Hola Mexico!
We're finally in Monterrey! We've had a busy week. We left our apartment in Taiwan on Sunday morning at 5:30am, traveled for 24 hours, and landed in Toronto. Luckily we gain a day, so it was Sunday at ~5pm when we landed. However, because of a thunderstorm, the baggage arrival was delayed. It took us almost another 2 hours to get our bags!
We spent two glorious days in Toronto, doing almost nothing except going out with Des on Monday and having Jimmy & Tracy treat us for supper on Tuesday. Ahh... I love vacations :).
On Wednesday morning, we left the house at 6:30am to fly to Mexico City, then to Monterrey. At the airport, Air Canada told us our suitcase was 15 pounds overweight. The lady gave us a box to put in the extra 15 pounds. It then takes us almost 12 hours to finally get out of the airport - without any luggage. They had "accidentally" left it behind in Mexico City.
We got our suitcase that night, but our box was still missing somewhere. They couldn't tell us where...
Anyway, we spent some time with Gualas and Laurie, and then we went to Red Dragon for... Chinese food :). Yes... we laughed hard at how Laurie took us to a Chinese restaurant after knowing that we'd been living in Taiwan recently! It was awesome - everyone was there: Addie, Katie, Amber, Heather, Jamilla, Corinne, Leigh, Mark, Laurie & Gualas. The whole gang was there (almost). The owner of the restaurant who we had become friends with last year was also there and cooked us an amazing meal.
This morning, we woke up bright and early, and went to school with Laurie. It was so strange being back as we felt like we had never left. We hung out, talked to former colleagues, had strange encounters with other "colleagues" who apparently still wanted to avoid us like the plague. We had a great morning listening to some crazy stories about the school and its administration. Remember my warning about for-profit organizations and education last year? I have never been more right!
Anyway, the stories will have to stay in my personal diary and I'll be glad to tell you them in person, but honestly, there are way too many ridiculous things that happen at this "school" for me to write down.
At 9:30am, 16 of my 26 students from last year show up at Laurie's classroom door!! I couldn't believe so many had come!!! Their parents went out of their ways to make me feel so special. Two girls had mad a poster of our year last year, a boy gave me a rose and the class gave me a handmade card. Then the parents surprised me with what they knew were my favourites - Margarita's Taquitos with lots of salsa verde. We played games and hung out until almost noon. What a blessing to know that these kids thought so highly of me. I love them and really do miss them. And boy, Mexicans sure know how to throw a party!
The other blessing was when one mother told me she thought I was here cause she thought I was coming back to teach. I told her I love Mexico and would consider living here again in the future. She then said, "You should teach Grade 5!" I said, "No, I like teaching math to older kids," to which she promptly responded, "Great! Don't worry, I will write an email to **** (basically the chief overlord of our campus who does NOT like me) and recommend that they hire you back."
I was so flattered and honoured. It's a shame that I wouldn't work for this school again unless big changes happen. I love these kids!
Tonight, we're going out for margaritas at Nueva Luna, and then we're heading off to Oaxaca tomorrow. Hopefully our Spanish will improve :).
I love Mexico.
We spent two glorious days in Toronto, doing almost nothing except going out with Des on Monday and having Jimmy & Tracy treat us for supper on Tuesday. Ahh... I love vacations :).
On Wednesday morning, we left the house at 6:30am to fly to Mexico City, then to Monterrey. At the airport, Air Canada told us our suitcase was 15 pounds overweight. The lady gave us a box to put in the extra 15 pounds. It then takes us almost 12 hours to finally get out of the airport - without any luggage. They had "accidentally" left it behind in Mexico City.
We got our suitcase that night, but our box was still missing somewhere. They couldn't tell us where...
Anyway, we spent some time with Gualas and Laurie, and then we went to Red Dragon for... Chinese food :). Yes... we laughed hard at how Laurie took us to a Chinese restaurant after knowing that we'd been living in Taiwan recently! It was awesome - everyone was there: Addie, Katie, Amber, Heather, Jamilla, Corinne, Leigh, Mark, Laurie & Gualas. The whole gang was there (almost). The owner of the restaurant who we had become friends with last year was also there and cooked us an amazing meal.
This morning, we woke up bright and early, and went to school with Laurie. It was so strange being back as we felt like we had never left. We hung out, talked to former colleagues, had strange encounters with other "colleagues" who apparently still wanted to avoid us like the plague. We had a great morning listening to some crazy stories about the school and its administration. Remember my warning about for-profit organizations and education last year? I have never been more right!
Anyway, the stories will have to stay in my personal diary and I'll be glad to tell you them in person, but honestly, there are way too many ridiculous things that happen at this "school" for me to write down.
At 9:30am, 16 of my 26 students from last year show up at Laurie's classroom door!! I couldn't believe so many had come!!! Their parents went out of their ways to make me feel so special. Two girls had mad a poster of our year last year, a boy gave me a rose and the class gave me a handmade card. Then the parents surprised me with what they knew were my favourites - Margarita's Taquitos with lots of salsa verde. We played games and hung out until almost noon. What a blessing to know that these kids thought so highly of me. I love them and really do miss them. And boy, Mexicans sure know how to throw a party!
The other blessing was when one mother told me she thought I was here cause she thought I was coming back to teach. I told her I love Mexico and would consider living here again in the future. She then said, "You should teach Grade 5!" I said, "No, I like teaching math to older kids," to which she promptly responded, "Great! Don't worry, I will write an email to **** (basically the chief overlord of our campus who does NOT like me) and recommend that they hire you back."
I was so flattered and honoured. It's a shame that I wouldn't work for this school again unless big changes happen. I love these kids!
Tonight, we're going out for margaritas at Nueva Luna, and then we're heading off to Oaxaca tomorrow. Hopefully our Spanish will improve :).
I love Mexico.
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment