Weekend Hijinx

Well, this weekend I am hopefully off to the beach to get some fresh air...but not too much sun, because I will be sensibly putting on the sunscreen. On the topic of weekends, I forgot to mention two of the most important things that happened last weekend. One would be that I got to experience my first earthquake ever and the second...equally as exciting as the first-if not more so-would be the discovery that MEXICO HAS CLAMATO!!!!

I had just finished watching some CSI at around 1 am Saturday night when I decided to get some sleep. As I lay awake thinking about what I had to do this week, my bed started to shake. Now, my first thought was that someone in the next room had fallen out of bed because the couple I live with have a mentally challenged daughter who doesn't have movement of her legs. However, when the shaking persisted for an extra few seconds and then suddenly stopped...I knew it was something different. It only lasted a minute and wasn't anything big enough to topple any houses...but it was freaky...that's for sure.

Then of course, there is the discovery of Clamato in the Bodega Aurera which is the name for the Wal-Mart. I felt like it was Christmas! After living in Korea for two long years when I would have to get my Clam and Tomato fix on base, I realized that Mexico could possible be a sensible place to live forever... then I remembered the scorpions and tarantulas and quickly changed my mind.

You Thought Korea Was Random!

Before I begin, I would like to give a shout out to my peeps in the 'Dang, both past and present, and of course to my fellow Peggers round the world (luckily for Jamie and Lisa...you get to be in both categories).

Now, a quick show of hands... how many people have had to cross a couple of sets of train tracks on their walk to work?

Now, who has ever needed to be on the other side of those tracks when a train is fast approaching?

Last question...who has ever had the employee standing next to you radio the engineer and had the extra long train stopped so that you can climb a ladder on one of the cars, walk on the platform and down the other side of the train car?

That was my day last week as I got to was on my way to work. Being a veteran of the most random countries...aka Korea, I just made a mental note to blog about it in the future and e-mailed the details to my parents. I thought that it was just one of those unusually random things that happen to regular people...but to my surprise...Mexico had more to offer me!

This country gets better by the second...now, keeping in mind that I live in a smaller town, when the have fiesta's, or velas as they are called here, there will be horses as part of the parade. You will also see them practicing for the parade as you go for lunch the same day of the parade, or parked outside of the bank? Yep, the lone ranger needed the ATM!

Or what about the view we had from my friend Jessie and Eliot's window when the pigs from down the way decided to cross the road?

Then today, I had a salesman of some sort come to my office and when I told my supervisor via messenger, she asked that I put him on...so there they were, two chatty Cathys...just talking away. If this is how life here is going to be like...it will certainly never be boring!

Once Upon a Time in Mexico...

Number of Weeks in: 2
Number of Freak Outs: Around 5
Number of Scorpions Seen: 0 (and it had better stay that way)
Total Tarantulas Seen: 1 and it was dead...luckily
Days until Christmas Vacation: Too many to count!

You might ask yourself what I have been doing for the past two weeks that might make me freak out...especially since I only started teaching yesterday. Well, dear friends, I would have to say that all this planning for students I have never met would be a good start...that and the ongoing fear of encountering a scorpion.

It has been a little harder for me to adapt here because I feel so much more isolated due to my own lack of Spanish. It has of course improved greatly since my first day of arrival, but I am far from fluent. One thing that helps me is living with the Mexican family I am currently boarding with. I don't have too many other options of communicating to them through Spanish.

Lately, though, I have found that I have kind of hit a plateau, and I am not trying as hard to learn it...possibly because I am so wiped when I get home from teaching...all that thinking tends to do a girl in. I just hope that this is only a temporary situation...because it could make for a long six months if the only Spanish I have to go on is the present tenses of eat, sleep, and have!

The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

I figured that since I am now officially always close to a computer with internet, why not start up a blog? I think the question is more, why haven't I done it sooner...and I would have to answer...laziness.
In truth, I felt that my daily observations and interesting thoughts about life abroad were not being given the attention they deserved because they rarely made it into my not-too-frequent mass e-mails. Here I hope that I will inspire you to travel...or vent as I confide to you the things that are going on in my life...and my head...next lunch break:)