What About Sarah

01.01.11

2011-01-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

its actually not 01.01.11 anymore, it is somewhere in the wee hours of 01.02.11 but i'm not counting. its 5:30 AM and i've already been awake for 2 hours, which is just wrong on so many levels.

another year has come and gone. this past year was a difficult one for me, but also a year of new achievements. despite my dad's struggles with his health and my personal ups and downs; i ran my first half marathon in austin, completed my masters degree in education and became team leader of fourth grade at my school. i always try to imagine, how would i sum up my year in a sentence? 2010 taught me that there is much to lose in life, but also much to gain from those times of struggle.

so far, 2011 has welcomed me with luck on my side. this morning i left my passport and documents for the first time EVER at the security check point. i realized within 5 minutes while i was buying some coffee, raced back - and they were holding it all for me. i imagined i had left it laying on my checked baggage, or put it down somewhere where i would never find it again. then, on my flight to atlanta, they moved me to first class for 'weight and balance'. not sure if that is a compliment or not - but i got extra leg room, blankets, snacks and... wait for it... a glass cup.

so, what is life all about? what does it all mean? why does it hurt so much sometimes? i don't have any more answers then i did a year ago. but i do know that if i can appreciate the little details - running into an old friend on the train, sharing a hamburger with my mom, painting a picture, or getting extra leg room on the plane - that is what life is all about for me, for now. my new years resolution is to focus less on the big picture, and more on the little.

maybe i'll manage to understand the big picture in 2011.

paloma's affirmations of her life in mexico.

2010-10-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

a spinoff of jessica's daily affirmations. if you're unsure, watch this video.

on the eve of paloma's departure to become a US citizen (yes, its true, some dogs are luckier then some people), we imagine these to be her thoughts on her life so far:

i love my sister kahla.
i love my special mama sarah.
i love my special mama sarah tambien.
i love my special mama ally.
i love my special mama elise.
i love my special papa damon.
i love my special mama megan.
i'm sure i would have loved my new special mama jess!
i wonder who that little dog was that was here for a month.
i LOVE MINE! (our maid)
i love the calzada! i love lying down on the calzada.
i love pooing when my special mama has no bag.
i love rubbing my nose in the grass at starbucks.
i love running away to the vet. i love running away in general.
i love the PEMEX guys. i love when they bark at me.
i love the cat that lives next door.
i love running at the dog park.
i love my enemy lily.
i love jumping up the wall. i love jumping on people to say hello. i love jumping in general.
i love being a lap dog.
i love tilting my head to one SIDE.
i love my new crate.
i love eating toast off the counter. i love eating plates of chicken off the counter. i love eating anything off the counter.
i love my WHOLE HOUSE on via savotino (insert clap here)
i will miss my OLD LIFE (mostly my sister kahla)

i can do anything good. i am proud to be a mexican street dog. yeah. yeah. yeah.
i am on my way to a new life.

the refrigerator.

2010-08-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

monterrey, by some, used to be referred to as the 'refrigerator', because it was one of the safest places you could be in mexico. no more, it seems. coming back to monterrey, a city that i love, and seeing it like this, has been saddening.

first, of course, was the terrible damage done by hurricane alex. sadly, in canada, we did not get the full coverage of what was going on down here. there was tremendous damage done to infrastructure, two of the main thoroughfares and all of the businesses that had set up shop in the usually-dry river bed. the canyon by our school looks starkly different, and the road is completely washed out.

we moved this year to a new, state-of-the-art campus in santa catarina, on the other side of town. aside from my deep hatred of the morning commute, it has been a great experience to be in a new building, and be a part of the road bumps that come along with transition. however, our road bumps have gone beyond furniture and bulletin boards. on our third day of school, there was a shootout right outside our school grounds during dismissal. i won't go into details (you can just google it) but it was a harrowing experience. as a result of this, we have all become increasingly more aware of what is really going on in monterrey.

i don't really understand all of what is happening in these drug wars, but it makes me sad to think about how deep-rooted these issues are: corruption that could take generations to fix.

i should reassure you that my life here still feels very safe. today i ran errands and went to the gym. the mountains were clearer then they've been in a long while, so i went out and took pictures. i ordered sushi for takeout. we took the dogs for a walk. there were still lots of people at the mall, restaurants were full and traffic is still heavy and crazy.

when it rains, it always pours. and i know that this too will pass, and with time, my city of mountains will settle.

end of year visitor.

2010-05-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

alyssa was just in monterrey for the week and i told her she could never leave! except... she did, this morning. even though the end of the year is a busy time, she just easily joined in and lived my life with me for the week! it was so amazing to have her here, to truly experience the day to day joys and struggles of living and teaching in mexico. we also were tourists extraordinaire, and literally did everything there is to do in monterrey.

just a few of the moments i don't want to forget:

*talking all evening at a picnic table in the mountains.
*taking a little walk up an almost dried up river-bed and spotting gigantic leeches, yuck.
*alyssa putting me to shame with her ability to inhale uber-spicy salsas.
*when i was stressed with marking, alyss made the BEST mini pizzas for dinner so i didn't have to cook!
*going to salsa class and actually going through the line of randoms since we didn't have partners.
*sharing more then one good solid cry.
*trying to find something to do in santiago, but realizing, there is really nothing to do in santiago!
*me being afraid my grandma taurus would not make it up over the mountains on our way out to camping.
*driving out into the canyon with kahla and going for a hike to watch the sunset.
*having her talk to my class about being a doctor. my kids screaming, ewww, yuck, cool!
*taking a long hike in chipinque and talking the whole way.
*getting all fancy and going to a rooftop bar for a mojito.
*helping her pick out her first pair of kum kum earrings!
*having alyss measure my long hair out before 14 inches were cut off in front of my entire class!

... and so much more.

thanks for coming to visit, alyss!

its true.

2010-05-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

"...foreigness is intrinsically stimulating...an escape from the boredom and banality of the everyday. The mundane becomes superreal and experienced with an intensity evocative of the events of a true biography... living in a foreign country can evoke many of the emotions of childhood: novelty, surprise, anxiety, relief, powerlessness, frustration, irresponsibility."
-The Economist

travel advisory?

2010-04-18T18:44:00.000-07:00

i'm not sure about canada, but mexico has been getting a lot of bad press recently in the united states. the violence going on between the drug cartels has gotten out of control in some of the border towns (not near me here, don't worry!) and governments have put travel alerts up for traveling down here. while there are definitely some places in mexico that i would definitely not go right now, i feel, in general, quite safe.

i read an article this week that put mexico's violence into perspective:

*mexico's murder rate is five times less then jamaica and half of brazil.

*when looking at the murder rate in latin america's most violent countries, honduras has a rate of 61 murders per 100,000 inhabitants while costa rica and mexico have 11.5 per 100,000 people. in comparison, washington dc has a murder rate of 31 per 100,000 and new orleans has a rate of 74 per 100,000.

*over the past 10 years, mexico's murder rates have been consistently dropping.

all this to say. mexico is a huge country with lots of very safe places to be. it is no more unsafe here then it is in many other large cities in the US.

don't worry about me!

Go Slow.

2010-04-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

The motto of Caye Caulker is “go slow” and nothing could sum up this laid-back paradise better. We did not actually arrive very slowly – we almost missed our water taxi and were running with our suitcases to catch it – but we quickly fell into the rhythm of hippie island life. We were in Caye Caulker for about three days, and we did not do much at all except savor our remaining days in Belize.

Going slowly for us included:

-Lying by the pool in our cute little flower-filled courtyard at Seaside Cabanas
-Finishing a good read (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in my case)
-Eating ice cream for lunch
-Going to a hotel (Iguana Reef) on the back of the island every evening, buying a drink, and watching the sunset (even if it was completely behind the clouds) with the melodious blackbirds singing their tune
-Walking down to the split and drinking a beer at a picnic table with our feet in the water
-Sitting for long breakfasts of fresh fruit and toast
-Mom and Auntie Diana getting up early, me sleeping an hour or two longer
-Mom and Auntie Diana going to bed early, me staying awake a couple of hours longer to chat with Fili
-Meeting our friend Pam from Vancouver everywhere that we turned
-Taking pictures of houses on stilts and funny signs around town
-Watching the other travelers arrive on the island, unaware of the bliss to come
-Laughing over a great bottle of wine at the island’s only Italian restaurant, Don Corleone
-Ordering copious amounts of mouth-watering seafood at Habanero’s (now up there with the best travel meals of my life), and still ordering dessert
-Smashing my crab legs with a metal hammer and cutting board – sweet relief!
-Walking barefoot on the sandy roads without cars
-Having the worst breakfast of my life at the Happy Lobster and not caring one bit
-Not going snorkeling when Mom and Auntie Diana did (I’m not good at saying no)
-Smiling as locals said good morning as they passed on their bikes
-Jumping in the ocean and getting salt up my nose

A quiet ending to a perfect two weeks. Memories with two of the best ladies in my life that I’ll remember forever. A country that is already calling me back.

Going Underground.

2010-04-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

Monday and Tuesday were our last full days at the Lodge. Since we were on a package, we were given two more day trips that were included in our fixed price. My Mom and my Aunt are pretty adventurous ladies but they also have their limits. My mom had wanted to come river tubing since we had decided to come to Belize – apparently it is all the rage here. My aunt was pretty agreeable. I wanted to go on a raging caving adventure but we had to meet in the middle – part of the deal was that we had to go on the same excursions. So, after much deliberation we decided on two caving adventures. There are many caves in Belize because of the limestone rock that is prevalent there. Both were very different but each was unforgettable in its own way.

Caves Branch: Like I said, my mom had wanted to go river tubing since we had decided to come to Belize. When we asked for a description of this day-trip, we were told it would be ‘a relaxing float down the river with some moderate cave climbing’. Our expectations were blown from the very first moment. An ancient Belizean man named Mr. Buckley came to pick us up from Chaa. He was a tall man, with white hair and a white beard, dark skin, and he had a gift for storytelling. Before being a tour guide, he had been a member of the British Army, now he was a ‘retired’ guide slash Justice of the Peace slash driving historian. On his way through town he even stopped so we could see his house and his Guatemalan wife. He was not overly central to our cave experience, but he was by far the most interesting guide that we had while in Belize. There are only 5 highways in Belize: East, West, South, North and Hummingbird. We needed to get to the Hummingbird Highway for our adventures at Caves Branch. Caves Branch is actually also a hotel owned and operated by a Canadian named Ian Anderson. He owns the land where the caves are, so his company is the only one that can run tours. The hotel where we were put on a bus was a bit unnatural in our view – it felt like fabricated jungle. We boarded on old windowless school bus with a gaggle of annoying children who were seemingly given free reign to scream and shout. We were so far, not overly impressed. We were fitted with an inner tube, and immediately we heard the cackling laughter from a large gothic-dressed lady who I will be referring to as Bat Lady. Bat Lady thought it was hilariously funny that her husband’s enormous belly barely fit around the inner tube. We were deliberating – would it be worse to have Bat Lady or the annoying gaggle of children in our group?

As it turns out, the guide who had been driving our bus led our group. He looked young enough to be my son. We were given Bat Lady and her husband, but the kids went far in another direction. We hiked a few minutes until we reached the river and “gracefully” entered our inner tubes bottom-first. I am sure you can picture our gracefulness now!

We paddled for a few minutes down the river before we got to the mouth of the cave. We were given waterproof headlamps. What happened to the lazy river? We entered the darkness of the cave but due to the shallow waters we had to walk. What happened to the relaxing float? Our guide pointed out spiders and Bat Lady gave her ear-piercing shrieks, yet when our guide pointed out bats and grotesque bat droppings, Bat Lady spoke to them saying, “my children, my children”. I wanted to feed her to the bats to shut her up.

Our relaxing river float turned out to be quite a strenuous climb through caverns, leaving our inner tubes far below. I was worried my Aunt Diana was going to be severely regretting traveling with us for making her endure this, but she turned out to be the biggest adventure junkie of us all. She seemed very proud of herself and I am convinced she loved every second! We heard about the Mayans who used these caves long before us, and saw pottery remnants from their presence. We saw cave formations completely crystallized and other formations left from millions of years of drops of water. It was an entirely different world.

They set up a picnic in the middle of the cave, where our group (minus Bat Lady who was busy swimming with her non water-proof camera) socialized over make-your-own wraps. After, we explored a second cavern, our guide showing us an area that is believed to be a blessing in fertility due to the – ahem – fairly erotic shadows that the rock formation created.

Finally, we got to get back in our inner tubes, turned off our headlamps, and floated quietly (except for Bat Lady who refused to turn our her light and screeched the whole way) along with the current, and out of the cave. My Mom and Auntie Diana were on an adrenaline high all night from our deep dark adventure. I however, announced at dinner that I had thought of something positive about Bat Lady: she wasn’t staying at our hotel.

**

Barton Creek Cave: Our excursion to Barton Creek Cave was only a few hours - an hour drive in each direction and about an hour to paddle into the cave. Our guide, a nice guy who kept calling us “his girls” (my Mom lovvvved being called a girl!) drove us from Chaa Creek in the morning. On a map, it looks like arriving at Barton Creek should take about 15 minutes, but in reality, the roads are quite treacherous and it takes over an hour. The road definitely put our cottage bumpy road to shame!

The most interesting part of the ride was passing through a traditional Mennonite community. Belize has a large population of Mennonites, both traditional and modern. In fact, the more modern Mennonite communities literally feed the entire country of Belize. On the road to Barton Creek Cave live traditional Mennonites who use horses and buggies. The men had long beards and the women fully covered their bodies in long dresses and bonnets. The children mostly ran away from our car when we went by. I tried not to stare, but it is almost impossible not to.

The cave itself is on a property owned by a Canadian or American named Mike. Quite the life he and his family have – living very isolated lives deep in the valley next to traditional Mennonites. He charges a small fee, and has a small snack and drink bar. Fire ants immediately attacked Auntie Diana and I when we got out of the car, we must have stepped on their home by accident. They certainly are fierce little guys! Our next strange animal interaction was a monkey that lives on Mike’s property. I leaned down to say hello, and he crawled right into my lap – only to start nibbling on my ankle! It didn’t hurt, it actually scared me more then anything else. But I think I’ll stay away from monkeys from now on.

We got into canoes – the person at the back had the job of paddling and steering and the person at the front held the big powerful spotlights to light up our way. In my canoe, I was paddling and Auntie Diana was shining our way. Over the next hour we paddled just over a mile into the Cave, following the twisting and turning river as it flowed. It felt like we were in a sacred place, with high ceilings, towering rock formations and complete and utter silence. It should have been scary, but it wasn’t. The rock formations were breathtaking – the hidden underground felt more like a connection with heaven then the underworld. At one point, we had to meander the canoe carefully through spikes of rock that came down low to the river, and I even needed to lie back and paddle lying down at one of the lowest points. In this cave there were human remains found from the Mayans, as well as pottery – it is considered a living archeological site so you cannot get out of the canoes and any point.

The river apparently runs another 7 miles or so, but due to fallen rocks, it is impossible to pass in a canoe. So we turned around and headed out to the light again. It felt like a completely different cave when you looked at it from a different angle.

When we reached the light, we were left in awe of the two journeys into the underground.

Day by the Pool.

2010-04-10T15:58:00.001-07:00

Sounds like a divine Sunday, right?

Not quite.

Day by the Pool day had no pool in sight.

The plan for Day by the Pool day was spoiled almost immediately when we woke up to a drizzly morning.

Followed by “isolated showers”.

Isolated over us.

We ate our breakfast under a palapa roof as the rain came down around us. We were impressed that the palapa roofs never leak!

The clouds got thicker.

Mom, always the optimist, believed they would clear. Hmm.

We resigned to jackets and umbrellas for a wet hike of the medicine trail. My flip-flops were truly flip-flopping and squishing around.

Next was a slippery hike to the river camp.

Was that a break in the sky? No, only a tease.

A guide told us if the leaf cutter ants are working hard in the night, we should expect rain. He also told us if the cattle lies down, we should expect rain. I didn’t believe him. Yet the day before we had seen an army of leaf cutter ants and ALL of the cattle were taking a snooze. He told us it was only a legend. But the rain kept coming down.

All of a sudden the spouts from the sky dried up and the birds began to chirp. I opened my computer to blog on the porch. I typed one word… and the rain came down again.

I ran for cover.

My mom and I went to the bar for a mojito and a shrimp basket.

Then booted it up the hill to the spa, because we had 1.5 hour massage appointments at the spa. ‘The Coma’ – the massage is called. Perfect to escape a rainy day. We were given a sarong, a cold glass of water, and we sat and looked at the flowers that adorned every corner in the spa. My massage was in a palapa hut on a grassy hill overlooking the jungle. My mom’s was in a cloth-covered balcony. As I went in, I heard the trickling rain stop. My masseuse was from Austria. She had lived in Belize for 3 years. She said we needed the rain, because the land was too dry. Hmmm. Not if it ruins my Day by the Pool we don’t!

After our massages, we were all dozy and cared a lot less about the rain, and a lot more about eating and having an early night to bed.

The massages had tricked us into forgetting about our Day by the Pool day. We were even secretly hoping it would rain again so we would have an excuse for another.

But I was still hoping that the leaf-cutter ants were taking a night off.

Survivor: Tikal Guatemala

2010-04-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 3, 2010
Day 7 of my adventures in Belize with Auntie Diana and Mom
Times are loose and approximate

6 AM: Annoying wake up knock. Diana has already been awake for hours. We’re not sure if she ever sleeps.

6:30 AM: Long lazy breakfast.

7:30 AM: We were supposed to be getting into the van, but breakfast was still not over. Mom and Auntie Diana (who don’t yet understand the Caribbean idea of time) are panicking.

8:00 AM: After a short 15-minute drive, we arrive at the Guatemalan border. Mom gets a nervous feeling in her stomach going through “customs” – should we claim the granola bars? Other then waiting in long lines, there is nothing to fear. We don’t even see Guatemalan authorities; the guide gets our passports stamped.

8:45 AM: Guide is speaking to us about Guatemala in a microphone but we cannot hear due to the loud gravel bumpy dusty highway we are barreling down. All we know about Guatemala so far is that the dust looks like snow and that many people like to travel in the back of a truck.

10 AM: We pull over to a little souvenir shop for a bathroom break. Auntie Diana has her most gleeful moment on the trip when she finds a pair of Columbia walking sandals for sale. You would think she had found God at that roadside stop. Most people are buying postcards and she buys a pair of American shoes.

11 AM: We arrive at Tikal National Park after our scenic view of Guatemala. We are surrounded by mostly Guatemalan tourists with large bottles of coke under their arms. Is there a party we were not informed about?

11:10 AM: Diana sees a mini-toucan. She can now leave Belize happy.

11:11 AM: We see the Ceiba, the national tree of Guatemala. A few minutes later we see spider monkeys and get some close-up pictures. All this excitement and not yet one Mayan ruin!

11:30 AM: We get a glimpse of one ‘small’ pyramid that has been excavated and then move on to see three more identical ones that are still mounds covered in trees, roots and grass. It is hard to imagine how an entire civilization can simply disappear into overgrowth. It is even harder to imagine how the person felt while discovering it.

12:00: Our guide speed-walks up a long hill and we get a taste of what the day will be like ahead. We are all dripping in sweat wondering what we have done to ourselves.

12:15 PM: We get our first glimpse of a Mayan skyscraper, Temple of the Jaguar, the home of (get this) Lord Chocolate or King Moon Double Comb.

12:30 PM: Our guide knows the hidden paths at Tikal, and keeps us away from the crowds. We see a typical Mayan home and bed (for nobility), and see the huge tree-filled valley below, which would have been a reservoir in Mayan times. He also knows the most picturesque views in the complex, and leads us there.

12:45 PM: We round a corner, our guide tells us to prepare our eyes, and we have a full view of the Gran Plaza below.

1:00 PM: We are given a break to explore, or eat a bag of chips (whichever you most desire). I climbed the ‘small’ temple, for views of the plaza and saw two beautiful wall masks – we also manage to squeeze in a bag of chips.

1:30 PM: We move on to the Lost World section of Tikal. We are told that this city would have reached a population of 100,000 and are beginning to understand that this won’t be a little walk in the woods. To put it into perspective, there are only just over 300,000 people who now live in all of Belize.

1:45 PM: We arrive at the most impressive temples in Tikal, temples IV and V. Since leaving, we are having trouble keeping them straight. One had a staircase that went straight-up, and even the guide said that he did not like to climb it. Everyone at the top looked like a pancake pasted to the wall, because the ledge is NOT wide. As you can imagine, we did not climb this one. However, my Mom and I did climb the second one which was a much more reasonable climb, and gave even more spectacular views overtop of the jungle canopy (with the other temples sticking out above!) We overcame our fear of Mayan skyscrapers and there were no more panic attacks to be had. Diana stayed at the bottom to guard our stuff and suntan.

1:55 PM: Our guide tells me horror stories of all the people who have fallen down the stairs. Thank goodness he didn't tell me before we climbed up.

2:00 PM: We hike through thick jungle (much of Tikal is yet to be explored) and were fed a meal of rice, chicken and vegetables. We even had Auntie Diana drinking a local beer! During lunch we see more monkeys, wild turkeys etc.

3:00 PM: We are finished our touristy shopping and back on the bus, drenched from the sun and exhausted from the hiking.

3:00-4:00 PM: I am a little fuzzy on the details, because I am sound asleep. I am sure Auntie Diana and Mom could add some great anecdotes here.

4:30 PM: Back across the border into Belize in about 3 minutes flat. This time Mom contemplates claiming the Guatemalan purses she purchased.

5:30 PM: Drinks, dinner and games at the bar await.

9:00 PM: We are all sound asleep, even Auntie Diana.

Wildly Civilized.

2010-04-04T12:01:00.001-07:00

Thursday morning we got up and said adios to San Pedro, heading inland. We took a short plane ride to Belize City and were immediately picked up by a representative from the Lodge at Chaa Creek. My mother meticulously researched this perfect jungle lodge, and in this case, her (sometimes annoying) planning personality really paid off! The lodge is nestled on the banks of the Macal River, about 15 minutes from San Ignacio. We are right in the middle of the jungle, in the Cayo District of Belize, which is right on the border with Guatemala. At its widest, Belize is only 64 miles wide, making it an accessible size; but it is also diverse with ocean, jungle, mountain, forest and wetland (in fact, everything except desert).

When we got picked up, we were driven quickly through Belize City. Apparently it is a gritty city, with gang and drug activity. Not the kind of place you want to get stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time! Our guide said that even locals drive quickly at night with all their doors locked. In Belize City there is clearly a safe and rough side of the tracks, as they say. On the way to our jungle lodge, included in the transfer, is a stop at the Belize Zoo. However, this is not your average zoo – it is the loveliest little zoo in the world. The animals are ALL native to Belize, and they are in their natural habitat. The animals are only in the zoo if they were injured, found (for example, if they had been kept as pets) or born there. An American lady named Miss Sharon started the zoo, quite by accident. She came down to Belize to help with a documentary on animals, and when the project was abandoned she was left with animals in her care. She realized that Belizeans did not know enough about their own wildlife species, so she started the zoo for educational purposes. We were taken around by a knowledgeable guide, and were taught all about the animals native to Belize, but Miss. Sharon’s signs are adorably hand-painted with rhymes, explaining the risks of endangerment of the various species. Normally at zoos I feel uncomfortable with the treatment of the animals, but this place is certainly one-of-a-kind. Highlights included the jaguars, paca…

About an hour after leaving the zoo, we had entered the Maya Mountains and arrived in San Ignacio. We got a little tour (particularly noticing the above-ground graves) and learned about the monopolies that exist in Belize. One man owns the only company that manufactures toilet paper in Belize as well as the only company that imports canned goods – they say he has people coming in and going out! We drove along a bumpy road, advertised by our driver as our “free massage” for the day, and arrived at the Chaa Creek Lodge. This lodge has won a myriad of awards – and for good reason! Ti is like going to fancy jungle camp! The grounds are beautifully manicured, the little cottages are tastefully decorated, and there are shades of luxury with the new infinity pool and jungle spa. The lodge began in the 70s when a young couple were traveling in Belize and were offered to buy a cheap piece of jungle land. At first they started a garden, selling their produce in San Ignacio by paddling it down-river. Then, as travelers began hearing about them, they would come down and stay in their single guesthouse. Eventually, they began to expand and haven’t stopped. There are an innumerable amount of day trips that can be arranged through the lodge and their all also a ton of activities on sight that are included.

Our first afternoon, we settled in – I ran straight for the hammock on our deck. We ate a fresh lunch, explored the grounds, read all the literature about the onsite activities and off-sight adventures, walked down to the river, ate a five-course meal (my first jerk-style seafood), and finished off the evening with a dice game in our little palapa cottage. The next day, our first full day, we stayed onsite – we took advantage of the guided tours that are ALL included. We went up to the butterfly farm (a brilliant blue morpho species that is used for education), explored the little museum, spent the afternoon reading by the pool (a few too many families for a teacher trying to escape kids!) and ended the day with a guided sunset canoe ride. Mom and Auntie Diana are loving the morning birding, while I am loving the chance to sleep in and go to bed early! There is something for all.

This place is like camp for grown-ups, except with better food, and oh yah - we’re in the jungle in Belize. Pretty perfect.

luxury in flipflops.

2010-03-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

when thinking about what to call this blog, my first from belize, there were a few suggestions from my mom and auntie diana:
-"you betta belize it" (immediately ridiculed)
-"no shirt, no shoes, no problem" (sounds like jamaica)
-"last night i dreamt of san pedro" (madonna apparently wrote la isla bonita about san pedro, the town we are staying at on ambergris caye)
-"be one with belize" (tag line on their official website)
-"la isla bonita" (aren't all caribbean islands beautiful?)

luxury in flip flops was a little sign we saw above a little beach bar, and it was so fitting for the experience we have had here so far. belize, in our first few days, has been a beautiful mix of casual and luxurious. i know i teach my kids to really dig deep into their stories, and tell their experiences from the inside - but for the sake of time, i'm going to summarize. (don't tell my fourth graders)

flip flops: walking across the border from mexico to belize! while i was walking, kids were even jumping off the bridge into the river. VERY casual border! my mom and my aunt flew into belize via miami, but it was a little more difficult for me from mexico. for some reason, there are no flights from mexico to belize so i had to fly to chetumal, take a taxi to the border, walk across the bridge and find another taxi. i was quickly informed that taxis in belize have green license plates. i found one pretty quickly and he took me, swooping me through security in a second or two. unfortunately, i paid the man his most luxurious salary of the week when i accidentally mis-read my american money and overpaid him quite significantly. i didn't realize until getting to san pedro that my big bill was gone. BIG oops.

luxury: our first meal at fido's grill, advertised for its 5 star food at 2 star prices (i would agree!) i got my first taste of seafood for the holiday, huge delicious shrimp cooked in coconut milk. the rice was delicious, also cooked in coconut milk. de-lish-us. the ambience was incredible, a huge palapa-style restaurant overlooking the ocean. for my first night in belize, i thought i'd died and gone to heaven. we found out later that fido's is also a nightclub, but it didn't feel like it over dinner.

flip flops: for lunch we ventured down to the main part of san pedro town, to a little diner called estel's dine by the sea. when you first find it, you can't really tell the difference between the beach and the restaurant! when you walk inside, the sand continues, and the entire menu is written in chalk at the back of the place, surrounded by odd antiques and collectibles. i was worried that it was a bit too much for my mom and my aunt diana, but they were troopers! if this had been a backpacking trip, i know i would have been eating there *often* (as estel's is definitely catering to the budget minded traveller... aka me without my mom)

luxury: i had read in lonely planet that one of the best restaurants in belize was up on the north island, at a small resort called capricorn. so, we booked a personal water taxi pick-up and were taken up island to a gorgeous outdoor restaurant, framed by white lights and gardens. the food (everyone had fresh fish) was melt-in-your-mouth and the atmosphere even more divine. it felt like our own little private paradise. today, when i biked up island, i found the capricorn resort again - this time in the daylight. it doesn't have quite the same magic feel when you can see the seaweed in the water, and there are kids doing construction on the dock flailing chainsaws around! over lunch, i proceeded to tarnish our luxury by spilling balsamic vinegar down the front of my bathing suit cover-up. i certainly felt the luxury fading, but only because of me!

flip flops: san pedro in general has a very laid-back vibe. i've been told that caye caulker is even slower, which means they must be pretty much standing still! ladies come by every evening and sell sweet bread on a bike. golf carts and bikes are the primary means of transportation for tourists (and locals). the water gets cut off fairly often and no one really blinks an eye. people walk barefoot. signs are all hand-painted. no one pressures to sell you things - they offer, and then move on. reservations are approximate. a belize cold-front is even laid-back: what we are experiencing now is actually referred to as belizian snow! (ie: we're not melting, there's a bit of wind, and in the evening i need a sweatshirt)

luxury: on monday morning, we went on a three hour snorkeling trip. belize is known for is world-famous barrier reef, one of the best in the world. we were picked up bright and early, outfitted in gear and then thrown into the water. but we were not left to explore the reef alone, we were given a guided snorkel tour! our guide was willie, a belizian who doesn't like to get wet. he pointed out everything along the way, and in an hour i saw more fish and sea-life then i have seen in my whole life! after the first stop, which was the hol chan marine reserve, we were taken to shark ray alley. we were greeted by nurse sharks, but when we actually got in the water, the sharks steered clear of us (i was, sheepishly, quite happy not to see them) but we were completely surrounded by HUGE stingrays! the currents were strong, but my aunt diana and i ventured a bit far from the boat and ended up seeing a creepy green eel and a black shark (luckily swimming in the other direction!!). it was the best snorkelling that i have done in my life. we truly saw plenty of fish!

flipflops: yesterday we went on a day trip to lamanai, a mayan ruin in the north of belize. only, to get there, we had to go on quite the adventure. we started out with an hour long bumpy roller-coaster boat ride, which would not have given anyone their sea legs, if they were missing them! we were splashing through the ocean, with no idea where the lifejackets were, let alone dry land. at one point, albeit once we had arrived on much calmer river, willie jumped up and started steering with his foot! after a local breakfast on the river of johnny-cakes and fruits, we were shuttled onto a school bus decorated for a jesus-loving school. kinda weird. the rest of the day included an informative river boat tour to the ruins, where our guide pointed out a mennonite community and various flora and fauna of interest; he then followed up with a great tour of the ruins themselves. my mom and i climbed the tallest structure, only to be gripped with fear about how we would get back down. we took bum steps all the way, like big babies! at the end of the day, we went back the way we had come: river boat, jesus bus, bumpy boat. an incredible day, but not for the faint of heart.

so? its been five days in belize so far its been a great mix, probably a little more heavy on the flip flips then the luxury, which suits me just fine. we're leaving the caye tomorrow and heading inland. am i a bit sad to leave the beach? but excited for the jungle lodge adventure to come?

you betta belize it.

march 27, 2010, 8:30-9:30.

2010-03-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

clue.

2010-03-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

she'll guard it with care,
in her personal lair.
even though you think its unfair,
you'll find your gift there!

listen to me!

2010-03-11T16:23:00.001-08:00

stop:

-whispering under your breath.
-tapping your pencil against your desk.
-crumpling and rolling the edges of your papers.
-stapling compulsively, instead of just once. chk! chk! chk!
-adding a soundtrack to every lesson and every quiet work period.
-getting up to blow your nose.
-speaking to your friends through a roll of the eyes.
-the sound of saliva while you are eating your shirt.
-shouting OUT.
-complaining with your voice like a nails on a chalkboard.
-shuffling your feet with impatience, swa, swa.
-pushing your chair back.
-asking me for help. (when you don't need it)
-turning the pages of your book every second because i know you can't read that fast.
-forcing me to scream.

instead
listening to me would be nice.

i wonder...?

2010-03-11T16:10:00.001-08:00

what makes kids look like their parents?

what makes the wind blow?

when does space end?

how do bridges stay up?

how was the first color made?

why does gravity work?

why do people break laws?

how do you direct a movie?

how much is a gazillion?

how many hairs are on my head?

why do some people sleep heavy and some people sleep light?

why do i need so much sleep?

how do you become a seat filler at the oscars?

what do dogs think about their owners?

why does lattice multiplication work?

why does scaring someone get rid of the hiccups?

what makes airplanes not fall out of the sky?

how does it feel to be a mom?

why does food taste so good? and so bad?

homesick.

2010-02-28T19:31:00.000-08:00

well, its about hour six of sitting on the couch feeling homesick for my country. today i've been completely absorbed in television. i don't usually watch tv, but with the US-Canada hockey game, and then the closing ceremonies, i've been completely entranced.

i'm watching the coverage on an american channel, but even the stories of the american athletes are making me teary-eyed! i should be grading papers but instead i am thinking about how much i wish i was at home to party with everyone after the amazing canadian win this afternoon. i've also been trying to cook, but so far it has only resulted in a very burn pot of chickpeas and an overdone cake. i always thought i was a good multi-tasker but i think that cooking falls to the back-burner (quite literally), when i'm missing home (or pretty much when i'm doing anything else).

international living can be so incredible for the new cultural experiences and incredibly diverse people that i meet; but nothing can compare to home. watching the athletes come pouring in, and being so proud to be canadian, i felt so far away. i love that canada isn't afraid to poke fun at itself, and that people know how to party over a hockey game, and that they aren't afraid to be cheesy. instead i am drinking a beer, pretending to mark, and crying over my burnt cooking and my amazing country.

on a more positive note, fili took me on an adventure yesterday to find used tires for big red. we went all over the city. he took me to the street where all the stolen car parts are sold. he said that if anyone ever steals a side mirror off your car, you can come to this particular street and buy your own mirror back! since i wanted used tired, we didn't actually have success, but we found a few people who said they could order us some (or steal? not sure...!) and the weirdest part? none of it is illegal! everyone knows that the car parts are stolen, but it seems to be completely accepted.

fili promised me that my future tires will be legally acquired.!

camp out.

2010-02-21T18:52:00.000-08:00

sometimes you need to get away. and sometimes you need to run away.

preferably to the middle of nowhere!

this weekend, i did both. fili and i took the opportunity to get away. he found this hotel/resort/convention center about 45 minutes from monterrey, on our little man-made lake, which rents little spots for camping. in the summer, i can imagine it being an AMAZING place to get away from the city. it has some great facilities to distract you for a long summer's day: slides, wave pool, tennis etc. unfortunately for us, nothing was open! and, everything that was open was not included in the price of admission. the camping spot was perfect for us. no one was around, we had our own bbq pit, and there was clean bathrooms and showers. we couldn't get out of paying extra to use the facilities (even though they were slightly run down AND none of them were actually open) so we took advantage by exploring and using the indoor pool.

the camping was perfect. it didn't feel like we were in the middle of a resort. it was quiet, and we were able to enjoy a delicious carne asada, prepared perfectly by fili. there's something about camp food that just tastes comforting, like canada. we arrived in good time on saturday night, in time to explore all the facilities we couldn't use and meet a group of seniors from canada, who were at this resort for TWO weeks. let me repeat that: two weeks. i don't mean to be rude, but there are probably a million nicer resorts that these seniors could have chosen ALL over the world but they chose a 70s style resort with nothing open on the banks of a man-made river! they must have given them a sick sick deal. i spoke with one nice lady from toronto who was pretty positive about it saying, "well, its okay, the walk from the room to the pool is a little hilly, though".

once we used all the free facilities, and found out that bikes and tennis rackets weren't included, we decided to continue our adventure and visit the touristy cola de caballo (horse tail falls) that were nearby in santiago. in my three years here, i have only heard pathetic reviews of the cola de caballo falls. people said it wasn't anything to write home about. well, here i am, writing home about it! i thought they were great! i mean, they aren't the niagara falls or anything - but they are beautiful. first you had to get through some tacky t-shirts and a few people selling litro drinks (basically anything alcoholic you could want sold in a HUGE cup). i easily avoided the tacky t-shirts but had more trouble getting past the litros. when we got to the falls, perhaps since i had been expecting a spout of water, i was pleasantly surprised! i'll post a few pictures soon. the highlight was venturing past the top of the falls into the forest above the falls. there is a sign saying you are hiking at your own risk, but is there any other way? lately, it feels like everything in life is at your own risk. we felt like we were explorers, going where no one had gone before: except for garbage dump everyone had left behind. next to the cola de caballo, there is a lovely hotel and bungee jump (a strange combo?). sometime i definitely want to jump, but the time didn't seem right just yet.

after finishing up at the falls, we treated ourselves to the best ice cream place in the region, helados regia and headed back into town. back to the middle of everywhere, back to life.

a great weekend that reminded us of all the amazing outdoors experiences there are in and around monterrey. we just have to look a little harder. since getting home, i was supposed to be marking math tests, but i ended up scouring the internet for the next camping adventure.

13.1

2010-02-15T18:20:00.001-08:00

"dear running: i'd like to thank you for giving my fiance a tight ass" - random guy with sign.

"tough cookies never crumble" - t-shirt of the girl running directly in front of me.

"13.1? 26.2? all of you are fucking crazy!" - another random guy with sign.

"i've never liked crowds anyway" - a sign for all of us closer to the back of the pack.

"what the hell have i gotten myself into?" - my thoughts when i crossed mile 7 and realized i still had to almost DOUBLE what i had already done.

i ran my first half marathon yesterday. it was in austin, texas, on valentine's day. 13.1 miles, or 21 km. if you didn't know, its really far. really really far. its not that far for the people that run it in an hour and a half. but for people like me, it takes all morning! i signed up for it a few months back as an excuse to get in shape. and truthfully, i wasn't ready. not for the full distance. the first 15 km were really good. i felt strong, i felt in control, i felt good about life! this one guy who was cheering tapped his finger to his temple as i passed, as if to tell me, your power is all up there. i believed him! until, then, all at once, it hit me. my knees started to ache, and the hills started to come. and i had to start walking. i didn't walk tons, i interspersed 2 or 3 minutes of walking with 5 minutes of running, but i still felt great because people around me were all doing the same.

i didn't train for speed or a particular time, in fact i didn't really train at all. i wanted to see if i could do it. and i did. it is a very empowering feeling! and i realized that since i could do it - without killing myself - that the next time i will build up to it, so the last 5 km aren't such a shock to my system.

i was so proud of myself when i ran across the finish line, but sadly, there was actually no one there to greet me! i had just run for 2 hours and 58 minutes, and i ended up getting my cute t-shirt and eating a bag of chips alone. a party for one. i had come with some people, who had all been running, and i don't know anyone in austin. it all felt pretty anticlimactic, and then, the day went downhill from there. i won't go into details, but all i can say is that life never lets you be happy for too long, it needs to balance you out with some shitty-ness to go along. the incredible vibe and high from my race definitely got overshadowed. i'll have to go back next year to experience it all again.

i feel an extreme sense of pride for running and completing; but it is also paired with a deep sadness and sense of loss. a mix that my mind can't really comprehend.

anyway. i'm back in monterrey now. there's another half in monterrey in april. dearest running, do i dare take you on again?

today i.

2010-02-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

today i couldn't get out of bed until 7, and had to be at school at 7:25.

today i arrived at school at 7:33.

today i braided my hair, which i never do.

today i got frustrated with a student, and yelled at him in front of the class.

today i got frustrated with some teachers, but kept my mouth shut.

today i learned that peanuts are a legume.

today i taught my students about the underground railroad when we were supposed to be discussing poetry.

today i didn't know the answers to 5 questions my students asked.

today i told my kids that mr. google could help them find the answers.

today i felt freezing cold in my house for the first time in several weeks.

today i wrote a long e-mail to my mom.

today i drank a beer after school.

525 600 minutes.

2010-02-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

last year, on this date, i met fili. i went to a language night at a local cafe in the barrio. i didn't really feel like going. in fact, my first impression of fili was one that had me laughing for quite awhile! after telling him about my mediocre spanish, he responded, "maybe we could speak the language of love?" on that night, i never thought i'd still be talking to him a year later!

so, after a year with fili, i started thinking about how his presence in my life has changed mine:

-i'm a lot more appreciative of monterrey, and of mexico in general. he absolutely loves his city, and loves showing it to me, and exploring it with me. he often reminds me to find beauty in this city when i'm forgetting to.

-his loyalty to his family, and to his daughter is a constant priority reminder for me. he puts the people he loves first, and gives his time and his heart to them with such ease.

-he's a romantic. and its made me more romantic.

-he's driven work-wise. when i'm complaining about work, he is happily doing his! when i'm desperate to take a day off, he reminds me (tactfully, of course) that i do love what i do.

-he's taught me to appreciate (but not always get) sarcasm!

-for a long time, i always needed to be doing 'something'. he showed me that fancy expensive dinners are not the only way to spend quality time together.

to celebrate our year, fili took me to see the musical 'rent' in spanish, and then we went back to the cafe where we met. a year later we're not exactly speaking the language of anything - its kind of a fusion between english, spanish and yes, love.

raisons d'etre.

2010-01-31T14:41:00.000-08:00

i am reading an amazing book. it is called extremely loud and incredibly close. or incredibly loud and extremely close, something like that. the main character is a quirky bizarre kid who thinks about things in way that has inspired me to write more. the author, jonathan safran foer, has a way of giving this kid the most unique voice that i have ever heard in recent literature.

anyway. i am in playa del carmen this weekend with my housemate sarah. sarah is leaving mexico next year, and we realized that we wouldn't get another chance to travel together, so here we are. she also needed a little break from heartbreak, so here we are again.

it is currently cloudy and a bit drizzly so i have come to a little cafe to do some work... of course work has turned into chatting with my boyfriend fili on facebook and blogging. i'm definitely not at risk of becoming a workaholic. we are staying at a pretty no frills hostel. in fact, the website honestly states, "if you want luxury, DO NOT STAY HERE". they definitely did not lie. but for 20 bucks a night (including a great breakfast), i'm not complaining. i think sarah and i are both realizing that we are on the edge of wanting to hostel anymore. but our bank accounts tell us differently!

there is an expression in french, raisons d'etre, meaning "reasons for being". this quirky character in extremely close and incredibly loud (or the opposite) is constantly talking about his raisons d'etre, for example, making sure his mother doesn't get hurt. this got me to thinking that i haven't thought lately about my raisons d'etre. isn't it great when a 9 year old fictional character teaches you something.

a few of my raisons d'etre:

getting close to my family again, to make up for the terrible mess i made in high school/university
loving fili and being loved in return
traveling the world so i can constantly be reminded that there is more to it then just me
getting over depression/anxiety and helping others to also see the glass half full
teaching kids that the best best learning happens far far from a textbook and that school can - and should - be fun
to infect others with laughter and happiness
figuring out my true raisons d'etre, because i don't think i've found nearly all of them yet

j'ai oublier mon francais!

2009-12-29T16:40:00.001-08:00

this year, for the first time during my time living in mexico, i have decided to use my christmas break to travel somewhere in canada! usually i am off to somewhere warm and sunny, but it is time for me to learn more about my own country. so, this morning, ginny and i headed to the train station and came to possibly the most european - and most cold - city in canada! of course, this morning, mother nature decided she should show her true winter colours, and a nice cold freeze came through. splendid timing, mother nature.

some highlights so far:

-i got my H1N1 shot yesterday afternoon and my arm has been killing me all day today! i am either a big baby or the shot was pure growing pains, because i feel like there is fire radiating down my whole arm.

-ginny and i didn't stop talking the entire train ride! i guess after months apart we had a lot to catch up on.

-at 7 o'clock this evening we were finished dinner, freezing so we actually came back to our little hotel (perfectly named, petit hotel). since we couldn't very well get into bed before 8, we have been sitting and appearing "busy" before it is appropriate for us to actually go to bed!

-we both completely forgot how to say absolutely all words and phrases in french. you wouldn't know i was in french immersion my whole life, because all that comes out of my mouth is spanish! i understand everything, but when i speak, it is a bizarre mix of spenchlish (spanish/french/english, in case you are a bit slow)... the words that i want to say don't sound like a language that i know! the sounds feel strange for my mouth to say. how do you pronounce oignon? a word that should be so easy all of a sudden - i can't think of how it should sound! french! come back to me!

-when we settled into our train from montreal to quebec city, we were immediately approached by a VIA worker, asking if we would trade seats with someone up at the front of the train who didn't want to sit backwards. of course, we obliged - but through a strange set of events - those seats had already been taken by someone else. thinking we were now seatless for the train ride, we were actually moved to first class! ginny had the guts to ask for drinks, and the next thing we knew we were riding in luxury with a personal table, rum and cokes and even free snacks and meals!

-on the train we were surrounded by spanish speakers! we came to quebec to hear french, but spanish keeps following us!

-the old town in quebec city is adorable, full of white lights and perfect views, but it is effing freezing. we walked for about 20 minutes to see a bit of town and find a restaurant and my face had almost frozen into position! i am certainly unaccustomed to being truly cold.

-our petit hotel is really petit! the rooms are nice but the lobby was pretty uninviting. we were greeted by a smelly dog and some seriously outdated wallpaper, and i was thinking, lonely planet, don't let me down! once we got to our little room (actually, little suite!), we were pleasantly surprised! i guess you can't judge all hotels by its lobby.

a bientot! (zut alors, i really did forget all my french. its like riding a bicycle though, right? right...?

a birthday message to granny.

2009-10-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you all the way from Mexico!

When I was sitting down to write a message to you, I was immediately reminded of one of my favorite kids book. It is a lovely story about a woman who is thrown a surprise 90th birthday party by her two sons, three daughters, fourteen grandchildren and thirty-five great-grandchildren. While at the party, one of her great-children whispers to her, “Are you really ninety, great-grandma?” The woman smiles and answers back, “Inside I’m only four-and-a-half, like you… but don’t tell anyone!”

Every time I read this book I am reminded of you, Granny. In fact, this story could be starring you! I have always admired your adventurous spirit and how young you are at heart. In a way, I often feel like a younger version of you. Over the years, as I have heard your stories, I began to realize that not many people have lived 90 years as vivaciously as you! I don’t know a lot of 90 year olds who know how to e-mail, who can still beat anyone at a game of scrabble, or who would consider going on a road trip to the East Coast.

I am sad that I will not be there to celebrate your 90th, but as you have shown us all – growing older is mandatory, but growing up is not. Happy Birthday to you Granny, 90 years in age, but 4 and a half in spirit!

Love from your kindred spirit,
Sarah

feeling a little european.

2009-10-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

its funny how being at an internet cafe has inspired me to blog. i always did the best blogs from random computers around europe that were hard to type on... and you can never find the @ sign. or the apostrophe. oh, feels like i am home again!

i came to guanajuato for the weekend. i have already been, exactly two years ago, but the city is still as magical as ever. aside from the fact that there is now a starbucks in the main plaza (noooooo), not much has changed. we got this weekend off for columbus day in the states, but i like to pretend that they gave us the day off for canadian thanksgiving. i prefer to be misled...

yesterday i walked around all day with my beautiful camera around my neck. i thought i looked like a nerdy tourist, but my friends said i looked very parisian. maybe that is a sign that that is where i need to move to next!

it has been a great weekend. i am in a little quaint hotel in a little alley (not the creepy kind, the adorable meandering kind) and am meeting up with people some of the time, and wandering on my own other times. the lady that runs my hotel is a bit particular, which is slighly off-putting. for example, yesterday when she served fruit for breakfast, i used my fork. later, when i needed the fork for the little quesidillas she was serving, i asked for another fork, as i could not eat them with a spoon. she informed me that it was intended that i use the spoon for my fruit, and that i should not have used my fork. washing an extra utensil is a lot of work, you see. lesson learned. i considered forgetting again this morning, and saying, "oh, i just do not know what is wrong with me, why do i keep forgetting and using my fork for my fruit? silly me."

guanajuato has a feel of paris, and i like it for that, pretentious hotel owners and all! it makes me feel like i should be sitting in cafes all day, and wandering for hours. i wish THIS was the city that i lived in, instead of monterrey!

j'aime beaucoup!

3rd time's a charm.

2009-09-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

this is my third year living in mexico. it is full of lots of firsts, and missing faces, and new adventures. the best part is that i finally feel at home in mexico. a place that i both love and hate. i've been taking my dog for walks these days, and as i walk, i think about what i've learned in this beautiful/crazy/unexpected country. here are a few things i've been thinking lately.

-if you smell something foul in the street, walk far, far, far in the other direction.
-the car wash men will still try to scam you into a car wash even when it is clearly going to downpour within minutes.
-mexicans are wonderful at using their four-way flashers. so good, in fact, that as soon as cars slow down ahead, they have put their four-way emergency flashers on before their brakes!
-there are more sushi restaurants in san pedro then taco stands! (not true, but it feels that way sometimes... too bad my boyfriend doesn't love sushi)
-don't read the local paper. because if you do, you'll know all the stuff that you don't want to know, and stop living in comfortable ignorant bliss.
-always clean up the dog shit up before it rains. especially if your backyard is made of concrete.
-i have learned that mexican people come out at night. and really, its quite logical. it is so darn hot here during the day!
-when a mexican party says it starts at 7, the host won't even be there until 8. and you won't see a lick of food until 11:30.
-the quincenera, the young mexican girls' coming of age party, costs almost as much as a wedding - and is almost as big of a deal.
-there is this brilliant thing here that the stoplights do. the green flashes warning, before it turns to yellow. i think it just gives people more time to speed up and push through the intersection, but it also is a smart idea!

the journey of 3600 km's.

2009-06-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

another year in mexico is over and done. i am back in canada once again.

this year i was great because i
worked less
ate healthier
socialized more
travelled tons
got a dog
got stronger in spanish

but this year i neglected a few things that i really care about
reading
blogging
keeping in touch

i was reading an article for my masters class last week saying that schools want to be able to "do it all". i feel that way about my life. i want to be able to "do it all". i don't want to have work be going well, but still be biting my nails. i don't want to travel lots, but still be in debt. i want it all! i want to be able to control all parts of my life at once -- not one or two at a time. just when i feel i am getting one area of my life under control, i lose control of another. for example: this year i got to bed earlier. but gone was my prime internet time! the time when i usually wrote e-mails, blogs and surfed the net. what a disappointment! i was getting more sleep but not keeping in touch with my facebook account.

in teaching we are so lucky. for a number of reasons. each year we get the opportunity to start over. we can change the way we do things, re-evaluate over the summer, and try it all again in the fall. teaching has a built in fail-safe mechanism.

ginny and i drove across the united states on the weekend. we listened to a 17 hour book on tape, a pete yorn cd 3 times, slept in austin, nashville and chattam and finally made it home. since i have been home (albeit for 24 hours) i haven't done much re-evaluating. i have slept a bit, hung out with emma, hung out with my dad, watched a few movies and tried to get back in touch with my friends. i really want to take advantage of this summer. i want to take some time to relax, but i also want to reassess my life. i want to take the same approach to my life that i take to my teaching, using summer as my fail-safe.

happy summer! enjoy the sun.

miss. sarah's vision statement.

2009-06-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

"The goal of education is to replace an empty mind with an open mind."
-Malcolm Forbes

i am a teacher who...

teaches students FIRST
and
the curriculum SECOND.

i am a teacher who...

came into this profession to ensure that there are more
great teachers
in the world.

i am a teacher who...

fuels young minds with an awareness of diversity.
cultivates a community of curiosity.
establishes a culture of lifelong learning.

i am a teacher who...

has an adventurous spirit.
laughs often.
smiles always.

i am a teacher who...

gives every child an opportunity to shine every day.
teaches through exploration, inquiry and problem solving.
differentiates instruction, encouraging all children to be challenged.

i am a teacher who...

takes advantage of teachable moments.
is a facilitator, motivator and leader.
is a friend.

i am a teacher who...

instills a love of reading.
makes math less scary.
takes kids beyond the walls of the classroom.

i am a teacher who...

loves to teach.

BUT

i am also a student who...

NEVER STOPS LEARNING.

yard sale.

2009-04-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

i am here on my semana santa adventure in baja california. for those of you who don't know, i am on the little peninsula in mexico that jets out beneath california. it has been a wonderful mix of adventure, relaxation, sun, work and sleeping. the vacation has occured in three distinct phases, and on this entry i will try to quickly summarize the first phase: KAYAK TRIP also known as ADVENTURES WITH MIDDLE AGED MOM's or NEW ADDRESS: ISLA ESPIRITU SANTU.

the kayak trip itself was 4 days and three nights on an idyllic island just north of la paz. we chose the fully catered option, which meant that pretty much all we had to do was build our tents and paddle our kayaks. we never had to paddle more then three or four hours a day, and our food was prepared for us fresh on the beach! the water was shallow and a hundred shades of blue. here is a quick snapshot, i will add visuals upon return to monterrey!

the scene: a preserved island north of la paz. it was desert-like, much more mountainous then i expected, with cliffs that disappear into the ocean. along the island are sheltered coves of the whitest beaches you have ever seen, particularly in stark contrast top the blue of the ocean.

the characters: 14 tourists, 2 guides, 1 chef and 1 skiff driver. a few of us from school, along with a few friends from home came and joined the most hilarious group of middle aged women (one actually ended up being the mom of one of our colleagues at work!) there was never a dull moment, or a quiet beach with this crowd of folks! our 2 guides, axel and tulio were amazing; our personal chef whistled while he worked; and our skiff driver unloaded our bags every single day for us so they didn't get wet!

costumes: let's just say that i actually didn't change or have a shower for four days. everything i wore was salt-crusted and i smelled delicious, i'm sure.

key scene changes: we got to kayak, have happy hour with margaritas every evening while watching the sunset, hike, learn about the geography and nature of the area, snorkel and sleep under the stars (with no tent two of the nights!)

climax: our second day of paddling we were hit with some serious waves. it was exciting, hard work (oww my forearms) but it really only got my adrenaline pumping. of course, the guides wanted us to stay in formation to keep us close together for safety and all i could picture was a domino effect when one of the ladies tipped her kayak. it would have been a kayak yard sale!

highlights: hmm. this is always the hardest part. every corner we turned there was a new landscape to admire and everything was a surprise. we laughed when we got life advice from our new mom's. we peed over the side of our kayaks when we had to go. we performed number 2 in our own personal PACO or personal toilet that was disposed of each day. we had buckets of water dumped on our heads when we got too hot. we ate fresh ceviche caught the same DAY! we looked like scuba steve and stephanie when we waddled to go snorkeling. i got bit by a sea lion when we frollicked with them in the water (it doesn't hurt but it certainly scares the living daylight out of you!) every minute on the trip was amazing.

lowlights: having to go home.

i always said i'd never...

2009-03-12T22:56:00.000-07:00

there aren't a million things that i've said i would never do. only a few thousand! what can i say? i'm generally a fairly easy-going gal. there are, however, many things that i certainly thought that i would never do. since becoming a real person, moving to mexico and becoming a teacher, many of those "i would never ever do that!" have become huge reality checks for me. who was i to be so bold and naive and demand perfection from everyone around me? and to believe that i could do it better myself? just a few things i have been kicking myself for lately.

*i used to get so pissed at my dad for being an impatient driver, who always swore under his breath. now i can't go two blocks in mexico without encountering idiot number 1, 2, 3 or 830 and muttering sweet nothings under MY breath.

*i never thought i'd embarrass a kid in front of the class. but i'm realizing, that sometimes, a mild form of embarrassment, happens naturally each time you get angry. PLUS, i was totally that teacher who ripped up a test when i caught a boy cheating today! sometimes i actually find myself using mild embarrassment on purpose, because for some kids, i am shit out of ideas.

*i never thought i'd punish the whole class when only a few are being bad. this is something i am still searching for a solution to. i remember, in elementary school, i would have to write lines, or have detention, even when i hadn't participated. i remember telling my mom, i will become a teacher to make this this doesn't happen anymore! BUT, when you actually are a teacher, it is almost impossible to figure out exactly who has been misbehaving. i have a warning system for individuals, but in the end, i always remind them that they are a 'team'.

*i never thought i'd stay home from work for a 'mental health day'. my mom always pushed and pushed herself - and here i am saying i'm burnt out two years into teaching!

*i never thought i'd take a masters degree in education. but what can i say? when i was offered it for half the price, it is difficult to turn down. now i am the teacher who doesn't know if she should be teaching working on a thesis on how to teach better. hmm. that seems a bit odd.

*i never thought money would matter to me. i live in a very wealthy suburb of monterrey, mexico, surrounded by fancy restaurants, jewelry stores and fashionable people who live a VERY comfortable, luxurious life. after being immersed in it, it is hard not to want it yourself!

next... i'm thinking of including the opposite, what i always thought i would have done by now!

sarah needs.

2009-02-26T19:22:00.000-08:00

this gave me a little laugh. i have never been a needy person, but i googled "sarah needs" and here are the top 10 hits:

-sarah needs a cold shower.
-sarah needs to get her life back and establish herself as the person in charge!
-sarah more love lyrics.
-sarah needs your manly vote.
-sarah needs a new mummy for sale.
-sarah needs a band.
-sarah needs a miracle.
-sarah needs sponsors to compete in deaf olympics.
-sarah needs batteries.
-sarah needs a wii.

what do you need?

all you need is love.

2009-02-15T11:53:00.000-08:00

everyone in monterrey right now loves love. i love love too... but i don't love valentine's day. since i have never had an overly romantic valentine's day, i reserve the right to be judgmental of the holiday. while it may be a great opportunity to bask in romance for couples; it really does serve as a huge reminder for us single folks that we are alone. i think i could write a whole book on the amount of love i have to offer, and how sad it makes me feel that i haven't found someone to share it with - but i try my best not to think about it (but i'm clearly struggling this weekend... and i think i'll give in, just for today!)

i guess deep down i thought that by the time i was in my late 20s, i would be at a different point then i am now. i am not saying that expected to have children running around my backyard -- but i thought that my patience through my teenage and university years would have paid off.

do you remember the show 'my so-called life' from the 90s? in this one scene the main character (played by claire danes) is complaining that she doesn't have a love life, and she says:
i always thought i'd have a love life.
but i don't even have a like life.

and the same goes for me! except i'm not in high school anymore.

as with everything, valentine's day celebrations in san pedro go above and beyond. people are selling HUGE foam roses on street corners, enormous balloons fill display windows everywhere, and the kids brought enough candy/cupcakes/chips/pizza to school to feed a small village.

the funny thing is, i don't want the roses, the balloons or the fancy restaurants. i just want a little bit of like, or better yet love, in my life.

random things.

2009-02-10T15:45:00.001-08:00

i decided to give in to this 25 random things, but to publish it here and not on facebook... sneaky, sneaky!

1. i absolutely love to blog and write, but lately, i haven't been able to find the time. i'd love to publish a travel book.

2. i find the strangest things the most satisfying: reading a magazine cover to cover, walking on a moving sidewalk at the airport, using a pen until it runs out of ink, finishing a jug of milk.

3. i like teaching, but i still feel like i haven't found my true passion in life. i have a few ideas as to what it might be, but since i'm not completely sure which one to choose... i'm going to stick with teaching for now.

4. my relationships rarely seem to end on my own terms.

5. i have lived in mexico for a year and a half, and am still embarrassed by my spanish.

6. i don't believe in bringing marking home. in fact, i don't believe in marking at all.

7. i don't think i could ever get bored of traveling and seeing the world. i can't wait to one day go hiking in new zealand, go back to morocco with my dad, take my mom on an african safari, see the pyramids in egypt, travel with alyssa, hike the inca trail, lie on the beach in thailand and find a partner who wants to do all of this with me.

8. i always said that when i got skinny, i would get a belly button ring. i don't think i'll ever be skinny; but i still want the belly button ring.

9. i once cheated on a test in grade 7 by writing the answers on my pencil case. i've always felt guilty about that. i once also got caught red-handed stealing money from my mom's purse. i've always felt stupid about that.

10. i can't stand banana's or mayonnaise. i think their taste and textures (particularly bananas) are offensive.

11. i have always wanted to be able to play the guitar around a campfire and take pictures beautiful enough to be in national geographic.

12. i love my life in mexico, but miss my friends desperately. i have a nagging insecurity that the longer i'm gone, people will start forgetting about me.

13. i think comfortable pillows are one of the most important things in life. i mean, we spend a third of my day on them! yet so many pillows are thin and lumpy, not plush and comfy. it is one of my missions in life to find a pillow that actually remains comfortable for more then a few months.

14. it frustrates me that the world has become so fast-paced. i would love to sit down and read the newspaper every day, catch up on blogs, write e-mails to all my nearest and dearest, spend 30 minutes reading before bed, sleep 8 hours a night; yet, i am spending the bulk of my days either getting ready for work, working, coming home from work, or tutoring. in this busy over-scheduled world we have created, we seem to have neglected the most important thing: ourselves.

15. i don't understand airplanes at all. it completely amazes me that a big metal cylinder can actually fly. to me it is all magic: they put us in an airplane, shake us around a bit, feed us some shit food and then switch the scenery outside.

16. i'll be in mexico for another year, and then i'm going to move on to a new adventure in a new country. for some reason, i see myself in asia. but the options are endless.

17. my year at 454 frontenac and our chair dancing, tea-making and best girly friends (e-way, caro & ktq) holds some of my dearest memories. i would fly anywhere in the world to see those girls.

18. i failed more classes in university then anyone knows.

19. if walkhome could have been a full-time job, i think i would have done it forever. i've never laughed more, cried more, played board games more, or met so many people in one place that i connected with. it was my niche at queen's.

20. i have a little dog named kahla that i adopted here in mexico. she's adorable, and i love her. she learned to sit on command within a week or two. but... i'll always have a soft spot in my heart for my golden retriever at home, emma. emma is 11. i worry that emma will die and that my parents will be afraid to tell me.

21. i don't have nearly as much self-restraint or focus as i like to think. i still bite my nails. i often can't say no to social events. i skip the gym when i'm tired, even though i know it will have a positive effect. i eat when i'm stressed or anxious.

22. i sometimes still fall asleep with the light on, even though it always drove my parents crazy.

23. i am the heaviest sleeper you will ever meet. a hurricane/tempest/avalanche/riot/evacuation could be happening all at once outside my window and i would sleep right through. i also am a sheet-stealer.

24. i adore lattes, my mom's lasagna, reading in the sun, being in a warm climate, red wine, watching movies, being an imperfect isabelle.

25. sometimes i think i think too much.

visiting puebla, poblano style.

2008-09-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

last weekend we had our first long weekend of the year. with high gas prices, flights have skyrocketed in price and our options have become slightly more limited. i shouldn't complain, as they flights aren't really THAT expensive... but they are definitely pricey compared to last year.

sarita and i were able to get a reasonably priced flight to mexico city, so we decided to jump on a bus to puebla, a city about 2 hours east of mexico city. it was a four-day weekend, and to top it off, it was mexican independence... which is always a huge lively celebration.

officially called puebla de los angeles (city of the angels), puebla is actually the fourth largest city in mexico. it is surrounded by mountains, volcanoes and boasts a cool agreeable climate. when sarah and i told people we were going to puebla, people responded with pretty vague answers... "oh..... cool" or "really?" or as jen clarke would say, "i would rather die then go to puebla". well, that certainly got our hopes up. we definitely arrived with low to no expectations, simply craving a temporary change in surroundings.

as it turned out, we were pleasantly surprised by puebla. however, there were certain circumstances that increased our enjoyment of the city: a) we were okay with being extremely lazy. b) we decided we would do some of the lame lazy touristy things. c) through a random connection, we got to explore the area around the city with a local, which is always a treat. d) we slept a lot. e) there was a million things going on because of the independence day celebrations. f) we didn't have to think about work. and it was great.

friday
we arrived late on friday evening and literally fell into our beds, even though the mattresses were hard and the pillows were thin and lumpy. our hotel was an old monastery near the main zocalo, and we got our exercise each day as we had to climb up three steep flights of stairs. the first time we climbed up the stairs we were breathless and out of shape -- by the end we were taking them two at a time!

saturday
on saturday, we slept in and had a lazy breakfast in the zocalo. following which, we hopped on the 1.5 hour tourist bus that gives you a great overall view of the city. it was such a relaxing way to see it all -- from the top of a double decker bus! they even had the commentary in english. we also got to play a little musical chairs on top with locals when our headphones weren't working. it was SO hot up there that people had to resort to creative means to protect their heads - for example: one lady was spotted wearing a burger king takeout bag upside down as a hat. how greasy. puebla has lots of different neighbourhoods, so it was a great way to get a tan AND get oriented to the city. our next stop in the sarah tambien tour was to find a random restaurant. one of the teachers who works at our school is from puebla, and sarah taught her daughter last year. her family owns a restaurant and she insisted that we drop in for a visit! we were warmly welcomed into a cute mexican restaurant called 'rocky's tacos', and we got to taste some of the unique poblano fare. i got to drool over the amazing mole sauces, and we got to try one of the local specialties called chiles en nogada (only available from july to september, it is a pepper stuffed with meat and dried fruit, topped with a nut sauce and pomegranate seads). they wouldn't even let us pay for our lunch. when you get out of the tourist area, you begin to realize that mexicans are truly some of the nicest people on earth. a lovely mother and daughter were sitting next to us, and curiously asked where we were from. by the end, we had a place to stay the next time we decide to visit tabasco. wherever that is. after lunch, we found our way back to the city center and went on another expedition to find the more 'funky' area of town. we rummaged around in an antique market, finding everything from old records for 50 bucks to working cameras from the turn of the century to skeleton keys. sarah even found a large tool for her car. we later found out that it was actually an extremely large bottle opener. fitting. now she can drink and drive in style. by this point, we had really exhausted ourselves and decided we needed to do what all mexicans do: siesta. our good friend anita, part owner of 'rocky's tacos' took us out for a night on the town. we walked back down to antique market, but voila! it had become a meat market of a bar scene. we felt famous, as when we sauntered up, we were propositioned by many young joven bartenders, wanting us to visit their bar. apparently this was normal, because anita took it all in stride and kept saying "gracias. gracias. gracias" but walked on by. we also learned something new from all of this hubbub: apparently saying "gracias" is more polite then saying "no gracias", which we have always done.

sunday
we got picked up by our very own tour guide, anita, in the early hours of the am. I was feeling exhausted, so I made them wait while I went to get coffees in the main plaza, not sure when I decided that coffee became a ‘no excuse’ part of my day. it was amazing having a car. she took us to quickly and easily to all the places that we had been hoping to visit, and MORE! we started in cholula, a city that was freezing, but also had one of the coolest pyramids that i have ever seen. It is actually has the widest base of any pyramid in the world. over the years, it has been built over multiple times, and it actually has a church and a forest on top of it now. but, you can still explore the tunnels underneath and see the pyramid from the inside. after exploring this unique place, we actually climbed up to the top of the pyramid to see the spectacular view from the top. we had been told (and seen postcard views) of the two HUGE volcanoes, but unfortunately, the clouds were obscuring our view. at one point, we think we may have had a glimpse of the top of ‘popo’, one of the volcanoes, but I wouldn’t bet my life on it. the day continued with a drive to two other towns that we would not have otherwise visited, one known for flowers, and the other for churches. and to be honest, I would have to look up the names to tell you what they were called.

monday
on monday, we hit the ultimate jackpot and found the only african safari in mexico. that's right folks, africam safari. and now that wasn't a typo, i think its called africam because african was already taken. lions, tigers, bears.. oh my. all from the comfort of a luxury mexican bus. something did seem a little strange about giraffes in mexico, but i wonder if they even know the difference. hot is hot, right? it was sarah's first drive-thru safari, complete with a tour guide sporting a full 80s style hair wall and silly photos taken in the gift shop. the day was capped off with a revolting half hot half cold frozen vegetable salad from the serengeti cafe. you don't know what you're missing. we returned from africam to enjoy an afternoon of lattes and reminiscing over past journal entries. and then, it was siesta once again.

tuesday
the return journey essentially took all day between the cab/bus/plane/cab, but before we took off, i got my last taste of poblano mole. this time, it was served over eggs, and it was quite possibly the most delicious chocolaty goodness that I have ever tasted. i am not sure I will ever be able to think of puebla without thinking of those mole eggs.

and giraffes, of course.

a love hate relationship.

2008-09-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

being in monterrey and asfm for a second year has its pros and cons.

i love...

-knowing how to be a teacher, asfm style. i can't tell you the amount of time i save not having to read every single lesson the minute before i teach it!

-feeling comfortable in my city and knowing my way around.

-the car.

-the tutoring jackpot i seem to have hit. four hours a week at a fairly comfortable wage equals all of my spending money!

-did i mention the car?

-my new classroom. i have windows to the outside world!

-"new recipe" night. i have learned to make chickpea patties and an amazing salad with pears and pine nuts.

-paloma, the dog that ally/sarah/elise adopted. i am her godmother and therefore get all the benefits without the commitment.

-season 1 of melrose place that i purchased and am using for pure escapism. so corny, but decadent.

-super fitness damas VIP, the new gym that i joined with a whole bunch of ladies from work. each machine has a personal tv, and the atmosphere is incredibly motivating! soon we will be super fitness damas ourselves.

-the book that sarah tambien and i want to write on our adventures, or at least talking about it.

-brazilian night: meat served off of swords, karaoke 'til bed.

BUT i don't love...

-the HUGE GIANT DISGUSTING bat moths that seem to have taken over the city. one was on my car window this morning and didn't leave during my whole drive to school. and somehow one snuck into ginny's room. YUCK.

-the politics, asfm style.

-having a broken finger, but that has nothing to do with anything. i just hate it, so i thought i'd add it in here.

-the muy expensive flights this year.

-missing friends that left and moved on to other adventures.

-the new strict dismissal policy that was implemented for the school, partly due to safety issues that have arisen in mexico.

-work on weekends. so i still don't really do it. just when i absolutely completely have to.

an ode to grandma.

2008-08-28T20:09:00.001-07:00

i never wrote about this on my blog, but last year my grandma passed away. it was expected, but i still returned home from mexico for the funeral and to say goodbye. the connection, though, lies in the lovely 1994 taurus that i have been using to putter around monterrey. it originally belonged to her, so in a way she is with me every day.

so, without further ado, here are the reasons that i LOVE my car (and by extension, my grandma)...

-she lets me sleep in for an extra 15 minutes and STILL get to work on time. (i'll admit, this may be the best part)
-she gets my bum to the new swanky gym that i joined.
-she lets me honk my car horn several times a day to compete with the other slightly mad monterrey drivers.
-she enables me to run errands whenever i feel like it, without the hassle of organization.
-she lets me offer to drive others around who need it! (with a car, nothing is too far...)
-she has given me back the freedom to control my own schedule and decisions, without having to rely on the dreaded question, "can i borrow your car?"
-she is helping me explore more of monterrey and the area.
-she gets me to the nice starbucks on saturdays.
-she adds a little flavour and adventure to my day. never a dull moment on mexican roads!
-she has kept on truckin' along despite being a little old and rough around the edges.

thanks grandma!

drive by numbers.

2008-08-18T20:24:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago, after an amazing and relaxing six weeks off (I was literally thanking the Gods of teaching daily), I had to return to Mexico for my second official year at ASFM. But this time, I didn’t go alone… I decided to have an old friend accompany me.

She was born in 1994.
She is steamy hot with little ability to acclimatize.
She has tacky fashion sense.

Grandma Taurus and I set off to Mexico late on a Wednesday evening, with aspirations of arriving on Saturday. But that was only the beginning of the adventure.

24 – Hours of books on CD that I brought for the trip. I listened to 9 hours of an Ann Patchett book, and got through about 13 of my next novel, Zorro by Isabelle Allende. I have to find a time to listen to the rest!

6 – The number of states the I had to cross: Michigan (terribly bumpy highways and awful construction), Ohio (not my favorite, we’ll get to that later), Kentucky (very green with lovely scenery), Tennessee (I actually listened to country music on the radio for almost an hour!), Arkansas (quick to pass through) and Texas (fastest speed limit, but longest to traverse).

10 – The number of hours that it takes to cross the massive state of Texas. Make that 11 with a brief power shop in San Marcos.

14 - Number of times I had to fill up on gas. Did you know that you have to pay first in the States if you are paying cash?

350 – Give or take a dollar or two, this was the amount of money that I spent on gas.

42 - Number of hours I spent driving. This includes time spent in traffic, which added about 4 hours to this total.

100ish - Number of busted truck tires that I had to swerve to avoid on the interstates.

3 – Number of hours I spent waiting on the side of the highway in Cincinnati after my car broke down.

1 – The number of police escorts I got off the highway.

9 – Number of hours I had to wait for the automobile shop to figure out what was wrong with the car. Note that my mom actually had to call and threaten to move the car to a Ford Dealership in order for anything to get accomplished. How embarrassing!

2 – The grand total of torrential downpours that attacked my windshield wipers, and forced me to pull over.

1 – Stupid sign in Texas advertising for guns: “We AIM to keep you safe.”

4 – The number of hotels who ripped me off to lay my head down for a few hours: in Oakville, Cincinnati, Nashville and Dallas.

2 – The number of times that I made serious wrong turns. And wouldn’t you know it, they were both after I crossed the Mexican border.

2 - The number of hours I spent at the Mexican border getting my car permit. Not bad, all things considered!

0 – The total number of clear Mexican road signs.

3600 – The final count on Kilometres traveled from Ottawa, Canada to Monterrey, Mexico.

It was quite the adventure! I pulled into my apartment in Monterrey late Sunday night, and I felt like I was home. I couldn't believe I had actually DRIVEN there. Since then, a lot has happened, which partly explains my blogging absence.

After arriving...
I had two quick days to set up my new classroom.
Another two quick days of training and meetings.
Then I jumped on a plane and went BACK to Canada for Elena's wedding (more on that to come).
Four days later I flew back to Monterrey and started school 24 hours later. Phew.
I have a new group of kids, I miss my old ones and my classroom still feels like I just moved in. Its been a busy whirlwind, but I feel that it is gradually starting to come together.

And let me add, Monterrey is a whole new world with a car!

I am.

2008-07-02T11:24:00.000-07:00

Lots of things: Home. A Canadian. A breakfast-lover. A sun worshiper. A traveler. An idiot with money. A spontaneous spirit. But most of all… I am incredibly lucky.

After my first year of living abroad, I arrived back in Canada late Monday night, just in time for Canada Day. It was a long 28 hours of traveling: involving a luxurious overnight bus ride from zihuatanejo to Mexico City (foot rest, full reclining seat with food AND an English movie!), a chilly wait until I could check in (could someone please explain why they built the cafeteria waiting area OUTSIDE?), two long flights and a LONG wait for luggage in Atlanta (which never arrived… apparently they forgot to tell me that the luggage went straight through to Canada. Lucky for me, I got to see the ‘welcome to the USA’ video approximately 14 and a half times!).

I love my life in Mexico, but I am SO happy to be home for the month. I am proud to be from the country of Terry Fox, lovely summers, cottages, Blue Rodeo and other people who are proud to be Canadian. It is such a sight, after a year in a very different culture to see Canadians flooding the streets in celebration without alcohol or riots, to see people waiting in single file for port-a-potty’s, and to see everyone sitting calmly in lounge chairs during outdoor concerts. In general we are such a kind, respectful bunch, aren’t we?

My dad picked me up at the airport and we had a quick catch-up before I went to bed; which obviously involved a cup of Tim Horton’s coffee. My parents had tried to surprise me with the finished full household renovations they have been working on for the last three months, but unfortunately I was greeted with a surprise in progress! From what I can see it will look great, but the whole house is in a bit of disarray at the moment. They have decided to upgrade to new stainless steel appliances, a gorgeous granite kitchen countertop and new carpet. I am so proud of my very modern and fashionable parents!

My first full day home was Canada Day, which was a flurry of patios, phone calls to meet up with friends and fireworks, which all proved to be difficult without a cell phone! Oh, how we rely on being connected. I may have to invest in a temporary cheap cell phone for my time here. I loved every minute of the Canada Day celebration; it was an amazing welcome back to the capital.

There are so many negatives about living abroad: missing out on friends and family, not settling, expensive flights home… but in truth, being away for so long makes me appreciate every minute at home even more. I am loving hearing English, decent coffee, calm traffic, the warm (but not boiling hot) weather, seeing familiar faces, two-way streets, delicious beer, my family, having a car, going to lulu lemon and MEC, seeing Katie and Elena… and having the summer off to enjoy it all. Writing this, I am realizing: it is ridiculous how lucky I am.

one for the road.

2008-06-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

so jen and i have been on the road for over a week now. we began in monterrey and have driven across the country and ended up in zihuatanejo on the coast. it is pretty incredible how accessible the world comes when you have a car. it has been a weird, quirky and memorable trip. there hasn't been a lot of internet access in the wilds of mexico, so i'll have to make it up now.

first leg: 8 hours to san miguel, a colonial town in the heartland of mexico.

this was the longest driving leg of the trip, and went really quickly. san miguel was everything i imagined it would be. a town full of gringos and expats; delicious breakfast restaurants and colourful buildings. we slept late, went to bed early, downed a bottle of wine at each of our dinners and even witnessed an indigenous dancing celebration in the main square.

second leg: 30 minutes to hot springs outside of san miguel.

why has no one told us about this? there are warm pools surrounded by well-manicured gardens on the outskirts of san miguel. one of the hot pools even went into a cave. it felt like we were in a turkish bath. except no one was naked. if it wasn't for a thunderstorm we may have stayed all day.

third leg: pushing 4 hours to morelia in the state of michoacan, known for the monarch butterfly migration... which unfortunately have gone home for the summer.

the trip would have taken only 3 hours if we hadn't gotten stuck behind the slowest truck in the world. the roads were windy so the crawling truck was virtually unpassable! we definitely noticed the landscape becoming more lush and fresh. in fact, we stumbled upon our own enchanted broccoli forest on the side of the road! either there has been an unprecedented boom in broccoli production OR a broccoli truck tipped over. people were literally running away with broccoli spilling out of their arms. odd. morelia itself is the kind of city that looks nicer at night. the cathedral was gorgeous when all lit up, but the city itself didn't bowl me over with its beauty. however, i was won over when a lady at the corner store opened our wine bottle for us. clearly the key to my heart is evident.

fourth leg: an hour or so to the small town of patzcuaro.

a chilly town that felt more like being in northern ontario then in mexico. very busy and lively during the day of the dead celebrations, patzcuaro became a mandatory rest stop for us on our amazing race. it was cold and rainy most of the time, so we found comfort in cable television and the greatest steak dinner i have ever eaten. we were the only customers in a beautiful grand restaurant, with overly attentive service (not that i'm actually complaining... they were willing to run down the street to get us the bottle of wine we wanted!) the steak dinner was called "the three musketeers", and it was three beef medallions in different sauce: mustard, roquefort and pepper. thank god i'm not a vegetarian.

fifth leg: 30 minute boat ride to isla janitzio, a small island with no roads or cars, famous for its day of the dead celebrations.

on the way out of the island we got to witness the famous fishermen of the island fishing with their huge butterfly nets. i have a feeling it is more for show now, as the lake is dark as mud... and the fishermen actually asked for tips after showing us how they fish. hmm. fishy. all roads on the smelly, bug infested island (i blame the fish again) lead to the highest point, where there is a huge statue of one of the mexican heros of independence. for a mere 6 pesos you can climb to the top of the statue via a winding staircase which may or may not have caused a few panic attacks over the years. when you get to the very top you can look out of peep holes from the statue's raised fist at the beautiful views before figuring out how you are going to get yourself down again. for some reason these types of things have become very scary as an adult.

sixth leg: back from the island. and an hour long car ride to the city of uruapan, the city of avocados!

avocados are supposed to be big business in uruapan. so our first mission was to eat some. we found a great coffee shop and settled down with our books and ordered one order for each of us! within a few minutes, our mouths were on fire... because we seem to have found the only guacamole served with diced hot peppers. hot! in this town we also witnessed the strangest occurrence yet... an elephant being driven down the street. we couldn't really believe it. it turned out a circus was arriving in town. hmm. maybe now was a good time to leave.

seventh leg: 30 minutes (and a few surprise speedbumps) to the small town of angahuan.

to fully divulge our experience in angahuan... read on:

___________

Walking wounded.

If you were to walk past Jen and I today on the street today, you would think that we were a) 90 years old or b) recovering from a massive surgery. We are hobbling around, every step is painful – we look absolutely ridiculous. This must be what it feels like to age. Every part of our body aches from our heels to our backs.

No, we didn’t run a triathlon.
No, we didn’t walk the Appalachian Trial.
We went horseback riding.

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? But seriously. We got a massive pounding from riding a horse! I have gained a whole new respect for cowboys and cowgirls.

Yesterday we drove out to a small town named Angahuan, a small indigenous Purepechan community near a volcano. In 1943, a local farmer witnessed the ground shaking and spurting steam. He tried to cover the earth, but eventually realized he needed to flee. A volcano was literally growing out of his cornfield. Within a year, it had raised 410 metres above the surrounding land and its lava had covered two surrounding villages. You can still see the steeple of one of the village churches protruding out of the field of lava.

The entire day trip takes 6 or 7 hours, including a hike up to the top of the dead volcano. Local horse riders lead you out on horseback from the village through ash-filled fields to the volcano, probably about a 2 and a half hour trip. Except these are not “guides” as you might traditionally expect. Ours happened to be a 14 year old boy named Tomas. And for some reason, he decided it was a good idea to have the horses trot and gallop a good chunk of the way. The first time that we began to gallop, I felt incredible! I couldn't believe it! I was a true Mexican Cabellera! And then it started to hurt. A lot. So much that I felt like my legs were being ripped off from my body. My bum was getting the pounding of a lifetime. My hands were paralyzed from hanging on for dear life. My horse felt it necessary to bite Jen's horse... and Jen. Tomas either loved watching us panic, or did not understand our Spanish... because he kept encouraging the horses to run. By the end, I thought my legs might never leave the squatting position. And that was only half of the marathon day trip.

When we arrived at the volcano (which was incredibly cool... and I don't want to take away from that fact... but this is a much better story), we could barely get off of our horses, let alone hike to the top. So we took the 'easy' route, which Tomas so kindly ran ahead to show us. I don't think he was out of breath once. Jen and I negotiated the loose lava rocks and did eventually make it to the top, although I could not actually feel my legs when we got there. The view was spectacular, and there was steam rising... a truly magical experience. And then the reward: we got to ski/skate/jump down a steep part of the volcano that is padded with sand-like ash. It was the best theme park ride I've ever been on. And then we remembered the hard and brutal truth: we had to get on those horses again. My knees buckled at the sight of them. Somehow I managed to get on, but I knew my body would not sustain two more hours of pounding. We broke the news to Tomas, and the horses slowly took most of the way back... until they got minds of their own and decided to pick up the pace. I don't think horses understand humans screaming, "STOP! OWWW! STOP!". Oh, it hurts to relive the pain. The next stop was at the old church that is the only remaining part of the two towns that were buried by the volcano when it erupted. Sticking out from a sea of lava, you can climb over the lava rocks to the steeple and the remains of the church. And then, it was back on the saddle again. But this time, it was pouring rain. At least the rain helped me to forget how much my bum was hurting.

Somehow we finished the expedition and got our broken bodies back to the hotel. Neither of us could move, as we were bruised, banged and scraped. Starting out the trip thinking that maybe I could be a real horse woman, I now realized that being a cowgirl is tough business... and maybe something that I should leave to someone else. And next time you go horseback riding, start slow, don't commit to the whole day. It is not as romantic as it might seem. A word from the wise.

____________________

eighth leg: a painful 4 hour car ride to the coast.

zihua is an adorable little fishing town in a sheltered bay with beautiful beaches and cute hotels and bungalows. our bodies were happy to see the beach! with the help of our lonely planet guide, we found a little bungalow overlooking the beach with a huge outdoor kitchenette and patio with lounge chairs and hammocks. we have read a few books, eaten some fresh seafood and nursed our aching bodies back to health. we'll definitely be back next year. the ocean completes us. (except for the third degree burns on jen that she got from under the umbrella. explain that??)

and so it is. our road trip 2008 has come to an end. jen and i have had an amazing time. her brother is arriving this evening, and they are continuing the adventure for another couple of weeks. i, however, am getting on an overnight bus to mexico city in a few hours and i fly back out to canada tomorrow. just in time for canada day! as much as i adore and love mexico and all its quirky wonders, i am also eager to have some family, friends and canadiana back in my life.

jen: thanks for a trip similar to the highest quality romaine. i'll never eat iceberg again. xx

free and easy down the road i go.

2008-06-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

my lovely friend jen clarke and i decided to get away and follow the road where it takes us. we wanted...

every seat to be a window seat
to wake up to the sound of the ocean and not the sound of an alarm clock
and
to find adventures that aren't on the map

so we left monterrey saturday morning with two starbucks lattes, a fully packed trunk and a map. it felt great to leave monterrey knowing that i'll be back... but that i have no ties to it for a month or two. often monterrey feels very far away from everything, but as soon as you have a car and you're heading down the road... places don't feel so far after all.

the first leg of our journey was planned to be the longest drive. we had hoped to make it all the way to san miguel, a colonial town in the heart of mexico. we had a few factors that were deterring us namely that i was pretty tired (ehem: hungover) from drinking three gigantic mojitos the night before. definite poor planning on my part. however, with some great tunes, healthy snacks (jen cut enough carrots and celery for the week and even boiled some eggs!) and a caffeine fix, i was good to go.

we drove the whole way, only stopping once for gas and a snack and made it to the heartland of mexico in only 7 hours! we saw lots of goats being herded on the side of the highway, watched the scenery change as we travelled through states and began our hatred of mexico's obsession with speed bumps.

things i love about road tripping with jen so far:

1. she has great taste in music and has even convinced me that i should give country music a try! and she loves to belt out songs with me.
2. she LOVES to read. between the two of us we have a library to entertain us.
3. she is a rockin' driver. and while driving is my favourite thing, my second favourite thing is being a navigator to a good driver.
4. she appreciates a delicious meal as much as i do. many culinary adventures to come!
5. we have a loose "plan" BUT she is spontaneous and is always ready for the unexpected.

now we are in colourful san miguel. and i like it.

my affirmations for today.

2008-06-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

a.k.a. how i will convince myself to get through the next two weeks. my professor is smart, hilarious and has great stories... but i am still struggling with getting through. here goes:

these are the best two weeks of my life
i am a strong, confident, capable woman
i believe in miracles, and welcome their manifesting
i focus well in class, contribute intelligently and am successful at menial academic tasks.
i am inspired
i am the opposite of bored
i love being indoors and revel in frigid air conditioning
every day, in every way, i get closer to finishing my enlightening masters degree.

bee season.

2008-06-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

"you're either on the bus or you're off the bus"

sarah tambien and i took a trip back to the 60s on the weekend. her favourite chicago-based artist, andrew bird, decided to come to a music festival in mexico - and she didn't want to miss it! sarah wanted a partner-in-crime for her little adventure, and since everyone knows about my over-impulsive behaviours, she knew she could count on me.

chapter 1: "do they have hypnotic treatments to cure sleeping through alarms?" - me

our flight to cuernevaca was early saturday morning. friday evening we had celebrated our last night with all the girls with a sex in the city party, so i had gone to bed without packing, and completely unprepared. in true flemo form, i set my alarm leaving lots of time to shower and pack... and then slept right through it. i should mention that i also slept through TEN phone calls from sarah trying to wake me up. she ended up driving over and finding me still asleep when our cab was supposed to be picking us up! i threw a few things into a suitcase and we were out the door in less then 15 minutes. that'll make my parents proud.

chapter 2: "this is what happens when you let me plan!" - sarah tambien

we booked our tickets without knowing much about the concert at all. we knew it was an all-day festival that was only accessible by bus, but that was about it. our plan, according to sarah tambien, was going to be to bring all our luggage to the festival and camp there. uhh, great idea. except for one small snag. there wasn't actually camping allowed at the concert site. luckily, we thought to read through the spanish website at midnight the night before and were able to put some of the facts together. we booked a cheap hotel in cuernevaca, and planned to sleep there even though the concert was about an hour away. somehow, we also missed (or perhaps ignored) the messages that it would be cold, wet, muddy and rainy at the show. so, we showed up in flip flops, without rain gear and only one layer piece. yes, its true, we are THAT smart.

chapter 3: "besame mucho" - andrew bird

the location of the colmena festival itself was breathtaking. after managing to perfectly time our cab-plane-cab-hotel-cab-bus combination, we arrived at the jardin sagrado (otherwise known as sacred garden), which was an ecologically-friendly sanctuary sheltered by bee-hived shaped cliffs and small mountains. the location was idyllic, the acoustics were brilliant and the music was relaxing. having just finished a full year of teaching, sarah and i were exhausted. after we walked the long muddy path into the concert, we put down a sarong and lay down and relaxed for about an hour. we looked more like nappers then concert-goers, i imagine. even with the crowds of people, long lines for food and stinky toilets, sarah and i relaxed and enjoyed every minute. by the time the enchanting voice of andrew bird hit the stage, we hadn't let the chilly weather or on-again off-again rain get us down.

chapter 4: "which way to cuerna?" - both of us

andrew bird's show was short, but his presence was captivating. if you haven't heard him already, please go and download him now. you definitely won't be disappointed and you might even fall in love. sigur ros, a fabulously mellow group with classical influences (and even a brass band in their back pocket) was the big ticket item of the night. the problem remained that there were more then 6,000 people in the middle of nowhere that needed to be shuttled back to their various towns. mexicans are known for many lovely things, but being efficiently organized would definitely NOT be one of them. we really didn't want to be waiting in lines for hours into the night for our bus, so we broke the number one concert rule and actually left early. OF COURSE, in true mexican form, it still took them more then 45 minutes to get the first few hundred people organized! i don't want to even think of what it would have been like if we had been in the middle of the throngs of people that left at the official end of the concert.

chapter 5: "flying solo" - sarah tambien

as quickly as i had arrived, i turned around and left. i was out of monterrey for little more then 30 hours! i left sarah behind for her first solo travel adventure (something i truly believe every person should experience once in their life)... leaving my pseudo 60s adventure behind.

monterrey with mom.

2008-05-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

mexicans are some of the most laid-back people on the planet. however, when you put them behind the wheel of a car, some type of magical transportation takes place, and all of a sudden your amigos will be cutting you off left, right and center.

so, it was with this sense of trepidation that i arrived to pick my mom up at the monterrey airport last weekend.

i don't actually mind driving in mexico at all. but my mom, on the other hand, gets white knuckles even when my father drives back home (if that has even happened in my lifetime). i was so excited to show my mom the city, but i was unsure how she would react to me driving in a country where the only rule of the road is that there are no rules at all.

mom's flight was on-time to the minute and the rain came pouring down to welcome her to the city.

with an open-mind and fear in her eyes she smiled at the pedestrians on the side of four-lane highways, slightly cringed at the disappearing lanes, gasped at each honking horn, and had a mild panic attack at the sight of stray cattle...

just kidding.

i've only seen stray cattle in monterrey once. i've got to give her credit: mom was great! she actually ONLY visibly gripped the door handle a few times. the major car obstacle of the weekend was getting her up to chipinque park for the spectacular view without motion sickness or thinking that i was going to drive right off the side of the mountain.

mom and i didn't exactly ride in the face of danger, but i did get the chance to show her this place which i have learned to call home. cars were only the beginning of what she got to experience!

mom thought my apartment was HUGE. i kind of forget that it is so big. we get used to what we have, i guess.

she brought me some of my favourite magazines, rosemary triscuits and my mail. yaH for visitors!

mom came to school for the day on friday and got to meet my adorable kidlets. they asked her funny questions like, "did miss sarah get in trouble when she was a kid?" and "what was it like to be alive in the 60s? were you a hippie?" she brought them maple sugar candies and played dominoes with them. they behaved. most of the day.

i took her for the ultimate tomato soup experience at genoma. then we joined the ladies for wendy's wedding shower. she happily sat through a quiz of "how well does she know him" and survived chats about sex in vegas and girls being girls.

i wanted her to get a taste of the movies... san pedro style. with lazy boy chairs and waiters, we went to see the new narnia movie. i thought prince caspian was really h.o.t. too bad the row behind me was 8 kids that i knew from school! and we were at the late movie. i wanted to tell the mom to take them home to b.e.d.

saturday we explored downtown and walked the newly constructed riverwalk. sometimes i think that downtown monterrey is kind of ugly and uninteresting, but mom didn't seem to notice! we even had guacamole and margaritas at the river's edge and it felt reminiscent of venice two summer's ago. in the evening we ate at THE restaurant to eat at in san pedro. dropped some big bucks, but it was worth it!

sunday we hiked up in the mountains of chipinque. explored the always amusing huesteca canyon (think donkeys, people making out in cars, and picnics on the side of the highway). got lost in in a random area of monterrey. ate ice cream in the center of santa catarina. drank a beer on the patio. and then finished off the night with a wonderful dinner with one of the best views of the mountains that i've ever seen.

mom had to leave on monday morning, and i had to go to work. it was the perfect weekend! just enough time to catch up, and give her a taste of my little mexican life.

thanks for coming mom!

friends!

2008-04-26T17:22:00.001-07:00

ginny and i just got home from the airport... and we have company! our friends jessie and steph have come to visit us for a WHOLE week! it is so great to be showing our lives to people from home. they are taking pictures of the mountains! it is great to have people remind me to appreciate this place. they are SO wonderful and exuberant... and they seem to be fine with the fact that they are sleeping on a bed in our living room. yaH. we will be staying in monterrey for a few days and then heading off to playa del carmen on wednesday. more on our adventures to come!

an open letter.

2008-04-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

an open letter to any parents of children who...
a) are not as financially responsible as you would love
b) are still paying off debt
or
c) are growing up.

there seems to be a nagging fear amongst parents of twentysomethings that we're not doing alright. they know we're happy, independent, globally minded individuals, but that isn't what i mean. they are worried that our spending habits are not responsible, and as a result will go bankrupt before the age of 30, soon followed by a long and painful adulthood alone in a shack. you laugh, but its true. (while i know this to be true with my parents, i know they are also not alone in these sentiments).

but seriously: think about it. the kids are going to be alright. at least the large majority of us. and actually, if we're not alright, we'll have to dig our own way out of the hole we fell into. how is it that a generation of world thinkers, passionate about success, travel and new experiences have caused such concern? i know we aren't the most frugal people to ever grace the face of the planet; but most of us are living on our own, making a small living, gradually paying off debt AND managing to learn more about this place we like to call the world.

if you are and adult worrying about your twentysomething's irresponsible spending, travel ambitions or debt repayment plan, let me give you some advice: stop worrying, nagging, and sending reminder e-mails. the only way for a child to learn is to learn for themselves. stop checking their bank account, watching for the debt to drop 20 grand by next sunday. stop lying awake in bed for hours at night picturing the collectors coming to call. stop giving fruitless advice that actually makes us want to run quickly in the opposite direction.

instead...

give us a chance. to grow up. to learn ourselves. to prove you wrong.

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Off to Work We Go

2008-04-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

There may no longer be a working silver mine in Taxco, but we found a silver vein with our name on it.

Just coming off a two week holiday for Semana Santa, it may seem that we would not be in need of a travel fix. But yet, with flight prices being dirt-cheap and Amy celebrating her last few months in Mexico before going home to Canada, we just couldn’t miss the opportunity. Did I need to take a day off work? [well… no, not exactly… but we are given a ‘personal day’ to use at our discretion] Did I need to go to Taxco? [again, no, but how could I let Amy go and brave the Mexican streets alone?] Did I need to spend even a penny on silver? [this one is a given, definitely not! But why let it all go to people who won’t appreciate nearly as much?]

In preparation for the weekend, I had a brutal week at work. Monday, Tuesday AND Wednesday I was at the office until 8 or 9 each night. Progress Reports were due, I had a pull-out for Unit Planning on Thursday, and I was taking my Personal Day on Friday. These are the weeks that I hate having a job because all you feel like you are doing is working and sleeping.

Friday

Friday began like any other weekday, I woke up at 6 AM ready to go to work. But then it hit me like a ton of bricks: I could go back to sleep for a WHOLE HOUR! There are some people that feel guilty missing their kids, but c’mon. Kids are resilient, and they will be fine. When I am at school, I am full time all the time… but the kids won’t remember in the grand scheme of their lives that I took a Friday off. I worked hard to put my day plan together, but aside from that, any feelings of worry or guilt end there.

Amy grabbed a cab and we leisurely headed to the airport. Funny enough, another Grade 2 teacher was on the SAME flight because she was heading to a wedding for the weekend. It was an ASFM party at the airport [but let’s keep that between us!] Our flight was painless, even though we were completely surrounded by children; this was, only because of brilliant mothers who packed entire suitcases of play-doh and tools. At the airport we also had the luck to run into a lovely young women who was traveling to Taxco so buy jewellery to sell in Monterrey. She took us under her wing, and she actually directed us from the plane to the taxi to the bus that we needed to take to get to Taxco. She traveled in cute clothes, and had amazing taste in jewellery, so I could tell that the trip was off to a good start!

Taxco is actually built into the side of a hill/mountain, and is only really accessible by bus. The roads are steep and full of traffic [mainly VW bugs in vibrant colors], the streets are cobble-stone like with one clear distinction: jagged uneven edges and holes just big enough for your feet to go in and your ankle to go over. There are absolutely no American chains in Taxco [apparently there was once a Domino’s Pizza, but it didn’t survive], and the houses are ALL white with terracotta colored roofs. Jewelry is this town’s claim to fame, and there are more then 200 silver shops in the city as well as endless markets and booths covering the span of the entire city. All of this meant two clear things:
• We definitely made the wrong choice in footwear by choosing casual flip-flops for the downhill slippery treks to the market.
• If I wasn’t poor enough already, I certainly would be by the time I left this place.

We spent Friday afternoon walking up steep hills with our luggage, getting lost in a market, perusing the silver stores to get a sense for prices and sampling some of Taxco’s culinary delights. The sad part was that we were eating in a beautiful town square [called ‘zocalo’ in Mexico], at lovely restaurants on a Friday night… and it was almost empty. According to some locals, Taxco is dying, and is only crowded on holidays and Saturdays. There is always mixed feelings when I hear this, because I love when small colonial towns are undiscovered, but I certainly don’t want them to disappear completely.

Saturday

If we had brought our alarms, we would have been up at daybreak. Unfortunately, we both neglected to pack them, so we didn’t wake up until 8 o’clock. The day began at a cute café across from our hotel, where the French toast is as thick as a Bible, and the owners were still drunk from the night before. All fueled up, we began our mission for plata. You cannot imagine how much silver is in this town. The markets go on and on: the stalls go down staircases, into nooks and crannies, and on every spare bit of street. Some of it is cheap; some is not; sometimes you can bargain; sometimes you can’t; some of it is fake; and some of it is real. There are really no rules in Taxco until you know how it all works! Amy and I walked and tried on until we really could walk no more. [and I mean this literally, Amy could barely walk by the end of the day because she had worn shoes with no support!] I won’t give you a play by play of our entire 7 hours of shopping, but I will, however, offer advice for others who may want to attempt a similar feat:
• If you want something, buy it. It is difficult to go back and find booths or remember where you saw something in a sea of silver!
• Learn how to ask the difference between plated silver and genuine silver. I got ripped off on one of my first purchases because I did not realize the difference.
• In the stores, everyone wants to be your friend. You feel like Taxco is the friendliest town! Just remember, they don’t want your friendship, they want your money.
• Do not buy something at a booth because there is a cute little one-month-old wrinkly dog there to play with. Amy and I both own necklaces because of that damn dog’s marketing ploy.
• If you want a new career, come to Taxco, buy up a few thousand dollars of cheap silver, and open up a store back home. [and don’t forget to quadruple the price!]

We ended the day after our eyes were glazed over from looking at silver, and we settled into our favorite little café to reassess our purchases. The place was called Café Sascha, and it is one of the only bohemian style backpacker’s places in the city. We sat down with the owners [a strange, overly intelligent man named Javier who had killed too many brain cells over the years, believed vomiting was orgasmic, believed the past was the same as dreams and fervently advocated against democracy] and Sascha [a lovely business-savvy wizard in the kitchen who was also completely hammered] and didn’t get up for 8 hours! They fed us free mescal [similar to Tequila, but you sip it, and it is much sweeter], offered up discounts on delicious food, and introduced us to all sorts of characters who came in to the café. They were backpackers who had stumbled upon Taxco 9 years earlier, and had lived this transient-drinking-hedonistic lifestyle ever since. Amy and I enjoyed that life for one night… but NINE YEARS? I can’t imagine feeling fulfillment from night after night of drinking mescal with new travelers. But eight hours after being on your feet all day? Divine.

Sunday

We left Taxco early on Sunday looking like our very own silver mines. But let me defend myself: I also purchased tons of gifts, and almost finished my Christmas shopping for next year! The 6 hours of bus-taxi-waiting-plane did not even phase us, because we had had such a lovely weekend. Amy and I had a wondrous time traveling together, but this trip in particular suited as both perfectly: we are the only people who could keep up with each other and look at jewelry from sunrise to sunset… without running the other way.

Plata Power!

food for thought. kids style.

2008-03-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

there are travel ramblings that remain to be posted, but now that i am back in the land of children, my thoughts have *temporarily* returned to them.

i was doing some marking (GASP!) after school this afternoon (what a concept... perhaps this is something i should be doing all along, and not only when i have marks to submit!), and i got some insights through their eyes. over the break, i had an optional homework assignment (i know, i'm a terrible person; but don't worry, there are prizes involved) which involved writing sentences about miss sarah.

here are a few things they wrote about yours truly. edited for clarity purposes. ha.

"you are the funniest, goofiest and the nicest."

"but most i love about you is that you always don't want to miss school because you want to be with your friends and us."
[if you only knew...!]

"miss sarah told us to write 5 sentences about her."
[she likes to get straight to the point]

"miss sarah is always gonna be miss sarah."
[points for insight!]

"when she is mad she always says, i'm very disappointed"
[oh goodness. i sound like my mother.]

"i hope you could come to 3rd grade, we are never bored in 2F because you always do something fun, like morning activities"

"you are the best teacher in the world!"
[well... i wouldn't go that far. let's keep things in perspective, now.]

enough about me. this next assignment was to draw or write a representation or response to the book called 'the important book'. the kids could really do whatever they wanted, as long as they demonstrated to me how they were thinking about the book. from their perspective, the world seems so simple and clear:

"the important thing about a desk is that you can open it and close it."

"the important thing of an orange is that it is delicious"

"the important thing about a soccer ball is that you can kick it."

"the important thing about a sumo is that he is fat."

"the important thing about a tree is that it gives you oxygen. the trees give house to little slimy tickly creatures, they are bright like shiny blossom but the most important thing is that they give people oxygen in the world."

"something special about a mitten is that it can keep you warm by the snow and you can put it on because if you are going to do a snowman, your hands aren't going to freeze."

and my most insightful words of advice from 8 year olds are last:

"the important thing about love is that you feel fuzzy and you have someone to be with you until you die or separate."

"the meaning of the book is that everything has a use and everything is very important and nice and we should appreciate what we have. the important thing about something good is that it has something bad, and something bad always has something good."

i don't think i could have said it better!

surf's up.

2008-03-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

in case you were worried, we did find a place to crash for our first night in puerto escondito. in fact, it was a simple place actually recommended in the lonely planet! other then the fact it was up four steep flights of stairs, we were happy campers.

the best part about this chapter of our trip, is that we just rolled with it. we didn't make any real plans, and when things needed to change, we just let it happen. i was right at home on the oaxacan coast. in terms of vacation (for me), this is when it truly began. everything i did was purely for my own enjoyment: sunbathing, sleeping, watching surfers, drinking mojitos, sunbathing, eating, reading, sunbathing...

i made a REAL effort when:

i read two full books (mostly while lying in a hammock)

we navigated our way from puerto escondito to zipolite (only to immediately find an indent for myself in the sand)

i lathered my entire body with sunscreen each morning AND reapplied (my march resolution)

i walked the whole length of the beach in zipolite (but thought i'd have a little rest before turning back)

you get the picture.

puerto escondito was discovered by surfer's long ago because of the infamous 'mexican pipeline' along the playa zicatela beach. while we couldn't really swim because of the harsh undertoe, we had an impeccable view of all the surfer's riding the waves. it was certainly not immersion in mexican culture, but more of an exploration of surfing culture: too bad neither of us can actually surf! it was fun, though, to have a concentration of healthy restaurants, surf stores and cheap accomodation. it felt more like daytona beach then mexico.

zipolite was a small, hedonistic town that draws travellers and sucks them in, never letting them leave. you lose all sense of time and place in zipolite, and when you leave, you definitely have no idea what day it is. it is the only beach in mexico where nudity is legal and chillin' out is a form of employment. it was the perfect place to forget the world, find a hammock, eat with your feet in the sand surrounding by candles... a definite budget traveller's scene. ginny and i could have spent longer, but after two days of nothing, we sadly left, albeit with sand still between our toes.

out of luck.

2008-03-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

when we first landed on the oaxacan coast we thought we were the luckiest two gals on the face of the planet:

*we had avoided the 6 hour vomit express bus that weaves through the mountains from oaxaca city to puerto escondito by flying in a mini plane with a much better view in only 40 minutes!

*we found carmen's cafecito which served the most delicious cinnamon rolls and chocolate croissants on earth.

*the beach in puerto escondito stretched out for miles, and we had a perfect view from our beach lounge chairs of the mexican pipeline, where all the surfers do their tricks.

*we were so happy about our delicious healthy lunch consisting of hummus and salad that we ignored the fact that our hostel was on a dirt road in the shoddy part of town...

until. our luck all changed.

we returned to our hostel after our day of perfection, and the owner (let's call him crazy steve, as we later found out the locals call him), had still not shown his face. many other backpackers assured us that he was slightly odd, but that we would definitely have a place to sleep. for example, crazy steve had screwed up the bookings for another group, so they had slept on the couch. luvely.

staying calm, cool and collected, we decided there was nothing we could do except continue to ride our streak of luck. it was decided that we should just go enjoy our dinner and hope that there would be a bed to sleep in when we returned. as we were about to leave, as luck would have it, crazy steve walked in the door. crazy steve had given away our room because he did not know that we were coming, even though our luggage was there and we had paid a down payment on a reservation.

crazy steve: 'grunt. grunt. well you should have told me you were comin'

us: 'we did. we made a reservation. look on these papers on your desk. our name is right there.'

crazy steve: 'well, i don't know bout all those papers. grunt. grunt. why didn't you come back during check in?'

us: 'you don't have a check in time. and you weren't here when we came to check in.'

crazy steve: (now talking to his bird) 'oh well, bloody ell, how was i sposed to know that you were comin. what should i do? it is high season and someone told me that you guys were going to be in the dorm room. grunt.'

us: 'well, um, who would have told you that? we don't know anyone here. um, do you have a room for us? or should we just leave?'

crazy steve continued to yell, swear and blame us for coming to his hostel. his solution was to kick out the couple who had our room, but they had also reserved and made an online payment. realizing that he was totaly mad (like the hatter), we packed up our bags and walked out (even though we knew it was the busiest weeks of the year and our chances of finding accomodations were slim). but we were empowered! we were making our statement to crazy steve!

and then it started to rain. and we could not get a cab. our luck had taken a turn for the worst.

and i'll leave it at that for today. check back tomorrow to find out what happens to our two heroines!

the hitchhikers guide to oaxaca city.

2008-03-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

in honour of semana santa, school's out for two weeks. YES! i honestly think i may have been more excited then my kids when the bell rang on friday. it had been a rough month. without boring you with the details, it was a mixture of problems that included dumb boys (not my students!), my grandmother passing, beginning my masters, my workload at school and general staff unhappiness at work.

i could not wait to get out of dirty, polluted, crowded monterrey.

for our first week, ginny and i decided to explore the province of oaxaca. it seems fitting that oaxaca city has had a teacher's strike every year for the past TWENTY FIVE years. (this and other turmoil led to a seven month political conflict in 2006... all is safe now, with only graffiti left as evidence)

we flew into oaxaca city late saturday night and had four lovely days in the city. we each did our own thing, but meeting up for our culinary exploration of the city. the heart of oaxaca city is in its vibrant zocalo. surrounded by cafes and filled with buskers, shoe shiners, balloon sellers, candy vendors, men on benches and women selling local crafts, it encapsulated the bustling life of the city.

on our first day, we left the city to explore the little towns which were known for their sunday markets. transportation was a little (to put it nicely), random and unclear. the bus station was more of a street where buses drove by and people jumped on and off and the collective stand were cabs waiting to be PACKED full of people before heading off to their destination. to me, this was what made it so exciting! who knew where we were really going to end up!?? and with a first class seat on top of the gear-shift, who could ask for anything more?

our first stop was the market town of tlacolula. what struck me most were the market bolsas (bags) which everyone carried and filled with their vegetables for the week. i could picture my retired self bringing my colourful bolsas down to the market each weekend. the market was mostly food, clothing and textiles and was full of women in traditional dress. there were live turkeys being carried to their doom, grasshoppers you could buy for a snack, live boxing matches to bet on, and meat covered in flies. yum. appetizing. we picked up a collectivo going back to the city, but i wanted to stop in the weaving town of teotitlan del valle. SO, the collectivo dropped me off on the side of the highway and told me i would have 'no trouble' finding a ride into town. i am standing (ehem... stranded) at the side of the highway as i watched car after car pass by me. how does this work again? eventually a collectivo stopped when i waved and i squished in next to a 90-something mexican dude who told me that canadians were very tall. thanks. like i hadn't noticed that i was taller then half of the mexican population.

next, i tried to get a collectivo to el tulle, where there is a GIANT tree that claims to be the largest in the world (apparently it is not). this also appeared to be a challenge. i walked and walked and walked from the weaving town expecting to have a car stop for me... i began to wonder if i had made a wrong turn on the only road out of town! finally, a car felt bad and pulled over. all of the passengers got quite a laugh out of the gringa girl who thought she could walk to the highway. sigh. i got everywhere just fine that day... but if you ask me how it all works, i still have no idea!

the next three days were slightly less eventful as we decided to stay (more or less) within the vicinity of the city. i perused craft stores, read two full jodi picoult books in cafes, drooled over mole sauces, and even got my fill of history at the ruins of monte alban.

to a critical eye, oaxaca city is a place that appears to be falling apart. but there is so much to offer. including a lesson in sticking out your thumb (or waving your hands madly in the air... whichever looks cooler).

finally!

2008-03-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

oi.

here i am. finally sitting at a computer. ready to write the chronicles of sarah.

living abroad and travelling leads to such an odd dichotomy of feelings. on one side, i am living the life i have always dreamed of: i get more vacation then i could possibly count, i have seen incredible places and i have met wondrous people while doing it. but then, i have moments like this. i am sitting in an internet cafe in a beautiful city with a whole week ahead of me, and i feel kind of empty. i am so lucky to be travelling with ginny (who is my one spirit who keeps me feeling connected to my life at home) but sometimes the whole thing seems stupid if you don't even have the people that you love the most with you.

this is not to say that i want to live this life with my mom and dad in my backpack, but it just puts things into perspective. if i don't yet (YET) have a partner to share in my wanderings, and the majority of my friends and family are not experiencing this with me... then i need to make the effort to write it down. this blog is partly for me and for my memory. it obviously helps me to remember details that i would otherwise forget, but it is also a means to keep myself to connected with home, and with those that i love scattered around the world.

so, wish that, i want to wish all my friends (both near and far) a happy easter. remember that just because i don't speak with you as much as i would like, i am still wandering the streets of new towns and cities with you in my heart.

tick tock.

2008-02-10T21:09:00.000-08:00

"how long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on."

time has been driving me crazy these days. there is never enough. but WHY? the only reason there is never enough is that we have over-programmed our lives and heightened our expectations, forcing us to constantly feel behind.

there isn't enough time to finish my marking, to write my blogs, to read the book that i want to read. when people say they are bored i am always in complete and utter shock -- what i wouldn't give for a week off to do all the things i always wish i had time to do.

i am at school ALL day, yet i am complaining that there isn't enough time to fully teach the curriculum. but i don't want more time at work, i want less! the whole thing is absurd.

the problem is not time: it is me, or more broadly, my life.

BUT please tell me how i am supposed to be completely unaffected by the world around me? how i am supposed to ignore the administration at my school that constantly wants more more more from me? how am i supposed to ignore my body telling me it wants more time to sleep? how am i supposed to balance the little free time i get between cooking, reading, working out... essentially ALL of the things that i love?

if you have an answer, please send it my way.

educating kathryn.

2008-01-20T11:59:00.000-08:00

i got my first visitor in mexico!

my lovely, wonderful, amazing friend katie hutchinson came and joined me in mexico for a vacation over new years. we have been friends since the end of the grade 8, so not having her regularly in my life has been tough this year. SO many people have told me that they will come and visit me in mexico, but i knew katie actually would. the thing is, katie and i have actually never travelled together. we have, however, done a lot together. we have cried over boys, gotten drunk for the first time, and watched each other grow up. she understands me because she has been there through it all. i have always known we would travel well together because her preparation and caution would nicely counteract with my spontaneous wanderings.

a little of this...
in a lot of ways, our trip was reminiscent of a quiet trip appropriate for 80 year olds. and that suited us BOTH just fine.

*one night, we went to bed at 8 o'clock and slept right through until morning!

*we found divine pleasure in wandering around in the garden outside of our hotel in playa del carmen.

*each night before going to bed we read out loud to each other from a little question and answer book that i got for christmas.

*playing scrabble at the bar WHILE drinking margaritas. perfection.

*enjoying new years eve dinner in french with a lovely couple from paris. they were accidently served our guacamole, and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

*getting massages ON the beach!

*the most exciting part of each day was deciding where we wanted to eat for dinner! a culinary extravaganza. homemade italian pasta, a religious experience with nut crusted pork at john gray's place in playa and generally fabulous food. yum.

and a little of that...
in many other ways, we lived life on the edge, braving the treacherous mexican highways and still emerging in one piece.

*after visiting grand cenote, a huge underground pool, we were unable to find a cab to bring us back to town. SO, we had to brave a five km walk on a highway, almost being swiped by passing cars and buses. a young man cycling by offered us a spot in this little metal pushcart buggy, but we passed the transportation over to a young family who needed it more then we did. so humble and kind, don't you think? we felt pretty good about ourselves!

*there was no room left on the 1st class bus, so we had to settle for being packed in to a 2nd class bus all the way from playa to tulum. katie compared it to being squished into a bus in india, all that was missing was the chickens. i sat on the floor of the aisle, thinking "katie is going to kill me for this"! luckily she thought it was quite the adventure.

*because it was only a 2nd class bus, the stops only lasted for a few seconds. BUT, we had to get our luggage from off the bottom of the bus in those two seconds. first, the bus driver would NOT open the other side of the luggage compartment, so we had to literally climb into the bottom of the bus to get our suitcases. i could hear him revving the engine and i could just picture him driving away with us stuck in there. we yanked the suitcases off of the bus and at that exact moment he drove away. phew. i laugh in the face of danger now!

*our hotel on the beach in tulum were little palapa huts with only a lightbulb for electricity for a few hours a day, and a bare-bones twig bed. it was all very romantic until it dipped into the single digits at night and we had to go into town to buy blankets so we wouldn't freeze!

*living in little jungle huts come with some risks. little cucarachas were found in our clothes, shoes and suitcases! one even joined katie for a trip all the way back to canada. lucky guy.

*we had been waiting all week to eat at a delicious thai restaurant that was recommended in lonely planet. unfortunately, when we got there, they said they had no room for us because we had not made renovations! we begged and pleaded and they ended up setting us up on the ground, on pillows, on the windiest patio in the world. in the end, we felt more genuine, sitting on the floor, enjoying our scrumptious food (even though we were almost blown away). que rico!

*we had a few days of bad weather (cloudy and windy), so the beach was becoming out of the question. we decided to make the most of the situation by taking a day trip to chichen itza, one of the most famous mayan ruins that i had wanted to see for years. we had more then 2 hours in the car in each direction, but it was worth every minute. on the way home, the bus stopped at a huge famous cenote (a freshwater sinkhole) and gave us 30 minutes to explore. just as on the amazing race, we decided we had enough time to go swimming, even though it was freezing and crowded! i felt a soundtrack start of fast-paced music in my head as we quickly changed, ran down the stairs and jumped off quite a high cliff, without enough time to think about what we were doing! good thing we moved quickly, because the cliff was actually quite high. a few minutes later we were changed again and back in the van. another day, another adventure!

*while we were staying in tulum, we decided renting bikes during a windstorm might be a good idea. we were trying to have a leisurely bide ride along the coast but ended up essentially standing still as we fought a wall of wind. we always have the best ideas! the wind also affected our sun-tanning mission. we were being attacked by a sandstorm so we set up a barricade by turning a kayak and using it to shield us. only slightly successful, but very ingenious!

and a lot of...
*amazing friend catch-up time, bonding and memories.
gracias mi amor!

fly away home.

2008-01-08T16:09:00.002-08:00

i almost didn't go home for christmas. for the most part, i have been very happy here, and felt that part of growing up was potentially having to miss my traditional canadian christmas. but, when the school offered me the trip home (on them!) i realized that even adults have to admit that they could benefit from a little taste of home.

it was a jam-packed week full of family, catching up with old friends, new random encounters and good old canadian comforts. and here, with no further delay, are the best parts of going home for a fleming canadian christmas:

1. travel, with an edge: i booked a flight with a so-called illegal connection in houston that is known for being an impossible flight to make. but the secret to life is to truly believe, and you will succeed. ha. and with a little luck thrown in, a long sprint through the airport and some good research done beforehand (by a friend, not even myself!), i did manage to make the three flights and get home for my mum's official bday. nothing like a little adrenaline to prepare for holidays with the parentals.

2. santa claus: no guitar hero 3 video game for me, but santa clause is still definitely alive and well at our house. he is getting better and better at following requests, and even still wraps his 'big' gift under a blanket on the couch. and mrs. clause must have been helping because i managed to acquire a hot diesel purse!

3. trippy traditions: christmas wouldn't be christmas without dad's eclectic creche covered in fake snow, opening stockings on my parents bed, eating croissants for brunch and wrapping presents while watching old movies from circa 1990.

4. a little bit of canada: in order to expose me to as much canada in one week as possible, i was served beavertails, walked around downtown to see the christmas lights, ate mini wheats for breakfast (i can't get them here), got to see a few snowfalls and had to slip back into my winter boots.

5. everything is eclectic: christmas dinner was totally random and turned out splendidly. the spiess family joined us, which always leads do some good laughs, but this year we also had some interesting additions. a young family who recently moved from africa came with their one-year old bundle of joy simba. along with other friends, we had about 15 people over! to me, it fully encompassed the christmas spirit of sharing joy and spreading love. my mom ended up on the floor when the table fell over, simba kept trying to be DJ and we played an out of control game of outburst - in other words, it was perfect.

6. foooooood: my mom certainly knows how to make home attractive for us. she went on a cooking spree and made ALL of our favorite meals in one week. i got my favourite comfort food (lasagna), my all time favourite side dish (broccoli casserole) and even a beautiful sky-high yorkshire pudding! she certainly makes it hard to stay away.

7. friends: while i did not see everyone that i wanted to see while i was home, i did get some quality time with many of my friends. since i only had time to visit ottawa, there were lots of people that i missed. i felt so regenerated to have had some quality time with people who have known me for more then six months. i introduced kristin to the famous 'works' burgers (try the sweet ride), met erin for brunch and a visit to lululemon, had a quick catch-up with elena on the run, and went and saw the kite runner with my brother.

i can't believe i almost did not go home.

i hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing and rejuvenating holiday season. feliz navidad!

the cure.

2007-12-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

so i finally kicked the cold of the century. i have spent the last two weeks sniffling, sneezing, and coughing all over everything and everyone, and generally feeling pretty sorry for myself. the worst part was that i wasn't as good of a teacher, because i felt that i was being less patient and was slightly more irritable. no fun. i finally caved and visited the mexican doctor to be loaded up on drugs. i know they are known for over-medicating, but i figured if it got me better for christmas, it was worth it!

and if you weren't convinced that monterrey could be a destination for medical tourism, then you will be when you read this. on friday, ginny had laser eye surgery. and saturday morning, she woke up with 20/20 vision. whoa! it was absolutely perfect, flawless and easy. she was in no pain, was barely disoriented, and she didn't have to miss a day of work. and, because the doctor is a parent at the school, the price is right! i think this will be my new savings goal. oh, to wake up and see the alarm clock! i can't imagine.

i leave for canada in four days. i only have to teach for 3.5 days. before i go, i have to pack up my classroom for construction (they are lowering the ceilings), i have to enter progress report grades and do a significant amount of marking, i have to finish building a grade 2 economics unit AND i have to find time to pack and get myself organized. my plane leaves 2.5 hours after my kids walk out of the building on friday, so i won't have a second to lose. this week is absolute insanity! but being busy is certainly making the time go fast, and i am all of a sudden REALLY excited to be going home for christmas.

i don't know whether it was feeling better, or making plans, or just getting more immersed in the christmas spirit, but i am SO excited! originally, i hadn't even intended on heading home for christmas. i have always considered myself to be very independent, and i knew that at some point moving away would mean missing my traditional christmas. BUT, the transition has definitely been harder on my parents, and i did have a free flight that the school gives me for the year... so i decided to book a crazy route home to have a week with my family for the holidays. and i really am glad i did. i am even kind of looking forward to jumping in the snow! but mostly, i am excited for traditions that i recognize, for comfort food and for a little quality time with the fleming's.

even though it was 5 degrees today, yesterday it was 20 degrees. so here is a picture of us at the christmas parade... in tank tops:

ginny and lindsay smelling christmas trees at the market! feels just like home:

so this is christmas?

2007-12-16T13:18:00.000-08:00

contrary to popular belief, christmas does actually exist in countries without snow. i don't know what i thought, but i guess i didn't expect many of the traditions to be the same. or maybe that christmas was bypassed in favour of a holiday where we celebrated palm trees.

instead, christmas is here in full force. these people sure know how to celebrate - tacky, religious but also with enough spirit to bring out the kid in me.

i started the season at school by pulling out all my holiday books. as if i don't love reading enough to them already, now i can't stop! titles such as "how santa really works" and "how santa got his job" are captivating me more then the kiddies! in case you were wondering, santa is actually a skinny dude wearing a fat suit, and he takes off the suit to get down the chimney.

christmas here in san pedro, is a season. it begins with the massive san pedro parade the first weekend in december. every dance troupe, every school, every single child in the city seems to walk in the parade. we gathered our hot chocolate (spiked with bailey's, of course) and set up along the calzada to soak up the spirit. rollerblading clubs, choreographed routines and multiple santas marched past us, and the ending was timed perfectly with a HUGE firework display.

after this parade, my kids became out of control, and in many ways, the whole month has been a write off. particularly in this community, these kids are very affluent and i struggle watching their sense of entitlement when they write their letters to santa. when i was 8, i was asking for toys, and these kids are asking for cell phones and ipods. one really cool thing, though, is that they all believe. when one child brought up the possibility that they had heard a rumor about christmas, and the kids refused to believe it. santa comes. no questions asked.

on the same note, the kids were shocked when they heard that not everyone celebrates christmas. they asked me, "mizz, do you not go to church because you don't understand spanish?" i have tried my very best to expose them to other realities without being judgemental or critical of what they understand as their reality. one of my friends here is jewish, so i had her come in and talk to the kids to talk about hanukkah. i was really proud my little ones when they asked thoughtful questions such as:
"what does it feel like to be jewish?"
"why did they all fight?"
i don't know if they will remember my efforts ten years from now. but if even one kid remembers this, then all this work is not pointless.

a traditional christmas celebration in mexico is called a posada. these parties traditionally happen in the 8 days leading up to christmas and represent the difficult journey that mary and joseph took to find an inn. in spanish, posada simply means shelter, but it has evolved into a huge festive celebration commemorating the journey. half of the people at the party stand on one side of a door, and the other half stand on the other side. a traditional call and response song is sung (the song with NO tune, as we like to call it), followed by the kids hitting a pinata in the shape of the star, again representing the star that mary and joseph followed to bethlehem. we had a class posada at one of my student's houses (errr, mansion) AND we had a full staff posada at the huesteca campus last wednesday after work. it was interesting watching the children interact with each other outside of school, and to observe the lack of rules/structure they are given by their parents. but it was nice not to be in charge. our full-staff posada was also an eye-opening experience, but for a different reason. ALL of the staff were there: the security guards, the teachers, the cleaners, the custodians and the office workers. when you fill up a gym filled with all of us, international teachers are a SIGNIFICANT minority. i don't notice it on a typical day because i am always surrounded by the teachers. we were all served delicious tamales, we had karaoke (which the mexicans took with a storm) and they had a HUGE draw for gifts. every person's name was put in the draw for everything from microwaves to heaters to cleaning supplies. very cool. i didn't win, but i was SO content watching everyone else walking away smiling.

as i walk around san pedro, both on the way to school and in the evening, there are almost more decorations here then at home. or maybe they are just more prominent: blow up nativity scenes, huge santa scenes, flashing lights in multiple colours. talk about over stimulation!

presents started pouring in over a week ago, one of my kids has already left for a cruise and i am counting down the minutes until my last class this week. christmas is still christmas, even without snow. i am being won over by different traditions: visiting christmas markets with tacky decorations, eating hot churros and learning to re-gift the piles of christmas chocolates i am given by my students.

christmas is all around.

little vacation BIG fun.

2007-12-04T19:44:00.000-08:00

day 5: its hard to get over. he was my first australian friend.

on wednesday, haley and i got some advice from one of the ladies at our language course. she told us that the nicest beach, devoid of vendors and annoying tourists, was called playa bruja, about 14 kilometres south of where we were staying. we jumped on of the cab golf carts (of course, we picked the one that was probably the slowest in the city), and found ouf little piece of deserted beach. the two biggest problems we had that afternoon were figuring out how to open our beers without an opener, and trying to understand the 'bilingual' horses that were advertised. it was an area of beach that was just north of some of the big resorts, so at the end of the day we walked down the beach to try and see if we could actually find the resort where we knew other asfm teachers were staying. i love walking in my barefeet on the beach. it feels like a massage as the sand gets stuck between my toes. we had no trouble finding the hotel, sneaking in, AND finding our friends lying by the pool. perfect timing! because i got to play with the babies AND the whole group of us went out for dinner together. it was great -- thirteen of us, or more, all enjoying seafood by the beach, two for one drinks (dangerous) and i had a baby in my lap the whole time. little quinn has not had a lot of experience with busty women in his life, so let's just say he got mighty comfortable. my mom did always tell me that someone would really appreciate them one day.

day 6: haley, stop pulling the baby's hair.

language school was pretty hard today. i was tired from a late night of dancing and two for one margaritas. we were not overly ambitious in the afternoon either, parking ourselves down on the beach and snoozing all afternoon. we met up again in a big group for a shrimply delicious dinner, and i was in baby heaven once again. good thing there weren't serving two for one drinks, only some spanish homework paired with an early night.

day 7: little people big world.

i got a little starstruck on friday. i knew that one of the guys in my language class was a tv producer, but i didn't know the specifics. it turns out that he used to produce the dr. phil show and now produces the tlc show 'little people big world'. and when i walked in to my prononciation class early friday morning, amy, one of the parents on the show was sitting there! i'll tell you, she wouldn't have been at the top of my celebrities to meet list, but it was pretty fun. i guess one of her kids is failing spanish and they were thinking of doing a show where they bring the kid down for some extra spanish classes. we found out that her and her husband matt were staying at the hotel right next door to our condo (sans cameras... too bad, because we think it would have made a great episode: elementary teachers take little people parents out for a wild night on the big town!). we did actually end up meeting up with them several times, and they even took us out for lunch!

day 8: is cam on a boat to australia?

it is always easier to leave a place when the weather stinks. it was cloudy all day, so the beach was really out of the question. instead: silver shopping! (which for me, really does rank almost up there with lying on a beach) i spent too much money, and but i got a lot of my christmas shopping done. by the afternoon, however, the weather had gone from bad to worst. it was now so windy and rainy that we couldn't keep the balcony doors from breaking open. i think it was as close as i have ever been to living through a hurricane. on second thought. that might be a slight exaggeration. but it was pretty crazy. tonight we went dancing again with the full group (minus the babies this time!) and had a pretty ridiculous night of which the details (to save face) will be mainly left out of this entry. i will only say this: there was some serious grooving and maybe some late-night ocean swims!

day 9: life lesson #368: don't come on vacation with five ladies and expect to get the ocean view flower-print room.

i woke up earlier then everyone, which was a perfect way to end my week. i am rarely a morning person, but perhaps i should become one. wandering the quiet streets and sitting at a cafe in the early morning was quite relaxing... although so is sleeping. hmm. tough choice. maybe it was only a one-time thing. unfortunately, the trip did actually end on a bit of a sour note. because i really enjoy planning things, i was the one who had found the condo and put the trip together. i make the mistake of trusting too easily and i have now learned that not everyone is as laid-back about travel as i am. i don't know how someone could have found trouble in our paradise, but i guess not everyone is so easily pleased. so, with drama to settle, we returned to monterrey... with bags loaded with silver, a tan to beat, a few new laugh lines and a brand new appreciation for all things vacation.

treis noches con camarone.

2007-12-02T09:09:00.000-08:00

where to start?

its been awhile. and i'm sorry about that. but i have a good excuse. i've been off gallivanting around for a whole week off! its true, i have been back for a full week already, but it has been a rough one. coming back to work was like hitting a brick wall at full speed. at times, i felt i was a bit of a waste of space! but now, with my vacation over, and back into the swing of things at work, i finally have the time (and energy) to update you all on my adventures.

in celebration of american thanksgiving AND mexican revolution, the school gave us a week off. and the timing couldn't have been better. after three months of solid teaching, we were all feeling a bit burnt out. we had just finished report cards, and two days full of parent-teacher conferences. anyone who knows me knows that i LOVE to plan trips. in fact, one day, i could see myself making a career out of it! well, it seems that i have become the unofficial trip planner here as well. my friend (sarah tambien) and i decided we wanted to go somewhere and stay in a condo for a week. on the mexican low-cost airline viva aerobus, mazatlan (on the coast, just north of puerto vallarta) was the cheapest destination. and with a few searches, i stumbled upon a magical mansion condominium in the old town. so, we booked the flight, booked the mansion, found a few friends, and off we went.

day 1: you see, the problem is...

i packed faster then i have ever packed before. friday night i was lazy and had gone out for dinner instead, so i was running around my apartment saturday morning like a madwoman. in truth, it didn't really matter what i brought, as long as it included a bathing suit and sun glasses. we had no trouble getting to the airport on time and our flight was comfortable and easy. however, tim (this. is. mexico.) definitely shone through when we had to have our baggage completely searched by HAND because they don't have the equipment to do it electronically. but getting off the airplane into the fresh warm air, smelling the ocean literally made my life complete. we did, however, have trouble figuring out transportation into town because the inexpensive buses had one small problem: "you see, the problem is, we don't know where it stops". you have an airport shuttle and you don't know where it stops?? apparently the driver just stops wherever he pleases. so we settled on taking a cab. BUT we also had trouble finding our condo because as our cabbie explained, "you see, the problem is, they changed the name of the street"... we did eventually make it to our condo, and managed to lug our massive bags up three flight of stairs. and with one look, all our problems disappeared.

day 2: this one time, i rented a mansion and i danced.

i wish i could take you all to see this mansion for yourself. i have never seen a place so huge in my life. it was a penthouse apartment, large enough to play a professional basketball game in the living room, open a night club in the loft and start a restaurant in the kitchen. my jaw dropped as i walked from room to room. our view was spectacular, our block-long balcony overlooking the ocean and the beach below. the rooms were differing in size and amenities, but the common areas were exquisit. today we decided to take a 'ferry' (slash small motor boat) to an island for escape artists lined with palapa restaurants, cute mexican kids burying themselves in sand and the most gorgeous sunset i have ever seen. but wait! how could i forget the best part! the night before, eating fresh seafood at the world renowned 'shrimp bucket', we had met the highlight of our trip: australian cam. not only was his name cameron (which in spanish literally means shrimp), but he was the loveliest, friendliest most delightful person i have met in a long time. we basically adopted him. i mean, c'mon, we had enough room in our mansion for at LEAST one extra friend. there was something about cam that just made the days better and more hilarious. i have never laughed so hard in my life! he even participated in our ridiculousness: we had a dance party, a photo shoot in a blow-up boat and drank some massive margaritas. and every night we would stay up late talking on the balcony and the moon would turn red, shrink and then disappear. seriously. i'm telling you, there was something cool about this guy that made the world wake up and notice.

day 3: language school dropout, go back to monterrey, your spanish didn't get any better, anyway.

haley and i woke up bright and early monday morning and tried to go to language school. cam even woke up to send us off to school. however, our plan was foiled when we arrived and language school appeared to be closed. there was a sign (albeit in spanish) that pointed to the door and it was locked. (inset: we learned the next day that, in fact, language school had not been closed, but that the sign was telling us to go up the stairs. too bad we hadn't learned that in spanish yet). instead, we parked our butts on the beach in front of a restaurant where a lovely waiter served us margaritas all afternoon. and what a great day it was! i played in the waves, played with an adorable puppy named milo and read my national geographic magazine all while getting a TAN! life couldn't have been better. AND we got to have seafood for dinner!

day 4: enchiladas para camarone!

a sad day. this was the day that cam had to leave us for his great love, baja california. little did he know, life would not be the same without us! haley and i had our first day of language school and met the slightly insane woman who runs it. this lady was quite the piece of work. a total nutjob. but that is another story. afterwards, we had our last meal with cam, but the cafe was quite slow, and he had to leave for the ferry before his food arrived. we all shed a few tears about the loss of our new friend. until we had a fabulous idea: we should bring his enchiladas to him at the ferry terminal! like a scene from the amazing race, we raced down the street, jumped into a cab and vamanosed to the ferry waiting terminal. we even burst through the gates thinking we were going to get stopped by the guards (which would have ruined the whole motion picture aspect of it all) but we got there in time. hopefully cam will remember us thoughtfully, running towards him with cold enchiladas... the rest of the day was a contemplative one, filled with traffic jams, grocery shopping and lots of sleep. i think i fell asleep at 6 for a nap, and woke up the next morning.

and part two will continue tomorrow of my mazatlan adventures will have to continue tomorrow. it is way past my bedtime and i am no longer on vacation!

grade a.

2007-11-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

report card marks were due this past week.

it was a particularly hard week for me, having just returned from south padre island, struggling with the monday blues and having to be a marking machine to get all my marks in on time. i am not a last-minute lisa, but i am definitely NOT someone who has my marks entered weeks in advance. i would say, for my first go around, it wasn't an entirely awful experience.

i find that marks can be a really difficult thing. often, you just have a gut feeling, and with those children it is not difficult to decide whether they are at grade level or not. but with many of my students i am facing a myriad of factors that influence my grading. everything from how they behaved that week to my personal feelings toward their work. i find assessment to be the area i am least secure in, particularly as a first year teacher. what if i am being harder on my kids then the other second grade teachers? what if i am being easier? do i give out 'exceeds expectations' in trimester one, or do i remain stingy with them and save them for later in the year? how low do i have to go to scare parents into understanding the reality for their children? and lastly, how much do all these marks really matter to an eight year old in the grand scheme of life? some of my kids are actually being told that getting an 'approaching grade level' is bad. at 8 years old, they are already dead-set on straight m's. i don't want marks to be the focus of my classroom, but i also need something to use as leverage for good performance!

we gave each child over 30 marks. and that was just from their homeroom teacher.

i tell my kids that giving their best effort is the most important step in school. but what do i do when their best effort is still underachieving? and then they go home and get criticized? these are issues i struggle with every day.

this week we have two afternoons off for parent-teacher conferences. i am looking forward to them, because i feel that i can better articulate their child's progress in words then with letters on a page. but as a busy weekend draws to a close, i am realizing i have a lot of work to do to get myself ready for two very intense afternoons. many of these parents consider teachers experts on all aspects of child development, so i want to make sure that i am prepared and can make well-informed comments. there's always more work to be done.

except, hanging on the horizon is our week-long november break for american thanksgiving. five more days of school and then i am off to mazatlan for a week of language school, beaching and not thinking about school.

countdown begins.

in case you've forgotten...

2007-11-06T21:13:00.000-08:00

i definitely DO live in mexico:

-there are very large bugs that live in my room.
-when kids go trick or treating, they don't have snowsuits under their costumes. they chant "halloween, halloween!" and get candy launched at them.
-swarms of ants attack any little crum of food that is left out.
-when we crossed back into mexico on saturday i accidentally showed the wrong passport and no one noticed.
-the temperature drops a few degrees and all the kids come to school in parkas.

i definitely am a new teacher:

-report card marks were due this evening and i was still marking math work at 4 this afternoon.
-i have read math lessons WHILE teaching them.
-lunch break? what lunch break?
-i'm not yet bitter and jaded.
-i started telling my friends to "make a good choice" when reaching for another beer at a party.

i definitely DO live a crazy life.

-i went to south padre island for the weekend to go golfing and sunning. i was in the lonestar state. for only the WEEKEND.
-it is still t-shirt and capri weather. i still can't believe this one.
-i have stopped noticing or caring that i don't understand a single word my aerobics instructor says.
-to celebrate the end of trimester one, the adminstration served snacks, drinks, gave us personalized cards AND made a slide show with all our celebrations from the first third of the year. can you imagine? just for surviving three months.
-i am not (yet) a regular golfer but once i learned to make contact with the ball, i almost won the 'longest drive' competition!

sometimes i have to shake myself to remember that this all this crazy new mexican teacher thing is real.

quote of the day:
i am reading a book about communities. we are dicussing transportation.
miss sarah: "did you know we have a subway here in monterrey? who can tell me what a subway is?"
kid: "subway? isn't a subway a torta? [torta is spanish for sandwich]"

se necesita un poco de gracia.

2007-10-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

there are 7 other teachers who teach grade 2 with me. there are EIGHT classes at every grade in the school. it truly is gigantic. sometimes the size can be a blessing. for example, if you are wanting to feel anonymous and bury yourself in your classroom, it is definitely possible. however, there are many difficulties that can arise with SO many differing personalities, visions and communication styles.

i think no matter where you work, there will be drama. and difficulties and moments where you hate your life. the most important thing is whether that comes home with you at the end of the day AND whether it affects your ability to be a great teacher. don't get me wrong, i love my school, my colleagues and my job but it can be exhausting sometimes dealing with all the 'behind the scenes' stuff involved in teaching. we have weekly grade 2 team meetings, discuss all aspects of assessment, curriculum and our teaching. everyone always has the best of intentions, but sometimes i leave the meetings more stressed out then before! it is also hard, as a first year teacher, to know what you 'have' to do, and what you can use your judgement about. the school has set the bar so high for us, that i don't know if it is physically possible to get it all done! in a way, it is a juggling act... who can keep all the balls in the air, or at least drop a few without anyone noticing?

a few other quick thoughts before bed:

-we are doing levelled reading testing school-wide right now, and my kids are doing SO well! in only three months, many of them have moved up a level. it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to see them smile when i tell them they can pick their 'just right' books from a different basket.

-our school does everything BIG, it seems. last night was our staff halloween party. almost everyone came in pretty great costumes and the girls who hosted it had decked out their house in decorations, food, candy... everything. their house was like a small restaurant/bar/club! this week is going to be crazy with halloween at school. we even have a costume parade for parents. aii.

-i'm quickly learning the school jargon. in meetings, we always 'unpack' the curriculum, discuss the 'nuts and bolts' of issues, and 'build common eyes' as a team. its a different language!

-i spent a good chunk of the weekend marking writing at starbucks. report cards are coming up and i wanted to get some of the bulk of my marking done when i actually had free time. sitting at rooftop starbucks marking will simultaneously getting a tan is not the worst deal!

-friday i impulse bought... wait for it... a CELL phone! my friend amy and i were sitting in my classroom after school discussing how annoying it is that we couldn't meet up easily with friends later that night without setting concrete plans. all of a sudden, she said, "hey, you wanna run over to oxxo and buy cell phones?" it took me about 1 second to pack up my stuff and run out the door. cell phones are cheap here, and you just pay as you go. texting is only 1 peso! the greatest idea she's every had! i am a happy camper again. all i need is a car and my life will be back to normal again.

happy day of the dead week!

a wee bit nippy.

2007-10-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

i can't believe i am actually writing this. but, its true. i am cold in mexico.

let me clarify: it is not actually all that cold, but compared to the summer heat, the slight drop in temperature has hit me hard. PLUS, with the concrete floors, outdoor concept of the school and lack of insulation, you feel every degree drop. the switch happened in a second. i could barely believe that i was in the same place! all the teachers from last year kept warning them that i would be cold, but i didn't believe them. winter, in mexico? i thought. not possible! i walked to school in capris and a short-sleeved blouse yesterday morning, and even broke a sweat. however, by 8:30, when i walked out into the hallway, there had been a distinct drop in temperature. the kids were whining: "mizzz. i am soooooo cold." i told them it wasn't so bad, and shushed them. "it is only because you are from canada!", they said. now look at me. 24 hours later and i am bundled up under my duvet.

in other, less woe-is-me, news...

-things have been REALLY busy at school the past few weeks. i am over my hatred of teaching and am back feeling motivated and inspired. i get the feeling this is something i am going to have to get used to in this profession. we have started new units in all subjects this week, report cards are coming up in two weeks and i just finished up my first official assessment by my principal. i was at work until 10pm tonight, but that is still a rarity. i can't complain, because in how many jobs do you get to hear: "well, with this teacher i really learn things".

-people seem to be gradually getting out of their funks (including me!) and resurfacing back into the world of the living. i feel like i am making inroads on my spanish (finally) and my guitar has even been improving. i have discovered the physical pain of body combat at my gym and now the trainer knows my name, so i have no excuse not to pump it up.

-things in mexico seem like they will be really difficult until you finally just try... usually it ends up being much more accessible then you intially thought. in that spirit, we tried a ton of new things this weekend. on friday, my friend ally and i sought out a driving range in the dried up river bed and actually discovered we could rent clubs and hit a ball of buckets for about ten bucks! some good practice for south padre island in two weeks. we also really uncovered the wonders of the international culture FORUM which is in monterrey for a full three months. artists, dialogues, exhibits, music... anything you can imagine, from all over the world... has taken over a large park downtown. it is incredible! the city has done a ton to shape up for the exposure, and there are a ton of free things to do. i think i was there every day this weekend seeing shows, listening to dj's, wandering, visiting bookfairs and artisan fairs, and soaking up a world of culture. we will miss it when it is gone, but take advantage of it while its all here.

-our little drama club of fourth and fifth graders has been a great change of pace. tash and i don't kill ourselves to plan for it, we just go with the flow and have fun with the kids. i am really enjoying the older kids... they are slightly wild, but the work for it doesn't feel like a burden. AND, i generally just get to laugh for an hour!

-saturday evening three of the girls who work at the high school hosted the most stellar party. bollywood themed: their place was decked out! they had rented furniture for their rooftop patio, had a live dj, cooked unlimited indian food, played bollywood films on the wall and encouraged people to dress up. loads of people were invited and brought mexican friends, so it was nice to mingle with some non-teachers. (not that i don't love them!) it was a late night, but ginny and i made only good choices. we even joined the late-nate crowd at the local taco stand before crashing, which was the best, most delicious decision of all!

-and the greatest, most hilarious news of late is certainly.... the avril lavigne concert i attended on sunday! i would never, in a million years attend an avril show back home in canada, but when we discovered she was visiting monterrey, we felt we needed to represent! we sat in the back row but brought huge canadian flags and made our presence known. mexicans were actually taking pictures of us! (ha. the closest i'll ever feel to a rockstar) the most unbelievable part was that i actually knew the words to a ton of her songs, and actually really enjoyed the show. she's done quite well for herself to have a ton of mexicans singing along to her hits. yaH little old canada.

now, off to bed. cross your fingers for the return of heat to my life.

bbq, eh?

2007-10-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

today we went on an adventure.

i had had a rough week. combined with being exhausted, my kidlets being little terrors, getting sick and having to take friday off and generally resenting my job, i was really ready for a weekend. and a quiet one.

last night i slept, ordered pizza and fell asleep watching a movie. this morning i slept in (after sleeping ALL day yesterday), did my nails and caught up on some blogging. this evening i am lying on the sofa, yawning, thinking about all the things i could do... but may just settle on reading on my own. this is NOT like me, but something i think even i need to remember to do every once and awhile.

this afternoon, though, we went on the great canadian adventure. i had received e-mails about the canadians in monterrey social club, and ginny and i decided it was time we checked it out. for all we knew, our future husbands could have been hanging out, and we were missing them! (sidenote: uh, no.)

we were told that this event was top secret, and you had to be registered to attend. as well, they told us that we needed our canadian passports to even get in! as you can imagine, we had HIGH expectations. when we arrived (after one wrong turn and a tour of greater monterrey), to three people sitting underneath a palapa and a few mexican kids playing soccer, you can imagine what we thought. did we get the directions wrong? is there another large factory that we are unaware of? ginny, amy and ally all creeped behind, designating me as the official spokesperson. i walk up slowly, tentatively asking, "where are all the canadian people?" an eager middle-aged man responds, "right here!" oh jeepers. are you sure they aren't somewhere else?

so here we are, in the middle of bf nowhere, sitting awkwardly at a picnic table. i had been expecting security, frisking, future husbands: instead, this? we cracked a beer, hoping this would ease the awkwardness ever so slightly. now, i am being slightly unfair. the people that we met were very lovely and as the afternoon progressed, more people did actually begin to show up. i would say we actually left when the party was getting started! but, in case you were wondering, i don't think i am going to find my future husband at the canadians in monterrey social club. first problem being: i think there were actually more mexicans then canadians??! but it was a great adventure into northern monterrey, and gave us all a good laugh.

and i got to eat a maple cookie. awesome, eh?

patience is a virtue.

2007-10-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

i always said i wouldn't be the kind of teacher who gets up not wanting to go to work.

i guess this week will have to be an exception.

all week, i have not wanted to get out of bed. i haven't wanted to work, and i have been much more impatient with my class. it doesn't help that they have been SO BAD this week! i can't imagine having 20 kids to myself all day and then having to go home to them too. i don't think i would survive. you would think by now, that routines would be established, that they would have good judgement and that they wouldn't talk while i'm talking. ummm, yah.

instead, here are some things my kiddies have done this week:

spent 25 minutes in the bathroom thinking i wouldn't notice.
done a cartwheel on the carpet.
written a 'small moment' story with a different colour pen in every sentence.
stolen a prize from the prize box.
said he was going to the bathroom, but snuck to the nurse.
picked his nose. repeatedly.
three boys came back to class 10 minutes late, saying they were all going number 2 in the bathroom. uh, right. i found out they were making bubbles in the sink.
fought during our 'fort party' reward. made 'no girls allowed' posters for their fort.
asked me the same question four times in a row. literally.

i have sent one girl out of class, had four kids cry, had two anger outbursts, given three detentions and had four parent meetings.

are the kids getting comfortable or am i being too lenient? i don't think i am, because i feel like i am reasonably strict and i get angry when i need to. i think the kids respect me, and although chatty, i think i have a good rapport with them. then why are they pushing the limits and pushing me to the brink of my sanity? i have never had more respect for teachers who love their jobs more then i do this week. thank god tomorrow is friday.

me gusta guanajuato.

2007-10-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

another long weekend, another trip!

you may think that we had a long weekend in honour of canadian thanksgiving, but i was fooled. really it was for colombus day? or some similar US holiday. no turkey for me this weekend.

INSTEAD, though, i had the loveliest, most fun (and funny!) long weekend yet. things keep getting better and better. just when i think i have found the most beautiful place in mexico, i am amazed once again. or maybe everything really is wonderful.

we did not leave until saturday morning, which gave me the evening to myself on friday. my good friend raymundo (aka my english speaking taxi driver) came and picked us up at 7 in the morning. it is great having a personal taxi driver who you can call at any time of day! our viva aerobus flight was slightly less sketchy, and thankfully, there were no emergency stops on the runway this time. driving in to guanajuato was a really interesting experience, because the roads entering the city are all subterranean. when traffic became a problem a long time ago on their narrow roads, they dammed up an old river and turned the riverbeds into subterranean roads. strange, but effective.

we couldn't drive up to our hotel, because it was actually located in an alleyway on a hill. when we got dropped of and vaguely directed, i thought we would never find it! luckily, casa bertha was on the ball, and hand-painted signs directed us through the maze of alleys. good thing i hadn't brought a lot of luggage, because after walking up the hill, our hotel room was on the top floor of the hotel! casa bertha was a potpourri melange of twists and turns, strange staircases, but when we reached the top floor and looked out at the view of the city, i fell in love. our room literally looked out onto a HUGE patio which overlooked the entire city. we definitely scored one of the most beautiful views. we could see all the roofs, the coloured houses, and the mountains beyond. it took ALL of our breaths away.

after drooling for quite sometime, damon decided our first mission should be for food. a friendly local directed us to a hole in the wall mexican restaurant, where the food was surprisingly delicious! we ordered beer before noon (for real) and gave her quite the laugh. next, we explored the main square (called jardin principal), the beautiful main theatre (teatro juarez) and wandered down some adorable pedestrianized streets. luckily, our visit coincided with the cervantes festival, a huge arts and cultural festival that takes over the city. street performers, mimes, musicians were abundant throughout the city on both days. we found the most AMAZING silver shop (which to my disappointed was closed when we returned to make our purchases!!), stumbled upon dozens of little squares and even found a wall of lips. a very unique city!

guanajuato has a distinctly european feel, and i often had to blink twice to remember that i wasn't in spain. we meandered along the streets, stopping in shops, to sample street food and to take in some performances. even though we didn't understand very much, there was a great vibe in the city. we eventually made it to our goal, which was the childhood home of mexican artist diego rivera. the city had initial scorned his communist ways and rejected him, but they have now turned his house into a museum with a collection of his artwork. most famous for his murals, his work was actually very varied and diverse.

the day seemed to last forever! we had (too many) margaritas at a little outdoor patio while being 'harassed' by the street vendors. once you buy something, you're toast. plus, with a little bit of tequila in us, no one could say no to the beautiful peacock scarves and woolen carpets! (i was good and didn't buy a thing!!!) i imagine they were talking about the crazy gringas at table 2, and sending their buddies over to sell us more unnecessary goodies. hilarious.

in the evening, we decided to have a romantic group dinner in a quiet plaza and then find some classic salsa bars. i have been in mexico for almost three months, and still had not had a proper dance! we followed the music and ended up in this local haunt where men ask you to dance and have no expectation of ANYTHING other then a dance. very refreshing. we made some new friends who directed us to an even better dance bar called 'cuba mia', where we could really get a sense of the guanajuato salsa scene. and ohh boy. when we entered that bar, we were forever out of my league. i felt soo awkward stepping on people's toes, not knowing which direction to turn. it was also the most fun i've had in ages! the music was live, the dancers were almost professionals (at least in my eyes) and i actually got better as the evening went on! now i just need to get a permanent instructor. ha.

on sunday we slept in, wandered the streets some more, bought extremely inexpensive pottery, ate muy delicioso crepes for desayuno and hiked all the way out to the infamous mummy museum. now this may have been the most disgusting theme for a museum, but accurately reflects mexico's strange infatuation with death. it was literally the world's largest collection of dead people, mummified. these included (i'll leave the gorry details out): a pregnant mummy, the world's smallest mummy, the world's first mummy and other lovely additions. sunday we also managed to fit in a trip to the local university, some shopping, a visit to the covered market and a trip up to the highest point of the city.

sunday night, when the four of us lay in our beds and chatted until 1 in the morning, i literally felt like was at camp. everything about the weekend had been perfect. we truly bonded, couldn't stop laughing and discovered one of the most charming cities in mexico.

what more could we ever ask for?

firsts.

2007-10-05T19:52:00.001-07:00

this week i had my first mexican birthday. i turned 25, which is makes me one of the youngest teachers at the school. i didn't actually feel that much older, since i had been stretching the truth and saying i was 25 for about, um, ten months already. birthdays are great, especially now that facebook was invented... because you get a million wallposts! being far away, that feels really nice.

on my birthday, i got my first teacher gifts, my first parent made cakes (not one, but TWO) and my first balloon tree delivery. (from erin, katie q and carolynn!) my kids thought this was possibly the greatest thing in the WORLD. i had a group of twenty children sing me happy birthday for the first time... "are you 1? no. are you 2? no. are you 3? no. are you 4? no... how long does this go on?" i got my first matching miss sarah necklace, bracelet and ring. lucky me!

my parents used their first phone card to call me and i got my first birthday card from a prinipal. the package did not come from my parents yet, because no one had gone to mcallen... but this only means that my first mexican birthday will be extended for a week! i also had my first late night phone call with my mom. i was tired the next day, but it was worth it!

in the evening, ginny and i hosted our first cocktail party. we had a table FULL of food, ginny made her first ice cream pie for me and i made my first sangria. it was a perfect birthday evening.

this week, i also missed my first major event back home. my dad's surprise 60th birthday party. if you would like to read what was read on my behalf, scroll down!

but firstly, thanks for the birthday wishes everyone. it just wasn't the same without you!

__________

Hi dad! Sorry, you may expect me to walk in the door, but unfortunately, a day in the hot Mexican sun really was too good to pass up… even in honour of your 60th. Instead, I hope this message will bring a smile to your face.

I know I have grown up and moved away, but I wanted to let you and all our friends and family know all the things you have sent me out into the world with.

Ahem. Here goes.

Everything (or at least some) of what I need to know, I didn’t learn in Kindergarten – but I really did learn from my father…

10. That VCRs weren’t really meant for taping anyway. Maybe Dad is the only one who gets it right – technology changes so fast that there is NO point in ever learning how to use it!
9. If you weren’t sure, it is actually possible to have a phone conversation that lasts 2.5 seconds. (Ex: Me: “Hi Dad! It is your long lost daughter stuck without water/food/transportation in the Sahara desert.” Dad: “Here’s your mother.”)
8. You really can lose your keys just about ANYWHERE. Kitchen counter? Yup. Garbage can? Yup. Your pocket? Yup. In your mind? Soon to come.
7. You can STILL go backpacking and climb mountains and sleep in bug-infested hotels in Morocco at 58.
6. It IS okay to let the woman drive. I thank you GREATLY for this lesson.
5. It IS okay to make the man to the laundry. I thank you EVEN MORE for this rich addition to my life.
4. Priests sill do like beer, watch hockey and have the occasional moment of road rage. Sorry if I ‘outed’ you there!
3. You can NEVER have too many CD’s or run too many errands or chew to loudly.
2. That bringing your spouse coffee and breakfast in bed every Saturday morning can do wonders for your relationship. I’m taking notes.
AND
1. That endless support, unfaltering encouragement and complete selflessness have made me the luckiest daughter in the world. Jokes aside, thanks. And Happy Birthday.

play fair.

2007-09-29T14:09:00.001-07:00

i am at work on a saturday. i am almost in shock myself, so i don't blame your mouth just dropped open.

i haven't actually gotten that much done, but it has been nice to get some e-mails written and catch up on my 'keeping in touch', which has been slightly low over the past few weeks. it is really really hard, when you get so involved in life, to maintain all the connections that i want to.

yesterday was the annual 'PTA Welcome Back Party' at the huesteca campus after school. here i am thinking that it would be a few games and some cotton candy.... well, not EXACTLY. it was more like a large-scale circus was dropped off outside the school, with food booths, live music, a ticket system, and absolutely everything organized by parents. it was UNREAL. you know in movies when they have high school fairs? it was like that. except there were a lot of maids hanging out with kids while the parents socialized. roller coasters, parent-teacher basketball games, prizes, lights, haunted houses, everything you could imagine. i can't believe that i work at a school that can afford to put this type of activity on... without asking the teacher's to do it.

for me, the fair highlights were...
-the girls from my class all chasing after me to hang out. and the boys running away.
-choosing between churros, papas on a stick (literally chips made by twirling a potato on a stick), pizza, green lime ice cream, enchilados, tacitos, bebidas....
-seeing family maids stick out, because they ALL wear nurses outfits. very strange and odd. why don't they just get to wear normal clothes?
-the teacher's beating the students in a VERY close basketball game. and watching the students try to get rough with the teachers. i couldn't believe a few of the low blows.
-realizing that a LARGE portion of the teaching staff at huesteca looks younger then the students. we have a lot of teachers between the ages of 26 and 36.
-watching kids of all ages PAY to get fake married in a wedding chapel. btw, they didn't allow same sex marriages.
-the cake walk. there were hundreds of cakes to win.
-the professional gym that was there teaching 8 year olds to box and weigh lift. oh geez.
-a dunk tank that was lacking just a little water. kinda/slighly dangerous? not in mexico.

i wish you could have seen this fair. the only thing that was missing was a beer tent.
this is truly another world.

george loves izzy.

2007-09-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

ginny and i do not have tv in mexico. we have, at the most, four channels that play cheezy spanish music videos or local news. i think i have turned it on a total of ONE time.

BUT. grey's anatomy premiered tonight. and, even though i was losing interest in the show last year, i wanted a little piece of good old comfort evening soaps. luckily, amy and ally have purchased the most brilliant cable plan of all time, and we have a fiesta of american tv shows.

in case you missed it, george loves izzy. meredith and derek are back together. and burke is gone for good.

in other news, my kids FINALLY finished their science units today, which culminated in making s'mores in a solar oven. the longest 30 minutes of my life. as soon as they were finished, i sent them home with the hope that i will never have to look at 20 solar ovens again! and then, the PTA was nice enough to sponsor a "bake sale" of chocolate bars, candy and full bags of popcorn. kids were jumping off the walls all afternoon. and it was only thursday!

sleepless on colorado.

2007-09-26T00:52:00.000-07:00

can't sleep.
i could have done something productive, but i did not know i would not be able to not sleep for SO long.

instead, i have:

listened to trains (did not know there were trains in monterrey)
memorized the tone of the annoying cricket outside my window (they must be deaf)
heard dogs talking to each other
heard people walking around in the apartment above me (why aren't they sleeping?)
surfed three celebrity blogging sites
watched previews of upcoming movies on comingsoon.net (very excited for a movie called bella AND the kite runner)
caught up on all of my friends' blogs (never started my own blogging about my queretero trip, because i did not think i'd be awake this long)
booked a flight to the yucatan peninsula
found a hotel for my trip next weekend
stared at my clock
reorganized my pillows
read my lonely planet
checked the globe and mail, the citizen AND the national websites
written an e-mail to dad (it is now three hours into his 60th birthday!)
thought about how tired i am going to be tomorrow
browsed on facebook
and watched grey's anatomy season 4 previews

all very useful things. i am glad my life has been enriched so much over these last four hours.

you learn something new.

2007-09-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

every day, time seems to move at a faster rate. or maybe it is just the weekends that fly by?

i have survived an action-packed independence weekend in queretaro, a colonial town in central mexico. but reality has hit hard in the form of progress reports, which are due at 4:15 tomorrow. needless to say, i was miles behind in my marking so i spent literally ALL afternoon and evening reading small moments, marking math and catching up from an assessment standpoint. despite having sat at a desk almost ALL day today, there are a few positives: there were no kids. PD did not come in the form of a 'play day' but in the form of a 'professional development inservice day'. bummer. PD DAY used to mean sleep in! BUT, thank goodness i had that time, or i may have been at school all night. assessment has definitely been the area that i have felt the inexperience the most. there is SO much benefit to having done all of this before, and having a comparative viewpoint. all i can do is follow the rubrics/benchmarks/standards and ultimately go with my gut. the kids leave at 1:45 tomorrow so it will be a race against time to get them done for 4:15... since it is not report cards, admin has told us it should take 5 minutes per kid. doubtful. but i'm still hopeful.

queretaro was an unforgetable weekend, but i am too tired to go into detail. pictures and stories will come tomorrow evening. instead, i will enlighten you on all the things i learned about mexico this weekend. you think you know a place - but really - you don't.

1. people in charge like to avoid problems. for example, when the airplane almost left us behind, NO ONE would help us. they kept saying they would be right back... and then leave forever.
2. their rules... are not set in stone. another example from the airport: when we first went through security our newly purchased margarita glasses were turned away. 40 minutes later after trying to fight our way back on the plane, they were suddently accepted. huh? clear as mud.
3. ALL mexican food is made up of beans, tortillas and carne (meat) and it is ALL essentially a taco under some other name. don't let the names fool you... still a taco.
4. time is not a reality in mexico. particularly after having some tequila.
5. it is impossible to pay with a 500 peso bill, yet that is all the bank machine gives out. waiters gasp with horror at the sight.
6. little flower pots are the new cups.
7. shaving cream is used liberally (like confetti) at celebrations... but pretty disgusto when it lands in your hair.
8. in parades, school kids carry shovels. still not clear why.
9. street vendors sell everything at the wrong time. when we were boiling they were trying to sell us shawls, but when we were frigidly cold, they were nowhere to be found.
10. it is impossible to ask for seperate bills at a restaurant. too complicated? apparently. the least they could do would be to stop gasping at the sight of a 500 pesos bill!

busy bee.

2007-09-12T18:12:00.001-07:00

it is already wednesday night again, and i am trying to figure out where all my time goes! i have been meaning to write a blog entry about my AMAZING weekend, but i haven't had more than a few minutes to sit down and actually get anything done. i remember when i was young, my mom made me write down all my life activities and the total time that i had alloted to them was more then the time i actually had in a week. i clearly haven't learned any lessons, because i think i have myself in a position like that again.

i am busy - but good busy. and everything i am doing are things i have always wanted to do, and things that i moved away to do. i leave school at a fairly reasonable time most days, and like to think i have established some sort of a balance between school and personal. i don't touch schoolwork on the weekends and i rarely bring it home on weeknights. i think about the kids all day, but i stop thinking about them at night. luckily, i often get my energy from social situations so the activities i am doing are also relaxing for me.

on mondays i help out with a little drama club, stay a bit later at school and then play ultimate frisbee.
on tuesdays i have spanish classes, sometimes go to yoga with jen and am FINALLY learning how to play guitar with a group of awesome guitarists from 9-11.
on wednesdays i stay a bit late at school, go to body pump at my local gym (can you believe i found a gym with body pump?) and try to fit in a social activity. tonight we are having dinner for one of the teacher's birthdays.
on thursdays i have spanish class again, go to the gym at the huesteca campus and definitely fit in a social activity. there is also a potential mexican cooking class that may begin soon!
on fridays i generally take off for some sorty of travel adventure OR get ready for a relaxing weekend of exploring monterrey and sleeping.

don't worry, i am not stretching myself too thin. the only challenge i am having is getting myself in bed at a reasonable hour... i just like reading and chatting with friends and surfing the internet too much, i think!

life in mexico sounds pretty similar to life at home, eh? sometimes i forget where i live. until i try to have a conversation, and then i am brutally reminded. these spanish classes better start kicking in.

getting cultured.

2007-09-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

i just want to preface this entry by saying that i have already written this entry. however, for some reason, it did not save properly before i turned off my computer and now i am writing it again. and since i wrote it a few days ago, i can't remember what i initially meant to say, so those thoughts are lost forever! and things are never as good the second time around. with that said, here it is!

this past weekend was a frenzy of cultural activities. while i took muchos time to sleep and relax, i also managed to fit in SO much. some may actually say it was not relaxing at all! but i swear, it was.

on friday evening after school, we spent happy hour at papalotes, a local taco restaurant similar in feel to lonestar. the greatest part was when the owners told us that they were doing a photoshoot of all their bar drinks, and they didn't want to throw them out. did we want them? OF COURSE! here is a picture of us enjoying our myriad of drinks on the patio.

on saturday, i went with two other teachers (ginny and barb) to see the frida exhibit at the marco (the museum of modern art in monterrey). before going, i didn't know much about frida, other then the infamous one-eybrow. i absolutely LOVED her work. she was so honest that i almost felt as if i had touched a part of her soul during my visit. apparently, this collection is the largest frida collection ever to be in monterrey, so this was a very exciting field trip! many of her writings were also displayed, but my spanish was not up for the test, unfortunately. since the exhibit, i have read up on frida, and even watched the movie about her, which i would highly recommend.

next, we attended a cultural exhibit called 'dialogue in the dark'. now this was one of the most unique experiences of my life, but i am not sure if i will be able to properly articulate its impact on me, or the sensations that i felt. the purpose of the exhibit was to recreate what it would be like to be blind. we were taken along a tunnel, and it gradually became darker, and darker, until we were in utter blackness. the weird part was, our eyes were open. at first, i felt really uncomfortable and panicky, but after about 5 minutes, i became more comfortable with my temporary 'blindness'. we were brought through 5 rooms: one that was a jungle, the grocery store, a cafe, a marina and a street corner. we relied incredibly on our guide, and could only move through the rooms with our sense of touch and sound. it was VERY disconcerting, but in a weird way, very eye-opening. for over an hour, i was blind - relying on the 7 friends i had with me, my guide and hoping that i wouldn't crash into various plants or get killed crossing the street. it is different then being blindfolded, as there was absolutely NO light. for me, the grocery store was most frustrating, and learning how to use cash. it is difficult to tell all the coins apart when you can't see them! when we were finished, we were introduced to our guide, who was really blind. the whole tour, we had never known. not that it should change anything... but it was good for me to speak with him about what it is REALLY like to be blind in a city with uneven sidewalks and little infrastructure in place. i highly recommend feeling what it is like to be fully stripped of something we take advantage of. you walk away looking at the world differently.

then, for a TRUE monterrey cultural experience, a futball game! there are two rival teams in monterrey: the tigres and the rayados. apparently, being a devoted fan to one or the other runs in the family. you cannot move to mexico without attending a soccer game. it would just be wrong. SO, i sought out a local ticketmaster (which, in fact, was a great find! avril lavigne is coming to monterrey next month), and bought tickets for four of us to go to a tigres game. allez allez tigres! ally, amy, myself and elise hopped into a cab and were off to a potentially sketchy part of town. luckily, all was well. i'll admit it: we definitely didn't belong. we stuck out like a sore thumb. first off: everyone was decked out in team jerseys; everyone was male; and absolutely NO ONE was blond. one guys even said to us in spanish, "do you speak english?" and when we answered yes, he looked starstruck. while happily ignoring the stares, we pushed our way into last row seats (next to the beer cooler) and enjoyed the game. there is no assigned seating, so this process was actually WAY more difficult then i am describing here... but i'll let you imagine it! we were definitely a big part of the half time show, and people actually wanted to take pictures with us! it was like we were celebrities. it was quite interesting to feel the difference even just from wandering around san pedro. in san pedro, we don't get stared at AS much as in other places in monterrey where foreigners are just not overly common. anyway. i made friends with the kid next to me, who told me all the important things that i needed to know about futball. the one thing that you couldn't miss was... the caged in section of fans who literally cheered and bounced the WHOLE game. good thing the tigres weren't playing the rayados, because i have heard that can get a little rough n tough. when we left the game, we left a group of cops who said to us, in english, "you lik-e-the boy cops?" and we decided it was time to go....

finally, we moved across the street from the tigres stadium to an infamous bar called 'far west'. picture this: cowboys, girls line-dancing, a dance floor the side of a football field, drink tickets, a rodeo INSIDE the bar, professional line-dancing shows and allllll country music. you might think you are in texas... but no. they are all mexican cowboys and mexican rodeo clowns. a strange, but fabulous sight. the greatest part was when the power went out for more then 45 minutes, but no one moved! we just drank beer in the dark. at midnight bells ring and the indoor rodeo commences with REAL bulls and bullriders. it was slightly grotesque and cruel, but an experience nonetheless. here's proof of our adventures:

not bad for a two-day weekend, eh? and i haven't even mentioned sunday yet! we have vowed to try to do ONE new thing each weekend we stay in town. i don't think it will be a difficult feat.

gimme a break.

2007-09-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

i just woke up from a 14-hour nap. when i fell asleep, the plan was to sleep for an hour or two, and then rally by hitting up the barrio with a large group of asfm'ers. however, i crashed hard, and that was the end of that. even when people called to get me moving, it still wasn't enough to motivate me to move. ginny knocked on my door and said, "the girls called for you", to which i did nothing. ginny ended up calling back and updating them on my status. just like a mom would do.

it didn't help that after school we had gone to a taco restaurant with a patio to celebrate tgif. i had two excessively large margaritas before the owners came and told us they had a whole load of free drinks for us. do we make the rational decision and turn down the drinks? or do we suck it up and do them a favour so they don't have to throw them out? of course. almost a dozen drinks later (don't worry, there were more than 8 of us at the table), after we had sampled every drink under the sun, we finally went home... exhausted from the week, and slightly drunk.

i think i also needed a 14-hour sleep for the following reasons:

-teaching is exhausting. cut-to-the bone exhausting. do you want to try it sometime?
-i still hadn't kicked my nasty cold from the week. and even after the lengthy nap i still feel the rumblings of a cough.
-i could barely keep my eyes open during my read-aloud to the kids.
-i was ditching prep time at school to sneak out for a coffee at the corner store, and it is really gross. (because the timmy's my parents sent from home is decaf)
-i almost considered instituting nap time in grade 2.
-my patience runs thin with the kids when i am tired. and three kids cried last week. are my kids overly sensitive? or was miss sarah being grumpy? perhaps a bit of both.
-i didn't have enough energy to get out of bed for dinner. a travesty.
-my pillow is so damn comfortable. and worthy of being slept on for more then my regular 6 hours a night!

don't worry, be hippy.

2007-09-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

and so sums up my weekend trip to the little town of real of catorce. about four and a half hours south (ish) of monterrey, real was a wealthy mining town in the mountains until around 1900. when the price of silver plummeted, real became a ghost town in less then 30 years. recently, efforts have been made to conserve the crumbling buildings, but rustic does not even begin to describe it. a 30 kilometre long cobblestone road leads to a one-way tunnel through the mountain, the only way to enter and exit the town. a passageway to the past, of sorts.

a combination of crazy characters, incredible conversations, bumpy cobblestone roads, messy gorditas, missions for ice, picture-perfect moments, warm sweaters, bongo drums, horses named punto and an incredible group of friends made for an unforgettable weekend getaway.

"don't panic, on the titanic"
it is impossible to describe my experience in real de catorce without giving a shout-out to our rustic little hotel, rincon magico. i don't know how this place got started, or how this random group of hippies found each other and manage to keep the place going day-to-day (through an ever-constant haze of you-know-what), but this place was truly magical. with views overlooking the valley below, we found a little piece of perfection. our little 'cabin' had a balcony (with only one wall, mind you) with a hammock and a toilet that worked about 50 percent of the time. we put 5 people in 2 double beds and got pretty cozy, particularly because it was freezing cold in the mountains. tash hit reality hard when she realized her bikini and mini shorts were not going to cut it in the frigid air. we were all smelling magnificent by the end of the weekend, as you can imagine. back to rincon magico. the little posse included chef david, who cooked the most delicious large-scale meals for only 5 dollars a person (i can still taste the tacitos, yum!), also gave lessons on ancient instruments that he picked up in india AND forced me to dance next to a fireplace in a sleeping bag to bongo drums. true story. next was the owner. not sure of his name, but he had wavy hair that was longer then mine. finally, gabriel (or peter gabriel), who actually lives in tulum, an old hippy who plays mean bongo drums and invited us to stay at his house. he is the one who reminded us of the motto of real every day: "don't worry, be hippy!"

"they must be sensing the male domination"
one of the must-do activities in real de catorce is going horse-back riding. it is impossible to avoid the cowboys who approached you immediately on the main square. a nice young man named gerardo found us on the first night outside our hotel and made an excellent pitch. we didn't forget about him! and since the town has only a few permanent residents, he found us easily the next day. for twelve dollars, we each got to ride a horse out of the city, up a mountain to an abandoned spanish hacienda and over to a ghost town called pueblo fantasmo. i hadn't been on a horse since i was about 12, so it was SO excited. my little dude was named 'pinto or punto' and he responded relatively well to my directions. he wasn't overly competitive so i was never at the front of the pack, but i think we had a nice bond. particularly when he would find soft ground near the edge of the mountain pathway and ALMOST throw me off the edge. but he never did! thanks, punto. wandering around the ghost town and ghost hacienda was really cool. there was an abandoned mine shaft that we crawled through, an old well/elevator to drop pennies down and crumbling arches for beautiful pictures.

"this is the greatest day EVER"
do you ever just stop and realize how great life is? for elise, tash and me, this weekend was all about appreciating how lucky we are. the three of us live for amazing conversation and really enjoy actively appreciating the moment. we caught ourselves several times, deep in conversation or even meeting eyes across the room, simply soaking up the moment. the ability to be able to even live a life where we can work hard all week but still take off on adventures on the weekend is pretty amazing. the moments that were the most striking for me were certainly on the day of the rainbows. friday, during our drive, the rained off and on the whole time, and we reaped the benefits with the most incredible arc-en-ciel's that i have ever seen. the colours were so vibrant, almost like technicolour. i'll have to upload some pictures to prove it.

"the fire knows everything..."
a few times during the weekend, i went off on my own to take some pictures, to write in my journal, or to simply soak up the scenery. there aren't actually that many things to DO in real de catorce, but a lot of it is the atmosphere, or people watching. one of my favourite moments was eating gorditas with a group of drunk students who loved it that we spoke in broken spanish. another favourite moment was eating soup made out of cow's stomach lining for breakfast at a local stand and making friends with the five kids who worked there. (btw, the soup was ok.... kinda slimy) i also loved meeting three traveller's who had come to real de catorce to found an organization dedicated to improving the schools in the area. wandering around real de catorce, i felt i was living a lifestyle where i actually take time to get to know people, and to get to know myself.

"whose toothbrush is on the floor?"
i got my first taste of dirt, grime and cold in real de catorce. because we were so high in the mountains, not only were we often above the clouds, but it was also freezing cold! sweaters in mexico? i could barely believe it. we left dirty, tired, sick, cold, wearing new silver purchases (all handmade!) but content with our adventure. little did we know, it would continue on the road. i was driving, and we got pulled over at a regular check point, but the police officer was not pleased that we did not have our work VISA's. according to him, we had no way to actually prove that we were legal in the country. i kept asking him calmly, "what do you want us to do, they are being processed as we speak?", but i just couldn't get anywhere. i felt i was up against a brick wall of frustration. luckily, damon the diplomat stepped in and saved the day... not to worry. apparently this happens all the time, and the cops really just want money. i'm so proud that we didn't cave!

real de catorce is certainly one of those gems that you have to experience to believe. if anyone ever makes it to monterrey (please come!) i promise to take you there to meet the hippies for yourself. i am sure they will still be there.

quest for curry.

2007-08-28T20:08:00.001-07:00

some things are really hard to find in mexico.

for example...

the cottage cheese just does not taste the same.
lemon juice is non-existent. only limes exist to mexicans.
light brown sugar. only the grainy dark kind.
delicious milk chocolate chips are three hours away.
good peanut butter is impossible to find! thank goodness i thought ahead.
i can only find imported goat's cheese.
chewy granola bars only come in one flavour.
food without tortilla's, cheese or beans are rare.
i'll have to learn to live without mini wheats for breakfast. such a travesty.
curry paste does not exist in monterrey. trust me. i looked everywhere.

as i write this i am simultaneously packing for a weekend away and trying to deal with a huge water leak from my bathroom into my closet. wet suitcases. not ideal for packing. it is also almost impossible to find things that are fully functioning in this country. you just have to anticipate that something will go wrong.

embracing limes and the unexpected.

mexico mishaps.

2007-08-27T21:10:00.001-07:00

all in a day's work:

mishap 1: i was invited over to santa catarina for dinner at mike and dean's house. i decided to make a delicious apple crisp for dessert, so i went shopping for all the ingredients and slaved in the kitchen all afternoon. (well, actually, about half an hour, but who's counting) i trekked all the way over to their house and then asked dean to put it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes... after talking for about 15 minutes, we noticed that the kitchen was starting to smell distinctly like a firezone. dean ran over to the oven only to discover that my crisp was truly a crisp - mostly because it had been cooked at 350 degrees celsius, rather than farenheit. BIG oops, considering that is almost 250 degrees hotter then it should have been! charred black apple crisp. yum.

mishap 2: ginny brought me a mini coffee maker all the way from canada so that i would be able to make myself coffee every morning. the first morning, i set it all up, drank my delicious timmy's and then went on with my day. the NEXT morning, as i picked up the coffee pot to pass it to my friend (also named sarah), it was still boiling hot. not only did i burn her hand, but i also have burnt coffee at the bottom of my coffee pot. not to mention the extreme fire hazard. what a way to go down. 'miss sarah burns down campus on the first day of school'. perfect.

mishap 3: for the first week, almost every day, i would forget about morning recess. i would be giving instructions, and then one of my kids would pipe up, "um. miss? um?" to which i would reply, "not now!" or something to that effect. when really they were only trying to tell ME that it was time to clean up for recess. oops. one time i also forgot to send my kids to p.e. i just got so excited about science! my kids think its hilarious... while their focus this week is to practice following directions, my focus is simply to start paying attention to my plans!

mishap 4: trying to order anything from the cafeteria. to my kids, this is more fun then free candy.

mishap 5: trying to tell the nice man who cleans my classroom that i appreciate all his hard work. i think he thinks i want him to build me a shelf, because he proceeded to show me everything in my classroom that he had built.

mishap 6: the other day, i was taking a cab on my own, and the cab driver was trying to chat me up with broken english, and i was responding in broken spanish. he told me he loves canadians, and he is so happy that i love mexico. do i love mexican tequilla, he asks? of course, i respond. and to my surprise, he reaches under his seat and swings his arm out holding a full bottle of tequilla. a shot, he asks? ONLY in mexico. what hospitality.

true colours.

2007-08-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

red is the colour that THREE kids have already received in our stoplight discipline system. of course, the hope was that no one would ever reach red because they would be too busy behaving....

green is the colour of the nametags that the kids are busy picking off their desks. WAIT! i spent hours taping those darn things down.

brown is the colour of the old school desks that keep getting slammed shut.

blue is the colour of the carpet that kids think it is okay to roll around on during reader's workshop. uh, no.

brown is also the colour of my furrowed brow when forteen kids interupt me while i am conferencing with another student.

purple is the colour of the directions that i write on the board that are never followed. well, that is not completely fair. they are eventually followed, but the kids feel the need to tell me after they have completed each step.

orange is the colour of the bulletin boards i still haven't found the time to decorate!

yellow is the colour of the sun. we are starting solar energy tomorrow and i haven't even had time to read the curriculum.

so many times, when you are tired and overworked, it is easy to look at life with the glass half empty.

good thing i like to look on the bright side of life.

tied up in knots.

2007-08-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

tonight i became a pretzel. in full immersion spanish. while sweating like a pig.

"you want me to put my legs where?" - i asked.
"aqui"
"where?" i asked again.
"aqui"

ok. clearly the conversation was not going to get anywhere.

ginny and jenn suggested that we go to yoga this evening. initially, this sounded like a great idea! do some stretching, sweat a bit and go to bed feeling great. of course, i forgot the whole class would be in spanish! i can't say i learned any spanish, but i certainly stretched my body in ways that i have never stretched it before. apparently yoga is tougher in mexico.

feeling energized the three of us returned to the apartment for our weekly 'family dinner'. this is supposed to occur on sundays, and there is only one stipulation: we must cook something that we have never cooked before. since i was stuck at work until after six today, ginny was nice enough to do the cooking for us. to go along with our healthy yoga kick, we had a quinoa/bean salad and cooked zucchini with onions. deliciosa!

on a side note: it seems that hurricane dean will only be reaching as far as tampico. it is expected that we get a few big storms and loads of rain on thursday and friday, but no hurricane winds. hopefully no more flooded playgrounds!

school-free zone.

2007-08-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

it is sunday night. and i haven't thought about school for 48 hours! while this may have been a good thing for my mental state, it means i am going to pay for it royally when tomorrow morning rolls around. but i have decided that there is absolutely no point in making my job my life, because i know that will lead to several years of unhappiness. instead, i jammed the weekend full of a dozen social activities and i feel like it has been the longest weekend in history! friday afternoon feels like days ago, and i am good and ready to go back to school tomorrow.

here are the top eleven things to do on a sunny perfect weekend in monterrey:

11. jump on a trampoline in the middle of the night. with three other adults.
10. sleep in until 11. twice.
9. pick up starbucks on the way home from school. then go to the gym and get ginny to take you through a killer ab workout.
8. try to avoid hitting goats/cows/donkeys/taco stands/wild dogs while driving into huesteca canyon for a full staff evening bbq and campfire.
7. be pegged as the 'baby holder' at parties. mom's love us, and we get to give the kids back when they cry!
6. get cultured by going to the monterrey history museum and learning all about mexican history. for the big price of one dollar!
5. eating the famous monterrey baby goat. seriously. we ate half of one. kind of tastes like chicken?
4. spend all your food coupons in one grocery shop. and accidentally pay 9 dollars for imported goat's cheese.
3. dancing until the wee hours of the morning to a live ska band. like in 10 things i hate about you!
2. pay twelve dollars to go to a local hotel for full access to their pool and beach chairs AND a delicious buffet dinner. the greatest find. i may finally get that mexican tan i have been dreaming of.
1. go rock climbing in the mountains for REAL! and conquer the wall. what a rush.

if only every day was a weekend!

first day.

2007-08-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

i survived one day. and as someone reminded me, only 180 to go....

the kids were super cute. and eager. and chatty. and silly. i had such a fun time with them! we have A LOT to learn, and a lot of routines to establish, but i am optimistic. i didn't feel tired until the chaos of dismissal was over, but when i sat down at my desk and looked at all the work i had left to do, i wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a week. there is so much behind the scenes work in teaching. when you think about the day as a performance, being 'on', that takes preparation! and i am not the kind of person that is going to want to live at school every day. definitely a fine balance.

there was a full staff meeting after school, and the a-team (as the administration likes to refer to themselves as) presented all the new new teachers (as in starting our careers) with a photo of us with our class that they had just taken today! attached was an inspirational message welcoming me to teaching. gave me little warm fuzzies.

one of the assistant vice principals sent us an e-mail this morning that really struck me. he asked, how many nobel prize winners can you name? and how many of your teachers can you name from K-12? the answer is fairly obvious: while teacher's might not change the world, we become a significant part of memory/history for children who end up growing up and moving all around the world. and it is up to us how we choose to be remembered. food for thought.

3 memorable quotes from my first official day on my own in the classroom:

"miss, you MUST learn spanish, or you will not survive in monterreY!" (me: thanks for reminding me)

"miss, are you in love? you are in love!" (me: i wish)

"miss, you have a tattoo!" (me: oh shit.)

on becoming a mexican.

2007-08-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

after the pta party last week, and the staff was sufficiently spoiled, work really cracked down. reality set in that this teaching thing really is a lot of work – particularly when you have to learn all the curriculum, policies and procedures of a private school. i was given more material to read then i could read in a lifetime, and was in more meetings than i could possibly count. i felt that i barely had two minutes to set up my classroom!

however, in typical sarah fashion, i found sufficient time outside of school to learn a little more about monterrey and take in the social scene. it is easy to stay at school until 7, because there is always more work that can be done. but when a cold beer and good conversation is calling, almost nothing can keep me away. last week, i attended my first salsa party (the dip, not the dance), found the only place to get locally brewed draft beer in the city (sierra madre brewing company... hellO 2 for 1 beers), ate tacos at the principal's house overlooking the city (again, free beer and food for the entire staff), danced in a house overlooking the city and successfully ordered empanadas and red wine at an argentinian restaurant. it seems that to become mexican, all you really need to do is drink a lot.

all jokes (and drinking) aside, i have also become more confident in using my butchered spanish. i feel less like an outsider. i am no longer shocked when CRAZY things happen on a regular basis. i am comfortable with the insanity of monterrey driving. i can navigate around san pedro and know the route to santa catarina. the sweat running on my brow and running down my back (all day, every day) is now a comforting thing. i have stopped taking pictures of the mountains, because i have finally realized that they will still be THAT beautiful tomorrow.

my other feats for the week included: directing two different friends through the jungle of streets to the gym at the high school campus. it is a miracle that i found the place with all these one-way streets, disappearing lanes, people jumping over medians and even a man biking a huge cart of garbage on the highway… in the slow lane, of course. i also found a key cutter and successfully signed that i wanted a copy made. AND i found a dollar store a block away from my house. i guess we aren't in siberia after all. i can even order my "uno grande latte con leche light" at starbucks without speaking english at all! little, by little, i am settling into life as a temporary mexican.

however.

there are some things i will never be able to get used to….

• miniature bugs on my toilet paper
• freezing and loud air conditioners
• children with maids, drivers and cooks
• getting up at 5:30 am
• dead cockroaches in the laundry room
• spanish television (sidenote: I watched it during dinner tonight, even though I did not understand one single word)
• cabs that honk to ask if you want to be picked up
• stop signs that are ‘stoptional’
• one-way streets… everywhere
• blocked traffic from lineups at the fast food restaurant pollo loco – ie. crazy chicken

i should end these reflections by saying that tomorrow is the first day of school. not only am i becoming a mexican, but i am also becoming a teacher! today the kids came by with their mom's to drop off their supplies (picture hundreds of kleenex boxes, post-it notes and sparkly pencils... where exactly am i supposed to store all of this stuff?), so i have met them all, but tomorrow it all begins. tonight i was at work until after after 9 setting up the classroom and putting my plans in place. this will certainly not be a tradition, but i don't think it is unusual for a new teacher during the first week of school. but you know what? even though i worked almost 14 hours today, i still came home, cracked a beer and chatted with ginny. carpe diem.

nothing on a small scale.

2007-08-07T18:00:00.001-07:00

i remember reading ginny's blog around this time last year, and i would like to echo her sentiments. when people in san pedro do something, they really DO it. in capital letters. if they go for a run, they wear a matching outfit; if they plan a party, they have it catered; if they build a starbucks, they build 14 more (there will literally be 15 starbucks' in san pedro by december, last year at this time there were only 4). there is more money in every square inch of this place then i will ever have in my whole lifetime. it is so bizarre to me. teacher's know what is going on at school. the PTA really values us. if you have a problem in your apartment, they send a worker within 24 hours. this is a luxurious lifestyle that i will never live again. i can understand why people never leave.

last night, the parent's council hosted a welcome bbq to introduce new teacher's to mexican food and culture. first of all, the setting was spectacular: the backyard was under a huge canopy of plants, the tables were decorated with hand-made paper flowers and there was unlimited food and alcohol. the mothers welcomed us like family! we got to try:

-cactus cooked in a red sauce.
-chicken in a mole sauce. i quote, "there is chocolate in the chicken? this place is the BEST." - ellise
-hand cooked tortillas.
-margaritas.
-some sort of cheese dish. and a mushy looking beef dish.
-tamales.
-mushy refried beans.
-spicy peanuts.
-weird mushy candies... are you noticing a trend?

the thing about mexican food, is it looks incredibly unappetizing. the refried beans look suspiciously like vomit and the rest is all messy and mushy and gets all mixed together. while i DO understand why people don't like it - if you get over the look of it - you will discover the magical mystery of deliciousness. it is incredible! i could never eat it every day because it is too fattening, too spicy, too much.... but i am so glad it is here. good thing i am not in a picky phase.

you may think the greatest surprise was the catered dinner and free alcohol... but NO. it gets even better. mid-way through the meal, a 12-man mariachi band marched in and surprised the bejeezus out of us! in 'stylish' huge red bowties, heavy suits and incredible voices, they serenaded us for almost 30 minutes. now these guys can entertain! choreographed movements and all. apparently mariachi bands are not only for tourists, they are a legitimate part of mexican culture. if a boy has a crush on a girl, they will often have a mariachi band play outside her window. a girl can dream.

today was another busy day. we had a FULL staff breakfast (also catered) over at the high school at the beautiful luxurious huesteca campus. dean showed me his classroom and it looks almost new! it was a nice chance to see familiar faces, and then all the staff met in the auditorium for service awards. some people have worked for asfm for 25 years! i almost cried during his acceptance speech, even though it was in spanish and i didn't understand a word he said. the elementary teacher's came back to san pedro for more sessions, team meetings (there are 8 grade 2 teachers in total) and finally we got a few more hours in our classroom this afternoon. i went through a few moments today when i felt really underprepared for the kids to come... a week tomorrow! but luckily, ginny and everyone have been SO supportive, and i am realizing that not everything has to be in place for day one.

from the way we have been treated and valued by administration, i can't imagine not being able to pour my heart and soul into this school. i truly believe this is the first organization that i have worked for that has got it right. if you value your employees, make them feel special, and make their lives easier, then OF COURSE we will be able to work harder for students. by making our personal lives more enjoyable and efficent, they are only benefiting the school. they understand that teacher's need balance, and they certainly provide a work-hard/play-hard atmosphere here. over the next few days, i imagine i will be at school for long hours preparing my classroom, my library and planning. but i won't hesitate for a moment because i know in exchance, they are working hard for me.

monterrey musings.

2007-08-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

i have been in monterrey now for five days. in some ways it feels like a lifetime, and in others it feels like 2.5 seconds. so far, i have been completely without internet -- not an easy thing when being 'connected' has become my fix (next to coffee of course!) so much has transpired over these last few days, and it seems difficult to put into words my feelings during such a big transition. mostly excited, never nervous or overwhelmed... i'm just taking it one day at a time. they have been keeping us busy busy busy, so it is impossible to feel homesick or worried, we just move the motions trying to find time to ourselves. i have been at school all day today, and at this moment, in my empty classroom, it has been the first time i have been by myself since i arrived. i should preface this potentially long entry by saying that i am really happy. walking around this morning on my way to school, i felt very at peace with the move and i know i am going to have a really exciting year, both personally and professionally. i juts spent all day setting up MY classroom. all MINE! no more student teaching. it is pretty cool. and it is hot outside. really really effing HOT. it is pretty much my dream come true.

rewinding five days...

dean and i woke up last wednesday in alice, texas. when we woke up and saw the hotel in the daylight, we realized it was a pretty sketchy joint. but luckily, all was well. we piled ourselves into the car for the last time (to dean's delight) and drove two long and painful hours to mcallen. i think because it was the home stretch, it felt like it was taking forever. AND, i would not say that southern texas is really known for exciting scenery... we arrived easily at la quinta inn, and seperated to run a few errands. i tried for about an hour to find the mail box store, and then treated myself to my first starbucks since ottawa. mmm mmm good. mcallen was much more lively then i expected, with lots of box stores and restaurants. it will definitely become a very good errand-running destination. in the late afternoon, we had a meeting with all the new folks who had driving down. looking back now, after knowing people for several days, my impressions of people seem pretty funny. everyone was incredibly nice: we had a girl who snorted at dinner... at least we got that out of the way; a guy who kept talking about how old he was (turns out he is only 28!); a super-nervous-worry-wort-compulsive girl and her laid-back-relaxed-go-with-the-flow husband and several other genuinely lovely people. after a sleepless night (terrible pillows) we hit the road convoy style. if you want a good time, you should definitely try crossing the border into mexico and driving all the way to monterrey while trying to keep 11 cars in line. i thought dean might have a hernia with all the white knuckle driving. it was really interesting to watch the scenery and vibe in southern texas transition as we got closer to the border. in some of the small towns in the south, there were more mexican license plates then american. the border was easy - even though we all got red lights - they waved us through quickly when they realized we were just silly gringos going to teach.

my first few hours in monterrey where hot, sweaty and slightly overwhelming. we were quickly asked to sign leases (in spanish), given allowances and sent to our houses. when we unloaded the car i was shocked that we had managed to fit so much into the car! the workout of the century was certainly carrying it all up a flight of stairs into our apartment. the place is so fun: colourful, bright, and really feels like mexico. ginny didn't arrive for a few days, so i arrived to an empty apartment. but luckily, the school had thought to stock our fridges with food basics and leave us welcome packages. everything has been so impressive and well thought-out. they certainly spoil us here. i spent a few hours unpacking before heading to a welcome dinner at the assistant principal's house. everyone looked wide-eyed... some people had arrived but luggage was still lost in space!

we woke up early the next morning to head up into the mountains for a two day training retreat. nestled at the top of one of the beautiful moutains that surrounds monterrey, the chipinque park hotel was our little oasis for 48 hours. aside from some room confusion (welcome to mexico), everything was amazing. the retreat was only for new asfm teachers, so it was a chance for us to socialize, bond and get all the information on school philosophies and curriculum that we could soak up. the sessions were really useful, and i feel like i now have a solid foundation in the vision that the school has for the year. the school philosophy is not unusual: teaching kids using best practices. such an incredibly huge goal, but they make it really accessible and achievable. along with training we got exposure to a cultural panel, some hiking, swimming, stunning views of monterrey at night and even a few guitars in the evening.

friday afternoon we came back to reality and had the weekend mostly to ourselves. i was SO thankful for this time because i felt i hadn't even had a moment to set up my life and get groceries! we were still busy the whole time with optional activities, sleeping, and social events each evening, but i managed to fit in a few meals with ginny's family, cleaning out the kitchen and even a visit to santa catarina (another part of town where the high school is located). ginny has a car here this year and is braving the insanity of mexico driving which is making life SO much easier and more convenient. i am so proud of her! the new teachers are an incredibly friendly group of people, and we have been doing so much together! on friday night, we had a little patio get-together; saturday we danced hard downtown in the barrio and sunday we had a house crawl over in santa catarina. we are certainly a sociable group, so i imagine we are in for a bit of a shock when work hits us hard next week.

today is our last new teacher training day and our first with access to our classroom. i am going to organize the furniture to my liking, and then tomorrow i will be hitting the ground running meeting the WHOLE staff. this evening the PTA is hosting a dinner for new teachers, so i imagine it will be an eventful evening.

so far mexico has been everything i had hoped for, and more. while it does take four keys to get into my apartment, there a million one-way streets and all women look like models every time they leave the house (particularly in san pedro, which i've been told has the highest per-capita income in all of latin america)... the good certainly outweighs the bad. countless people have stayed way longer then the initial two years they had planned, and built incredible lives here in mexico.

you never know.

new wisdoms.

2007-07-31T07:57:00.000-07:00

while on an 8 day road trip through the united states, i have learned many things that i will take with me for the rest of my life. for example....

-america really is a fast food nation. hamborgers, whataburgers, bbq... located approximately every five metres.
-girls sometimes do drive faster than boys.
-best western really is best.
-texas is really big. and texans LOVE texas. did i already tell you dean had a waffle in the shape of texas?
-north america isn't really that big. no excuse not to see more of canada and the us.
-you can fit WAY more than you think into a mazda suv.
-birds are really dumb. two got killed by plowing straight into our car. (one into the front grate, the other into the windshield wiper) you think they would learn from watching their friends die.
-there is no us equivalent to timmy's in taste, price and location.
-there are a lot of creepy motels in the world.
-i don't get bored in the car: choosing music, knitting, reading magazines... i loved every second of doing things i never have time to do!
-it is really hot in southern texas. scorching. my glasses fogged up when i left my hotel this morning.
-americans think you are insanely nuts for driving from canada.
-texans can't believe you would ever want to move to mexico. "good on you for making the move. there aren't a lot of people who would do that" - guy at eddie bauer. and he was being totally serious.
-foreign id's are not accepted everywhere. i got turned down at sac n pac trying to buy a six pack of beers!
-texas is much greener than you would expect.
-there is a dairy queen in every single small town... even when there isn't a hotel!
-it is important to always have a full gas tank... because we are in hurricane season. it is also important not to pick up hitchhikers in southern texas, because there are prisons.
-mexican men gawk a lot. i had kind of forgotten that. i guess i better get used to it.

aside from all these new wisdoms, i have also gained a true appreciation for the united states. almost everyone we have met has been SO friendly. holding doors open, excited about our trip, making jokes... i haven't met any stuck-up americans. i have discovered cute little small towns that i would want to stop in one day for a beer and have a list of cities to return back to. a day in each of them just wasn't enough to get a true sense of their atmosphere. there is so much diversity in the united states -- a few more road trips will definitely have to be planned in order to discover it.

the lonestar state.

2007-07-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

texas is HUGE. we have been driving in texas for two days, and we still haven't reached mcallen. to be fair, we have been taking it pretty easy: sleeping in a bit, taking long breaks and SHOPPING! we entered texas in texarkana, slept in sulphur springs (at the best best western we have found!), passed by dallas (it is huge and we would need more than a few hours to explore) and went on to austin.

since austin is known as the 'live music capital of the world', i think i expected to be bowled over more by a music vibe. the city is big, and fairly spread out, and there was no one around! we were there on a sunday, so maybe everyone was at church; or maybe everyone was still hung over from the night before? we went straight to sixth street, which has a reputation for quite a tourist scene. after stopping in for a quick visit to the tourist office, they suggested that we walk across the water and down to a funky area called south congress (or 'soco'). and i am SO glad that we took their suggestion. we found music, colour, funk, and the best retro shopping in the world. one store, called uncommon objects, was literally bursting at the seams with old school junk and kitsch. it was like a museum of objects from lives gone by. tons of vintage clothing stores, boutiques, cafes and (apparently) star sightings. really captured the austin-hippie-music-vibe that i had heard so much about.

we were both getting a bit worn out from the pace of our trip thus far, so after a few beers at a bar on sixth street, we decided to leave austin a bit early to have a relaxing evening at..... SUPER EIGHT MOTEL. we have refused to pay more than 80 bucks for a hotel, so we were stuck with the 'class' (and cloudy swimming pool) at super eight. we played scrabble, watched some tv and generally did nothing. our plan had been to spend the day in san antonio, but since we will have many opportunities to come back to visit, we bypassed it for a full day of san marcos outlet shopping. we slept in -- did you know that housekeeping in texas just comes in in the morning without checking to see if you have checked out? then we proceeded to have an EPIC breakfast at the infamous IHOP (international house of pancakes) which dean had been wanting to check out. your breakfast comes with a 'side' of three buttermilk pancakes. WHAT? what human could eat that much food? we tried. i failed. i discovered bath and body works and the uber-cheap target and then we discovered every shopaholic's (and rich mexican's) dream: outlet shopping heaven. kenneth cole, banana republic, puma, aldo.... everything under the sun! dean and i have proved that we did have room in the car for more stuff, you wouldn't believe me if you had seen how full our car was when we left the cottage. i purchased hot kenneth cole shoes for 29 bucks and a ralph lauren down pillow for the same! great success.

we shared mussels and a margarita at the olive garden (mmmm breadsticks) in celebration of our shopping successes and then drove on to find a place to sleep on the way to mcallen. given our trip so far, we never imagined this would prove to be a problem. however, the map (and our friends) failed to tell us that after san antonio there is literally.... a WASTE land. absolutely NOTHING! no hotels for miles and miles (save the 'kuntry motel'). an hour later then expected we FINALLY found a vacancy at the dodgy days inn in alice, texas. construction, dust, dirty windows... but beds to sleep in!

so. that leads me to today. it is tuesday, and we are less than two hours away from mcallen, and less than five from monterrey. this afternoon we will be meeting up with the others who drove down before getting up early tomorrow morning to cross the border... and into my new life.

arc and saw.

2007-07-28T18:57:00.000-07:00

greetings from texas, where everything is bigger! we reached texas city limits after driving through FIVE dry counties in arkansas. FIVE! i didn't even know that dry counties still existed.

the drive from corner to corner of arkansas was done easily in a day. known as the natural state, due to its hot springs (which we skipped, i'll have to remember it for next time!) and beautiful lush outdoors. i convinced dean to take a crazy risk and stop for a few hours in the state capital, little rock, even though we knew nothing about it. what a hidden gem!

little rock was cute and approachable, almost feeling like a small town... but there was certainly not a shortage of things to do. the primary reason that little rock has been put on the map, is that it was the hometown of president bill clinton. apparently, before him, no one had any reason to drop in for a visit. testament to how much the folks of little rock love their ex-president, they built a HUGE modern-looking glass museum on the banks of of the arkansas river that is dedicated solely to clinton's tenure as president. videos, audio tours, schedules, letters written to the clintons... everything under the sun was included. while it was certainly a celebration of clinton's successes (note: there was no mention of his infidelity, of course), it was impressively informative and unpretentious. just a town that is proud of their main man.

afterwards, we wandered along the river, checked out the local farmer's market and wandered along president clinton avenue. the cafes were unique and cute - in fact they reminded me a lot of similar ones in the glebe or westboro. after a sandwich and delicious chocolate silk PIE (to die for) fromt he local bakery, we were off.

the rest of arkansas consisted of stops at a burnt down truck stop, a drive through hope (where clinton was actually born) and most notably, the town texarkana on the border between - you guessed it - arkansas and texas.

we have come quite far, but yet in many ways, the journey has not felt incredibly long. the drives between the major towns are easily done in under six or seven hours, and there have been lots of interesting little detours along the way. i am enjoying both the driving time and the passenger time. we have listened to dozens of cd's, learned some spanish, read the paper and i have even done a few lines of knitting. we haven't even arrived yet, but already, i can't wait to drive across the country again!

the next three days will be in texas. and i can already tell the motto is true: you don't mess with texas.

walking in memphis.

2007-07-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

Nashville severely kicked my butt. We left this morning (late morning) still reeling from the effects of the pint-sized shot of Jack Daniels I was served last night. I danced hard, drank hard, and paid for it HARD this morning. In fact, one of my shoes had fallen off in Marcus’ car, and I had to go and pick it up at the security stand outside of his office/factory on the way out of town – talk about embarrassing – picking up one shoe from a random dude... how do you explain that?! We had intended to set off a bit earlier, but it took both Dean and I a bit to get up and at ‘em this morning.

We drove the three hours to Memphis and headed directly to Dean’s number one destination, Graceland. My Dad has considered disowning me for visiting, but I was really excited to see this iconic place. The Graceland mansion itself was unexpectedly modest, considering what I was expecting from the King. The property was massive and sprawling, but the rooms in the house were of average size. The décor was certainly unique (purple velour, jungle themed, mirrored hallways) but it felt like a home. However, the Elvis theme park that has emerged surrounding the mansion is tacky, overdone and excessive. We both decided that we would commit suicide if we had to work there every day with non-stop Elvis music, throngs of tourists and 5,000 gift shops.

After three hours of Graceland, Dean and I had had reached our quota of Elvis, for, huh, our lives. We headed downtown for a quick look at the Lorraine Hotel (where Martin Luther King was assassinated) and some traditional Memphis ribs on Beale Street. My impression of Memphis was two-fold: in many parts of town, it was in shambles, deserted and dirty; while on Beale Street it was lively, loud, and full of personality. Compared to Nashville (which had a distinctive country feel), Memphis was full of jazz and blues. It had more of a southern feel, Beale Street feeling similar to a smaller version of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. People were talkative, friendly, singing in the streets… really loving their life. Unfortunately, we had to leave after a quick look at the mighty Mississippi in order to get a head start on the journey through Arkansas. Never enough time!

I can feel the air getting more humid and the weather feeling warmer. We’re getting closer to Mexico!

the windy city and the music city.

2007-07-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

we have come quite far since my last post. on tuesday, we woke up early in kalamazoo, made the drive to chicago and spent a busy and full day exploring as much of the city as we could fit in.

the highlights:

-making a list of trip goals which included finding harpo studios, getting a meal for free and faking our ages.

-getting sent in four different directions en route to finding a restaurant.

-finding out we were an hour early. and in a different time zone. oops.

-the delicious food at an immensely popular mexican restaurant. there is a lineup to get in even for lunch!

-meeting a nice lady for lunch who was apparently a guru on everything in chicago.

-going to her ritzy apartment building... we found out later oprah lives there. could be a lie, but i believed it.

-stumbling upon a photo shoot for a commercial.

-renting a bicycle in a skirt. then falling off said bicycle when i tried to bike on the sand. really cool.

-biking along navy pier. one of the most visited attractions in all of the united states.

-looking at the view of the chicago skyline.

-visiting a free zoo. with lions that looked like they could jump out. and visiting the snakes even though dean was a scaredy cat.

-listening to live jazz over a pint.

-trying to find a hotel in downtown chicago... and discovering we are cheap bastards.

-eating deep dish pizza. WOW. definitely worth the wait.

-taking pictures of millennium park at night. trying to learn to use the night settings on my camera. i was mildly successful.

-trying to find a hotel. being foiled by a little league competition that decided to take over every hotel on the interstate leaving chicago. me convincing dean to stay at the creepy sunset inn. he was hesitant, but i think the fact there were beds won over.

next stop was nashville. we booted it for about six and a half hours to dixon, tennessee, about thirty minutes from nashville to stay with my good friend marcus from university. he is a big shot down in tennessee, but was nice enough to open up his beautiful home AND tour us around the city. the music city was a HUGE highlight for me, and my quick point form will not to the experience justice. i highly recommend you check it out for yourself!

the greatest moments:

-seeing the amount of chain restaurants, money lending agencies and cheque cashing stores in dixon. i learned a lot about small town living!

-going running around the little lake near marcus' house.

-trying on cowboy hats on the main drag. seeing three for one sales on cowboy boots!

-visiting the country hall of fame. including a visit to studio b, where many of the greats recorded. i got to play a piano that elvis recorded with!

-seeing my old friend jason play live at a seedy/cool bar with his new band.

-visiting the full scale model of the greek parthenon. why nashville? good question.

-drinking copious amounts of alcohol, dancing to incredible LIVE country music and finding my favourite bar in the world, tootsies. basically getting the full broadway street experience. meeting marcus' dad the next morning, feeling and looking great, i'm sure. also realizing i had lost my shoe. classsss, i tell you.

-getting a backstage tour of the ryman auditorium, which used to house the grand old opry radio show.

-getting the music lowdown from marcus. he is my music go to guy.

-getting to stay TWO nights in the same house! what a treat.

-learning to drive a driving lawnmower! in flats. wearing a cowboy hat. now that's nashville.

great lakes great times.

2007-07-23T15:34:00.001-07:00

i am in kalamazoo, michigan. seriously. it is hard to believe a place with a name like this actually exists, but it does.

we left early this morning from my cottage after a weekend of AMAZING weather, waterskiing, margaritas and trivial pursuit. there were a few tears (surprisingly not shed by me), but i felt good as we pulled out of the driveway. we were both a bit tired as we had had a late night trivial pursuit match, but shared the driving and the day went off without any trouble.

the car is packed full. and i mean full. my biggest fear was that we were going to get stopped at the border and it would have taken us five hours to get everything back in. poor dean had no idea what he was getting himself into when he offered to drive me to mexico! luckily, crossing the border took all of fifteen seconds. we only got asked if we had food or booze. do homemade cookies count, i wondered?

we flew to sarnia, but i was really excited to get into the states, because i felt that would mean my adventure had really begun. however, michigan looks JUST LIKE southern ontario! trees, some rolling hills, some flat parts. apart from some ugly billboards, and signs that say FOOD, GAS, LODGING at every exit you wouldn't even know we were in the US. we were packed in so tightly into the car - i felt bad (again) for dean because all of his leg room is taken up by my handbags full of books, cd's, knitting etc. i'm going to have to work on that for tomorrow. except the lack of any free inch of space could cause a challenge.

we'll spend the evening in kalamazoo, probably just having dinner, watching a movie and getting an early night so that we can get up bright and early to hit the highway for chicago. more tales from the road soon!

feels like home.

2007-07-19T13:28:00.000-07:00

i'm leaving odot tomorrow. not forever, but as i pack up literally all my favourite stuff, sometimes it feels that way. and i was just beginning to LOVE ottawa. growing up, i think i felt really sheltered living my suburban existence. i craved more then bbqhaven, and was convinced i would never, ever settle in ottawa. now i'm not so sure.

after three months back in ottawa, it definitely feels like the kind of city i want to settle in. it is big enough, but not huge; it has culture and great food; it has a history that lives on in the present; it has diversity, language, hiking, and lots of green space. it doesn't have traffic like toronto, it has personality (not so much in the suburbs, but certainly in many neighbourhoods) and it is full of (mostly) friendly people. i wish it had more diversity in employment (so much government!) and was in a more central local, but in beauty, it can't be beat by much (except maybe vancouver and sydney!). i can't stand the winter, but, well, i don't think i'll like it anywhere that i go.

there are so many things that i have gotten used to in ottawa these past few months, and i am really sad to leave them! i'll miss perfect books on elgin, the greatest little indepedent bookstore that i have found. they write little reviews of their favourite books on recipe cards, and make suggestions! i have never disliked any book i have been recommended there. i'll miss my weekly coffee dates at bridgehead, a fair-trade coffee shop located in all my favourite neighbourhoods around town (westboro, the glebe, elgin)... i had almost tried all their teas! i'll miss gatineau park, which i have rediscovered this summer in a hiking revolution. i can't believe i have lived so close to it for years and have barely visited at all. i'll miss weekend trips to merrickville, my favourite little gifty-shop town where they serve tractor beer, SO worth the trip. i'll miss the market, rama lotus yoga, the construction, beers at the fox and the feather, burgers at the works, and the kids that return emma when she goes for a walk without us. i'll even miss the tree-lined streets in the glebe, the HUGE curb at the end of our driveway and our neighbours that scare the crap out of me!

ottawa will always be a home that i feel comfortable returning to. even though i have lived here almost my whole life, i still discover new things every day. for example, ginny and jessie took me to the green door, a lovely vegetarian cooperative restaurant today for lunch. teaching internationally is a great move for me right now, but i hope i return to ottawa in the future for longer than just a visit.

i'm off to the cottage for the weekend, so the next time i write, i will have embarked for mexico! dean and i leave bright and early monday morning, and we'll start with a full day of driving so we can make it as close to chicago as we can.

finally, my adventure is about to begin.

i'll update from the road.

all that you can't leave behind.

2007-07-18T21:48:00.001-07:00

as my leaving day approaches (up to the cottage on friday, leave for mexico on monday), i have been more observant of the people/places/things that i will miss the most while living abroad. i have moved away from home before; but this is different. not only am i moving houses, but i am also moving countries, lifestyles, languages... the list goes on. i am not worried about missing family and friends, because i know i will be in regular contact over the phone and e-mail. it is the little things that frighten me, that will create voids in me that i am not sure can be filled in mexico.

i will miss...
conversations with sales associates and cab drivers.
being able to sit in chapters for hours and buying english books.
red heads.
cheap, addictive coffee.
my dad bringing me cheap, addctive coffee.
my car. or, perhaps i should say, freedom of movement and transportation.
having my golden retriever greet me at the door. and her little puppy dog eyes that trick me into giving her treats.
reading the paper every morning.
tall people.
a (fairly) efficient and reliable mailing system.
downtown ottawa.

however, i will not miss...
my single bed.
the price of gas.
the winter.
the box stores in barrhaven.

things are gradually coming together for the trip, and i have been relatively worry free. dean, on the other hand, (the other teacher that i am driving to mexico with) was rear-ended yesterday and spent the day dealing with the logistics of getting his car fixed in time for us to leave. luckily, dean (and his car!) should be in good shape to leave bright and early monday morning. four days left. yowzers.

premium dancing and a rigid pack.

2007-07-15T21:54:00.000-07:00

i just watched the movie 'everything is illuminated'. it was a small road movie that had me laughing hysterically for the first half, and pondering deeply for about 15 minutes after the credits had rolled. if you want a thinking movie, you should definitely put up with watching elijah wood for two hours, and i guarantee you'll leave thought-provoked.

it has been a week of errand running and putting off other errands. it has been full to the brim with a road trip to southern ontario, sampling all of the mexican cuisine in greater ottawa area and hitting up bluesfest. last week, i felt like i had TONS of time until i left but now as a i lie in my bed on a sunday night seven days later, i realize that is not really the case! i have been running all the necessary errands slowly, so as not to disrupt my relaxed state. but right now, i am biting my nails, and that is always a bad sign. i have seen almost all the people i wanted to see, and i have had more than enough time to relax and catch up on six years worth of sleep. no more excuses, this week is crunch time!

however, before i move to productive mode, i am going to reflect on the weekend's events.

friday night mom took me out for mexican food on the market. along with incredible food, we were graced by the presnce of a mariachi-style band! then new hundreds upon hundreds of songs and even humoured me by playing my requests of colombian pop stars. erin way would be proud.

elena had a BBQ party that began at 3 saturday afternoon, and i didn't actually get home until 3am on sunday morning! somehow, i got convinced to go downtown (against my better judgement) and the next thing i knew tequila shots were flying, pictures were being snapped, and i was teaching katie how to salsa dance. let me tell you, this morning was ROUGH. wake up, pop two tylenols, chug a waterbottle, go back to bed kind of rough.

i was temporarily productive this afternoon, but it was quickly interrupted with my dad's car breaking down and my second mexican meal of the weekend. elena, ryan and katie took me out for a lovely dinner at feleena's on bank street. while the food was not as delicious as azteca, out waiter/owner charmed us and i would definitely be back. for the next few days i am going to shy away from mexican food because it is what i am going to be stuck with for the next two years... i better take advantage of selection while i still have it!

with that, i am going to hit the pillow and wake up productive and illuminated. let's hope.

at the cottage.

2007-07-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

i am lying awkwardly in my bed following a painfully long drive back from the lake. the drive was actually quite quick, but was overshadowed by the fact that i cannot move my neck. damn those wakeboarding falls. it was an amazing loooong weekend (six days to be exact) full of as much reliving my childhood as i could possibly fit in. more specifically, my time at the cottage consisted of...

2 delicious ice cream cones. one from the cornball store and one from the restaurant in downtown mag.
3 slalom ski runs.
2 wakeboarding runs.
0 slalom ski falls.
5 wakeboarding falls. ouch.
3 people knocked off the tube. (2 of them were 7 years old. oops.)
5 sleep in's out of 6 days.
1 full book read. and 2 magazines!
1 breakfast on the dock in the sun.
4 drinks at the infamous schmeller house in "downtown" magnetawan.
2 hours of dancing at the schmeller house to a live band who had the "best night of their lives" and i believed them.
1 downtown magnetawan t-shirt purchased by friend alex who was visiting. will try and reach total of 2 by the end of the summer.
1 game of yahtzee lost.
1 game of trivial pursuit lost. 3 to 1 and we still lost to my dad!
1 game of cribbage won!
1 new successful slalom skiier: alex stayed up for 20 seconds!
5 kids ages 1 to 7 running around with sparklers singing oh canada.
many hours spent swimming/escaping the water beast, solving 'the secret door' and celebrating opposite day with oldest four kids.
2 sunny days.
4 cloudy/cold days.
10 hours in the car listening to a book on tape.

1 tired puppy. and i'm not talking about emma!

counting sheep.

2007-06-26T21:43:00.001-07:00

i can't sleep.

this is weird for me. i can ALWAYS sleep. i mean, i am definitely a night owl, but usually when i finally hit the pillow, i am asleep almost instantaneously. the culprit for me is usually that i had a late night latte or that i am really stressed about something that i have little control over. but tonight it is neither.

my mind is just racing like crazy. i have loads of time before i need to be ready to go to mexico, and i am off to the cottage tomorrow for a lazy few days by the lake. i don't think i am overly stressed or anxious about the move (maybe slightly, but nothing all-encompassing), but i think a few things hit me unexpectedly as i lay trying to fall asleep.

i was being fairly nonchalant about some things i have to do before i leave when i was on the phone with my mom today. this particularly flippant attitude achieves many things at the same time: it keeps me grounded and less stressed, and it doesn't worry my mother. however, she got kind of annoyed with me, and then said, "you know, moving to mexico is kind of a big deal". i obviously KNOW it is a big deal, but i have been trying to avoid the thought because i knew it would just stress me out. (hence the nonchalant part)

but now i am a bit worried. i have a long to-do list of errands i have to accomplish before i leave, which had not bothered me, until now. now, all i can picture as i lie here trying to fall asleep is one of those long long long rolls of receipt tape getting filled with an even longer list of thing i have forgotten. the perils of your own brain.

moreover, i had visions of this summer being THE summer where i would finally accomplish all those things that i have wanted to do for years and have never had time. you know what i mean: things like labelling your pictures, writing to great uncle so and so, re-organizing the filing cabinet, re-connecting with old friends, learning to golf and sorting through your sock and underwear drawer. so far, i have gotten a great start on all these projects (still haven't gotten to the sock and underwear drawer), but i am quickly running out of time! and it is bothering me that i only have four weeks before i leave and i won't finish my 'never had time to do' list. sigh. why is it that 'to do' lists are neverending? and who even has a 'never had time to do' list? i'm so weird.

so... having this conflicted attitude about knowing a fairly dramatic change is coming, but trying to remain fairly grounded and relaxed about it AND worrying that i won't have enough time to finish all my 'never had time to do' list are the culprits for keeping me up tonight.

in other news:

it was my parents 31st wedding anniversary today, and to celebrate, i cooked them a mexican fiesta feast. i have always told my parents that i was a decent cook, but they had never actually experienced it in person! with a little help from allrecipes.com, i created a delicious salsa (cut up one avocado, one mango, one small red onion, some peppers... hot if you like, some coriander and mix together with the juice from a lime) for an appetizer (with tostitos) and made my first attempt at enchiladas. great success with the enchiladas! i had absolutely NO idea how they would turn out, but they were a hit. cooking a meal is significantly cheaper than going out for one, and we got to lounge around with wine and eat outside in the backyard. talk about the whole enchilada.

i'll be off to the lake for a week tomorrow morning. no internet access so things here will be relatively quiet! hopefully the fresh air and waterskiing will melt these 'to do' and 'never had time to do' lists from my brain. i just re-read that and sound like such a nerd.

nite.

i can't get enough satisfaction.

2007-06-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

for those of you who didn't know, i have decided to take a few weeks off this summer. if you took a look at my bank acount you would probably call me crazy (are you noticing a repeating pattern here?), but i made the executive decision that i needed the time to organize my pack-rat life and get ready for mexico. plus, i wanted to have ample time to spend with my friends and family.

in all this time off, i have been getting a lot of things accomplished that i have wanted to do for awhile and i am absolutely loving the feeling of satisfaction. i'm not talking about feeling joy or happiness, but being purely satisfied. getting satisfaction, for me, is more internal than anything. i can get it from weird things that no one else would even consider. there's the obvious contentment you get when you print off an essay or walk out of an exam, but i have a few other less-common moments to add.

here's my ongoing list of things that give me pure (family-rated, or course) satisfaction:

-reading a magazing cover to cover, particularly in style and national geographic
-walking on a moving sidewalk. each step is so productive!
-throwing something out or giving something away that i am done with
-finishing a box of minute rice, or some other food product that takes ages to use up; and putting the box in recycling
-using a pen until it runs out, particularly inky ones
-when i pack light for a trip
-going a full day without biting my nails!
-and of course, finishing a whole 'to do' list... as rarely as it occurs!

southern ontario tour 2007.

2007-06-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

my friend diane from teacher's college decided to get married in windsor, two weeks ago, so i figured it was worth turning the trip into a full-blown roadtrip. ottawa to windsor (in a shitty old taurus) takes about eight hours, so why not break up the journey and see some friends at the same time?

first leg: i drove from ottawa to woodstock in just over five hours, beating a violent rain storm that hit just as i arrived. i met up with dean, who is a high school teacher that i will be working with in monterrey. we waited out the rain and headed to his cottage on long point for the evening. my first cottage-ing of the summer!

second leg: met up with brooke in woodstock and we carpooled to windsor. we did not leave as much time as we should have, and ended up getting stuck at a railway crossing for over TWENTY minutes waiting for a sssssslow freight train to pass by. poor planning on our part, but we weren't changed and we weren't ready to go! so, we changed in the car at the railway crossing. classy. we arrived at the church in the nick of time and got to watch diane (who looked absolutely radiant) walk down the aisle. the reception was a rockin' party and we all had an amazing time.

the best date ever! brooke and i:

the four of us, together again! jackie, diane, brooke, me:

third leg: drove back to woodstock to get my car, and then navigated to kitchener to visit recently engaged rachel and marc and their sweet little dog indie. even stacey came to join us for a drink! it was SO nice to re-connect with them, and to reminisce about high school. funny enough, all three of us have become teachers! i will definitely have to spend more time staying in touch with them.

fourth leg: drove the 30 seconds to cambridge and stayed the evening with my granny. she has a lovely apartment with an incredible view of the sunset and we had great fun telling stories. she always give me all the low-down. for a woman in her mid-80s, she is still sharp as a tack!

fifth leg: drove to burlington to see the other side of my family, and to drop off some stuff with my brother, who will be living in burlington for the summer. the highlight was definitely visiting haley, rachel and nigel (my cousin's kids)... made me temporarily want to have some kids! not to worry, it passed fairly quickly.

sixth leg: sped (not literally!) through toronto and made it to kingston for my dentist appointment and some errands i needed to run at the university.

seventh leg: home! and time to sleep.

namaste.

2007-06-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

this evening, katie and i decided to meet up for a yoga class at a great studio downtown called rama lotus. i haven't been particularly stressed (being on vacation and all...) but i am always up for some serious stretching and bending my body into pretzel-like formations.

it is incredible how unflexible we become as adults. i remember when i took a jazz class as a kid, i won a chocolate bar for holding the splits for over 30 seconds. now i can barely kick my leg above my hip! some of the yoga poses are inhuman. why is it necessary to have our toes touch the floor above our heads? will this help me on my journey to a centred and balanced life?

when we first began, our instructor told us to remove all thoughts from our heads and focus solely on our breathing. go ahead, give it a try right now! it is almost impossible to take away all the thoughts from your consciousness. even thinking about not thinking becomes a thought in itself. however, as hokey as this all sounds, i find a lot of validity to what they are saying. if you think of a yoga pose as a metaphor for life, perhaps opening up our physical selves can lead to opening ourselves up mentally and emotionally. ridding any and all thoughts is an incredibly cleansing experience - one that you don't realize you have succeeded at until the moment has passed. the best part of each yoga class is certainly the last ten minutes, the relaxation session in corpse pose. now, this is a pose that i can hold. in fact, i'm always afraid i'll fall asleep!

they say experts can hold some yoga poses for up to two hours. for a thinker, that is a lot of time not to think.

on the subject of opening up, my dad has been in the media a bit this week on the subject of the anglican church and whether or not they will be blessing same sex unions. this week, national synod is meeting in winnipeg to make a decision on the stance of the anglican church. now; i am not particularly religious, but i do understand that this is a touchy subject for many people. i am so proud of my dad for a) having a particularly liberal opinion and having the guts to share it with his congregation but b) discussing the issue on national tv without preaching his own personal opinion and focusing more on how the church can move forward into the future (in the case of either decision) without having these opposing opinions ruin the community.

way to go, dad.

new york minute.

2007-06-04T20:21:00.000-07:00

"think of a city and what comes to mind? it's streets. if a city's streets look interesting, the city looks interesting; if they look dull, the city look dull."
-jane jacobs

you can describe a city in the same way that you can describe a wine. like a full-bodied red, the cities that i have fallen for have depth, a robust flavour and a unique complexity to them that make them one of a kind. in nyc, its charm lies in its streets and its neighbourhoods. the best way to see the city is certainly by walking. but what strikes me every time in nyc is that in a minute, so much happens. a minute seems longer in new york, more sights are passed, more sounds fill the air, more attacks on my senses. whether i'm touring the tacky lights of times square, the quaint houses in greenwich village or the ritzy stores in soho i fall a little bit more in love with new york every time i go.

i know that my mom loves new york even more than i do, so i knew she would not be a tough sell when i suggested a girls weekend in late may. alyssa titus was also in (especially when we were able to pick the weekend after she finished her first year med school exams!), and we easily convinced her mom, ellen to come along. the four of us get along famously, and we had always wanted to take a trip together to take our female bonding beyond the scope of ahmic lake. the four of us out for dinner in greenwich village:

mom and i flew in bright and early thursday morning and immediately took a cab to our cute hotel in the theatre district. we are both go-go-go in nyc because we both have so much that we want to see, so we did not waste any time getting a move on. we wandered down 42nd street to the united nations, got a guided tour of the building and had an extensive history lesson. our tour guide was this cute little man who spoke as quiet as a mouse, but he answered all of my 'dumb' questions and i left feeling much more aware and curious to learn more. my mom's best lesson was that there are now just a few more than 80 member nations... (192 to be exact!) we continued wandering around the grounds because i wanted to catch all of the sights that were used for one of my favourite movies, the interpreter. a view of the flags, in alphabetical order:

the rest of thursday was filled with lounging in parks, exploring the new york library, stumbling upon the chaos in grand central station and staying off grass that was 'recovering from a major trauma'. we had tickets on our first night to a broadway play called inherit the wind , which was christopher plummer and brian dennehy at their finest. both were clearly veteran actors who effortlessly became the characters they were portraying. the premise of the play surrounds a teacher who has been convicted of breaking the law for teaching darwin's theory of evolution rather than creationism in a small town bible thumping community in the 1920s. the highlight was having the opportunity to switch seats and move to a seat on-stage as a member of the jury! very cool the be able to see christopher plummer spit as he talks and be a part of the action while still being an observer.

alyssa and ellen were meant to arrive on thursday evening but due to some flight cancellations ended up sleeping/resting in the toronto airport and arriving mid-morning on friday. aside from mom being kept up half the night with thoughts of all the the things that could have happened to them (plane crash, kidnapped by aliens and so on), i was slept right through! when they finally did arrive, we power-walked a zillion blocks down to greenwich village for our 'food and culture tour', which was worth every penny! we collected tidbits of celebrity gossip, got delicious samplings from incredible restaurants, shops and bakeries and even got a bit of the history of the neighbourhood. i LOVED it. and now we have a list of restaurants to try out on future visits! alyss and i in one of the courtyards in greenwich village:

we ventured over to a park in greenwich for a little break from all of our snacking before heading down to ground zero and the small chapel that houses a touching memorial. next alyss and i decided we needed some shopping to boost our energy levels and explored the heaven-on-earth that is century 21! holy all designer clothing at discount prices! needless to say, we were feeling much more energized for our dinner back in greenwich. the mom's called it a night, but alyss and i went out to a wine bar recommended by our neighbour. unfortunately the mello atmosphere put alyssa to sleep shortly after ordering a full bottle of wine so we did not tear up the nightlife like we had hoped! we were both happy to see our beds when we crawled in shortly after two am...

saturday was an unfortunate day. somehow i contracted a 24-hour bug and ended up having a vomit-fest all over manhattan. i was devastated! initially, i trucked along, ducking into back alleys to leave my dna when i needed to. but when we arrived in soho and i was completely unable to enjoy the shopping extravaganza, i realized i needed to lie down. conveniently, we could not find a park ANYWHERE. finally (what felt like months) my mom and ellen found a dodgy little park with homeless people sleeping and drug dealers smoking. i was so sick that i didn't even care! i fell asleep on a bench next to my mom in minutes... my mom wanted to avoid my being robbed, so she sat by me as ellen and alyssa ventured off to find katz's deli. after an hour, i decided i was good-to-go for the tenement museum in the lower east side. but it was hot, and i could barely stand up, so they eventually forced me to go back to the hotel. after a few 'there is no way i am going to be able to sleep while you guys are off enjoying nyc', i think i fell asleep in about five seconds flat. when they returned a few hours later, i was a new person! bubbly, energized and no longer wanting to die, i was able to attend our entertainment for the evening, the color purple . being a distinct racial minority in the audience was a refreshing experience, and the music was outstanding. and i didn't even have to leave to continue the vomit tour! the girls in the powder room at the color purple:

sunday was another mom and me day. alyssa and ellen really wanted to go to central park and the museum of modern art, but i really wanted to go back to soho now that i had rejoined the world. in the usual fashion, mom and i dominated our time, shopping our brains out (victoria secret anyone?), having a quick glass of wine over lunch and still having time to make our third (count 'em!) broadway show. this time, we went for a lighthearted fun show with legally blonde ! mostly tweens were in the audience but the songs were fun and kitschy and i caught myself saying omigod in the airport on the way home. (don't tell anyone!)

the weekend was short but stellar. it was some much needed girl's time, retail therapy and city hustle and bustle. i am trying to convince my mom to turn new york weekends into a yearly tradition! unlikely but i'll let you know how it goes....

mom and i in front the un:

tickled pink.

2007-05-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

today is a sad day. about a week ago, a vibrant young girl named emma bailey was killed in a car accident outside of london, england. today is her birthday. it was also her funeral.

while she wasn't a close friend of mine, we went to university together and she was a constant part of my queen's years. i can still hear her laugh loud and clear... it was by far the most contagious laugh i have ever heard. i smile now to think of it. i remember knocking on her door on a walkhome buddy night scavenger hunt, and her letting a total stranger take a tequila shot off her neck. only at queen's. only emma. i peed my pants watching her in players; i followed her adventures in the uk on her blog; and i had no doubt that she would be one of the few aspiring actresses to make it big.

my heart aches deeply for her close friends and family. for kelly who was travelling with her. for everyone who wore pink today to celebrate her favourite colour and a colourful life.

i have been wanting to write something about this for so long. but every time i began, it seemed that i didn't know what to say. i don't understand the world: how can it be that a young, beautiful, independent, adventurous, hilarious girl had to have her life cut short? who decides? why wasn't it me? i just can't find peace thinking of the injustice. one split second and thousands of people's lives are changed forever. young people are just not supposed to die. they are supposed to fall in love and go travelling and change careers and go shopping and go to school. i don't know how to comprehend that something that has been such a constant is no longer.

someone wrote something about emma recently, and i imagine that it is just what she is doing up in heaven: making the angels laugh.

a tale of ten cities.

2007-05-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

whoa. sometimes i don't realize how much i am doing until it is done. then, i take the time to look back, and i can barely believe that i fit so much into two weeks. this trip was more about visiting friends then it was about visiting places. i apologize for the lack of blogs, but i plan on making up for it now with an epic novel of a post. i promise to forgive you if you stop reading now.

paris: i think i last wrote about dieppe, which was my last stop before i went to paris for two leisurely evenings. when i was backpacking last summer, i met andrea in prague (oh, one drunken evening...) and we have stayed in touch ever since. when i was coming through, i couldn't NOT visit her. i LOVE paris. there is something in the air that makes me satisfied with strolling around, sitting in cafes and contemplating life. there are a lot of cities in europe that i love, but i can imagine making paris my home. i am not sure that i would ever get anything accomplished, but i would certainly adopt the parisien mentality without too much trouble. andrea and i are both talkers (yes, it is true) so we chatted in the evenings while i meandered the streets, frequented cafes and did absolutely nothing touristy during the day. ah, c'est la vie.

dijon: picture the most picturesque french town/city, insert my fashionable friend kristin macrae taking a year of french classes and throw in a dash of the most delicious food imagineable, and you will understand why i visited. it wouldn't really have mattered where kristin was, because i would have made the trek... but i am glad it was dijon. it is so perfectly french. the buildings, the mustard, the shopping, the friendliest folks. it is not the same as paris, where people are more reserved and tend to turn their noses up. in dijon, everyone is welcoming and chatty... even with my feeble attempts at speaking french. kristin was a splendid tour guide, exposing me to the culinary delights (not forgetting the kir royal's and wine) of the city. i bought my first designer bag, hit up a townie bar and got to crash in residence. gotta love the extremes!

arras: after reading 'the stone carvers' by jane urquhart, i have always been fascinated by the canadian war memorial to vimy ridge in france. particularly with all of the restoration that happened recently, i knew there would be no better time to experience the monument. while it is considered canadian soil, it is not easy to get to, especially for a backpacker. i took the train to arras (the closest major city), but there were no lockers at the train station to leave my luggage for the day. i was stuck with my bags for the day. at that moment, i regretted going shopping in paris. the monument itself is breathtaking. tall, imposing, chalk white -- it was striking against the stormy french sky. the carvings were done in lifelike detail, looking over the plains below. walter allward said that the memorial came to him in a dream... and i think that it felt like i became a part of that dream as i wandered around, apart of the spirits that live there. afterwards, i wandered down, through the forest, to the underground tunnels, which can still be visited on a guided tour. of course, they have been enlarged for safety reasons, but it is incredible to touch the underground walls, which were dug almost a hundred years ago. thousands of humans waited, the night before the vimy attack, and lived their last hours in these tunnels. i will definitely be voting for the vimy ridge memorial as one of the wonders of canada.

lille: i only went to lille to catch the eurostar train back to london. i found it crowded, dirty and busy compared to the serenity in the french countryside that i had experienced in the previous few hours.

london: for the next week, i used london (and carolynn's flat) as a base. since visiting care was the main purpose of my trip, i wanted to spend a lot of time with her; but since she had essays to write, i did not want to distract her too much! we sampled welsch rarebit, had thoughts of poutine, dealt with abandoning roommates, made huge life decisions, listened to songs of africa, talked to erin on the phone, battled in our sleep, ate copious amounts of cheese, wandered the streets, gourged on lattes, saw harry potter naked, relaxed in parks, met up for picnic lunches, purchased fabulous shoes, drank beer, discovered hidden gardens and desperately tried to be quiet during our gossip sessions so we didn't wake up her light sleeping housemate.

brighton: care and i took an evening field trip to this tacky seaside town but had the BEST time. we got a ride to the coast from one of care's old friends, troy, and were lucky enough to be introduced to his entire party-hardy group of friends. we couldn't find a hotel room, quite literally, so in our typical resourceful manner we found a train that returned to london at 4 AM. that's right, 4 AM! no sleep for the wicked. brighton is certainly a young, crazy, party city. aside from drinking and meeting all sorts of of crazy young folks that have gradually migrated there, we ate fish (hold the chips) on the pier, contemplated sleeping under benches on the beach and judged all the freaky-looking fetishy people we saw all dressed up. the city certainly attracks a lot of wackos! probably why care and i ended up there.

canterbury: four years ago, when i was backpacking in australia, i met a lovely brit named ali. she is now a school teacher living in canterbury, so i went to visit her. it was a perfect day trip from london, and gave care the chance to have a serious library day. ali is as cute and hilarious as i remember her, and canterbury is absolutely brilliant. we caught up over sausages and mash, went on a little river boat tour of some of the quiet parts of the city, and explored the enormous canterbury cathedral. aside from being a little tired from my brighton adventure the night before, it was a perfect day!

bath: i wanted to get a little pampering, so i took a day trip to stonehenge and bath. stonehenge was a quick stop, and to be completely honest, 45 minutes was all that i needed. the rocks were beautiful, but since they are sectioned off, there isn't much of a chance to wander. the bus took us to bath, and dropped us off at the roman bath museum which was AMAZING. since the water was green/brown, washing up wasn't overly appealing, but the insight into roman history was intriguing. if you want a good laugh, check out a video on youtube of a guy jumping in. yuck. another highlight of bath was convincing a priest to let me into the bath abbey even though i had run out of money to pay for the entrance fee. note to self: looking poor and sorrow and donating a handful of pennies works wonders with men of god!

glasgow: i was really excited about venturing up to scotland, because my family names originate from there, and i have always heard how downright friendly everyone is. every scot i have ever met has had an affinity for a good laugh, a good beer and yelling at small children. ahh, scotland the brave. glasgow isn't a city that immediately bowls you over with beauty. it is very industrial-looking, and clearly has a significant working-class history. there was even a shipbuilding holiday while i was there. go figure. but i wasn't there to sightsee, i was there to catch up with old walkhome friends margaret, marcello, kevin and toner. margaret gave me an exquisite culinary tour of the city throughout my stay; marcello and i peeed our pants laughing over a few pints ("your face looks like a ripped out fire place") and i serenaded kevin with my favourite scotland-themed song from my childhood. count yourself lucky that you did not have to hear me sing it... "land of the dirty hanky, land of the wee bikini, land of where the people frolic, scotland the brave!". i can't say that i saw any frolicking or wee bikini's during my short stay, but with scots, you never know!

edinburgh: the architecture in edinburgh is beautiful. i was only there for about eight hours, but i was mesmerized by the buildings, the castle, the alleys - the ancient royal feel to it all. i was on a mission to soak up as much as i could during my day, and i had a stellar tour guide. david toner, of walkhome fame, met me for lunch at the elephant house, a cafe where it is said that jk rowling wrote harry potter! i didn't invent an empire while i was there, but i did have a delicious brie and bacon quiche. yum! toner gave me the scots tour of edinburgh, which included a music store, having paper throwing competitions and having a hair-growing contest. the scots i met know absolutely nothing about scotland! but i was content with made-up facts and lessons on scottish slang. after toner left to make it big as a rock star, i wandered along the royal mile ("how long is the royal mile, you ask?"), explored the nooks and crannies in edinburgh castle and even braved the underground tunnels of an old close (aka alley off of a main street).

i am back home in canada now, severely jet-lagged and missing my europe friends. a huge thank you to everyone who housed me, hung out with me and showed me around while i was visiting over the past two weeks. i will certainly return the favour anytime! everyone else, if you are still reading, you are quite the champ. have a happy day.