The Giants of Tula

First Friday of Lent. I went to mass on Ash Wednesday and was mind-blown to see that there were people walking around Toluca with stamps of ashes. STAMPS! Instead of the priest using his thumb, he dipped it in some ashes and stamped foreheads. Do we even do that in the states? Not that I know of. Anyways, no meat on Friday so Bruno and I went out for Sushi (but apparently chicken doesn’t count as meat here. Don’t ask me how). However, it was Mexican sushi. Almost all of the sushi rolls had chili, avocado, chipotle, or a combination of those ingredients. But all the rolls we got were excellent! The restaurant was in a mall so we walked over to the theater after to see The Cobbler. We had a 2 for 1 pass. It was entertaining enough. What’s cool about theaters here is that you choose your seat when you buy your ticket so you’re guaranteed a spot with the people you came with.

On Saturday we went to visit Bruno’s sister and her 3 sons in Huehuetoca, Hidalgo. Her husband is in the military so they live on a military base. He’s on a mission for a few months so he wasn’t around. We went through two security points to get there that weren’t very strict. I was surprised but then Bruno said it was because we are just going to the housing and not in any military buildings. He also said it depends on who is working as to how strict they are with the questions they ask you before entering. The base was huge. We drove for more than 10 minutes just to get to the apartments. There was a park, a pool, and other public areas for the families to enjoy. When we get to the apartment, his sister was very hospitable. She made me pozole and chocoflan (chocolate cake and flan) because she knew I hadn’t tried pozole yet in Mexico and that I love desserts. She had toothbrushes waiting for us and even gave up her bed. It felt like home.

In the afternoon, Bruno and I went to downtown Tula to explore a little bit. We attempted to go to the pyramids but they were closed for the day. There was a book fair downtown so we walked through that, explored the church, and met a traveler from Switzerland. It was a very cute area. When we went back to the apartment, there was a boy’s birthday party in the common area of the complex so we helped ourselves to some chicken with mole. After the party, we went to a neighbor’s apartment for karaoke. Man, did he have a voice! I’m pretty sure he woke up the whole complex… and possibly neighboring ones, as well.

On Sunday, Bruno and I went with his sister and the kids to the pyramids. The kids are 4, 6, and 8 so it was quite the adventure. We were all parents for the day. On top on one of the pyramids, there were columns shaped like figures which are famous in Tula. They're called the Giants of Tula or Los Atlantes de Tula. It was a very natural archeological site. I personally think it could have benefitted from a little more up-keep but it was interesting to see it, nonetheless.

After the pyramids, we went to downtown Tepotzotlan. We ate at a buffet as soon as we got there. They had everything: tacos, pastas, meat, chiles en nogada, fruits, desserts, everything. What a dangerous place for me. After lunch we visited a church and a museum called Museo del Virreinato (Viceroyalty of New Spain) that was attached to it. The museum houses artworks and other objects related to the colonial period of Mexico. My fave exhibit was of giant old church music. Attached there was a temple in which everything was decorated in gold. It was stunning. Bruno and I took the two older boys to the museum and they were going picture crazy with our phones and cameras. They had a lot of fun. We dropped Bruno’s sister and son’s back off at their place and headed back to Toluca.

You Sound like You’re from London!

English, English, and more English this weekend! I was invited to attend the British Council’s BBELT annual conference on English education. The British Council has a big presence here in Mexico. When I arrived in August, I was given supplementary material for my English classes and the majority of the books and posters are in British English. The conference was fabulous! I was very well planned and executed. The best part about the conference? Free hotel, food, and learning! Well free for me. The English office I work it can invite a certain about of people which included the ETAs! There were a variety of events and they actually started on time. A foreign concept here in Mexico!

We drove to Mexico City from Toluca Thursday night. The conference was at the Hilton hotel but we stayed a couple blocks away. We checked into our hotel then walked to the Hilton to check into the conference. We got so much swag: books, paper, pens, a bag. When we got back to our hotel, a delicious dinner buffet was awaiting us. And I wonder why I’ve gained weight. It’s just that I love my abs so much that I protect them with a layer of fat. The conference didn’t start until Friday so we had some time to kill after dinner which we occupied with good ‘ol American drinking games. “Signs” was a crowd favorite.

The conference started bright and early Friday morning with a speaker about the work of teachers. She talked about influential people in the education world and pedagogy. I was impressed with all of the speakers. They were very engaging and gave us helpful information. Then we broke up to attend different sessions. There were commercial presentation, workshops, and presentations. I didn’t read the program well enough because for the first one I went to a commercial presentation. Then we had a coffee break and another whole group speaker about how to be a better teacher and involve your students. After, we went to another break out session. The second one I went to was about English pronunciation. Yes, I’m fluent in English but teaching pronunciation is a skill that I am still acquiring. The workshop was great and I’m actually going to try to give it to some groups of my students. I had a question about how to pronounce a word so I asked the presenter and it ended up being a mistake. I felt bad correcting him and I know he was embarrassed. Oops. We had a yummy lunch and got to see a theater production after lunch aimed towards ELLs.

For the third and final breakout session, I attended one about getting students moving. The presenter gave us speaking activity ideas for getting students out of their chairs. I’m working on putting them in my lessons. They are great not only for kids, but adults too! Then we went to a whole group speaker presentation about 10 quotes to make you think. I love quotes so I was in heaven. My favorite quote was “The teacher is much more important than the tool”. Deep. The last event, after a coffee break, was a TED talk. I had never been to one before so I was happy to be there. The speaker presented on leadership and innovation in scientific research. All of the people who presented were expert PowerPoint makers. It was inspiring. The key is minimal words and lots of pictures! We ended the night with a cocktail hour which was very chic and needed after a long day.

The second and final day was a full one, as well. We kicked off the day with a speaker about communication skills, then a breakout session. I went to one about a woman’s research about English writing by ELLs. That was followed by a whole group speaker about teaching humans. A point that she and other speakers made was that students are not empty vessels waiting to be filled. They come with knowledge and experiences and we need to build off of what they bring to the table. During the next session I learned about a new-ish teaching method called Whole Brain Teaching. It had a lot of call-and-response. The example video used this technique on college students but I think it would work better with younger students. After lunch we attended our last breakout session. I went to a very engaging one about listening activities. I’ve already used some of them in my conversation classes. The best part is that they are for all levels of speakers. One that I like is to have students write a sentence about something they want to do. The students then go around the room and collect excuses as to why they can't do it. The students get to work with the vocabulary they already know, move around the classroom, and practice, practice, practice. After another speaker, the conference ended with a raffle and poetry. The poet was great and so were the raffle prizes: test waivers, books, conference admissions, and a trip to study English in England. Unfortunately, I didn’t win but the more deserving people did. Overall, it was an excellently executed event that I was delighted to attend! Does that make me nerdy that I like conferences? I’m OK with it.

Ruins, Love, and Magical Towns

Another pyramid and wedding-filled weekend! Bruno and I went to Teotenango to see the pyramids on Saturday. They are only about 30 minutes from Toluca. They were some of the coolest-looking pyramids. There were many different levels which made the view of the pyramids awesome. We didn’t have much time though because we had to get back to Toluca for the wedding of friends of Bruno. The mass was at 5PM. We casually strolled into the church at 5:50PM, just in time to watch the newlywed couple exit. At least they thought we were there the whole time. We hadn’t eaten since before the pyramids and we knew it would be a while until dinner time so we had some pizza to tide us over at a pizzeria next to the church.

We got to the reception a little before 8. It was a beautiful wedding and reception that was Valentine’s Day themed. All of the bridesmaids were dressed in red. There were about 250 people at the reception in a place that looked out over the city of Toluca. We ate at around 9 and the music started at 11PM. We danced cumbia for a while and then the Banda arrived. Wouldn’t be a Mexican wedding without Banda! While the Banda was playing, the bride and bridesmaids walked around with a wooden box to ask for money from the women for the newlyweds. This is a Mexican tradition to help financially support the honeymoon. The groom was having men sign his dress shirt with permanent marker which is another tradition.

On Sunday we picked up Faby from her hometown and went to the magic town of El Oro. It used to be a mining town. We went on a guided tour of some of the most prominent places, such as the theater, municipal building, train station, and old mine. The theater was beautiful and was mostly for the wealthy back in the day when they built it. The mining brought business to the town so they constructed the theater. The mine was super interesting, too. We were able to walk over glass that you could look down to see how far it went. There was also an observation deck to get a good view of the town. Then we walked through an artisan center where we bought jams and ate (thick, jello-like bar). We had lunch in an old railroad car. It was so cute! Then we dropped of Faby and headed back to Toluca.

Our Getaway Home in Tepoztlán

What better way to end an orientation week than with a trip?! About 17 of us rented a house in Tepoztlán, just east of Cuernavaca. We arrived Saturday afternoon after a wild night of hotel searching. When Britney, Preston, Jordon, Charllotte and I got back to Mexico City from orientation on Friday, we ordered an Uber car to take us to a hotel we found using an app. It was a crazy low price so we asked people who lived in Mexico City if it was in a safe neighborhood. After their seal of approval, we were off to the hotel. About half way there the driver asked if we had been to the hotel before. We hadn’t and he informed us that it’s in the worst neighborhood in Mexico City. So we obviously didn’t go there. He had some other recommendations so we went to two of those but there wasn’t any room. I have a travel book so I looked up a hotel and it had complementary cockroaches so we just decided to suck it up and pay for the hotel we stayed at during orientation. Some ETAs from Ecuador were staying at the same hotel so we went out to a salsa club called Mama Rumba. I’m currently taking salsa class but it’s salsa en linea. There, I learned how to dance Cuban style salsa!

We headed out Saturday morning after my angel Bruno picked us up from the hotel. I bought him a Krispy Kreme for getting us from Mexico City. We left at a bad time though because we left Mexico City when the rest of the population was leaving. Instead of 1 hour, it took 3 to get there. However, once we arrived it was worth the drive. It was a four-bedroom U-shaped house with a courtyard in the middle. Three of the bedrooms had TRIPLE bundle beds. I didn’t even know those existed until this weekend. There was also a kitchen, living room, dining room with a huge circle table, a pool, and a living area house thing in the back with a bar and fireplace and tables and couches. It was difficult to leave on Monday!

We were pretty hungry once we got there so we walked down the ridiculously steep hill to eat downtown. There was one main strip. It’s not a very modern town, but that’s what made it so cute! First stop: micheladas. The chamoy was the best I’ve ever had (the sticky red stuff on the rim of the cup). It was nice and sweet and not to spicy. For dinner, we had some typical Mexican food; I ate a triangular thick tortilla sandwich with meat. It was a lot better than it sounds. Meg, Bruno and I stopped for ice cream on the way back at the largest ice cream shop that exists. When we got back to the house we just chilled and played games. Later at night we went to the house in back, lit a fire and played spoons. My kind of night!

Bruno and I attempted to run Sunday morning but it was a fail. The hills aren’t exactly paved and everyone and their mothers were downtown at the market. Instead, we walked briskly and headed to mass. We stopped in a café first to have a delicious vegetarian sandwich and freshly squeezed juice from the market. After we hiked back up the hill to the house we met up with Lauren, Julie and Anna to go get some lunch. The café specialized in their passion coffee. It was actually good for coffee because there was so much sugar and milk.

Bruno and I climbed up to a pyramid after lunch. Still can’t believe how many pyramids are in Mexico. It was pure stairs from more than an hour. We had a great view from the top though. We practically ran down and it took 30 minutes. I underestimated the intensity and duration of the climb. To reward ourselves we had a beer once we got to the bottom and had some pan de nata. When we returned to the house, Char had prepared our plates for dinner. We grilled steak and nopales (cactus) and had another chill night of hanging out.

Unfortunately we had to leave. Thankfully it was a long weekend so we were able to stay until Monday. In the morning, Bruno, Jordan and I packed up and headed to Cuernavaca. On the way into town we stopped and ate deer. I had deer soup and deer tostadas. It was all quite tasty. Bruno kept making Bambi references. Thanks, Bruno. When we parked we needed some dessert so we went to Krispy Kremes. Round 2: same doughnut as Saturday – filled with chocolate. We tried to go to some government building but they were closed. We went to the market on our way to the main church in the town. We had a winded explanation of the church by an up-and-coming singer. He’s trying to make it here in Mexico and the US, where he has family.

Another long trek back to the city: 3 hours. We dropped Jordan off at the train station and ate at Panda Express. Orange chicken always hits the spot. Then we headed back to Toluca to head to the doctor because my stomach had been bothering me. It turns out I have Colitis (colon inflammation). Therefore, I’m on a diet. No red meat, alcohol, legumes, spicy food, pop, or chocolate. NO CHOCOLATE. I’m going to die. And I have to take a pill and a packet filled with gel every 8 hours for 3 weeks. Not looking forward to that. At least the doctor diagnosed me, though, and I wasn’t complaining for nothing. And that’s how the weekend ended!