Umarela is coming

Here's Amelie holding up the cutest Hulk ever, our contribution to the pinata parade.  All he needs now is a belly full of candy and maybe a big hug.

Time for the annual UMAR employee Christmas dinner, always one of the great meals of the year.

Look at those smiles.  You can tell that Umarela is coming.

A Day at Cacaluta

     I haven't been to Cacaluta in such a long time but friends persuaded me to move my lazy self and meet them there a coupe of weekiends ago.  We used to go to the opposite end but there's a new-to-us trail through the woods that leads from Maguey to this side.  The original idea was to go together but they like to start off way too early.  Breakfast with lots of coffee is a huge priority on my Saturdays.

    I got lost.  Somehow, I went off the trail.  Maybe I was fooled by a patch of sunlight.  Hard to say for sure but there came a time when I was confronted with nothing but dense brush.  I didn't panic.  I thought about my options.  In a worst case scenario, like an attack by a wild animal, I could probably crash through that brush.  I could already hear the ocean ahead.  It coudn't be far.  I chose to backtrack instead while I still remembered the landmarks.  I was on the beach in another ten minutes.  Those tiny figures way down there are Mike, Rowena and Yulma.

    There's Mike standing in front of a big school of very excited fish.  A word of advice.  When the fish are jumping like crazy as they are here, get out of their way.   Months back, I was enjoying a night swim at Santa Cruz when one of them smacked me in the face.  It was like getting punched.  It snapped my head back.  I swam to shore  and pulled a piece of fin out of the corner of my eye.  Blood was pouring down my face.  A doctor at the maternity hospital pulled out some smaller pieces and gave me some antibiotics

Day of the Dead 2012

 

It's almost Christmas and I still have a ton of photos to post.  It's now or never for these moments from UMAR's Day  of the Dead presentation.  I took a ton of photos.  These are the ones that actually turned out.
    I'm sure there was something more traditional and cultural in mind but I can't help thinking the young lady on the left looks like a pirate.  A nice one, not the looting and pillaging kind.

By a strange coincidence, I'd just been watching "The Curse of the Crying Woman", or "La maldición de la Llorona" in the original language,  from 1963 on my lunch break that very afternoon before seeing the spitting image of that harbinger of death on campus.  Ok, it wasn't a perfect likeness.  Her eyes should be completely blacked out like pits of darkness but it was a quite a striking resemblance all the same.  By the way, the 60s were great years for Mexican horror movies.

  Our students never fail to do outstanding work at hese events.        Less chat, more pictures.

Finally, the man above was my personal host for the evening, explaining everything to me in English.  Thanks, Antonio.  You did a great job.  I would have been lost without you.

The Sandwich Board

Our new sign board really catches the eye.  Cinemapocolipsis no longer has to compete for limited bulletin board space.  Every Tuesday it stands alone at the intersection where everyone walks by.  Halloween is a particularly favorite time of mine and this announcement was just a bit louder than usual.  This was our biggest night for attendance so far in the best year we've had in our history.  The extra efffort in advertising has made a huge difference.  Thanks again to the architect and his crew who volunteered their time and resources to create this for us.

A New World

The new addition to the Centro de Idiomas building was completed this summer.  For the first time ever, all of the language teachers can be found under the same roof.  On the left, Teresa explains that the new offices would be allocated by lottery.  Naturally, everyone wanted one in the new place and the suspense was palpable as Monika read out the list of winners.

 

I almost went backwards down the new stairs to the first floor, trying to get everyone in the same shot.

Here's my new place.  All ready to move in.

There's Rowena, the happy resident of number 21 and me in front of 23.  Rowena insisted on taking two pictures of me but the second one was even goofier.  Some people just aren't photogenic.

There's the view I enjoyed from the old office.  It was nice seeing the entire campus walk by but I love my new place.  It's so spacious.  I've acquired a lot of teaching materials since I've arrived and it's so great to have more room.

On the same week, courtesy of UMAR's own architect and his staff, we received this beautiful solidly crafted sign board specifically for our movie nights now known as Cinemapocolipsis: Cultural Popular de Ingles.  It really catches the eye and attendance for movies has increased.  A huge thank you to the men who designed and created it.  It was their own idea to help promote education.  They're great guys and they do so much more than their job descriptions.     

Compare the solidly constructed new board to the old one I slapped together with a refrigerator box and scrap wood.  Sure, the old one had charm but the afternoon sea breeze tended to knock it into the woods.

It's not just me.  Enthusiasm among students and staff is high this year.   

UMAR Huatulco definitely rocks and keeps getting better.  This semester, thaks to Rebecca, we even have a new online student newspaper that is off to a great start.  Check it out and keep checking back.

http://umarbeats.wordpress.com/



Puerto Escondido

This blog isn't anywhere close to being current. 

     I didn't go far this summer vacation.  When you already live in one beach resort, it seems pointless to travel long distances to other beaches.  What am I going to find that I don't already have?
      Puerto Escondido is just 2 and a half hours down the road by scooter and it makes a nice change of pace.
That's the end of the restaurant drag in Zicatela.  I decided to see if I couldn't get a good deal beyond the heavier traffic and didn't look far at all before I found Casa Olga. 

For a great price, I got a panoramic view of the ocean, access to a pool, and a table and hammock right outside my door. 

It's a bit isolated up there on the hill.  Several of the neighboring hotels were closed up for the slow season.

The nights were hot and I slept with the glass doors open for the first two.  On the second night, I woke to a thump and someone screaming.  The commotion settled down very quickly.  I figured someone had just had a bad dream and went back to sleep immediately.

In fact, someone had snuck in through the open doors of the young Australian couple above me.  The man had managed to save his laptop from the intruder but found out later that his wallet was gone.  The victims said they had come home pretty drunk and were probably followed  for easy pickings.  No doubt that was true because I was on the floor below with my door wide open and he didn't stop to visit me.  Everybody slept with closed doors after that.

      Beyond the restaurant strip, it gets pretty dark and I felt a bit vulnerable walking home at night.  On my first night, I went downtown for dinner and noticed the same shady looking tattooed guy hanging out outside Oxxo from the afternoon, apparently for hours.  By the time I left the restaurant, he had finally moved, to outside my restaurant.  I stopped at a bar for some watered down mojitos and there he was again.  When it came time to return home, I stopped at the corner before stepping into the dark lonely street and turned around to confront anyone following me.  There was no one.  I stopped again before turning into the even darker alley/ driveway of the hotel.  I saw someone else turning the corner and shifting into an immediate power walk/run up the hill without looking back.  I wasn't the only one on alert.  It's wise not to let your guard down too far in any tourist town.  Wherever there are tourists, there will be predators and basic street smarts should be the rule. 

Over the rocks from Zicatela to Principal.  It looks a lot safer these days with a bar parked right at the midpoint but I still wouldn't recommend this shortcut after dark.

I must not have been here during the rainy season before because this is the first time I've ever seen this moat separating the town from the beach.  I hesitated but other people were crossing it so I tried it too.  It felt as swampy and nasty as it looked.  I recommend the longer route.

Promising clouds for a cook refreshing rain.  Nothing happened.

Two guys, probably not locals judging by the English, with spray paint cans and time on their hands.  Maybe the second one was mad because the first beat him to the clean concrete.