El cerro de los monos

“El cerro de los monos” is the name locals call the mountain Cynhia, Erin, Alyssa and I hiked on Saturday. Everyone assumes this translates to “Monkey Mountain” in English, including Mexi Treks, the outdoor trekking company that led us to the top of the mountain. The name is peculiar because as you walk through the forest there are no traces of monkeys to be found.

Our tour guide, Steve, has a deep understanding of the land in and around Sayulita, including its history. Throughout the tour he told us all he knew about the land, which helped clear up the confusion surrounding the mountain’s name. “Mono” can be translated into English in two different ways: “mono” and “figurine.” The correct, though uncommon, translation is “Figurine Mountain.” Years ago the mountain was used by indigenous groups. They would make figurines out of clay dug from the soil. Then, they would climb to the top of the mountain and leave the clay figurines as offerings to the gods they worshiped. When other people came to this area they heard the name and assumed “mono” meant “monkey.” Like the four of us, they were confused when they hiked to the top without seeing or even hearing a single monkey. For some reason the incorrect translation has persisted throughout time. Though some people, like Steve, know the true name of the mountain.

Steve is pretty sure this is another remnant from the

indigenous groups. The "X" on the lower left corner

is supposedly one of their markings. 

Even though we didn’t come across any monkeys, we did encounter heaps of ram bull poop, herds of the actual animal, and all kinds of spiders and bugs. Luckily, Steve blazed the trail so the tics attached themselves to him, and he pointed spiders out before we walked into their intricately woven webs. The spiders were not considered big for Mexico, but by Midwest standards they were enormous. I never thought I would describe a spider as cool, but the coolest spider we saw was like a turtle—it actually had a shell!

Cynhia and I posing with our hiking sticks.

I'm pretty sure Steve made them himself!

The hike was taxing and treacherous. There were parts where the trail was so narrow that there was no room for mistakes. Some of the ascents were so steep that we had to use a rope to pull ourselves up. But one glance at the view from the top, a 1,300 feet elevation, made the hike well worth the effort it took to wake up early on a Saturday. We could see miles upon miles of the surrounding forest, not to mention the Pacific Coast from Punta de Mita all the way to Sayulita. Steve pointed out a beautiful hotel south of Sayulita that looked like giant brown mansions. The luxury hotels cost $5,000 a night and have hosted Jack Black from the White Stripes, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin in the past. Apparently this little town is a hidden gem for people from all walks of life—including the rich and famous!

One of our views was of the luxury

hotels. They cost $5,000 a night!

Once we reached the top of the mountain we chugged our bottles of water, gorged ourselves on the granola bars we packed, and took a lot of snapshots. After about an hour of this, we started the descent. Hiking down the mountain was much more difficult than the hike up. I sort of psyched myself out because Steve gave us a quick lecture before climbing down that most hiking injuries occur going down. I used my hiking stick for support, but still found myself sliding down certain parts of the mountain—mostly the sandy parts. But, I am here. I survived!

A beautiful view of the Pacific Coast. 

Sayulita is to the north so it can't be

seen in this photo.

Me at the top of el cerro de los monos. 

A hike well worth the effort :)

A view of Sayulita and the surrounding area--so much nature!

The houses and buildings along the coast at 

the top of this photo are those of Sayulita!

When we got home Cynhia and I rewarded ourselves with a trip to the beach. We took naps in the sand and woke up to cold water splashing our feet. There was a swell this weekend, so the waves were out of control. This was good news for the many seasoned surfing gurus of Sayulita. We sat and admired them surfing the giant waves for awhile before calling it a night and giving our legs a much deserved rest. 

My first two weeks at CVIS

I've been at CVIS for 2 weeks already. The time is just flying by! I spend my time with the 5th and 6th graders under the guidance of Jen, the English teacher, and Joel, the Spanish teacher.

In both classrooms students sit on balls instead of

chairs. I find myself using them whenever I can!

Jen is originally from Canada but has been teaching in Mexico for two years. This is her first year at CVIS. She teaches the 5^th and 6^th graders math, science, language arts and English as a Second Language. I am in her classroom all day Mondays and Tuesdays, and Friday mornings. I love being in her classroom because she uses a lot of project-based learning. For instance, right no^th graders are publishing their own poetry books in Language Arts, and last bimester they surveyed students in the school while studying mean, median, mode and range. I am really interested in using projects as a form of assessment in my own teaching because I think it provides students with context and goals, which enhances the learning process tremendously.

Joel is from Mexico. He teaches anything related to social studies and Spanish. This includes geography, history, civics and ethics, Spanish, and Spanish as a Second Language. He has been working at CVIS for a few years, but this is his first year working with 5^th and 6^th graders. Last year he worked with 3^rd and 4^th graders but was bumped up this year. I find the assignment of teachers to grade levels really interesting at CVIS. Because it is such a small school, there is only one English-speaking and one Spanish-speaking teacher per two grade levels. The teachers get moved between grades from year to year for a variety of reasons. I am slowly finding that most of the teachers here have moved around since they began. Joel, for example, was bumped up to the 5^th and 6^th grade because America, the old preschool teacher, wanted to teach older students. She would have taught 5^th and 6^th grade, but couldn’t because her son is a 6^th grader.

Jen and Joel are really great at providing me with opportunities to teach. They are both very open to trying new things in the classroom, which allows me to try out my ideas and grow as a teacher. This week Jen put me in charge of this bimester’s 6^th grade science unit. The unit focuses on what animals need to survive and how they interact with one another and their environment. The final assessment for the unit will be a research project about these themes by looking at a specific biome. It is so exciting for me because it gives me a defined role in the classroom. One of my students actually called me “Ms. Gabriela—the science girl” today as we transitioned into science. It is also great to be able to teach a unit all the way through and be responsible for tracking student progress and learning. This is my first time really getting to do this fully because in my schedule was much more scattered in my practicum experiences. Overall, Jen is really great at scaffolding. She is slowly giving me more responsibility within the classroom. For next week she asked me to choose another subject to teach, this time to the 5^th graders. By the end of time at CVIS I will be lead teaching the entire day. Even though it’s kind of scary, I’m really excited. Planning and teaching all day is what I will be doing full-time next year. So now is the time for me to practice and hone my skill.

It took me longer to jump into teaching in Joel’s classroom. Part of it is because he teaches entirely in Spanish, so I have been adjusting to that. The other part is because his teaching style and training is very different from mine. However, now that I’ve been in his classroom for two weeks I feel like we both understand each other and see that we can learn a lot from one another.

This week I started teaching in Joel’s classroom, but it was more spontaneous than I am used to. I usually plan out lessons days in advance, which is great to do if you have the luxury. But, I am learning that spontaneous teaching and learning can be just as meaningful and educational as lessons that are planned in advance. For instance, this week students were beginning to read the poem “La Higuera” (The Fig Tree) in Spanish class. They were reading and re-reading it, but I could tell they weren’t understanding it. Since poetry is so beautiful and almost musical, I thought about soundscapes from my methods class on integrating music into the curriculum. Joel encouraged me to try it with the class and the students loved it. The soundscapes not only energized them through movement, it also enhanced their comprehension of the poem by giving them a clear purpose while reading. They were motivated to understand the poem so they could add the proper emotion, volume, and movements when they present their soundscapes to the rest of class next week. I cannot wait to see how it all turns out! After this experience Joel and I spoke more about activities we can do with the poem. For next week, we are planning a short field trip to a fig tree. We’re still toying around with ideas but I think we are going to hold a Socratic seminar about the poem, and then have students write their own poems.

Students were responsible for decorating

the walls. This was painted by one of the

6th grade students!

CVIS is such an amazing school. I am constantly learning from the teachers, students, parents, and staff members. Because CVIS is a progressive school there is now “boxed” curriculum. The teachers have standards they are required to teach to, but they have a lot of freedom when it comes to lesson planning. What makes teaching especially interesting at CVIS is that teachers have to teach to both the Mexican Standards, “SEP,” and the Common Core standards from the U.S.

One thing that really surprised me at first was seeing twins in the same class. Because there is only one class per grade, twins cannot be separated. In the United States I have always seen twins in separate classes for school. I feel like in the U.S. there is an assumption that twins should be separated because they will learn better apart and will develop a sense of independence. So initially, when I saw the sets of twins in both my 5^th and 6^th grade classes I was unsure about how I felt. However, now I’m rethinking my views. It’s true that twins end up spending almost all of their time together, but I do not think it hinders their learning at all. In fact, they seem more comfortable because they understand one another and can help each other with school work in class and at home. Joel also pointed out the benefits it brings for everyone involved (teachers, parents, and the students)—such as enhanced communication and stronger teacher-student/teacher-parent relationships. 

Community involvement is also really strong at CVIS—which is very refreshing and inspiring. There are so many interesting people at the school at all hours of the day. Many students’ parents work at the school as administrators, teachers, and staff members. A lot of parents also volunteer in classrooms, just pop in for lunch, or come to cheer their children on during soccer. There are also a lot of volunteers from the community. For example, an man named Jeffrey volunteers to teach 5^th and 6^th grade math every Tuesday and Friday. He is a retired teacher who moved down here years ago, but continues to teach in his spare time. Having such strong connections with parents and the community is very refreshing. With all of the safety concerns in the U.S., in large part due to the school shootings that are becoming frighteningly common, the relaxed “come and go as you please” approach is not something I am used to seeing in schools. But I am glad to see it happening here!

Lice is a huge concern at CVIS. Every week all students are checked inspected for lice. Some of my students even got notifications that they had lice last week! Joel told me that most of the students that get lice are the international students because they are not used to cleaning their hair in this climate. Whenever my students are called out for lice inspection, I get phantom scratches all over my head. I actually thought I had lice this afternoon, but it just ended up being a guava seed that somehow ended up on the top of my head. My heart actually stopped!

I am absolutely amazed at the resourcefulness of the teachers. CVIS is an ecological school. A lot of the parents get upset when their children come home with lots of papers, and supplies are not as available here as they are in the States. For both of these reasons teachers get really creative in the classroom. One of my favorite things I’ve seen are homemade folders from used cereal boxes. Not only are they cute, they are eco-friendly. Students are also very resourceful. They use up their entire notebooks before getting a new one, and usually fill out the entire front and back of a piece of paper. The school really practices the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle!”

Folders made from recycled cereal boxes.

Cute and functional!

Scorpions, Cucarachas, and Other Creepy Crawlers

Waking up in the morning is hard enough when you’re waking up before the sun rises. It was even more difficult today because as I was leaving my room I found myself face-to-pincher with a scorpion. People warned us of them when we arrived, but for some reason I never thought I would actually come across one. Boy was I wrong!

He was little and yellowish in color. He didn’t move much and when he did it was very slowly. This was much different than the lightning fast gecko we found in the bathroom last week. I calmly went to the stairwell to call for my roommates to come upstairs and bring a shoe to smash him with. But 30 seconds was all it took for him to get away. We turned our room inside out and squashed all of our shoes with a broom just in case he burrowed in one of them. After all, scorpions like to hide in dark places. But we couldn’t find him. I convinced myself he was hiding in the pair of shoes he was closes to the last time I saw him, so I swept the shoes outside to “let him free.” It was all I could do.

All day I told students and teachers about my encounter with the scorpion. Everybody I talked to was very nonchalant about it. They all had their own stories about their encounters with scorpions. The worst that happens is you get stung, in which case you go to the hospital for treatment. No big deal. But then, a student informed me that the scorpion I saw was one of the more dangerous ones. Apparently, the smaller they are, the more poisonous. So I guess feeling safer because he was a “little guy” who didn’t move quickly was wrong.

At the end of the day my roommates and I were afraid to go home. We ended up going to Lynne’s house for advice. She was shocked. This was the first sighting of a scorpion in our complex in four years, which I’m pretty sure is when the houses were built. She sent us home with a can of Baygon, which we diligently sprayed all of our windows and doors with to keep the creepy crawlers out.

Unfortunately, the Baygon was not enough to keep the bugs away from us. It may have even caused them to come out of their hiding spots. The first sighting of the evening was of a scorpion—hopefully the same one from before! This time it was Cynhia that called us all upstairs—of course it was in our room again. Within seconds Erin was ready for battle, with a shoe in hand and close toed shoes on her feet. She valiantly stepped up and squashed it. Its guts spewed all over the floor, and I sprayed it with some Baygon just to make sure he was really dead. We’re too afraid to pick up his remains because scorpion tails can still sting after the scorpion itself has died. So we are too afraid to move it and are leaving him on the floor until the morning.

As Cynhia and I were writing our blogs we spotted another creepy insect—a cucaracha! Cockroaches are ugly, and much larger than the scorpion we encountered. But fortunately, they are not poisonous. So when we saw him we didn’t hold back our emotions. We screamed and ran, and wildly sprayed him with Baygon. But it didn’t stop him from scurrying out of our room and into Alyssa and Erin’s. He tried to escape out the door that connects to a patio, but was trapped. I took this time to spray him with more Baygon which slowed his movements enough for us to squash him.

Even though we’ve won all of our battles with the bugs today, Cynhia and I are sleeping with the lights on. I can’t help but think a scorpion is coming to attack me every time I see a shadow or feel my hair brush up against my arm. Especially since Cynhia’s class informed her that every time a scorpion lays eggs it produces 1,000 baby scorpions. I hope we killed our scorpion before it had a chance to reproduce! I’m also thinking about inviting all of the geckos of Sayulita to live in our house. Apparently, they eat scorpions so they can protect us!

Life in Sayulita

I cannot believe Alyssa, Erin, Cynhia and I have only been in Sayulita for a little over a week. We have done so much and met so many people in the last 10 days that it feels as if we have been here for much, much longer!

I am surprised at how easily and quickly we have fallen into a routine. In doing so, we have also sort of turned into old ladies! On “school-nights” the four of us usually fall asleep early. And I’m not kidding when I say early—one night I fell asleep at 8pm! For my entire life I have been a night owl, but here I am usually one of the first to go to bed! I think it has to do with the sunset. The sun goes down at around 6 or 6:30pm. But because the weather is so warm and summer-like, it feels like its 9pm to us Midwesterners.

Another factor contributing to our “old age” are the activities we do to keep ourselves entertained. Our apartment won’t get wifi while we are here. We invested in some internet USB sticks, which work pretty well, but still aren’t the same. So usually we spend our evenings playing card games and Ellen’s Heads Up game. All I can say is that we are getting really good at playing rummy…

Our house is still really lively though. The other night while we were getting ready for bed we found a gecko in the upstairs bathroom. Everyone was afraid of him, so I volunteered to catch him (or at leasst try). He was so cute, but I quickly lost my nerve when he started to move. Geckos move lightning fast, so we lost him somewhere in the bathroom. They come in from our patio upstairs, so there's really no avoiding them. At least they don't bite (like scorpions or tarantulas!)

Meet our new roommate, Señor Gecko!

Erin, Alyssa and Cynhia moving to higher

ground to escape the gecko.

We are really beginning to become part of the community and get to know people better. Everyday on our walk to school we pass our friend Webb’s house. He is an older gentleman who built a beautiful house in Sayulita 10 years ago. He always seems to be outside when we walk by, and is always extremely friendly. A few days ago Cynhia and Alyssa met him more officially at the beach. Then on Saturday he excitedly ran downstairs when we walked by his house to give us each a copy of “Sayulita Magazine,” which he writes for and probably created himself. Then on Sunday Cynhia and I were invited inside for a grand tour. His house is absolutely gorgeous. It’s three stories tall and was designed and built by him. There are gorgeous views of the beach, beautifully painted ceilings, murals, indoor and outdoor sleeping areas, and iguana neighbors that sleep in the trees next to the house. He is very entrepreneurial and rents out most of the house. It would be amazing to stay there sometime if I ever make it back here after this experience!

We’ve also started to get to know some of our neighbors. They are all amazing and have such fascinating lives and stories. Last Monday Cynhia and I met Lynne while we were testing out our neighborhood pool. She is an older woman who has lived in Sayulita for the last five years and is an amazing storyteller. She has worked many jobs in her past, but is now retired and does what she loves—writes. She just published her second book, and when you hear her speak you immediately know she would make an amazing author. Her stories are entrancing and her speech dazzling. I cannot wait to spend more time with her.

Our other neighbors are Pepe and David. They are a fun and talented couple. Pepe is a furniture maker, and David is a well-known Mexican handbag designer. They moved here to open a shop to sell their goods. They already have a successful store in Guadalajara. We missed the grand opening, but Lynne told us it was absolutely amazing. Since then we have ventured into their store and fallen in love with everything. David’s handbags are breathtaking. Beautifully, hand-crafted leather. Vibrant colors, practical colors, Metallic colors, you name it. Each one unique. And people LOVE their products. When we walked in this lady was in the store and nearly walked out with five bags—she literally just kept picking them up and adding them to her pile. Her husband was a good sport, but seemed baffled. Another man, who works as a buyer somewhere in the U.S., was telling us that their store is the most successful in Sayulita. I know they will do well, and hope to buy one of their bags before I leave!

Being here for 10 days also means we have had the opportunity to try more of the amazing food. There are so many restaurants, and all of them are so good. We went back to Rolley’s last week to try their dinner menu, in large part because Kathy gave us coupons for free margaritas! But also because the couple is so cool and is really helping the community. The restaurant is employee owned, so everybody benefits from the success of the place, not just Rolley and is wife. Cynhia and I tried the “Paella for Two” which was out of this world. The saffron rice was perfectly cooked. The fish and shrimp was delicious. The chicken kind of creeped us out because it had bones and was hard to cut, but we were so stuffed even without touching the chicken. We still have leftovers! The meal also came with a pitcher of sangria and a chocolate soufflé. It was so much food, but a meal to remember. We had so much that we ended up sharing a lot with Erin and Alyssa—it really could have been a meal for all four of us!

Cynhia and I posing with our paella and GIANT

pitcher of sangria. ¡Buen provecho! 

Paella

Cynhia posing with our chocolate soufflé!

We also tried “Pizza Venezia.” The pizza is big, inexpensive, and delicious. For 99 pesos you get all of the ingredients you want. Cynhia and I went crazy with the veggies and added some pepperoni. We will definitely be going back there.

!Que rico!

There are so many great street food options. Freshly made churros, chocolate covered frozen bananas, coconut juice straight from the coconut. The churros are warm and the perfect combination of gooey and crunchy. I took a cool video of the whole process and will try to post it soon, internet permitting.

A sinful yet irresistible treat. (Un)fortunately

we pass this stand everyday on our way to

and from school...

Which came first: 

Bluth's Frozen Bananas

or Choco Banana?

Coconut juice straight from the coconut.

A perfect drink for the beach!

After a long first week at school (which will be the topic of my next post) it was nice to relax over the weekend. We went into Puerto Vallarta with some other teachers from CVIS, Whitney and America. It was more of a necessities run and less of a trip to see Vallarta. I am happy to say that now that we've been to Sam's Club we have enough peanut butter to last a lifetime. This weekend was also the first annual Festival Sayulita. The Festival consisted of drinking, movies, and more. We tried to go on Thursday night to see a video on the beach that featured some of the kids from CVIS but they kept pushing the showing time back so we didn't end up staying. Fortunately, we were able to see some baile folklórico, a traditional Mexican dance, which was as lively as it was beautiful. For the rest of the weekend we hung out on the beach, we're still playing catch up to everyones tans!

Baile folklórico is a traditional Mexican dance.

It is playful and all about "the chase."

Last but not least, Cynhia and I accidentally stole a dog on Sunday. We were walking to the local levandería to pick up our clean clothes and passed this adorable curly, white-haired puppy. Cynhia prompted me to pick her up, and when I did the precious little pup just snuggled right up to me. Cynhia and I were both in some crazy state of awe and impulsively decided we would keep her. So we walked down the street looking at her with googly eyes, deciding if she was a boy or girl, picking a name, and planning out how we would take care of her. Everybody we passed was staring at us like we were crazy and laughing. When we got to the levandería we realized why. A little boy ran up behind us and explained that the dog belonged to the lady that owns the tortillería we just passed. We promised we would return her and he left. The thing about Mexico is that dog ownership is very different than in the U.S. You have a pet dog but don’t necessarily put a collar on it. Even though you own a dog, your dog is still a social being with its own life. The dogs just go out on the street and do as they please. They have dog friends, they go to the beach, and they don’t necessarily have to stay close to their house. So us picking up this dog and thinking she had no owner was not that crazy. We walked her bag and returned her to the tortilla guy. We learned that “our” dog is in fact a girl. Her name is Princesa. She does not like being confined in the house and so spends a lot of time outside. Even though we gave her back, she still recognizes us when we walk by and gets really happy and excited.

The puppy that could have

been ours...

Whose community and land does Sayulita belong to?

Sayulita is a very interesting place with a fascinating history. As I’ve said before there are so many more people from the United States and Canada that live here than I expected. In fact, I read in “Sayulita Magazine” that 40% of the residents here are foreigners. Some come from other parts of the world, such as our neighbors from Italy, but for the most part the immigrants that have infiltrated Sayulita come from the U.S. or Canada.

The presence of so many foreigners in Sayulita produces some tension and confusion. I have heard a lot of people discussing whose land and community this truly belongs to.  Although everything seems peaceful in town, there are definitely tensions. Kathy has mentioned the existence of the “haves” and the “have nots.” Most of the “have nots” are the Mexicans in town whose ancestors are originally from Sayulita, whereas most of the “haves” are the wealthy foreigners who have moved here in recent years.

Jessica, one of the administrators at CVIS is half Mexican and half American. She grew up in Mexico and has lived in Sayulita for years. At a CVIS staff party we had at Whitney’s last Thursday, Jessica talked in great lengths about whose land this really is. She said that even though she speaks Spanish fluently, is Mexican, and has lived in Sayulita for years, this land will never truly be hers. According to her, it belongs to the people whose ancestors originally lived here. Not everybody in town agrees with this. Apparently there are online community boards where the foreigners try to make both big and small decisions about how Sayulita will develop and operate. Jessica says the original Sayulitans do not even bother joining these groups and have their own.

I find this all so interesting. Whose land and community does Sayulita truly belong to? I kind of agree with Jessica. It seems unfair that wealthy foreigners can just come in here and alter the land in any way they want, and in doing so significantly alter the way of life of the people whose families have lived here for generations. I am not trying to say that all the alterations are bad. They aren’t! I am sure that all the people in Sayulita benefit greatly from the tourism money. But, I can’t help wondering—do the original Sayulitans really want their land to be a tourist destination and ex-pat community? Or would they prefer to live here as their ancestors did for generations?

One thing that troubles me about this whole debate are the children of the immigrants. Many immigrants come to Sayulita, have their children, and raise them here. For many of them, this is their home, their land, their community. It is all they have known. Do they have more of a right to this land and community than their parents because they were born and raised here? Do they have as much of a right as the other children whose ancestors were born and raised here?

A new exhibit is opening at the beginning of February that kind of deals with this issue. From what I understand, the exhibit will feature information on the history and development of Sayulita. The exhibit will feature a bunch of interviews with the perspective of both “original” Sayulitans, and those who have immigrated here. I will post more about this theme after I make it to the exhibit!

My First Day of Student Teaching

Monday was my first full day as a student teacher at CVIS. The night before I kept waking up due to the same combination of excitement and nerves I used to get before my first day of school as a student—except this time when I woke up and went to school as a teacher! At first when my alarm went off I thought it had gone haywire, after all the sky was pitch-black and full of stars. But the sky stayed black until 7:00 am, which made for a nice walk to the school as the sun rose.

A view of the entrance to CVIS

Because all of the teachers wear polo shirts with the school logo, Kathy made sure we each had one before we left our orientation on Friday. As a result, Cynhia, Erin, Alyssa and I showed up at school in matching royal blue polo shirts, complete with a CVIS school logo etched on the left. Although it was dorky, we kind of liked it—at first. We even had Kathy take a picture of us in front of the school to document our first day. But, throughout the day my attitude towards the polo began to change. Our polos are royal blue. This is the same color as the secondary students’ polos. I was aware of this when we got them, but didn’t realize the other teachers would be wearing a different color. The discrepancy resulted in some awkward interactions throughout the day. The first was self-induced. Because I was worried about being mistaken as a 7^th, 8^th, or 9^th grader, I overcompensated by introducing (and re-introducing) myself to any adult-figure I encountered before they could make that assumption. By the end of the day I had almost gotten used to the polo, but was reminded when the four of us walked home. People kept commenting on and questioning us about them. At the grocery store people kept asking if we were student at CVIS, and on the street some guy actually shouted “What’s with the uniforms?” as we walked by. Needless to say, I was happy to get home and take my polo off. On the bright side, at least we don’t have to wear them everyday!   

The four of us in our matching polos!

Aside from the polos my first day was pretty amazing. Overall, 25% of students are international students, and the remaining 75% are from Mexico.  This goes against the false stereotype in the community that CVIS is a “gringo” school. I am really amazed at how talented the students are. Because the school operates under a dual-language immersion model, all students speak (or are learning to speak) two languages. But many students also speak a third language, such as Italian or German. It is amazing to see blonde-haired, blue-eyed children speak with perfect English, and then effortlessly transition into perfect Spanish. It really shows me that this type of model works and should be utilized more often, especially since globalization is making it useful, and almost necessary, to speak more than one language.

However, not all students at CVIS are perfectly bilingual. One challenge Jessica, one of the administrators, mentioned last Friday is that (international) students are constantly coming and going. For example, quite a few students in my classroom started at CVIS within the 1-2 weeks. For many students starting at the school this is their first experience learning either English or Spanish. However, they are fearless in the face of a new language and just go for it. It inspires me because that is the best way to learn and they are doing it. And even when they have doubts or are completely lost and confused, the bilingual students support them. I cannot tell you how many times I heard students effortlessly act as a translator to help out one of their peers. That is another thing that amazes me—how accepting the students are of different ability levels. Whether those ability levels are in oral speaking, reading, math, or any other subject. The students at CVIS truly seem to be a community of supportive learners and friends, which is pretty amazing. I can tell I am going to learn a lot from this experience.

Getting to Mexico and Exploring Sayulita

The trip to Mexico was close to being extremely stressful. The night before my flight was scheduled to leave I received an e-mail from American Airlines saying my flight from Minneapolis to Chicago was cancelled. Naturally, I freaked out and proceeded to wake up my dad in a panic. While we were looking over the e-mail I got an automated call from American Airlines. By some stroke of luck the automated lady didn’t understand what I was saying and put me through to an actual person who was able to get me on the LAST seat of an earlier flight. Under normal circumstances I would hate waking up earlier, but when it means making my connecting flight to a destination that is at least 80 degrees warmer I am ALL IN! And my luck didn’t run out there. For a reason unknown to both the curbside guy and me my second checked bag was free. Clearly the travel angels are on my side for this trip. I hope it continues (and that I didn’t just jinx myself)!

I'm so happy I made it to Sayulita on time!

I met the other girls at the airport in Chicago and we flew on the same flight to Puerto Vallarta. The flight to Mexico was about 5 hours. I mostly slept, but Erin and Alyssa made friends with people who were actually travelling to Sayulita for vacation. I know it is a tourist destination, but I did not expect it to be that well known. Getting through customs was easy, we all got the green light when we hit the button!

Fernando, a driver from Sayulita was waiting for us outside of customs. He helped us with our bags and showed us to the ATM and bathroom before we left for Sayulita. Getting money from the ATM was a scary experience. I was the first to try it. I put my card in the machine and nothing happened. Immediately I tried to cancel the transaction to get my card back, but it wouldn’t return it. I started to think the machine ate my card, which would be a horrible way to begin the trip. But then a guard reassured me that I would get it back. Apparently the machine is old and needs some process time. It ended well for me, but the other girls opted to use a different ATM and I don’t blame them!

The drive from Puerto Vallarta to Sayulita was absolutely gorgeous. Our views from the car included the Sierra Madre Mountains and the rainforest. The rainforest was beautiful but looked different than I imagined. As would be expected it is very green, but there are also a lot of long, mossy-looking plants that look almost ancient. Cynhia thought it looked a lot like Jurassic Park, which is actually a good comparison. Fernando told us that there aren’t a lot of animals in the rainforest, or at least not the typical animals we would expect. A lot of the animals he mentioned include ones we have in the Midwest, like coyotes and raccoons! But there are also iguanas, snakes, and spiders—eek! He also joked with us about watching out for sharks when we are at the beach, which launched us into humming the Jaws song. Luckily, he was just kidding and reassured us he has never even seen a shark in his life. And I am happy to say that after spending two afternoons at the beach I have not encountered a single shark. Along the ride we also spotted avocado trees, which made us all really excited for the fresh produce we are going to eat during this trip.

Once we got to Sayulita we met Kathy and Tamra at the house we will be staying at for the next nine weeks. Kathy received her PhD from UW-Madison and moved to Sayulita 2 years ago to become the director of the school, CVIS. Tamra is originally from Los Angeles, California and has lived in Sayulita for 15 years. She and her husband used to come to Sayulita to surf and decided to move here. Now she runs a real estate business. She was very sweet and accommodating—she even had snacks waiting for us at our house, and might lend us her golf cart while we are here. A lot of people here own cars, which they use to take them into Puerto Vallarta. But, while they are in town they usually drive golf carts. It would be cool to have a golf cart while we are here, but if it doesn’t happen it’s ok because everything is in walking distance from where we live.

Golf carts are everywhere!

The house we are staying in is a two-story brown building in a small neighborhood of five houses. All of houses share a pool—score! On the first level we have a kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and living area. Upstairs there are two bedrooms, another bathroom, and a porch. Cynhia and I are sharing one bedroom that has twin beds, while Erin and Alyssa are sharing the other bedroom that has a giant bed. It is wider than any bed I have ever seen in my life—we could probably all share it if needed!

Our house, complete with a 

beautiful mountain backdrop.

The pool we share with our neighbors.

Not too shabby!

Arriving on a Thursday was perfect. It allowed us to still get oriented at the school, but then gave us the weekend to get acquainted with the town, and start working on our tans since we look like ghosts in comparison to all of the locals! On Friday we went to CVIS for the first time. It was founded six years ago by two families: Tamra’s (our realtor) and Anne Menke’s (a well-known fashion and tourist photographer from Germany). From what I understand they wanted to create an ecologically friendly school that provides an opportunity for both Mexican and international students to learn English and Spanish in a dual-immersion environment. The school is absolutely beautiful. When you walk in there are some offices for Kathy and other administrators/secretaries, and the school library. Beyond that building is a giant courtyard. Classrooms surround the perimeter of the courtyard for all of the grade levels, which include Kindergarten (which starts with 3 year olds) through 9th grade (they just added the middle school this year, which includes 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th grade). Students seem to do a lot in the courtyard, it is where they eat lunch, have recess, grow their community garden, maintain their compost pile, and more. While I am at CVIS I will be with the 5^th and 6^th grade teachers, Joel and Jen. Joel is the Spanish teacher, and Jen is the English teacher. We have not decided on my regular schedule yet but I think I will be spending time in both of their classrooms. I cannot wait to be at the school full-time next week!

For the rest of the weekend Cynhia, Erin, Alyssa and I explored Sayulita. Every day we have fallen asleep and woken up to the sound of an assortment of animals. The roosters sing their “cock-a-doodle-doo” or “ki kiri ki” at all hours of the day and night. The street dogs also howl and set each other off as if they are in a pack. I think we have even heard a few donkeys, or “burros.” Although I will have to get used to these noises, they are much more pleasant than the foot traffic and snow/garbage trucks I hear at my apartment in Madison.

Some of the roosters that have been 

keeping us up at all hours of the night!

There is so much to do in Sayulita. Everywhere we go people try to sell us anywhere from a bracelet to a whale watching tour. There are also so many great restaurants and shops. When we went out for dinner on the first night with Kathy I was surprised by how many Americans and Canadians are here. So many people have moved down here to start their own businesses, and many vacation here. Everybody that lives here has a really cool story. A lot of people are surfers that used to come here all the time, but then decided to move down here. There is also a really cool couple that owns the restaurant “Rolley’s” which we went to for breakfast on Friday. Rolley is a retired school principal, and his wife is a retired school-teacher. Rolley always dreamt of opening his own restaurant, so now that they are retired they come down here and operate their restaurant during tourist season. Rolley’s along with all of the restaurants have food that is absolutely amazing and fresh. I have pretty much had some sort of seafood everyday including shrimp, mahi mahi, and fish tacos. At almost every meal we have had guacamole and pico de gallo with chips, and we have even started making it at home since the ingredients are so fresh, cheap, and easy to find! We have also dined at a few beachside restaurants. It is so beautiful and calming to be able to eat, and live in such an amazing tropical paradise. I cannot believe that this is going to be my life for the next nine weeks. Below are some pictures of the wonderful food we have eaten:

Fish of the day, mahi mahi, 

at beachside restaurant.

A vegetable rice bowl with 

chips and chipotle sauce. 

Eggs with shrimp and tomatoes

at Rolley's, a great breakfast place!

One thing that has really surprised me is a warning we have gotten from pretty much everyone we have met: Do not get pregnant. Apparently Sayulita has a high incidence of girls/women who come down here for a vacation, fall in love with a surfer, and then get pregnant. What a horrible thing for a town to be known for! So many people from the school have warned us not to get pregnant, including Kathy, Jessica, and America. Lila, an American woman we met in town who lives in Sayulita and works at a bunch of clothing/accessory shops (we’ve seriously seen her at 2 or 3 stores already) also warned us about this. While I am not worried about any of us getting pregnant, I thought I would share the warning because literally every person we’ve met has warned us!

Below are some pictures of Sayulita. Everything is so gorgeous. I cannot wait to explore more over the next nine weeks!

 A view of the beach. Can you imagine

living in those houses?

A view of the plaza.

Some beautiful handmade jewelry and toys.

One of many calles in Sayulita.

Well that is all for now. Tomorrow the four of us will officially start our student teaching. I am so excited to be in the classroom all day, five days a week. For the first week I will mostly be observing to get a feel for the students and how school works at CVIS. Wish me luck! 

An Introduction

I am in my final year of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Elementary Education Program. Ever since I was a child, I have always wanted to become a teacher. After four and half years of college, I am finally getting the opportunity to be in a classroom full-time. I cannot wait to gain more responsibility in the classroom and truly understand what it means to be a full-time teacher.

As a part of my student teaching experience I will be spending 9 weeks in Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico from January 9th until March 15th. Sayulita is a village of about 4,000 people and is located about 25 miles north of Puerto Vallarta. 

During my time in Sayulita I will be working with 5th and 6th grade students at the Costa Verde International School (CVIS). According to the school website (http://www.colegiocostaverde.com) CVIS is "an elementary school with grades from preschool through 9th, [the school's] aim is to produce healthy, happy and well-adjusted life-long learners. [The school's] target is that each child acquires fluency in a second language and a profound understanding of the necessity for a "green" approach to living. To achieve this, Costa Verde International School is dedicated to a small student to teacher ratio and has focused on the whole child in an environment designed to develop the talents and the skills particular to each individual. School curriculum centers on ecology and respect for the environment. Students learn to analyze and solve problems rather than simply memorizing facts." 

Everything I have heard and read about the school sounds amazing and aligns with my own educational philosophy. I cannot wait to begin this wonderful experience for countless reasons. I have always loved learning about other cultures and travel is a great way to do that. Today's classrooms are growingly diverse. As a teacher, I think it is extremely important to have an understanding of other cultures because it allows teachers to better understand and meet the needs of their students. Getting the chance to student teach in Mexico is especially relevant for me because next year I will be teaching in the Cartwright Elementary School District in Phoenix, Arizona. The student body in the district is 90% Hispanic and Latino, with many students who are either from Mexico or of Mexican descent. I am also a Spanish speaker, as I am Cuban-American and have a minor in Spanish. Although I am relatively fluent in Spanish, I am always excited to travel to a Spanish-speaking place because it allows me to practice and improve my Spanish-speaking skills. Finally, being from the midwest I have to be honest--I am EXTREMELY excited to escape the cold wintery months. Today is -20 degrees fahrenheit outside, but it feels like -50 degrees. I think these last few days might be the coldest temperatures I have experienced in my life-time. Sayulita on the other hand is 80 degrees today. So naturally, I am extremely eager to leave for Mexico on January 9th!

During my time in Mexico this blog will be a place for me to record my thoughts, reflections, and observations of both my experiences as a teacher and my general experiences in Mexico. I plan on posting new entries at least once every week, so feel free to check back often!