Cowbells

Welcome to our new apartment.

As I was chatting to mi padre on the computer this morning in our new apartment, I heard the distant sound of cowbells coming up the street. This is a familiar sound that can be heard in the mornings. It is the sound that the trash men make to let the residents know they are coming around collecting trash. My fingers quickly moved over my keyboard to tell my dad that I had to take the trash out. I hit enter and jumped up from my chair to get the trash together. In Mexico, you separate the inorganic trash from the organic trash and try to take it out every morning so it doesn’t start stinking or attract gnats. I tied the bags up and ran out the door, down the stairs, and opened the garage door to place the bags on the sidewalk for the trash men. As I opened the door to place the trash outside, I saw a man on his hands and knees in the engine of a truck. I gave him a friendly smile, set the bags down, and went back upstairs to finish my conversation with my dad. Now, as I think about seeing that guy in the engine I realize how strange that was, but at the time, I didn’t think a thing about it. Things around here are starting to just become normal.

This morning I woke up, made my coffee, and got on the computer to check my email before meeting with the lawyer that is doing all my FM3 (working visa) paperwork for me. The school that I will be working at has never hired a foreigner and therefore, is not familiar with the long, complicated process. Usually, companies that hire foreigners have their own person to do the paper work for their new employees. My friend works for one of these companies and gave me the number of their lawyer. I arranged for him to meet me earlier this week to start the whole process. He came to my apartment Tuesday and told me what I would need… well he didn’t exactly tell me that easily. He told me in Spanish. I understood about 40% of it. Then he called someone, said something in Spanish, and handed the phone to me. I said hello and was greeted by a man’s voice with a classic Irish accent that you would hear in the movies. He clarified everything that I would need for the first part of the process while I made notes on a post-it. I gave the phone back and wrapped up the meeting.

The first letter I would need to get the process going would be an offer letter about the job from the school that I will be working for. I emailed the school and let them know exactly what I needed from them and arranged to pick it up the next day. I set out for school the next morning taking a different route than usual. I didn’t have to get out to the school right away, so I decided I would walk down a couple of blocks to the bus stop where the “nice” bus stops. This bus is much more enjoyable than the other buses because of it’s padded seats, odor free air, and somewhat of a smoother ride. I arrived at the bus stop and waited for a couple of minutes. If you want the bus to stop here, you stand on the side of the street and stick up your arm while pointing your index finger. The Pre-Tren bus arrived shortly after that and opened it’s doors right in front of me to walk up the steps and put my 5 pesos in the coin slot. The buses open their doors just long enough for you to get on or off and then continue on their route. I put my 5 pesos in the slot and walked steadily to find a seat. I took a seat near the back of the bus for the 20-minute ride. Unfortunately, this bus doesn’t take me all the way to the school, but I enjoyed the smoother ride non-the-less. I got off at the last stop on the Pre-Tren’s route and waited for my usual bus, 39-A. I waited about 5 minutes before I saw the right bus approaching. I stuck out my hand signaling the driver that I needed a ride. I paid the driver this time, who gives you change if you need it and a ticket. I don’t know why they give tickets, because they don’t do anything with it. I stick the ticket in my purse to collect at the bottom with all the other tickets to be thrown away later. On these buses, the drivers have what looks like a lawn-chair bolted down for their seat. You know the ones with the different color plastic tubes that weave across the bars. Most of the seats are blue plastic. Those lawn-chairs are pretty comfy if you think about it. Each bus is a little different on the inside. I guess the drivers can decorate the buses however they want. This bus had “caballero nocturno” painted at the front with batman symbols around it. I rode this bus for about 10 minutes and got off at the corner, which the school is on.

I got the letter from the school and stayed the rest of the day to help out in the office. In the English office, there is the main coordinator, the pre-school coordinator, the primary and secondary coordinator (soon-to-be me), and the secretary. School has been in session for about a month and everyone’s been working double time to cover my position. I’ve been out to the school a couple of times getting paper work done and things set up and stayed the rest of the day to help out. Now that I have the “offer letter” that will be stamped by the immigration office verifying that the FM3 process has been started, I can be official! I’m ready to really get started with the job. Not that I haven’t enjoyed this time off….

Bethany and I moved in our new apartment and are making it nice and cozy. Well as cozy as we can. It’s amazing what you can do without. We really like our place, but we do have a wish list for our apartment. Hopefully we’ll get a T.V. soon and a wireless router (Wow, I sound spoiled. It is nice though not to be tied down to a desk…). I would also love to get a washer! I’ve been hand washing my clothes. Yes, hand washing. I’m pretty proud of myself… it’s actually a pretty good arm workout. We’ve also been living without air conditioning ever since we moved here. It’s really not bad. Our apartment stays cool most of the day and at night the temperature cools down a good bit. It’s also not very common to have dishwashers here, so we wash everything by hand. I’ve been enjoying having a kitchen. Last weekend, I cooked a couple times and had some friends over. I cooked French toast for breakfast one morning the way my mom always makes it…mmmmm! Our apartment is three blocks down from the grocery store, and there’s also a corner store on our block that sells water, milk, and snacks. There’s a market a couple blocks down that has fresh fruits and vegetables, and if you keep walking, there’s a huge market filled with vendors selling fresh honey, fruits, eggs, bread, tacos, etc. It’s quite an experience! I don’t think we could’ve found a better apartment! Thank you Lord!

Patience is a Virtue

Patience is one of the qualities that I don’t have very much of. I always hear, “In God’s time….”. I hate waiting on answers, but that is what I have had to do a lot of in these past two weeks. Bethany and I finished our TEFL course and were still iffy about jobs and permanent living arrangements. From the time we arrived here, we have lived in a posada. Many of the residents are students and live here for extended periods of time. It’s a little expensive for Mexico, so we wanted to find another place to save some money.

A friend of mine’s family lives down here, and we got an offer from my friend’s aunt to live with her rent free in exchange for helping her out with her two boys and teaching them English. It sounded like a great deal except her house is about thirty minutes out of town and hard to get buses in and out of. At the same time, I also had an offer from a language institution teaching for businesses and groups in the mornings and afternoons and teaching for a Kindergarten for three hours during the day. That job sounded very appealing as well, but with the split schedule, I would have to choose living out of town or the job. The company wanted me to decide as soon as possible and so I had to tell them no. I was really nervous about telling them no because I was turning down the only job offer I had received after graduating from the course. School had already started and all the schools that I sent my resumes to had all their teaching positions filled. For a couple days I was really stressed out. I felt like I needed to make all these decisions as soon as possible and didn’t feel a hundred percent sure on any of them.

I finally decided to give it over to God and lay my burdens at his feet. Bethany and I went to the cathedral two blocks up from where we live and read our bibles and prayed for a little while one night. When I opened my bible and started reading, I read, “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.” (Psalms 118:6). I prayed and prayed for the Lord to guide Bethany and me and help us make the right decisions about jobs and living. My friend then called me and told me about a position at the school where his mom works for an English Coordinator. I called about it the next day and got an interview set up. That same day, Bethany came home with some very good news. She said she found an apartment about a twenty-minute walk from here. She went and looked at the apartment, which has all new appliances, is furnished, and has two bedrooms. She said the guy that showed it to her didn’t know how much the owner was asking for rent, so he asked us to call him back later. We called him a couple hours later and got a very reasonable price for an apartment downtown in a very central location. Bethany told him that I would like to see the apartment before we commit to anything, so we set up an appointment for Monday at noon.

The next day, Friday, I went to the interview and got a few details about the job. Basically, I would be a teacher trainer. The teachers are not native English speakers, so I would observe the teachers during their English lessons, read over their materials for teaching and make sure the grammar is correct, and help them better their teaching in any way I can. I had to take a test about teaching methods and write a short essay about why I want to work at that school and why I want to teach. The lady I interviewed with told me to call her Tuesday and see what my results looked like. I, of course, wanted to know something right away to make decisions about the apartment, and also in case I needed to keep searching for other jobs. BUT patience is a virtue.

All weekend I prayed and tried to relax. Bethany and I went to a very nice Italian restaurant up the road from where we live, ‘La Dolce Vita’ Friday night. We enjoyed a very good meal and a nice atmosphere. Saturday we slept in and then took the bus to the mall. We did a little bit of shopping and went to the movies to see “La Cruda Verdad- The Ugly Truth”. We usually take a taxi everywhere, which is getting a little expensive, so we were very proud that we took the bus for only 5 pesos! Sunday, they close certain streets down for recreation. People can ride bikes, walk, jog, skate, etc. We usually take a taxi to the church, but since I was feeling more confident in my navigation skills around the city I decided we should try another way. I looked at the map and thought we would have time to walk it or at least up to the main street that wasn’t closed down. We ended up walking for an HOUR. We made it to church though!

After church, we took a taxi to the main street to look around for a place to eat. As we were walking, I saw a lady on a bike with a baby carrier on her chest. However, she didn’t have a baby in it, she had a CAT! A longhaired cat just chillin in the baby carrier. Bethany and I laughed sooo hard. We enjoyed a light lunch at a café and then walked back home. A friend that we met at school met us later that afternoon to go to the park. We took a bus out to the park. I wasn’t sure where to get off; I just knew it was after a big mall. We got off a little ways after the mall and wondered around. I had no idea where we were, so I asked a guy where the park was. He was an older man dressed very nice standing outside of an auto place. I asked him where the park was in Spanish, and he answered back in English. It’s like they know not to even try to speak to us in English because our Spanish is so bad haha. I thanked him and started walking in the direction he pointed me in. As we were walking, a Mercedes car pulled up beside us. It was the same guy with his wife in the passenger seat. He said, “Hi, do you remember me? Would you like a ride to the park?” We graciously accepted his offer and pilled into the back of his car. He told us that two of his children are in California studying for a year right now, and he said that when he saw us, he thought of his children. We got dropped off at the park entrance, thanked the kind couple, and started walking around the park. Sunday is the Mexicans day to get out and enjoy life. The park was packed! There were families having picnics everywhere. Our friend, Mike, found a tree to read under while Bethany and I walked around the park. We stayed there for a couple hours and then took the bus back home.

Monday, Bethany and I went to look at the apartment. It has a garage door entrance, so it’s pretty secure. The apartment is very spacious and clean. The guys that live across from us seem very nice. Everything about it looked really good. The location is in the center of the whole city. Access to buses is very easy. The place that Bethany will most likely work is only three blocks away. Most of the people we have met live around this area, and the school, which would help us if we ever had any questions, is close by. Everything seemed perfect. The only thing I wasn’t sure about was the commute to the school if I got that job. The school would be about 30 minutes on a bus. Then I would have to walk 20 minutes to the school, get a taxi-about 10 minutes, or find a bus that goes around that community. We told the guy that we would try to time the commute to see how long it was and let him know something tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon.

After that, we decided to time the commute to the school since we had nothing else planned that afternoon. The bus ride to the main road wasn’t bad. There was a lot of traffic, and it took us 30 minutes. However, once we got out there it was a different story. We waited a few minutes for a taxi, which ended up not knowing the address to the school. He said he was sorry and drove off. We waited a few more minutes and didn’t see any more taxis. I decided to just walk for a little bit and see if we could find it ourselves. We walked a ways and still had no idea where we were! I stopped a lady and asked her if she knew the address or the school, and she told me it was in the opposite direction that we were walking (keep in mind that this is all in Spanish which we still understand very little of). She was walking the same way so we just followed her. I’m kind of a fast walker and she wasn’t at all. She was also smoking. So we were trapped behind her on the sidewalk while she was walking super slow with the smoke blowing in our faces. We couldn’t pass her though because I felt like it would be rude. Just a little bit awkward.

When we got back on the main road, she asked some guys that were close by about the address, and they told us it was only a couple blocks away. We thanked her and the men and said goodbye to the lady who then got on a bus and left. We started walking down the road and still were a little unsure of which way to go. One of the guys that we asked directions from came up beside us on his bike and must of seen our unsure faces because he kindly told us again which street to go down. He asked us where we were from. And some other questions which I couldn’t comprehend. He ended up riding slowly on his bike alongside us all the way to the school. It still blows me away how kind and generous people have been.

When we were walking back from the school to the bus stop everything was going through my mind about how I would get to school every morning and get back every afternoon. A taxi would be too expensive. The bus is fine, but then when I get out there, I would have to find something else, I can’t walk out in the country everyday. Would I need to buy a car? Maybe I could hire a taxi service. Maybe that would be cheaper than paying for a different taxi everyday. I had to tell myself to stop and just pray about it. There’s a chance I might not even get the job.

The next day, I went to yoga, which always make me feel better. I prayed about the apartment and the job and felt a peace with whatever would happen. One of my friends from Guadalajara came by to look at the apartment and give his opinion. He approved which made me feel good about the decision. I also talked with my parents and anyone else I could about my decisions and decided that I should take the apartment. We called Carlos, the guy that found the apartment for us, and told him we wanted the apartment. He set up an appointment for us the next day start the paper work process. That afternoon, I heard back from the school about the position I interviewed for. My hopefully soon-to-be boss said she wants me but just has to go through all the loop holes and paper work before it’s official. She also said she wanted to make sure I understood everything about the job before I signed on. So we set up another meeting the next morning. It’s funny how everything just seems to fall in place when we place everything in God’s hands.

Wednesday morning I set off for the school. I found out all the responsibilities I would have if I take the job. I would be over the primary and secondary English teachers (12 total). I would check all their tests, materials, handouts, anything really for grammar and content. Make sure the students are where they need to be. Help the teacher improve teaching in any way they can….and many other things. The school is really nice. It’s a bilingual private school that is six years old. I’m really excited about working there and already have ideas bubbling out of my head. We made another appointment for Friday to iron out some more of the details and hopefully start training Monday. Nothing is official until I sign the contract… but it’s pretty much a deal!

That afternoon, I met up with Bethany whose boyfriend flew in for a ten-day visit. We met at the apartments to get some of the paper work done. We told him we would be ready to move in as soon as it was ready. He said it could be cleaned and ready the next day. We made an appointment with him for 11 to start moving into our new apartment. I can’t believe we are going to have our own apartment in the second biggest city in Mexico! Our life in Mexico is coming together! …… patience is a virtue……