Wow, I can’t believe this is my last blogging day in Morelia, since I fly out Friday early in the morning. I’m really just about done here. Many have asked me if I want to stay or when I’m going to return. I would like to visit here again someday, but I truthfully can’t say if or when I will. I don’t know when I’d ever have another opportunity to come back! My host mom explained to me that to say you’ll never return makes it sound like you didn’t enjoy your time here. Maybe it’s just best to leave my response as, “¿Quién sabe?” (Who knows?) I think I have mixed feelings about going. There are a lot of people here I’m going to miss, and I like the greater emphasis on family and religion in the culture here. Morelia is a beautiful city, and I’ll miss living so close to all the cultural events and historical buildings. I’ll actually miss having chile on my food (coming from the girl who came here saying she didn’t like spicy foods), and I’ll surely miss the warm climate with gorgeous sunny days nearly all the time. However, despite all these people and things I will miss, I am really excited to see people back home again and catch up with them. I am also excited to start my second student teaching placement, so I can learn more things about teaching and have a new experience with a different teaching style, curriculum, grade, school, etc.
This was a fun last weekend in Morelia. On Friday night, I went to the VIP theater with a couple of friends. We saw “Slumdog Millionaire” for only what would be about $8, but our seats were huge, leather recliners with armrests. Waiters took our orders and brought food to our seats, which had adjustable trays attached to hold everything. When I ordered palomas (popcorn), it came with a cup of chile as a condiment! It was okay with chile, but I think I prefer my popcorn with just butter and salt. On Saturday, I went to my cooperating teacher’s birthday party, which was fun. We had en enormous brunch, and I could barely eat anything at La Comida. Saturday night, I was out and about with a couple of friends. We saw the Michoacan Orquestra play for a little while in front of the Cathedral, part of an international dance festival that was going on in another square in town, and the firework show shot off from the top of the Cathedral. On Sunday, I spent the day with my host family. After doing just about the last of my laundry by hand, my host mom told me that we were leaving. They didn’t tell me where we were going or how long we’d be gone, and I decided to just go with the flow and not ask. Well, we went on a little day trip to Quiroga, a city near Patzcuaro, to do some shopping in the little shops there. It was a great chance to find some gifts to bring back. Before we got there, we stopped at a little restaurant that was kind of in the middle of nowhere. I had some amazing quesadillas and flan there. After church on Sunday night, I had a little bit of the pozole my family bought in Quiroga. It was really good with radish, chile, onion, and lettuce stirred into it. I kept adding more and more chile to it until it was a little spicy. I’ve definitely gained new taste buds in Mexico!! I now enjoy that feeling of my tongue, throat, and even stomach burning for a few minutes after eating some spicy chile. My host family finds my change in tastes so funny…they keep telling me I’m Mexican now! ☺
This week, I'm still in my normal teaching routine. I feel pretty comfortable with my time management ability, and I think I'm able to keep everything moving along at a fairly comfortable pace so students are always working but not too rushed. The good news also is that I'm not behind much in the book now, so I won't be leaving Ms. Monica with extra content to fit in. One new thing I'm trying a little it correcting students when they use incorrect grammar in their speech. I explain what they said that was wrong, have them repeat it correctly, and thank them for participating to let them know that it's fine to mistakes, but they need to learn from them. I've found that when people correct my Spanish, it's helped me a lot, so I'm integrating that a little bit now in my teaching, too.
I’ll close here. I hope you’ve enjoyed the blog. It’s definitely helped me process my experiences by journaling about them. I’ll leave just one more blog on my “Case for Student Teaching Abroad” before I head out. When I get back, I hope to figure out how to transfer my pictures using the memory card. If I can do that, I’ll probably put up one or two more blogs with videos and photos to catch you up on things I haven’t been able to share. Take care, and I’ll see you all relatively soon! ☺
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