Me Too!

I figured you all could maybe appreciate (although definitely not at the level I do) the following bit of news:

Remember how my kidlets always say, "Equal me," right?  Especially Rico, right?  And every time he says it I say, "It's me too."  And then I make him repeat it.

Wellllllll.  On Monday we were in class like normal, talking in English and doing our own thing and guess what came out of Rico's mouth THE FIRST TIME, WITHOUT ANY DIRECTION FROM ME!!!

Rico:  Me too.

Me:  OH MY GOSH!!! RICO!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!! YOU JUST SAID ME TOO!!!! I CAN'T HANDLE THIS!!!!!

Rico just shrugs like it's no big deal.

Tuesday comes along.

Jesús:  Me equal.  ( I know, at least he put the "me" in the right spot, right?)

Rico:  IT'S ME TOO!

Me:  YEEESSSSSS!!!!!!

I pretty much die and go to Heaven when they remember things I have been trying to teach them and this one was a long time coming (like 2 months!), so I am so thrilled to hear him say it right.

And by the way, my Discovery class still points it out to me every time I say the word "until" and I love love love it.  These kids are actually learning.  Someday they will speak like natives and I can't wait. 

Because I'm Time Conscious

I've decided to copy and paste an email I sent to Meckenzie and use it as a post for this here blog.  I've been meaning to blog about it, but now it's been a month, so it just wouldn't be the same.  Thus, the email directed at mi hermanita, sent on June 5, 2011 at 9:35 p.m. with only minor edits...

Here's the low down on what I did today:

I went to church at 8:00 a.m. as I do every Sunday.  I was so ridiculously tired because I went to bed at like 1:30 because yesterday was Elvira's 25th bday and we party hardied all night long.  Also, I was the only teacher who came because everyone went on a little vacation this weekend to some freakishly beautiful city or something.

And as you know, it was fast Sunday so I didn't eat anything this morning so I was hungry.  And then I got home from church and played some games con la familia and then at 2:30 I went to a birthday party for Elvira's friend named Jose Luis.  I don't know how old he turned, but he was probably older than Elvira.  So it wasn't like a party you were probably imagining when I said I went to a party.  No, it was like this nice dinner party with weird food.  Probably the weirdest looking food I've had since being here.  The plate had this little stack of white rice mixed with corn and a little green leaf on top and something orange next to the green leaf.  And next to the little stack of rice was this a mysterious item wrapped in tinfoil.  So I opened the tinfoil to find some part of a pig cooked in an unknown way in an unknown red sauce.  And the skin of a plant was wrapped around it, kind of lining the tinfoil (that's what Elvira called it "the skin of a plant") and then there were two random little fruit things that were about the size of a grape and they were green, and they are called "atun" in Spanish.  They taste like olives, but they have a pit in the middle.  And here's the strange thing.  The pig in the sauce tasted like spaghetti and the rice tasted like garlic bread.  Spaghetti and garlic bread.  Obviously they were not the texture of those items, but the flavor was the same.  Weirdest thing ever.  But the sauce didn't taste exactly like spaghetti, it just tasted like weird spaghetti.  Weird.

But it gets weirder.  Since I was at an adult party, with adult Mexicans all over, there was beer.  But really, this was a classy party.  It's not like it was dirty and everyone was drunk and what not.  It was like a classy thing where they ask if you want something to drink and you say yes and tell them what you want and they bring it to you, you know?  Well the guy sitting across from me was a tad drunk.  At least that was Elvira's excuse for him, but he was weird before he even had one drink, so I don't blame the alcohol.  First of all, he was old, and his girlfriend who came along was young and beautiful and a model.  For real, she's a model.  And her good looks are actually fake, come to find out.  Anyway, he would not stop talking to me and he was saying the stupidest things and I was so sick of him like two seconds after he sat down.  And then we got talking about Mormons and things (when I say we, I mean he, his girlfriend, and Elvira, because I obviously do not speak Spanish).  And then he takes his virgen Mary keychain off his keys and hands it to me, so I look at it with obligated interest, and then attempt to hand it back, and he's like, "No it's yours."  And you know how we must not accept anything from Mexican men, so I was like, "Oh no, no, no, no thanks."  And I continue to hold it out to him and he's like "Yes, yes, it's a gift."  And I'm like freak no I'm not accepting a gift from you, but I didn't really say that I just said, "Really, no thanks."  And he said, "It's a gift from my heart...(and then he turns to his girlfriend the model and motions connecting his heart to hers and says)...from our hearts to you."

So I'm like, "Fine."

Jk I really said, "Gracias."

So now I have this keychain from a drunk Mexican man.  My life is awesome.

Anyway, as you could probably tell from the above description, that food did not suffice to break a fast.  So when we got home I ate a plum and an orange and some jello and then me and Elvira played homemade pictionary.  Then the fam got home from wherever they went and me, Elvira, Miguel, and Jorge went to the park and played basketball and let me just say:  BEST TIME OF MY LIFE.  It was so fun!  I freaking love this family!  We four played for a while and of course everyone was watching us.  Number one, we were having so much fun, so how could they not?  Number two, I was with them so HOW COULD THEY NOT?!?  I am the center of attention everywhere we go.  Everywhere, Meckenzie.  Even public events.  All because I am white and American and freaking awesome.  Jk.  It's strictly the skin/nationality.  Sadly, I know this to be true.  ANYWAY.  Then this man with a crippled foot and a little boy came to join us and it was ridiculously fun.  I was running around and playing my heart out and sweating and it felt so so so so good.  It was so so so fun.  So fun.  

Then we went home and it was like 8 and we ate pizza and cereal and then Elvira did my nails as she often does.  

Now the day is over.

But really, you should have seen the party we had for Elvira.  It was at the gparents with all the fam and it was so fun!  I love how they do birthdays here.  And I freaking love this family!  I can't get over it!  Like, extended family and all.  They are so awesome.  I feel so comfortable around them and they are so fun and so hilarious.  If I could understand everything they said, I would probably never stop laughing when I'm around them, because they are always laughing, and what little I do understand/what little they say in English to me, is so funny!  They are just so cool and awesome and nice and I love love love them and I am going to miss them so so so so much when I come home.  I just might cry.  They are awesome!  Can you believe that all my life I had a family here in Mexico and I never even knew it?!  It shocks me.  It took me 19 years to find them!  Really, I was sitting there at the table yesterday during the party just watching everyone and looking at everyone and I kind of wanted to cry.  They are so me.  It's awesome.

Okay, that's it.  Peace out.

Love, Brittan

Lavarse la Ropa

Just in case you were worried I'm not getting the full Mexican experience, don't.

Because I am.

Here's proof.

The Oranges

The Blues

The Pinks

All Hung Up

That's right.  I hand wash all my clothes.  I'm cool.

Oh Class From Heaven

Why can't all classes be just like you?

Do you see those little bunches of adorableness?  I get to spend 2 hours a day with these little niños and I honestly look forward to it every single day.

They are so smart and ready to learn.  They soak everything in and then they are ready for more.  Yesterday we made our own crossword puzzles and they loved it.  They diligently drew the correct amount of boxes and then scoured their brains trying to come with the perfect way to describe the word that fit.  Then we all switched and completed each others and they thought it was so awesome that they wanted to do it again.  That's what I love about these kids.

Sara is so cute.  As I've told you before, she remembers everything I say word for word, but the good thing is she can also apply what I say to her own sentences.  Whenever we have the spelling test, I will say the word and she will automatically use it in a sentence so everyone will know exactly which word we are talking about.  It's awesome and quite convenient because then I don't have to come up with one. I like when Sara is the only one who comes to class because we have awesome conversations and we genuinely enjoy our time together.  She's truly a joy to have in class.  Isn't that such a teacher comment of me to make?  I love it.

Rico freaking cracks me up.  Every single day he makes me laugh so hard.  He knows a ton of English, it's so crazy.  And even when I teach them something just one time and then don't bring it up again for like 3 days, he always finds it somewhere at the back of his brain the next time I ask about it.  I like him because he is old enough and mature enough to have real conversation with, but at the same time, he's still a little boy who gets super excited about the tiniest things, and who wants to be super good, you know?  I like when he is the only one who comes to class because then I can give him undivided attention and he will tell me story after story and I laugh my head off the whole time.  But at the same time, we can still do our whole language arts lesson and he will willingly do everything I ask him to, even though he's the only one, and guess what.  He honestly enjoys it!  It's great.

Jesús is such a good kid.  He is also very good at English and he frequently surprises me with the things he knows.  I love that Jesús would rather learn than play games.  He is all business.  If I have a list of words?  He'll ask me if he can put them in alphabetical order, and then he won't even wait for my response, he'll just do it. One time I taught them to cross their words at the letters they have in common, and he loved it.  I had a paper with 30 words written on it and I told them to cross ten of them but Jesús took the liberty to do all 30 and he still finished first.  He is probably the quietest in the class, but it's actually a good thing, because he does still talk, and I don't have to force it out of him, but at the same time, he acts as the peace maker between Sara and Rico who argue almost every day.  I like when Jesús is the only one who comes to class because I get to ask him whatever I want and then listen to him, and only him, talk in his adorable voice and we don't have to worry about being interrupted by other, more vocally dominant students.

Do you see how lucky I am?  How did I get the best class EVER?!  I have no idea, but I am certainly glad I did.

Dear Meckenzie,

Remember that day you FREAKED out at me because I looked at the moon without you?

And remember how I quickly got down on my knees and begged your forgiveness because I was not able to give you your EVERY wish even though I am presently living in a DIFFERENT COUNTRY?

And remember how I promised you - crossed my heart and hoped to DIE - that I would look at it at 10 pm that one Sunday evening?  So you could look at it at 9?

And then I told you how awesome you are and how I want to be JUST LIKE YOU when I grow up, and you told me to shut it?

And then that Sunday came and do you remember where I was?  I was looking at the luna.

Do you remember where you were?  Oh, of course you don't, because you WEREN'T LOOKING AT THE MOON.  You were probably eating an ice cream cone and watching Psych while Brady gave you a back massage and Lily fanned you with a leaf.

Fortunately for YOU I basically knew, right then and there, that I was the only one looking at the moon that night, and that you were elsewhere, so guess what I did.  I took a pic of it so you could see what the moon looks like in MEXICO.

And since you really don't care about what I'm up to down yonder, I know you won't read this post until maybe Sunday, in which case, I have a request.  Can you please tell Mark, "Feliz Cumpleaños!" for me?  Gracias, you're a doll.

Loves, Brittan

I Am In Love

With a young niño named Miguelito.  He is so so cute and funny and I LOVE to hang out with him and listen to him tell me endless jokes that I don't get, and tell me stories and wrinkle his nose when he laughs and say, "Ay Brittan" just so I will say, "Ay Miguel" and give me a look like he's going to beat me up when I tell him I don't want any chips when we are at the store.  I just want to take him home with me.  For real.

Abuelito, Paco, y Miguel

Estoy Manejando en Mexico

Do you want to hear something crazy?

One day a couple weeks ago I was thinking to myself, "Man it's been like a month since I have driven a car.  This is unnatural.  I haven't gone this long without driving in like four years.  I love driving.  I really want to drive."

Two days later, on the way home from church, Elvira pulled the car over and said, "You drive."

Well, if you insist.

So I did.  And it was awesome.  And guess what.  I've driven almost every single day since then, except maybe two.  I'm now pro.  Remember how crazy these people drive?  Their weird rules that mean nothing and their speeding and speed bumping and strange construction ways?  It's all just odd.  Well I drive in it everyday and we always arrive safely at our desired destination.

There are two cars owned by this family.  The first one I drove was pretty easy to get used to.  The breaks are super touchy, but the gas takes a second to kick in.  It's tiny and easy to maneuver.  The second car?  Not so easy, which the fam finds hilarious because it's American.  But it's just so long and awkward, plus it's opposite from the first car:  the breaks never kick in and the gas just wants to go go go.  The cool thing about the second car though, is it's a convertible and I drove it with the top down at night.  It was ridiculously fun.

One time, while driving car number two, I came upon a speed bump that I didn't see.  So I went over it way fast and everyone screamed "STOP!!!" right before it happened.  I felt bad.  But then we all got over it and they still let me drive, so I think I'm okay.

But the cool thing about all this is that I was just thinking to myself, "I want to drive."  And then I did.  That same thing has happend three other times.

1.  I was thinking to myself, "I really love fruit and I eat it all the time at home, but I never eat fruit here.  Like, ever.  I really want some fruit."  The next day in my lunch there was an apple.  The day after that, another apple.  On Saturday I went downstairs for breakfast to find a bowl of freshly cut fruit in my spot, waiting for me to devour.  It was kiwi and mangos and pears.  So delicious.  The day after that I had an apple, an orange, and two plums.  The whole next week I had an orange in my lunch everyday.  And this week I got an apple and two guavas in my lunch everyday.  What the awesome!!

2.  As previously mentioned, the milk is not really refrigerated around here, which is not a problem to anyone's health, but it's a minor problem to the tastebuds.  So one day I was thinking, "You know, I kind of miss cold milk.  That would be nice right now."  That night?  Cold milk in my cereal.  The next morning?  Cold milk in my cereal.  Several times during the rest of that week?  Cold milk in my cereal.  Two hours ago, cuando Jorge y yo ate cereal?  Cold milk.

3.  Just YESTERDAY I was thinking to myself, "I'm in the mood for some banana bread right now.  That sounds delish.  When I go back home, I think I'll make some."  Then this morning, we ate fried bananas.  Guess what they tasted like.  Banana bread.  Only better.

As Grandma Webb would say, I'm not lucky, I'm blessed.

As if living in Mexico for the summer wasn't blessing enough.  I just don't get it.  

Heaven's inbox might be a little full of gratitude prayers right now.  Just sayin.

Communicationally Challenged

One evening, we were walking to the car post LUCHADORS!!!  If Nacho Libre just popped into your head, you are so right.  I'll have to tell you about that lovely experience later.  Anyway, we were walking to the car and Miguel says to me:

Quieres a tu mama?

So I quickly translate that in my brain to mean:

Do you want your mom?

As in, am I homesick, or something like that.

So of course I'm like:

No.

He makes a confused face, and decides "No entiendes."  So he asks again:

Quieres a tu mama?

I retranslate, but guess what.  I get the same thing:

Do you want your mom?

So I look kind of confused and reply:

Uhh, noo?

He puts on a shocked face and says:

NO QUIERES A TU MAMA?!?!?!?!?!?

And then he puts on his English brain and pulls out:

L-Love?

Ohhhhh.  I get this sudden flash back to some random day in ninth grade Spanish with Miss Erickson telling us there are like seven thousand kinds of love and one of them is the verb querer, which usually means to want, but in this instance, it refers to love.  It's the kind of love you have for casual friends, and just things you like a lot, like spaghetti for example.  And it obviously applies to your madre as well.

So then I'm like:

Oh si si quiero a mi mama.

And then he fake punches me in the face and I flinch and he tells me I don't love my mom and starts laughing his face off.  It's a game.  You have to hold strong and not flinch in order to prove you love your mom or something.

Anyway, point is, do you see what I have to deal with every single day?  The communication barrier in this place is ridiculous!  High school spanish did not prepare me for this.  There are so many times I misinterpret things, or they misinterpret me, or we get culturally confused at each other, and it is just crazy.  But really, that's the fun of it all.  I love how the communication goes around here.

Did you watch the pogo sticking videos?  Miguel doesn't speak English, but guess what.  I always speak English to him.  He speaks Spanish to me and I reply in English, and he carries on in Spanish and we seriously have conversations like that every single day and I love it!  There is also a lot of acting involved and that adds an element of its own.

When I first got here, every time Jorge would burp I would say, "Excuse you."  Then one time he burped and I didn't say anything so he said, "Excuse you,"and smiled this big smile like he was so smart.   It was hilarious.  So I showed him the difference between me and you and taught him to say, "Excuse me" when he burps and he's been saying it ever since.  It's been like a month now, so I think it's stuck.  Which is awesome.  It's funny because he thinks it means, "I'm sorry."  But he doesn't speak enough/any English so I can't explain the difference, so I just let him carry on with his English phrases that he doesn't fully understand.

Speaking of commonly heard phrases that are not fully understood, here are some I hear ALL THE TIME (and don't judge if I spell them wrong):

1.  Orale.  It's an expression. I think it's kind of like holy cow or something.
2.  Dejalo.  That's used when someone is doing something you don't want them to like fighting, or hitting, or trying to snatch something, etc.
3.  Ya.  Like I've already told you, ya is used for everything, and it means something to the effect of enough.  Eloisa always says to me, "Ya comiste (fill in the blank with the name of some food or something)" or "Ya tomaste cereal?"  And when we are going to leave they say, "Ya nos vamos."  Or just "Ya."  Remember the day we went to the pool and played on that spinny thing?  Well, I was spinning it as fast as possible and then everyone started getting sick so they were all saying, "Ya."  So I stopped and they were satisfied.  Also at the pool, me, Elvira, Roberto, Daniel, and the aunt whose name I know not were trying to sit on this floaty tube thing and I got on, but I was kind of confused at what I was supposed to be doing, so I was like, "Ya? Ya?" As in, "Is this right?"  But they thought I meant I was done with them balancing it, so they let go and I flipped over.  I try not to use that word anymore.
4.  Did you notice the "tomasta cereal" part in the previous item?  That is confusing in and of itself because tomar is to drink, which refers to liquid, and apparently cereal.  So you can drink cereal here.  I don't get it.
5.  No manches!  I hear that about seven thousand times a day and people use it in the context of, "I can't believe it!"
6.  Teacher, can I pass?  Yes, this one is in English, because that's what people say to me when I'm teaching and they want to come in and get something.  Apparently in Spanish, when you want to enter a room, you don't say, "Can I come in?"  You say, "Puedo pasar?"  So when you translate it directly, it comes out, "Can I pass?"  Thus it's a new English phrase I will probably use for the rest of my life because I think it's funny.
7.  Si, no?  This is probably my favorite.  In English we say something and then we add "right?" or "ya?" at the end.  For example, "These are mine, right?"  Well in Spanish you say, "Estos son mios, no?"  So when you are doing something and you want to know if you are right, you say, "Si, no?"  It cracks me up every time.
8.  Verdad?  Possibly more common than the question no? is the question verdad?  They really put that at the end of EVERYTHING and I love love love it, verdad?

That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure there are plenty more to come as I remember them.

Even though I still suck at speaking Spanish (because I never practice, I basically always speak English) I am getting much better at understanding, especially the things I hear a lot, and I don't even have to translate those anymore.  One time I was walking toward the stairs when I heard Elvira shout from behind me, "Correle, Brittan!  Correle!"  And I automatically started running.  I didn't even have to think.  It was awesome.

Also, one time I was reading my scriptures and I seriously read Jesus as Jesús.  You know, like how you would read it in Spanish.  And one time I was saying a prayer and I accidentally said Gracias instead of Thank you.  Best prayer ever.

Anyway, there is a lot more I could tell you about the life I am living with this language, but I'll just finish with this one last story.

Today I didn't have to teach because it's vacation, so I went with Elvira and Eloisa to pick up los niños a la escuela.  So me, Elvira, and Jorge were standing there against a wall waiting for Eloisa to find Miguel, and I was speaking English left and right as I always do.  Then this little girl comes up to me with a huge smile on her face and says, "Hello!"  And I say, "Hi!"  And then she walks away feeling super awesome.  Approximately four minutes later she comes back up to me again with the same huge smile and says, "Hi!"  So I say (slowly, of course), "Hi!  How are you?"  She turns to her friend and says, "Que dijo?"  Her friend just shrugs, because he didn't understand me either.  So she turns back to me and says (in a robotic way, and with much thought), "My name is..."

It was hilarious.

Entonces, there you have it.  A day in the life of communicating conmigo, aqui in Mexico.

Equal Me

So, have you ever thought to yourself, "I wonder where Brittan will be in 3 and a half years.  What will she be doing?  What will she like?  How will she feel about the weather?"

Meet Hannah Judd.  This is me.  Me and she?  We are we.  She was born 3 and a half years prior to moi, and aside from that tiny fact, we are the same person.  It is crazy.

Hannah is the oldest child.  I am the oldest child.

Hannah has a younger sister and they are bffs.  I have a younger sister and we are bffs.

Hannah's younger sister is named Emily, and she is here in Mexico with us.

My little sister se llama Meckenzie and she is not here in Mexico with us, but trust me, I would love if she was.  But actually, Emily = Meckenzie, so I basically feel like I'm home.  I laugh at everything Meckenzie says because she freaking cracks me up, and guess what.  I laugh at everything Emily says, too.

And when I see Hannah and Emily together?  It really is like home.  Truly.

They have a little brother who is obsessed with the Steelers.  They are from Texas.

I have two little brothers who are obsessed with the Steelers.  I'm from Utah.  How does that happen?

So back to me and Hannah.

Hannah is a Red.  I'm a Red.  If you don't know the personality colors, go look it up.  But that similarity says a lot right there.

Hannah emailed me once, and she apologized for not capitalizing, like it actually matters.  Oh wait, because it does matter, and she knows that.  I always capitalize in emails.

Hannah calls people by their full name, even if they go by Kim or Brad.  I call people by their full name, even if they go by Jake or Kate.

Hannah criticizes Emily for holding her mouth in a weird way when she talks to certain people.  I have totally said the same thing to Meckenzie.

This is what Hannah thinks about watermelon:  "It's alright.  I eat it because it's a summery fruit and I like that."  It's like she took the words right out of my brain.

Hannah abbreviates words.  I abbreviate words.

One day Jill made cupcakes for her class.  I walked into the kitchen and said, "It smells divine."  I hear Emily from the other room, ". . . you are the same person. . ." and in walks Hannah:  "What did I say when I walked into the kitchen?  'It smells divine.'  We are the same person."

Tis true people.  And really, I can't even rememer half the things we have found to be the same between us.  In fact, I'm kind of sad when I look at this tiny list because every single day we find something else that proves Hannah is me in the future.  I'm Hannah in the past.  She is me.  I am her.  We are we, my friends, and we love it.

It's a good thing we like each other.  Guess what Hannah says to me, "I cannot believe how young you are.  I do not like 18 year olds.  They annoy the crap out of me.  Freshman and Sophmores?  Ew.  But you don't seem that young at all!  I would have never guessed you were that young.  I like you, Brittan!"  And at the beginning of this adventure, when she first found out my age, she told me she sometimes thought of me as older than her.  And she's 22.

Now, if you know me, which you probably don't, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE when people think I'm older than I am.  So we were instant friends right there.

Anyway, she is awesome and I love her and I'm so glad I met her here on my lovely Mexican adventure.  It would just not be the same without her, I tell you.

Now, for a quick explanation of the title.  I don't know why, but my students always say, "Equal me" instead of, "Me too."  It doesn't even make sense because it translates directly in Spanish, "Yo tambien." But I find it hilarious.  Rico says it the most.  Sara will say, "I need a pencil," and Rico will say, "Equal me."  It's awesome.

So, now that you've met Hannah, you think she is approximately the coolest person on the planet?  Equal me, my friends.  Equal me.

*POST EDIT:  Okay this is crazy.  So after posting this, I went over to check out Hannah's blog only to find that she did a post today and guess what she talked about.  The Color Code.  And the fact that she's a Red.  And the fact that her Freshman year of college she made everyone that stepped foot in her door take the test.  I totally did that last semester.  She even posted a "legit chart" of Red characteristics.  You can read her post here if you would like to see even more proof that HANNAH JUDD = BRITTAN PLANTE, and that is the truth.  Whoa, we both have double letters in our names.  Te he.

Mi Cumple Años

Here are all the glorious details.

First of all, my first self portrait at age 19.  I know it's not flattering, but whatev.  It's the first one so it's awesome, okay?

I'm on the roof right outside my room.  Here's what la calle down below looked like on that beloved day.

Behold the shadows of Miguel y yo from high above.

Would you like to hear something adorable?  Right after that picture was taken, Miguel backed up and was like, "Ya. Ya."  (And for those of you who don't speak Spanish, that does not mean "Yes."  It means "Enough" kind of.  It depends on the situation, because it could really mean a lot of things....)  And then he said/acted out that the metal bar at the top of the wall could break, implying that we would fall to our deaths.  He was legitimately scared.  So I was just like whatev and I continued to take pictures of the streets below.  When I turned back around, this is what I saw:

Lo siento Miguelito, but do you really think that clothes line will save you from falling off the roof?  It won't.  But either way, it's adorable that you feel more comfortable back there.  I swear, the things that kid worries about?  He's more likely to die from the non-refrigerated eggs we eat than a free fall off the roof.  So cute.

Anyway, I didn't really do anything all day.  I played lots of games with Jorge, took the above pictures and vids from the last post, cleaned my room, and that's about it.  I honestly don't really remember anything else.  Oh ya, Beca, I ate hot dogs for breakfast/lunch.  They were good.  You were right.

At like 9 or 9:30 p.m. I was playing Egyptian Rat Screw with Jorge for about the seven billionth time that day (I should have never taught him that game) when Elvira came in and said, "Ya vamanos."  And then I was super excited because I knew my birthday celebration was about to begin.

But there is bad news.  I didn't bring my camera with me because she was leading me down the stairs, which is right past the hose/faucet/bucket of water and I assumed there was an ambush there waiting to dump it all on me, because that is seriously a custom for your birthday around here.  So I followed, with no camera in hand, and what did I find waiting for me?  Not endless H2O, but the most adorable little fiesta in the work out room.  When I opened the door, all the lights were off, and Evelia was lighting the last candle on my cake.  The whole room was decorated full of red and pink balloons and streamers and things of all sorts.  The fam (extended and all) was all gathered around along the walls of the room (the room is tiny).  My cake was on it's own little table, with a chair right in front of it, for me of course.  So I sat down.  And then I looked around.  I obviously couldn't see much, because all we had was 9 candles worth of light, but everyone was surrounding me smiling and then they started singing the birthday song which is so so long and in Spanish, and I love love love it, and I was thinking to myself, "I am in Heaven right now.  This is so cool."  And it really was cool.

So I sat there smiling as they all sang to me and took pitures and things.  When the song is over, they all start chanting something (I don't remember what it is), but it means you have to take a bite out of the cake.  You know, like put your face down to it and take a bite.  But you have to be super fast because everyone around you has the special job of shoving your face into it.  It's the coolest thing, and it happens at every birthday every time!  I'm totally starting that when I get home.  So I did and Miguel and Jorge shoved my face in, but I was pretty speedy, so I didn't get shoved in too bad.  Then I cut the cake and started dishing out the pieces.  That's another awesome thing about Mexican birthday parties:  the food.  In America, we get cake and ice cream.  In Mexico, we get a real plate that has the most delicious sandwich (cut in triangles) with ham and tomatos and beans and onions and mayo and other things, and then a side of some sort (sometimes it's chips, sometimes its french fries, in my case it was fries AND jello - and btw if you thought Utah was the jello capitol?  Think again my friend, because Mexico, or at least Puebla, or AT LEAST Tehuacan has the record and there is no way Utah can top it).  Anway, and then you have your piece of cake, of course.  So it's like a full meal, but sugar and fat is the main food group represented.  It's awesome.  That's another thing I will be changing about birthdays when I get home.

So after everyone has a plate of food and a "Refresca" in hand, the regalos start coming.  I am still sitting in the chair in the middle of the room, while people come up one at a time and hand me a gift.  I smile so big and say, "Gracias!" and then we hug and they give me a kiss on the cheek and say "Felizidades" or something with the same effect and everyone gets a picture with me.  So add that to the list of things to change:  Hug and kiss.  It feels awesome.  After all my presents were opened, all the food eaten, and basically that stage of the party came to a natural close, the dance party came out.  There were colorful disco lights flashing everywhere and a disco ball in the center and we all just danced forever.  Now, I am not a dancing person, but since when does that matter in Mexico?  Oh, it doesn't.  Pretty much everything I ever do here, I would never do in America.  So I danced my heart out and had the time of my life.  Really, it was the best birthday EVER.

And sadly, I have no pictures to show you.  But since I am now semi-obsessed with putting videos on my blog, here is basically the theme song of my life right now.  I hear it all the time, and we danced to it like thrice.  It's awesome.  And it's been stuck in my head all day.

Everyone left at like midnightish or a little later.  And then guess what happened.  Me and Miguel were sitting there on the couch and he was like, "Hey, Merry Christmas?  No.  I'm sorry.  No.  Happy Birthday!"  It was the funniest thing ever and I laughed my face off.  He was going through all his English phrases til he found the right one.  It was so cute.

Thus I am one year older and wiser, and more Mexican too.

The Pogo's a No Go

I got some awesome advice this week about how to get videos on my blog.  So behold, my first real video! This is what I did today to celebrate MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

In 2007 I turned 15 in Australia.  Who would have thought that four years later I would be here, living in Mexico, turning 19 and pogo sticking my way into a new year of life.  Not me.  But here I am.

And here is Miguel.

Don't worry, I didn't just jump up and down all day.   I had a legit fiesta that I will tell you about tomorrow.

Hasta luega, mis amigos!

28

That's the number of days I have taught as of 7:30 this evening.  I cannot believe it.

And how did my 28th day go, you might ask?  Oh kind of like this:

That picture was taken by this adorable little boy, Adrian:

 Can you believe I get to teach these kids every single day?

It is so fun.  I love that everyday I walk into class with my books and my bag and write my sentences on the board.  And then my students come in and say, "Hi Teacher!"  And then they sit down and correct the sentences so eagerly.  When I ask them to help me correct them on the board, they all frantically raise their hands, "ME TEACHER! ME! ME! YOU NEED A QUESTION MARK!!"  I love it.

I love when I teach them something new and their eyes light up and their brains expand and they smile like there is nothing better.  Because guess what.  There is nothing better.

I love to hear them speak English to each other.  I know that probably sounds weird, but it's true.  I think it is awesome that they can all communicate with each other in a language totally different from their own.

I love that I can tell them jokes and they actually understand.  And I LOVE to hear them laugh.

A couple days ago Jill caught a freakishly huge, disgusting, scary spider in an upstairs closet drawer.  She put it in a yellow container and we left it there all night.  Then yesterday, I was bringing my kiddos in to start class, and we saw the yellow container, still containing the spider.  But the spider seriously looked nearly dead.  It just curled up its legs and let itself be thrown around as I shook the box.  I said, "I think its almost dead."  So Rico said, "Let me see."  He took it from my hand, shook it around, decided I was right, and just let go.  He let it fall freely from his hand.  Fall.  Freely.  With a freakishly huge, disgusting, scary, probably deadly poisonous spider inside.  What the crap?!

And of course, the spider was fully alive.  It was only "lying" as Sara later called it.  So as soon as the lid popped off, it RAN out of the container, and under the couch.  I screamed.  For real.  Loud and long.  Rico and Jesús pretty much died of laughter.  They reenacted my scream about seven thousand times and they laughed harder than I have ever heard them laugh.  I loved it.

Today it rained.  The thunder was loud and the drops were big.  When class was over, we had to house all the kids in the living room to wait for their parents to pick them up.  I was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, with Adrian rubbing his hands all over my hair, when he randomly decided to suffocate me.  So I made it into this big scene.  I would struggle my hardest to pull his hands away and at the last second I would succeed and then GASP for air like I was about to die.  Then he would do the cutest giggle I have ever heard because he thought it was the funniest thing ever, and we would start the whole thing over.  It was hilarious.  Then Rico decided to join in and help his little brother attempt to murder me.  So it turned into a mini war with those two suffocating me and in return, I would tickle them til they fell over.  Pretty soon about 10 kids were attacking me from all angles.  Their shrieks of laughter were so adorable, how could I resist?  I just couldn't I tell you.  So I let them attack me, rubbing their dirty fingers all over my face, hair, and clothes, and I tickled them all to death.  It was so fun.

I honestly just loved it.

I love that I am here in Mexico spending all my time with the cutest kids on the planet.

Day 28:  Success.

The Fair Otra Vez

When I was a young girl, I wrote a story called something like “Fortunately and Unfortunately” in which each page depicted something fortunate and something unfortunate that happened to the main character.  That book, written by my little girl self, must have been inspired considering that’s how my life has gone these days.

Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera to the fair first time around.

Fortunately, the fair around here lasts weeks.  Weeks, my friends.  Best place ever.

So we went like two more times.  The second time was just for the games and things, no rides involved, and not really any stories, either.

The third time, however, was awesome.  We walked over to the fair grounds around 4ish p.m. and started our adventures with some playing on the playground.  You know what’s crazy?  I think Miguel doesn’t know how to swing or something.  In fact, I feel like no one here knows how to swing, because all the kids on the swing set were just sitting there going back and forth like 3 centimeters.  So I had to show them what’s up.  I went as high as the swing set would allow, touching my toes to the leaves of the tree.  Everyone was watching me.  It was liberating for all, I tell you.  I tried to make Miguel go higher, but as I said, he didn’t really know how, plus he was too scared.  It was quite adorable. 

Then we played on the teeter-totter.  I wasn’t lying:  Best playground toy ever invented!

After that we wandered into a legit break dancing competition, with teams and everything.  They danced on a square of fabric in the street, surrounded by a crowd of cheering fans, with a live band as their support.  It was totally cool and they were all really good. 

Post break dance competition was the rodeo.  It was held in this little circle of dirt with a metal barred fence thing surrounding it.  We crowd members just pulled up a chair right in front of the bars.  Like, really, right in front of them.  I was resting my feet on the bottom bar, I was that close.  For the pre-show, the rodeo clown (is that even what he is called?  No sé, so for the purpose of this blog, that’s his name:  the clwon) asked for 12 volunteer children to come in the middle of the circle.  Miguel and Diego felt up to the challenge, so they joined the other daring little kidlets that awaited their fate in that circle of dirt.  The clown had them all stand in a circle, put their hands on the back of their necks, bend in half at the waist, and spin around RAPIDO!  RAPIDO!  MAS RAPIDO!  And after like 30 seconds of non-stop spinning like that, they would have to stand straight up without moving.  If they fell, or hobbled around too much, they were out.  It was SOOOOOOO FUNNY.  I was laughing my face off the whole time.  As uszch, I took a video and it won’t finish loading.  I give up on blogger.  Just ask me about it when I get home and I’ll show it to you.

Sesa y Jorge

Miguel y Diego

Then the cowboys came out.

Jenna, be jealous.

Just kidding.

Anyway, they were awesome.  But as I told you, we were sitting basically on top of the fence, right?  Well, when the bulls would come out, sometimes they would get freakishly close to the fence, and guess what.  Like everything else in this country, the safety standards for that fence were not exactly up to par, and any bull could fairly easily plow his way through it if he wanted.  So when they would buck off their rider, and then ram around, freaking out until they were lassoed down, they would usually run along the fence and all the people would get scared and back up.  I always just sat there because, you know, I’m invincible and all that.  But there was one bull who was very angry, and rough, and mean.  He threw off his rider, and then bucked his way all around the circle and tried ramming into the fence on the left side.  The lasso dudes missed like three times, so he was still going, and he was getting more and more upset.  And then he rammed his way over to our side and stopped directly in front of us.  Like DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF US.  Everyone backed up majorly of course, but I was seriously physically stuck in my chair, so I couldn’t back up, and you should have felt my heart beat right there.  I was legitimately scared.  It was about to kill me!  But then the lasso was around its neck and it was forced into the pen thing.  Fortunately.

That’s basically it as far as the rodeo goes.  Well, two more things.  One:  In the middle of it all, they took a break for a game in which the clown asked for more volunteers, but he wanted adult men.  They all had to chug a can of beer, sprint across the way to a bottle of coke, spin around it ten times, and then sprint back.  It was actually quite hilarious, despite the smell.  And, of course, I was thinking to myself, “This would never happen in Utah.  This is awesome.”  Number two:  The clown, as mentioned above, looked a little something like this:

And he directed the attention of the entire crowd to me on more than one occasion, one of them being about three seconds after this pic was taken.  That’s what I get for being the only American present.  It really is shocking how much attention I get, no matter where I go.  But I guess it kind of makes sense, because when I’m not with the other teachers, I am the ONLY white person I see.  Even in huge, crowded, busy places.  It’s kind of weird.

Anyway, after that it was time for the fair.  We rode all the same rides as the first night, only this time, it was me and Miguel as ride buddies so it was THAT MUCH BETTER, my friends.

The Dragon

Pre-ride fingers and toes

Pre-ride freaky faces

Okay, look at this one.  I was fortunate enough to have a pusher dude RIGHT NEXT TO ME!  Perfect picture opportunity.  And yes, that is cash stuffed between each of his fingers.

Notice white shirt man pushing with all his might.

I know it's blurry, but what do you expect, I'm on a roller coaster in the dark.  Just take note of man in blue walking along the track, pushing pushing pushing.

And my personal fav.  This is mid-ride people.  At the crucial crazy turning part.  We are trying to make the most of it with our facial expressions.  I think it's working.

Our beloved prizes from the stellar fair games.

This is Not Part 2

This is the picture on the background of my laptop.  Taken the night before I flew away to Mexico.  Are we not the cutest family you have ever seen?!

I know this has nothing to do with Mexico, but still.  Sometimes, even though I am constantly surrounded by my Mexican life with my Mexican food and my Mexican family and my Mexican students and my Mexican sun. . . sometimes I still think of these cute little kidlets and I think to myself, "Man, I am lucky.  I get to spend the summer with my very own Mexican family who I love so so much, and then?  When it's all over?  Then I get to come back to these guys.  Life could not get any better."

I Accepted Something From A Mexican Man

Ignore the weird spacing of the pictures and random spots in the text.  It's not my fault.  I can't get it to work right and I'm sick of trying to fix it.

I need to tell you about the fair, but along with that story comes like five others and it spans across like two and a half weeks and it’s just confusing, even for me, and I’m the one who lived it.  So please be patient and just try to understand this post to the best of your ability.  And be aware, it will probably be ridiculously long.  In fact, I think I’ll split it up.  So consider this part one.

On Sunday, May 15, we went to the grandparents’ house.  That is where I first met the entire extended familia.  It was cool because I remember thinking, “This is what my family is doing at home right now {it was a third Sunday} and I’m doing the same thing, only it’s with this family.”  And let me tell you, it was a blast.  We played a lovely game called Avión, meaning airplane, a.k.a. hopscotch.  Remember that game?  You probably played it like twice in second grade and then got bored?  Well, it’s actually fun when you play it with this family.  EVERYBODY joins in and it is a legitimate competition.  Everyone cheers for everyone else, and it was just so fun! 

Me

Elvira

Miguel

                              

Roberto

Then we played a game called Doctor.  You all hold hands and then get really tangled up and then the doctor has to come and untangle everyone without us letting go of our hands.  That was super fun.  And guess what.  I was even the doctor once and I succeeded, speaking English and everything.

Miguel, Elvira, Saul, Roberto, y Abuelo

Then they brought out a little container with a bunch of little pieces of paper in it, and on each piece of paper was written the title of a movie.  So you would pick one out and then act it out and everyone had to guess what movie you were acting.  Then we did something similar, but on each piece of paper was written some random word and it was a race to see who could think of a song with that word in it.  And if you thought of one you had to run up to the front and touch the wall first and then sing it for everyone.  That was quite hilarious.

Roberto, Daniel (Sesa's Padre), Evelia, y Diego

And it was awesome because I could even play these games without knowing Spanish!  The movies are easy because it involves no talking, and acting is the same in every language.  The song one worked because they would just tell me what the word was in English if I didn’t already know, and I could sing songs I knew.  It was cool.

Then we did races with puzzles.  It was me and Diego against Miguel and Roberto and we totally dominated both times.  It was awesome.  We also played memory, which was fun.

Diego, always dancing, and always asking me to take pictures of him.

After that there was kind of a break in the game playing.  I was just sitting on a chair, and I looked up to see Roberto telling me to “Come here.”  So I got up, grabbed my camera, and followed him.  This is what I saw:

It’s an ice cream car!  It’s not like the ice cream trucks in America that sell you pre-packaged ice cream on a stick.  No, this little car sold legitimate ice cream.  You could have it in a cone or in a little waffle bowl and you could have as many scoops as you wanted, in as many flavors as you wanted.  It was awesome.  Then Roberto said to me, “Cuál quieres?”

Oh no.  I had a little freak out session in my head because guess what.  At training in March, we spent like 30 minutes talking about how we CANNOT ACCEPT ANYTHING FROM ANY MEXICAN MAN EVER EVER EVER.  NEVER.  Seriously.  Because apparently in Mexico, if a girl accepts something from a guy, it means commitment, no matter what it is.  No matter what it is, people.  They said, “Even if it’s just an ice cream cone, just say no and walk away.”  I was like, “Really?  Why would they be offering you an ice cream cone?  Whatev, I just won’t accept anything and all will be well.”

So there I was, standing next to Roberto as he offers me an ice cream cone of all things.  Apparently those trainers weren’t kidding.

About a billion things went through my head in the next two seconds, and then I said, “Chocolate.”

And then I had another little freak out session inside myself because guess what.  I had just accepted something from a Mexican man.  But I was like, “No, this doesn’t count.  He’s in the fam.  Plus Elvira just came out so maybe she’s the one who is actually buying it and thus it’s from her.  Ya.  That’s definitely what’s happening.”

And then I got over it and ate my ice cream and it was divine.

Ice cream

Cones

Heaven in a Waffle Bowl

Then we were pretty much done at the grandparents’ house.  We went home for a couple hours until it was time for the fair.  Before we left, Elvira said to me, “Do you want to bring your camera?  I said, “Mmm no, I’m good.”

I should have brought it.  Because this fair was crazy.

First thing was the roller coaster.  There was this dragon roller coaster that we watched for a few minutes, and I was shocked at what I saw.  Number one, there was a guy smoking on it.  He was smoking while riding a roller coaster.  It was awesome.  Number two, the seat belt things were not really necessary.  It was just this little metal bar that didn’t secure in place or anything.  You just put it over the two of you and pretend like it would hold you in if the roller coaster went upside down.  Numero tres, ANYONE can ride it.  There were little two years olds getting on.  It was crazy.  So we watched it for a while and then Elvira and I got on.  This is where I first regretted not bringing my camera.  We chose our seat, put our little metal bar over our lap, and waited for the ride to begin.  Begin it did, but guess what.  This time all the seats were full, so it was a little heavy.  So it started going, but it got stuck before it even left the station.  So we slowly rolled backward, back to the starting position, and tried again.  This time the guy running the thing actually pushed the roller coaster.  But it got stuck again.  We slowly rolled back once more to our starting position.  Then another worker dude ran up from down below somewhere and together the two pushed as hard as they could to get us going.  And we made it!

So we were riding along, going around and around and after like five or six times, we were rounding the top part, when we got stuck again.  But this was completely out of the starting dock.  So this worker guy climbed the bars and got on the track to get to us.  And the original worker walked along the track to meet him at our car.  Then they pushed pushed pushed until we got going yet again.  As soon as we got going, the two workers quickly climbed down the bars so they wouldn’t get run over.  And then we just kept going around and around like nothing ever happened!  Isn’t that awesome?! 

I got stuck on a roller coaster, and instead of shutting it all down and taking hours to correct the problem, like they would do at Lagoon or something, these people just walk along the track of the roller coaster and push us.  I loved it, I tell you.

After the roller coaster, we met up with the rest of the extended familia, and went over to the trampoline.  I find it semi-sad, semi-awesome that they have actual trampolines at events like these.  Because here in Tehuacan, nobody has a yard, and thus nobody has a tramp.  So people pay money to jump on them at fairs and things.  That’s just weird in and of itself:  The fact that they actually pay to jump on a tramp for 20 minutes with 15 other children, when I have one in my backyard that I can jump on whenever I want.  But also, like I said, there are like 15 other kids on it!  I swear, Mexican kids are just tougher than American kids, because they never cry.  You should have seen what was going on on that trampoline.  There were kids ALL OVER THE PLACE and they were jumping on top of each other and tackling each other, and add 3 huge bouncy balls to the mix, you would assume crying would ensue.  But it doesn’t.  I saw things happen that looked so painful, but no one ever cried.  Because if they cried, they would have to get off, and when you are having your 20 minutes on the trampoline of your dreams, you just can’t waste it by crying, you know?  So no one gets hurt.  If you put 15 kids and 3 balls on one trampoline in America, you would have at least 3 broken bones, 7 crying kids, one and a half popped balls, and several angry parents.  Mexico is magical, I tell you.

Then there were the fireworks.  Oh my gosh, listen to this.  There was this guy, and on his back was a little contraption thing.  It was like the top half of a hollow horse piñata (so it had no legs) and on top of the horses back was the frame of a cube and at each of the bottom corners of the cube was a wheel and on the wheels were fireworks.  So when the fireworks would spew off, it would cause the wheels to spin.  So the wheels were constantly spinning as fire shot off them in all directions, and all this was on some guy’s back.  And this guy was running up and down the street, chasing children.  So he would run one direction and all the kids would scream and run away, while a herd of other kids were running behind him.  Then he would turn around and those kids would scream as he chased them down the street.  It was so funny!  Then there was this giant framework thing, like the cube on the man’s back, only a jillion times bigger, and it stood by itself in the street.  They lit it at the bottom and one firework would go off for a while which would ignite the next one and that would ignite the next one, and so on.  It was really quite clever and awesome looking and I was wondering, “Why don’t we have these in America?”  And then I discovered why.  Number one, it really wasn’t very safe, but nothing here is, so that’s not a prob.  Number two, there was a lot of smoke.  Like, really, a lot.  So much that my body couldn’t hold in the coughing.  It kind of gagged me, along with the rest of the people there.  We’ll probably all get cancer now, but whatever, it was worth it.

Post firework show, we headed over to the bumper cars.  Roberto asked if I wanted to go on them.  I said yes.  What I didn’t realize is that he meant with him.  Because next he asked who is going to drive (me or him).   I was like, Oh great, that ice cream was from him after all.  Te he, that was a joke.

Aaaanyway, so Roberto and I get in one car and Miguel and Elvira get in another.  We were driving along and all of a sudden I see Miguel and Elvira jump out of their car and sprint over to the exit.  So the guy stops the ride and talks to them.  Then they get in a different car, and the ride resumes.  I asked them about it after, and apparently their car started sparking down by the pedal that makes it go.  They didn’t want to catch on fire, so they jumped out mid-ride and ran for their lives.  How awesome is that?

After the bumper cars was the tilt-a-whirl.  This is when I knew for sure that the ice cream cone was a mistake.  I was standing there amidst the fam, trying to understand Diego’s random dancing/spanishness when I hear my name being called.  So I look up to see Roberto getting on the ride and asking if I want to come.  I kind of just stared at him blankly, even though it was clear what he wanted.  So Elvira said, “You go on the ride?”  And I’m like, “Ya do you want to come with me?”  And she was like, “No you go with him.”

Grrr.

So except for the fact that Roberto and I were the only ones on the ride while the rest of the fam waited below, it was freaking awesome and freaking fun.  First of all, it went forever!  These rides never end and I just love it.  But the best part of this tilt-a-whirl, is that there is a worker walking around on the spinny part the whole time the ride is going, and he’s pushing and pulling all the seats so you spin even more! For about the fiftieth time that night, I thought to myself, “This would never happen in Utah.  This is awesome.”

Last was the ferris wheel.  I know what you are thinking.  And guess what.

You are right.

Grrr.

So the whole fam walks over to the ferris wheel, but I didn’t really know what was going on at this point.  I sat down on the curb next to Miguel and we were playing with some garbage in the street or something, when I heard my name yet again.  I look up to see Roberto getting on the ride and asking me if I want to come.  And of course the words of the trainers are playing in my head, “YOU CANNOT ACCEPT ANYTHING FROM ANY MEXICAN MAN EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER.”  So I’m thinking no no no no this is bad. 

I say, “Oh, no thanks, I’m fine.”

Elvira says, “Come on, last one.”

And then the entire family starts chanting my name.  That’s just what they do.  When they want someone to do something, they start chanting their name until they do it.  They did it to me at the grandparents earlier that evening, and they were doing it to me at the ferris wheel. 

How could I reject a cheering crowd?!

I couldn’t.

So I stood up and said, “Oh alright.”

And then I went around and around on the ferris wheel with Roberto on my left, and the whole family on the curb below just watching us.  And you know what?  Despite how that sounds, it was actually really fun. 

Here I am, nearly a month later, to tell you that even though I accepted four things from him that night, it did not mean commitment, and all is well.  So don’t worry.

P.S.  While riding on the afore mentioned ferris wheel, I saw the moon, and I thought of America and my home and my friends and my family and my non-Mexican life.  That’s what looking at the moon in a foreign country does to me apparently.  So anyway, if any of you looked at the moon on the evening of Sunday, May 15^th?  Just know that we BOTH saw it, but from a billion miles apart.  
Awesome, no?