FIESTA!

There were two teacher birthdays in October, and they both occurred last week.  tThese teachers love their birthday celebrations, and recreo (even the extended kind) just isn't enough for an appropriate celebration.  We had planned for a Friday night party.  For the previous party (that I had to miss because I was in Mazatlán and that most missed because of the torrential downpours in Culiacán), each teacher had brought something.  I was thankful to go to Mazatlán because, let's be serious, what was I going to make in Mexico?!  Without an oven no less!

SO we set the party for Friday night and we decided we would order Chinese take-out.  Chinese food and sushi are the two biggest favorites here.  Chinese Mexican food is the same in my mind as what I'm used to eating.  Cat is cat, right? ;)

Arcelia is the one cutting the cake.  She teaches the foul-mouthed, yet quick learning fifth graders.  The other birthday was for Ulises, who is the guy on the far right in the picture at the end.  He teaches the troublesome third graders.  

At the end of the school day on Friday, Martha (in pink and the one who went to the bus station with me, teaches 1st and clearly has a heart for kids) asked me if I knew where Sandra's (computer teacher) house was.  Ha!  I knew something!   I knew something another Mexican didn't know IN MEXICO!

Geno (Genoveva, special ed, pregnant) had shown me earlier in the week as we were riding home on the bus. She even showed me the difference in the route to school since it varies a bit depending on whether you're coming or going.  Sandra had given me her street number as well as her house phone number in case of emergency, but I felt confident.  I knew to look for the shrimp stand and then go one block to the right and then turn left.  It would be on the right.  I knew it.  So I told Martha to ride home with me and I would show her.  She rides Canal 3 to downtown and changes there.  

We rode and rode and were almost to downtown, and no shrimp stand.  Uh oh.  I asked Martha if she wanted me to meet her downtown and we could ride together.  She said yes please.  I was much more confident on the "to" than the "from."  I got us there easy, though the shrimp stand was a bit obscure.  

Remember how I said early on that bus drivers pretty much do as they please?  Apparently the day Geno showed me, the bus driver took a detour and went exactly on Sandra's street.  On every other day after that, the bus took its normal route (on the street past Sandra's house)!

We got there safe and sound.

I had a ball. 

Getting together is the basis for Mexican life.  We ate our Chinese food.  We chatted.  We talked about teachers who weren't there (universal, though I decided I will make sure I'm at all the future get togethers!).

It was really fun to see the teachers in this environment (of course there was beer-there's always beer).  They grilled me about what I thought.  My impressions of the school, but more importantly of the people.  They told me they had been expecting a blonde.  Oops.

We ate cake and talked some more.  The only two who didn't make it were the PE teacher, Ramón (he had some conflict) and 4th grade, Lety.  Lety and Sandra had a H-U-G-E falling out about two weeks ago.  Apparently some money went missing from the popsicle sales when Lety was supposedly on duty.  50 pesos of popsicles were unaccounted for.  Had I known the amount at the time, I would've given my five bucks to shut them up.  One recreo we had a meeting about teacher t-shirts or some such, but the entire 30 minutes (and more) was Lety accusing Sandra and Sandra keeping her cool.  Lety did not come to the party.  I spoke without thinking early on asking where she was (they were doing a head count to see who hadn't arrived yet, etc) and I got a HUGE laugh.  It was funny.  That kinda let me in on their joke time, etc.  There are still plenty of times I feel out of the loop, but that's getting less and less.

L-R: Me, Director Roberto, Rocío 2nd, Hernán custodian, Sandra computers, Anabel 1st, Ulises 3rd, Genoveva Special ed, Martha 1st.