The Revolutioninsts...
More of them...some of the girls had bably dolls on their back...
Another parade beauty...
Ana Valeria..my student--she is only 14!!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Rope tricks in yesterday's parade....
Waiting for the parade....
The transit police preparing to do their 5 man riding on a motory cycle trick sans helmets...
Only one of the many local beauties....
Our tourism students at the universidad technologico...with Kristen( back) and Cody (far left-hipster from NYC)... these girls tourism attractions themselves??
Mexico for O!My view on my walk to school..turn your head, please..
San Martin Iglesia..San Martin Iglesia Circus!
The blessing of the cabaleros......
November 21, 2008
Yesterday and today have been a day of parades in celebration of the Revolution of maybe 1910....lots of celebrations of revolutions here...because there have been many. These parades were mainly of school children and town services: transit police force doing acrobatics sans helmets on their motorcycles, the bomboderos (firemen) setting a fire in the street then putting it out, older school children doing drums and bugles, younger school children today dressed as Poncho Via, and others as various Mexican presidents with fake beards, kids carrying arts/crafts rifles, little girsl with babies on their back, children doing tumbling on mats in the street and running thru hula hoops...quite a scene. One that you can't tear yourself away from even though it gets repetitious....There was even a marathon yesterday with Kenyans running!
Our days are full ...leaving the house at 8:30 in the a.m and returning at 7:00 or so in the p.m. It is amazing that the days can be so full with 2 hrs. in Spanish class each day, often an hour with teaching a student English, a film in the biblioteca (yesterday, the History of Mexico, and day before a docu about Freida Kahlo), a little lunch, a parade, and lots of walking.....
Yesterday we spent a good while figuring out how to load photos in this blog.....now to try some more.
Tomorrow we are going to try out luck on the local bus to go to Quretero...about 45 min journey...
karen
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
November 19, 2008
I think the above is the correct date....I seldom look at a calendar here...kind of refreshing experience.
It has turned unseasonably cold in San Miguel...all the locals talk about ¨frio¨"...while it is very sunny and warm in the daytime...with the sunset the temp plumets..about 35 last night. We have gas logs in our house, but frequently the pilot goes out! So we lie on the floor turning the pilot dial and pushing the "encensor" (or something like that)...and if we are lucky after much failed effort we get a pilot light....then heat!
Scene of the day: a young guy in the bed of a pickup with truck with a lama..and he is selling chances for 10 pesos for some lucky person to become the owner of the lama! I didn´t buy a chance on it although the lama was quite pretty...I would be the unlucky one to win it!
Kristen and I continue to each meet a student in the library two times a week to have English conversation...My student, AnaValeria Luna Colunga is 14...looks about ll. Speaking English is very, very hard for her...but yesterday I got a Beverly Cleary book from the library shelf and asked her to read...she did really well!! It is the "ed" on the end of the word that proves hard...she wants to pronouce all the letters so will say "laugh..ed", etc. Spanish is easier in that you pronouce all the letters in a word...but I can totally sympathize with her. She would meet me every day if I could...eager to learn. We meet 2 afternoons a week. She does watch the Disney Channel and another Disney channel that is mainly about animals....you may know it..
Our other teaching experience is 2afternoons a week inthe Universidad Technologico where students are studying tourism and gastronomy...in other words studying to be waiters, work in hotels, be receptionists, chefs, etc. We take 2 buses to get there...about 30 minutes away and costs us 5 pesos each for each bus..... in total that is less than a US $1 each. The road to the school finally becomes a dirt road...and much to my surprise just before we arrive at the school I realized we were on a airplane runway!! I saw a small plane the first day we went but none yesterday!
So, yesterday, we role played with the students....Kristen and I were the difficult American clients in a restaurant..all in English. Really the waiters, cafe manager, and chef did quite well. We gave them a pretty hard time with sending back food, wanting to smoke in a non smoking area, questioning what was in the food, asking for the manager, finding problems with the bill...
When Kristen demanded to smoke the waiter told her how bad it was for her health and that she would die from it...maybe waiters in the US should try that approach!! The school is a government school and costs $20a month for the students. Students are l8 - 22 yrs. old.
The economy is slow here...so much impact from the US...usually the school we are in may have 50 students, but now there are about l0 of us. The director has had to let several teachers go. She has hopes for Dec. Jan, Feb as that is the high season, but also has doubts...well founded, I think.
On the other side of the coin, we have a maid in our apt. 3 days a week....cleans the house, washes our clothes, irons--even our underwear and will cook if we give her the $ to buy food. We invited company last week so Mary Anna cooked enchiladas, Mexican rice, made a salad and guacamole......Kristen and I had 4 meals out of this!!
We are meeting people who have traveled in Guatemala and are giving us good tips. They suggest we go to see the ruins at Copan, Honduras while we are there. (Ellen, since you have been there, what do you think?) This would be instead of the ruins of Tikal, Guatemala.
We will leave here Dec 1 for C. then on Dec 11 to Guatemala and to the US on Dec 22.
Since Ihave been in this internet cafe, it has grown dark outside and the temp is quickly going down so must go to lite the pilot and turn on the logs! Cost of internet cafe computer time is about 85cents an hour! Many internet cafes here.....
Until later.....karen
I think the above is the correct date....I seldom look at a calendar here...kind of refreshing experience.
It has turned unseasonably cold in San Miguel...all the locals talk about ¨frio¨"...while it is very sunny and warm in the daytime...with the sunset the temp plumets..about 35 last night. We have gas logs in our house, but frequently the pilot goes out! So we lie on the floor turning the pilot dial and pushing the "encensor" (or something like that)...and if we are lucky after much failed effort we get a pilot light....then heat!
Scene of the day: a young guy in the bed of a pickup with truck with a lama..and he is selling chances for 10 pesos for some lucky person to become the owner of the lama! I didn´t buy a chance on it although the lama was quite pretty...I would be the unlucky one to win it!
Kristen and I continue to each meet a student in the library two times a week to have English conversation...My student, AnaValeria Luna Colunga is 14...looks about ll. Speaking English is very, very hard for her...but yesterday I got a Beverly Cleary book from the library shelf and asked her to read...she did really well!! It is the "ed" on the end of the word that proves hard...she wants to pronouce all the letters so will say "laugh..ed", etc. Spanish is easier in that you pronouce all the letters in a word...but I can totally sympathize with her. She would meet me every day if I could...eager to learn. We meet 2 afternoons a week. She does watch the Disney Channel and another Disney channel that is mainly about animals....you may know it..
Our other teaching experience is 2afternoons a week inthe Universidad Technologico where students are studying tourism and gastronomy...in other words studying to be waiters, work in hotels, be receptionists, chefs, etc. We take 2 buses to get there...about 30 minutes away and costs us 5 pesos each for each bus..... in total that is less than a US $1 each. The road to the school finally becomes a dirt road...and much to my surprise just before we arrive at the school I realized we were on a airplane runway!! I saw a small plane the first day we went but none yesterday!
So, yesterday, we role played with the students....Kristen and I were the difficult American clients in a restaurant..all in English. Really the waiters, cafe manager, and chef did quite well. We gave them a pretty hard time with sending back food, wanting to smoke in a non smoking area, questioning what was in the food, asking for the manager, finding problems with the bill...
When Kristen demanded to smoke the waiter told her how bad it was for her health and that she would die from it...maybe waiters in the US should try that approach!! The school is a government school and costs $20a month for the students. Students are l8 - 22 yrs. old.
The economy is slow here...so much impact from the US...usually the school we are in may have 50 students, but now there are about l0 of us. The director has had to let several teachers go. She has hopes for Dec. Jan, Feb as that is the high season, but also has doubts...well founded, I think.
On the other side of the coin, we have a maid in our apt. 3 days a week....cleans the house, washes our clothes, irons--even our underwear and will cook if we give her the $ to buy food. We invited company last week so Mary Anna cooked enchiladas, Mexican rice, made a salad and guacamole......Kristen and I had 4 meals out of this!!
We are meeting people who have traveled in Guatemala and are giving us good tips. They suggest we go to see the ruins at Copan, Honduras while we are there. (Ellen, since you have been there, what do you think?) This would be instead of the ruins of Tikal, Guatemala.
We will leave here Dec 1 for C. then on Dec 11 to Guatemala and to the US on Dec 22.
Since Ihave been in this internet cafe, it has grown dark outside and the temp is quickly going down so must go to lite the pilot and turn on the logs! Cost of internet cafe computer time is about 85cents an hour! Many internet cafes here.....
Until later.....karen
Saturday, November 15, 2008
November 15, 2008
We think we have our tkts for the next leg of this journey, but will be uncetain until it happens??
That has been a real experience...
Have enjoyed this free day (Sat)...sunny, cool and clear here...this is another of those "celebrating another of the revolution weekends"..no fireworks yet, but sure they will come before the weekend is over...And there is an exhibition in the huge parking lot near our apt...the wool and brass exhibition.....lots of artisans there for the week with mainly wool things and music..but the music usually ends by 10 pm.....easy tohear from our apt.
We have not been very happy with our Spanish teacher, but have arranged for another to begin on Monday.....luckily the school is most agreeable place.
After much searching we finally found a Scrabble game in Spanish.....try that game in your spare time! I use the dictionary alot..just to look up words for ideas.....double "rr" is a real problem and words with"ñ"..
Think they are closing up shop here at the internet cafe....so more later...
karen
We think we have our tkts for the next leg of this journey, but will be uncetain until it happens??
That has been a real experience...
Have enjoyed this free day (Sat)...sunny, cool and clear here...this is another of those "celebrating another of the revolution weekends"..no fireworks yet, but sure they will come before the weekend is over...And there is an exhibition in the huge parking lot near our apt...the wool and brass exhibition.....lots of artisans there for the week with mainly wool things and music..but the music usually ends by 10 pm.....easy tohear from our apt.
We have not been very happy with our Spanish teacher, but have arranged for another to begin on Monday.....luckily the school is most agreeable place.
After much searching we finally found a Scrabble game in Spanish.....try that game in your spare time! I use the dictionary alot..just to look up words for ideas.....double "rr" is a real problem and words with"ñ"..
Think they are closing up shop here at the internet cafe....so more later...
karen
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