaves of bread. He gave us a lot of things to sample and wouldn’t take money from us for all his help. We bought some loaves of bread from him instead. It still takes me aback sometimes here to see all of the generosity and willingness to help complete strangers. Everyone here is considered a friend and they really would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it. They love to help people and I wish there was a little more of this culture at home. The fruit pizza turned out well, I had wanted to make the American flag to be festive but blueberries are impossible to find here right now, I used grapes and told everyone they had to imagine that it was blue for the stars.
It was really cold up in Zirauhen so we didn’t go swimming at all but it was nice to be up at a lake for the fourth. I’m always at the cottage and I know everyone else was there this weekend so it was a little sad to be here. I love celebrating the fourth at home and I was a little homesick but we bought fireworks, which are also very hard to find and very illegal here. Sinai found some little whistlers and fountains from a friend of his. Karla, Sinai and Jaime really made the weekend special. We hung out by the lake for Sunday morning too and then came back here.
I am hoping to come home for most of August as I don’t have to work so I will have about three weeks to spend at home. I was told that my class decided to do a five year reunion on the 22nd of August. I can’t believe it’s been five years since I graduated from Lourdes. Should be interesting to see where everyone’s at.
More to come later when I start classes and have something else to write about!

long overdue update

SO I have been seriously slacking on the updating and I apologize! I found a house to rent; its a four bedroom house and I will be renting it with three students who go to the tech. Get this- I will be paying 500 pesos a month for rent which is approximately $45. It's close to everything, I can walk to the plaza and the colectivos (little vans) pass right in front of the house to go to the tech. I informed Culturlingua I was not staying and received a rather cold response in return which is funny considering I am one of only two teachers actually finishing their contract. I move next weekend and start teaching an intensive English course the the tech college on July 6th.
With this job as well, I should be able to come back to Wisconsin to visit in August for a few weeks. I'm very excited!! I've been a little homesick lately so it'll be good to come spend some time at home. I'm also looking forward to teaching adults. I enjoy it much more than kids. I love kids but they are a pain to teach sometimes!! God bless you Aunt Sherry!!!
I havent done much traveling around lately, I'm trying to save up some money and it's difficult with the pay at Culturlingua but I have to buy some stuff for the house I'm moving into. Nothing else too interesting happening here, we are wrapping up the semester on Friday. I am going to miss my students but hopefully I'll see them around town. I'm hoping to do a little traveling next week while we are on vacation but we will see how the funds are doing!
I'll try to update sooner this time!

This week has been a crazy week, the newer teacher, Mike from Australia took off on Monday to go back home. It was sudden and unexpected and then to top it off the other older teacher who arrived last month got fired. So it’s back down to Jay and me! A new teacher is coming in tomorrow to start filling in Mike’s classes and we have another substitute to take over the older teacher’s classes until summer. I have no idea how Culturlingua stays afloat with this many changes, it’s really bad for business and it doesn’t seem like it is a new thing here.
I interviewed at the technical college right here in Los Reyes and got the job. The only problem is Culturlingua, as Cecilia put it “doesn’t share their teachers.” I was also informed that if we take private classes on, we get fired. The technical college offers more money and also will allow me to take private classes on so I would really like to get out from under Culturlingua and take this job offer but apartments down here are scarce, as is cheap furniture. I am on the hunt but here, in small towns they don’t advertise in newspapers or online. It is all about who you know down here in Mexico, not what you know. Thank goodness my parents taught me social connection skills early! I have all my friends on the hunt and hopefully something will come up. I would really like to teach university level, not only because it is more formal and looks better on the resume, it would also allow me to make more friends my age.
I have been hanging out a lot with one of my students and her friends and today, one of the guys I met when I first arrived here in Los Reyes and Karla (my student) came over to do some Mexican cooking. We made Caldo de Camarón which is a shrimp soup with lots of vegetables and chilies. It was fun to hang out for the afternoon and cook and chat in Spanish. I am amazed at how much my Spanish has improved and even get complimented by the locals here on how good it is. I still stumble and screw up my grammar but I am far less uneasy and embarrassed about making mistakes and everyone is pretty good at correcting me or helping out if I don’t know a word. I am still amazed at how friendly and open everyone is here and how affectionate they are as a culture. I get greeted by many of the store owners and neighbors now on my walk to school and I’m fairly certain most people in town know me at least by sight. It will definitely be a shock to go back home and readjust, but who knows when that will be! Haha!
It’s kind of scary at the moment to not have a plan and have no idea what I’ll be doing this summer or in the fall but at some point the wind will either pick up or change and I’ll go where it goes!
Anyway, more to come when things settle down and sort out here! Miss you all back home!

Back to school

Well, we finally started up classes again. Classes were supposed to start last week but no students showed up and the governor of Michoacan had said we should have another week of vacations. Culturlingua still made us go in for 3 hours a day, "just in case the students came in for homework". We did that Monday-Wednesday last week and then had a long weekend again because surprise surprise... nobody came in. We started officially again on Monday- a lot of schools have not started yet and we are still missing a lot of students. The government is trying to play down the flu now and the media has been hush hush here so I am not even certain if there are any confirmed cases in the area. People aren't really wearing the masks anymore and I think the hype has died down.
I am actually excited classes have started up again, it was very very boring around here with nothing to do day after day for an entire month! We have about a month left of classes; time sure flies!
The rainy season has begun, it has been raining almost every day here in the afternoons or at night. It's been nice since it cools off the afternoon heat. We have also been getting some excellent thunderstorms and lightning shows. They say it will rain until about September with July being the worst. So far no complaints from me, the most it has rained is for about 2 hours in the afternoon.
Anyway, nothing else for now- still healthy!

keeping occupied

We have been keeping ourselves occupied throughout this past weekend and for the beginning of this week while we are still off school. Eloisa (the secretary here) called yesterday to tell us we aren't going back until tomorrow so we have another day off. For Sandy, Mike and I, it is a day of recuperation. On Sunday we went to the Chorros de Varal which are the natural waterfalls about a half hour from here. We set off around noon in a taxi and got dropped off at the top of this cliff. There were 786 steps (yes, I counted them...) down to the bottom. The steps wound down and around this cliff and some of the views on the way down were amazing. We finally reached the bottom to be confronted by this suspension bridge high up over the river to cross. The suspension bridge was very Mexican- wooden boards- some not fully attached on one end or another, others just missing altogether. Needless to say, every movie or cartoon I have ever watched with a wooden suspension bridge over a cliff or river was running through my head as we crossed! We had to climb down some rocks to get to the river and then hike through boulders and more rocks to get over to see the waterfalls. The waterfalls were breathtaking- some were coming out of what seemed like a small hole in the cliff and pouring water in huge amounts down to the bottom (the guide book says the waterfalls were about 120ft. high), other parts of the waterfalls were gentle rain-like that sent mist all the way across the river. We crossed the river to get around to the same side as the waterfall which didn't seem customary- we only saw 3 other people who climbed up the cliff and went around instead of crossing the river. It was difficult to cross, some parts of the river came up to your chest but we helped each other across and it was well worth it. We spent most of the afternoon suntanning on the big boulders and swimming in the pools underneath the waterfalls. The climb back up was no joke- it was like being on a stair stepper for an hour! We were very sore on Monday!!

Yesterday, after leaving only a day to recuperate from the waterfalls we decided to go to Paricutin, the world's youngest volcano. We got up early and headed out as everything we read said it was to be an all day adventure. We arrived at 9am in Angahuan which is the small town near the volcano. This is where you are able to hire a guide and horses to get to the volcano. A little history- Paricutin erupted out of a cornfield in 1943. It is the first time geologists have been able to study a volcano from its birth to eruption. The volcano grew and erupted until 1952, burying towns nearby in volcanic rock and lava. Nobody was killed in the eruptions as it was slow moving lava and over the 9 years of eruptions the cone grew to stand about 1400 feet above the cornfield it erupted out of. It is located about 10,000 feet above sea level.
We took the horses around the miles of volcanic rock, the trip to the base of the volcano from Angahuan was about 2- 2 1/2 hours on horseback. The guides are all natives and interestingly enough, many have very rusty Spanish skills. The native people in this area are indigenous people called the Purhepecha and they all still speak to each other in their native language. It is a village out of old times- cobblestone streets, handmade native clothing and interesting arts and crafts. Our guide was probably only 12 years old and came with us on horseback to the volcano. We reached the base around noon and began the grueling climb up to the crater. The side of the volcano consists of ashes and rocks that make it extremely difficult to climb. Every step you took, you slid down half as far. It is an impressive site to stand at the base of the volcano but far more impressive from the top! We made it up after many breaks and were able to walk around the entire crater. From the top of the volcano you could see the miles and miles of black rock left from the lava. The inside of the crater was impressive as well and around the crater there were little pockets that still eject steam. As far as I understand, this volcano will never erupt again. If there is more activity from this area it would come from another spot. Climbing down the volcano was the most fun- it took maybe 10 minutes to get to the bottom. They have a path that is just ash and you can slide down most of the way. You sink to your calves and it's almost like walking on air or on a pogo stick. I can't really describe the walk down but it was great fun!
We got back on the horses and started back but detoured to go see the church of San Juan Parangaricutiro which was half buried in the lava. The church was built in the 1800s and was quite large at one point. Most of it was destroyed by the volcano but it is considered a holy spot by Mexicans because the altar with the crucifix was absolutely untouched. We were able to climb around on the rocks left by the lava and explore what was left of the church. The entire first floor was filled with boulders and most of the walls were wiped out. The main steeple with an archway was still intact and you were also able to squeeze through some of the rocks to get into a small room that would have been either the basement or first floor. You could hike across what would have been the gathering space of the church to reach the altar and it really was amazing that it wasn't touched. Many of the rocks stood higher than the altar and spilled over near the altar but the crucifix was untouched both by the heat and the devastation.
We are all extremely sore today (sunburn just adds to the aching muscles!) but it was well worth it to see what is categorized as one of the natural wonders of the world.
Tomorrow we are supposed to start up school again, I am not sure how many students will show up for class for just 2 days before the weekend but I am kind of looking forward to going back to work. It has been a little boring sitting around with no place to go and nothing to do!

Piggy flu part 2

Just another update- no swine flu in these parts that I know of yet. The government went one step further and closed all nonessential businesses and places people can congregate (including restaurants, bars, clubs, gyms etc). They say it will for sure go until Tuesday the 6th which is supposed to be the end of our long holiday vacation but they say everything may remain closed depending on the spread of the swine flu (we may have another extended vacation!). The Mexican government is not as quick at disclosing where the swine flu has spread as the USA is so I'm not even entirely sure it is still contained to Mexico City. Masks are impossible to find here- no pharmacies have them. Mom sent an email yesterday saying she was going to send some antiviral drugs and masks down to me, hopefully they will get here in a timely manner. Who knows, maybe this will be somewhat under control in a few weeks and I won't need any of it! We are trying to keep ourselves entertained and occupied but it is difficult without going anywhere. We are thinking of heading out to the natural waterfalls about a half hour away and maybe going to the world's youngest volcano, which is about 2 hours away sometime this weekend. We figure both are open areas where we won't get exposed to anything.
Anyways- still healthy for now, I will keep everyone updated on the progress but for now just trying to keep from going stir crazy in a shut down city!

piggy flu

So due to the media hype about the swine flu I have decided to post another blog for everyone. I feel like the media is really blowing this thing up- so far in Mexico they think about 150 people have died from this flu strain but even those are not confirmed yet. In a city of 20 million (Mexico City) they only have a total of 2000 some suspected cases. Not to downplay this flu virus at all because it has been rated as a level 4 by the World Health Organization and it has been spreading rapidly, but we have not yet been touched by it in Los Reyes. Most people had not heard of it before yesterday morning (Monday) and by yesterday afternoon all schools in the entire country had been ordered to shut down. This includes Culturlingua so we are now on vacation until May 6th at the earliest.
Again, I am not downplaying this at all, nor are many people even here in Los Reyes. We went to a few pharmacies yesterday to attempt to buy masks and they were all out. We are going out again in search today for masks to wear while we are out and about, hopefully a pharmacy will have some. Many people are already wearing them driving around or walking around town. As far as I know, nobody has fallen ill here in Los Reyes or even in the surrounding areas but it is much harder to tell here because many people try to treat themselves thinking it is just the regular flu at the end of flu season. As far as I have seen here it is just the schools that are shut down, most businesses are carrying on as normal and people are going about their normal lives. Maybe it is part of the Mexican culture but they seem rather unfazed by the whole thing and that is probably why I am not as nervous as many of you at home. I feel this is a classic case of the media blowing the entire thing up; every news channel is carrying continuous news about the spread of it.
I am not sure why it is lethal here and not in other countries, it has spread much faster I believe just simply due to sanitation and culture differences in greeting people here. The normal greeting for anyone, whether just introduced or greeting a good friend/relative/business associate is to kiss them on the cheek while shaking their hand. This has been banned in Mexico City but old habits die hard and many will still do it so as to not be rude.
I will keep everyone updated on the conditions here, but so far everything you are seeing on the news is taking place in Mexico City which is 8 hours by car or bus from here. It will most likely spread further as the transportation in this country makes it easy to travel and many people are going about their regular business. Many people are aware of the situation and like I said, masks have become a frequent sight even here in Los Reyes and the media is making sure everyone knows about it. I’m not sure about the supply of antiviral drugs here, hopefully they have a stockpile!
No worries yet from Los Reyes, we are in high spirits and are simply trying to figure out what to do with 8 days off of work with nothing to do and our travel plans for the holiday weekend canceled!! I’ll keep you all updated on here if anything changes in my area!

back in Mexico

I have a few updates to blog about- I made it back to Los Reyes safely after many delays at the airports last weekend. I was supposed to arrive in Guadalajara at 8:30pm but did not arrive until almost 4am. There was bad weather in Houston, which was supposed to be my layover and we were diverted to New Orleans to wait out the weather. We sat in the plane for 2 1/2 hours, luckily I was sitting next to a talkative Mexican guy and we kept each other company during the wait. We finally got approval to take off to Houston and then we had to circle for awhile as the airport had been shut down for 2 hours and there was a lot of air traffic to deal with. I arrived in Houston at 8:30pm which was supposed to be my arrival time in Guadalajara and found out my plane hadn't left yet for Guadalajara. It was rescheduled to take off at 10:30pm but kept getting pushed back and pushed back. We finally took off at 1:30am after many delays and gate changes and arrived in Guadalajara at 3:45am. I met some people in the airport and one of the girls offered to give me a ride to the bus station. I had planned on staying in a hostel overnight but I didn't want to pay for a hostel for just a few hours so I decided to tough it out and catch an early bus. I got to Los Reyes at 10:30am after not sleeping for 30 hours. It was brutal but I had the entire day to relax and sleep.
On another note, we got a new teacher to replace Angela finally. He arrived on Sunday and is Australian. He seems fun and laid back so far. Brian decided suddenly to leave and took off on Tuesday to travel a bit and then try to find a job elsewhere. We had no notice so we were once again shorthanded. Needless to say Eloisa was very stressed out. They must have had someone on the line already because we got a new guy last night. He is older- maybe early 60s and rode his motorcycle down here from Florida to take the TEFL course. He seems like a nice guy but he mumbles his English and it is a little difficult to understand so I'm not sure how his students will like him.
The news has just been slaughtering Mexico lately- I have had a few questions about the swine flu already. It has not affected this area yet- I'm fairly certain nobody even knows about it here. I'll keep everyone updated on here about the progress, right now it seems to be isolated to the Mexico City area which is approximately 8 hours from here. I think it will eventually get here but for now I'm safe and healthy!

the future...

Even though I am still in Wisconsin and have seen most of the people who read this already I decided to post an update. I have been doing a lot of thinking the past few weeks about what I am going to do for the future. I was accepted into Marquette for graduate school which was my number one choice and I am very excited about that. I toured the school last year and fell in love with the city of Milwaukee and the campus. The clinic was brand new with state of the art equipment and they offer one of the only bilingual programs for Speech Therapy in the Midwest (also one of the best in the US). Needless to say this was a huge accomplishment for me and I am very proud of it.

However, after a lot of thought and weighing the pros and cons I decided to defer my acceptance to graduate school for a year and continue teaching English. I am not certain that I will even go back next year. Deferring for a year will give me at least a chance without having to reapply if I decide that it is what I want a year from now. My future is completely and utterly up in the air and while it is a little scary to think about it is also very exciting. Teaching English as a second language has opened doors I never dreamed existed and I can get paid to see the world. I will never ever have this opportunity again; if I go into graduate school now I will finish my Masters degree in two years, finish my clinical fellowship year the third year and graduate with about $40,000 in student loans. I will jump right into the corporate world running and have 2 weeks paid vacations a year if I am lucky. After spending the past 4 months in Mexico, this world holds no interest for me anymore. The people I have met, both teachers and students have inspired me and have helped me realize I could do this for years. My two roommates have seen the world already and have enjoyed every minute of their lives. I cannot begin to explain the opportunities available to me with the teaching certificate and I am very excited to see where the wind takes me.
I hope that I will go to graduate school someday because I do have a love for Speech Pathology as a career and someday my adventurous spirit may be tamed just enough to settle down but for now I am going to let the wind take me wherever it pleases. I feel like I am getting the most out of my life and I am doing what I really love right now. I wake up with a smile on my face every day and I am learning so much. I look forward to my future travels and will keep you all updated on them! Everyone I have talked to about this have been extremely supportive and I thank you all for that. I expected some resistance (especially from my parents!) about this decision but it has been met with nothing but "follow your dreams, do what you love". I have always wanted to travel the world and experience other cultures and I feel kind of like I have been handed a silver platter!
I had been throwing this idea around while still in Mexico and it was cemented in when I returned for Easter vacation. I love being here with my friends and family and have been having a great time but a part of me feels out of place now. I feel disconnected with the culture and pace of life here. It was odd and ironic that I did not have culture shock or homesickness when I went down to Mexico but I got it when I came back to Wisconsin for break!
I have been searching for jobs in other parts of Mexico for the summer session and have been throwing the idea of going to Spain for the fall around.
I want to thank you all for your support and I have discovered while I have been home that more people than I thought read this on a regular basis! I will try to update it more often!

So one more blog before I come home to visit! I'm very excited to go back home for 2 weeks and visit everyone but at the same time glad I still get to come back to Mexico! :) I looked up the weather for my homecoming and wasn't at all pleased with snow showers and 40 degree weather. Things here have been going very well, we are beginning to prepare for Presentations which will take place the week after we return from Easter Vacation. The presentations are something that Culturalingua does for the parents of the students. Every class has to prepare something- a skit, songs, etc to show the parents what they have learned. My teenagers and young adults all tell me they never show up and don't want to do it but my younger students are excited about showing off all of their English!

One another note, this past weekend we went to Sahuayo which is about 2 1/2 hours away to celebrate Jay's birthday and 2 of the teachers there also had birthdays. Sahuayo is a much bigger city and was very different than Los Reyes. It is built into the side of the mountain and is still expanding but as you walk parallel to the mountain you can just look up the streets that go straight up the mountain. It was a very cool city. On Sunday we went to get some coffee before catching the bus back and the town was just bustling. Everybody was out and about selling things, walking around and shopping. It was fun just to sit and watch the crowd. There are two English schools there and the teachers there were a lot of fun to hang out with. I'm meeting more and more people who do this for extended periods of time and all of them have been very interesting and fun to hang out with. I think everyone who travels to foreign countries to live and teach English have similar personalities and I have met some awesome people doing this so far. My parents aren't going to like this, but I can see myself traveling the world doing this! Who really knows what the future holds though! Anyways, have to keep this one short, I have to go get ready to teach, I'll see most of you next week :)

So there has been a slight pause in my updating this blog business, but here is a new one. I have several new developments to write about now- just went through a little dry spell for a bit. Things have settled into a routine so there isn't much to write about sometimes. I pretty much do the same things all week- just go teach and then sometimes go hang out with some of the Mexican friends I have made. They like to just go hang out at one of their houses and play rock band or watch a movie, but I'm getting to practice my Spanish a lot! It's just too bad a lot of it is bad Spanish that I should not use in front of anyone!
The first change is that Angela decided to return home for good. She was not having a good time here anymore and wanted to go home back to her family. Since there was short notice we do not have a replacement for her so we are trying to juggle the classes around a little bit. I am going to be teaching one more class a day and they will pay me a little bit extra for it. It is basically a conversation class- the three girls are very good at English so it might be fun. Definitely a change from the grammar and little kids! I have also had 3 new students added to my classes, I now have eight students in my 4-6 year old class; it gets very hectic sometimes but man can I spit out Spanish commands on the spot now!
On a different note, we had a 3 day weekend this week and decided to head down to the beach. The closest and cheapest one was Zihuatenejo which was kind of fun seeing as Uncle Dic lived there awhile back! I'm sure it has changed immensely but it was a charming little city and we enjoyed ourselves muchisimo! We arrived on Saturday about noon and started walking around trying to find a cheap hotel. A man approached us after we had asked about 3 hotels about their prices and told us to come check out a room he had. It was a family that rented out a separate part of their house, it was kind of like a little efficiency unit upstairs. It had a kitchen and a nice bathroom and a king size bed alongside a twin bed. We paid probably the equivalent of $20 for both nights apiece (there were three of us). It was absolutely perfect- two blocks from the beach, on a quaint little street with flowers up and down the middle and restaurants on either side. Let me tell you about paradise: paradise is a quiet beach on the pacific with friendly people strolling around and drinks and seafood to be had anywhere you looked. Small bars where the bartenders sit down and chat with you and the waiters want to party with you at night. Paradise is the sunburn that I have as a memento to a fabulous weekend in the sun and perfect weather. We spent the afternoon on the beach Saturday and had a really chill evening since we were tired from traveling. Sunday was spent completely on the beach and swimming in the ocean. We were in a little bay off the ocean and the swimming was good.
Sunday night we went to Ixtapa with some friends from Leon (central Mexico)that we had met earlier. Ixtapa is probably a 15-20 minute ride from Zihuatenejo and is much more touristy and has better bars and clubs. It was a very fun night, lots of dancing. It was nice to see Ixtapa but I don't think I would ever stay there, it was exactly like the beaches in Florida and they cater to Americans and Europeans- it felt like I had left Mexico and I didn't enjoy that aspect of it.
All in all it was a top weekend and it was heaven to get to the beach and relax for 2 days! Back to the real world though, if this counts as the real world. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and remind myself I'm actually not dreaming this all up.

my classes

It occurred to me that I have not written about my students here in Los Reyes yet. I really like my schedule here; I teach two classes from 8am-10am every morning and then have a break until 4pm. I teach from 4-8pm every night. During my break I usually go to La Unidad to run, sometimes I go to the market as well to pick up some fresh fruits or veggies. Sometimes I pretend I’m Mexican and I take a siesta in the afternoon so I have the energy for my students in the afternoon. Life here is very relaxed and slow paced!
My first class is beginner English with only one semester of English behind them and I have four students from the ages of 14-20. It is a quieter group with two girls and two guys but they participate in the activities and I can’t really hold being quiet at 8am against them. My next class is a little more advanced but I only have two students, a 16 year old girl and a 19 year old guy. The guy, Federico, rarely comes so oftentimes it is just Claudia and I.
When I go back at four, I have a class with three 8 year old girls in it. Up until last week it was just two girls, Ashanty and Aril. They get along very well, both very outgoing and smart. Jocelyn came into the class last week but she is very quiet. It is kind of a struggle to get her to participate and the other two intimidate her. It threw in an odd dynamic to have a shy quiet girl thrown in with two girls with the same personality who had been in the same class for 2 weeks already.
The next class is my young kids. I have seven 4-6 year olds. Five boys and two girls and that class takes a lot of energy! It is one thing to babysit and chase around a bunch of kids but quite another to try to make them sit and learn or even all participate in the same activity. (God Bless you Aunt Sherry!) It has been going very well so far, my Spanish commands are becoming much better! I have only had to remove one of them from the class and make her sit outside as a timeout. It is a fun class, sometimes I’ll say something in Spanish and one of the kids will give me an odd look and then correct my Spanish and tell me how to say it correctly. Who is teaching who? One of the students in the class is a handful; just a total boy and at 5 years old think he knows everything already and loves to get up out of his chair. Thus far he has found the word “Puto” which translates into something similar to bitch written underneath the table, (he of course had to tell the whole class what the table said), has taken gum stuck under the table and put it in his mouth and has also attempted to glue my window shut. He now sits right next to me. I’ve discovered they listen much better to English commands. I can repeat “Siéntete” over and over and over and nobody listens but I say “sit down please!” and they sit and look at me like, “what else is she going to say?” If anything else at least they will know how to say quiet, sit down and listen in English at the end of the semester!
My class at 6pm has five teenagers in it. They are all 13 or 14 years old and are fairly advanced in English. It is a very fun class to teach, all of the students get along really well and all enjoy talking. We laugh a lot in that class. There is only one boy in the class and he at the moment is dating one of the girls so we will see what happens if they break up. They started dating right after Valentine’s Day but I think it is the type of relationship where they say they are dating but don’t really do anything together.
Finally, the last class of the day has a variety of students. I have a 12 and a 13 year old girl, a 19 year old guy and a 24 year old girl. They have only had about a semester of English behind them, although the two young girls still get English class in school so they do a little better. Surprisingly they all get along really well and have a lot of fun.
I have actually seen many of my students out on weekends here in Los Reyes too, Mexican laws are more like suggestions and nobody really notices whether they are followed all the time or not so oftentimes 13-14 year olds are able to get into the clubs. It is very strange to be a few drinks in dancing to Katy Perry’s “I kissed a girl” and see your 13 year old student across the dance floor! Awkward situation to be sure. They always make sure to come over and say hello too! Other than that it has been a good semester so far and I’m enjoying teaching!

bday weekend!

Before I left for Mexico, I was worried about my birthday being a little over a month away and being in a foreign country with friends and family so far away. I shouldn’t have worried at all. My birthday was actually very fun. Most of my classes threw me mini parties so we played games and they brought in food like chips and cookies and we just had a fun day. Two of my students even bought me presents- one a hair clip and some candy and another brought in a cookie in the shape of a heart on a stick.
After classes were done we headed back to the house. A few friends we have met while we have been here came over to the house with a bunch of beer and we turned on some music and had a little party at the house. We had all intentions of going out to the bars as well but ended up just staying in and hanging out. We played some card games and hung out on the roof for awhile. 3 of the guys who came over knew no English either so we all practiced our Spanish quite a bit.
When we all rolled out of bed on Saturday and cured the hangovers, Sandy, Angela and I caught a bus to Uruapan. It is about 2 hours from here by bus and sounded like a fun weekend trip. The guys, Jay, Brian and a former teacher, Ryan were going to catch a different bus later that afternoon. They never ended up coming- we called them at like 10pm after exploring the city a little bit and getting ready to go check out the night life, and they had decided to stay here in Los Reyes. So it ended up being a girl’s weekend in Uruapan and a guy’s weekend in Los Reyes.
The nightlife in Uruapan would have been decent had it not been Valentine’s Day. I think anyone reading this blog knows me well enough to know I have never been a fan nor will I ever be a fan of the holiday. It just received another mark against it. Mexicans love the holiday- all of the stores for the past 2 weeks have been selling any type of candy or flower or stuffed item you could ever dream of. When we arrived at the first bar in Uruapan we were startled to see it all decorated for V-day and the tables all reserved. Apparently the big thing to do here is quite the opposite as we do in the US. Mexicans go out with their significant others to the bars on Valentine’s Day. Here we were, expecting to go to the bars and have it full of the singles who didn’t find a date and we were surprised by couple after couple holding hands, making out and getting all dressed up to go to the clubs and bars for a lovers rendezvous. Ugh! We were very disappointed. We grabbed the first taxi and told him to take us someplace popular and fun where we could dance. He took us to a bar that resembled a ranch on the outside and it was called Casablanca. It was huge inside and had a giant stage with a live Banda band. It would have been fun except the dance floor was absolutely packed with 40-50somethings dancing to Banda. Again…all couples. At this point we were starting to get more than a little annoyed with the whole Valentine’s Day scheme ruining our night.
I had looked through Jay’s guide book on Mexico and had read about Uruapan before heading out there and told the next taxi driver to take us to a bar called BarRio, which had been in the guide book and had been given good ratings by younger people. We got dropped off and at the entrance the bouncer asked us for our membership cards. I started laughing; we just couldn’t catch a break! I’m still not sure if he just took sympathy on us or if it was because we were three good looking gringas, but he let us through anyway. (It’s amazing what you can get away with here with blonde hair!) This bar was still packed with couples but had a decent atmosphere and a big dance floor. We even did the YMCA! It had been an old water treatment plant and the basement was converted into a bar. There were still old pipes along the walls and on the ceiling so it made for a really different and interesting atmosphere.
On Sunday, we checked out of our Hostel and went to Wal-Mart. Yes, Wal-Mart. It was actually really fun to just go someplace familiar. (Believe it or not we tried McDonald’s first but they were still serving breakfast at noon). We explored, got some things we needed and couldn’t find here in Los Reyes, bought some food from the deli and had our own little picnic outside of Wal-Mart. In the US, you may say white trash? Here in Mexico- Chafa. After Wal-Mart, we headed to the National Park. All of my students had told me about the park in Uruapan and how beautiful it is. I’m not sure how many acres it covers, but it was 12 pesos for the day (just under a dollar) and we explored a good portion of the park. It has many natural waterfalls and some places look kind of like a jungle. A lot of the water has been diverted into man-made fountains and waterfalls and as cheesy as that sounds they were actually quite beautiful.
All things considering, it was a splendid birthday weekend!

Feb. 5th

As I was eating my comfort food of choice last night-a grilled cheese sandwich, I was thinking that I flew out here exactly a month ago today. For the most part, it feels like much longer. I have settled into my routine as a teacher and have definitely made some lifelong friendships with my roommates. I am thoroughly enjoying living in Los Reyes and down here it feels like another world. I was feeling a little homesick this morning however when I woke up and on my way back from classes this morning I was pondering the fantastic aspects of Mexico, Los Reyes in particular.
The obvious ones aside; the weather is fantastic (around 80-85 every day, 55-60ish at night)and the pace of life is so much more relaxed. Los Reyes is a bustling little city, about the size of Oshkosh people-wise. There is plenty to see and do, just yesterday Angela and I walked to the fresh market and picked up fresh fruits and vegetables for mere pennies. I bought about a pint of strawberries for 8 pesos (about .60cents) and a head of lettuce for 6 pesos. Cheeses and meats cost a bit more, but still well under what we pay in the US. The best part is, none of it has been trucked in from hundreds of miles away, most of it is from little farms surrounding the city. The farmers get up early, pick their fruits and vegetables and bring them to the market to sell. Anything and everything you need or could even think of is found there. I love it!
Some of the other quirks or cultural differences that keep me enchanted with this country are that the people are unfailingly polite...always. Rudeness is not accepted here and is offered by very few. Even children are brought up to smile, say "Buenos Dias" or "Buenos Tardes" (good morning/good afternoon) to everyone as you walk by. People get into the combis (the small 70s style volkswagon "buses") and immediately say, "Buenos Dias" without exception. Everyone responds. Businesses are very people oriented, I have yet to find one here that is only after making money. They are at your service the moment you walk in the door or stop in front of their store and will endlessly answer question after question and give you honest answers! Smiles are always found and many people love to just sit and chat with you about where you are from, what you are doing, whether you like the city etc. The entire feel of this culture is so relaxed and enjoyable, it's hard to walk around and not smile. They are solely and completely invested in their families and relationships, nothing else.
Family and friends will always be placed above and before businesses or money and the way the families take care of each other is actually quite heartwarming. Older children helping their mothers or grandmothers walk down the street to the store, whether they need physical assistance or not. Many of my students spend all day on Sundays visiting with their grandparents. I've said it before, people in the US could learn a lot from Mexico.
Other quirks that simply make me smile is the obsession with cleanliness here. There is a common misconception in the US about the fact that all of Mexico lives in rural, dusty, country pueblos with small little huts and dirty kids running around. In the extreme country you can find this, however in small towns like this they have very nice houses with Spanish style architecture, enormous cathedrals in every town, big and small, and many of them drive nicer cars than I do. They sweep and mop the area in front of their houses or businesses daily and there is almost no litter on the sides of the roads. It was quite odd to see little old women out sweeping the street and mopping the sidewalk when I arrived, but everyday it is done.
The vehicle of choice here in Los Reyes? 4-wheelers or scooters. Hilarious to see a Mexican mother in high heels driving a 4-wheeler down the middle of the road with two of her children riding on the back. Little motorized scooters as well are everywhere and you can often find 10 year olds giving their siblings rides to school on them.
There is a water truck that comes by and rings the doorbell every day, obviously nobody drinks the water in Mexico, you would be hard pressed to even find a Mexican who does. The water man brings by 20 liter jugs of water (much like the culligan water dispensers in offices). We exchange the empty jugs for them to reuse and they deliver a new one right into our kitchen for 18 pesos (a little over a dollar). Gas is the main source here for stoves and water heaters and there are many gas trucks driving around. Most are pickup trucks with big green gas containers on the back- they play the tune of Jingle bells very loudly so you know they are coming(why jingle bells year round- I'll never understand). The other type is a big tanker and they play a tune that makes me want to do an Irish jig and when the tune is over the speaker says, "El Gaaaaaaasssssssss". Very entertaining at first, not so much when you sing Jingle Bells in your head all day.
There are taco stands and torta stands on every corner and sometimes in the middle of the blocks. They are usually on wheels with gas powered grills to cook up the meat. Some of them are quite good, although I've only tried the ones with cheese! They love their meat down here and vegetarianism is not the way to go in Mexico. Corner stores are also literally on every corner, usually about 4-6 corner stores on every square block. Chips, soda, candy, water, snack foods, a lot of them sell fruits and vegetables as well, basics such as bread and milk etc.You don't have to walk far in this town to find everything you need.
The plaza is definitely the center of the town. Almost every Mexican town or city I have been to has a center square that they call the plaza. The one in Los Reyes is beautiful- fountains in the middle, lots of trees and and flowers surrounding it, many park benches usually occupied by old men just observing. All of the stores surround the square and the cathedral is also usually located in the plaza.
Ok so enough of my descriptive ravings about Mexico, after a month I'm starting to get past the honeymoon phase of cultural shock and starting to settle in. I still really think I was a Mexican in a past life!

jan 28

So, a lot has happened this week. We finished up our classes in Periban and turned in all of our materials to Geno on Friday night. All of my students were sad to see me go and not at all excited for the other teacher, Wilma to come back. I felt kind of bad for them and I know a lot of them will not return to continue taking classes. We left early Saturday morning to bring all of our suitcases and things to the house in Los Reyes before catching the bus to Guadalajara.

Guadalajara was amazing as always. I have really missed the city and it was very fun to go back to all my old favorite spots. The first night we went up to Santa Maria del Oro; it is a small town about 1 ½ hours from Guadalajara. We went with Pepe and one of his friends- German (pronounced herman) up to a lake. Apparently this lake was a volcano crater from thousands of years ago. (Don’t worry Mom- it’s extinct now!) We spent the night up there and went boating on the lake the next day, Pepe and German taught me how to wake surf. They shorten the rope on the boat and then you try to get up on a surfboard and surf behind the boat. I succeeded surprisingly enough. It took me a few tries to get up and a few more to stay up but it was great fun. This lake was absolutely gorgeous. Imagine a lake up in the mountains, surrounded by the peaks and then looking around the lake and seeing palm trees! We had an absolute blast basking in the sun, getting tan, wakeboarding and boating around the lake blaring music from the boat. Ok, so enough rubbing it in for all you back in Wisconsin! :)

We returned to Guadalajara on Sunday night and spent the night in a hotel. Monday morning we walked down to the Centro to find the Hostel we wanted to stay in. The hostel was much cheaper than the hotel so we dropped off our things there before heading to the plaza. The hostel was actually very nice; we met some girls from D.C. who were spending a few months traveling Mexico. We spent the better part of Monday walking the Mercado Libertad which is the open air market in Guadalajara. Angela loved it! It is literally three stories of a flea market. You could never cover all of it in one day. It is about a square city block and just a massive amount of vendors selling anything and everything you could ever want. They sell pirated movies and CD’s, jewelry, blankets, purses (tons of knockoffs- I was in heaven), there is a food court and a vegetable and fruit market, electronics, touristy items etc. It was very fun to go back. For dinner we also went back to my absolute favorite restaurant in Providencia, Savoras. I lived about 5 blocks from this restaurant when I studied in Guadalajara and we went about twice a week. It was as good as I remembered! We had to catch the bus home on Tuesday afternoon back to Los Reyes.

We finally got to move into the house in Los Reyes. The other guys have left so it is Jay and Brian (the two world travelers I mentioned earlier) and Angela and I. The house was cleaned before we got here so we just had to do minimal cleaning of bathrooms and such. I think it is going to be a very fun semester! The secretary here is very organized and on top of things. She is also very nice so I think it will make things run a little smoother to have someone who actually does their job! Today we just unpacked our rooms and we did a little promoting at a few secondary schools here in Los Reyes. Tomorrow will be more promoting and such. We don't actually start teaching again until Feb. 3rd but they wanted us back here to "work" because they are still paying us for this week. They just try to come up with some things for us to do but I think today only took 1 1/2 hours of "work". Oh well, I am not complaining at all! More to come on the adventures of Los Reyes soon!

Moving!!!

I was informed that I haven't updated this in awhile! Thanks Miss Duffy! This week has been very busy, it is the last week of the semester. I have been busy busy with tests and grading and trying to fill out report cards for students I have only known for two weeks!
We are moving on Saturday to Los Reyes so today was spent repacking all my stuff. Angela and I are dropping our things off at the house Saturday morning and then taking a bus to Guadalajara for four days. I am very excited to go back to my old stomping grounds! We aren't sure yet if the two guys will even be out of the house on Tuesday yet so we may be crashing on the couch for a few days but we are ok with it! There has apparently been some miscommunication (surprise surprise here!) about the moving situation. The guys were informed they could stay until the end of the month in Los Reyes while we were informed that we had to be there next Wednesday for teacher meetings and evaluations of students. Who knows what next week will bring!
Angela and I are just excited to get out of Periban. It is definitely a very closed community and it is quite uncomfortable to walk around as the foreigner. We are excited about everything in Los Reyes; it's bigger and warmer, has more restaurants and shops, a nightlife, more people our age, a full kitchen in the house! (I'm very excited about that one). We still get a few curious looks from people when we walk around but that I am ok with. It's the conversation stopping, staring and odd looks that make me uncomfortable here. In Los Reyes, everybody doesn't know everybody else so it is a bit easier to blend in if that is at all possible with blonde hair in Mexico!
I wanted to tell you guys about a few of the funnier things I have seen down here. When I was taking the bus here to Periban my first day, a big burly pot-bellied man got on the bus and he was wearing this tight white t-shirt that said "Tommy Girl" on it. I couldn't help but laugh as he probably had no idea what the t-shirt said. Also- today on the combi (the converted volkswagon vans from the 70's that act as buses here) there was this little old Mexican man half asleep next to me wearing a baseball hat. The hat had two naked obese people embroidered into it facing each other with their bellies touching. The man was scratching his head and looking at the woman. On the hat it said "Mission impossible". Angela and I were just cracking up when we saw it. The words are very similar in Spanish so I'm guessing the little old man was perfectly aware of what his hat said.
On a different note, I have told all my classes by now that I won't be coming back in February to teach here in Periban. It actually raised my self-esteem as a teacher that all of them were disappointed! (Not sure at this point if they are going to actually miss me or if they just really don't like the teacher who is coming back to Periban!) Even the teenagers have warmed up to me and are talking and having fun in class. Half of them still don't show up for class but I would almost prefer they not come at all than come and talk or sit and stare blankly at me. The ones who come now come nearly every day and they are a pretty good group. They still need to be yelled at a lot but its more good natured than anything else. They talk to each other in Spanish a lot and sometimes forget that I understand most of it. Sometimes I have to laugh when they suddenly remember I understand the swear words in Spanish and they probably shouldn't use them in class!
I have had to make some cultural adjustments in running the classes. Most students do not show up until quarter after the hour, which shortens the class considerably. It is common in Mexico to be late for everything which is very different from the US. They also tend to take it easier in classes- they get very flustered when I try to push them too fast and they like to take their time learning the lessons. Even the adults get very anxious when I move through the lessons too fast, even when they understand all of it and are doing well. The general routine of the class is they show up late and we talk for 5 minutes or so before starting the material. It is essential to all ages for this little warm-up routine. Then we do anywhere from one to two pages of the book and some activities associated with what they are learning. The last 5 minutes of class is often games or talking again. Total teaching time in a class is usually only about a half hour. This bothered me the first week until I realized that it was actually good practice to just sit and converse with them in English for 10 minutes out of the class. It is actually kind of nice; I have always liked the slow pace here. Nobody is rushed or stressed about anything. People in the US could learn a lot!
Anyways, all for now, I probably won't be able to update until next week as we will be in Guadalajara until Tuesday! :)

Angela and I went to Los Reyes to get the scoop on the switch that is taking place this next weekend. Only Chris was there- the other three guys went to Uruapan (a bigger city about 2 hours away) for the weekend. When we asked Chris what was happening he became suspicious and asked us what we had heard. We just told him Cecilia had just emailed us and said we were moving and that Ryan was being transferred to Sahuayo. Chris apparently was on probation for just not being a good teacher I guess, he said that Cecilia never gave him any feedback but put him on probation. Initially Ryan was going to get fired and Chris was going to Sahuayo but he didn't know what happened to that plan. So Cecilia informed us we were moving to Los Reyes but did not inform Chris that he was fired yet. I felt really bad- he was pretty bummed but I told him it should be easy enough to get another english job down here. They are in pretty high demand. Still not sure exactly when the move is taking place but it will for sure be by next Wednesday. Yay!
On Saturday, before we left for Los Reyes, the secretary and two of her friends came over for lunch and she made us some chicken enchiladas. It was a fun afternoon until they decided they didn't want to leave and we did! We had told Geno that we wanted to leave around sixish to head down to Los Reyes... 8:30 rolls around and they bring out the tequila. Angela and I just decided to get ready and leave them here. When I went up to shower, I turned on the water and noticed something trying to crawl up the wall. I remembered a conversation with Daniel- Angela's Mexican friend about scorpions here. They have a small class of scorpions here- they call them aracanes and apparently they are quite dangerous. I remembered him telling us those are the only things to look out for here. Anyways- one decided to make my shower his new home. They are very small, I think they get to 2" max- this one was probably about an inch long. I stood on the other side of the shower chucking a brush at the thing until I was sure it was dead. The people I have asked about them say they are very fast moving and their sting sends you to the hospital. It causes you to hallucinate and can cause temporary paralysis. Usually requires medical attention and they give you the antivenom or whatever for it. I felt creepy crawly all day!!!
On a different note, Angela and I have been taking power walks everyday just to get out of the house and I need to get back in shape! Today we walked past this shop that sells t-shirts and I saw one that said Oshkosh!! It had a guy playing soccer on it but had Oshkosh in yellow letters. Apparently Angela has told her students where I'm from and many of them know of Oshkosh B'gosh. Small world.
I think I am finally starting to win over some of my teenagers! Just in time to leave for Los Reyes... Today was a good class, the ones who showed up were the ones interested in learning and are fun. They joked around with me a lot today and actually tried at the activities. When I told them I was being transferred to Los Reyes they joked that they were going to rent a combi (thats what they call the little 70s Volkswagon vans converted to buses that run from Los Reyes to Periban and back) everyday and come take English classes in Los Reyes! yay! It's still kind of a struggle with them but it is getting easier and easier and I think little by little they are accepting me. It's quite the process!
I'm heading to bed early tonight- not feeling the greatest today so hopefully a good nights sleep will cure whatever it is my stomach hates me for right now :)

Los Reyes!

Cecilia- the director of CulturaLingua just sent an email to Angela and I yesterday that we were being transferred at the end of the semester (Jan 23rd) to Los Reyes! Los Reyes is the town about 20 minutes from here with the four male teachers. We are not yet sure what happened to one of them as she didn't mention him, but one is moving to Sauhuayo and she is transferring another teacher from Cotija to Periban. A little confusing but end story- Angela and I are going to live in Los Reyes with Brian and Jay- the two world travelers! Maybe they can hook me up with some travel buddies (or become my new ones :) ). We are pumped about this- Los Reyes is much bigger, has a nightlife and although I'm going to have to be my mother for about two days and clean the crap outta that house; it has a full kitchen with a microwave and an oven and a stove! We are moving up in the world of Mexico! It is also much much warmer in Los Reyes as the elevation isn't as high. I'm going to miss a few of my students and I have no idea who my students will be, but it will be a new semester. The school is also separate from the house. It is about three blocks away and I think we get done teaching at 8pm instead of 9pm. Anyways- more news as this story develops! It definitely made our day yesterday though! :)

This past week has been kind of long, I don't mean to complain about the weather when you guys back home in Wisconsin and Minnesota are dealing with -40 degree windchills but it has been cloudy and rainy the past three days. Today is looking up so far, but it is still early. When the clouds roll in off the mountains it gets really chilly here- again, nothing like at home but when you have no heat 40 degrees all day is quite cold! The students are feeling it too, all of my classes have been very subdued. Would you believe the other day I could not for the life of me get 6 and 7 year olds to sing?? They just sat there and shook their heads and went "teeeeaaaaccchhheeeerr, we're tired!!" All of my students, including the adults just call me "teacher". Even when I see students around town they say "Hi teacher!". So the students have been hard to teach this week. I also had to give two exams, one to the teenagers (half of whom never show up to class anyway) and one to one of my adult classes. The adults did extraordinarily well which made me quite proud!! :) The teenagers however, not so well. A lot of them got almost half of the questions wrong, even though we did an entire day of reviewing before the test with just the material that was going to be on the test. It is a bit frustrating to try to teach students who don't wish to learn the language and are only there because their parents want them to be. A lot of the parents use this as a babysitting tool- otherwise the kids are always out at the plaza with their friends getting into trouble. The one thing so far I do not like about CulturaLingua is that we cannot fail the students. Even on the exams where most of them got over half wrong, the lowest I can give them is 6.5 out of 10. (there are usually about 25 questions on an exam but they grade on a 10 point scale). Which is not a motivating factor for them to come to class and study because they know they will be moved up next semester anyway. It also gives me absolutely no leverage for the students who don't come to class or show up late and talk the whole hour instead of paying attention. So with the teenagers all I can do is teach the ones who want to learn and kind of say screw it to the ones who don't. Very frustrating!
Tonight we are going to go explore Periban a little bit and try to meet some people. Right now Angela and I are merely the foreigners here and it gets a bit boring and lonely with nothing to do! We hung out with the guys at the pizza place last night for a little while and it was very fun. A change of scenery from being cooped up at school all week! Our semester ends next Friday- the 23rd and then we have a week off. I think we are going to Ixtapa but who knows where we will end up! Somewhere on the beach so I can work on this pasty white skin of mine! :) The next semester starts the first week of Feb. and I'm still not sure if I'll have the same students and classes or if they will move up and I will stay with the same courses. Either way I'm looking forward to not having to clean up after the last teacher and start fresh with the courses so I know what they have learned. Anyway, all for now, I have to go teach my morning class!

Jan. 12th

Angela (my roommate) and I went to Los Reyes this weekend- it is a town about 20 minutes from here. Los Reyes is about 4 times the size of Periban so we went to enjoy a little nightlife since it doesn't exist in Periban! There is another school there with 4 guys who teach in Los Reyes- three of them are from Canada and the fourth is from North Carolina. They are very interesting guys, two of them spent the last six years teaching in Korea and traveling the world, one has been to 26 countries and is 29 years old and the other is mid-thirties and has been to over 40 countries! I told them I wanted their lives. It would be amazing to be able to tell the stories they have! In Korea, they were also teaching English but over there you can make $75 an hour teaching at a university or business. Native speakers are in high demand and you usually get your flights reimbursed and free housing on top of a great salary. Needless to say they had plenty of money to go travel with their paid vacations and 2 months paid vacation over the summers. If only Mexico was like that... haha. Los Reyes was fun though, we went to a club after having a small party at the house and danced up a storm. The people in this area of Mexico are definitely not used to seeing gringos walking around, much less a group of six of them! We definitely caught some glances. The guys say they have seen people drop their phones or run into things because they stare at them! Angela told me she recieves a lot more attention walking around with me. She has dark hair so although she stands out it isn't as much as my now blonde hair! If only I hadn't been switched a birth and had dark hair like my parents!!! :)
I am still adjusting to some parts of Mexico- all we have to cook with is a coleman camping stove- a two burner gas stove that sits on the counter. No oven, no microwave. It has definitely been a challenge- Angela gets a lot of tacos from little restaurants near our house but as I don't like meat I have to get creative with cooking. I have been eating a lot of bean and cheese quesadillas because they are easy to throw on a pan for 5 minutes and go. Once I get used to the town I'll be able to explore the markets a little more. The fruit here of course is amazing and cheap. I was addicted to mangos last summer when I lived in Guadalajara and that was the first thing I bought at the market here! So hard to find good ones at home!
On Mondays in Periban they have an open market in the Plaza (the town square) where they sell fruits and vegetables, CDs and DVDs, clothes- anything. Angela and I are going to explore it a little bit when her class gets done at 2. Should be exciting!
All for now!
Nikki