La Comida Mexicana (Mexican foods)

I thought it'd be fun to begin this blog with photos of foods that are all quite delicious here:

                

 "Pan Tostada" with "Atole"         

This is toast...yes, toast, that comes pre packaged aaaand pre-toasted.  Crazy, huh? Atole I may have mentioned.  It's like a thick, milky tea. Possible flavors may include: Strawberry, Chocolate, and Cookie.  I know there's others. These are just the ones I've tried.

     Mexican Tacos

Left: Taco with steak and salsa

Right: "Choriso" (spicy pork) with beans

Top: Quesadilla with "la salsa verde" (green salsa)

  Note: It is made with thick mozzarella cheese and not enclosed like our quesadillas.  

          

The Equivalent of the 

Mexican Sandwich:      

Bottom: "Una tostada"    

(a crispy tortilla)

Middle: Cold refried beans 

      pureed and ham

Top: cooked potato and 

     carrot cubes; fresh 

     lettuce, tomato, and

     onion; cheese, "crema"

    (cream), and la salsa

     verde (green salsa).

All the food groups on one 

delicious tostada.

 "La sopa tarasca"

This is a fancy and DELICIOUS tomato soup with "la crema" and chiles that have a lot of rich flavor but are not at all spicy.

                               

"Ejotes verdes con salsa mexicana"    

Green beans with Mexican Salsa 

                

"Puntas de filetes con salsa verde y corundas"

Pork tips in green salsa with beans and a tomale-like bread covered in cream.

My teaching went pretty well this week, and I learned some important lessons!  One I learned was in spelling.  I was able to turn two of the workbook pages into a game.  However, since the students rarely have an opportunity to work in teams, they are not accustomed to how to behave in this setting.  I learned quickly that I needed clearer rules, and they needed to be rules that were fair.  If anything at all seemed to give an unfair advantage to one team, the students were sure to point it out.  At the beginning of the game in which students needed to listen to clues and write spelling words on the board, students crowded around the board to help their teammates and ended up shoving and pushing each other.  I had to stop the game to establish clearer rules about only one person from each team at the board and walking instead of running to and from the board to avoid accidents.  In future game/team settings, I will be sure to give more explicit rules in advance to avoid such problems.  However, I did enjoy using a game versus the traditional way of filling out the workbook pages.  It provided a nice change of pace, since we had over 2.5 hours of class in a row without a break.

I did learn that classroom management is much easier if the students are constantly engaged in some activity or given some task to do.  In a lesson today, I continuously gave the students something to do next.  I noticed that the only students talking or goofing around were those that finished early, so I kept giving them new activities.  I eventually had to bring everyone together so they'd be on the same page.  Eventually, I want to integrate more additional activities outside of the curriculum to keep those students who always finish early engaged in something and challenged.  I realized the importance of this technique of keeping students engaged when I observed my 6th graders in another class.  They were giving presentations one at a time to the class, but during each transition between presentations, the students had nothing to do.  The room erupted into kind of a recess time every single time there was a transition, and it took a long time to bring them back each time.  I don't blame the students.  I think we adults do the same thing if we're at a conference or event and there's a break in the programming/activity.  We start to chat with those around us.  If that is what we do, how can we expect our students to behave any differently?  When my students are given a task, they are overall hard workers during class....even if it's just another workbook page!  They work pretty quietly and diligently as soon as they have something to do and know and understand exactly what is expected of them.  I think I just always need really clear directions at the start and a constant "What should I do next?" list of activities.

This weekend, there is a Carnaval in just about every city or pueblo in Mexico I think.  It's a pre-Lenten celebration (kind of like an extended Mardi-Gras but with more cultural events added in.)  In Morelia, it started on Thursday and will last until Tuesday.  I plan to catch some of the events in Morelia, and I might be going with my host family tomorrow to a neighboring pueblo for their Carnaval.  More on this on Tuesday!

I'll close with a few interesting Spanish phrases/words I've picked up while here.  Some are different from what I learned in H.S. Spanish:

• "Padre" = Cool  /   "Bien Padre" = Waaay cool  ("Qué padre"- "How cool"  is a common phrase here)
• "Andale pués" is their way of saying "well," "um," or filling up space.  It's often used right before saying good-bye
• Everyone here says "Bye" but with a really odd accent (to me).  I'm sure you'll hear me use it when I return!
• "Panza" = Stomach (not "estómago")
• "Cholla" = Head (not "cabeza")
• "Pasto" = Grass (and it's what they use to refer to the lawn...not "césped")