Deciding what to do on our last day in Puebla was difficult, but I think we made the most of it, as we did our entire trip. We had our typical breakfast of Mexican fruit (papaya, mango, and guava) with yogurt, and visited our favourite coffee shop in the nearby mall for a cappuccino and a croissant. Then we took a taxi to the water park Agua Azul for some sunbathing and a bit of swimming. I even tried out the rope swing into the shallow pool this time round, and managed not to injure myself!

While we lay in the sun I contemplated the future. Just a few months of classes left, and then I will officially be a teacher. I have absolutely no idea where life will take me as of September. I don’t think the near future has ever been this uncertain for me before. It is both a little scary and a lot exciting all at once.

We finished our day where all roads seem to lead in Mexican cities – the zocalo. We wandered the shops and open-air markets, buying the last of our souvenirs and taking in the atmosphere for the last time – on this trip anyways. We had a supper of our favourite Mexican dish, enchiladas con mole poblano, at a cute little restaurant in the middle of a market. Finally, right before leaving, we had a piece of our hair wrapped in the style of the locals as a momento of our incredible Mexico experience.

Today was our last day at Tec de Monterrey. We prepared small thank-you cards and gifts for the various people who had graciously helped us and allowed us to work with them, but it was to our pleasant surprise when we received an adorable thank-you ourselves. Our daycare kids and their caretaker, Ale, sang us a Spanish thank-you song and presented us with Pueblan sweets and a cake made of the Mexican equivalent of Twinkies (which the kids were, thankfully, quite happy to help us eat).

The activity we planned for them today was a plasticine boat-building contest. Originally we planned to add weight to the boats in order to sink them, but that wasn’t necessary, as all but the ten-year-old’s boat sank immediately anyways, making it easy to declare a winner. Despite the lack of boat flotation, the kids had a blast building their boats and playing with them in the small tub of water.

I will miss those kids, from their easily prompted laughter to their endless energy. It is incredible how, in such a different place, the kids seem in many ways the same as those I know and love back home. Childhood, I feel, is such a natural and beautiful state of being that knows no cultural boundaries.

After many hugs and cheek-kisses (a common goodbye in Mexico), we left the Tec de Monterrey campus for good and made our way to Cholula to see it in a different light. For though the world knows Cholula for its pyramid, the locals know Cholula for its nightlife. When we arrived, we first walked up the side of the pyramid to watch the sunset, or, more accurately, to watch other people watch the sunset, as it turned out to be a spectacular people-watching location. Then we went back down to the bright and colourful city, which seemed to just be waking up.

Although the nachos at RokPub were the worst I’ve ever had (I’m almost certain they were made with Cheez Whiz), the salsa club we went to afterward was absolutely incredible. Wow, can Mexicans ever salsa dance! Kristina and I were a little bit nervous to join the crowd of dancers whose limbs seemed to move effortlessly in smooth patterns to the live music. Nevertheless, we simply dove in and tried our best, and had an absolute blast. I have never seen a place like that in Vancouver, where the people actually dance rather than just kind of jump up and down. It was incredible.

It is incredible what a difference context can make for learning. According to the language-learning app on my phone, over these three weeks I have developed a vocabulary of about 500 Spanish words. This is in part due to dedicating part of every day to studying the language, but I strongly believe that if I had not been simultaneously using my new vocabulary throughout each day, I would not have advanced so quickly. A real-life context is such a great motivator and reinforcer for learning new material. This is certainly something to keep in mind for my teaching practice.

Today at daycare we had only four children, so it was quite a calm day. We took a little field trip, cramming seven people into a five-seat car (something you would never, ever do at a Canadian daycare), to the sports area at the other end of campus. There we found a ball on the soccer field and enjoyed playing around with it for a while. The kids seemed to have difficulty with the concept of not using one’s hands to play soccer; they would stop the rolling ball with both hands, then kick it. Also, only the two older children were interested in the game, while the younger two amused themselves by crawling through holes in the goal’s net. Once the sunshine and the soccer field had tired them out a little, we took the kids to a volleyball court, where we played catch back and forth over the net and then somehow transitioned into wheelbarrow races. Later, back at the daycare, the children coloured pictures of apples in celebration of Teachers’ Day. Well, most of them did anyways; the two-year-old was too busy ripping the paper off of the crayons.

A few weeks into our trip, we are finally starting to tire of Mexican food, so we went out for pizza tonight. It was actually particularly excellent pizza! I wonder whether this has something to do with the strong Italian influence in the city (second to the Spanish influence, of course).

Yesterday and today, our planned activities for daycare were much more successful than on the first day. The key seems to be keeping it very simple. Even though we had more older kids join us, designing activities appropriate for kindergarteners seems to work best. The challenge of designing activities suitable for such a wide age range (we had kids aged 2 to 10) is similar to the challenge of designing lessons suitable for a wide range of abilities within a classroom, and I approached it in a similar way. On my practicum in Richmond I learned to gear lessons toward the mid-range of abilities, then make adaptations for students of higher and lower abilities.

Yesterday we were assigned to running the body movement portion of the program. We introduced the kids to the game “Go, go, stop!” or “Vas, vas, estop!” and they absolutely loved it (so much so that it became the game of choice during today’s recess). We also had them play “Jump the River” and “Limbo,” as well as have a series of races acting like various animals (run like a bear, a duck, a crab, etc.).

A portion of today was scheduled for mental ability activities, so we taught some English, focusing on parts of the body. We started with the song “Head and Shoulders,” which was far more successful with the slightly older crowd compared to Monday, and they then wanted to sing more songs, so we sang two more with them, first in Spanish, and then in English, at their request. Next we had them draw a self-portrait, and we discussed the parts of the body and the colours in English as we all drew and coloured. We finished off our English lesson with the game “Simon Says.” Only the eldest really understood how the game works, but the younger ones had fun simply following the leader anyways.

Later on, the lady who runs the daycare played some music videos and we danced with all the kids. This was a great way to have all of them involved, as even the younger ones could enjoy jumping around and waving their arms, even if they weren’t following the dance instructions.

Outside of daycare, Kristina and I have been planning and learning more Spanish while soaking in as much sun as possible. I am very pleased with how well my Spanish is coming along. I can now hold full conversations with the guards at our residence building and with random people in the grocery store. I can also understand more and more of what the daycare children are saying, though there are still many Marlin and Squirt moments.

This morning we walked through Puebla’s linear park (an interesting urban planning concept – a long walkway over roads and trees that meets up with narrow strips of grassy land). It was a very nice walk, and led us to a mini-golf course that we tried our hand at. Kristina and I are well-matched in mini-golfing skill, but she won the game thanks to one hole where I kept landing in the pond. Oops!

Overall, I feel well-settled here in Puebla. It will feel a bit strange returning home, but there are still a few more days to enjoy this fantastic place before going back to reality, and by then I think I will be ready to return to my beloved family and friends, even if it means leaving the sunshine behind.

With high school classes having coming to a close, we have been given the task of helping run the daycare program for the young children of Tec de Monterrey’s professors. We were asked to prepare some verbal ability activities and some songs for a group of two- to nine-year-olds, and we did, spending most of our time learning the Spanish involved. However, during the actual program, we quickly realized that the group, ranging from two to five years of age, was younger than anticipated, and that the structure was also much looser than we’d expected. We still attempted one of our planned activities, but they had trouble understanding, and quickly lost interest. Instead, we spent a great deal of time playing tag, or “Eres!” Later on, we taught them a few songs with actions (in Spanish, of course). (Here is a link to a video of me singing “Una Sardina”.) A couple of the older kids participated, while the younger ones just watched, entranced. Overall, most of the time was spent in free play, just like at the daycare I worked at in Vancouver.

There were only five kids at the daycare today, which was great because we were able to become acquainted with all of them individually by the end of the day. For safety and security, I will use only their first initials in this blog.

The youngest, R, is two years old and is a very happy little girl. She is quite content to simply imitate the older girls’ activities most of the time, although I did have the chance to play peek-a-boo with her for a little while. The phrases “Dónde es…?” and “Yo veo!” proved to be very useful, as they can be used to play both peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek.

Z is three and today was her first day at the daycare. She cried for a long time after her mom left, but eventually calmed down, and even joined in playing tag later in the day.

S was the first to arrive and the first to warm up to me. She is four years old, loves the movie Frozen, and has endless energy, though I was able to convince her to sit still and glue confetti to paper for a while. She reminded me of a little boy I worked with back home, in that she quickly became very attached to me, and then refused to play group games because she was jealous that I was giving the other children equal attention. I think this behaviour may simply be a part of learning to share, which includes people as well as things.

M, the only boy there today, is also four. He is very intelligent, and likes structured activities, such as the board game similar to Monopoly that he brought with him and knows all the rules to. My favourite moment of the day was probably when we started to teach the English song “Head and Shoulders,” and M quickly became very excited because he already knew it. He sang it for us many times and very rapidly throughout the remainder of the day.

The eldest of today’s group was B, age five. She was fascinated with us as native English speakers. At one point she asked why some of my hair is yellow. I tried to explain how the sun causes highlights, but I don’t know if she understood. The children were also curious about Kristina’s blue eyes.

Working at the daycare today was great fun, but it’s too bad that our planned activities were a no-go. This is a good example of the importance of becoming acquainted with your students before planning lessons for them. Hopefully tomorrow our planning will be more effective, now that we know the kids. I also need to keep learning more Spanish! Although I was able to communicate somewhat effectively with the children there today, there were many moments when I felt like Marlin talking to Squirt (if you don’t understand the reference, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nof2FYyIeVg).

The beautiful town of Atlixco is known for its unique flower species. Every street seems to do its best to support this reputation, lined with flowerpots and latticed arches. Walking through them is almost fantastical.

Perhaps even better is the walk up the hillside to the cathedral at the town’s center. We wound through narrow paths between farmhouses and up rocky stairways among the trees and cacti, basking in the sun and the sounds of roosters crowing and cattle lowing. Keeping a sharp eye, we could see lizards scamper across the stones, or find enormous grasshoppers camouflaged along the path. At the top, a flurry of butterflies danced around the simple cathedral. Nature was welcoming us with open arms.

Back in town, the marketplaces are bright and bustling. I will truly miss the colors of Mexico when I return home. Everything is so vibrant here. After a bit of shopping, we lounged in Atlixco’s zocalo and listened to the free concert that was going on. Shortly after sitting down, we were approached by two friendly and curious siblings, a six-year-old girl and her three-year-old brother. They were very quick to make friends with us, chattering away in Spanish and not caring that we responded only in nods and smiles, as we had little idea what they were saying. Together the four of us played pretend with their balloon dogs and Kristina’s scarf, which became everything from a blanket to a bracelet to a fort. Their mother watched, amused, nearby. They were absolutely adorable. Hopefully the children at the daycare will warm up to us as quickly as these young strangers in the park did!

Feria de Puebla (or Puebla’s Fair) is essentially Puebla’s equivalent of Vancouver’s PNE, featuring rides, carnival games, a marketplace, and various shows that are included in the admission price. Kristina and I caught the show “Illusion on Ice.” Who would have thought to combine a magic show with figure skating? Well, someone did, and the result was thoroughly entertaining. My favourite part was probably the group of skaters who did forward and back flips over one another. Also quite interesting was a “magician” whose part of the show revolved completely around bubbles. His “tricks” were all things I have seen or done before, but he made them entertaining nonetheless thanks to his showmanship. This reminded me of something my sponsor teacher back home often told me – that all great demonstrations have a schtick, such as a story, a surprise, or some sort of a “wow” factor. The man entertaining a crowd of hundreds just by blowing bubbles has certainly figured this out!

When the crowds wore us down, we left the fair for a peaceful walk down the roads of the city known for their mural paintings. Many of the paintings, signed and dated in the corners, were fairly recent, and all of them were quite colourful. What I found intriguing is that these paintings are found, not in galleries or even on commercial buildings, but simply on the walls of people’s homes in an ordinary neighbourhood.

From there our feet and our empty stomachs led us back to the bakery we’d discovered a week or so earlier, and this time I found my new favourite pastry: a swan-shaped cream puff! Of course, we needed to eat something besides dessert, so we wandered the outskirts of the zocalo area and picked out a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that offered a Pueblan specialty we had yet to try – chile en nogada. This dish consists of a cooked green pepper stuffed with apples and almonds, covered in a creamy walnut sauce, and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. We didn’t really know what to expect, but it was incredibly delicious. It is really no wonder that Puebla is often considered the gastronomic capital of Mexico.

A mad dash to catch the bus this morning was totally worth it when we made it to the rich historical site of Cholula, recommended to us by numerous locals from the day we set foot in Puebla. Cholula is home to the world’s largest pyramid by volume, but from the outside it looks simply like a large hill. To better appreciate its history, we began by wandering through the museum that features much of the pottery found during archeological excavations of the site, as well as a small restored portion of a 56-foot long mural. The history of this place is fascinating: a small, peaceful village that grew into a major religious center for the Aztecs, and stayed so until overtaken by the Spanish. If you’ve seen the film The Road to El Dorado, you will be interested to know that a surprising amount of this fictional film is historically accurate, including the tradition of playing a game whereby a ball must be hit using the hips and shoulders through a small ring high on a wall, as well as the practice of sacrificing the winners (yes, the winners) of this game to the Aztec gods.

Though the Great Pyramid of Cholula cannot be seen from the outside, visitors can explore this architectural wonder from the inside thanks to tunnels excavated by archaeologists. It kind of makes you feel like Indiana Jones.

After the coolness of the tunnels, the climb up the stairs outside in the hot sun is a little exhausting, but the view at the top of the pyramid is incredible. In addition, the church at the top, built there by the Spanish during colonization, is quite the sight itself.

The rest of Cholula is full of brightly coloured buildings, churches that look like castles, and restaurants blaring Spanish music that you can’t help but dance to. We strolled around awhile, then steered towards a hotel that Kristina had found online, with the express purpose of using their pool, which we were permitted to do provided we buy lunch and a drink there. We had the whole rooftop pool and sundeck to ourselves, with a stellar view, great service, and tasty food and beverages. I enjoyed a couple of chapters of The Great Gatsby as well as a good nap, and both of us were happy to have such a relaxing afternoon.

Feeling refreshed and re-energized, we continued our explorations of the town, and noticed a long line forming in the zocalo. Curious, we found the front of line and asked que pasa? It turns out that they were giving out free jerseys of the Mexican national football (soccer) team. Not wanting to pass up the great opportunity, we joined the line, and, after receiving our shirts, found ourselves participating in the filming of a commercial promoting the team. We babbled through the Spanish cheers, not having any idea what was being said, but jumped up and down with the rest and joined coherently in the chant of “Mexico! Mexico! Mexico!” It was hilarious being so out of place but exhilarating joining right in with the locals in the excitement of cheering on their team for the cameras. We even took a picture with someone famous afterward, not knowing at the time that he is a celebrity commentator in Mexico. It is certainly the surprises in our travels that are the greatest experiences!

An alarm and a flurry of running and shouting people started off my class today. With my students, I followed the crowd and evacuated the building, thinking at first that this must be a drill. However, there was actually an earthquake! I learned as we stood waiting on the grass that the school’s earthquake alarm goes off as soon it registers a 4.8 on the Richter scale. This happens fairly often, and the students were unfazed by it. Some people claimed to have felt it, but I didn’t notice, perhaps too caught up in the confusion. After about fifteen minutes, the alarm ceased and we returned to classroom.

The time for my lesson was thus significantly shortened. This, combined with the fact that only six of my students were present, led me to cancel the debate I had planned for the first half of class, moving right on to the day’s lecture. As the students are accustomed to lectures, I decided to use this style today, with my own twist. As I prepared the slides with the required material, I came up with various relevant anecdotes to add in, most of which were personal stories. For example, while discussing the process of fermentation, I told a story from my childhood when I once drank a half-glass of bad milk. The students loved all of the anecdotes and were thoroughly engaged throughout the lecture. While I still believe that lectures should be kept to a minimum, I think that making the material more personal by adding in anecdotes is a good technique that I can use back in Canada as well.

Next week I will be working in Tec de Monterrey’s daycare rather than the high school, so today was my last day working with David. I presented him with a small thank-you gift and a card, and he responded with some very kind words, among them that my students in Canada are very lucky to have me. It has truly been a pleasure to work with him, and we plan to keep in touch.

In the evening, Kristina and I ventured to a restaurant that one of her students had recommended, called Mi Viejo Pueblito (my old little village). It was absolutely beautiful, and their fajitas were superb. We are continuing to find new places to enjoy in this wonderful city.

There was a great deal of material to cover in today’s lesson, and I wanted to avoid lecturing for the entire class. I thus spent the morning preparing an interactive lesson for my students. It was about the process of eutrophication and the process of paper-making. During the first half of class, I described the process of eutrophication by telling a story (“Once upon a time, there was a beautiful pond…”) and I had the students illustrate it on the whiteboard. It may have been a coincidence, but it was all girls who volunteered to draw, while the boys were content to watch. Nevertheless, both parties seemed to be engaged.

To teach about paper-making, I showed the students a short video that animates the process, telling them to pay careful attention so that they could answer questions afterward. (If you’re curious, you can watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IP0Ch1Va44.) The students were duly attentive, and curious to learn more after the simple introduction to the process provided by the video. One student in particular had question after question after question on the paper-making industry. I was glad to answer him, but after several minutes I needed to move on to assigning the homework and wrapping up the lesson. I said so and suggested to him that he could speak with me after class if he had further questions. Unfortunately he took this the wrong way and became defensive, saying that I had wasted their time by having them play with clay (during one of last week’s lessons). Outwardly, I ignored his accusation and moved on with the lesson, but I was offended on the inside. Later on, another student came to me to thank me for using drawings to teach, saying that he had previously thought that reading was the best way to learn, but now realized that pictures helped him to understand things better.

Reflecting on all of this, I realized that significant changes in a classroom (such as having more interactive lessons rather than the lectures they’re accustomed to) are more difficult for some students to accept than others. This is not really surprising, as it is human nature to resist change, but I think that I was so excited to enhance their learning, based on what I had learned about teaching in Canada, that I overlooked this barrier. I hope that the students I’ve been teaching will benefit from my work with them, even if it is difficult for them to see how playing with clay and drawing pictures are worthwhile educational activities.