All last week my little freshmints were out camping in the wilderness of Mexico. They claimed it was about group bonding, and to tell you the truth, I don't care what they call it--all I know is, I had a week of one less class. I was diligent the entire week, and continued to come in at 7am each day, despite the fact that for two days last week, I had no teaching responsibilities until 1pm. My school claims to dock you pay, if you do not show up on time: "You are paid as a full time employee, and you are expected to be here as a full time employee--7:30 - 2:45." Well, like I said, I was good about it. Friday though, enough was enough, and after my last class, which let's out at 12:30, I high tailed it home--it felt amazing. I took the dogs to the dog park, and we enjoyed a solid afternoon of butt sniffing and frolicking--that is, the dogs did...I just observed.
Friday night was Pizza with fellow teachers and a little live music and brew at a hip Condessa bar. Saturday, I stayed in, and it felt good. Sunday, I got my work done, and then enjoyed the trafficless streets, as I jetted over to the dog park. I found parking nice and easy. Sunday is a freaking parade of dogs. All the yuppies with their new pure breeds, are out and about. They all scream at their dogs, but none of them listen. Point in case, some Guido with cut off sleeves and a pseudo work out outfit, was redundantly screaming at his Lab to leave Lucio alone. Lucio, was chasing a laser beam, which I was sending in various directions. Lucio would only break concentration, when said Lab would try and hump/paw him. As the redundant drone of the Lab's owner continued, Chops came up and gave a few big barks and positioned himself between the Lab and Lucio--in my mind, I said, "Hell yeah, dog! Run shit!" The lab, not heeding the message of his owner or Chops' bark, kept on. Chops then gently grabbed the Lab by his scruff and pulled him away from Lucio. Finally the owner, now worried about his dog, came and got him. He sheepishly said some shit about how his dog loves little dogs; I condescendingly smiled at him, because he knew that I knew, that he felt like an ass. Later, as I began to exit the park, as the pied piper of my pack, the same fucking Lab came charging back. My dogs followed me, and so did the Lab, and the workout junkie had to run like a little ass shaved poodle after his disrespectful dog. I put my pups on leash and hooked a corner towards a cafe---Pablo Zeta and Anita were waiting with espresso en tow.
Pablo and Ana were nestled up under an awning, sipping tiny cups of caffeine. I sauntered up, distributed the dogs, and we sat down. What was just going to be a quick drop by, turned out to be a couple hour chill out. As we sat and talked, the rain increased to epic down pours (Where is Gloria now?). So we sipped coffee and talked about this that and the other. Pablo took Lucio, and headed back to his apartment to grab his camera. Chops whined as his little buddy went in another direction. When Pablo returned, the rain really started dumping. Pablo shot a time lapse of the old salty Mexican men playing dominoes next to us. Then he turned the camera towards the street. I then decided, during a break in the heavy rain, that it was time for Flow and I to dance--one snapshot at a time. So as we moved, step by step, Pablo snapped away. He then went home and produced the following video. I am really impressed by all the videos he has created. He basically shoots all of these time lapse camera shots, which are just a series of photos, and then he strings them together in a video, and edits in graphics, music, and rhythm. In any event. Enjoy the mishaps of Flow and me, and enjoy a brief video about the frenetic energy of DF. Itis also a testament to the insane amount of PDA that is everywhere here. Notice in the second video, that Chops makes a few cameos--this was the first day I met the Spaniards.
P.S. Currently working on a pixelated picture...updates soon. Chuck Close, anyone? Also, Pablo hates Jack Johnson, but the other night Ana made us Jam Flake for her, and now I am teased for being a Jack JOhnson lover--but that is okay with me.
Showing posts with label Mexico City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico City. Show all posts
Monday, September 28, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Siestas, Sonrisas, and No Sun
A dense gray fog hangs over the high volcanic valley of Mexico City. Street cleaners and street corner cooks, shuffle about in the dimly lit morning haze. The sun is struggling out of bed, and somewhere, down some street, a million alarm clocks fire all at once.
The taxi ride is the same: Jane from North Carolina, in her nasal Southern draw, asks elongated questions, which eat up the 20 minutes to work. Sarah responds to all inquiries, with another story about ASF and its true seedy underbelly. The taxi driver drives, and I sit and dream--will napping ever become a sport?
I arrive to school before 7am. Today the guards have decided to let me pass without my plastic pass; some days they make me write down my name and receive a visitor's pass. Much like most things in Mexico, there seems to be no regularity in their thought process.
My classroom smells of spilt cleaning supplies. I stumble to my desk as the "smart lights" automatically turn on. I throw my bag on the floor, pull my laptop from the bottom drawer of my desk, and I begin to waste the early morning with the internet.
The school has placed thousands of dollars worth of programs onto my computer--namely, the entire Adobe Creative Suite 4. I consider it my job to transfer said material to another computer, my computer. I attempted to use my new tech savvy storgage/synching device, Dropbox. However, the service agreement does not allow the transfer of program files. So it goes, I shall succeed, one flashdrive at a time.
Highlight from yesterday's workday: At the end of the day, I have a free period. Towards the end of the period, before the final school bell, I decided to take a siesta (nap just sounds more selfish), on the back table in my room. I have a method: I lock my door, I tu
rn the lights off, I close the blinds, and I fill a rectangular plastic bag with air, tie it off, use it as a pillow, and I lay down; the back corner of my room is an inpenatrable nexus for observation. What was supposed to be a 10 minute power nap...siesta, turned out to be a 30 minute snore-fest. I would have kept on going, if it weren't for the trusty cleaning lady, entering and hoping to tend to her tasks. I awoke in a flury of confusion and then remembered the meeting I had at 2:45...it was 3:10. I stormed over, slipped in, made my presence known with a few choice comments, and aplogized at the close of the meeting for being tardy. The good thing was, I wasn't the only one late, and hence the blunder was mildly deblunderfied.
Last night, I had intentions of meeting up with Pablo Z, to play a little music, but events occurred. My neighbor, Sarah and her daughter Bella, were being interviewed by the local news. The news was conducting a human interest story about the pubic school system in DF, and a foriegner's perspective. In any event, their deaf dog, Buster, was going nuts with the cameras and stuff, and Sarah sent him up to my house. Lucio and him had similar playing styles--swift, nuerotic, and relentless. Lucio attempted to hump the poor dog for over an hour. Sarah's other kid Olie, was also a little out of hand, and
he got sent up with the dogs--he fell in line with Lucio and Buster's playing style. Watching them negated music playing, and I called in my resignation. Olie left after 40mins, and I left Lucio and Buster to their devices, and I took Flow and Chops on a short walk. Once again, as previously stated, my dogs are proving themseleves time and time again--I am very happy that my dogs have an off button, and can enjoy the company of others, while simply laying down.
After the dogs and kids, I made dinner. A dry rub of chiles on some pork, was the order for the night. I made some Mexican Gringo Rice, and I cooked a sweet little feast for myself. I watched some of The Office Season 3. I have watched season 5 and 1, and I am working on downloading seasons 2 and 4. The Office is addictive, and I truly love every character on the show. Dwight Shrute is a hero!
I pulled myself away from The Office, and I made my jump into painting. The night before I had augmented some pictures in Photoshop, and I had attempted to freehand an outline on one of the canvases I bought. I pushed myself to free hand. Then, holding the canvas above my head, placing a printed picture on the back, I corrected my deviations in proportion. From an outside perspective, I must have looked a little off, walking around under a light, canvas raised above me, one eye closed, lip pinched between my teeth, while I spun under a 40watt fixture. In any event, last night I hunkered down to cover it in paint. I had elimina
ted black from the image, and the result was a very colorful face abstracted in space. I was determined to really find the correct colors for each layer of the paint. I painted for three hours straight, and at the end, I stepped back, and I could not have been more pleased.
The painting is a picture I took of my friend Julia
outside El Califa; we went there the other night when Gloria was in town--she loves al pastor. I also have pictures of Pablo and Ana, and I have a game plan for a large scale production.
That is that. I should get to the grading I have yet to do. Seeing how I have today's class planned, and it doesn't start until 1pm, I think I have plenty of time...but, I do always find away to consume that void in a less than work related way. Perhaps a brief morning siesta is in order?
The taxi ride is the same: Jane from North Carolina, in her nasal Southern draw, asks elongated questions, which eat up the 20 minutes to work. Sarah responds to all inquiries, with another story about ASF and its true seedy underbelly. The taxi driver drives, and I sit and dream--will napping ever become a sport?
I arrive to school before 7am. Today the guards have decided to let me pass without my plastic pass; some days they make me write down my name and receive a visitor's pass. Much like most things in Mexico, there seems to be no regularity in their thought process.
My classroom smells of spilt cleaning supplies. I stumble to my desk as the "smart lights" automatically turn on. I throw my bag on the floor, pull my laptop from the bottom drawer of my desk, and I begin to waste the early morning with the internet.
The school has placed thousands of dollars worth of programs onto my computer--namely, the entire Adobe Creative Suite 4. I consider it my job to transfer said material to another computer, my computer. I attempted to use my new tech savvy storgage/synching device, Dropbox. However, the service agreement does not allow the transfer of program files. So it goes, I shall succeed, one flashdrive at a time.
Highlight from yesterday's workday: At the end of the day, I have a free period. Towards the end of the period, before the final school bell, I decided to take a siesta (nap just sounds more selfish), on the back table in my room. I have a method: I lock my door, I tu
rn the lights off, I close the blinds, and I fill a rectangular plastic bag with air, tie it off, use it as a pillow, and I lay down; the back corner of my room is an inpenatrable nexus for observation. What was supposed to be a 10 minute power nap...siesta, turned out to be a 30 minute snore-fest. I would have kept on going, if it weren't for the trusty cleaning lady, entering and hoping to tend to her tasks. I awoke in a flury of confusion and then remembered the meeting I had at 2:45...it was 3:10. I stormed over, slipped in, made my presence known with a few choice comments, and aplogized at the close of the meeting for being tardy. The good thing was, I wasn't the only one late, and hence the blunder was mildly deblunderfied.
Last night, I had intentions of meeting up with Pablo Z, to play a little music, but events occurred. My neighbor, Sarah and her daughter Bella, were being interviewed by the local news. The news was conducting a human interest story about the pubic school system in DF, and a foriegner's perspective. In any event, their deaf dog, Buster, was going nuts with the cameras and stuff, and Sarah sent him up to my house. Lucio and him had similar playing styles--swift, nuerotic, and relentless. Lucio attempted to hump the poor dog for over an hour. Sarah's other kid Olie, was also a little out of hand, and
he got sent up with the dogs--he fell in line with Lucio and Buster's playing style. Watching them negated music playing, and I called in my resignation. Olie left after 40mins, and I left Lucio and Buster to their devices, and I took Flow and Chops on a short walk. Once again, as previously stated, my dogs are proving themseleves time and time again--I am very happy that my dogs have an off button, and can enjoy the company of others, while simply laying down.After the dogs and kids, I made dinner. A dry rub of chiles on some pork, was the order for the night. I made some Mexican Gringo Rice, and I cooked a sweet little feast for myself. I watched some of The Office Season 3. I have watched season 5 and 1, and I am working on downloading seasons 2 and 4. The Office is addictive, and I truly love every character on the show. Dwight Shrute is a hero!
I pulled myself away from The Office, and I made my jump into painting. The night before I had augmented some pictures in Photoshop, and I had attempted to freehand an outline on one of the canvases I bought. I pushed myself to free hand. Then, holding the canvas above my head, placing a printed picture on the back, I corrected my deviations in proportion. From an outside perspective, I must have looked a little off, walking around under a light, canvas raised above me, one eye closed, lip pinched between my teeth, while I spun under a 40watt fixture. In any event, last night I hunkered down to cover it in paint. I had elimina
ted black from the image, and the result was a very colorful face abstracted in space. I was determined to really find the correct colors for each layer of the paint. I painted for three hours straight, and at the end, I stepped back, and I could not have been more pleased.The painting is a picture I took of my friend Julia
outside El Califa; we went there the other night when Gloria was in town--she loves al pastor. I also have pictures of Pablo and Ana, and I have a game plan for a large scale production.That is that. I should get to the grading I have yet to do. Seeing how I have today's class planned, and it doesn't start until 1pm, I think I have plenty of time...but, I do always find away to consume that void in a less than work related way. Perhaps a brief morning siesta is in order?
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