Playing Catch up

Wow, I just realized its been over a month since I was on this thing. Well, mid February Jon headed off to Calgary for his cousins wedding. He loved being in cold weather again. Just kidding.  Jordan, Jon´s brother joined us at the end of February. He loves it down here, and I haven´t heard him complain about anything yet. His friend Dana followed him down here on March 1st. While Jon and Jordan were in Calgary, I took the opportunity to visit my dad at his place outside of Mexico City. It was a great getaway. Cats and movies and fireplaces. At the beginning of March, Jordan, Jon and I moved out to the southern edge of town, to the best apartment in the history of life. Its a great place, with a breeze, a huge tree over the balcony, a view. Both bedrooms are legitimately awesome, so I don´t feel bad that Jordan has the smaller bed. In fact I´m a little jealous. Our bed is so big I feel like I´m drowning in it! A big change from having to share a single in the last place. My pa came to visit for a quick weekend trip, so Jon and I slept on one of the couches, and even THAT was comfortable. Having my dad come down was really fun, to show off my town, take him around. I think his favorite part was Xocodiva, this great chocolate store, though he wont admit it since he is supposed to not eat sweets. He took us all out to dinner as a treat, and when we got to the restaurant we weren´t sure if it would be right, and the hostess thought we were going to leave and so offered us all a free glass of wine with dinner. so we ate there, and it ended up being one of the best meals we have had yet. (ignoring the fact that for the most part we only spend about 10 dollars a meal, and survive greatly on spaghetti and pb and j...). 

On the work front, we have now worked at the school for about 2 and a half months. It growing on me. Zoey ended up coming on as full staff and is a huge help in class. Jon´s help quit, so now he is all alone in class. Every so often Dana or Jordan will show up, and I think they enjoy the work. My class has been fun, we have invented several games in which the stressfulness of teaching is relieved by making the students do things that make us laugh. Last week as a friday surprise, we blasted reggaeton and made them dance with moves that corresponded to the weekly vocabulary. That week was ¨family¨. I think my favorite was the grandpa. 

Jon found a private english student 5 days a week, which he is pretty excited about. I´m proud that he is so good of  a teacher that he can get paid for private lessons. I think I have decided to give up on my job search. After interviewing at numerous places i found that if you aren´t willing to work 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, and commit longer than 6 months for about 3 dollars a day, then you´re not going to find work. Laura is coming soon (NEXT WEEK!) and after that, we are thinking of going to Mexico City for a week in spring break. So, having to work like crazy just to make enough to eat, and having to give up the ability to enjoy my time here just didn´t make sense. So I´m buckling down and saving what I have for as long as I can. The funny thing is, I found a babysitting job for a week in April. That one week of babysitting will pay me as much as if I worked every day until then. So if I can find the random job every so often, I think I can make it. I wrote to the orphanage, the animal shelter, and the ecotours place to volunteer so that I don´t go crazy in my free time. 

Ill keep you posted on my sanity

Sayulita

We finally made our trip to Sayulita, a little surfing town a couple hours away. It was pretty fun, but the town is definitely too small for anything other than a short trip. We got there about 1:30 on Saturday, and found the crappiest motel ever. I loved it. We asked the woman to see the room and, given our budget, it was exactly what we were looking for. Two twin beds, and a bathroom so small you could pee, take a shower, and brush your teeth all at the same time. Which Tyler proved. The best thing about the place is that our room had a window that looked right out on the beach, maybe 20 feet from the water. When we told the lady we wanted it, and that it was perfect, she looked at us like we were crazy and said "No perfecto. No no." haha. Tyler got a surfboard right away and attempted to ride. Jon had a turn and actually got up a couple of times. Then they convinced me to try, but since I couldn't even lift the huge board, they had to go out with me. It was pretty fun, but I did not get anywhere close to anything you would call surfing. And I think Jon was afraid he had killed me a couple of times. After a funny little dinner at this restaurant on a campground surrounded by hippies, we went looking for something to do. This town could be traversed in about ten minutes. We got a couple of corner store beers and set up shop on the beach. It was Bob Marley's birthday, and one of the restaurants was going to have live reggae music. While we were waiting for it to start, we met some guy named Dan, a mid-30 writer who was living here for a bit. He introduced us to his friend Llave, the epitome of hippie wanderer. We learned the secret to his youth was to drink his own urine, and even saw him the next day with a tupperware case and a nice slice of lime on top, I guess to take away the tang. When the music at the bar started, everyone was bobbing (pun) to the music fairly lamely. Party Animals that we are (ha...right) Jon and I broke out the absolute lamest moves we had, and had a dance off. I believe there was a point I even slid through his legs. Funky Chicken, Shopping Cart, The Twist... all were used. I'm pretty sure most people were jealous. Then this morning we awoke to a cloudy cool day, so we just headed home to relax.

Ok, this is weird. So my bank card stopped working, and when I put it in the ATM it would say "No longer authorized". So I called the bank, and they told me that my card had been compromised. They wouldn't tell me anything else, and when I asked if there was any way I could get money they were just like "mm... no, not really". After about 45 minutes on the phone, I got a new card sent to Mexico, and was just about to get an emergecy visa sent out to me express, and they transferred me and lost my call. I was just pissed at this point, so just wrote them an email online and left it for the day. The next day I check my account, and it is -$670. I call them, get hung up on again, and Jon took over. The woman that he talks to ends up telling him that it is a mass compromise, and that apparently someone hacked into the bank and took money out of a ton of accounts. She promised that the money would be back in there by midnight. Meanwhile, I check my online banking and the email has been answered. The banker who wrote back to me told me that the money missing was from a T-mobile autopayment (even though my account has been closed with them for several months now...) and that it was my fault. However, the money had also been returned to my account by that point. Jon and I think that he lied as a coverup, using something that he had seen as a payment on my account previously to make it believable. Its just kind of scary to me that they have something this huge happen, and then lie and hide to cover it up when everyone has a right to know. I'm sure they are worried about this and the crisis mixing, but still.... shady.

a churro a day....

probably will make me really fat, but unfortunately, they just so happen to be located three blocks from our new place. one of MANY reasons this place might be the best place i ever live in my life. and that is even keeping in mind the fact that no gas meant cold showers the first two days. this place is amazing. you can watch whales from the deck (and the pirate ship that shoots fireworks- two of my favorite things- every night at 9 pm), you can tan on the roof, the grocery store is down the hill, a light breeze blows through the place constantly... need i go on? not to mention the people. our landlord rolando is a HUGE change of pace from benjamin. when we moved in, not only was it fully furnished, but there were romantic candles in the shower in jon and my bathroom, and sewing kits in the drawers! plus the guy is just really nice and a great guy. and our neighbors are great too. i am convinced that they are our european twins... two guys and a girlfriend. i can hear jon muttering about them right now, he is very jealous because they can all speak at least three languages. but they are very cool, very nice, and i am incredibly excited about the fact that iiiiiiii might make a female friend! maybe she likes hannah montana too. or, i mean, the european equivalent. 

now that we are finally out of that hellhole, its kind of funny to look back on. also funny? we have met about 6 people since moving out of that place that also know benjamin for varying reasons. one of the men that works at children of the dump had our exact same predicament. he even stayed in the same apartment! i guess ben has swindled hundreds of thousands of dollars out of people, trying to make his business endeavors work. he has several aliases and has lost a bed and breakfast and restaurant already, and is pretty much about to lose this too. i wonder what the total amount is that he has stupidly lost smoking pounds and pounds (yeah i know, its supposed to be kilos..) of weed. oh, and they have a ten year old son who they bring around too.. dandy. 

well, im really enjoying working at the school. rachel and i are getting into a teaching groove, and i think today we got a new volunteer too, zoe, until june. im getting better at not being awkward, and i think i maybe know 10 names now! jon is absolutely loving it, he spent the ride there and back today speaking in spanish with a 12 year old, beaming all the way. he started taking spanish lessons too, and i think with his continually darkening skin, in no time people will think hes the native, not me. 

i started working at the bakery, quit after the first day, and then was rehired again temporarily. ha. the place was alright, but im exhausted working 8-2 then 3-7. plus $15 a day was not cutting it. however, the lady called me back again today and asked if i would consider working until she found a new person because she had put an ad in the paper saying they had espresso now, and needs someone to work the machine. she negotiated that i can leave at 12, and only stay 2 weeks. so, why not? four hours a day paid, meanwhile i can look for a different job, and still have time for a nap. i guess thats ok. 

well i better get to bed so i can wake bright and early. bleck. 

3 days, 3 DAYS!

Until we leave this apartment behind. I can. NOT. WAIT. I left my clothes on the floor of the bathroom when i got in the shower and forgot to pick them up right away. When I did they were full of about 15 huge black ants. Gross gross gross. Oh, and when we went to talk to the landlord about the internet being out, he came back at us with "well, i'm actually being nice because you were supposed to be out of here on the 27th." Yes, Benjamin, when we said we wanted it for January, we meant only until the fourth to last day. UGH. Enough about that..

Well, Jon and I started our teaching volunteer on Monday. I was put with 3rd and 4th graders (no babies :() and Jon with 5th and 6th. This was supposed to be a trial week, with us helping out the normal teachers, but on Tuesday I showed up to a class of 30 and no Rachel, the teacher. She was out with asthma for Tuesday and Wednesday. I tried to pull some kind of lesson out of thin air, it went alright. Wednesday was better when I actually had time to plan, and I had a good time doing art projects and some games to teach the numbers 1-20. Today Rachel was back, which was a little weird because she took over, but good, because I got a chance to relax. One of the poorer girls has a little brother who comes with, but is too young for any classes. I saw him hanging around outside and went to invite him in. So cute, he comes up to me and asks "Excuse me, where is the classroom for 1st grade, section B?". So I brought him in and while Rachel worked with the class I helped him learn a few words. I like that I found the only 5 year old in the whole place. He is a smart guy too, I drew a sun and an apple and wrote SUN and APPLE  and asked him to read which was which to me and he goes "SUN... and an APPLE but it looks like a sun..." So, teaching is going pretty well. 

I also interviewed for another job on Tuesday. It was advertised as a barista job, but when I showed up, its a little corner bakery owned by an american woman. It smelled amazing. From what I can tell, only one mexican woman works there, baking everything from scratch. My job would be to help work the espresso machine (more like one that you would have at home than an industrial one), and then learn to bake. It sounds really fun, but doesn't pay well. But i got a free cinnamon bun with the interview!! I still may end up doing it just for the experience. 

I feel a lot better about being down here now that I have something to do every day. It does mean that jon and i have become really lame, watching a movie and going to bed around 10 every night, then waking up to plan lessons, but I feel more settled in. Yesterday we found the pirated movie stand, a local grocery store AND tamales. What a good night. 

I'm a little behind on blog posts.. a couple fun things with good pictures happened-

We watched obamas inaguration on the computer!!! wearing matching obama shirts! and then went into town wearing them trying to find other nerdy people like us but none existed!! 

We said goodbye to Jons aunt and uncle (not fun, they were sweet and felt like family! i miss them!) by going on the weekly art walk around PV. there were some really amazing portraits and other things. a lot of gay art too, given the location. but i really enjoyed going. 

The next day was Jon and my's designated anniversary day, and Jon surprised me by taking me by bus to the zoo. (An even greater gesture, because jon absolutely hates the zoo.) The Puerto Vallarta Zoo is pretty well known, and was really fun. We bought a bag that they provide at the beginning, filled with several animal specific foods : carrots, pellets, bread, peanuts, corn. We got to get up close and feed every animal they had! My favorite, boringly enough, were the monkeys. Wait thats not true. I found a new animal, called the coati that has a nose like an anteater and is cousin to the raccoon. The funniest was a cage with a hairless dog in it. I'm pretty sure they had just grabbed it off the street and put it in the cage. All it wanted to do was play chase. I think jons favorite was the zebra. They had learned what a person with a bag meant, and as soon as we got close, they tilted their heads back and opened their mouths. I really loved the zoo, I will probably have to go back several times. 

Our last grand adventure was our attempt at a hike. The zoo was located by a sign that said "hike, 2.5 miles to waterfall", so we decided to go back and do that. Jon and I set out with plenty of water, swimsuits, and walkin shoes. We walked down the road where the sign pointed... and walked down the road some more... and walked on more road... pretty much it was a road through the jungle that led to....... dun dun dun...... THE PREDATOR MOVIE SET! so, instead of being a hike, we kind of just walked 2.5 miles (as tourists passed by in taxis) to get to small waterfalls surrounded by ziplines, a bar and a restaurant. So, we sighed, took some pictures with the sets, had a beer and some guacamole, and jumped in! We were the only ones at first,but as soon as we discovered that one of the rocks was perfectly formed to be a waterfall waterslide, we were joined by many. 

oh, and i saw a manta ray jump out of the water the other day. yessss. 

buzzards and playpens

Jon's birthday was a success, we took the bus out to Bucerias (a nice bus! with padded seats!) which was about an hour and a half of ride. Rancho Banderas, the time share, is a fun place, with several tiered pools cascading down (which we took advantage of to shoot some playboy esque waterfall shots, ha.) We all helped to cook up some shrimp fajitas for dinner, and along with a great chocolate cake, and a couple of jesus candles, jon turned 26! Given the long distance, we left around 7. Getting back was not quite as easy. We waited for a bus on a pitch black empty street. Unfortunately the first one that came by was not as plush as the one we had there, and after jolting terribly finally broke an axle half an hour from town and we had to switch.

The next day, I had a fun time babysitting for a girl from seattle, whose family conveniently decided to come to Puerto Vallarta for their winter vacation. It was great to see her, we watched the fireworks from her balcony, and ordered a fabulous room serviced meal. All these great visitors made it so nice to spend time away from our house!

Finally, yesterday, Jon and I met with this guy for a tour of Children of the Dump. It was a very impressive organization. They started as just a retired couple who would bring hot meals to the families who lived in the dump and made their living sorting through trash. From there, their project meshed with a local church, and they started taking care of the kids, eventually starting a daycare center for the little kids, an afterschool program that teaches english, computers, and math to the gradeschool kids, and has a womens group for the single moms. Whats funny is that the guy that started it does not speak a lick of spanish, and doesn't want to learn even after living here 25 years! Anyway, Jon and I met a few volunteers, visited the daycare and school, and then helped bring meals up to the remaining workers at the dump. It seems like a very welcoming and informal organization, and we are excited to get jobs there. The pay is only $200 a month for volunteers, but I think it will be plenty worth it. 25 little toddlers for me! woo hoo!

whales came by again today. but the stupid jet skiers scared them off. ugh.

the ants go marching one by one...

well, i kind of feel like im exactly where i was last week. still no job, still no apartment. we did, however, find a really awesome apartment for march april and may, that is located downtown with a great balcony that looks out onto the sea. February though, not so much. And we did have some.. progress (?) with jobs. Jon and I interviewed at a bilingual school, but only got a "well let you know". Tyler interviewed at a timeshare place, and then decided he didn't want to be that timeshare guy and didn't take their offer. Jon's aunt and uncle (Norma and Bob) are in Puerto Vallarta for the next two weeks, so we met them downtown for dinner yesterday and are going to their timeshare for Jon's birthday tomorrow. Its a very nice break in the monotony. Who knew lazing at the beach could be so mundane? I guess its not so much the lazing that gets to me. I have a lot of time people watching, and have found iguanas, whales, crabs, and hermit crabs to watch too. I've also caught up on plenty of reading. But at the end of the day, it was exactly like yesterday, and not a whole lot was done that was worth anything. Jon and I are meeting with the administrator of a non profit organization called "Children of the Dump" on Thursday. Volunteering will be fun, and will add something to my day. For today I think my task will be sweeping. fun.

the new year....

well, i decided to wait a while before writing about the new digs. jon had warned me they weren't exactly what we had been promised at $950 a month, as i saw when I arrived. The location is great, about a mile south of downtown, in a quieter more jungly area. And the house DOES have a nice view of the sea, and about 2 blocks to the beach. But beyond that.... The "Huge, fully furnished one bedroom with plenty of room for three" stopped short. The place only has a single door, and it is NOT in the bathroom. The front door locks, luckily, and leads you into our apartment, contained in a single large room. the front of the room is divided from the back by a half constructed wall that doesnt quite reach the cieling, and further back are the kitchen and the open bathroom. Quite lacking in privacy. And upon my arrival, we were still awaiting a second bed, a working stove, and any sort of linens, dishes, pots and pans etc. The owner, this older hippie guy who we have decided is just not good at life, finally showed up about eleven pm. Two pillows (we are three...), one blow up mattress, one blanket and a camping stove were what we were provided with. Jon and Tyler argued forcefully with the guy (while i awkwardly hid in the bathroom) that despite our appreciation of his efforts, this was NOT fully furnished. However, this only succeeded in making him angry, finally leaving with an "this isn't a hotel. i'll do what i can." (which is nothing more, if it requires any effort). However, being the crafty travellers we are, we have made do. Yesterday we made a trip to Walmart, toting Jon's hiking backpack, and loaded up on food, pots and pans, and another pillow. We were pretty comical trying to get onto the bus with a 50 lb backpack the size of me, tyler carrying a case of beer and a cooler, and me with a bucket full of all the odds and ends that wouldn't fit. But we made it back, courageously taking busses the whole way instead of paying for taxis, and I think, once we arrived home, we are all the more comfortable and happy for it. Luckily, the internet was one of the only parts of the ad that was indeed true, so I have been busying myself looking for our next place. Meanwhile, we are bonding and building charachter or something.

New Years itself was pretty fun here. We headed downtown to where the excitement was, had a great dinner at an italian restaurant, and then barhopped a little until 11:45. The Malecon is the main boardwalk where people gather, so we left our bar and went to go find a spot to watch the fireworks. By chance, we happened upon the exact spot where they were going to be shooting off the majority of the city's fireworks. And it being mexico, all that separated us from the men in the hard hats and their tons of explosives was some caution tape. Obviously, I got right up in there, and I think improved the feeling of excitement greatly by never ceasing my screaming. Got some great videos and pictures too. And since then, our time has been spent looking for jobs, exercising (we live at the base of a huge, steep hill. Legs of steel in no time), cooking, and bumming around on the beach. Tyler is looking for a golfing job, and Jon wants to teach, while I really don't care what I do, but i really miss hanging out with kids, so that might play into it.... untilllll next time...