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 Vallarta Living | April 2006 
Viviendo en México
 Korah Winn - PVNN
| | As I was gearing up to come home for the summer, something happened that I didn't anticipate. |
Well, something happened that I did not quite anticipate. My circumstances have changed quite drastically in the past three weeks. My news is I am staying in Mexico longer. The original plan was that I was going to study in Puerto Vallarta for four months and then go onto Guadalajara for three more.
I took class after class and finally finished up all the Spanish credits that I needed in order to graduate from college. I knew that I needed to be back in the United States by April 19th, so after my classes finished, I had two weeks to be able to tie up loose ends here and say my goodbyes to the wonderful people I had met.
I had a great time after classes ended. A friend of mine came all the way from Dixon to Guadalajara. She was here for about a week so we were able to do some sightseeing and also visit Tlaquepaque.
It was wonderful to have someone from home to spend time with. After she left, I began substituting at a bilingual school to fill in my last week in Guadalajara. When I finished that, I was going to Puerto Vallarta for a couple days to say goodbye to my friends there.
All of that changed when the school asked me if I would take over the class for the teacher for whom I had substituted. She was having some medical problems so they needed someone to teach her class until the end of their school year, which is June 30th.
This was completely unexpected for me. Mentally, I was gearing up to come back to my pais (country) for the summer and work at a solid job to save some money. I began to weigh the pros and cons. My list ended up filling almost two paginas (pages.)
When it came down to it though, I prayed about the situation and really felt that this opportunity was a blessing in disguise. The school needed me and I also needed more experience teaching before this coming fall.
It ended up being surprisingly easy to tell them yes. The not easy part was telling my family that I would be gone longer. They were good to me and did not give me too hard of a time; they just let me know that I would be dearly missed.
Accepting the job changed everything. I hurriedly called the airline and bumped my boleto (ticket) from the 19th to the 12th. The school was on vacation for Semana Santa (Holy Week) and they needed me to be back to begin teaching classes by April 25th. That left me very little time back with my family.
My mother rearranged her schedule so she could pick me up in Chicago. The first thing I wanted to do was stop at an Italian restaurant for an Italian beef sandwich. We found the perfect spot, so we sat down to eat.
I was amused to hear that the people in the booth next to me were speaking in Spanish. I looked at my mom and grinned as told her I could understand what they were saying. She looked me in the eyes and smiled. I could tell she was proud of me.
It has taken me months and months to learn this language. There have definitely been times where I have said, "What was I thinking?" It is moments like that though that help me realize that it has been worth it. What I have learned is now a part of my life that no one can take away. |
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