So it took me a little while to get round to this. What did you expect? It took me long enough to decide between 'Tweed in Tenochtitlan' and 'Tea in Tenochtitlan', all the while conscious that whichever I chose, I would have an acronym problem.
Perhaps the main reason it has taken a few weeks to get to blogging is that it has taken this long for me to process that I am really here, seemingly all of a sudden despite the weeks of preparation, no longer in the Shire but in a strange and faraway land without so much as a stop in Rivendell (sorry Atlanta airport - you just don't cut it). At first it was all deeply confusing. I still haven't worked out how the post works, or succeeded in getting a haircut (when do those places open?). I am also living in a strange, US-style suburban neighbourhood where everyone drives and nobody speaks to their neighbours. It could be LA, except the rich people speak Spanish too (I imagine). On my road there are two shopping malls but no bar: that is no place to live. To make matters worse, rich Mexicans seem to enjoy paying the US price for things. I needed somewhere more down-to-earth.
Things are however, looking up. I am soon to move into new digs nearer the centre with actual life, chilled housemates (not least of whom is a dog named Ramón) and a double bed, all for less money. I have also acquired a pipe. Little by little, things are coming together. The next job is to get a bike, then I will be unstoppable.
As for my job, it turns out I am more of a what in England would be referred to as a 'cover supervisor'. This means no lesson planning, which I am obviously really struggling to adapt to. Expectations from the classes' permanent teachers for getting anything done seem pretty low, so as long as no one dies I think I'm sweet. One of my other duties is detention, so I'm getting to know my regulars pretty well. I think we may have the makings of the 'Cambridge Cartel' right there - give me a year and I could bring a whole new meaning to the term 'supply teacher'.
Many of the teachers are pretty cool too. I recently played pool with some of them after work in a place on Insurgentes (the city's main north-south thoroughfare). Predictably I was awful to start with and became marginally better when alcohol was added. The local brew is called 'Victoria' and isn't half bad. The place was very much a 'pool bar' with very few women and lots of middle-aged machismo on display. Let's just say I was somewhat conscious of wearing pastel blue chinos and pink socks. One of the Mexican teachers, JJ (basically a dude - middle-aged with spiky hair and a goatee, and a laugh like a minor Bond villain), was a regular so it was cool. Probably.
The music of choice in the place seemed both incongruous and appropriate at once, starting off with tunes from what I guess must be the current Top 40 (I never know) and descending ultimately into '70s and '80s cheese, which generally seemed to arouse the middle-aged machismo in a manner which I wasn't sure made me more or less relaxed about my attire. The DJ, if that's what we shall call him, definitely appeared to be enjoying himself at any rate. So much so in fact, that we were treated to two different versions of 'Never Gonna Give You Up', which even I thought was a bit much. His real coup came however, when he played a Bee Gees medley interspersed with samples from Hot Chocolate's 'You Sexy Thing'. Predictably at this point, the crowds went wild. Calm down Mexico, calm down.
No comments:
Post a Comment