Holiday cheer

We were originally not coming home for any holidays because the cost of tickets when buying for two is just a bit much on the pesos I make. Or what anyone makes, really. My brother, Chris, who is in Afghanistan, offered to purchase Caden's ticket as he will be home at Christmas, and wants everyone there- and I think he also just felt sorry for me. I took him up on his offer. So we were planning on staying here for Thanksgiving, but the more I thought about it, the more appealing it was to figure out a way to go to Texas for Thanksgiving, as well. All of my new American teacher friends here will be out of town. And my Mexican friend's don't celebrate. And I love turkey. And the thought of making a turkey for two was slightly depressing. So, I figured out a way. (I didn't rob a bank. I'm too identifiable here.) 

We will be in Dallas Saturday, November 23rd through Saturday the 30th- and in Houston Saturday, December 21st through Saturday, January 4th. I'll probably be back and forth between the two cities, depending on everyone's holiday plans. However, I did basically sell my car to my sister, so we might have to skateboard between the two cities.

Caden requested donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast this morning. Decided to walk to a different Oxxo (think 7-11) that is a bit further away, but has a bigger selection of things. Wanted to share some pictures of our walk. Today has a Seattle feel to it. Chilly. Looks like it's going to rain any minute. Have a lot to do today, including going to the grocery store. Haven't yet taken a taxi by myself, so it's time to take that step.

Sushi, candy & clowns (and books)

i'm sorry, what do you want me to do?

I didn't drown in queso. I did, however, have some pretty spectacular sushi. Sushi is different here. Shrimp is pretty much standard in all the basic rolls, instead of crab. I don't eat shrimp, but we figured it out. It was a good night. Caden had a good time, again, at Luis' house....and is going back again this evening.

 Was super excited to receive our first book donation, from a wonderful woman named Margaret, who lives in Mexico City. She doesn't even know me, but is keeping up with my blog, and sent two boxes of books. The kids were beyond excited. Thank you, Margaret. You made our week.

cheap labor

We moved yesterday, from the campus that is literally within a two minute walk from my house, to the new campus, which is about a 20 minute drive. It was a long day, and I was impressed with all the kids who showed up to help. I appreciate that the school has been wanting a new building for years, but I really prefer the older building. It's more open, and it just has so much character. (That was also my frame of thought when I bought my 1940's house in Texas, which was a money pit.)

new digs

This is Lidu, my partner in crime

Also got a box of goodies from Texas, that included lamps, candy, toys (Caden cried), mugs and magnets for the fridge. Thank you, Matt.

yes please

And to end this post, I want to address the clown situation, here. It's slightly out of hand. On the street corners, in the grocery stores. Outside my window. I could do without the clowns.

don't worry, be happy

I'd never heard of Nick Vujicic, but I went to go see him with some friends from school, Tuesday night. If you have never heard of this man, you should definitely look him up.

He was born with no arms or legs. Can you even imagine? No way. Puts things in perspective, that's for damn sure. We spend so much time unhappy, griping and complaining about money, and work, and relationships, and are so caught up with materialistic things, that we lose sight of what really matters. And here is a man, going through life, just like all of us, without any limbs, and he's happy, and he's grateful.

It was eye opening, to say the least. He posed the question: if this were your last 60 seconds on Earth, would they know you loved them? Would they know you forgave them? Life is short. Live it well.

I know these are words to live by, but it's hard. It's hard to let things go. It's hard to take the high road. It's hard not to stress so much. But isn't it worth it, in the long run? I'm not sure. But maybe it's something to consider.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. (United offers a direct, 2 hour flight, so I was pricing plane tickets to try to come to Texas this weekend, but they were 1000 bucks apiece, so needless to say, that isn't happening.) However, I got over that disappointment.  Caden is beside himself excited to have another playdate on Friday, with Luis,  and I get to go have dinner and grown-up time with friends I've made through the school. I'm excited, and slightly nervous about this new venture. However, I've been assured that everyone speaks English, and no one is part of a cartel. If I don't post on Saturday morning, I drowned in queso.

Caden's bff is Luis, in the middle. 

Also glad (and grateful) to have the internet at home (and it's fast, surprisingly- much faster than the internet I had out in Venus), and after two days of messing with my printer, I was finally able to hook it up, wirelessly,  to my laptop, so I can print whatever I want, no matter where in the house I am. I can sit on the roof and work. Just need some chairs. And wine.

Kidding, no drinking on the roof.

new friend.

Caden said I wasn't
excited enough.

The school is gearing up for our big move on Friday. Monday is the first day at the new campus for high school and middle. Still not sold on leaving my baby every morning, but I'm going to leave him with a woman who is an aid in kindergarden, and she is going to work with him on his Spanish. (I hope he teaches me what he learns.)


Also, I forgot to take a picture of them, but last week, a student brought me enchiladas, (they were the best enchiladas I've ever eaten), and yesterday, one brought me tamales. I could get used to this.

I've had several questions sent to me through this blog, so I figured I'd end this post with an answer to one of them.


Q- How many Americans do you work with? Are there other nationalities?
I'm not sure, exactly. There are two new guys this year, from the US, and then my neighbor, Joanna, who is from the US, but was already working internationally before she came to Durango. (Ironically, she and her husband own a house near my parents, in Cypress.) There is a guy from Scotland here, another guy from Australia, and yet another one is from Brazil, I think.  They all speak English and varying degrees of Spanish. My principal is from Ohio. There are several teachers from Chicago, one from Washington state, and one from California. There is a husband and wife team from the Dominican, and they speak English and Spanish. My director is from England, and speaks Spanish. There are many Mexican teachers, from Durango, and surrounding Mexican states. I could be wrong, but it seems like, gender-wise, the majority of the international teachers are guys, while the majority of the native teachers seems to be female. There are no other single-females who came here to teach, other than the one from California, but she has family in and around Durango, and spent time in Mexico, growing up.


Okay. That's all. Well, there's always more, but have to get home, run to the market and then grade papers for the rest of the night. With wine. On the roof.


Bye. Be happy.

   practicing happy faces. 

i win.

Tuna

Just use Best Foods real mayonnaise, they said. It'll taste the same, they said. It'll be fine, they said.

They lied. Although Best Foods and Hellmann's are owned by the same company, and touted as having the exact same recipe, there is a distinctive difference in taste. Best Foods is sour. The Mexican version, McCormick's aderezo de mayonesa is clearly Miracle Whip. Gag.

Now, I can find Hellmann's in Soriana and Walmart, but they add lime to it. Lime is in everything here. Guess who isn't a big fan of lime?

On the plus side, the tuna is fabulous, and I found sweet pickles. Two out of three ain't bad. And the Best Foods will do for now.

That's a wrap.

Whadda week. My apologies for the randomness of this blog post.

It's Friday night. AND GUESS WHAT? I have the internets at home now. The school took care of ordering it, and I'm splitting it with two of my neighbors. I don't even care that the people who hooked it up tracked crap all in the apartment and left sawdust all over the floor. (what were they sawing, anyway?) I'm so grateful to have it, I would have sawed with them, though.  I can actually update my blog on a more regular basis, rather than uploading several for the week on a Saturday afternoon. I'm thinking the blog posts will be fewer between when we get more settled and acclimated. Right now, this is my outlet. With the fancy, world wide web, we can now facetime whenever, Skype, watch netflix (my brother gave me his info)...etc etc. Looking forward to our first unlimited, face-to-face apartment chat. Preferably with no pants on.


Kidding, keep your pants on, weirdo.


It was a long week.

Last night, the gas went out. Couldn't speak Spanish to the gas company to get more propane. Caden caught a table mat on fire. Then, he poured salsa on everything in the fridge. Was out of soap, so couldn't really clean it up very well. I was already beyond irritated because of work, and took out my frustrations on that little guy. He took it like a champ though, and forgave me the next morning, when I apologized for being an ass.

But it's ending really, really well. Why, you ask? Well. I BOUGHT A PRINTER! AND CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH. AND CRACKED PEPPER TRISCUITS. (and the internet) Most excited about the printer. Now, I can work from home, and Caden wont be cooped up in my classroom for his entire childhood.  I will no longer have to get a signature and give instructions to someone else. I despise depending on other people to do stuff for me. The school, especially. I hate having to text my director, or call Pearl, or ask Lidu, for everything. The school got my gas refilled, my internet ordered, my phone fixed. I love that they are supporting me, but I want to be able to do it on my own. What if the gas went out on a holiday and nobody was around? I need Spanish classes. 90% of my frustration would be alleviated if I could just communicate better.

died, just died when I found these

git in mah belly

Also, today was Caden's first playdate. Got a phone call yesterday from Luis' mom. She wanted to know if Caden could come over for a playdate after school. I was all...ummm....no? Ok. Maybe? Ummm. No. ( received glares from fellow teachers who were listening) Fine. Sure. Who are you again?


In Mexico, it's very common for kids to go home with their besties on Friday. Eat, play, sometimes spend the night. I've never let Caden go over to anyone's house, save people who I knew very well. So this would have been a stretch for me, even in the U.S. (Why do I hear an ice-cream truck outside at 9 PM on a Friday night?)

He hasn't forgotten about his bff in Texas.
FaceTime with Adam.

Anyway, I said ok. Everyone encouraged me to let him go, let him have fun. They all knew the family and reassured me that it would be fine.  He wanted to go. Was super excited this morning to go to school. Around 7 tonight, Pearl took me to pick him up and he hadn't been kidnapped. I call that a success. Luis' mom was sweet, and kind, and saying all kinds of nice fake things about my kid, so I think I may have another new friend. A compliment on a kid's behaviour is compliment to the parenting skills, right?

This weekend, we actually have a few plans. We are going to the park with Pearl in the morning. Caden is going back over to his buddy's house tomorrow afternoon. (Possibly spending the night...what will I do?!?)  Supposed to go to a birthday party on Sunday, but forgot that I told my teacher-neighbor- friend, Lidu, that we would go to the movies with her, and she is supposed to take us to the best burrito place in Durango. Our little social calendar is full, for a brief moment.


We were supposed to move campuses today, but it got pushed back to next Friday. Fine by me. There is a bus that leaves this campus at 7:10 in the morning to take all the hs/ms teachers over to the new school, and I still don't know what I'm going to do with my child in the mornings. He is pretty much taken care of in the afternoons, til I get there (he will hang out with Pearl or Melissa until I figure out the after school programs, and get him enrolled)  But in the mornings, his teachers don't get there til 7:45 or so. I wish I could stay near him, and our house, especially when Sadie gets here, but I also don't want to teach the younger kids. I really like the group I have. We'll see what happens. I feel like everything will be fine.

I realize I should have typed, "Caden and me."
My apologies to my teacher friends.
And everyone else I harass
about their grammar.

My best friend, Cindy, emailed me yesterday and has decided to leave Dallas for Seattle in the next couple of months. And she is looking for a roommate. Crappy timing, but perhaps that is our next move? She can just get there first, and get lamps for all the rooms. (Still haven't outfitted the apartment with lamps. Some are in route and haven't arrived yet, I think.)

You've got to be creative when it's just a table for two.
Yes, we are standing on the coffee table. 

In addition to the world wide web, the school kindly gave us a mirror to take up space on the wall in the apartment. We collectively decided that this would be a good opportunity to take a family picture AND show off the new mirror.

Think that's it for this evening. Going to take a shower and call it a night. It's raining...again, so it should make for good sleeping weather. Thank you to everyone who has read and is keeping up with us. I appreciate all the emails and messages.

super excited about
the new river the city put in.

Night.

Back to real life

coffee on my own

Today was our first day of school without Jolene here. (Monday was a holiday) And.....believe it or not, we managed. Her company was the ultimate comfort, but she was in super-mom mode when she was here, too. Did the dishes, washed the clothes, mopped the floor, made dinner, made Caden's lunch, picked him up from school every day. Turned the gas on for showers, turned it off when we were done.  Lit the stove. Made coffee. It was magical. She did everything, basically. Best part for me, though, was someone to have glass of wine with, on the couch at night, and someone to drink coffee with, in the morning. It was nice. But...it's back to real life. And while that was definitely a treat, I'm used to being the one that does all that stuff, even lighting the oven and turning the gas up, so it's good to know that I can still play the role of mom while adjusting to this Mexican adventure. Caden had a fabulous day. Took cookies to school to share with his new best friend, Luis.  Ate just the cookies, and not the sandwich or anything else of substance from his lunchbox. The usual.

Cooked dinner for the first time. Stroganoff. Tasted just a little different, with ingredients made here. A little more tart, but it was good. 

happy and fat

wanna squish her

Also figured out that we are going to get Sadie at Christmas. Pee my pants excited about that. Cory is willingly bringing her to Dallas with him, and handing her off to us, and we are going to bring her over to Durango with us, from Houston. I have missed my dog to a slightly ridiculous degree. For me, anyway. I didn't realize what a big part of my life she was, until she wasn't there anymore. I even dream about her. I know, creepy, right.

In other news, I think it might never stop raining. Mexico was hit by a tropical storm on one side of the country, and a hurricane, on the other. 

We survived our first Mexican Independence Day. Barely.

oh, hey debris. what's up?

Viva MEXICO. Mexicans do NOT mess around with their Independence Day festivities. I live so close to the center of town, it was like they were partying in my living room. I videoed it because I was so blown away (LITERALLY) that mi mijo was sleeping through it. The walls were shaking, windows rattling, people cheering, screaming, and debris from the fireworks splattered our building. PIECES OF OUR BUILDING FELL OFF.



FELL OFF.


It all abruptly ended at about one in the morning. So sleep eventually came. Woke to another rainy day. The rains from the hurricanes are drowning my little city. Caden and I went on an adventure to find some eggs to make chocolate chip cookies. The market that is close to our house was out, so we wandered a bit, with our umbrellas, trying to stay decently dry. The drainage system here in Durango is....well. There isn't one. The water just rises.

I look good. GOOD.

 So as we were waiting to cross the street at one point, standing as far back as possible, the majority of drivers were very considerate and pulled away as they neared us, as not to splash us. One who was already in the far lane, well, he had a different idea. He actually swerved towards us and stepped on the gas so he could splash us, on purpose. Like you've seen on cartoons and movies. And everyone laughs. It's soooo funny. But it's not, really.

Anyway. Long story short. Pearl brought us eggs. Little dude and I made cookies. After I washed the mud, motor oil, and grime from my hair. Viva.

Fiesta Mexicana

Fiesta Mexicana! Pictures from last Friday:

my principal