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!
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Sunday, 31 May 2009
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!
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!
Friday, 22 May 2009
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!
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!
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, 30 April 2009
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!
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!
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
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!
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!
Sunday, 26 April 2009
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!
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!
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