Dia de los Inocentes

Good Morning and Happy Monday!

Today is the Day of the Innocents. We’re not supposed to play any jokes on people or lend anyone money. Not sure why, that’s just what I’ve been told. I suppose it’s not so bad to be innocent for one day out of the year. Goodness knows I’m probably not described that way the other 364 days, so onward and upward my fellow innocents!

Another week down and I can hardly believe it. I’m not sure how it happens, but these vacations have turned out a lot busier than I thought they would! That, of course, makes the time fly by! Since I left you last, not a whole lot of huge things have happened (except for this one day called Christmas), but it seems as if I haven’t stopped moving since.

We planned to have a semi-traditional Christmas dinner with a tight knot of gringos from the hotel. The menu: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, green jello :), cranberry sauce and tiramisu (a slightly less traditional, but nonetheless totally yummy dessert). The plan was that Lorena and I go to the hotel at 10:30am on the 23rd, to prep the turkey and make the stuffing, jello and tiramisu (potatoes, peas and cran-sauce were another family’s charge). We got there, got everything made (except the jello) and were out the door within 2 hours. Lorena and I, being like-minded, went shopping. Then I went back to the apartment to shower and get ready to go back to the hotel to make the jello and set the table, etc. etc. Well, in that short time, the wicked witch of the South, aka Berenice, wife of the owner of Las Urracas, decides to drop on by (from Acapulco – a 4 hour bus ride pop-in – nobody likes the pop-in!) and because of the less than cordial relationship between Berenice and Petra, the dinner was put on hold. Everything was put into the fridge to be served the following day as a late lunch. The gringos showed incredible restraint and didn’t touch any of the food until we all showed up the next day.

On the 24th, we were slightly apprehensive as to whether or not the bruja would return to her lair in Acapulco, but luckily she did and we all made the taxi-trip to Las Urracas to feast! And by we all, I mean Petra, Lorena and I. The boys were working and Eliseo was already there. I, obviously, ate two helpings of everything and left with a stomach ache. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the food immensely! It was as close to a Thanksgiving meal (my all time favorite meal of the year) that I’ll have all year and thus I savored the experience! Then back to the apartment to shower and pack up for Lazaro, for another Christmas eve dinner with the familia. We got there around 9 and immediately (to my delight and my stomach’s consternation) started eating again. This menu: sweet tamales with pineapple, spicy tamales with chile rojo and pork, pozole with all sorts of toppings, carnitas tacos and the usual assortment of spicy snacks (in which I do not partake).

It’s a distinctly different celebration that those to which I am accustomed, but no less fun, that’s for sure. We broke 3 piñatas which, everyone, from a 4 year old girl to a 64 year old man, had to have a go at. I am proud to say that I broke off one of the points of the piñata, but was unable to get the blindfold off in time to get any candy! There was music and everyone was laughing and talking and occasionally dancing. They tried to get the new girl to sing, but she wouldn’t. I must say, they were much easier on her and at no point was the entire 30 person family chanting her name. I’m going to bring this up at the next family meeting and lodge a complaint! Unable to resist taunting me, they did pull me into the middle of the circle to dance some dance that I have never seen or (obviously) danced before. It was mildly embarrassing, but I’m starting to get used to it.

At midnight, with the ring of automatic gunfire in the distance, everyone gives everyone else a hug and says “felicidades” or “feliz navidad.” Then comes the gift exchange. One person starts and they hand their gift to whoever it is whose name they pulled. That person opens the gift and then passes out their present and so on.. Pako’s 14 year old cousin gave me a really pretty onxy and silver bracelet. I gave Ruben Junior, aka Frijolito (little bean), a 6 year old son of one of the many cousins, a truck that came with 2 other cars. Then, it was time to eat more and dance and sing more. We finally went to bed around 2:30am.

The next morning consisted of coffee, eggs, chicken soup, left over tamales and pozole, bowls of candy that were passed out to each person/couple and more chitchat. Then Pako and I took naps in hammocks and woke up to the family playing bingo. I continued my rotten luck streak and lost every round I played. Then, after Pako lunch (because he wasn’t full yet), we came back to Zihua and lazed around for the rest of the day.

The following day, the family from Lazaro came to visit and we all went to the beach. Typical after Christmas activities, right? Well, it is for them, anyway. The beach was totally lovely and not too hot and I enjoyed myself quite a lot. The boys had to work, so when they came home, we made dinner and went to meet the family again for more bingo. Out of about 50 games, Pako won twice and I won alone once and tied with Lorena twice. We ended up learning 30 pesos.

Sunday was a day of true laziness. Pako played on his computer and Xbox and I re-read most of the 7th Harry Potter. Then we went to inspect a house that was being sold and claimed some furniture and random things for our own, which I will be washing quite thoroughly today. Today will also see cleaning and unpacking (completely – at least I’ve started) and text-writing. I’ve also gotta call my bank and my loan counselor in the states to try and negotiate with them in my nicest, sweetest, most convincingest way that they should lower my monthly loan payments as I am but a peso-paid teacher, laboring to educate the leaders of tomorrow. Or something like that. No plans (that I know of) for the next week, but I know something will pop up. Hope you are all still enjoying your vacations and staying warm and dry (harder to do than it sounds when you have 15+ inches of snow – ew).

Oh, I forgot, I mentioned to la familia that one major difference between the Christmases that I’m used to and theirs is the amount of sweets. I explained about Christmas cookies and have been commissioned to make them for the whole family next year. They’ve pledged to find me the ingredients and whatever I need in order to accomplish a Christmas cookie miracle. :) Sounds good to me!

Have a lovely week, talk to you soon!

Leyah

Happy Holidays!

Hello All,

Hope you're all enjoying your break! I know I am, despite the fact that I'm still slightly sick and feel exhausted after the slightest bit of activity! I'm so tired, in fact, that I haven't even ventured out to see if there are any after-Christmas sales. My mother informed me that she thought about going, but decided against it. My friend Blanca was headed to Mall of America today and thus had to get to bed early... This clearly defines the generation gap (and underlines the fact that my mom is not a very good shopper!) -- Not to worry Mom, soon you'll be here with me and I'll take you shopping! Shoes, clothes, accessories, you name it! Dad, you should probably worry a little bit.

I had a very fun and interesting Christmas, which I will detail in a later blog (because, again, I'm tired this morning). I hope you had a lot of fun with your friends and families and everyone stayed safe and warm. Sounds like the midwest (and all over the country) got dumped on with snow... ew. We've been having unusually cool weather here (78 degrees, 65 at night) and people have been complaining about the cold. I've been enjoying myself immensely.

Mary, I got your Christmas card on Christmas Eve, perfect timing! Matthew's turning into quite a stud and I'm showing the pic around to all the young ladies I know, so tell him to brush up on his Spanish by next February ;)

Talk to you all soon (probably tomorrow)!

Leyah

Drat and Phooey!

Well Readers, another week has passed and here we are again. My vacation started on Tuesday, so obviously I am ALREADY sick. There is some diabolical part of my immune system that has a sensor for when I’m going on vacation and BANG, my defenses go down, I start to relax and some punk germ finds its way into my system and that’s the end. I might as well refer to the first day of break as the beginning of the end. No matter, I’m not terribly sick, just annoyingly so and I’m treating it by drinking a lot of tea, resting a lot and immediately ignoring anything that might stress me out or cause my defenses to drop even lower. I’ve also started an immune system cheerleading group that is designed to coax my immune system back into action. If positive reinforcement doesn’t work, soon a boot camp drill sergeant will visit my immunoglobulin and start whipping their butts back into shape!

I feel like no time has passed, but there is so much to write about! Monday was ‘Exam day’ and I gave 72 exams and immediately started correcting. All of my high school students managed to show up except one, who consequently, is one of my favorites (yes, teachers have favorites, its inevitable, there are just too many bratty kids NOT to have favorites). He showed up about an hour after the exam was over and had tears in his eyes and here I thought some family crisis had occurred and he walked up to me and said in Spanish ‘fui a hacer deporte’ (I went to exercise) and then dropped his head. Well, I didn’t know what to do then because he tries so hard in class and English is not his strong subject (not even close) and here is a 17 year old well-liked, class clown sitting in “my” office almost in tears. I said something to the effect of ‘oh geeze Sergio, what were you thinking?!?’ and we went upstairs to see the principal. She decided to let him sit for the exam because he had told the truth rather than lie about why he missed the original test. Also, he had to pay me for the extra hour it took to administer the test. Now, one reason that Sergio struggles so much is because he works a full time job after school everyday for his uncle, who in exchange, pays his tuition to the school. He goes to bed late and rarely has energy to really concentrate on his school work. When he went to pay me I told him I didn’t want his money, but I did want him to realize that punctuality and a sense of responsibility for ones obligations will help him go far in life and that you can’t just pay your way out of your mistakes (I think he was about to remind me that we are in Mexico and afterall, you CAN pay your way out of many mistakes, but he tactfully nodded and made it look like he was listening attentively). Anywho, he didn’t pass the exam, but he did well enough throughout the rest of the semester to scrape by with a D (which is a 6 here and is the lowest passing grade).

Tuesday’s classes consisted of me pretending to give the students something to do while really allowing to talk to their friends and play games while I corrected exams. It was a swell day. It was also Pako’s first day of work! He left at 6:40 and I didn’t see him again until 7pm. It was crazy, he didn’t even have time to come home for lunch. He was however promoted within the first twenty minutes on the job and got himself a raise of about 30%, which I think is probably a record. Maybe I will call the Guinness people (the ones with the world records, not the beer people.. that would be beer infidelity!). His new title is ‘distributor’ and he’s been learning to drive the big trucks, which he loves (he loves driving all things and pretends he’s in a video game and eluding the police or the bad guys). This week he left at 6:40 every morning and got home between 5 and 7:30, depending on the day and the beer that needed to be doled out that day. It was a crazy week because all of the hotels are preparing for the next two weeks, when tourists will be flooding Zihua and drinking beer like it’s their job. This is good because Pako also gets commission as a distributor, so… drink up me hearties! He’s tired when he comes home and hungry as heck, but I think he likes the people he’s working with and I know he likes the variety that comes with the job. Next week he doesn’t have to go in until 11, but won’t be home until 8 or 9. Supposedly he’ll have the 2 hours from 2-4 for lunch that he will get normally, during non-holiday weeks, but we shall see how that goes. I miss him a lot during the days, but once I start working again it will be better. At the very least I will have a lot of time to rest on this vacation! If I miss Pako, then Tequila is completely distraught that Pako is gone all day! He sits on a table by the window (very reminiscent of Skye -circa 2000-2003) and watches for Pako's car.

Wednesday morning found me back at immigration, crossing all appendages (to no avail) that this would be my last trip. Well, not so much. I needed to update some of the forms that I had turned in earlier and kept copies of because they were not recent enough. So back to Montessori and the copy machine I went. I went again Friday morning and was told that I have everything I need, but the school has never “contracted” another foreigner (legally) and thus there is no file on them at immigration. So, when school starts again, no doubt I will have to go back at least 2 or 3 more times. Luckily there was a new girl helping me and she was much nicer. She felt so bad sending me away and even took my phone number to call in case she was able to swing anything with her boss. She seems really nice and assured me that now I was only a couple of papers away from being visa-fied. She also told me not to worry because I still have until February before they haul me out of the country in plastic handcuffs. That was comforting. My immigration issues have gone on vacation until January 8th. Look for an update then.

Thursday night was the Pastorela, which is a play put on by the primary school kids for the parents, all about religiousy-stuff, like some devils tempting the Mexican people. I didn’t stay for the whole thing (to be fair, I was the only English teacher who showed up at all) and it was really hard to hear because the incredibly valuable staff member that is Ricardo, the source of most of my complaints about Montessori, was in charge of the microphones. He of course blamed his ineptitude on the kids, saying they didn’t wear their microphones correctly, but enough about that, I can feel myself getting sicker just thinking about it. The kids sang ‘Rocking Around the Christmas Tree’ by Brenda Lee and it was pretty cute. They petered off a bit during the verses, but the chorus was loud and clear and a really cute 3rd grader danced around dressed up like a Christmas tree. I clearly stayed for that part and smiled and encouraged and sang along. Also, I was there for the interminable hour before the show actually started trying to keep the little monsters from killing each other. **Side note, I have never seen so many ladies over the age of 50 with so much make-up caked on and such high heels… I forgot that Latina women of all ages enjoy any opportunity to get glammed up and this was no exception to that rule. Being friends with my own personal Latina lady (though she is not over the age of 50), Blanca, should remind me of that fact, but I guess I forgot :)

Friday and Saturday were lazy-ish days in which I made a final frustrating trip to immigration, was turned away again, read a lot of my book (The Orchid Thief) and watched ‘Julia and Julie.’ I also made stockings for everyone here, including our friend Jim. I have no idea what I’ll put in the stockings, but somehow I will find a way to hang them up as we leave for Lazaro so that we ‘find’ them upon our return on Christmas day. Tequila’s will have a dog bone, easy. Pako’s will have candy, mine will have candy or a new headband, depending on what I see when I go shopping. Petra’s may have some image of a saint or a candle with the Virgin of Guadalupe on it, but what the heck am I going to put in Jim’s??? I’ll figure it out. Currently their hiding in one of my drawers, hopefully Pako doesn't take a sudden interest in my long sleeve shirt drawer.

OH and Friday was also the staff Christmas party for Montessori. It was held at a restaurant called El Infierno y la Gloria (Hell and Heaven) that is owned by one of the owners of the school. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go because it meant driving to Ixtapa by myself for the first time and because none of the other English teachers were going to be there. That might sound wimpy, but when nobody but the principal and the English department thinks English is a worthwhile subject, it’s kind of intimidating being the new girl! I went and didn’t get lost at all (to be fair it is literally a straight shot from my apartment, the only turn being into the parking lot) AND found a parking spot directly in front of the restaurant. I sat with Maestra Rocio (aka Chio - Chee-oh) who is one of the owners of the school and was the coordinator of physical education when Pako was a student. She was the one who I talked to on the phone last march when I was planning to come for interviews in April and the one who sat in on the interview with Jeanne and I. She also loves Pako and is all in favor of firing one of the PhyEd teachers to give him the job (not that he would want it right now – it would be a pay cut at this point!). She is also ridiculously funny and devilish (desmadrosa – is there a better translation for that word???). She ordered me a beer before I sat down and tried to order me a tequila until I told her I had driven. At that point she loudly and firmly denounced Pako for not giving me the money for a taxi so I could have gotten drunk with the rest of the teachers (really only her and the principal, haha)! She made sure I was talking to someone the whole time and took care of me like a mentor teacher might in the states! She’s great! The food was delicious, but decidedly NOT Mexican: corn bisque with French bread, fillet mignon with baked potato and rice. I ate too much, duh. Then came the unexpected, but totally appreciated part: doling out of the presents that the students give to the principal. Some people got super cute bags (one especially cute purple leather purse had me drooling unbecomingly at one point) or blouses. I got a coffeemaker. Oh well. I’m planning to regift it at the next chance I get. Still, it was fun to get a gift. We did some dancing and then I said my goodbyes because I didn’t to be driving after dark as I’m not at all used to the roads (or the horrendous drivers) here yet.

Today we are going to visit a cousin whose girlfriend just came into town (the poor girl who’s slotted to sing at Christmas and doesn’t know it yet), then to a baptism for the daughter of one of Pako’s coworkers and then to Las Urracas for who knows what. I’ll be tuckered out by the end of the day, no doubt, but it’s comforting to know that the alarm won’t go off at 6am tomorrow! If I don’t talk to you before then (likely), have yourselves a happy, happy holiday break! Happy Christakwanzikah or Festivus or whatever it is you’re celebrating and if you find yourself in the Midwest, STAY WARM! Send me Christmas cookies! Our Christmas dinner with the gringos at Las Urracas is the 23rd, to Lazaro for the family get together on the 24th (after Pako and Tito get off work) and then back home sometime on the 25th. I’m sure there will be a lot of amusing tales to tell in next week’s blog, so stay tuned! I’m off to make banana chocolate chip pancakes and brownies (yes brownies, I’m trying out the toaster oven because it’s overcast and only about 73 degrees – feels downright chilly) for my man!

Muchos holiday besos and abrazos for you all!

Leyah

Ps. Is anyone else's bed this colorful?

Pps. Look at this delicious breakfast: peaches, strawberries, bananas and whipped cream!

History Class

Hello Kids, what’s tricks?

Blog-worthy things started happening literally RIGHT after I posted last week’s blog. The first (and biggest and most important and possibly most detrimental and depressing) was that my beloved split the skin between his pinky toe and ring toe (what is the 4th toe called?) while playing soccer on the beach. It seems that he was coming upon an opponent and he swung his right foot as to kick the ball between the long legs of his friend, Luis, and his pinky toe chickened out at the last minute, decided to stay behind and was thus folded under the rest of his foot, resulting in ‘the split.’ Being gentlemanly, Luis drove Pako to the Red Cross, (where the doctor knows both of them on first name bases because of the numerous trips they have made over the years with various and sundry injuries) and Pako was given 4 stitches as well as an admonition. Turns out that just last year, Pako had driven Luis to the Red Cross for THE SAME INJURY. Pako and Luis will be seeing very little of each other prior to future big events to avoid similar occurrences.

The stitches are supposed to come out Monday or Tuesday. For those of you who have been following along and are rather quick-minded, you’ll be wondering ‘but what about his new job??!’ What, indeed! Well, he couldn’t walk on his foot (as much of it was bruised and swollen from the actual collision with Luis’ shin) at all for the first couple of days, but now is quite mobile. He called the human resources lady in charge of hiring and she told him to keep on with the hiring process (which in this case is quite rigorous and, luckily for us, can take up to 3 weeks, giving Pako’s footsie some time to heal). So he collected the mountain of paper (or sent me to collect, another interesting story), went to Lazaro (a city 2 hours away) and we were interviewed in our home by a tiny little man from one of the headquarters in Acapulco. The man asked me when we had first met, what Pako’s birthday was and about his biggest flaw and best attribute…I won’t get into that conversation, haha. (Note, he also asked Pako for MY biggest flaw and greatest attribute… was I being interviewed?) He also took pictures of us at the entrance to our apartment building and in our living room. Weird.

While my fhubby (future husband – thanks Trina) was laid up, I was left to do the driving. Now, normally, that wouldn’t bother me, I did a lot of driving in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and quite enjoy my mother’s VW Beetle (which, consequently, can be seen in our driveway on the google earth satellite photo of our house – makes my day, everytime!). Well, let it be known that there is NOTHING normal about driving in Zihuatanejo! There are no rules (well, none that anyone adheres to at the very least) and one has to constantly be on the watch for the taxi, combi (van-taxi things) and bus drivers, who seem to be on missions to scare the BLANK out of me as many times as possible. There is also the issue of communication. My lovely mother, who you all know as patient and soft-spoken, taught me to drive. She was (almost) always calm and always gave detailed instructions as to my next move. Pako, on the other hand, uses hand signals. He points. And then if necessary (which it always is as I do NOT respond to hand signals), he speaks in an exasperated, low voice while repeating the inane and extremely aggravating hand signal. The result is that I have driven successfully (thought not without a lot of stress and yelling on my part and frantic hand signals on his part) through all of Zihua and Ixtapa and disliked the whole of the experience. Luckily, Pako can drive again and we can go back to being a happy couple.

This week of school consisted of review (for the middle schoolers – high schoolers didn-t have class) and oral exams for all 4 groups of students. My high school students signed up for days and times to do their oral exams as they were not in classes. 2 students just did not show on their assigned day. That irked me quite a bit as it is something that I would never dream of doing. Both waltzed in the next day, cool as cucumbers, without an excuse in sight. The will be receiving half-credit (of what they earned). I know that might seem harsh, but someone has to teach them to be responsible about their education and I’m more than willing to be that person. Being punctual and keeping to appointments is a skill that will aide them all of their lives. So there. End of discussion. That is what I will say to them or their parents when they inevitably arrive to complain. The rest of the week at school was fairly uneventful (thank goodness!). Got all of my grades calculated, all that remains for next week is adding in the finals and getting their final grade. Mwa ha ha ha!

Wednesday was Pako’s cousin, Yair’s, birthday (man that was a lot of commas and apostrophes) and we went to his house for dinner, cake and hot chocolate. ** A hot chocolate sounds excellent right now, be right back… ok, I’m back, chocolate in hand ** I ate too much, as usual, and went home with a stomach ache. Friday and Saturday (Dec 11th and 12th) are Virgin of Guadalupe day (really only the 12th, but the masses and celebrations begin on the 11th) which means that starting on Thursday morning, all businesses, including hotels, and neighborhoods started their pilgrimages toward the 2 churches in town. That involves large groups of people walking behind a truck carrying an altar for/image of the ‘Virgencita’ decorated with flowers and clogging up traffic lanes. It also involves people dressing up in traditional clothes like those worn by people in the 1500s, when the Virgin first appeared. On Friday night, Petra (mother-in-law-to-be) and I took a combi (deathtrap that masquerades as public transportation) downtown, but couldn’t get very far because of all of the pilgrimages. We ended up just getting off in the downtown area and walking to the first church. I went along to give Petra some company as her invalid, bad-Catholic son, couldn’t do much walking, and for tourist/cultural knowledge value. The church was ABSOLUTELY packed with floral arrangements and new ones showed up every 5 minutes or so. We sang some songs and watched a movie about how the Virgencita showed herself to Juan Diego* and then walked to the next church. Along the way we bought some buñuelos (thin, flour crisps eaten with honey), tamales, pineapple atole, Jamaica punch/water and some plates of pozole (another stomachache on it’s way). The whole city was decorated with lights and there were a ton of people out. The teenagers had come out en masse and taken advantage of the evening to meet up with potential kissing partners and receded into the dark corners (of which there are many). The second church was more of the same, except there was a 12 piece mariachi band playing ‘Las Mañanitas’ (the birthday song), to the La Virgencita.

*Cultural note: A brief summary of the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe. (I had learned this at Emerson (probably more than once) and then got a nice refresher course at the church).

In 1531 a very humble Nahuatl (Aztec) Indian, Juan Diego, was walking along his way when came upon a hill in Tepeyac. The Virgin, a beautiful woman with brownish skin (this point is disputed) appeared to him and introduced herself as the mother of God. She instructed Juan Diego to go to the bishop and tell him of her appearance and ask for his help in building a temple in her honor on the hill. Juan Diego went and though he was a humble Indian, was granted an interview with the Spanish bishop (something of a miracle in and of itself for those times). The bishop was kind, but didn’t believe Juan Diego and sent him away. JD went back to the hill, and was sent back to the bishop the next day. He was again refused and sent away. This went on for 3 days. On the 4th day, JD went back to the hill feeling discouraged. He was told to climb the hill and that even though it was winter, he would find some roses. He was to collect those roses in his serape/tunic and not release them until he was in front of the bishop. JD did this and when he released the flowers in front of the bishop, miraculously, an image of the Virgin appeared. Finally JD was believed and construction of the Virgin’s temple could begin.

The fact that the Virgin showed herself to a humble native rather than a Spanish bishop has endeared her to the Mexican people and she is worshipped here as their queen. Pope John Paul the Second, who was also a devoted follower of hers, visited the temple in Tepeyac and declared her the ‘Queen of Mexico and Empress of America.’ Her day is a pretty big day.

Anywho, Pako has turned in all of the papers to Sol and was given yet ANOTHER intelligence test and so things are looking good. He should get a call on Monday and maybe will be working on Tuesday, though payday is Tuesday, so they may wait until Wednesday for him to start. I don’t care when he starts as long as he starts! I also have all of my immigrations papers in order and will be turning them in on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on Pako’s work schedule and his availability to come and be my witness. As I was almost finished with the process the last time around, I know I have all of my papers in order so (hopefully, all appendages crossed again) it should be a fairly painless process this time (minus the paying… that’s always painful). So that’s where I’ll leave you this week, hoping for a job and a visa. Tuesday is my last day of classes and Wednesday is my last day of official classes at Montessori until Jan 7th! Let vacations begin!

Have an excellent week, besos!

Leyah

Beer Me!

Hello faithful readers! Another week has gone by and surprisingly little has happened that is even remotely blog-worthy. It has been a very low key week because I got a cold (either from the 14 year old slob that lives with me or the teaming masses of germ-factories that surround me 5 days a week). Now, clearly I don’t have to speak to the irony of getting a ‘cold’ when living in a place that’s low is about 68 degrees Fahrenheit on a chilly evening, but I will speak to the discomfort and inconvenience.

First of all, my 8th grade teacher (ever the life-guide) asked me a simple, but telling question: do you have a thermometer? No, no I do not. I don’t even have a meat thermometer and being a supposedly grown up person, I should probably have both. Well, the question was asked when I was unable to determine whether it was the weather or whether I had a fever… as it turned out, I had a fever. Which, is uncomfortable enough in Minnesota-Wisconsin style homes with heat kept around 68 degrees, but reaches the realms of unbearable when it’s 87 degrees outside at 8pm. The fever was the most dramatic part of the cold and while it didn’t last, it’s annoying but often more persistent friends nasal congestion, head and body aches (twin brothers) and sore throat followed along the next day and set up shop for the week. As we write/read, I’m sipping lemon and honey tea and hoping this will be the ‘boys’ last day of residence.

The other excellent thing that happened since last blog is that Pako was called by Sol beer company and offered the job of “route auxiliary,” which means he will be mainly carrying boxes from the warehouse to the truck, from the truck to various stores and then backwards with the empties. WE ARE PUMPED! Right now he’s been hired for the high season (when all the gringos* come down and drink a lot of beer), however the “big bosses” are looking to hire 2 people on after the gringos* abandon paradise and return to Canton, Ohio or wherever it is they come from. The fact that he got called is a pretty big deal as there are almost NO jobs here and they were looking to fill the positions from inside the company rather than hire new people. The process that he has to go through includes medical, physical, psychological and socioconomic tests and fill out enough paperwork to rival the first Harry Potter book (the 1st one is the smallest book, but in case you didn’t know, it still represents about 400 pages). And just what is a socioeconomic test and why is it necessary to haul beer? Apparently they come and take pictures of the apartment. I’ll be sure to look destitute, but mentally stable that day, just in case it might help. Anyway, we’re only uncrossing those limbs necessary for walking at this point and keeping the other appendages crossed in hopes that he’ll get kept on after gringo-season (that would mean a higher salary, FREE health insurance for him, me and his mother (that’s right no premium, no deductible, FREE – take that republicans – 3rd-world-landia has cheaper health care than you do), being part of a union, and company food stamps that we can use to buy food instead of using actual money!). I’ll keep you posted of developing detail and amusing anecdotes from the beer warehouse! Now when I utter that classic college phrase, Pako will be more than qualified to respond: BEER ME!

*Tia Maria, would gringoEs be more correct here? Dan Quayle wants to know.

That’s all for now folks. This school week comprises oral exams for all of my classes, so it would be nice if my voice returns before then, but we shall see. I hope you all have excellent weeks and are keeping warm! One more shout-out to my newest reader, HI GRANDPA! LOVE YOU!

Hugs and kisses,
Leyah

Happy Thank-Goodness-for-Blue-Skittles-and-Viveca-Brondum-Iving to you!

Why do I say that you might ask? Why, when referring to Thanksgiving, my all-time favorite meal of the entire year, do I even think to mention such gastronomical trash as Blue Skittles (also known as ‘Tropical, but really we all know they’re just blue)? I will tell you. On Thanksgiving day this year, I was feeling not a little depressed. I was missing my family, Grandma Claire in particular, and reminiscing about Thanksgivings past. My kids decided to be wild little monsters that day and thus compounded my dark mood. When I arrived home to my apartment after work, I smelled fajitas, which normally have a delicious aroma, but in fact, bear no resemblance to turkey, stuffing or green bean casserole. I sighed and walked in the door, only to see a package with my name on it lying on the table (I just taught the verbs lie and lay to my 6th and 7th graders, we were all somewhat confused about the difference between the two by the end of the lesson – English is weird.). It was a package from my dear and Thanksgiving-saving friend Vivi. She knew that I was missing certain things from the states and took it upon herself to mail me some of them – 9 packages of Blue Skittles to be exact! (The pictures says Vivi in skittles, in cause you’re wondering). It’s hard to express how much that picked up my day – so thank you, THANK YOU Viv, you really made my Thanksgiving! (Also, I’m told it’s almost impossible to find blue skittles, so more kudos to Viv for searching!)

Christmas vacation is approaching, although I have none of my known signals that would alert me to this time of the year. There is no snow on the ground and no frost on our car in the morning (a lot of dew, but no frost); there is no Christmas music playing in the non-existent mall; I have not been wearing 2 layers of pants, shirts or socks (but rather trying to find a way to cut DOWN the layers I am wearing); and certainly no Christmas cookies being made in my oven. That being said, it’s somewhat hard for me to assimilate what my head knows to be the date with what the rest of my senses haven’t yet caught on to yet: Christmas is right around the corner! This year it’s not the presents I’m looking forward to or even the food (ugh, again depressing), but rather, it’s the 3 blissful weeks when I will not have to think about Montessori! Oh sure, I have to grade 4 classes worth of exams over that time and write 8 exams, but that can be banged out in 2 days. For the rest of that time I’m going to enter a period of blissful ignorance during which I will not think about being a teacher and controlling 4 separate groups of youth. If you have not guessed it, I AM READY FOR A BREAK!

I am, however, enjoying remembering these last two hectic, annoying, frustrating, maddening weeks and analyzing them, deciding what I will do differently next semester and what I liked and will keep. This includes everything from discipline policies (mine are getting a way strict overhaul, no more Señorita-nice-Leah!), in-class activities and homework assignments. It’s a somewhat bittersweet review, but it reminds me that I did learn some things in that ridiculous program that I spent a lot of money on and that I am, actually, qualified to do this job, regardless of the times in my head I fantasize about smacking a kid with their own notebook. First year teaching is supposed to be hard. Dang, you know, I really like easy things too, what’s with all this hard – is – good – for – you life lessons?!

This is the last week of classes for the high school (2 of my 4 groups of kids) and then they have a week of exams (oral and written with me – aha, take that!). They don’t return to school until the 26th of January! (A mixed blessing because that means that until that date, I’ll be receiving half of my salary…) My 6th and 7th graders have class until the 11th of December, their exam the 14th and then pageant practice until the 18th. They’ll be putting on various versions of the Mary and Joseph’s trek to find lodging. I am officially done Dec 16th and don’t have to return until Jan 7th. One of the few occasions in my life when I am actually moved to say ‘hallelujah!’

We had a small birthday dinner for Pako this Saturday (he turned 24 on Nov. 25th, the little guy!) and a bunch of family came, including Pako’s pseudo-grandpa Jim, our Canadian friend who has been indescribably helpful to me in the moving and getting settled into a different country/culture process to me. As is tradition here, we had too much food and none of it was served even remotely close to on time. The first course was chicken tamales, which were DELICIOUS. Those were sent down by Aunt Pachita, who was feeling ill and thus didn’t come to the party. The second course was sliced jicama and cucumber, covered in lemon juice, salt and, of course, salsa. Then there was grilled fish (Sierra and some other huge fish that I can’t remember the name of) served with Mexican rice, refried beans and (duh) warmed corn tortillas. Then there was grilled beef (Carne Asada) with various salsas, requisite tortillas and a side salad. And let’s not even begin to forget the excruciatingly sweet cake and ice cream combo. Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyway), I went to bed with a stomachache. The party was pretty low-key in that the music was kept at a decibel that still allowed for casual conversation and no one made me sing. In fact, it was decided that as I am not the newby to the family anymore, I don’t have to sing at Christmas! That honor/burden falls on Pako’s cousin, Yair’s, girlfriend, Fabiola. Poor girl, her own boyfriend isn’t even going to warn her! I will, however, offer to accompany her as I’ve been in her position and it is embarrassing at best, though moderately mortifying is a better description. I’m just glad that I’m no longer the newb!

That’s all for now as I have a lot of grading to do and would like to go to the beach today as it looks like it maybe cloudy! (haha, who’d have thought that I would ever think like that?!) Pako’s just rolled out of bed (2 hours later than me, man that kid can sleep!) and so the day has officially begun! Happy beginning of the official Holiday season to you and yours! Keep all of your appendages crossed that the job fairy visits Pako soon! Oh and happy birthday to my lovely Gina, who also turned 24 this week! And Hi to my Grandpa Leo, who may or may not be reading this blog!

love to all!

Leyah

PS. No meaningful really pictures today (except the one of the skittles, obviously), just me, playing with Tequila and his cousin Max, a smaller, even more neurotic and much higher pitched Chihuahua belonging to Aunt Lucy. Plus one of Pako and Teki because I think it’s cute!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!

Did you miss me? I know my 7 faithful blog readers are eagerly awaiting this entry, I know I would be! I feel like I’ve been gone for 3 months, but in reality, it’s only been 2 or 3 weeks. Those 2 or three weeks were stressful and draining, but here we are, ready to re-hash and re-live.

In order to leave the country, I had to withdraw my application for a visa (which was 98% finished…!! urg) from immigration as technically you are not allowed to leave once you hand in your tourist document. They didn’t want to let me go either, my flight left Monday at 2:40pm and I was sitting in the immigration office, biting my nails and straining at the bit at 1:10pm, waiting for them to give me the green light (in the form of a piece of paper that would substitute my tourist card). Finally, grudgingly, they gave it to me and Pako used his driving skills to get me to the airport with plenty of time. The flight to Houston was smooth and upon arrival in the US, I passed through customs without pause and proceeded to my gate. Ohmigod, the first restaurant-ish thing I saw was Auntie Annie’s Pretzel’s and I tell you, I almost cried tears of joy. That’s right, tears of joy. To top it off, the guy working the register must have thought I was cute because he gave me my pretzel and cheese for free! Double score! I arrived in Chicago at 10pm and there was my lovely cousin Kristin waiting to whisk me off to Menomonee Falls (or Cudahey, for the night). We stopped at Denny’s and my gastronomy was treated to 2 hot chocolates and a good ole grilled cheese. Man, I was in culinary heaven at that point.

The next week was really hard, but I was so happy to be surrounded by my family and friends that I got through it ok. Cried a lot, but I have waterproof makeup and my mom always has about 1000 kleenex (what is the plural of Kleenex?) in her purse, so it was ok. A lot of people from ALL over (California, Michigan, the Twin Cities area) showed up for the funeral and even more sent flowers. The service was beautiful and I know my grandmother would have really appreciated it. I heard my cousin telling her son that Grandma was an angel now and though I’m not at all religious and don’t believe in angels per-say, it really made me feel better. I know my grandma would like the idea and so do I.

I got to visit the Green Bay family for a day and a half too, which was an unexpected treat. I went to Krohls and a fish fry. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it! It was so bizarre to hear English all around me and to watch TV. I got to watch an episode of Grey’s Anatomy and I am WAY behind. I’m going to have to lean on my college roommate Karen to send me weekly updates, after all, it’s her fault I’m addicted to it at all!

A couple dedicated friends drove up from Iowa (yes, don’t laugh, I have a friend in Iowa and I’m not ashamed to admit it… hehehe) and Minneapolis and over from downtown Milwaukee to spend Saturday with me. It was like a relaxing tonic to be surrounded by girlfriends again. It was really, really nice. We went to Target (my own personal hedonistic retreat), Panera for coffee, Blockbuster and Walgreens. I know that sounds like an evening full of ridiculous fun to all of you and the truth is, it was just that. It is so nice to be surrounded by people that you can have a wild night of fun with while sitting in your aunt and uncle’s basement eating far too much candy! Here I have Pako, but it’s hard to talk about boys with him as he doesn’t have much to contribute and he already knows everything that I have to say!

Another plus of the week home was being able to watch the Packer game with my dad! I’ve realized that probably about 50% of my love of football is directly tied to being able to watch it with my dad! Plus we beat the cowboys and I got to eat sweat potato fries. Good, good times! I spent the last night watching the Packers with my parents and hanging out in a hotel suite. The flights back to my other home were forgettable, which is a good thing.

The past week at school has been frustrating in that neither of my subs (Pako and my boss, Jeanne) assigned the homework I asked them to, so I was playing catch up all week and trying to keep things on schedule as the end of the semester exams are approaching rapidly (yay)! Then, the administrator in charge of Middle and High school, easily my LEAST favorite person at Montessori, changed EVERYTHING and rescheduled the exams and totally screwed the exams that I was forced to write 2 months ago AND the plans I had made for the rest of the semester. So I had a lot of work and stress and I was less than thrilled to be back at Montessori. I’m still working things out this weekend, and I’m sure it’ll be fluid for the rest of the semester, but I’ll make it work in the end. I always do. Even if it drives me crazy and I have to say bad words in my head while smiling on the outside.

Friday night Pako and I went to a birthday party that I am sure cost more than my future wedding. It was for one of my student’s, Alondra’s, 15th birthday. The invitation was a fan with her name painted on it, a candle in a glass candleholder and 2 all access passes to the party. When we go there, it was about 10pm and Alondra was dressed in the hot pink equivalent of a wedding dress. All of the tables (50ish) had personalized candle holders and ice buckets and party favors. There were also bottles of tequila and champagne on each table, as well as a variety of sodas. Then we were all served a turkey dinner by white-coated waiters. There was also a dessert table with a chocolate fountain (A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!) and assorted yummies!

A LOT of my students were there and dressed to the nines. One extreme case had even stayed home from school that day to get her hair done… I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Some of the more ingenious students put the liquor under the table before Alondra’s mom came to collect them from the tables and so they were all on their way to have a jolly old time. Pako and I left early because I had no desire to see my students get hammered and fall all over each other on the dance floor. My students all thought I was lame and should have stayed later, but that is how it goes. I would have liked to stay and see the traditional dances and all of that, but I’ve been told that sometimes that happens at midnight or 1am. We left at 1l:30, which was fine with me. It was interesting to see and bizarre to be with all of my students in that environment, but I was glad to have been invited and to have gone. Check that one off my cultural to-do list. I’ve got another XV años scheduled for 2010 and my parents are invited to that one, so I’m already excited!

Ok, signing off for now because I’ve got to figure out something for brunch and there is very little food in the house. Pako’s birthday is this week (Wed, the 25th), so I’ll get to eat cake again this week! I’m going to have to be creative about going about getting stuff done when he’s not around to notice, but I’ll figure out away. He may start working delivering beer for Sol (the company, not the actual sun), so keep your fingers crossed that that comes through for us! Write with you all again next week, have a good one!

Besos,

Leyah