A Special Present

Ramon, one of my students, brought me this present for me today. I don't know if you ever did see where chocolate comes from, but here is the origin. He brought me three cacao pods. As you can observe, once opened you can see cocoa beans. If you are interested in learning more about how the process works, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacao_bean for an extensive description. I found it very "sweet" that he brought me this gift because in ancient Mayan civilizations a gift such as this was expensive and considered an honor to receive.

College Teaching

Last week I started teaching at the UPCH (Universidad Popular de la Chontalpa). It's been quite a difference experience from teaching at the high school level and I have been loving it ever since I started. I teach English V and VI to students who are part of the Alternative Tourism Degree. I'm very amazed at how much English they know. Some of them have a great pronunciation and others try very hard. In order to have the right to take their exams, students must have 80% of attendance. If they do not, they can't take any exams and will not pass the class. This regulation is extremely strict and I understand why after teaching there for a week. One of the reasons is that students do not arrive on time. They have no notion of what punctuality really is, so a regulation must be in place. If a student arrives from 1 to 15 minutes late, they are considered tardy (3 tardies = an absence). If a student arrives 16 minutes late, he/she is absent and can come in to observed the class or leave. It's very simple!!!

Tomorrow I begin teaching at the Language Center. I will be teaching English I and III. This center is for UPCH students and/or for community members who desire to learn English. At the center they also teach French and Chontal (A Mayan language spoken in Tabasco by 44,000 people in this area). I will try to register in this class for next two semesters. We will see.

A Movie Experience

Wow... We never thought that watching a movie in a theater would be such an adventure of its own. In the morning, we checked the movie theater's schedule for Los Pitufos (The Smurfs). According to this amazing website, it was supposed to start at 11:00 am, so we walked towards the cinema and took a taxi on the way there. We arrived there at 10:55 am, but the doors were locked and nobody would come to open them. Finally at 11:15 a man unlocked the doors and told us that the theater would not open until noon. I said, "But according to your website, this movie starts at 11:00!" So we went to the supermarket next to the theater and did more school shopping for an hour. At noon, we happily walked into the theater only to find out that this movie would not be played until 3:25 pm. We couldn't believe it!!! We went back to the supermarket and did more serious shopping, took a taxi back to the house, had lunch, and then went back to the theater. At 3:25, we were sitting in one of the theaters ready to finally watch this movie. Well...It was 3:30, 3:40, and finally at 3:45, they decided to start the movie. Jorge was a little anxious as he is Mr. Punctuality, but we couldn't believe we had this experience prior to watching the movie!!! We now know what to expect when we go to the movies and that's not punctuality. :)

Colegio Latino

We have survived the first week of school. It's amazing how well our children are doing. I personally had a meeting with Emma's teacher and her principal and after sitting with them for an hour, I have to admit that we have enrolled our daughters in one of the finest schools in Tabasco. The teachers do care about them and are doing whatever it takes to integrate them into the classroom and the school. In order to help them understand Spanish better, they have created a special Spanish as a Second Language class from 11:00 to 12:00 that will be in place just for them. Emma's teacher asked her classmates to write a Welcome letter to her. Today Emma came home excited and immediately showed us the amazing letters they gave her with encouraging words and extremely sweet words of love and friendship. We were completely amazed!!! The level of education is completely different here. I was in shock when I saw the content of each subject, so we are going to have to do some teaching at home because unfortunately, our children did not study the advanced material Mexican students had last school year. Every day, they have had homework. They arrived at 1:00 pm, had lunch, and then homework until 4:00 or 5:00 pm. In order to have a balance, Gina does basketball three times a week and the kids have swim practice three times a week as well.

Lucas' Second Day of Kinder

Lucas is wearing his regular uniform, which will be worn from Tuesday to Friday each week.

Lucas' First Day of Kinder

Lucas will have two uniforms. He will only wear the white one on Monday because they have a special Flag Ceremony on that day and white is the color to wear at school when the flag is being presented to the entire student body. Here is Lucas wondering whether he should be happy or sad on this day. He did great!!!

The Girls' First Day of School

As you can see, our girls were the same uniform. We personally believe it's the way to go as there is great uniformity when worn in a school. School starts at 7:00 am and ends at 12:30 this week. Next week will go until 1:00 pm. They have one 30-minute break in the middle of the day.

First Day of School

After surviving an extremely rainy weekend, this morning the girls and I got up at 5:30 am to get ready for school. Judith came to pick us up at 6:30 am. First she dropped off her two oldest children at their school, then she took us to Colegio Latino. The girls were very nervous! When we got there, we were received by the staff and they were welcomed by each one of them. I loved the fact that each staff member shook the girls' hands and welcomed them to school. Then they were escorted to their respective classrooms. At 7:00 am, they walked back to the playground with their teacher to participate in the first day of school's ceremony. It was unforgettable. The entrance of the flag, the singing of the National Anthem, and the Song of Tabasco was precious! Every student sang so nicely and they were so reverent about it. The parade of teachers carrying the flag was astonishing. I absolutely enjoyed seeing how patriotic everybody was. During the ceremony, the principal welcomed the first graders and the Pulleiro sisters. She asked students to support and help each one of them as they attend school and need help with the language. Then she asked them to applaud to welcome them to Colegio Latino. It was very special!!!

At 9:00 am, I started teaching English at the Universidad Popular de la Chontalpa (UPCH). I taught a group of about 15 students from the Tourism Department. I absolutely enjoyed getting to know these students, whose sacrifice to attend college is so great. They are so humble and so willing to learn. We played games and they introduced themselves in English.

Charlotte and I just picked up Lucas from Kindergarten. He seemed so happy though when he went in, he was not. Thank Goodness his teacher and assistant are so much fun!!! Charlotte told me she went and peaked to see how he was doing and he seemed so happy. We are so glad that everything went well with him.

The girls just returned from school (1:00 pm) and had smiles on their faces. They loved school, but it was hard. Gina loved French. Gina said, "Can you believe I have homework on the first day of school?"

Baile Latino

We just returned from an amazing "baile latino" organized by one of the LDS wards. They invited members from our ward and another one as well. It was so much fun. It was a family dance so everybody went and had an amazing time there. They served food, horchata (Mexican corn drink), little marshmallow treat for the children, and so much music. We danced salsa, cumbia, and merengue. The DJ was so cool and put on great music. Everybody danced and had so much fun. It's been a long time since I was in a place full of people that knew what they were doing when music was on!!! :) Wow!!!!!!!!

Taqueria Zona T

I can't even explain how delicious the tacos are in Cardenas. Fabiola's sister and family manage this amazing taqueria in downtown Cardenas. One cannot compare the authenticity of the food here with any of the best Mexican restaurants in the United States. We love it!!!

Swimming Lessons in Cardenas

Welcoming Ceremony for Jorge

Yesterday Jorge went to the UPCH (Universidad Popular de la Chontalpa) where he will be working for the next 10 months. He thought he was going to tour the campus and meet a few people. He didn't know that a surprise welcoming ceremony was awaiting for him. Mr. Melendez, the academic secretary, and other officials were there. They were extremely nice and said very wonderful words to Jorge. At the end of the meeting, the pozol - a Mayan drink made out of corn and cocoa (a traditional drink of Tabasco), which was served with different home made candies. It was delicious! Later on, Jorge met the university president, Chemist Jose Victor Zarate Aguilera.

Visit to Colegio Latino

Yesterday the girls and Jorge visited Colegio Latino, the school in which our girls will be attending. The facilities are very nice. Jesus, the Foreign Language coordinator and French teacher, received us and gave us a tour. The school is private and has wonderful classrooms, a great gym, a computer room and an extremely green yard. Our girls will be wearing uniforms this year. They will not be allowed to wear make-up and finger nail polish. Their schedule will be from 7:00 to 12:30. Ashlie and Gina will have about 7 subjects and French will be one of them. You should have seen their faces when they were told that they would have to learn French. It was funny! Ashlie and Jorge went to downtown Cardenas and bought fresh vegetables and fruit. They also brought 1 kg. of freshly made tortillas and chips. We had an amazing dinner together!!!

A Sunday Walk Through Town

The Square
































Gina found her middle name on a sign!

























The town's cathedral

Our Home

Aug. 14 - Church

The bishop's wife came to pick us up at 9:30 in the morning. Church starts at 10:00 here and the building is located in Colonia Los Reyes - 10 minutes from our home. We were completely amazed at the welcoming party that awaited in the church. We believe we shook 98% of the members' hands today. It was completely wonderful!!! Everybody acknowledged that we were there and new to the ward. We sat down in the chapel waiting for the service to begin, when the bishop sent a young man to talk to Charlotte. He said, "The bishop is wondering if you could play these hymns for sacrament meeting today!" So there she went...to play for sacrament meeting and did amazingly well. The meeting was extremely spiritual. Members sang those hymns so clearly and loudly. It was awesome! The theme of the meeting was how we can strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ. Four speakers were assigned with no intermediate hymn. Their testimonies were so strong. One of them invited us to always have room for the Savior in our heart. She said that He was rejected even when he was in Mary's wombs when nobody would give Him room in the inn. "May we never make Him feel unwelcome in our inn!" She said. It was wonderful! Our children went to their respective classes and were so nervous. We accompanied Lucas to his Primary class and tried to stay with him, but he refused. Firmly he pointed the door with his finger trying to say, "Get out! I can do it by myself." It was funny!

In the afternoon we went for a walk to the main square, which is very close to our home. We went inside the Catholic cathedral - a very beautiful building, and walked around the square. We loved to see that only a few stores were opened and that the town was quiet because it was Sunday. We really enjoy when others obey the Sabbath Day in this manner.

In the evening, Liliana Pelayo (my supervisor) and her family came to visit. They brought us corn tamales, which were so delicious. Her husband teaches music at the UPCH (Universidad Popular de la Chontalpa) and will arrange for our girls to continue with their piano lessons with a teacher he knows. We had a very pleasant evening getting to know them. We also found out that their children play basketball for a local team, so Gina will go with them tomorrow and see if she would like to play with them.

Aug. 13 - First Day in Cardenas

I got up in the morning after sleeping in the only bedroom that has an AC unit. As I came out, I couldn’t believe how muggy it was. The kids got up at 9:00. Judith, Luis, Elisa, and Judith’s mom came to take us to Sam’s Club for some shopping. Her mom is such a nice lady. We came back and she took us to meet a few neighbors. After having lunch, we went to Judith’s house so that our kids would swim in their swimming pool. They swam and we sat underneath a huge mango tree. Marisol, another sister, and her husband Moises came with their two children Odette and Moises. We talked and had soda pop for a few hours. Then Judith brought popcorn and a special sauce that goes on top of it. I loved it! It was so yummy! We drove around the central part of town with Judith. It’s such a nice place. The square is huge and full of stores. The cathedral is located in front of the square and it's such a beautiful colonial style building.

Aug. 12 - Our Trip to Mexico

Aug. 12
Our trip went very smoothly. We flew to San Francisco, Houston, and Villahermosa without any problems. I couldn’t believe how hot it was when we came out of the plane. It was as if we were going into an oven. Judith (Fabiola’s sister) and her husband Luis were waiting for us at the airport and took us to our home. They are such nice people! As we drove to Cardenas from Villahermosa, I thought I was driving from the Buenos Aires airport to San Miguel, where my mom lives; as it was very similar in a few aspects. Judith and Luis took us to their taqueria (taco shop) where we grabbed a few delicious tacos, met their children, and then they brought us to our new home. Because the house had been closed for a few days, it was extremely hot. We opened all the windows to let the air in, but it was unbearable. Of course, we had our welcoming party waiting for us: a group of gigantic cockroaches. Our kids did not like them at all. I am kind of used to them as I grew up in a humid country. As Judith and Luis were leaving, I heard a very loud scream. Lucas was being followed by one of the roaches and screamed his head off. It was kind of funny. Our home is gorgeous! It has 4 bedrooms each with its own bathroom, a TV room, a kitchen, a dinning room, a study, and a living room. It’s located in central Cardenas and the view from the top floor is fantastic.

The John Day Experience (Aug. 5 - Aug. 10)

Fabiola and I flew back to Boise on Aug. 5. The next day, her sons arrived in Boise. They were supposed to arrive at 2:00 pm, but due to a delay, they arrived at 7:00 pm instead. Charlotte, Lucas, Emma, and Gina accompanied Fabiola to the Boise airport. From there, we traveled to John Day, but had to stop in a few places; so we arrived in John Day at midnight. For the following few days, Fabiola and her sons had the opportunity to tour John Day and Grant County. We also visited Grant Union High School and they met our principal and dean of students along with other GUHS staff members. On Sunday, Fabiola came to Church with us. It was quite an emotional day for me as I was released from my duties as the bishop of my ward due to our upcoming move to Mexico. A lake of tears were left in that meeting as I bore my testimony and share of my love to the members of the John Day Ward, whom I served for the past 4 years and 7 months.

Lucas and Diego became very good friends. They went swimming together at our local pool and Lucas was extremely excited to have three older boys instead of girls during these few days. :) After explaining as much as we could about the house and the town, we left to Boise on Wednesday August 10.

Washington DC (July 31 - August 5)

As a Fulbright grantee, I had to attend our orientation in Washington DC. There I met all the international teachers who had been assigned to the United States and all the American teachers who were going overseas (India, Mexico, England, Switzerland, Hungary, etc.). I had an amazing time with my colleagues. We learned about the importance of effective teaching, how to cope with cultural changes, and other important aspects that would help us succeed in this incredible adventure we were about to embark. I also met Fabiola, whom I will be replacing in Cardenas, the state of Tabasco, Mexico. She is coming to stay in our home with her three sons: Ayax, Isaac, and Diego for a year, where she will be teaching Spanish at Grant Union High School. My family and I will be moving to her home in Cardenas, where I will be teaching English as a Second Language at the Universidad Popular de la Chontalpa. We leave on August 12.