Casa D de dedo has had a rough return from break. Each one of us has been sick at least once. A couple of the girls either caught a bug or some kind of intestinal thing. Em's alergies have been really bad, I had a stomach thing the first week and this week some cold sinus throat junk. I am home from school today because I literarly have no voice and that is a little rough for a kindergartener teacher whose kids don't normally listen! I would have gone like I did yesterday, but have a fever so am stuck at home. I feel like staying home would be way better in my own house! Here I'm stuck with nothing to do....I have been cleaning (it's not always fun to live with 4 other people who don't feel the need to clean up after themselves on a regular basis) and trying to relax! Currently I'm sitting outside in the sunshine.
Update on the kids.....This friday is dia del nino..aka kid's day. So this whole week at school we are celebrating. Yesterday was hat day, today was crazy hair day, tomorrow is pj day, thursday is costume day, and friday is party day. Literally my kids will be in my classroom for 45 minutes at the beginning of the day and 45 minutes at the end where I'm supposed to teach them the whole day short style :-). Hope all is well with you all :-)
Friday night we went to the orchestra of Coahuila (the state of Mexico I live in) who were hosting these drummers who did some pretty amazing things! They played a piece from a man from Iowa. Wuhooooo way to represent :-). We also went out for dinner at this place that we were recomended to. It was supposed to have delicious food, but none of the stuff we ordered was very good!
Saturday some friends came over and we celebrated in typical Torreon fashion. We all made breakfast together and then sat around the kitchen table for an extra 4-5 hours. Something about our table just calls people to sit in it for forever! It's pretty awesome.
Then me and two of the other girls went to the club where we have a membership to lapswim. I can't imagine swimming outside in Iowa right now, but it was beautiful here! It just made me laugh when we were walking there because you take a left, take a right, take a right, walk through a rock/glass field with a side walk when you start and finish but nothing in the end, take a left, take a right, walk through a big parking lot, and then end up there. It's like they have all these good ideas for things, but never finish them!
After the club we got ready for one of the teachers, Amanda's, birthday party! It was fun because she's friends with some different people so we got to hang out with new people and then went to a karoke bar across town for awhile and then just chatted for a couple hours. Even if I want to, I don't think I'm going to be able to stay awake until 7am in Iowa, like I can here in Mexico.
On Sunday we went to our friend Javier's quinta (a club house kinda....) and swam in the pool, played some ping-pong, volleyball, soccer, and watched some girls do a swimming performance..it was pretty funny.
Of course i did not have my camera for any of these things so I will try and get pics from the other girls and upload them soon!
Em and I had a later flight out than Kate and Eda which was nice because we could wake up slowly and get ready at our own ease, plus we didn't have to put our wet suits in our bags because they were dry. wuhoo. Em and I are both planners so we arrived at the airport earlier than we had to. We walked into the duty free store because someone gave us an add with milka bars (the purple kind you can buy in Europe) and Em really wanted some. We got up to the checkout and the lady was like you're staying in Mexico you can't buy anything here....we were sad.
So back track a bit...when we were checking in we realized we were "premire" which means that we were first class. They were the only seats available for that time so we took them. You would think they have to tell you what type of seat you are getting, but not in Mexico!
We boarded the plane on time, but then sat on the runway for about 40 minutes. This was a problem because we only had an hour and ten minutees layover in Mexico City....my seat mate was a soccer player. We didn't talk, but I think he played for D.F.
We landed in Mexico City 7 minutes before our plane was to take off. We jumped off the plane, ran through the airport, asked someone if our flight had left-they told us yes. We were randomly walking through the terminal and had to go through security again...dude we were just on a plane, how would we have anything dangerous? Missed our flight waiting. Had to go talk to three different people, found out there was another flight leaving in 5 hours or that we could wait til morning. We chose the 5 hour flight. Took our time walking around the airport, visited star bucks, bought some postcards and candy and then headed to the VIP lounge. I was very grateful we were first class when we had 5 hours to sit in a comfy chair instead of a metal one. When it wasn't loud and we didn't have to listen to all the boarding calls or security warnings. We met a cute couple from Austraila who had been traveling for forever, but were on their way to Merida! They almost missed their plane, because they had set their watches to LA time and didn't realize it changed down here...ooops. But we helped them out!
Then it was on the plane, to sleep...and sititng next to another soccer player-this one a Santos player. In the airport we were both happy to see our bags and were getting ready to get a taxi when we saw our friend Miguel there and he was kind enough to take us home. wuhoo :-).
.....When we got home, unlocked our doors, were ready to crash as it was midnight and we'd been attempting to travel since 10am....and were greeted each with two lovely cockroaches. :-(. SO then it was an hour checking for more, cleaning them up, trying to wind down and fall asleep. Rough end to a wonderful vacation!
Sadly I have 0 pictures from this day. I don't know how this has happened. Except to say that it was a quick trip between Playa and our way back to Cancun so we could fly out the next day! The point of this trip was simply to Snorkle. We didn't know where we were going, we didn't know how we were going to get there, or anything, I love that we feel that comfy! We were going to take a bus there, but ended up just paying an extra 50 pesos to go by taxi. The taxi driver asked in the town who we could with. A man found us and told us that we could go with him whenever we were ready on a private trip.
We decided to eat lunch first and we ate tons of food before going in the water. It was pretty fun. The men kept our luggage (a little scary since we had our passports, money, cameras, ect all just right there) and we were off for a 2 hour snorkle trip through the reef. It was really cool, but we did not find any turtles or cool things. At one point they told us to take our flippers off and get on the boat and then changed their mind and we were supposed to swim in the ocean- a lot harder without flippers.
Our tour guide was Charlie Brown- a 4 foot Mayan man who was hilarious and whose English was very cute. I don't remember the other guys name, but he also was funny. Then the girls got some sand to take home (I didn't...you should be proud of me mom) and we got yummy ice cream, some snacks from OXXO and in another taxi to the Mariot Courtyard we stayed out in Cancun. It was an awesome hotel and the beds were excellent and there were pillows toooooo!! Wuhoo :-)
After I put Berkley on a plane for her way home I met up with Katie, Eda, and Bernie for a few days in Playa del Carmen. 
One of the 7 wonders of the world that was so full of history. We went on a group trip with a tour guide and all.
Our group was a bit obnoxious and incredibly crazy. There were people from Spain, Germany, London, North Carolina, California, Tennesse, and then us from the midwest. The tour was
given in Spanish, English, and German so each thing took a long time. We went to see the ruins, to a Cenote, and to see a different little town that was called Villa something or another :-). Chichen was by far my FAVORITE. It was amazing to see how huge it was and to see the way that they are rebuilding everything that had been completely destroyed. 
During the performance we got to watch men play with a ball on fire. It was a game kind of like soccer except that they had to hit it with their hips, not with their hands or feet and try and get it to go through a circle about 15 feet off the ground. The winner or the mvp of the team was then killed and offered as a sacrifice to the rain god. It was a huge honor for each of them. (so weird!)
This was my absolute favorite part of the night! It taught us the history of Mexico-of the Mayans, and also showed us the things that are part of it right now. Most of the states of Mexico had dances or songs or different ways in which they were represented. The best way to show you is through pic
tures so here you go! 
It was on the back of the magazines. I was told to go by the science teacher at school and a few other people. So I decided that Berk and I should go :-). This was like a park with absolutely
everything in it! There were animals : sharks, dolphins, pumas, cheetas, birds, butterflies, deer (they should get them from Iowa), monkeys, giant sea
turtles, a sweet aquarium, and the list goes on! 
a soccer stadium where they used to play with human heads, a flower garden, a mushroom farm, an underground river where we snorkled, a riverboat ride, ect.
We left for the park at 8am and got home at 10:30pm. It was an AWESOME day and worth every penny! 
She was flying in from Oklahoma! I was told when I bought the ticket that it was a 4 hour bus ride. However, I found out later that for some reason we were stopping for an hour somewhere...suprise Mexico! So we got to the bus station late and the
I missed the airport bus that was going to get me to the airport on time, and so then I got on a later bus and talked to the bus driver for a bit and he dropped me off at the international terminal. I tried to find Berkley- hard to do when three hundred people are trying to get you in your taxi, you're an hour late and you don't know what flight she's coming in on :-P. I went inside and talked to the soldier (the one with the M16) and he was impressed that I spoke Spanish and told me I could wait inside. I wandered around to try and find her and on my lap back to the front I saw her! I screamed her name from across the way and she was confused :-). Once I found her I realized I was missing a bag. Went back to the bus (which thankfully hadn't left) then we attempted to get a colectivo only to find out it would be either an hour wait or 500 pesos, we went for 500 pesos. He brought us right to our hotel which was beautiful from the outside and we got all checked in! Our room was AWESOME!! Berkley has the pics, i'll get them soon I promise. 
We had a 2 story room with two bedrooms, 2 king size beds, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a little table. Our view was of the ocean of the pool, and of the hotel bar. The windows were the whole length of the rooms and it was awesome! I for sure suggest staying in Avalon Grand! (we found out later that it is actually a time share place and isn't normally available to the public...horray for looking off season online )
In Merida there were two other teachers hanging out as well (they stayed in a different place than me though) and they met up with a girl from Germany (Sabrina) and a girl from Britian (Lisa) who ended up going too!Arriving there was a process. We walked 25 minutes to the colectivo (a big van) "stop". Took an hour van ride, ended up in the middle of nowhere, where there were men standing on the side of the road with their bike carts. We got on their carts for a 20 minute ride up and down some hills where we arrived at the horse spot.
We then boarded a horse cart to start our 3 hour "trip" to the 3 cenotes. Cenotes are giant sink holes where you can swim in freshwater.
There were bats and a few fish there as well. They put a little railroad like thing along the way and made these very skinny horses pull us along. It was only a one way path so when you ran into someone you had to get off the cart, pull it off the path, let them pass and then get on again. It was crazy rediculous, but it was a very fun ride all the same! 
girl who fell down the steps on her way out and ended up in her daddy's arm. Scary! But there is no railing, and when your feet are wet, it is slippery, very scary. We ended up tipping our guide an extra 70 pesos and when he realized it he screamed he was so happy. It makes me realize once again how little people are paid for how much work they do! Then it was back on the bike taxi, waiting for the colectivo, and 30 minute walk home! 
the one next door so we went there for desert instead and it was great! We got to see dancing in the street one night. Children young and old and lots of people watching the dances. The videos I took didn't turn out very well, but the music was great!
Spring Break 2010 in Mexico! What a great place to live :-).
It began Saturday March 27th with a bus trip to Monterrey with my roommate Emily F. We were flying out Sunday early in the morning to Cancun. We got to the bus station and were told "oh by the way your bus is canceled" ...we were like hmmm and how are we supposed to get to Monterrey then!? The director of the Lujo bus figured it out and gave us a new ticket on the other bus line.
At the bus station in Monterrey, we bought a ticket inside, tried to get in the cab - got all our stuff inisde, ect and then were told that he wasn't the "right" kind of cab....grr, so we got out and stood by waiting for a real one. The cute old man we got was helpful and took us to the hotel which was by the airport which is 40 minutes away from the bus station! rediculous :-) The hotel was nice it was a good place to sleep for a couple hours! We got on the shuttle to the airport at 4am Sunday. Our flight was at like 6:45, but because we didn't have seats on the plane (boo discount airlines) and had no idea where we were going. We were both really tired in the airport, but it was worth it! The great part was that we got into Cancun at 9am and had the whole day together before we were splitting ways the next day! Em and I did lots of walking around Cancun and exploring new things to see.