Hello again everyone! We now return to your regularly scheduled broadcasting. Sorry to worry some of you with that last blog post. It was my own personal case of culture/teaching shock.
The classroom has gotten much better over the past month or so. I’m not sure if it’s because the kids have gotten better, I’ve gotten better, or my expectations are just lower. If I had to guess, I think it’s a combination of the three. I taught my kids the Cha Cha Slide for a brain break, and they are loving it. I had one girl ask me for the name of the video so that she could go home and practice it with her mom. Seriously cute! The days are literally flying by at breakneck speed, and I’ll be home for Christmas in just 42 days! Before then it’s a whirlwind of activities here including Thanksgiving at the boss’s house, a trip to Chiapas with the girls, the Posada, and all of the school activities with the kids. It’s a sort of controlled chaos.
Recently, I started getting these killer headaches that even painkillers struggled to dull. They would strike like a knife in the back of my skull or my temple while I was teaching. Two weeks ago, I had one for 36 hours that was resistant to painkillers and just stayed there throbbing in the back of my head before finally fading away. This week, I finally went to a physical therapist/chiropractor that one of the HR ladies at my school recommended, and they started me on physical therapy for my back muscles and my right shoulder. I’ve been sore off and on since then but no headaches!
One thing I have missed about home is fall which is my favorite season in Minnesota. I love the colors, the coolness of the air, and all of the fall related activities-apple picking, hayrides, bonfires, playing with the kids in the leaves, etc. The weather here is erratic and can vary as much as 30 degrees in one day. One morning, I was freezing in the low 50s and by the time I got home that afternoon, I was roasting in the 80s. It makes choosing what to wear in the morning difficult to say the least, and I have all of these cozy sweaters that I would really like to rotate into my wardrobe but can’t. First world problems, right? Then, I talk to people at home who are experiencing snow and the cold weather that makes me hate my home state for practically 6 months out of the year, and I think that maybe I don’t have it so rough.
One of my friends from home asked me if it was weird living in a different country for so long. He said when he was living in another country “It was weird because everything was different, but it just felt normal.” I couldn’t have put it better myself. Everything is different-from the weather to social customs (it’s starting to almost feel natural to kiss everyone on the cheek when you greet them), but at the same time, it’s just how things are here. I haven’t felt uncomfortable in a long time. You get used to feeling like a small child and never knowing what anyone is saying although I am starting to be able to pick out a few words here and there and get the basic idea of a conversation.
There is nothing big to report. I’m just living out my new-normal life in different country and doing my new-normal things. It struck me the other day while I was walking to the grocery store that I moved to Mexico and started a new life where I knew literally no one, and I’m completely happy. I thought of all the new life skills that I have learned since moving here and felt seriously empowered. Life is good, people.
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