Tengo La Camisa Negra

Ok, I dont have la camisa negra, but I DO have tickets to the Juanes concert!!! Charo was nice enough to pick me up and take me to acquire them from the only logical place - a liquor store. I thought it was kind of odd, but its apparently totally normal to go to this particular store and buy concert tickets. So, November 2nd, me and Juanes have a date :)

pics for the previous post

So I uploaded a few pics.. They are in random order but I think it will do. Enjoy

Sorry for the tilt... but these are a few of the huge blow up items around the school :) YAY!!!
kindergarteners won their game,
so of course the jerseys were ripped off!
This is Jenna's class' doing... :)
The field was wet, what other option was there?!

Chillin on the sidelines,
routing for the hometeam
with our homemade pompons :)

this is a funny action shot if you could
zoom in on the kid about to be smacked by the ball :)
We are the green and white stripes, a few of these are my kids

adorable!?
[This is the kid who hid in the closet though :)]

another cute little hellion,
this kid won't do a lick of work when he's supposed to,
and his twin is the same
(though not in my class thankfully)
This is also the kid who enjoys giving love-bites,
and random little yips throughout the day,
can't stay mad at him for long!

again, if only you could judge
them solely on their photogenic abilities
instead of their attitudes in class :)

and the sweet cheerleaders who did their
act numerous times throughout the event.
All of course american songs, and
almost inappropriate for a catholic school I think...I also just wanted to mention that my computer says it is currently 86° here and 48° back home....

Grades and Freedom

Sunday marked the end of the Copa Libertad, or the Freedom Cup soccer tournament I talked about last time. Wednesday night they held the opening ceremony. It was quite the show too. Thousands of kids were there from different schools around the area to compete and they all filed in ceremoniously to a band playing. So important are we that celebrities showed up to watch: some guys from the local soccer team, Santos, along with a local boxer. After speeches were made, flag salutes held, and anthems sung, the first games went underway. Jenna Victor and I watched much of the older boys soccer game until Jenna and I decided we should head back to finish our planbooks due tomorrow.
Thursday and Friday at school were very much days of Freedom for the students. My kids watched 2 games the first day and 1 the second and didn't get much else done the rest of the day. I think I went to the fewest games probably as well. In the upper grades they have so many kids on different teams and brothers or sisters to watch, they could be outside all day long. I dont think secondary teachers did anything at all really, primary maybe a little more, and I did a bit. We did make pompons, and for the most part they were well behaved. Soccer is The Sport here as you know so I guess that helps keep their attention span up. To be seen and heard around the school: huge blowup bottles of Gatorade -the apparent sponsor, music always blasted from different sets of speakers (mostly american and not what I would expect to hear while walking past statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary), many (too many?!) random kids and adults everywhere, cheering, begging for gatorade tickets (free cup with a ticket), jerseys and cleats worn all day by over half the population...
I had 2 kids on the 4-5 yr old team which was really fun to watch. They swarm around the ball like little bees and even fight over control with their own teammates. They are still however, far better than their age group in the states! And their parents on the sidelines were quite intense as well. They won both of their games we watched and ended up getting 1st place! The older kids in my class were pretty good too. I dont know their final standings, but they won the game we watched as well.
On friday many games were postponed due to excessive rainfall. The main fields were flooded so they were giving them time to dry out through the afternoon. After school on my way to Jenna's room I had to stop and laugh at the importance placed on this event... There were 5 janitorial workers trying hard to quickly rid the field of water. The three on the sidelines were digging a small hole in which to funnel the water into and then procede to empty it by 5gallon pails as it continued to fill up, the pails were taken off the scene somewhere to be emptied and refilled again. The two men in the middle of the field were using a shop-vac to suck out as much excess as they could. I thought it was comical. That was the last of my experience with the Copa, I did not go back at all this weekend, but it was still quite busy all weekend.

Friday night I went to aerobics. bad idea. It was an intense workout filled with all sorts of lunges, squats, leg lifts, along with some arm/upperbody workouts. Sad to say, I can still feel it today...
Saturday we took a long-ish taxi ride to the big Galerias Mall. This mall is much more american than the others - A large food court (complete with choice asian cuisine, burger king, dairy queen, and other more mexican options), escalators/elevators, decent clothing stores, corner department stores that could have definitely been in america with both the products they carried and the music they played. I didn't really need anything though, and was just along for the ride.
Afterward, Victor invited us over to his aunts in the neighboring town, Gomez, for a 'bbq.' This is what we called it but really he just wanted hotdogs wrapped in bacon, so that is what we had. I had 4 to be exact ;) It was fun, a lot of chatting, a lot of laughs, and even some cable tv watching! We stayed overnight in hopes we could catch the hot air balloons on sunday... no such luck though as they were at 7am! So the fun must stop and we must go back to work. No one wanted to cook supper either so we hit one of our local favorites Opas, and, though not appropriately dressed for it, we watched the Santos win 1-0.
Back in the life of school... kindergarten grades were due today. This has really been making me think about their levels the last week or so and I am happy to report that I can already see such a change in them! It is exciting to think how much more they say to me in English now. Though not as much as I should, I make them ask me all the regular questions that come up throughout the day in English, about the bathroom, pencils, going outside, having questions, etc. I can see them learning! :) I think that will be one cool thing about this placement here; on the one hand, it is a bigger challenge to have to push through the language barrier, but on the other hand, English is one of the things I am teaching them and it is be so obvious when they learn some of it!
One super cute moment I had: I put one of my centers as tying your shoes in order to check who can and cannot for the grade book. One kid did not know how but through the 10 mins or so we were in that center he kept at it. When he finally got it the first time by himself without help he was glowing! it was adorable and after doing the excited high five with me, he went around the classroom to show off his work, first to Jenna who happened to be visiting and then to other students who of course didn't much care. But man was that cute :) His brain is like a sponge though, and he is always throwing english words in the mix much more often than the others.
another fun bside - we are in the process of (hopefully) acquiring tickets to the Juanes concert coming to town!!!

Soccer Surpasses All

This coming week Colegio Inglés is hosting a tournament, Copa Libertad. We had a general meeting last Wednesday that informed us about this. It begins on Wed and this of course means for the teachers that there cannot be any homework assigned on these days nor any tests/quizzes given. Because, god forbid they have to think about school while trying to focus on their game. The games are even during the school day so if some of your students are on a team they will simply leave for the duration of their match, no worries, they won't miss much anyway right?! We are allowed to take our classes to watch the games as well... might as well, what else is going to get done. All these issues don't effect me as much since I am a kindergarten teacher, though I still have kids on teams and they will leave, the homework/test thing means nothing. We Prepri teachers are going to even make flags or pompons to wave while watching, taking more time, but they're five and crafts are good for them. Its just annoying. The good thing is though, this means tutoring is cancelled during these days as well.... soooo my required wednesday timeslot will have been bumped three weeks in a row now! The first time only one of the hours was, through a mistake in scheduling, I did not have an individual to tutor, this last week was the meeting instead and then this week the tourny.
Jenna and I are quite the Betty Crockers here. On Thursday night we threw together some random ingredients and made a pan full of enchiladas. "it's so tasty, too!" -I Love Lucy.
This weekend was a pretty good one. I was able to forget about school most of the time, which I think means it was more relaxing. On friday night, emily and I went to Casa E to play games. Saturday I hit the pool with 7 other fellow teachers. I could sit and read in the sun all day. and even though the water was a bit chilly, it was refreshing. so while i sat around and soaked up the sun, everyone else had apparently gone there to exercise!? They were counting laps and working on their strokes etc. not my thing :) We ended with some pretty good entertainment though: Tye and Natalie choreographed a Power Rangers 'fight scene' they did for us. Once we were ready to go Victor invited us to go to his aunt's birhtday party with him, a spanish party with good food, we weren't turning that down. There was quite a bit of food, and it was quite good, so we were not disappointed. They had rented a karaoke machine which was funny. Chava, the spanish boyfriend of one of the teachers, sang a few songs and he was a pretty good singer. Victor also sang one, and then we headed back for a little rest and relaxation. As soon as I arrived home, my roomies were all going to one of the local hotspots for food, Farolitos, and I couldn't pass it up. So only a few short hours after eating at the party I went to a restaurant! We decided to end our day with the cinema, Victor and I went to The Rocker, funny movie with a good soundtrack, while Erin Emily and Jenna went to Mamma Mia. Today I think is a stay at home day for me. Just chillax in casa and store up some energy for the week. I just finished reading this weeks requirement for the book we are now reading for our spanish class... Shiloh, in spanish of course!

la enfermedad

Well.... it was bound to happen. you know Jenna was sick, and last week Emily was. Now it is my turn. This morning I woke up and did not feel well at all. To my mom and sister this might not be all that abnormal, but this time it was for real :)
Me duele la panza. [my stomach hurts] After my first two trips to the bathroom... I tell this to the nurse who provides me with Pepto. I made it through the day, took a nap right after school and hopefully will be all healed up tomorrow!! :D Maybe now all I need is some alimento[sustenance]?! Send healthy vibes my way!

Slumber Parties and Veterinarians

This Friday we got a little treat, my supervisor, Charo, took Jenna and I back to her house to eat lunch and hang out. She was one of the two people that interviewed us in Iowa at the Job Fair so we already had some running jokes with her when we got here. Her and the other Charo that interviewed us asked about our moms as we were signing the contract, upon hearing of their worries etc they said to tell them not to worry, they would be our mothers. So she finally invited us over....or was that we finally hounded her enough... I forget, either way, there we were.

Her house is very nice: spacious and finely decorated. First up was lunch, how nice it is to have a maid! Food was basically on the table as we walked in the door. Though it was good to see that her son Cezar (maybe a 7th grader?!) wasn't taking it for granted, he helped set the table and warm the tortillas etc. It was a great meal - chiles rellenos (stuffed peppers), ensalada, arroz, frijoles, (salad, rice, refried beans), and a meat potato dish; washed down with lemonade and finished off with a sweet poppyseed cake for desert. When asked if we wanted seconds on the dessert Jenna declined "No I'm full" and I said "no thanks" as well but (thankfully) Charo could read my face and dished me up another! :) At the table was Charo's husband, her son, his friend, and of course her, Jenna and I.

After the meal we lounged out on their fancy couches and exchanged stories, Charo is a very funny lady, her stories accompanied by those great facial expressions she does...so good! Then she asked if we would mind going on a few errands with her, she wanted to go to the market to get some things. So we tag along and she shows us the town. It was really fun to be driven around this time with a person acting as a tour guide. We have been around with Malita's grandma and aunts and of course we've been in taxis but neither of those pointed out anything and everything of interest as we went. She even went out of the way to show us a few items. Things like: the first house built in Torreon, put there because someone realized with the river and the railroad tracks it was a good location; some local museums and buildings each with their own little anecdote. Fun fact- that river that made this a good location was dry for 17 years before we got here. When we went to that rodeo last weekend we drove over the bridge and saw it now filled up... peaking out from the waters were the remnants of the dry years: basketball hoops of 5-6 courts! Why waste space I guess!

She also narrated the market for us, explaining different items that we didn't really understand or know. It was an educational trip! We picked up her items [eye stickers for a fellow teachers upcoming spider project and parakeet food] and headed back home. We were all quite exhausted from this week of school apparently, the yawns were circling around the car. Back at her house, her son and his friend got into the car with us as we were going to head back to our house. After lunch, Cezar had walked their pet chihuahua over to the local vet to get his teeth cleaned, and now he wanted to check if they could bring him back home. First, we stop by a local legend in ice cream, Neveria Chepo. This Chepo ice cream is said to have started back at the turn of the century in a town very close to Torreon. It is different texture than most ice creams and has unique flavors, they kept it cheap and didnt' commercialize it too terribly much. The 'store' that we went into looked just like we were entering someones house. I was confused at where were getting this ice cream from until we walked through the gate/door and see the sign above the freezer area filled with gallons of ice cream. Charo treated, I got chocolate and vanilla, not the best I've ever had but I think we should try again. They have fruit sherbets there that could be tasty, thankfully there is another right down the street from us. (still not too commercialized though because it started so close to here and I read there are only about 20 and only in north Mexico)

This brings us to the vet. Cezar goes inside and comes out with the ok to come pay. His friend goes inside with them while Jenna and I wait in the car finishing off the ice cream. The friend comes back and says 'that poor dog, he is just sitting there like this (insert googly face with limp arms)' we laugh and think 'it can't be that bad' Moments later we both bust out laughing because the poor dog does look exactly like that!! they numbed the entire body for the procedure and his bloody little tongue was hanging out ever so slightly. It was one of the funniest things I've seen in awhile. However, I am sorry to say that I was in this moment without camera. ... so we drop off the kids and the dog and head home. It was a good outing and she made so many plans of places to go 'next time' so we shall see if there is more to come.

I was so tired... Charlie and Malita made us pizza and then Jenna and I brought our mattresses in her room on the floor and found a movie to watch online, we went to bed before it was even over.

I find that I cannot sleep in very well anymore. This is very unfortunate because it is one of my favorite things to do. I think that since I wake up so early every other day of the week my body just wants to get up but dont worry, I keep telling it no and try to nod off for another hour or two at least! Jenna and I decided to make chorizo eggs with peppers and onions and then finish off the movie. We continued to laze about much of the afternoon, a few movies were going the whole time. Then Jenna decided to try to cure her rotten bathroom... it has something wrong with it, that thing reeks to high heaven. :) So we made a trip to wal-mart which is quite the jaunt, but we wanted a few things that were more american...ways we knew to try to get smell out. Anyway, we get through with that adventure and decide we should treat ourselves to a nice meal out on the town. Charlie, Malita, Jenna and I make our way over to OK Magueys, a cute little mexican restaurant. The taxi ride over was quite humorous, Malita and Jenna were belting out in the back seat to the american songs on this drivers cd... ie) Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Funky Town, and Gloria. The driver was laughing at us the whole way there and I liked it! We sat in the 'patio' part, this is made to look like we are outside, under the stars and all, there is even a roof sticking out one side. It was cute, the waiters were very kind, the entrees were 2 for 1, and the ice cream was free. pretty good. and the slumber party continues...

Today was another very lazy day, we spent most of the morning pretending we don't have school, tomorrow is Sunday right!? I made some french toast for brunch, and then in the afternoon our house all went their separate ways: Charlie and Malita went to her grandmas, Emily went to a Santos soccer game, and Jenna and I went to the cinema!

This is a completely normal scene in Torreon:

horses grazing in the lawn in front of WalMart, nice mountains and palm trees to accompany, too.

For supper we made tortilla burgers which turned out pretty good, and then we got to work with school stuff. Its unfortunate, but the show must go on

Day 29

It is in fact day 29 of teaching. In kindergarten, counting is a big thing, which makes day 100 a big thing so we keep track. Today is #29. Tomorrow is Friday. Hallelujah.

Fridays are great days, aren't they? I really haven't had too bad of a week though, I started a new behavior 'treatment' if you will with the one boy in my class who causes me the most issues, so hopefully that pans out. It involves daily notes home to the parents on the behavior, good and bad, and stickers, what more could you want!?
I also lucked out with my tutoring this week... I am not sure I have really mentioned this before but we are all required to do two hrs of tutoring a week: one hour is with a few kids who need reinforcement from one grade and the other is a one-on-one session. Anyway, this week there was a mix up in the scheduling for my one-on-one session so I got to ditch out early, and I believe I still get paid for it :)
This week also marked the beginning of Spanish conversation class. I think this will be a really good way for us (me) to have a steady source of spanish speaking. I don't do it as much as I should, or would like to in order to keep it up and/or get better. And I'm living in Mexico right now, I should get better! There are 9 of us English teachers attending. I am looking forward to it, I think it should be a good time. We are going to read a book together in order to have things to talk about so that should be great. I should be ready for that too after 2 literature classes in Spain.
My housemates and I just got done eating empanadas, homemade by me (with assistance from Jenna)! Kneading and shaping the dough, cooking up the filling which included: ground beef, peppers, onions, raisins (secret ingredient), and a little seasoning. All fried up real nice in a pot of hot oil! mmm ;)
No weekend plans yet, but thats the way I like it.
relajando [relaxing]