In touch with my inner child

A couple weekends ago, Jenn (4th grade teacher) and I were bored and decided to go to the Botanical Gardens in Tutxla, and much to our surprise, they were the grounds for a kids' park with rides, games, and junk food! Quite enjoyable, although the "teacups" felt like toying with death. I will go back and take pictures. There is also a dinky train, mini quads on a track, and standards like putt putt and bumper cars.
There was also face painting, which Jenn and I hastily took part in, knowing that we were going to the movies with Carrie (H.S. Language Arts) in an hour and would have to take a combi and walk through the mall with animals on our faces...
Here's my bunny after I ditched the ears! Jenn should send me her picture of her butterfly face, when I remember to ask.

Halloween and Day of the Dead

Since I work at an American school in Mexico, we celebrated Halloween (Oct. 31) and Day of the Dead (Nov. 2) on November first with a half-day of school and altares de los muertos, which are food and flower, etc. offerings to deceased loved ones, as well as candy skull heads with names of living people on them, with a purpose that I fail to remember...
Anyhow, here I offer some pictures of my first grade lovelies, the altares, and Mr. Glenn has sent me pictures from booths at the market selling goods for Day of the Dead.
I think it would be great if we North Americans had a day to celebrate loved ones that we've lost, so that it doesn't always have to be so sad.
Pictures include: The two cutest witches and Harry Potter!! Till of course I have my own witch or Harry Potter, who I will invariably think is the cutest; Group 1B decked out for Halloween (my little buddy in the left corner looks as psyched for Halloween as he usually does for school), a few Group 1A kids in the corridor, and altar pictures.

Puerto Arista

Last weekend (November 18-20) I was supposed to go to Huatulco, but Friday night I got some major intestinal bug or something and was to sick to get on the bus! So Sunday, once I'd pulled it together, I went with Jenn, the fourth grade teacher, to Puerto Arista, our nearest beach. Basically anywhere out of Tuxtla is relaxing, but watching waves crash while sitting under a palapa is beyond soothing.
On Sunday, a girl was walking down the beach offering hair braiding, so I said, "Why not?" and got the top of my head braided.
Also, the waiter at our restaurant on the beach got us in touch with the keeper of the lighthouse, and we got to go up to see the view...at night...well, the idea was nice. Upon seeing this menu, I said, "Wow, the food here is cheap!" because I thought that most of the menu items were 11 pesos...turns out this was a blonde moment, as the "elevens" were ditto marks for the dollar/peso signs. Oops.

Guatemala

Talk about relaaaaaaaaaaaaxing!! The weekend of November 2-4 (which was a 4.5 day weekend for me because of Day of the Dead), Danna, Carrie, and I went to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. On the first, we headed up to San Cristobal (I say up, meaning altitude-wise, as I have no idea where it is in the north-south-east-west sense) to stay overnight. We had a lovely meal at Normita's, which I mislabeled as Lupita's on my facebook because they both end in -ita, and I work with a Normita AND a Lupita. Anyhow, at dinner there were two obnoxious, old, (probably) American men talking ...obnoxiously and getting feisty about the fact that one of them had ordered "wrong". One of the men ordered guacamole and food, and the other (I'm pretty sure they were both intoxicated?) started ranting about how his friend had ordered "wrong", and that the waiter would serve his guacamole at the same time at the food... so he proceeded to call the waiter over, and in decent spanish with a HORRIBLE cowboy accent, told the waiter to cancel the food and just bring the guac. Then he told his friend they'd order later, so that they could enjoy their guacamole, and then went on about cultural ignorance... I wanted to turn and say, HELLO, YOU'RE the ones in another country expecting them to serve you like you're in yours!! Idiots! They also proceeded to say that Mexicans are too poor to have wine, and then talked more about rudeness and cultural ignorance, and I was trying not to die laughing at their ignorance, or say something "passionate". (FYI, there is plenty of wine here, and I know plenty of wealthy Mexicans- hell, I teach their children- just in case I need to dispell any stereotypes for y'all.)
Anyway, the next morning we were picked up at 8am to ride in a van/minibus to the Guatemalan border, and then walk over the border, and then get into another van/minibus for the rest of the way to Panajachel. We didn't know of this transfer before it occured, by the way. Upon arrival, we were taken to a viewpoint/lookout of the lake and its surrounding volcanoes...gorgeous! There were four local kids that were freaking out to be in our photos because they wanted to see them on the LCD screens, which resulted in lots of giggling.
Our accommodations were modest but cheap, at about $6 USD a night per person, and we each had our own bed! Ah, luxury. We only had hot water half of the time, but I'm kind of used to that at this point, after having gone three months without knowing how to light the pilot light on my water heater.
Bargaining fever hit me hard in Panajachel, since the Quetzal was stronger than the Peso, and just because sometimes the 'tude has to have an out. So I was the unofficial market/store worker, getting deals for me and for my friends. I actually got a guy to sell me a poncho/sweater thing for 10 quetzales less than Carrie, and he said, "Please don't tell your friend you got it for less." I found myself whispering things like, "Tell him 2 for 50" and "If he says no, we walk; don't worry, he'll call us back and give us our deal!" It was exciting. I'm still kind of miffed at the water bottle holder guy for not coming down where I wanted him. [Above: I was NOT about to dine with that spider.]
We only had a few days in Panajachel, which was entirely too short a time to enjoy the quiet natural haven that this town is. We also visited San Pedro, a town across the lake, where I'm pretty sure people hide out and use illegal substances... the ambience was incredibly laid back, and there wasn't much to do except hike the volcano (which I will do for sure next time, since I will bring the right shoes!), horseback ride, eat, and be lazy. We found a restaurant on the lake where I could have fallen asleep.
I think this spring I might travel out to the Yucatan and down through Belize and back to Guatemala, possibly on the start of a road trip down through Central America to go to Colombia, so there might be more Guatemala to come!
Also, I have posted pictures to Snapfish. Here's the link:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=139297659/a=54499013_54499013/t_=54499013

Ways to Know You're Living in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico

1. There are three temperatures: hot, hotter, and not quite as hot.
2. You put lime (limon) on everything.
3. If you hear a pouring sign and "Agua" annoucement over a loudspeaker every morning, and I know this is the man selling 20 Liter "garrafons" of water.
4. There are actually an even number of men and women in dance classes.
5. You get stared at, blatantly, on a daily basis, just for being foreign.
6. You wear SPF but somehow are still tan.
7. If someone says one hour, count on two. If they say 10 days, count on three weeks. And so on...
8. You don't get American Idol; you get Latin American Idol.
9. A full meal in a restaurant costs about $4-5 USD, on average, but somehow a plastic organizer shelf stack costs $50 US!!
10. You go to a restaurant and people are staring at the birds outside for sale, but they forgot about the birds when the see a herd of gringos walk in.
And, you can buy freshly made, hot tortillas for about 25 cents a pound.

Homage to Colectivos (if one can pay homage to an inanimate object)

I was chatting with Danna, the Kinder 2 teacher, while in Guatemala (post coming soon, if it's not already up), and realized that my most common means of transportation is well worth its own blog entry.
I know I've mentioned the vans, called colectivos (or combis for short), that careen down the avenues here, but I don't think I've really painted the full picture.
First, I leave my house at 7am in a zombie like state from which I don't really emerge until about ... 10 am. Don't ask how I teach from 8 until the cloud lifts mid-morning. I'm not sure if I myself know. So, I leave my house (not in the dark anymore since we set the clocks back!) and walk about 6 or 7 minutes to the Avenida Central, to just in front of the Pizza Hut, where I wait for my colectivo. At first, I could only take the Route 1 van, but now I know that the 53 and a few others also pass by my school. One cannot board just any van of death, because the routes are not clear and if you don't know the route, chances are it involves veering away from the avenida at some point, meaning you have to frantically get the driver to stop, let you off, and then you have to go looking for another van that can get you where you need to be. Anyway, before the clocks were set back, it was extremely hard to see the small Route numbers on the colectivos, leading to last minute flagging down and many missed vans.
Once a combi is properly flagged down, it is time for the buttcheek crunch. These vans can hold up to 16 passengers, including the front seat that holds two, and a novice might wonder how this is possible. A seasoned rider can tell you that only Megan and Anj could fit more buttcheeks on these benches! There is a bench behind the driver that comfortably seats 3 but often seats 4... one down the side that comfortably sits 4 but often holds 5-6, and one down the door side that seats 3 well and 4-5 not so well. For some reason the combis are always, always crowded at 7am, often to the point of blazing by my waving arm, and when I finally get one to stop, I have to wiggle my derriere in between reluctant to move riders. Then come the stares. I've been here for over three months now, but I still find it weird to be conspicuously stared at in public. When packed more than a dozen into a converted van well before I am fully awake, I like the gawking even less. There are few foreigners in Tuxtla (I think I might know them all), and those that are here are made to feel like a spectacle.
Next, it's time to pay. It costs 4 pesos (about 40 cents) to ride the combi to work (or anywhere on the route, for that matter), and unless you're sitting in the front or right behind the driver, paying requires passing your 4 pesos, or a bigger coin or bill, down the row, and mumbling something like "Por favor" or "Le molesta" (Can I trouble you?). Then, back comes the change. If you pay with more than fare for one, you are usually asked by several riders and/or the driver, "Cobra de uno o de dos?" (Basically, is that for one or for two?)
Now, the drivers of the colectivos have a death wish, as I have stated before, and in addition to this, they multitask better than even Boston drivers. They take money and make change while steering crazily and shifting gears and opening the door and sometimes changing the radio. It's no wonder all of the combis have bars installed overhead. I recommend holding on. Even while holding on, one morning I pulled some sort of gymnastic move as my feet and hands stayed planted but my torso went flying off the seat. I have yet, though, to fall completely.
Near these bars is usually a cord, or a button, connected to a buzzer. This is used to request a stop. It was hard at first even to determine where the stops are. Just ring and hope for the best. Even scarier was the first time I looked up and realized, there's no buzzer!!! This means that you have to open your freak show mouth and say, "En la parada, por favor" or "La siguente parada, por favor" (Next stop, please), and be stared at even more. The creature speaks!
That's my morning commute in a nutshell. The parents of older students at school don't let their kids ride in these. Would any of them like to drive me to school so I could have a pleasant ride in, too?

October Spanish palabra du jour

10-31 aceitunas (olives)
10-30 crecer (to grow/grow up)
10-29 al azar (random/ "au hasard")
10-28 aislado (isolated)
10-27 tela (fabric)
10-26 huella de pulgar (thumbprint)
10-25 palomitas (popcorn, or check marks!)
10-24 bombeos solares (solar panels)
10-23 dulcera (sweetness)
10-22 hacer trampa (to cheat, in a game)
10-21 calavera (skull/halloween skeleton dude)
10-20 panuelos (tissues)
10-19 la selva (the jungle...near where I live!)
10-18 amarrar (to tie [e.g. shoes]
10-17 pegamento (glue)
10-16 amargar (to ruin)
10-15 lanchas (like boats)
10-14 hojear (to leaf through)
10-13 apurrate! hurry up!
10-12 el gabacho (slang for the U.S.) also, gringolandia
10-11 comida chetarra (junk food)
10-10 bruja (witch)
10-9 Escondidas (hide and seek)
10-8 arana (spider)
10-7 dispedida de soltero/a (bachelor/bachelorette party); salvavidas: lifeguard
10-6 alambre de puas (barbed wire), nacos (rednecks)
10-5 tapa (lid)10-4 sarro (tartar on teeth, or scum/buildup in bathrooms)
10-3 hipo (hiccups)
10-2 lima (file, like for nails)
10-1 entronque (intersection)