September Update

June 27, 2018 0 By admin

(Originally posted September 2015)

I realize that it’s been a while since I’ve given an update on life in Guadalajara. This past week was my two-month anniversary of the move. So far I’ve settled into the new job at school and I’ve made many quality friends. The neighborhood feels familiar and I’m comfortable roaming the city.

While I’m still experiencing new places every week, that instant awe of a new city has passed. The alarm goes off, I pour my coffee and go to work each morning. After school, I take Spanish classes and I hit the gym. I joined a tough gym and get my butt kicked a few times a week. The gym is different from my old routine of cardio at the YWCA. Mandy encouraged me to sign up with her at a nearby gym/studio. Now I participate in classes, which are a mix of crossfit and Insanity, depending on the instructor and how they’re feeling that day. Muscles that I didn’t know existed were sore for days. Being a regular means that the instructor knows us and helps personalize our workouts and we work out with familiar faces.

I’ve gotten the hang of the school routine and I’m finally beginning to connect with the students, which have been one of the biggest changes and challenges for me. I think that the delay in forming a close connection with them has a few factors: a) fourth graders just don’t love their teachers like another mom the way the little ones do, b) I’m only with the kids for three hours a day and they have other teachers too, and c) the difference in socio-economic status between Green Central and ASFG is honestly another factor. Occasionally, I wonder if some students view me, as a teacher, as one more person in their life that works for them: driver, maid, nanny, teacher. This is all not to mean that I’m feeling disconnected or discouraged with my students. In fact, in this past week, I felt our relationship as a classroom community reach to a new level after I was out sick on Wednesday. Thursday morning as I was setting up before the bell, two students came up to the classroom to say “Hey, Miss, we saw the light on and we came to see that you were feeling better,” which was very appreciated. Everyday we get to know each other more and at the end of October, we take the entire fourth grade on a three-day “camping” trip.

September is the month of Mexico’s Independence, which is celebrated at midnight on the sixteenth of the month, not the fifth of May as many in the United States assume. On the eve of the Independence, many gather in the city plazas and wait for the governor or mayor to come out on the little balcony and do the classic Mexican “grito.” Given that we had the day off, on a Wednesday of all days, I took advantage to attend the Tuesday night “Lucha Libre” which I choose to consider a decent substitution. The evening began with drinks at the pub and then boarding a double decker party bus to the arena. Vigilance required as many Guadalajaran streets are not trimmed for passengers riding on top of buses. If someone says “DUCK,” you’d better duck unless you want a face full of leaves. The arena is divided into different sections, bleachers or ringside, and fans yell obscenities back and forth, drink beer and watched masked wrestlers battle it out. The crowd favorite was definitely “Super Porky” in his white diaper costume and midget sidekick. So many inappropriate things that you can never unsee or unhear. Visitors, you’ve been warned.

Being a little settled into Guadalajara and making a new circle of friends means that I’ve been able to do a little weekend traveling. One weekend, the girls went to Lake Chapala to our friend’s house. We had a poolside view of the lake on one side and the forest-covered mountain on the other. We relaxed in the sun, made food together and sipped cool beverages. On that Saturday night, we drove into Ajijic, a small town with a large expat community, to have dinner out. Driving around the narrow and cobblestoned streets, we found a small Mediterranean restaurant and the four of us took up half the place.

Another weekend, we jetted off to Manzanillo right after school on Friday for a trip to the beach. Manzanillo is a port city with a sizable tourist industry on the Pacific coast. The offseason prices allowed us to rent a condo with a beach club access for the weekend on the cheap. Again, we relaxed, sipped and ate through the weekend before returning to Guadalajara for another workweek.

Lastly and of great importance, this weekend marks one year since the disappearance of the 43 students of Ayotzinapa. If any of my family or friends aren’t familiar with this tragic situation, please take a moment to read about it. Here in Guadalajara marches began in three areas of the city and converged at the Plaza Liberación, next to the cathedral and government palace in the historic city center. We marched with a diverse crowd of students, families, teachers and many who went to honor the loss of these 43 and to demand answers about their disappearance. At the plaza, we heard emotional speeches from activists and students from the school in Ayotzinapa. It was an impactful event for those in attendance, yet for a city of more than six million, the turnout wasn’t as large as it could have been. As one of the speakers pointed out, too many were easily distracted by a classic fútbol rivalry, strategically schedule on this important day.

The next few weeks hold more to look forward to. I’ve found a circle of Midwesters to share the Packer season. My parents come on Friday to visit for a week. We have a three-day weekend in early October and a camping trip with more than one hundred ten-year-olds to plan. Halloween is a huge party at the school and my friend and I will also be attending a Lila Downs concert. I have tickets booked to visit friends and family for the holidays. While the distance is hard and I miss school, friends and life in Minneapolis and Madison, I am happy to be here and to have the opportunity to explore and be in Guadalajara.