After our spinning class on Saturday, Susanna took me over to this chiropractor on the next street. And before I had the chance to look into this guy and learn about his methods or anything like that I found myself explaining to him my problem and how my chiropractor at home remedied it. Well, I don't know if it was language problems or what, but he completely ignored me and cracked the shit out of me. He even had an assistant to hold my feet, but all he adjusted was my neck. And that's the part I really hate. My chiro in Canada was sooooo gentle. This guy just ranked on it in a hundred different ways. And he didn't even touch my hip. He's telling me that they're all connected. I know this, but sometimes each part needs a little bit of attention separately from the spinal column.
Needless to say, I didn't like him at all as a doctor. Nice guy, but not the kind of chiropractor i'm looking for. My doc in Canada really set the bar high. At least the session only cost 5 bucks.
But the people here are really uneducated when it comes to medical issues. They have all these "old wives tales" as we'd call them and they believe them to be fact no matter how ridiculous they are. They take their doctor's word as it is without question.
- wrap babies up cuz they need to sweat. well, babies don't sweat, they don't have sweat glands. Plus, its pretty freaking hot here sometimes.
- if you have a fever roll a hard boiled egg up and down the skin, to remove it. when you peel it, you see the fever under the shell. well, in Canada, we call that the membrane part of the egg.
- when your baby is born, tape a marble or a raisin in their belly button so its an 'inny'.
April has been sharing with me all these crazy traditions they have.
I'm just surprised no one questions anything.
After Susana and I went to see this chiro on Saturday, he told us not to exercise for 3 or 4 days. I thought that was ridiculous, so I've still been going, but I haven't seen Susana since then. I told her when we left the dr, that I'd still go. I've been to chiros before and its ok. She kinda looked at me funny, like how dare I defy what the dr says. lol
Life is definitely interesting. If I can think of more of their old wives tales, I'll post them.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
I guess now I'm really settling in here. My language skills are getting better, even though I still have quite a way to go. This morning I got up at 7.30 again, which I have been doing all week. This spinning class is quite the aerobic exercise and I'm actually starting to enjoy it. (I just had to briefly pause typing to let out a huge yawn.) I got home just after 9 and ran up to the roof to do a load of laundry. After that that floors desperately needed a wash, so I cleaned those up. Now I'm sitting here catching up on the internet since we haven't had it for a few days. (Another large yawn.)
Oh ya, I was talking about how I was settling in here. For a few weeks now, I've been walking around our little community by myself. Going to the store, the gym, the market... It's nice now to have a little more freedom and feel confident enough in my communication skills to do it. I also have a couple of leads on jobs. We passed by this English school the other day and decided to go in and see if they needed any teachers. I sat down with Ulysis for a while and he told me they're starting these conversation classes where they give you a topic and let you practice speaking English. He said I'd be great for that because I don't have a Mexican accent, but speak true English. He said they'd pay me 100 pesos an hour (10 bucks) which is really good for here.
Then the other day we ran into April's friend, Luz who teaches grown-ups business English. She said she could get me a job with her company too. So I have lots of options. I never did email that Canadian English school. Ah well. If I need to, I will. I also found out yesterday that Edgar's sister in law is teaching English for $30/hr! She has no certificate and her English isn't very good. So, I'm really not worried about finding English work. Especially now since I'm fully certified. But the thought of being paid 10 bucks an hour just to talk to people about something sounds great to me! They're really close to here too.
I have also recently got a Mexican cell phone. I have to still keep my Canadian one because the plan isn't up for another year. If anyone wants to take over my plan, let me know. ;)
Well, now that the whole TEFL thing is done, I've got to get back into the Spanish study. I always get really excited when someone's talking to me in Spanish and I know exactly what they're saying and can answer them without any help. It happened to me TWICE today! Very simple conversations, mind you, but still. It just boosts my confidence.
So, we have 2 more weeks until we go to Manzanillo. That'll be nice to see the beach. I've been living here for almost 3 months and have yet to see a beach. So sad. :(
And then Belize in October. I've got to get back on the search for the hotel and what not for that. I'm going with my friend Lisa from Toronto (who I used to work with but have yet to meet in person) and my cousin Heather from Saskatchewan and I believe Heather is bringing a friend so that we're a foursome. It makes more sense financially to do it that way.
I think thats it for now. My battery is going to die soon.
I hope my family is enjoying their visit with April and Josiebug. They're missed here.
hasta luego
Oh ya, I was talking about how I was settling in here. For a few weeks now, I've been walking around our little community by myself. Going to the store, the gym, the market... It's nice now to have a little more freedom and feel confident enough in my communication skills to do it. I also have a couple of leads on jobs. We passed by this English school the other day and decided to go in and see if they needed any teachers. I sat down with Ulysis for a while and he told me they're starting these conversation classes where they give you a topic and let you practice speaking English. He said I'd be great for that because I don't have a Mexican accent, but speak true English. He said they'd pay me 100 pesos an hour (10 bucks) which is really good for here.
Then the other day we ran into April's friend, Luz who teaches grown-ups business English. She said she could get me a job with her company too. So I have lots of options. I never did email that Canadian English school. Ah well. If I need to, I will. I also found out yesterday that Edgar's sister in law is teaching English for $30/hr! She has no certificate and her English isn't very good. So, I'm really not worried about finding English work. Especially now since I'm fully certified. But the thought of being paid 10 bucks an hour just to talk to people about something sounds great to me! They're really close to here too.
I have also recently got a Mexican cell phone. I have to still keep my Canadian one because the plan isn't up for another year. If anyone wants to take over my plan, let me know. ;)
Well, now that the whole TEFL thing is done, I've got to get back into the Spanish study. I always get really excited when someone's talking to me in Spanish and I know exactly what they're saying and can answer them without any help. It happened to me TWICE today! Very simple conversations, mind you, but still. It just boosts my confidence.
So, we have 2 more weeks until we go to Manzanillo. That'll be nice to see the beach. I've been living here for almost 3 months and have yet to see a beach. So sad. :(
And then Belize in October. I've got to get back on the search for the hotel and what not for that. I'm going with my friend Lisa from Toronto (who I used to work with but have yet to meet in person) and my cousin Heather from Saskatchewan and I believe Heather is bringing a friend so that we're a foursome. It makes more sense financially to do it that way.
I think thats it for now. My battery is going to die soon.
I hope my family is enjoying their visit with April and Josiebug. They're missed here.
hasta luego
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Early mornings... who knew?
My alarm went off this morning at 7:30. And yes, I did purposely set it the night before. I hit the snooze only twice, then I got up and grabbed Susanna so that we could make the 8am spinning class. Now from what I've learned, its not actually a spinning class. Its just a bunch of us on bikes following and instructor. No fans involved. We walked over to the gym (at most 10 minutes away) and found out that the class doesn't start till 9am. Most people who know me, know that I'm not super functional in the mornings. I couldn't really think too clearly in English and then trying to communicate with Susanna in Spanish... ai yi yi! She had a good laugh to say the least. I eventually manged to get out that we should go for a walk and grab a coffee since we have an hour to kill. We walked over to El Globo on Zaragoza and had yummy cappuccinos the walked back to the gym.
The class was pretty intense for someone like me who has been way out of shape for years. Most of the time our instructor had us up off the seat and using all 4 positions on the handle bars. I loved it even though I hated every minute of it.
About 15 minutes into the class, this old lady shows up and I swear that she was late because she was marinating in her old lady perfume. She jumps on the bike across from me and I'm doing everything I can to keep from regurgitating my coffee. The instructor probably assumed I was having a rough time with the class, but it was just the awful smell.
I got home around 10:30 and chilled for a bit with the fam before they took off for the park. Once they left I proceeded to wash the floors. The whole job takes about and hour and a half to do all three floors.
So here I sit having accomplished so much and its only 1:30.
It must be my old age, but who knew I'd enjoy mornings?
The class was pretty intense for someone like me who has been way out of shape for years. Most of the time our instructor had us up off the seat and using all 4 positions on the handle bars. I loved it even though I hated every minute of it.
About 15 minutes into the class, this old lady shows up and I swear that she was late because she was marinating in her old lady perfume. She jumps on the bike across from me and I'm doing everything I can to keep from regurgitating my coffee. The instructor probably assumed I was having a rough time with the class, but it was just the awful smell.
I got home around 10:30 and chilled for a bit with the fam before they took off for the park. Once they left I proceeded to wash the floors. The whole job takes about and hour and a half to do all three floors.
So here I sit having accomplished so much and its only 1:30.
It must be my old age, but who knew I'd enjoy mornings?
Friday, July 4, 2008
Perdon, mi espanol no es muy beuno.
Well, so far its been a nice break. Nothing overly exciting has happened, but it's been nice not to work. I really enjoy not having any responsibilities (if you all haven't figured that out yet). But now that its July, I've really got to start 'buckling down' as they said in the old days. I've been slowly learning Spanish since I've been here, but not in a studying kind of way. Just in the way that I've been picking things up through listening and inquiring. Now I really need to focus on being fluent by the end of the summer. I'm hoping to be pretty fluent by the time we go to Manzillo in August. So this is now my main focus.
I do have one assignment to finish to complete my TEFL certificate, too. I'm actually quite pissed off at my teacher and really nervous about it. He's already made me redo it 2x and if I don't pass it this third time, I fail the whole course. But I have till the end of this month to finish it. I'm actually surprised he hasn't contacted me because I haven't touched the course since before I left Canada. The first time I submitted it, it was perfect except for the fact that it was geared towards a higher level than what was asked for. The second time I submitted it, he ripped it to shreds. I guess I'll go through the course again in the next few weeks then try again. What else can I do?
And I mentioned the English school in the neighborhood here... I still have to email them. Are you all surprised how much of a procrastinator I am? I really have to get this language down. Watching TV helps. All the English shows have Spanish subtitles, so I always read along to learn new words. And occasionally we'll watch a Spanish show. There's a cooking show and a crafts and paint show that April likes to watch. We're actually watching it right now. I think he's one of the only people in Mexico that has an electric stove.
I have this friend, Susanna. She's April's sister-in-law. She speaks about as much English as I do Spanish, so I like getting together with her. We get the dictionary out and draw pictures and what not. It forces me to think and learn new words. Now the other problem is that they speak so freaking fast! I can look at a word and know what it means, I can get by reading little blurbs, but its so different from hearing it. I have to remember that "ll" is a "j" sound, and that the 'h' is silent and "j" sounds like "h". Being a visual person, this all gets a little confusing in my head. But it will come, I haven't really applied myself at all yet. That's what this month is for. I'm going to try and study Spanish for at least an hour every day.
Wish me luck...
I do have one assignment to finish to complete my TEFL certificate, too. I'm actually quite pissed off at my teacher and really nervous about it. He's already made me redo it 2x and if I don't pass it this third time, I fail the whole course. But I have till the end of this month to finish it. I'm actually surprised he hasn't contacted me because I haven't touched the course since before I left Canada. The first time I submitted it, it was perfect except for the fact that it was geared towards a higher level than what was asked for. The second time I submitted it, he ripped it to shreds. I guess I'll go through the course again in the next few weeks then try again. What else can I do?
And I mentioned the English school in the neighborhood here... I still have to email them. Are you all surprised how much of a procrastinator I am? I really have to get this language down. Watching TV helps. All the English shows have Spanish subtitles, so I always read along to learn new words. And occasionally we'll watch a Spanish show. There's a cooking show and a crafts and paint show that April likes to watch. We're actually watching it right now. I think he's one of the only people in Mexico that has an electric stove.
I have this friend, Susanna. She's April's sister-in-law. She speaks about as much English as I do Spanish, so I like getting together with her. We get the dictionary out and draw pictures and what not. It forces me to think and learn new words. Now the other problem is that they speak so freaking fast! I can look at a word and know what it means, I can get by reading little blurbs, but its so different from hearing it. I have to remember that "ll" is a "j" sound, and that the 'h' is silent and "j" sounds like "h". Being a visual person, this all gets a little confusing in my head. But it will come, I haven't really applied myself at all yet. That's what this month is for. I'm going to try and study Spanish for at least an hour every day.
Wish me luck...
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