New Years in Tres Valles

As promised (and much anticipated by my mother) pictures from New Years in Tres Valles.  And a few pictures from Christmas courtesy of Octavio.

I brought games for Octavio's nieces, Hungry Hungry Hippos was a hit.

Octavio's dad with his niece Irani

I brought Octavio's little brother video games and everyone was trying to beat a level.

Octavio deemed himself "The Baby Whisperer" over the break because he always got his baby niece to sleep.

Octavio with Luisa Fernanda, wearing her present.

modeling the present I brought her.

the kids (and me) setting off small fireworks as night fell on New Years Eve.

The girls took a little nap before midnight and then were ready to go!  I could have used a nap myself...

Lola needed a little nap also...

Now we're backtracking to Christmas.. Octavio's sisters and nieces and little brother who I'm sure is glad to have another boy around when Octavio's home.

La Pelona (or little baldy) as Octavio calls her.  Check out those adorable cheeks!

Breaking pinatas on Christmas Eve.

Denys about to open her present on Christmas.

Irani with her present.

Chema (or mini Octavio, if you will) with his present.

Lola seemed to prefer Chema's bed to our air mattress.

Lola made new friends.  She was so patient with the little girls. Probably because she's used to me toting her around.

Octavio's sister, Estela with her happy little baby.

Always smiling.

except when it comes to video games, she doesn't mess around then.

or when she's tired.

"El Viejo" (The Old Man) He represents all the bad things from the past year and at midnight they burn him to signify starting a brand new year and leaving all the bad behind.

Octavio made Denys take a picture with him and the viejo.  She didn't really want to and I can't blame her, he was a little scary, especially at night!

Irani sound asleep walking to burn Octavio's grandma's viejo. 

Octavio toting Irani.

Before we burned the viejo.

their neighbor's viejo.  Theirs wasn't as good as his grandma's.

The viejo ready to go.

Starting head first.

Full flames.  There were fireworks inside too that started popping as it burned more.  It's a wonder everyone has all 10 fingers on January 1rst.

The biggest bottle of beer we'd ever seen at his uncles.

It's bigger than my head!

Welcome Back

Being home for ten days was nice. I missed my kitten and my boyfriend but was glad to have friends nearby. Now I'm back in the heart and heat of Mexico.

Octavio picked me up at the airport and we took a bus back to Tres Valles where Octavio's family lives and where he had been spending his vacation. I love coming to visit Octavio's family and playing with his little brother and nieces, not to mention there's always kittens to be found somewhere. But I hate the heat. There is no way I could live here year round. It's winter and it's in the 80s. And the cement houses seem to just hold all the heat in. After a week in the heat without it I really value airconditioning! I'll take Xalapa's 45 degree weather without heat over this anyday!

Now, to add to what Octavio is calling my True Mexican Experience, the water pump system at the house is broken so we have to shower old school style (also Octavio's words) with a bucket of water and a cup. Luckily, I just chopped about 2 1/2 inches of hair off so it's much easier to wash!

Showering old school I don't mind but I knew I would have problems when Octavio told me his neighbors/cousins were planning on butchering their pig (who I had grown quite fond of on my last visit!) There was no way I was sticking around to see or hear that so Octavio & I spent the night at his aunt and uncle's house so we wouldn't be there when they did the deed early the next morning. I may be a kansas/missouri girl but let's be honest, I was raised in Leawood and am this close to being a vegetarian. I'm far too connected to the food chain for my own comfort here.

The bright side is Lola has loved being able to climb trees and walls and chase bugs and leaves until her heart is content. And I've won over Octavio's shy little brother and nieces with my video game and hungry hungry hippo playing skills which I brought them for Christmas. Tomorrow is New Years Eve and I'm excited to celebrate it with everyone here and see what happens!

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Teachers: Saints walking among us.

So my first day of work was...how to put this nicely...a mess.  Oh my gosh, I always believed that teachers were extremely underpaid and now I very firmly believe it!  If I could find another job here, I'd do it.  Those little kids wore me out!  And who's idea was it to teach English to three year olds!?  Those kids can barely speak Spanish let alone English.  They just spent an hour staring at me.  My next class was the older preschool kids, the 5 year olds.  They were pretty good.  There was about 18 of them I think and they would at least repeat after me when I said things in English.  I brought out the Buddy puppet though and they just looked at it like really lady, we're a little too old for this thing.  And the three year olds just stared at it the same way they stared at me.  So Buddy the Bear was a flop.  The first graders weren't too bad because there were only 10 of them.  They didn't really want to listen to anything I had to say though and I spent about half the class trying to get them to stay in their seats.  Then there was a lot of excitement because two girls went to the bathroom and came back shouting excitedly about a paloma, or dove, and then all of a sudden everyone had to go to the bathroom.  I didn't fall for that though.  I don't know what was so exciting about a dove but there was no getting their attention back after that.  The real test of my day, that I failed, was the second graders.  Oh my goodness.  These kids were the reason why when I got home and Octavio asked me how my first day went all I could think to say was "please don't make me go back there!"  There was 23 of them and they all wanted to ask me a different question.  My favorite was "How's Australia?"  I had just explained that I was from the United States and this kid apparently thought that meant I'd been to Australia too.  He was all disappointed when I told him I'd actually never been to Australia so I didn't know.  This class was a disaster.  A complete and total disaster.  There's no other way to describe it than that, it was awful.  They were all over the place and talking to everyone and throwing things at each other and rolling on the floor.  A mess.  There was no way I was going to gain control of that classroom.  I was doomed from the start.  So now I'm going back to the drawing boards and going to revise my lesson plans in a hope to first, get their attention, and then hopefully keep it.

Luckily today was the day we had to pay rent and water and the phone bill and all that good stuff so it was a reminder of why I need a job.  Otherwise, I might have been tempted to play sick tomorrow.

In other news, Octavio & I went to Tres Valles, his home town this weekend.  Here are some pictures.

Welcome to Tres Valles!  The city hall all lit up at night and decorated in preparation for Independence Day this month.

Brunch on Saturday morning.

Octavio's sister giving his baby niece a bath.

His quiet little niece.  She had to be bribed with juice to give me a kiss.

After the baby's bath.  Octavio's little brother and niece were watching from the sidelines.

Octavio's aunt with his new niece.

Octavio's grandma.

His aunt taking a break from the heat in front of the fan. 95 degrees with humidity feels a lot hotter when there's no air conditioning to escape in!

Homero, Octavio's aunts parrot.  He whistles at all the cute girls.

Chailo, the cute little hoppy puppy I got to play with at his aunts house.

I was in kitty heaven.

Watching a movie/taking little naps in the afternoon.  Well, I was taking little naps anyway.

Octavio's aunt & I.  And his little old man hat.

Octavio's adorable chatty-cathy niece peeking at Lola (our kitty!) in her carrier.  I think my Spanish got 10 times better just answering her questions.  She is too cute.

Octavio & his mini-me.  Better known as his little brother, Jose Maria.

Octavio's niece, Irani, and I.  She got good at rephrasing questions when she could tell I had no clue what she was saying to me.

Octavio sleeping on the 4 hour bus ride back home. 

Mountains- we've made it back to Xalapa and cooler weather!

cuddling with my graduation present from Octavio, Lola.

Lola found her own bed.

But quickly found a better bed on Octavio's pillow.

The start of Octavio's pineapple upside down cake that I get to enjoy tomorrow!

ready to bake with his teammate Rosy.  Can't wait to eat it after another long day of school tomorrow!