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I stayed up late on Thursday afternoon and made copies and pla
ns. I left the sub handouts and instructions and I went home to pack. I went home to pack, and went to the park. I came home from the park and blogged, and finally at 11pm I packed. The next day, I went to school in dirty clothes and hiking shoes. I loaded a bust in a whirlwind of confusion and various languages. I went to sleep after a conversation about friends and feelings...I started this post several days ago. I left it until now, to finish, and well, so much has happened since, I find it hard to recount it all.
In any event here it is, shortened down.
Veracruz: Arrived by luxury bus, after two good movies. Got off said bus, and stepped up to the lunch buffet. Day One's food set the bar, and every meal following was a notch up--the food was phenomenal. I bunked with three other chaperons: Alejandro, the photography teacher and ASF grad; Mauricio, the cunning Chilean who never ceases to make me laugh and or think; and Omar Ugalde, dean of students for the high school. It was a great bonding experience, sharing a room with them. After bunking up, came ice breaking, and I felt sort of odd, but fell in the groove. Ice breaking lead to dinner which lead to
sleep. The folks running the trip did everything, and we were merely an insurance policy.Day Two, early rise, and another spectacular buffet. Good conversation and the excitement of rafting. We geared up and began our lessons. In groups of 5 we had to flip the raft over in the pool, have one person get on the overturned boat, and flip it back over, then pile all back in. I was the flipper, and our teamed rocked, a good omen for the day. We created teams--5 students, 1 teacher, and 1 guide. Matthias, a hip Colombian sophomore dubbed us, The Toronto Rafters. Sergio and Juan Pablo were brothers, whom both had a quiet humor about them. Katy was loud and from Maryland, and Nicole was southern shy, from Virginia. We rocked class 3 and 4 rapids, and had a blast.
After the long trip back from the river, we gorged on lunch. Then, I found a hammock off in the shade and took a siesta. I awoke an hour later, and we headed out to zip lining. 5 segments, all awesome, a freakin blast through and through. Mauricio, the relentless negotiator, finagled the deal so that we could ride on top of the truck heading up the hill. On the way back, we shared the roof with the Mexican outdoors team who sponsored our ziplining efforts. We had to duck branches as we came down the hill--regardless of language--laughter is laughter.
Dinner, amazing! Sleep even better. The next day was a good day, a day ready for road riding. We piled into the Bus and strapped in for two more movies. The terrain on the way back, perhaps because I was awake, was beautiful. We passed through jungle, to mountain tops, to foggy washed out roads. It was great. The ride home went quick. I rode next to the faithful and fearless Siri Berman. We had good conversations.
I came home, I slept, I sat, I enjoyed the dogs, I said hello to home.
Well that was an awful shorthand account, but so it goes.
During a stop, I watched the gentleman hanging out of the red truck, tazer the livestock. They were a bunch of rowdy bulls, and he had a long yellow electrical stick to humble them with.
Today was awesome. This entire week is taken up by standardized testing, and well basically I don't have to teach. That being said, it has allowed me to catch up on a plethora of needed crap. Blah blah blah, the day kicked on. At the end of the school day, Vanessa called me. Vanessa is the forward young Mexicana who picked me up in the park. She does make-up for commercials and has the day off. I, although interested in seeing her, was not dying to do so--I really wanted to just go the park and chill. We made plans for Friday, though she said, she may go to the park. Great.
Waiting for a taxi, my phone rings again. This time Julia the Catalan calls me. She says she has another Spanish friend that wants to practice her English, in exchange I will practice my Spanish. So we make plans to meet at the park. Julia brings an army of Spanish folks with her--actually three others: Vanessa, Ana, and Pablo. We introduce ourselves, and Pablo and Julia go to get art supplies, while Ana, Vanessa (a Spaniard, not the Mexicana), and I find a bench to discuss. In the back of my mind, I imagine the other Vanessa showing up, and the odd scene that this may appear as. In any event we practice English, which basically amounts to sharing life stories. Both women are here for their partners livelihood, and currently are unemployed and bored. Ana, is a 3D animator, and Vanessa is an economist. They are both qualified, but cultural and situational difficulties are making employment hard. We talk for about 40minutes in English, and then Pablo and Julia escort us to a new section of the park, where they draw us and the dogs, and we switch to Spanish. Their lisp is funny, and it makes me work hard at understanding. In the end, this is perfect.
After 2 hours at the park, we head to a cafe/pub and get some Michelada Cubanas. This is the style michelada in Guatemala, and I dig them. My dogs are freaking angels, while Lucio is a little riled up. We have good conversation and I feel an overwhelming sense of, "Hell yeah, Life!" I exchange info with Pablo, who is really good at correcting my Spanish, and I exchange info with ana too. We all have an eager excitement about meeting again. We are now friends on facebook.
I am happy to hook into an artistic group outside of school. The situations are continuing to rock.
I am tired, and no time to correct. Ahoy!
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