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!