One Year in a Blog Post // The Wrap Up

This might be it, friends. The last foreseeable Mexico blog post. 

Here is how it ends:

Something Good: “Not perfection, but progress.” I was given that phrase during in-service week before classes started last September. I understood it then, but it gained so much weight throughout my year in the classroom. Did I expect my students to all receive “10s” (the “A+” of Latin American grading)?? Not at all. I rejoiced over Ivan’s “4” that went to a “5” as much (if not more so) than Fany’s consistent high scores. English is a hard language to learn and my students did so well.  SO. WELL. (I cry as I type this to you.) I am so proud of them. They all made progress.

Another Good Thing: The tacos. I am being entirely serious. (The Chipotle restaurant might be ruined forever as far as my stomach is concerned.) But it was more than the tacos themselves. It was more than the salsa verde and the Coca-Cola (containing REAL sugar)… It was the people I was eating the tacos with. All food was eaten in the celebration of each other’s company. Sometimes it was at 10:30 at night. Sometimes it was at a restaurant, or a food cart, or in a house. There was something so unique about that aspect of the culture and community and I loved it.
**Taco of choice: Quesadilla de bistec, sin queso (from “Tacos Compean”)
That is a beef quesadilla without cheese. You may laugh, but they knew my order. I was a regular. It was delicious. (On my last night they sent me with two extras. One for breakfast and one for lunch in the airport. : ))

Something Not-So-Good: “Culture shock” is a real thing. Living in a foreign country is hard. There were the obvious, “big differences”, like the language. Those were to be expected. It was, though, some of the little differences that were the hardest adjustments. 

For example: the trash pick-up. In the Portland the trash truck comes by early on morning X, depending on your neighborhood. You save your trash for the week and put it out the night before, etc. In Morelia, Mexico, however, you will hear a cowbell ringing in the distance. “Oh! Someone go get it!” You grab whatever trash you have and set it on the sidewalk in front of your house along with some change to pay the man who will drive by to pick it up. This might happen in the early morning, or the late morning, and on any given day of the week. Again, it was the little things...

Something I Learned/ Something GOD Taught Me: I learned a ton of Spanish! Ha! (Or, rather, “Ja!” because in Spanish the “j” makes the “h” sound. Ja ja ja!) My students and friends were excited to teach me “street phrases”. They also attempted to teach me how to roll my “r”. (Still practicing… J)
I also learned a lot of English. (What?!) There’s a difference between “speaking” and “teaching”. It is a whole different story when you have to explain “why”. (Can YOU tell me the difference between a “gerund” and an “infinitive”?) Interesting stuff!
There was learning outside of the classroom, as well. GOD taught me (very practically) that HE can work regardless of language and cultural barriers. I simply watched and was amazed. HE did some really cool things (like introducing me to my best friend Anita)!

Final FAQs: Are you going back? Someday. // What’s next? Teaching outdoor school at Hume Lake in California.

Ask me more questions! I have so much more I could tell you about, and approximately 1,096 more pictures to share : ). I am so grateful for your participation in this section of my story (in whatever form that might have been). If you sponsored me financially or prayed on my behalf or rooted for me from a distance or followed this blog… Thank you. Gracias.  --Lainie

The Intern Program

OR... you could be an intern, too : ).
Click HERE!

with Rebecca and Kristen : )

*Ability to speak Spanish encouraged, but not required!

The Angel Program

The Short Version: Sponsor one of the students! Click HERE!

The Middle-Length Version:
Friends, I am no longer in Morelia, Mexico.
I want/ suggest/ encourage/ desire YOU to continue participating, because the work at the NOE Center is continuing.
(Not only is it continuing, it is EXPANDING. They aim to open a third campus this month!)

So here's what YOU do! : ) Be an "Angel". 
This is the student-sponsorship program.

A reminder for you: for a Mexican student to enter/graduate college in Mexico, they need to speak English.
Thus enters Centro NOE's English classes.
(The are breaking the cycles and redirecting lives here, people!)
I won't even mention how the community and extra curricular activities impact the student's AND their families lives!

So, now that I don't need you to sponsor me financially, you can sponsor them instead: ).
Click the link I have conveniently duplicated HERE!

The Video Version: 

And the link one more time is right HERE! : )
(Can you tell I'm excited?!)

Thoughts from Before.

>> probably from the spring-time. <<

"Am I a missionary? I didn’t consider myself to be one. I just move to a foreign country. I got a job as a volunteer. I'm loving Jesus and loving people like I would have anywhere else. It's just a different group of people with a different expression of needs. 

So if I'm a missionary, you are, too."

photo credit: erick garcia

this panorama was taken inside the gym. i am on the left. 

it was at my last "espacio" (NOE youth gathering). i was asked to share some words with them. so i did. i thanked them for the impact they had on MY life (and i did it by myself in spanish)! 

The Time in Between

Classes at NOE finished at the end of June and I left Mexico in the beginning of July.

at the airport// 4am

Then I spent a month with this good-looking group:

we went camping : )

The NOE Center has four years of "secondary" English. Upon graduating from the fourth year, students can apply to be on "The Dream Team" as exchange students to Portland, OR. (WOO HOO!)
It was a blast and a blessing to continue hanging out with them (this time on my "home turf" : )).

[Class Photos]

To some they were "Mexicans". 

Others called them "NOE students". 

Still others referred to them by the curriculum, "Green Book". 

But me? I called them "mine".

10 AM: The quietest ones.

(minus a few)

5 PM: The most confident ones.

 6 PM: The friendliest ones.

 7 PM: The most studious ones. 

"Oh, dear children, I can't believe you were mine..."

"My Thoughts on Traveling as They Relate to Costco."

<<I don't remember specifically when I wrote this. Probably a few months ago. I just found it. And if you take the time to read it, it will give you a clear expression of the state I had been living in. >>

Some people go abroad for a week. It’s an introduction to something foreign. Quick and exciting. You get to see the surface and experience the culture, without much commitment. Like the sample-tables at Costco. And this makes it fairly fun and enjoyable. Minus the diarrhea because your digestive system didn’t have time to adjust. (See: every spring break missions trip)

Others drop everything and move. Permanently. They have let go of one lifestyle and grabbed completely on to another. The day-in-day-out challenges that make you exhausted and dirty and some people think you are a crazy person, but to others you are a hero. These people are the ones that have invested in the Costco-sized jar of pickles, if you will. You only buy it if you are pretty darn certain you are going to eat all of it. Or die trying. (See: Hudson Taylor, etc.)

And then there is me. And this is what is tough. Really, the hardest thing. I am not “just visiting”. I’m not sampling. I live here now. But, at the same time, I’m not living here forever. There is a timeline. (I can’t eat all the pickles.) And so, here I am, somewhere in between hola and adios, and holding on to life in two different countries because I cannot fully commit to one or the other. And it breaks my heart.

"What a Coincidence!"

Potter likes dubstep and Chelsea does, too.

Vero is a teacher and so is Lainie!

Citlalli doesn't like to eat onions and Fany doesn't either.

Karen doesn't like basketball and neither does Carmen.

Ivan likes Barcelona (the soccer team) and Sara does, too. So does Armando.

Brenda likes "Pretty Little Liars" and so does Andres D. 

Litzy Alondra doesn't listen to metal music and neither does Andre A.

Glory likes milk and Dani does, too!

This is unit we are currently in. (The last unit!)

It is about "connectors". So. Too. Either. Neither.

And we also learned a new vocabulary phrase: What a coincidence!!

So bringing these all together is this lovely "tetris" on our little bulletin board.

What a coincidence! Look at all the things we have in common. : )

Slightly Neglected

"Why are you in Mexico, Lainie?" To teach English and love my students and the community.
"What is your blog about, Lainie?" My adventures in Mexico.

Which has been good. But selfish.

I have neglected to keep you updated on what WE have been doing in class and about THEM (my students).

The year is nearly over. But I might as well start now.

So, this happened : ).

I went back to the USA for a week.
A surprise for the birthday-graduate.
Way to rock it, baby sister.

A Little List of Little Good Things.

photo credit: marco

1. My student Ramon brought me a bag full of ripe mangos from his farm.

2. La mama who makes and tacos down the street stopped cooking to invite me into her house and show me her knitting projects (because she knows I'm learning to knit, too).

3.The quesadilla she made me afterwards (without queso : )).

4. Ana and I painted each others fingernails while listening to foreign rap music (in French and Hebrew).

Staff Meeting.

AT THE BEACH!?! Yes, indeed! “Hola from Zihuatanejo!”

(And 6,000 points to whoever can tell me which classic film supposedly ended on this beach…)

It was wonderful. Even, perfect.

with Clau

Danny, Pau, Zac, y Carmen : )

These are the coconuts that were cut straight off the tree
that this hammock is hanging from.
We drank the water and ate the meat and it was THE COOLEST.
(with Abril)

This is the gardener who retrieved us the coconuts
and opened them with his machete! (Woo hoo!)

Things about Mexico #13

We do go shopping.

Sometimes when you are in a foreign country and you go to the mall, you find a shirt on the discount rack that features your home city. (Holla at ya, Portland. : ))

(What?!)

Things about Mexico #12

Cucarachas. Cockroaches.

(and that is all I have to say about that.)

SS: Guanajuato

Second stop: Guanajuato.
**This is the name of both the city and the state.

with the other "interns"
(who aren't really interns because they live here now)
Ryan and Kristen

(Missed the "first stop"? Click here.)

SS: San Miguel de Allende

Here "SS" stands for "Semana Santa". Holy week (aka Easter). 
The entire country recognizes the Easter holiday, and everyone gets days off. And schools pair up the change of term with the Easter break, so it's like spring break for two weeks! 
We (directors and interns of NOE) took a little trip to "conocer" (know/ meet/ be introduced to) another state. (Mexico, too, has "untied states", too. : )) 
We stopped in two absolutely beautiful cities in the state of Guanajuato. 
First stop: San Miguel de Allende. 

**Interesting information: This city holds one of the highest populations of "ex-patriots" in all of Mexico. 

with Kristen, my roommate

Things about Mexico #11

Las Combis.

The public transportation system within Morelia. 
The are like mini-buses, or big vans, I guess. 
All the seats line the edges, and there is space to stand (or slouch) in the middle. 
(I'll tell you, we can really pack it out! Very stereo-typical, clown-car-like at times. : ))
It costs $7 pesos (about 50¢ USD) to take the combi anywhere. 
Super convenient!! (And an entirely new concept for me, because I hadn't used public transit in the United States.)

There are all different colors, and the colors define the routes. 
Azul A will take you from the NOE Center to the Cathedral downtown.
And Gris 1 will get you to the church and the movie theater. 
These are the two that I can use with confidence. (There are so many other colors! I haven't even seen all of them yet!)

I've been able to use them by myself since November. (Thanks to Nadia, a fellow teacher-friend turned tour-guide. We would go out to practice. : )) Even so, it is still really exciting every time I hail one. "Yes, I can navigate this city like a local!" (Ha! It's the little normal things that are huge accomplishments.)

"Estas son las Mañanitas..."

"Las Mañanitas" is the Spanish birthday song. 

I like it. And I heard it quite a bit recently...

I had my birthday.

Twenty-one is a more "significant" age in the United States. 

("Congratulations. Now you can do the things you could already do in Mexico." 

Ha! True. Thank you for observing that, Lauren. : )) 

But even so, I was celebrated. 

At that, celebrated in great abundance! (Celebrated with surprises and celebrated for days!)

MY THREE BIRTHDAY WISHES:

(all completed!!)

#1. A piñata

#2. A flower crown

#3. Tacos Compean

(favorite food with some favorite people)

Extra: A trip to "Forever 21" : )

(woo hoo!)

Thank you very much, everyone. // 

Muchisimas gracias, todos.

Weekends

with one of the NOE basketball teams.