From the desk of Leyah Laurent

Ok, well, I don't really have a desk... more like I have a dining room table... but to be connected to the internet I have to sit on the couch..

From the couch in Leyah Laurent's living room

That doesn't sound as good.

I had a dream that I had fancy stationary and an old fashioned roll-top desk. Who knows what I was writing (but I was using a fancy fountain pen, the kind that normally causes me to blot all over the paper), but that is why this blog is titled as such. Speaking of dreams, I have been having some crazy ones lately. This past week, I had such a vivid dream that I saw a cluster of spiders descending on a single web down towards Pako's face that I literally (in reality) jumped out of bed and started pulling Pako by the arm and yelling his name. He woke up (obviously) and turned on the lights, took all the blankets off the bed, but there were no spiders. Then he asked me a series of questions, but I would only answer him with 'maybe' so he decided I was asleep and he went back to bed (probably with quite a bit of trepidation). I had 0 recollection the next day, except that I vividly remembered seeing the spiders (which I didn't remember either until he asked me what the heck had happened). It makes me think back to my malaria pill days when I was living and working in Oaxaca, Mexico for the summer. The thing is, here I take no pills. Maybe it's the water.

Last week was too crazy for me to write a blog. Not that I didn't have a spare hour on Sunday morning, it's just that I was so exhausted from the running around at school that I didn't have the spare energy. Not a whole lot happened though. There was a ton of planning and unplanning and scheduling and rescheduling at Montessori, as usual. I had to finish teaching secondary 1 all the material that I was planning to teach them these two weeks and then find time to review before their exam. I did it, but it wasn't fun. We did play a Jeopardy review game and they really liked that. So, apparently, it took the entire school year for me to get them to actually participate in a game, keep themselves under control and learn a little something. Go figure. I'm not terribly sad to see that class go, Coco, my colleague who will get them next year, isn't terribly happy to receive them either, so I guess it all depends on your point of view.

Lorena went to Morelia, because someone had told her they were going to get paid. No dice. Then she went to Mexico City to participate in a march to try and get things all figured out, but the police shot tear gas at them and (obviously and necessarily) the teachers scattered and negotiations broke down. Who knows what is next. Yesterday we were talking about it and she tried to explain the background of what she's been working on and how the system works. It is convoluted and ridiculous! I explained to her that when I graduated and could prove I passed all the tests, I applied for my teaching license and it arrived at my house within 6-8 weeks. The poor woman, she is such a trooper. She's been at this for the better part of a year now and who knows when it'll end. I'd be nuts in her situation and definitely not as well mannered as she is! As it stands, many of Michoacan's school districts are on strike and so she's not giving classes right now anyhow.

This week was a hushed secondary 1 exam, they did fine, about as I had expected them to do; review in the Cetim (high school) classes and their final exam, they also did just about what I expected; and the 6th graders and I had a 3 hour long 'graduation' party. The party was probably the most stressful bit of the week as they wanted to plan every thing at the last minute and that is not my style. I should have known that Jeanne didn't exactly give me all the information I needed, but I just assumed I was well informed about permissions and planning logistics. Wrong. In the end, it all came together and the kids raised a lot of money for a lot of junk food and then played in the pool for 3 hours. It was fun, but 3 hours was long enough. At the end, Jeanne took over and I got to leave. She actually got the hardest hour because she had to supervise clean up. We'll see what she has to say about that on Monday.

On Friday, Pako and I took Mocha and Pajaro (our puppies) to a Lagoon at one end of Playa Linda. They were much better about getting in the water when there were no waves to scare them. So we had fun teaching them to swim and playing in the water until they got cold and turned into 2.5 month old babies (which is, in fact, what they are)! Pako's dog, Pajaro, just plain refused to walk and so Pako had to carry him back to the car! They're still pretty scared to leave their yard, but we're working on it. I'll put pictures up of them soon!

15 more days in Mexico. That means that it is time to eat healthy and start exercising like a fiend so that I can afford to pig out on all the food that I have missed this year. Actually, the time for the exercising and healthy eating to start was about 4 months ago, but I couldn't be bothered at that point. Pako is skeptical about all this exercising because I plan to go about walking a lot and while he can surf or play soccer for 4 hours without stopping, he can't walk 2 miles without complaining. Walking is nice though and I'm going to make Pako take me to some beaches that we don't go to often to keep things fresh. What we really need is our Canadian friend, Bambi, who hikes all over the place to be our pathfinder and pace setter. Bambi would kick our butts in a walking competition! Also, Pako's friend has Kayaks and rents them on La Ropa and offered to let us take one out whenever we wanted, so we'll be doing that sometime soon since we haven't done that since we were 16, when he had just met!

OMG, 15 more days in Mexico! It's such a surreal feeling to be going home for a 5 week vacation! Mexico is my 2nd home and current residence, but it appears that Minneapolis will always be my home! That doesn't mean I won't complain about the weather upon my return, but it is a good city, with lots of things to do, places to go and people to see!

Tomorrow Pako and I are taking my high school students to the Refugio de Potosi, an eco-park that showcases local flora and fauna. It's awesome and I know I've written about it before. Pako and I have gone twice, I've taken Louise and my parents (separate visits). The tour guides recognize me and say hi when they see me. I'm a fan, needless to say. I think the high school students are really going to like it! Plus, it gets them out of school and hopefully using English in a real setting. Double score! I'll take lots of pictures (which means I have to find my camera, soon-ish) and post them next week.

Ok folks, that is all for the moment! 15 more days, 15 more days!!! Wooooooohoooooooo!

Leyah