This is where I live...

http://www.autotalk.com/lamborghini-establishes-mexican-representation-with-two-dealership-openings-6940/

Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A has opened two dealerships in Mexico, firmly establishing the supersports car manufacturer’s presence in the country with its first official franchised locations. Lamborghini Monterrey opened on 27 October in the so-called “Beverly Hills of Latin America,” in the municipality of San Pedro, Nuevo Leon.


Ladies and gentlemen, I live in the Beverly Hills of Latin America. I run past this dealership every day and started seeing Lamborghini's in the windows weeks ago. Yes, you read that right. Windows. The dealership is inside. No car lot here folks. They blocked off a lane of a busy street the other night to have this party. I drove past it in full swing...red carpet, spotlights and pretty people. I'm now convinced that I am the poorest person in the whole municipality of San Pedro.

Real de Catorce

Some friends and I had a weekend getaway to a town called Real de Catorce. If you've ever seen Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts in "The Mexican," that's where I was. To get there we had to travel through this tunnel. It was the main way in and out of the city. On the way in we were piled in the back of a truck......and on the way out we piled into a horse-pulled wagon. The tunnel was over a mile long and pretty dusty.
This is Leah and Rosalyn, new teacher friends.
This is a fraction of the outdoor market. There were stands spread all over the town. Most of the streets looked like this. We shopped all day on Saturday and bought gifts for others as well as plenty for ourselves. :)
This is the view from the rooftop at our hotel ($45 USD a night for 2 double beds). This is about 1/4 of the town. It wasn't big at all.
More pictures to come!

Si, hablo Spanish

I've decided that if someone were to say, "How's your Spanish?" I can now respond with, "I can effectively communicate but I'm still learning how to better express myself...and I can't talk about anything hypothetical." By that, I mean that if I have to say could or would in a sentence, the conversation may as well be over. Anyway, here are some small failures I've had in the world of Espanol:

In the supply room at school I needed white board markers (marcadores para el pizarron blanco). I said, "marcadores para el pizo blanco." Translation, "markers for the white floor."

The other day I was trying to say, "I felt frustrated," or "Me sentia frustrada." Instead, I said, "Me sentaba frustrada." Translation, "I sat frustrated."

I also tend to freeze whenever I have to talk about anything new or to anyone new. I went to get my oil changed today and I new everything I had to say...but as soon as it came time to say it I mumbled and sounded like and idiot. Even so, I left with fresh oil and I'm ready for a road trip. Speaking of road trip...
I'm going to Real de Catorce this weekend. Apparently its where they filmed "The Mexican," but I've never seen it. All I know is that it is higher in altitude and I get to take a jacket!!! Yay for cold(er) weather!

And also this...

We beat Alabama last Saturday, the number one team in the country, putting USC in the top ten in the nation! YYYYYEEEEAAAHH Gamecocks!
http://gamecocksonline.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/100910aaa.html

My parents came!

So my parents came to visit and I finally got to show someone around! At the top you have Mom and I at Paseo Santa Lucia, a fake river in downtown Monterrey. It goes for 2km and is really nice. Next is my class...which is so awesome that I really don't need to say anything else about them. Lastly, my friends Callie and Rosalyn came with my parents and I to a flea market on Saturday. Here we are looking at pirated movies :)

I feel like I live here

So my parents are coming tomorrow and ever since they decided to come, I've felt more and more like they're coming to see me where I live (Go figure) For example:
-A friend of mine's employee is going to pick them up at the airport for half the price of a cab (Point: I have friends that will send their help to do my errands).
-Another friend lives across the street from me and the apartment above him is vacant. We asked his landlord if my parents could stay there (partially to help her out and partially to save on hotel) and she is giving it to them for the equiv. of $45 USD a night (Point: I have multiple friends and connections to cheap places to stay).
- I have to work on Friday so I printed out a map of my neighborhood for my parents to use when they wander for a few hours on Friday. I marked Starbucks, a mall, grocery stores, my house, friends' houses, and even some restaurants where someone speaks English so they can eat lunch somewhere and not have to play charades. (Point: I actually know my neighborhood pretty well if I do say so myself).
-My students are pumped to meet my parents. I think they might be more excited than I am. They have asked me every day if my parents are still coming and if they are going to bring certain things that have come up in class (Point: I have an established relationship with my kids).

-Side note, I started tutoring my landlord today. I'm going to meet with her twice a month and she wants to get better at English using Frank Sinatra songs. Today we talked about "We'll Do it My Way" for the entire hour and we translated it back and forth. She even had a little tape recorder and made me speak into it so she could go back later and practice pronunciation (She would press record and shove it up into my face...it was nearly impossible not to laugh). She might be my new favorite Mexican, yet she's also a little intimidating and runs a tight ship here at Rio Colorado.

Viva VACATION! Part Two

Here are two more pictures from the Independence celebration. From left to right we have Stephen, Rebecca, Melanie and myself. They are all teachers at the school and they make me laugh really hard. The picture on the right was taken after all the celebrations were over and we were able to catch up with these handsome men. What I think is hilarious is that the guy in the red tie was REALLY excited to take this picture but he looks completely distraught.
















These pictures were taken after we got back to the hotel. Rebecca does this thing called Poi, that she learned in Thailand. It is basically two ropes with fire on the end that you swing around and do tricks with. I only tried without flames...but it looked really cool when she and Stephen did it.