The Sol WILL come out tomorrow!!!

That’s right people, Pako goes back to work at SOL tomorrow! It was quite a close call for a while and we thought that, after two promising job opportunities, he wasn’t going to be working anywhere! It all started at Christmas, when Pako was working for Sol. It was a lot of work, but he liked the people he worked with and he really liked driving the big trucks (…). Sol had to let the temporary workers go, after only one month of work. They promised Pako they’d bring him back for Semana Santa if not sooner. Well, the weeks passed, rumors of reorganization of the agency and full time positions swirled and yet no call was made. We waited and waited.

Meanwhile, Pako’s roommate from college ‘Carrillos’ got married to a Mexican-American and started to make plans to go with her to California. Well, the wifey left and now he’s really hoping to go and so he thought maybe he could arrange a switcharoo at his job and have Pako step right into his place. He works at Pacifica hotel in Ixtapa. Compared to Sol, the hours are better, the pay is better and the possibilities for long term employment are better. Well, that all led to Pako dropping off his resume, having an interview and being told to call back this past Friday (2 days ago). While he was waiting to call back, Sol called (Wednesday) and offered him the temporary job. He was honest and told Sol he was waiting to hear about the other job and could he call them on Friday. Sol said yes, but by the time the hotel had decided that tourism was WAY TOO LOW to hire anyone new, Sol had changed their mind about waiting and had filled the spot. That was what I like to refer to as ‘Dark Friday.’

Needless to say, Pako and I were feeling sort of low. I went off to teach my last Saturday class until April 17^th and he went to drop off his father’s laundry. I had sort of stopped thinking about it and was focused on preparing my students for their last quiz before break and I got a text message saying that Sol had called back and Pako started Monday! Woohoo! I got a huge grin on my face and so thus all my students clamored for the gossip, which I happily shared. Then, of course, came the requests for free beer, but I told them they were all too late and that my father already had dibs on any free beer. They were disappointed, but understood. Free beer is free beer after all, and one’s right to dibs it is respected.

We then went and spent the day at Lorena’s. She’s home now for 2 weeks also. We ate some lunch and then went down town to shop for her and Petra’s wedding attire. Pako and Lorena’s cousin, Ray, is getting married on Saturday and so everyone wants to look their best. In a shockingly frugal move on my part, I’m going to wear the same dress I wore to Chandra’s wedding and thus am just tagging alone for the shopping ride. Now that Pako is working, I’ve been commissioned to find him “a shirt” for the wedding. That is all the direction or constraint that I was given and thus, in my mind, I’m free to pick out any shirt I want and he’ll be happy with it… right? That evening Pako and Tito went to help Erandy and Mari (cousins) move into a new apartment on the 6^th floor of an apartment building downtown. Lorena and I would have gone, but we were too tired from all of our rigorous (but so far fruitless) shopping. Instead, we observed earth hour, by turning off all lights and appliances for one hour.

Sunday (which is when this was going to be posted, but I was rudely interrupted by a skype call with my parents – sheesh), was a lazy day, but one that left everyone super tired. We spent the morning reading and lying around while the more pious family members (everyone but Pako and me) went to mass. Then we went to Lorena’s house and putzed around, created our own personal Loteria cards (in hopes of improving our dismal record), read, played with the rapidly growing puppies, and chatted. Then we grilled hamburgers on the grill, which is always delicious and played UNO. I won two games in a row, which is a personal best here in Zihua, where Lorena is the reigning UNO queen. Then we watched a tiny bit of the recently connected cable (which means tv shows and movies in English, yippee) and dragged ourselves home. It was 9:30 and Pako and I both just wanted to sleep. So we did.

That’s all for now folks, I promise more pictures and more adventures next week! Hope your spring continues to get warmer and more pleasant, wherever you are! I’m back to the states in under 4 months, so prepare yourselves for my triumphant return!

Bechitos!

Leyah

Just what time IS it?

Hello fam (literal and figurative alike)!

What time is it where you live? We still haven’t had our DST change; no springing forward for us. I was told that it would be this Saturday night, but when I woke up this morning, nobody else seemed to think that was the case. They haven’t mentioned it on the tv or in the newspapers either, so I’m assuming nothing chronological took place. That being said, we’re an hour behind Minneapolis and 2 behind Boston… does that mean we’re only one in front of Vancouver?

This week has been whirlwind-ish in the same way that all of the weeks have been. School was school-y, but nothing happened that deserves a rant here. Nothing I can recall, anyhow, which means that my blood wasn’t boiling too much. Pako and I did some shopping at the market and he took a picture of me picking out tomatoes because for some reason, he found it amusing. You can tell from the expression on my face how I felt about the whole situation. Petra returned from Acapulco on Wednesday after about a 2.5 week stay. We’re happy to have her home as she laughs more than anyone and keeps the atmosphere light. That Tekila just cracks her up!

Saturday was a big day both here and in Minnesota! It was my Mama’s 60^th bday and so she and my dad celebrated in style in downtown Minneapolis! I can tell you that I was jealous of my plans and my lovely mother advised me to wait until I was 60… ha! Here’s the last family picture we took (their last night in Zihua, Feb 27^th, 2010) and I’ll eat my hat and yours too if you think she looks a day over 45!

Saturday also had me teaching a class at the Technical College here in Zihua. The class went well despite the fact that there were no lights in our regular classrooms and then no electricity in the outlets in the classrooms to which we moved. My class is a really good group of kids (and by kids I mean they’re 19-22…) and they want to learn. Even though their language level is pretty low in English, we joke around and play lots of games and we have a good time. This week I put on a wacky fashion show for them where I mixed and matched such interesting outfits as: Pako’s XL athletic shorts, a tube top and super high heals, topped off with a baseball cap that has a fish running through it. Not surprisingly, I did not document this extreme demonstration of fashion sense and thus will not be submitting a picture to this week’s blog. The “kids” had a good time laughing at their goofy teacher and practiced a lot of colors and clothing vocabulary, which in the end, was the whole point of the spectacle. The most nerve-wracking part of the class was that it was my turn to cook lunch for the other English teachers! It wouldn’t have been that bad except that my colleagues are mothers and veteran cooks. They’re also Mexican and thus used to a different style of food. I made a slightly modified version of my mother’s chicken salad and they ATE IT UP. Literally. They loved it and asked for the recipe. PHEW!

After my class, we headed to Lorena’s house just to say hi for a minute. It turns out that her dog, Mimi, had 10 puppies the night before! They were SO cute (as evidenced by the included pic)!!! They were just teensy and all different colors and hadn’t yet opened their eyes or began to walk. Mimi was a gracious mother and let us hold them and pet them, but she barked up a storm when Tekila tried to get within 10 meters of the pups. It’s going to be hard not to take one home with us, but as Mimi is not a small dog (and I’m guessing the street-dog-daddy isn’t either), we’d have no room in the apartment for the pup after it reached 2 months of age. Lorena and Tito will keep at least one pup and they’ll be giving the rest away. Anyone want an adorable mutt? It’s free if you can get to Zihua in the next couple of months!

From puppyville, Pako and I headed to Papanoa, a town of about 5,000, down the coast about 60 kilometers to the South. My gringa friend Chandra and her surfer (now) husband, who is from Papanoa, were having a wedding at a really gorgeous spot on the beach. So we drove down, only missed one turn by about 50 yards and made it 5 minutes after the scheduled ceremony time, but 45 minutes before the actual ceremony started. It was just a symbolic wedding ceremony as they had gotten married by a judge in Zihua the day before. So it was short and sweet, with Chandra and Angel thanking their friends and family for sharing the day with them and then exchanging their vows. At the last minute (literally, as the ceremony was happening), Chandra asked if I would translate some of the Spanish for the English-speaking guests, to which I happily agreed. Then there was food (about 6 different kinds of meat) and dancing. Pako and I only stayed for a little bit because it was an hour and a half drive back to Zihua and we were anxious to get through certain towns before it got too late. We got to chat with a family from Northfield, MN who were thoroughly enjoying the weather and the culture of their mini-vacay. It was a really enjoyable experience and we’ll be headed back to Papanoa to surf (Pako didn’t stop commenting on the waves the whole drive up) with Angel and Chandra.

We got back into Zihua around 9 and since we were all dressed up, headed out for an ice cream with Petra and Tekila. Then we all fell into bed and tried to sleep despite the usual Saturday night mélange of sounds that eminate from the thousands of infonavit residents. Today I’m finishing up my lesson planning for the week and then we’re heading over to Lorena’s to celebrate her birthday (March 22^nd). Signing out for now, hoping you and yours have fabulous weeks and that the weather continues it’s warming trend!

Abracitos mis seres queridos!

Leyah

Good Morning Boys and GIrls

Hello friendly readers,

Welcome back to another weekly episode of 'what happens in Zihua gets broadcasted to anyone with internet access.'

It hasn't been that long since I last wrote (about a week, if we're going to be specific), but I feel like a lot of things have happened.

Monday went well, nothing too notable, but I should have known that it was just the calm before the storm. On Tuesday, the great lump of a coordinator, R, pulls me out of class and snottily asked me where I was on Monday. Not one to be given snot without returning it, answered in an equally snotty tone that I was at school to give my classes and from there it was none of his business. He then asks why I wasn't at "the course" to which I replied what course? and so it continued until the big bum finally spits out that apparently there was a REQUIRED "competencies" course (similar to a continuing Education thing that teachers in the US are required to do to maintain their licenses active) and that the certificate of completion would be required by the Mexican government of all teachers for the next school year. Well, in case you have forgotten in my 8 month absence from your daily lives, I'm not likely to suffer fools, especially ones that make me look unprofessional or unprepared, so dealing with R on a daily basis has really amounted to an exercise in self-restraint and patience. Anywho long and annoying story short, I had to cancel all of my private lessons for the week and attended the course on Tuesday afternoon.

The course, while interesting, turned out to be NOT EVEN A LITTLE bit required by the government or anyone else and was not about how to use new materials in the classroom or competencies in using current materials as the king of the baboons had thought (or invented to cover his large behind). It was similar to what I learned in the INTRO classes for my masters program and during the hour that I stayed (of 4 required hours), we looked at how to write a lesson plan and what makes a good learning objective. Now, I do not deny that this is important content for teachers to know, HOWEVER, I like to give credit where credit is due and the University of MN taught me well and I can do those things in my sleep at this point. 300,000 pesos well spent. So, I spoke to the lady giving the course, promised to email her some updated versions of the material she was using in her slide show, and left. I came back to take the mock exam, got the highest score possible and got my "diploma."

Wednesday (while not at the 'required' course) I took my friend Chandra shopping for her wedding shoes. Have I introduced Chandra yet? If so, skip to next paragraph. I met her because she's teaching at the Tech as well. We had coffee one afternoon and discovered that we are leading scarily parallel lives. She is from Cali, but when to Carlton in MN and lived in Northfield for 10 years. She's engaged to a surfer from Zihua who wants to be a physical ed teacher. She's also been in Zihua since July. She's getting married (next week) on a beach. Pako knows who her fiance is and recognized their truck from seeing it at different surfing beaches. Small world.

So, she, not knowing me very well, tentatively asked if I would like to help her find some shoes for her wedding. I asked when and where and we went shopping. We didn't even break a sweat and found shoes in the first little shoppe I took her to. So then we just got some ice cream and chatted for a bit. She and Angel are getting married on my mama's birthday (next Saturday), Pako and I are going to the wedding right after I teach my Saturday morning class.

Speaking of the Saturday morning class, it's going well. I like the book we're using and I like that my students (almost) all want to be there and are eager learners. Their English levels are still to low to fully appreciate my humor, but they laugh at me when I jump around in front of the class and make a fool of myself. And they're always up for a song. We sang the Alphabet and head, shoulders, knees and toes and they were all about it. They didn't do so badly on their first exam, the average grade was a C+, but that's including the students who had only been to 1 or 2 of the 3 classes. I did have 3 students get As and about half were in the B range. I'll take it. Also, I got paid for my first 3 classes and that is a lot of fun. It maks me want to NOT work at Montessori and only work at the college, but that is not possible yet. Maybe next year!

Lorena, my sister in law to be, FINALLY got her plaza (teaching license) after 5 years of hard work! I actually held it in my hands, so I know it's true. The next hurdle will be to get her salary from the past year, but having a plaza and a code with which to get paid is a huge step in the right direction. We're all really excited that she finally has that piece of paper! Also, Pako SUPPOSEDLY will be called back to work next week at Sol, so yesterday was the day of good news. So now, the current reasons to keep all available appendages crossed are these: Pako gets called back to Sol AND it's a full time posisition AND Lorena get's her money!

Okie doke, I think that about does it. We have tomorrow (Monday, March 15th) off because of Benito Juarez' birthday (which actually falls on March 23rd) so I actually have a two day weekend! Woohoo! This afternoon I'm going to get all of my planning out of the way so that Monday is truly a day of rest: beach in the morning, whatever I want in the afternoon! Hope you all have a lovely week and that the weather continues to warm up. No daylight savings times for us yet, so we're either an hour ahead or an hour behind you people, I'm not sure which.

besos y abrazos,

Leyah

And, I’m Back.

Hello blog world, long time no type. Sorry for my extended absence, but it seems I’ve had a series of visitors interspersed with a series of busy happenings in the last month or so.

My parents came and went as February flew by! It was so nice to have them here and now it feels strange without them here. I would go to work and then either go to their apartment right afterwards or meet them for dinner. Pako got to practice his English a bit and my mom got to use one of her new favorite phrases “No te quejes, eso no fue nada” (Don’t complain, that was nothing!). Dad had some interesting issues concerning vowels when trying to order a glass (vaso) for his beers, but in the end, all language queries were worked out and everyone ended up a little more bilingual.

There is a ton more that I could say about their visit, but I won’t or this blog will get seriously long. I will touch on Louise’s visit though, which was, in my opinion, spectacular. She arrived, without problem, Monday, February 15th. Pako and I picked her up at the airport and we went back to the apartment to drop her things. Petra had made a lunch, so she got to experience Petra’s cooking right off the bat. When she unpacked, she had all sorts of gifts to give out, including a video game for Pako, which forever secured her a spot in his heart. He hasn’t stopped playing the game since and thus hasn’t stopped thanking Louise, for her transportation services. I had to work Tuesday and Wednesday all day, but was able to take off after an hour on Thursday and skip Friday completely. Sometimes it’s quite nice to have a boss who’s not terribly worried about attendance records. We managed to get Louise to the beach a couple of times, including La Ropa beach and Las Gatas – a snorkeling beach, were extremely attractive photos were taken and where Louise and my mom got drunk together whilst I was at a job interview. She only really burned once (which for those of you who know Louise is an impressive fact in and of itself) and that burn was mini at best, she was back to pasty white within days of returning to frigid Boston. She, my parents, Pako and I toured my favorite restaurants including Chendo’s for coconut shrimp (yum, salivating just thinking about it) and Casa Vieja (where I very much doubt Louise will be returning). She and I also managed to drag Pako to a club (well, Señor Frogs… does that count as a club?) to go dancing. I got drunk-ish for the first time since I’ve been here. Just like the good old days, haha! There was a wedding party at Frogs… not something I’m going to incorporate into my wedding, but those of you who come are welcome to go to Frogs any other night of your stay if you so desire. We also got Louise to a wildlife refuge where we played with baby raccoons, took pictures of toucanettes, saw the most well-endowed pig that ever was (seriously), and held iguanas.

The best part about Louise’s visit for me was just having a girlfriend around to hang out with. It’s the one thing that I truly, truly lack here in Zihua and it was so refreshing to have someone around that I could just be with. Plus all the added goodness that 10 years worth of friendship and knowing a great deal about each other will bring to the mix. It was way too quick of a visit, that is for sure! Luckily, I’ll see her again in about 4 months and beyond that, I’m fairly certain that we’ll again live in the same city/state/COUNTRY again within the next 3 years. It’s good to have long term goals.

One bummer of Louise’s week here was that I had to work on Saturday. I got a call from the English coordinator at a technical college here in Zihua on Friday and started giving college courses on Saturday. The first lesson didn’t amount to much as I was sort of thrown into it and had to spend the day giving placement exams, but the subsequent weeks (yesterday and the Saturday before) were actual classes and went well. I teach a very introductory level course that is 5 hours every Saturday morning. As I only see the students once a week, it’s a fairly intense course and there is a lot of homework. I really enjoy it as the college is a public school and thus has access to government money which is evident in the classrooms and resources available to me. The kids (well, some of them are older than me, so I can’t actually call them kids… students) are mostly there to learn and thus classroom management is NILL compared to what has to happen during my daily hour with my 7th graders (ugh). Plus, we have the added bonus of working with a book and curriculum that I like and think is worthwhile. It’s a 3 month gig and I think it’s going to be a good stint. Hopefully it’s just the beginning of me giving courses at the Tech (Instituto Tecnologica de la Costa Grande) because it pays DOUBLE Montessori’s hourly rate! One of my co-workers, Coco, from Montessori, also gives classes there, so we work together when planning our lessons. Also, there is another sub-40 gringa working there, Chandra, who’s story here in Zihua is shockingly similar to my own and who I think is going to be my new girlfriend here. We had coffee last week and had loads to talk about. It was really nice to be able to have a conversation with someone who truly understands life here.

Having coffee with Chandra really helped alleviate the weird feeling that I was experiencing after the mass gringo retreat (Louise, my parents and one who will be hereafter known as Bambi all left within two weeks of each other). Life is slowly getting back to “normal” (not sure if you can call this normal, but what can you do?) and I’m back to not being ahead in my lesson planning. I used the time when Pako was working and the time prior to my parents’ arrival to get all of February planned. Well, it’s March. Bummer. I’m caught up as of now, but check back next week. Montessori is Montessori. I’m enjoying 3 of my classes and tolerating the 4th. It would be unreasonable to ask for more than that. I did yell at Ricardo, the secondary and high school coordinator, pretty good on Friday. It felt good, but also crappy as I know nothing will change and I just let him get at me. His sister, the principal of the school, along with the entire office staff heard me yelling at him, and as I left (stormed out), she winked at me, so I know I’m not in any trouble for losing my cool. I will try to keep it in the future, for personal dignity rather than Ricardo’s sake, but at least I didn’t get the English department or myself into any trouble this time around.

Today is my one day off for the week (next weekend will consist of 2 days as Monday, the 15th, there is no school to celebrate Benito Juarez’ birthday – which is actually March 23rd) and we’re headed to the beach (or we’re there already, depending on when you’re reading this). I’m having myself a delicious coffee and reading my book in a hammock, while Pako surfs… ‘pure relax’ as Pako would say. I hope you all have an excellent week and I hope the weather in the Midwest continues as nicely as it has been in the last week.

One more shout out to my Grandma Claire, who left us in November, but continues to spread her love to the family and inspire me everyday. She has changed my life for the better in more ways than are countable and for those reasons and more, I will love her forever and strive to be a person of whom she could be proud.

That is all for this week my respected readers. The Oscars are on local tv tonight and I bought myself a bottle of wine to celebrate. I’ll be judging all the dresses and correcting exams! A happy week to your all!

xooxoxoxo,

Leyah