sueños

Today the clouds over Yucatan were spectacular. Huge mountains of clouds. Right now they are bathed in golden and pink sunlight as the day begins to slip away. I took a picture of the bar across the street (the pizza shop is, unfortunately, defunct), and despite the web of electric lines, you can still get a sense of the view.



I also took a couple photos this afternoon while I was out for a walk. There are so many crazy old cars here and, of course, motos are very popular. I've seen people carry a whole family on one! In one of my dream scenarios, I am able to buy an old VW Beetle here and drive it through Mexico...a romantic thought, isn't it?

sipping rose tea, writing this blog

I am relaxing this evening after a long couple of days. Yesterday was crazy at work because I was sick on Monday, and Betsy and I are trying to get our plans together because she's going to Oregon all next week to see her family. Plus there always seems to be some sort of extra chaos going on anyway. Just a bonus, I guess.
Today I gave my presentation/workshop on Teaching English Phonetics at the Universidad de Valladolid Yucatan (UVY). I was still preparing for it all morning, reviewing my notes, tweaking the Powerpoint, going over the logistics of the activities, etc., but I am very happy with the way it turned out (and I'm also very happy it's done now)! I had an audience of about 20 university students in the Language Program at UVY. Most of them have very good English comprehension so I could give the presentation entirely in English. Since I was discussing phonetics, I incorporated several interactive activities that focus on the segmental and suprasegmental properties of the phonetic system. I was really pleased with their participation and attention and I felt very well-prepared. Of course, if I present this workshop again, I will improve upon it, but I think the activities and research I have compiled will serve as a good base for future presentations.
On another note, something I recently found out about is a university-organized weekend trip to Isla Holbox, which is a tiny island on the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. They will pay for and set up our transportation, which is great because it is a pretty difficult-to-reach destination. This island is known for being a bit wild and off-the-beaten path, as well as for the huge population of whale-sharks that come to feed during the summers. As it stands, the trip will take place in a couple weeks, and it is something I feel lucky to have the opportunity to do.
Tomorrow is already Thursday! I have tons of grading and organizing to do at UNO before the weekend...Buenas noches y hasta el proximo blog...

Mi Vida Loca en La Ciudad Heroica

Hello, all. I had a brief bout with gastroenteritis today and yesterday, but I'm feeling a lot better now. I guess it was something I ate!
Anyway, things are pretty busy down here. I was invited to give a presentation at another local university on Teaching English Phonetics and I have been preparing for the past week or so. I will be giving the talk on Wednesday and it will be nice to add some Professional Development to the old Curriculum Vitae. I've got my Powerpoint and several activities planned. I'm a little nervous, but I'm also looking forward to sharing the information I have gathered. Plus, it will only be a small audience of about 20 people. The last (and only) time I gave a professional presentation was at CATESOL in Pasadena last year. In fact, it was a joint presentation with my friend Greer, who will be coming to visit next week! I will be fun to have another visitor and to show her around.
In other news, some of you may have heard (from a source who shall remain nameless) that I am considering staying in Mexico until December. This is true; however, it is not any more definite than when I said in a recent blog post that I'd be leaving Mexico in August. It's just hard to know these things even a couple months in advance. I would say I am a person who has a high tolerance for ambiguity, living in a world where people like definitive answers. It ain't easy, folks. I still really enjoy my job and the multifaceted experience of living in Valladolid. Here I have been exposed to Mayan cosmology and I have access to healers and spiritual counselors in a way that I never imagined.
I am coming up on the 10 year anniversary of the first time I visited Valladolid with my Baba, back in 2000 when she took me on a trip to Cancun. Believe it or not, when I was 18, I truly did become enchanted with this little colonial city. We stopped in Valladolid in the central square on a day trip to Chichen Itza, and, in the 45 minutes I had to explore the plaza and old streets, I recall wondering what it would be like to live here. After the trip, I thought about Valladolid, La Ciudad Heroica, many times, but I didn't think I'd be back to visit, let alone to live here. So there is definitely something special that has brought me here to Yucatan, and I guess out of respect for it, and out of a general belief that life calls me to be where I need to be as long as I am connected to the Source, I am leaving the door open to stay and learn here a bit longer...
Of course, I do long for drinkable water, Trader Joe's almond butter, and countless other luxuries of the American lifestyle. And I miss my family and friends! But I am going to make the most of this unique experience so that when the time comes for me to teach somewhere else, I will be ready. There is still lots to do!

Let there be light!

We are finishing the second week of the third cuatri and the time has passed quickly so far. Betsy and I are forging ahead with the packet we made and the projects we developed during our planning week, and it has been going well.
We will probably start the community courses in a couple weeks, and when we do, Mondays will be rough because we will be teaching from 2:30 to 9:00 pm with a 30 minute break. I am not looking forward to that, but it will only be for about 8 weeks in total.
As the weather is getting hot, I am finding myself wishing I could be at the beach more and more. This past weekend, the power suddenly stopped working in my apartment. I wasn´t sure why, but I had heard that sometimes the bills are not delivered and then when you don´t pay on time (because you never received a bill) the power company cuts you off. I assumed this was what had happened, and since Monday was a holiday, I knew they´d be closed until Tuesday, so I joined Betsy for a weekend in Tulum. Then on Monday, I opted to go straight from Tulum to Yokdzonot to see Erica and Jorge until Tuesday morning.
When I got to the electric company on Tuesday, I found out my power had not been cut off and my bill was not yet delivered. So I paid the balance ahead of time and the lady told me she had no idea what could be wrong, and that they´d send someone to figure out the problem. But when I got home that night at 9 pm, there was no power. No fan. No A/C. No lights. Nada. And it was hot. So I went outside to look for a fuse box or something. When I looked at my meter, I noticed that it was the only one that was turned OFF. I flipped the switch back on and when I got upstairs, there was power! It´s a crazy thing to go through, but in the end, I was glad the problem was so easy to fix, and I was glad that I had had such a beautiful weekend in Tulum and Yokdzonot. ¡Y así es mi vida loca!

baby tarantula

Last night was really nice. I went to meditation and afterwards, I went to a small birthday dinner for a woman named Tania who splits her time between Valladolid, Tulum, and San Cristobal. She´s is very respected and loved by all the people I consider my circle of friends here, though I just recently met her myself. The rest of the group was made up of a couple people from Spain, as well as three of the people I have come to enjoy most in Valladolid: Betsy, Javier, and his wife, Katia. There was good food and cheap wine and lots of laughs. We had a great time and it felt really good to be so comfortably a part of things. At the end of the night, we were saying goodbye and we noticed a baby tarantula crawling towards my foot! I guess it´s that time of year again...
This weekend I´ll be spending some time in Yokdzonot with my friends Erica and Jorge, and I´m looking forward to that!
¡Saludos a todos!

deja vu...plus some things new

Well, this cuatri I was given the choice of working with the same students I worked with during my first cuatri at UNO, or working with the other half of each group. I chose to work with the same students because, to me, it seems an opportunity to further develop the existing relationships I have with them. (And I don't have to learn new names or discover who needs extra help the hard way.) My schedule is the opposite of what it was last cuatri. I work from about 12 or 1 pm to 8 or 9 pm every day. It's a bit of deja vu to leave class with the same students, at the same time I used to leave class during my first couple months in Mexico...Of course, some things are different. I am going home to a different apartment that I really enjoy (see above photos), I am working closely with Betsy and we are really loving everything we've put together so far, and I feel I have more social options in my free time now that I've been living here for over eight months. All good things...
But I do realize that this cuatri is going to fly by, and I have decided I am not going to renew my contract at UNO. I will have to find a job where I am earning American dollars and able to start paying down my loans - a daunting task. So, I am definitely going to try to make the most of the time that remains, and it looks like I will be wrapping things up here at the end of July - early August.
No real ideas yet on where I'll go or what I'll do...but I have a feeling things will work out just fine.