Job Discussion Forums

[MELEE]

[Samantha]

Cangringo wrote:

[Guy Courchesne]

[MELEE]

[delacosta]

Good day y'all.
I haven't left yet! I do occasionally lurk around here to see what's up in god ol dave's world.
I've been quite incommunicado as of late, mostly meditating and working at the vipassana center in Valle del Bravo and helping out in the soon to be built center in Xico Veracruz.

I'm definitely of the those that love mexico team and am all too aware of this as the day of leaving rapidly approaches, this monday to be exact.

As much as DF(where I am right now) drives me crazy, although I do appreciate its many charms, I have to admit that I think I do prefer it over Deep River, Ontario where I will be visiting with family shortly for a few weeks before my wife and I will be taking off for an extended tour of India and perhaps Mynamar if we have the time. It will be a combination of meditating and serving in the many centers over there and travelling/turisteando between them.

After that we'll be heading off to either Victoria or Vancouver or somewhere in that general area for the duration of my wife's studies-she's getting her Master's. All this of course hinging on her Canadian immigration process working out, and if it doesn't then, shucks, we'll just have to hang around till it does.

So there is still a slight possibility of me hanging on in the Oaxacan system for another semester-keep me in the back of your mind oh Mama Oaxaca, especially if something comes up in the promised land of Ixtlan for the March semester!

As for the longer term I'd love to come back and settle in the Xalapa/Coatepec area.

[Guy Courchesne]

[hlamb]

Things i love about Mexico: the food, the climate (well, in Cuernavaca at least, not so much in Veracruz), my job, my house (way nicer than I could afford to rent at home), my friends, my social life, activities in the zocalo, the celebrations, the markets and fresh produce, the vitality of life here....that's about it for now.

Sure, there are things that annoy me about Mexico, as there would be about any place. But they aren't too dificult to overcome and are simply part of living in another country.

Mexico was perhaps more "fun" when I was just travelling and studying but living here has the advantage of learning more about the culture in an in-depth way that isn't possible when travelling. It's been a great adventure and though I won't be living here forever, it's had a huge (and positive) impact on my life.

[choctawmicmac]

I liked the fact that I FIT IN. I didn't get treated like I don't "look" like a teacher!! I look like one of them, so that means that everywhere else I"ve gone and tried to get a teaching job (except San Francisco where I got my credentials in the first place) I get treated like I look "young," like one of the students, like a high-school dropout, like a *beep*, like an idiot, like incompetent trash, like someone who couldn't possibly understand Math let alone be qualified to teach it, etc. That's what the surprised, "You're good at math?!" means, in a nutshell. That little phrase speaks volumes - everywhere I've been but Mexico and San Francisco, I am initially greeted as if I must be some teenaged runaway who came to prostitute on the streets, not the teacher job candidate.

And all because I look like a Mexican.

So at least in Mexico, I look like a teacher!!!!

[GueroPaz]

As somebody who spent decades living on flat plains, I like Mexico's crumpled topography, mountains running down to the sea, cenotes in the Yucatan, ruinas in many places, fields of corn and frijoles on the altiplano, ringed by green peaks.

The variety of the people, mestizos, criollos, indigenas, morenos, blancas, campesinos, young and old, rich and poor.

The food (but hold the chiles!), the tapestries, bright paint, fiestas, the clash of new and old architecture along with high religious art and Diego Rivera's skeletons.

Oh yeah, I need to get back to Mexico.

[MO39]

[GueroPaz]

I don't recall Velasco exactly, but I learned about mountains in Chiapas. Now when I see those clouds on the hillsides, and can tell where it's raining here in northern Thailand, I long for Mexican landscapes.

I picked up that term 'crumpled topography' from the legend that when Cortez returned from Mexico and was asked by his king to explain the land, Cortez crumpled up a flat piece of paper, saying, "This is Mexico."

As poor as my Spanish is, it would be great to live in a foreign country where I can communicate.

[MELEE]

[cangringo]

Samantha,

The word disdain was yours not mine. I�m not really harbouring anything...you make it sound like I�m seething in my classes and just thinking...gawd you�re all idiots. I wouldn�t be doing this if I thought that or acted that way. I don�t love it either though. I would love Mexico if it were clean but even you have to admit that the garbage all over is not just a personal problem. It�s a global one and they need to be told and shamed into not doing it anymore. The animals drives me crazy as well, they don�t have any respect for other living things. Obviously that�s everyone but a good number. The driving isn�t so bad if you don�t get killed. I don�t know what it�s like in your area but the driving here is insane on the highways and now I am in Cabo two days a week and pretty much every day I go I see at least one truck rolled over in the ditch. Everyone warns you about driving the highways here at night. It�s not because you might get robbed, it�s because it�s dangerous with drunk drivers, crazy drivers, sleeping truckers etc...

Also I didn�t say that I was heading home...I said that we are only planning to spend a few years here and then we are heading South not North. Funny that you assume that means I am heading home.

You can give me all the holier than thou attitude you want but the fact remains that this country should be first world and it isn�t. I think it�s sad that it isn�t. The reasons that it isn�t are some of the reasons I�ve listed above and many more. I think I said this somewhere but when you ask someone why they did something like put a juice glass upside down on the counter and they stare at you with a blank look and say I don�t know while shrugging their shoulders...well there is something wrong there. That is one example but we find more and more of those every day.

As for my students, do not fear for them. I realize that they are smart enough to learn English. I don�t say this because everyone should know English, but everyone should learn other languages and at least try to learn about other cultures. As we all know part of teaching English is teaching about whatever culture you happen to be from.

It�s just my opinion, I don�t expect everyone to agree and for the most part I go along with the general...well it�s Mexico and that�s how things are done - whatever - attitude. That doesn�t mean I have to like it or accept that that�s how things should be done.

Anyway sorry for the OT...that is all

As I also said I do love that the people are so warm and friendly and some would even give you the shirt off their back if it would help. I also love that teachers get respect here.

[GueroPaz]

At third world prices, I don't expect to receive first class/first world service. After the refugee camps and remote beaches of Chiapas, and after Thailand, a major city of Mexico shouldn't be too bad.

It's good to hear that teachers get respect in Mexico. Perhaps teachers in Thailand get more respect than they deserve!

I'm still afraid that if we taught mexicanos and thais to live like First World peoples, they'd lose their culture in the process and become white bread estadounidenses.

[MELEE]

I let this go the first time, but I'm going to say something now.
The terms 1st World, 2nd World, and 3rd World are no longer valid and even if they were you are using them incorrectly cangringo.

1st World=the US and it's allies
2nd World=the USSR and it's allies
3rd World=Unallied countries, also happened to be undeveloped which is why no one wanted to ally with them.

Mexico is a developing country.