Round 2: Oaxaca

Finally, sorry about the delay, no excuse but laziness?! ...

So I arrive early in the morning from Las Vegas/LAX in Oaxaca by myself, take a taxi with a kind gentlemen to the centro area so as to make it cheaper. He was interesting, an art dealer who is on his way to meet 'the best artist since picasso.' whatever that means. he seemed enthusiastic though which is all that matters, and loved to talk about my teaching as well because his 12 yr old daughter is aspiring. Hostal Paulina took me in even at the early hour of 630am and thankfully had my room open. I promptly dropped my crap on the floor and took a 3 hr nap. It sucks to travel all night long especially with changes in transport because what little sleep you can get is always interrupted. I woke up and hung out in the zocalo, or town center. A fine place to be solo... plenty of people to watch and restaurants in which to dine. Erin arrived a few hours later and by the time we fell asleep the other Aaron had also joined. Oaxaca, Oaxaca is a pretty city, it reminds me a bit of Spain with its smaller streets and little plazas. Its at least more like Spain than Torreon, thats for certain :) Even though I have visited before, it was fun to see again and to do some shopping. The summer of 2005 brought me here after a stay in Mexico City. I liked recognizing small things as being the same or remembering where we ate what. The area seems to be best known for its paintings and crafts along with textiles. I ended up buying 2 wrap-around striped skirts that were sold everywhere, and a birthday present for my sister (I'm not telling, but I hope you like it!) I even had to pick up a new book, found a cool english bookstore and bought a chicana book to enjoy in the right atmosphere. After a few days of enjoying the chillaxing there, we made plans to get ourselves to Puerto Escondido, spring break requires a beach. We decided on a 'suburban' which would be one of the cheapest and fastest routes...... not always the best decision, at least comfort wise. It ended up being a very old very raggedy 15 passenger van with the luggage tied to the top, and the roads as only one would expect them to be from looking at the topography of the state - very, very windy. I had the unfortunate experience of sitting in row two behind the driver, a three person row that has room on one side so people can still squeeze into the row behind. That space meant that on alllllll of these curves I was either thrown against Aaron sitting to my left, or the foot of empty nothingness to my right before the van door. Impossible to sleep with this predicament, or risk sliding off my seat and slamming my head into the van on some unsuspecting corner. Although, how could a corner come unexpected in this trip, I dont think there was ever a stretch of more than 30 straight feet. And of course, the driver was trying to get to the destination as fast as possible and probably having done the trip hundreds of times felt comfortable to take these corners at high speeds as well as passing on the very same blind corners. Best to sleep.

Once in Pto we sweat off 10 lbs instantly. haha, no, but really. it was so humid there! unbelievable! Our hostel was very hippie... upon arrival, the manager (from WA) didn't know what day it was, and when he didn't have the correct change for our cash, told us he would just stock the fridge with extra beer instead. Ok?! It was cute though, I liked it a lot. The room was big complete with porch and hammock. The water pipes only provide one temp, Cold, but even for me that was perfectly fine. There was a bbq station and a small pool with a bridge and everything. While hanging in the pool you could also watch the big screen tv. every time we were there no matter what time of day, a movie was playing. often a new movie that meant only one thing- piracy :) But it showed the feel of the city, everyone goes as short time tourists and realizes that hanging on the beach and partying all night is the life and they stay longer. Erin and I had a different idea of vacation. I wanted as much skin damage as possible (as safe as possible of course!) and nothing more than a good book and a beach umbrella. All taken care of! We rented umbrellas and the chairs came with. Unfortunately in the uber high humidity the plasticy-leathery cushions only caused/held all the sweat your body would produce. 15 mins laying in the sun you had to flip the cushion?!?! ew! So much of the hours passed on the beach were simply hanging in the shade and reading (not even close to the same amount of body fluid loss there). All three of us had books and after devouring a large chunk would take a break to the water, come back, do the same. Even broke it up once and got ourselves some foot massages! From the most interesting lady... from New Zealand, and can read your entire being based on your feet. She said she new I was a dancer and that my feet were very sturdy and flexible... thanks.
Near our hostal we visited a Domino Pizza, and not the american kind! We ordered the Oaxacan which was sounded really strange but was so delicious! Refried beans, jalapeños, cheese, , and ketchup! So good we had it twice.
For awhile I had a little scare with my plane tickets being cancelled, but other than that it was a wonderfully stress free beach vacation. We took the overnight 'luxury' bus back to Oaxaca in order to actually obtain a little bit of sleep. Though the trip was a little longer it was roomier and took a less curvy route. It even entertained us with some old William Hurt movie based on a true story about a kid who was terminally ill but desperately wanted to catch a blue morpho butterfly. bad things happened and it looked like they were in trouble, but then miracles happened and the kid walked! back to camp to get help. Came home cancer free?! Ha, we couldn't really believe it captured our attention so well.... Back in Oaxaca we patroned the same hostal though not as much luck as I had the first time. our room wasn't ready for us and it was still as early, thankfully they let us into a dorm and let us sleep on those beds! So one more day of shopping and hanging out and then another early morning of travel back to home sweet home Torreon. ha.
back to school.... back to school.... to prove to my dad that I'm not a fool... :)

Consequence of Swine Flu

So, just to let you all know... (sorry this is coming pre 'the end of my spring break' post)
Swine Flu is out there. Its here, in Mexico, and yes, so am I. But supposedly there are no cases found in my state of Coahuila (maybe the drug lords scared it away). The president did decide to shut down alllllll schools in the country in hopes of preventing the numbers of infected/fatalities from mushrooming any more than they already have. This means I am not in school until May 6 as of now. Its like a really long snow day, or another spring break immediately after the first, just not as filled with joy.... It was to be a long weekend this week already and two other teachers and I did book a trip to a resort in Acapulco.... yet to be decided whether we can go or not, having to fly through DF first... I'll keep you updated. Stay healthy

Easter Break Pics link

So far I have only loaded from Phoenix but I will update it later. Maybe tomorrow I will finish ...the rest of the story. (as the late Paul Harvey would say)
here's the link, check it back once the mexico portion of the week is up here!

http://picasaweb.google.com/millerbreanna/SemanaSanta09#

Semana Santa - Week 1: PHX and Vegas, Baby!

The saga begins in Torreon. After school on Friday the 3rd, I frantically finished packing desperately hoping there was nothing I forgot. Victor and I then get picked up by his aunt and taken to Gomez Palacio, the neighboring town in which said aunt lives. We get all of her things together and do our best to squeeze the three of us and our belongings into one of the ever so small taxis here to the bus station. The luxury first class bus then drives us through northern Mexico to the safest city I know, Juarez. [If you are not so familiar with Mexican politics and goings-on, this is actually probably the most dangerous city. Recently acquiring something like 5,000 troops to try to quell the drug war. It is said that last year there were three times more murders there than in the most murderous city in the US. Almost entirely our fault though as the US is the largest consumer of Mexican heroine, cocaine, and methamphetamines, while at the same time being the largest supplier of weapons for them. I digress...]
A fairly uneventful, yet roomy, 10 hr ride later, we arrive at the border town. Victor's parents had driven there, and a cousin and her children also met us there to join in on the fun. So now we are - Victors parents, Tía Lily, cousin Bere, her children little Victor and Angela, Victor, and I. Eight in a four door F-150 (I believe), only slightly crowded, 5 in the back, 3 in the front. First meal back in the US, McDonalds breakfast, of course?!
After dozing on and off for the better part of the day, I was feeling lazy and just wanted to relax. Actually, come to think of it, that's pretty much how I felt all week! It was good to be in a comfortable home, complete with such pleasures as carpet, dryer, HDTV :), and food and entertainment that I am used to. All of this comfort of the US but still so much Spanish around! Victors family doesn't really ever speak English, his brother and sister of course use it almost all the time, while his parents know it but only use it with gringos, and his aunt and cousin don't really know it at all. Plus, South Phoenix has every other billboard in Spanish and the radio stations in Spanglish. It was fun! Especially to play with the kids, we laughed a lot. Victor only calls me Blue, so his whole family does as well; sometimes I was Azul, and sometimes Blue amongst the rest of the Spanish words in their sentence. I showed off some of my face tricks (if you know me, you know the ones) which were a big hit with the kids. From then on I couldn't be seen without hearing "Hazlo" meaning, do it! They're so cute!
Things we did: GoKart racing. which I apparently suck at ... at least I didn't crash ;) Going out to eat: In N Out which is only in AZ and CA, some really good pizza joints because they are lacking in Torreon, and Jamba Juice which I was excited about! Watching movies - two in theater and a few rentals. I am pretty behind in my pop culture trivia! Visit to the Cardinals Stadium. or Heaven as Victor calls it. Shopping! found some excellent deals got a few things, fun had by all.
On Friday the whole family (minus sister, plus me and plus brothers guest) packed up into two vehicles and headed for Vegas! There was a large stretch of stop and go traffic around Hoover Dam, and Cesar got pulled over for speeding, but otherwise uneventful drive. We were of course playing the 50 state game, looking for all the license plates (again, if you know me, this is a given). In the end we had 41 throughout the week, including both AK and HI! Once in Las Vegas and all settled into our hotel room, we hit up Circus Circus for their cheaper tables for the guys. True to Vegas form, we stayed out til all hours of the night. Slept in pretty late and then got ourselves tickets for the Deuce! We visited a few different hotels, rode on the NY, NY rollercoaster and got some gelato at the Venetian, which I was surprised was a pretty re-creation, complete with street performers and people getting married and serenaded in gondolas. Then unfortunately, even though 24 hours in Vegas almost seemed like enough :), it was time for me to head to the airport to catch my flight to my next spring break adventure.
From LAS to LAX to OAO.... to be continued.

Easter celebration

On the Friday before break, the whole school celebrated Easter. For the week prior, we painted all the egg shells the students brought, this turned out to be over 200! My assistant also made the cutest little easter baskets for them to each bring home 2 of the eggs along with some candy. The day of the party, we brought all the kids to a room in Primary to watch some of Pixar's shorts in order to kill some time for some of the teachers to hide the eggs around the preschool area, in the gardens, the playground, etc. As we walked them back over, there was a mad rush of kids scrounging to get as many eggs as they possibly could. It was so cute. And the tradition here is that the egg shells are found and then smashed over the heads of whomever crosses your path. The secondary kids got to put flour into their shells so theirs was a messier fight. It was quite funny to watch though. And of course the kids thought it was hilarious to get a teacher but being 3'+ taller than them we had to crouch down for them which takes away from the element of surprise but was still a good time. Then once that settled down a bit, Miss Charo got on the loud speaker and said that the Easter bunny was spotted in the sandbox! so all the kids mob over to that area, the opposite side we teachers know the bunny is coming from and clearly visible so it was kind of funny they all still ran over to check. then she said oh no, maybe she's in Miss Irma's room and so on until finally the bunny showed herself from the office door and the kids finally spotted her and then the whole mass bolted over to greet her. I can't imagine having been in that bunny suit seeing over a hundred little people rushing at me?! But the kids loved it. Then there was also cake served, funfetti, my favorite! among many others. Why not hop them up on sugars before sending them back to class for the last hour of the day?! Oh yeah, thats a great idea, let's also chuck candy into the crowd so they can get some more! So after all this excitement, they were sent back to the classroom and I was expected to do what with them?! haha, we played with toys after we got the room all back in order.
Here are the pics of the event:

our Easter Baskets

three of my boys, and my assistant, I mean the Easter Bunny :)

chaos

200+!!!

Pamper Yourself and Take a Vaca (or 2)

I cannot believe it is already March 31. Tomorrow is April and that means that I only have 3 more months here in Mexico! It's gone by so quickly, but I am getting really close to the point where I am ready to get back. My behavior problem children are exhausting daily, our school does weird things a lot administration wise, and ... I miss shopping. It may sound weird but I was even talking to my assistant about it and she said she never goes clothes shopping in Mexico, most everyone here goes to TX for their shopping needs. I apparently didn't pack many things for warm weather, and I guess by warm I mean hot. Already, it has hit 100º, in MARCH! so I can only guess what has yet to come.Two weekends ago, four of us girls decided to take a weekend trip to Parras, only a short 3 hr bus ride away. It is home to the very first winery in the Americas, founded in 1597 and still churning out some good wines and brandys. We got to tour the place and taste test a few wines. It would be much prettier in May or so when the vines that cover every pathway are covered with leaves and bunches of grapes. We even bought a bottle of wine to share later. Our hotel was a cute little place with a tiny pool out back (not really workable, slightly dingy and very small and cold), but also in this courtyard were picnic tables and hammocks. Very peaceful and much needed recoup vacation. The town even has 3 estanques, or reservoirs that hold some of the springs they have there. The water was a fun part of the city, some of the streets have a little creek running right next to it, as in under peoples driveways. So no need to buy fountains for the water noises there, just crack open the window! We swam and laid out a bit at one estanque [surprisingly big, about 3 meters deep and I don't know how wide but quite, I wouldn't have swam to the other side] before we had to unfortunately head back for school.

The pathway with the vines over head, just barely budding


This is the lovely bottle opener we borrowed
from the lady across the street.
Doesn't everyone own a deer hoof bottle opener?

I just really liked this picture.
The estanque, I think this pic
doesn't quite show its size.
but it was lovely!

Just today I decided to get myself a manicure. They are so cheap here, as most things are - massages, pedicures, laser hair removal, etc. Thankfully Friday brings Spring Break as well. I am sooo stoked for 2 weeks without school! [this week also brings 2 paydays! the 15th falls on break so we get paid early] It was quite ironic that I am IN Mexico and couldn't decide what I should do for Spring Break. The biggest group is going to Mexico City, but I already stayed there for 3 weeks or so during college, so it felt a little 'been there done that.' Most other people have family coming down to meet them. I took up an offer to go to Phoenix to one of the fellow teachers houses for the first week. I have never been, and its no hotel cost, on top of being able to go shopping :) For the second week I am going to meet two teachers in Oaxaca, a southern state in Mexico. We plan to go beach hopping, maybe surf a bit?! catch some rays, whateve. Hopefully its a rejuvenating good time!

The Birds

It has been mentioned more than once that we are living in a house that feels as if it could be in the famed Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds. Upon entering our tree filled courtyard, you can not help but notice all the bird feathers and droppings littering the floor. Even, on occasion, a dead bird or two. I suppose it is not completely correct to put together this movie connection because we have yet to have a bird attack, but nonetheless they are there, they are abundant, they are annoying, and they are relentless. I can even [very unfortunately] tell time by these birds. Every morning, between the hours of 6 and 7 am, the birds gather in full force. This gathering always takes place in the lovely tree selection in our courtyard...of course. They chat it up, nonstop and without concern for those who are yet in slumber, until approximately 7:30am when they all decide to change their locale. With a sudden gust of wind being forced down from their spry little wings, I can hear their departure. Again [almost as unfortunate] their new location just so happens to be the other lovely selection of trees that are those in our school just up the block. So there they are, waiting for us when we arrive.
This daily occurrence would not be quite as annoying if it only happened when I was already awake, though undoubtedly, I would still take notice. Therefore, on school days, it isn't as bothersome since that is about the time I have to wake up, it only means that sometimes I get out of bed in a state of annoyance. On weekends, however, this is a very dreadful racket that lasts about an hour, while I am trying to get in some much needed sleep-in time. .... At least, they're persistent. ?!?