Caught in the act! Yummmmm!

Saludos Americanos,

For some reason I feel like I have a lot to report, but I’m just not sure what it is… I know I have to talk about immigration and there’s United Nations Day, but what else? That was a rhetorical question as none of you actually have any idea what else. The dog pic is just for fun. Well, anywho, here goes:

On Thursday we (me, Pako and his cousin, Yair) had an “appointment” (you’ll understand the reason for the quotation marks in just a second) with an immigration officer that was set up by a friend of a friend of Yair’s. Still following? So the friend of the friend is a harbor master and he told us that a cruise ship was arriving and that immigration would be getting on the boat before everyone could de-board and visit lovely Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. Our plan was to meet with one of the head haunchos after they got off the boat. We were told that the boat got in at 8, so we should be there around 8:30. We got there early and waited and waited. The ship didn’t arrive until about 9:30 and the immigration people were not even at the pier yet. The harbor master/friend of a friend told us to come back at 11. We came back and witnessed la migra boarding the boat, so we knew we were in for another long wait.

** I will take a break in this narrative to relate an incredulous story. When we arrived at 8, we parked the car on a side street, directly behind a coke truck. As we walked to the pier, a rotund transit cop lifted a cord so we could walk under and continue on our way. When we came back at 9:45ish, neither the coke truck nor our car was anywhere to be found. We panicked immediately and then quickly conferenced about how much money we were all carrying in case there was need to bribe someone or pay for towing fees or, the most likely possibility, both. We go over to the same rotund cop who had watched us park and lifted the cord for us and inquired, somewhat frantically, about the car. He told us to relax and that our car was just 3 blocks away and that there was no charge for the towing. They had had to move the car because the buses that the copious cruisers would take to Ixtapa used that road and the car had been in the way. We couldn’t believe our luck, but walked the 3 blocks and sure enough, there was the car, in all of it’s 2005 Silver Dodge Stratus glory. We got a totally free lift and avoided copious fees and bribes! Score one for the day!

Back to immigration. After arriving at the pier for the second time (after having parked a fair distance away as to avoid possible bus routes), we sat down to wait again. It turned out to be pretty good people-watching though as all those who were de-boarding (de-boating?) had to walk right past us. Let me tell you, some weird people go on cruises. So we waited another hour and watched the goofy gringos until finally the friend of Yair’s friend ushered us in and introduced us to the medium boss of la migra (the big boss is out of town until Tuesday or Wednesday). He took a look at my 3 copies of my life story, made a few comments about necessary adjustments and some tax returns that the I needed from the school and told us everything looked good. He gave us his cell phone number and told us whom to ask for in the office and assured us that we were on our way. Apparently once I turn in all of the papers, the process should only take about 10 days. Score 2 for the day.

Friday was United Nations day at Montessori (and around the world, for that matter). My kids and I (all groups) did a reading about the function of the UN and I had the older ones research ongoing conflicts around the world. Then we had a discussion about what we can do as individuals to promote peace. I had my two high school classes play the ‘human knot’ game to show how hard it is to work together when everyone has their own ideas about what is the best move. Everyone had a good day and it turned out to be a really positive discussion. The maternal, kinder and primary students put on a small pageant, had a parade of international flags and sang two songs about peace. The pics are my 6th grade class and one of the babies because they’re so durn cute in their uniforms!

This weekend was a lazy one, with two trips to the beach and two failed movie watching attempts. We tried to watch Inglorious Bastards, which we had bought at the local pirated dvd shop for $2.50 USD, but it was a Russian copy so all of the French and German was subtitled in Russian. Which is funny for about 10 minutes and then pretty annoying. Then we tried to watch Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, but it turns out it was bad (shocking, I know), so we only got through half (Pako was ready to quit after 10 minutes…). Sunday’s 2nd beach trip was amusing in that I happened upon a group of 5 of my 10th graders drinking tequila and beer while playing soccer right in front of Las Urracas, the hotel run by Pako’s father. I ran out there to give them hell, jokingly, as it’s still not weird for anyone but me that I see my 15 year old students drinking in public. They all denied involvement and blamed the Norwegian exchange student, who I lovingly call Norway, and said it was all his. I responded that I certainly hoped that Norway hadn’t brought 5 6-packs and a bottle of tequila and decided not to share, that would be unfriendly and also somewhat deadly. They laughed and looked slightly nervous until I told them to relax and make sure they had their English homework done for tomorrow (Monday). They all assured me that they would (which is impressive seeing as how I didn’t give them any).

Now it’s Sunday night again and I have to quick check what I have planned for tomorrow and do my ironing, two things for which I have no motivation whatsoever. Just a typical Sunday night. I’ll get to it eventually. Right now I’m going to lay in front of a fan and eat chocolate from my lovely friend Chelsea… OH THAT’S RIGHT!!! This week I got the best surprise EVER! Turns out, the mailman does deliver packages to the apartment (we weren’t sure if that was the case) and I got one that was full of HALLOWEEN CHOCOLATE! Seriously, I get excited over normal mail, but one that comes with chocolate? Ooof! Thank you thank you Chessey, te adoro!

Ok, off to eat some more chocolate! Hasta la proxima entrada mis queridos amigos y parientes!

High fives and chest bumps,

Leyah

Attention: Drowned Rabbi Condominiums have vacancies

Hello Bloggers,

This Sunday’s entry will be somewhat shorter than usual (maybe, I always say that and then end up writing a novel) because now that I have internet at my apartment (haaaaalelujah), I’ve taken to writing mid-week mini-updates.

This week was fine at school, nothing extreme to report except that I had to calculate grades for my 6th and 7th graders about 8 times because the principal and secretaries could not decide how they wanted them formatted. If I had some sort of software to do this for me, no big deal, but alas, I am doomed to use a handheld calculator and work them out manually. Anywho, it’s done and over with so I’m not worrying about it anymore!

The other school news is that about 50% of my students have a cold or the flu (regular, not H1N1.. I hope) so teaching anything new has been a bit of a struggle. Plus I have been trying to stay about a foot and a half away from them all to avoid contact with their germy selves. AND I’ve been bathing in hand sanitizer. Nonetheless, my throat hurts and sometimes I think I have a fever (but who can tell in this ridiculous climate!). Don’t worry mom, I’m resting and drinking lots of fluids.

Lazy weekend. Walked around Ixtapa with the pup on Friday evening and we got lost in one of the neighborhoods. All of a sudden we turned the corner and there was a horse! Just hanging out, munching on some grass. Not the kind of thing you normally see in a Minneapolis neighborhood. I got about 17 mosquito bites in the 30 seconds it took to take a picture, but it was worth it. We also saw some oddly titled condominiums. In case anyone is interested, there is vacancy at the Drowned Rabbis complex (Rabihorcados).

As I was planning for next week’s lessons, I really started to miss the good old public libraries of MN (shout out Dee!). I was talking about extreme weather with my oldest students and wanted to show Twister and I wanted to find some good textless books for my younger students to write about. The public library is pretty pathetic here and there is no English section, so I can’t rely on it for any resources. I know my trips home will consist of me scouring second hand stores and garage sales for appropriate English supplementary materials! Plus I like just going to the lib and browsing for a book to read! I’m currently reading a novel called Snow by Orphan Pamuk, but I’m about 100 pages in and have not really gotten into yet. I just finished North River by Pete Hamil which also took a long time to get into, but I liked in the end.

Alright, visitors have arrived and I’m still in my pajamas (typical Sunday behavior), so I’m signing off. I’m keeping up on the Packers score online and by the periodic updates aired on the CBS streamed Pittsburgh game. Currently it’s GB 26, Detroit 0. Now that’s what I like. Pity that wasn’t the score two weeks ago… Have a great week and I promise to check any comments anyone might feel like leaving :)

Saludos y besos y abrazos y todo!
Leyah

PS. Going to the Immigration office on Thursday… wish me luck!

Good thing I took those tech classes...

Look at me, one full year of Big Ten technological education and I've just realized that people leave comments on my blog... I went through all of them just now and there are comments all the way back to June (though the one in June was from my friend Adam, who I told about the blog far later in the year, thus the comment was retrospective (is that the word I'm looking for?))! Anywho, my address is:

Leyah Laurent
Edif. 87 Depto 501
Infonavit El Hujal
Zihuatanejo, Gro. CP40880

Dang! Think of all those post cards I could have been receiving! Anywho, I apologize for not responding to your comments as I was totally oblivious to their exisitence. I'll try to do better in the future, now that I'm even more blog-competent.

Ok, adios kids and adults, hasta domingo!

Midweek Post

Hello Blog-Readers,

Here I am on a Wednesday afternoon writing to you all from the comforts of my very own apartment. Well, comfort might be pushing it as I can't yet figure out how to get my computer to recognize the stupid modem and am thus forced to sit on the tile floor next to the shelf (which is only as far as the ethernet cord allows me to stray). Nonetheless, my apartment is now connected to the world wide web.

I have spent the last couple of minutes looking up articles on the UN for my classes (Oct 24th is UN day and we make a big deal out of it at Montessori). Yesterday night, on Pako's computer (because mine was being stupid and unconnectable), I spent a glorious half an hour on foodnetwork.com looking up stove top recipes. Eventually I plan to go to cnn.com and huffingtonpost.org to once again reclaim my status as informed citizen of the world. Hooray.

A number of people have now asked me about the drug violence (if Bush thought he had a drug war on his hands, he should have spent some time in Mexico) in Zihua, so I thought I'd address that theme briefly here. Zihua has, unfortunately, been affected by the drug violence that so often makes the news in the States. There are drug killings here often (not in Zihua proper, in the surrounding pueblos) with graphic pictures in the newspaper to prove it. However, I would like to state that I do not feel unsafe in my daily life. Those killed are involved in the drug trade in some way, they are not every day civilians. Pako and I choose to be safer than sorry and avoid certain events and don't go meandering around Zihua or Ixtapa late at night. My students (10th and 11th grade) continue to populate the bars and clubs (yes, 10th and 11th graders regularly go to the club and it's not surprising to anyone, but their English teacher) of Zihua and Ixtapa and none of them have reported feeling unsafe or had any unsavory experiences. Yes, the drug violence is something to be aware of and to always keep in mind, but beyond that, it does not affect me on a daily basis. I look at it this way: there were places in Minneapolis that I avoided late at night (or all the time) and events that made me wary. The city is nick-named 'Murderapolis' for goodness' sake. This is not a uniquely Mexican problem as the news would have you believe (not that any of you were suggesting that, I just like to reiterate), it is all around us.

Ok, now that I've said my piece, I'll climb down from the soap box. Hopefully you're all still reading and haven't written off this blog as a liberal slanted forum (even though it is). Happy hump day to you all, tomorrow begins the end of the week! Sunday or Monday will have another update for you, hopefully with pictures and better lottery results!

Take care and book your flights to Zihua!

Leyah

Leyah & Pako - 0, Aunt Pachita +$30

Salutations Bloggers,

This week has felt like a month! Except that I didn’t get paid. What a lame month that would be! I had to review for their exams with my 6th and 7th graders and they weren’t so much feeling it. That and they hate my boss and she kept popping into my classroom and reminding them why they hate her. Finally Friday rolled around and it was exam time. My 7th graders did ok, but my 6th graders didn’t do so hot. They either really got it or didn’t get it at all. The class average was 57… That means that I need to slow down or do more practice, somehow alter my teaching so that more of my students are understanding and scoring better. I dislike it when there’s really nobody to blame but myself. I could blame my students, but that wouldn’t be fair. It’s just as much my fault as it is theirs. Boo, that’s no fun.

Plus there’s the grading that comes along with giving exams. Because my school is somewhat stuck in the stone ages and we have to do all grade calculations by hand, it takes FOR-EV-ER. There’s this nice software available that lets you weight your grades and enter individual assignments and it does up the final grade all nice and computery, quick-like. Unfortunately, that requires money for software and also, COMPUTERS for teachers. Boo again. I spent all day Sunday grading the exams and calculating grades. Only 4 or 5 of 40 students are failing, but there are quite a few that are borderline. That stinks because I like the kids (almost all of the time) and the ones that are failing actually try. But if they are getting 46 percent, I can’t, in good conscious, bump them up to 60 percent, even if they are excellent kids and really put in the effort.

Friday afternoon I spent taking a nap and grading exams. We went over to Pako’s aunt Pachita’s house to hang out and visit with the fam and ended up playing Loteria (bingo). 1 peso per board per game. I think Pako and I lost like $30 pesos. That was, however, because I didn’t know that there were all these special ways that you could get bingo (all 4 corners, or a 4-square box). Tonight (Sunday night) we’re going to play again and I plan to win back my money and some! I hope I don’t get addicted to Loteria. What an embarrassing addiction that would be…

Saturday we were supposed to go fishing with Pako’s cousins, but as it was just a “plan,” it didn’t happen. (If you noted some bitterness attached to those quotation marks, it was put there intentionally). We showed up at the agreed upon place at the agreed upon time and… nothing. So, we made due and played catch with a football. Compared to Pako I have tiny little carnie hands (no offense Schnuck :).. hehe) and I don’t have the great big muscles that he does, but my throwing form and aim is better. Then we met up with our friend Jim (the saint who brought me the jug of Febreeze) and chatted for a bit. We made another ‘plan’ to watch the soccer game (Mexico vs. El Salvador) together that afternoon at Las Urracas and to make some hamburgers. (As we made the plan with a Canadian and it involved food, it happened). So that afternoon we went and fried some hamburgers (no grill… ) and french fries (which were made in a combo convection and microwave oven – what an ingenious invention!). The food was good and the soccer game was even better: 4-1 Mexico!

I had already decided to buy a toaster oven (I need an oven, whatever size and shape it comes in) this coming week, but now I’m really decided! I can toast bagels and toast (duh) and I can bake (small versions of) cakes, cookies, casseroles, etc. Score! Seriously! Plus I found canned clams at the store, so I can make clam spaghetti, one of my ultimate comfort foods! Double score! As long and rough as the school week was, it was pretty ok food-wise. As my Mother-in-law is out of town until Thursay at the earliest, food duty has automatically shifted to me (God forbid the unemployed member of the family would cook…). That’s fine though, hahaha, I’m going to make them eat only American food and I’m not even going to make any salsa for them to spice anything up! Take that!

This week my 10th grade conversation class is talking about shopping and clothes… TRIPLE SCORE! I’m not sure if I can cover everything in a week! We might even take a field trip to a boutique. That would be educational, don’t you think? Oh, I’m all aquiver with the possibilities! Shopping? Clothes? OMG! The other conversation class is going to talk about jobs. Talk about boring when you could be talking about clothes and shopping. Oh well, such is life.

Alrighty, time to iron my clothes for the school week and shower before taking back all of my pesos and MORE! Loteria, here I come! Have a good week everyone, hope to hear from you all soon! OH, WELCOME HOME COUSIN MATT!!!

besitos!

Leyah

Written Sunday, posted Tuesday...

A very happy October to you, blog-readers!

Yesterday (Sunday) was the 11th and final (for awhile anyway) Beer and Chili Breakfast held in our driveway in Minneapolis. Through the miracle of technology, I was able to participate and say hi to everyone (or wave at them at least). Skype is an excellent program that all of you should download, especially those of you with Macs! Then we could talk all the time… or at least all of the time that I have internet connection, that is. Anywho, it was nice to see and talk (or wave) to everyone and it made me sad to be missing the party. The weather on the other hand, I did not miss as much. In Minneapolis it was 45-50 degrees and in Zihua it was about 87… slightly warm for a 9:45 am phone call :)

Friday and Saturday of this week were extremely hot. By Saturday night I was resorting to lying under wet towels to get some relief. Finally it rained, but Sunday started to heat up right away again. This is the hottest year that we’ve seen in Zihua in a long time (awesome, my first year and even the Natives are sweating). I find myself hoping for rain like never before, however, to be clear, I would like to state that I would not trade this weather for Minnesota’s! I still choose heat over cold!

This week my father-in-law, Eliseo, caught an iguana eating his cantaloupe plant. He put it in a bag to give to his sister-in-law, Pachita (my favorite of the aunts), to cook, but I intervened. It’s illegal to eat them as they are on the endangered species list. Also, they’re cool and I like them. So we drove the iguana out to a wildlife refuge that a friend of ours, Laurel or ‘La Doctora,’ has started. I call him Leo as the only reason he’s alive is because of me, but apparently they don’t name iguanas around here. At the refuge we saw some parrots that constantly asked for “refresco” (soda) and some crazy raccoons. We also saw an animal called ‘tejon’ which I don’t know the translation for in English. The refuge is pretty cool and I plan to take you all when you come to visit. I’m also going to take my English classes as a field trip as the guides are bilingual. Oh, and there were duckies (or ducklings, if you want to pretend that it’s not fun to say the word duckies)!

Pako’s papers are still being held hostage and now we’ve been told that he can’t even call until November. Obviously this news made us very happy. I’m nervous that Pako will be so bored that he’ll want to start another home-improvement project… We’re still not totally done cleaning up from the paint-job… The apartment does look better though, now that it’s freshly painted, that I can’t deny. Monday (today) he has an appointment at his old high school (across the street from Montessori, where I work) so hopefully that will turn into something… The owner of the little store that is the apartment building in front of ours wants me to give his kids English lessons, so that will be a little extra money (never hurts…)

So Paul Bunyon’s axe remains with the Badgers another year… Can’t say I’m surprised. Red, white and black have clearly been superior to maroon and gold for as long as anyone can remember. Tonight is the showdown between the green and gold and the purple… Some guy named Bart throws for the Queens now, so at least we know it will be an emotionally charged game. Not to be violent or vindictive, but I hope the Packers’ defensive line smashes Bart about 15 times… in the first quarter. Should the worst occur and the Queens manage to steal a victory, I never wish to speak of it.

This week at school the 6th and 7th graders will take their first exam. The 7th graders are going to be pretty shocked when they realize that all that stuff that I’ve been telling them and the activities that I have made them do were not just because I was lame and liked to watch them suffer. Maybe next bimester (similar to a semester, but there are 2, hence bi..) they will be more inclined to pay attention and do their homework. Ha, doubtful. My high school classes are planning a haunted house and two musical sketches for the elementary school kids. It should be a fun month, except that I don’t have any days off… I can’t believe we’re already into October. I’m making International Flag Day and Halloween bulletin boards! (Actually I give the kids extra credit opportunities if they make the bulletin boards for me – hahaha!)

Ok, off to jump in the ocean and cool off. Then to make sure that I’m prepared for the work week… remember how there are jobs that you can leave at the office and not think about until the next day at 8am? Sigh. Alas, it was not to be. Talk to you all soon!

Besos,
Leyah

PS. Those of you who have written me cards or sent me mail, THANK YOU!!! I cannot even begin to explain how awesome it is to come home from a long day of bratiness (yes, that is a word, even if MS Word doesn’t recognize it) to find a piece of mail waiting for me! It makes me feel like it’s somewhat normal to be in this increasingly abnormal situation! The latest was full of crossword puzzles, how super cool is that?!? (Extra super cool, in case you were wondering). Gracias Tia Maria!

PPS. DUCKIES!

One more pic, just for fun!

Here is my kitchen, almost in it's entirety... is that a word? I'm quickly forgetting English, which is inconvenient, since I am an English teacher :/ Anywho, another blog tomorrow, one with words this time, I promise.

Mini Improvised Photo Essay for Your Viewing Pleasure

Hello Everyone,

People have asked about my life here, so I'm going to put some pics with captions, to give you a mini visual to help you understand my life here.

This is not actually what I do all day, but Pako wishes it was:
















Here are my 11th graders when they surprised me with a cake for my birthday :) And to the left are some of my 10th graders (who have grown on me), working diligently... in our barren classroom:


















Here I am reading a book in my living room and drinking in my daily 17 liters of water to combat the heat (this is the before color of our apartment):















Here is my freshly painted Robin's-Egg-Blue bedroom and livingroom. Inhabitants of the couches: Mother in Law, Petra, to the right and Pako, right in front of the TV:


















Alright kiddies, that's all for now as I've run out of batteries and the mosquitoes are eating me up like I was a buffet dinner. More pictures soon, I promise! Tomorrow the Badgers take on the Gophers and Monday the Packers host the Queens... it's a big football weekend people! GO WISCO!