an trip to the meat market

It's pay day! Hooray! And Damien's hopefully arriving tonight! Horah!! And it's beautiful weather!! What more could I possibly ask for??

Please don't continue to read this blog entry if you get easily nautious... It is rather descriptive.

So this afternoon Sarah took me to the meat market. We walked through this huge open market (kind of like the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto) with vendors all around, except that at each vendor, there was a whole cow or 2 or 3 hanging up. We held our breath or breathed through our mouths and walked through the market, trying not to get blood on us, by brushing up against a cow. EWWWWW I nearly threw up. Then it got even more exciting! We went to the chicken lady, as Sarah calls her, and asked for meat. She already had a few chickens killed and plucked, which were sitting out (uncovered so there were a few flies that kept landing on it.) So she took one of them, cut it open, and dropped the remaining blood and I guess some of the inards, into a bucket she had on the floor. Then she began cutting it into a breast for me, and her husband did a really neat thing to make it more flat (and thus, easier to cook I guess.) Then, the husband began preparing to replace the chicken that she had slaughtered... He took a chicken out of the cage in their little shop, and stuck it upside down into this cone shaped metal thing. It was like a huge funnel. So the chicken's neck goes all the way through the funnel, and it's head sticks out the bottom. This whole time, the chicken is flapping and skwaking... And I'm just like, "oh my..." I couldn't look away though because it was such an experience... I know dad kills chickens at the farm, but I've never really had the desire to watch him. But, here I am, standing at the chicken counter, so of course, I have to watch... So the guy takes his huge knife, and cuts off the chickens head (which is the only part sticking out, and drops it into his bucket, and lets the chicken's blood drain into the bucket which is beneath the funnel, while the chicken flails and flaps about, until FINALLY (at least a full minute later) it stops moving. YIKES!! Talk about dramatic!

So yeah.. that was that. This afternoon while I was doing laundry on the roof, I heard a commotion coming from downstairs, and I thought to myself, "that sounds like an English commotion!!!" and being the only English-speaking tennents, I knew Jen (Lauren's best friend) must have arrived! So they came up to the roof and I finally got to meet the famous Jen. Lauren has told me all about her, so I kind of feel like she's not even a stranger. She told us that she took a taxi all the way from Guadalajara (which is about an hour and a half drive at least!) So now she's here, and all we have to do is wait for Damien.

I got a call from him last night saying, "guess where I am? Chicago..." So his plane was late and he missed his connection, and there were no more flights leaving to Guadaljara that night, so they put him up in the hotel airport, and gave him vouchers for the hotel restaurant for dinner and breakfast. So I guess that's not too bad. I just hope his flight allows him to catch a bus to Guadalajara tonight, because it's very hard waiting and waiting, and worrying!

Anyway, I am hungry and Sarah and I have a date on the roof with the sun! So, I will write again soon. Take care, y'all!
Hanah.

Week 4

I can't believe it! This is week four of our lessons, and I was here a few days before classes started, so that means I have been here for almost a month!!

One correction. In my last blog entry, I said that Jen and Lauren were replacing Adam and Sarah. I meant to write "Jen (Lauren's friend) and Damien are replacing Adam and Sarah's classes. They will both arrive on Wednesday afternoon, and then attend classes on Thursday and Friday to observe, and be assigned their classes, and most likely we will have to go through another orientation, because Cecilia is silly that way. It will be Lauren's 3rd orientation!!! And the funny thing is, she never really tells us anything important... You can find everything she says in the teacher's manual. Ahh well... She's the boss, so there's nothing we can do.

Friday night after work, we're all going to go out (including our school director, our Spanish teacher, and the other teacher who has one class a day) for a late dinner at a restuarant in Sahuayo. Then we'll come home and play cards, and have a "birthday party" for Adam, Sarah, Lauren and myself, because all of us have birthdays in April, and we want to celebrate before they leave on Saturday morning. I'm going to miss them sooooooo sooooooo much!! I've grown really close to both of them in such a short time. Sarah and I have had some really good rooftop talks, and Adam's sense of humour is perfect to keep me laughing constantly! We will definately keep in touch via e-mail, and since they live in Minnesota, and have been wanting to take a trip to Canada, I'm sure I'll see them again someday!

This past weekend was fairly uneventful. Friday night we were all very tired after a long week of work, so we ended up going to bed soon after getting home. Saturday night we went to check out a new club that opened up a couple of weeks ago. It was really lame, because there were hardly any people there (I think because there was a huge concert going on in Sahuayo, for this singer named Alejandra-something. They have been blaring short exerpts of 3 of her songs ALL DAY LONG since I've gotten here. Guys drive around with speakers on top of their cars, and play advertisments, and that was one of the more popular ones.) Anyway, we stayed there for a short time, and then headed to the disco (that's what they call clubs) closer to our house. Sarah and I danced for a bit, and then we sat down and watched the video screens for awhile, until we got tired and went home to bed. It's really funny, because they just play Much Music or MTV or one of those music video tv stations, but then they play different music, so you're watching Gwen Stefani dancing on the screen, but you're hearing a Spanish man singing... And then later, you'll hear a song by Gwen Stefani, but it won't be here on the tv! It's quite hilarious sometimes.

Sunday was pretty lazy. I did a bunch of laundry on the roof with Lauren, then she and I walked to the mall at the other end of town, had some Chinese food made and served by Spanish-speaking Chinese people. Very interesting! I wonder how they ended up in Sahuayo! I also stopped in at the grocery store to try and buy peanut butter, but couldn't find any!!! I'm so sad! There was a container of it here in the apartment from one of the previous teachers, but I do'nt know where they got it from! I may add it to my shopping list for Damien if I can catch him before he leaves!!

It's pretty cloudy out today for the first time in weeks! I don't think it's going to rain though, because there is still "enough blue to patch a sailor's pants." I find it amazing that farmers can actually make a go of it. I saw this farmer digging away in the soil last night in the blaring hot sun (it must have been about 35 degree celcius!!) and the soil is just like powder it's so dry!! There is pretty much no such thing as grass outside.. If there is, it's all dead and yellow. One of my students today explained to me that she does have a lawn at her house, but it's inside! Often people have a front room which is inside their walls, but is still kind of exposed to the elements, and I guess she has some grass there, but she has to water it every 3 days or so.

Just little differences that make things interesting.

Well, I suppose I will have a nap this afternoon, and then I have to make popcorn because we're doing a party unit in my Beeline 1 class (6-9 year olds) and I have to introduce popcorn in the vocabulary list, so I thought it would be a fun way to introduce it, if they get to actually eat some! I will also benefit from this lesson!! hehe..

Until next time!

Pictures!

Ok, let's try again!

Here is a better website for pictures:

www.hanahbananza.spaces.live.com

If that doesn't work, try the flickr one:

www.flickr.com/photos/hanah

One of those should work!

Enjoy! I'll post again early next week, so check back soon!

Exciting news!

Ok, hi!
Sorry it's been awhile! I've been busy having fun!!!

Let's start 2 weekends ago. Sarah, Adam, Lauren and I went on a 4 hour bus ride to Uruapan, to a National park. It was beautiful, and very jungle-like. I put some picture of it on my photo blog, so be sure to check those out. Lots of waterfalls, and HUGE trees and yummy food! We had some traditional food in the park, and wandered around taking tons of pictures. Definately a place I will have to go back to eventually, although I would have liked to spend more time. By the time we got there, and spent a couple of hours, we had to catch the last bus home so that we wouldn't be stuck in Uruapan, although next time I think I'd like to be stuck there! There was a hotel inside the park, so I may inquire as to prices and hopefully stay there next time, and make a full weekend out of it! On Sunday there was a huge festival for Jose-something. He is a religious figure in the community who warned the cititzens of a war coming, or something like that. Anyway, TONS of people paraded the streets carrying red and white balloons and a statue of him. Then they all gathered in the plaza, and in the streets surrounding the plaza in front of the religious figures of the Catholic Church, and they had a ceremony. It was really interesting, however I couldn't understand what they were saying, so I ended up leaving after awhile and eating some corn-off-the-cob with spicy stuff on it, and churas which are deep-fried yummy sugary things.

Then was school. Everything went pretty well, although it was definately starting to feel like work, being the second week. One of my adorable little 6 year old girls, Camila, came up to me at the end of class and said, "bye teacher" (that's what they all call us) and kissed me on the cheek. I almost MELTED right there and then!!! Soooo sweet!

Then came the weekend again. On Saturday, Sarah, Adam and I (Lauren was feeling somewhat under the weather, and just wanted to chill out at home and do lesson plans) went to another park which is only about 1.5 hours away. First we went to Zamora, and had a DELICIOUS lunch and then went to this HUGE cathedral. Then we got on another bus and went to the park. It's called Camecuado (pronounced camEquado) and it was wonderful! A little clear lake that winds along through huge old trees, and there were a few meriachi (sp?) bands and lots of family picnics, and people swimming. We wandered around, sat on trees, and just had a nice afternoon. I forgot to take my camera, so I will most certainly have to go back and take pictures next time! It's close enough that it can just be a nice day trip though, so I'm happy that I've found a nice weekend place.

And, the most exciting news of all! Remember when I said that Sarah and Adam have to go back to Minnesota because of family issues? Well... In their place will come Lauren's best friend Jen AND Damien! So I'm very excited!! Jen and Damien will take over Adam and Sarah's classes, and we'll all be able to travel around together on weekends. He arrives in a little over a week, so I'm getting very excited about seeing him again! It's going to be so nice to have someone here finally, as I have been quite homesick (dreaming of friends and family back home every night, etc.)

Alright, well I'm very hungry now, and I need to go have my lunch, and then maybe hit the roof for some delicious sun!!!

Take care,
Hanah.

First day of school

Well, I survived the first day of school! It was actually quite good!

First, no one turned up for my 8:00 class, so I went home. The administrator called me at home at about 9:00 to say 2 students who were supposed to be in my 8:00 had arrived. So now, we're meeting at 9, which is AWESOME for me!!! My 11:00 also didn't show. She will start coming tomorrow aparantly. So I've had a couple of nice relaxing mornings, which make up for a very hectic afternoon!!!

We get a few hours off in the afternoon for ciesta, which I spent laying on the roof of my building, and I now look kind of like a lobster... Hopefully it will turn into a tan, and then I won't burn anymore! Does it work like that? I'm not really sure... hopefully, because I love the sun!!! (Sunshine is my adopted middle name, afterall!)

When I got to the school at 4:00, my class had been changed without my knowledge, so me and another teacher were both assigned the same class. I just had 1 student at first, and then another joined. Tomorrow we will switch, so today I had to plan another whole week of lessons for my new class! They sound like a roudy bunch too!

After that, I had a group of 6-9 year olds (I think there were 9 of them) That was probably my hardest class of the day, just because they are so little, don't know very much English, and get bored very easily!! I had to confiscate a few pencils that they were rolling across the class. I can tell they will be my challenge for the semester, just trying to keep them entertained, while still covering all the course material.

The books are very structured which is a nice thing for the older students, because we work systematically through them, whereas it's harder for the younger students to pay attention for very long.

After that, I had a group of teenagers, which is also a bit tricky, because they are soooo shy! They are too embarrased to do anything in front of each other, so it's kind of like pulling teeth trying to get the to talk! But they are a smart bunch, so I'm sure we'll be fine.

I probably had another class, but I can't remember right now... I had a lot of fun, but I was exausted when I got home! I also had my first joint Spanish lesson with Lauryn (one of my roomates) which was pretty good. The teacher is very nice, and I can tell she will be patient with us. We're doing the beginner class, and Sarah and Adam are doing one level up from us.

We found out that Sarah and Adam will have to leave at the beginning of next month, due to family reasons, so the search is on for new teachers/new roomates!

I just wanted to quickly describe the walk to school, because it is quite nice! We leave our door and turn right, and walk down a narrow street (they all are) past a leather shoe store, which smells really good, and a few other shopkeepers sweeping off their front porches. The sidewalk was designed for Mexicans, so we all have to bend over to get under some of the storefront covers. It's pretty funny when we all walk to school, because it's like the Gringa/Gringo parade... That's what I call it, anyway... We then walk out to the main city's Plaza, which is a big park in the middle of the main roads. There are shoe polishers, and a stand where you can buy these roasted (lima?) beans that remind me a lot of edamame. There's also a guy with a bunch of helium baloons, and lots of old men sitting around in the shade, children walking to school, and usually some armed police officers who stand at one end (right outside the Scotiabank!! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a Scotiabank!) Then we turn down another narrow street, and walk past another bunch of stores, including... the 24 hours coffin shop!!!! That's right! Although I noticed yesterday that they do close for ciesta. But I guess if someone in your family dies in the middle of the night, they will come and get the body and put it in a coffin! Why it has to be open 24 hours, I'm not really sure... but anyway, I just thought that was kind of interesting. After another couple of blocks, we walk to the Culturlinga school, which is a building with an iron gate for a door. When you go in, there is Ana, the administrator, and then a lobby, which is open air, so when you're sitting on the benches, you can see the sun (or rain!) and hear birds. It's very nice! Then there are about 6 classrooms (some of us share a room, but it's divided by a wall. There are also a couple of washrooms.

So that's it! I'll post again soon.
Hanah.

no comprende!! Lo siento!

Hola!!

Well it seems my blog has changed into spanish for some reason... So I guess it's time to start learning! The title of my blog (no comprende, lo siento) is the phrase that I have been using the most since I've arrived in this lovely country. It means "I don't understand, I'm sorry" for those who don't know Spanish. It has been a real struggle with the language barrier, and I really recommend to anyone that you should definately try your best to learn the most of a language you can before going to a foreign country, because it is very embarrasing and frustrating!!! I spent the first night I arrived (after missing my connection in Texas, and having to wait around the George Bush airport for about 4 hours until I could get the next flight to Guadalajara, and arriving late, only to take a taxi ride that almost took my life) trying to get the phone to work to call my family and Damien to let them know I had arrived safe and sound, but couldn't communicate with the front desk staff enough to even get them to connect the phone call from my room phone. So after trying and trying, I finally gave up and fell into my bed, and cried myself to sleep.

The next morning, the new sunshine brought new hope. I left my room (without my 2 45 pound bags) to go buy a ticket on a bus to Sahuayo (the town where I have been re-located to for my English teaching position) I was able to communicate enough with the woman at the ticket counter, and she had me type my own name into her computer because Hanah McFarlane is not a common name down here!! Anyway, I got my ticket and went back to my room and relaxed for a few minutes before leaving myself plenty of time for confusion, before my bus left. Things went relatively smoothly, and we were on our way (on a 1st class bus, which served me a ham sandwich and a drink and cookies before we left and played a couple of ridiculous movies in Spanish about cavemen and women) The scenery was beautiful, reminding me often of Toledo, Spain, with the dry, somewhat barren landscapes. We drove by plenty of tequila farms, and lots of simple towns with all brick buildings, some with only 3 walls, and most, with only a simple tin roof. I arrived in Sahuayo, and waited for awhile to be picked up by the school coordinator with no success.

I ended up hopping in a cab, and showed him the address which I got in an e-mail from the superintenent of the school. It turns out the address was an old one, and I ended up getting quite the tour of the town!! We ended up stopping outside the English school (called Culturlinga) just as Ana, the school coordinator (pretty much like a principal) drove up on the back of her friend's motorcycle. It turns out there are 3 possible bus stations in the town, so we must have just missed each other. Anyway, she climbed into my cab, and told him the dircections in fluent Spanish. (She lived in the States for most of her life, so she also speaks fluent English, thank god!!! It was so nice to finally be able to communicate with someone, knowing that they fully understood me!) She took me to the teacher's apartment. We are on the 3rd floor of an apartment building really downtown, close to the main Plaza.

After introducing me to one of the other teachers who would be living with me, Lauryn, Ana took me out to grab a bite to eat, because I hadn't eaten anything except the cookies from the bus ride. She showed me the nearest pharmacy store which has almost everything you need, but at more expenstive prices, but it is only a couple minutes from my house.

Went home, and hung out with Lauryn. She showed me around the apartment, and let me settle into my room. It's a huge room with one side facing out to the main road, and even with closed windows I can easily hear everything that goes on outside. (and let me tell you, it's a bustling little city!!! Parades, cars with speakers blaring advertisments on top, a guy who must be at a very near intersection, blowing his whistle constantly, ALL DAY to direct traffic, and all sorts of other things!!!)

Late in the evening, Sarah and Adam arrived home. They are the other 2 roomates, and they are a lovely young couple. The 4 of us have been getting along great so far!

Friday we all walked to the school together, which is only a 5 minute walk away. We met with the coordinator of all 4 schools, Cecilia, (who was almost an hour late) and we had our orinetation, even though Sarah and Adam have already taught for a semester in Los Reyes, as well as a month here filling in from last semester, and Lauryn has also already been teaching here for a month. So they discussed some of the problems they faced from last semester, and we were all given our classroom assignments. I am going to be teaching 6 classes, which range from about 9 years old right up to adults (but broken into different ages/levels) Our day starts early (8am) and ends late (8:30pm) but there are lots of big breaks throughout the day. Everyone closes down and goes home for a ciesta (YES! Finally a country that is on the same page as me when it comes to naps!!)

Friday was a relaxing day. Lauryn took me to the market which is about a 1-2 minute walk from the apartment and has sooooo many cheap/fresh vegetables and fruit! I'm so happy!!! Friday night we all stayed in and played cards together. That was fun, and we all get along really well, which I am relieved about! Our apartment has 3 bathrooms and 4 rooms, so there is one spare one for when you all come to visit!!!

Saturday we hung around the apartment for awhile, and then Sarah took me to the huge grocery store which is only a $20 peso (or about $2) taxi ride. We would have walked,but right as we stepped out the apartment door, it started to pour rain!! So I stocked up on groceries, not straying too far from what I'm used to, at least not yet. I definately want to start doing some traditional Mexican cooking, and mom photocopied a section of her cookbook which is all Mexican recipies, but for right now it's easier just sticking to what I know while I get settled in, and while I'm still feeling rather homesick. Sat. night Adam, Lauryn and I went out to a dance club (or Disco, as they call it here) and had way more than our fair share of the local Sahuayo tequila. I spent the next day regretting it. That was the last time I drink that much. It's just not worth it!!!

Today I will finish doing my lesson plans. I've been working away at them, and I've only done 3. Luckily, 1 of my class repeats, so I only have to make 5 lesson plans a week, and they tell me it gets easier once I get used to it, and once I get to know the speed that my class can go.

Anyway, gotta go finish lesson planning! Ana just showed up with the last few books that I needed. I want to get that done and then maybe climb the big montain-like hill and go see the huge statue at the top (it's aparantly the 3rd largest after the one in Rio De Jenero, Brazil, and one other one in Mexico) Hopefully I'll have time for that! Otherwise, I'll wander around the streets for a bit.

Hope everyone's doing well!!!
Hanah.