Lay of the Land

Colourful - this place is colourful!  I have landed in a town called Tequisquiapan ("Tekis") which is in the hills 3 hours north of Mexico City.  I was picked up at the airport along with 3 young Englishmen and an Australian woman and we were swept up into days of welcoming activities and tons of help to get settled.

Here is our street and the large (brown) metal gate into our complex:

 One of the 2 gates is for cars, and the other for entering by foot... Everyone lives behind walls so that the streets, as you go along, seem quite bare.  We, like everyone else, have a central sunny coartyard inside the gate....My apartment is fine - and an astounding improvement from the tenement horror that was my situation in China. I picked up some Mexican blankets and they have done wonders to brighten up the place

 A fun event in those early days was a drive into the hills around the area and a wild, wet exploration of a series of caves that have water blasting down through the rock inside.  There was no way to take a picture inside the cave but here is a snap from outside.  The water was neck high in places and one had to hold onto ropes to keep from going under. Then, outside, there was a lovely river that came out from the caves and was great to lounge in  (the water in both places was lukewarm).

The main square of town is a lovely spot, lined with restaurants and shops 

That is a poor street dog, of which there are hundreds, trying to survive.

                                                                               Charming, eh?
                                                          Will go for now - mountains of marking await me.
                                                                                  Adios!  KMG

I Have Landed

Hola!  First pic celebrates the glorious colours and flowers of Meh-hee-co!
I landed in Mexico almost three weeks ago and it has been its usual get-settled-in-a-new-land-and-job" oh, and by the way you-don't-speak-the-language craziness from the get-go.  It is now Aug 28th as I write and launch this puppy, and school has been in session for a week and a half.  At this point I have settled into a flat, stocked it with multiple trips to various stores, sorted my cell/handy/mobile with multiple trips to various stores and begun teaching English (Year 7,8,10, 11 and 12: non-Brits  Y=Grade+1)  and History Y10 and Y11.  The English National / Cambridge program is considerably different from what I am used to, so there has had to be a huge learning curve negotiated in short order.

Quiet it is NOT, however, in the evenings.  We (the 5 new teachers) live close to a square (Magdelena Plaza) - here is the church at the centre:

The plaza is a lively place and we are regaled with music (great, except when it is the band practicing the same song on what sounds like a bagpipe for hours late into the night).  Also at night are dog-fights (street dogs are a real problem here) and an amazing amount of random fireworks (for no particular reason, it seems).  By 5 am the roosters are in full voice and the day begins again.  It is just damned lucky I am a morning person.... I am into a rhythm of heading to school at dawn (a 10 min walk - arrival 7am).  Everyone leaves smack at 3:00 (Mexicans to go home to have their lunch) and I have started to do that, too, as it is eerily quiet by 3:30!  Most of us head home to catch a nap to make up for the shattered sleep we had the night before!  Most of the teachers have adopted a street dog.

Speaking of the school:

There is a peek at the sign and the nursery end of the school building (potato vine on the fence)...
I am going to post this and perhaps come back and do another post after I sort out dinner.

Adios!  Karen