so last thursday, which happens to be "lucha libre" night - a few of us went to a lucha show. it's basically wrestling/theatrics with people wearing masks. the point of it is to be entertaining and boy was it ever.... we laughed so hard at the ridiculousness of the first few acts, they don't throw punches, they slap each other... breanna and i were shocked to silence that the entire crowd cheered when one guy SLAPPED another... and then we laughed! it was pretty interesting and fun. one of the american teachers here has a car he drove from arizona where he lives and so he drove us all to the lucha. i thought hecklers in philly were bad, but man they got nothing on the people in gomez. a lot of the time i couldn't understand the slang spanish that was being shouted form drunken audience members, but that which i did get was HILARIOUS!!! almost funnier than the pathetic show they pawned off as wrestling. needless to say it was interesting.
friday i was invited to dine with a student and hiw parents. i wa snervous at first, because the dad is much older and works at the school and rarely talks to me so i wasn't sure what to think. but they picked me up and took me to this tasty restaurant and we had tacos and drinks. obviously there are cultural differences in mexico versus the states that make this situation not at all awkward (having dinner and drinks with the family of your student)... we stayed out pretty late, i actually didn't get home until past midnight. and they invited me to their house for tequila anytime i wanted haha... what a stark difference from the US...
saturday was a chill day - i got a really tasty "lonche" which is simply a huge sandwich with tons and tons of toppings on it.... and that was so yummy i had to mention it here. saturday was blah, we ate at a restaurant by the house late in the evening and then chilled at the house.
sunday was cool though, first we went to "el bosque" which is a park in torreon. they have tons of food and vendors there and a little stageesque area. we went to watch one of the students from our school perform in an orchetrsa. it was soooo good, i was really impressed by the talent and obvious dedication of these middle-schoolers. they played really good music too, it reminded me of this bar by jason where they play big band stuff, because they playe dsome sweet tunes and the different sections would stand up during their "solo" it was cool, i enjoyed myself. this park also has carnival rides, so we took a spin on the tilt a whirl for 70 cents. we were literally riding it for like 3 minutes if not longer. we could NOT stop laughing. we definitely got our money's worth.
later in the day some teachers were invited to a "reliquia" which is an aztec/catholic fusion ritual unique to my town torreon. about 20 people dress in aztec clothing and do all these different dances as an offering or sacrafice to the saints. the music is only 3 drums made out of trashcans and the small dried out squash with seeds inside that the dancers wear on their feet. they danced for like an hour in the middle of the street in the swetlering sun, it was crazy. one dance in particular calls for them to stomp out fire on the street with their bare feet. boy was that a sight to see. so after the dance the family (whoever puts it together) has a huge meal for everyone that comes. the tradition is they are not to turn anyone away and are supposed to invite people even walking by on the street. i went along with 2 teachers that were invited as they extended the invitation to any american teachers and i'm so glad i went. the family could not have been more hospitable or generous. they talked to us and explained the whole tradition to us and everyone came over to introduce themselves and say how happy they were that we could come join in their celebration. they told us to eat as much food as we wanted and to stay as long as we wanted. we sat with the student from our school and talked to him for a while. it was just so beautiful. the family had rented out an entire restaurant to hold their entire extended family and they hired musicians to play and had waiters to serve the food. it was very impressive. while we were eating the family kept coming over and asking us if they could get us anything and even the student, harrison is his name, served us 3 types of cake. we finally had to tell him we were too full to try another piece. but it sure was tasty!!!! as we went to leave, the family insisted they drive us home instead of us taking a taxi, so we even got to drive in style. it was really really cool. i was so happy to go and take part in such a unique tradition that i otherwise would never have known about.
this week at school has been pretty good. i feel like everyday i am able to be more and more of myself with my students because now they know what i expect and i don't constantly have to model the little things, i can actually trust them to do it on their own - so i can tell them jokes and talk to them about things that are non school related too. i like it, i feel like i am making connections with my students now. i have been to a few soccer games and practices and so i have talked with some parents and done things like that, which also makes me feel more connected to them.
this weekend is a big weekend!!! there is a halloween party at one of the american houses on friday, so everyone is dressing up - which should be fun. then saturday a group of us were invited to a picnic that a few families plan together a few times a year - so i am going to that. saturday night i may or may not go to a halloween party at the first grade spanish teacher's house. it depends if someone else can come with me - i know her, but i don't know any of her friends, so i might prefer some back up haha... we'll see. anyway then sunday we are going to a JUANES concert, who is my ultimate favorite latin singer. i saw him in costa rica and it was one of the best concerts ever so i am super excited. after that election day... which makes me a tad nervous, but i suppose what will be will be.... anyway love to all - GO PHILLIES (so sad im missing it - but you know how it goes....) and happy halloween!!!
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
busy busy bee
so it has been a very busy past week. i started going to the gym on more of a regular basis, which will hopefully be tuesday, thursday, and fridays. the aerobics instructor is HARDCORE!!!! we do so many repetitions of everything... we are all sore all the time, but i think it will ease up in a bit. anyway i like destressing by going to the gym, i have been a lot more at peace i think with school and life in general lately.
wednesday i tutored and practiced spanish with one of the ladies from school. it makes me so happy when i speak spanish because i feel like i get a teeny bit better every time and i am just so shocked when i can have lenghty conversations about things and be understood. it is really cool speaking in a different language. i think i appreciate it more and more as i get older.... anyway thursday rained A LOT!!! so we kind of stayed in and i had some schoolwork to do.
friday was a gym day, so we did aerobics then i cooked dinner for the house and we all kinda chilled and i did some more schoolwork. next week we have exams for the end of the 2nd marking period, so we each had to make 4 exams and study guides for our classes. it has been a lot of work...
saturday was alllllll about exploring and getting things done. i got up early and had gottten info about a hair salon from a student's mother. i took a walk there and got a much needed haircut and color which made me feel like a million bucks. as is the custom in mexico, men always honk and whistle and yell out the car window when americans walk down the street. well this particular morning i was walking by the unviersity just as a sports bus pulled in with the team on it. not only did i get whistles and yells, but it was multiplied by a whole soccer team.... at first i trid to ignore it, but alas i succumbed and smiled and waved, because truthfully they were complimenting me, why not show some appreciation??? it made me laugh.
when i got home we all had made plans to go to a mall that apparently has really good shopping. so we headed in taxi to Galerias, the mall. we spent a while there, we snacked and got some specialty candy - which was fun. sidenote about candy in mexico, well torreon - it is mostly dried fruit and it is ALL covered in chile powder, yes folks, that means lollipops and candy apples dipped in chile powder.... so i was happy to find a candy store that sold americanesque candies.
i found a really cute maxi dress and got that and was on a mission to find comfortable work shoes. when i had no luck at the mall erin and i decided to hit up the center of town where there are tons of stores and street vendors. we found some pretty adorable things and clothes and after much trouble i finally found the right shoe. interesting how the shoe stores work. shoes are on display in a locked window case with numbers and the price of the shoe on a label. you tell the employee which number shoe you want and what size (i wear a size 25 in case you were wondering) and they get you the right shoe only to try on.
well i tried on many shoes and finally settled on 2 pair of nicer sandals for work. but the one shoe was a tad large in size 25 so i settled for a 24 (size 7). they bring out the left shoe and put it in the box and you pay for it. no trying on of the left shoe necessary... when i got home, i realized the right shoe fit perfectly fine, while the left shoe was a bit snug - because no one has EVER tried on the left shoe and the right shoe is pretty well stretched out... alas, what could i do? the left shoe fit, just not 100% comfortably - so i wore them one day and i will wear them another in hopes that the left shoe somehow manages to catch up to the wide width of the right shoe... all for a pair of shoes!!! oh mexico.
well our day did not end there, we wandered around the centro for a while, walked through parks where people were slow dancing to live music and vendors were selling water ice and drinks and elote. we indulged in some horchata, a delicious drink made of rice and water and had some elote, which is corn OFF the cob with cheese, butter, mayo, chile powder, and lime all mixed in. sounds interesting, but it is tasty - anything with that many calories has to be good is what i say. good thing im heading to the gym 3 days a week!!!
we continued walking and happened upon a catholic church. we went inside to take a look and noticed a wedding going on, we stayed for a bit and observed the ceremony in spanish and the wedding dress, which was ornate and large.... we even stood in witness to the marriage along with the rest of the guests. it was pretty cool. we found an underground canal, called la perla that was used way back when for something or other haha.... either way it is now open to the public during the day and is sort of like a museum. it was a nice and cool down there - a little relief from the sun.
we headed back to the house a little after that and i had to get to school to watch my students play a soccer game. the Copa Libertad, (Freedom Cup) went on until sunday so i went to watch a game of theirs. all the families were there and i ended up talking for a while to the director of the school and to the mothers of some of my students. all in spanish of course which made me happy and i think them too :) my students won the game and again i was pulled onto the field to sing their congratulatory song and make a london bridge with our hands. it was nice to feel included. i enjoyed myself.
when i got home a few of us went out to a chinese restaurant for dinner. it was tasty and rather empty so we got impeccable service. there were a few things missing from the menu that we wanted to ask about, but how do you translate chinese to spanish??? lucky for us we had charlie, who speaks cantonese. he explained the dished we were wondering about and we got some special dishes made. here we were in mexico, listening to 3 guys speak cantonese. it was pretty cool and i think it made charlie feel good, because he doesn't speak much spanish so he was able to communicate with someone other than us for once. it was nice. the food was tasty and the leftovers lasted a couple days which was also good.
after dinner we walked around the park a bit then headed home. i tell you saturday was quite a busy day, i was up at 8am and went to bed around 1am, but you know i had a full and satisfying day. i liked it.
sunday was a day of rest. i relaxed a while, did some grading that i had been puttting off and rested my aching legs from aerobics. monday was long as usual with a nice school day and fulfilling tutoring session and tuesday was also busy.
i had a good past 2 days at school, i feel like i am able to be more pleasant now that the kids know my rules and routines and i can be more of my happy go lucky self. they responded well the past few days to me too so i was pleased. i needed a nap after school today because boy have i been busy and monday was LOONNGG!!! so i napped and then had a date with a spanish teacher at school to practice my spanish and her english. did that for a while and had a really good conversation and then i went to aerobics.
i must say, it is nice to have a full schedule again. i can't stand sitting around with nothing to do and so even though i am more tired these days, i can say i'm not restless. it's a good feeling.
as for living with people, it is hard haha.... the grass is always greener i suppose. i used to always say how i wish i had a roommate at home, but now i see the pros and cons of both situations. i love my roomies, don't get me wrong - it's just living alone definitely has its perks.
well i will leave it at that, if anyone even read this far haha. love you and miss you hasta luego
wednesday i tutored and practiced spanish with one of the ladies from school. it makes me so happy when i speak spanish because i feel like i get a teeny bit better every time and i am just so shocked when i can have lenghty conversations about things and be understood. it is really cool speaking in a different language. i think i appreciate it more and more as i get older.... anyway thursday rained A LOT!!! so we kind of stayed in and i had some schoolwork to do.
friday was a gym day, so we did aerobics then i cooked dinner for the house and we all kinda chilled and i did some more schoolwork. next week we have exams for the end of the 2nd marking period, so we each had to make 4 exams and study guides for our classes. it has been a lot of work...
saturday was alllllll about exploring and getting things done. i got up early and had gottten info about a hair salon from a student's mother. i took a walk there and got a much needed haircut and color which made me feel like a million bucks. as is the custom in mexico, men always honk and whistle and yell out the car window when americans walk down the street. well this particular morning i was walking by the unviersity just as a sports bus pulled in with the team on it. not only did i get whistles and yells, but it was multiplied by a whole soccer team.... at first i trid to ignore it, but alas i succumbed and smiled and waved, because truthfully they were complimenting me, why not show some appreciation??? it made me laugh.
when i got home we all had made plans to go to a mall that apparently has really good shopping. so we headed in taxi to Galerias, the mall. we spent a while there, we snacked and got some specialty candy - which was fun. sidenote about candy in mexico, well torreon - it is mostly dried fruit and it is ALL covered in chile powder, yes folks, that means lollipops and candy apples dipped in chile powder.... so i was happy to find a candy store that sold americanesque candies.
i found a really cute maxi dress and got that and was on a mission to find comfortable work shoes. when i had no luck at the mall erin and i decided to hit up the center of town where there are tons of stores and street vendors. we found some pretty adorable things and clothes and after much trouble i finally found the right shoe. interesting how the shoe stores work. shoes are on display in a locked window case with numbers and the price of the shoe on a label. you tell the employee which number shoe you want and what size (i wear a size 25 in case you were wondering) and they get you the right shoe only to try on.
well i tried on many shoes and finally settled on 2 pair of nicer sandals for work. but the one shoe was a tad large in size 25 so i settled for a 24 (size 7). they bring out the left shoe and put it in the box and you pay for it. no trying on of the left shoe necessary... when i got home, i realized the right shoe fit perfectly fine, while the left shoe was a bit snug - because no one has EVER tried on the left shoe and the right shoe is pretty well stretched out... alas, what could i do? the left shoe fit, just not 100% comfortably - so i wore them one day and i will wear them another in hopes that the left shoe somehow manages to catch up to the wide width of the right shoe... all for a pair of shoes!!! oh mexico.
well our day did not end there, we wandered around the centro for a while, walked through parks where people were slow dancing to live music and vendors were selling water ice and drinks and elote. we indulged in some horchata, a delicious drink made of rice and water and had some elote, which is corn OFF the cob with cheese, butter, mayo, chile powder, and lime all mixed in. sounds interesting, but it is tasty - anything with that many calories has to be good is what i say. good thing im heading to the gym 3 days a week!!!
we continued walking and happened upon a catholic church. we went inside to take a look and noticed a wedding going on, we stayed for a bit and observed the ceremony in spanish and the wedding dress, which was ornate and large.... we even stood in witness to the marriage along with the rest of the guests. it was pretty cool. we found an underground canal, called la perla that was used way back when for something or other haha.... either way it is now open to the public during the day and is sort of like a museum. it was a nice and cool down there - a little relief from the sun.
we headed back to the house a little after that and i had to get to school to watch my students play a soccer game. the Copa Libertad, (Freedom Cup) went on until sunday so i went to watch a game of theirs. all the families were there and i ended up talking for a while to the director of the school and to the mothers of some of my students. all in spanish of course which made me happy and i think them too :) my students won the game and again i was pulled onto the field to sing their congratulatory song and make a london bridge with our hands. it was nice to feel included. i enjoyed myself.
when i got home a few of us went out to a chinese restaurant for dinner. it was tasty and rather empty so we got impeccable service. there were a few things missing from the menu that we wanted to ask about, but how do you translate chinese to spanish??? lucky for us we had charlie, who speaks cantonese. he explained the dished we were wondering about and we got some special dishes made. here we were in mexico, listening to 3 guys speak cantonese. it was pretty cool and i think it made charlie feel good, because he doesn't speak much spanish so he was able to communicate with someone other than us for once. it was nice. the food was tasty and the leftovers lasted a couple days which was also good.
after dinner we walked around the park a bit then headed home. i tell you saturday was quite a busy day, i was up at 8am and went to bed around 1am, but you know i had a full and satisfying day. i liked it.
sunday was a day of rest. i relaxed a while, did some grading that i had been puttting off and rested my aching legs from aerobics. monday was long as usual with a nice school day and fulfilling tutoring session and tuesday was also busy.
i had a good past 2 days at school, i feel like i am able to be more pleasant now that the kids know my rules and routines and i can be more of my happy go lucky self. they responded well the past few days to me too so i was pleased. i needed a nap after school today because boy have i been busy and monday was LOONNGG!!! so i napped and then had a date with a spanish teacher at school to practice my spanish and her english. did that for a while and had a really good conversation and then i went to aerobics.
i must say, it is nice to have a full schedule again. i can't stand sitting around with nothing to do and so even though i am more tired these days, i can say i'm not restless. it's a good feeling.
as for living with people, it is hard haha.... the grass is always greener i suppose. i used to always say how i wish i had a roommate at home, but now i see the pros and cons of both situations. i love my roomies, don't get me wrong - it's just living alone definitely has its perks.
well i will leave it at that, if anyone even read this far haha. love you and miss you hasta luego
Thursday, 16 October 2008
football is freedom...
so this week has been really good. on friday i went to one of the american houses and we hung out - which was fun. saturday i was super sick (which may or may not have been related to my friday evening activities...) but i kind of chilled all day nursing myself back to health. at night we went out to dinner and then we saw mamma mia... SO MUCH FUN!!! i love musicals and meryl streep - so you couldn't go wrong!
sunday was nice and very relaxing. i went to the supermarket solita and got tons of fresh fruit!!! yum. so the meals in mexico are as follows breakfast, snack around 11, lunch around 3, snack/dinner around 9... at school we only get like 20-30 minutes to eat and it was so rushed the first month and a half i decided to just take a small snack like the mexicans do it. i was eating a big meal after school anyway, so i figured that could take place of my lunch/dinner. so i have adapted my eating habits to the way of the land - i eat a small breakfast and a snack of fruit at 11, then i have a big meal at 3pm after school and usually later in the evening i have a small snack. i hope it does my body good!!!! i even found soymilk and some organic things in the supermarket - which was better than finding pure gold haha!!! i was happy about that.
anywho - after food shopping on sunday erin and i caught a taxi and cabbed it to this park called el bosque. it was so nice, there were tons of vendors and food stands. we got our favorite drink, horchata - its sooo tasty and delicious. we treated ourselves and just sat and talked in the park for a few hours. the time really flew by.
monday was hectic as usual with school tutoring and then private tutoring but i like to be busy so i didn't mind. juan, the driver was like 20 minutes late to pick me up and i had just gotten off the phone with my mom, so i was a bit sad trying to hold back the tears. thinking of how everyone is seeing each other this weekend and how jason and kim were at my parents and how i haven't talked to them in a while and blah blah blah. well anyway in an attempt to conceal my sadness i overcompensated and i guess seemed really angry. so he asked me point blank "estas enojada conmigo" are you mad (for the lateness factor) and i was like 'no' and i tried ot leave it at that, but he kept asking me... so i had to let him in on the fact that i was saddish and missed the family and i almost started crying right then and there - but he realized it and let up. it was kind of nice though, to not be let off the hook. normally in the states people just ask, how are you and you say fine regardless of how you really are feeling. i liked that he was not overbearing but sincerely interested. i felt better after i told him how i really felt.
tuesday i came home and watched a movie called Bella. it is an independent film that i really enjoyed. i reccommend it to anyone interested in movies that are off the beaten path so to speak. and it was set in nyc and nj so it made me happy to see some east coast!
after the movie i went to the gym to do killer aerobics with erin and a few others. it was intense, but fun. it was nice to be out of the house on a weekday... imagine that!!!
so i had started last week helping one of the administrators with her english conversation and she paid me. i got to thinking and i asked her if instead of paying me she could do an hour of spanish for an hour of english, so i went to her house on wendnesday after i relaxed for a bit and we spoke in english and then spanish. it made me so happy, i felt like it was the first time i actually had a conversation in spanish here. i am trying so hard to plant the seeds of friendships and just relationships in general with mexicans, but it takes time.... so i was really happy.
juan, the driver for the family i tutor for picked me up from the admin's house (isabel). he speaks only spanish so that is another nice way to practice. i had a good lesson with mauricio and man is he smart - it is so refreshing!!!! i like it a lot. and well the parents are never home, but their maid is so nice and the boys are really polite and sweet. also i speak spanish with juan which is cool - i may have invited myself over to his house haha. i told him i wanted to meet his wife and kids and he said definitely, and i tried to explain how i didn't want to force him into hanging out with me but i think that message may have gotten a bit muddled. he understood all the same.
so there is a soccer tournament at school this week, la copa libertad, the cup of freedom - because clearly football = freedom... no but it was really fun. my students are in a few games so i took my classes to see them play and it is actually really exciting. when i went to my spanish class tonight i walked by the game with a bunch of my students playing just as they were winning the game. at the end the families of the winning team do a bridge with their hands and cheer "ole, ole, ole, ole, ingles, ingles' (that's the name of our school/team) so the parents saw me and asked me to some on the field to make the bridge for my students. they were shocked to see me there!!! i hope they were pleasantly surprised haha, i thought it was really cool.
lastly, i have made friends (at work anyway) with the 1st grade spanish teacher and she doesn't speak any english. we're going to try to get together to have a lil' intercambio of english/spanish and she is in her 20s so she said she would invite me out with her and her friends when they hang so i can meet more mexicans and see torreon. i also talked with the computer teacher today, it was funny - i was commenting on how hansome the soccer coaches are and it brought us to the boyfriend question. i didn't think she had a boyfriend for some reason, come to find out she is married - she just doesn't wear her ring to school because the girls NEVER stopped bothering her about it when she first started. so that was surprising, but she too invited me to hang out with her and friends. i was really hapy about that.
all in all it was a pretty busy week. tutoring, the gym, and spanish class kept me busy and i hope this weekend brings more activities :)
sunday was nice and very relaxing. i went to the supermarket solita and got tons of fresh fruit!!! yum. so the meals in mexico are as follows breakfast, snack around 11, lunch around 3, snack/dinner around 9... at school we only get like 20-30 minutes to eat and it was so rushed the first month and a half i decided to just take a small snack like the mexicans do it. i was eating a big meal after school anyway, so i figured that could take place of my lunch/dinner. so i have adapted my eating habits to the way of the land - i eat a small breakfast and a snack of fruit at 11, then i have a big meal at 3pm after school and usually later in the evening i have a small snack. i hope it does my body good!!!! i even found soymilk and some organic things in the supermarket - which was better than finding pure gold haha!!! i was happy about that.
anywho - after food shopping on sunday erin and i caught a taxi and cabbed it to this park called el bosque. it was so nice, there were tons of vendors and food stands. we got our favorite drink, horchata - its sooo tasty and delicious. we treated ourselves and just sat and talked in the park for a few hours. the time really flew by.
monday was hectic as usual with school tutoring and then private tutoring but i like to be busy so i didn't mind. juan, the driver was like 20 minutes late to pick me up and i had just gotten off the phone with my mom, so i was a bit sad trying to hold back the tears. thinking of how everyone is seeing each other this weekend and how jason and kim were at my parents and how i haven't talked to them in a while and blah blah blah. well anyway in an attempt to conceal my sadness i overcompensated and i guess seemed really angry. so he asked me point blank "estas enojada conmigo" are you mad (for the lateness factor) and i was like 'no' and i tried ot leave it at that, but he kept asking me... so i had to let him in on the fact that i was saddish and missed the family and i almost started crying right then and there - but he realized it and let up. it was kind of nice though, to not be let off the hook. normally in the states people just ask, how are you and you say fine regardless of how you really are feeling. i liked that he was not overbearing but sincerely interested. i felt better after i told him how i really felt.
tuesday i came home and watched a movie called Bella. it is an independent film that i really enjoyed. i reccommend it to anyone interested in movies that are off the beaten path so to speak. and it was set in nyc and nj so it made me happy to see some east coast!
after the movie i went to the gym to do killer aerobics with erin and a few others. it was intense, but fun. it was nice to be out of the house on a weekday... imagine that!!!
so i had started last week helping one of the administrators with her english conversation and she paid me. i got to thinking and i asked her if instead of paying me she could do an hour of spanish for an hour of english, so i went to her house on wendnesday after i relaxed for a bit and we spoke in english and then spanish. it made me so happy, i felt like it was the first time i actually had a conversation in spanish here. i am trying so hard to plant the seeds of friendships and just relationships in general with mexicans, but it takes time.... so i was really happy.
juan, the driver for the family i tutor for picked me up from the admin's house (isabel). he speaks only spanish so that is another nice way to practice. i had a good lesson with mauricio and man is he smart - it is so refreshing!!!! i like it a lot. and well the parents are never home, but their maid is so nice and the boys are really polite and sweet. also i speak spanish with juan which is cool - i may have invited myself over to his house haha. i told him i wanted to meet his wife and kids and he said definitely, and i tried to explain how i didn't want to force him into hanging out with me but i think that message may have gotten a bit muddled. he understood all the same.
so there is a soccer tournament at school this week, la copa libertad, the cup of freedom - because clearly football = freedom... no but it was really fun. my students are in a few games so i took my classes to see them play and it is actually really exciting. when i went to my spanish class tonight i walked by the game with a bunch of my students playing just as they were winning the game. at the end the families of the winning team do a bridge with their hands and cheer "ole, ole, ole, ole, ingles, ingles' (that's the name of our school/team) so the parents saw me and asked me to some on the field to make the bridge for my students. they were shocked to see me there!!! i hope they were pleasantly surprised haha, i thought it was really cool.
lastly, i have made friends (at work anyway) with the 1st grade spanish teacher and she doesn't speak any english. we're going to try to get together to have a lil' intercambio of english/spanish and she is in her 20s so she said she would invite me out with her and her friends when they hang so i can meet more mexicans and see torreon. i also talked with the computer teacher today, it was funny - i was commenting on how hansome the soccer coaches are and it brought us to the boyfriend question. i didn't think she had a boyfriend for some reason, come to find out she is married - she just doesn't wear her ring to school because the girls NEVER stopped bothering her about it when she first started. so that was surprising, but she too invited me to hang out with her and friends. i was really hapy about that.
all in all it was a pretty busy week. tutoring, the gym, and spanish class kept me busy and i hope this weekend brings more activities :)
Friday, 10 October 2008
a wee bit
well today we had a science lab - my students are learning the parts of the plant and so i took them to the science lab and they looked at different potted plants and took them out of the soil to see the roots and they were amazed!!!
but it brought up a really unforeseen moment of weakness. i guess it was just the feeling of the dirt in my hands, the smell of flowers and dirt, and the sight of the pretty potted plants - but it reminded me so much of the mini garden i planted at my apartment in jersey and then of the garden jason and i planted together in philly. i was literally blindsided by homesickness.... i nearly started crying right there in the middle of class, i had to start talking to a student and get a quick hug to bring myself back. i knew if i kept thinking about it there would be no stopping the tears....
i don't know where it came from. i mean of course i miss everyone. i wish i could say i was having so much fun and made so many friends i was too distracted to notice, but it's simply not true. i suppose i do have fun and i have made friends, it's just very different than costa rica in the sense that we were always out doing something, speaking spanish, and meeting people. i don't know - this is not like that. i'm trying really hard though... anyway ugh, i feel like all i ever do is whine on my blog - has it become irritating yet???
but it brought up a really unforeseen moment of weakness. i guess it was just the feeling of the dirt in my hands, the smell of flowers and dirt, and the sight of the pretty potted plants - but it reminded me so much of the mini garden i planted at my apartment in jersey and then of the garden jason and i planted together in philly. i was literally blindsided by homesickness.... i nearly started crying right there in the middle of class, i had to start talking to a student and get a quick hug to bring myself back. i knew if i kept thinking about it there would be no stopping the tears....
i don't know where it came from. i mean of course i miss everyone. i wish i could say i was having so much fun and made so many friends i was too distracted to notice, but it's simply not true. i suppose i do have fun and i have made friends, it's just very different than costa rica in the sense that we were always out doing something, speaking spanish, and meeting people. i don't know - this is not like that. i'm trying really hard though... anyway ugh, i feel like all i ever do is whine on my blog - has it become irritating yet???
Thursday, 9 October 2008
what you see when you look up
so things have been going pretty well this week - not sick thats good!!!
i got paid for a bunch of tutoring hours, so i feel like i have some cash and can save a little more of my actual paycheck. one of the administrator's at the school asked if i would come to her house to give her an hour of english conversation lessons - so i did that wednesday and asked the other people i tutor for if they could pick me up at her house instead. she lives in the same development as them, so i think it was more convenient.
but it was really cool going to her house because, first of all it is absolutely gorgeous. i mean nicer than homes i have seen in the states. she lives in a sort of complex with her house connected to her parents house and her sister's house as well. it was so beautiful. they have a pool and a jacuzzi... pretty sweet. enormous and extravagant rooms filled with art and furniture. really nice.
so i tutored isabel for an hour - we just talked politics. i had the stevie song prepared for her as well, but she kinda pushed that aside and had a bunch of questions she wanted to ask me... i was happy with that, cause i love talking about obama :) then i went to tutor mauricio. he is 12, so i started by finding out if there was a girl he like. of course there was. he would NOT tell me her name, but he described her to me which i thought was a very good exercise. then we read an article about gas shortages after the hurricanes in the southeast. he is so smart, i love it. i mean i can literally see when he has a moment of learning, it's so refreshing and honestly rewarding.
and their driver juan is really really nice. he only speaks spanish, so i get to practice speaking with him and he gives me good tips about torreon and the surrounding cities and things.
today we had our spanish class, which was fun. but also ugh. it is an hour class and there are 11 people in it, so i don't like that. i mean i like everyone in the class, i just wish it was either longer or there was another section of the class so we could split up. i just feel like its too many people who want and need to practice speaking with too little of a timeframe to do it.
also we had a faculty meeting on wednesday and sometime last week i had talked to the principal about how it's really hard to meet new people, when the school is constantly cautioning us of all the dangers in torreon (newly arriving with the drugs moving closer to here) and that we shouldn't go to "unsafe" places. but truthfully, we have no idea what is or isn't safe or where to go to meet reputible people. i asked if she could arrange some sort of tour of the city so we could become more aquainted with it and if they could facilitate in us meeting more mexicans.
SO at the meeting, the administrators came up with 2 things. they are setting up a program where they ask families of colegio ingles to invite a teacher or two to dinner at their house. this way we can interact with more of a family and with authentic mexcian culture. i was super happy about that. AND they are doing a bus tour and dinner 2 or 3 fridays from this week. i am super excited about that. i thanked them soooo much today, because i honestly feel like everything i ask of them they try to do their absolute best to acommodate me. i asked for tutoring and got it, i asked for tour of torreon and we're getting it, i ask for meetings with parents and i get them, i ask for anything i feel and i get it.
it's interesting because i know there are a lot of things that are different here than they would be in the states, teaching wise, and i sometimes get frustrated. i have been getting more and more used to it though. the other teachers i feel are having a little tougher of a time with it. i feel like i have had experiences with plenty of materials and little administrative support and i much rather forego the materials. and truthfully - for a "developing country" i think they have a lot more than i initially expected... so i'm good with that. anyway i NEVER get emails anymore, whats up with you all!!! it's not even the holiday season yet. tell me what's going in in YOUR life, cause i am missing everyone... love to hear from you!!!!
i got paid for a bunch of tutoring hours, so i feel like i have some cash and can save a little more of my actual paycheck. one of the administrator's at the school asked if i would come to her house to give her an hour of english conversation lessons - so i did that wednesday and asked the other people i tutor for if they could pick me up at her house instead. she lives in the same development as them, so i think it was more convenient.
but it was really cool going to her house because, first of all it is absolutely gorgeous. i mean nicer than homes i have seen in the states. she lives in a sort of complex with her house connected to her parents house and her sister's house as well. it was so beautiful. they have a pool and a jacuzzi... pretty sweet. enormous and extravagant rooms filled with art and furniture. really nice.
so i tutored isabel for an hour - we just talked politics. i had the stevie song prepared for her as well, but she kinda pushed that aside and had a bunch of questions she wanted to ask me... i was happy with that, cause i love talking about obama :) then i went to tutor mauricio. he is 12, so i started by finding out if there was a girl he like. of course there was. he would NOT tell me her name, but he described her to me which i thought was a very good exercise. then we read an article about gas shortages after the hurricanes in the southeast. he is so smart, i love it. i mean i can literally see when he has a moment of learning, it's so refreshing and honestly rewarding.
and their driver juan is really really nice. he only speaks spanish, so i get to practice speaking with him and he gives me good tips about torreon and the surrounding cities and things.
today we had our spanish class, which was fun. but also ugh. it is an hour class and there are 11 people in it, so i don't like that. i mean i like everyone in the class, i just wish it was either longer or there was another section of the class so we could split up. i just feel like its too many people who want and need to practice speaking with too little of a timeframe to do it.
also we had a faculty meeting on wednesday and sometime last week i had talked to the principal about how it's really hard to meet new people, when the school is constantly cautioning us of all the dangers in torreon (newly arriving with the drugs moving closer to here) and that we shouldn't go to "unsafe" places. but truthfully, we have no idea what is or isn't safe or where to go to meet reputible people. i asked if she could arrange some sort of tour of the city so we could become more aquainted with it and if they could facilitate in us meeting more mexicans.
SO at the meeting, the administrators came up with 2 things. they are setting up a program where they ask families of colegio ingles to invite a teacher or two to dinner at their house. this way we can interact with more of a family and with authentic mexcian culture. i was super happy about that. AND they are doing a bus tour and dinner 2 or 3 fridays from this week. i am super excited about that. i thanked them soooo much today, because i honestly feel like everything i ask of them they try to do their absolute best to acommodate me. i asked for tutoring and got it, i asked for tour of torreon and we're getting it, i ask for meetings with parents and i get them, i ask for anything i feel and i get it.
it's interesting because i know there are a lot of things that are different here than they would be in the states, teaching wise, and i sometimes get frustrated. i have been getting more and more used to it though. the other teachers i feel are having a little tougher of a time with it. i feel like i have had experiences with plenty of materials and little administrative support and i much rather forego the materials. and truthfully - for a "developing country" i think they have a lot more than i initially expected... so i'm good with that. anyway i NEVER get emails anymore, whats up with you all!!! it's not even the holiday season yet. tell me what's going in in YOUR life, cause i am missing everyone... love to hear from you!!!!
Monday, 6 October 2008
oh what a little sunshine will do
well i am happy to report these past few days have been a bit better. im not sick anymore, so that is a plus!!! here's the rundown
saturday
went food shopping in the morning and got tons of fruits and i found soymilk, which made me very happy!!!! i got salad stuff and was generally just happy to fill my cart with healthy food instead of meat, meat, meat... after shopping i hung around and kind of did nothing for a while.
there was supposedly a 'youth meeting' at the church i went to last week. i don't consider myself a youth, but the church assured us there would be others our age there. well when we got there it was full of 15 year olds... i wanted to leave immediately because i felt OOOLLLLLDDDD and inappropriate... we were heading out the door when one girl stopped us and convinced us (and by us i mean the other girl i went with) to stay... i couldnt leave her, so i stayed. it ended up not being horrible, haha - it is cool to hear spanish in a very different aspect... so after that i went to hang with some other american teachers that live a few houses down. we had a good time. two of the girls in that house are for mlast year and they know a bunch of mexicans, so they were there and we were speaking spanish which was sweet.
sunday
i kind of lazied around in the morning and then a group of us went to a soccer game for the local Santos team. some people were scaring us prior to going, saying it was super unsafe and we would be harrassed as foreigners and blah blah blah. we decided to try it out anyway... we went and since the game had started already these people sold us tickets (and by sold i mean scalped) on the road for 150 pesos instead of 200, which was sweet.
we got inside and found a front row seat, the entire stadium is just cements bleachers, no individual chairs... so we sat on BURNING HOT cement. luckily we were shaded, but the cement had gotten ridiculously hot from the beginning of the day. so pretty much immediately after we arrived a group of guys swarmed us and started chatting us up. they were kind of hmm - not creepy, but persistent i suppose is the best word. they were actually nice, one of them spoke in english and was talking to me the entire game, all i wanted to do was watch it!!! it was nice though because i spoke to him in spanish so that was good. he was super goofy. and they were like all about buying beer, but i didn't have any on account of my recent stomach issues. they did buy a bunch of rounds for the others though.
after the game we went outside and got these sandwiches and juice from a vendor... oh my word, no words can describe how delicious this sandwich was.... pork, avocado, tomato, mayo, onion, jalapenos, mustard and a million other things all thrown onto a toasted roll. it was delicious!!!!
monday
today is my LOOONG day, because i have lunch duty at school, tutoring at school from 4:30-6:30, then private tutoring from 7-8ish... so i am wiped out. BUT private tutoring was soooo much fun today!!! i love the boys i am tutoring, it's really nice because they know a lot of english and the parents just want them to keep up their skills. so today i brought a stevie wonder song that i have on my ipod and whited out some of the lyrics and had him listen to it and fill in what he could. then we talked about it afterwards. it was 'heaven help us all' so it has a lot of figurative language and expressions that he wouldn't know otherwise. it was really cool and it lent itself to so many other conversations, war, poverty, racial tension and more. i was soooo happy that he understood it enough to learn from it and he really liked it. so after the hour of dissecting the song and meaning he listened to it again and said he really liked it :) which clearly, if you are into stevie wonder - you are good in my book.
the other good thing about private tutoring is speaking spanish with their maid and driver. they are really nice and it is nice to have someone to speak spanish with one on one... i had a good past few experiences :) well anyway - tomorrow is a pretty open day, we will see what it brings! tata for now
saturday
went food shopping in the morning and got tons of fruits and i found soymilk, which made me very happy!!!! i got salad stuff and was generally just happy to fill my cart with healthy food instead of meat, meat, meat... after shopping i hung around and kind of did nothing for a while.
there was supposedly a 'youth meeting' at the church i went to last week. i don't consider myself a youth, but the church assured us there would be others our age there. well when we got there it was full of 15 year olds... i wanted to leave immediately because i felt OOOLLLLLDDDD and inappropriate... we were heading out the door when one girl stopped us and convinced us (and by us i mean the other girl i went with) to stay... i couldnt leave her, so i stayed. it ended up not being horrible, haha - it is cool to hear spanish in a very different aspect... so after that i went to hang with some other american teachers that live a few houses down. we had a good time. two of the girls in that house are for mlast year and they know a bunch of mexicans, so they were there and we were speaking spanish which was sweet.
sunday
i kind of lazied around in the morning and then a group of us went to a soccer game for the local Santos team. some people were scaring us prior to going, saying it was super unsafe and we would be harrassed as foreigners and blah blah blah. we decided to try it out anyway... we went and since the game had started already these people sold us tickets (and by sold i mean scalped) on the road for 150 pesos instead of 200, which was sweet.
we got inside and found a front row seat, the entire stadium is just cements bleachers, no individual chairs... so we sat on BURNING HOT cement. luckily we were shaded, but the cement had gotten ridiculously hot from the beginning of the day. so pretty much immediately after we arrived a group of guys swarmed us and started chatting us up. they were kind of hmm - not creepy, but persistent i suppose is the best word. they were actually nice, one of them spoke in english and was talking to me the entire game, all i wanted to do was watch it!!! it was nice though because i spoke to him in spanish so that was good. he was super goofy. and they were like all about buying beer, but i didn't have any on account of my recent stomach issues. they did buy a bunch of rounds for the others though.
after the game we went outside and got these sandwiches and juice from a vendor... oh my word, no words can describe how delicious this sandwich was.... pork, avocado, tomato, mayo, onion, jalapenos, mustard and a million other things all thrown onto a toasted roll. it was delicious!!!!
monday
today is my LOOONG day, because i have lunch duty at school, tutoring at school from 4:30-6:30, then private tutoring from 7-8ish... so i am wiped out. BUT private tutoring was soooo much fun today!!! i love the boys i am tutoring, it's really nice because they know a lot of english and the parents just want them to keep up their skills. so today i brought a stevie wonder song that i have on my ipod and whited out some of the lyrics and had him listen to it and fill in what he could. then we talked about it afterwards. it was 'heaven help us all' so it has a lot of figurative language and expressions that he wouldn't know otherwise. it was really cool and it lent itself to so many other conversations, war, poverty, racial tension and more. i was soooo happy that he understood it enough to learn from it and he really liked it. so after the hour of dissecting the song and meaning he listened to it again and said he really liked it :) which clearly, if you are into stevie wonder - you are good in my book.
the other good thing about private tutoring is speaking spanish with their maid and driver. they are really nice and it is nice to have someone to speak spanish with one on one... i had a good past few experiences :) well anyway - tomorrow is a pretty open day, we will see what it brings! tata for now
Saturday, 4 October 2008
what you can get for 12 bucks....
soooo school was pretty uneventful this week. i had been feeling increasingly exhausted since monday and by wednesday night i was not feeling well at all. luckily the people i tutored cancelled - well not so much cancelled as just didn't show up without a phonecall... so i rested.
thursday rolls around and i had a terrible night of sleep on wednesday because my body ached so badly and my stomach hurt, so i didn't know if i should even take medicine for the back in case it reacted with the stomach... i went to school feeling crappy, because we have NO sick or personal days, if we take off because we are sick we don't get paid. so i figured i would give it a shot.
well my kids were really well behaved, i told first thing "Miss Emily feels really sick today, so please cooperate and listen really well today". they actually did, which i was surprised about because when i taught high school and i told them the few times i wasn't feeling 100% they could care less... i was pleasantly surprised by their excellent behavior.
in my second group of kids i have one little boy who is a terror!!! haha, we're trying some things but he has a lot of behavior issues, so i didn't know how this class was gonna take me being sick. funnily enough he was the one coming to my rescue, when the class got out of hand he would speak on my behalf, "silencio, la Miss no puede gritar esta enferma!!!" adorable... my knight and shining armor "silence, the teacher can't yell she's sick!!!" that made me happy - maybe there's hope for him yet, haha...
anyway around 1:45 i was feeling awful and my kids were at a special class, so i went to my supervisor and told her i didn't feel well. she got the nurse to come check me out and lo and behold i had a temperature of 39 degrees celsius, which for us americans translates to like 102 F... not cool. she had someone else wrap up my class for me and i sat in her office and started crying, because no one likes to be sick... especially when you're not home and sick, and then when you're not with people that love you unconditionally... i didn't think anyone was gonna take care of me and i would be sick and left on my own in mexico.
to my rescue came krista!!! she is a canadian teacher that was here last year. she has lived and taught in mexico for like 5 years, so she is pretty familiar with things. she offered to walk me to the doctor down the street. now let me tell you, there is universal healthcare here through the social security office which is long and sometimes unreliable if you just wake up sick one morning. social security goes by appointment and sees only 3 people a day that don't have an appointment. in a city of 1 million people it can get overwhelming... anyway there is also private healthcare for those who would rather have a doctor's immediate attention and who can afford it. but there is also generic healthcare... which is where i went.
i got t
o the doctor's office at 2:30 and was the next person in line. i saw the doctor for about 15 minutes and he prescribed 2 things for me and a clear liquid diet... his exact words were "go home, boil a chicken, take out the meat, bones, and fat and drin
k the chicken water" to which krista and i asked "will a bouillon cube work?" - clearly we thought of something he hadn't and he assured us bouillon cubes were A-ok... after i paid $2.50 for the doctor's visit, i went to pick up my meds, which cost a total of $9.50... so for a doctor visit and meds, i spent a grand total of 12 US dollars... just that made me feel better!
i went home and slept and slept and felt much better the next day, my stomach still a littley iffy, but overall better. unfortunately i had to miss the first spanish class which pissed me off, because i have been waiting for this to start and finally it did and i missed the first class. UGH!!!!
now a moment of truth - (not that everything else was a lie, you know what i mean) i feel like i'm kind of at a low point. heres the thing... i want to speak spanish, that is a HUGE part of the reason i took this job... but i do not feel like i am getting the chance to do so, because i teach in english all day and i live with americans. there is not much to do in our town except go to bars and stuff on the weekends, but truthfully it is a tad unsafe lately because there is a new access to our town that is allowing drug dealers and the like to come in. so the option of going out at night isn't super safe either... i feel couped up inside and i am really dissappointed about that... i know things aren't always as you imagine them, i'm trying to figure out my purpose here, and i'm hoping it gets better because right now it's only october and i feel like it sucks... im just bored, all we do at our house is work, cook, eat, and watch movies and that's no fun all the time.
well hopefully things start looking up, krista and i are going food shopping today and possibly to the bank for a bank statement (they are not a courtesy, you have to ask for one...). maybe we will go to a museum or the park "el bosque" which is like 30 blocks long and supposed to be pretty sweet. we have church tomorrow... i don't know - i know you're all thinking that sounds like a lot of stuff, but i don't want all of my fun to be pushed to the weekend... i mean even in the states you have diversions during the week.
i think i need some cheering up... i did NOT feel like this in costa rica, because we went out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT... here, no one wants to go out - or it's not reccommended to go out at night... oh well... sorry to be such a debbie downer, its just how i feel lately...
thursday rolls around and i had a terrible night of sleep on wednesday because my body ached so badly and my stomach hurt, so i didn't know if i should even take medicine for the back in case it reacted with the stomach... i went to school feeling crappy, because we have NO sick or personal days, if we take off because we are sick we don't get paid. so i figured i would give it a shot.
well my kids were really well behaved, i told first thing "Miss Emily feels really sick today, so please cooperate and listen really well today". they actually did, which i was surprised about because when i taught high school and i told them the few times i wasn't feeling 100% they could care less... i was pleasantly surprised by their excellent behavior.
in my second group of kids i have one little boy who is a terror!!! haha, we're trying some things but he has a lot of behavior issues, so i didn't know how this class was gonna take me being sick. funnily enough he was the one coming to my rescue, when the class got out of hand he would speak on my behalf, "silencio, la Miss no puede gritar esta enferma!!!" adorable... my knight and shining armor "silence, the teacher can't yell she's sick!!!" that made me happy - maybe there's hope for him yet, haha...
anyway around 1:45 i was feeling awful and my kids were at a special class, so i went to my supervisor and told her i didn't feel well. she got the nurse to come check me out and lo and behold i had a temperature of 39 degrees celsius, which for us americans translates to like 102 F... not cool. she had someone else wrap up my class for me and i sat in her office and started crying, because no one likes to be sick... especially when you're not home and sick, and then when you're not with people that love you unconditionally... i didn't think anyone was gonna take care of me and i would be sick and left on my own in mexico.
to my rescue came krista!!! she is a canadian teacher that was here last year. she has lived and taught in mexico for like 5 years, so she is pretty familiar with things. she offered to walk me to the doctor down the street. now let me tell you, there is universal healthcare here through the social security office which is long and sometimes unreliable if you just wake up sick one morning. social security goes by appointment and sees only 3 people a day that don't have an appointment. in a city of 1 million people it can get overwhelming... anyway there is also private healthcare for those who would rather have a doctor's immediate attention and who can afford it. but there is also generic healthcare... which is where i went.
i got t
o the doctor's office at 2:30 and was the next person in line. i saw the doctor for about 15 minutes and he prescribed 2 things for me and a clear liquid diet... his exact words were "go home, boil a chicken, take out the meat, bones, and fat and drin
k the chicken water" to which krista and i asked "will a bouillon cube work?" - clearly we thought of something he hadn't and he assured us bouillon cubes were A-ok... after i paid $2.50 for the doctor's visit, i went to pick up my meds, which cost a total of $9.50... so for a doctor visit and meds, i spent a grand total of 12 US dollars... just that made me feel better!i went home and slept and slept and felt much better the next day, my stomach still a littley iffy, but overall better. unfortunately i had to miss the first spanish class which pissed me off, because i have been waiting for this to start and finally it did and i missed the first class. UGH!!!!
now a moment of truth - (not that everything else was a lie, you know what i mean) i feel like i'm kind of at a low point. heres the thing... i want to speak spanish, that is a HUGE part of the reason i took this job... but i do not feel like i am getting the chance to do so, because i teach in english all day and i live with americans. there is not much to do in our town except go to bars and stuff on the weekends, but truthfully it is a tad unsafe lately because there is a new access to our town that is allowing drug dealers and the like to come in. so the option of going out at night isn't super safe either... i feel couped up inside and i am really dissappointed about that... i know things aren't always as you imagine them, i'm trying to figure out my purpose here, and i'm hoping it gets better because right now it's only october and i feel like it sucks... im just bored, all we do at our house is work, cook, eat, and watch movies and that's no fun all the time.
well hopefully things start looking up, krista and i are going food shopping today and possibly to the bank for a bank statement (they are not a courtesy, you have to ask for one...). maybe we will go to a museum or the park "el bosque" which is like 30 blocks long and supposed to be pretty sweet. we have church tomorrow... i don't know - i know you're all thinking that sounds like a lot of stuff, but i don't want all of my fun to be pushed to the weekend... i mean even in the states you have diversions during the week.
i think i need some cheering up... i did NOT feel like this in costa rica, because we went out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT... here, no one wants to go out - or it's not reccommended to go out at night... oh well... sorry to be such a debbie downer, its just how i feel lately...
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