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!
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment