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October 26, 2003
Hola:
After gutting out a brutal sixty-five hour journey I arrived a little more than two weeks
ago to my newest home situated in the beautiful state of Michoacan within the Central Highlands area. Founded in
1574, Zamora is known for its significant array of impressive cathedrals and churches and is in the heart of a
rich agricultural region amidst striking mountainous landscape. Michoacan has elegant colonial towns, scenic lakes,
at least one active volcano, and superb national parks such as the famous Santuario Mariposa Monarca which millions
of monarch butterflies visit each autumn.
Yet few tourists come here and in the one thousand plus page Lonely Planet Guide for Mexico there's merely one
quarter of a page devoted to Zamora. So there're no t-shirt shops, no hawkers or touts peddling things I don't
want or need, nor any geeky Americanos rubbernecking their way around town - cameras draped around their necks
and beer bellies spilling over their beltline. That suits me just fine… this is authentic Mexico I'm living in
- all the beer guts are on Mexicans!
After three nights in a posh hotel I moved into a school-provided residence just two blocks from my work. It's
a simple two-story house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was empty when I moved in so I greedily grabbed
the largest bedroom - the only one with a private bath. Since then two female teachers (one American and one Canadian)
have also moved in. There's really nothing particularly remarkable about where I'm living but it's comfortable
and there's cable TV with many programs in English such as CNN - something I'm unaccustomed to. I took in the playoffs
and World Series, the first baseball I'd been able to watch in four years.
At my school the directors, Francisco and Marta, have been tremendously helpful in my settling in process. It started
with Francisco picking me up at the bus station and Marta greeting me at the school a few minutes later with a
hug. How many of you have ever been hugged by a new employer, huh? You've got to love that! And I quickly obtained
a bicycle, thanks to Francisco. After developing into a hardcore cycling addict in Asia I wanted to get one as
soon as possible after arriving and since Francisco is an avid cyclist he asked around town for a used one and
came up with a loan for me - at no cost. So now I'm on wheels again and I've already gotten in some long rides
through the marvelous farm country in the lush rolling hills outside the city. I'll be doing that as much as I
can.
I've been taken around town and oriented, introduced to people, and even shown how to best shop in the mercado:
the fabulous huge market that sprawls for several blocks and is crammed with shops selling not only produce (fruits
and veggies) but other kinds of food and virtually everything else you could ever want. I delight in roaming around.
It's like going to a festival to shop, with the colors, sounds and aromas generating a delicious sensory overload.
People are milling about, vendors are hawking their wares, and various musicians fill the air with lively Latin
rhythms - I can and do wander for hours.
I've now completed my initial two weeks of teaching: 29 hours each, which is much more than I'd been previously
putting in per week. That's classroom hours only and doesn't cover preparation time. I have five one-hour classes
each day from 3 to 8:40 pm with ten minute breaks between each one. Students attend classes five days a week for
a full semester, which in this case is from early September to late January. In addition, another teacher and I
evenly split up a schedule of four-hour classes on Saturday mornings (so half of the weeks I only teach 25 hours).
It's a very attractive contemporary school with ample resource materials, a computer lab and about a dozen teachers.
I'm on a contract that runs through the end of this semester with an option to return for the spring term, which
is a possibility.
So far I have mixed feelings about the teaching situation here. There're a lot of positives, but on the other hand
the number of hours in the classroom is a bit excessive - especially for the chump change I'm paid (ESL teaching
is not for getting rich!). In addition, for the first time in the over three years that I've been teaching I must
deal with disciplinary issues since a number of the younger adolescents display very little respect and are badly
behaved in class. I'm setting clear boundaries and expectations, trying to be consistent, and have opted a few
times to temporarily kick a student out of the classroom when they haven't complied (were they ever shocked when
I did that!). We'll see how well I hold up to this new test, but it's already become somewhat easier as I've gotten
more used to it and the students have now grasped that I can and will be a real prick when necessary!
I desperately need to become proficient at Spanish as quickly as possible and I'm getting free lessons at my workplace
- ninety minutes twice a week. There's all the opportunity in the world to practice as very few locals speak any
English at all - though I occasionally stumble across someone who's quite capable. Invariably these are people
who've lived in the U.S. for some time and I latch on to them like a life raft, imposing instant friendships on
them. In other cases I do a lot of pointing and gesturing, something I've done a hell of a lot of since last living
in an English-speaking country about 3 ˝ years ago (the U.K.). Since I anticipate sticking around Latin
America for a while I'm determined to advance far beyond being barely functional in Spanish, which is about as
good as I ever got in either German or Indonesian.
I've already walked and cycled around here a great deal and I now have my bearings pretty much everywhere. It's
quite a small, compact city (I can stroll from one end to the other in less than thirty minutes), the most appealing
area concentrated in and around the main plaza: a gorgeous, park-like square with fountains and huge trees that's
surrounded by small businesses and a massive cathedral. What a terrific place to chill out and people watch! Of
course it's much more modern here than in Indonesia and stores provide a wider variety of products, by far. Being
in Zamora is for me like being back in Europe, particularly in Spain of course, as it drips with Old World ambiance.
Obviously Spanish architecture and music dominate.
The weather here is definitely to my taste - the combination of a tropical latitude and an elevation of 1560 meters
means moderate temperatures year round, usually in the mid to high 70s F (low 20s C). Michoacan has much to take
in, both in landscape and cities, and I'm eager to get in some weekend exploration soon. Plus I have a four-day
weekend in late November with which I may get in some beach action in Puerto Vallarta?
One welcome variation from Indonesia is that when I walk or cycle I'm virtually ignored; there're no "Hello
misters!" at all ringing out, something that was constant and sometimes irritating everywhere I went in Indonesia.
At first I thought that perhaps it wasn't so obvious to the locals that I was a gringo (foreigner) since some Mexicans
are even lighter in skin color than I am and could, in fact, pass for Scandinavians! But apparently they do make
the distinction but just don't choose to make a fuss about it. And despite my woeful attempts at speaking their
language I've been extremely well treated - without exception. So far I've very much enjoyed being with and around
them.
About the food: it's sure great for a change being able to get Mexican food that doesn't suck! For the most part
it's quite unlike what I ate in Arizona - none of that Tex-Mex stuff here - this is the real deal. However, I'll
have to be careful to not get carried away and eat too much of it, as it's not exactly low fat cuisine and I like
my weight where I've got it now. I'm also cautious about avoiding cow's head, pig's guts or fried blood in my tacos
- all of them popular and standard fare here.
Some other positive differences from Indonesia that I've welcomed:
- Internet technology that isn't Stone Age.
- Hardly anyone smokes cigarettes.
- Far fewer beggars.
- Traffic flows on the right.
- Locals actually throw their trash in bins (what a concept!) - it's very clean.
- No loud Muslim prayer calls five times/day (I sure don't miss that one at 5 am!).
- Noisy motorbikes are few and far between.
- Much less air pollution.
- T-shirts adorned with an image of the Pope, rather than of Osama bin Laden.
- Women here sure know how to be sexy and love to strut their stuff (extremely tight clothes and bare midriffs
are the norm!).
Settling into a new home in a different country is both exciting and stressful. All the new stimuli are invigorating
and the process of discovery can be exhilarating and extremely interesting. And yet sometimes I find it all the
changes and challenges a bit overwhelming and end up yearning for something familiar. Then I might listen to a
favorite piece of music, look at photos or connect via email with friends and family. I may also try to ground
myself with exercise, meditation or accessing nature, all of which generally help.
But I definitely do have rough days on the road when I feel totally disoriented and where frustrations invariably
mount and threaten to get the best of me. Those days the adjustments and challenges are clearly not fun - but then
I try to keep in mind that the experience is only temporary, like everything else. Plus I remind myself that for
whatever payoff I get in this life that I lead there's a tab to be picked up - a price to pay. That's the way it
always is. And the bottom line is that no matter how problematical it ever gets, it's still way better than being
stuck in a rut somewhere, pretending to be living but in reality just waiting for rigor mortis to set in.
As I write this things here have pretty much smoothed out and I feel nicely settled in. So let's just see what
happens here...
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Peace,