Shots from San Agustinillo and Zipolite

It cannot be overstated how beautiful the Oaxacan coast is! This past weekend we all went to San Agustinillo, with a quick jaunt to Zipolite for the sunset. It was amazing, the pictures only capture a fraction of what it's like to be there...

Fun in the camioneta

Here are pictures from the back of the camioneta, the principal form of transportation to the beach towns. It's a pick-up truck with benches added in the back, covered by a tarp. There's usually a shelf to put bags and such above the cab of the truck, and little doorbells that you push to indicate when you want to get off. If the doorbells don't work, you just bang on the cab of the truck. : )

To get to the beach, I take a 3.5 hr van ride from Miahuatlán south to Pochutla, and then walk to the camioneta stand. The ride to the beach is about 45 minutes, and it's amazingly beautiful.

I realize that this is the first time some of my co-workers are making their debut on Erica's blog... Featured in these pictures are Margee, Allison and Matthew. Allison has the cool shades, Matthew's got the cool combover, and Margee's the star of the "bustily surprised" shot (sorry, Margee, it had to be said!!) : )

Oaxaca remembers October 2, 1968

All month long in Oaxaca city there have been special events to commemorate a tragic event that happened 40 years ago. The past 2 weekends I've been to a number of art exhibits and a movie that really show just how much this event shook things up in Mexico, especially as it was the same year that the Olympics took place in Mexico. I'm attaching some pictures (sorry for the glare!!) representative of the student protest in response to the government's actions, and following is a description I found online...

The protest rally here on Oct. 2, 1968, began like many others
across the world in that era of campus revolt and
rock-and-roll. Thousands of demonstrators huddled in a drizzle to hear
student leaders with bullhorns denounce the army occupation of a
university.
Then the sky over downtown Mexico City crackled with flares and
Tlatelolco Plaza exploded in gunfire. Shooting at the panicked crowd,
troops and the police turned the plaza into an inferno of carnage and
screams. When the firing stopped, 2,000 demonstrators were beaten and
jailed, scores of bodies were trucked away and firehoses washed the
blood from the cobblestones.
Like the killings outside Tiananmen Square in China in 1989, the
Tlatelolco massacre seared the conscience of an entire Mexican
generation. Government officials have resisted every attempt at
investigation, insisting that students had provoked the bloodshed by
attacking security forces.
The government originally insisted that 27 people died, but others put the
body count far higher. Robert Service, who was a diplomat at the U.S.
Embassy in 1968, estimated for Aguayo (a historian) that "nearly 200" died.
"This year a lot of new information is coming out," Aguayo said. "But this
wound isn't going to heal."

It's coming soon... Día de los Muertos preps

Weekend in Oaxaca

Here is a random selection of fotos from my weekend in Oaxaca... Please note the women carrying various goods (usually flowers, sweets or handicrafts) on their heads... It's not the best picture, but I wanted to get a picture without the women noticing I was taking it (or else I would have felt obligated to buy something!) :)

There's also a picture that shows an outdoor orchestral concert in Oaxaca's zócalo. It seems that there is always some musical event happening in the center, in addition to the freelance marimba and mariachi groups...

Mazunte pictures

Tread lightly...

Today marks 3 months since my arrival in Mexico. It's a cold and rainy day. When I poked my head out onto my balcony to confirm that I needed to wear my raincoat, I saw a very sad sight. A little hummingbird was laying on my table, its beautiful body cold and lifeless.

Mike, my ever-positive co-worker, told me it's a bad sign, and I'd better tread lightly today. I'm not a huge believer in bad luck, apart from my firm belief that you must maintain eye contact when you touch glasses to "cheers" someone... I prefer to believe that we create our own "luck" by the choices we make and the expectations we have. But still, on such a chilly and dreary day, it's probably a good idea to tread lightly...

I got lots of class

The semester began on Monday, and I'm going to be a busy girl. Which in some ways feels good, after so many months of killing time in front of a computer. Although at least my blog was up-to-date, right?? :)

Because we are still understaffed (and in all likelihood will continue to be understaffed until the end of the semester in February), we're all teaching more than we should be. I'm teaching 5 classes, which meet Monday to Thursday for just under an hour each day. I specifically chose a class schedule that would leave me Fridays free to plan, and also I only have 2 different levels, which is a lot less work to prepare. Out of 7 possible levels of English, I'm teaching four level 1 classes and one level 3 class. This is a big change for me, since for the past few years I've been mostly teaching upper-level conversational classes. It's also a lot different because the students are so much younger. My students range in age from 17 to 22 (there are a couple that are older, but very few).

In addition to the classes I'm teaching, I got special permission to take one of the classes being offered to first-year students (along with one of my fellow English teachers). Society and State in Mexico I (Sociedad y Estado en México I), so far it's interesting and definitely a GREAT way for me to improve my Spanish, which is one of the reasons I'm here...

So I've got a full schedule! 6 out of 8 work hours Mon-Thurs are filled with teaching or learning, and the 2 free hours go by like *snap* that.

The first day was rough, after months of laziness I actually had to work all day! Plus it quickly became clear that I had to spice up my normal teaching style. These kids have extremely heavy course loads, usually with back-to-back classes/activities from 7 or 8am until 7pm (the system here is much different than my university experience!). So games are necessary to keep them awake and interested, they have to think it's fun or I'm going to lose their interest.

Each day has gotten easier, I'm starting to figure out how to make it all work. And of course, I'm falling in love with my classes, I already have my favorites in each class. I also see who the challenges are going to be, but I feel optimistic about making it happen. My co-workers have been invaluable in maintaining my sanity, it's nice to have good people to bounce ideas off of, get advice from, and just share the ups and downs with.

I can also see that weekends are going to be key for recharging and relaxing, so that I can be ready for the crazy week ahead... Last weekend I was in Mazunte, on the Pacific coast, which was a great way to prepare for the first week of class. And this weekend I'm off to Oaxaca city...

Mail Update

I meant to post this a while ago... I want to say a very public THANK YOU to my friend Sheela, who sent me a wonderful care package about a month ago. Filled with yummy gluten-free goodies and an interesting-looking book, I have been carefully rationing my supplies! I haven't started the book yet, I'm saving it for my reward once I finish a very heavy non-fiction book in Spanish... Only 100 more pages to go...

Just in case anyone is considering sending a letter or package (although I am by no means requesting it...), the best address to use is:

Erica Lynn Mielke
UNSIS (Centro de Idiomas)
Calle Cielo No. 7
Col. Lomas del Creston
Oaxaca
CP 68040
MEXICO

DON'T send it registered, it's much more difficult for me to get it and will take longer. If it doesn't require my signature, it's better because the University headquarters in Oaxaca city will get my mail, and then it will be delivered to Miahuatlán by courier service with other University mail, and then delivered to my office! :)