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.