Who would think that my source of Spanish books is in Burlington, Massachusetts? But, it is. When my Uncle Eric, the superintendent of Burlington schools, came to Mexico he delivered two books in Spanish. They were a gift from Ms. Hayes' class.
Ms. Hayes' class has been commenting on this blog for a really long time. I met with them on Skype and they asked me questions about Mexico. They always have good comments.
Now that schools are closed because of swine flu, and I have lots of free time, I am going to start reading Tuck Everlasting in Spanish (Tuck Para Siempre). This should be more fun than those ENLACE tests (the Mexican national standardized tests).
I'm glad I have something to do other than homework. THANKS!!!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
La Paz
On our big Baja trip we stayed for 8 nights in La Paz, in Baja California Sur. There we met up with my uncle Chris, aunt Kaki, and cousin Marco for a relaxing vacation.
We rented a house in the center of town, it was quite big and had a nice view of the ocean. In La Paz, we spent many days going to some cool beaches, along the Sea of Cortez there are some really beautiful beaches and the water is really pretty. The town is very walkable and very pleasant. Along with going to beaches, we explored the town, ate good tacos (and some really great seafood), and had lots of fun hanging out with family.
While we were in La Paz my cousin ruptured his timpanic membrane (membrane inside the ear) and he needed to see a doctor. After looking all over town for an open hospital we finally found one and with me acting as translator we made an appointment, (it only cost about 100 pesos, which is around 8 dollars), we then saw the nurse. Only my cousin, uncle and aunt and I were allowed in and I had to translate everything. The nurse diagnosed him, gave us the medicine we needed to buy, and we were on our way. This was my first important translating job and I think I did pretty well.
We also went down and explored a small town called Todos Santos, we walked around to some artisan shops (not my idea of fun but whatever) and went to a deserted beach.
I really enjoyed our stay in La Paz, it's always fun to travel to new places, and sharing it with a four-year-old who had never been to Mexico before was great.
Here's some pics:
Us eating tacos
When we were in Todos Santos we bought some Mexican wrestling masks for all of us, that's me on the right, and my cousin on the left. We're being super heroes
All of us at the beach
Me, my dad, and Theo at the beach in Todos Santos
Chasing pelicans in Todos Santos
My mom at Todos Santos
Me, Theo, Marco, and random Mexican kid that walked into the picture
Marco and my uncle Chris building a volcano
Our family at the beach
Theo and my mom at the beach
There was no bathtub at the house, only showers, so we had to think of other ways to bathe marco
The Easter Bunny came to Mexico!
Theo and Marco
We rented a house in the center of town, it was quite big and had a nice view of the ocean. In La Paz, we spent many days going to some cool beaches, along the Sea of Cortez there are some really beautiful beaches and the water is really pretty. The town is very walkable and very pleasant. Along with going to beaches, we explored the town, ate good tacos (and some really great seafood), and had lots of fun hanging out with family.
While we were in La Paz my cousin ruptured his timpanic membrane (membrane inside the ear) and he needed to see a doctor. After looking all over town for an open hospital we finally found one and with me acting as translator we made an appointment, (it only cost about 100 pesos, which is around 8 dollars), we then saw the nurse. Only my cousin, uncle and aunt and I were allowed in and I had to translate everything. The nurse diagnosed him, gave us the medicine we needed to buy, and we were on our way. This was my first important translating job and I think I did pretty well.
We also went down and explored a small town called Todos Santos, we walked around to some artisan shops (not my idea of fun but whatever) and went to a deserted beach.
I really enjoyed our stay in La Paz, it's always fun to travel to new places, and sharing it with a four-year-old who had never been to Mexico before was great.
Here's some pics:
Us eating tacos
When we were in Todos Santos we bought some Mexican wrestling masks for all of us, that's me on the right, and my cousin on the left. We're being super heroes
All of us at the beach
Me, my dad, and Theo at the beach in Todos Santos
Chasing pelicans in Todos Santos
My mom at Todos Santos
Me, Theo, Marco, and random Mexican kid that walked into the picture
Marco and my uncle Chris building a volcano
Our family at the beach
Theo and my mom at the beach
There was no bathtub at the house, only showers, so we had to think of other ways to bathe marco
The Easter Bunny came to Mexico!
Theo and Marco
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
CRAZY!!!!
School has been crazy for the past few weeks. It started out as just an exam week. I took my Spanish exam and that's it, because the next day government testers surprised us and came to our schools with standardized test for us to take. These tests were like the ones in the united States but since they just showed up at our school with the tests, it completely messed up our schedule. The tests took two days for us to take. I did the test with a lot of effort and I think I did very well. I was last person to finish both times. While I was still doing my test the other kids went to recess. It was hard for me to concentrate with all the noise so it took me extra time. After these tests were finished the exams had to be rescheduled to the next week. On Monday I didn't do an exam I only did a presentation on an indigenous culture called the Chavin. ( I had no idea what it was before I did the project.) Just after I did the presentation I found out more crazy information.
I found out about the swine flu. It has not reached Ensenada yet, but everyone is being very cautious. We are doing our part by washing our hands frequently and not getting to close to other people. My gymnastics place was closed because of it, and some people are already wearing surgical masks. After the flu had spread all over all of Mexico the government decided to close all schools in Mexico. This made things even crazier because it was going to be a long weekend anyway, but it turned in to a eight day vacation. The teachers gave us homework for the weekend that count as our exams. So here I am on a spontaneous eight day vacation.
I found out about the swine flu. It has not reached Ensenada yet, but everyone is being very cautious. We are doing our part by washing our hands frequently and not getting to close to other people. My gymnastics place was closed because of it, and some people are already wearing surgical masks. After the flu had spread all over all of Mexico the government decided to close all schools in Mexico. This made things even crazier because it was going to be a long weekend anyway, but it turned in to a eight day vacation. The teachers gave us homework for the weekend that count as our exams. So here I am on a spontaneous eight day vacation.
Monday, April 20, 2009
San Ignacio
As you know, during our road trip we stopped in the town of San Ignacio. Despite being in the middle of absolutely nowhere, San Ignacio is actually a very nice place. A small town, with a nice town square, restaurants, and the usual tourist shops. We stayed in a little bed and breakfast owned by a Canadian couple. We stayed in a yurt right next to a stream. There were kayaks and you could swim in the river whenever you wanted to.
The weird thing about San Ignacio is that it looks just like a town you would see in a movie. It's set in the middle of a large desert with a river bubbling up from beneath a volcano, it's very pretty and picturesque and has a nice feel to it. The Missionaries planted a small grove of date palms in San Ignacio when they lived there, since the river floods every once in a while it carries the dates everywhere and now the valley is covered in palm trees. It's like an oasis, you are seeing cactus for hundreds of miles and then wham! palm trees, It's really weird.
San Ignacio is a very nice town and I really enjoyed our stay there.
Here are some pics of our trip:
view from the mesa
our yurt
the town square
other view from the mesa
on the mesa
the mission
my dream car
fishing
Theo kayaking
all of us kayaking
The weird thing about San Ignacio is that it looks just like a town you would see in a movie. It's set in the middle of a large desert with a river bubbling up from beneath a volcano, it's very pretty and picturesque and has a nice feel to it. The Missionaries planted a small grove of date palms in San Ignacio when they lived there, since the river floods every once in a while it carries the dates everywhere and now the valley is covered in palm trees. It's like an oasis, you are seeing cactus for hundreds of miles and then wham! palm trees, It's really weird.
San Ignacio is a very nice town and I really enjoyed our stay there.
Here are some pics of our trip:
view from the mesa
our yurt
the town square
other view from the mesa
on the mesa
the mission
my dream car
fishing
Theo kayaking
all of us kayaking
Road Trip
We took advantage of our 2 week spring break and decided to pack up, hit the road, and see the sights of baja that were yet unknown to us.
Obviously we started in Ensenada and headed south, we stopped for the night in El Rosario. From there we drove to San Ignacio and stayed there for 2 nights. We drove 2 hours on a high clearance road to reach the San Ignacio Lagoon to see the gray whales, we stayed there for 2 nights.
We headed on and stopped for the night in Loreto. We then came to our final destination; La Paz and we stayed there for 8 nights before heading back to Ensenada, stopping in Guerrero Negro on the way.
Here's a road map of baja so you can see where we went. Just click on it if you want to enlarge it.
Our later posts will be about our trip in any random order.
Obviously we started in Ensenada and headed south, we stopped for the night in El Rosario. From there we drove to San Ignacio and stayed there for 2 nights. We drove 2 hours on a high clearance road to reach the San Ignacio Lagoon to see the gray whales, we stayed there for 2 nights.
We headed on and stopped for the night in Loreto. We then came to our final destination; La Paz and we stayed there for 8 nights before heading back to Ensenada, stopping in Guerrero Negro on the way.
Here's a road map of baja so you can see where we went. Just click on it if you want to enlarge it.
Our later posts will be about our trip in any random order.
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