I don't want to grow up

A common question, when I explain that I teach high school, is "does it make you feel young?" (ok, the first question is a shocked "why??!!")
Actually, no. Teaching high school makes me feel old. Really old. Bc it reinforces how quickly culture changes today - I did not even have email in high school, not to mention ipods and cell phones and everything else. So in their minds, I'm as ancient as their grandparents.
But that doesn't mean I want to grow up. I want to be, not 18, but maybe 25 forever. At 25, I was newly married, newly employed, newly healthy, newly moved. I felt as if I could do anything I wanted. In fact, when people ask me how old I am, I almsot say 25 before I croak out the real number.
Those older than me who are reading this are rolling their eyes right now, but I have a feeling this will keep happening for a couple of decades, so we're really in a similar place. The age I feel I am and the age I really am are not the same.
Still, I'm one of the oldest and most experienced on my staff (isn't that scary?!) so I've felt older this week than normal.
In Mexico, the average woman in a rural area gets married at 20 and has her first child within a year; the average woman in an urban area gets married at 22 and has her first child within 2 years. So I feel much older here than I really am, bc Mexicans keep asking me if I'm pregnant (it's a compliment here, really, it has nothing to do with the extra 10 pounds around my middle section) and acting like my "clock is ticking".

In the spirit of not acting my age...
How to tell you're a grown-up:
- you go to work when you're really too sick to eat or drive or think
- when you have to stay home from work bc you're too sick to leave the couch, you drag the laptop onto the couch with you and try to get some work done.
- your favorite novel stays on your bedside table while you fall asleep at a reasonable time, then get up and go back to work
- you have a hard time making friends, unless you work with them, bc you rarely talk to anyone after work
- you put off a much needed and wanted vacation because it's a "frivolous expense" of time and money
- you no longer feel that following the leader is an appropriate management method, mainly bc you no longer want to feel like you're 5 years old

*sigh* I'm a grown-up bc I have a job, I want to keep it, and I spend most of my time doing it. Does this mean I start getting younger when I retire?

Beating us at our own game

When we moved down a year ago, I was hoping that a few weeks without satelite TV, internet, or our moving truck would mean that I'd finally take time to work out every day and get into great shape.
Then, I tried walking up the stairs.
Turned out that the air was so thin here that basic activities, like showering or walking up stairs, left me out of breath. It took me most of the summer to be able to do routine physical activity without panting.
Some of our guests also have a hard time with the high altitude and thin air, so we normally try the most physically demanding tourist activities sans guests.
Not this week!
Coincidentally, Dave had the week off of work when his sister came to visit. She's only a few years younger than us, but in incredible shape. She was the perfect guest to take to the Nevado - Toluca's volcano - and we climbed not only to the top of the crater, but also into the crater, had a picnic, and then climbed back out.
"it sucked, but it was awesome"
We also climbed the pyramids, went to a soccer game, and shopped at Taxco. Overall, a fantastic staycation for us.

We want others to come and visit when you can. we promise not to work you too hard. :)

Perspective

We try to listen to "Michigan Radio" every morning - the highly awarded NPR station we've been members of for a few years now. It's a little tricky in Mexico and involves some internet procedures I don't understand, but it's great when it works.

This morning they had a great story on Mexico. Of course, this story is from a North American reporter written for a North American audience, which is what makes it really fun for us. One of the first lines of the story caught my attention, even in my half-awake state:
I've spent a lot of time in Mexico, and this is not like any other event I've ever seen. Not only does it start exactly on time, the organizers are sticklers for safety and follow every rule of the road.

Also, everyone she interviewed spoke English. I'm thinking that Tijuana may be in the same country, but it's a world away from where we live!

Check out the story:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111100400&ps=cprs

Eating... and not

We love food. Ok, everyone loves food. But Dave & I really love food. I overheard a friend of ours telling someone "you'll never be hungry at their house!" Even though we love food, we love going out to eat, and we have pretty good jobs, we still rarely eat at 4-star restaurants. They're a rare expensive treat for us. But in Mexico, we are a little luckier. This weekend, for example, we went to arguably the best restaurant in Guadalajara and had apetizers, entrees, desert, and wine for about what 2 people normally spend at Red Lobster. :)

I wish that we could eat a lot of really good food (like Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's house, or lasagna on my birthday, or strawberries in June) and then not have to eat again for a while. bc it was really annoying to have an amazing meal and then have to eat again a few hours later, especially knowing that this meal would be more practical and less extravagant.

After a long weekend of great fun and great eating, we were stuck on Sunday noonish. We had slept past breakfast, would return home after dinner, and were near nothing resembling food for lunch. The restaurant we settled on passed our nomal test (at least 4 locals inside) and also had a few gringos.
Let's just say that after the worst food poisoning I think we've ever had, we both were wondering if we should have just gone hungry.

Mexico has great food. And also a few bacterias. *sigh*

First Class Life

We flew internationally for free this month. Well, not exactly for free. It was Dave's reward for already flying internationally several times. But then something pretty amazing happened. On the way back to Mexico City, we got a free first-class upgrade. I've seen people sitting in first class before, and I've even got to sit there for a few short flights. better food. more room. kinda nice. This was amazing - the seats reclined to a nearly flat bed, each seat came with it's own personal entertainment center, there was plenty of space to walk around and spread our legs. Very amazing.
So amazing in fact, that I started to wonder. What makes someone comfortable in a first class seat? in a first-class life? how many upgrades would I need before I started to believe that I truly needed one? how many flights before coach seats seemed like a completely different world? how often would I have to fly first class before I started ignoring or forgetting the other hundreds of passengers on this plane crammed in like sardines?
Two days after our amazing trip, while I uploaded pictures to dropshots and emailed friends and family and started planning a scrapbook and arranged new souveniers on the shelves, our housekeeper was quietly washing our clothes from our trip.
So I started to wonder again.
Why am I still uncomfortable being in the house while she does her job? The job gets done, and we still pay her, whether I"m there watching her or not. How many days would I have to sit on the couch, enjoying my life, watching someone else throw out my trash and wash my dishes and fold my clothes before I started to believe that I truly could not do those things on my own? When would I start ignoring or forgetting the other people who had to clean someone else's house in order to afford their own?
This week I'm traveling with Dave on a business trip. When he travels, his company pays for the best: comfortable travel arrangements, 4-star hotels, first-class food. His Mexican co-workers have to drive a small car that doesn't meet US safety regulations. stay in a hotel 5 km outside of town. wait 20 minutes for special recipts or they won't get repaid for their 2-taco dinner.
I think, in the end, I'm glad that I am uncomfortable sitting in first class. I'm thankful that I still leave when the housekeeper is coming. I'm proud that Dave signs out a nicer car for his co-workers to drive.
If first-class becomes too comfortable, it just might get too lonely there at the top.

Goals

This morning at church my mind was really wandering. Unfortunately, that's not unusual. With MI unemployment at 15% (highest in the nation for 22 months running!), there's a serious possibility that my life when we return will be very different than when we left, and from my life here in Mexico.
Thankfully, we sang "What a friend we have in Jesus", reminding me "what needless pains we bear all because we do not carry everything to God in Prayer". Which got my mind back on track. If God told me today what my life would look like Sept. 2010, I may not be ready to hear it. So instead, I tried to remember if I'm meeting all the goals I had for the time that I am here in Mexico. I can't worry about tomorrow, but I can make today count for something.

Here's what I wrote last October:
When I return, I want to:
know Spanish. Not just I speak it a little.
see as much of Mexico as possible.
learn how to run a library, how to teach a subject I know nothing about.
donate my time, and my money, and my skills to make Mexico a better place.
rely on God more fully than before. I want to trust Him, no matter where He sends me.
There's a lot of other silly things, too. I want to write a book or two, and catch up on scrapbooking, and learn to play the piano (again). I want to read a lot, and make new friends, and learn new recipies. I want to spend time with my husband and lead mission trips and visit with my nieces & nephews.

So, how am I doing? Well, I still have some time, and I might not finish everything, but I'm doing ok. I am speaking Spanish much better, and I have more time to learn. I survived a year of teaching math, and now I'm leading workshops for the other teachers and teaching my dream curriculum - social studies - next year. I have read a lot of new books and tried a lot of new foods and traveled all over the country and hosted a lot of family at our house.
I'm still working on trusting God more and finding enough time to spend with family. I haven't practiced piano, and I'm still far behind on my scrapbooking. But maybe those will happen, too. There's always something else that needs to get done, right?

British Reflections

Even though this blog is supposed to be about our time in Mexico, Dave & I are just wrapping up a 2 week vacation in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland. It's the longest vacation we've ever taken together, and we had a great time! We also learned a lot from vacationing in a place that's NOT mexico!

How to know you're in the UK (and/or Ireland):
1. All the signs are in English, but you can't understand anything that anyone is saying. hmmm.
2. 30C/ 90F is an "extremely dangerous heat wave". no joke.
3. Trinny and Susannah (the british 'what not to wear' ladies) were exactly right about British women: they wear entirely too much black. Even in the aforementioned heat wave, they were often wearing black leggings, black stockings, black blazers, etc. even with pastel cotton sundresses. Men were also wearing black suits with long sleeved shirts, leather shoes, and wool socks. Hasn't anyone here heard of khakis??!!
4. Most of the country looks like a United Colors of Benneton ad.
White people are really really white. Bc of the extreme heat, kids were running around in swimsuits (no joke) and adults were taking off as much (black) clothing as possible. No tan lines, no strap lines, no farmers tans, no bronzing, no fake tans, nothing. Just massive, unashamed whiteness.
Black people are really really black. Perhaps bc they're surrounded by such whiteness, they just look blacker, but I think it's bc so many of them are actually immigrants from the Carribean or Africa. Very black.
Indians are actual indians. From india. And, yes, they sound kinda like the guy on the simpsons.
5. They are very "green" here. Low flow toilets & showers, recycling bins, cloth bags and tap water, hybrid buses.
6. Truth in advertising. Special K commericals in the states claim you can lose 8 pounds in 2 weeks. I don't know anyone who's done it, but that's what the ad says. Here, the exact same ad says, "see if you can lose weight with special K". much more honest, yes? And food labels have to state if anything inside is artificial, genetically modified, or otherwise possibly harmful for you. This means a lot more healthy food available everywhere.
7. Homeless people there smell not so bad. And there's very few of them. Most of the homeless we saw (except for central london after dark) looked, well, kinda like us!
8. The days were really long. As in, most days we missed both sunset & sunrise bc they happened while we were in bed! Dave had to remind me how far north the UK is - even much farther north than our home in Michigan.

How to know that you're not in Mexico (except for the English signs): the roads
- they're very clean, almost completely free of litter.
- people follow traffic laws. even when there are no police around. and the drivers are actually pleasant to one another and considerate to pedestrians.

Another amazing insight from our trip:
Trains are a much better way to travel than planes. More room, less hassle, more sensible security policies, better view, cheaper price. We need more in the US.

Check out our pics on dropshots in a few days!