taxis

This past weekend I traveled home for the wedding of some very close friends and I came back to Mexico last night.  After 10 hours full of airports and airplanes and waiting and buses, I finally arrived to Puebla at 2am.  I got off the bus and into a taxi.  This is when the trip got interesting.

here is my question:  How is it that a taxi driver doesn't know his way around the city?  Especially, a city that is set up like a grid, all evens on one side, odds on the other, and north, south, east, and west to mark each quadrant of the city?

Since the taxis at the bus station are prepay, the closest/easiest way to explain where my house is is to say "las animas." I don't live in "las animas," but my house is close to "las animas."  In fact my house is between the bus station and "las animas," i.e. to get to "las animas" you have to go almost directly past my house.  So, I handed the receipt to the taxi driver and proceeded to tell him that my house is on the 35 South, between 27 East and 29 East.  Sounds easy doesn't it?

but no.  He was quite confused and kept asking me where it was.  So I gave him landmarks, he didn't know them.  I told him he had to go on the 27 East and from there turn left onto the 35 South.  No, I did not know the exact directions on how to get to my house from the bus station, isn't that the taxi's job?  All the while he is trying to read what it says on the receipt. finally he tells me that the receipt says, "las animas."  I told him that I knew it did and that that is the closest/easiest thing to my house.  He mumbled something about the cost being wrong and he was getting upset.  but finally he came up with a plan: get to a major street and then I can figure it out from there.  Good.  I'll take myself home THANK YOU.

And this happens all the time!  I tell taxis the corner on which I live, using the closest one way that comes in from the direction I know they need to go (usually the 35 and the 25) and they repeat it to me.  Then they proceed to take me to the reverse corner (the 25 and the 35).  They also get mad when I don't catch their mistake in time to tell them when to turn and they have to go around a couple more blocks.....

ANYWAY.  the real reason I am writing this blog is this, how can confused taxi drivers survive?  They must not make a lot of money because they are NOT efficient.  From the customer service point of view, it probably doesn't really matter because you can't tell if a driver will be confused when you hail one on the street, but still....  I hope, for the sake of capitalism, they don't make much money.  It just doesn't seem right.  When I have to tell them where to go, the ENTIRE way, I would just prefer pushing them out of the drivers seat and paying for the few pesos of gas.  They do not deserve the "service fee" if they don't know how to provide the service.

the school year, in perspective

My second year teaching.  My second year of being "an adult."  My second year living in Mexico.  And it's been really really strange....There is lots to talk about, but I think I'm going to just stick to teaching.  I don't feel like I had a good year as a teacher.  I would even say that I regressed, instead of advanced, in my teaching profession.  For some reason I was angry.  And that transfered to my kids.  Here is a list of things I think I failed at this year:
1) classroom management: it started off well, but then it bombed. I hope I have learned something for the years to come?  Definatly learned some things that I can see working very well in the future.
2) IB classroom.  I focused too much on the workbooks and the checklist of activities (not IB) in the planner. 
3) relationships with my kids.  like I said, I was angry.  I'm not sure yet, what I was angry with, but I need to figure that out before I start teaching next year.  ...maybe the school, I did start the school year angry at the school....
4) consistancy.  I know this is one of my biggest weaknesses, and I know its something that I need to put so much more effort into working on. 
5)...
well, I think I could make this list longer but it would be nit-picky and anything else that I would put on this list would fall into one of the 4 I already have there.  Those 4 things though, are HUGE.  they are the entirety of teaching and where I want to be.
I think the key for next year (and whenever after) is to get a major adjustment in my atitude.  I started the year off badly.  I need to get over those issues that I had.  If I don't like something, I need to take an active role in dealing with it in my life.
I am a teacher because I want kids to have a different view of the world.  I believe I possess a world view that is radically different from what these kids experience in their lives.  I have something they can learn.  I know things no one else can teach them.  I need to own that, no matter how egotistical I think I sound, it is the truth.  I have something to offer my students.  I am a teacher so that I can give what only I can offer them.  As a teacher I am not allowed to be wishy-washy.  I am not allowed to give my kids anything less than what I want from them.  No excuses.  I know what kind of teacher I want to be, and I need to be that teacher.  I know I can be that teacher, I cannot get distracted anymore. I cannot get distracted from where I want to be.  No distractions.  That is over.
now, can someone email me this in one month? and then again in two months? and then again in 8 months?

procrastination pays off

I am a procrastinator.  That is a fact of life.  I practically gave my mom an ulcer when I was in high school because I procrastinated so much with my school work.  I have been know to start 10+ page research papers at 9pm the night before a 11am class.  Packing for trips: I just work better between 10pm and 2am, plus I might find some time to clean my room in there too....

As for cleaning, it just makes sense to do more at once, right? So, I let things gather, then clean more at one time.  It's more efficient.  Case in point, dishes.  On Saturday there was a pile of (my) dishes in the sink for quite a few days.  and I kept looking at it telling myself that I needed to wash them.  Finally when I got home Sat afternoon, i noticed that Corie had gotten tired of seeing the dirty dishes and washed them herself.

Oooops, procrastination gone wrong.

So, I've been good at making sure that I clean my dishes after I use them because I feel pretty guilty that Corie had to wash my dishes.  Well, today I decided to use the three extremely ripe bananas, that haven been making my refrigerator small too much like overripe fruit, to make some banana bread.  Baking, of course, creates a few dishes.  After I had finished and had a chance to try the banana bread and sat back down on the couch I thought about those dishes.  I first thought, "I can do them later, there isn't a rush, I have time."  Then I remembered the Saturday dishes and decided that since I have the time now I should just go ahead and get it over with.  You know, be responsible.  It wasn't that bad either, quick and painless.  Almost.  As I was scrubbing the 2nd to last dish my phone started ringing.

That in itself is actually pretty strange, because if someone calls me on my cell phone I usually am expecting a call and I had no idea who this could be.  Guess who it was.  Yes, that's right.  It was Senora Ale, the woman who comes every two weeks to...DO THE DISHES!!!!! (and clean all the other parts of the house too)  She wanted to change from Thursday to Tuesday for this week.  Tuesday is tomorrow.  I had one and a half dishes left to wash.  Why, oh why didn't I procrastinate this time?!?

changing my name

my name is actually not martinez...not yet.  but it will be.  it will be in less than 60 days.  as far as i'm concerned, my name will change to martinez as soon as i get married.  living in mexico, especially, has made me think about people's names, and how a person's name gives you many clues as to what to expect of a person.  you can get hints about their ethnicity, family background, and even language spoken.
for a long time, i have, perhaps erroneously, identified myself as a latina, to some extent.  that identity really comes out when i am in the US, it's mostly hidden while i'm here.  so, when i get married in two months, my last name will change, and now, my name will also be latina.  but i am pondering now how changing my name to martinez will do to change my outward identity.  in mexico i will still be the tall blond accent weilding gringa.  i will still be able to look confused and use the excuse that i dont understand spanish.  i will still be viewed as an extranjera.
for myself, i know that changing my name is a big deal.  and i am a little curious as to how my life and people's expectations of me will be influenced.  Probably when i call somewhere, they will expect that i speak spanish, gone will be the assumption that i am a complete english speaking gringa.  i will have to remember that, by name alone, i am half mexican.  i wonder how people i will meet, using my new name, will react to meeting me.  Will they be confused by the blond hair, light skin, and mexican last name?  or, will it still be assumed that i am an obvious foreigner.  i know a name carries a lot of weight and many preconceived notions.  what will the preconceived notion be of this woman named Kristen Martinez?  changing my view of people's assumptions of me will be an interesting adventure.  changing my name... i hadn't thought it would be a big deal at all.  but now, i'm thinking it's going to take some getting use to.  but it's going to be very interesting to watch people and to analyze my world view as a martinez instead of an erickson.

p.s. I feel I need to put this disclaimer...I want to blog, but I am a little embarrassed to post it because i might not be able to keep updating it as often as I'd like.  But I will take the "leap of faith" and post it. hopefully, I will overcome.