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....