Ginny in Mexico

Guatemalan Adventures

2007-04-14T22:10:00.000-05:00

I’ve just spent the last two weeks living and traveling in Guatemala. It was a tremendous experience…at times hilarious, challenging, eye-opening and so much more. The basic trip itinerary was:

Saturday March 31st: fly from Monterrey to Guatemala City via Mexico City and take a shuttle bus to Antigua
Sunday April 1st - Friday April 6th: live with a family in Antigua while having 4 hours a day of one-on-one Spanish classes
Saturday April 7th: fly to Tikal to see the Mayan archaeological site and stay overnight in the Jungle Lodge
Sunday April 8th: spend the night in Flores, an hour from Tikal
Monday April 9th: fly back to Guatemala City and spend the night
Tuesday April 10th - Friday April 13th: stay in Panajachal, on the shores of Lake Atitlan and do day trips to surrounding areas
Friday April 13th: return to Guatemala City
Saturday April 14th: fly back to Monterrey

Each day was filled with all sorts of adventures and I’ve got pictures to go along with many of them. I’ll try and give you some of the most memorable highlights…

Flight troubles:
We arrived at the Monterrey airport the appropriate two-hours before our international flight. I went up to the check-in counter first and was told that I didn’t actually have a seat on the flight (even though I had paid for it, had picked out a seat on-line, and had all my receipts and document to prove it). Strangely, Abby was called up the counter a few minutes later and she did have a seat. We had booked our flights on-line within minutes of each other so we were thoroughly confused, and a little panicked at what this might mean for the start of our trip. Fortunately, I was put first on the Waiting List, and made it on the flight, but had to wait until departure time to know this, so it was a couple stressful hours. Once on the plane, things went fairly smoothly… except that Abby’s bag didn’t arrive until Monday afternoon. At least she is a very prepared traveler and had put all her necessities into her carry-on (Guatemala and Mexico do not have the same limitations on carry-on items that the USA now has).

Antiguan Family:
Abby and I were assigned, by our Spanish school, to a local family. We would live and eat in their home for the week. The family actually consisted of 13 people (I think - I’m not actually positive about that number) living together. There were the grandparents, and then several of their children (4?), of whom two were married and had their spouses and children living the house as well. There were 3 different kitchens so each sub-grouping cooked their own meals, for the most part. In addition to the human members of the family, there was a dog, a parrot and a rabbit. All three animals seemed to have free-range of the house.

Semana Santa celebrations:
Antigua is known for its huge Easter celebrations that take place during Lent and continue until Easter Sunday. Easter week consists of daily (or twice-daily) processions around the city in which 90 men carry this tremendously heavy wooden platform on which a scene from the end of Jesus’ life is depicted. There is a band that follows the scene as well as guards and people carrying incense that precede it. The music that is played is fairly somber, but the overall atmosphere in the city is more celebratory. The city prepares for the procession by creating “carpets” (alfombras) made of colored sawdust on the streets. These alfombras take hours to prepare and then are walked upon by the men in the procession. I really don’t know that I can accurately describe these events, as I think they are something that you need to see to understand. I’ve put in some pictures to give you a little sense of what I was seeing all week long. The family we were living with were heavily involved with the entire week’s activities. They created an alfombra in front of their house and most of the men took part in the processions (which sometimes started at 4am!).

Volcan Pacaya:
On Good Friday, we went with a travel company to an active volcano 1.5 hours outside of Antigua. We hiked up the volcanic mountain and got close enough to see parts of the eruption. I guess my expectations were based on what I might have seen in the movies, so at first the small trickle of lava seemed a little disappointing. Thinking about what I was actually seeing, and realizing that I was climbing on igneous rock that had erupted not that long ago, changed my perspective. As we climbed up the last section, you could feel the heat on your skin. It was definitely the first time I’d ever climbed a volcano!

Mayan Ruins:
In order to get to see Tikal during our trip, we decided to take advantage of the hour-long flights from Guatemala City to Flores (1 hour from Tikal). Otherwise, we would have spent many many hours on a bumpy bus ride. Our flight left Guatemala City at 6:30, and this meant we had to leave Antigua at 4:30am - quite an early morning! Upon arriving at the Flores airport, we were greeted by someone from the Jungle Lodge Hotel where we would be staying. We took an hour-long shuttle bus to the hotel and got to quickly drop our bags off in our rooms before meeting for the group tour of Tikal. The ruins were definitely impressive. It is amazing to think that they could have gone undiscovered! Even now, apparently Mayan ruins continue to be uncovered. This was my first time seeing any of the Mayan ruins (there are other sites in Mexico and nearby Honduras) and I now know that my appreciation could be heightened with a better understanding of some of the history of the era.

Life in the Jungle:
From our hotel room (which was lovely and so luxurious especially after living in someone else’s home for the past week) we could hear howler monkeys. The sound that these animals make is not at all what I expected - it sounded more like a lion’s roar! We went on a “canopy tour” which meant flying through the jungle on zip-lines. While on the zip-line, I couldn’t really appreciate the lush vegetation, as I was moving too quickly and my heart may have been slightly racing. However, on the platforms between zip-lines (there were 8), you could look around.

Public Transportation - aka “The Chicken Bus”:
I managed to convince Abby that we needed to experience travel the way the Guatemalans do - on the colorful-school-bus-type buses that zip around the country. From our hotel near the airport, we took a cab to the downtown bus station (in Zona 1 - an area we were told we would not want to spend any longer in than we needed to). I’m not sure what comes to your mind when you think of a bus “station” but what we found was definitely not what I expected. As is common in many places, we were greeted by an armed guard and inside we found… well… nothing. No ticket booth, no schedules, no signs, no other passengers. There was a woman frying up tortillas - another common site in Mexican and Guatemala. The bus did arrive at the time we were told and several men performed, what seemed to be, routine maintenance. Abby and I got on the bus (still the only passengers) and were informed that we needed to lie down so that we couldn’t be seen from the windows, until we got out of the central part of the city. Why? We still aren’t quite sure… I think that the bus isn’t actually supposed to pick up passengers downtown, but it does, and then just gets the passengers to hide… Sketchy? Yes, but I did manage to find some humor in it. After about 10 minutes we were allowed to sit up and the bus continued its way out of the city, picking up passengers along the way.

We traveled on this type of bus several times throughout the second week. Each time there was some sort of an adventure, whether it was jumping on to a bus that was driving away, using the “emergency exit” at the back as an entrance, or being taken advantage of in terms of bus fare. Though I can’t prove it, I am pretty sure Abby and I were charged one fare for the trip from Pana to Guatemala City, while the others (Guatemaltecos) were charged another fare. I’m basing this on the fact that our trip one-way cost 20Quetzales and on the return trip we were charged 25Q and seemed to get a little smirk from some of the surrounding passengers. Not a big deal financially, but I was more frustrated at the thought behind it. We also encountered some cab drivers who clearly tried to over-charge us, but thankfully we had already been quoted an appropriate fare so we could use that as a bargaining tool.

You don’t get anywhere too quickly along the Guatemalan highways. The trip from Guatemala City to Panajachel is approximately 140km but takes more than 3 hours. The roads are very windy and narrow, and the old school buses aren’t meant to go top-speed. Nonetheless, the “chicken buses” (I’m still not entirely sure why they are called there) provide a great people-watching opportunity.

The Kids:
I am in LOVE with Guatemalan children. I wish I had pictures to show you, but we didn’t feel overly comfortable taking pictures of the children, or the adults, for that matter. These kids are just adorable, especially the girls in traditional dress. Many of the kids we saw, especially in the smaller towns, were helping their mothers at the market. Some of the kids, more often boys than girls, would occasionally approach us and ask for money. I can’t even fully describe my feelings about these children, but there was definitely something special there. I’d like to look in to the possibility of doing some sort of volunteer work in Guatemala in the future.

El Mercado (the market):
I didn’t anticipate that this was going to be a shopping trip… but the markets are quite amazing. Guatemala is known for its textiles and jade. I returned to Monterrey with both! In fact, I had to buy an extra bag to accommodate my purchases. Some of my purchases were rugs, placemats, a necklace and earring set, a table runner, headbands, wall hangings and more (not all for me, of course! Some will be gifts). My Mexican apartment is going to become much more colorful!

Espanol:
Of course, a large reason for this trip was to attend Spanish language school for a week. The language school I attended in November consisted of group classes; this school was private classes (for about the same cost!). Four hours a day of one-on-one is mentally exhausting! I can’t really measure my improvement, but I do know that I am becoming slightly more fluent… I can bargain with market vendors, argue with a cab driver, inquire about bus schedules, make hotel reservations - all in Spanish! It may not always be pretty - but it is functional.

I’m sure there is so much more I could tell you… In a nutshell, it was an amazing two weeks that exposed me to a totally different part of the world. Though it is relatively close to where I am living now, it is so different in so many ways. I’ll try and let some of the pictures do the talking, and if there is something more you want to know about it, let me know. ☺

At last... an update

2007-03-23T18:42:00.000-06:00

I apologize. I haven't gotten anything up here in more than a month! It's been a busy couple of weeks (as usual), so I'll do my best to fill you in on what I've been up to.

I celebrated my 26th birthday by going out for dinner and then going bowling. There were about 15 of us and yes, bowling can be a lot of fun! I'm horrible at it, and didn't really improve throughout the night, but I definitely laughed a lot.

Sarah Fleming from home is here visiting now. She's going to be working at the school next year and took advantage of her Alt Prac to come and spend three weeks with me! Its been fun showing the city off to someone. The morning after Sarah's arrival, we both ran in a race that was happening on the Calzada near my house. Along with several other teachers, Sarah ran the 5k and I ran the 10k. I ran with another teacher who lived in my building and he helped me keep up my pace. I finished in just over 51 minutes and felt pretty good. Unfortunately, my quad and hip flexor have been hruting since shortly afterwards, so I've been taking some time away from running.

Last weekend Sarah and I headed to Puerta Vallarta. We headed out Friday evening, arriving in PV arund 11pm.

It was Benito Juarez day on Monday, so we had three days to enjoy the sun and sand. It was a great weekend. We visited a different beach each day (Los Muertos in PV, Playa Destiladero an hour north, and Yelapa, accessible only by boat).

I did some shopping (beautiful silver necklace with turquoise pendant and matching earrings), ate wonderful food, lay on the beach for way longer than I expected I would be able to, and... went PARASAILING! Yes... Slightly crazy and the first time I've ever done anything like it. Living by the mantra of a friend ("Say yes to everything"), Sarah convinced me to go parasailing. It was incredible and not scary at all!

Yes! That is me waaaaaaaay up in the sky over the bay near Yelapa.

Sarah has posted a much longer summary of the weekend on her blog.. The link to that page is on the left.

We returned to Monterrey on a very late flight Monday night/Tuesday morning arriving at the airport just after 1am. I was at school by 6:45am the same day. Yick. Strangely the tiredness is just catching up with me now (Friday). And, things are just going to get busier from here on in. I start my Master's program tomorrow and will be in class Saturday and Sunday from 8-4, and, this week, in addition to a day of teaching, I'll have class each afternoon from 4-7:30. I hope I make it. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel... Abby and I are flying to Guatemala Saturday morning for two weeks of adventures. I'll keep you updated!

We have just started Quarter 4 of the school year... I can't believe I have finished 3/4 of the year! I am actually getting a little bit sad thinking that I'm not going to have the same group of kids next year. I have been so lucky this year to get a lovely group of 21 8 year olds who keep me laughing, on my toes, and excited to come to school each day. For the past two weeks we've been doing a Robert Munsch author study. This unit was so fun to put together because I remember loving his books as a kid.. and my class is just eating it up! Most of them had never heard of any of his books until this year, and now they are practically fighting over reading them. Even my most reluctant readers are keen to read his books. I've got kids complaining when I tell them we need to stop our Independent Reading. Wow. An amazing feeling.

I'm happy and healthy down here.. Time is just zipping along. After I return from Semana Santa (trip to Guatemala), it will only be two months until I'm home for the summer.

Austin Half Marathon

2007-02-21T21:21:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, I headed to Austin with 4 others to run in the Half Marathon that was happening on Sunday morning. We headed out from school on Friday afternoon, and arrived in Austin at almost 11pm. The drive is close to 7 hours! I did some outlet shopping on Saturday (had lots of success at Banana Republic!) and got to visit some of the stores I'd been hearing about from my new-found American friends (REI = American equivalent of MEC and Whole Foods, which yes, has arrived in Canada, but I had never been).

The race was at 7am on Sunday morning. Both the half marathon and the marathon started at the same time. There were 12,000 runners gathered by 6:30am, in the dark, with a temperature of about 40 degrees farenheit (not warm!). The half and full marathons followed the same course for the first 10 miles. Along the race course were many bands and tons of spectators. The race bibs that were printed with our numbers also had our names printed on them which meant that there were random people in the crowd yelling "Go Ginny!" which was a pleasant surprise when you didn't expect to have anyone cheering for you.

While I had been doing some training to prepare for this race, I really wasn't sure how it was going to. I'd been feeling pretty crappy for the past couple of weeks, with random colds and coughs. I'd also had some trouble with both my new and old pairs of running shoes (both were giving me blisters)... So, I didn't have huge expectations for the race. I was hoping to finish in just under 2 hours, which is something I had accomplished in the past.

At the race expo on Saturday, I found out that the course, being in the USA, was only going to have mile markers instead of kilometer markers. It took me a little while to get my head around this because I am used to pacing myself by the kilometer. I have a good idea of how fast I should be running each km, but I hadn't ever thought of running in terms of miles. I did a little math that night and figured that if I ran 9minute miles, I would finish in approximately 1hour 58 minutes, so that is what I set out to do.

I guess adrenaline and the crowd, and the gorgeous sun that came out gave me a little push because I finished in 1:54:14. I was soooo happy. I can't wait to get emailed the pictures of me crossing the finish line as I'm expecting to see a huge smile across my face. That race time meant I was 387 out of 3006 women, which made me quite proud.

Because the race was so early, we got to enjoy the rest of the day in Austin (had lunch at Whole Foods, played Shuffleboard, went to the Alama movie theatre, where you eat dinner while you are eating, and had the obligatory nap). Austin is definitely a city I can see spending some more time in. It has a very laid-back, unique feel to it. There are many independent stores/restaurants as well as local chains. The city has a river running through it with some great running paths. I was very impressed.

We had opted to take Monday off of work so that we wouldn't have to sit in the car for 7 hours after just running 21km. This was absolutely the right choice. My legs were quite sore on Monday, as well as Tuesday, but feel great today. I'm now trying to pick my next goal race.. There is an upcoming 10k in Monterrey, so perhaps I'll do that.

I'm waiting to get emailed some races pictures from the others who went with me... I'll try to post them when I get them.

Small Adventure Turns Big...

2007-02-04T16:08:00.000-06:00

This weekend, while many other staff members have travelled south to Playa del Carmen, I decided I wanted to stay put in Monterrey. I'll be heading to Austin in two weeks for a half marathon and wanted to be sure I could get my last long run in and spend some time relaxing around the house.

Abby and I decided that we would take a day trip to the nearby city of Saltillo. Saltillo is the capital of Coahuila, the next state over. The drive is not far - it should take less than an hour. We set out early on Saturday morning and unfortunately were driving in an incredibly thick fog. Visibility was horrible. We could barely see the car in front of us.

Despite this. the drive didn't take much more than an hour and 15 minutes, and we made it to the Museo del Desierto (Desert Museum) just as it opened.

This is a pretty neat museum - with dinosaur fossils and all sorts of information about the vegetation and animals of the desert region. It was a challenge though - as all the information was in spanish. I managed to understand a surprising amount. I'll have to tell the kids in my class to visit this museum. We've been studying dinosaurs for the past month in second grade and most of them are pretty much obsessed. I took some pictures that I'll share with them.

After the museum, we parked downtown and went to the market. Saltillo is known for its "sarapes". These are basically the Mexican blankets that a lot of people think of as being a typical souvenir of Mexico. I bought myself a brightly colored striped one that I'll leave out in our living room as a little bit of warmth and a lot of color.

We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant and I was impressed with how adventurous we were. I had a chicken soup (caldo de pollo, I think) and then there was pollo en una salsa de queso con arroz (chicken in a cheese sauce with rice). On the side there was avocado, and some lettuce and tomato. Though I ate everything else, I didn't trust the uncooked veggies, so I skipped out on my greens.

Shortly after, Abby and I decided we'd seen enough of Saltillo and would head back to Monterrey. It was only 2:30, so I was anticipating we would be back by 4:00 which still left quite a bit of the day in Monterrey. After maneuvering some one way streets, we eventually got to the highway and headed towards Monterrey.

Around 3:00 traffic slowed right down. In fact, we were essentially stopped. In one hour, we moved maybe 50 feet. People were getting out of their cars and trucks to try and figure out what was going on. We were at a junction on the highway and we could see that the lane from the other highway that joined ours was backed up for as far as we could see. I got out of the car and in broken spanish asked a man what was going on. He told me that a truck had fallen over and some pipe had broken and there was liquid all over the road. I asked how long he thought it would be until we moved, and he guessed 3 hours. Abby and I had already looked at the map to see if there were any sideroads we could take to get out of here, but there weren't any in the nearby area. I asked the man if he knew any other way to get to Monterrey. He said we could follow him to Monclava. A few others cars were going to do this, so I got back in the car with Abby and off we went.

Now, Monclava was 170km from where we were. It was also directly north and we needed to travel only 56km more to Monterrey (which was west). We decided we'd rather be moving than sitting on the highway for who knows how long, so we headed to Monclava. At Monclava there is a second highway that takes you south-west to Monterrey - an additional 170km. We ended up getting back to Monterrey around 8pm, exhausted, slightly frustrated and ready to be home. We convinced ourselves that we had chosen the better option, saying that we were sure those people were still stuck on the highway.

This morning I checked the news to find out what had happened. Well, it turns out we did make the better choice, even if we ended up driving 340km instead of 56. The crash had happened just before 3:00pm. The highway didn't get cleared until at least 11pm, though some reports were saying it took 15 hours to restore the highway to normal use. Yikes.

Well, at least we got to see a little more of Mexico, treat ourselves to an icecream sandwich at the Oxxo (like a 7-11) in Monclava, and get home only 12 hours after we'd left that morning.

Observations about Mexican life...

2007-02-01T18:12:00.000-06:00

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!

Settling Back In...

2007-01-17T19:36:00.000-06:00

I keep meaning to update my blog, but it has been a bit of a whirlwind since I arrived back in Monterrey a week and a half ago.

After my crazy travel day, I did make it to Monterrey on the Saturday. It was a stressful, exhausting day, as I kept missing flights and arriving at airports needing to book another flight to find out it would be leaving in a few minutes and sprinting through the airport to board the flight as the last few passengers got on. My bags, of course, were not as fast. They arrived in Monterrey on Sunday and were delivered to my house.

It's been nice to be getting back into a routine and establishing some regular patterns of activity. I am tutoring again this semester, on Mondays and Wednesdays. I have just started taking Spanish classes on Tuesday evenings. I'm keeping busy with school, but trying to spend a little less time there than i did last semester. I'm limiting myself to 2 hours each weekend, if I go in at all.

I had a great first weekend back. It was busy from the get-go with dinner out on Friday night for a friend's birthday. The next morning I went hiking with four others. We did "El Pinal" which is a hike that takes you up to a weather station. I had been eyeing that site since the beginning of the year, but had yet to make it. We started out almost at the bottom of Chipinque and headed up, with very few breaks. It took almost 4 fours from start to finish. My legs were still feeling it on Monday!

Saturday evening was a school New Year's party - a chance to ring in the new year with school friends. Laurie and I had some people over here before hand to order pizza and then headed up to the party. It was a good night, especially as it brought the elementary and high school staff together.

Thanks to Jamie and Erin, two Canadian teachers with satellite, I was able to see the 4 hour season premiere of 24. I'll have to make a choice next week, as the show will be on on Mondays, when I normally play ultimate. In so many ways, I much prefer watching 24 on the DVD - you don't have commercials and you don't have to wait a week for another episode... But I am really enjoying ultimate.

Another Travel Disaster...

2007-01-06T22:42:00.000-06:00

It’s possible that some of you haven’t heard of my travel adventures each time I try to travel to or from Monterrey… Unfortunately Ottawa, our nation’s capital, doesn’t seem to have many flight options when it comes to going to Monterrey. This has resulted in my flight itinerary being: Ottawa to Chicago, Chicago to Dallas, and Dallas to Monterrey. I suppose that any time you have this many connections, there is room for trouble.

This summer, when flying down to Monterrey for the first time with my parents we experienced several travel disasters. That trip, we spent almost two hours sitting in a plane with little to no air-conditioning waiting to be re-routed to a new airstrip in Chicago (“the Windy City”) because of a change in wind. Because we sat on the plane for so long, upon take-off, the pilot realized that we no longer had enough gas to make it all the way to Dallas and would have to stop in Oklahoma City. Perfect. This meant we got to Dallas, missed our final connection, but luckily got the last few seats on the final flight to Monterrey that evening. Total time spent traveling that day: 13 hours.

When returning home for the Christmas Break, my school booked me on a flight that required me to leave school a half hour early to ensure I would make it to the Monterrey airport in time for my flight. I sped out of school and got to the airport only to find out that my flight to Dallas had been delayed due to “weather”. As soon as I heard that it was delayed, I know that this meant I was definitely at risk of missing my later connections… And all this was happening on one of the busiest travel days of the year. We left for Dallas 2 hours after the original time, where fortunately this same “weather” had delayed my second flight so I was able to make it to Chicago, but after my Ottawa flight would have left. We did make up some time on the Dallas-Chicago flight, so there was a glimmer of hope that I would make that final connection (it had also been delayed an hour). When we pulled into the airport they announced what gate I was to go to; however the plane took off 2 minutes before I got to the terminal. There were no later flights to Ottawa so I was stuck in Chicago overnight. The airline doesn’t provide you with a hotel when flights are delayed or cancelled due to weather. Fortunately I was able to get on the first flight to Ottawa the next morning. Other people were being told they wouldn’t arrive at their destination until Boxing Day. Total time spent traveling/in airports/and stuck in Chicago: 23 hours.

It is now January 6th and I should be well on my way back to Monterrey. However, a 2:30am phone call from American Airlines told me that my flight from Ottawa to Chicago was cancelled due to “weather” (and that is all the information they will give you). Despite trying to convince her that there was no “weather” that I could currently see, she insisted that the flight was cancelled and that it would NOT be re-scheduled for that day. I asked her what other options existed, telling her that I needed to get to Monterrey today. Apparently there were no other options and I would be re-scheduled for the same flight itinerary for the following day (Sunday – the day before classes). After getting off the phone, waking my parents to tell them that we didn’t need to head to the airport in an hour, I checked the Ottawa Airport website to see if other flights had been cancelled due to the notorious “weather”. Only three other flights had been cancelled so far – so I was a little confused. I tried to convince myself that it would be okay to be stuck in Ottawa (I could do a little bit of planning for the week ahead, perhaps get to see Sarah Fleming who was returning from her cruise today and have a good last dinner with my parents). Somewhat satisfied I fell asleep on the couch and woke up around 9:20am. I decided I would check the airport website again to see if the other flights had been cancelled. According to the website, my 6am flight to Chicago had been re-schedule to 11:20. (Thanks to the brilliant 1-800 lady who said this would not happen). I grabbed the phone and called the 1-800 number and asked if I could get on that flight and if I would be able to get through to Monterrey today. With a little convincing, she re-scheduled me (even though I would be arriving at the airport with less than 2 hours to go). My parents and I flew into action, putting everything in the car and zipping to the airport (thank goodness it is only 9 minute drive!).

So, now I’m sitting in the Ottawa Airport waiting for my flight. I’ve been re-scheduled on the connecting flights, and if all my flights stay on time, I should make it to Monterrey tonight Unfortunately, my travel record with this airline isn’t so great… so I’ll let you know.

Oooh! It is now 10:40pm. I’ve arrived and am at my house in Monterrey. The whole day was a travel disaster and I am without my bags – but that will have to come in another post. This might have been my shortest travel experience yet… But definitely one I hope not to repeat. Night!

Nothing on a small scale...

2006-12-13T18:33:00.000-06:00

I am showing you pictures of cupcakes that were brought into my class to celebrate a student's birthday last week. In this community, nothing is ever done in a shoddy way. I could not believe how gorgeous these cupcakes were... I ws so impressed that I grabbed my laptop, held it at a very odd angle just so I could capture what they looked like... And I don't think the picture does them justice... But yes, they were as good as the looked. Mmmm...

Counting Down!

2006-12-02T20:28:00.000-06:00

I am so excited that it is December. I have officially started the count-down to my arrival in Canada. (I'll be there in 18 days!) Fortunately, I think (and hope!) that the next 2 and a half weeks will fly by between Christmas events, report cards, and packing.

We had Friday off because the new Mexican president (Calderon) was being inaugurated. The event went off, more or less, without a hitch, with is good because the entire process of this particular election has been filled with controversy. The defeated presidential candidate still does not agree that he lost, and he has quite a number of supporters in the south of Mexico who are fighting on his behalf. Nonetheless, there were no major catastrophes in Mexio City or elsewhere, so hopefully people will start to move forward.

It was so nice to not have to work on Friday, and to stay in Monterrey instead of going away. I had a leisurely day, going for a nice run in the morning, and then heading downtown to check out some museums and bookstores on a gift-shopping mission. We stopped for lunch at an Argentian restaurant that I've been too before, and good pizza for lunch. The restaurant is right across from the main Monterrey theatre, so we bought tickets to see the Nutcracker in a few weeks. Christmas is definitely in the air!

This morning, 7 of us went for a hike. It was a gorgeous fall day - slightly chilly but sunny. Afterwards, we went to Brad and Candace's (Canadians, not teachers) for an impromptu brunch. A nice crowd, and lots of good food. Brad was making fancy coffees, and we had pancakes with real Canadian maple syrup. A nice treat!

This evening we are headed out for dinner at a typical Mexican hour - 9pm. I had an afternoon nap to give me some extra energy.

Tomorrow, there is a parade along the Calzada to officially turn on the lights. Apparently there will be all sorts of floats, and it is quite likely that I will see a few of my students. Abby has decided to bake some pies and have people over for dessert and cider afterwards.

Its amazing that we manage to fit school in between everything else!

Life in Guanajuato

2006-11-24T21:00:00.000-06:00

Thursday, November 23rd

I have finished my 3rd of 4 days of class and I can tell that my Spanish has improved. I’ve been able to have decent conversations over meals with my host family and I had to do some writing today in one of my classes, and I was able to write almost an entire page, needing to look up only a few words! French words still pop into my vocabulary, and I fear that whatever French I did know is slowing being pushed into the deep recesses of my brain.

I’m not sure if I’ve talked before about the general eating patterns in Mexico. People eat breakfast (desayuna) at a time similar to us, early in the morning before heading to work or school. The main meal of the day is a late afternoon meal, called “comida”, meaning “food”. This takes place around 2:30 – 4:00 and usually involves people coming home from work or school to eat together before heading off to late afternoon activities or back to work. This meal is definitely the main one of the day. With the Alguilar family that I have been staying with, the husband comes home from work and usually one or two of the grown children come with their spouse and children. This event definitely showcases the Mexican family values. Late in the evening, 8:00 or 9:00 is cena (dinner). This is a light meal, just a little snack. This week I’ve actually enjoyed eating in this way, but it doesn’t work very well with my teaching schedule in Monterrey (a break for lunch at 11:30, and then not home until 4:30 or 5:00).

This week, I’ve been returning to my “home” after classes, getting back around 3:30. I then eat with the family before Abby and I have been heading out to do a little exploring. Yesterday we went to the Diego Rivera house and museum, and today we took the Funicular up to get a view of the city. Before coming to Mexico I didn’t know any Mexican artists, but am now at least a little familiar with the work of Diego Rivera and Frida Khalo (who was married to Diego). Frida Khalo is the Mexican woman with the very strongly defined unibrow. Of course there is much more to her, but that is just about all I know.

Here are some photos of Guanajuato from the top of the big hill:

The entire week I couldn't stop comparing the downtown area of Guanajuato to some of the European cities I had seen while travelling in the summer of 2005.

However, things always happen in Mexico that quickly remind me that I live in Mexico now. This picture captures one such event:

It's important that these things happen every once in a while. I periodically forget that I am living in a foreign country, trying to get by in another language and culture. My life in San Pedro in Monterrey has in some ways become so familiar that I find I forget where I really am. The donkeys in the streets, or loose cattle grazing beside (like a foot away from) the highway help keep me grounded.

Tomorrow afternoon, after classes and la comida, Abby and I will head to San Louis Potosi, about 3 hours ago. We will stay overnight there, do a little touring in the morning and then begin the 6 hour drive to Monterrey.

Less than one month until I’m home! Yippeee!

Hace frío! (It’s cold!)

2006-11-24T20:53:00.000-06:00

Tuesday November 21, 2006
It feels like all I ever talk about anymore is the crazy Mexican weather… But, honestly! It does seem to be something that no one could have prepared me for. I am writing this while in Guanajuato, at the end of my first day of language school (more about that later), and though I haven’t heard the official temperature from today, I am sure it must have been around 2 or 3 degrees Celsius. I spent the entire day wearing one long-sleeved shirt, a wool sweater, a THICK sweatshirt and a windbreaker – and I still wasn’t warm! While in San Miguel this past weekend I purchased a pair of mittens, thinking I would only need them for that particular evening. That was Saturday, and it is now Tuesday, and I have every intention of wearing them again tomorrow. Apparently it was -2 in Mexico City today. And the biggest issue about these temperatures is that the houses and buildings are NOT insulated. The outside temperature IS the inside temperature. Yikes!

Like I said, I am currently in Guanajuato. After spending Saturday and Sunday in San Miguel (still a favorite of mine!) and doing some serious Christmas shopping, Abby and I drove to Guanajuato. I had no idea what we were in for when driving into the city. It is amazing! Designated a UN Historical City, it has tunnels and subterranean streets, leaving much of the regular streets free from cars. It has a bit of a European feel: lots of beautiful old buildings (theatres, churches, a big university). There are several squares in the centre surrounded by cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating (though no one is sitting outside these days). Shortly after arriving in the city, we contacted our host families who we would be staying with for the week. I am staying with the Alguilar family: Guadalupe and Alberto. Guadalupe picked me up in her OLD Volkswagon Beetle (a Mexican staple) and drove me to her nearby house. The house is very comfortable. I have my own room and bathroom. The family provides all my meals and I have a 20 minute walk to the Spanish school.

We didn’t have classes on Monday because it was the Mexican Revolution holiday. Every city and town, large and small, seemed to have a parade that day. The two parades that I was able to bear witness to (San Miguel and Dolores Hidalgo – a town in between San Miguel and Guanajuato, and home to lots of Talavera pottery) seemed to consist of all the school children from the city wearing their school uniform and marching in the streets. There were no floats, though occasionally the kids twirled batons or jumped rope. Some groups, instead of wearing the school uniform, wore traditional dress.

Now, the main purpose of this trip of course is to improve my Spanish, and today marked the formal beginning of that. We were supposed to be at school for 8:30 to get our class schedules figured out. In typical Mexican style we waited a long time, not getting my schedule until 9:50, to discover that I had missed my first class and half of my second. I went up to the second class and joined it, but it was much too easy (hooray! I do know some Spanish!). After negotiating with the schedule lady I got a different schedule that was better – but not perfect. There was one particular grammar class I was hoping to take, but it is not being offered this week. To make up for it, Abby and I (who have the exact same schedule) added a semi-private lesson each day so we can hit of this verb tenses that we wanted to come away with. The makes my schedule include 2 hours of grammar class, 2 hours of conversation and then an hour semi-private class. It didn’t seem to exhausting today (but I missed 1.5 hours of class!). I definitely think I will learn a lot this week, in class and at home, where I only speak Spanish to the family.

Well, I am off to bed… I’ve got 4 blankets on, in addition to my pajamas and a sweatshirt. Here’s hoping for sunny skies tomorrow!

2006-11-17T18:06:00.000-06:00

Apparently I've been slacking at getting new posts up on my blog. At least that means that people are checking often! I'll try to do better.

I can't believe we are beyond the middle of November and I will be home in just over a month! I arrive into Ottawa late on December 20th. I fly back to Monterrey early on January 6th. If you think your holiday plans may bring you to the Ottawa area (or Ktown around New Years!) let me know because I'd love to see you. Its going to be a whirlwind couple of weeks, but I'd love to fit in what I can.

However, I still have another month here... so, back to Monterrey! I'm trying to think what I've been up to since I last updated around Hallowe'en. As usual, I've been busy with school and my class. They are still a lovely bunch and I enjoy being with them. I've started tutoring a grade one student twice per week. She comes to my house and basically we do her homework together and play math games and read books. Its a lot of fun. She's pretty cute.

I was a little sick a few weeks ago, which was a bummer... But it was a great excuse to spend a weekend curled up on my couch. It also gave me a chance to catch up on the 2nd season of Grey Anatomy that I borrowed from my friend Michelle. This afternoon I just watched the cast on Oprah with a friend who has satellite. I am able to keep up with the 3rd season of Grey's (in case you were concerned) by having a standing-date with some friends who have Canadian satellite here in Monterrey.

Sarah Fleming is almost 100% coming to Monterrey to do her Alt prac in March and she is going to live with me! That will be super fun and I am excited to show her around this interesting place.

I can't remember if I've written about this before.. but every month at school we have a Flag Assembly, where we recognize the Mexican and American flags, sing the anthems and say the respective pledges. Well, I don't sing or say them.. I'm trying to learn the words though. Especially to the Mexican anthem - it has a very inspiring sound to it. Each month, one grade is in charge of the assembly. This month was the 2nd grade, so my class worked with their Spanish teacher to put together a poem to present. They all came dressed in traditional Mexican dress - the girls in dresses and skirts, and the boys in white shirts, black pants and a hankerchief tied around their necks. One of my moms sent me a picture from after the assembly of me with some of the girls in my class. Aren't they cute???

So.. about this Mexican weather... it is SO NOT HOT here. This week, mornings have been a chilly 12 degrees. And no, I agree, this does not sound cold - but when the buildings aren't insulated, even my Canadian endurance is put to the test. Fortunately after the first cold spell, my mom put together a box of pants, shoes and sweaters and sent them down to me, so I'm keeping warm. The strangest part about the weather is that by the afternoon it is easily above 25 degrees and you can be out in a t-shirt shorts. I'm not sure how long this will keep up for. Though I've been told that this kind of fluctuating weather is typical of Monterrey and I should just learn to dress in layers.

I am actually just begining a week-long holiday today. We get a week off because the Mexican Revolution (November 20th) and American Thanksgiving happen in the same week this year. I am off to Guanajuato with Abby (a fellow 2nd grade teacher) to spend a week at a language school. On the way we are going to stop in San Miguel (where I went in September), and on the way back we will spend a night in San Luis Potosi. I'm sure I'll have stories to tell after this... and maybe I'll even tell them in Spanish! I need to finish packing.. but wanted to let you know I'm alive and well... Eager to get home to Canada for a little visit - but still happy to be in Mexico!
xo

The Monarchs Are Here!

2006-10-31T19:10:00.000-06:00

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

2006-10-30T17:47:00.000-06:00

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!

2006-10-29T09:22:00.000-06:00

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!

2006-10-23T21:04:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-15T20:17:00.000-05:00

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!

2006-10-09T00:04:00.000-05:00

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"

2006-10-01T19:01:00.000-05:00

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!

A Sign I Really AM In Mexico...

2006-09-27T00:22:00.000-05:00

Its 12:30 am. I've been sleeping for about 2 hours but am woken to the sounds of trumpets and violins from outside. It sounds like the music is right outside my apartment window, in our front patio. Closer inspection leds me to discover that there is a Mariachi band playing outside the apartment building next year.

From what I have learned so far, these bands (that we have encountered several times before in social venues) can be hired to send a special message (for example, if a men messes up really badly with his partner, he may hire a Mariachi band to serenade his loved one. This type of apology apparently goes a long way here in Monterrey) or commemorate a special occasion (an engagement, for example).

Yes, this morning the music of a Mariachi band woke me up. Laurie and I wandered outside half asleep to figure out where the music really was coming from. I'm amazed there weren't other people in the street - there is NO way I'll be able to fall asleep while they are playing. But I'm not complaining. The music is beautiful. And I don't think this would EVER happen in Canada.

Pictures from San Miguel

2006-09-18T16:43:00.000-05:00

We crossed the Tropic of Cancer during our 8 hour trip - so naturally we had to stop for a picture.

Laurie and I standing on the balcony of our hotel before we went out for dinner Friday night. I bought the dress that day at a store in San Miguel. I never would have tried it on without some persuasion.
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Jen and I had some success in a little clothing store in the market. Like my top?

The entire town was decorate for the weekend. The Viva Mexico sign was right in the downtown Plaza Principal. The other photo could have been taken on any street - they all had banners and flags up.

My New Favourite Spot...

2006-09-17T22:00:00.000-05:00

San Miguel! My new favourite place in Mexico! Honestly, if you haven’t already visited this colonial town, you must do so. It is beautiful and full of character… with great shopping (in both markets and stores) and lots of great restaurants.

This was our first long weekend of the school year. Because of Mexican Independence Day, we had the Friday off from school. On Thursday afternoon, three cars, consisting of 11 people, caravanned from Monterrey to San Miguel (almost 750km and 8 hours!). We arrived late Thursday night (around midnight) but this meant we had the full days on Friday and Saturday to explore.

Mexican Independence day is a bit like Canada day… but much bigger! There are such feelings of patriotism in this country. The entire city seemed to be decorated in red, green and white, with flags and banners all around. On Friday evening at 11pm, there is a celebration in cities around the country. There is singing and the national anthem, and fire works. Fireworks here are a little different than in Canada, where there is usually a distance required between the actual fireworks and the spectators. Here, that was not the case and an object that had been lit on fire and flown into the air actually came crashing down on the crowd. I don’t think anyone was hurt too badly; but we immediately bolted a 100metres or so away, so I don’t know for sure.

I was a very successful shopper this weekend – though most of my purchases were not for me. I won’t show too many pictures of what I bought because some of you may be receiving this gifts at Christmas time. Speaking of Christmas, for family members and the Hunters who have been discussing a Destination Christmas for 2007, this may be the place! Though not on the beach, it is lovely and relaxing...

San Miguel is actually one of the top 20 places for Americans to retire… So there is quite a bit of English spoken here. This was the first time in my 7 or so weeks in Mexico that I didn’t feel like we (as a group of Canadians and Americans) stood out completely. Despite all these English speakers, I did get to practice a fair bit of Spanish, and I can tell that I have improved.

My internet keeps timing out... so I will try to get the accompanying pictures up tomorrow.

Lessons Learned in Monterrey!

2006-09-11T20:09:00.000-05:00

Out at the restaurant; Mexican Independence Day is coming up!

Laurie, Libby and I on our long hike (Lesson #2)

Libby and I soaking wet after running from the cab to the restaurant (see Lesson #3)

Libby and I soaking wet after running from the cab to the restaurant (see Lesson #3)

I am coming up on my 7th week in Mexico. Time has definitely flown by and some things are starting to become routine:
-waking up EARLY to go running in the dark along the Calzada
-being at work by 7am
-weekend hikes at Chipinque
-shopping at the grocery store (I now know how to find most of what I want, and I can even ask for sliced meat at the deli!)

I have certainly learned a lot. Some of the most interesting lessons learned recently:

Lesson #1: The Power of the Index Finger

In Monterrey, and perhaps all of Mexico, there are a number of hand signals that people use to communicate without speaking.

1.Slight movement of the index finger (ie. moving the finger back and forth but NOT the hand) means no. It can be used in restaurants, with students, or any time you are unable to speak (mouth is full, or you are already in a conversation and a student asks you a question).

2.Repeated bending of the index finger downwards means yes. Like the sign for no, it can be used anywhere, and is especialy helpful when you are eating and someone asks you a question.

There are some others, but these are the two that I am sort of beginning to incorporate as habits.

Lesson #2: Distance Covered While Hiking is MUCH Different Than Walking/Running

This weekend four of us headed out for what has become a bit of a weekend ritual: a Saturday morning hike. Feeling particularly energetic, we decided to take our regular route but continue farther than we had gone before. The trails all have markings indicating distance every 100m. This weekend we hiked 5km out on the trail and then another 5km back. If I was runing this distance, it might take me 50 minute or so... Walking? Maybe two hours? Well... our hike was almost 3 hours. A great 3 hours at that - but a lot more work than walking 10k!

Lesson #3: Rain Here Can be Intense!

On Saturday night some of us headed downtown to a restuarant that had been recommended to us. it serves tapas and around 11pm, a Mariachi band (see an earlier post) comes and plays. We took a cab downtown, and got out at the specified intersection, not knowing exactly where the restaurant was. Unfortunately it was pouring rain... We hid under a canopy and got someone to point out where the restaurant was. Figuring that the rain was not going to let up, we made a mad dash for the place. We only had to run for about 300metres.. but we were soaked! I actually had to towel myself off in the bathroom. The restaurant felt sorry for us, I guess, so they brought us all a bowl of this spicy chicken vegetable soup. :) People say it doesn't rain often here.. but when it does.. Watch out!

More Mexican Adventures

2006-08-31T19:56:00.000-05:00

It has been a little while since I got anything up here. Since I wrote last there have been a few interesting adventures...

-Camping in Rayones... 20 or so of us from school headed for a 2 hour drive last Friday to spend the night at a campsite. It was great to get out of the city and just relax. We went to the area because it was supposed to have a good river to go tubing in (i.e ride a tube down the current). This was quite an exciting prospect because there is no fresh water in Monterrey and for lots of us (coming from Ontario and other places), we love the water. The river that we were going to is only actually a river at certain points of the year (if there has been a lot of rain). So, there was water.. but not as much as we were expecting. However, the site we stayed at had a pool that the owners filled up for us, so we spent most of Saturday lounging around the pool on the tubes people had brought for the river. I managed to borrow all the great necessary for camping.. but since it seems like a thing that people do here fairly often, so I may look into investing in a tent and that sort of stuff.

-A Rodeo! On Sunday afternoon some of us ventured out to a rodeo. Unfortunately, we had the start time a little wrong (we thought it started at 4, but it actually started at 6), so we ended up seeing really only the warm-up. Jen (a Toronto girl who went to Branksome and teaches 3rd) and I had to head back home to get ready for our Sunday pot-luck. To be honest, I had really had enough of the rodeo. Seeing men on horses trying to take out little cows by tripping them wasn't exactly my ideal entertainment. Definitely a cultural experience.

-I ventured out on day by myself to go to the grocery store. I thought i should start to become a little more independent and try to use some of my very rough spanish. Though I survived, and made it home with pretty much everything I had hoped to by, I definitely realized that being in this country without speaking the language can be a very difficult and frustrating experience. Not being able to express yourself or ask questions certainly limits the extent to which you can actively participate in the society around us. Spanish lessons have started and I am trying to have some sort of Spanish conversation every day (speaking to the custodian who cleans my room, asking for something at a store...), but my Spanish skills are not coming along as quickly as I would like. I think I need to commit to spending some more time learning on my own.

-We had our school Open House this week. This is when the parents come in to hear you give a presentation about the year ahead. Being in Mexico, the parents were of course dressed up for the occassion, and we had been encouraged to do the same.. Some people went out and got pedicures and haircuts and that sort of thing. I straightened my hair and put on a little make-up and thought that was enough effort. I had put together a powerpoint presentation with pictures of my kids from the first few days of school, and I think the parents enjoyed that. The whole thing went really well and it definitely wasn't worth being nervous for.

Its almost the weekend again, which is exciting. I will definitely need to catch up on a little sleep, probably do some work for school and fit in some fun stuff in between. I know we've got plans to hike at Chipinque again, and possibly someone's surprise birthday party tomorrow night.

Apparently my sister just found out she was picked for a camp directing job, so I am hoping that means she can make it down here before that starts. It would be nice to have some elements from home down here again.

I'm sure there are more stories I'm forgetting, but this is as much as I can put together now. School has been tiring me out. :)

Mexican Soccer!

2006-08-20T11:27:00.000-05:00

The hike at Chipinque on Saturday morning was great. There were 10 girls who came, and though the majority was from my school, there were several others from two different English schools in the city. We hiked for probably an hour and a half or so, and then went down to El Centrito (the little downtown near where I live) for juice. By this time it was almost 1pm, so a few of us headed to “Super Salads” for lunch. Now that I am mostly over my fear of eating lettuce in restaurants, I was able to get the perfect lunch. You can get a combo of two of soup, salad and sandwich and you get to pick out of a whole range of different types of salads. If you cant find a particular salad that you want, you can even assemble your own.

Saturday evening I went to the Monterrey Tigres soccer game with 15 others. That was definitely an experience. The stadium seats around 50,000 people and almost everyone was wearing a Tigres jersey of some sort. Monterrey is apparently very good at supporting its soccer teams. Of the 50,000 seats, just over 20,000 belong to season ticket holders. There is one section of the stadium that belongs to the Booster Club, and the people who sit in this section are dedicated fans. They jump up and down and sing through the entire game, waving blue and yellow flags. The halftime show consisted of scantily-clad women playing soccer with an exercise ball. It was interesting, to say the least.

Classroom and Apartment Photos!

2006-08-20T11:11:00.000-05:00

This a photo of my bedroom (the beautiful bedspread came from Jessie in India) and the other photo shows the view as you walk out my front door. See the mountains above the house across the sheet? That is where Chipinque park is.

Here are three shots of my classroom before the kids arrived.. I apologize for the blurriness. I'm not sure what happened there.

Canyon Photos

2006-08-20T11:08:00.000-05:00

Here are the photos to prove that I actually did climb and rappell! It was slightly scary... but definitely worth it!

2006-08-20T10:57:00.000-05:00

I’ve survived! We had our first few days of classes this week, and I am still here to speak of it. Things actually went really well. On Tuesday, our students came in with their parents to meet their teacher and drop off their materials. They were divided into groups by half hour; it was a great way to meet a few at a time and to eliminate some of the chaos of the first day of classes.

Wednesday morning I had the whole group: 20 little Mexicans (11 girls and 9 boys). They are so cute. But chatty! Everyone had been trying to prepare us for this aspect of their culture. It wasn’t so much their chattiness that I noticed but the fact that they chat in Spanish. This, of course, at an English school is a no-no. So that is something we are going to need to work on.

Wednesday was mainly a day of getting oriented, playing some games and coming up with our class rules. On Thursday and Friday I started to get into some of the actual teaching, but still mixed with some of those get-to-know you activities. This coming week, we’ll be right into the curriculum. The school has a pretty intense curriculum, with a lot of material to cover, so we’ve got to get right down to it.

Friday night we had “Canyon Night”. It has apparently become a tradition at the school to spend the first Friday evening out at the Huasteca Canyon and introduce the new people to climbing and rappelling. I had a chance to try both (see the pictures). I’ve been climbing once or twice before in an indoor gym but this was totally different. It isn’t obvious at all where to try and put your hands or feet. Rappelling (when you have control of the rope going down) was pretty cool. But the beginning, where you have to walk yourself backwards to the edge and start lowering yourself, until you are basically perpendicular to wall was a little nerve-racking. After that it was fun. I can’t say that climbing is going to be my newest hobby – but I’m glad I’ve done it once. We stayed in the area until 11 or so; people made a campfire and had brought camping stoves so we could BBQ some dinner.

This week I also played Ultimate Frisbee with a group that meets at my school on Monday nights. I’ve played casually a few times before, but I definitely some practice. I’m happy running up and down the field and maybe catching the disc a few times, so I think I’ll go back. I’m working on recruiting some other inexperienced people as well.

This morning I’m off to go hiking at Chipinque with some people from school. You just have to take advantage of the surroundings down here. It still amazes me every morning when I walk out the front door and see mountains.

I have now got internet at my house! So I am going to figure out how Skype works (it lets you talk to people for free over the internet) and hopefully be in better communication that way.

I would love to hear from you!

New Photos

2006-08-13T11:54:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos of some of the things I've been referring to.

The picture with the pool and all the people is from the Pool Party we had on Friday night. The picture with me holding a beer (Surprised? Me too!) is me and Laurie (my roommate at the same party).

The group photo of 4 girls and a guy is the Panuco Family (all the new staff who live in our building). The photo of the man singing and playing guitar is from the PTA diner where a Mariachi band came and performed for us.

The photo of the mountains shows the famous Monterrey Sadle - and this is visible from most spots in the city.

The group photo of 4 girls and a guy is the Panuco Family (all the new staff who live in our building). The photo of the man singing and playing guitar is from the PTA diner where a Mariachi band came and performed for us.

The photo of the mountains shows the famous Monterrey Sadle - and this is visible from most spots in the city.

Another week, another fiesta...

2006-08-13T11:52:00.000-05:00

It has been another busy week in Monterrey. Since I last updated this, we have had a full week of Orientation, a group dinner at our place, a salsa (the food not the dance) party, a big group dinner at Fiesta Tacos, and our week culminated in a pool party at the home of the Superintendent. Between all those social events (and more) we spent hours at school in meetings and ducking out to our classrooms whenever possible to try and put things in to order.

Beginning Tuesday of this past week, we had all the teaching staff of the school present for Orientation. Before that it had just been us newbies. It has been nice to have many more people around, and I can’t stop saying how supportive everyone has been. From helping us arrange for a cleaning lady to getting us info on internet and cable tv to just stopping in the hall to check how things are going (at school and personally) – it was been amazing.

I am beginning to feel more and more confident about the whole teaching aspect. This school definitely expects a lot of us – but they also seem to have all the supports in place to help us be successful. I will be teaching Second Grade with 7 other people. We also have a literacy coach for K-2 and each grade has a Resource teacher. We have people who do our photocopying and deliver any technology materials we need in our class. I could get used to this. ☺

Today (Saturday) I had a little bit of a sleep in after a late night at the pool party (followed by an after-party at a house known as ‘The Birdcage’). I them heading off to school (just around the corner) and spent a few hours at school fiddling with things in my classroom and reading some of the many books and packages I have been given this week. There were lots of people in school today, so it wasn’t all work. In the late afternoon Laurie (my roommate) and Libby (our across the hall neighbour) headed to the Sorianna (a food store) to pick up some groceries and cleaning supplies (our cleaning lady comes for the first tie on Tuesday!). One thing I am quickly learning one thing about being in a country that speaks a different language – things take a long time. It isn’t as simple as popping into the grocery store to pick up a few things. It takes a long time to find things when you can’t read all the signs. This afternoon I tried to prepare a rice salad (the same one from my Mexican fiesta). It should have been quite simple, but of course the instructions on the box were all in Spanish. Dictionary in hand, I figured it out.

We made it out of the Sorianna (and a few other stores) about 2 hours later, exhausted and starving. We stopped at an pizza place where we were welcomed by an Italian women. On our way out, someone called us over from across the restaurant (she heard us speaking English) and wanted to know if we were interested in teaching some adult English classes. It seems that people here are way more comfortable and willing to speak to strangers than I am used to in Canada. It is very nice.

Spanish lessons will be starting this week, so hopefully things will begin to get a little easier.

We have a long weekend coming up (September 15th) so we are starting to plan a trip. Oe of the PTA mom’s we met is a travel agent, so she is looking at some all-inclusive resorts for us to go to. A 3 day weekend at Puerta Vallerta sounds good to me.

We will be getting internet to our house, hopefully soon, so it will be a lot easier for me to be in touch with everyone. Apparently something good to use is “Skype” which lets you talk for free over the computer. I bought myself a microphone today, so hopefully soon I can try that out. If anyone knows anything about it, let me know!

Thank you for the emails. If I haven’t written back to you yet, I will, I promise!
Xoxo
Ginny

Pictures!

2006-08-06T11:13:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures to give you a little sense of the environment around Monterrey. The city is basically completed surrounded by mountains. In almost every direction you turn, you can see them. It is pretty amazing.

The picture of my mom and I is from Cola de Caballo waterfall. It is about a 45 minute drive south of Monterrey, close to the town of Santiago.

Getting Oriented!

2006-08-04T15:38:00.000-05:00

We have officially started New Teacher Orientation and things are looking good. After spending time with my parents in Monterrey and in Santiago and surrounding area, I had a chance to settle into my apartment. I had no idea what to expect and this place is definitely beyond anything I could have imagined.

It is officially a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment. However, it includes a third “small” room which is actually quite large. Right now it has in it a desk and our ironing board; I’m not sure what we will use it for. There is a huge living room/dining room which opens onto a small outdoor patio. There is the kitchen with lots of cupboard space (but no drawers?!) and a laundry room with washer/dryer and laundry sinks as well as a rack on which we can hang clothes to dry. Fro the laundry room you can go out into this small cement area which leads to the “servants” quarters – a decent sized room with another bathroom (not included in the two bathroom count!). Its not fancy – but if anyone wants to come and stay, you can have your own place!

The two bedrooms are both very large and came with double beds, two side tables and a six drawer dresser. I arrived before my roommate Laurie, so I had to decide which room to take. It was a very tough decision, as one room had an ensuite bath while the other had a huge closet with built in shelves. I went for the closet. My room is all set-up but still looks a little bare. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for some interesting stuff to put on the walls.

We are in one of the main floor apartments of a three story building. Each story has only two apartments. Occupying the other main floor apartment are two other elementary teachers (Lindsay, a Canadian and Libby, from Kansas). Of the four remaining apartments, 2 others are filled by teachers from my school.

Last night we had a Welcome Dinner for all the new teachers living in our area. Our apartment is literally a two minute walk from the elementary campus and there seem to be lots of teachers in the area. There were about 20 or so people at the dinner last night and everyone seems pretty great.

This morning all the new teachers (elementary and middle and secondary) had breakfast together and then we broke into our sections for the beginning of Orientation. Everyone (new and old) is so positive about the school and the city and what you can get out of the experience. I got the keys to my classroom and my new laptop (a Mac!) and had a little bit of time this afternoon to putter around in my classroom and start to sort things out.

Tonight we had a dinner hosted by the PTA Hosting Families to introduce us to some of the traditional Mexican dishes. We are all “adopted” by parents of students and the mother’s seem willing to help us out in any way possible (take us shopping, help us find domestic help, give us advice on finding services around the city). Some of the notable foods I tried this evening:
-cactus in some sort of slightly spicy sauce (texture like green pepper, very yummy)
-chicken in mole sauce (a sauce made of 17-ish ingredients including nuts and chocolate – also very good!)
-dessert called “three milk” something (all names in Spanish, of course; this too was very good)

After dinner a Mariachi group came (live music – men with violins and guitars and trumpets who play and sing) marching into the backyard where we were all seated and performed for us. They played some traditional Mexican songs as well as some versions of songs I could recognize. A group of us left the dinner around 9:45 and headed to the Sierra Madre Brewing Company for a drink (una copa de vino blanco – a cup of white wie – for me) before heading home to what we are beginning to call “Melrose Place”. Libby had her camera so I can hopefully get some pictures from her.

Tomorrow night there is another party at a staff member’s house and the weekend is going to comprise of a hike in Chipinque National Park (the mountains I can see from my bedroom!) and a city tour and a trip to a Market before we really get going on Monday!

We have arrived!

2006-07-29T16:28:00.000-05:00

After arriving at the Ottawa airport at 10:30am on Thursday morning, we eventually made it to our hotel in Monterrey around 2am. It wasn't supposed to take that long... but things get a little slowed down when your airplane airconditionning breaks down, and Chicago gets a little windy and decides to change all of the departing airstrips, and your plane starts to run out of gas and results in an unplanned stop in Oklahoma City. You'll be happy to now that all of MY bags arrived safely (all 5), but the one bag that happened to get lost was that belonging to my father. Fortunately, it did show up at our hotel the next morning.

We had a chance to make a quick stop at my school yesterday to drop off my bags so we could travel around a little more easily. It looks like a pretty great place - very organized and professional. It is in a very nice part of town, and we drove by my apartment (I don't get the keys until next week) and it looks like it will work out perfectly.

This city is amazing. It actually is surrounded by mountains (though the view isn't always crystal clear) and there is a huge nature park (Chipinque) a few minutes drive from downtown. We went up there yesterday and had a pretty neat view of the city. There were butterflies all over the place - nothing like in Canada.

Today we went to Grutas de Garcia- some very old caves about 45 minutes outside of the city. They are inside one of the big mountains, and were very impressive. Though we didn't get much from the Spanish tour, a nice Mexican took us under his wing and filled us in on the important details.

A few observations about life in Monterrey (and Mexico)
-the drivers are crazy! My heart rate goes up the minute we get in the car. Luckily, my father can compete with the best of them so everything has been fine so far.
-Mexican salsa is NOT like salsa in Canada. I may not have much of a tolerance for spicy things, but this stuff is crazy! I've tried it twice and I think I am going to take a little break.
-everyone (when not driving a car) is very friendly and helpful; people don't even mind me trying out my very broken spanish

I will write more later but for now we are off for afternoon naps (we're trying to fit right in here) before we visit the Museum of Mexican History and go out for dinner.) And hopefully next week, when I get my computer I will get some photos up!
xoxo
Ginny

Mexican Fiesta!

2006-07-23T17:50:00.000-05:00

Last night we had our Mexican Fiesta - a chance for a number of family and friends to come together for some Mexican inspired food, drink, music.. and to my surprise - a pinata! It didn't rain, and everyone got to admire the flagstone patio my dad has been working on. It was great to see everyone before I get on a plane with my parents on Thursday for the official move to Mexico.

Today I said good-bye to Jessie and Jenn who had been keeping me sane for the past few days.. and now I'm in the homestretch. 4 sleeps left until I'm there. 4 days left to put things in bags (I don't travel light), run around and cross the last few things off my list, and visit a few more people.

I'll get some pictures up of the week my parents and I spend in and around Monterrey - and hopefully that will be enough to entice some visitors to come south!

17 days left in Canada!

2006-07-10T09:26:00.000-05:00

Yikes. The countdown is definitely on. In two and a half weeks I'll be sitting on a plane heading down to Monterrey, Mexico where I'm supposed to be spending the next 2 years of my life! Some days that doesn't seem so crazy; other days I think I must have been insane to commit to this.

I figured I would finally join the "blogging scene" and set up some sort of way to communicate with friends and family without clogging your inboxes with stories that you may not be interested in at all. This way, I'll give you the website and you can check it at your leisure.

No promies as to how often this will be updated... But I have good intentions. :)