Xalapa

So we've been in Xalapa for cuatro dias now, and we abso-toot-ly love it.  Con is telling me not to say "abso-toot-ly", but I'm the official blog writer, so he can go toot in a boot.

But really, it's been great.  Con and I have a two story apartment to ourselves with an amazing view of a volcano and the surrounding mountains.  Xalapa is on a mountain side, and we are able to see most of the city from our rooftop.

We've already made friends with some of the people involved in Travel to Teach.  Sandra, the assistant to the director, is my age, and she's a gem.  She showed us around town the first night and took us out for martinis at her amigo's apartment, where we also met our Spanish teacher Miguel - he's also our age.  We love that!  

We were also fortunate enough to live with Chuck for a couple of days.  Chuck was another volunteer who left for home yesterday.  He is the definition of Jack of All Trades: a 69 year old Canadian air force vet/boat builder/home builder/road constructor/moter cycle repairman/horse trainer/teacher/vineard owner/hardware store owner/salsa dancer/father of a "strong man" (like the ones you see on ESPN 8).  But the best thing about old Chuck is his acrobatic abilities.  When Connor and I locked ourselves out of our bedroom, Chuck saved the day by crawling up a tower of rickety old furniture into our second story bedroom window.  I've never been so afraid for someone else's life as when I saw Chuck hanging halfway out of our bedroom window.  Thanks for the memories Chuck!

We've already had a Mexican cooking class here in our home, taught by Delia (another fun girl about our age).  We learned to make chicken enchiladas with salsa verde, refried beans, and cantalope water (it's like a fruit smoothie).  A bunch of people came over for dinner, and even though I couldn't follow their Spanish, I could tell it was a success.

One of our favorite parts of the day is when the garbage man comes.  A man walks through town ringing a cowbell at around 6 pm (or seven or eight - timeliness is not a priority here).  That's our cue to bring out the trash bags.  All of the neighbors join us in walking to the corner and piling up our little plastic grocery bags of trash on the street.  There's something about answering to a cowbell that makes me really happy.

Today was supposed to be our first day of volunteering, but there was a bus strike, so everything is put on hold.  To make up for the lack of buses, the police are driving people around in the back of their trucks.  I was scheduled to teach a class of 6 year olds english.  My lack of teaching experience mixed with my lack of Spanish knowledge was making me mighty nervous for class, so it felt like a snow day when I heard there was a bus strike. 

Connor had his first Spanish language class today.  He's learning so fast.  The class was intense: two hours without a break, one on one, and the teacher doesn't speak a word of English to Connor.  I was weary of the method at first, but they were actually able to communicate quite well.  Con and I made a pact with each other that we will only speak in Spanish starting next Monday.  We're really trying to push ourselves with this language thing.

I hope you enjoyed our not-so-brief update.  I'm trying my darndest to be a good blogger, although it ain't really in my nature.