I would have settled for a hut on the beach, but the student residence here isn't too shabby. Between the A/C, cable TV, wireless internet, free water (purificada), a mini-fridge, and my own bathroom, I'm not exactly living rough.
I arrived in Playa late Wednesday afternoon and went out to dinner with a few of the other trainees from my program. We ate Mayan food at a pretty touristy place. It was decent at best and was probably twice as expensive as any meal I will eat on the rest of my trip. We recently found a place down the street called Billy the Kid's that sells nothing but tacos for four pesos (less than 40 cents) apiece and is open 24 hours. I could have gotten at least forty tacos for what that Mayan food cost. Forty! The dropoff in the price of everything with each block you walk away from the beach is astounding.
A few days into my trip, I got my first visitor. My Israeli friend Shiri, who I know from working at summer camp in California, had been traveling for a few months and was coming through Playa on the tail end of her trip. My best day thus far was spent laying on the beach with her and her friends Roni and Nir. Later we enjoyed an authentic Mexican feast expertly prepared by three Israelis and a Texan. I hadn't been gone long enough to really miss much about home, but it was still nice to see a familiar face. Along those lines, I recently reconnected with and old friend from Greene Family Camp. Blake is teaching English in China and has a well-written blog about it at http://fareastcoastbias.blogspot.com/. Also, my friend Ori is working at a biosphere (I have no idea.) outside of Tulum, and he will likely come up to Playa at some point. If anyone else wants to come down, I will treat you to some delicious four-peso tacos.
My days now are not nearly as relaxing. My course began on Monday, and the first few days have been pretty intense. I have already taught twice, and I teach again on Friday. The reality of what I was doing here really hit me as I moved 24 desks into a room which is smaller than my room at the residence before the first class. We are never sure how many students will show up on a given night, and new faces come and go from night to night. The classes are free since they are taught by trainees, and many of the students could not afford the class otherwise. They are eager to learn, however, and are quite a change from dealing with spoiled little Jewish kids. Perhaps the most powerful moment thus far was when I helped to carry Carlos, a student who has lost both of his legs, up three flights of stairs in his wheelchair so that he could attend my class. The first word I taught my students was "Howdy" and the second was "Yall." I will write more about teaching later. I can't even think about it right now. I haven't seen the beach in three days, and it is killing me.
The group of trainees has an interesting mix of people. As always, I am the random kid from Texas that talks about Texas constantly. Thus far I have been made fun of for being from Texas, talking about Texas, talking about Jewish summer camp, and not eating salad (it is my last stand against growing up). One of my students sympathized with me about the Houston Oilers moving to Tennessee. None of the trainees care about football, but they will learn. There are twelve trainees in our group. Most are fairly close to my age. A couple are quite a bit older. Three are married (two to each other), and there is a niece and an aunt from Australia. The married couple spent the last year in Honduras but last lived in Dallas. We all get along quite well, and the group as a whole is pretty fun.
Hopefully that wasn't too long. I know my mom will read every word. I hope you all are well. Leave a comment and I will eat a taco for you.
