Un Viaje

After almost two months, I finally get to do some traveling around Mexico. Tuesday night, me and my new North Carolinian friend will emark on a journey with a group that My mexican mother found in the newspaper. She did some investigating based on price, people, etc. and finally came to the conclusion that it was a really good deal. I was excited but didn't want to be the only foreigner; fortunately, I was able to convince the North Carolinian--her name is Jenny--to go with me which makes it even more exciting. She is a really good friend. She is also majoring in Spanish and wants to teach.
The reason for this particular trip is to observe the traditional Day of the Dead celebrations. I encourage everyone to read more about the holiday to learn more about it. When we think death, we think gloomy, sad, or even spooky. It is the exact opposite here. They celebrate it and remember the good that comes with the memories of their past loved ones. They build altars and do dances and stuff. In Michoacan, it is particularly celebrated, so that is where we are going. We meet the group at 6:30 on Tuesday night, leave at seven and should arrive in Michoacan Wednesday morning around 8. That's a long bus ride. I hope I can sleep! Tomorrow is a regular day of classes and such, but I will pass it highly anxious about the trip.

Diversión.

This is a late night for me to be up after eleven at night. As pathetic as it sounds, I am usually asleep by 9:30! 5:00 a.m. comes early every morning, especially when you're not on coffee. Well, it has been a while since my last update. I just haven't had anything major to discuss, frankly. I am managing tohold tings down here in Monterrey by making it to my classes, teach at the Language Center, do all of these crazy presentations for the Language Methodology class, and be as social as possible with the friends I've made from classes and my North Carolinian friend. Oh yea, I am also doing observations in a Mexican middle-school on Monday and Friday mornings. It is neat seeing them all dolled up in their uniforms ready to learn! It is middle school, however, so I am not in my element at all! The children are quite chatty and loud. The problem is perhaps not that they are chatty but they chat in Spanish, which is a no-no in a school that focuses on languages.

Lord...Sometimes I feel like all I ever do is complain on here, but I really am enjoying myself. Today was especially fun. Mary, one of the ladies of the house had a visitor Evys who used to be a student from Mexico who lives here. Now she is grown and is a dentist. Anyway, she was visiting and she brought her cousin who had never been outside of her rancho (farm community) in her life. I would say she is at least 16. We thought it would be a good idea to go walk El Paseo Santa Lucia which is a nice river-walk in Monterrey that was recently named one of the 13 Wonders of Mexico. There was a live Mariachi band playing, too, which made it that much better. For some reason, I get a kick out of these groups while I am down here! A few pictures should be below:

This is supposed to be a barrel dumping water in to the river (an architectural design) which the photo does not do it justice...

¡Enfermo!

I do love Mexico and I would definitely say that I am enjoying my time here. I have met some new friends with which I hope to remain in touch for quite sometime.
HOWEVER, today sucks! My alarm clock usually goes off at 5:00 a.m. so I can get to the Language Center on time for set-up and stuff for my class. This morning I woke up at 3:30 puking my guts out. It was quite a tragic situation. I assumed it would go away and went back to sleep only to wake up again at 4:30 with the same situation. Combined with a fever and inexplicable dizziness, I was quite worried at this point! I still got ready like always for my class. I leave the house at 6:00 a.m. after getting shower, shave, clothes, a little breakfast, etc. This morning I didn't eat breakfast because I felt horribly. When 6:00 finally rolled around, I decided I needed to call my one student and tell him that I simply could not make it. He was not terribly upset since he said he had to leave for Mexico City for a business trip this evening. After talking with him, I went to sleep and woke up at 8:00, and immediately began to puke again. Hortencia, my Mexican mother, was moving about outside my bedroom so I asked her if she had any medicine for an upset stomach. It was killing me! She said no and that she was sorry I didn't feel well and began to ask me what was wrong. She tells me she can always read how I feel by my face. My friends do tell me the same thing. I didn't know I was so transparent. ANYWAY, she demanded that I go to the doctor because it might be something caused by mosquitos. Well, after that news I was freaking! A mosquito disease in Mexico. It's called Dengue and sounds quite serious.
They did convince me to go to the doctor after they told me about this low-income medical clinic that their Catholic parish offers in the mornings. I went and Mary, the other lady of the house (age 52, I think) went with me. We waited for at least an hour in this little clinc. It was quite neat and a blessing for low-income Mexicans. I was about two seconds away from throwing up again before they finally called me back to see the doctor. It was not the typical doctor's visit. He was sitting at a desk and I was sitting in a chair as if I was meeting with a professor or something. He made me describe my eating habits, which prompted me to turn the floor over to Mary who does the cooking. She said nothing out of the ordinary, of course. She did remind him that I do eat "de la calle" on Sundays. I go out to eat on Sundays because that is the one day that no one cooks in the house. Since this was Thursday, I told him I doubted that the chicken joint I ate at on Sunday is causing me to be sick today. He concurred and made me lie down on the doctor table, which actually did resemble that of the clinics in the United States of America. He touched my belly in various places asking if it hurt. It only hurt when he pressed hard which he said was intestines. He said it confirmed that it was a genuine stomach virus. Thank God it wasn't the mosquito disease I had been warned about. For three days I can only drink liquids and eat liquid-based foods like soup and jello. Oh my God...three days! He gave me a prescription of three pills, which totaled 25 dollars. The doctor visit itself was only five but they sternly said I was welcome to make a donation of more than that to the clinic. I gave them ten. (100 pesos) because I didn't have much at the time. Mary and I went to the store to buy jello and juice and made it back home around 2. I slept from 3-8. I ate a little bit and now I am writing this and will probably go right back to sleep! I MUST go to class tomorrow though, because I cannot miss many more days of the Language Methodologies Class...

I am finally teaching...

The lady called me about my class situation. As fate would have it, three students failed their last class and do not get to move up to me. So I only have one student. ONE! I will take what I can get. She tells me that he is quite advanced and can converse on a high level on any given topic. Sounds like my kind of student. The down side is that our class is from 7:15-8:45 in the morning. "What time will I have to get up?, " you ask. 5:00 a.m. IN THE MORNING. Monday through Friday. It's another reminder of Mexico's lack of French Vanilla Coffee Creamer. I've just been doing without the coffee thing since I cannot make it taste like I want it to down here. But I miss is so severely.

Zach el Profesor...Confirmed!

I gave the lesson on the crazy passive voice (The lesson was given by me today). I feel like it went well. They did too. They gave me a class. They said they call me to tell me which class I have. Lord knows I want an advanced group. As a teacher, I have to take the classes they give me. I will enjoy it regardless of the group's capacity; however, I feel like the advanced groups give me more creativty and freedom concerning what I can do with them during classtime. For example, I cannot do much reading comprehension activities if they cannot say "My name is Paco." I will keep y'all informed on this situation dear readers!

Zach el Profesor...Hopefully!

When I first came to Mexico, I went to speak with a lady at El Centro de Idiomas Angloamericanos about teaching English. Fortunately, she sounded very interested and said she would definitely give me a call once she had an established schedule. Turns out, the classes had already started so there was no chance of my teaching one then. Liars answer to God...
Anyway, she did finally call me back and said that she finally had something for me. Before she can allow me to teach, however, she has to view me give a sample lesson. I wanted to remind her that I’ve been doing this kind of thing for three years, but I refrained like a good child and expressed my gratitude for the invitation. I was excited. Then, she called me back and said that my topic for the sample lesson was the passive voice. PUKE! In my archives, I don’t have anything on the stupid passive voice. Frankly, I don’t view it as essential to Latinos who want to speak English. Between now and Saturday I need to think of something very creative/ impressive to do. If all goes well, I will finally have my own class of eager Mexican who want a native speaker to teach them English. Cross your fingers!

El Estrés

When I return home from this trip, I will celebrate Christmas with friends and family. And then I will begin my Student Teaching Internship through UWG at a local high school. I am VERY excited about this as I simply cannot wait to start teaching. I got this email from the office of field experiences saying that a criminal background check form was due by November 1st or I would not be permitted to student teach. Lord have mercy. I was freakin out!! Thankfully, I called UWG in Carrollton on my cell phone in Mexico to explain the situation. She said it was OK and that I could just bring it when I arrive on that Monday December 17th, since they aren't open on Saturday, December 15th. What a relief. Student Teaching here I come!

¡Feliz Cumpleaños a mi!

Yesterday was Happy Birthday to me! How does one celebrate a birthday in another country? I would say…Quite nicely. I knew I would miss everyone back “home” on my birthday, but it ended up being a good day anyway.
First, I awoke to my Mexican mother singing the traditional Mexican birthday song “Las Mañanitas” and it was very sweet. (She is 69 and smokes…you can imagine her voice!J) Then everyone wished me a Happy Birthday in the house “Felicidades Wero” they all yelled as they saw me. Mary, the “other” Mexican mother even hugged me. She doesn’t seem the hugging type. Neither am I! But it was sweet nonetheless. I went to class like normal and then came back to eat lunch at 1:00, which is the biggest meal of the day in Mexico. To my delight, on my plate was a gigantic hamburger…I was thrilled! It had been over a month since I’d had a freakin’ hamburger and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mary said she fixed it because she knew I would love it since I come from the States. She was right. She also made a cake. It was a glorious concoction of the Tres Leches type she said it was “nut-flavored” but it tasted like a normal cake to me. However, cake of any kind is never a bad thing!
Topped off with the well-wishes and the “miss you’s” from Friends and Family from the United States of America via email of good ol’ Facebook, it was an excellent day that I will remember forever!!

¡Un Mes!

I have already been in Mexico a month (today)! It is unfathomable to think how fast time is going here! It is also hard to believe that it is already October! It's almost time to start singing Christmas tunes. More updates to come, I promise!

Wero Perdido

Today wasn't the best of days. Frankly, it reminded me I am foreign, which I wasn't thrilled about. For starters, I [thought I] had a test today in my Language Methodologies Class at 5:30. Like any other day, I leave at 4:30, a whole hour before class, to begin my long, Mexican trek to the university as a foreigner with no car. I get to the place where I catch the bus and for some reason wait for a good twenty minutes before I realize that my bus, either Route 97 or Route 95--whichever comes first--hadn't passed by. I start to panic as this has never happened before. I knew I had to get to the Highway named Cuauhutémoc from which I walk to the university. Well, since my bus wasn't coming (So I figured) another bus caught my attention, which had Cuauhutémoc written on the front of it meaning that was one of its stops. I, like a fool, quickly climbed aboard this new Route 83, which is clearly not 95 or 97, and expected to go to my street and arrive for my test on time. Lord was I wrong! We went on the very outskirts of town, the parts where the houses are plastic and such, and I was not a bit happy. We even passed this place called El Bosque Mágico which means "The Magic Forest." God only knows what could lie within this "magic forest." I finally gave up and got off that crazy bus that seemed to be going to Guatemala for all I knew. I got a taxi and then remembered I didn't have any cash--simply forgot to go to the ATM...crap happens (Another good title for this particular post)!! Anyway, the taxi driver agreed to stop at an ATM machine and let me get some money. I don't want to know what any other alternatives would have been!
Thanks to the kind taxi driver, I arrived to the university at 6:00--the test started at 5:30. Luckily, it turns out there was no test at all. The glorious teacher decided she should review us first. Thank God for reviews...

"Welcome" Tour

On Friday, the International Department at La Universidad Regiomontana treated us to a nice trip to El Museo del Desierto and Las Grutas de Garcia. The Museo del Desierto was nice but, to me, it was your typical museum with dinosaur replicas and such. The interesting part was the perspective from which the story was told. Everything in the museum was once a part of the desert area where the museum is located. I did think that was interesting. There was also a friendly gentleman making clay-hat figurines and neat stuff for free outside.

Here is the guy making clay things:

After the museum, we went to eat at a Buffet with typical Mexican food. Again, the food was great! The french students of course spoke entirely in French, a habit of which I am growing quite weary as I, of course, would like to hear mostly Spanish! Upon completion of our meal, we traveled to the Grutas de García. “Grutas” means caves and “García” is the town that they are in. The caves are enormous and were frankly awe-inspiring. I was very excited that we were going to tour a gigantic cave. Excitement of course turned to fear when I saw the cable-car that they nonchalantly informed me that my big-ol’ but would be riding to the Top of the Mountain! I don’t do heights people! I survived (conquered my fear!) with the rest of the group and we climbed the mountain in a Mexican cable-car. I was glad I did after seeing the view of the other mountains and the scenery. I was also grateful after pondering the alternative of a two-hour mountain climb! The temperature is really cool inside the caves which is a really good thing since there are over 700 steps inside to climb and descend.

Cable-Car:

The tour was heavy on formations that resembled various animals and plants (the Gorilla Head, the Camel, the Christmas Tree, etc.). YAY for caves!

Compañero de Cuarto

One of my requirements that I had for the International Director at La UR was that I had a roommate, preferably a Mexican one so I could practice my Spanish at any time I pleased. My request was granted as I have posted early. He is a doctor at a local hospital studying for a specialization in Labor Medicine. Despite being a "doctor," he is only 27. So our conversations are still comprehendible. I made it clear that that the field of medicine was definitely not my specialty, which he understood.
The downfall to all of this is that he told me today that he has to move out at the end of September because his family is in financial trouble. It's very sad to hear about the family crisis. I cannot help but to think that this revelation leaves me without a roommate with no one to talk to after I return from the university. I will manage...but will miss the roommate.

EL GRITO

So, about the grito....it was a special day, indeed. The entire city was dressed for festivity, full of greens, reds, and whites to show homage to Big Mexico. The big hour of El Grito comes at night, of course when the president (in our case, the governor because I wasn't in the D.F.) comes out and yells "VIVA MEXICO!" Sadly, when this hour came, it rained like HELL. It doesn't rain in Monterrey often, but when it does, it is intense! I am talking there were floods in some parts of the city. Anyway, long story short, I DID get to experience the energy of Mexico's independence day but the group decided not to go to the centro and partake in the screaming festivities because it was raining cats and dogs.

By the way, for breakfast this morning, these people tried to give me a tortilla shell with avacado in it. ONLY! I was thankful for the lovely box of "Oatmeal To-Go" Bars that are tucked away in my desk. YAY for Quaker!

Dia de Independencia

Here is a brief history of the significance of Mexico's independece, courtesy of <http://www.sanmiguelguide.com/tour-el-grito.htm>:

On September 16, 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y
Costilla, parish priest of the village of Dolores, gathered his congregation
of Indians and mestizos and called for Mexican independence, with the exile or arrest of all Spaniards (gachupines) in Mexico who had oppressed and exploited the native populations for hundreds of years. He ended his speech by calling out "Mexicanos, Viva Mexico!" (Mexicans, long live Mexico!) – which was doubly significant since the country was known as Nueva España (New Spain) at that time.
Though the criollos (Mexican-born people of Spanish heritage) had
already been plotting independence, this new movement was far more violent, and ultimately far more effective. From Dolores, the revolutionaries went to San Miguel de Allende, and from there to Mexico City, gathering more and more supporters. Along the way they acquired an banner with the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which became a rallying point. The Virgin of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico, and a woman of color, an important symbol of Mexico in its own right.
After a long and bloody struggle, Mexico's independence was finally recognized in 1821 by the Spanish viceroy, 11 years after Father Miguel
Hidalgo's fateful decision. Ever since, Mexico has celebrated the
anniversary of "El Grito" in the Zocalo of Mexico City on the night of the 15th of September. The President of the Republic of Mexico starts the ceremony by ringing the actual bell from Padre Hidalgo's church and repeating the words of Miguel Hidalgo's call for independence, culminating at midnight with fireworks and cries of "Viva Mexico". Miguel Hidalgo's speech is repeated from the balconies of every Presidencia (Mayor's Office) in the country as part of the traditional independence celebration that are part of the Fiestas Patrias.

EL WERO

Things are still going well for me down here. Classes are good, but intense! Each is going to require a lot of outside work. Studying I can deal with but not so much the papers and presentations…I will grow weary of those quite quickly. For example, for my Advanced Writing class, I have a composition due every class. For me, that is a bit excessive. The teacher is a very good, and we are doing a lot with grammar…Heaven!! Thankfully, the language situation is not as hard as I had imagined. I understand what the teacher is saying. But, I don’t always understand what the teacher is asking us to do, usually because I think it is far-fetched/foolish. The teacher in me is eating this experience up; the student in me is tired of crazy assignments.
I have made some nice friends in my classes, too. They are all very helpful. In one class, I am the only male and they clap when I speak…a bit excessive, although sometimes I enjoy the encouragement.
My Mexican family calls me WERO (Whitey!) That name makes me chuckle when I hear it.
Tomorrow is Mexican's Independence Day...El Dia del Grito. I am excited about that! I doubt I go to the Grito because it is at twelve MIDNIGHT. But I will get to see the celebrations and such. Very exciting!
I hope a new post comes soon,
WHITEY.

Lawh...

So, today I was awaken by my roommate jamming to "Dancing Queen" by ABBA. It has been quite some time since I've heard that song...Who would've thought that such a random song was so popular in the northern mountain region of Mexico?

Orientation

So yesterday was the orientation for the International students at the university. There are 31 of us. Stats: 22 come from France and only three from the United States of America, including myself. The rest are from various other parts of Europe and Asia. Everyone was extremely nice and I was impressed with the orientation overall.
More importantly, I got my schedule, which is intense! On Monday, I only have La Ensenanza-Aprendizaje de la Lengua at 5:30. On Tuesdays, I have Advanced Writing at 11:30 and then Taller de Programacion Didactica (a Teacher's Workshop) at 5:30. On Wednesdays, I have Mexican History and Culture at 3:00 and then the Lengua class at 5:30. On Thursdays, I have Advanced Writing at 11:30, Advanced Spanish Grammar for International Students at 3:00 and then the Teacher's Workshop at 5:30. Finally, on Friday, I only have the Lengua class at 5:30.
Obviously, Mondays and Fridays will be me days to observe in the schools once that starts. My only comment right now is that Thursdays are going to be awful!
After the orientation, they took us on a short bus tour of the city and pointed out a couple of the important landmarks in Monterrey. Then, they fed us a nice Mexican dinner. Everyone was so impressed, but I am fortunate enough to be eating that stuff everyday down here. Sometimes, I feel like all I ever do is eat down here!! Turns out, only a select few of the international students are living with host families. Others opted to live by themselves in an apartment. So far, I am glad I opted for the host-family. They are great!
During the Mexican dinner at the university, there were Mexican students there who were mingling with us internationals. Each international student has an "ambassador" that currently attends that university so they can show us the ins and outs when we have questions. Mine is quite nice...her name is Dennissee. Any way, the three US students, including me, went to Tec de Raza, a bar here in Monterrey and it was fun. Everyone reading this knows that bars aren't normally my thing, but it was great meeting new people and going out! It was a great day!

FRIDA!

I am huge fan of Frida Kahlo. The woman was quite different, and I suppose that is why I like her work and enjoy studying about her. Yesterday, I got to go to an exposition here in Monterrey and see her originals. It was like a Spanish teacher's paradise! It was definitely the highlight of my week!

Monterrey...I have landed!

I have arrived! Monterrey is HUGE! There is so much that I will have to explore. I am excited. My family is very nice. It is an older lady who never married. She is in her sixties, I believe. Her names is Hortensia and she lives with her brother. She also has a helper named Mary. My roommate is a [Mexican] doctor who is 27. He is studying/working at a hospital here in Monterrey for a specialist in Labor Medicine . His name is Rudy (Doctor Rodolfo) and he is very nice. He will be a valuable resource, since he knows the city and is willing to show me around! More to come later!

Details

I leave September 4th and return December 15th. I am very excited!