Adios Mexico

So this is my final blog entry for now….maybe my new job will bring about a new safari blog…details to come…

So if you haven’t realized yet I am no longer in Mexico. After quitting our jobs we had a week to enjoy San Jose with no work. We spent a lot of nights out and days at the beach. Thursday night was our big celebration night. A big group of us went to our local watering hole, Red. It was Leonor, Kara, our French cowboy Philippe, and people from work (Nora. Sarai, Chucho, Ale, and Claudia). We drank and dance till 4am when the place closed. We had an amazing night. Saturday morning at 5am Kara, Leonor, and I got in the car and headed up the Baja. We drove through the most beautiful mountain range that overlooked the beach, and if I had an RV I could live in some of these tiny little beach towns for the rest of my life. We stopped half way up the Baja in this tiny town where Leonor worked her magic and got us a suite for $50. The we woke up the next morning and continued North to the border. We had one scary incident with the Federalies…and then finally came to Mexicali. We sat at the border crossing for 2hours and then finally we were in the states. We finished the final 4 hours of our trip and made it to Phoenix around 1am in the morning. We slept in the next day and then spent the next two days shopping. We then celebrated Christmas a week early with my family. Then the three of us girls headed to Texas. We showed Leonor Denton nightlife. This past Saturday we dropped Leonor at the airport and said our sad good byes…I feel this is where my blog should end. It was my final sad goodbye…

giving more thanks...

So here are the pictures from our Thanksgiving celebrations...breakfast, Nora and Francisco and their fancy cavier and lobster appetizers, Jeanne and Leonor's mom discussing the differnce between bad and good tequila, and kids from Jeanne's play...

At school yesterday I showed up and there was a giant nativity scence right outside my classroom. One of the wisemen was headless and he was carrying baking soda...not exactly how I remember it happening in the Bible...

So tomorrow is our last day of work. The kids have already been bringing in gifts like crazy....The sixth graders surprised us with a a big lunch yesterday. All the kids brought something. One of the dad's (who is a professional chef) made this amaing pasta with roasted tomatoes, spinach, and sausage meatballs. Other kids brought garlic bread, patee, cheese, bread, fanta, chips, and cake. It was all so amazing. My favorite part of everything is all the hugs. I cannot walk out of my classroom without getting a million hugs. One kids runs over and throws their arms around me, and then it sets off a chain reaction...its crazy, but I love it!

Thanksgiving

What a Thanksgiving week…Everything started on Thursday, actual Thanksgiving. Jeanne’s class put on the cutest play about Ike and Tina Turkey. Ike and Tina were these two kids pet. Ike and Tina overheard the parents saying that they are going to a dinner party for Thanksgiving. They aren’t sure what Thanksgiving is but they are so excited to go (Tina even is contemplating what to wear). The kids find out that their parents are planning on eating Ike and Tina for dinner so they dress the turkeys up like people and put them on a bus to our school in San Jose where there is a farm for them to live (I wanted to yell they would be better off being eaten then going to Mission…decided it wasn’t appropriate). When the parents find out that the turkeys are missing the kids tell them they will make a vegetarian dinner for all their parents’ friends. The food is disgusting, all the guest leave, and then everyone breaks into song with the music teaching singing the Turkey Day Blues. Very cute!

After school on Thanksgiving we went over to my friend Leonor’s house. Her mom is in town visiting and she was making the traditional Spanish dish called paella. It was so good!!! I wrote down specific instructions on how to make it so don’t you worry. It took us a few hours to prepare and make it. It’s this giant pan full of rice, onion, garlic, shrimp, chicken, pork, chorizo, crabs, clams, green beans, peas, and peppers….heaven in your mouth. We ate tons and drank a lot of wine. Boone’s farm and tequila were eventually brought out to. We were at Leonor’s house for about 8hrs. At some point her stuffed E.T. doll was brought out and that provided a lot of attention for us. We went around the table and said what we were thankful for in Spanish. Then Leonor’s mom wanted to know the story about the first Thanksgiving. Kara and I didn’t know the all words in Spanish so we decided to act it out for them (I was an Indian and I went hunting for food…Kara was my dear). We had a great and entertaining time. I ended the night sleeping on her couch while Kara, Leonor, her mom, and our friend Pepe kept drinking.

Yesterday we had our American Thanksgiving. I made a pumpkin pie on Friday night. I made the turkey, stuffing, and gravy yesterday. Kara made a sweet potato casserole. Jeanne made mashed potatoes, and Harry made veggies. Our friends Nora and Francisco came and they brought these yummy lobster and caviar appetizers. Leonor and her mom came and they brought an amazing chocolate cake, wine, and tequila. We were all so stuffed and we have enough leftovers to last us for weeks. Harry taught us this need strategy game using Q-tips and Jeanne learned how to take a proper tequila shot. She drank about half a bottle by the end of the night.

I thought it was funny because when I first moved here they wanted to give me the Patron Saint of Lost Causes since I was 24 and single. Well last night, once everyone tasted my cooking, all the Mexicans said that it’s official, that I could now get married because I could cook…gotta love the dating cultures of Mexico.

Poor Betty

Yesterday was in interesting day (I feel I keep using the word interesting a lot but no other word better describes our days). Well, I was happy yesterday because it meant that I was finally over with teaching Sex ED. That means I won’t have to hear any more questions like this one, “Miss Stateczny, what happens when you make sex and, how do you say, pee comes out?”…that was the exact wording…gotta love my kids… After school, Kara, Jeanne, and I got into the car to go home and at first Betty wouldn’t start. Finally I got her to start but she started bouncing up and down…something was definitely not right. We figured we should drive her to the mechanic right away. SO I put her in reverse and tried to back out of our spot and she died. We moved just enough to block our boss, Michelle, in. We sat there for a few minutes before we got her to start again. We literally drove across town with Betty bouncing up and down and making a weird noise. We were so afraid if we had to stop at any stop light Betty would die on us and that would be really bad because the Mexican drivers are bad at rear ending others…so at every light I had one foot on the break and one on the gas revving it. We got honked at multiple times and got many strange looks due to the shaking issue we were having. We finally got to the mechanic who speaks no English. Luckily, since the shaking was so obvious we really didn’t have to explain our problem. The guy just really shook some things, mumbled something about the air filter and the shaking and noise stopped. It was magic!!! We asked what we owed and he said nothing. So we went and got an 8 pack of beer and brought it back to him…we wanted to show him we were nice, grateful Americans. Afterwards we shopped for Thanksgiving groceries. The Jeanne and I decided to go have a drink and de-stress. We got to talking and she told me about her and Harry’s theory. They have been misplacing things like crazy since they have moved here. Apparently they weren’t like this she said in Minnesota. She told me that her and Harry don’t like to admit they are superstitious but they both really are. Well she then went on to say that they have felt a presence in the house, and that they think it’s a trickster, house elf and that he is the one that keeps hiding all their stuff. She said that in Northern England where Harry is from they have ways of getting rid of them. That they put money out and the elf will take it and leave. Also, you can buy a small set of clothes for them and lay them out and they will take them and go (it’s not that the money and clothes physically leave, it’s more like Day of the Dead where the Gods take the flavor out of the food, they don’t actually eat it). She said since they put the money out they have felt a change…so we will have to see how they are with misplacing things now…

The old science teacher at our school apparently was horrible. So much of the equipment doesn’t work and I’m sure it’s because she never watched the kids with it. Out of all my microscopes, only one works. Out of all my scales, only one works. So today when I was taking out the glass thermometers I really shouldn’t have been surprised that one was broken and leaking everywhere. This past teacher put a broken thermometer back into the case with all the thermometers…so guess who got Mercury on her hands. I was so mad and frightened since mercury can be deadly even if it only touches your skin. In the states we usually order thermometers that aren’t made with pure Mercury but with a Mercury mixture of some sort. This mixture, if you wash it off fast enough, is not as toxic. So I was panicking, because I was thinking this is MX and this is a Mexican thermometer, who knows what it has in it…there seems to be no health regulations in this country when it comes to anything. So I had to go have my principal call the Mexican company that produces these thermometers to find out what type of mercury was in it. They assured me that it’s safe but if I mysteriously get very ill in the next few weeks…this is probably why…

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We are celebrating Thanksgiving on Saturday. I cannot wait. We are having a big group of about 14 people. The only Americans will be just us 4. The rest of them are our new friends and their families. We are giving them their first traditional American Thanksgiving. I am preparing the turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. Kara is making sweet potatoes. Harry and Jeanne are making veggies, mashed potatoes, and cranberries. My friend Leoner and her mom are bringing wine and a carrot cake. Erika, her best friend from MX city, and her son are bringing pasta salad, salad, bread and wine. Nora and her husband Francisco (plus their 2 kids) are bring appetizers and wine. Nora says her husband has been putting a lot of thought into appetizers. That he wants it to just be perfect for his first Thanksgiving. Tomorrow instead, Leoner and her mom invited us for dinner. Leoner’s mom lives in MX city but is from Spain. She is making us Paella a traditional Spanish dish. Last night I went and had martinis with her and her mom and they invited us over to make the food with them. So her mom is going to teach us how to make this dish. I’m so excited, it sounds so good.

Oh they finally put our pictures on the schools website the week before we leave…
http://www.elcolegiomission.com/maestros/profesores.html

Welcome to the Hotel California...

Today was an amazing day… I went on a day trip with my friend Leoner, her mom (who is visiting from MX city), and our other friend Pepe. We traveled to the Pacific coast. We first went to Todos Los Santos. Todos Los Santos is a tiny town and it is famous for 2 things. The Tropic of Cancer runs through it and Hotel California (from the Eagles song) is located there. We then went to Cerritos which is a small little isolated beach. You really are driving on the highway in the mountains and there is a tiny sign that says Cerritos. You drive about 2miles on a sand road with millions of holes in it. You see nothing but sand dunes and cacti. Then all of a sudden there is an opening where there is a little beach hut and it sits right in the middle of the beach. All around the hut (which is the restaurant/bar) are tables and lawn chairs. They had a jazz singer with a keyboard singing. It was just unreal. It was so relaxing. We sat at a table and had drinks. I had a nice mahi-mahi fillet with roasted veggies. We went swimming. We were going to go crowded but the waves were humongous and there were lots of professional surfers…I was not about to fight for waves with them. So we just swam. One point when I was getting out of the water I heard “Holly, Holly!” I was thinking, who else has the name Holly in Mexico. Well it ended up being the 3 girls I tutor. They were all there and they all came running with their ruffled swimsuits at me. They all gave me hugs and kisses and then I went and played with them in the water. It was so much fun. Towards the end of the day we all went for a walk down the beach and watched the sunset. This was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. Since you are looking right onto the Pacific there is nothing obstructing the view. Also, it’s nice seeing how the sun changes the waters color as it sinks into it. It was amazing. I wish my camera could have captured what it really looked like.

very unpredicted

So this has been an interesting week at school. Kara, Jeanne, and I all quit our jobs. We are working till December 5. Kara and I are going to stay in San Jose through December and just enjoy ourselves. Then we will move back to the states and figure out what I should do with myself…AAAHHHHHHH…this is going to be stressful

After quitting this Monday I have already felt a lift of my shoulders and I am enjoying myself even more.

So this has been a fun weekend so far. Friday night started off by me and Jeanne attending a dance recital. My 3 girls that I tutor had a dance recital and it was so cute. Then yesterday Kara and I went with my friends to Cabo to an Irish Pub (not sure how many there are in MX). We sat outside and drank beer…it was so much fun. It overlooks the marina and it was a beautiful night.

Tomorrow my parents come for the day and I cannot wait!!!

Gucci

I tutor a family of 3 girls. This is there new puppy, Gucci. And yes, she is pink...

good and bad

so good....the weather has finally changed here. It's beautiful. There is no more humidity and it feels good to be outside now all day long. I love it!

so bad...so when i started the school year i warned the animal lady that i had a tendency to kill class pets when i was left in charge of them, i told her about the horrible fate of my hermit crab i had in the states...she didnt believe me. We have been in school for 3months and 3 of the 5 turtles in my classroom have died. Its so sad because the family that donated them to the school has a 1rst grader. She like to come everyday and to check on the turtles. The little baby turtle was hers...Well about 3 weeks ago she asked me how long a turtle could hold its breath because there was one under the water and it was sleeping....i went over and looked, it was dead...i told her they could sleep for a long time (didnt want to have the death talk with her)...then a week later, the girl told me the baby turtle was missing. I told her that animal lady must have taken it to the pond for a swim (i had no clue where the turtle was)...it had died and my cleaning lady disposed of it come to find out. The 1rst grader came by again last week and where the turtle was...i said that the turtle was still on vacation and that another one had joined it. She was like i guess they are having a lot of fun at the pond...about broke my heart but i just couldnt tell her...i feel im going to have to go buy some turtles soon at the rate they are dropping...

marriage proposal

So Kara and I had an interesting weekend. Friday we went over to our favorite spanish teacher's house, Nora. We all drank and ate "Super Pollo". Super Pollo is Mexico's version of Golden Chick and its amazing. First off let me just say they deliver the food to your house by motorcycle. You order by the full chicken. So you get a whole chicken, fries (that are the same as golden chicks, a pasta, homemade tortillas, salsa, and salad all for 130 pesos ($13). It is enough food for 3 people easily. Its soooo good. You can make tacos out of all of it. Then one of our friends Erika brought her Taro cards (sp?) and she told fortunes. I didn't have mine read but I was sad to find out that Kara wasn't going to come into a lot of money and buy me a beach condo to live in...

Saturday, Kara and I woke up incredibly early so we decided to hit happy hour at our favorite roof top bar...happy hour starts at 9am here...We love it at Shooters, the waiters know what we want to drink before we order. After a few drinks I noticed a man at the table next to ours staring....hard core staring at me. Once I noticed him he finally asked if we lived here. I said yes and he told his buddy who was sitting with him, "I told you so". He then went on to say that he saw my keys so he figured. After some small talk he said he was buying me a tequila shot. I refused but he insisted. I learned that we take tequila shots wrong in Texas. Apparently you suck on the lime first, then take the tequila, and then lick the salt off you hand. And he was right, it is much easier to take this way. So good tip, lime first, salt at the end...not viceversa... After the shot he proceeded to tell me that I was beautiful and that he is divorced with 2 kids so he can marry me. We think, oh, he's being funny....no, no, no...he isn't. He really means it. I left to go to the bathroom and when I was on my way back to my chair he came running. He was upset that he didn't meet me by the bathrooms, he wanted us to talk in private but unfortunately for him his timing was off...I'm glad i pee fast... But he then went on to say that I really should consider marrying him, that it was love at first sight for him. That he is very spiritual and he could tell that I had a great soul. He asked if I ever pictured coming to MX and finding the love of my life...I said no... After all this I sneaked past him and got back to Kara. I told her that he tried to meet me at the bathrooms and she apologised. Apparently his friend was distracting her on her purpose so the guy could come find me...So luckily, some of our other friends showed up and the guy left me alone. But right as they were leaving he came over to say goodbye and that it was lovely meeting me. The kicker of it all though is that when he shook my hand he passed his number to me. As soon as they left and I showed everyone at our table we all could not stop laughing hysterically...he really did think he had a chance... Kara was like, I'm glad I didnt tell him im ordained (off that website), he probably would have asked me to marry yall right then...

Saturday night Kara and I went to our first mexican party, or i guess i should say college house mexican party. There was a dj, some guy played the guitar and sang, there was a keg and alcohol, and the theme was fake hair so everyone had on wigs....We said our blonde hair counted...it was fun, pretty much the same as an american college house party. Sunday all we did was eat, sleep, read, and watch tv...it was wonderful

Dia de los Muertos

Every grade had to make an altar to honor a certain Aztec God. Our 9th grade altar was the god of death...the story behind our god is that it would cut the skins off their people and wear them...little gruesome...all the little kid grades got gods of the ocean and fire...we got death...There had to be food on the altar for the god so it can eat. In order to explain why the food doesn’t disappear (like Santa's Xmas cookies) they say the gods just suck the flavor out of it.... There has to be a sand path in front of the altar outlined with flowers acting as a path for the gods to follow so they can find their way. There was one altar for all the dead animals on our farm...this was the only non-god altar.

On the night of the big altar demonstration, my 9th graders put on a play on about the Gods and the creation of the 5th sun. The play starts off with two main gods who are about to give birth to the 4 new gods of the Earth. It was so funny because one of the main gods was my smallest girl and how they acted out giving birth was she was standing and the 4 boys just crawled through her legs to symbolize birth. IT was cute because all are pretty small except one. And when he climbed through she stepped farther apart but he still pushed her legs even farther apart when he crawled through because he couldn’t fit...it was pretty cute. Then the 4 new gods fight and in the end the 4 new gods decide to sacrifice themselves in order for the birth of the 5th sun which represents life in peace with nature....at least i think this is what the play was about...my Spanish is only so good

Happy Halloween

Friday was Halloween and our school became a Halloween carnival. The 3rd graders put on Charlie Brown, The Great Pumpkin. We had a Halloween costume contest and then there were games for the kids to play. Kara and I helped with the Haunted House. It was a lot of fun. I was bee for the day. Friday night we went downtown to our favorite roof top bar and had drinks and watched the kids go from business to business asking for candy and money...they aren't picky. Saturday, Kara and I woke up at the crack of dawn and we had a typical american picnic at the beach. We stopped and got fresh rolls from the bakery and stuffed them with meat and cheese and we bought Doritos...it was heaven. We had a few beers and snorkeled and swam for a few hours. We had a stalker for the day. This older man in his 40s wearing his speedo kept falling us around. We went to one end of the cove to swim and he followed us. We then went to the other end to get away and he followed us again...this went on for awhile. It was so gross. He would stand like a proud peacock (no pun attended) and pose....when we he could tell we weren't interested he decided to turn his back to us and tried to make us look at his butt.... unless you are Michael Phelps you do not have any right to wear a Speedo. Finally, he gave up on getting our attention. He did leave though the time as us. We got out of their a lot faster though then him. He was busy drying off by his car, trying one last time to won our attention...we pulled out of there so fast, he never had a shot

mountains and parties

Well, its been an amazing weekend. Thursday night David, Leoner, Katie and I went out. We drank, we danced, and had an amazing time. Friday, after work, Jeane, Harry, Katie, Kara, and I went out had drinks. Us 3 young girls continued drinking and we had a lot of fun walking through San Jose trying out all the watering holes we could find...we did a tour of San Jose... Then we woke up Saturday morning and went ziplining. It was AMAZING!!! We did 3 miles of ziplines and we got to repel a 180ft cliff. It was AMAZING!!! thats all I can say to describe it, there is no better words to describe the rush and the views. Then last night Katie and I, dressed as a cat and a bee went to the giant Pimp and Ho party in Cabo San Lucas with Leoner and David. It was a lot of fun. All the costumes were crazy. The amount of naked body parts we saw was ridiculous.... David left this morning so we had a sad good bye....hate losing my favorite Mexican friend

as you can tell i typed this Sunday and then I forgot to post this...

Now that its Thursday night I am finally posting it and writing a little more. This week has been busy. Tomorrow is our big Halloween carnival and I will be going dressed as a bee. I have been working my little stinger off the past few days helping build the haunted house. These little kids should be scared to death after all the work we put into this. Then on Monday its Day of the Dead and each class has an altar for a dead Mayan god....it should be interesting.

Busy few weeks

It has been a busy week and it's not going to stop anytime soon. This week was the end of our bimester so that means all our grades were do. In the states, there are these nice programs on the computer that calculate all your grades and its real easy...here, its called a calculator, and when you have 100 students...AHHHHHH....

Also, it was Jeanne's Birthday yesterday. Her daughter's childhood best friend, Katie, came down for a visit and she got here Wednesday. So last night for Jeanne's birthday we all went and ate dinner by the beach and had drinks. Then Katie wanted to experience some nightlife so she and I went to our club called Red with my friends David (who is moving Sunday...so sad) and Leonner. We danced and had drinks but I was on a strict curfew and we left at 1am since I do have to get up at 6am....little tired right now. Tonight I plan on getting some sleep...

Tomorrow morning we are all going to this zipline course. It goes back in forth between the mountains...I CANT WAIT! I think we might then hit the beach and do some snorkeling afterwards. Tomorrow night though is when the true mexican nightlife will begin. Katie and I are going with my friends to this annual, giant Pimp and Ho party in Cabo San Lucas. It's at Hotel Me and people from all over the world come for it. If you search Pimp and Ho cabo san lucas it will appear (warning,a lot of the pictures are very slutty). It's hosted by Playboy Bunnies this year. You have to not only buy tickets but you have to be in costume to enter. It is an all night affair. It is going to be very unreal. Im excited, I think it will be something I never forget.

what a weekend...

So it’s already Sunday and I am already wishing it was next Friday. … This Friday Kara and I went with my friends David and Leonner to Cabo. Their friend Pepe came with us too, oh how I loved saying his name, always made me smile (visions of Pepe la Puh from Looney Tunes ran through my brain every time). We sat at Hooter’s on the Marina and drank some beers and ate wings. It was a beautiful night. We all went back to Leonner’s beautiful condo (made ours look horrible in comparison) and had some cocktails afterwards. I found out some sad news, my friend David is getting transferred to Acapulco come this Sunday. So we are going to celebrate him moving away this weekend…sad to lose a great friend, no more surfing buddy. On Saturday, Kara and I bought snorkel gear and went to a beach, Chileno Bay, and went snorkeling in the clearest water with the most beautiful Beach. It was gorgeous. We sat under this little thatched roof palapa that was surrounded by palm trees when we were not in the water. It was unreal. This is definitely my new favorite beach. Today, we got up early and went and ate breakfast. I had this thing they call French toast. Its two pieces of French bread, stuffed with ham, cheddar, and Gouda cheese. They then dip it into a cinnamon/egg/milk mixture and pan fry it…amazing. Then I spent an hour by the pool reading, very relaxing. Tonight we are having a dinner party with friends and its Italian night. They are making some pasta dish and I am making my version of bruschetta. Bread that is broiled, rubbed with fresh garlic. Then I topped with some amazing Mexican cheeses, prosciutto, and slices of tomatoes. Then a mixture of fresh herbs and olive oil…I made it last night for Kara and mines dinner as a test run, and it was pretty good.

Oh, I forgot to mention. Betty, our car, had another little incident. We were driving yesterday to the beach and all of I sudden I saw that something was hanging from the front of the car. I pulled over and when we got out to look, the whole front light was hanging out. So now we have this and our missing grill…Betty is not doing so good adjusting to a harsher life.

Canadian Thanksgivng

So yesterday, Oct 13, was Canada's Thanksgiving. They do not have a story about the Indians and pilgrims like we do. I think it is more of a day to celebrate the end of the harvest....All the Canadians I ate and celebrated with didn't exactly know when it was started or exactly why they call it Thanksgiving instead of Harvest Day. I think they were just very jealous of my favorite holiday... But in reality, Thanksgiving is Thanksgiving. I think it was good that I had just went to TX because I think it made me more appreciative and grateful for the friends and family I have. I was talking to a friend recently who said "once you distance yourself from everyone you learn to make the most of times you're together that much more." And I really did enjoy my trip so much. But back to Thanksgiving, we went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner. I went with a group from our condo. It was made of me, Jeanne and Harry, Mary-Helen (a Canadian we work with), a lady from Scotland, a man from England, a man from California, and 2 other ladies from Canada. It was nice to eat and get to meet some new people. This meal was a 3 courses. We started with a Cesar salad and a bowl of butternut squash, then we moved on to turkey with both sweet and regular mashed potatoes. There was stuffing and cranberry sauce too. Then for dessert we had a slice of carrot cake. It was all amazing. Apparently, this restaurant puts this on every year, so wonderful. I love that while I was in TX so many people had asked my mom if I had gained weight due to all the food I eat and talk about...you will be happy to know that not only have I not ballooned up but I am actually smaller now then I was when I came here 2 months ago...I guess the Mexican lifestyle suits me

Deidre's Wedding

So this past weekend was Deidre's wedding. I flew into TX on Thursday night (I switched my plane so I would miss the hurricane...that never hit) and Deidre picked me up. We spent the night getting things ready for the wedding and honeymoon. It was nice getting to spend some alone time together so we could catch up. Friday was a busy day. Deidre and I woke up. She went to get her nails done with her mom while I went out to lunch with my mom and dad. We ate at Chris Madrids which has the best burgers in the world. We then headed out to Boerne to see my grandma. We talked and I handed out gifts; I felt like Santa Clause. Then my dad drove me back to San Antonio where I went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. It was nice getting to catch up with some old friends. Then Deidre and I went home and tried to make sure all the final preparations were complete. Deidre ended up having a stressful night. She got a migraine late at night we think caused by stress and lack of sleep. So after a fast run to my favorite store, HEB, we had some migraine medicine that fixed our problem. We both then woke up early the next morning and went to have our hair done. We stopped at La Madeline's on the way and got strawberries and croissants. Then after a few hours at the hair place we went to the church and finished getting ready while we ate lunch. The wedding was at 3 and it was beautiful. Deidre did a great job planning the wedding. The after pictures we headed to the reception. I was riding with William, Deidre's brother...he was pretty much my chauffeur to get between every place this whole weekend, luckily I've know him since I was 5 so I didn't feel to bad...We got there and had a cervesa in the parking lot with Jennifer and Scott's at their truck (friends). Only in TX do people drive around with an ice chest of beer in the back of their truck. The reception was so much fun and the barbecue was really good. I danced a lot with my dad and William. I think I made my two-step quota for the year. After the wedding, my parents and I headed back out to my grandma's for the night. Then bright and early the next morning I was on a plane headed home.

Mexican Lice Dont Jump

....so our school is having a lice outbreak, its so gross. It started with Kara's 8th graders and now its sweeping secondaria (middle school). I told my 9th graders if any of them sit to close to those kids and catch them, they will not be allowed in my class. I had to leave lunch early today because the kids are sitting around picking them out of each others hair, they are like monkeys. Apparently they dont have the lice shampoo here so nothing is being done about it. We were telling the school physiologist who was sitting next to the monkeys to move away because the lice were going to jump on her. And she replied, "Mexican lice dont jump"....if thats true, then how did they spread from child to child. It's just crazy. The kids are almost proud of them, they like the attention. We were like, in the states if you have them you usually dont want to tell your friends because you would be embarrassed...Not here

"I feel a hurricane a blowing..."

So it has been awhile since I have last written, where do I start…
This past Friday we went and saw the Broadway play, if you can even call it that. This show was so horrible that it made McMath Middle School plays look like Tony award winning shows. It was that bad. The singers could not sing, some notes only dogs could hear. The one lady who was supposed to be very famous in Mexico is a famous opera singer….so when she tried to sing Broadway she was singing opera 5 keys above everyone else; it all clashed horribly. The dancers and choreography were just awful. They actually took some of their dance moves from “Napolean Dynamite” (the butterfly hand movements). You just felt sorry for these sequin covered people watching them. These people must never have had a dance lesson in their lives and I am not being overly dramatic at all. It was that bad. Also, the lighting had us laughing. They had 2 spotlights and the lighting guys must have been told to keep the spots and whoever was singing. So the whole show it looks like two men have giant flashlights and they are just darting back and forth across the stage trying to find who is singing…it was so funny. We snuck out at intermission with about half of the theater. So the Mexican’s agreed with us, it was just that bad.
Saturday and Sunday were nice lazy days. We ate, drank, and swam all day long. It was so nice until….Sunday night when I realized there was a hurricane headed straight for us and that it was going to hit the day I left Cabo…so that was no good…luckily, my amazing mom was able to get me on an a flight for Thursday afternoon that way I can escape before it hits land. So, Deidre, don’t you worry, I will be at the wedding…

all work and no play...j/k

Work is definitely not our focus here. We get our job done, but just like in the states we cannot wait for the bell to ring and the kids to go home...

This past weekend I went with my surfing friend David and his friends to a hotel called "Me" in Cabo. It was amazing. At night part of it turns into a bar. You can either stay inside at that bar or you can go outside to that bar. This bar over looks the pool and it has little cabanas all around the pool where you can sit and talk. Also, from here you can see their private beach which has a view of Cabo's famous arches....Its amazing. The next day we went back and we swam and had drinks. If you buy a couple drinks they let you use the pool and beach all day. It's amazing. There are floating pulls in the water, all the little cabanas around the pool and on the beach, and there are waiters coming around to wait on you. It is so beautiful. I have attached the website. When you click on it, the background of the sight is a slide show that shows how beautiful it is. So I never slept here, it is just very open for locals to come and enjoy in the evening and during the day.

http://www.me-cabo.com/

Tomorrow after school we are going to a Broadway style show. One of our fellow teachers got us tickets. She writes for the local Gringo Gazette and did an interview with the theatre. So she got us tickets through her connections. I cannot wait!

Feliz Cumpleanos

Yesterday at work we found out is was one of the other English teachers birthday, Erika. She and her son moved here from MX city a few years ago. I asked her what she was doing to celebrate for her birthday and she said nothing. So I asked her over and Kara, Jeanne, Harry and I threw her a small birthday party. Kara made guacomole, I made shrimp enchiladas, and Jeanne got a cake. We stuffed our faces and drank wine and beer for hours. It was a fun night. She was so excited and appreciative. Apparently, not since she had her son which was about 5yrs ago, has anyone ever done anything for her on her birthday. So we all felt really good about doing this for her. Shows how doing small things really can mean a lot to others...lesson of the day

Kermes

So we had our big carnival today, called “Kermes”. We all had to dress like Mexicans, it was so much fun. The kids were so cute, they had on their little dresses, sombreros, mariachi outfits, and painted on mustaches...hilarious... I ate so much food. There was every type of taco imaginable. I ate 2 tacos, a burrito, a tamale, a fruit tamale, a burrito, a blue quesadilla, and 2 empanadas (one made from bread and one in the fried shell)...I think I gained a good 10lbs in 3 hours. I stayed away from the bolis (popsicles) and candy at least. When I wasn’t busy eating, I was in charge of painting faces. All the kids wanted hearts of the color of the Mexican flags or they wanted their faces as a giant Mexican flag. So now I am stained red, white, and green. It was a lot of fun. The carnival in general was a lot like an American one except for two things. The kids all had to find someone to get married to. They then go through a little ceremony and exchange tacky gold, plastic rings. They have their picture taken and then that’s it. For the pictures, the boys wear a hat and the girls carry a bouquet (picture). However, if you choose not to get married, you have to go to jail (picture).
This week has been very busy. Yesterday, after work, I met with my 0th grade parents. The moms picked me up from school and took me to this nice restaurant. We set on the veranda and ate. It overlooks one of the surfing beaches. So I ate crab tostadas, drank white wine, talked about their kids, and watched surfers. The kids came too they ate and then they walked down to the beach to swim…I secretly wanted to go with them. Their moms were nice. They all told me that the kids like me. That I am strict in class but they know at lunch/recess they can talk with me and that I will play volleyball…so they like and respect me so that was nice to hear.
Tonight, we went out ot eat with Jeanne and her husband, and our friend Mel and his wife Ana. We ate at Mel’s favorite Chinese place and it was AMAZING! Best Chinese food I have eaten. We just got these big family portions of everything and we got so stuffed we had to mid-meal stretch…it was wonderful

"Holly HotWheels"

well, in Denton i had a janitor admirer....now I have a 4 year old admirer...one of the teachers I work with has a son, Adriene. His fish died this yesterday and his mom told me that he named his new fish after me "Holly HotWheels"....I was so honored

what an exhausting week...

I have been going nonstop for the past week...and it was only a 3 day work week... Starting with Monday's New Years celebration and the arrival of Jeanne's husband and friend. Then Tuesday I showed them to the beach, the brewery, and our favorite restaurant. Then Wednesday after work and tutoring my girls we all went one of our other favorite restaurant/pubs and drank and ate. Harry, Jeanne's husband, wanted to show his friend around before he left on Thursday so we kept busy. Then Thursday night I went out with my friend David and his friends so this bar. BUt since they are Mexican we didnt go out till 11:30pm. We stayed out till 3am...I wanted to die! It was a lot of fun though. And they were being nice by leaving at 3 for me. Here, people stay out real late because they dont go in to work till around 9am and then they get off at 7pm. So our teacher schedule of 7am to 3pm is very uncommon. I like our schedule better though because I like having the whole afternoon free. However, when my alarm went off on Friday morning at 6, I was not so happy about my 3hrs of sleep. So after, what seemed like the longest work day ever I went home and had a nice long nap. Then, one of the ladies I work with had a big party. There were about 14 of us. We drank wine, ate the most amazing food, and played Bilingual Scrabble. Each of the teams consisted of a native english speaker and a native spanish speaker. Me and my partner, Fransisco, won the game!!! We were very proud of ourselves...I can honestly say this is the first game of Scrabble I ever won... Now today, I am doing nothing but relaxing. I woke up and made chocolate chip banana bread with our baby black bananas. Then I spent a few hours reading at the pool. It has been so nice.

Fiesta

So Monday night was the big fiesta to celebrate Independence. As in Mexico fashion, everything starts late, so around 10pm we got to the big dowtown square. The mayor (i think thats who he was) was standing on top of one of the buildings and made this big speech. Then the crowd sang their national anthem and then started a constant chant of Viva Mexico! It was unreal, with the thousands of people all squshed together it sounded like I was in a big football arena.

All the blocks surrounding the square were full of food and beer tents. All the tents had tables infront of them for people to sit down and eat. Mexicans dont like to eat on the run, thats to hurried for them. They like to sit and slowly eat, enjoying conversation and time with their families.

After all the speeches the firework show began. First, it was the "Tower of Terror" as we called it. It was this rickety bamboo structure that had firworks taped to it. The fireworks were on there so all the differnt parts of it spun in circles. Very unsafe. THe top said viva mexico, it not only spun in a cirle but it also made of wood and fireworks so eventually burned out too. There was so much smoke and the whole structure was shaking back and forth. They had the area roped off around it but we were still so close that sparks were flying at us. Very scary. After the tower had burned out they shot fireworks off all the roofs in downtown. We were all pretty impresses with this show. After the show ended we walked around, I saw one of my students. We were very dissapointed that we could not find a churro man.

At about midnight we decided that we needed dinner and a drink. SO kara, Jeanne and I went to this cute outside place and ordered. Right after we ordered we got a call from Jeanne's husband saying they had just arrived (for the past week he has been driving from Minnesota, he stopped in Phoenix and picked up a friend on the way). So I literally got up, and RAN 6 blocks to our apartment. I met the two men and brought them to the restaurant just as the food was arriving. We all ate and drank and finally left around 1:30am. When we got home, we found out the power was out. Apparently, the carnival was taking all the power of the city. So we went to bed in a very hot and humid apartment. A cold shower in the dark, with candles, did not help. The next day, yesterday, I took Jeanne and her husband and friend to the beach. We were having a lot of fun till I stepped on a sea urchine. Jeanne was near by and swam to me and pulled them out quickly. I think the fact she got the 2 spikes out so quickly and that they didnt break inside me kept me from getting the pain. Instead I jsut had a numb foot all day, I am happy to report this morning I can feel my foot again so no permanent damage. Later that day, we went to the Baja Brewery for a few beers and then to our favorite restaurant Guacamais (not sure on spelling...it means parrot in spanish). The 4 of us ate and drank margaritas. It was a lot of fun. Harry, Jeannes husband, is real nice. He is from Northern England and he is a retired french professor. He has already told me twice to slow down my speech because I talk to fastfor him to understand...special. His friend flys out tomorrow, so tonight after work and my tutoring job, we are all having one final big dinner. I cannot wait!

VIVA part 2

here are just a few more pics...

one is of the little bar that over looks downtown that we like to frequent...its on the roof

the rest are just more decorations and of the scary firework shooting device

VIVA MEXICO

Today is Mexican Independence Day!!! Tonight at 11pm the party starts. It will be like New Years in Time Square here. Everyone for miles comes to the square for food, drinks, music, fireworks, and to party. Tonight should be unreal. We walked downtown to see the setup and take pictures. On the way downtown there is a little carnival full of very unsafe looking rides. They have been hanging streamers and pictures of famous Mexicans everywhere. The flags are out. In the square (the piaza), there is a giant stage where a famous Mexican duo will be performing tonight. The Mexican silver medalist diver from the Olympics will be at our celebration. All the food stands look great. They have everything from American hotdogs and cotten candy to quesidillas and other Mexican things I could not pronounce. Then there are beer tents everywhere. Im hoping to find a churro stand.

fun weekend

So this has been an interesting week. Tropical Storm Lowel came through on Wednesday and Thursday. We had both of those days off. We get the days off not really because there is so much damage, more because the roads are horrible because they are made of dirt and there is no drainage system. On Friday, we went back to school. A few of the classroom’s skylights broke but that really all the damage that was done.
Friday after school, Kara, Jeanne, and I went to the Baja Brewery. This place has the best beers. I was drinking a cactus wheat beer that was amazing. We went with some other ladies from work. Two of them spoke some English so were able to talk. But they are pretty expressive so easy to follow the mian topics.
Saturday, we spent the morning at the pool and then we had a party at Jeanne’s place. One of the Canadians from work had a friend of hers down visiting. He is a chef in Canada and he is competitive Scrabble player. Then one of the other Canadians we work with came over as well. So there were 6 of us playing scrabble and drinking wine. We went through 4 bottles of wine and a few six packs of beer. Great night. We made these chorizos potato skins. Jean made guacamole and a salmon dip. They brought crab stuffed mushrooms and then a fancy platter that had a crab dip and a fillet of Cajun smoked salmon that went with purple onions and cheese on these crackers. It was all so good. We had a lot of fun but our scrabble was pathetic. He did amazing and our total scores never went up past 40points… He said originally he had been a little scared about playing scrabble with a group of English teachers, however, when he left I think he probably doubted our teaching abilities. Oh well, it was fun.

Tropical Storm Lowell

Here are a few pictures of the sky...and endless view of clouds

NO SCHOOL!

OH how I love Tropical Storm Lowell... NO school today and hopefully none tomorrow or Friday. Monday and Tuesday are holidays for Mexican Independence Day. So I could have 7 days off in a row....IM EXCITED! At school our hurricane shutters are up.

Last night I went out in Cabo San Lucas for my first time. I went out with my friend David (who I met surfing) and his friends. We went to Hooters, of all places. And it is the exact same as the US. The only better thing about Hooters here is that it's all outside and the seating overlooks the marina. So you can see all the yahts and sailboats while you eat and you can look up and see the stars. They made me eat a spicy wing, my lips burned. I love how Mexicans get a kick out of a white girl who doesnt like spicy foods...Im entertainment for them.

International Surf Competition

Today, we took our beach mat and umbrella and headed to the beach for the second anual Los Cabos International Surf Competition. These are some pictures from some of todays events. The contest is going on for 4 days. The one picture of just waves, if you look at the waves in the very back, that is where I was taught to surf the other weekend.