I'm back in Canada now but I figured I would write a wrap up for my final days in Oaxaca.
The last few days in the classroom were really sad having to say goodbye to all the students. I am always amazed at how affectionate the students are. When we said goodbye to our secondary class they took so many pictures with us. They also formed a hug line and kept recycling through so it was a long time before we actually left the class. Our two grade 12 classes got together and bought Liz and I each a pair of earrings. They did a great job of selecting and the earrings really suit each of us. When we had to say goodbye to our grade 4 classes we were given so many hugs, kisses, and love notes. It was really wonderful to see how much they enjoyed and appreciated having us in their classrooms. I am really going to miss teaching in Mexico and all of the classes we got to teach.
After we finished in the schools we got to spend a few days at the beach. With the school we went to Huatulco. It is a bit of a touristy beach. Alot of cruise ships stop there and there are a couple resorts. There are a few bays that you can choose to go to. The first one we went to is called Entrega. It was a nice beach but not my favourite. Before we even got out of the cab there were people trying to sell us stuff. You could swim at this beach though so that was nice. A couple girls and I went to a different bay called Cacaluta. We actually had to walk about 30mins through a forest and past some ranches to get to the beach. It was completely worth it though. When we got to the beach we were the only one's there and it was beautiful. The waves were a little big so we weren't able to swim there, but it was an amazing day.
We also visited Puerto Angel. The bay that we went to there was Pantheon. Puerto Angel is a fishing town so there were a ton of boats in the water and little restaurants along the beach. We ate some of the most delicious seafood there. Yum!
After a couple days in Huatulco a few of us decided to take a bus to Puerto Escondido and we stayed there for a week. There are a bunch of bays in really close proximity that you can go to in Puerto. The beach that was right across from our cabana is called Zicatela. We weren't able to swim here because the waves are too big. Before we arrived there was actually a surfing competition going on. The beaches that we visited were La Punta, Carizzalillo, and Manzanillo. We were able to swim in all these places. Carizzalillo was my favourite beach. It is a beautiful bay. There are small waves there so it is a great place to learn to surf so thats what a bunch of us did. It was so much fun and we were actually able to get up.
I had an amazing time at the beach and I truly enjoyed every moment of being in Oaxaca. The people in Mexico are so warm and welcoming. I have made some amazing friends and memories on this trip. I need to say a big thank you to my FA Sarah Joyce, my two SAs Arcelia and Rodolfo, to my Mexican family the Ibarras, and to all the girls in the program. It has been an incredible journey!
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Mazunte
November 20th is a holiday here in Mexico so it's a long weekend. A few friends and I decided to take advantage of this break and we went to the beach for a couple days. We went to Mazunte which is probably the most beautiful beach I have ever been to. The beach is known for it's sea turtles. Mazunte is a tiny beach town full of hippies and really laid back people. It's not very touristy or over developed. Our hotel tell was right on the beach. We just had to walk down the stairs and we're on the beach. We left on a night bus at 9:30pm Friday and arrived in Mazunte at 7:15am. It was perfect because we slept the entire time and had the entire day ahead of us when we arrived.
Within an hour of arriving at the beach we were on a boat to go see sea turtles. It didn't take us very long to find the turtles either. They were amazing to see. Probably about 3-4 long. We actually saw some turtles mating. At one point in our tour one of the guides jumped out of the boat and grabbed a turtle. We all got to jump in a touch it. There were a ton a tiny jelly fish in the water though and when we got back in the boat it felt like stinging nettle all over our bodies. We also got to see dolphins and go snorkling during our tour.
On the sunday we went on a tour at Ventanilla which is known for it's crocodiles. We got to see a wide variety of crocodiles. Some were just babies and others were massive. We paddled down a calm river that was surrounded by Mangroves. It was beautiful. We got to drink the juice from a green coconut and once we had finished the juice we got to eat the coconut with lime and chilli powder. It was really delicious.
There was a jazz festival on the beach. So at night we would sit at a restaurant on the beach listening to the music, drinking cocktails, and watching the waves crash on the beach. It was pretty magical. There is a place called Comet's Point that we hiked up to and watched the sun set. It was a gorgeous view over looking the ocean. Our last morning at Mazunte we set our alarms and woke up at 5:45am in order to see the sunrise. It was so beautiful watching the sun come up on the beach.
Unfortunatley I didn't think ahead and forgot to recharge my camera so I was only able to take pictures on the Saturday. My friends took some amazing photos though. It was an incredible weekend and it's hard to believe that we were only at the beach for 2.5 days. We did so many fun things and made so many memories.
Within an hour of arriving at the beach we were on a boat to go see sea turtles. It didn't take us very long to find the turtles either. They were amazing to see. Probably about 3-4 long. We actually saw some turtles mating. At one point in our tour one of the guides jumped out of the boat and grabbed a turtle. We all got to jump in a touch it. There were a ton a tiny jelly fish in the water though and when we got back in the boat it felt like stinging nettle all over our bodies. We also got to see dolphins and go snorkling during our tour.
On the sunday we went on a tour at Ventanilla which is known for it's crocodiles. We got to see a wide variety of crocodiles. Some were just babies and others were massive. We paddled down a calm river that was surrounded by Mangroves. It was beautiful. We got to drink the juice from a green coconut and once we had finished the juice we got to eat the coconut with lime and chilli powder. It was really delicious.
There was a jazz festival on the beach. So at night we would sit at a restaurant on the beach listening to the music, drinking cocktails, and watching the waves crash on the beach. It was pretty magical. There is a place called Comet's Point that we hiked up to and watched the sun set. It was a gorgeous view over looking the ocean. Our last morning at Mazunte we set our alarms and woke up at 5:45am in order to see the sunrise. It was so beautiful watching the sun come up on the beach.
Unfortunatley I didn't think ahead and forgot to recharge my camera so I was only able to take pictures on the Saturday. My friends took some amazing photos though. It was an incredible weekend and it's hard to believe that we were only at the beach for 2.5 days. We did so many fun things and made so many memories.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Tule and Teaching
Last weekend I went visited a tree called Tule. It is over 2000 years old and has the widest trunk on earth. This tree was huge. Some of the branches looked as though they could be tree trunks. It was interesting because there were knots in the tree that looked like lion heads and there was one part the tree connected to a branch that looked like an antelope's head. We didn't spend too much time at Tule, but my home stay mom said that if you just sit and look at the tree you can see all kinds of different animals and things. The trunk of Tule looks as though it could be multiple trees but it has been proven to be the same tree. The diameter of the tree if it was smoothed out is 30.8ft making it the widest tree in the world.
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This past week my teaching partner Liz and I have finally been able to start to teaching some classes. It has been so much fun. We work really well together and come up with some dynamic lesson plans. It is an interesting situation because she is an elementary teacher and I am a high school teacher. Normally you are paired up with someone of the same grade levels as you. So we get to teach in an elementary school, middle school and high school. I enjoy being in the elementary school and I think that the young kids are very nice and funny, but I am definitley more comfortable in the high and middle schools.
Before we started teaching, Liz and I were a little worried about classroom management. The kids here are just so full of energy and are constantly yelling and getting out of their seats. We have observed many classes where there was maybe only 10 minutes of actual instruction the entire block. However, when we get in front of the class the kids are attentive for the most part. We really don't have much trouble getting them to stay on task and do their work. I think that team teaching is a great help with this because as one of us is speaking in front of the class the other person can wander around making sure the kids are on task. The classes still tend to be loud but I really enjoy all the enthusiam and energy the students have. I feel more comfortable when there is noise in the class rather then when it is all quiet. Especially when we give the students activities to do, it's great to hear them discussing with each other and practicing their English. I really enjoy teaching here and it will be very interesting to go back home and experience the differences in the classroom.
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This past week my teaching partner Liz and I have finally been able to start to teaching some classes. It has been so much fun. We work really well together and come up with some dynamic lesson plans. It is an interesting situation because she is an elementary teacher and I am a high school teacher. Normally you are paired up with someone of the same grade levels as you. So we get to teach in an elementary school, middle school and high school. I enjoy being in the elementary school and I think that the young kids are very nice and funny, but I am definitley more comfortable in the high and middle schools.
Before we started teaching, Liz and I were a little worried about classroom management. The kids here are just so full of energy and are constantly yelling and getting out of their seats. We have observed many classes where there was maybe only 10 minutes of actual instruction the entire block. However, when we get in front of the class the kids are attentive for the most part. We really don't have much trouble getting them to stay on task and do their work. I think that team teaching is a great help with this because as one of us is speaking in front of the class the other person can wander around making sure the kids are on task. The classes still tend to be loud but I really enjoy all the enthusiam and energy the students have. I feel more comfortable when there is noise in the class rather then when it is all quiet. Especially when we give the students activities to do, it's great to hear them discussing with each other and practicing their English. I really enjoy teaching here and it will be very interesting to go back home and experience the differences in the classroom.
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Dia de Muertos
Dia de Muertos was such an amazing experience. It all started on Monday with a presentation explaing the beliefs of Dia de Muertos. In short it is a couple days where the people in Mexico honour the dead by making altars. These atlars are made of flowers, fruits, and different favourite foods of the deceased. After the presentation we went to Central de Abastos, which is a market, to pick up different materials for the altar we built at our school. I was in charge of getting peanuts.
Monday evening we all got together to paint our faces for when we went to the cemetary. We painted our faces because it is believed that during Dia de Muertos the spirits come back to earth and we need to hide our faces so they don't confuse us for other spirits. We then went to the Panteon, which is a cemetary in Oaxaca. There were candles and flowers everywhere and so many people. After the Panteon we went to Xoxo, another cemetary in Oaxaca. The graves are very elaborately decorated and there were many people sitting graveside. It was kind of sad because Monday is the night that the children spirits come back so there were many small graves decorated. It is believed that first the children spirits come and then on the second night all spirits come.
Tuesday night we dressed up and painted our faces yet again. We hoped into the back of a truck and drove up to Etla. There was a parade that went on all night, it didn't stop until 9am wednesday. There are people dressed up very elaborately and they walk around the town going from house to house. There is also a band that walks with them and they dance as the band plays. At every house they go to there are chairs set up in a circle in courtyard type area. This is for the people watching to sit. The band and dressed up people come in and dance around. The home owners give everyone shots of tequila or mezcal. It was a lot of fun following the parade around the town. There were some young kids who were dressed up dancing all night. I don't know how they did it. We stayed out until 5am and I was more than exhausted at this point.
I had to wake up at 8am Wednesday morning to go to the Panteon with my homestay family. On November 2 they always go to the cemetary and visit the graves of their family members. We made sure that the flowers at the graves all had enough water. Outside of the Panteon it was almost set up like a carnival with food stands, games, and rides. So we went and had breakfast after visiting the graves. It was a really neat experience. And a very busy couple of days. There are so many tourists that came to Oaxaca for Dia de Muertos because Xoxo is a famous cemetary. It will be nice when Oaxaca goes back to being our town ;)
Monday evening we all got together to paint our faces for when we went to the cemetary. We painted our faces because it is believed that during Dia de Muertos the spirits come back to earth and we need to hide our faces so they don't confuse us for other spirits. We then went to the Panteon, which is a cemetary in Oaxaca. There were candles and flowers everywhere and so many people. After the Panteon we went to Xoxo, another cemetary in Oaxaca. The graves are very elaborately decorated and there were many people sitting graveside. It was kind of sad because Monday is the night that the children spirits come back so there were many small graves decorated. It is believed that first the children spirits come and then on the second night all spirits come.
Tuesday night we dressed up and painted our faces yet again. We hoped into the back of a truck and drove up to Etla. There was a parade that went on all night, it didn't stop until 9am wednesday. There are people dressed up very elaborately and they walk around the town going from house to house. There is also a band that walks with them and they dance as the band plays. At every house they go to there are chairs set up in a circle in courtyard type area. This is for the people watching to sit. The band and dressed up people come in and dance around. The home owners give everyone shots of tequila or mezcal. It was a lot of fun following the parade around the town. There were some young kids who were dressed up dancing all night. I don't know how they did it. We stayed out until 5am and I was more than exhausted at this point.
I had to wake up at 8am Wednesday morning to go to the Panteon with my homestay family. On November 2 they always go to the cemetary and visit the graves of their family members. We made sure that the flowers at the graves all had enough water. Outside of the Panteon it was almost set up like a carnival with food stands, games, and rides. So we went and had breakfast after visiting the graves. It was a really neat experience. And a very busy couple of days. There are so many tourists that came to Oaxaca for Dia de Muertos because Xoxo is a famous cemetary. It will be nice when Oaxaca goes back to being our town ;)
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