play fair.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.