The Monarchs Are Here!

The lovely butterflies that we get to enjoy during the summer in Canada spend the winter in Mexico... And they are currently travelling through Monterrey towards the south of Mexico. I had seen them around the school and up at Chipinque. This weekend we went for a walk at Parque Estanzuela and got to see many more! They are beautiful. Its aazing to see so many of them up close.

Hallowe'en Photos

Here are some photos from the Staff Hallowe'en Party on Saturday night. The party was held at Kim and Jeff's house (Kim teaches at my campus and Jeff is a VP at the high school). There was quite a good turn-out and a great array of costumes! I was a pirate, a bunch of girls went in 80s gear... There were sports players, and story book characters, witches and mummies and Nudists on Strike. Someone had dressed as Mary Poppins in a very accurate costume. It was definitely a good night..


Jen and Libby and I.



Buffy (my morning running partner) and I.


Melanie and Isaac... the nurse and the English Patient.

Hallowe'en Party - San Pedro Style!

I have had a very busy week... Between dealing with the temperature changes (you heard my complaints about the cold weather early in the week - it then went to 35 degrees celsius on Thursday.. and yesterday was chilly in the morning and then hot in the afternoon), I did my first round of Parent Teacher conferences. They went really well and the parents all seem happy and very supportive. So that was a great first experience to have!

We are coming up to the official Hallowe'en Day... and generally speaking, in Mexico, especially further south than where I am, Mexicans don't celebrate Hallowe'en. Instead they celebrate the Day of the Dead where people remember loved ones they lost by making an altar in the house and having a party. That happens on November 1st. In Monterrey, however, because of the close location to the USA, Hallowe'en is a big affair. Basically an excuse to have a party... Stores have been selling Hallowe'en things for a long time now.. just like at home. And Hallowe'en costume and accessory stores have been popping up in my neighborhood. I guess these places just open up for a few weeks and then close down until the next season. My kids have been talking about Hallowe'en for weeks - pretty much since the day we switched our September calendar to October.

On Wednesday, my class had a Hallowe'en party after school. It was organized by some of the moms and held at a Quinta. A quinta is a big property that is owned by someone - and this quinta was huge with lots of grass and trees, and a swimming pool and pond complete with ducks! There is also some play structures and swings for the kids. This quinta is owned by a very large family in the community and one of my students is somehow related to this family so that is how we got to have our party there. Parties in San Pedro (my community - apparently one of the most affluent in Latin America!) are not just thrown together. The grassy area where we hung out had been decorated with big blow-up Hallowe'en characters, and a mini-graveyard had been created. They had rented tables and chairs. There was tons of food and I had a chance to try some of the things I had been seeing my kids eat at lunch (pina with chilly... tamarindo with chilly... hicama with chilly...). Chilly spicy powder gets put on almost everything here. It is an interesting combination - the sweet fruit taste with the spicy chilly taste. I haven't decided what I really think about it - I'll have to give it a few more tries. There was also lots of sweets like cupcakes and lollipops and pizza and chips. Most of the moms were there and they took very good care of me. They didn't want me to lift a hand.. to get a drink or when cleaning up at the end. Unfortunately, it started to rain. Fortunately, we were somewhat sheltered under these big trees and the rain didn't start to get bad until we were pretty much ready to pack things up and go home.

And next week, on Tuesday, we will have another Hallowe'en party at school - with all sorts of treats provided by the moms. The kids will wear their costumes all day and then we will have a big parade in the afternoon.

We had our staff Hallowe'en party last night.. I'll have to write more about that later and put some pictures up to go along. Maybe later today.. For now I'm off to a hike at a new park I've never been too!

Brrrr! Its Cold Down Here!

I know, I know. I'm living in Mexico and I'm complaining of the cold. I said I wouldn't believe it until I felt it. Other people had told me it would get cold in Monterrey, but I just couldn't imagine. Well - today I experienced it. It was probably 15 or so degrees (not cold at all by Canadian standards) but it certainly feels chilly here!

My great packing job (to fit everything on the airplane) may have been efficient - but it has definitely left me a little unprepared for the weather. I am going to need to do some shopping... Closed-toed shoes... More pairs of pants...

I wore my jacket and a scarf all day today. The hallways of my school are open to the outside air, so you feel the outside air all the time. A friend who is currently pregnant has offered to lend me a bunch of sweaters as she doesn't fit into any at the moment!

At least I've been told that the weather can change unexpectedly. Let's hope a warm front moves in soon! I would like to go back to the 30 degrees right about now!

New photos from Rio Ramos and a small update

A friend from school just sent these photos my way. I think they help to better illustrate the River Walk I went on a few weeks ago.

Our report cards are due this week - so everyone has been a little overwhelmed getting those organized.

I went to see a movie last night "La Illusionista" at a VIP movie theatre. This is a theatre where you sit in Lazy-Boy type chairs and have your food delivered to you. I ordered vegetarian sushi. It was definitely a good experience (the food and the movie).

Friday night a few of us went out to an Argentenian restaurant near to my house. I had an empanada with chicken and onion and red pepper. Very yummy and inexpensive!

If anyone makes it down to Monterrey for a visit, I have lots of new favorite places (restaurants esp.) to take you! (Note the spelling of favorite - I have to use the American versions because I'm at an American school... No more OUs.. It still looks wrong to me).

I went for a long hike today - on a new trail. We went farther than we had gone before, which was great. But by the time we started to come down, the stairs had been closed (it was misty rain so everything was slippery) so that meant we would have to walk down the road, and that makes the trip much longer (I think the road down from the top is almost 8km). We started out but decided we would try and hitch a ride from someone. We picked the right car to flag down - a fancy mercedes driven by a man who it turns out has children at my school. The ride was much appreciated, though we felt a little guilty getting into his gorgeous car wet, sweaty and with muddy shoes.

Otherwise not too much is new here. That's it from my end for now... Keep in touch. :)

Canadian Thanksgiving - Mexico Style!

Holidays, when travelling and living away from family, can be difficult. Fortunately, for this first holiday in Mexico, I've been treated very well. Each new staff member at my school is "adopted" by a mother of a parent from the school. My PTA Mom invited me and my roommate to a Thanksgiving diner that she was hosting with another host mom. They had gone all out! It was a dinner just like we would have at home (turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie!!). What a great night. In addition to the food, they had Thanksgiving decorations up, and they sent us home a mole sauce (a Mexican specialty that can go on chicken, rice, veggies...) that they had prepared for us.

This weekend we had a long weekend (Monday there is no school, partly because of Canadian Thanksgiving and because of American Colombus Day). I just recieved my FM3 (Immigration papers to Mexico) and this meant I could legally leave the country (until getting this document, we are not supposed to leave Mexico). A group of 7 of us headed to South Padre Island (Texas) for a relaxing weekend at the family condo of one of the girls. Though I had never before heard of South Padre, its a very popular vacation spot. It is the closest beach to Monterrey, and many of the students in my class talk about spending weekends and holidays here.

This was my first experience shopping in the States since being in Mexico - and the girls I came travelling with were very excited for me to experience Target. I don't consider myself much of a shopper, but I did pretty well this weekend (and it is only Sunday night - we are going to go to McAllen on the way home tomorrow!). I was surprised at the things that I really wanted to buy here, because at home, these would be pretty boring purchases. There are just certain things that you cannot buy in Mexico that I have realized I really like. Also, there are some things that you can get in Mexico, but the price is a little bit ridiculous. Some notable purchases include:
-Liquid Tide (cold water)
-Natural peanut butter
-Chai Tea (the kind that comes in the Tetra-pak)
-Kashi Go Lean cereal
-Speakers for my laptop
-Colorful placemats to brighten up the apartment
-And a bunch of clothes

We are staying at a condo right on the beach. I don't remember when was the last time I went swimming in the salty ocean and played in big waves. It was fun!Its been a very relaxing, indulgent weekend (yummy food, lying in the sun, naps whenever you want). Definitely a good time!

Oh! And if case you were worried, I was able to catch up on what has happened in the 3rd season of Grey's Anatomy this weekend (on abc.com, if you are in the States, you can watch all the episodes from this season). Now that I'm caught up I'll be able to watch it at a friend's house. Though we have cable, we won't get 3rd season for a few more weeks. This other girl, however, has Bell Satelite (so she gets all the Canadian channels)!

A School Fair like No Other.. and a River "Walk"

This weekend was the Welcome Back Party hosted by the Parents Association. I still am not quite sure why it is called the 'Welcome Back' party... We have been "back" for more than 6 weeks. Regardless, this was a pretty neat event. It was held at the high school and had all sorts of things for the kids and their families to do:
-Haunted House
-Bingo
-Cake Walk
-Concert Stage
-Rides (like the ones you would find at a fair!)
-Bouncy Castles
-Dunk-Tank
-Tons of food! There were bake sales, and pizza, crepes, cotton candy, papas (potatoes) on a stick, various Mexican food, Sushi, Churos (these are like beaver tales, but long and round) and much more...

The next day I went on what was called "a walk" in a park an hour outside the city. We were walking along the Rio Ramos... Or at least, that is what we thought we were going to do. It turns out we were actually crossing THROUGH the river multiple times. The Vice Principal of K-2 and her husband offered to take the new teachers this weekend. Federico (the husband) apparently goes most weekends, but the last time his wife had been there was almost a month ago, and I understand that the water level was much lower! It turned out to be a great time.. but we really were walking in the river. Often times we were up to our knees, occassionally we were up to our waist, and there was one point we actually had to swim. Because we were carrying bags wih food and cameras, we had to carefully pass our bags so that they didn't get totally soaked. The terrain along the edge of the river ranged from dirt paths, to small stones to large rocks that you had to climb over carefully. Unfortunately at one point I took a little spill and hurt my hand a little bit. It wasn't so bad, but took me by surprise and I know have two swollen fingers. We ended up hiking/walking/swimming for about 5 or so hours. It was a great way to spend the day.

As we were walking back to the car at the very end, we passed a group of cows, just out wandering. Milligan - this definitely made me thing of the Napanee cows, so this picture is for you!