Chicago

I love my laptop! Here I am at 35,000 feet on American Airlines building my website en route to Chicago! It has it’s drawbacks though…..while I have been absorbed with typing my journal out, Paola has taken advantage and eaten my chocolate in my in flight snack pack.

Anyway, we had a pretty hectic evening. Despite the fact we had just a few hours to pack, Paola insisted that we clean the house first, even though we won’t be in it for 4 weeks! It’s Latin madness I tell you! And even after all that, I was awoken by her dad re-cleaning the floor at 6 am. Man, a dog has to crap on the carpet at home to convince me to get a hoover out, and even then I would be tempted to leave it in the hope one of the other dogs will just eat it!

I am going to have to buy a spare battery for my laptop though, because they don’t hold their power for long enough. Not long enough for me anyway!

So Chicago next stop, in about 3 and a half hours!

Acapulco

Last time I came to Mexico I raved on endlessly about how amazing their bus service was. Faultless was one word I used. Boy did we get unlucky this weekend though! Barely an hour out of Mexico City and we broke down and had to wait another hour for a second bus to collect us. Barely another hour down the road and that bus came to a grinding halt as well, which left us stranded in blazing heat at the roadside for more than 2 hours waiting for bus number 3! Made it to Acapulco in the end though, on the 18th, which was Paola’s birthday. I had bought her a little Nikon digital camera which she seems pleased with.

Acapulco is pretty cool; on the Sunday and Monday we went a half hour outside the centre to Pie de la Cuesta, which is a very laid back beach. Monday was better as the previous day we had unfortunately selected a restaurant with two pretty lousy waiters who wouldn’t leave us alone! Anyway, the food was good, the hotel was good and the weather was good…….am looking like a lobster of course, as is the norm when I meet hot sunshine!

I have also realised just how much weight I have put on. I have a gut, and I blame proper food! My digestive system is only used to crap, and it doesn’t know how to deal with sensible food. Im going back on my chocolate diet to slim down a bit asap!

The way back wasn’t quite as eventful as the journey there….we broke down just the once!

TEFL Training

The course is over and I passed the exam with an A!! Woohoo! Well to be honest it wasn’t that hard. And it does make me laugh a little, thinking of all the teachers in the UK who spend thousands getting their degree so that they can teach a bunch on unruly brats in a cold and miserable country, when really they just needed to spend a few hundred pounds and two weeks, and can live somewhere warm instead! ‘Course, it’s not quite as simple as that, seeing as their degree qualifies them to work all over the world with slightly higher wages, but still..!

It was quite a long second week, with 14 hour days including travel time, but even so it was easy peasy and I would recommend it to anyone thinking of travelling and working at the same time. They will find me a job too, which makes it all worthwhile, but I won’t be looking for a job for a month yet. Tomorrow (Saturday) we are off to Acapulco for a long weekend away, and return on Tuesday evening with just a few hours to pack before heading off to Chicago on Wednesday morning for a 4 week break.

Torre Mayor

Week one of my teacher training course is over, and so far so good. The centre is located in a mall, all fairly modern and easy to get to even though it takes a while. A 20 minute cab ride, followed by 35 to 40 minutes on the metro with a 10 minute walk at the end. Everything about the course is a little hap-hazard, as students that we are supposed to observe tend to turn up late or not at all! But I can’t grumble, as my time keeping has been far from perfect, and I’m getting to see enough to get the idea.

There is just one other person taking the course, a girl from Nevada USA, so it’s just the three of us (including the course director) in the classroom. I have also realised just how much I have forgotten regards grammar since I left school some 17 years ago! Still, I am picking enough of it up without having to really put too much effort in, so I’m still confident all will go well come exam time at the end of the course!

Yesterday I had to observe a couple of hours of Saturday classes, but got to do some touristy stuff with Paola afterwards. She collected me from the mall and we went to Torre Mayor, the tallest building in Latin America. The building has only just been completed (Torre Latinamericano was the tallest building last time I visited in 2003) and is owned by the richest man in Latin America. Story has it that when Mexico privatised the national businesses, he picked up the fledgling telecomms company for next to nothing as he was owed a favour…..!

Today has been a day of study and cleaning (a Mexican obsession!), although Paola’s dad came over in the evening to eat with his other half and youngest daughter. Who drew me a picture of a horse! How sweet….!com/albums/gg131/garydenness/torre.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”Photobucket”>

TEFLing

Well holiday time was over and this morning I set off, with Paola (she remains unconvinced that I can get around safely by myself!) to Normal Metro station, about a dozen stops along from Taxquena (pro. Tas - ken - ya ) and from there a short walk to the shopping mall where the English Teacher Training centre is. A rather bizarre first day! The only teacher students were myself and one other, a girl from Nevada, the course instructer went ill after about 15 minutes, and we were left to sit in on two English classes to observe local Mexicans learning the language. The first class turned out to have a test that day, so no observing there. The second class didn’t happen as the students failed to turn up….so off we went home! I didnt massively mind, I was pretty tired, and hopefully things will improve tomorrow!

Anyway, I am going to be pretty busy with this course over the next two weeks, so there will be minimal social events, and few diary entries! So bye for now!

El Bosque

Saturday is relaxation time, so we headed off to El Bosque , a few hours south east of the city, where the sun always shines and Mexicans take their weekend breaks. A latin Butlins is the closest thing we have in the UK, although this version is altogether more basic. But then they don’t need to have a mass of facilities for rainy days….they just don’t have rainy days! The scenery there was pretty inspiring, with huge rocky hills dominating the skylines, along with forests and endless fields of cactus - a staple ingrediant of the Mexican diet.

The resort itself consisted of a dozen or so little chalets, a couple of camping fields and three large swimming pools, complete with water flumes. The is also a hideously cold but very scenic river meandering right through the centre of the place. I did dive in, but quickly jumped out…..I have Acapulco to look forward to in just a couple of weeks, so I’m not going to freeze myself half to death when I will be able to bathe in warm Pacific waters!

The evening was cool though, with darkness bringing everyone out to build BBQ’s, sing and roast marshmallows round camp fires. We couldnt be arsed with too much effort, so we did out marshmallows on someone elses fire and drank beer on the porch. For dinner we went into town and ate at a decidedly upper class Argentine restaurant, where the food was absolutely the best ever! The beef on my Brocheta (shish kebab type thing) was perfect, and well beyond anything I have ever had served to me in the UK. And topped off with a generous amount of melted Roquefort with other sauces and salsas.

We left in the morning, stopping in town again for a wander through the Mercado (market) for breakfast and to look at the wares on offer.

Having got back, we were invited to the Sunday wrestling show, and off we went for another good evening!

Coyoacan

Today we had a lazy wander around Coyoacan, a really nice tranquil part of the city full of churches, pleasant parks, restaurants and coffee shops, and home to two cool museums well worth a visit. The second of these, the Leon Trotsky museum, I had been to in 2003, so for photos click here. Journal date 20th July, and there are photos in the gallery. The first visit of the day though was to the Frida Kahlo museum, with many of her most famous works on show, and you can stroll through her house that is now a fully integrated part of the museum.

From Coyoacan, we went to Paola’s dad’s to be taken to see Mexican Wrestling. Its along the same lines as the British wrestling that we used to have but with a little more glamour and a lot more passion. It surpassed all expectations (admittedly low!) and turned out to be a really good evening out, one I will happily repeat. And as her dad, brother and nephew are all big fans, I dare say I will get plenty of opportunities! Paola’s family are all very friendly by the way, if a little puzzled by the concept of a Europeaner coming to live in Mexico City! Apparantly they were extremely doubtful that I would actually come despite Paola’s insistence that my ticket was booked. Seeing was believing for them!

Chapultepec

I’ve been getting a bit confused with my dates, seeing as I’m now retired and don’t have to worry about time so much! I think the 30th and 31st entries were one day early, but nevermind.

On Tuesday Paola took me to Chapultepec, a really cool castle on a hill overlooking the city and engulfed in a swathe of green forest. We spent much of the afternoon there, viewing room after room of famous Mexican paintings and artifacts describing the country’s history. And in the evening her brother and his other half (whom I had thought was called Malaria for the first couple of days, but turned out to be called Valeria…) took us off to a local taco restaurant, a rather unassuming place that served up yet more great food, and is apparently well known by the natives for its high quality cuisine.

I have yet had a meal that wasn’t delicious, largely thanks to the fact I am visiting places that my guides have already checked out and given the thumbs up to! They keep worrying that the spiciness will be too much for me, but they haven’t ordered anything so hot as to be beyond my ability to consume so far….

Yesterday, the 1st June, we went off to find the place I will be doing my Teacher Training course. Its a fairly long subway ride, but is easy enough to get to, and is sat in a nice air conditioned mall. I have loads of books for the journey anyhow, and its only a two week course. I have paid my deposit and start Monday, and am quite looking forward to it.

Today is largely and tidy up/ relax/ do some shopping sort of a day, so its off to the super mercado to get some groceries.

Presidential Palace

Another leisurely day spent wandering the streets of Mexico City, seeing the sights, eating food, drinking coffee in cool coffee shops, and then eating more food. Finished off with a thoroughly un Mexican dinner of pizza.

We returned to El Zocalo, and went inside the Presidential Palace (free entry, so it was always going to be on the agenda sooner or later!) to view the murals of Diego Ribera which depict the life of the ancient civilisations here, and the Spanish conquest. There is distinct animosity by many Mexicans towards the Spanish, and the more I learn about the conquest the more obvious are the reasons why. The British Empire was largely founded on basis of trade, exploitation, development and colonialisation, whereas the Spanish built theirs purely on religious conversion, exploitation, and the destruction of the conquered cultures. Might explain why Brits don’t get as hard a time visiting their former colonies as the Spanish do!

The Palace is a pretty impressive structure anyway, with nice gardens in the centre that are a tranquil escape from the noise and hustle of the city.

We wandered a little way from the Zocalo in the afternoon to see the Palacio de Bellas Artes, which is the national opera house, and the place to go to see ballet and art displays. Might pop along one day to see a show!

I have explained to Paola that had they been lucky enough to be in our empire, they would still be able to see many of their ancient treasures…….in the British Museum, London