Monday, March 23, 2009
APOLOGY FOR THE LACK OF POSTS
I´M SORRY I HAVEN´T BEEN DOING A GOOD JOB KEEPING YOU ALL UPDATED. IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS I´LL HAVE A FULL RECAP OF THE LAST WEEK OR SO. CURRENTLY I´M IN PLAYA DEL CARMEN, FINISHING MY ADVANCED SCUBA DIVING TRAINING IN THE MORNING. HEADING TO COZUMEL TOMORROW AFTERNOON. I´LL POST FROM THERE! LOVE!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Newly Discovered Things!
Right now, the entire family is pretty much here and we just got done having an excellent meal. This morning I went to my tutor sessions, followed by my daily stop at Starbucks for a cup of tea. Last night was really fun. Viviana took me to a less busy side of town and handed me the keys and told me to drive. She has a tiny little car, they call it huevo (egg)...and it looks just like one. It´s a stickshift and those of you who have seen me drive one....it´s not exactly pretty. But I faced my fears and managed in the crazy jungle the mexicans call streets. haha!
Katie and I had a pretty deep conversation the other day about life and what we are doing and it really hasn´t esacped my thoughts. Today, I stumbled upon two programs that I am thinking about doing. The first is in Costa Rica, and it is a TEFL Certification course that starts April 30th and goes to May 23rd. Here es a couple links in case you want to check it out:
http://www.maximonivel.com/docs/TESOL-TEFLCertification.pdf
http://www.maximonivel.com/tefl/
The second program I stumbled on to is an internship / MBA program in London, with an emphasis in International Business. The application is do in a week, so I´m not sure if it is practical, but I think I´m going to try and get a application postmarked. At least so I can have the option. I´ve got some big decisions to make: Law School, this program, new city, Kansas City, etc. All while trying to maintain cohesiveness with the chica who resides on Fairview....I fear its going to be a challenge. Nonetheless....one i´m up for. The link for the MBA program is:
http://www.mountbatten.org/mipweb.nsf/pages/ld_about_us
I would love any input any of you have. Right now I´m still waiting to here back from UMKC School of Law, as well as University of South Carolina. I´m in at Creighton University and Florida Coastal School of Law. However, University of Denver did not give the nod. Too bad!
I only lack 10 or so pages of ¨Three Cups of Tea.¨ Most likely gonna finish that here in little bit. Going to Zopaparia (Shoe Store) with Viviana around 6 tonight. It´s my payment for the driving lessons yesterday. Haha! She wants some help picking some out. Not sure how much help I´ll be.
Although my time here in Guadalajara has been great, I´m super excited to head to Cancun on Saturday. I´ve been dreaming in Spanish and it will be nice to be with some English speakers. I´ve decided to wait until the 18th to do my Open Water Certification (the day everyone leaves Cancun). That way I don´t waste any time while Katie is there. So I´ll probably spend 2 extra days in Cancun, then head to Cozumel for a couple of days. Do some diving, and then off to Belize. I think my dad is going to try and come down sometime at the beginning of April. We´re plannig on renting a car and driving to Guatamala! Should be fun!
Sorry for the lack of pictures!
Katie and I had a pretty deep conversation the other day about life and what we are doing and it really hasn´t esacped my thoughts. Today, I stumbled upon two programs that I am thinking about doing. The first is in Costa Rica, and it is a TEFL Certification course that starts April 30th and goes to May 23rd. Here es a couple links in case you want to check it out:
http://www.maximonivel.com/docs/TESOL-TEFLCertification.pdf
http://www.maximonivel.com/tefl/
The second program I stumbled on to is an internship / MBA program in London, with an emphasis in International Business. The application is do in a week, so I´m not sure if it is practical, but I think I´m going to try and get a application postmarked. At least so I can have the option. I´ve got some big decisions to make: Law School, this program, new city, Kansas City, etc. All while trying to maintain cohesiveness with the chica who resides on Fairview....I fear its going to be a challenge. Nonetheless....one i´m up for. The link for the MBA program is:
http://www.mountbatten.org/mipweb.nsf/pages/ld_about_us
I would love any input any of you have. Right now I´m still waiting to here back from UMKC School of Law, as well as University of South Carolina. I´m in at Creighton University and Florida Coastal School of Law. However, University of Denver did not give the nod. Too bad!
I only lack 10 or so pages of ¨Three Cups of Tea.¨ Most likely gonna finish that here in little bit. Going to Zopaparia (Shoe Store) with Viviana around 6 tonight. It´s my payment for the driving lessons yesterday. Haha! She wants some help picking some out. Not sure how much help I´ll be.
Although my time here in Guadalajara has been great, I´m super excited to head to Cancun on Saturday. I´ve been dreaming in Spanish and it will be nice to be with some English speakers. I´ve decided to wait until the 18th to do my Open Water Certification (the day everyone leaves Cancun). That way I don´t waste any time while Katie is there. So I´ll probably spend 2 extra days in Cancun, then head to Cozumel for a couple of days. Do some diving, and then off to Belize. I think my dad is going to try and come down sometime at the beginning of April. We´re plannig on renting a car and driving to Guatamala! Should be fun!
Sorry for the lack of pictures!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
One Week To Go!
Hello all! So this is Maria! I thought it would be good to add a few pics of where I´m living. Finished the week with a visit to a bookstore with my tutor, as I´m about thirty pages away from finishing ¨Three Cups of Tea.¨ I bought two books, ¨Angels and Demons,¨and ¨Audacity of Hope (Obam´s book).¨ I´m pretty excited for them. And they´re in compact form, so it will be easy to travel with. I brought with me ¨The Curious Case of Benjamin Bunton,¨but I was fooled by the publisher. The story itself is only 20 pages or so. It is just the highlighted story in the book of 15 or so stories written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I was holding out to see the movie with Brad Pitt because I thought it was going to be a great book. Turns out, it´s no ¨Great Gatsby.¨ The idea of it is really neat, and I can see how turning it into a movie was perfect. Fitzgerald lacks any sort of detail to the setting and character developments. He jumps from the time Benjamin had 8 years to when he was 20 in a matter of sentences. Needless to say...I was disappointed. But on the upside, I´m going to go see the movie now!A lot of the same routine went on all week. 9-11 tutor sessions with Cecha. 11:15-12:30ish reading at Starbucks. 2ish the kids come over and we eat lunch. Viviana gets home around 5 and we talk and play games until Wendy comes and get the kids. Glass of wine at night...maybe a beer. End with a movie or something on the tv and then off to bed.
Didn´t do anything last night (Friday). Stayed in and watched TV with Viviana. This morning I got up and went to the Gym. For 50 pesos, you can get a days pass. Not bad. The people there are really friendly. It´s the same gym I´ve gone to everytime I´ve been to Guatalajara...they call it BIKE House. They have spinning classes every day for 20 pesos. Can you believe that. That like less than $1.50. Barato (cheap)! Ne ways, it feels super good to start working out again. They use so much grease in their cooking, it was making me feel a little gross.
We had lunch just a little while ago and it was fish...a whole fish. Skin, head, eyes...all of it. To myt surprise, it was really good. We are sitting around talking right now and are about to go get Maria´s new dog...a dalmation. I´m super pumped. Everyone who is reading this probably knows how much I like dogs. I´ll try and get a picture up later!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Finally making use of my time!
A few days have passed since my last post and many things have happened! First of all, many of you will be happy to know that I will now be able to post pictures on my blog due to my purchase of a little device known as an SD card reader. Purchased at Wal-Mart for a mere $10, my failure to bring a long the CD that works with my camera is now replenished with this new device. However, my forgetfulness has led me to have a lack of pictures of the things I talk about. I promise this is about to change. For now, the newest picture additions to the Blog are my profile pic (replacing the one of Katie and I - hated to take Katie off, but this pic was better fitting...haha...Te Amo). The other photo is on the first post I did,¨Departure Day¨and the photo is of all of my things laid out on the floor to give you an idea of everything I have taken with me. It´s not much. In fact, I´ve been wearing the same pair of underwear for 4 days now...haha! It´s not that gross! haha! I have to spread my 7 pairs of underwear, 7 pairs of socks, and 7 T-shirts out so they last 3 weeks w/o washing....is that bad? Well, that´s what I´m doing regardless. And let me tell you...it´s not easy. It´s hot here and I´m sticky, but every morning I wake up cool and refreshed. Almost a clean feeling. Maria opens the windows at night and the temperature drops to a very comfortable 50 or 60 degrees...perfect for me, but a little cold for the Mexicans.
Okay! On to what has happened in the last few days! Sunday was SUPER lazy and I didn´t even leave the house...haha! Ok, Monday. One of the first days I was here, Maria took me to a language school to talk to some people about two weeks worth of classes, but their prices were a little high. Like, $380.00 DOLLARS for the two weeks...not really what I was looking for. Well, the family, as nice as they are, started thinking and knew of a cousin who taught English classes and called her up. Her name was Gabby and she couldn´t give me private lessons, but her friend Checha (Kay-cha) could. For 100 pesos an hour I agreed to take private lessons every morning with Cecha from 9-11 except for Thursdays (she has to teach an English class on Thursdays). She lives in a nice part of town by the Manerva Fountain, a short drive of 15 minutes from Marias house.
Monday morning Maria took me to her apartment and we had an excellent session. Checha is a very short, 28 year old woman who is married to a cool husband that is in a band and teaches music. I can´t remember his name. They live in a very modern apartment that looks straight out of the 70´s. Again, I apologize I don´t have pictures - took my camera today with intentions and forgot about it...haha! Are sessions are very informal and we basically just talk and then a gramatical question will come up and will move our conversation to that. We work on vocabulary a lot, as much of my studies thus far have skipt this part. She is very kind and is very fun to work with. After we´re done she gives me a ride to Starbuck´s, just down the street, where I sit and read for a while by myself. This Starbucks in particular has an upstairs that is covered with a roof, but is open for air to move freely throughout. It´s a very relaxing place.
Today, I spent over an hour a top reading ¨Three Cups of Tea.¨ Once again, YOU have to read this book. I literally had tears in my eyes at one point and was imbarassed that people might see...haha! It´s a very moving story! After that I decided to return to Costco to purchase Viviana a carton of ciggerates, as she refused to let me buy my own items last night at Walmart (two bottles of wine, some deoderant, small jar of instant coffee, and some shaving cream). I thought I would be able to walk and set out on my journey. I really had no idea where it was,l but headed in the direction I thought it was. After about 30 minutes, I hailed a cab and for $2 he took me the rest of the way. I probably would have been another hour. I did enjoy the excerices though.
Next to Costco was a Walmart and a mall, so I decided to go have a look. I stopped in Walmart first, hoping they would have the microphone that I had seen last night, but failed to buy, realizing now that it was worth the $7. However, this Walmart didn´t have the headset. I walked around the mall nearby (a very nice mall, with stores like Diesel, Guess, etc). For me though....not anything I was interested in. I left and hailed another cab, and worked out in Spanish where I needed to go...The other Walmart I said. The cab driver smirked and said that there were several in Guadalajara, so I said the closest street I knew to Maria´s house and we were on our way - not before negotiating a price of course. We reasoned and I got a ride for about $5. My conversation with the cab driver was very good. He could understand my spanish and I could his as well. He was very interested in what I was doing and the 10 minute ride seemed only seconds. I purchased the mic and a new set of headphones...but not before I waited in line at Walmart for nearly 15 minutes. Seriously! It was very annoying! And this Walmart in particular makes you check your bag before entering so I was anxious to get back to my stuff.
I hailed my third cab for the day and it was a very fat man drinking some juice out of a plastic bag with a straw (very popular down here - rather than small cups). I knew I was pretty close to the house, but it would have taken me a half hour to do. I was willing to drop 20 pesos, which is a little over a dollar right now with the exchange rate. We negotiated for a minute and the driver´s offer was 40 pesos. I immediately said, that is was rediculous and that I could walk to my house and said 20 pesos. The driver said he´ll put it on the meter and see what price comes up. I knew this was a risk, because somehow (I don´t know exactly how they work) the drivers can manipulate the price, but I got in anyway. He said something to me in mumbled Spanish, but I was unable to understand him. When I said, I´m sorry I don´t understand, he just grunted and turned the radio up. I was pissed. I counted out all the change in my pocket, mostly consisting of what we call pennies, and at the exact point the meter said 20 pesos I told him to pull over. Four blocks from Marias, I got out, gave the fat bastard his 20 pesos, and began to walk proudly. haha!
I arrived home to Maria, who was happy to see me. I felt bad arriving 2 hours later than I said i would, but she didn´t seem to mind. The grandkids, Miguelito and Wendy, were (and still are) here. I fiddled with my new mic, which turns out to be a piece of junk (I put it back in the packaging and am going to take it back later today or tomorrow). Viviana comes home on her break from the bank and eats a late lunch (they don´t really eat dinner). At 3:30, we all ate and talked about the day. They were very interested in the things I learned at my lesson and where I was all day. About 10 minutes ago, just before she went back to work, Viviana went into here room and noticed the carton of ciggerates waiting for her on her bed. She let out a woot and was very excited! It made me feel good. I did say that it was not something I support, but I wanted to get her something she liked, and I knew they were somewhat of a luxuary item to her as much of her paycheck goes back to Maria to help with things.
My plan for tonight is to play a game of the Spanish version of Guess Who with Miguelito and then read for a while. Maybe study a little bit of the vocab Checha and I worked on today. Around 8 I´m gonna watch a movie with a glass of wine (which by the way I broke last night - I set my blue glass on the sofa not thinking and forgot about it and when I got up, it fell and broke). Heading for bed early...about 10 or so. We´ll se how that works out!
Okay! On to what has happened in the last few days! Sunday was SUPER lazy and I didn´t even leave the house...haha! Ok, Monday. One of the first days I was here, Maria took me to a language school to talk to some people about two weeks worth of classes, but their prices were a little high. Like, $380.00 DOLLARS for the two weeks...not really what I was looking for. Well, the family, as nice as they are, started thinking and knew of a cousin who taught English classes and called her up. Her name was Gabby and she couldn´t give me private lessons, but her friend Checha (Kay-cha) could. For 100 pesos an hour I agreed to take private lessons every morning with Cecha from 9-11 except for Thursdays (she has to teach an English class on Thursdays). She lives in a nice part of town by the Manerva Fountain, a short drive of 15 minutes from Marias house.
Monday morning Maria took me to her apartment and we had an excellent session. Checha is a very short, 28 year old woman who is married to a cool husband that is in a band and teaches music. I can´t remember his name. They live in a very modern apartment that looks straight out of the 70´s. Again, I apologize I don´t have pictures - took my camera today with intentions and forgot about it...haha! Are sessions are very informal and we basically just talk and then a gramatical question will come up and will move our conversation to that. We work on vocabulary a lot, as much of my studies thus far have skipt this part. She is very kind and is very fun to work with. After we´re done she gives me a ride to Starbuck´s, just down the street, where I sit and read for a while by myself. This Starbucks in particular has an upstairs that is covered with a roof, but is open for air to move freely throughout. It´s a very relaxing place.
Today, I spent over an hour a top reading ¨Three Cups of Tea.¨ Once again, YOU have to read this book. I literally had tears in my eyes at one point and was imbarassed that people might see...haha! It´s a very moving story! After that I decided to return to Costco to purchase Viviana a carton of ciggerates, as she refused to let me buy my own items last night at Walmart (two bottles of wine, some deoderant, small jar of instant coffee, and some shaving cream). I thought I would be able to walk and set out on my journey. I really had no idea where it was,l but headed in the direction I thought it was. After about 30 minutes, I hailed a cab and for $2 he took me the rest of the way. I probably would have been another hour. I did enjoy the excerices though.
Next to Costco was a Walmart and a mall, so I decided to go have a look. I stopped in Walmart first, hoping they would have the microphone that I had seen last night, but failed to buy, realizing now that it was worth the $7. However, this Walmart didn´t have the headset. I walked around the mall nearby (a very nice mall, with stores like Diesel, Guess, etc). For me though....not anything I was interested in. I left and hailed another cab, and worked out in Spanish where I needed to go...The other Walmart I said. The cab driver smirked and said that there were several in Guadalajara, so I said the closest street I knew to Maria´s house and we were on our way - not before negotiating a price of course. We reasoned and I got a ride for about $5. My conversation with the cab driver was very good. He could understand my spanish and I could his as well. He was very interested in what I was doing and the 10 minute ride seemed only seconds. I purchased the mic and a new set of headphones...but not before I waited in line at Walmart for nearly 15 minutes. Seriously! It was very annoying! And this Walmart in particular makes you check your bag before entering so I was anxious to get back to my stuff.
I hailed my third cab for the day and it was a very fat man drinking some juice out of a plastic bag with a straw (very popular down here - rather than small cups). I knew I was pretty close to the house, but it would have taken me a half hour to do. I was willing to drop 20 pesos, which is a little over a dollar right now with the exchange rate. We negotiated for a minute and the driver´s offer was 40 pesos. I immediately said, that is was rediculous and that I could walk to my house and said 20 pesos. The driver said he´ll put it on the meter and see what price comes up. I knew this was a risk, because somehow (I don´t know exactly how they work) the drivers can manipulate the price, but I got in anyway. He said something to me in mumbled Spanish, but I was unable to understand him. When I said, I´m sorry I don´t understand, he just grunted and turned the radio up. I was pissed. I counted out all the change in my pocket, mostly consisting of what we call pennies, and at the exact point the meter said 20 pesos I told him to pull over. Four blocks from Marias, I got out, gave the fat bastard his 20 pesos, and began to walk proudly. haha!
I arrived home to Maria, who was happy to see me. I felt bad arriving 2 hours later than I said i would, but she didn´t seem to mind. The grandkids, Miguelito and Wendy, were (and still are) here. I fiddled with my new mic, which turns out to be a piece of junk (I put it back in the packaging and am going to take it back later today or tomorrow). Viviana comes home on her break from the bank and eats a late lunch (they don´t really eat dinner). At 3:30, we all ate and talked about the day. They were very interested in the things I learned at my lesson and where I was all day. About 10 minutes ago, just before she went back to work, Viviana went into here room and noticed the carton of ciggerates waiting for her on her bed. She let out a woot and was very excited! It made me feel good. I did say that it was not something I support, but I wanted to get her something she liked, and I knew they were somewhat of a luxuary item to her as much of her paycheck goes back to Maria to help with things.
My plan for tonight is to play a game of the Spanish version of Guess Who with Miguelito and then read for a while. Maybe study a little bit of the vocab Checha and I worked on today. Around 8 I´m gonna watch a movie with a glass of wine (which by the way I broke last night - I set my blue glass on the sofa not thinking and forgot about it and when I got up, it fell and broke). Heading for bed early...about 10 or so. We´ll se how that works out!
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