Teaching, Finally!!!!

I finished my teacher training and am now totally teaching!!! Yay!!!!
It's week 2 and it's going pretty well, I feel. I have 5 classes and they are all good. Today, one of my students told me that she LOVES my class!!!! Woo-hoo!!! It feels really great to enjoy a job and know that people enjoy what you do. Awesome!!
I had 3 weeks off between training and starting work. My parents came to visit for the first week, and it was great. We did a lot of touristy things, including an ATV ride in the jungle and a boat cruise that included some whale watching! It was really fun to do all that stuff, and great to see my parents and get to hang out with them.
I spent the last two weeks of my holidays dogsitting the neighbours' chihuahua, Lenchu. In all, he was here for 3 weeks. He was quite a handful! It made me realize I'm not at all ready for the responsibility of a dog, or at least not a puppy, who still needs a lot of training, etc. I'm glad that I found out thru dogsitting and didn't get a dog and then feel insanely overwhelmed and not know what to do about it. Hopefully, someday, I'll be able to look after a dog of my own. That day is not any time close to now, though.
That's about it.

One with the Birds

There are pelicans here! I can see them from my balcony! Funny guys.
My roomie and I went out for breakfast yesterday morning (French Toast with sugar and cinnamon and strawberries and syrup and a Grande Orange Juice. Yummers!!!!), then to Gay Beach for an afternoon of sunning, swimming and a lil' bit of sleeping. Very nice!
School is going really well. I really enjoy both my TEFL course and my Spanish class. It feels good to be learning useful things, both with teaching and language. I'm busy, what with the split schedule and all, but I'm pretty happy.
The only thing that is making me unhappy right now is that my former place of work, Suspect Video and Culture in Toronto, Canada, burned down last week!!! It was the Queen Street location, where I worked on and off for over 5 years! It was the first job I had that I ever REALLY liked and looked forward to going to. I'm really sad the building is gone and that my friends are now suddenly jobless. I know everything will work out, though, and that they have plans in the works for the future. I miss those guys!
I'm about to practice my ukulele, for the second time in over 3 months. When I first got my lil' uke, I was playing it all the time, serenading friends whenever they came over, whether they wished it or not! But, once I moved I got all busy and, some would say, lazy about uking it up. However, I just read a post on my friend's blog about how he bought a sweet lil' uke this past week and he's loving it, and it's totally inspired me to get back on the uke horse! Plus, I have a band I need to be practicing for, my band partner's playing her guitar all the time and I'm getting way behind with my own playing.
So, yeah, gotta go. The uke calls to me.

I get so emoceanal, baby

Okay, so, Grade 1 lasted a week. Let's not talk about it. I'm now taking another TEFL course, at a school that I'm going to be working at. I'm learning to teach "their way" and it's going pretty well, I think. But, enough about work, more about life!!!
Puerto Vallarta is beautiful, and I really like living here. The sun, the ocean, everything. The people are nice, horchata is delicious, and there are a tonne of tiny dogs! Now, for the last year or so, I've wanted a chihuahua. I think especially since I decided to move to Mexico, I'd been thinking about it a lot. So, I'm going to get one!!! Probably next month, as I have a few weeks off between training and beginning work. I'm hoping to adopt one from a pet shelter. I'm really excited about it! I've never had a pet of my very own, but I think that, at the age of 32, I'm finally ready for the responsibility. I have a friend here that has a chihuahua and a chihuahua/pekingese mix, and he said he'll give me tips and stuff, and I have another friend back in Toronto that used to have a chihuahua, and I'm sure she'll help me out as well. Awesome!!!!
Also, I'm taking Spanish classes. Yay, me!!!
Yep. It's all good.

Back to Grade 1

So, I´m back in Puerto Vallarta, about to start my new job, of teaching, this Monday. I thought I was going to be teaching Grade 5, but, I found out today, when I finally met the Director of the school, that I´ll be teaching Grade 1. Yikes! I went to the school and decorated my classroom (really, it was pretty much ready, I just took down the Xmas decorations), and got the textbook I´ll be working from. I´m sure things will turn out fine, but I´m pretty nervous about Monday, meeting the kids and all that.
This week back here in PV, I´ve just been beaching it up and reading all the time. I got two more Ann Rule books, and bought a boogie board. The Ocean´s a harsh mistress, and flipped me heels over head a couple of times, but it´s still very fun! I reallllly want to learn how to surf while I´m here.
We´re trying to find a furnished apartment as soon as possible, we´ll see how long it takes.
I have to go finish reading about the I-5 killer.
Hasta Luego!

Snorkeling

Yesterday, my friends and I went snorkeling. I'd never been before, but, boy, it was AWESOME! I saw plenty of fish, an eel, a tiny jellyfish thing and other stuff. It was really, really great. We went out on a Catamaran that took us to two different spots for snorkeling, then to a beach for lunch (which consisted of Hamburgers, unfortunately). It was really fun.
Tomorrow we are going on a Jeep tour of the Jungles of Cozumel. I think that'll be pretty great, too. Sunday I fly back to Guadalajara, and hopefully right after I land I'll be able to get a bus from the airport to Puerto Vallarta. I need to be back there for New Year's Eve, which I'm hoping will include some fire works provided by PV. Then, next Thursday, the 3rd of January, I start my new job! Huzzah!

Christmas, Navidad, Beach Time

So, I'm on Isla de Cozumel now. I've been here since Sunday, and will continue to be here until next Sunday, when I fly back to Guadalajara and then take a bus back to Puerto Vallarta.
Two of my friends from home are visiting me here, they're staying at a resort while I stay at the hostel downtown. It's alright here, it's kind of weird sleeping in a room with 27 other people (or however many there actually are). We went to the beach today, for Xmas, which was nice. Tomorrow we're going to go over to Playa del Carmen, a small town just a ferry ride away. The beaches there are much nicer, with good sand and a sandy bottom (the beach we went to today, which we had to take a cab to, was all rocky on the bottom, with "imported", sharp sand). Good times!
I'm excited to get started working next week, I'm not very good at not having a routine and stuff to do. I'm not sure if I am teaching English as a Foreign Language, or teaching normal school subjects in English. I'm excited to find out, though.
I'm sorry this blog is so boring. I don't know why, I can't seem to write about interesting things. Maybe when I'm living in Puerto Vallarta, working, learning Spanish and hopefully learning how to surf, things will be better. Man, that was a long sentence.
Good nite.

I'm bad at this

Okay, I've been here in Guadalajara for 3 weeks and 1 day. I've taught 8 practice teaching classes, with 3 left to go. Next Friday we graduate, and on Saturday, the 15th, we go to Puerto Vallarta on a school trip for 5 days. Awesome!!!
My birthday is next Thursday, and I'm gonna be even older than now. I'm pretty excited that for once my bday will be sunny and warm. This'll be the second time I've celebrated it outside of Canada, but London, 2004, was neither sunny nor warm. It was overcast (as usual) and damp-cold. But, whatevs. This one's gonna be nice!
This weekend we're planning to go see Lucha Libre again, since this is the last Sunday that everyone in our class will be here in Guadalajara. Most of us don't know yet where we'll be working, but I'm reallllly hoping that I'll know before school ends next Friday.
I've been liking school. Our teacher's pretty funny, the people in my class are all good (mostly), and the actual teaching part is really cool. I used the song "Could I have This Dance" by Anne Murray in class today, to help teach the function of "asking permission". I think the students all liked it, and I got a good mark on the class from my teacher trainer.
Mary (my roomate/good friend, from Australia) and I have to go back to the school right now, to observe our classmates while they teach. I'll be observed by a classmate during my Monday nite class. Afterwards, we're going out to learn how to salsa dance!!!
I swear I'll try and update this more often.