Instead of regular, old, seated class, today we had a walking class and visited the free-to-the-public sports center on the edge of town. It was super nice; there were a bunch of soccer fields, a basketball court, some volleyball courts, exercise machines, and a big track to run around. The whole area was secluded by some big trees where I spotted some parrots and an iguana (maybe two iguanas, there was some dispute over whether the second was a small iguana or a regular-sized squirrel). It was right next to the river, but I was told it’s not a good idea to go swimming during this part of the year because the current is really strong and also there are lots of crocodiles, both of which are pretty good reasons. After class I returned to the school and tried to print some documents, but failed because someone had moved the modem.

I tried a strange-looking energy drink I found at the supermarket called Vive100; overall I’d give it a four out of ten. The taste was acceptable, but not great, and while I did feel a bit energized, it left me somewhat scatterbrained and distant after a while. I caught up on some world news and started outlining a science-fiction story about a cybernetically-optimized education cult, before getting stumped on the logistics and going out for some tacos fritos (probably my favorite meal here). As a side-note, I recognize that energy drinks are really bad for you and I don’t have them often, but I am a generally tired person and it’s nice to feel like I’m really awake every once in a while. Plus, there’s something about foreign energy drinks in particular that has captured my imagination. Like, I bet this is how the Europeans traveling the Silk Road felt when they discovered that spices were a thing.

In the evening, I taught an English lesson online to the twins I usually tutor on Fridays. They live in Milwaukee and moved there from Japan a year ago, we’ve been talking weekly for about a year now. It’s been pretty rewarding to see them improve and be able to have better conversations as the year progressed. Today we discussed some general facts about Mexico, their trip to Florida, and the difference between desert and dessert.

The girl I was going to meet in San Cristobal tomorrow has COVID, so that’s been put on hold. We’re still texting though. To be continued, I guess

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Class, then breakfast with Sherrill. An ongoing dilemma: how to write about those who may also be readers? Self-reference is strange enough, and we are not the same.

Later: a nap taken, a friend called, books read, tamales eaten. Words exchanged with strangers. An apparent donut is cornbread (sad). Preparatory plans thwarted by inscrutable timelines; I’ll have to ask tomorrow. There is cheese now, and a new plastic box to keep it fresh. The caffeine only lasts so long.

Classes have been moving slowly. Sherrill and I do not have the same level of background or motivation. I’m not sure what to do about this, but I’m kinda tired of breezing through all the exercises only to leave class and find I still can’t understand the taxi driver. Perhaps I will talk to our teacher (whose name I have finally learned! It’s Tayde). I feel like otherwise, my frustrations will only grow.

After class I took a colectivo (a big van that operates halfway between a taxi and a bus) to the city of Tuxtla to go to the zoo. I generally have mixed feelings about zoos because I like seeing animals, but sometimes you can tell that the zoo just isn’t a good place for the animals to live. That said, the Tuxtla zoo had me pretty impressed. All of the wildlife was local to Chiapas, and as a result, none of the habitats seemed too artificial. I got the sense they didn’t design a bunch of habitats so much as lay down some fences and a path around what was already there. Toward the entrance, I was greeted by some uncaged, free range agoutis (who could be seen all over the zoo. I think they just let them run loose and go wherever they want). Imagine a cross between a rat and a pig, but without a tail, and the size of a large rabbit, and cute somehow. That’s an agouti. They were probably my favorite part if the zoo; I’ve never seen one anywhere else, but here they were everywhere and you could get really close to them. Some other animals I’d never seen anywhere else included coatimundis (like a brown, alternate-universe raccoon), grey foxes (which look like fancy house-cats), ocelots (bigger than I expected, but sadly one of the few animals that was sleeping while I was there), and so many really big birds (including a raven the size of a turkey). They also had some very active raccoons (which, although they can survive pretty much anywhere people live, are technically native to tropical climates like this). All of the signs had Spanish on one side and English on the other, plus there were lots of small children yelling things, so I think I picked up a fair amount of words. It tool me about three hours to get through on my own (though admittedly I skipped the Bug House) and I had a great time, after which I took a nap and haven’t done much since. Pictures are below.

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I woke up exceptionally tired today so after class I took a nap instead of going to the Tuxtla zoo. This ended up worked out well, because Sherrill is also going to Tuxtla tomorrow for an acupuncture appointment so I can follow her down.

Tinder update (never thought I’d be writing up one of these for my family): I’ve been talking to two girls in San Cristobal about meeting up this weekend. Tinder in Chiapas is much easier than in Madison, presumably because being a white, English-speaking American holds a bit more status here (I’ll take what I can get). In Wisconsin, the general rule-of-thumb seems to be that one in every two dates scheduled will nonetheless fail to happen, but I’d like to imagine that this won’t be the case in San Cristobal and I’ll get stuck in a elaborate, sitcom-esque scenario running back-and-forth across town, making increasingly flimsy excuses as I attempt navigate both dates at once. Who knows what will end up happening, but as always, I seek the path of wackiest hijinks.

In the evening, there was a (shall we say… chaotic) meeting at the Delmas Institute regarding the upcoming year. Luzma, the resource coordinator had been in contact with someone who had just tested positive for COVID, so she was wearing one of those big plastic masks on top of her regular mask and standing extra-far away, speaking only in a heavily-muffled Spanish. Gina, the class coordinator, had received her COVID shot a day ago and was at home dealing with a high fever, calling in via zoom. As perhaps the most bilingual among us, Three different people had Gina up on their phones, with both the sound and microphones turned on, so everything she said bounced around a couple of times and it was impossible to say anything on our end without creating a screeching feedback loop. The essence of the meeting was that, due to fears about the Delta variant, pretty much every family has requested that their children attend classes virtually, so we are going to start preparing curriculum under the assumption that classes will be taught mostly via Zoom. Vaccines are becoming available in Chiapas, so hopefully there will be a transition toward in-person classes. I also found out which classes I will be teaching; I have Basic 2, Advanced 2, and Conversational 1. The Basic and Advanced courses have a pretty well-laid-out curriculum, so those shouldn’t be too hard to plan for. The Conversational course is more open-ended and will require a bit more effort, but the additional freedom will be fun to work with.

Shortly after posting last night, I went downstairs to the kitchen to fill up my glass with water before heading to bed. Normally I just fumble around in the dark, but yesterday afternoon my host dad showed me where the kitchen light switch was so last night I was able to see what I was doing while I poured the water. And what I saw was the visage of my sworn enemy, my one true fear: las cucarachas. Two of them, running around on the stovetop, bigger than the ones in Wisconsin and redder in color. Tonight, when I go down for water, if I must, I will leave the lights off, as before. Something are better left unknown.

After my morning Spanish class, I ate some incredible empanadas and caught up with a friend on the phone. They (kindly) called me out for not talking to enough strangers here, prompting me to try something I swore I would never do: use Tinder to try to make friends. I want to get better at Spanish and recognize that this requires me to talk to more people, but I’m also pretty uncomfortable chatting up strangers in English, let alone a second language. Here, Tinder actually feels like a bit less pressure, because the people you match with ostensibly want to talk to you. We’ll see how it goes.

In the evening I ate some fried chicken and had a peach-flavored soda that was good, but didn’t really taste like peaches. Then, feeling bold, I explored the city for a while, without getting lost. It was pretty cool of me.

Tomorrow evening there’s a meeting on the upcoming school year, and after that I’ll be able to start planning curriculum, which should keep me nice and busy. In the meantime, I’m going to try to catch a bus over to the city of Tuxtla to check out their zoo. Perhaps I’ll liberate a spider monkey and bring it back to the meeting with me.

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Slow day. I have found some places to purchase coffee, so I can now read more and nap less. After finishing Teach Like a Pirate and a couple assorted chapters of some other stuff (I find the best way to read a lot is to read a bunch of different books simultaneously, that way you never get bored and stop reading altogether [this works best for nonfiction. Reading more than one novel at a time gets confusing, but reading multiple nonfiction books leads to connections that you otherwise wouldn’t have made]. Not including Teach Like a Pirate, I’m in the middle of six books right now, which is more than usual, but I have had a lot of free time lately…) I read an interesting blog/essay about game theory and why Bad Stuff can continue to exist even when we can all agree it’s bad (*this description is a disservice, I swear). It was precisely the kind of essay I wish I could write. I’ll link it below.

The water in my bathroom stopped working again. My host dad (I’m like 80% sure his name is Gerardo, but it could be Geraldo, I can’t quite tell) told me how to fix it the other day, but I hadn’t brushed up on my plumbing vocab yet so the problem remains.

Also, my pants ripped yesterday, which is a problem. Most people here wear long pants (usually jeans) despite the fact that it’s like 90 degrees. I think it’s so the bugs can’t bite. I’m not trying to stand out any more than I already do, so I’ve taken to wearing shorts only in the house and putting on long pants before I go out, but the pair I tore yesterday was the lightest pair I had. This does provide a good opportunity to put my needlework skills to the test; however, I am very much still an amateur. If I fuck up, I blame you, Grandma.

I forgot to wear sunscreen today and burned my arms and neck pretty badly. There’s also some nice heat rash going on. Live and learn and suffer the consequences I guess.

A final note: I’ve fallen into the (probably bad) habit of checking the readership numbers of this blog daily. One day in particular had a surprisingly high number of visitors. This is heartwarming and exciting, and I’m thankful for all of you, but also a little uncomfortable, because on slower days like today it makes me feel like I’m not being interesting enough. I want the thoughts expressed here to remain authentic (I find the experience of shouting into the abyss rather cathartic, regardless of whether or not the abyss shouts back) but there’s also Stupid Rat Brain who gets a dopamine hit every time number goes up. And I recognize my day-to-day lifestyle isn’t always Great Content, but I nonetheless want to post daily, because I think it’s the best way for me to improve my writing. I don’t yet have a snappy resolution to this contradiction, but in the meantime, I’ll keep yall updated on my books and pants and stuff. Every day. Enjoy.

Here’s the article I said I’d link to. It’s long (and at times a bit technical), but not nearly as long as the scroll bar makes it look; the bottom 2/3 of the page is just comments: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/

Today I attended the first weekly reading club that my Spanish teacher (whose name I should really know by now, but it seems too late to ask) has started. I was the only attendant. We read a short story (in Spanish) from a Chiapan author, Rosaria Castellanos. Because no one else showed up I was able to stop every paragraph and ask questions about any words I didn’t understand. It was a good story, and short, so I’ve linked to an English translation below.

I spent most of the afternoon napping. My lymph nodes have been swollen these past few days (first the left, now the right) and I think body may be trying to sleep off some sort of illness.

In the evening I headed out to find dinner and it began to rain. A drizzle at first, then a downpour. I sat at a hamburger stand, with neither umbrella nor hat, eating what was really more like a fancy ham sandwich, and watched the streets turn to rivers. Seeing that the storm wasn’t going anywhere, I made a run for it, the ankle-deep water splashing up to my knees. I got home and changed, and the power went out shortly afterwards.

A final note unrelated to anything else: the most popular brand of pre-packaged bread here is called ‘Bimbo’. I’ve been getting ads for Bimbo too. I’d love to know how this happened.

Power is back. Good night.

The Luck of Teodoro Méndez Acubal by Rosaria Castellanos: https://www.scribd.com/document/456671488/World-Lit-Wr-docx

The morning began with a revelation: you can’t make instant coffee with cold water. This, in my mind, kinda defeats the purpose. If I wanted to sit around and wait for water to boil, I wouldn’t have bought instant coffee.

After drinking my cup of water with loose grounds, I made my way to class, which today consisted of a walk around the town. The town is build around a central plaza and church, and my house is about two blocks from the plaza with a big river on the other side. Knowing this, I should be able to get around without getting lost. I still will get lost, but I won’t have an excuse for it. At the end of the tour, I got to try some pozol, a traditional Chiapan beverage made of fermented corn dough and cocoa that was ladled into a plastic bag and tied off with a straw sticking out. It tasted like chocolate milk, but with more sawdust. I have no doubt that this provided people with the carbs they needed to survive for hundreds of years in a relatively-palatable manner, however I am of the belief that today’s society has progressed beyond the need for pozol.

I came home, ate one of the grapefruits I had collected from the school and drank a lot of water (I’ve been going through about four liters a day). After some reading and a nap, genius struck. I filled an emptied bottle with cold water and instant coffee, sealed it, and then shook it around for a while. That sort of worked. Then I read some more.

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As I was heading out to get dinner, my host family asked if I wanted to go listen to music at the church, so I accompanied them; the band sounded kinda like every other church band you’ve heard before, but the lead guitar player was pretty good and I had a fun time. I also got some incredible chicken for $3. After that I snuck away from my host family to call my regular, no-longer-hosting family, which was nice. In all, a good day, and spider-free.

Woke at 7, lessons from 8-10. Cheryl gave me a book called Teach Like a Pirate; I’m about 60 pages in. You’ll be both disappointed and relieved to learn that PIRATE is an acronym. Read another 10 pages from the linguistics textbook I bought (practically stole) for $3 from the UW Store. 20 pages more from Gravity’s Rainbow, started today. Walked down to the river, saw either a toucan or a regular bird with sometime big and beak-shaped in it’s mouth, not really sure which. No further appearances from the Big Spider, though there was a nice-sized gecko in my bathroom.

I took a nap this afternoon and dreamt I was back at the apartment where I lived a year ago, talking to the friend I had been living with about our mutual friends and what they were doing now. Then she left and I sat on the floor, alone, looking around and wondering what to do.

For dinner I had a crepe and a tamale from two different places. $7 in total, including the horchata. I don’t have a huge vocabulary for foods, so I’ve gotten in the habit of ordering more or less at random. Then your meal comes with a free, new word. Today I got the crepe with nutella and nuez, and I learned that nuez are nuts (maybe pecans specifically? Not really sure). I also got a tamale with some vegetable I’ve never heard of. I’ve never been a huge fan of tamales, but the one I got tonight was really good (and $2). I was also given some peppers to put on it which smelled sweet but were really spicy, and the kids at the stand were all looking at me and I had to pretend I wasn’t crying from how spicy the peppers were. The horchata ended up having a bit of ice in it, which I realized a bit too late. I’m not supposed to drink anything with ice, because you don’t know where the water is from and it’s a good way to give yourself diarrhea. It’s been about three hours since, inshallah I’m in the clear. I also found some instant coffee at the store (I’ve been several days without and in desperate need). I was about to get the regular nestle stuff, but then I saw a local brand with the (translated) slogan “A good decision!”. I’m all about good decisions, so I got that one instead.

After dinner I caught up with one of my friends on the phone. It was good to hear from him and I’m going to try to call people more often. I don’t start teaching until the 23rd, so I have a somewhat uncomfortable amount of free time right now.

Final note: I learned that the fireworks I keep hearing are celebrating Saint Sebastian, who is, among other things, the anti-plague saint. There was also a parade tonight. Vaccines are available by appointment to anyone over 18 here now, but fireworks can’t hurt.

Last night, just after updating my blog, I went to use the bathroom connected to my room, and discovered two things: 1. There was no toilet paper (I discovered this a bit too late actually) and 2. The Biggest Spider I Have Ever Seen. Zoos and pet stores don’t count. It wasn’t like a tarantula, just a regular spider with a two-inch diameter, chilling in the corner, being huge. In that moment, I was ready to fly right back home.

In a way this was part of the plan. I knew from the beginning that the hardest part of this journey would not be the language barrier, or the homesickness, or the culture shock, but rather the sheer size of the bugs as you get near the equator. Nonetheless I was unprepared for this spider.

I brushed my teeth outside the bathroom and did an olympic-style, long-distance spit from the doorway to the sink, then went to bed around 9pm. In the morning, the curse of the monkey’s paw struck. I was briefly relived to find my bathroom spider-free, before realizing that now, the spider could be anywhere. Fear engulfs me. I will never again feel at peace.

Last night, when the Delmas Institute staff there was discussing whether my name was Adam or Adams, I also overheard someone say that they just learned the other teacher was named Sharon, not Cherry. Anyway, I met the other teacher, Cheryl at the Institute this morning when we had our 8am Spanish lessons. She is in her 70’s and has been teaching as a way to travel in her retirement. She doesn’t speak any Spanish, but she’s been here for two weeks already, so she was able to show me around a bit. The school seems pretty cool; it has a grapefruit tree and cats, which is everything I always felt my education was missing. Chibi the cat is my best friend now; he sat on my lap for most of our two-hour class.

After class, Cheryl helped me obtain pesos and we got a delicious breakfast for like $7. Then I bought some soap and slept all afternoon. In the evening, I went back out to buy dinner and ended up with about three times as much as I could eat, because I foolishly assumed that a $3 quesadilla wouldn’t be enough food. At least I have breakfast now.

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