Saludos desde Mexico....

Life in Mexico continues to be fun and interesting. This week at school we have the "Copa Libertad," or what I like to call a giant pain in the butt. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday various students in my classes will be missing various parts of the school day to play soccer and basketball. Meanwhile, I have to entertain the rest of the students or possibly even take them to cheer on their fellow classmates. To some of you this might not sound problematic, but to a teacher who is trying to keep all of her students on the same page and who struggles to cover all the material in the short period of time she has with her students every day, it is a less than ideal situation. I'm also not supposed to give the students homework Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday since it would likely interfere with their sports schedule. Every day I understand more and more why everyone says that flexibility is the most important skill to have at Colegio Ingles. :o) Aside from the "Copa Libertad," things at school seem to be going about the same. My kids still haven't mastered the art of not talking while I am, but I'm not giving up hope quite yet. Many of us English teachers have been talking about proposing changes to the administration in hopes of improving some of the not-so-good policies and procedures the school has right now.

On a lighter note, last weekend I took a short trip to Parras, a small pueblo about an hour and a half away. Katie, a friend of a friend from La Crosse who is working at the Colegio Aleman here in Torreon, invited me to go with her and a few of her friends. It was a very random and very last minute decision, and despite having never met her or her friends, I decided to go. After school on Friday, the seven of us piled into Katie's boyfriend's Chevy Cavalier and headed for Parras. When we got there, we grilled hamburgers and chicken and had a couple of drinks by the hotel pool. It was very refreshing to be out of the city and even though I didn't really know anyone, conversation flowed easily and I had a lot of fun. On Saturday, we woke up late and toured the small winery that was on our hotel grounds (Parras is known for it's wine production). We then went to the town's church and on the way got a flat tire. After fixing the flat tire and visiting the church, we went and toured a larger and more well-known winery called Casa de Madero. It was a free tour and I learned a lot of interesting information. We then went swimming in a natural pozo (well or pond) and finally headed home. It was a short trip but a fun one, and I was really glad I went.

After getting back from Parras, I quickly showered and got ready to go out with my roommates and some of the other English teachers. We went to a club named Studio here in Torreon and had a lot of fun. Sunday I slept in late and then went with a couple of teachers to the city centro (downtown area). It was a lot of fun since I felt like I was in "real Mexico". We walked around the mercado (market) and bought some pirated movies - 3 movies in one for $20 pesos (about $2 US). :o) The weekends definitely fly by fast, but I think I'm doing a pretty good job of cramming things in. Even if we're just sitting around watching movies, the break from school and spoiled children is always nice.

I think that's about it from me for now. I've included a couple pictures from Parras - the church that caused us the flat tire, a group shot at the hotel, us hiking the mountains around the hotel, and a picture from the Casa de Madero winery. Keep the phone calls and emails coming. Les mando un abrazote!!

I suck at Blogging....

So for those of you depending on my blog to know how my life in Mexico is going, I sincerely apologize. I am STILL without internet at my house and extremely busy with school. They may be poor excuses but they're the best I've got. The past month has pretty much flown by. Last Monday we already had to hand in our first set of grades for students. School continues to be a challenge. The curriculum, administration, and overall ideas and policies of the school seem pretty backwards to me. The kids' behavior is improving but I still have a ways to go before they're at the level I would like them to be at. I've commented many times that I sincerely enjoy hanging out and talking with all of my students on a one on one basis, but when I put all of them together in a small room and expect them to shut up and pay attention, things can get quite challenging and frustrating. I do know, however, that I'm not the only teacher who feels this way (in fact, ALL of the English teachers have commented on how bizarre and frustrating things are) so it's reassuring to know it's not just me.
Mid September we had a nice 4 day weekend because of Mexican Independence Day. One of my roommates, Natalie, and I took a trip back to La Piedad to visit some of the friends I had made in the 3 weeks I spent there before coming to Torreon. It was a long trip (10-12 hours by bus) but we had a lot of fun. I got to see everyone I wanted to see and enjoyed the time away from school. Natalie got to see "real Mexico" and I got to eat yummy street food and buy things at the cheap street markets. Mexican Independence Day didn't really seem that much different from a typical night out in Mexico. There were no fireworks and no parades. Everyone did dress up cowboy style and drink a lot of Tequila though. Natalie and I got convinced to stay an extra night just so we wouldn't miss all the fun. It was worth it, even though the next day we spent 12+ on a bus to get back to Torreon. It was tough going back to school and even worse knowing our next break from school wouldn't be until we had a day off mid November.
My social life has seemed to calm down a bit over the past couple of weeks. I've learned that I can't go and do something every night if I want to be able to get up early and have a good day teaching. It's kind of odd to have a real job and be a real person in Mexico since all of my past Mexico experiences have almost always been worry and obligation free, but I'm adjusting. I still go out to dinner with friends or fellow teachers at least once a week and of course we always find something enjoyable to do on the weekends. The past couple of weekends we also haven't gone out because of a somewhat scary experience that happened a couple weeks ago. Two Fridays ago, around 5 in the morning, I heard a huge bang. I had heard that the Zetas (a local gang) had been fighting nearby so I assumed it was some sort of gunshot. Although I've been told many times that they won't come looking for trouble, I was still a bit freaked out. To make things more interesting, the next day I learned that it wasn't a gun shot I had heard but instead a grenade. There has been no more Zeta drama since, but it definitely made me realize I need to be very careful and smart when going out at night. Tonight the plan is to go to the fair in town. I've been feeling sick the past couple of days so it might not be a very late night, but it should be fun nevertheless. We had gone to the fair one other time and it was fun, so I'm excited to go again.
I know this post probably doesn't include even half of what I've done in the past month but hopefully it's enough to let everyone know that I am still alive and well. I love getting text messages, phone calls, emails, etc so make sure to keep them coming (even if I don't respond very promptly). Cuidense mucho!!

Back to school?

So is it too soon to decide that I don't want to be a teacher anymore and instead want go back to school to get my translation degree? :) I guess things aren't really quite to that level yet, but it has definitely been a very stressful past couple of days. Things continue to improve at school, but not as fast or as consistently as I would like them to. The kids can be really fun; they just don't know when to STOP TALKING. I seriously ask them to be quiet at least 12390813298742 times a day. I've been putting a lot more time and effort into things thinking that maybe I wasn't well enough prepared and that's why things were more complicated than I had expected. I know I'm a brand new teacher and have a lot to learn (and realistically I could probably spend 12 hours a day a school and still have things to do) but I don't want want work to control everything I do here in Mexico. Gina and I are almost always the first teachers to arrive to school and quite often I'm one of the last to leave. The Mexican teachers get there approximately 5 minutes before the bell rings and they are out the door about as fast as their students are. I'm working on creating a balance but still letting myself have fun and enjoy my time here.
Overall, I have still been managing to have a lot of fun. Last Friday, we went out to a club called Tornado. It was a bar full of people dancing to norteno music. Us gringas definitely stuck out but we had a lot of fun dancing the night away yet again. On Saturday, we went to La Cantinita to celebrate Gina's Birthday. It was a bar/restaurant that was decorated in a very Mexican style. We ate dinner around 9 (including some ridiculously hot peppers, probably the hottest I've ever eaten in my life) and then later in the night, there was a live band. It was a very relaxed but fun atmosphere. Sunday Gina, Natalie, and I went to Gina's boyfriend, Chava's baseball game. It was a lot of fun except we neglected to put on sunscreen and got a bit fried. This week Tuesday, I went to a Santos (the soccer team of Torreon) game. It was an exposition game against the original Santos players from the '83-'84 team. It was the team's 25 anniversary to there was also a mariachi band, a famous singer here in Mexico (I forgot his name) and fireworks. It was a lot of fun, and I was glad I risked going out on a "work night" to see it. Then on Wednesday, a few of us went to a free Belanova concert at the local baseball stadiums. Belanova is a very popular band in Mexico and it was again an awesome opportunity that I couldn't pass up.
Those of you reading this are probably thinking how contradictory things are sounding. First, I'm complaining about horrible my life is and how I'm continually stressed out, and then I'm commenting on how many awesome events I've gone to in the past week. To help you understand a little bit more how stressful things can be, I'll give a more detailed account of my day yesterday. I woke up at 6 in order to be at school by 7am. I prepared everything for the day and had the classroom ready when the bell rang at 7:50. Then, I was off to pick up my kids from lineup and guide them back to the classroom. The rest of the day (8:00 - 2:15) consisted of me continually asking my students to be quiet, pay attention, and follow directions. I did have a half hour break from 10:50 - to 11:20 but during that time I had kids in from recess for detention so it wasn't much of a break at all. Then, after school I spent time correcting papers and entering grades into the grade book. Finally, at 3:45 I decided I needed a break so I headed home for 45 minutes until 4:30 when I had to be back at school for my reinforcement/tutoring sessions. My tutoring sessions went until 6:30 and then I headed back to my classroom to work on more grades/Friday folders that I send home with students. At 8:00 pm I had a informational meeting with all the students parents. I introduced myself, explained the classroom rules and procedures, and answered any questions parents might have had. At 9:15pm, I was finally ready to leave school and be done for the night. I had more student work I could've corrected, but decided a 14 hour day was long enough for me.
Slowly but surely I'm getting into the routine of things. It's still difficult to get up in the morning and go to work, but hopefully that will continue to get better as time goes on. I'm having a lot of fun and enjoying the company of everyone I live with and everyone I continue to meet. I decided to not to go to Monterrey this weekend to see my friend Oscar (from Puebla) play football, but am counting down the days until September 13th when we have a 4 day weekend because of Mexican Independence Day. I again apologize for not keeping in better touch with everyone, but am still hoping you'll cut me some slack since I'm dealing with so many new adjustments. Make sure to keep me updated about what is going on in the states!! Cuidense mucho!!!

I am a teacher?

The past couple of days have been the kind of days where you realize that 24 hours in a day just isn't enough. Sunday night I get little to no sleep at all. The nerves, excitement, and anticipation got the best of me. Monday morning I woke up at 5:40 so that I could get to school by 6:45 to finish all of the last minute details I had neglected to accomplish during the weekend. 6:45 in the morning is definitely pretty early, but it seems so much worse here since the sun doesn't rise until almost 8:00. So walking to school at 6:45 felt and looked like walking to school at 3:00 in the morning. Neverless, I arrived to my classroom (I'm pretty sure we were the first ones there) and got to work. I really didn't know what to expect, but I thought I was ready for the challenge. My homeroom of fifth graders (5C) began to arrive shortly after 7:00. I was in no way ready for them to come into the classroom so I kept working inside with the door closed. Around 7:40, I found Gina, the friend from La Crosse who had been a teacher here last year, and asked her what I was supposed to be doing. She let me know that I would need to go to the "patio techado" where my kids would be waiting in line. At the "patio techado", we received the welcome back to school message and then all of the teachers/staff introduced themselves. We ended our time at the "patio techado" praying in English and Spanish (Colegio Ingles is a private, catholic school so the students pray every morning before class).
Next, I lead my students back to the classroom and began my first real day as a real life teacher. I was actually quite amazed at how well behaved the students were and how efficiently we got through all of the material I had wanted to cover. Before I knew it, the students were lining up and heading to religion class and my first half of the day was over. Little did I know, my second half of the day would prove to be nothing like my first of the day. My sixth grade students (6C) rushed into the classroom after their lunch/recess break. I was told that I would have an extra student in my class bringing the final number to 30 instead of 29. I was fine with the idea except for the fact that my room only had 29 desks in it. I was told not to worry, that a desk would be brought to the classroom as soon as possible and that the extra student would just sit on the floor for the time being. From the very first moments of class, I realized that this would be my challenging group. Four or five boys were continuosly goofing around and testing my limits to see just what they could get away with. I had to stop the class almost every 5 minutes to ask them to be quiet and listen. It was a continual battle and I could feel my voice leaving me very quickly. I struggled through the information I wanted them to know and was extremely grateful when it was time for the class to head off to computers. When we got to computers, however, the teacher told me that she didn't have my class on her schedule. She must have seen the panic in my eyes because she quickly agreed to take them for the half an hour anyway. The students returned a half hour later and luckily the end of the day was only 10 minutes away. I was more than relieved to hear the end of the day bell sound and stood quietly as the students rushed out of the room. Gina soon came to my room ready to head home for the evening. While I had other things to get done, my brain was frazzled and I decided to leave with her. The rest of the evening was kind of a blur - I was stressed and tired and eventually decided to just go to bed around 10.
Today with my sixth graders went better, but I still wouldn't say things are at the level I would like them to be. I just need to keep working on being organized and consistent and eventually they will learn. I've been very firm and will continue to do so until the classroom is running how it needs to be. It has been a good learning experience thus far and I know I will continue to learn and grow as a teacher as time goes on. Hopefully this post doesn't sound too horrible, and stay tuned to see how my life as a real life teacher progresses!!

The last weekend before REAL LIFE begins

While I still had some last minute tasks to accomplish before the first day of school on Monday, I promised myself that I would have fun and forget about school for the rest of Friday night. While us roommates were sitting around the kitchen table disussing what we wanted to do for the evening, I got a phone call from an unknown number. When I answered, I was pleasantly surprised to hear someone speaking to me in English. It was Katie, another friend of a friend who had gone to UW-La Crosse and was now living here in Torreon teaching at Colegio Aleman. She had called to tell me that she and her fellow Colegio Aleman teachers were going to have a carne asada (cook out) at their house and that I and my roomates were invited. I had sent her a message earlier in the week asking if she was in town and if we would be able to get together at some point so I was very excited for her to call. My roommates and I continued to discuss what we might want to do for the night and in the end, decided that we were going to have a carne asada at our house and then go out to a club to see just what the night life in Torreon was all about. I called Katie back and thanked her for her invitation but explained that we were planning to go out instead and that I hoped we could get together another time.
Around 8:00 we started preparing all the food for our own carne asada. I attempted to make salsa (it turned out ok, but definitely not the best - I'm going to keep trying) while the other roommates (Natalie, Lesley, Gina, and Jolene) as well as the roommate's boyfriends (Chava and Javier) marinaded the meat, prepared the quesadillas, and got the grill going. Chava invited some of his friends over and by 10:00ish we were all enjoying the delicious food. It was a lot of fun getting to know new people and hanging out with native Mexicans. While almost all of them spoke English, by the end of the night we were all talking in Spanish. They were sharing good places to go in the city, teaching us how to dance, and inviting us to go out to dinner. It was a very enjoyable evening, and I was glad I allowed myself to have fun instead of stressing out about school stuff and what I still needed to get done.
Today I woke up late and headed to school to get some more work done. I think I'm pretty much ready for the first day but will be cramming to get my lessons done for the rest of the week. After working at school for a few hours, I went with Lesley and Victor to Victor's uncle's carnitas restaurant. I'm pretty sure I ate 7 tacos as well as chicharron (fried pig skin) and left feeling very stuffed. I spent the rest of the afternoon preparing some more school stuff, doing laundry, and finally taking a shower. This evening we may be meeting up with our newfound Mexican friends, but the exact plans are yet to be determined. Regadless, I'm sure it will be another enjoyable evening.

(Pictures below: Jolene and Javier preparing the food; Victor and Tom; Me, Lesley, and Natalie; Me and Gina)

Sobrevivi la primera semana!

I can't believe I have less than 4 days to prepare myself for the first day of school. This week has definitely gone by fast. Tomorrow I have to turn in all my lessons for the first week and I'm less than half way done. I feel very unprepared but I don't think I'm alone. The plan is to work hard tomorrow during the day, enjoy myself at night, and then work hard the rest of the weekend. As much of a perfectionist as I am, I still think I need to make time to enjoy myself and have fun. Plus it's Mexico, and everything always seems to work out while in Mexico.
Things continue to go well here. All of my roommates have now arrived. The two returning girls arrived late Wednesday night and have definitely had lots of useful tips and information to share. They both have boyfriends from Torreon so hopefully they'll be able to tell us more about where to go in the city. I do think us newcomers are doing a pretty good job of exploring the city on our own, however. Last night, Lesley, Natalie and I went to a nearby restaurant and later to an Irish Pub that's in the Intermall which is only a few blocks from our house. At the Irish Pub, we met up with a friend of a friend. When I was in La Piedad, some of Gaby's friends had told me that one of their friends was moving to Torreon for his job. To make a long story short, we met up with "El cuate (Hector)" last night and he seems like a very nice guy. He was excited to have someone to hang out with since he knows no one in the city and we were excited to have met someone who spoke only Spanish.
It's still crazy to think that I'm going to be living here for an entire year. I'm excited to start traveling, to meet my students, to make new Mexican friends, and much more. Things are off to a great start and hopefully they'll only get better.

All settled in...

Untrue to my word, I haven't made much time to write. I still have no internet but the issue will hopefully be resolved tomorrow. Things continue to go well here in Torreon. All of the other teachers are great. Everyone seems very openminded and friendly. It's amazing how easily you can bond with people when put in a new and unknown situation. I spent the weekend hanging out with the other new teachers and getting to know more about them. Friday we hosted a margarita night at our place (Casa E - I included a couple pictures at the end of this post) and played catchphrase. Saturday we all went to the pool at the club during the afternoon and then watched the Olympics at night in Casa D. The school provides us with a free membership to Club Britania which is about a 15 minute walk from our houses. It is a nice club with an outdoor pool, small gym with equipment, and fitness classes. The pool is definitely my favorite part, and I'll hopefully be able to enjoy hanging out there in my free time. Over the weekend, I also went to Sorianas and bought some groceries, walked around the school in search of restaurants and stores, and explored the Intermall. While I know there's still much more of Torreon to explore, I now feel like I'm pretty familiar with the area around where I'll be living. I also bought a cell phone on Friday so if anyone is interested in calling me write me an email and I can give you my house and cell phone numbers.
Yesterday, orientation began at Colegio Ingles. It was my first time on school grounds and I was definitely pleased with what I saw. We got a tour of the campus, discussed our major medical insurance, and talked about bills and salary. It was a lot of information, but a lot of useful information. I continue to be impressed with how well organized things seem to be (even if the people in Casa C and Casa D had to switch becuase there weren't going to be enough rooms for the male teachers). Today was another day full of information and I'm beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed. This is my first year teaching in my very own classroom with my very own students and I feel as though the first day is going to be very important. I am actually teaching two grades (5th and 6th) which is going to make more work for me but I will get a $400 pesos a month raise for my extra work. Another girl, Jenna, will also be teaching two grades (3rd and 4th) so I'm sure we can turn to one another when we feel completely frustrated and overwhelmed. Today we also talked with Sofia, an assitant to one of the kindergarten classes. She's from Torreon and gave us many helpful tips about where to go in the city so I'm excited to go to more new places. All in all, things are going well - my working life begins in less than a week - crazy! Tomorrow is dedicated to decorating our classrooms and beginning to plan our lessons so I'm sure I'll keep busy.