Monterrey

At our training in Washington D.C. in August we were told about a huge conference that was going to be taking place in October called MEXTESOL . Me, being the Super Nerd (noña) that I am, was eager to join hundreds of other teachers for a weekend of learning, workshops, and rejuvenation. Living my life "inside out" (I'm a Spanish teacher in the U.S. yet an English teacher in Mexico) as I like to call it, it's nice to meet people who live here and do what I do.

I flew with Jessica, our Comexus godess, and several others from either Comexus or IIE (Institute of International Education). We got to the convention center and helped them set up their stands where they would be displaying their Comexus, IIE, and U.S. Embassy literature.

The next day the conference began and it was CRAZY. Definitely the largest conference I've ever been to. I spent about an hour in line for registration alone. I attended a few sessions and hung out at the stand with the Comexus/IIE/Embassy folks. I really enjoyed getting to know the IIE and Embassy people. In addition to being very helpful, they were hilarious. They tried teaching me some local slang but I don't remember much. Guess I need more practice with that.

The thing that I love about conferences is that it reminds you of why you do what you do. Sometimes we get so caught up in our jobs, in the stuff that's all wrong, in the problems, etc, that we lose sight of our STUDENTS. It's them we're trying to teach, not some system that's failing, not paying us enough, and treating us like robots (exhale Gretchen...). I was introduced to several individuals who have pursued higher learning in fields that inspire me, wrote down several books that I want to read about teaching strategies, and smiled remembering that I do love teaching... it's easy to forget that sometimes.

On Friday night Comexus hosted a cocktail party for the teachers that were Fulbright alumni. Toward the end of the evening we all stood in a large circle, introduced ourselves, talked about what Fulbright program we did, etc. By the time the circle introductions ended, I was very touched by this group. The majority of them had participated in a summer program in Texas, one did a teaching exchange in Montana for a year, and another was about to leave for New York for the year. Hearing this grateful group of Mexican teachers talk about their experiences reminded me of why I'm here. They did what I'm doing and are back in their home countries, teaching about what they learned during their U.S. experience. For me, that part is so far away I forget about it. I'm here for many reasons, but the eventual return to the U.S. to share my experiences with my students and colleagues is a huge part of this. I'm thankful they helped me remember that.

When we weren't participating in the MEXTESOL fun, we got out of the hotel/conference center to enjoy our meals in the city. Everyone kept telling me I needed to eat "cabrito". Ok, sure. I'm not a vegetarian so eating meat isn't a problem, even goat (yes, even goat, even though I had them as pets when I was a kid.... just don't think about it and you're ok). We went to El Rey Del Cabrito for our goat meal. I mean, if you're going to eat goat, might as well go to The King of the Baby Goat, huh? The meat was ok, good, but not the best thing in the world. The part that was most horrifying for me was the translations on the menu. Isn't it funny that the same word or phrase can have such a stronger mean in one language or the other? I mean, say cabrito, and it's not that bad, say baby goat and, well, yeah, that's a little hard to swallow (no pun intended...  ok, it was intended). The menu had things like Baby Goat Head, Baby Goat Blood,... yikes. Yeah, maybe just don't translate it. It's so much better in Spanish. (The picture of Jessica and me outside of El Rey shows the cabritos all sprawled out... yikes to that, too).

In addition to attending the conference I also managed to squeeze in a 10k run. The Nike Human Race is a race that takes place in several cities all over the world on the same day. I was lucky that it was in Monterrey the weekend I was there. I joined the other 1000's of people, all with our red running shirts on, for the 10k race around Monterrey. While I was stretching I met several people that work at the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey.  :) The race was really fun and it reminded me how much fun running is. Even in a country where running isn't as popular as it is at home, I was able to find comfort that I had something in common with all of these people. We were all crazy enough to get up on the cold, drizzly morning to go for a run.