1 + 1 = Two

Holy guacamole. It’s been one year since my last post, and two years to the day that I’ve been in Mexico. Can you believe it? I hardly can.

Well, let’s jump into it. I’ll try and follow some kind of chronological order for the past year.

One of the several graduations of the past year.

Well, in my last post (a year ago) I said that the school I worked for was going to make me a supervisor or something. As it turned out, a little while after that post, they offered me the position of the general academic supervisor of the five schools they run in different parts of the state (Jalisco). After some contemplation, I accepted the promotion and began in January of this year.

I have learned much about the administrative side of running things at a school, and the various problems and successes one encounters in this line of work. What my job now entails is being in touch with the different schools’ supervisors regarding the various comings and goings at each school; overseeing their graduations; implementing new, company-wide policies and practices to make the services more efficient; visiting each school with some regularity to talk with students about the service and possibly give a class or two; completely redesigning the four-level course curriculum all the schools use; creating a teacher's training manual for how to teach the classes that we offer; continuing to teach class in addition to the above mentioned responsibilities. Needless to say, it keeps me busy. I’m happy doing it, and thankful for how I’ve grown personally and professionally.

Some coworkers. I'm kind of being squished in this one.

Rocking.

In the last post, I talked about having formed a rock group—“Jack & James”—with some of my friends. Beginning around February or March this year we started playing gigs around Guadalajara, the second-biggest city in the country, and only a half hour away from my town. We played at various bars and events around the city, thanks to friends in other bands who were helping us gain publicity. In June, we even played in a “battle of the bands” against a collective total of around 20 or so other bands. We got to the final round, but did not place; however, it was a good experience, and we got in touch with other bands for future events. In July we did a mini-tour, playing further north in the state (Jalisco), in addition to almost having in a show in neighboring Zacatecas, but just before we got on stage, it started raining so we couldn’t play. (The event was outdoors.)

Jack & James at the battle of the bands.

A few weeks ago I left the band due to reasons of needing more time for myself. As you probably gathered from my blurb on my job, my work alone keeps me pretty busy. With the addition of Jack & James consuming more and more of my time, it just proved to be too much for me. I’ve gotten sick a lot recently and even lost a few pounds as a result of not having enough time to take care of myself properly. I will say playing in Jack & James was a great experience, and unlike anything I’ve done before musically; I now have many good memories that I’ll cherish of the year and a half spent with them. (They continue to play, as they have already found another guitar player.)

I love that shirt. I think it makes an appearance in
just about every blog entry.

Zip-lining for the first time was fun.

I guess I should also mention a little about my Spanish. I would consider myself fluent, but not bilingual. For me, “bilingual” entails the same level of proficiency of both languages, which I do not have; whereas “fluent” implies an ability to speak…uh…fluently. I guess a very Mexican bit of evidence for this is my ability to use swear words and albur.

Albur is any type of comment that can be interpreted two ways: one way, innocently, and the second way, well…scandalously. Example: chorizo is a type of Mexican sausage (you can already imagine where this is going). So, being innocent and unaware of the second connotation of the word, I was asked very frequently when I first got here, “Chris, do you like chorizo?” And unwittingly I’d respond, “Yeah, it’s really tasty!” ignorantly thinking I was only talking about food, and not the male member. You can imagine the reaction of the people who asked. Well, for better or worse, it suffices to say that it’s no longer so easy to take advantage of me with albur, and I’ve actually made it my mission to help out any newcomers so they don’t find themselves in the same situation. I view it as a type of foreign aid.

Chorizo...it's all so clear now.

Dad & Sons, Lake Chapala.

My mom, Mark, and a small fraction of my family.

My parents and my brother came to visit me last October, which was nice—a little slice of my other home for a little bit. Speaking of my other home, I’m headed back to Santa Barbara for a couple of weeks at the beginning of November! I look forward to seeing any of you who will be around then!

That wraps it up for this entry. I intend to post another entry in a few weeks...but we'll see how that timeframe pans out!

I'll leave you with this saying: ¡Portense mal, pero cuidense bien! ("Go on and misbehave, just take care of yourselves!")

One Year!!

Lake Chapala at sunset.

Uncle John and I grabbing some lunch at the lakeside.

Uncle John and I on a somewhat cloudier day.

At the edge of a jetty. See how it almost looks like
Santa Barbara coastline in the background...almost?

Oh wow. A year has gone by so fast. I can't believe that it was last September 8th, 2009, that I hopped on a plane to Mexico not having the least idea of what to expect or what lay in store for me. Furthermore, I'm aware that I haven't posted since March, and a lot has transpired since then, so I'll try to fill you in a little bit.

I would definitely consider myself more Mexican by now. Yes, I have the advantage of it being in my blood, but also, I now have the cultural experiences and lifestyle to accompany it. For one, as I'm sitting here typing away, I'm listening to Mexican music and thoroughly enjoying it. Now before you get too excited thinking I'm listening to a cacophony of trumpets, accordions, classical guitars, crashing cymbals, and operatic vocalists—I'm not. I've been introduced to really good contemporary music that breaks with the aforementioned tradition.

Considering myself more Mexican would also have to be things like
coming to expect tortillas at almost every meal,
generally understanding people and being understood in (Spanish) conversations,
exceeding the passenger limit of almost every vehicle I enter,
finally liking micheladas (beer with mixed with lime, salt, and other flavorings served on ice),
expecting lime and chile to accompany just about every meal,
having danced "banda" and liked it somewhat,
watching soccer games and actually caring about the outcome,
buying reading material in Spanish,
and having come to know dozens and dozens of aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I haven't done as much traveling as I would have liked, but I have gotten around a little bit. The pictures at the top of the entry are of Lake Chapala—Mexico’s biggest lake. It's only an hour’s drive from my town of Zapotlanejo. It apparently used to be a lot bigger, and stretch to near where the Guadalajara airport is, but it has shrunk a lot and been polluted; but remains beautiful. Earlier this year, an uncle (on my mom’s side) had been living at a town along the lakeside, and I took advantage of his presence and got out of Zapo on weekends to spend some time near a big body of water. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about being near an entity that’s so much bigger than yourself, and of being reminded how small we are. It may not be the ocean, but there’s just something about being in the presence of a large body of water that’s calming and reassuring for me. After having spent essentially my whole life in Santa Barbara, on the coast, I feel at home near and around water. It’s a part of me—I need it, and I miss it.

Jack & James on the cover of Voces.

Inside photo from the mag.

A couple friends and I formed "Jack & James" earlier this year as well 'cause we all wanted to get together and play some rock. We have a number of covers that we play, as well as our own material—some songs in English, some in Spanish. We've played around Zapotlanejo quite a bit, and are starting to look for other bars and places to play. (In the course of writing this blog entry the singer called me and told me we are playing at a big, whole-town-attending-event tomorrow. Um, ok.) In other news, we'll be releasing a demo shorty. It's been fun and who knows where it'll go--but I'll be keeping you posted!

My classes have been going well. I'm still working at the same English school—in October I'll complete a year of working there! They're looking to make me a part-time supervisor next month also; and, with more money, unfortunately, comes more responsibility. As regards to teaching, I now feel like I have a good command of most of the subjects I give, whereas before I had more doubts. I still of much to learn about grammar and language, so as I continue to teach I also continue to learn. I also feel (and can observe) that I've started giving the classes better—I've seen the students make progress and it's been rewarding.

A year is a lot longer than some people imagined I'd be (survive) here. I'm not sure what I imagined...I didn't and still don't have any time frame for when or where the next step will be. But, right now, I'm enjoying it, and that's all that any of us can do—enjoy to the fullest where we are and the people that are in our lives right now, because before we know it, they or us move away, or someone passes away, and things will never be the same as they once were. All we can enjoy is right now—the people that we're with and what it is we're doing. At least, that's how I see it.