Observations about Mexican life...

I’ll be the first to admit it – I haven’t been as regular about updating my blog lately as I would have liked. While I don’t have major stories to tell, I’ll fill you in on some of my recent observations about life in Mexico.

After two and a half weeks of HORRIBLE weather (horrible for Monterrey, not for Canada…), we’ve finally been enjoying a couple days of sunshine. This past Saturday I actually got a little burn on my nose while doing my long run. It is currently 24 degrees and still light out. This warmth and light helps me understand why in Mexico they don’t say “Buenas noches” (Good night) until at least 8:00. You start saying “Buenas tardes” (Good afternoon) around noon and don’t stop until quite late. In Canada, especially in the darkest days of winter, it feels like bedtime at 4:30… Here, with the light and the warmth, 5:00 seems like the middle of the afternoon. It’s lovely!

In Mexico it is the law that public schools close when it is less than 4 degrees Celsius. Fortunately (or unfortunately??) my school stays open because we have heaters (though their effectiveness is severely compromised by the lack of insulation and thin, thin windows). However, two weeks ago, there was a day when I had only 10 students (half my class) present because of the cold weather. I guess I can understand it – we wear our jackets and hats almost all day long INSIDE when it is cold like that… but still… it isn’t like it is necessarily warmer at their houses.

There are certain roles that the sexes play here… and one of those is that generally, men play quite a masculine, almost macho role. This transcends all the way down to my own kids where the boys will take an awful spill during a soccer game, but want no nurturing, or sympathy. Instead they simply get up and keep playing (no matter their pain). They definitely don’t want to show that they got hurt. It’s quite cute. You also see the boys walking around with arms over each other’s shoulders. This is extremely cute – especially when the boys are 6 or 7 years old.

I had my first set of tacos from a street-side taco restaurant. It wasn’t one of those carts that they can just set up anywhere, but a permanent restaurant that is completely open to the outside with a bar that you can sit at and see where they are cooking the food. This past weekend we did this crazy scavenger hunt around Monterrey for someone’s 30th birthday. One of the things you had to do, as a team of 4, was eat 30 tacos. So… we did. And they were quite good! So either health standards aren’t as bad as I’ve been imagining them to be, or my stomach has made some gradual adjustments to Mexican cooking. Hopefully any future experiences will be just as positive.

So it is now the time of the year when people teaching internationally have to figure out what they are doing next year. In fact, we actually had to re-sign our contracts before we went home in December. Recruiting fairs are happening now and some people from my school are headed to some pretty exciting places… One man to Paris, a couple to Chile, another guy to Singapore.. and a bunch are going to job fairs this weekend. It is crazy to think that it was at this point this year that I was heading to the Queen’s fair with no idea where I would end up. It is equally crazy that in less than a year from now I’ll have to make a decision about the next year…

I’m off… Would love to hear updates from home… see pictures of snow… my kids are fascinated by them!