(More than a few) Thoughts on teaching my first English Conversation Class
One of the most obvious benefits that we can provide as Peace Corps volunteers is English teaching. This is also clearly an emphasis for the organization, and that is no exception here in Mexico, even though in Tech Transfer, we are almost exclusively “specialists” with a variety of technical assignments. A few were given English […]
Bienvenidos a mi casa – Welcoming my first guests
I’m not doing anything fancy, but having my first guests has motivated me to finish a few of the home-improvement projects that I had started – mainly getting plants and straightening up. So now I have a few plants, but they aren’t completely potted into good receptacles. Â I still have to go buy another pillow […]
Furniture delivered…with style
I would like to say that this is the last post about moving in, but I’m very excited about my futon delivery on Thursday, so there will probably be a picture of that as well. These moving-in pictures and posts are what is happening in my life right now, but they are not interesting for […]
Leftovers
I’ve been working on a personal presentation to give to people at my site as a way of introducing myself, my background, and more former work. So, I’ve been going through a lot of pictures, and I found a bunch of stragglers that didn’t quite make the cut the first time. However, a lot of […]
Sworn-in and now presenting the volunteers of PCMexico-10
We were officially sworn-in yesterday in a very nice ceremony held at the PC headquarters office here in Mexico. The ceremony and apero afterwards were a satisfying way to end the stressful training time, and then we, the new volunteers, basically just celebrated for the rest of the day. So today is moving day, for […]
Swearing-in Day
Headed to the office soon for our swearing-in ceremony. Actually turning out to be rather exciting. Had a nice run this morning, and still plenty of time to iron my shirt and write a quick post. Not a bad way to start any day – not that I’m ever going to start ironing on a […]
Last week of training
I’m sitting in my last “Program and week-end processing” session still not knowing where I’m moving to in 3 days, but trying desperately to get information. The last few days of training contain lots of reviews, evaluations, and feedback sessions. At least my talent show presentation is done – except for the one part I […]
Mexico City – Context Visit
We are just back from our final field trip for PST – our “Context Visit” to Mexico City. It was a quick trip to a bunch of headquarters – CONACYT, UNAM, IMPI, and several embassy resources. Even with only two nights free in D.F., I’m smitten with the city. I can’t wait to go back […]
My (first) award-winning photographs
I’m happy that I overcame my procrastination and entered the PC Mexico 50th Anniversary Photo Contest celebrating 50 years of Peace Corps. I won the “Faces of Mexico” category with the first photo below, taken during the silent procession during Semana Santa. The second photo, ¡Lucha Libre!, garnered an honorable mention in the same category.
Tech Transfer in Mexico, or my visiting professorship after PST
We started out the week with the Counterpart Workshop, and then I spent the day yesterday at my new workplace, where I will be starting in June. Another trainee (very soon-to-be volunteer) and I are going to the same site, and we are the first volunteers to be at this center. There are a lot […]
Week 8, for the win!
Because we are all “primeros respondientes” now after our day of first aid training, of course. Or, because we got our site assignments, and I didn’t end up on the floor as in the above picture. We may have been able to skip the balloons-and-darts portion of the presentation, but we still had a bit […]
Hogar del Joven/DÃa del Niño
I backed into the perfect activity for Children’s Day this past weekend. A current volunteer brought to our attention a sort of a halfway house for children in one of the northern colonias of the city that desperately needs repairs. She organized a group of current volunteers and trainees to go out and start making […]