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.

Great weekend and its only Firday

So our weekend started last night. The man we bought our car from, him and his wife (who is Mexican) took myself, Kara, and Jeanne out to their favorite authentic Mexican retaurant. It was wonderful. It's completely outside. The only roof they have is a canopy of grapefruit tree branches and leaves. Grapefruits and Christmas tree lights decorate the "ceiling". The food was amazing. I had a bowl of Mexican cheese, melted, with steack and grilled onions on homemade tortillas. We drank and talked and just thouroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Today, Friday, after work we went to a turtle release. My boss, Michelle, her husband is the general manager at El Presidente a resort here in San Jose. The hotel helps with the preservation of this species of turtles. 370 baby turtles were born this morning and so they had a release tonight. We each got 3 turtles to name and release. They were so cute and tiny. All 3 fit flat in one hand.

After the release we went to a pub we were told about in the Art district. We had never been to the art district before, but wow, its beautiful. I will have to take pictures the next time we go. The restaurant, Baja Brewing Company, brews their own beer in tanks you can see through a clear glass wall. The restaurant itself is mainly all outdoors as well. In the middle of it is a giant firepit which will be cool in the winter to see it lit. The food and beer were amazing.

Tomorrow we have a busy day. We are going to an internation surfing competition. After that there is a big folklore event in downtown. There will be traditional dancing and all other sorts of things. Then after that there is a big work party. Our instructions were to bring food and alcohol...what a great party. I cannot wait. All the teachers are going to get drunk together...I can only communicate with about half of them do to the language barrier but it will still be a blast. And apparently I am turning Mexican slowly...Im getting so dark that everyday the PE teacher jokes at my skin color and tells me I am almost as dark as him, we will see...

Oh, as I was walking to my classroom today I spotted a cow with and actual cowbell around his neck...a stray cow. Oh and kara dropped a pencil on her way to class and when she went back to find where she had dropped it she found it in the arms of a little chipmunk...lets just say there is one happy chipmunk out there is the dessert tonight