Friday, December 15, 2006

For those who don't know...

...I will be home in Florida on Sunday! I leave GDL bright and early and arrive around 3:30 p.m. in Orlando.
My last week with my kids was fine. Not good. Not bad. They've definitely had the pre-holiday jitters for quite some time, and I am thankful that we both get a break from each other. I really need some refreshing and rejuvination. I pray that I can go back with an eagerness to teach.

Anyways... I will possibly see you soon!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Playa Sayulita

What do you do when you have a ton of grading to do, you really need to be planning for next week, and you are going to leave in 2 hours to go for coffee with friends? Why.. you write in your blog, of course. !

I realize it has been a while since I've last written. After the first trip to the beach I felt like I had a lot of work to catch up on that I didn't get done that weekend.
Since then, the weather here has been COLD! It went from normal to freezing pretty much overnight... I think due to a hurricane off the coast. One morning the computer said it was 38 degrees! I definitely did not pack for such cold weather. AND our house has no heat of course and is all tile. Heat doesn't stay inside.

So, as a perfect escape from the bitter cold and talkative students, a group of us teachers went to the beach last weekend (There was no school on Friday) We were so fortunate because we got to ride with two other teachers who have cars here, saving time and money. We went to a beach north of Vallarta called Sayluta, about 4 hours away from GDL. It was a very cute town, albeit quite touristy. We stayed in a cheap, hippie-commune type place. Some of the group stayed in bungalows (walls, a curtain, a bed and a hammock), but a few of us wanted to have a bathroom, so we rented an actual room with a bathroom. None of these accommodations, however, had locks, or doors that shut. It was hippie-style, glorified camping. Super fun. (Except we did end up having a rat or mouse get into our food both nights. Yuck!

The waves at Sayulita were very big. There were a lot of surfers. Our first day there we swam and layed out for hours. But, because of the rough water, another beach was recommended to us that was calmer-better for swimmers. So on Saturday we walked to another beach, called Playa de los Muertos (The beach of the dead...)
Ironicly, at this "safer" beach, 2 of our groupmates fell victim to pretty bad injuries, and another girl (not with us) broke her collar bone and we cared for her while her brother ran to get a car.

On Sunday, we got breakfast at a little cafe and then drove 30 minutes north to another beach to spend the afternoon before heading back to the city. This beach was called Los Ayala and was more pretty and way less touristy. In Sayulita there was the craziest assortment of foreigners... just weird looking people from all over. In Los Ayala there were pretty much purely Mexicans. Who doesn't love a really authentic place. Once again at this beach we walked across some land to get to a more secluded beach. And once there, we swam around a small rock jetty to get to another beach. It was so beautiful.
I had so much fun, and I loved hanging out with these girls! I can't wait to go on another trip!

This is part of our "hotel" on the beach.


Playa Sayulita


The group walking through the jungle-like woods with a cemetary to get to Playa de los Muertos.


Charla and I on a big rock on the beach.


Some natives playing on the rocks.