Mi Casa es Tu Casa

I was never one of those children that believed teachers slept at the school. Maybe you were. Maybe you still are, hm? Well, I'm thankful to say that I have not had to resort to stealing my z's on the teacher's lounge couches. I present to you: the house.

 Or rather, the front gate.

That door at the end is not the door to the house. Can you see that step just past the water pipe? No, not that one. Yeah, right there.

Inside the house: Floor 1

  

Not pictured: the Chihuahua that will enthusiastically greet anything with outside smells.

Pictured: Joaquín aka Adrian, the elder son

 

Inside the house: Floor 2

My room, Adrian's room

Rodrigo's room (younger son), Roberto's room (younger son's friend)

Why is there a trash can in the bathtub? Because this was a few days before a planned no-water day. It's not the actual water supply that's the problem - it's the really old city pipes. Time to fix them, before they break again and we have three unplanned no-water days.

Inside my room. I still haven't checked if that TV works...

Outside my window isn't that exciting. Well, not if you're looking down, anyway. Shall we?

Yes, I can creep on office workers from my bedroom window.

Not pictured: third floor of house. Mainly because the one time I tried exploring, I couldn't figure out how to open the door at the top of the stairs.

Before we move on, two permanent residents would like to say hi.

Blacky: Bark! Bark bark! Bark!

Mila: Yap yap! yapyapyapyapyapyapyapyap!

And now, Mexico City! (or rather, the parts of I see every single school day)

 Waiting to cross Paseo de la Reforma

The corner I get picked up at. Yes, Circle K exists here too!

And off we go! (Note the gold and red taxi in the center - that's the standard/most common color combo for cabs here.)

  

Billboards...

The local university...

Park...

Various colorful buildings... (Weeee! My camera cannot handle high speeds!)

The English-speaking hospital... (almost there!)

The garage! We made it!

And then school lets out, we hop back on and - what, you didn't think we took the same route, did you? Every street in the city is one-way (or a divided highway sort of thing)! ¡Vámonos!

And this isn't even rush hour.

Government-y type building...

Don't know, but the blue tile exterior is really cool...

  

More billboards...

  

Graffiti/really cool 3D mural thing...

Playground...

Torre Mayor, the tallest building in Mexico...

Park-esque median...

Adrian's workplace...

St. Regis Hotel, visited by the likes of Ringo Starr and Lady Gaga...

Fuente de Diana Cazadora...

  

Walking back, el Angel de la Independencia (more or less the equivalent of the Statue of Liberty)...

The food stand that appears on the corner every weekday...

Home! *drops backpack* *sighs* (Yes, Mom. I still do that.)

Alright, that's enough of that.

~~~

And now it's time for...

Learning Mexican Spanish!

Previous disclaimer applies.

So I was taught in my various Spanish classes that the word ya meant "already." Like, if you wanted to say "I already saw that movie", you'd say "Ya vi esa película." And ya could be combined with other words to form other common phrases, etc etc. The truth is that ya is so much more!

"Is that enough food, or do you want more?" "¡Ya!" ("I've got enough, I'm good")
"Are you done eating?" "¡Ya!" ("Yes, I'm done")
"When are we leaving?" "¡Ya salimos!" ("We're leaving now!")

And so forth.

~~~

Only three weeks of school left - yikes! Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Happy birthday to Nana this coming Friday. Stay warm! Next time, food - if I'm not too lazy to bring a camera to my meals.

The American School Foundation

Apologies for taking so long to put this first post together! I haven't been taking as many photos as I could have since I don't want to look like a gringa tourist, but since I've become more comfortable with life here, you get pictures. This post, I focus on the school itself.

The American School Foundation has a very nice, spacious campus, which has, as far as I can tell, four main buildings: the Lower School, the Middle School, the Upper School, and a central building that holds a few extra classrooms, the infirmary, and connects to the cafeteria. Since I am working with fourth grade, I am of course spending most of my time in the Lower School.

The administration does their best to make the school feel like one in the States, which I would say it does, albeit one with an unusually high number of Spanish-speaking students. Instruction for students is bi-lingual; the 'regular' classroom teacher speaks in English, but for an hour and a half each day, students are taught by a Spanish-speaking teacher. The English teacher, with whom I am working, is Jenna Kubricht, and the Spanish teacher is Lorena Ramon.

Welcome to 4A! As you can see, teachers are addressed by first name. Also, notice the altar set up for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Doesn't look too different, does it?

 There are few constants in our schedule, what with a different special each day at a different time, but the one thing we can count on is recess! 

"Recess" includes eating time, and for those who don't bring a meal, there are plenty of choices at the cafeteria.

The Mexican dishes are made right when ordered and from fresh ingredients.

The only downside is that the amount of food is a bit small compared to the money paid for it, so I've been buying most of my lunches from this stand just outside the main entrance and - well, we'll get to that when I make the inevitable food post. ;)

Jenna's told me that a common downside of international schools is that the library tends to be lacking. That is not the case here.

The windowed area up top is a loft where students can read.

 

Cozy, no?

Other various sights from campus:

The school has a new theater building under construction. Wish I was going to be around to see its premier performance!

The underground bus depot. ASF has their own fleet of 71 buses, which both students and faculty are free to use. Riding bus #15 has saved me a lot of pesos!

Parts of a mural in the Upper School Building. Thought they were too cute not to share!

~~~

And now it's time for...

Learning Mexican Spanish!

Disclaimer: For the most part, I have no idea which of these words/phrases are specific to Mexico. This will just be the section where I share what I've learned here that I didn't learn in my Spanish classes in the States. If I know for sure something IS Mexican, I'll mark it with an asterisk. 

"jitomate" - tomato* (as opposed to just "tomate)

"papas a la francesa" - french fries (if the "papas fritas" I learned in school means anything, it's probably potato chips)

"corazón de pollo" - tender-hearted, literally "heart made of chicken"

"el ratón de dientes" - Mexican children don't believe in a tooth fairy - they believe in a tooth mouse.

"el pay de queso" - cheesecake, though it translates as cheese pie. To be fair, cheesecake is more similar to pie than cake.

~~~

As much as I've been enjoying my time here, I'm counting down the days to when I can see everyone again. Stay safe, stay well. A belated happy birthday goes out to my brother and parents. Next post - exploring Mexico City! ¡Hasta luego!