Some fotos for you....

Rod, Stu, me and Carlitos after the pageant.

Brenda as the angel and Rodney as a Mexican shepherd.

Nena and I at the Christmas party.

Jenny, Chrystian, and I at the dinner.

Some of the preschool staff and I out to eat after the big show.

Sweet Andrea smacking our pinata while Miss Ruth, Miss Andrea, and Miss Pamela keep the kids back.

My kiddos after their flag ceremony.

My assistant caught a foto of me teaching.

My kids dancing to Rin Rin in the Christmas show...

...at Teatro Gota de Plata.

Home for the Holidays

I landed into a winter wonderland for sure. I think all those classic Christmas songs actually apply this year in my case. There's about a foot and a half of snow outside, Rugby can't decide where to do his business, and I'm about to go take some postcard perfect pictures of New England. I'm so thrilled to have a white Christmas.

But I wasnt too thrilled about it Thursday night. I landed a half hour late in Atlanta which wasn't a big deal, I made it through customs and found my gate ahead of time for my 9:30 flight to Boston. But my gate was overcrowded and I learned that because of a snowstorm that had decided to sit directly over Boston all day long, nearly all flights had been cancelled to Logan Airport that day. So there were a ton of people on stand-by trying to get on my plane that up until it's take-off time said it would leave on time. But the plane we were scheduled to go on still hadnt arrived to our gate so our boarding time got pushed back to 10:10. Then they told us to wait 20 more minutes because a plane had skidded while taxiing at Logan. Then we waited another 5 minutes to board. Finally we boarded, a full plane, and taxiied out. And waited. And then the pilot got on to say that Logan had just shut down their airport again and we would be going back to our gate. We were told we could get off the plane, but to not go far. We were delayed an hour and a half but told that these things change and when we were cleared to go, we were just going to go. So I got off and walked down the terminal looking for food. Couldn't find any, everything was just closing up, so I headed back to our gate. They were about to close the door to leave and told me to run down the ramp! Apparently our delay was only 20 minutes and they got the clear to go. We waited another 10 minutes for other people to come back, and one unfortunate family of 4 never did. And we left. We had a bumpy ride to Boston and got in after 2 am. My poor family was there to pick me up and we got home to Rochester after 4am.

Well the last few days at school were a real blur. First of all, I realized I forgot to tell you I went to Puebla about 2 weeks ago. It is a great Spanishy city and I loved the chocolate and churros, Spanish balconies, and beautiful ceramics of Puebla that reminded me so much of my Sevilla. Its a beautiful city with old churches on about every corner and a magnificent old cathedral in the middle. There was a Oaxacan festival in the main plaza too that was coming through town so that was cool to see. Great shopping in Puebla, loved it. We went up the high point above the city for a great view of one of the 2 big volcanoes in the area and to see the old famed fortress that the Mexicans defended in the storied battle on Cinco de Mayo against the French. It was a nice weekend.

So then the 12th of December happened. Dia de Guadalupe is a huge celebration in Mexico and the reason for tons of pilgrimages for the virgin of Mexico to the main basilica in Mexico City or to the main cathedrals in every city. In Pachuca, the main basilica, fondly known as La Villilta, started mass at midnight the night before and the whole stretch of road by the church was shut down for the holiday fair stands. Little kids were dressed up in traditional indigenous outfits, with braided hair for the girls and even little painted-on mustaches on the boys. So cute. There were lots of decorative backdrops set up among the fair stands with the Virgin Guadalupe in the background where parents could get in a photo op for their dressed up kids. The huge cathedral was packed. Standing room only. The holiday commemorates the day the Virgen Guadalupe appeared to the peasant Juan Diego and the main basilica in Mexico City is supposedly built upon the site where it happened. As we were coming back from Puebla we passed a ton of people walking along the side of the road with images of the virgen on their backs, making their pilgrimage to the Basilica de Guadalupe. You can read more about the story on this site: http://www.olgofm.org/story_of_guadalupe.html This day is only celebrated in Mexico as far as I know.

Experiencing the holidays in Mexico is pretty different than in the States. In December friends and families celebrates with Posadas, or holiday parties, and remember when Mary and Joseph searched for an inn in Bethlehem. The day of the Christmas party at school and at the posada I went to at my dance studio we "pedir-ed Posada". We all held candles and separated our group into 2. At the dance studio, half of the people at the party took their candles outside. Then we engaged in this old round, a song where the people outside sing to request entrance and the people inside answer back. Its kind of a long song and goes back and forth like that and finally we opened the doors and let the people outside in, remembering when Mary and Joseph were finally welcomed to stay in the inn's stable. Its a really nice tradition. Then the norm is to break a pinata which my kids were pros at. Also, Christmas day is a day to go to mass and open a few presents but on Dia de los Reyes, King's Day, kids get more presents and it's the day that kids look forward to more. Its January 6th, the day I actually return to Mexico, and they give presents to remember the gifts the Wise Men brought Jesus.

Well, the faculty dinner was really nice and Chrystian's graduation party was fun. Sunday we went to see Rodney as a Mexican shepherd in his church's funny Christmas pageant. We loved it. Monday was my class's special flag ceremony and they did a good job. I got some video of it that maybe I can share with you sometime. (When they sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas the word year always came out more like you, haha, so cute) Then we spent the rest of the day rehearsing for the big show and watching Polar Express.

Tuesday was the big Christmas Festival at the Theater Gota de Plata that is new and absolutely spectacular: a huge expanse in front of the theater hold the world's largest floor mural and it is just incredible to see. So our school booked it for the big Christmas show and it was a success. However, it was a crazy feat to include every child in the school, from preschool to middle school and it was simply too long of a day to cram little kiddos in a tiny dressing room before their dance. It was a long day for all. We relaxed and celebrated it being over later that afternoon at a restaurant with the whole preschool faculty and had a gift exchange.

Stu was super sick all week and finally decided to see another doctor. Miss Ruth was so kind to offer to take us to her family doctor, who was great, and could tell right away he had a high fever and strep throat. Fortunately he got meds and feels much better. Good thing too cuz he's traveling on his own in Cuba right now. He left Pachuca at 3:30 am to catch a bus to the airport for his early flight on Thursday. Can't wait to hear from him.

So anyhow, Wednesday was a busy day, we all went to school to hand out report cards to parents and then the school threw us a holiday toast and we said goodbye. Some of our foreign staff isn't coming back after the holidays. It was sad to say goodbye to our neighbors, they're moving on to teach in South Korea. I did last minute stuff, like exchange my money, the exchange rate shot up to 11 pesos to the dollar, pack, and go to the dance posada. Jenny and I took the 10:15 bus to the airport and now I'm here! I hope to put up some pictures over break for you to see. Ryan comes in to Boston today and leaves Christmas day. Next weekend we'll be in PA for a few days! Can't wait to see family and friends, I feel like I've got 3 homes now.....

Love to all of you, hope to see you soon!

I´ll be home for Christmas

Cant believe Ill be home tomorrow! See you soon!

Merry Mexican Christmas

I just got a package notice at school today and went to the post office in town with Rodney to go pick it up. It was a big package sent from 9 Continental Blvd, Mom, I think you got our old address mixed up with our new one, and I couldnt wait to open it. It was full with fun holiday things: Christmas lights, Christmas decorations, Christmas gift bags with tissue paper, wrapping paper, Christmas recipes, cookie cutters, Christmas CDs, little Christmas stockings with the initials B and J for Jenny and I, chocolate from France, thanks Dad!, and a beautiful Thanksgiving card, haha. I soooo loved it, my mom must know how much I love Christmas, especially Christmas music, and how much I needed those decorations and gift supplies! Thanks Mom! I love you!
Well this week has been pretty chaotic and super crafty. Our ever cluttered classroom has been laying under a layer of glitter and glue for the past week. Soon it will be over. I love my kids. They are so cute. They each memorized a line about the holidays to say during our special flag ceremony performance on Monday and they are so eager to tell me their line, to know if theyre saying it right and be praised for learning it so well. I love hearing them try to speak in English. Words like hang and remember arent the easiest for them to say. They are so stinkin cute. Today we made Santa Claus ornaments and they took them home. They are excited for their flag ceremony performance on Monday and then their big dance in the Christmas Show with the whole school on Tuesday. Then I wont see them until January, Ill be really excited to see them the day we come back.
Tomorrow is the big dinner that the schools putting on for us, it should be really nice, were all excited. And there will definitely be a lot of dancing so Rodney and I will get to show off our moves when they put on salsa and cumbia.
Im so excited to see home and my family and friends and Rugby!!!!!!
One week to go.....

Wow it`s December and therere only 15 days until im on a flight back to the States! I am very excited to see my family friends and enjoy a white Christmas, cant wait!

Well the last time i wrote was before thanksgiving so to let you know, that went great, it was a really fun day, fun times with the kids, they loved their indian headbands and pilgrim hats and sharing food. We had a really nice potluck dinner with the whole school faculty after the kids left and there was live entertainment including karaoke and the debut of Stu´s band of teachers. Friday we had an inservice day which was nice and relaxing and shoot I honestly cant remember what we did that weekend, it was just a chill weekend in Pachuca, I must have really not done much. Oh i did go to see Jenny play 2 soccer games and see her win her league. This past weekend they gave her team a nice trophy ceremony. Somehow she ended up on the best team in the league. Shes had a great time. Lets see.... then last Monday Stu had his first solo gig in Pachuca and played at a little cafe in his colonia. Other teachers and friends came from school and had a great time. He even asked me to come up and sing a song with him which was a lot of fun, and funny. This weekend was another chill weekend in Pachuca, we really miss the good soccer games, Pachuca got knocked out of the Mexican finals a couple weeks ago. Saturday I tutored my favorite little first grader, Caro, in the morning, and then later ate dinner with other teachers from the school. We had some good gringo food and played Yuker (spelling?). Sunday Stu and I went to Real de Monte, for our 2nd time, (we climbed in the mine up there months ago with Jenny and Chrystian) but its such a cute town in the mountains and only 20 minutes outside Pachuca. We just had a good lunch and walked around. I think everyone in Pachuca goes there on Sundays. I also thinks just about everyones grandparents live in Real de Monte. Its pretty funny. Stu bought an aquarium and has been buying fish like candy. Unfortunately his tank is like survivor island and there have been quite a few casualties. I bought a beta fish for his tank and named him Rafael. Hes still kicking it.
And lets see this week has been super busy and Ive done tons of tutoring after school with Caro because its exam week. I cannot believe its already December, i really cant and I cant wait to see snow and really feel like Christmas. I bought some Christmas lights and a Christmas English CD to get in the mood. I taught my kids We Wish you a Merry Christmas and theyll sing in at the next flag ceremony for all of preschool. Its gunna be cute.
Welp thats it for now, might go to Mexico City this weekend, we shall see, hope you all have got your Christmas trees up and decorated and are in the holiday mood!
¡Feliz Navidad!

Pie de la Cuesta and Pumpkin Pie

Well Acapulco was fabulous. Its just great to know that we can take a weekend and really feel like were on a true vacation and a world away from work. It was such a relaxing weekend. Acapulcos beach is actually on a bay and to be honest the towns not that nice, definitely a victim of tourism and the nicest beaches are only where the most expensive big hotels are. So Im glad that we took that fifty-cent bus out of the city up the coast to the shoreline of Pie de la Cuesta. The beach is long but there`s only one street, its super quiet and not much to do but relax and enjoy being at the beach... which is what we want anyway, right? We loved staying in a little hotel right on the beach. There were huts with palm tree branch roofs that shaded us in our hammocks and beach chairs. We ate every meal with our feet in the sand. Sunday all 11 of us paid 4 bucks each for a 4 hour tour in a huge lagoon on the other side of the street. We had a great time and the traffic wasnt bad at all coming home. Wed definitely go there again.
Few things though, Ive never been in waves so strong. Im used to jumping the dinky Jersey waves so when I tried to jump an Acapulcan wave it picked me up and threw my face in the sand giving me a nice sand burn on my jaw bone and neck. i stuck to the pool the rest of the day. But for whatever reason that didnt do me any good either because the next day we were alarmed to find that the pool water had turned my blonde hair true green. After one day! People at school think I´ve turned punk. Theyve never heard of hair turning green I think because they dont have blonde hair. I hope it washes out soon.
Well tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am asking my kids to bring in different items for our feast. Half of them are going to wear Indian headwear and half will wear Pilgrim hats. Its gunna be cute. They`ll color a little Thanksgiving book they can each take home and well talk about what we´re thankful for. After the kids leave we´ll have a potluck for the teachers but its gunna be super Mexicanified. Im on the social committee and saw the sign up lists and saw tons of Mole Verde and Tinga and Arroz and not so much mashed potatoes turkey and pumpkin pie. I really crave some pumpkin pie.
Okay well Happy Thanksgiving to you and safe travels!

Heading to the Beach

Happy Friday! Right after school today a bunch of teachers and I are hopping on the first bus to Mexico City to connect with another that will take us to the Pacific Coast for a weekend of sun and fun in Acapulco. We cant wait to be on the beach and see that clear blue water. We plan on going to a town thats a 10 minute drive up the coast from the city, called Pie de la Cuesta, where its a lot quieter, less touristy and just as beautiful. We plan on getting to see the famous cliffdivers that catapult themselves from cliffs that border one side of Acapulco. We also plan on getting to see some gorgeous sunsets, which I realize Ive never seen from the Pacific coast, and soaking up some sun. Its a 5/6 hr bus ride from Mexico City and were coming back Monday night. For whatever reason theres no school Monday so we decided to go for a long weekend. We have a short week too because next Friday is an inservice day and on Thanksgiving the kids will leave at 1 and the teachers will celebrate with a potluck dinner. I really hope someone brings pumpkin pie. Im bringing chili. Preschool got asked to bring soups. So anyhoo, hope you all are doing well, Ill be thinking of you when Im on the beach.... :)

SKYPE and Students

So yesterday I got SKYPE! It is by far the best way to call home, so cheap, I highly recommend it. If you have a microphone and headphones we can even talk for FREE sometime. Just let me know and Ill email you my username. So, yep got it yesterday, got to talk to my Nana and Grandpop and Landon, Noelle, and Paigey. So good to hear their voices. Haha, but the funny thing is that when I first tried to call, the microphone wasnt set up and Nana couldnt hear me. I called a second time and she sounded ticked, "Hello....now this is the second time you've called and I cant hear you, it must be some political call so please stop calling!" and she hung up on me!!! Haha, oh Nana. No, it was just your granddaughter calling from Mexico. Fortunately the third time I figured it out and we got to talk. Still cant believe Ill be home in a month! The time has just flown by. Its crazy. Some of the foreign teachers are dropping like flies and deciding whether to come back after Christmas or not, teaching the spoiled teenagers here can be incredible battle, but I am very content in Preschool with my kiddos and will be excited to see them again after the holidays. Today they were so cute and wanted to know what each of their names were in English. Of course some have no translation and stay the same but they were tickled to know that Juan Pablo is John Paul, Natalia is Natalie, and Marco is Mark. I have one little girl whos super quiet but super curious named Shamillet and she will ask me constantly what things are called in English and Im delighted to tell her. next week well learn the letter V and were gunna make a paper mache volcano. Which as I remember was the reason I got online in the first place, to research how were gunna do this.
So this weekend were staying in Pachuca, taking Jenny out for her birthday and probably seeing the Pachuca Tuzos play their last game before playoffs. Tranquilo. Talk to you soon...

Day of the Dead Weekend

This past Thursday was the Day of the Dead and like I think I mentioned in one of my last blogs, it´s a traditional holiday that honors the dead. We had a day off so we went to the northern tip of our state to a small town called Huejutla. There they really celebrate the holidayand we visited a cementery that was quite a site. People were pouring in, hands full of food and flowers, firecrackers were going off spontaneously and bands were playing. The gravestones we saw were covered in bright purple and orange flower petals and often a cross made of orange flower petals were laid out in front of the stone. Cups of soda, tamales, and the favorite foods of the deceased were laid on their gravestones for them to enjoy. The families kind of camp out at the gravestones and I really think its a beautiful tradition; I think they probably take comfort in the thought that when they pass on their families will honor them in the same way each year. The interesting thing about Huejutla is that there they do a very interesting dance. We saw some people doing it in the cementery and werent quite sure what to think. Men dress up like women and wear masks and do this stomping dance to the music of a guitar and violin. Its pretty strange. Im not sure the name of it, Id have to google it. It was a sight to see. We also got to see an international dance show in the main plaza that night of groups from Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and Costa Rica. My favorite was Peru. It was pretty cool. Except for the fact that it lasted over three hours and we had already sat in a bus for five. Let me tell you getting to Huejutla was no piece of cake. Looking at a map you´d say theres no way it could take 5 hours from Pachuca. But thats because its 5 hours of a narrow winding mountain road with wicked turns that force you to go 15 miles per hour the whole way. The cliff down the one side would have made my mom pass out sometimes. We found out later that many people never go that route because its so dangerous. Well we survived. And it was pretty cool to see the terrain change. We started with canyons of cacti, to a temperate region that was like a more mountainous Pennsylvania, to thick jungle that made us sweat the whole time we were in Huejutla. We actually missed chilly Pachuca.
We came back Saturday night so Sunday we decided to visit the pyramids of Teotihuacan that are a must see in Mexico and only an hour from Pachuca. They are super impressive and we hiked all the way to the top of the highest one. it was a real trek, its super steep at times, and really windy up top. Not much is known at all about the people who built them or what happened to them. The layout of the city is still intact though, it was cool to imagine it all. The adventure however happened before i even got to hike the pyramids. As soon I had gotten off the bus I went to pay for the ticket to enter the pyramids and realized I didnt have my wallet. I freaked out for a second and then asked the police man at the gate what I should do. He said my best option was to chase the bus in a taxi! So I grabbed a taxi, we cut corners, belive it or not, caught the bus, got on, and they had my wallet!!!! Unbelievable, and I was never so happy to see it. I had left it in the seat on the bus instead of putting it in my purse. My excuse is that my hands were full because I had just bought a paste before getting on the bus. Still a dumb move. But now a good story!
hasta la proxima vez....

Grammar note

Okay so after reading some of my entries Ive realized that my grammar stinks. I just want to write a disclaimer and say that I have not forgotten how to speak and write well in English. For one thing, the keyboards are a little different down here which is why I rarely include apostrophes. I simply write these blogs as fast as possible to save money at the computer cafe where I write them. I realized too that I write the same way I talk, which often lends itself to run-ons. So anyway, forgive me, and I hope my mistakes dont interfere with your understanding, and if it does, well, then maybe you´re just getting a special version of my stories from Mexico. At least Im not writing in Spanish!
Hahah,
Adios amigos

Before Halloween, I ran with BULLS

Well this deserves an entry by itself. We, as in 12 of us teachers from ASP, bus tripped it to Tlaxcala this weekend for the first weekend of their feria. We went specifically for their pamplonada, or event where they let bulls run loose in the streets. Saturday morning we got up early and registered to be runners and received our shirts and red neck bandana. We walked the whole route and checked out the bulls we´d run with by peeking through the slats in the door that held them back. The route fom where they were kept ran along the main plaza and ended in the bullring. The route was lined with large wooden fences that ran the whole length of the run. We got so pumped and excited before they let the bulls out, it was a huge adrenaline rush. We were getting ourselves all psyched up by practicing escape maneuvers and planning where we were going to start our run. Their were hundreds of other runners with us, no foreigners to be seen but us, I think we were the only girls running, and their was press all over us. Apparently they want to make this event more of an international attraction and they kept photographing us and interviewing us. We showed up in the newspaper the next day. Anyway at 1030 they let the beasts loose and we saw them come roaring around the corner. I dont think i really ran that far but it was a crazy rush to jump up on the fence and watch them pass by. They werent stopping for anybody. I dont think anyone got hurt though. Then we waited 15 minutes and they made another run and went back where they came from. That time I didnt run but instead hung onto a fence and just took a video. Unfortunately I thought that twice a bull was coming right for me so the videos a little crazy to watch but definitely shows how loco it really was.
Had a great time in Tlaxcala. I recommend that everyone run with the bulls at least once in thier lifetime. Priceless.

Happy Halloween!

Y Feliz Dia de Muertos! (And Happy Day of the Dead!)
Well I stayed late after school yesterday and got there early this morning but it was all worth it. The Halloween Festival at school went great and we all had a great time. In general, I was really impressed with all the kids costumes, they really took it seriously and have the funds to buy high quality costumes. Their were lots of vampires and witches, Spidermen and other action figures. I dressed up as a soccer player, dressed in the full Tuzo Pachuca uniform. In primary they had a big concurso to choose the best dressed teachers and students; in secondary they had selected winners among the students as well and played games outside; and in preschool well we had a big parade, ate pizza and visited a Haunted House. Miss Marta worked so hard on our Casa Embrujada and it turned out so well. The first part was an enchanted forest and cementery; next the kids crawled through a black tunnel and arrived in a room of mirrors with a live mummy waiting for them. I worked all afternoon yesterday peeling grapes and making pasta so they could tuck their hand under the sheet and touch eyes and brains. They kids really loved it and all said that the Haunted House was their favorite part. They also went to another room to hear a story about Halloween, learned a Halloween song, and had a dance party to the song Monster Mash. So everything turned out really well and the kids had a great day. We teachers had a great time too and especially loved that we got to leave early by 130. Unfortunately tomorrow we have a regular school day which is so weird. Its Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, and its a very traditional Mexican holiday in which they make ofrendas or altars and remember their loved ones that have passed on. They visit cementeries and the whole holiday is more about respect than fear, like Halloween. However, anymore this old tradition is fading and most of our kids families no longer put up ofrendas in their homes. Either way we are putting up ofrendas in our school and the kids will visit them all tomorrow. Its kind of crazy to have 2 big holidays back to back. My Spanish team teacher with whom I share my room is in charge of the Dia de los Muertos activites so things have been nuts in our room.
This weekend we have off Friday from school so we are going on another trip, probably to Morelia, another colonial town north of Mexico City. Cant wait to see what Dia de los Muertos activities we get to see this weekend. Every where theyre selling lots of skeletons and skulls made of pure sugar.
Hope you had a fun Halloween!

car rides

This afternoon is rainy but I really cant remember the last time it rained here in Pachuca. Weve had great weather lately, its always bright and sunny, and I realized, this past Sunday as I was lounging in the stands at the baseball field that is a stone´s throw away from my house and also the number one old men´s hangout in Pachuca, that for as much as Im surpised how chilly it can be here at night, it still gets really warm here during the day. I wear short sleeves and most times, if Im out for even a hour, notice that I got some kind of sun because its just so intense when it´s out.
Well this weekend was a good one, stayed in Pachuca and did Pachucaey things. Played soccer on Friday afternoon and afterwards Jenny´s Mexican boyfriend, Tino, picked us up in his hot blue Mercedes convertible. He took us to a good burger joint and we felt like California girls cruising through town. Never thought I myself would be the one driving through town the next day, but as the story goes, I went to the fair on Saturday with my friend Fabis and she happened to fall on the ice skating rink and sprained her wrist. She got the medics to check it out and they wrapped it up tight in a sling and so guess who had to drive!!! Still cant believe I drove through all of Pachuca, the drivers are so crazy here, but we made it in one piece and I didnt even stall! It was kind of a thrill really...I wonder if they´d accept my Pennsylvania drivers license down here... haha.
Saturday night I went to the Pachuca soccer game with Stu, Rod, another teacher named Will, and our new neighbors, Angela and Pierre. Good times at the game, it was a big deal, with a big rival, but we lost and it was sad. Then we went out for tacos.
Yesterday was muy tranquilo and, wow, today was the beginning of another week. Time really seems to fly. How´s home??

Buenas Noticias

Good news! I found my missing clothes!!! I went down to my lavanderia and told my lady the good news, my roommate`s sheets were in the same load and she took them out of the bag first when we brought them home and after hanging up everything of mine and not finding the missing unmentionables, I completely forgot that Jennys sheets had been in there too and might have them. The laundry lady had said she tucks little stuff inside the big stuff so you dont show the world your panties through the plastic bag on your walk home. And what do you know a little sock sticking out of the sheeets caught Jennys eye the other day and she opened them up to reveal all that I had been missing. Good day. Well that was the other day. Last night I went to dance class, then to the movies with some of the other girls from dance and today I am super tired. Also, today we had a preschool meeting like every Thursday but my assistant and I were in charge of collecting money and buying food and organzing the card and gifts for a birthday and an expecting mother in our group. Im glad its over, Im tired. But it went fine, and I think everyone had enough to eat. Well, Im going to go home and take a nap, just thought I might send out a little note, by the way, also just sent out a couple cards to some specials someones with birthdays in October. I have sent out a couple postcards a couple of times to my family, brother, and grandparents but havent gotten any word that theyve arrived after this whole time. Restore our faith in Pachucas sketchy correos and let me know if youve gotten anything. Love you!

Well this past week just flew by. I spent most of it recovering from my chalupa experience but didnt miss any school and got better in time to play soccer on Friday. (I even scored my first goal, well, accidentally, it deflected off the defender and went in, haha) Saturday a bunch of us teachers went to a sothern part of Mexico City to a place that's reminiscent of the Venice-like canals that were Mexico City before the Spaniards came. Ten of us boarded a brightly painted boat with our own canal pusher on the back and relaxed as we floated past other boats of parties and mariachi bands and boats selling food and blankets. Very touristy but fun with a bunch of friends and very relaxing. Sunday I went to church with my friend Rodney where he's been attendingfor a while and really enjoyed it. The pastor of the church is actually from Indianapolis but has lived in Mexico for 15 years and speaks great Spanish with a thick gringo accent. Afterwards we went out to eat with a couple from church that Rodney's friends with and got some good Mexican food.
By the way I had an issue with my laundry lady this past week. Picked up my laundry and everything was there except most my socks, only 3 came back, and no underwear. I dont know what could have happened but they are definietly MIA and I am missing them.
Have a great day in the States!

Concierto y Chalupas

Sorry about cutting off that last entry, my account ran out and I didnt have enough cash on me to buy a new one. Well the concert was interesting, like I said, very punk and emo and the lead band was called Austin TV (google them if you want) and they are a crazy looking band from Mexico City who, get this, just plays music, doesnt sing, and wears the weirdest green pointy organic looking masks that Ive ever seen. It was amazing to see how much the people were into the music even though there were no words. They were mosh pitting and everything. I was really tired after all that. Very interesting night.
Oh we met our new neighbors yesterday. They are a young married couple, the woman hired to be the new 4th grade teacher to replace Heidi, and the husband to be a substitute teacher in Secondary. Pierre is from Canada and she is from Oklahoma. And they dont speak Spanish at all. Jenny took them to the super market and cell phone store today. We´re going to share cabs now to school. We´re really excited about having neighbors again!
Last night Jennys soccer team came over to our apartment for a girls night. It was a lot of fun getting to know them, they are all about 10 or 15 years older than us and are some pretty tough ladies. We ate some chalupas and I got real sick. Nobody else did though, so it remains a big mystery. All I know is I never want to see a chalupa again. Ugh.
Cant believe tomorrows Monday already...I feel like time is flying at an extremely fast pace.

One thing I forgot to mention that we did last weekend was go see a bullfight. Stuart had never seen one before and I thought that, although I´d already seen one in Spain, it might be interesting to see one in Mexico. Well the state we live in, Hidalgo, is having a big fair here in Pachuca, it´s capital, and to kick off the month long fair the Plaza de Toros hosted 7 different bullfighters last Sunday. It was pretty much the same as it was in Spain, except that each guy only got one bull, instead of two, which was a good thing because this turned out to be a over 3 hour event. The bullfighters were just as dramatic and fancy in their colorful embroidered suits and tights. the only thing I didn´t remember from the Spanish bullfight I saw was that if a bullfighter made his final blow with the big spear a direct hit and the bull fell over instantly then the crowd went crazy and waved tissue paper in the air and all looked up to the top box seat call Autoridad and waited to see if the owner or whoever that old man was would pull out his white handkerchief and wave it in approval. If he did then the bullfighter triumphantly made a victory lap waving the freshly-cut ear of the bull in his hand and the crowd threw their hats at him. Interesting. Maybe we didn´t see that in Spain cuz all the toreros were amateurs and couldnt get that spear in on the first try. Funny thing that happened, one time a bull charged and of course missed but went down so hard his horns got stuck in the ground and did a somersault. I laughed for a full minute after that.
This week was good, it flew by, went to dance on Weds and Thurs, turned in my first report cards on Friday, found out the school hired 2 new teachers and they are living in a townhouse in our living complex. Also, got a new tutoring job after school on Tuesdays with a sweet little first grader named Caro, such a sweet girl. This Wednes was the birthday of one of my students, she turned 4, her name is Andrea, shes a cute peanut who never stops, her fathers a big futbol player for Pachuca, her mom and grandma brought in a ton of food and a delicious strawberry cake for her birthday party at lunch time, and snack bags for all the kids. Love birthday parties, I learned that the birthday song down here is way different than ours, althought they all know our song and put different words to it, but this other song they sing for birthdays is super long and I have to learn it before I leave. It´s called Las
añantas. Showed my kids a mouse on Friday cuz we´re talking about animals and the letter A. They so loved him and squealed, Hi Mouse! Its my crazy biology teacher roommate´s mouse, she bought it at a pet shop to let her kids study, they love him and call him Remmy from the movie Ratatouille and even made him a Mayan paradise to run around in. He actually ate through his plastic cage last weekend and peed and pooped all over her desk and ate paper. And guess where he was when she walked in Monday, back in his cage! Hes in our house this weekend, in a bucket.
Last night we went to a concert, at a university in town. Very different kind of music, pretty rockish/emo and everyone there, mostly highschoolers, were punk with tight jeans and All Star shoes. Woops be right back

Nope, not lost!

Woops, haven't written in a while...I feel like I've been so busy, and I really just go online at school so if I don't have time, I just don't make it on. After school we usually eat by like 530 and then I go to dance in the neighborhood Morelos. So my nights fill up fast and I have to make time to do my laundry and go to the internet cafe and such.

Anyway, glad you all liked my last blog, I know sometimes the normal stuff is the most interesting. To back up a bit, I was in Cuernavaca last weekend, a little colonial town outside Mexico City. Lots of chilangos, or people from Mexico City, have their vacation homes there and go there on weekends. So its nice, Cortes's palace is there with a giant Diego Rivera mural inside. My favorite part was a private home - turned museum - of an art collector/artist from the United States that lived in Cuernavaca. It was such a awesome house, full of art, and decorated to the hilt. Could've imagined Aunt Sara living in something that creative. Heading back to Pachuca we stopped through Mexico City (everytime we take a bus out of Pachuca we go through Mexico City) so I got to see the giant main square, or Zocalo, for the first time, with its gigantic flag and I went in the Palacio Nacional to see more famous murals by Diego Rivera.

This past Friday we didn't have school again due to rains from Hurricane Lorenzo. Really it wasn't bad at all, the rains stopped by 10 in the morning but haha, they had already cancelled school!! Sweet. Jenny and I found out from our taxista and we did a u/turn and went home to lay in bed and watch tv. Great day. That night was the dance school's fourth anniversary party so that was fun. At one time my dance teacher made me get up and dance the cumbia with him but no one else was dancing yet and I think everyone probably thought it was interesting to see such a guera trying to dance a latin dance. Anyway, then Saturday Stu and I went to Mexico City for the day and saw touristy stuff like the famed neighborhood of Coyocoan, Leon Trotsky's house, Frida Kahlo's Blue House, the beautiful Fine Arts Museum (tons more Diego Rivera murals, and a special expo on him too, good thing we really like his work), and we walked through Alameda Park, their version of Central Park. Oh, and I bought a coat! I need to go back to go shopping, I need more warm clothes. Anyhoo, we are sticking around this weekend, Friday night we have tickets to go to a concert that's being held at the university in town. Should be fun!
School is good, love, love my kids, love being a preschool teacher. We're learning the letter T and we'll start the letter A this week. It's my turn to decorate for this month's holiday so my assistant and I are working on making a Halloween bulletin board and decorating the arch and walkway in the preschool area. At the end of the month all the kids come dressed up for a parade in their costumes. Can't wait.
How's life in the States? Love hearing from you all. Miss you!

Lo Normal

I realized the other day that I beyond the big events that I tell you about I´ve left out some of the day to day stuff. So to start, I don´t think I told you we wash our clothes in our patio. I just came home from school today, got out our buckets and filled them up in our two-sided sink. We´ve got a little patio strung with 4 clothes lines and we buy powder detergent and clothes softener and clean some of our own clothes. We dont clean allll of them by any means, just shirts and stuff that dont get real dirty. The other things we take every week in a bag down a couple blocks to a lavanderia where they wash and fold them nice and put them back in a bag smelling lovely and we can pick them up the next day. It usually costs about 6 bucks. So that´s why we try to wash some of our clothes.
What else...oh, I dont think I mentioned that I´ve been taking dance classes! Its something I do 2 or 3 times a week with my friend Rodney who really wanted to learn Salsa and other latin dances too. Turns out we do ALL kinds of dances, which is okay, and half the class is really stretching, abs, etc. So its actually a real workout. We have a lot of fun with it, we´d prefer if it were more dancing though, so we might look somewhere else. I walk to the studio, 30 minutes, and then I take a cab back.
Something real fun we´re all into is the Friday afternoon soccer games, all the other English speaking friends we´ve made are in on this well-organized unofficial league of four teams of ASP teachers and students and every week 3 teams play, one is off, and we play soccer on the fast field, an enclosed turf field with high nets and walls around it. Its so much fun. Its fun to play soccer again. I´m on the red team, and I just bought a great fake red España jersey at the market downtwon this weekend to wear when I play. My teacher teammates are Rob, Jamie, and Salvador. I dont know the students names yet but I do know that Orlando scored 3 of our 5 goals last weekend. The kids are good! of course.
Jenny and I found a panaderia that we like. Its a little bakery owned by a family and we ring a bell and they unlock the door and let us pick what we want and put it on a a tray and bring it to the counter. Its nice.
We go to the supermarket once every weekend. Mexico´s version of WalMart is Aurrera Bodega and its got all we need. We bring home our room temp milk in cartons and stock up on flan and tortillas and salsa. We buy our veggies there or at a market near where we live... just about everything we make has onions, garlic, and peppers in it. There is this fake juice that is a popular brand down here called BOING and we think its funny and we like it and it tastes like Tang.
I eat cereal or eggs or Jenny´s delicious breakfast burritos every morning; yogurt, a Special K bar, and a sandwich for lunch at 10.30 with the kids and then later Jenny and I come home starved everyday and eat anything we can or just make dinnner at 4:30.
Anyway, life is good in Pachuca, if I think of anything else I will let you know, if youve got any burning questions, pass em along.
Thanks for posting on my blog!

Día de Independencia

Happy Sept. 16th! Mexicans looove this holiday more than any other. Friday was a big day at school, unfortunately I forgot to charge my camera, but I still caught a couple pictures of my kids all dressed up Veracruz-style for their Bamba dance. All the kids were dressed up soooo cute, I absolutely loved the little boys decked out in full embroidered charro, Mexican cowboy, costumes. They cost like at least 100 bucks for just the mini costume, but they are amazing. So the kids were super cute and we did a parade for the parents so they could take a million pictures of their preciosos and videotape their every move. Then we made our way to the auditorium where they did their dances, so entertaining, my kids did real well, and then we all ate in the auditorium, which I must say, was utter chaos. An auditorium full of 3-5 year olds eating is just crazy. They spilled drinks, threw food, and decided to get up and play around when they were done and bored. Good times. Haha. It really wasnt that bad, just a little nuts, also there werent enough plates to go around and somehow the parents forgot to bring forks or napkins. Anyway, then the kids enjoyed a puppet show and played on the playground till their parents arrived at 1230. Tiring day but I wish the kids would dress up like that once a week. They are so adorable.
Yesterday we went to the Pachuca soccer game, Jenny, Stuart, and I and our Pachuca friend Christian and his 2 amigos. It was a good time and after the game we headed downtown for the big Grito. So the history of the Grito (Shout or Cry in English) is that Father Hidalgo, a national hero, gave his Grito de Dolores from a balcony on this night to call Mexicans to arms against the Spaniards. So in remembrance, the night before every Sept. 16 they reenact this cry and the governor, president, mayor of every major and minor town goes out on a balcony and shouts ¡Viva Mexico! (Long live Mexico!) and everyone in the crowd cries ¡Viva! So anyway we were making our way to the main plaza and quickly realized this would be very difficult. There were SOOO many people downtown we could barely move at times. It was crazy. There were amusement rides set up everywhere with no gates around them and if you weren´t careful you could just get wacked by a spinning teacup. Also, for the games of chance they were giving away as prizes little chicks dyed all different colors, quite shocking. So we finally made our way to the main plaza, got chocolate churros on the way, and got in the middle where we could see the balcony. We got there just in time for the flag ceremony and the pledge of allegiance and then Pachuca´s governor came out and in a great voice yelled ¨¡Mexicanos! ¡Viva Mexico! Viva Pachuca!! Viva los Niños Héroes! Viva Pachuca! Viva Mexico!¨ It was really exciting. Then the air filled with shaving cream that people were spraying. I wanted to laugh but had to keep my mouth closed in fear of getting a mouthful of foam. We all ducked. Then the fireworks and music began. They were all around us, it was pretty crazy. Then this huge theater near us lit up with fireworks and it was like a shower of fire, so dangerous. Then this huge structure to our left lit up, the fire spread from the bottom light until the whole thing was in flames and spelled ¨Hidalgo¨, our state, and then the state´s motto. But it was so dangerous and flaming flecks from the fireworks looked like they were coming right at us. Everyone started to run which was also dangerous because we were so packed in. This lasted like 2 minutes though and then the flames flickered out and we were all fine. But we couldn´t believe how unsafe it all was really. We had been warned before though and Christian told us afterwards that he used to go when he was little and he was always scared of it all. Anyway, what an experience, wouldn´t have missed it for the world, it was really exciting and we had a great time. Then we slowly made our way out again and ate some tacos before going home. Good times. Happy Independence Day!

Hello hello, well I have to start this entry by announcing, if you weren`t already aware, of the trouncing of Notre Dame by Penn State this past weekend. Jenny, who went to Notre Dame, and I checked when it would air on tv and that it would be on ESPN and despite all our efforts, didn`t get to see it. Apparently what they broadcast in the States isn`t the same in Mexico. Go figure, why wouldn`t all of Mexico want to see a college football game. So instead of course we watched the Pachucan futbol game and they won too so it was a happy ending. Also, I left my coat in a taxi accidentally last weekend and it`s been interesting trying to find a new one. I`d almost rather get one sent from home. We tried the mall here on Friday night and it`s really nice, we felt like we were back in the States. It`s rainy here for a little almost every day and it gets chilly. But apparently the winter doesn`t get that cold. But I really wish I`d brought my coats from home! I know they are just sitting in the closet waiting for me at Christmastime.
In other news....kids are doing great, I think I`ve found a better balance in using Spanish as little as possible and still being able to control my kiddos. We started learning the letter H this week. Its interesting that the program were using doesnt do the alphabet in order. Also, I just found out today that our class will be short 2 workbooks all year so that will be interesting. Tomorrow we will draw the number 1, hhaa, I love preschool.
Well, this weekend is going to be one to remember. Its Mexico`s Independence Day. On Friday All preschool grades will be putting on a show that they`ve prepared and our kids will dance La Bamba. Then the parents are putting together food for everyone to celebrate. On Saturday Jenny, Stuart, and I got invited by our friend Christian to spend the holiday with him. I think we`ll go to the soccer game and then out to eat downtown before the Grito at 11pm downtown and to celebrate with his family. Apparently this is a big family holiday, no much unlike July 4th. But the late Grito party kind of makes me think of New Year's. So we`ll see how it goes. I want to buy a Mexican flag and a red white and green scarf. Everything looks like Christmas because of the Mexican colors. We are very excited.
Okay thats all for now, I`ll write again early next week, thanks for writing Aunt Lynne! Good to hear from you and glad to know you found my blog.
Thanks for always writing, Seahorse :-)
Love to my fam.
Chau gueros.

Por fin!

Finally I got some pictures up! The real problem wasnt my connection but the size of my pictures. So I made friends with the technology guys at school and they were able to shrink all my pics so they were sendable and downloadable. These are just a select few of what Ive got but they should give you a good idea of what my life is like down here in Mexico. I still have yet to take pictures of the school and my cute cute kids! Anyway its hard to believe that today is Sunday and tomorrow we start another week. Our weekends fly by!! Friday Jenny and I entertained and made dinner for our neighbors, Heidi and Dave, a couple who teach at the school and that we went to school with everyday. They´re moving home for a month as they are about to be grandparents in the States. We will miss them so much, they were like our Mexican parents. Saturday I went with Stuart and Rodney to an outside concert that Rodney´s church was putting on. Then Stuart and I went to another Pachuca soccer game and we won 4-1. Later we met up with a bunch of other teachers from the school to go to a discoteca called La Esquina. Today Jenny, Stuart and I went with our Pachucan friend Christian to a little touristy town outside Pachuca called Real de Monte. We visited an old mine, this area was a prime mining district back in the day, and we even got to go 180 kilometres deep into the mine. We ate and walked around downtown, its not very big, but its cute and attracts lots of tourists from Mexico City. About to begin another week and all of Pachuca is dressed up and getting ready for Independence Day on Sept 16. We cant wait to see what the celebrations will be like!
How´s it going back home??

Mas de Guanajuato

...the beautiful Juarez Theatre in the center of Guanajuato...going up the incline for a view of the city - me, Rodney, Jenny, and Stuart -...the travelers posing above Guanajuato...some of the callejonadas dressed like jokers and there to entertain every night...the gorgeous old hacienda Barrera outside Guanajuato....

Guanajuato

Our trip to Guanajuato...the sketchy hostal we stayed in the first night...the main cathedral and plaza...pretty colonial streets and Rodney...the big market...me in Guanajuato...

Mas y mas

More fotos... of our night at the circus - Jenny, Me, and Stuart...Jenny walking down Avenida de Revolucion...our fantastic brunch in Hacienda San Miguel Regla...more of San Miguel Regla...Marcos, our taxista, Jenny, and I at our first Pachuca soccer game...

Mas Fotos

Pics of.... an inside look of the gate that is the entrance to our living complex....

... the cute green townhouses in our complex where Heidi and Dave lived...

.... ... the vista we see each day we leave our apartment...a sunny day in the main plaza by El Reloj...Jenny and I above Pachuca on our first day of orientation...

Fotos

Our apartment in Casas Privadas....

WAU that took 10 minutes! Hahah well that's where I spend a good part of my life, in the kitchen cooking, eating at the table and laughing with Jenny. My back is against our front door so this is what you see when you walk in. To my left is our little love seat and a Monet painting. We love the arches in our little kitchen. So cute. So as soon as I figure out a faster way to do this you'll see more.

Had a great day with the kids today, then Jenny and I made Rodney and Stuart dinner and now I'm beat. Hasta mañana....

¿fotos?

So the last entry was my first feeble attempt to load pictures on my blog. Thing is, I can only load 5 pics per entry and my internet connection is painfully slow. Sorry that picture is sideways, I couldn't find a way to turn it because the memory in this computer is too small to save the foto. De todas maneras, that is a picture of our famous Reloj or clock tower which is the center of old downtown and built by the same company that built Big Ben. It's under construction right now and the scaffolding turned out to be an opportunity for capitalism and people actually pay to climb the rickety walkways. It's real pretty at night and I actually took that picture the very first night I was in Pachuca.
I just waited for 20 minutes to load 5 fotos and they showed no sign of coming up so I've gotta find a better way to do this. I'm trying! Someday you'll this great place where I live, I promise....

Back in Town

We got back to Pachuca this afternoon and Jenny and I went food shopping and now we're working on lesson plans. We had a great weekend. I really loved Guanajuato. We found out, ironically, that it is the sister city of Sevilla, Spain! I knew there was a reason I really liked that city. Anyway, lots of memories and lots of pictures and a long bus ride later and we're back home. A couple memorable experiences....the callejonadas, or street singers, dressed up like jokers that serenaded us at night; the rat that we found in the kitchenette area of our hostel; the nice French couple we befriended in our hostel; the broken bus toilet; the creepy mummy museum; getting ripped off by the minimart lady in Mexico City's bus terminal; the amazing view of Guanajuato from El Pipila; bonding like none other after sharing a bathroom for 3 days; touring Diego Rivera's home; and doing karaoke in Spanish Saturday night. Good times. Now we're broke and can't wait for payday on Friday, haha.
Hope all is good in the States....hasta luego!

Thank You Hurricane Dean

Happy Hurricane!

Wednesday we woke up to torrential rain and it lasted all day. By lunch we found out that the school was letting the kids out early and that there would be no school the next day. I guess some parts of the city were under water, other parts of our state were really flooded and they said we got more rain than the coast. Thursday morning we found out that that the state had cancelled school Friday too and we quick made plans and jumped on a bus to Mexico City. Stuart, Rodney, Jenny, and I then took a 5 hr bus to Guanajuato, a picturesque college town in the center of Mexico. Were having a great time and loving the fact that were getting paid right now. Guanajuato is soo pretty. Its real colonial and all the streets are narrow and cobblestone. It reminds me so much of Spain! We saw a crazy Museum of Mummies today, a historical museum, took an incline up to see an awesome view of the city and checked out their ornately gilded basilica. The main plaza is so cute, with a gazebo and cafes and lots of low trees whose branches have been cut into a square shape. Were going to an old hacienda tomorrow and to see a show at their famous Teatro Juares tomorrow night. Sunday well head home to Pachukerville.
So about my first days with the kiddos. They are sooooo cute. It is going to be a lot of fun and they always give me a reason to smile. Well, my first day was pretty interesting cuz there was one boy, Alejandro, who had never been to school before. His grandmother works at the school and she brought him but he didnt want to leave her. She tried a couple times and he went crazy, broke the Spanish teachers necklace, we had to pick him up to keep him from running out the door and he pulled out a handful of my blonde hair. Hahah. Eventually he calmed down, kinda took all morning for him to finally join the others, but he got the hang of it. The next day he was all smiles and loves school. I love him, hes really a sweet kid and really bright. Then theres Nailea whos the daughter of one of the celebrated soccer players, she is so smart and funny, shes always telling stories. And then theres Renata, who was the other one thats never been to school and at any given time, even in the middle of my teaching, shell run up and give me a bear hug and a kiss. Shes real sweet. So anyway, the first couple days went well, we had a good time and I already love my kids. :)
Bueno, hasta luego amigitos!

Ready or Not

School starts tomorrow and I am so nervous. Regardless of the fact that I will only be teaching them for about an hour (because of specials) I am so nervous. My roommate heard a strange voice in English while she was in the shower only to find out that it was her weird roomie practicing her puppet voice, haha. I relearning Old MacDonald and Itsy Bitsy Spider and spend my time cutting and pasting things. I think that makes me a pretty official pre-school teacher. Tomorrow we´ll find out. I just hope I dont make the kids cry!! I´m so nervous. Okay, back to school again today.
Bec -de buena onda is definitely Mexican, it means like a good vibe, como decir q una persona es de muy buena onda es decir es buena gente. estoy apriendo muchisimo del español mexicano por hablar con todas nuestras taxistas, jaja. Disfruta de tus chicos, seras la mejor mamacita. te echo de menos guapita!!

De buena onda

I´m still in Mexico! And loving it more each day! I didn`t realize that the last time I wrote was last Wednesday until my mom told me today. Thanks for still checking! So life has been busy...
On Thursday we took a windy trip up the mountains to a remote hacienda that is a resort for Mexican families. The hacienda was of old Spanish colonial architecture and had a beautiful gardens and I took a lot of pictures and we ate an awesome brunch buffet. Also, we stopped through a little touristy town of Huasca and I bought some cacti for our apartment. I love cacti! But I found out I´m not a big fan of cacti salad, tastes tookmuch like eating aloe vera, haha. Friday we had a fiesta with the other foreign teachers, five of them have apartments in the same building and share a roof, we call it Melrose Place. Near Melrose Place is a dance studio where I am going to start taking dance lessons. Watch out Apolo. And Saturday night we went to the Pachuca vs. Morelia soccer game with our favorite taxista Marcos. Pachuca won 3-1. Sunday I went to a church that is about 10 minutes from our apartment. It was more jumping than a club on a Saturday night! Everyone was clapping and moving and some were jumping and there were lots of kids and families. I liked it a lot though and I´ll go again this Sunday. This week we began orientation with the Mexican teachers at the school, theres at least twice as many Mexicans as foreigners. Very nice people, and today I met my cooperating teacher, Ruth, with whom I´ll share a room and our group of 14 students. I´m kinda nervous to start! We keep putting off everything til tomorrow and I still dont know what I´ll be teaching on Monday! Tomorrow I`ll meet my assistant. Fortunately, this is not uncommon and I just keep telling myself that I really only spend 2 hours max a day teaching. Because I only have one class, (for the 3 Kindergarten classes theres one other English teacher, Jason, who has 2 of them and I only have one, which I only teach a half day) I imagine I´ll be assisting a lot in other classes. Which is fine with me, I´d love to observe other teachers with their kids. Ive got a lot to learn, but I definitely think that after a year of this I will feel real confident and comfortable and maybe even love teaching little kids. Who knows.
By the way, I´m feeling much better than before, still not 100%, but I´m starting to wonder if I ever will and I just have to be okay with that, haha. Jenny and I took a run to the park today, boy was that an exciting event for everyone we passed. If my blondeness didnt set us apart already, running in shorts definitely did, haha. So tomorrow we´re going to the movies, its half off night, a ticket for 2.50 in a nice theater. I dont think we even care what we see! No big plans for this weekend yet, probably just getting ready for Monday....and sometime soon I promise to put up some fotos! I´ve tried believe it or not, on Flickr, Webshots, and Snapfish and finally decided that my connection here is just too slow. So I think that I¨m going to end up just posting a couple on this website for you to see, next time.
So how are the States?
Miss yall

Hola amigitos

Wau, so I´ve been writing just about everyday. I´m sure my parents like that. When school starts it will be harder to write but this week we have a lot of free time. This morning at school we spent a lot of time talking about paperwork, procedures, housing, yada yada and got a tour of the campus. It´s really nice and we cant wait to see all the kids in their cute uniforms. I definitely will be teaching pre-school, with a Mexican bilingual assistant and we are the Kinder Rojo class. I got to see my classroom and read the class list they have posted inside the school entrance. Looks like I will have 14 kids, 2 Diegos. It was so neat to read their names. I´m very excited about teaching them. Apparently in the pre-school program there are 3 levels, I think, preKinder 3 yr olds, Kinder 4 yr olds, and Primer Kinder (or something like that) 5 yr olds. Should be fun, Sydney and I get each other excited talking about it. She´s a little older than me and taught preschool in Korea. Hahah, I have next to zero experience but I´m just as excited. We shall see.
So today was an interesting adventure in Pachuca, buying cell phones. It took us a couple hours to get everything straight, first their card machine didnt work and then I didn´t like the phone I bought (it was super thin, but the screen was so 80´s, it was a good laugh) and traded it for another (actually its the exact same one I had in Spain!). Its a good deal (tengo saldo de nuevo, guapas sevillanas!), pay by the minute, and no incoming calls are charged. On our way out, we were calling a cab, and I flagged one down. He saw me and started pulling over but didn´t notice this motorcyclist on his right and ran right into him! We felt so bad, they yelled at each other and then the moto guy drove off okay but we kept walking, we werent taking that taxista. Jenny and I hung out with some other teachers at a cafe later and now were back at our favorite internet place.
Oh, the circus! It was soo much fun, took lots of fotos, it was a classic circus with some real funny acts and some acts we probably wouldnt see in the States. Had a sweet act with 6 real tigers that were so pretty and a dangerous motorcyclists-in-a-hamster-ball act. We had a blast and even got a foto with some of the circus men afterwards. Good times.
I´m feeling a little better, the altitude still has its hold on me, but were taking it slow and relaxing a lot. Thanks Aunt Sara for your tips ;-)
And I promise I will have fotos up by the end of the week... I am in the land of mañana....:-)

Soy una maestra

Well today was our first day at the school! We got to meet all the other new foreign teachers and they had a nice catered breakfast set up for us in one of the classrooms and then we went on a trolley tour around Pachuca. I promise pictures soon, hopefully tomorrow, cuz ive got quite a few now and the trolley took to a great lookout point to see the city from up high. It was a great day and the other teachers are really great, everybody comes with a cool story. We actually found out that a couple my parents age live behind our apt in the green houses that are part of our complex and this whole time we never ran into them. Theyre from Portland and theyre really nice. At breakfast we met a girl Jaime who started working for ASP in April, she actually used to live in our apt, and shes knows alot about getting around and places to go. She took a bunch of us to a cafe after the trolley for a cheap, $3.50 4-course meal! Food and taxis are real cheap around here. Clothes and electronics not so much. So it was nice and we all got along real well and tonight were going to a circus in town. Oh, and apparently Ill be working with the pre-schoolers, I´m not sure yet if that means I{ll be an assistant to Sydney, another girl from Boston, or if I{ll be a teacher too. Either way, I{m excited about it. By the way, its weird that i introduce myself as from Boston, am i really? Kinda weird to hear myself say that. Theres another teacher here whos an hour south of Boston, Jamie{s from Las Vegas, Charles from Haiti, Joel and Chantel from Toronto, and Stuart from Austrailia, and theres others i dont know yet. Good mix.
By the way, I have to say, if you somehow got misdirected and typed in southOFtheborder instead of southOtheborder, my apologies cuz that site is definitelyl not mine nor worth looking at. It was created before mine so thats why I had to put an irish twist on it. Glad you found the right site. :-)
To the circus!

y aqui estamos

Hah, well well well, day 3 and already Moctezuma has gotten his revenge on us. Don´t worry, I´ll spare you details but I´ve just been feeling nauseus (sp.?) pretty much all afternoon and we´re really tired too. We just ventured out of our apt to see what the farmacias have for this disease and hopefully we picked up some strong stuff that will knock it out. We decided we´ve really got a lot of things against us right now, lack of sleep, new food and water, and high altitude. So welcome Moctezuma. Jenny calls it Bicicleta. We´ve bonded fast. :-) In other news....we might have a regular taxista, Marcos, to take us to school each day which would be awesome. (We´ve taken taxis everyday, theyre real cheap, the most expensive trip costs 2 dollars) We start orientation tomorrow at 9 and I´m real excited to see how it´s going to be. We found out that the American School is the premeir in Pachuca and is located in a wealthy neighborhood where all the big soccer players live. Oh, and we might be going to a game this Saturday, hopefully we fell better by then, we´re getting excited about it. Pachuca has the best team in Mexico and a really nice stadium. Bueno, I think that´s about it. :-) Hasta ahora!

Estoy en México!!

I made it! Today is such a beautiful day in Pachuca!!! Jenny and I left our ¨suite¨, which is so nice, I can´t wait to put up pictures, at about noon and we´ve been walking all around town. We walked into a market and bought fresh fruit, walked into 2 churches, came downtown, ate some really gooood tacos, and found a cheap internet place. Next we´re going to get some ice cream to add to our all carb diet, haha. We get stares like none other, we haven´t seen any other Americans or even foreigners yet for that matter. We are really living the la vida mexicana. Last night we were walking around town at like 830 looking for a place to eat and it was kinda weird that some places were closing. There was a mariachi band and tons of families in the main plaza and a rock climbing wall was set up. We found a little place, (I miss tapas so much!!) that was like a shrine to Pachuca´s soccer team and I ate something like a beef quesadilla and Jenny had a hamburger. Then we waiting in the main plaza for a ride home and 2 guys from the rock climbing wall tried to talk to us, but they ended up being creepy and we left. Jenny said that didn´t happen to her yet in Pachuca, so I may have to change my hair color again soon. Just kidding, I´m not a good brunette, but I sure stick out more here than in Spain.

So yesterday was a long day. Gotta admit, I was nervous that my luggage wouldn´t make it through, or weigh too much, but I got to Mexico City in one piece with all my bags! I went through customs and came out to a big crowd of people but no one was holding a sign for me....so I followed their directions and stood by the door where they said they´d be if we got mixed up. Sure enough, 45 minutes later, the preschool and middle school principal came by with my name on a sign and were so happy to have found me, they had thought I would come out somewhere else. So Lupita, the middleschool principal helped me with my bags and paid for our bus trip back to Pachuca. So Mexico City is not so glamorous and we hit rush hour traffic, but the bus ride was nice. Lupita is really sweet and we watched the movie Sahara, ate peanuts and drank the bottled water they gave us. We spoke in Spanish because I told her I preferred it, but she speaks English really well. At the bus station a man from the school picked us up in a minivan, with a Texas license plate, haha, and took us to the school to get Lupita´s car. The school looks really nice! There´s a yellow and blue gate all around the campus that has a nice field inside too. We start our orientation there this Tuesday.

Then we went to our new apartment, in the neighborhood of Colonias Doctores, right near a big baseball field but not too close to downtown. From the street it just looks like a big metal wall with a garage door but when the portero, doorman, let us in, it opened into a really nice plaza with homes and suites and founations. We definitely consider ourselves lucky. So couple things about our apartment, we each have our own room, I´d say it´s the size of a college apartment, and we have a cute little kitchen with a gas stove, a table and a couch. We have a little patio that opens into Jenny´s room to wash and hang clothes. Our beds are really hard, probably a shade better than sleeping on the floor, and my pillow is a fluffy marshmallow that my head sinks in. Haha, didn´t matter, I still fell asleep last night, I was beat. We´re gunna go to the store, that we think is owned by Walmart, to find some more stuff to make our suite a home. We love it. Our shower is just great and we have Star Wars mats in the bathroom for some reason. Just a side note, nobody drinks the water down here, not even the Mexicans, and it took us a while to realize that a metal contraption in our living room is to hold a big bottle of water. Also, I didn´t know until Jenny told me but because the Mexican plumbing isn´t so great, they don´t flush their toilet paper, they throw it away! I´m definitely going to have to get used to that.
Well, I´m still trying to unpack everything. I already moved my room around a little. I keep comparing Pachuca to Spain and although there are some similarities, they are very different!! I think I´ll really like Pachuca, I like that it´s not turisty, I feel like it´s true Mexico.
Most of all I´m sooo happy that Jenny is my roommate! We are going to have a great time, she´s great, and she speaks Spanish really well. She didnt´study abroad, but has been to Mexico on vacation a ton, and spent 3 months in Tijuana 2 summers ago working at a children´s camp. Okay that´s all for now, I´ll take more pictures and download them sometime this week!

Ry, I´m so sorry I didn´t call you last night, we were out when I remembered and I didn´t have your number on me. :-( I´ll call you when I can.
Jenn, thanks so much for my little notes in my suitcase, you`re cute!!
Jared, thanks for my sweet note! You´re great :-)

P.S. I love all your comments!!! Miss yall

Hasta Manana

I leave tomorrow! I really can't believe it.
I'll fly into Mexico City in the afternoon and hopefully find my name on a sign in the crowd with the other arriving teachers. Then it's an hour and a half to Pachuca and my new apartmento. Then I'll meet Jenny for the first time and get settled and find a way to call home! Then Jenny and I will probably have to take a taxi to WalMart to pick up all the things I couldn't fit in my bags. The weather looks like scattered thunderstorms for the next couple of days, I hope my flight isn't delayed. I probably failed to mention that Jenny told me we have a gate-man in front of our apartment complex! I like it already, haha. :-) If I didn't tell you before, Pachuca is a really high city, 2,000 ft. higher than Denver. But, because it's so low in the hemisphere, it's weather is really moderate and never gets snow. It is known as the Windy City and is one of the coolest spots in the country. Can't wait to see it and eat some real tacos. Tomorrow I'll be in Mexico!!

Only 2 more days!

I can't believe I didn't start a countdown earlier, but I guess time has just flown by too fast. I started packing today, finally, and I'm starting to worry about enough space for all my stuff! I should be a pro at packing by now but how do you pack for a year abroad?? All I've got is 2 big bags and a carry-on. And its not just regular clothes I have to bring, I've got to pack teacher clothes too! The task is daunting. But I think I'll make it. :-)
I just talked to my new roommate, Jenny (go figure!), who is already in Mexico and moved into our new apartment. It was really cool to see the pictures she took of it and to imagine our own place in Pachuca. It's really nice, more than I expected, and I'm sure I'll put up fotos as soon as I can.
So, the next two days I will be trying to get in everything I can, hopefully call as many of you as I can, finish packing, and then I'm off! We're waking up super early Saturday morning to drive to Boston and catch my flight.
I'll write again before I leave...and just to make sure this thing is working, if you were able to read it, let me know and reply to this post... thanks! :-)
chao for now

So while I'm in Mexico....

...you can read what I've been up to by reading my weblog!