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.