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
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