PAVEing a Blog

…more info tonight after Open Mic Night in Condesa!  🙂  Stay tuned!

Okay, so it was not that night, hence you get the idea of my schedule as of late.  Yes, it is true, I washed an orphaned cate,  he is a cutie, and he did not offer up a fight – (surprising) and The Toy Story Shampoo I used (sorry, could not find any kittie shampoo! – )  he patiently endured this – but 3 days to countdown on getting fixed and well – hopefully the aggression issue will simmer down a bit – NOT liking other cats – AT ALL 🙂    Time, nothing but time…:)

Doggy Dog World, okay, so entering the Dog world, it can’t get to get some help.  So I ran into this awesome food supplier, Cynthia Kaplan, who creates homemade and wrapped in tamale/stalk leaves, and yes the dog loved it.  Let me let you see the description below of the food – When I serve the food to the Kinah!  (That’s right! Her new name is KINAH thanks to Sophia Sanchez!  WOOOHOOO!  it means strong-willed, and um, yes needless to say that fits!)  I am asking myself – “Are you sure this is not made for people?  It looks that good!”:

Hottest SPA in Mexico!

Cynthia Kaplan      Chief Dog Lover       +52 1 (044) 55 5401-0885

www.luckydog.com.mx

@luckydogmex         Cocina Lucky Dog 5264-6700

Avenida Monterrey 314-2, esq Tepic    Roma Sur

Article for Lucky Dog –  Info Lucky Dog English

I think that Kinah had Max and Canelo’s beef n veggie stew, made from human grade beef and beef heart (for zinc and minerals); grains like brown rice, amaranth, and rolled oats and flaxseed, several veggies including carrots, beats, broccoli and chayote, and the right balance of minerals and vitamins to keep dogs eating healthy over the long term.  We believe that dogs, like their human companions, need to eat more fresh and balanced foods to live longer and have fewer medical problems.

And as the article says we also have a line of natural treats (liver, apple and banana and veggie with cranberries), “pupcakes” and birthday cakes to order.

Our chef was trained in the US in an industrial kitchen that makes over 6000 meals a day for school children, so I’m very confident about the way Lucky Dog is made—very hygienically, and cooked in the best possible way to maximize nutrient content.  And as we are trying to be a socially responsible company, we wrap the portions in a banana leaf (like a tamal, but healthier) which is natural packaging instead of using plastic.  And then we freeze it and deliver it to your home in 14 portions (2 x day/week).

The food, um yeah, it was amazing and I am pretty sure her coat looked better in a few weeks – it was awesome knowing she liked the food better than the high end dry food at the vet!  🙂

Moving forward – today – September 26th, we break into the School Improvement class of teaching Blogging and wiki’s – tackling students here at ASF the 911 project started 5 + years ago at Seaford! – IF YOU WERE part of that interviewing process when we went, I need you to send me the year you went and your name please – we’re going to make history! – as well as preparing for the Global Education Conference November 12th – 17th as well as the – NCTE November 15th – 20th –  and do not forget our Repentino. staff are already sifting through submissions as we speak!  AND –

speaking of Repentino. 🙂   – Open Mic Night!  WOW!  The band, Guardians of the 1st Amendment, GREAT!  GREAT!  Miguel taking pictures, Salomon organizing the magazines, poetry by new, familiar, it was AWESOME!  October 24th is our new Open Mic night in October, but I need some more submission from around the world!  Please – send us your stories, poetry, photos, art we want it all!

Check out on Facebook Repentino. and you will catch our submission criteria, email, Tumbler, and Twitter! – so Repentino. keeps moving forward.

El Grito 2012 was rainy, but we did much better than last year as we sold more and PIZZA!  🙂  We had full staff here and pictures will be forthcoming (My GOSH! – I still need pictures updated from the last post!) – Repentino. staff is moving steadily and fast with meeting every Monday – in 304 and wow, (knock on wood) we are way ahead of last year  which is a VERY good thing…yet there are 4 more things you will not believe….:)

Let me first say this, you NEED to see this, so please, watch this, then come back here and read my words that will be a second shadow compared to this motivational insight:

http://vimeo.com/42372767

Okay so yeah, Okay, I have been gone from my blog for a little while – but wow, what has occurred!

Okay so let’s pick up last YOU read –

September 9th – wow – LONG time ago but – let me start with a memory….

September 11th, 2001 – can you believe this never turn back memory occurred in 2001? Where were you?  MY gosh – I remember – I was a teacher in Penn Hills High School, outside Monroeville, PA – and truly thinking a prank was occurring when a student told and then showed me what was occurring on television.  Life would never be the same for anyone in their memory of New York City.  Flash forward a few years later, I am working at U.S. Investigations, in Grove City, and we held a moment of silence for those affected.  I have to say, even a few years later I realized how much this moment came back and hit you like a tidal wave.  I still had the lump in my throat, tears in my eyes, and still amazed at how many people we would never truly know were affected.  I thought this briefly as Janet, our librarian, put up a bulletin board in memory of 911.

The trips we made as an Aloha Staff, traveling with Mrs. Austin-Richardson’s class to New York for the Christmas show, the interviews we took while there, buses full of students in the middle of New York, then Whhhoooosh, ironically in Mexico we ended up there last year making some historic strides in meeting Mr Arad – architect of the 911 Memorial – and students that just had an experience that would never be able to be left behind in memory.  Life, whoever says it is not full circle and ironic, has truly not been out there enough.

Mexican Driver’s license – seriously, can you believe it?  Poor Tracy Miller finally got me in her care – YEAH – she is BACK at ASF! – and we head down to Revolucion towards the place where I can go, without an appointment, and with all my papers get my license before I headed to Oaxaca for the long break (so I thought – on two accounts).

We get there, I am nervous as I will have to go without Tracy through some lines and be expected to respond in Spanish – wow, still nervous about this.

I get to the line, and am asked for the receipt.  OhmyGOSH, I have my passport (not needed, just my FM3!), an old bill verifying my address the form that says I did pay the cashier for the fee, but not the tiny little receipt I needed, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  Ever the optimist, Tracy told me at least I knew where to be to get it next, and I am wondering how on EARTH, or Mexico, I am going to get my license, and get my Passport and Fm3 to HC  the next day to renew my FM3 at the same time before I would leave? HOW? – But Tracy, as always, (I am so lucky to have people around me that are optimists!) – keep insisting this was a good thing, and I thought, HOW?

I ran to the laundromat, and managed to pick up my 50+ kilos of three month laundry, raced home to walk the dog _ YES – a name is coming by the way by the end of the week! – and as I raced in the door a text! Tracy telling m the place was open until 9:00 PM  NO FREAKING WAY!….yes, I knew it could happen…

Sifting through every receipt since I had driven to Mexico from Delaware, my memories sifting through my fingers as I searched through my past – represented in receipts, literally hundreds, looking for that one, little Da- HEY!  MAGIC!  IT IS HERE!  – Yessss…:)   I raced out the door, dog in two dog in truck – dog with me to Revolucion, 8:20 PM – 8:20 PM ARE YOU KIDDING?

Never being there, let alone driving there before except with Tracy earlier that evening – I made it ALL THE WAY the first time, pulled in the lot, told the dog I would be back (I am sooo excited to not call her “The Dog” soon!) and ran in.  Yes, the receptionist was quite surprised to see me the same night but bing, bang, answered a few questions in Spanish – No WAY – lol, and fingerprints, and Voila!  A Mexican Driver’s license – yes way!  I as on cloud nine, did a little shopping at the Soriana, and jumped back into a very excited dog, then headed back amazed….

Next day, all originals to HC and my FM3 would be renewed just in the nick of time!

So there is the Oaxaca thing, plan A was to be “sick” Thursday, and head to Oaxaca with “the dog” and spend a few days chilling.  Realization set in and I knew I should and needed to be at the inservice we had Friday, so I succumbed to responsibility ( I hate that).

Friday – I was to race around, get the dog groomed and head out.  All worked out so far, except I picked her up at 6:00 PM, and it was a 4 hour drive.  I had all packed in the truck, and traffic, which I knew, was CRAZY – it took me 2 1/2 hours to get from outside Condesa to ROMA – normally a 20-25 minute drive.  AT this point I was not feeling very good about this and just had a big NO enter my head and was sure (still 50-50) I would not go – I was outside the World Trade Center trying to get to Roma, and I felt my truck being lifted, and that is right, a little, itty bitty cab tried to pull in front of me, and I did not even see him, minding mu won business!  What the HECK?

We get out, of course there is a crease in his taxi, and not a speck on my truck, lol, nothing.  He is adamant this is worth 1000 pesos of damage, I beg to differed…Being one to not want to tempt fate, we settled on 500 pesos and we could walk away and we did just that.  Not feeling good about this, as if I JUST received a ticket, I totally decided, despite the dog looking awesome and ready for Oaxaca and me being TOTALLY ready, home was the place for me and being home all break would give me a chance to catch up.  Catch up I did, on rest, cleaning the house, organizing everything, best choice I could have made! I did sleep through the Independence Day fireworks as well, and have to say it was an off year for me celebrating but I did not mind in the least!

This Thursday is our FIRST 2012-2013 Open Mic Night, and I have to say this is exciting for me.  Our staff last year, jumped to 28 this year, and received the Silver Trophy of recommendation the FIRST year of publication from Columbia University.  COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, the GURU of journalism….I could never have been prouder.  The exciting directions the staff is going this year would blow your mind, so yeah, is it an epic year – one hundred percent.

I see an amazing generation of students rising up and being creative, and impacting others’ lives.  This is the most amazing treat to have as an educator to see, I am so incredibly lucky to have (I have said this in the past) had the Kate Baltz’s, Alison Schwinn’s, Christina Stevenson’s to name a FEW – as well as the tire Aloha Staff I had for years, as well as an entire STAFF of amazing young minds now surrounding me, does life get any better?  There are major dips, turns, dead ends, and turns arounds I never saw coming.  Yet, I have seen some of the most amazing things in my life, experience the most amazing people, and still cannot put it into words. Still.

To ay this has been a wild ride at my age of 40 would be an understatement.  I truly felt I have lived the life of two others, and that was my goal ages ago, to live a live reminiscent of my father who gave to everyone, and of my friend Dave who took his life because he felt he had nothing to give anyone. Somewhere in the middle, I have been lucky enough to have finally reached a middle ground, and soon, I will be able to sit back and say about these amazing individuals, “I knew them.”

I wish I had a penny for everytime someone told me, “You do way too much.”  Yet, I have absolutely no regrets.  The things I would have missed out on I could never obtain in another life, and each and every individual has made each and every moment amazing.  When I read my writing tomorrow night at Open MicNight in Condesa, it is dedicated to the people that have brought me so far, and given so much.  Life is good.  Next post – sooner to come than you think (so that means less than 2 weeks!)

WOW! Okay, WHIRLWIND of events but they counter the things that occur that are negative that occur.  I apologize to my readers who see a pattern of my venting when negative appear to the surface.  When I get pulled into the negative comments, remarks, etc, I explode and just want to say – “If you don’t like it, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!”

On that note, let’s talk about how AWESOME things are thanks to the people around me – Yesterday – Xochimilco – WoW – DOUBLE WOW! What a GREAT day!  I remember going last year as a new hire and was intrigued, but this year was FANTASTIC!  Thanks to Jack – Janet’s hubby, he hired a Mariachi before Elisa had  chance to – and well, okay they  were off- key and a little rough – but – this set the stage for – yes, the same group we had last year – and as Maraichi’s go – they rocked!  (Can Maraichi’s rock?) lol.

The sun was out, it was a perfect day, we laughed all day, I had my first elote  (YES, I will be having more!) – a followup Michelada – it was early but I have to say that combo of Chili – YUM –  this is the thing with the Elote – biting into this – a cooked corn on the cob, with luscious mayonnaise and chili – just for started, MOUTHWATERING! I mean it, it was better than  thought could be from a combo and well, I am hooked!

I keep forgetting the story of the baby dolls, so here is the link!

http://thelostdutchman.hubpages.com/hub/The-Island-of-the-Dead-Dolls

The music rocked but the company there made the day THE BEST! I love this trip out of all things, perhaps the most  Discussing the Steelers with a fellow colleague’s boyfriend/(or husband – I never did find that out!) was a little highlight that added to this day.

When we got to the plants, wow – no holds barred – I remembered what I wished I would have gotten last year – so – this year TONS of pots, between three of us hiring a wagon (Veronica, Bill, and myself) we looked like we could open up our own stand!  I took pics of the ones  I grabbed now at my house, grabbed, and then cool thing was we took a bus for just the plant buying people, and headed to our homes self delivering them, saving TONS – TONS of $$$$$!  The hard part was getting the huge bag of dirt, a pot the size of my sink, and several plants up 4 flights of stairs.  No casualties, except a cracked window trying to get it onto the balcony.  What is it with that, first Amanda’s apartment, my old apartment, and this one and cracked windows?  However, after setting the dirt in place and getting all arranged, I definitely made the right choice in getting these for the apartment!

I realized I have gotten to know better the area of Mexico City as we find everyone’s homes too! I loved this day and am so glad it came!

And speaking of firsts, selling almost ALL our Repentino. magazines thanks to the marketing skills of our staff and Mr. De la Parra, who single handedly went out like the musical Newsies and made all of ASF aware of the magazine – this was just a precursor to the event that would blow us away- receiving word the next day that we received –

drumroll

– the SILVER Trophy for our magazine from Columbia University!  WHAT? I had to read it twice, and the feedback we received  will be priceless to turn around make Repentino. for ASF – a landmark publication representing the four corners of the globe.  The staff, Admin, and all involved with Repentino. so deserved this!   I loved Back to School night despite the burps and inconsistencies we sometimes have with having food, etc ready!

Yet it got better- the faculty from Upper School took a bus to their homes and five of us – Mr Hamilton, Megan, Veronica, the newest English teacher from…(Chicago maybe?) and me hunkered down and just chatted the night away. To be honest, it was one of the best Friday nights I ever had, we had SUCH a GREAT time together and we didn’t even know we would as we well, never had done that all together before.  This was truly a GREAT end to a cool evening of parents at Back to School Night, ending in Roma Norte!

Sunday – the day that the Steelers play the Bronco’s!  I am psyched – PSYCHED!

Attending the Meetup.com today at Museo de San Idelfonso, La lengua de Ernesto exposition, with good friends just adds to the excitement of what a great month this has been!

Last night, I needed cat litter, which led e to an excursion, in my truck, where I thought I was going to just around a few streets to the grocery store.  Um, no, somehow, the grocery Store Chedraui that Deb Lawrence had shown me, was not in the place my mind envisioned (shocking), I stopped to refuel and PemEx and the attendant in great Spanish and my bad Spanish – we communicated our love for the Steelers and he directed me in the direction of what I thought would be Chedraui, but I ended up in Buena Vista, (AMAZING WAL MART THERE) despite I do not like Wal Mart. In getting lost for like 2 hours, driving, lol, I got all I needed, food, cat supplies, more dirt, pots, etc, giving the garage attendant 10 pesos which he bowed and thanked God for, (he might have been the nicest person I had met) since earlier  today…

What a crazy and unplanned day, of meeting people, I didn’t know, did know, and just celebrating the day – several times I knew I was lost but recognizing the metrobus helped direct me back to DF – although I passed the airport like THREE TIMES.  It was funny because I could actually see the inside route of the metro as it passed me and I could tell I was headed toward the pink line – and I was driving, and I knew I was headed back!

I came back home to the building next door, 4th floor, having a Karaoke party – it was hysterical listening and watching them singing to the teleprompter, yet there was something satisfying falling asleep hearing them sing to the songs by the Beatles after all the songs in English they were singing, for them, Karaoke was being used for their party but ALSO to help them speak English better – AWESOME idea!

My second floor neighbors also were having a party and as you walked by you could hear the parents singing with the children – way too cool party involving everyone.  It was a final night to a week of so many highlights, and this is only Sunday morning!

I have 1000 updates to the restaurant blog which will happen over the next week (fingers crossed) and missing the Friday night restaurant is okay- having one of those blinding headaches and sleeping all night into Saturday morning helped me prep for the good days that followed!

I tried to recap the last several days that have taken the negative aspects of things that occur, and counter them with the priceless events that occur among friends, students, and fellow colleagues, that boils down to one word – friends.  Time spent with the people that just want to enjoy life, and make it a good one, well, the three words – Life is Good – results. You haven’t even hard the best part yet about the Department of Defense, a call for papers about Librarians and Media Specialists impacting the international libraries, and…okay …next post!  Stay tuned for the pictures on Tuesday that will go with this blog (inserted later).

A lost Kudos to Tammy Pham, Anthony, and other volunteers that went back and cleaned up Soroptomist Park – activism happening in Delaware and warming me up to how awesome student are in Mexico and Delaware.  We are surrounded by some pretty awesome people if we take the time to notice…:)

Letter to my Repentino Staff:

Here’s the situation, I returned home tonight in disbelief. Why? This is why. There are very few people, clubs, let alone students strong enough to disprove the masses. Yet disprove the masses you did. Tonight, Thursday evening, you sold more magazines, you promoted the magazine Repentino more than I have seen anything promoted this week than anything, even 6 years of working yearbook, and you showed when crazy odds are against you, you rise to the challenge and inspire others around you to do the same. I AM SO PROUD of the accomplishments you make on a daily basis in front of everyone and and when no one is looking. We lose people along the way, that is life. Yet, you still keep the faith and diligence to keep being successful, working, hard, and others begin to see the shine that comes from you. I am SO PROUD of all of you as Repentino staff, there will be position changes over the next few days and well again that is life.

We either learn or fall by the wayside, or find out there are other directions we want to devote our effort toward, there is NOTHING wrong with any of this. As long as you take away something for yourself to grow from, then it is all worth the while. I have come to already miss each one of you even when you aren’t going anywhere, and that says so much about what each of you mean to me as the Repentino staff, I admire being able to be around each of you. ANYTIME, I mean anytime, you doubt how important to anyone else, let alone the impact you make on this life, you come see me, and I will remind each of you of the strengths you offer every single day, often things you don’t take time to recognize in yourself.

Humbly, I am honored to spend the time with a staff as you that is willing to show others, you will beat the odds. I watched this video and it emphasized the point of how powerful each of us are, without anything holding us back. This last week, I have been so proud of each of you, I can’t have children at this point and be any prouder. 🙂 After watching this video, do me one additional favor if you would, please send Mr. de la Parra an email thanking him for his trusting, believing, and energetic spirit that helped sell almost every magazine except 20, that is right, all except about 30. PLEASE send him an email of thanks for putting all he has behind Repentino. Wether you realize it or not, he has paced his time, energy, and belief in a publication that will go on to represent you even as you get out of college. So you see, there is more to turning in bylaws than just justification, it is a deeper meaning that that, it preserves a legacy each of you started. Please email him today and let him know how much you appreciate his time and belief in something to believe in too…MWAH! His email is: (PRIVATE!)and the video you need to watch is below:

…picking right up from my last blog – yes, we were packed into the metro like SARDINES – on the way back from the Mexican/U.S. game, and then on the way back, as we were the only small group of small gringos, (lol), chants such as “PARTY AT THE GRINGOS!” and “Gringos!  Gringos!” echoed all around us making the ride home…interesting, but it was a hysterical aspect of coming back from a  spectacular night of futball.  The comment was made that Mexico is always the best group to celebrate despite losing a game, and yes, it seems fans out rank Americans when it comes to celebrating despite a loss, they are still so proud and supportive of their teams, we saw this as we walked out of the stadium and witnessed small groups celebrating all around us.

After we switched trains, I reached into my backpack and realized, oh yes! – someone was smart and had finangled my wallet out of my pack…the realization that my credit cards. driver’s license, store cards like Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, etc , even my Efectivo card were in there! – so yes, on our way to the World Trade Center for an Internations’ event, my mood was slightly dampened…but I was resolved to see the night through…:)

We arrived at the World Trade Center restaurant/Sky Bar, what am amazing view – AMAZING!  The only disappointment was to get right against the windows, you needed to have a reservation/table, we were in the upstairs lounge/bar and we were separated from the windows by about 7 feet, but still, the view was spectacular!  I was lucky enough to meet many nice people thanks to Deb Lawrence, but still had the feeling items were overpriced, and this on a 50% level was looking at each other’s position, status (turnoff) yet among those social climbers (as you will have anywhere) there was some pretty amazing people that I was lucky to meet.  In the back of my mind, I was wondering who was using my cards, who was accessing my info, but I tried my best to push that away until…tomorrow?  🙂

Alas, we left and arrived safely back at home, Deb and Julien helped with a cab that took us all back, I still had 100 pesos left that fell out of the wallet before it had been lifted from my bag…:)

Let me tell you when I came home, I was like what?  The pipes in the bathroom were leaking and when I tried to turn the faucet on, then off to tighten the handles broke, and the water would not stop…:)  Awesome night, right?  I was able to go to my truck, get a pair of vicegrips, and crank that faucet tightly shut, so that a constant drip was all that was occurring, and I placed a Polar water bottle container under the faucet to catch the dripping water – but in the process, I was thinking, what the ^(#&@( –  why this night?  Why so incredibly on thing after the other?!  🙂  lol…however, I decided in the wee hours of this next day, August 16th, I was not going in until the water problem was fixed, also fixing the issue of my cancellation of credit cards, bank cards, etc.

HC – let me tell you, ASF HC was AWESOME – I mean AWESOME – they helped me cancel all my cards and Efectivo card and all was done by mid morning, thank you Elisa and HC – this helped my crazy fix everything day almost 100%!  On top of that, my awesome landlord was able to get someone to come over that day and the leaks, all seals needing sealed, etc, was fixed by 3:00 PM, everything fixed, showing me that things brighten if you maintain the course…

Looking back, this worked out so much better than it ultimately could have, and the result was an absolute, great final outcome with not one person accessing my financial info despite all cards disappearing – what more could you ask for ?  With Rodrigo at Bancomer, and HC saving the day in a matter of hours, things were so unbelievably fixed, it was worth taking all complaints and thoughts of “Ugh, Noooooo!” back thanks to the help of those mentioned above.

Stepping back from my Mexico at hand events – I keep thinking how miraculous things have been for me thanks to several people…ONE – The Fields’ – Mr Fields making a tune up on my Mercury Mountaineer that was amazing, the SUV ran like a different vehicle completely, I ran  it hard, with ranking just under 1000 miles the first day making it from Delaware to Mississippi, and between Katie, Tim, and Mrs Fields all having major events, life changes, and just working through so many things, and still having time to make room for me as their second son literally, there are so many unseen things/aspects that I am thankful for – I can’t begin to say as I first get that urge to complain!  (I often do not think of these things at first when I am angry upset, etc..).

Kudos to the Fields’ who work so hard for others, yet always put themselves second, which is why I attribute their personal successes and their ability to make anything work – their attitude makes the difference in everything they do and approach.   My Mom, Melinda Duryea, as well as Charlotte Vaughn, Nancy McGee, all facilitated so many smooth transitions for me coming back to DE, then as well, Mrs Cox Cannon who also helped facilitate so many issues for me involving storage, removal of items from my house, and on and on, I cannot believe how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many supportive individuals!

It HAS been awhile since I have written in my blog, and over the last few weeks, I just have had the need to separate myself from the nickpicking, gossipping, devotion to going out and get drunk that many live for, complaining, on and on that so many people tend to fall into the trap of, and just want to take in the quiet, the calm, the good there is around us instead of being so sucked in by the negative and the things that you can look on and just complain about.

Having the luck to have found still currently my new found Afghan puppy, I have learned alot of lessons from her.  Take your time, don;t worry about the swirl of the world around you, if you’re not happy, content, and peaceful, then no one around you will be.  I have decided to separate myself from all that junk that has brought me down in the past, the superficialness of people, their complaints, their negativity, their anger, and just find a middle ground where I feel content, peaceful, and motivated to achieve so much.  It’s so funny, and this remains to be true, there is so much more maturity in the students that surround me, than the adults.  This is the one thing that remains the same – Mexico and Delaware, I have been, and still am, lucky enough to be surrounded by students that make me smile so much, while so many adults around me spend so much time on conversation and issues that are negative  – I am constantly renewed by those students here in Mexico that yes, have their down days, but they are so much easier to bring up from a plateau of complaining and being down than the adults – with some exceptions.  I know I say this all the time about “my students”, but they never were “my students”, I just liked to consider them that – but they are so full of life and motivated when they have someone that believes in them, more than any other group I met.  My former yearbooks staffs, PAVE members, XC team, track members, Key Club members, and now Repentino Staff exhibit what it means to ride the high surf of life, and reap what it has to offer while so many others spend so much time on other fruitless thoughts, actions etc, we have a constant state of renewal and recharging from each other, hence they are my mentors, source of inspiration, etc.  I am blessed more than any amount of money, job location, or position could give me, even in my worst hour, I am a better person for the people better than me that look and feel all that life has to offer, both good and bad – sweet and sour! 🙂

Since the fateful wallet missing evening, I have visited a few new restaurants worth mentioning in the next few days, as well as got back on course with a schedule filled with park visits with my new pet, as well as learning life is better with so many things I often full my day with that do not matter – by the way….

GREAT PICK – the book,  The Art of Racing in the Rain – it made me think of all these things I mentioned above and made me realize, and allowed me to take a fresh breath inside out and realize – Life is precious, good and too short to carry the attitude of the things that can bring you down.

I sit here now at the first annual Google Summit, amazed at how and where technology, education, and life is headed…so many philosophical aspects that deserve time to reflect on – life is revolving and we decide where we are in the process…I am thankful for the people around me that help me evolve while we revolve, lol.  Stay tuned for updates to restaurants this weekend!  🙂

August 7th – seriously, that was the date of my last post finding the dear pooch mentioned in the last blog, as I am starting at an August 23rd date wondering where the time went!  A – Maz -ing – flying by! In that time span, a thousand events seem to have progressed by!

Following acquiring a sweet and obedient-positioned dog, Wednesday brought on the chance to go to the United State vs Mexico futbol game, and I was thinking there would be a 1 in 75 chance we would get tickets.  Then, going onto Ticketmaster for the first time in Mexico, traveling to Polanco to obtain my new credit card since the trip from DE to Mexico and my original not really working, I was able to purchase tickets for four to attend the futbol game here in Mexico…and we got them!   I was geared up the whole time, then realized the day of I had no idea how to get there…:)  Through the wise sage Moct at the Upper School Library, we realized we rode the end of the blue line, then crossed onto another from of transportation, the rail train, which took us to Azteca Stadium for the game at 7:00 PM.

I was amazed at the crowd that had gathered for the train, but even more amazed that we found every nook and cranny in the train to fit.  We literally spilled out at the Azteca Stadium entrance, and the site of so many vendors crowding the path on the way to the stadium was – amazing…we found ourselves passing sites of entertainment like swings that you usually see at a fair that trampoline like and suspend you high in the air, with models showcasing them that looked like they just walked off a stage, this was truly a show inside and out.

We made our way into the stadium, the whole way I am marveling at the enormous size of the stadium making our way up into what seemed would be peanut heaven.  Arriving in our section, we realized, “Hey, we are United States and Canada represented here (Julienne, Nena, me and Deborah) and Mexico is playing the United States!  That was when we saw the four people in front of us give us the sign as if they were going to lie us in our sleep knowing we might be the only individuals from the United States in the stands in this section But…..at least those four people were smiling when they gave us that death sign?!

What do you do, cheer for the U.S, or cheer for Mexico, never thought I would need to be in this dilemma, I started rooting for the U.S, but then seeing their uniforms resembled a barbershop quartet, and seeing anxious glances our way to see who we were rooting for, I was pulling for Mexico as I lived here now, and Mexico had just won the gold in futbol!  We did this cool trance-like futbol chant when it was the goalie’s turn to send out the ball – and by the end, we saw Mexico fall to the U.S, 1-0, a little diconcerting.  However, the fireworks that went off, as well as the parading on the field of the Mexican team that had brought home the goal was amazing – and very unexpected but amazing just the same.

The whole night had an air of excitement – including the thrown items.  Yes, we were high up, but we realizing aside from being able to see the game perfectly, we also escaped the items that fans hurled down below them when they were upset.  I totally mean HURL.  Pizza boxes, items of chicken, pizza, full glasses of beer, full glasses of a substance that looked that beer that was NOT beer, you named it, anything within reach would end up flying below us to the crowds below – it was kind of like the Gong Show, or some other type of strange warped show, where the judging of the largest object to be thrown, or most full, would catch us by surprise, but wow….I realized we were smart for cheering for Mexico AND for sitting in these seats!  🙂  We were rooted int he seats until the end, and then looked around dubiously as we realized that the U.S. won and we were the obvious American leaving the stadium, lol.  The four that had heckled us on the way in asking us for a photo on the way out, and we did the photo shoot with a beautiful view of the city behind us from the stadium. amazing night, I mean amazing.  Did I mention the belt guy?

Going into the stadium if you are wearing a belt, you have to take off your belt, and a number is put on it where you can come back out and claim it after the game.  No kidding, I realized if people were going to throw the items they did on the crowds below, the belt lashing was game as well.  Leaving, we saw the “belt line” looked longer than the ticket line or train line coming in!  LOL but after 10 minutes, wow, belt in hand, Julienne was amazed as I he was able to claim back his same belt!  The way out we noticed the Mexico fan were better fans at losing a match than any American fan, still dancing and singing and celebrating their gold win at the Olympics.  On the way out we had the best meal at a stand of meat and torta stuffed ingredients, I can still taste it!  If we thought this had been an exciting night, we didn’t know what was in store as we boarded the train…

Coming into work Tuesday (correct me if I am wrong, Tuesday, right?) – I spied a note on my desk, lying discreetly in the middle of my desk “Call Gabriella at extension xxxx).  Hmmm, Okay, Gabriella, which one? (I thought).  I called and before I could place I name I heard, “Harry!  You have to try and do something.  There was a dog on campus and the police kicked her out of the campus to die.  Please try to do something!”  Having just arrived in the AM, my brain was trying to process the words past “Harry” and then it began to process….I thought – what could I possibly do?

I replied (wondering how I had become so popular?!) – how would I find the dog without knowing WHERE in Observatorio or the direction she had been released?  We had little to no information about that and as I hung up with a tearful Gabriella wanting to do something, I thought, “Okay, what the heck, WHAT is it going to do to look?  Right?”   I grabbed Moctezuma, my awesome library partner in crime, and we took a walk around the seeedy, and mysterious alleys of Observatorio, on the alert for an Afghan-looking dog.  (This truly could not be difficult to miss if we spotted it, right?)

I mentioned as we walked the “Needle in a haystack”  chance of finding this dog, stopping even at a butcher to inquire of a dog had been seen (throwing all old stereotypes out the window – Butcher, there will be a dog nearby).

We made our way down Observatorio, hoping NOT to see the dog near the highway , turned right in front of the Hospital ABC, and a blur caught my eyes to the left…and BAM!  NO freaking waaaaaay!  A very dirty, harried (love THAT word) and undirectional Afghan dog!  Running through the parking lot of ABC!!  What were the chances?  We ran into action, Moct on one end of the lot, me on the other, trapped it, and boom!  ut the side, through the bushes, back to Observatorio!  We trailed here as he instantly made a beeline for the ASF School and true enough, right to the main entrance of ASF – where the security grabbed her and sat her down.  Moct played babysitter to the newly found pup (large one though) as I ran inside to make a plan.

What kind of plan do you make when you find a stray Afghan dog in the streets of Observatorio?  Well, you make the plans that I did, last minute and sudden ones.  They will either pay off or bankrupt.  I’ll let you decide which occurred here.

I called Jessica from the Middle School, arranged for Lilia to hold my library meeting, talked to Gabriela, who was inquiring with Mr Williams on the best course of action, and finally, through Jessica’s keys, and Carlos’ directional know how, Carlos drove me back to my apartment, in Jessica’s car, with a newly found, but quite dirty, Afghan in tow.  She patiently and quietly waited in front of my apartment door, as if asking, What next?!  

I arrived at my apartment, took the amazingly well-behaved dog ) who was sitting in the backseat taking it all in quietly) promptly into the shower, and watched the grease, grime, and dirt flow down the drain, as she (I found out later, SHE) patiently stood there letting me purify her from the streets from whence she just came!

Next step – water, food.  Water, she gulped down.  Food, two hamburgers and 7 hot dogs later ( I know, I know, I should have stopped at like 2 food items) – I realized her stomach was reacting to food in who knows how long.  Soaking wet, but a little whiter, I left her on the bed, as she began to take in the idea no dodging of cars would have to occur.

Days go by, and my week is now designed for late, early and midday walks, almost a blessing in disguise as amid the rush detail, I have an excuse for some air, solitude, and time to let my mind wander and wind down.  I always saw others with  dog, and never imagined it would be me, but then again, it is kind of difficult to imagine things when they just occur for a reason or for no reason at all, right?

Thursday becomes DDay for the dog, and we make a reservation on the recommendation of Naomi Pawlik, to the Condesa Pet Center

, and sure enough, we have a 6:30 appointment.  I am in the middle of transition a friend into his new apartment, and I am able to drop the dog off at the vet, where they immediately take her in for a major scrubdown and groom.  Needless to say, with the kerchief, when I came back, I had no idea whose dog this was.  This was not the same dog?  With some prescription and good dog food, we left and I thought I had hit the jackpot, not only was she well-behaved, and now looking like a hundred dollars, she appreciate these little tasks much more than most humans appreciate acts of kindness, and that is worth money in the bank, no matter the amount.  So here we are, a dog in Mexico without a name.  Let the games begin, names names, we need a name, please suggest!  (And yes, this story still boggles me mind how fast and how easily this all happened, but at this point in the blog, is it best to question fate or just record it?  I vote the second one)  🙂    Newest picture of her:  

This must be the month for funny quotes…sorry, I was looking through some images of a conference where librarians were assembled and noticed you do not see alot of librarians that are well, honestly, attractive…meaning alot of the female librarians (few men which is kind of cool) – are just well, Mr. Potato-ish and less active physically looking I guess – okay well, I feel bad for noticing and stating this now – but I hope by getting into 5-6 5k’s this year, bettering my diet, and just being more active outdoors – the stereotype of a librarian that is a hermit and indoors shelving texts all the time can be broken….:)  Still, it was a funny quote at the time, 🙂

Today alot of cool firsts – at ASF we had out first real day of orientations for new staff – we remarked, myself as well, how cool this group of new teachers are – compared to my group last year, these individuals are not whiners, complainers, pessimistic, and they are optimistic, SO much more than my group last year, and that has made this year so much better already!  🙂  I vented about frustrations with people being a little too picky about things, and by the end of the day at school we managed to cover the bulletin boards with backgrounds, hold an orientation of the library, chat in a catered lunch, arrange a 9:00 AM meeting tomorrow for the library, as well as finish the day with a good sense that 2012 -2013 is starting!  YEAH!

It gets better, while my gas had been disconnected while I was gone over break, and I paid it, and the new teacher Julienne who has been staying with me, from Canada, have been taking freaking cld showers wondering why the gas has not been turned on – we found out today, thank to the prodding of HC – we HAVE HOT WATER AGAIN!  YEAAAAAH!  This was exciting as we could finally cook meals too – and not have to freak in a cold shower in the morning – and yes!  It gets betters!  The television I bought from Helen gets near perfect reception with the rabbit ears she gave us – no freaking way!  Free high speed internet AND free television?  AND hot showers?  Good day.

This brings me to a good point, some people expect the best of everything, and when one little thing goes wrong, that’s it – done.  Life sucks.  Then there is that group of people that keep an open mind through the bad events that occur, and can actually enjoy life’s smallest victories and smallest events that make life just, well, grand!  I like those people in the second group as it seems the details of life do not escape them so much as people that expect the grand things in life to happen all the time.  Life is funny, yet, your perspective is everything!

This week is a MeetUp event in Condesa, and next week, a dilemma between Jack Little’s poetry reading a chance to dine in the Internations , at the Mexican World Trade Center for a gathering there, 150+ expatriots – which seems to be an opportunity.

Cool evening as I reconnected with the schedule of graduate classes at Mansfield University getting ready for fall classes – 2 more for the fall, 2 more for the spring, one for the summer, maybe 2 for the Fall of 2013 – and…..DONE!  YEAH!  I can hardly wait!

I made traditional milkshakes tonight and that made everything all right…:)

It is exciting that Mexico is so vibrant and active – filled with culture and new people every turn of the way that can make life, well, just worth experiencing.  Again, perspective is everything!

Hands down, the last week has been mega exhilarating – yet – super duper frustrating in moments, and yet – I am so excited with the prospects of the new hires – their attitudes, patience, and overall view – it has been so exciting having them arrive!

I am writing this on Sunday – skipping the events on Saturday – because….we are having a surprise to present Saturdays’ events, so stay tuned – trust me it will be worth it LOL – but today was full of new hire Julien from Canada –  hanging out here at my place, sleeping freaking in – the first time in AGES – felt AWESOME!   🙂  – then slowly getting awake and heading to the Sumesa to pick up an awesome breakfast – ate tons of bakery goods back at the place – then off to the Alvaro Obregon bazaar where we shopped and gawked – then we caught a restaurant in Condesa that showed the events at the Olympics- and whoa Jamaica!  Bolt was amazing!  It was an exciting view of the Olympics! – THEN we headed home to the cool restaurant – Wok this Way – YES – DELICIOUS MEGA!  We spied a mother, father, and beautiful daughter outside waiting for a table so we grabbed our items and cleared the way for them to come in and use the table – our good deed for the day!

https://www.facebook.com/wokthisway.fanpage

We arrived back at the apartment, and crash!  Sleep a rama!  It was a beautiful day – and just an awesome day to be creating a second year and life in Mexico!  🙂

Oh, thought I would leave you hanging on the quote?  We went to Helen and Alejandro’s Saturday (only thing I will reveal about Saturday) and she generously gave me the game Cranium, but I paid for it, ( her mother in law was awesome, tracking the sales and giving receipts for items – and Alex and Helen making a progress bar of all items sold!) – hence the text as she wanted to GIVE the game to me, but I paid, lol.  Awesome text, I think I need to memorialize this quote, lol.

IF anyone is needing items from Helen’s, I posted pictures on my wall facebook for people to see!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150972890366003.411676.572656002&type=1

It has been a packed – filled week – and exciting, as well as very reflective – amazing people and amazing moments – as we slowly head to the beginning of a new 2012 year – I am thankful for all the moments – both tough and fun – that have led me to this moment 😉

It was the end of a long week, LOOOONG WEEK  – and I remembered El Ocho filled with games and space, but never had the chance to try it out!  On a cool and clear night, we met at 9:30 PM to try out El Ocho.  Well not exactly – after a huge long and active day – I headed home and collapsed, doing something I had not done in awhile – CLEAN!  🙂  I cleaned, vacuumed, cleaned, vaccumed, it actually started to look like a normal apartment!

Helen Kang and Alejandro Martinez brought Hangover  – over to the apartment and he settled in his own room, lol, and still seems to be quiet.  I refrained from pictures until we see how he settles in…:)  I do not like they are leaving for Korea!

They dropped me off at El Ocho and at 9:30 I was worried, would anyone come?  Turns out – they did on perfect Mexican time!  We had a cool and AWESOME group – as pictures show – we waited a bit,  but the seat by the game table was AWESOME!  lol…

Playing space invaders, to Frogger only with food, spin the bottle, lol, to lots of others this was the whole side of El Ocho I missed and with a little wait, worth the wait thanks to the space!  This was a welcome evening to just relax and let ourselves think not of anything to do with orientation, just think of how exciting the year will become – yeah!

Intensity during the game helped set the tone, and overall, this was a whole different aspect side from the delicious food, the company was EXCITING, upbeat, and fun despite the pace everyone has been on!  The intensity given to the games were better and a nice change than trying to remember all the details on this Friday night!