This past week I gave two English tutoring sessions to students in my facultad. One girl is pretty far advanced and we're going to work on her reading (I have Alice in Wonderland and we're starting with that)! The other guy is an extreme beginner and I have to speak more with him in Spanish than in English. This week we're going to look at vocabulary within the classroom and try to describe school experiences, both past and present.
I didn't realize until this how much I missed teaching and really enjoy coming up with things to do to help people learn. I'm excited about continuing to tutor Gaby and Julio Cesar (no, I did not laugh when he told me his name, but I'm kind of laughing now) this semester!!
In other news, I went mountain biking again for 6 hours today, and am not pathetically collapsed on the couch afterwards like last week. I think I'm getting better!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
I Can No Longer Walk
Today I mountain-biked 35km. I am so sore.
I thought that I would be somewhat okay since I've been running quite a bit the past month. WRONG. I was definitely the slowest one out there (somewhat embarrassing), but I kept going the whole way, even carrying my own bike over my shoulder when the trails got too overgrown to ride.
I love the excitement of trying something new. Mountain biking is completely out of my scope of daily life, but I saw more of Guanajuato today than I knew existed. I'm constantly being reminded of how humbling it is to go out of my comfort zone. If I always did what I knew/was good at, I would have never learned how to drive stick shift (actually, I still don't know if what I do can be classified as "driving"), moved to another country to force myself to learn Spanish, or gotten on a mountain bike. What would I miss out on in life if I refused to go out and learn (read: make a fool out of myself)? Well, for one, I wouldn't be training for this half marathon in 2 months! Sometimes I feel so hardcore...haha.
And mountain biking next Sunday? I think so!
I thought that I would be somewhat okay since I've been running quite a bit the past month. WRONG. I was definitely the slowest one out there (somewhat embarrassing), but I kept going the whole way, even carrying my own bike over my shoulder when the trails got too overgrown to ride.
I love the excitement of trying something new. Mountain biking is completely out of my scope of daily life, but I saw more of Guanajuato today than I knew existed. I'm constantly being reminded of how humbling it is to go out of my comfort zone. If I always did what I knew/was good at, I would have never learned how to drive stick shift (actually, I still don't know if what I do can be classified as "driving"), moved to another country to force myself to learn Spanish, or gotten on a mountain bike. What would I miss out on in life if I refused to go out and learn (read: make a fool out of myself)? Well, for one, I wouldn't be training for this half marathon in 2 months! Sometimes I feel so hardcore...haha.
And mountain biking next Sunday? I think so!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
People are nice
The past couple of days several people have paid me lots of compliments. The surprising thing (or maybe not so surprising) was that I was completely taken aback by all of them.
This morning when I was running I was thinking about what had been said to me, and then a thought came to me: I might be a "gringa con buena onda" (and I don't think that it's as quite a contradiction as some people think; I know lots of Americans who are really open to new things and don't think the world revolves around them), but I wonder if what people see when they look at me is actually the love that Jesus has for the world (because I don't think I can claim some of the things people have told me)? I can only hope so...
This morning when I was running I was thinking about what had been said to me, and then a thought came to me: I might be a "gringa con buena onda" (and I don't think that it's as quite a contradiction as some people think; I know lots of Americans who are really open to new things and don't think the world revolves around them), but I wonder if what people see when they look at me is actually the love that Jesus has for the world (because I don't think I can claim some of the things people have told me)? I can only hope so...
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Last night I went with a couple of friends to see the movie Norteado which is about a guy in Tijuana, Mexico as he tries several times to cross the border into the US. (REALLY good movie by the way, I definitely recommend it.)
Andres tries to cross several times but is always found by border patrol (whose office is set up with a huge pictures of George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger) and sent back to Mexico. During this time, he works in Tijuana at a fruteria run by two women whose husbands "crossed" and then were never heard from again. At the end of the movie, Andres and his friends finally get the idea to build him into a big armchair and someone drives him across the border in a truck.
For me, the movie was really powerful because it deals with such a touchy topic between Mexico and the US. I don't pretend to know much (if anything) about the politics of immigration, but it really saddens me to think that we as humans can treat one another in such an inhumane way.
After the movie, Julieta (a friend from Argentina) asked me why everyone wanted to go to the US if immigrants are treated as badly as they sometimes are. I gave her the normal answers of job opportunities, education, etc., but it sounded really shallow, even to me. Why do people want to move to the US? I'm not too sure...
Armando, a Mexican who also went with us to see the movie, said that it didn't really shock him as much as it did us because in the news there are always reports of immigrants who were sent back across the border, some mistreated. Once again, I was shocked that this is some people's reality: constantly hoping for a "better" life and repeatedly being thwarted in their search for the "American Dream."
Again, I don't know exactly how I feel about all of this, but I wish it wasn't such a harsh reality.
Andres tries to cross several times but is always found by border patrol (whose office is set up with a huge pictures of George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger) and sent back to Mexico. During this time, he works in Tijuana at a fruteria run by two women whose husbands "crossed" and then were never heard from again. At the end of the movie, Andres and his friends finally get the idea to build him into a big armchair and someone drives him across the border in a truck.
For me, the movie was really powerful because it deals with such a touchy topic between Mexico and the US. I don't pretend to know much (if anything) about the politics of immigration, but it really saddens me to think that we as humans can treat one another in such an inhumane way.
After the movie, Julieta (a friend from Argentina) asked me why everyone wanted to go to the US if immigrants are treated as badly as they sometimes are. I gave her the normal answers of job opportunities, education, etc., but it sounded really shallow, even to me. Why do people want to move to the US? I'm not too sure...
Armando, a Mexican who also went with us to see the movie, said that it didn't really shock him as much as it did us because in the news there are always reports of immigrants who were sent back across the border, some mistreated. Once again, I was shocked that this is some people's reality: constantly hoping for a "better" life and repeatedly being thwarted in their search for the "American Dream."
Again, I don't know exactly how I feel about all of this, but I wish it wasn't such a harsh reality.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
What I'm Learning
A couple of days ago I was talking with my friend Lisa about how "normal" being in Mexico has become. (Note: Not that life has become any less exciting; it's just that Guanajuato has now adopted us, and it feels like we belong here.) For example, for both of us it is completely natural to speak Spanish all day long, many days without speaking a word of our native languages. We don't speak perfectly by any means, but it's passable :) It's kind of a feeling of "Of course we speak Spanish...what else would we speak?"
Because of this integration of the language, I'm now learning a lot more than just Spanish (although I'm still working on my Spanish everyday). It's become more of the context than the actual object of study.
-I'm playing in the school orchestra this semester and rehearsals are, of course, completely in Spanish. (Although I think I will always and forever count music in English...)
-I have German class four days a week. I love it, and the hour and 15 minutes fly by every day. Since we're all just beginners 95% of the class is explaining in Spanish. It's so cool to learn a foreign language through another foreign language :)
-My friend Coleman began to teach me some guitar this past month. I can play the song "Wagon Wheel" (but not very well yet).
-I'm training with two of my friends to hopefully run a half marathon in June before the semester ends here. So I've also been running quite a bit...and the entire time we run, we have conversations in Spanish!
It's so exciting to learn new things and be involved in all sorts of things all within the context of Mexico and Spanish. I think I've discovered that I really just like to learn. Life is so much more interesting when you're constantly thinking about things in a new way. It's like the saying that goes, "The more you learn, the more you realize how little you actuallly know." The more I find out about things in this world, the more I want to learn...it's a never-ending process.
Other note: Today marks exactly seven months in Mexico. Could time PLEASE slow down?! :(
Because of this integration of the language, I'm now learning a lot more than just Spanish (although I'm still working on my Spanish everyday). It's become more of the context than the actual object of study.
-I'm playing in the school orchestra this semester and rehearsals are, of course, completely in Spanish. (Although I think I will always and forever count music in English...)
-I have German class four days a week. I love it, and the hour and 15 minutes fly by every day. Since we're all just beginners 95% of the class is explaining in Spanish. It's so cool to learn a foreign language through another foreign language :)
-My friend Coleman began to teach me some guitar this past month. I can play the song "Wagon Wheel" (but not very well yet).
-I'm training with two of my friends to hopefully run a half marathon in June before the semester ends here. So I've also been running quite a bit...and the entire time we run, we have conversations in Spanish!
It's so exciting to learn new things and be involved in all sorts of things all within the context of Mexico and Spanish. I think I've discovered that I really just like to learn. Life is so much more interesting when you're constantly thinking about things in a new way. It's like the saying that goes, "The more you learn, the more you realize how little you actuallly know." The more I find out about things in this world, the more I want to learn...it's a never-ending process.
Other note: Today marks exactly seven months in Mexico. Could time PLEASE slow down?! :(
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
I am SO behind.
Since starting this semester, I have found that I'm really busy (surprise, surprise) doing all sorts of things (but that's another post in and of itself). I hate that I don't have as much time to blog, write in my journal, or Skype with people...I think I'm going to have to find a better balance? For now at least are the rest of the highlights of my Christmas break travels!
Palenque: definitely one of my favorite spots in Mexico
What happens when you've seen too many pyramids; you just want to jump off of them!
Hiking in the jungle in Chiapas! Que padre!
Christmas Eve dinner!
Chichen Itza
Beach in Tulum...beautiful!
Typical meal in Belize: chicken, rice and beans, potatoes, and watermelon juice. Yum!
Tapado en Livingston, Guatemala...the meal where everything comes with eyes and legs still attached. (I'm still not too convinced.)
Tikal in Guatemala
Couch surfing in Xela! So much fun!
Coffee in Chiapas :)
Monte Alban in Oaxaca. The end of a wonderful trip!
Palenque: definitely one of my favorite spots in Mexico
What happens when you've seen too many pyramids; you just want to jump off of them!
Hiking in the jungle in Chiapas! Que padre!
Christmas Eve dinner!
Chichen Itza
Beach in Tulum...beautiful!
Typical meal in Belize: chicken, rice and beans, potatoes, and watermelon juice. Yum!
Tapado en Livingston, Guatemala...the meal where everything comes with eyes and legs still attached. (I'm still not too convinced.)
Tikal in Guatemala
Couch surfing in Xela! So much fun!
Coffee in Chiapas :)
Monte Alban in Oaxaca. The end of a wonderful trip!
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