taco stands and mexican flea markets

So kyle and I have had a great weekend so far. Friday the other teachers and ourselves decided we were way too tired to go out on the town so we decided to have a bon fire in the girls front yard. No pictures as of right now but I will work on it. It has been very chilly the past few nights so the fire felt excellent. It was a relaxing night of sharing teacher stories from the week.

Yesterday Kyle and I got up early and went searching for the gym. It's a beautiful facility downtown not far from our house. They have classes, plenty of cardio machines and weight machines.

After that we went to El mercado de los globos which was essentially a giant mexican flea market. We had a great time picking out cheap merchandise and bargaining with everyone. We got an air matress (queen, new, with a pump and for a great price) so now everyone can come visit! It was comical trying to pack everything onto the moto to head back to our home. People were smiling at us as we bungeed shelves, beds, flowers, pots etc to the back of our bike.

For the evening time I organized all the teachers to go out for fish tacos. Realizing the time, I had to change the place last minute, as some taco stands close early around here. I sent everyone on a wild goose chase across town to this little taco stand on the street that served fish or shrimp tacos. Little did I know that one of the teachers goes into anafilactic shock when exposed to shell fish! woops!

Those of us not allergic quickly ate some tacos (yes I ate a fish taco, actually two!) and then headed to a nearby restaurant to get some beers and food for Matilda. There were clowns walking all over the restaurant, we were a bit confused by the atmosphere but we quickly found out we had walked into the middle of a child's surprise birthday party. We were the only people in the restaurant who weren't part of the party. It was pretty entertaining!

I'm not sure if we'll fit anything fun in today or not, Kyle and I have a decent amount of lesson planning to do. Tomorrow we will start our first full week of school. :)

festival de vino!

This past weekend Kyle and I were very busy! We spent a lot of time working on the house, we now have some plants in the front yard which make the shredded tire much more welcoming. Kyle has been working on fixing a bench for us and a putting up a close line to increase the greatness of 95 Avenida Paris! (picture or possible video still to come).

But it wasn't a weekend of all work and no play, Kyle and I made it to the beach on Sunday where we watched men of all ages push wheel barrels and bicycle carts filled with snacks all over the beach. You could get a full meal from the comfort of your beach towel, shop for clothing, jewelry and even rent a horse without ever getting up. The weather here is perfect for the beach, strong sun, low humidity and a nice breeze.

On saturday Kyle and I went with Joy and Danielle (the other girls we teach with) to a wine festival that was being held in Ensenada. Most of the wine festivals in the surrounding areas are exclusive events but this one was open to the public. We had a great evening trying all the various assortments of wines, while listening to local bands and tasting local food.

Today we had our first day of school (without students). I completed a lot of preliminary work, and my classroom is finally starting to come together, it might be finished by tomorrow....maybe.

Kyle and I made a friend today too. He is a stray that was taken in by Ismael (our director and neighbor). Ismael is away right now so the dog took to the streets again. Kyle the girls and I befriended him and he hasn't left yet. I tried to return him to his home but he snuck out again.

I found horses!

Well I guess horses are not the focus of the trip, but I found multiple places to ride! There is a place that rents out horses on the beach (western only) for 80 pesos an hour which I thought was awesome, and then yesterday kyle and I found an equestrian barn of this dirt road on the way home from school! Its about 2 mins from our house and they give lessons for only 250 pesos. I will definitely be taking part in those activities at some point :)

Today we had an open house at the school, it was a chance for parents to come to the school and ask questions and for the students and parents to meet the teachers. I didn't take pictures (woops) but I do have some pictures from a few days earlier of the school. Its under construction as you can see but it is already looking much better than these photos so I will update soon. The students were much more proficient in english than i thought and the middle school kids were much smaller and cuter than I was imagining. I think its going to be a good year. The school really is amazing, the directors are great and so helpful!

Below is a picture of the beach just a few minutes from our house (where they have the horses). Kyle and I are hoping to make it to the beach tomorrow since we have the day off. There is also a wine festival going on this weekend in town so we are going to try and make it to that as well. We will see. I will take pictures though, talk to you all soon. <3

San Diego

Kyle and I are officially in Mexico. We had a great few days in San Diego. The weather is much
warmer here in Ensenada and the sun feels much stronger. I don't have many pictures from Ensenada yet only a few of the school so I will post pictures from our trips in San Diego. We got around very well using the buses (I was proud of us). Day 1 when we arrived we went to Balboa park and then down to the gaslamp district for dinner at the Yard House, I couldn't believe how many beers they had on tap.

Day 2 we went to the San Diego zoo. We were there by 9:30 and stayed until at least 6! We had a blast and didn't want to miss anything so we stayed until our feet ached. That night we went to whole foods for dinner, what a selection! We couldn't decide on what to eat.

Day 3 Kyle and I met up with his friends Jeff and Cayley from Utah (Cayley is originally from San Diego, Encinitas). We went to Swamis for lunch...mmmmm all natural food plently of vegetarian selections. Then we went shopping and thrift stores, used book stores etc. Eventually we went to the beach despite the cloudy weather. For dinner we went to Sushi Deli, which I highly recommend for anyone in the San Diego area. It was in the Gaslamp district and was delicious! They gave you way more food than you could possibly eat and for less than 10 dollars! They had delicious drinks too made with Sake or Sojo.

Day 4 Ismael came to get us and we crossed the border. It only took about 5 mins, apparently there's hardly any wait to get into Mexico, they didn't even check our passports! However to get into the US from Mexico...it was at least an hour and half wait, with high security. We have a nice house just to the left of where we thought we were living. There was nothing in the house to start but Kyle and I have already started to turn it into a home. It is three bedroom, no beds in the other rooms yet but plenty of room for visitors. We are thinking of buying an air mattress.