"Madness"

"Madness" by Muse- this song is amazing, I can't even get over how good it is!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq9zhpBweDk

Puerto Escondido

So after the 15+ hoursx on busses to get here, we finally arrived Sunday morning! We dropped our bags off at our hostel, threw on our swimsuits and hit the beach! I did surfing lessons and it was SO fun!! It was so exhilirating to stand up and catch a wave (whenever I stood up, the beach boys song "catch a wave and you're standing on top of the world" song popped into my head!)! Then we just floated around and played in the MASSIVE waves! Monday we hit up the market and did some shopping and of course went back and played at the beach and had a delish lunch, then rented snorkels and boogie boards, but it was too wavy to see anything! Tuesday we were up bright and early at 6:30 for a boat tour-we came outside, and there was a truck parked outside our hostel, so we hopped in the back, and they took us to the boat harbour, we hopped in a tiny fish boat in the dark, & sped out into the ocean to watch the sunrise! And we saw TONS of dolphins jumping right beside our boat, soooo fun, and massive sea turtles! That night we headed to the big beach for a delish dinner of seafood, and then Wednesday we played at the beach, and rode horses on the beach as the sunset! Thursday was shopping, playing at the big beach, waiting 3 hrs for the lady selling headbands to come, ordering a super expensice dessert on the beach, only to discover it was stragiht creamcheese w/ caramel on top, collecting gorgeous rocks and shells on the beach, only to have me forget them in our taxi! It has been a wonderful trip!

The closest beach to our hostel, we came here almost every day

This beach had pretty big waves for playing in, and a strong riptide! A little scary, but we were always able to get out of them!

Katelyn & I paddling out to surf!

We went to a different beach where there was supposed to be reall good snorkelling, but we rented the snorkels and went in, but it was super wavy that it washed up all the sand and we couldnt see a thing! So then we tried for boogie boards, but those didn't really work out either-needless to say, we were not impressed!

We were trying to climb over all these rocks to see if we could get to the next beach over, but we could only go this far before it would have been straight rock climbing!

We signed up for a boat tour through our hostel, so one morning we got up at 6:30am, and there was a little truck outside, so we climbed in the back and they drove us to the harbour, and we hopped off a boat and went out to see, so fun and so pretty!

Delicious seafood by the seashore!

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He pulled a turtle on the boat, I was so excited! And we saw TONS of dolphins jumping beside our boat, I just enjoyed it and didn't bother trying to catch it on camera!

I didn't take a ton of pictures this trip, mostly because I never got ready, and I have just taken SO many pictures on all our other trips! But it was super fun, the 18+ hrs on busses however were not (especially because I get SO motion sickness, I took drammamine and still threw up! Thank heavens for bathrooms on the busses!)! We left yesterday at 7am, and got to the airport this morning at 5am, and I tried to check in, but I have to wait until 9! AH, I HATE flying alone, I get anxiety because I always get lost and dont know where to go! It will feel SO good to get to Philly tonight, and then not have to think about flying for 12 more days!!

(p.s. when I got there, I didn't have any beach cover-ups, but they didnt have any cute ones that I liked, plus I didnt have any room in my bags, so I didnt want to buy a cute one that I'd have to leave there, so I just bought the trashy tourist tanktop for 1$ & wore it everycday!)

Last School Day

So the last day of school was just a delight, we combined all the kids and played carnival games outside- musical chairs, eat the cookie tied to the string, knock the cups over, go fish, face painting, duck duck goose, ect, and then all the children were assigned to bring cake or sandwiches or a drink, so then we munched and said farewell!! It was very bittersweet, bitter in that I will most likely never see any of the children I taught again (or even know what happens with them, since I mostly taught the kinder kids, and most 4 year olds dont exactly have fb or email adresses! But it was sweet, in that we are done teaching and off to a vacation!

Here are some pictures!

The kinder kids decided to take down all of their teachers one by one, and I was surprised by the strength of the 4 yr olds, they took me down!

my favorite 6 yr old Basic Reading girls!

cosuins Hector and Dolce, such opposites!

more attacking the teacher! this one makes me laugh!

Brother Emiliano and Maximus, my hardest but most favorite students!

My other not-so-favorite Basic Reading girls! Cute, but whiny!

Selima and Kamila, neither of them knew ANY English when they started with us, but by the end they has learned some, it was such a satisfying feeling as their teacher!


So it's over! I remember when I first got here in May, I thought the end would never come, but now it's here, and I can't belive how fast it's gone by! It was HARD from not knowing the language, to culture shock, to living with a host family, new food, and learning to teach the little ninos, but it was SUCH a good character building experience, and I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to come here!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mexi photoshoot

Wow I cannot even believe there are only 2 more days of school, and then we leave for Puerto Escondido on Saturday! I attempted to pack this morning, and to my dismay, both my suitcases are about 50-52 pounds, as well as a completely stuffed carry-on (which holds my 8 pound marble elephant, I hope they dont take it away in customs!), a packed backpack and a purse, which means NO more shopping, unless it weighs nothing and takes up no space!! Now thats going to be fun to haul through 5 bus trips and through the airport!

But yesterday me and Sayd had a final Mexi photoshoot in the most Mexican clothing that we own. and here are some of my favorites!!

These 2 boys are my favorite! Gonzolo and Pablo, ages 9 and 5, sooooo cute!

my adorable kinder children!!

Mexican birthday party!

Just another rainy day!

street tacos, SO good!

delicious smoothie!! (my hand looks abnormally large in this picture!)

just a 45 min combi ride that should have taken 5 mins, because we got on on the wrong side of the road!

So I cannot even believe that I only have 7 more days of teaching, it feels like just yesterday that it was 80+! At the beginning, teaching was SO hard for me, I felt like I was bad at it, I would rush through my lessons and have 10 minutes left, and I had to get to the school at least an hour early to prepare and I would be so stressed out, but it has gotten SO much easier over time, and now I look love teaching the children, even if they are a little crazy sometimes! (or how they all want chili on EVERYTHING-cookies, cereal, fruit, ect!). But a week and a half til laying on the beach for a week! (and horseback riding, snorkelling, surfing, ect!). But it has been one of the best experiences of my life and I will be so sad to leave my Mexican home!

Cactus soup we made in culture class, soooo good!

Ready to go to the Rodeo in my new jeans!

I've noticed a pattern of mustaard yellow in my clothing lately, it is my new favorite color!

so delicious! Right before we got swarmed by the Mexican children!