After turning the final corner, I stood dead in my tracks. Looking into an open outdoor space of about 100 people coughing, wearing masks, bloodshot eyes and crying babies, I felt like I was in a movie. I had no idea how much of an issue the flu and Dengue were in Guadalajara. I was suddenly thankful of the horrid mask I too had to wear. Who knew what all of these people were sick with standing around me. All I knew was I wanted to get in the office, get my medicine, and get out FAST.
Rewind...
Wednesday morning: I woke up to a weird ache on my lower back. After close examination in the mirror and with the help of two friends, we decided it was either a rash or a bite. The rash was raised, swollen and red, yet I had absolutely no idea where it came from. It was so big and painful there was no way I could simply forget bumping into something, being burned by a candle, or drunkenly injuring myself without knowing. All options were out of the question. This odd rash simply "appeared." I let it be and boggled my brain the next two days about where it could have possibly come from...
Thursday: I began to develop a cough and my muscles began to feel sore. I didn't think this was too out of the ordinary due to my weak immune system and the fact of about 50% of my class being sick with something.
Friday: Went to school utterly exhausted. I thought this was because I went out three nights in a row with friends. Although, I did not drink too much any of the nights so maybe it was just exhaustion. I began to think... Wow, turning 26 does feel a lot different. My poor body can't take it anymore. On the walk home from school, I explained to Gabi how every muscle in my body ached. How my eyes seemed like they were burning and had an ache all on its own. I got home at 11:30 a.m. and slept until 4:30 p.m. After waking up to eat something and find out what my friends were doing, I crawled back into bed around 7 p.m. and did not wake up until the next morning at about 9:30 a.m.!!
Saturday: Sick, sick, and more sick. I decided I should probably go to the doctor to get checked out for Dengue Fever (a fever people get from mosquitoes carrying the illness which causes aches, burning eyes, exhaustion, lack of hunger, etc.). My good ol roommie accompanied me to the emergency room where they proceeded to do a blood test and cotton swab swipe of my nose. We were informed to come back in at least 2 hours for the lab results. Of course on the way home, the hospital called and said they needed another test since the cotton swab test had too much mucus on it! So, three rounds and back at the hospital, I waived my doctor down, who looked at me and said, "I have bad news... come here."
WHOA WHOA WHOA!! First off, you do not tell a sick patient, "I have bad news." Do you know how many crazy things went through my head? I thought they were going to say I have cancer or something!
Diagnostics showed I apparently have Dengue Fever and the Flu. Right now there are six types of different flus floating around in the Zapopan area alone. The nasty rash I noticed Wednesday morning, however, was the mosquito bite of a Dengue Fever carrier. So of course, I of all people get two different types of illnesses, both attributed with fevers, at the same time!
The first sign of Dengue is an odd rash on lower extremities (check). Next up are symptoms which include dry cough, headaches, pain in the eyes, exhaustion, lack of hunger, and body aches (check, check, check, check, check, and check). During my chat with the doctor, after joking around about being the "special patient" with not one but two flues, I let out a few coughs. All of the doctors gave my doctor "the look." She came back to me with a surgical mask in hand, looked me dead in the eyes and said, "I'm sorry. Please don't hate me, but you have to wear this for the next five days." ACK!! Of course I started crying (there was a lot of emotion going on during the day. I think it was from being exhausted, feverish and sick). After filling out a bunch of forms and getting some medicine, my doctor told me I would now have to go to another hospital to get some type of a transfusion/medicine. Who knows, a lot gets lost in translation.
My doctor escorted me outside and asked a valet guy to give me a hand so the taxi driver would not up the charge for being a foreigner. The gimmick ended up being him telling the driver I just had surgery and couldn't talk. This way he would never know I was from the States! The drive ended up being a lot of gestures, nods and shakes. Interesting...
The next hospital visit is a story all on it's own.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Another One Bites the Dust - Monica and Spike
Yes, I'm at that age where it seems like everyone around me is getting engaged/married. A HUGE CONGRATS to Monica and Matt who are recently engaged within the past 24 hours!!
So happy for the two of you and wishing you the best of luck!
p.s. it was actually Spike's idea to incorporate a top 10 list every week into my blog. Too bad I've slowly nodded off on all the updates.
So happy for the two of you and wishing you the best of luck!
p.s. it was actually Spike's idea to incorporate a top 10 list every week into my blog. Too bad I've slowly nodded off on all the updates.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
I'm in LOVE...
With my new school!!! Long story short, my group had to change schools since our previous one already had an English teacher and we are required to teach one hour of English every week. So this morning while we were at school at the university everyone was pretty nervous we were going to have the same situation where the teachers questioned why we were there, complained they didn't have time for us, and didn't want to help us.
This new school is also two bus rides away except for it seems a lot closer than the last one. It's still located in my Zapopan "hood" and probably takes 45 minutes max. We arrived a bit early so we grabbed a few tacos and strawberry cheesecake at two places across the street from the school. Shortly after we arrived at the school, the principal came up to us and welcomed each and every one of us. Then we were each taken to our new classrooms which we will be in through December.
Luckily, I'm still in my favorite grade (second) and I only have 34 kids which is more than a 10 person difference than my previous 46! The teacher carried on with her lesson and absolutely blew me away. Here was a teacher which took one comment from one of her students about having 6 dogs and 2 cats and turns it around into a full out math situation for 2 hrs! She had control of the class, the children were respectful, they didn't run up to the teacher and interrupt her nor did they ask to go to the restroom every 5 minutes.
Half way through I began to think it was too good to be true. When were the kids going to get so bored they would start playing loudly, scream or stand on their desks? When was the teacher going to stop teaching and gossip about her kids in front of them about the multiple learning disabilities and personal lives? When was the teacher going to tell me that I'm wasting my time and should go home?
Never - Such a sigh of relief. When the school bell rang, I walked out smiling, hugging and my hands were shaking out of shock and complete happiness. Then the principal approached me in the play area and asked me to come with her to her office. I began to think, ut oh, what did I do wrong? Then, I walked in and she handed me a little box with flan! Although this school still lacks some resources, they are 110% change in the positive realm. So happy to be there and can't wait for the next 3.5 months.
Next week I am teaching Art, PE, English and Math each for one hour. My first actual lessons in front of the classroom, all of which are going to be in Spanish. I also volunteered yesterday to take on an additional class to teach one hour of English each week. So instead of having to only teach my second graders, I will now also be teaching a third grade class how to speak English. Super nervous and still creating the lesson plans. Hopefully it'll all go over smoothly.
Side note: When I first sat down in my class, I heard a whistle, looked over from where it was coming from and realized it was towards me. About 10 minutes later, the same little seven year old boy walked over and gave me candy with a wink. The rest of the class time he spent either staring at me or at my legs. They definitely start the whole flirting and wooing thing early down here!
This new school is also two bus rides away except for it seems a lot closer than the last one. It's still located in my Zapopan "hood" and probably takes 45 minutes max. We arrived a bit early so we grabbed a few tacos and strawberry cheesecake at two places across the street from the school. Shortly after we arrived at the school, the principal came up to us and welcomed each and every one of us. Then we were each taken to our new classrooms which we will be in through December.
Luckily, I'm still in my favorite grade (second) and I only have 34 kids which is more than a 10 person difference than my previous 46! The teacher carried on with her lesson and absolutely blew me away. Here was a teacher which took one comment from one of her students about having 6 dogs and 2 cats and turns it around into a full out math situation for 2 hrs! She had control of the class, the children were respectful, they didn't run up to the teacher and interrupt her nor did they ask to go to the restroom every 5 minutes.
Half way through I began to think it was too good to be true. When were the kids going to get so bored they would start playing loudly, scream or stand on their desks? When was the teacher going to stop teaching and gossip about her kids in front of them about the multiple learning disabilities and personal lives? When was the teacher going to tell me that I'm wasting my time and should go home?
Never - Such a sigh of relief. When the school bell rang, I walked out smiling, hugging and my hands were shaking out of shock and complete happiness. Then the principal approached me in the play area and asked me to come with her to her office. I began to think, ut oh, what did I do wrong? Then, I walked in and she handed me a little box with flan! Although this school still lacks some resources, they are 110% change in the positive realm. So happy to be there and can't wait for the next 3.5 months.
Next week I am teaching Art, PE, English and Math each for one hour. My first actual lessons in front of the classroom, all of which are going to be in Spanish. I also volunteered yesterday to take on an additional class to teach one hour of English each week. So instead of having to only teach my second graders, I will now also be teaching a third grade class how to speak English. Super nervous and still creating the lesson plans. Hopefully it'll all go over smoothly.
Side note: When I first sat down in my class, I heard a whistle, looked over from where it was coming from and realized it was towards me. About 10 minutes later, the same little seven year old boy walked over and gave me candy with a wink. The rest of the class time he spent either staring at me or at my legs. They definitely start the whole flirting and wooing thing early down here!
Guanajuato
Hello there beautiful town of different colorful buildings and cobblestone streets. Located about 3.5 hours away on a bus from Guadalajara, I made the trek to Guanajuato with six friends in my program two weeks ago to this quaint little town.
Isolated between a few "mountains" or hills, lays the town of Guanajuato. When we first arrived, we wandered around trying to find a place which would be able to accommodate such a large group for the weekend. We ended staying right near al centro at the Hostal Companero which had a dorm room with six bunk beds. Short one bed, Alex volunteered to sleep on the floor because he's "done it so many times and had worse." Alrighty, we all got settled in and then headed out to wander around the city and grab a bite to eat.
We ended up chowing down at a restaurant called Van Gough, only about a 5-10 minute walk away from our hostal located right in the main square. Mariachi bands circled the restaurants and played occasionally as we ate some of the local foods. After our delicious meal, we wandered around town to have a greater understanding of our surroundings. Exhausted from a long day, we went back to our hostal early and called it a night.
Saturday... a full jam packed Saturday. First we ate breakfast at a cute little place called Calipso. The food was decent and more Americanized. Then we were off to tour the city and see all it offered.
First off... the University. On the way to one of the museums, we stumbled across the local University. Knowing that our program was considering taking place in Guanajuato, we all looked up the huge stairs leading up to the main entrance in awe. After taking a mental picture, we then kept going to the house where artist Diego Rivera was born. The house included original furniture and collections of art amongst one of the three or four stories of multiple houses converted into one.
From here, we made our way to find Callejon del Beso. The story goes that two star crossed young lovers (think Romeo & Juliet) met their fatal end in the little alleyway. Legend has it that you must kiss your loved one on the third step or receive bad luck/fatal end to your love affair. After a quick pic with the girls, we trekked across town and uphill to check out the mummies. They are naturally mummified due to the soil content, temperature and humidity (I think). Some of it was creepy and other parts were cool. Just take it for what it is and I think it's enjoyable.
Afterwards, we ate and got ready for the night. Since it was one of our member's bday, Alex, we all attended a free modern dance and folklorico show put on by these girls we met at breakfast from NY. The performance was pretty impressive - displaying mainly the two types of dancing.
On Sunday, we ate brunch and took the funicular up to El Pipila before making our way back to GDL. Talk about a panoramic view:
Isolated between a few "mountains" or hills, lays the town of Guanajuato. When we first arrived, we wandered around trying to find a place which would be able to accommodate such a large group for the weekend. We ended staying right near al centro at the Hostal Companero which had a dorm room with six bunk beds. Short one bed, Alex volunteered to sleep on the floor because he's "done it so many times and had worse." Alrighty, we all got settled in and then headed out to wander around the city and grab a bite to eat.
We ended up chowing down at a restaurant called Van Gough, only about a 5-10 minute walk away from our hostal located right in the main square. Mariachi bands circled the restaurants and played occasionally as we ate some of the local foods. After our delicious meal, we wandered around town to have a greater understanding of our surroundings. Exhausted from a long day, we went back to our hostal early and called it a night.
Saturday... a full jam packed Saturday. First we ate breakfast at a cute little place called Calipso. The food was decent and more Americanized. Then we were off to tour the city and see all it offered.
First off... the University. On the way to one of the museums, we stumbled across the local University. Knowing that our program was considering taking place in Guanajuato, we all looked up the huge stairs leading up to the main entrance in awe. After taking a mental picture, we then kept going to the house where artist Diego Rivera was born. The house included original furniture and collections of art amongst one of the three or four stories of multiple houses converted into one.
From here, we made our way to find Callejon del Beso. The story goes that two star crossed young lovers (think Romeo & Juliet) met their fatal end in the little alleyway. Legend has it that you must kiss your loved one on the third step or receive bad luck/fatal end to your love affair. After a quick pic with the girls, we trekked across town and uphill to check out the mummies. They are naturally mummified due to the soil content, temperature and humidity (I think). Some of it was creepy and other parts were cool. Just take it for what it is and I think it's enjoyable.
Afterwards, we ate and got ready for the night. Since it was one of our member's bday, Alex, we all attended a free modern dance and folklorico show put on by these girls we met at breakfast from NY. The performance was pretty impressive - displaying mainly the two types of dancing.
On Sunday, we ate brunch and took the funicular up to El Pipila before making our way back to GDL. Talk about a panoramic view:
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tequila
I am definitely falling behind in updating my blog on all of my latest adventures and experiences here in Mexico. Now has come the time where I am slowly going to begin to summarize a few key points of my stay and travels. First up, TEQUILA...
While my parents were still here, we took a trip to the town of Tequila with IMAC, an intensive study abroad school located in Guadalajara. In total, the group only ended up being five students (the three of us included) and the driver. We took a large van to Tequila, which was a pleasant drive overlooking the countryside and mountain after mountain covered in blue agave (a.k.a. tequila plant). We visited two distilleries (one family owned and one more corporate and fancy). To sum it up simply, tequila tasting is just like wine tasting... minus all the wine. The agave plants covered the hills and even resembled vineyards in Sonoma at times. Two shots and a thumbs up to the tour from IMAC.
For my bday, I went back to Tequila with three friends in my program. Except this time we took the "Tequila Express" train to the town. What I was told was going to happen was all you can drink on the train, tours of distilleries, tastings, lunch, mariachi and folklorico dancing. Well... it was basically all true except for the tours and tastings. On the way to Tequila on the train, they gave us chicharrones to munch on and pre-made beverages in a can which included Tequila. A little suspicious...
Then we got to the distillery and walked around with a guided tour. Where in which the coolest part ended up being the original distillery built in the 1800's basically in a cave. Then we were led to an open area where we ate lunch from a buffet and watched the dancing and mariachi band. Afterwards, they boarded us back on the bus to go back on the train to head home.
In the end... I would recommend the Tequila Express for people and families who want to see all of it (music, tequila, food) in one day. I felt that the smaller and more personal guide was more bang for your buck and a memorable experience. Especially after I had such an amazing time with my parents and IMAC.
**Side note: The big plus about Tequila Express was that they kept giving the four of us more tequila on the way back. Annnd it ended up being more personalized with a private dance party once all of the other patrons got off the train. If this was included in a daily program, it would be a little more fun.
While my parents were still here, we took a trip to the town of Tequila with IMAC, an intensive study abroad school located in Guadalajara. In total, the group only ended up being five students (the three of us included) and the driver. We took a large van to Tequila, which was a pleasant drive overlooking the countryside and mountain after mountain covered in blue agave (a.k.a. tequila plant). We visited two distilleries (one family owned and one more corporate and fancy). To sum it up simply, tequila tasting is just like wine tasting... minus all the wine. The agave plants covered the hills and even resembled vineyards in Sonoma at times. Two shots and a thumbs up to the tour from IMAC.
For my bday, I went back to Tequila with three friends in my program. Except this time we took the "Tequila Express" train to the town. What I was told was going to happen was all you can drink on the train, tours of distilleries, tastings, lunch, mariachi and folklorico dancing. Well... it was basically all true except for the tours and tastings. On the way to Tequila on the train, they gave us chicharrones to munch on and pre-made beverages in a can which included Tequila. A little suspicious...
Then we got to the distillery and walked around with a guided tour. Where in which the coolest part ended up being the original distillery built in the 1800's basically in a cave. Then we were led to an open area where we ate lunch from a buffet and watched the dancing and mariachi band. Afterwards, they boarded us back on the bus to go back on the train to head home.
In the end... I would recommend the Tequila Express for people and families who want to see all of it (music, tequila, food) in one day. I felt that the smaller and more personal guide was more bang for your buck and a memorable experience. Especially after I had such an amazing time with my parents and IMAC.
**Side note: The big plus about Tequila Express was that they kept giving the four of us more tequila on the way back. Annnd it ended up being more personalized with a private dance party once all of the other patrons got off the train. If this was included in a daily program, it would be a little more fun.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Bucket List for Mexico
It's that time again! When I first arrived in Guadalajara, I scribbled out a few things I knew I would have to do before leaving. I'm only in Guadalajara till December so I created once again a new and shiny bucket list a.k.a. GDL "Fun List."
It's pretty rough, but here's what I have so far:
* Attend at least one Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling with the really "cool" masks)
* Attend a few partidos (UAG and Chivas)
* Torros
* Zip lining through trees
* Tequila Express
* Oaxaca
* Ride bicycles in downtown GDL
* Salsa Dancing
All and any suggestions are more than welcome!
It's pretty rough, but here's what I have so far:
* Attend at least one Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling with the really "cool" masks)
* Attend a few partidos (UAG and Chivas)
* Torros
* Zip lining through trees
* Tequila Express
* Oaxaca
* Ride bicycles in downtown GDL
* Salsa Dancing
All and any suggestions are more than welcome!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Day One: Student Teaching
Earlier this week, I started my first day at the school I will be student teaching at in GDL through December. I ended up having my friend Gabi with me the entire time the first day since administration was still figuring out placement for her classroom of first graders. Lucky us got to sit in on the first day of school for 45 students, where they drew pictures and discussed what they did during vacation and wrote from 1-100 and backwards on graph paper. First impression is that the kids, teacher and staff seem awesome.
However, there are definitely differences in the classroom which I immediately noticed. First off, every kid showed up with about four rolls of toilet paper and antibacterial soap! Also, some of the kids have to sit three to a desk (short table) since there is not enough room to just do two to a desk. The rules were not gone over on the first day and there was complete disorder during the entire three days I observed. When I spoke to the English teacher about the students' current level, he told me they are a strong group even at 45. He also said a classroom with 45 students in Mexico is considered normal and that I should check out the 5th grade class with 51 students!! Holy mackerel!
So I begin actually instructing in a week and a half. I'm supposed to start off with one hour of an English lesson and then there's a week in September where I will have to teach an hour of Art, PE and Math to the kids. The only thing that makes me nervous is controlling all of the kids at once. There is hardly any order in the classroom as is, with about five of them coming up every few minutes saying, "Maestra! Maestra! Puedo ir al bano??!!?!?"
Deep, even, breaths...
However, there are definitely differences in the classroom which I immediately noticed. First off, every kid showed up with about four rolls of toilet paper and antibacterial soap! Also, some of the kids have to sit three to a desk (short table) since there is not enough room to just do two to a desk. The rules were not gone over on the first day and there was complete disorder during the entire three days I observed. When I spoke to the English teacher about the students' current level, he told me they are a strong group even at 45. He also said a classroom with 45 students in Mexico is considered normal and that I should check out the 5th grade class with 51 students!! Holy mackerel!
So I begin actually instructing in a week and a half. I'm supposed to start off with one hour of an English lesson and then there's a week in September where I will have to teach an hour of Art, PE and Math to the kids. The only thing that makes me nervous is controlling all of the kids at once. There is hardly any order in the classroom as is, with about five of them coming up every few minutes saying, "Maestra! Maestra! Puedo ir al bano??!!?!?"
Deep, even, breaths...
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