Just a little....Cheesy side note!!

So...just like the title states, this is just a little cheesy sidenote. In Spanish, cursi means cheesy. It's a funny word! ha.

Today, Yuyo and I celebrated 3 YEARS of being together!! It's crazy how fast time flies. I must have said that a million times in this blog. But seriously, I feel like the past 3 years have flown by. Most of our relationship, we've been apart, but it was really good. I really liked being in a long distance relationship because I really got to know Yuyo. Because all we could do was talk on the phone and on the internet, I feel like I know him in a different way than most people know their significant other. He is really my best friend and someone that I feel like I can tell anything to and share anything with without fear. We went to Chili's (fine dining, right?!-actually we went there because they have TVs so he could watch the 49ers game...) and then went to see a movie. It was a great night. This is our first "anniversary" (I hate that word...haha) of actually being together, so it was a great, chill night.

Here's to you, Juan Manuel Pablo Zorrilla Lechuga...you've made my life and my family's lives so much more fun and interesting! I love you!

Ok...done being cheesy. And I will post about Independence Day soon...but not right now. Off to bed for me.

Our first pic together in 2007!!

One of my favorite pics of all time (courtesy of Megan).

2008 in Veracruz

haha. 2009 in Guanajuato

Mexico vs. USA game 2009

Independence Day 2010

Mexico City 2010

Early Fridays...the best thing ever

DISCLAIMER: Half of this post was written on Tuesday afternoon and half this morning. That's why I say that today (Tuesday) is my Friday...so sad it's already over...

Just to let everyone know...I am actually in computer class with my kids right now. We have a weird computer time where we have to go to computer with them, so I check gmail and update my blog...so weird. Anyways...

I have made it through another week!! I say that because...today is my Friday!

Little known fact: Mexican Independence Day is not actually 5 de Mayo. For all of you who didn´t know that...now you know! El día de la independencia is celebrated all through the night of September 15th and into the morning of the 16th. Into the morning=literally ALL morning. It will be a party to remember because this year Mexico is celebrating it´s 200th year of Independence. I remember saying like 2 years ago in 2008, Yuyo...if I move to Mexico when I graduate, I will be here for the 200th Independence celebration...and now it´s here...it´s so weird how fast time flies.

Another little known fact: one of my faves, Robert (his name is Roberto, but he wants me to call him Robert) informed me that the BEGINNING of the independence was in 1810, and Mexico actually gained independence from Spain in 1821...so in 11 years, I´m sure Mexico will have another huge party. It´s also super weird to think my kiddies will be in their 2nd year of college in 11 years...I don´t like to think about that! haha.

Every week at school, we have something called a Saludo on Monday. It´s basically like a really formal pledge to the flag where 6 students march the flag around the blacktop and all of us are standing in 2 lines (boys and girls), one behind the other, saluting the flag and being really quiet...or at least me threatening all the bad boys so they´ll be quiet...it´s really cool though. We sing the national anthem and get announcements, it lasts about 20 minutes. Anyways, we didn´t have that this week because today we had a general ceremony where all the kids from the primary, secondary, and prepa came here for a grand flag ceremony. Pictures will definitely follow. Needless to say...this morning was a big celebration with the grito "¡Viva México!", men riding horses in Mariachi uniforms, Mariachis, typical dancing...basically Mexican overload, but in the best way ever. I loved it. Besides the fact that everything was very disorganized and I had no clue what to do...it was great. But...that was expected honestly. I´ve learned that I just have to go with the flow here, because most of the time, I don´t know what I´m doing, and a lot of either people don´t either. My kids are pretty good with it though. I´ll give them credit.

Charros (Mexican cowboys) performed the Saludo

One of my classes.
On Tuesday, they could come dressed in typical
Mexican clothes, or as a Independence hero, apparently...

Robert as a Charro and Claudio as a Mariachi

My sweet girls and Robert

hahahahaha.

Small Mariachi singer.
Apparently he goes to the school and has some CDs.
I asked the kids about him and they were like...
"His voice is not good..." haha. It wasn't.

Um...yeah. haha.

Yuyo says I look like one of them.

The Grito happens every year at midnight on the 15th. It's when the president says all of these different things like "Viva Hidalgo. Viva Allende. Viva la revolución. Viva la independencia. Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe...[and finally] Viva Mexico. Viva Mexico. Viva Mexico." But after every "Viva whatever", the crowd shouts "VIVA!" So, the superintendent said all of the vivas, and the kids shouted back. It was awesome. (I'm trying to add the video of it, but it won't let me...I'll try again later.)

I seriously got like 5 presents yesterday, a chocolate sucker, a small hand woven purse, red/white/green beaded earrings to wear today, a Mexico slap bracelet, drawings, the list is just neverending. Haha. They really do love me. It´s kinda weird. But it´s good I guess. Some of them really are cute and always do what they´re supposed to...others...not so much. Because this week was a holiday week too, they were insane today and yesterday. 

Last week, I survived my first field trip. We were supposed to be at the museum at like 10 am, and of course we didn't even leave the school until about 9:50 (and the parents that were supposed to go with me, weren't even there yet...). So we leave 20 minutes late only to arrive to the museum  only to wait in the courtyard area for an hour and a half. Luckily the museum was a fort that was completely walled in, so the kids literally ran around the whole time. Finally it was time to go in the museum...it was boring. haha. The parents that were supposed to come had already been there for like 30 minutes when we got there because the security guards at the school mistakingly told them to follow the other class's bus that left 30 minutes before us...I felt bad, but I'm glad they were there. Overall, it really wasn't that bad, just very unorganized, and at this school, that is to be expected. 

Pretty much sums up my class

The bus ride...

...Ohhhh the bus ride...

Last weekend, Yuyo and I went to Mexico City (also known as DF or simply Mexico to the Mexicans) partly because he had a football game on Sunday there and partly because I wanted to go to this huge market they have on the weekends there. His sister, Pilar, lives in a neighborhood of DF called Chapultepec. It's SUCH a cool part of town. If I lived in that huge city, that is where I'd want to live. It has a real artsy vibe...it's actually a lot like Little 5 Points, except a lot bigger and a lot more unique. There are all kinds of people living there and the markets and restaurants are great. There are small, independently owned coffee shops and cute little restaurants and book stores. I love it. We also went with Yuyo's cousin Gabriel and his soon-to-be wife in like a week because she had to go pick up her wedding dress in the center of town. Oh. My. Goodness. The centro was seriously insane. It wasn't even time for the Independence Day celebration (in which 1 million people were expected to attend) and there were thousands of people...I am NOT exaggerating...walking on the sidewalks, in the streets of these tiny, one-way roads around the zocalo. SIDE NOTE: For those of you who don't know, pretty much every Mexican town has a zocalo. It's basically like the town square. It's a big open square, usually with lots of greenery and benches and restaurants and cafes lining the outside. It seriously took us an hour to go around the block. AN HOUR. It should have taken 5 minutes, tops...and to make matters even worse, I was hungry. Haha. We alllll know how I get when I'm hungry...But on Saturday, we went to the market...I bought a purse and some sunglasses...and on Sunday, which happened to be Pilar's birthday, we went to watch Yuyo play football (she's such a good sister watching her bro play football, after a night out, on her birthday...). Of course, he was the star of the game. 3 TDs, 1 interception, 2 extra points, and the list goes on. haha. No...but seriously, he played really well...I even have a jersey with his number on it!! He loves it.

Numero 84!!

TD!

Yuyo and Pily

I love the guys on the right side of the picture.
This is Palacio de Bellas Artes in DF.
It's where all the fine arts go down.

This is Pily's new dog, Luna.
She cried. All night. So did I.

Yuyo's head after his game.
This can't be good for the brain cells...

This was me at 7 am after Luna cried
all night and I slept for 2 hours...

Oh you know...just a car with a killer stache...

And finally, this awesome dog I see sometimes
walking around the neighborhood.
His eyes and face are amazing.

I still need to write about going to Mexico City for the Independence celebration. It was unbelievable. I want to post tons of videos and pictures, but I don't think it will be possible to post everything I want to post, so some of them will have to wait until Christmas...bummer.

Thanks for reading, and sorry it's been so long. Tar has been bugging me about not posting enough. I really am going to try to be better about posting!! Thanks for all of your continued prayers and support. It really does help. I'm completely sure of that! Besos! <3 

Finally...Another Weekend!!!

This is the view on the walk to school.
Did I mention Puebla is beautiful?!

So this week was full of ups and downs...just like last week. The mornings are continuously better than the afternoons because we have specials (art, music, PE, etc.) in the morning and NO BREAKS in the afternoon.

On Tuesday, I was so excited because my morning class and my afternoon class were going to computer for 50 minutes! So...my morning class was fine...we went to computer. Then afternoon came around. I managed to keep them busy until the end of the day and went home. Megan and I were talking about our day and I was talking about computer in the morning and realized I forgot to take my afternoon class to computer! Naturally, I was so mad at myself, because that was an extra 50 minutes of activities I could have moved to the next day!! The computer teacher didn't even come get me. I went to her the next day and told her I was sorry for skipping and she hadn't even realized it...hahaha. We got to reschedule for Friday, and I was very grateful. The bad thing about that is that because I had group E in the morning and F in the afternoon this week, I will have F in the mornings and E in the afternoons next week and they don't go to computer with me, they go with Lupita...so I don't get a break at all on Tuesday...which is really awful.

View of the school from the bridge we cross from our house.

Anyways, I was invited by one of my students to he and his sister's first communion. Yuyo and I went this afternoon. First communions in Mexico are a big deal! I met his whole family and some of my students were there too. It was really cool to share in that experience with him. His Mom and family that I met were incredibly nice. It was crazy though, because it was like a wedding. There was a photographer and a videographer and stuff...crazy. It was a neat experience though. Yuyo said he thinks I'll be invited to many this year because this is the age that they do first communions. Should be interesting!

We got all dressed up!!

We received another paycheck this week, and I'm pretty sure I'm getting paid as if I had a master's degree. There has been some confusion with the payments, because some people are not being paid for their Spanish majors/minors, so their pay is not what it should be, however, someone told me that I am being paid for my Spanish, because I had a letter from the registrar stating my minor, instead of a diploma, which usually doesn't list the minor. The way they break my pay down, it has an extra category that says "maestria" which means either "masters" or it can mean like a specialization in something...so I might be getting the right amount...which would be awesome, because it's more than I thought I'd make.

Yuyo has his first arena football game of the season tonight at 8, so needless to say, he is pumped up. We've been talking football allllll day. This is HIS time of year. Everytime the TV is on, there is some sort of football game on it. Please pray for me...ha!

First communion clothes and football helmet...
Good combo, no?!

This week, we went to see a Mexican movie in the movie theater. There are a lot of national movies showing right now because of el Dia de Independencia (Independence Day). It's Mexico's 200th year of independence this year, and Puebla was one of the key states in the war, so it's a big deal! Anyways, the movie was called "No eres tu, soy yo" (It's not you, it's me). It was really great. The best movie I've seen since I've been here. I was proud of myself because I understood the movie!!! Yayyy! Now we can go see movies in Spanish. Total cute, chickflick...much better than the Sylvester Stallone movie I had to see...haha.

Nothing super exciting has happened lately...just trying to get into the swing of things. Yuyo and I eat lunch together after school everyday. I'm going to start tutoring on Mondays and Wednesdays after school...that should bring in a little extra money. Megan and I want to do a group tutor after school and split the money from that. It would be good spending money for sure.

Chiles En Nogada
This is a typical food from Puebla that's in season right now.
It's basically a large pepper stuffed with fruits and nuts.
It is covered in a sweet sauce with pomegranate sprinkled on top.
I wanted to try it because I needed to, but it wasn't my fave.

I continuously need thoughts and prayers for my students and that I can have the adequate patience I need with them. Also that I can step up and be the disciplinarian that I need to be in the classroom...it's something I'm really struggling with. I'm also stressed out during the week, and I need to realize that this is just my job, not my life...it's hard not to worry about it all the time though. I keep hearing it will get better...here's hoping. I have some awesome kids who always do what they're supposed to and make the job more enjoyable, but sometimes they're overshadowed by the ones who never do what they're supposed to do...ahhh.

Some of my kids. Those are their PE uniforms.
The girls in the middle are great.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!! I've learned to enjoy my weekends much, much more!
Besos! <3

That's our welcome mat...but if you look close on the mat,
you can see hail. I was at home one afternoon and it was sunny.
Literally, 5 minutes later, it was hailing the size of a marble.
Scary!!