movin out!

well now that I've been home for a good week... it's time to move out! ha ha my family is not too happy about it... but yes, I am moving away. provo really is not that far away. and definitely a lot closer than mexico! so they'll be fine... and I'm super excited to move into my fantastic apartment! i mean really... a loft?? how lucky can i get?? i have my own stairs! it's like a dream!

estoy en casa

Hooray! I made it home. after an extremely long day of traveling and taking pretty much every form of transportation I made it home. home to the airport in Salt Lake where I was met by my whole family, Grams included, wearing band-aid mustaches and holding up hot pink signs yelling 'Paige!' it was a great day and I'm happy to be home!

 

but of course I miss mi familia! I'm mean just look at us... they're great!

es difícil decir adiós ... pero creo que es hora de ir

it's hard to say goodbye.
I live here. Tehuacan is my home. I love Utah and I'm definitely excited to come home and see my family again. but Mexico will always be a part of me and I will miss it. the people are definitely more significant than the place though. and I've met some amazing people. mi familia is the best and I have been so blessed to have been a part of their family in my time here.

but I think it's time for me to go...
yesterday the battery in my toothbrush died. I ran out of conditioner last week. and used the last of my lotion two days ago. the other night I ripped a hole in my pants going down a slide. yesterday morning the hot water ran out while I was taking a shower so I had to rinse out my shampoo in frigid water. then my blow dryer broke. yeah. I think it's time for me to go home ha ha

las cucarachas

las cucarachas. a part of my mexican experience. mi madre said it's not Tehuacan de las granadas... our town is called Tehucan de las cucarachas. because they are everywhere. and it is inevitable that you will see one somewhere. maybe even in your suitcase as you're starting to pack. trust me. it's not a fun experience.
here is some useless. but still very interesting. information i recently learned about cockroaches. 'cockroaches have quite a capacity for survival. If the head of one is removed carefully, so as to prevent it from bleeding to death, the cockroach can survive for several weeks. When it dies, it is from starvation.'

 

now i haven't sat down and carefully removed the head of a cockroach. but i have experienced their strange capacity for survival. the other day i picked up one of my shoes to put on. guess what fell out? yup. a cucaracha. i refrained from yelping, because i've actually become quite good at killing them. but this one was different. i hit it with my flip flop. then again. again. again. finally it looked like it was dead. i didn't want to touch it or pick it up, so i just left it there. in the middle of my floor. the next day i woke up and it was still there. on it's back. i thought it was dead. WRONG! i tried to pick it up with a piece of paper and it flipped over and scurried away. fast! but no worries. it freaked me out enough that i just kept wacking it with my flip flop until i was absolutely positive that it was dead. those crazy, long living cucarachas.

mis últimos días

Well I'm down to my final few days and got home from my last vacation on Thursday. it wasn't a long vacation, but it was way fun! Me and a few of mi amigas went to Puebla... again! We got to see the YSA of the state of Puebla perform El Rey Lion and it was great! I was extremely impressed with their costumes and dancing and wow it was just fun to be there! We stayed in... well basically America! ha ha our hotel was a Best Western and it was super nice! we woke up whenever we wanted to and then went to continental breakfast where there was a waiter, who spoke English, and loved to serve us. we sat there for about two hours. talking and eating and just having a grand time. then we went to the pool. it was warm and sunny and wonderful. then it was time for me and Brittan to go. we grabbed our backpacks and headed out the spinning doors. we wandered around town and bought plenty of souvenirs and then left for home.

I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures of the toilets here. Do you notice anything different about this toilet than most you seen in the U.S.?? it's missing something... the toilet seat! Strange eh?? pretty much everywhere I've been to the bathroom, the toilet has been missing the seat! I think it is hilarious!

this is a secret door. when we first came out of it we didn't know that we would be walking out of the wall! it was awesome! and what made this door even more special was that it was made out of the same material that is in church's. that rough and ugly wall paper that is often found in church gyms or sometimes even hallway

of course I had to enter the hotel through the spinning door! and Brittan felt the same way, so we had to get pictures. there were a couple of ladies standing in the lobby laughing at us because we were so easily entertained by the spinning doors! but who wouldn't be?? they are awesome!

Brittan pointed out that my shirt looked somewhat like the tiles. awesome. my mexican tile shirt may be my new favorite shirt to wear!

Imari this is for you... the cones in Mexico don't have shiny white lines on them!! cool eh?

Brittan and I may have gotten a little bit lost on our trek back home. when we asked which bus to get one, we didn't think to ask which direction the bus should be going. so we just hopped on the first one we saw. because it was raining quite a bit. and well... an hour and a half later, after driving the entire route the bus went, and getting laughed at by the driver when I asked, 'CAPU??' we made it to the bus station just in time to catch our real bus back to Tehuacan

this may be the coolest thing I've done in Mexico thus far... I made a taco. in a taco stand. in Mexico. and then got to eat it. awesome

fine, fine, fine

How's my last weekend going in Mexico?? 'fine, fine, fine. bery good, bery good, bery good!'

today was my first time ever hearing this song... or at least this version. mi padre loves to sing this song whenever he asks a question and I say good. he responds, 'fine, fine, fine. bery good, bery good, bery good.' so today when we were walking down the street. he stopped at one of the many pirated music stands on the side of the road and asked if they had that song. we stood there and listened to the whole thing and I just kept laughing. it is a pretty hilarious song and will forever remind me of Mexico and mi padre.

sPeCtAcLe!

These are a few of the most adorable little kids I've ever seen in my life!! and I'm going to miss them a ton! When I first started teaching I thought, 'these kids are so quiet, and they're never going to like me like their old teacher.' but now that my four months are up I can see how much they've grown. They can speak so much better than when I first started with them and they've definitely come out of their shells, running around like the crazy little kids they are! and they love me! yesterday after the Spectacle was over and everyone was leaving, Little Hector came up and gave me a hug and a slobbery kiss on the cheek. and in his cute little voice, 'bye teacha paige.' It about made me cry. and then sassy Ivanna came dancing over in her fairy princess outfit and gave me a big, squishy hug and said, 'bye teacher, I miss you!' and then there's Juda. mi estudiante de kinder favorito. he was new only a few weeks ago, but caught on so quickly and can speak so well now! he would always choose the seat next to me in class and then when he thought I wasn't looking he would take something out of my bag. then during the lesson when I needed that, I would ask him to hold it up and he'd look so amazed that I knew he had it. ha ha I seriously love these kids and it's hard to think that I'll probably never see them again. sadness... but at least I got to know them for a bit!

just for papi!

Happy Birthday Papi!!
wow... you are getting pretty old! but I still love you! and since I had my older kids sing to Jayne... I asked my kinder kids to sing to you!! I hope you have a GRAND birthday! and I'll see you soon!

last day of teaching... pretty much

today is basically my last day of teaching, because tomorrow is our Spectacle! so we made sure that today was a fun day! we played games, took pictures, and I had my morning kids finish off my hand print shirts with their cute little hands

Diez cosas que voy a extrañar de México ... porque tengo tan sólo diez días!

Well the time has come my friends for me to start thinking about packing and coming home...  It's hard to say what I'll miss most, and I definitely can't rank things. But here are ten things that I've decided I will miss a lot after leaving my Mexico...

Numero uno: I will miss mi familia the most. I will all of them and the fun we have together! I will miss all of our crazy, random adventures and I will miss the nights where we just sat and watched tv together. I will miss going to our store and watching the busy street and I will miss making pie crust and laughing at jokes that I hardly understand. I'll miss mi familia's patience with me as they repeat muy despacio words that they've said to me in attempt to help me understand. I'm definitely going to miss their nicknames for me too. I've learned to answer to 'Paigetable' and Roman's favorite... 'Paige One' or Two or Three ha ha but most of all I'll just spending time miss them!

Numero dos: Mis amigos. My fellow teachers are the greatest! We went from having no idea who the others were... to being best friends and literally spending everyday together. We'll for sure still see each other once we get back... but not all day everyday! and I will miss them!
and going along with mis amigos... is the Color Code! I will miss how basically all of our conversations lead to this code... and how learning about the code has helped us to all get along better. We understand each other because we understand the colors and we've had lots of fun joking about the colors too!

Numero tres: Mi niños. I love them all! they are so hilarious and so entertaining, and I can't believe that I will probably never see them again. Except the other day, I was walking and I heard a 'teacher, teacher!' so I turned around and guess who it was... Martin! My favorite Discovery student! It made me so happy and even happier that he was so excited to see me too! Hooray for little Mexican children being so darn adorable!!

Numero cuatro: So far I'm only missing people... but now it's places. I will definitely miss just wandering around Tehuacan! There are so many cool things to do and places to see in this town of mine and I will miss discovering them. The other day I was bored, and Maria wasn't home, so I decided to go out on my own. I wandered the city for about three and a half hours by myself and ended up seeing an awesome HUGE market, a really cool long park and some neat old houses! It was a great day!

Numero cinco: Not only will I miss Tehuacan, but I'll miss Mexico in general. I have loved traveling around Mexico to beautiful, and magic cities! In my time here in Mexico I feel like I've traveled all over the world and stared in many different movies! Zacatlan was like Disneyland, much better, but still very similar. The caves near Taxco were like a Star Wars movie, and I also sort of felt like I was journeying to the center of the earth. The lovely nunnery was like Austria where 'the hills are alive, with the sound of music.' Those sweet nuns also made me feel like I was living in Nacho Libre, with their basketball skills and serving us toast.
and one thing about Mexico that I will not forget is the gas trucks! they crack me up with that tune that is always being played, and the gas man yelling 'GAAAASS!' and everywhere I've gone... there he is! The gas man in Tehuacan, Puebla... everywhere and always that same tune!

Numero seis: Zumba classes. I will miss my morning zumba classes with Kelly and Megan! It was the best when we went to Memo for zumba cause he was hilarious and such a great teacher, but our new classes at the Muscle Factory have been pretty great too... I will miss those classes once I get home, and miss the hilarious jingly butt things they hand out for the belly dancing classes... I guess I should buy one before I leave so I can wear it and have a good laugh! and speaking of Memo... I saw him the other day as I was walking around town I just happen to glance up as a combi was driving past and he was sitting in the front seat and looked super happy to see me so I waved and he waved back!

Numero siete: I'll miss not knowing where I'm going, but ending up having a great time anyhow! I never really know where mi familia is going, but they ask if I want to come and I always say yes. A favorite place where we've ended up going a few times is this HUGE and awesome park! We go there with Roman and Regina and we play on the jungle gym, play volleyball, ride bikes, climb trees and just have a grand time!

Numero ocho: I'll miss the OXXO. the OXXO is basically America as a gas station. I won't forget the first time we discovered OXXO... I felt at home in a gas station! there were Kit Kats, chewy Jolly Ranchers, delicious Pay de Limon and all sorts of other Americanish foods and drinks... it was clean and nice and awesome! and then... an OXXO was built right by my house! It took about a week to be constructed and filled with deliciousness and now Maria and I visit all the time! Mexico probably wouldn't be the same without the continuous appearance of an OXXO.

Numero nueve: voy a la iglesia. I'll miss going to church in Tehuacan. My ward here is great and all the members are so amazing and welcoming! I've always known that the church is true, I've never had any doubts, but it has been really good for me to experience the church in a new place and in a whole new language. Because it is the same everywhere! It's brilliant to witness that no matter where I go, I can always find a church and learn the same truths as I would in my home ward in Bountiful, Utah.
Yesterday was stake temple day, so we ventured out on a bus for a few hours to the closest temple in Oaxaca (about 3 hours away, unless your bus breaks down... then it's 6). and now I feel like I finally know what it's like for people who don't live in Utah, who don't live five minutes away from a temple. I appreciated yesterdays temple trip much more than I had ever appreciated previous temple trips, because I saw how happy the people were to be going. and then when we finally arrived at the temple I remembered how much I missed seeing the Bountiful Temple every morning and it made the trip all the better because the Oaxaca Temple was beautiful and I was so excited to be there!

and finally... numero diez: I'll miss teaching mi familia new things. Such as peanut butter being a necessity. Peanut butter makes everything better; apples, sandwiches, crackers, anything really can be more delicious if you just add a little peanut butter. at first it was 'mi culpa' but I've rubbed off and Aimee now loves pb! another great one that Maria's learned to love is nutella and bananas. one of our favorite treats is a nutella and banana sandwich! yummy! 'Wow,' 'oh my goodness,' 'sure,' and 'yummy' are now common phrases around our house and they only sometimes mock me for things that I say ha ha