We Live!!!

y'all had probably started to wonder...


Well, the delay in posting can be explained by the start of our TEFL program (Teaching English as a Foreign Language)! It's been quite busy but it's a very solid program, and we've got a solid group of fellow trainees.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the actual building where we've been working so hard, but it's become a second home to us, we're usually there from 9 to 6 Mon-Fri... sometimes seems like a first home, sheesh!

This is what our routine looks like...

8:00ish - Wakey wakey (eggs and bacey. OK not really. Cereal. But it rhymed.)

well, yes it does.

as you can see even though we didn't have any pics of our daily routine,
I felt possessed to still give you a pictorial representation of our day...

8:45 - Walk to school, 8 blocks or so

9:00 - School! Fortunately, as part of our course learning to be teachers we have an ice breaker (ie game) every day. We've all agreed that it's all pretty much down hill after that... ;D

1:00 - Lunch! Again, we've been working hard all morning on grammar and teaching methods and lesson plans and we're happy to launch into a nearby lobby to... discover our lunches. Several of the students are staying with Mexican families who pack their lunches for them. Every day we all eagerly watch eachother unpack the surprises that the "Moms" send them (which to our English speaking tummies can still be... gastronomically unfathomable). Josh and I pack our own lunch but you'd be surprised how even your own lunch can be surprising after it's been in the fridge all morning
3:15-5:15 - We spend the afternoon either preparing to teach or actually teaching our class. Our classes are usually 5 to 15 or so students and we are observed each time by one of our teacher trainer. The students have been great. They can be quiet, they can be rowdy, they can be confused or bored, but all in all they are eager to learn and a joy to teach.


6:15 - We usually go home around this time, make some supper, chill for a couple of hours, then watch some tv or listen to music before we crash. Good times, good sleep.


now that I've tried to convince you of how hard we work I wanna post the pictures that I do have, which are, of course, of everything but work... Oh well, fun is to be had!


This was a very special and occurrence for us, it rained in Guadalajara!!!
Rain is always an enrapturing experience, but rain in a dry and sometimes dirty city is wondrous. This was taken from the upstairs covered veranda, where I rushed to look at the beauty.


Alrighty, this was a pretty cool experience too. We got to go to a football game! (Ok Americans, I know we call it soccer, but seeing that the Spanish version is fútbol anyways we shall call it by the the world-recognized name!)

This is the stadium where our team was playing, for that day we were Chivas fans! There are two teams in Guadalajara and this one was in the playoffs. You will know them by their red and white shirts! Chivas!!!


These were the non-Chivas fans, from the opposing team. Almost the whole stadium was filled with Chivas fans, but there was a very brave and vocal contingent from Monterey. This is them pumping their right fist in the air, as they did regularly for... three hours.



The band of utmost hardcore Chivas fans were on the opposite end of the stadium and they must have been there for hours before we got there. These people tirelessly chanted, shouted, jumped, sang, and waved everything within reach that was red or white, flags, umbrellas, shirts, anything. At a climatic moment in the game we saw an enourmous red and white flag unfurl that must have covered hundreds of people. This is what it looked like to us, on top of the choreographed smoke that also appeared on cue.


I am rather ashamed to say that I apparently got no actual pictures of the teams playing. Whoops. The best I can give you is a shot of the very strange half time festivities...




And this, dear friends, was taken on May 21st no less, our dear brother Ben's birthday. When we got out of school Josh said, "How about we celebrate Ben's birthday by going out to eat." Sounded great to me. So we walked around til we found a nice joint in a hotel and sat ourselves down. So here Ben, this was for you, bro. ;D



And finally, last night we did go and see a movie, in English. But how can you not see the new Indiana Jones movie when it comes out, cornyness or not?!

Speaking of cornyness, before the movie Josh and Foss, a fellow trainee, devoted some of their valuable time and pesos to an arcade game in the lobby. The sport they were playing? Football of course! As the picture indicates, Josh emerged the victor...




Hasta luego mis amigos.
Buenas noches.