iViva Mexico!
I've been in Mexico for about a month and a half now and this week I had the chance to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day. It was mostly exciting because we had a day off of school, but it was also pretty cool to see people so excited about their culture.
On September 15th the students had a short day so they could have a pep rally of sorts and it was honestly chaos to watch them all scream "VIVA MEXICO" at the top of their lungs while student council threw out candy. Definitely an interesting scene.
But for me, the coolest part of the day came later when a few friends and I were out for drinks. The conversation had been all over the place, but somehow we ended up discussing how we all made it to CAT and Torreon. My friend Paola is actually from Mexico, but she had been teaching at a school in Cancun before she came here. She made a really good point that sums up why we are all here I think. Even though it would be easy to live in the same place forever and teach the same thing, that's not enough. It's fine and dandy, but we all wanted more. That's why we are here. As Paola said, "I want to squeeze the shit out of life."
A few tequila shots and beers had us all nearly screaming in agreement when she originally said this, but as I reflect on it nearly a week later, I realize that she had a great point.
I think a lot of people don't understand why I'm here. And I totally don't blame them. It's hard and crazy.
It's hard to be a first year teacher. It's hard to be a teacher in general. It's hard to make sure my students are learning. But it's also hard to live in a place where they speak a different language. It's hard to find four cockroaches a week in your apartment. And it's super hard to be so far away from the people I love.
I could have stayed in MN. I could have stayed in Fargo. I would be happy there, I know this. But I'm happy here too. I'm challenging myself and working through the hard times and I'm happy about it. I don't give myself enough credit for taking this huge step. I'm squeezing the shit out of life and trying to take away all that I can from it. And right now, it's exactly what I need.
On September 15th the students had a short day so they could have a pep rally of sorts and it was honestly chaos to watch them all scream "VIVA MEXICO" at the top of their lungs while student council threw out candy. Definitely an interesting scene.
But for me, the coolest part of the day came later when a few friends and I were out for drinks. The conversation had been all over the place, but somehow we ended up discussing how we all made it to CAT and Torreon. My friend Paola is actually from Mexico, but she had been teaching at a school in Cancun before she came here. She made a really good point that sums up why we are all here I think. Even though it would be easy to live in the same place forever and teach the same thing, that's not enough. It's fine and dandy, but we all wanted more. That's why we are here. As Paola said, "I want to squeeze the shit out of life."
A few tequila shots and beers had us all nearly screaming in agreement when she originally said this, but as I reflect on it nearly a week later, I realize that she had a great point.
I think a lot of people don't understand why I'm here. And I totally don't blame them. It's hard and crazy.
It's hard to be a first year teacher. It's hard to be a teacher in general. It's hard to make sure my students are learning. But it's also hard to live in a place where they speak a different language. It's hard to find four cockroaches a week in your apartment. And it's super hard to be so far away from the people I love.
I could have stayed in MN. I could have stayed in Fargo. I would be happy there, I know this. But I'm happy here too. I'm challenging myself and working through the hard times and I'm happy about it. I don't give myself enough credit for taking this huge step. I'm squeezing the shit out of life and trying to take away all that I can from it. And right now, it's exactly what I need.
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